Bill Bass. A pioneer in forensic anthropology, Bass created the world's first laboratory dedicated to the study of human decomposition—three acres of land on a hillside in Tennessee where human bodies are left to the elements. His research at "the Body Farm" has revolutionized forensic science, helping police crack cold cases and pinpoint time of death. But during a forensics career that spans half a century, Bass and his work have ranged far beyond the gates of the Body Farm. In this riveting book, the bone sleuth explores the rise of modern forensic science, using fascinating cases from his career to take readers into the real world of C.S.I.Some of Bill Bass's cases rely on the simplest of tools and techniques, such as reassembling—from battered torsos and a stack of severed limbs—eleven people hurled skyward by an explosion at an illegal fireworks factory. Other cases hinge on sophisticated techniques Bass could not have imagined when he began his career: harnessing scanning electron microscopy to detect trace elements in knife wounds; and extracting DNA from a long-buried corpse, only to find that the female murder victim may have been mistakenly identified a quarter-century before.In Beyond the Body Farm, readers will follow Bass as he explores the depths of an East Tennessee lake with a twenty-first-century sonar system, in a quest for an airplane that disappeared with two people on board thirty-five years ago; see Bass exhume fifties pop star "the Big Bopper" to determine what injuries he suffered in the plane crash that killed three rock and roll legends on "the day the music died"; and join Bass as he works to decipher an ancient Persian death scene nearly three thousand years old. Witty and engaging, Bass dissects the methods used by homicide investigators every day, leading readers on an extraordinary journey into the high-tech science that it takes to crack a case.

    It was covered by Court TV and profiled on the Ricki Lake Show. Now, here is the intimate memoir of a shocking crime and its aftermath...one family's immediate and unforgettable story of what victims can suffer long after they should be safe.

    The paint is the blood that splatters on the walls and floors. In the course of nearly five years of recorded interviews Frank Sheeran confessed to Charles Brandt that he handled more than twenty-five hits for the mob, and for his friend Hoffa. Sheeran learned to kill in the U.S. Army, where he saw an astonishing 411 days of active combat duty in Italy during World War II. After returning home he became a hustler and hit man, working for legendary crime boss Russell Bufalino. Eventually he would rise to a position of such prominence that in a RICO suit then-U.S. Attorney Rudy Giuliani would name him as one of only two non-Italians on a list of 26 top mob figures. When Bufalino ordered Sheeran to kill Hoffa, he did the deed, knowing that if he had refused he would have been killed himself. Sheeran's important and fascinating story includes new information on other famous murders, and provides rare insight to a chapter in American history. Charles Brandt has written a page-turner that is destined to become a true crime classic.

    Exhaustively researched with transcripts of interviews with killers, and featuring up-to-date information on the apprehension and conviction of the Green River killer and the Beltway Snipers, Vronsky's one-of-a-kind book covers every conceivable aspect of an endlessly riveting true crime phenomenon.INCLUDES PHOTOGRAPHS

    In this absorbing, surprising, and undeniably compelling book, forensics expert Emily Craig tells her own story of a life spent teasing secrets from the dead.Emily Craig has been a witness to history, helping to seek justice for thousands of murder victims, both famous and unknown. It's a personal story that you won't soon forget.Emily first became intrigued by forensics work when, as a respected medical illustrator, she was called in by the local police to create a model of a murder victim's face. Her fascination with that case led to a dramatic midlife career change: She would go back to school to become a forensic anthropologist——and one of the most respected and best-known "bone hunters" in the nation.As a student working with the FBI in Waco, Emily helped uncover definitive proof that many of the Branch Davidians had been shot to death before the fire, including their leader, David Koresh, whose bullet-pierced skull she reconstructed with her own hands. Upon graduation, Emily landed a prestigious full-time job as forensic anthropologist for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, a state with an alarmingly high murder rate and thousands of square miles of rural backcountry, where bodies are dumped and discovered on a regular basis. But even with her work there, Emily has been regularly called to investigations across the country, including the site of terrorist attack on the the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, where a mysterious body part——a dismembered leg——was found at the scene and did not match any of the known victims. Through careful scientific analysis, Emily was able to help identify the leg's owner, a pivotal piece of evidence that helped convict Timothy McVeigh.In September 2001, Emily recieved a phone call summoning her to New York City, where she directed the night-shift triage at the World Trade Centre's body identification site, collaborating with forensics experts from all over the country to collect and identify the remains of September 11 victims.From the biggest new stories of our time to stranger-than-true local mysteries, these are unforgettable stories from the case files of Emily Craig's remarkable career.

