A Criminal Injustice: A True Crime, a False Confession, and the Fight to Free Marty Tankleff
Richard Firstman - 2008
He was looking forward to starting his senior year at Earl L. Vandermeulen High School the next day. But instead, Marty woke in the morning to find his parents brutally bludgeoned, their throats slashed. His mother, Arlene, was dead. His father, Seymour, was barely alive and would die a month later. With remarkable self-possession, Marty called 911 to summon help. And when homicide detective James McCready arrived on the scene an hour later, Marty told him he believed he knew who was responsible: Jerry Steuerman, his father’s business partner. Steuerman owed Seymour more than half a million dollars, had recently threatened him, and had been the last to leave a high-stakes poker game at the Tankleffs’ home the night before. However, McCready inexplicably dismissed Steuerman as a suspect. Instead, he fastened on Marty as the prime suspect–indeed, his only one. Before the day was out, the police announced that Marty had confessed to the crimes. But Marty insisted the confession was fabricated by the police. And a week later, Steuerman faked his own death and fled to California under an alias. Yet the police and prosecutors remained fixated on Marty–and two years later, he was convicted on murder charges and sentenced to fifty years in prison. But Marty’s unbelievable odyssey was just beginning. With the support of his family, he set out to prove his innocence and gain his freedom. For ten years, disappointment followed disappointment as appeals to state and federal courts were denied. Still, Marty never gave up. He persuaded Jay Salpeter, a retired NYPD detective turned private eye, to look into his case. At first it was just another job for Salpeter. As he dug into the evidence, though, he began to see signs of gross ineptitude or worse: Leads ignored. Conflicts of interest swept under the rug. A shocking betrayal of public trust by Suffolk County law enforcement that went well beyond a simple miscarriage of justice. After Salpeter’s discoveries brought national media attention to the case, Marty’s conviction was finally vacated in 2007, and New York’s governor appointed a special prosecutor to reopen the twenty-year-old case. At the same time, the State Investigation Commission announced an inquiry into Suffolk County’s handling of what has come to be widely viewed as one of America’s most disturbing wrongful conviction cases. As gripping as a Grisham novel, A Criminal Injustice is the story of an innocent man’s tenacious fight for freedom, an investigator’s dogged search for the truth. It is a searing indictment of justice in America.
Stay Sexy & Don't Get Murdered Sneak Peek
Karen Kilgariff - 2019
Now it’s a worldwide community…. Even its darkest moments are lightened by Karen and Georgia's effortlessly funny banter and genuine empathy.” — RollingStone.comAt the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Till Death Do Us Part: The true story of misguided love, marriage, death and deception.
Siobhan Gaffney - 2005
Little did they know that underneath his cool exterior lay a twisted desire to kill.Behind the facade of normality lay a psychopathic mind struggling to control its homicidal urges. Having seduced and married his sweetheart Mary Gough, Whelan immediately began planning her brutal murder.While his young wife dreamed of a love-filled marriage, Whelan searched the internet for information on serial killers and the methods they used to strangle their victims.Compelling and disturbing, this book reveals how Whelan murdered his wife to claim a hefty life insurance policy, and how he faked his own suicide when he became the prime suspect for the murder.Till Death Do Us Part offers a fascinating insight into the true motivation behind one of Irelands most notorious murders, and is a horrifying story of love, lust, revenge and murder - all the more shocking because every word is true.
Trace: Who Killed Maria James?
Rachael Brown - 2018
For veteran detective Ron Iddles, it was his very first homicide case — the 1980 murder of single mother Maria James in the back of her Melbourne bookshop. He never managed to solve it, and it still grates like hell.Maria’s two sons, Mark and Adam, have lived in a holding pattern longer than Rachael Brown has been alive. When the investigative journalist learned that a crucial witness’s evidence had never seen daylight, the case would start to consume her — just as it had the detective nearly four decades prior — so she asked for his blessing, and that of the James brothers, to review Maria's case.In her exhaustive and exhausting 16-month investigation for the ABC podcast Trace, Rachael reviewed initial suspects, found one of her own, and uncovered devastating revelations about a forensic bungle and possible conspiracies that have inspired the coroner to consider holding a new inquest.This is a mesmerising account, as Rachael traces back through her investigation — one that blew the dust off a 38-year-old cold case, gave a voice to the forgotten and the abused, and could have serious implications for two of the state’s most powerful institutions.
