Book picks similar to
Drug War The Smell of Duty by Elias Rodriguez
true-crime
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Saving Stacy: The Untold Story of the Moody Massacre
Rob St. Clair - 2019
The first time the killer thought he had succeeded, and he left Stacy bleeding in her bed. But a few minutes later he must have heard her moaning and returned to her upstairs bedroom. This time he approached the bed, pointed a .22 caliber rifle at her young face, and pulled the trigger again. Then he left.Later that morning, Memorial Day, May 25, 2005, the Logan County Sheriff would declare it a rampage. According to Sheriff Henry, 18-year-old Scott Moody lived on a family farm with his mother and sister; his grandparents lived nearby. The night before his high school graduation something snapped, and Scott went on a shooting spree. He murdered his two grandparents, his mother, a high school classmate who had spent the night after a graduation party, his girlfriend, and then he turned the rifle on himself, committing suicide. He thought he had killed his 15-year-old sister, but she was life-flighted to a hospital in Columbus where she remained in critical condition. Sheriff Henry declared the mystery solved: “It was horribly tragic, a murder/suicide case.”Three days later, Stacy woke up in intensive care. When asked by the county coroner to explain what happened – clearly expecting her to say that her brother, Scott, had shot her – Stacy, in a weak, distressed voice said something else. It was an older man with gray hair, wearing a blue shirt, someone she had never seen before. And then, once again – what everyone suspected but were afraid to publicly talk about – was the Logan County Sheriff’s Office really corrupt?After Stacy was released from the hospital, Detective Jon Stout wanted to interview her in private, away from the influence of her father and stepmother. On a Sunday afternoon he took 15-year-old Stacy in his unmarked cruiser to a shaded parking lot behind the county children services building. It was there he coerced her into taking off her clothes, playfully handcuffing her to the steering wheel, and then forcibly having sex with her. It was only a matter of time before wrongful death actions were filed against Scott’s estate. That’s when Scott’s father, wanting to remove the stigma of his son’s reputation, hired outside experts, who easily refuted the idea that Scott had been the shooter. People in the community knew all along what had happened. The sheriff’s office was corrupt. Underage sex and illicit drugs had finally raised their ugly heads.
The Valley of the Shadow of Death: A Tale of Tragedy and Redemption
Kermit Alexander - 2015
The victims were Ebora Alexander, Dietra Alexander, Damani Garner, and Damon Bonner—the mother, sister, and nephews of retired All-Pro cornerback for the San Francisco 49ers Kermit Alexander. In his own words, Kermit Alexander finally shares the full story of what happened to his loved ones and the aftermath of that tragic day. He recounts the hours leading up to the massacre, and how afterward he lost himself in the LA underworld, pleading, bribing, and threatening in a search for answers. He describes his journey through the “wilderness” of despair—the years of isolation living out of his car, broke, depressed, and sick. We also learn about his coming-of-age in 1950s LA, the following decade he spent in the NFL, the events leading up to that fateful August day, and finally the shocking truth behind the murders. Kermit opens up about his darkest hours, but also what it took to turn his life around, rebuild his family, and ultimately find peace. Ominous and intense, powerful and uplifting, tragic and triumphant, The Valley of the Shadow of Death is more than a rendering of one man’s adversity; it’s testament to the value of family and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of overwhelming loss.
Sleep Peacefully
N.C. Marshall - 2015
Haunted by a recurring dream, Nat suffers from endless restless nights. The dreams show vivid images of the events leading up to Jess’s final moments, on the night she passed away. As the dreams start to progress, it soon becomes apparent that Jess’s death was more than just an accident and Nat is forced to delve into her sister’s past. She focuses on a year Jess spent travelling in Australia when she was younger, turning her attention to the places she visited and the people that she met there. Nat soon discovers that Jess held a secret, which she had kept hidden until the day she died. Could this secret be linked to her death?As the past unravels and Nat is lead closer to the truth, she starts to wonder how many other secrets Jess had kept from her, and questions if she ever really knew her sister at all...
The Life of Captain Reilly 1
J.T. O'Neil - 2011
Fatigued from overwork and dismayed by relentless cost cutting, Captain Reilly finds himself developing an unhelpful aversion to the very people who pay his salary: passengers and managers.Riding aboard a typical flight, we follow John Reilly as he struggles with the challenges facing today’s airline pilot: trying to stay awake, keeping crew food down, fending off flirtatious cabin crew and completing the crossword before landing.The Life of Captain Reilly is a shocking but hilarious tale of the low cost airline, and reveals its great secret: glamour doesn’t fly anymore.PLEASE NOTE: IF YOU HAVE A ROMANTICIZED PERCEPTION OF AIRLINE PILOTS AND COMMERCIAL AVIATION -- AND YOU WISH TO KEEP IT -- DON'T BUY THIS BOOK!ALSO, THIS IS QUITE A SHORT BOOK.
