Best of
True-Crime

1994

Shot in the Heart


Mikal Gilmore - 1994
    Writer Mikal Gilmore is his younger brother. In Shot in the Heart, he tells the stunning story of their wildly dysfunctional family: their mother, a blacksheep daughter of unforgiving Mormon farmers; their father, a drunk, thief, and con man. It was a family destroyed by a multigenerational history of child abuse, alcoholism, crime, adultery, and murder. Mikal, burdened with the guilt of being his father's favorite and the shame of being Gary's brother, gracefully and painfully relates a murder tale "from inside the house where murder is born... a house that, in some ways, [he has] never been able to leave." Shot in the Heart is the history of an American family inextricably tied up with violence, and the story of how the children of this family committed murder and murdered themselves in payment for a long lineage of ruin. Haunting, harrowing, and profoundly affecting, Shot in the Heart exposes and explores a dark vein of American life that most of us would rather ignore. It is a book that will leave no reader unchanged.

The Complete History of Jack the Ripper


Philip Sugden - 1994
    The murders in London between 1888-91 attributed to Jack the Ripper constitute one of the most mysterious unsolved criminal cases. This story is the result of many years meticulous research. The author reassesses all the evidence and challenges everything we thought we knew about the Victorian serial killer and the vanished East End he terrorized.

The Sleep of Reason: The James Bulger Case


David James Smith - 1994
    Two outwardly unremarkable ten-year-old boys began the day by playing truant and ended it running an errand for the local video shop. In between they abducted and killed a two-year-old boy, James Bulger. In search of an explanation, award-winning journalist David James Smith looks behind the misinformation, misunderstanding and sensational reporting to an exact account of the events of that day. A sensitive and definitive account, The Sleep of Reason achieves a unique understanding of the James Bulger case, and comes as close as may ever be possible to explaining how two ten-year-olds could kill.

Cruel Sacrifice


Aphrodite Jones - 1994
    By the end of the night, only four of them were alive. The fifth had been tortured and mutilated nearly beyond recognition. Her name was Shanda Sharer; her age--twelve. When the people of Madison, Indiana heard that a brutal murder had been committed in their midst, they were stunned. Then the story became even more bizarre. The four accused murderers were all girls under the age of eighteen: Melinda Loveless, Laurie Tackett, Hope Rippey, and Toni Lawrence. Veteran true crime journalist Aphrodite Jones reveals the shocking truth behind the most savage crime in Indiana history--A tragic story of twisted love and insane jealousy, teen lesbianism, and the sadistic ritual killing of a young Innocent girl.

Before He Wakes


Jerry Bledsoe - 1994
    When she "accidentally" shot her husband, a popular high school coach, the police believed it was an accident. Then they found out her previous husband had died in a similar manner, and her facade began to unravel. Photos.

Charmer: The True Story of a Ladies' Man and His Victims


Jack Olsen - 1994
    They crowned him "cool, " trusted him as their protector, and took him to their hearts. And why not? An articulate young African American, he was a cheerful companion, flashy dancer, and urban sophisticate. He had good looks, professional parents, rich friends, a beguiling style and smile. George was a local favorite. Then, bodies started turning up - in a nightclub parking lot, in a quiet, out-of-the-way house, and in a tastefully decorated apartment. The victims, attractive young females, had been bludgeoned to death, violated sexually, then outrageously posed like gallery sculptures. Seasoned investigators were sickened by the cold brutality. A prosecutor described the bodies as "the killer's collected works of art." No one suspected George Russell. He offered the police helpful clues and even put the finger on a pal. When frustrated detectives ran out of leads, they came close to giving up on the case. In this riveting examination into the mind and life of a vicious killer and his deceptively charming persona, Jack Olsen tracks Russell's thirty-year psychological decline, which culminated in a shocking killing spree. But Charmer is more than the tragic story of a murderer and his victims. Written with a thriller's edge, it is a stirring portrait of race and crime in America today.

Depraved: The Definitive True Story of H.H. Holmes, Whose Grotesque Crimes Shattered Turn-Of-The-Century Chicago


Harold Schechter - 1994
    H.H. Holmes is notorious--but only Harold Schechter's Depraved tells the complete story of the killer whose evil acts of torture and murder flourished within miles of the Chicago World's Fair. "Destined to be a true crime classic" (Flint Journal, MI), this authoritative account chronicles the methods and madness of a monster who slipped easily into a bright, affluent Midwestern suburb, where no one suspected the dapper, charming Holmes--who alternately posed as doctor, druggist, and inventor to snare his prey--was the architect of a labyrinthine "Castle of Horrors." Holmes admitted to twenty-seven murders by the time his madhouse of trapdoors, asphyxiation devices, body chutes, and acid vats was exposed. The seminal profile of a homegrown madman in the era of Jack the Ripper, Depraved is also a mesmerizing tale of true detection long before the age of technological wizardry.

