Book picks similar to
Pure Murder by Corey Mitchell
true-crime
non-fiction
nonfiction
crime
Dead Reckoning
Caitlin Rother - 2011
They were delighted when former child star Skylar Deleon and his pregnant wife Jennifer offered cash to purchase their 55-foot yacht The Well Deserved. . . Bad Couple But a trial voyage turned into a nightmare. Out at sea, the Hawkses begged for their lives as they were forced to sign everything over to Skylar. In return, they were tied to the ship's anchor and thrown overboard--alive. . . Dead Couple Skylar and Jennifer's twisted story became even more shocking when Skylar's unusual sexual motivations were revealed in court. After killing a man while out of jail on work furlough, he reportedly tried to hire hits from prison on four witnesses, including his father. . . For this former child actor, the answer to "Where Are They Now?" is Death Row. "A thrilling account of murder and mayhem." --M. William Phelps "A chilling read by a writer at the top of her game." --Gregg Olsen "A breathless tale of unthinkable events that no true crime fan should miss." --Katherine Ramsland 16 Pages Of Shocking Photos!
Judgment Ridge: The True Story Behind the Dartmouth Murders
Dick Lehr - 2003
Investigators searched helplessly for clues linking the victims, Half and Susanne Zantop, to their murderer or murderers. A few weeks later, across the river, in the town of Chelsea, Vermont, police cars were spotted in front of the house of high school senior Robert Tulloch. The police had come to question Tulloch and his best friend, Jim Parker. Soon, the town discovered the incomprehensible reality that Tulloch and Parker, two of Chelsea's brightest and most popular sons, were now fugitives, wanted for the murders of Half and Susanne Zantop.Authors Mitchell Zuckoff and Dick Lehr provide a vivid explication of a murder that captivated the nation, as well as dramatic revelations about the forces that turned two popular teenagers into killers. Judgement Ridge conveys a deep appreciation for the lives (and the devastating loss) of Half and Susanne Zantop, while also providing a clear portrait of the killers, their families, and their community—and, perhaps, a warning to any parent about what evil may lurk in the hearts of boys.
Doc: The Rape of the Town of Lovell
Jack Olsen - 1989
Story's office.In riveting detail, veteran crime writer Jack Olsen tells the searing story of a small group of courageous women who decided to bring a doctor to justice and unearthed a legacy of pain and anger that would divide their families, their neighbors, and an entire town.
Foreign Faction - Who Really Kidnapped JonBenet?
A. James Kolar - 2012
Diametrically opposing theories of her kidnap and murder were publicly espoused by Boulder Detective Steve Thomas and retired Colorado Springs investigator Lou Smit in 2000 after a grand jury failed to announce an indictment, or release an official report regarding their year-long inquiry into the matter. This was the last time that any authoritative law enforcement voice stepped forward to explore the innermost details of this unsolved murder investigation. Foreign Faction blows the cover off the lone-intruder / sexual predator theory, and reveals startling new evidence that heretofore has only been seen by a select few. Kolar's work offers an entirely new perspective for the events leading up to JonBenet's murder on Christmas Day 1996, and it will ultimately redifine the public perception of one of the most unusual murder investigations this country has ever witnessed.
I Would Find a Girl Walking
Kathy Kelly - 2011
And here I am, single, haveing no fun at all. Then I would go out riding around and I would find a girl walking..."-Gerald StanoHis licence plate read: No riders except blondes, brunettes, and redheads. With his flared polyester pants, open nylon shirt, and disco music on his eight track, Gerald Stano believed he was quite the ladies' man. And should a girl dare fracture his ego, he killed her.By the time he was twenty-eight, Gerald confessed to murdering up to forty women over an eleven-year period. How they died was left to the moment: strangled, stabbed, drowned, or shot. Why? They crossed Gerald's path and were tossed out like trash. But there were other troubling questions: How did this obsessive loner lure so many women into his car? And how could so many appalling crimes go unconnected for so long?Based on exclusive access to the killer-and extensive correspondence with him-as well as interviews with the lead investigator and the victims' families, this is a revealing, shocking, and unflinching portrait of a man who fancied himself one of the greatest lady-killers of them all.