Shattered Justice: A Savage Murder and the Death of Three Families' Innocence
John Philpin - 2006
. .another destroyed.The Crowes’ neighbors in the peaceful middle classcommunity in San Diego’s North County were shockedby the savagery of the crime—a young girl murdered,stabbed repeatedly, in her own bed in the dead of night.The lack of any evidence of forced entry led the Escondidopolice to their inevitable conclusion: someone in the familywas responsible for 12-year-old Stephanie Crowe’s slaying.The investigation quickly zeroed in on the victim’s olderbrother, Michael, and two teenage friends—three lonerswho enjoyed inhabiting dark fantasy worlds of quests andviolence. Through efficient, by-the-book police work, theboys were broken down and ultimately confessed. The onlyproblem was the detectives had gotten everything wrong . . .Shattered Justice is the riveting and disturbing trueaccount of a horrific tragedy and the terrible crimethat followed—a nightmare of four innocent livesshattered, one by a killer’s blade, three byobsession and twisted law.
Tragedy in the North Woods: The Murders of James Hicks (True Crime)
Trudy Scee - 2009
Jennie Cyr disappeared in 1977. Jerilyn Towers vanished in 1982. Lynn Willette never came home on a night in 1994. Each woman had a relationship with James Hicks, who in 2000 confessed to murdering them, dismembering their bodies and burying the remains alongside rural roads in Aroostook County. This is their story. Trudy Irene Scee follows Hicks from the North Woods to west Texas, detailing three decades of evasion, investigation and prosecution. She interviews police officers and victims’ families—and meets Hicks at the state prison in Thomaston, where he remains remorseless as he lives out his days behind bars. Thoroughly researched and carefully documented, Tragedy in the North Woods is the definitive history of one of Maine's most ruthless killers. Includes photos!
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?'
Bending the Rules
Lizzie Scott - 2015
Two little boys joined our family when the bitter winter weather was still chilling our bones and their dad was absolutely destitute, no home, no money and no hope of getting his children back with a social worker who seemed to be a bit of a ladies man and favoured their mother. Steve was the second father we had met that would do anything and everything to get his children home…once he had managed to clean himself up and convince the department of Social Services that he would stay off the drink, stay away from women and that he intended to raise his sons in a happy and safe family home. We had to bend a few rules...then break a couple of them in order to help keep this family together…the rewards are immeasurable and, until now, I guess no-one but us and our nearest and dearest (and of course Elizabeth) knew how far we were willing to go to make sure that the right outcome for this placement happened in the end. This placement more than any other we have had, taught me that the determination that one man can have to save his family, against the determination of a department that knows he can’t is a powerful thing, and love really can conquer all.
Broadmoor - My Journey Into Hell
Charlie Bronson - 2015
His journey has, until now, never been told.In the winter of 1979, aged just twenty-seven, the inmate who would come to be known as 'Charlie Bronson' was considered uncontrollable by the prison system. Certified insane, he was transferred from Parkhurst Prison to the most infamous high-security psychiatric hospital in England, Broadmoor Asylum for the Criminally Insane. There he embarked on a one-man campaign to retain his sanity, and to fight against the brutality of a largely hidden regime that relied on enforced drug control.This outstandingly honest account takes the reader back to those dark days. It is a journey filled with sadness, and yet it is one that includes much laughter and pathos, as well as detailing the camaraderie among fellow patients, who included Ronnie Kray and Frankie Fraser.How Charlie Bronson survived Broadmoor, what he endured and the things he witnessed are, for the very first time, documented in this sad, often chilling, sometimes funny and often moving account of one man's journey into madness and his methods for surviving the UK's most feared and notorious psychiatric hospital. Capturing Bronson's unique voice, it is a roller-coaster ride of madness, pain, laughter and tears. It is also a testament to one man's triumph over adversity.
The Murder of Adrianne Reynolds & Other Stories: A Collection of True Crime
Pete Bird - 2019
Sarah and Cory would take Adrienne's body to Sarah's grandparents' farm where they attempted to burn it to no avail. They would then recruit another friend to help dismember the body after which they would dump it in a historic site. The three then went and ate lunch at McDonald's to celebrate their crime. What would ever possess these teens to commit such a horrific crime?
The Woodchipper Murder
Arthur Herzog III - 1989
Rita Buonanno remembers the words exactly: " If anything happens to me don't think it was an accident." Helle Crafts was last seen on November 18, 1986. In the style of a brilliant detective novel, Arthur Herzog skillfully re-creates the hour-by-hour circumstantial details that inform this grisly true-crime narrative. We observe dispassionate Richard Crafts as he buys a truck with a pintle hook for towing heavy equipment, promised for delivery before November 18. A day later he reserves a Badger Brush Bandit woodchipper.
