Book picks similar to
Homicide Investigation: Practical Information for Coroners, Police Officers, and Other Investigators by LeMoyne Snyder
tj-s-books
true-crime
crime
law-enforcement
The Missing Beaumont Children: 50 Years of Mystery and Misery
Michael Madigan - 2015
A crime so shocking that it has often been described as a defining moment in this country's history.After 50 years of intense police investigation the whereabouts of Jane (9), Arnna (7) and Grant Beaumont (4) is still a mystery; Australia's most famous unsolved crime.On the morning of January 26, 1966 the three children set off from their Somerton Park home to Glenelg Beach on a bus to enjoy a brief excursion at Adelaide's most popular beach only a few kilometres away. Apart from a brief sighting from the Beaumont family's postman early on that afternoon, there have been no other sightings of the children since.The 'mystery' of the children's disappearance has often overshadowed the 'misery' the Beaumont parents have had to endure. This book takes the reader inside the trauma of Nancy and Grant; from the panic and heartbreaking first few days to the utter despair in later years.Only seven years after the Beaumont disappearance, two girls Joanne Ratcliffe (11) and Kirste Gordon (4) were abducted from Adelaide Oval during a football match. Were the two abductions connected? How could they not be connected?Author Michael Madigan delves into the sordid world of the numerous 'persons of interest' who have at times been suspects in this case and forensically answers the question 'who could do such a thing?'
Summer's Almost Gone: The Haunting Case of the Bricca Family Murders
J.T. Townsend - 2020
A crime destined to become the most notorious and obsessive cold case in Cincinnati history. On that long ago day in September on the cusp of autumn, we were horrified by the blaring Bricca murder headlines. Jerry, his pretty wife Linda, and their young daughter Debbie were found stabbed to death in their home in the city’s Bridgetown neighborhood. Striking between the 4th and 5th slayings of the Cincinnati Strangler in 1966, the Bricca killer plunged a city already on edge into an abyss.A half century later, the Bricca mystery lingers in cobwebs and survives on whispers. Enter Cincinnati crime writer, J.T. Townsend, author of local best-seller Queen City Gothic. J.T. was given unprecedented access to the case file, laden with information that never saw the light of print before–evidence that might illuminate the relentless rumors that police “screwed up the crime scene” or “covered up for the suspect.” 50 years later, True Crime Detective J.T. Townsend answers “Who dun it?” and renders a final verdict.
Chief: My Life In The L.A.P.D.
Daryl Francis Gates - 1992
His detractors claim he's a racist, a loose cannon--and worse. In 43 years with the L.A.P.D., he's been involved with cases from Patty Hearst to the Hillside Strangler, the Watts Riots to the Black Panthers, the Robert Kennedy assassination to the video-taped beating of Rodney King. Now Gates tells all. 16-page photo insert.
Shadow of My Father
John Gotti - 2015
But now in "Shadow of My Father," the real story of the King of the Volcano is revealed for the first time. John A. Gotti, who survived four trials and a parole violation hearing, in four years, without a guilty verdict, now takes up his pen to tell the story of his father’s unwavering dedication to the street, and how, as his son, he entered that life, and then, with his father’s permission, left the life of crime, and put the “Family” behind him to live a legitimate life with his real family. It is a saga of betrayal and redemption, and an insider’s view of how, at times, those who are tasked with upholding the law readily broke it to further their careers.
True Blue: Police Stories by Those Who Have Lived Them
Randy Sutton - 2004
Hundreds of active and former officers from all over the United States responded: men and women from big cities and small towns, some who had written professionally, but most of whom were doing so for the first time. The result is True Blue, a collection of funny, charming, exciting, haunting stories about murder investigations, missing children, bungling burglars, car chases, lonely and desperate shut-ins, routine traffic stops, officers killed in the line of duty, and the life-changing events of September 11. Here, officers reveal their emotions as they recount the defining moments of their careers. Some of the stories include:-Two cops' desperate search for a missing child feared kidnapped -The revival of the one-month old baby who was shot in the face in a drive-by shooting-A patrol officer's dramatic showdown with a hostage-holding gunman-On-the-scene details of rescue and tragedy during the 9/11 terrorist attacks
A City Owned
O.J. Modjeska - 2018
Police begin to suspect that their target is a rogue operator who has emerged from their own ranks. And then, all hell breaks loose in Los Angeles… An arrest in the strangling murders of two co-eds across state lines finally leads to a break in the case, but the mild-mannered suspect remembers nothing about the crime of which he is accused. His attorney and a team of psychiatrists are convinced this is no lust murderer, but a mentally ill man tormented by an evil alter personality, the terrifyingly malevolent sexual sadist “Steve”. But what if Steve is the final triumphant act in a psychopath’s lifelong career in deception? None are prepared for the dark journey through the mazes of the human mind it will take to unlock the door to justice. From the author of the aviation disaster ebook bestseller “Gone: Catastrophe in Paradise”, “A City Owned” is the first installment of the two-part series “Murder by Increments”, the true story of the worst case of serial sex homicide in American history.
