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On December 19, 2001, a young boy's body floated up in Lint Slough, not far from the coastal town of Newport, Oregon. He seemed to be about 4 years old and wore only his underwear. Three days later, divers found the body of a slightly younger little girl, still in 9 feet of murky water, under the Lint Slough Bridge, still tethered to the bottom by a pillowcase full of rocks tied around her ankle. Divers found a similar weighted pillowcase, which had apparently been tied around the boy's ankle. Also in those waters was a sleeping bag full of rocks. Authorities never released a cause of death for the two children, but said they had not died from trauma. Speculation has it that the two children were weighted down by their own cartoon pillowcases full of rocks, both shoved into the sleeping bag and thrown off the bridge into the sloughwhile still alive.
It's hard to say when Christian Longo learned the art of standing politely, passively, while smooth-talking his way out of trouble. This calmness served him well from the time his financial troubles began by stealing a roll of quarters from his father's dresser in ninth grade to the day 20 Mexican police and FBI agents crashed into his Caribbean hideaway and arrested him for the murder of his wife and three children. Had he been the aggressive sortresisting arrest, showing his temper when faced with the evidence of his crimesthings might have turned out much differently for Christian and his family. As it was, he passively submitted to handcuffs as his horrified German girlfriend looked on. He was not who he'd said he was the New York Times journalist Michael Finkel. Instead, she was informed, he was Christian Longo, one of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted, and he was headed for death row.
Longo's crimes began as a simple, perhaps even logical way out of his financial woes and escalated into one of the most heinous stories to capture the country's imagination. Longo's crimes, pursuit, capture and trial made headlines coast to coast, were highlighted on "America's Most Wanted" and are now the subject of Michael Finkel's book, True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa .
Book cover: True Story:Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa.
Born in Burlington, Iowa, Christian and his younger brother moved several times around the Midwest with their mother and father, following employment opportunities. Eventually, that marriage crumbled, and Joy, the mother, remarried and settled in Ann Arbor, Michigan, when the boys were still small. The entire family embraced the Jehovah's Witness religion of Joe Longo, the boys' stepfather. The small Jehovah's Witness community in Ypsilanti seemed an oasis for the Longosit provided a code of ethics, a community in which to socialize and marrya manner of behavior that was a refreshing dose of sanity to the reconstituted family with a harsh past. It was within this insular religious community that Christian, at 17, met MaryJane Baker, seven years his senior. Deemed by his parents still too young to date girls at age eighteen, Christian got a job at a local camera store and moved out of the house to pursue the beautiful MaryJane.
MaryJane Baker, a sweet, unassuming young woman, had a sheltered, religious upbringing, living with her parents until her wedding day. She had only one future in her mind: wife and mother. She wanted to marry a religious man who would take good care of her and her children, and in return, she would make a comfortable home and a good life for him. She wanted the ideal Christian life. When she met Chris, MaryJane worked as a secretary. According to Finkel, she spent every Wednesday proselytizing door to door for the Witnesses, and Chris, smitten, joined in, just to be near her. Apparently, Christian's smooth talk, handsome face and charismatic nature assured her that their dreams melded perfectly. ?
MaryJane Longo
Perhaps she should have paid closer attention. As they were seeing each other, Chris was caught stealing from his employer, which did not sit well with the church elders. They refused to let Chris and MaryJane marry in the church. He approached her father, smooth-talked him into giving them his blessings, and on March 13, 1993, in Huron High School auditorium, a minister married Christian Longo and MaryJane Baker.
Zachery Michael Longo
In 1996, they joyously proclaimed that they were to have their first child. Zachery Michael Longo was born in February 1997, followed by Sadie Ann, 14 months later. MaryJane quit her job to be the full time mother she had always wanted to be. Eighteen months later, in October 1999, little Madison Jeanne joined the family. MaryJane focused entirely on the children, keeping them tidy and dressing them well.
(You can read more here:)
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/family/christian_longo/index.html
One of the stories I read said that he was caught stealing before they even got married and the Jehovah Witness church refused to marry them in the (Kingdom Hall) church. Can't find that info and it wasn't that way in the movie..it showed him sitting with his wife and kids in the KH and talking with others at first.
Later I read he could feel no remorse and thought himself a monster for not having any feeling about what her had done to his family. He wanted to donate his organs to try and make some kind of amends..I also saw a headline about him not being allowed to mary in jail?..I'll have to read about that..
Snoozy..who watched it this morning.
MaryJane Longo 
Zachery Michael Longo