     On Friday, April 8, 1994, a body was discovered in a room above a garage in Seattle. For the attending authorities, it was an open-and-shut case of suicide. What no one knew then, however, is that the deceased -- Kurt Cobain, the superstar frontman of Nirvana -- had been murdered. Drawing on case tapes made by a P.I. hired by Courtney Love when her husband escaped from drug rehab and went missing -- and on new forensic evidence and police reports obtained under the Freedom of Information Act -- Love & Death explodes the long-standing theory that Kurt Cobain took his own life. Award-winning investigative journalists Max Wallace and Ian Halperin have conducted a ten-year crusade for the truth, and in Love & Death they present a stunning, convincing argument that the whole truth has yet to be revealed.

    Serving as a Lt. Colonel in the ROTC, she earned a full scholarship to Georgia Tech University to study aerospace engineering. She was the ultimate girl next door, sweet, generous, and well-adjusted. But Sharon had disturbing secrets so shocking and unique, they took more than a decade to unravel...This is the horrifying true story of a mysterious young woman caught in the violent web of the murderous fugitive she called her father—and a heartrending testament to the profound courage and perseverance of one woman trapped in the grip of extreme evil

    Frances Glessner Lee, a wealthy grandmother, founded the Department of Legal Medicine at Harvard in 1936 and was later appointed captain in the New Hampshire police. In the 1940s and 1950s she built dollhouse crime scenes based on real cases in order to train detectives to assess visual evidence. Still used in forensic training today, the eighteen Nutshell dioramas, on a scale of 1:12, display an astounding level of detail: pencils write, window shades move, whistles blow, and clues to the crimes are revealed to those who study the scenes carefully. Corinne May Botz's lush color photographs lure viewers into every crevice of Frances Lee's models and breathe life into these deadly miniatures, which present the dark side of domestic life, unveiling tales of prostitution, alcoholism, and adultery. The accompanying line drawings, specially prepared for this volume, highlight the noteworthy forensic evidence in each case. Botz's introductory essay, which draws on archival research and interviews with Lee's family and police colleagues, presents a captivating portrait of Lee.

    From the beginning, he proclaimed his innocence, but when he was granted a new trial because his prosecutors improperly withheld evidence, the second trial also resulted in conviction. Bloodsworth read every book on criminal law in the prison library and persuaded a new lawyer to petition for the then-innovative DNA testing. After nine years in one of the harshest prisons in America, Kirk Bloodsworth was vindicated by DNA evidence. He was pardoned by the governor of Maryland and has gone on to become a tireless spokesman against capital punishment.

    This is the extraordinary true story of the most prolific serial killer the nation had ever seen -- a case involving more than forty-nine female victims, two decades of intense investigative work...and one unrelenting killer who not only attended Ann Rule's book signings but lived less than a mile away from her home.

    Edgar Hoover’s FBI to tell the full story—for the first time—of the most spectacular crime wave in American history, the two-year battle between the young Hoover and the assortment of criminals who became national icons: John Dillinger, Machine Gun Kelly, Bonnie and Clyde, Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd, and the Barkers. In an epic feat of storytelling and drawing on a remarkable amount of newly available material on all the major figures involved, Burrough reveals a web of interconnections within the vast American underworld and demonstrates how Hoover’s G-men overcame their early fumbles to secure the FBI’s rise to power.

