Book picks similar to
The Unholy Ghost Murder by J.B. Smith


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The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann: What really happened?


Chelsea Hoffman - 2016
    What really happened to missing child Madeleine McCann? Crime writer Chelsea Hoffman delves into the evidence against the girl's parents, as well as the numerous theories in her case, with never-before-seen exclusive interviews and a look at the media madness surrounding this mysterious disappearance.

The Palm Beach Murder: The True Story of a Millionaire, Marriage and Murder


Marion Collins - 2004
    But when the reckless social climber and adulterer turned marriage in their Palm Beach mansion into a luxurious hell, the beautiful Georgia debutante wanted out--and half of her husband's fortune to take with her.Then in 1987, a hit man unloaded three bullets into Lita's head.Her family demanded justice. James had other plans--and the money to insure it. But it wasn't until eleven years later that a startling confession from a surprise witness would bring James Sullivan's comfortable life crashing down around him. The cold-blooded millionaire was indicted and fled the country turning hotspots across the globe into exotic private playgrounds before settling with his new fiancée in a sumptuous resort near Bangkok, where he was arrested four years later. From Palm Beach elite to life in a squalid Thailand jail cell, Marion Collins' Palm Beach Murder is the astonishing true story of one man's flight from justice and one family's burning desire to make him pay.

Principal Suspect: The True Story of Dr. Jay Smith and the Main Line Murders


William C. Costopoulos - 1996
    Jay Smith, a high school principal and her accused killer. The naked body of Susan Reinert, a suburban, Philadelphia school teacher was found jammed into the hatchback of a car. Her two young children were missing and never found.Thus began one of the most prominent murder cases Pennsylvania history, and one that would grip the nation. Now the defense attorney for the main suspect of the murders-- Jay Smith, the principal of the school where Reinert taught-- takes you inside the cover-ups and corruption that dramatically affected the outcome of the case. Did Jay Smith do it? Did he deserved the death penalty? it is you who must decide.

Secrets from the Grave


Maria Eftimiades - 1998
    Then, a single shot rang out. Moments later, Marty Dillon, a promising young lawyer, was dead of a gunshot wound to the chest. His friend, Dr. Stephen Scher, later tearfully explained that Dillon had been running with a shotgun after a porcupine, and tripped and fell, accidentally killing himself. But what really happened?Marty Dillon's violent death was immediately declared an accident by the local coroner in 1976. But as Dillon's body was lowered into the cold ground, did a damning secret, one that would haunt his friends and family for decades, go with him?* Were rumors of an affair between Dr. Scher and Marty's wife, Pat, true?* Why did the couple marry so soon after Dillon's death?* If the shot was self-inflicted, why did the bullet come from Dr. Scher's gun?* What was it about Dillon's bloody wound that cast suspicion on Scher?After 20 years of pleading with authorities, and finally hiring their own investigators, Dillon's parents persuaded the Pennsylvania State Police to reopen the case. They exhumed Dillon's body - and his decayed remains told the real story of that tragic day two decades earlier. On October 22, 1997, Dr. Stephen Scher was convicted of the murder of Marty Dillon - final justice for a cold-blooded killer who for 20 years thought he had gotten away with murder.

Who Killed Scott Guy?: The Case That Gripped a Nation


Mike White - 2013
    A behind the scenes view of the murder trial that gripped the nation.

Remembering Rachel: The story of Rachel O'Reilly's life and brutal death - by her mother


Rose Callaly - 2009
    An account by Rose Calally of the tragic death of her daughter Rachel

The Sophie Lancaster Story


Catherine Smyth - 2016
    The beatings and subsequent murder made international news. This book was written by an investigative journalist who became extremely close to the families of the victims. WITH PHOTOS

Marrying the Hangman: A True Story of Privilege, Marriage and Murder


Sheila Weller - 1992
    A riveting true-crime story, and a searing indictment of our legal system's approach to the family. 8-page photo insert.

True Crime Stories: Twisted Tales of True Crime: Murders, Disappearances, and Serial Killers


Hannah J. Tidy - 2020
    

Blood & Marriage: Chris Watts: With these hands


Kathleen McKenna Hewtson - 2021
    

Another Forgotten Child: Free Sampler: Too Late to Help? A Shocking True Story of Abuse and Neglect


Cathy Glass - 2015
    Her five older siblings were taken into care many years ago. So no one can understand why she was left at home to suffer for so long. It seems Aimee was forgotten.The social services are looking for a very experienced foster carer to look after Aimee and, when she reads the referral, Cathy understands why. Despite her reservations, Cathy agrees to Aimee on – there is something about her that reminds Cathy of Jodie (the subject of ‘Damaged’ and the most disturbed child Cathy has cared for), and reading the report instantly tugs at her heart strings.When she arrives, Aimee is angry. And she has every right to be. She has spent the first eight years of her life living with her drug-dependent mother in a flat that the social worker described as ‘not fit for human habitation’. Aimee is so grateful as she snuggles into her bed at Cathy’s house on the first night that it brings Cathy to tears.Aimee’s aggressive mother is constantly causing trouble at contact, and makes sweeping allegations against Cathy and her family in front of her daughter as well. It is a trying time for Cathy, and it makes it difficult for Aimee to settle. But as Aimee begins to trust Cathy, she starts to open up. And the more Cathy learns about Aimee’s life before she came into care, the more horrified she becomes.It’s clear that Aimee should have been rescued much sooner and as her journey seems to be coming to a happy end, Cathy can’t help but reflect on all the other ‘forgotten children’ that are still suffering…

The Truth Is Out There: Madeleine


Peter Scharrenberg - 2017
    In fact they said that he was gone for 30 minutes. Nobody knows what he did during that crucial period. Except for an Irish family, who believe they saw him downtown carrying a little blond girl. Read all about this and about the statements of the tapas-9, the forensic results, the lies, the strange behaviour of the parents, the Madeleine fund, the false timeline and the Portugese and British police investigation. Read also about a frustrated catholic priest, a retired businessman, a dishonest key witness, an impossible burglary and the mysterious pool picture. Make up your own mind about what happened to Madeleine on that dramatic evening in May 2007.