I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer
Michelle McNamara - 2018
Then he disappeared, eluding capture by multiple police forces and some of the best detectives in the area.Three decades later, Michelle McNamara, a true crime journalist who created the popular website TrueCrimeDiary.com, was determined to find the violent psychopath she called "the Golden State Killer." Michelle pored over police reports, interviewed victims, and embedded herself in the online communities that were as obsessed with the case as she was.At the time of the crimes, the Golden State Killer was between the ages of eighteen and thirty, Caucasian, and athletic—capable of vaulting tall fences. He always wore a mask. After choosing a victim—he favored suburban couples—he often entered their home when no one was there, studying family pictures, mastering the layout. He attacked while they slept, using a flashlight to awaken and blind them. Though they could not recognize him, his victims recalled his voice: a guttural whisper through clenched teeth, abrupt and threatening.I’ll Be Gone in the Dark—the masterpiece McNamara was writing at the time of her sudden death—offers an atmospheric snapshot of a moment in American history and a chilling account of a criminal mastermind and the wreckage he left behind. It is also a portrait of a woman’s obsession and her unflagging pursuit of the truth. Framed by an introduction by Gillian Flynn and an afterword by her husband, Patton Oswalt, the book was completed by Michelle’s lead researcher and a close colleague. Utterly original and compelling, it is destined to become a true crime classic—and may at last unmask the Golden State Killer.
In Pursuit of the Truth
Clive Driscoll - 2015
For Clive, it was the pinnacle of a 35-year career with the world’s most famous police force, the Metropolitan Police Service.Clive’s prodigious rise through the ranks of the Met saw him front some of the most high-profile units at Scotland Yard. He was put in charge of their policy for sexual offences, domestic violence, child protection and the paedophile unit before heading up the Racial and Violent Crime Task Force tackling their backlist of cold cases. From action-packed moments chasing down criminals to more tender occasions, like gaining the trust of a murder victim’s family, to making crucial legal history, and unearthing huge national scandals,
In Pursuit of the Truth
is the definitive account of modern day policing, its successes and failings included, seen through the eyes of a man who has dedicated his life to making a difference. This is a book that every part of society can learn from.
Poison Candy: The Murderous Madam: Inside Dalia Dippolito’s Plot to Kill
Elizabeth Parker - 2014
Days later, it seemed as if all had gone according to plan. The beautiful, young Dalia came home from her health club to an elaborate crime scene, complete with yellow tape outlining her townhome and police milling about. When Sgt. Frank Ranzie of the Boynton Beach, Florida, police informed her of her husband Michael’s apparent murder, the newlywed Dippolito can be seen on surveillance video collapsing into the cop’s arms, like any loving wife would—or any wife who was pretending to be loving would. The only thing missing from her performance were actual tears.... And the only thing missing from the murder scene was an actual murder.Tipped off by one of Dalia’s lovers, an undercover detective posing as a hit man met with Dalia to plot her husband's murder while his team planned, then staged the murder scenario—brazenly inviting the reality TV show Cops along for the ride. The Cops video went viral, sparking a media frenzy: twisted tales of illicit drugs, secret boyfriends, sex-for-hire, a cuckolded former con man, and the defense’s ludicrous claim that the entire hit had been staged by the intended victim for reality TV fame.In Poison Candy, case prosecutor Elizabeth Parker teams with bestselling crime writer Mark Ebner take you behind and beyond the courtroom scenes with astonishing never-before-revealed facts, whipsaw plot twists in the ongoing appellate process, and exclusive photos and details far too lurid for the trial that led to 20 years in state prison for Dalia Dippolito.
American Predator: The Hunt for the Most Meticulous Serial Killer of the 21st Century
Maureen Callahan - 2019
John Wayne Gacy. Jeffrey Dahmer. The names of notorious serial killers are usually well-known; they echo in the news and in public consciousness. But most people have never heard of Israel Keyes, one of the most ambitious and terrifying serial killers in modern history. The FBI considered his behavior unprecedented. Described by a prosecutor as "a force of pure evil," Keyes was a predator who struck all over the United States. He buried "kill kits"--cash, weapons, and body-disposal tools--in remote locations across the country. Over the course of fourteen years, Keyes would fly to a city, rent a car, and drive thousands of miles in order to use his kits. He would break into a stranger's house, abduct his victims in broad daylight, and kill and dispose of them in mere hours. And then he would return home to Alaska, resuming life as a quiet, reliable construction worker devoted to his only daughter.When journalist Maureen Callahan first heard about Israel Keyes in 2012, she was captivated by how a killer of this magnitude could go undetected by law enforcement for over a decade. And so began a project that consumed her for the next several years--uncovering the true story behind how the FBI ultimately caught Israel Keyes, and trying to understand what it means for a killer like Keyes to exist. A killer who left a path of monstrous, randomly committed crimes in his wake--many of which remain unsolved to this day.American Predator is the ambitious culmination of years of interviews with key figures in law enforcement and in Keyes's life, and research uncovered from classified FBI files. Callahan takes us on a journey into the chilling, nightmarish mind of a relentless killer, and to the limitations of traditional law enforcement.