The Jack the Ripper A to Z


Martin Fido - 1994
    Giving fresh and unbiased accounts of all the many theories as to the Ripper's identity, it includes: The latest on Dr. Tumblety, the subject of the 'Littlechild letter,' which discosed the astonishing information that the head of Special Branch's preferred suspect was arrested but escaped to the United States The theory of Joseph Barnett, the lover of the last victim, who closely matches the FBI's psychological profile of the Ripper The sensational ongoing story of the alleged diary confession of James Maybrick

Dillinger: The Untold Story, Expanded Edition


G. Russell Girardin - 1994
    a wild ride through one of the most fascinating periods in American criminal history." -- Chicago Tribune"A fascinating addition to the true-crime shelf." -- PlayboyWritten in the 1930s but first published in 1994, Dillinger: The Untold Story is a remarkable contemporary account of John Dillinger's life and crimes. Packed with illustrations and new information from FBI files and other sources, it is an authentic slice of American history and a feast for true crime buffs. The new paperback edition adds still more information about Dillinger and his era.

Mississippi Mud: Southern Justice and the Dixie Mafia


Edward Humes - 1994
    One of the city's most prominent couples -- he served as Circuit Court judge and she was runnng for mayor -- the Sherry's were mourned by a community. But for a stunned and grieving daughter, the nightmare was hust beginning.Racing to Biloxi for answers, Lynne found the police investigation in chaos. The only sure lead was that the Sherry's murder somehow was connected to the Dixie Mafia, a predatory band of criminals who ran Biloxi's beachfront hub of sex, drugs, and sleaze known as The Strip. Lynne, armed with a savvy private eye -- and a .357 Magnum -- set out to accomplish what the authorities could not or would not do: hunt down her parents' assassins and bring them to justice.Pulitzer Prize-winner Edward Humes delivers a shocking and bizarre tale set against a teeming underworld of merciless killers, ruthless con men, and venal politicians. "Mississippi Mud" portrays how one woman's steely obsession for the truth shook a city to its foundation -- and nearly destroyed everything she loved.

Secret Lessons


Don W. Weber - 1994
    . . until his sexual manipulations of his young female students were exposed. This gripping insider's account tells of a popular sixth-grade teacher in Illinois who took advantage of his female students in the darkest case of serial sex abuse ever told. 8 pages of photos.

Castle: The Story of a Kentucky Prison


Bill Cunningham - 1994
    It tells of murders, escapes, riots and executions which have occurred in the medieval-like fortress, sitting high above the Cumberland River in Lyon County. The centerpiece of the book is the daring Tex Walters shoot-out of 1923 when inmate Walters and two confederates shot and killed three prison guards, wounded a fourth, and barricaded themselves in the dining hall for four days. The National Guard was called in and the siege garnered nationwide attention as the suspenseful stand-off unfolded. Lillian Walters, wife of the rebel convict, was then tried in a dramatic court room battle for her gun-smuggling role in the uprising.

Cop: A True Story


Michael L. Middleton - 1994
    In this brutally honest portrait, Sergeant Michael Middleton--a now-retired veteran of the LAPD--tells the gripping tale of his two decades on some of the America's meanest streets.

I Am Cain


Gera-Lind Kolarik - 1994
    Chronicles the terrifying murder of newlyweds Nancy and Richard Langert, who were shot to death in their basement in April, 1990, and the investigation that lead to the identity of their killer--a man they both knew well.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts vs. Lizzie A. Borden: The Knowlton Papers 1892-1893


Michael Martins - 1994
    A collection of previously unpublished letters and documents from the files of Prosecuting Attorney Hosea Morrill Knowlton

Crimes and Punishment Vol. 2


H.S. Stuttman - 1994
    

Crimes and Punishment Vol. 3


H.S. Stuttman - 1994
    

Justice is Served


Robert K. Ressler - 1994
    A young FBI agent, Ressler's investigation led him into the lives of politicians, prostitutes, pimps, gamblers, and murders in a world of greed, sex-for-pay and multiple betrayals. Martin's Press.