Nightmare in the Sun - Their Dream of Buying a Home in Spain Ended in their Brutal Murder


Danny Collins - 2007
    Within a week of their arrival, the couple had vanished. Welsh detectives, alerted by large sums of cash withdrawn from the couple's UK bank accounts, launched their own missing persons inquiry. Daughter Nicola Welch, frantic with worry but with no idea of what really happened, made an appeal on 'Crimewatch' for her parents to get in touch. Six months after the couple's disappearance, following emailed ransom demands from a mysterious figure codenamed Phoenix, Spainish police recovered the bodies of the couple from under the cellar floor of a villa in Alcoy, 40 kilometres inland.. The full horrifying story was pieced toegther in a painstaking investigation. The O'Malleys had been tricked into viewing a property, held captive for five days and forced to hand over the money they'd saved for their deposit. When they were no longer of use, they were callously disposed of in the cellar of the very house they'd hoped would be their dream home. In April 2006, two men from Venezuela were found guilty by a Spanish court of kidnap, robbery, torture and murder. Jorge Real Sierra was jailed for 62 years and Jose Antonio Velazquez Gonzales for 54 years.Investigative journalist Danny Collins helped North Wales officers track down the killers in a tense search that saw his life threatened and took him into the rough and tumble of a Benidorm underworld never seen by tourists. This story is a cautionary tale for all who seek an escape to the Mediterranean sun.

Run at Destruction: A True Fatal Love Triangle


Lynda Drews - 2009
    Drews unfolds the drama brilliantly, right through to the sentencing of the husband to a life in prison and even an afterword from the mistress apologizing years later. Sent to prison, the husband and mistress still can't let go and she becomes a prison bride.Readers are left to decide for themselves if it was murder, suicide, or manslaughter by neglect. Run at Destruction is lust, murder, and obsession delivered with the beat of a runner's heart, as the theme of running is woven throughout. The book grabs at a large cross-section of readers because everyone can relate to the desire and often disaster that comes with affairs.This is true-crime court drama and author Drews exposes the characters to such a depth that readers will feel like they are reading a novel, only, this really happened.

Why Not Kill Her: A Juror's Perspective: The Jodi Arias Death Penalty Retrial


Paul A. Sanders Jr. - 2015
    The killer went to great lengths to cover up her crime including sending his grandmother flowers, going to the memorial service, driving by the victim’s house and calling the lead investigator, Detective Esteban Flores. This incident took place in a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona. It would be five years before this case of capital murder would be put in front of a jury to decide the fate of Jodi Arias although the fate of Travis Alexander had been set in stone. Was she a cold, calculating murderess or was she a victim of extreme domestic violence at the hands of an abusive boyfriend? The first jury was left to decide in 2013. It was the most watched trial of the century. The jury decided that Jodi Arias was guilty of first-degree murder with cruel and heinous circumstances which qualified her for the death penalty. The jury could not reach a decision in the penalty phase and justice was delayed. A new jury, drawn from a pool of four hundred people, was drawn for the highly anticipated retrial of Jodi Arias. On October 21, 2014, a jury of nineteen was given the responsibility of deciding whether Jodi Arias should live or die for her crime. So began a retrial that would last almost five months with Juan Martinez and Detective Flores representing the State of Arizona and the return of Kirk Nurmi and Jennifer Willmott speaking to the defense of the convicted killer. The journey will walk the reader through the meticulous actions of the courtroom and extend to an appellate court, a municipal court and a day in the in the original courthouse in phoenix, Arizona. The trial speaks toward the long arm of the law and the implications of decisions made daily. With the help of former jurors of the Jodi Arias death penalty retrial, the reader will step into the jury box when Jodi Arias was on the witness stand and reach a climax when the reader accompanies the jury foreman into the deliberation room as the jury decides the fate of the defendant. “The lambs to the law were now executors of the law. It was humbling, intimidating and powerful at the same time. It was also the time that the jurors’ souls would be tested for truths and experiences that would mark many discussions in the deliberation room. The jury would remember Travis Alexander and what was done to him.” Why Not Kill her is the suspenseful follow-up to the authors first book, Brain Damage: A Juror’s Tale, the true story of being a death penalty juror on the case of Marissa DeVault and the brutal killing of Dale Harrell. The third revised edition is now available in honor of Dale Harrell. Take a journey into the life of Travis Alexander and a search for truth and justice. Somehow, Lady Justice will wield her sword and the end of a seven year saga would be realized but in no way that anyone could have anticipated. Special thanks to True Crime Radio, Trial Talk Live, the Trial Diaries, FOX 10, ABC, NBC and CBS. The author would also like to thank those who supported this work on Go Fund Me with extra recognition to the administrators and fans of Juan Martinez Prosecutor Support Page, The State vs. Jodi Arias, Joey Jackson Fan Page, Justice For Travis, Justice 4 Dale, Justice For Travis Alexander and His Family, Court Chatter, Beth Karas on Crime, Gavel geeks, Trial Watchers, The House That Travis Built, Understanding The Travesties of Unexpected Murder Trials and For The Love of Travis. This work could not have happened without your support! Why Not Kill Her is dedicated to Travis Alexander, his family and all those whom he touched in his short life.