    John Dillinger is an adrenaline-fueled narrative that reignites America's fascination with the suave but deadly desperado who was the FBI's first "Public Enemy." Dubbed "The Jackrabbit" because of the way he leaped over bank cages and railings, Dillinger and his bank-robbing gang cut a criminal swath yet to be equaled. They became so famous in the 1930s that throngs of excited spectators would block the route to their getaway cars. When caught, Dillinger staged the most harrowing prison escapes imaginable—only to finally be betrayed by the infamous "Lady in Red." John Dillinger brings to light new information, including bank robberies never before reported; detailed plans for major crimes that Dillinger nearly implemented; the revelation that the "Lady in Red" was actually a police plant; and the startling fact that John Dillinger was summarily executed by rogue FBI agents being manipulated by East Chicago detectives desperate to cover up widespread police corruption. With access to thousands of detailed accounts, and pages of telling photographs, Matera's definitive book describes every robbery, shoot-out, and prison escape as though he choreographed them himself.

    Reactions to these modern-day monsters range from revulsion to morbid fascination-fascination that is either fed by, or a product of, the saturation coverage provided by print and broadcast media, along with a dizzying array of books, documentary films, websites, and "Movies of the Week". The prevalence in Western culture of images of serial killers (and mass murderers) has created in the public mind a consensus view of what a serial killer is. Most people are aware, to some degree, of the classic serial killer 'profile.' But what if there is a much different 'profile'-one that has not received much media attention? In Programmed to Kill, acclaimed and always controversial author David McGowan takes a fresh look at the lives of many of America's most notorious accused murderers, focusing on the largely hidden patterns that suggest that there may be more to the average serial killer story than meets the eye. Think you know everything there is to know about serial killers? Or is it possible that sometimes what everyone 'knows' to be true isn't really true at all?

    Kennedy Jr., from The Atlantic Monthly “Watching the Detectives” by Jay Kirk, from Harper’s Magazine “For the Love of God” by Jon Krakauer, from GQ “Chief Bratton Takes on LA” by Heather Mac Donald, from City Journal “Not Guilty by Reason of Afghanistan” by John H. Richardson, from Esquire “Megan’s Law and Me” by Brendan Riley, from Details “Unfortunate Con” by Mark Schone, from The Oxford American “To Kill or Not to Kill” by Scott Turow, from The New Yorker

     On March 4th, 1995, a New Orleans police officer shot a fellow off-duty cop and two innocent bystanders at a Vietnamese restaurant. She then responded to their call for help, as though she knew nothing of what had transpired. This is the story of her rise through the corrupted ranks, her crime, and her capture.

    But she wanted more- namely guardianship of her two-year-old niece, Rebecca, daughter of Beth's estranged sister, Kim. When Kim married Anson "Buzz" Clinton, 28, a former male exotic dancer deemed an unsuitable guardian by the Carpenter family, Beth Ann became obsessed with the idea that only his death could ensure that she and her parents would get custody of the child. On March 10,1994, along a lonely stretch of road, Clinton was shot five times. His body was discovered by passing motorists. Behind Clinton's death lay a bizarre murder-for-hire conspiracy that found privileged professionals and local misfits joined in a cold-blooded plot against an innocent man. This homicidal group included attorney Haiman Clein,52. A husband, father and successful businessman, Clein was Beth Ann Carpenter's boss- and also her sexually obsessed, cocaine-snorting, murderously obedient lover. The paid killers were two buddies, organizer Joe Fremut and triggerman Mark Despres, who brought his 15-year-old son Christopher along for the hit. The aftermath of this brutal crime would set investigators and prosecutors on a long and twisted path strewn with lies, treachery, and deceit that would cross the Atlantic Ocean before finally bringing justice home.

    Rehder, the man CBS News once described as "America's secret weapon in the war against bank robbers," chronicles the lives and crimes of bank robbers in today's Los Angeles who are as colorful and exciting as the legends of long ago. The mild-mannered antiques dealer who robbed more banks than anyone else in history. The modern Fagin who took a page out of Dickens and had children rob banks for him. The misfit bodybuilders who used a movie as a blueprint for a spree of violent robberies.In a fast-paced, hard-edged style that reads like a novel, Where the Money Is carries us through these stories and more—all within a pistol shot of Hollywood, all true-life tales as vivid as anything on the big screen.

    Taken from the world's most popular magazine, each are compellingly written and carefully researched by some of the world's best journalists.