Brother Love: Murder, Money and a Messiah


Sydney P. Freedberg - 1994
    16 pages of photos.

Crimes and Punishment


H.S. Stuttman - 1994
    

Crimes and Punishment


H.S. Stuttman - 1994
    

Crimes and Punishment


H.S. Stuttman - 1994
    

Crimes and Punishment


H.S. Stuttman - 1994
    

Blood Relations


Roger Wilkes - 1994
    On 8th August 1985 the press reported the killing of June and Nevill Bamber, a middle-aged farming couple, and their twin grandsons by their adopted daughter, Sheila, who had apparently killed them all and then committed suicide. One year later the Bamber's adopted son Jeremy was convicted of all their murders and sentenced to life. This book investigates.

Fatal Seduction


Rena Vicini - 1994
    The chilling true account of the vicious 1986 murder of Mike Turpin, who was killed by his beautiful, cocaine-addicted wife, her lesbian girlfriend, and a male accomplice--an innocent victim caught in a deadly web of drugs, lust, and greed.

A Father's Story


Lionel Dahmer - 1994
    A Father's Story cannot claim to have discovered the ultimate solution to the enigma of either the criminal or his deeds. It is, in fact, not the story of Jeffrey Dahmer at all, but of a father who, by slow, incremental degrees, came to realize the saddest truth that any parent may ever know: that following some unknowable process, his child had somewhere crossed the line that divides the human from the monstrous. This memoir is not a refutation of charges, an attempt to change the record. It is both a touching family memoir and a haunting confession - the searing account of a man who never relented in his effort to fathom the deepest quarters of his son's affliction, even as they pointed to his own.

Crimes and Punishment


H.S. Stuttman - 1994
    

Crimes and Punishment


H.S. Stuttman - 1994
    

Crimes and Punishment


H.S. Stuttman - 1994
    

Crimes and Punishment


H.S. Stuttman - 1994
    

Crimes and Punishment


H.S. Stuttman - 1994
    

Crimes and Punishment


H.S. Stuttman - 1994
    

The Deaths of Sybil Bolton: Oil, Greed, and Murder on the Osage Reservation


Dennis McAuliffe Jr. - 1994
    grew up believing that his Osage Indian grandmother, Sybil Bolton, had died an early death in 1925 from kidney disease. It was only by chance that he learned the real cause was a gunshot wound, and that her murder may well have been engineered by his own grandfather. As McAuliffe peeled away layers of suppressed history, he learned that Sybil was a victim of the “Osage Reign of Terror”—a systematic killing spree in the 1920s when white men descended upon the oil-rich Osage reservation to court, marry, and murder Native women to gain control of their money. Previously published as Bloodlands, The Deaths of Sybil Bolton is part murder mystery, part family memoir, and part spiritual journey.

Murder, Madness and Marriage


Kate Kray - 1994
    

American Justice: Great Crimes and the Trials of the Twentieth Century


Paul Begg - 1994
    

Crimes and Punishment


H.S. Stuttman - 1994
    

Crimes and Punishment


H.S. Stuttman - 1994
    

Crimes and Punishment


H.S. Stuttman - 1994
    

Crimes and Punishment


H.S. Stuttman - 1994
    

Crimes and Punishment


H.S. Stuttman - 1994
    

Crimes and Punishment


H.S. Stuttman - 1994
    

Crimes and Punishment


H.S. Stuttman - 1994
    

Crimes and Punishment


H.S. Stuttman - 1994
    

Crimes and Punishment


H.S. Stuttman - 1994
    

Crimes and Punishment


H.S. Stuttman - 1994
    

Till Murder Do Us Part


Ernest Volkman - 1994
    The case continues to draw attention as prosecutors press for a murder confession. 8-page insert.

The Murder Guide to Great Britain


Brian Lane - 1994
    

Crimes and Punishment


H.S. Stuttman - 1994
    

No Cause of Death


James Fontana - 1994
    

Crimes and Punishment


H.S. Stuttman - 1994
    

Crimes and Punishment


H.S. Stuttman - 1994
    

The Two Killers of Rillington Place


John Eddowes - 1994
    Timothy Evans; Reginald Christie

Circle of Fire: Murder and Betrayal in the "Swiss Nanny" Case


Joyce Egginton - 1994
    A riveting account of the manipulation of the media and the perversion of justice. Photos.