Escaping the Arroyo
Joyce Nance - 2012
The next morning, the girls were found in a desolate mountain arroyo; one raped and murdered, the other savagely stabbed 33 times and left for dead. As fear engulfed the University of New Mexico's quiet campus, police had few clues to assist them in tracking down the vicious killer. This book is based on the true story of what happened that night in the Sandia Mountains, a shockingly brutal crime that changed the city of Albuquerque forever. It is a gritty tale of unspeakable violence and the relentless search for justice, but it is also the story of a young woman's incredible will to live ... and her life-long struggle to escape the legacy of that deadly arroyo.
Citizen Jane
James Dalessandro - 1999
Jane Alexander had it all: A wonderful family, a beautiful home on three acres just north of San Francisco, and a deep romance with Tom O'Donnell. A family friend for 25 years prior to their romance, Tom helped Jane cope with the death of her husband, and captivated her with his charming, unflappable personality. But Jane's picturesque life came crashing down the morning that her beloved aunt was savagely murdered. Slowly, astonishingly, the evidence began to point to the last person Jane would ever believe capable of such an act: Tom O'Donnell. She soon discovered that he had fled with thousands of dollars of her money, forcing her to sell her possessions and move into a dilapidated old house. Jane would eventually learn that she was his next victim: he had secretly taken out a million dollar life insurance police on her. With and unresponsive criminal justice system and almost everyone telling her that her quest was futile, Jane devoted her entire life to tracking him down and forcing the system to do its job and get justice for her beloved aunt. But the story does not stop there: along the way, Jane met dozens of people with similar horror stories: a savagely murdered loved one, a justice system that refused to function. She and Jan Miller, whose daughter was murdered during summer break at Chico State University in a case still unsolved, founded "Citizens Against Homicide" to fight back for the victim's families. At the time of Jane Alexander's death in 2008, they had helped solve 20 cold case murders, were working on 500 homicide investigations, and had seen their organization spread to all 50 states, with more than 5,000 members. People Magazine, 48 Hours, the ABC news and a dozen other media organizations have trumpeted their exploits.
Sid Vicious
Alan G. Parker - 2008
As a veteran punk-rocker who lived briefly with Sids archives, lead to dramatic conclusions about who killed Nancy Spungeon and how Sid himself died.
Kentucky Bloodbath: Ten Bizarre Tales of Murder from the Bluegrass State
Kevin M. Sullivan - 2015
And then there’s the demented son who returns home to live with his mother and stepfather, and one night in their beautiful mansion sitting atop a high bluff overlooking the Ohio River, slaughters them. Each case will keep you on the edge of your seat. From The Author:As I began my research into past Kentucky killers and their victims, I was well aware there were a good number of very unusual homicides from the Bluegrass State, as I’d read about them over the years in newspapers accounts, heard the strange tales from relatives and friends, or watched the occasional newscasts on TV. But these sources were never in-depth studies of the cases in question; and worse still, very often, erroneous information came forth, and it wasn’t until I began the research, using the original case files, that I’d find out what really happened. And it would be in these moments of discovery, that an accurate picture of each individual tragedy would rise and take shape from the seemingly innumerable police reports and interviews of those involved. Indeed, many of these ten stories I’ve “unearthed” would have been lost forever had I not sought them out from the dusty archives and storage facilities scattered throughout the state; stories that would, ultimately, be destined for obscurity and eventual disposal as the decades dragged on. Recently, one radio interviewer, contemplating their bizarre aspects, quite rightly stated how all of these Kentucky murders resembled something out of The Twilight Zone, and I quickly had to agree with his assessment. That’s the nature of these cases, and frankly, it was what I was looking for in my quest to uncover true crime in Kentucky. From The Story "Blood In The Moonlight": “As Bauer led the officer to the side door where they entered the house through the kitchen, Kendrick asked if he knew who’d done this, and Bauer said, “No.” Just before stepping inside the home, Kendrick radioed the Emergency Medical Services unit, telling them to continue on to this address – code 3 – and that homicide units should be sent as well. Having notified dispatch, Kendrick then drew his weapon and entered a nightmare."