Smile for the Camera: The Double Life of Cyril Smith
Simon Danczuk - 2014
Instantly recognisable for his colossal build, Smith was a larger-than-life character in a world of dull grey men. Yet 'Big Cyril' was anything but the roly-poly gentle giant of popular imagination.In November 2012, Rochdale MP Simon Danczuk outed Smith in Parliament as a serial child abuser. Now, in this devastating exposé, he describes how Smith used his profile to groom and sexually abuse young boys, frequently in institutions he had helped to establish. His victims, often troubled boys from broken homes, had no voice against their attacker and, though rumours abounded, Smith's appalling crimes went unnoticed by the public and unpunished by the authorities.Smile for the Camera is not just about a terrible abuse of power. It's about those who knew that abuse was taking place but looked the other way, making the corridors of Westminster a safe haven for paedophiles like Cyril Smith. This updated edition of the book that sparked a criminal investigation brings shocking new material to light, asking urgent questions of those who allowed Smith to prey on young children for decades without question.
The Griekwastad Murders: The Crime that Shook South Africa
Jacques Steenkamp - 2014
It was shortly before 19h00 when Don Steenkamp jumped out of the vehicle and ran into the station’s charge office, covered in blood, to announce that his parents and sister had been brutally shot and killed on the family farm, Naauwhoek. Although the killings were initially thought to be just another farm attack, months later a sixteen-year-old youth was arrested for the murders, setting in motion a chain of events that would grip South Africa, and divide the people of Griekwastad.Based on interviews with all the role-players, including the investigating officers on the case, the forensic and ballistic experts, and family and friends of the deceased, this is the riveting account of what really happened on Naauwhoek farm on that fateful day, as told by the reporter who followed the case from day one…
Missing Persons
Steve Braunias - 2021
These are stories about how some New Zealanders go missing - the wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time.
PERVERTING THE COURSE OF JUSTICE: The Hilarious and Shocking Inside Story of British Policing
Inspector Gadget - 2008
Arresting 10-year-olds for for stealing sweets… Nicking adults for denying the existence of Santa Claus… Investigating Kelly's ex's new girlfriend's sister's boyfriend's ex for sending her a nasty message on Facebook.These are the things the cops spend their time on (as well as fighting drunk thugs, finding toddlers dead in car crashes and cutting down men who have hanged themselves in public parks).Controversial, gripping, authoritative and, occasionally, very funny - this book takes readers where the powers-that-be don't want them to go. Forget everything you know about law and order: this is the truth.Inspector Gadget is a serving senior police officer. He has written for the New Statesman, The Daily Mail and The Daily Telegraph, and has been praised for his bravery and honesty by everyone from The Sun to The Guardian. His 'Police Inspector' online blog has received more than six million hits and was recently named one of Britain's Top 40 blogs by The Times who said that his writing is 'provocative stuff, and as an insight into life on the policing front line, it’s invaluable.'
