Book picks similar to
Wasted: The Preppie Murder by Linda Wolfe
true-crime
non-fiction
crime
nonfiction
Cruel Deception
Gregg Olsen - 1995
Morgan's Texas-born mother Tanya, a nurse and devoted wife, pulled up stakes with her grieving husband Jim, and moved on. It was the best way to put the past behind them. Until their son Michael, a boy who by all accounts was terrified of his mother, began showing signs of the same affliction that stole the life of his baby sister...First, the suspicion: Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. Then, Tanya was charged and convicted with felony child abuse of her son. She was later tried and ultimately convicted for first degree murder of Morgan. It would become a landmark trial that unfolded in a series of reversals and bizarre twists of fate as it gradually revealed another side of Tanya Reid—of her own troubling childhood and the dark secrets that drove a woman to the cruelest deception of all...
The Law Killers
Alexander McGregor - 2009
But only when their rage explodes and unspeakable crimes are committed do we realise we hold them in our midst. Some are unpredictable psychopaths, others achieve notoriety after a moment of madness when a single out-of-character act changes their lives forever. One thing is for certain, homicide comes in many guises - the only thing most have in common is a corpse. In The Law Killers, journalist Alexander McGregor examines some of the people and deeds, which have terrorised Dundonian communities. Having reported on many of them first-hand, he has unique insight into the cases and they are as chilling as they are compelling. The father who wanted to go one better than his double-killer son...and did. The groom who promised to love, honour and cherish both his brides...before he strangled them. The thirteen-year-old who was almost as much a victim as the child she killed. The trail of slaughter that started with a break-in and ended hundreds of miles away after an escaped convict killed again...and again and again.The unsolved murder of the wealthy spinster who led a secret life. The trail of dead women in the life of a social worker who thought he could outwit the police...and nearly did
Night Stalker: The Life and Crimes of Richard Ramirez
Philip Carlo - 1996
The shocking true story behind the serial killer case that inspired the hit Netflix series!Painstakingly researched over three years, based on nearly one hundred hours of exclusive interviews with Richard Ramirez on California's Death Row, The Night Stalker is the definitive account of America's most feared serial murderer.From Ramirez's earliest brushes with the law to his deadliest stalking expeditions to the unprecedented police and civilian manhunt that resulted in one of the most sensational trials in California history, The Night Stalker is an eerie and spellbinding descent into the very heart of human evil.It is more than epic nonfiction at its most brutally real - it is true crime masterpiece.
Murder in Greenwich
Mark Fuhrman - 1998
Read the book that spawned the Connecticut Grand Jury Investigation.
Those Who Wander: America’s Lost Street Kids
Vivian Ho - 2019
But they also shed light on a more complex issue. The killers were three drifters scrounging for a living among a burgeoning counterculture population. Soon this community of runaways and transients became vulnerable scapegoats of a modern witch hunt. The supposedly progressive residents of San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury, only two generations removed from the Summer of Love, now feared all of society’s outcasts as threats.In Those Who Wander, Vivian Ho delves deep into a rising subculture that’s changing the very fabric of her city and all of urban America. Moving beyond the disheartening statistics, she gives voices to these young people—victims of abuse, failed foster care, mental illness, and drug addiction. She also doesn’t ignore the threat they pose to themselves and to others as a dangerous dark side emerges. With alarming urgency, she asks what can be done to save the next generation of America’s vagabond youth.
Finders Keepers: The Story of a Man Who Found $1 Million
Mark Bowden - 2002
One afternoon, just blocks from his home, Coyle found two curious yellow containers containing $1.2 million in unmarked money from a casino. They had just fallen off the back of an armored truck. Even before news of the missing money exploded across the headlines, Detective Pat Laurenzi was working around the clock to track it down. Joey Coyle, meanwhile, was off on a bungling misadventure, sharing his windfall with everyone from his girlfriend to total strangers to the two neighborhood kids who were with him when he found it. Loaded with intrigue and suspense, Finders Keepers is the remarkable tale of an ordinary man faced with an extraordinary moral dilemma, and the fascinating reactions of the family, friends, and neighbors to whom he turns.
Blood Games
Jerry Bledsoe - 1991
As they slept in their North Carolina home, wealthy Lieth Von Stein and his wife Bonnie suffered a vicious assault with a knife and a baseball bat. Bonnie barely survived. Lieth did not. The crime seemed totally baffling until police followed a trail that led to the charming stepson, Chris Pritchard, and his brilliant, drug-using, Dungeons and Dragons–playing friends at North Carolina State University. “Haunting . . . Addictive, chilling and a masterpiece of reportage,” Blood Games is the true story of depraved young minds and a son’s gruesome greed turned to horrifyingly tragedy (Patricia Cornwell). Jerry Bledsoe masterfully reconstructs the bloody crime and its aftermath as he takes us into the secret twisted hearts of three young murderers. “Mr. Bledsoe goes straight to the bigger issues.” —The New York Times Book Review “In Mr. Bledsoe’s hands, a mega-load of inert facts becomes a human story of hurricane force.” —The News & Observer “Devastating . . . A brilliant account.” —Publishers Weekly
In Broad Daylight
Harry N. MacLean - 1988
Again and again, the law had failed to stop him. UNTIL THEY TOOK JUSTICE INTO THEIR OWN HANDS.On July 10, 1981, Ken was shot to death on the main street of this small farming community. Forty-five people watched. No indictments were ever issued, no trial held and the town of Skidmore protected the killers with silence. With this powerful, true-life account, Edgar Award-winning author Harry N. MacLean reveals what drove a community of everyday American citizens to commit murder.IN BROAD DAYLIGHT
Resurrection: The Kidnapping of Abby Drover
John Griffiths - 1999
Instead, Abby survived four more months of rape, starvation and psychological torture before she was dramatically rescued. Here, John Griffiths tells the incredible story of Abby's ordeal, the nationwide search that went on for her while she lay captive less than a half a block from her own home, and her courageous recovery.. "Additionally, Griffiths explores the twisted mind of Abby's abductor, Donald Alexander Hay, a repeat sex offender Abby believed was a trusted friend. Covering Hay's recent bids for parole after more than twenty years in jail, the book raises important questions around prisoner rehabilitation, victim's rights and the very nature of justice.