    But they did not act alone. In 1933, during their infamous run from the law, Bonnie and Clyde were joined by Clyde’s brother Buck Barrow and his wife Blanche. Of these four accomplices, only one—Blanche Caldwell Barrow—lived beyond early adulthood and only Blanche left behind a written account of their escapades. Edited by outlaw expert John Neal Phillips, Blanche’s previously unknown memoir is here available for the first time.Blanche wrote her memoir between 1933 and 1939, while serving time at the Missouri State Penitentiary. Following her death, Blanche’s good friend and the executor of her will, Esther L. Weiser, found the memoir wrapped in a large unused Christmas card. Later she entrusted it to Phillips, who had interviewed Blanche several times before her death. Drawing from these interviews, and from extensive research into Depression-era outlaw history, Phillips supplements the memoir with helpful notes and with biographical information about Blanche and her accomplices.

    Here is the gripping account of a wholesome American family which elected to turn a son's tragic death as a human sacrifice into a positive program to fight substance abuse.

    This work includes accounts that date from as far back as the eighteenth century when the smuggler 'Colchester Jack' shot a confederate in the stomach in a row over stolen goods.

    They were found bound ankle-to-wrist with their own shoelaces, severely beaten and dumped in a nearby stream.Several weeks passed and police were stumped—not even a suspect in the case. The public clamored for an arrest. A month later, detectives finally made three arrests: Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, Jr.—teenagers who just didn’t fit in: they wore black, listened to heavy metal music and read horror novels. Spurred on by a local “expert,” police decided the murders were part of a satanic ritual, despite the lack of evidence of such at the crime scene. But this mattered little: they had three young misfits—one of whom, Misskelley, had confessed to the murders after a grueling eight hours of police questioning. He recanted it hours later, but by then it was too late.Surely a jury could not convict these three boys without proof, without a shred of physical evidence. Not in America. But they were convicted. Circumstantial evidence and a clearly coerced confession was enough to send Jessie Misskelley, Jr. and Jason Baldwin to prison for life, while Damien Echols, considered the “ring leader,” was sentenced to death. He is currently on death row, awaiting lethal injection.While many artists, actors and musicians have come forward to fight this injustice, this book is the first collection of writings in support of the West Memphis 3. Collected here are case-related fiction and essays by some of the best dark fiction writers working today, as well as eight pages of black-and-white illustrations by -horror-master Clive Barker, a piece by comedian Margaret Cho, and an introduction by filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky creators of the acclaimed West Memphis 3 documentaries Paradise Lost and Paradise Lost 2: Revelations.This project is a fundraiser for the West Memphis 3 Defense Fund (wm3.org). Contributors have donated their stories, and all proceeds will go toward legal efforts to ensure that this miscarriage of justice is resolved.

    They seemed to be happily married, living the American dream. But only months shy of their second anniversary, Kristen found her handsome husband dead from a drug overdose-his corpse sprinkled with rose petals. By his side was their wedding photo. The scene was reminiscent of American Beauty, one of Kristen's favorite movies. Authorities deemed it a suicide.Until they discovered that the rare poison found in Greg's body was the same poison missing from Kristen's office. Until they discovered the truth about Kristen's lurid affair, about her own long-time drug addiction, and about the personal and professional secrets she would kill to keep hidden-secrets that would ultimately expose the beautiful blonde as the deadly beauty she really was...a Deadly American Beauty

    Beginning with a mystery in 1854 and ending on a rope in 1918, Foul deeds and Suspicious Deaths Around Pontefract and Castelford takes a look at some of the dark and shocking tales from the district's history . You my never look at a can of creosote in the same way again. Doncaster born Keith Henson is a photographer, family man, writer, ad, despite the contents of this book ...very normal. He is also author of Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in York.

    The cases covered here record the county's most fascinating but least known crimes, as well as famous murders that gripped not just Lancashire but the whole nation. From Liverpool's Florence Maybrick (was she really guilty of poisoning her hypochondriac husband with arsenic and was he indeed Jack the Ripper?) to late Victorian Bury's disturbing 'Body in the Wardrobe' case; from the infamous Drs Ruxton and Clements, who saw off five wives between them, to Blackpool's Louisa Merrifield, whose loose tongue was undoubtedly her downfall, this is a collection of the county's most dramatic and interesting criminal cases.