Supermob: How Sidney Korshak and His Criminal Associates Became America's Hidden Power Brokers
Gus Russo - 2006
Presenting startling, never-before-seen revelations about such famous members as Jules Stein, Joe Glaser, Ronald Reagan, Lew Wasserman, David Bazelon & John Jacob Factor--as well as infamous, scrupulously low-profile members--Russo pulls the lid off of a half-century of criminal infiltration into American business, politics & society. At the heart of it is Sidney "The Fixer" Korshak, who from the 1940's until his death in the '90s, wasn't only the most powerful lawyer in the world, according to the FBI, but the enigmatic player behind countless 20th century power mergers, political deals & organized crime chicaneries. As the underworld's primary link to the corporate upperworld, his backroom dominance & talent for anonymity will likely never be equaled. As Supermob proves, neither will his story.Cast of charactersPrefaceThe lawyer from LawndaleFrom Lawndale to the Seneca to the underworldBirds of a feather Kaddish for CaliforniaThe future is in real estate"Hell, that's what you had to do in those days to get by"Scenes from Hollywood, part 1Jimmy, Bobby & SidneyForty years in the desert The kingmakers: Paul, Lew & Ronnie in CaliforniaThe new frontier Bistro days "He could never walk away from those people"Scenes from Hollywood, part 2"A sunny place for shady people"Coming under attack From Hoffa to HollywoodFrom Dutch sandwiches to Dutch ReaganAiring dirty laundry & laundering dirty money Pursued by the Fourth Estate The true untouchablesLegacies Appendices: A-Supermob investments/B-Pritzker holdings/C-Ziffren-Greenberg-Genis documentsNotesBibliographyIndex
Deadhouse: Life in a Coroner's Office
John Temple - 2005
Ed Strimlan is a doctor who never got to practice medicine. Instead he discovers how people died. Mike Chichwak is a stolid ex-paramedic, respected around the office for his compassion and doggedness. Tiffani Hunt is twenty-one, a single mother who questions whether she wants to spend her nights around dead bodies.All three deputy coroners share one trait: a compulsive curiosity. A good thing too because any observation at a death scene can prove meaningful. A bag of groceries standing on a kitchen counter, the milk turning sour. A broken lamp lying on the carpet of an otherwise tidy living room. When they approach a corpse, the investigators consider everything. Is the victim face-up or down? How stiff are the limbs? Are the hands dirty or clean? By the time they bag the body and load it into the coroner's wagon, Tiffani, Ed, and Mike have often unearthed intimate details that are unknown even to the victim's family and friends.The intrigues of investigating death help make up for the bad parts of the job. There are plenty of burdens--grief-stricken families, decomposed bodies, tangled local politics, and gore. And maybe worst of all is the ever-present reminder of mortality and human frailness.Deadhouse also chronicles the evolution of forensic medicine, from early rituals performed over corpses found dead to the controversial advent of modern forensic pathology. It explains how pathologists "read" bullet wounds and lacerations, how someone dies from a drug overdose or a motorcycle crash or a drowning, and how investigators uncover the clues that lead to the truth.
Hunting the President: Threats, Plots and Assassination Attempts--From FDR to Obama
Mel Ayton - 2014
Presidents have been murdered at the hands of an assassin. In each case the assassinations changed the course of American history.But most historians have overlooked or downplayed the many threats modern presidents have faced, and survived. Author Mel Ayton sets the record straight in his new book Hunting the President: Threats, Plots and Assassination Attempts—From FDR to Obama, telling the sensational story of largely forgotten—or never-before revealed—malicious attempts to slay America’s leaders.Supported by court records, newspaper archives, government reports, FBI files, and transcripts of interviews from presidential libraries, Hunting the President reveals: How an armed, would-be assassin stalked President Roosevelt and spent ten days waiting across the street from the White House for his chance to shoot himHow the Secret Service foiled a plot by a Cuban immigrant who told coworkers he was going to shoot LBJ from a window overlooking the president’s motorcade routeHow a deranged man broke into Reagan’s California home and attempted to strangle the former president before he was subdued by Secret Service agents.In early 1992 a mentally deranged man stalking Bush turned up at the wrong presidential venue for his planned assassination attemptThe relationships presidents held with their protectors and the effect it had on the Secret Service’s missionHunting the President opens the vault of stories about how many of our recent Presidents have come within a hair’s breadth of assassination, leaving America’s fate in the balance. Most of these stories have remained buried—until now. Includes glossy photo signature of historic pictures and documents
Breaking the Code: A True Story by a Hells Angel President and the Cop Who Pursued Him
Pat Matter - 2014
An honest, hard-working cop. Both of their lives on totally different paths until their worlds collide..."With no holds barred, Omodt and Matter ripback the curtain of seedy reality and toss you headlongintothecomplex relationships of biker gangs and the cops whose job it is to pursue them. The writing is graphic, truthful, revealing and explores both sides of the law-the right side, and the wrong side-with equal detail. For lovers of true crime writing this is a must-read." - Mark Reps, author, Sheriff Zeb Hanks crime series"The story of an adversarial relationship that turned into one of the most unlikely, remarkable friendships I've ever been exposed to. And, as written by the two protagonists, BREAKING THE CODE is told in the most authentic voice you'll ever read. Beyond the true crime audience, this is a story filled with so much humanity it must be experienced by all readers." - Ali Selim, writer and director of the award-winning film, Sweet Land"Up until BREAKING THE CODE I knew Pat Matter to be a formidable but fair motorcycle drag racer and a competent professional as leader of Minneapolis Custom Cycle. This book fills in the blanks about the other 'dark' side of his life as a Hells Angel-a must-read to get the whole story." - George B. Smith, Executive Chairman and CEO of S&S Motor Company, Viola, WI"BREAKING THE CODE takes you on a real-life crime adventure ... a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at Hells Angels, and what it took to take down one of their most prominent leaders." - Tom Chorske, retired NHL player and commentator for FSN Sports