Women Who Kill: True Crime Stories Of Killer Women, Serial Killers And Psychopathic Women Who Kill For Pleasure
Brody Clayton - 2015
Read on your PC, Mac, smart phone, tablet or Kindle device. When male serial killers are on the loose they tend to make headlines, for example Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer. Men like these are infamous for the terror that they inflicted in the general population. Many of these men are diagnosed as psychopaths. The reasons for them going down the paths that they chose are analysed and studied and read about. There was a time however that all such crimes were always automatically linked to a man. A general perception was quite common; that there is no such thing as women serial killers and psychopaths. In fact, women killers can sometimes be more lethal, and the murders that they have committed can be just as cold and calculated as a man's. When women and men turn to murder and crime, they leave a wake of disappearances and blood in their path, a path that may be discovered after years have passed. Now, be it male or female, analysts have sat them down and assessed their mental progress. Things have changed over the decades. Their crimes are weighed in the same scales as their male counterparts, and now they can't hide themselves by claiming to be absolutely innocent. Here Is A Preview Of What You'll Learn...
Women Who Kill – Delphine La Laurie and Her House of Horrors
Women Who Kill – Elizabeth Bathory – The Blood Countess
Women Who Kill – Nannie Doss – Nancy Hazel – The Husband Killer
Women Who Kill – Nannie Doss – The Second Husband
Women Who Kill – Nannie Doss – The Third Victim
Women Who Kill – Nannie Doss – Four Husbands in a Row
Women Who Kill – Nannie Doss – Last Man Standing
Much, much more!
Download your copy today! Take action today and download this book for a limited time discount of only $2.99! If you're intrigued by the women killers of our time then download this book now! Tags: women who kill, women killers, killer women, true crime, true murder stories, murder mysteries, cold cases true crime, murders solved, killer families, unsolved murders, crimes, true crime stories,
A Tale of Two Lives - The Susan Lefevre Fugitive Story
Marie S. Walsh - 2011
As a falsely accused drug lord, escaped convict, and hunted felon from the Michigan Department of Correction, incarceration was never far from her consciousness. Sent to prison at age 19 on a minor drug offense�a 10-to-20-year sentence after she�d been promised probation�Susan Marie LeFevre chose to escape the life she�d been dealt and begin a new one. She married, raised three children, volunteered for charity events and played tennis and bridge with her many friends and neighbors�all the while carrying the secret of her past. Not even her husband knew who she really was. The explosive story of her capture played out in the news, usually with the headline starting "Fugitive Mom..." as she became a voiceless pawn shuttling across country on a prison-bound bus back to the confines of Michigan�s notoriously cruel penitentiary system. In this riveting new autobiography, Marie Walsh aka Susan LeFevre�s story begins in the fractious, idealistic 70s, delves into the world of drugs and touches on church scandal, race relations and a corrupt judicial system. Readers will experience the headiness of that all-consuming first love, the humiliation of squatting naked in a jail cell, the friendships�and enmities�forged by necessity among prison women. And finally, readers will understand the price one pays in trying to escape the past and the lessons to be learned by confronting it. Her parallel worlds were forever intertwined as the country witnessed it played out in courtrooms, news media and before public officials who ultimately decided her fate. Two lives � one story.
Loving Natalee: A Mother's Testament of Hope and Faith
Beth Holloway - 1975
In May of 2005, Beth Holloway received the worst phone call a parent can imagine. Her beautiful daughter, Natalee, had disappeared without a trace in Aruba during her high school senior class trip. Two years later, for the first time, Beth Holloway steps forward in this astonishingly candid and inspirational memoir to tell of her harrowing ordeal and her never-ending belief in the power of faith that gave her hope against all odds. Natalee's senior class picture was splashed across the front pages of the country's newspapers and on television. Desperate for a clue as to her daughter's whereabouts, Beth and an army of faithful volunteers searched tirelessly for the missing eighteen-year-old. In their pursuit of Natalee, they encountered many roadblocks. As the horror stretched out, Beth stood on her foundation of faith, which at times was all she had to give her strength against a barrage of unbearable questions with no answers. Natalee's disappearance remains unsolved and her location unknown to this day. Beth's search continues.