Forcible Confinement: Monstrous Crimes of the Modern Age
John Marlowe - 2011
Down-and-out millionaire Gary Heidnik wallpapered his hallway with $5 bills, anointed himself bishop of his own religion and began collecting 'wives', women he abducted from the street and kept chained up in a pit. Bondage freak Izabela Lewicka willingly signed a 115-item contract giving John Edward Robinson complete control over her life, but she never imagined it was a license to kill. Forcible Confinement is a study of the warped thinking that went into some of the world's most macabre crimes, as well as a clinical examination of the purpose-built rooms, hidden spaces and soundproofed dungeons prepared for victims. From the massive 'Murder Castle' once used by Dr H. H. Holmes to prey upon those attending the 1893 Chicago World's Fair to the hell house where self-professed sex-addict Ariel Castro kept three women in chains for more than ten years, the book examines famous cases of the past along with many from the modern age. John Marlowe takes the reader on a disturbing journey through a world of murder and mayhem, providing insight into evil and the motivations of monsters.
Death Sentence: The Inside Story of the John List Murders
Joe Sharkey - 1990
Until 1971, life was good for mild-mannered accountant John List. He was vice president of a Jersey City bank and had moved his mother, wife, and three teenage children into a nineteen-room home in Westfield, New Jersey. But all that changed when he lost his job. Raised by his Lutheran father to believe success meant being a good provider, List saw himself as an utter failure. Straining under financial burdens, the stress of hiding his unemployment, as well as the fear that the free-spirited 1970s would corrupt the souls of his children, List came to a shattering conclusion. “It was my belief that if you kill yourself, you won’t go to heaven,” List told Connie Chung in a television interview. “So eventually I got to the point where I felt that I could kill them. Hopefully they would go to heaven, and then maybe I would have a chance to later confess my sins to God and get forgiveness.” List methodically shot his entire family in their home, managing to conceal the deaths for weeks with a carefully orchestrated plan of deception. Then he vanished and started over as Robert P. Clark. Chronicling List’s life before and after the grisly crime, Death Sentence exposes the truth about the accountant-turned-killer, including his revealing letter to his pastor, his years as a fugitive with a new name—and a new wife—his eventual arrest, and the details of his high-profile trial. Revised and updated, this ebook also includes photos.
Blind Faith
Joe McGinniss - 1989
Rob Marshall was the big breadwinner, king of the country club set. Maria Marshall was his stunningly beautiful wife and the perfect mom to their three great kids. Then one night Rob, his head bloodied, reported Maria had been brutally slain. Sympathy poured in - until disquieting facts began to surface...and the true story of adultery, gambling, drugs and murder tore the mask off Rob Marshall and the blinders off the town that thought he could do no wrong...
Anne Perry and the Murder of the Century
Peter Graham - 2011
Half an hour later, the girls returned alone, claiming that Pauline's mother had had an accident. But when Honora Parker was found in a pool of blood with the brick used to bludgeon her to death close at hand, Juliet and Pauline were quickly arrested, and later confessed to the killing. Their motive? A plan to escape to the United States to become writers, and Honora's determination to keep them apart. Their incredible story made shocking headlines around the world and would provide the subject for Peter Jackson's Academy Award-nominated film, Heavenly Creatures.A sensational trial followed, with speculations about the nature of the girls' relationship and possible insanity playing a key role. Among other things, Parker and Hulme were suspected of lesbianism, which was widely considered to be a mental illness at the time. This mesmerizing book offers a brilliant account of the crime and ensuing trial and shares dramatic revelations about the fates of the young women after their release from prison. With penetrating insight, this thorough analysis applies modern psychology to analyze the shocking murder that remains one of the most interesting cases of all time.
Daddy's Little Secret: A Daughter's Quest to Solve Her Father's Brutal Murder
Denise Wallace - 2016
In her quest to assist the detectives, the daughter and author discovers deadly secrets that could help her father's killer escape the death penalty, should she come forward.From the Book: "He cruised by slowly, peering intently over his steering wheel at the well-manicured grounds. Though he had been brought up in the Bible Belt of North Carolina, Wes had not attended worship services there. He had gone to the church on this day for another reason: Derek Carney.Carney was a twenty-two-year-old white youth who had been sleeping on the church grounds. Wes wanted to once again offer him a place to stay for the night and was hoping the young man would take him up on the offer this time. The young heroin addict had discovered that he could shoot up in the bathroom of the church despite his filthy, disheveled appearance and not get caught. Most other churches kept their facilities locked at night, but the pastor, Reverend Bill Withers, had a notoriously kind heart. The first time he had come across Carney sleeping on the church lawn, he had awoken him, invited him in for counsel, and taken him to breakfast.As Wes passed in his car the reverend gave him a wave from the open door of the church. Wes waved back at him and grinned, then threw his head back and took a long drag on his Marlboro cigarette."From the author: What surprises me about the book is my love of Florida that comes through. Not only is the book an inside look at the complex and fascinating psyche of my father, it is also a historical look at south Florida and it's colorful past. The reader gets to experience places like E. R. Bradley's Saloon on the island of Palm Beach, where patrons were known to have danced on the bar as it became a rowdy party scene after dark.