World's Worst Crimes: An A-Z of Evil Deeds
Charlotte Greig - 2012
From the Woman in the Box and the Online Murderer to the Düsseldorf Vampire and the House of Horror, this book delves into every major category of crime, sifting through the evidence to present a grisly, compelling, and blood-spattered history of the worst crimes ever committed.
Innocent Victims: The True Story of the Eastburn Family Murders
Scott Whisnant - 1993
On Mother’s Day, 1985, the bodies of Kathryn Eastburn and her two young daughters were found in their Fayetteville, North Carolina, home. Katie, an air force captain’s wife, had been raped and stabbed to death. Kara and Erin’s throats had been slit. Their toddler sister, Jana, was the only survivor of a bloody killing spree that terrified a community still reeling from the conviction, six years prior, of Dr. Jeffrey MacDonald for the savage slayings of his pregnant wife and two daughters. The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department soon focused its investigation on US Army soldier Tim Hennis. Detectives and local prosecutors built their case on circumstantial evidence and a jury convicted Hennis and sentenced him to death. But his defense team refused to give up. Piece by piece, they discredited the state’s case, exposing false testimony, concealed evidence, and prosecutorial misconduct. At a second trial, Hennis was found not guilty and released from death row. But an even more stunning turn of events was yet to come. Twenty-five years after the murders, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation tested a crucial piece of DNA evidence from the crime scene. The shocking results led to an unprecedented third trial to determine Tim Hennis’s guilt or innocence. From the initial discovery of the horrifying scene at 367 Summer Hill Road to the controversial change of jurisdiction that allowed Hennis to be prosecuted for an astonishing third time, author Scott Whisnant chronicles every development in this intricate, disturbing, and still-evolving case. Has the mystery of who killed Katie, Kara, and Erin Eastburn been solved beyond a reasonable doubt? Read Innocent Victims and decide for yourself.
True Crime Stories Volume 2: 12 Shocking True Crime Murder Cases (True Crime Anthology)
Jack Rosewood - 2016
This is a 43-year old murder mystery that was finally solved, but was it really? There are many people who don’t think so. There’s also the story of a transgender woman who died in terribly suspicious circumstances, a case that would come to be the focus of change amongst the local police force due to the interactions she had with officers on the night of her death, as well as cause an outcry amongst the community. And who really killed the Al-Hilli family in the French Alps, leaving two little girls without parents, and why? Was there a link to a Middle Eastern dictator? And what secrets did Mrs. Al-Hilli keep from her family? These are just a few of the cases discussed in this true crime anthology. From the victim or victims, the crime scene, and the criminal investigations that ensued, we follow twelve true crime stories, some of which are solved, and some that are still a mystery. We also take a look at cases where wrongful convictions have occurred, and why. These true murder stories will take you on a journey across the globe, and even back in time in some cases. Family massacres, individual true crime murder cases, and situations where murder goes unseen in a suicide case, plus many more, will all keep you enthralled, from chapter to chapter.
Bind, Torture, Kill: The Inside Story of the Serial Killer Next Door
Roy Wenzl - 2007
A bloodthirsty serial killer, self-named "BTK"—for "bind them, torture them, kill them"—he slaughtered men, women, and children alike, eluding the police for decades while bragging of his grisly exploits to the media. The nation was shocked when the fiend who was finally apprehended turned out to be Dennis Rader—a friendly neighbor . . . a devoted husband . . . a helpful Boy Scout dad . . . the respected president of his church.Written by four award-winning crime reporters who covered the story for more than twenty years, Bind, Torture, Kill is the most intimate and complete account of the BTK nightmare told by the people who were there from the beginning. With newly released documents, evidence, and information—and with the full cooperation, for the very first time, of the Wichita Police Department’s BTK Task Force—the authors have put all the pieces of the grisly puzzle into place, thanks to their unparalleled access to the families of the killer and his victims.
Manhunt: Hunting Britain's Most Wanted Murderer
Peter Bleksley - 2020
In the early hours of 19 June 2004, 16-year-old Liam Kelly was lured to a location in Liverpool and shot dead. The following year, another Liverpudlian, 22-year-old mother of three, Lucy Hargreaves, was shot dead in her own home. Her partner and their 2-year-old daughter escaped after the house was set alight by leaping from a first-floor bedroom window. How could Parle have evaded national and international crime investigators for so long? Who is harbouring him? Bleksley is determined to find the answers. Immersing himself in the world of serious and organised crime, he has vowed not to rest until Parle is found. Two murders, one fugitive and a hunter tracking down the target. This is the gripping true story of hunting Britain’s most wanted murderer, going behind the scenes of the hit BBC Sounds podcast, Manhunt: Finding Kevin Parle. Author, investigator, broadcaster and the former Chief on Channel 4’s hit shows Hunted and Celebrity Hunted, Peter Bleksley has lived an astonishing life since retiring as a Scotland Yard Detective, where he earned a glittering reputation as a fearless undercover cop.
Is He Dead?
Rick H. Drew - 2014
Experience the pain, suffering, and love of two children as they endure nearly a decade of abuse from their father. What they did was premeditated, but what the government did may surprise you.