    

    But his life of greed and corruption came to a violent end when his rivals decided to wipe him off the face of the earth—with the tacit approval of Spanish, British, and US drug enforcement agencies. Meticulously researched, Killing Charlie pulls the reader into Wilson's bizarre, sordid, crime-filled world—one that took him from the mean streets of south London to even harsher prison corridors, and from a quiet life in small-town Canada to the heated, manic, cocaine-fuelled Costa del Sol. Containing interviews with many of Wilson's former associates, the book also reveals how Wilson was feared by many other criminals; how his love of pretty women almost cost him his life; and how he desperately tried to "retire," only to discover that gangsters never rest in peace.

    Jealousy and madness form a terrible duo as Elizabeth stops at nothing to destroy her son's happiness. Her cunning is a most lethal weapon, as she persuades countless others to take part in the conspiracies that develop around an unnatural obsession with her son.

    

    was dragged to his death behind a pickup truck one summer night in 1998. The brutal modern-day lynching stunned people across America and left everyone at a loss to explain how such a heinous crime could possibly happen in our more racially enlightened times. Many eventually found an answer in the fact that two of the three men convicted of the murder had ties to the white supremacist Confederate Knights of America. In the ex-convict ringleader, Bill King, whose body was covered in racist and satanic tattoos, people saw the ultimate monster, someone so inhuman that his crime could be easily explained as the act of a racist psychopath. turned Bill King into someone capable of committing such a crime. In this gripping account of the murder and its aftermath, Ricardo Ainslie builds an unprecedented psychological profile of Bill King that provides the fullest possible explanation of how a man who was not raised in a racist family, who had African American friends in childhood, could end up on death row for viciously killing a black man. Ainslie draws on exclusive in-prison interviews with King, as well as with Shawn Berry (another of the perpetrators), King's father, Jasper residents, and law enforcement and judicial officials, to lay bare the psychological and social forces--as well as mere chance--that converged in a murder on that June night. Ainslie delves into the whole of King's life to discover how his unstable family relationships and emotional vulnerability made him especially susceptible to the white supremacist ideology he adopted while in jail for lesser crimes. why such a racially motivated murder happened in our time, but it also offers a frightening, cautionary tale of the urgent need to intervene in troubled young lives and to reform our violent, racist-breeding prisons. As Ainslie chillingly concludes, far from being an inhuman monster whom we can simply dismiss, Bill King may be more like the rest of us than we care to believe.

    Jan Bondeson discusses "Serial Sadistic Stabbers" throughout history, including the interesting case of the London Monster, a man who stabbed women in London in the 18th century and who is in some ways a precursor to Jack the Ripper. Amanda Howard gives a short overview of serial killers who predate the Whitechapel murders of 1888. Wolf Vanderlinden follows with "The Supernatural Connection," a detailed study of the various psychics past and present who claimed to have otherworldly knowledge of the Ripper killings. Famed expert Paul Begg in "On The Matter of Milk" examines witness Mrs. Malcolm's testimony that she saw victim Mary Jane Kelly on the morning of her murder (after the time the doctors later told the police that Kelly must have already been killed) as she went to buy milk. Bernard Brown investigates the site of the murder of Jack the Ripper's first canonical victim, Mary Ann "Polly" Nichols, and uncovers a history of persecution of women in "The Witches of Whitechapel." Tom Wescott then explores a possible link between the Ripper murders, magic rituals desecrating Christian symbols, and the Lindbergh baby kidnapping tragedy. Dan Norder's "Connecting the Dots" explores the various theories that the Ripper crime scenes were chosen in advance in order to form a symbol, describing the various patterns that have been suggested and looking into the statistics to try to determine if they were a result of forethought or blind chance. Antonio Sironi then asks if the murder of the Elizabeth Stride, usually named by experts as the third victim, in Dutfield's Yard was a change in the Ripper's normal methodology. The essays are concluded with Roger Peterson's "Did Jack the Ripper Visit Leadville?" which chronicles an example of Ripper hysteria that reached all the way to a booming Colorado mining community in the United States not long after the Whitechapel murders. All of the articles are extensively illustrated with woodcuts, photos, diagrams and other illustrations. In addition, the back cover features a color map of the East End of London in the 19th century with the locations of the five generally accepted Jack the Ripper killings marked for easy reference. Ripper Notes is a nonfiction anthology series covering all aspects of the Jack the Ripper murder case.