The Onion Field
Joseph Wambaugh - 1973
This is the frighteningly true story of two young cops and two young robbers whose separate destinies fatally cross one March night in a bizarre execution in a deserted Los Angeles field.
Rites Of Burial
Tom Jackman - 1992
Written by Tom Jackman, the local investigative journalist who covered the story, and Troy Cole, the chief investigating officer, "Rites Of Burial" tells the gruesome true story of Robert Berdella, a serial killer whose inhuman crimes of murder and dismemberment might have served to inspire Jeffrey Dahmer's Milwaukee slaughter.
The Stranger She Loved: A Mormon Doctor, His Beautiful Wife, and an Almost Perfect Murder
Shanna Hogan - 2015
Martin MacNeill—a doctor, lawyer, and Mormon bishop—discovered his wife of 30 years dead in the bathtub of their Pleasant Grove, Utah home, her face bearing the scars of a facelift he persuaded her to undergo just a week prior.At first the death of 50-year-old Michele MacNeill, a former beauty queen and mother of eight, appeared natural. But days after the funeral when Dr. MacNeill moved his much younger mistress into the family home, his children grew suspicious. Conducting their own investigation into their mother's death, the MacNeill's daughters uncovered their father's multiple marital affairs, past criminal record, and falsified college transcripts he used to con his way into medical school. It would take six long years to solve the mystery of Michele's murder and secure a first-degree murder conviction against the once prominent doctor. New York Times bestselling author Shanna Hogan delves into the high-profile case, unmasking the monster beneath the doctor's carefully concocted façade.
Murder in Mississippi
John Safran - 2013
A year later, he heard that the man had been murdered – and what was more, the killer was black.At first the murder seemed a twist on the old Deep South race crimes. But then more news rolled in. Maybe it was a dispute over money, or most intriguingly, over sex. Could the infamous racist actually have been secretly gay, with a thing for black men? Did Safran have the last footage of him alive? Could this be the story of a lifetime? Seizing his Truman Capote moment, he jumped on a plane to cover the trial.Over six months, Safran got deeper and deeper into the South, becoming entwined in the lives of those connected with the murder – white separatists, black campaigners, lawyers, investigators, neighbours, even the killer himself. And the more he talked with them, the less simple the crime, and the world, seemed.Murder in Mississippi is a brilliantly innovative true-crime story. Taking us places only he can, Safran paints an engrossing, revealing portrait of a dead man, his murderer, the place they lived and the process of trying to find out the truth about anything.
Framed: Why Michael Skakel Spent Over a Decade in Prison For a Murder He Didn't Commit
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. - 2016
What ensued was a media firestorm and a whodunit that transfixed the nation, providing daily debates—and cruel, dinner table entertainment. Now, forty years after Michael Skakel’s conviction, his cousin, acclaimed activist and writer Robert Kennedy, Jr., has taken matters into his own hands to get the charges dropped and clear his cousin’s name.This startling expose—a page-turning, true story of murder, romance, and fame—is the story of Skakel’s conviction that the public has never before been prevue to. It is the product of hundreds of interviews with Skakel and those who knew him, Martha Moxley, and what may have happened the night of the crime, Halloween eve. It also explores why Kennedy believes Skakel has yet to receive a fair trial, and why he demands the original verdict be overturned.This is a heart-wrenching story with a powerful cast of characters. It opens the doors for the public into what was once a “perfect” Greenwich community and how a crime shook an elite family. Kennedy presents the evidence through enlightening text, photographs, and new interviews, and allows readers to decide, given the facts, what they believe really happened to Martha and if, forty years after his crucifixion, Michael Skakel should finally walk free.