The Creek Side Bones: Reality is more horrifying than fiction
George Jared - 2017
A friend needed help with his car. What happened to Carl, Lisa, Gregory, and Felicia that night is worse than any fictional horror story you've ever read or seen on the big screen. Little girls should never have to live in a barrel ... Award-winning journalist and best-selling author George Jared takes readers on a gripping and chilling journey with his latest true-crime book, The Creek Side Bones ... Reality is more horrifying than fiction. The book details how the Elliott family in Dalton, Ark., lived in constant fear in the summer 1998. How they met their fates is ghastly. Jared covered two murder trials in connection with the case, and provides his own theories as to how and why the Elliott family was murdered. Four other murder cases are also detailed in the book. Sidney Nicole Randall was a beauty pageant queen, about to enter high school when a monster stole her away in the dark. Bridgett Sellers was a mother of three who vanished without a trace while on a walk down Peace Valley Road. Her fate is incomprehensible. Bob Castleman was a respected attorney and Vietnam War vet until the drugs, murder, a live copperhead snake; Native American artifact fraud consumed his life. The book also includes an update on the unsolved Rebekah Gould case. The 22-year-old college student was murdered Sept. 20, 2004, in Melbourne, Arkansas. There are suspects in the case, but to this day, no one has been jailed for her brutal death. Jared has won numerous first place awards for investigative journalism, feature writing, news stories, and others with the coveted Associated Press Managing Editors and the Arkansas Press Association. His first book Witches in West Memphis ... and another false confession detailed his coverage of the internationally famous "West Memphis Three" case. Three Marion, Ark., teens - Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley Jr. - were convicted in the 1993 murders Christopher Byers, Stevie Branch, and Michael Moore. The boys' bodies were found nude and bound in a drainage ditch near their homes one day after they disappeared May 5, 1993. Prosecutors claimed the boys were sacrificed in a Satanic ceremony orchestrated by the convicted. There was only one problem. These three didn't do it. It took nearly 20 years to free them. Jared wrote more stories about the case than any journalist in the world. He was cited in Life After Death, a New York Times best-selling book about the case. He also received credit for in the Academy Award nominated documentary Paradise Lost Three ... Purgatory also about the case. Through the years, the longtime newsman has written thousands of stories on a wide range of topics. Get a copy of The Creek Side Bones today.
Wrestling With Madness: John E. Du Pont and the Foxcatcher Farm Murder
Tim Huddleston - 2013
Part of one of the most prominent and richest families in America: The du Pont Family. Then, strangely, he started losing his mind. This is what is known: du Pont was a fan of amateur sports and established a wrestling facility at his Foxcatcher Farm. He befriended several Olympic champions--including Dave Schultz, who he murdered. It was a never a question of if he did it; the question is why. What turns an otherwise sane man into a psychotic killer? This page-turning true crime story will take you into the mind of a man who had everything and let it all fall away due to madness and paranoia.
Ashes From A Burning Corpse (An American True Crime Reporter in the 20th Century Book 3)
Noel Hynd - 2017
When police found him the next morning, there were four wounds to his skull. His corpse had been abused, covered ritualistically with feathers and set on fire. The murder was perverse, horrific and jaded by anyone’s standards. A few evenings later in New York City, the phone rang in the home of Alan Hynd, identified in that era by the NY Times as America’s highest paid true crime reporter. The Oakes case would send the writer, with a quarter of a century of experience covering murders, to the Bahamas in wartime. He would try to bring truth to a case that was littered with a colorful cast of international characters and which, in its resolution, became unique in the annals of true crime. "Ashes From A Burning Corpse" is the fictionalized story of that writer’s coverage of the case – and how it changed his life forever. It is also a literary and cultural journey into New York and the colonial Bahamas of the World War Two era, a story touching upon Hemingway, Sinatra and FDR, big-shot film and Broadway producers, crooked cops, gangsters and a murder trial so big that it knocked the world war off the front pages. Welcome to what is also a literary journey into true crime, politics, book publishing and magazine work in the World War Two era, with allusions to writers from Edmond Pearson to Scott Fitzgerald. "Ashes" is part of a trilogy titled "An American True Crime Reporter in the 20th Century," three cases which were the centerpieces of a veteran real-life crime reporter’s legacy. The trilogy will also include first person novels on the original Charles Ponzi swindling case, "The Pied Piper of Boston" and the Charles Lindbergh kidnapping case, "The Crimes of The Century." The latter two titles will appear in early 2018 and feature the same writer/reporter at earlier stages of his long career. Noel Hynd is the author of more than a dozen novels, originally published by Doubleday, Dial, Bantam, Tor, Kensington, Zondervan/HarperCollins, and currently, his own imprint, Red Cat Tales LLC Publishing of Los Angeles, California. He has sold more than 7 million books worldwide, including hardcover, trade paperback, mass market paperback, Literary Guild and digital editions. His best known titles in the espionage genre are "Flowers From Berlin" and "Truman's Spy." In the supernatural genre, his best known titles are "Ghosts" and "Cemetery of Angeles." "Ingenious...Suspense fiction that stands out!" - New York Times "Noel Hynd knows the ins and outs of Washington's agencies both public and private" - Publishers Weekly "A few notches above the Ludlums and Clancys of the world." - Booklist
Missing: Missing Without Trace in Ireland
Barry Cummins - 2003
Looking at who may be responsible for these disappearances, this book outlines the fact that some of Ireland's most cold and calculating killers have not been caught.