    Each volume is a compilation of a variety of contemporary narratives and reminiscences from a wide range of perspectives. These personal anecdotes provide readers with a unique and valuable understanding of how people from different backgrounds confront and interpret their times.

    This is L.A.'s darkest side: ironic, heart-breaking, stunningly violent, unfailingly human. Riveting."-Jonathan KellermanThe mandate for Los Angeles' unique police unit Homicide Special is to take on the toughest, most controversial, and highest-profile cases. In this "literate, unfailingly interesting work of true crime" (Kirkus Reviews), acclaimed writer Miles Corwin uses unprecedented access to narrate six of the unit's cases-and capture its newest generation at work.When a call girl from Kiev dies in the line of duty, detectives Chuck Knolls and Brian McCartin seek her killer among a circle of Russian women who have been sold into white slavery. When a gangster's daughter takes a bullet, veterans Jerry Stephens and Paul Coulter trace clues scattered across the country to a Manhattan real-estate magnate. A cold case is reopened; a mother-daughter drowning and a baffling rape/murder are solved. And, finally, Corwin re-creates the investigation surrounding the late Bonny Lee Blakley, allegedly murdered by her actor-husband, Robert Blake.With a revised epilogue updating each of these fascinating cases, Homicide Special offers a riveting, behind-the-scenes look at one of the preeminent units of homicide detectives in the country.

    The debate over his true identity has never been resolved. This study lists each of the 71 suspects who have not been irrefutably cleared of any connection to the murders. The unbiased history of the different suspects, including two women, will give even the novice reader the basic ground to make an informed decision regarding the identity of the Whitechapel Murderer. Suspects include influential artist Walter Sickert, children's author Lewis Carroll, Randolph Henry Spencer Churchill (father of Winston Churchill), and others ranging from doctors and politicians to wandering lunatics. Listed alphabetically, the encyclopedic entries provide historical features such as major events in a suspect's life, a complete chronology surrounding the case for particular suspects, suspects' biographical data, and a basic analysis of the relevant theories.

    The meticulous inquiry into a special investigation team's efforts to uncover clues is followed by an account of the breathless search for the killers. The obstacles prosecutors overcame to try and convict the criminals reveal the legal challenges inherent in trying assassination cases. This enthralling history offers a critical testimony to how, even in a democracy, minority grievances must be confronted to curtail, or prevent, such violent acts.

    What system of language and logic, what visions of religious and civil society, allowed men who saw themselves both as Christians and cultured humanists to dehumanize and enslave people whose cultures and accomplishments were evident to nearly all? In this book we observe the progressive development of a mindset that allowed the settlers to see both Native Americans and Africans as others who did not merit human status.

    She and her son live with Henry Lee Lucas unaware he has already killed his mother, she begins to suspect Lucas and learns he was convicted of murdering his mother and has spend ten years in prison already. She carefully plans to leave Lucas and he discovers her intentions and attempts to murder her. He holds her captive in his home for three torturous days before she is able to escape the butcher knife. Lucas stalks her for two years then foes on to murder his next victim.

    Revealed here are the dark corners of the county, where witches, body snatchers, highwaymen, and murderers, in whatever guise, have stalked. Accompanying this cast of gruesome characters are old superstitions, omens, strange beliefs, and long-forgotten remedies for all manner of ailments. Within the Almanac's pages we visit the dark side, plumb the depths of past despair, and peer over the rim of that bottomless chasm where demons lurk, with only a candle's light to see by . . . metaphorically speaking of course. You are invited to take that journey, if you are brave enough, and meet some of the people that populated the past . . . while author Kevin Turton holds the candle at arm's length.

    

    It is the story of the life and death of this beloved retailer told in the gritty detail by his elder daughter. The author takes readers from Russian persecution to American freedom, from Hula Hoops to hit men, from murder to trial. It's the story of two children of immigrants, their American dream, and their richly diverse neighborhood in which each fell prey to the brutality of of gangs. It is the story of loss and survival, even forgiveness.

    

    At the tender age of nine, however, his quiet community was shocked by a horrific crime—a family’s murder in their own home. For the first time, Mike knew real fear. Years later, long after the killers were jailed, Mike remains haunted by the evil deed. Although a police officer like his father, Mike feels impotent in the face of the murder and knows he must confront the memory head-on. Take part in Mike’s journey as he uncovers links between abusive relationships and crime and finds a way to make his own life a tool for change.

    Fletcher Williams' History of St. Paul, first published in 1876, is a thoroughly charming, intimate chronicle of the city's earliest years. The author spins tales of villains, heroes, dark deeds, and progress with wit, irony, and relish. Sprinkled among the careful descriptions of pioneers, city fathers, and important events is a healthy dose of trivia, oddities, and "firsts." Lucile M. Kane's introduction to this edition suggests that the book "to an unusual degree mirrors the man--with all his learning, passion for patient investigation, interest in people, exuberance, dramatic sense, humor, and affection for his adopted city." Minnesota residents, visitors, and students of history will enjoy this insider's view of small-town St. Paul in the 19th century.

    A Tragedy Waiting to Happen is the harrowing story of his doomed attempts and the awful consequences of that failure: a triple murder.Tony Muggivan is a farmer. One wet night in February 1989, Brendan O’Donnell entered his life and that of his family. He had absconded from Trinity Detention Centre in Dublin and had been missing for a week. He turned up at Tony Muggivan’s door, dirty, dishevelled and starving. The Muggivans took him in. Tony had never seen Brendan before.The next day, Tony began a search for help. It was clear that Brendan should be in a psychiatric unit, not a detention centre. Doctors, social workers and the Gardaí all agreed that this was the best course of action. As there was no place for him in Co. Clare, Tony took Brendan to hospitals in Ballinasloe and Galway, where they refused to admit him. Frustrated and angry, they returned home. Over the next five years Brendan began living rough and embarked on a campaign of armed robbery and mayhem in the east Clare area. It was evident he was out of control.In 1994 Brendan murdered Imelda Riney, her three-year old son Liam and Fr. Joe Walsh. It was one of the most shocking crimes of modern times. Brendan was convicted in 1996 and died in prison in 1997 in circumstances that have never been fully explained by the authorities.Tony and J.J. Muggivan recount Brendan O’Donnell’s tragic life, and highlight the failures of the system to help a deeply disturbed boy who later became a psychotic killer. Tony had known that something awful was going to happen: for five years, he had tried and failed to get the Irish social and medical system to offer appropriate treatment to a desperately sick young man.A Tragedy Waiting to Happen reveals the truth behind the headlines and the real Brendan O’Donnell.

    Two young men of good family -- Douglas Pelly and Frederick Benwell -- sign on. But when their troubled journey to Canada stalls inexplicably in Niagara Falls and Benwell mysteriously disappears, Pelly thinks Birchall might be trying to kill him. Then Benwell’s frozen body turns up near Woodstock, Ontario, with two bullets in the back of his head.So begins The Swamp of Death, British journalist Rebecca Gowers’s investigation into a villainous scam, a murder and the ensuing trial -- a fiasco of injustice and bias. Taking its name from a Victorian pulp novel that wildly sensationalized the story, Gowers’s account illuminates how staid and proper values clashed with the public’s insatiable thirst for the grizzly delights and dark drama of a heinous crime.A fascinating investigation of murder, prejudice and the fate of English younger sons in early Canada, The Swamp of Death adeptly pursues the many questions left behind by a colonial murder that caused an international uproar -- doubts about Birchall’s guilt, a self-described “great detective” with suspect methods of investigation, and a newspaper war’s manipulation of the facts, which in the end sent Birchall to the gallows.