No comments about Bad Blood: The Marin County Murders.

2 comments about Perfect Justice: A True Crime Book.

1. Note from the author, Don Lasseter. Retired Judge Donald A. McCartin, about whom Perfect Justice was written, received the following letter which, with the writer's permission, he wants to share with Amazon.com:
   
   From D. Kevin Lester, MD, Asst Clinical Professor, University of California, San Francisco.
   November 9, 2004
   Dear Judge McCartin:
   I very much enjoyed reading your book, which took me only two days. Frankly, I am a slow reader, but it is an intriguing book and kept my interest throughout. Rarely does a person's interesting and fascinating, principled life get the opportunity to be written such as this. Don Lasseter was probably the perfect author for this book, since he is used to this sort of depiction. The layout of the book was captivating.
   
   I am not going to have my wife read it since she would get nightmares, and I must admit that, since reading it, I have worried a little bit more about my adult children living in thet area where these tragedies took place. Linda and I lived in Long Beach during my time in medical school, on the peninsula in Belmont Shore, so reading the book brought back memories, and I could easily picture where and how these activities occurred.
   
   I very much enjoyed reading your own life story and chuckled with the recent occurrence you had in Madera.... I most enjoyed the reiteration of your life's story and principles that remain a beacon for many.
   Sincerely yours,
   D. Kevin Lester, M.D.



2. Forgiveness is an enormous virtue yet we have to realize that we live in a world where the rule of law must prevail and criminals and conspirators have to face the consequences of their actions. To do otherwise is to establish bad precedence. Extending it a step further every person who is a part of an evil conspiracy, whether physically or in their hearts (motivated by personal selfishness or misplaced fear of the unknown) must repent. The forgiveness should be in our hearts and that is indispensable for closure and for peaceful existence.

4 comments about Blood Money.

1. I picked this book up because a good friend of mine was involved in this case. This is a typical "true crime" book, fairly well written. The author keeps your attention throughout.

   If you like this type of book, I recommend it. May be too graphic for some...




2. Although Mr. Linedecker offers much detail, he also attempts to write this book with the hopes of selling the script to Hollywood so some details are sensationalized for that purpose.

   Unfortunately, Mr. Linedecker does not give ANY details regarding the strict upbringing of the boys at Fairhaven Christian Academy and their family's attendance at Fairhaven Baptist Church in Chesterton In for several years leading up to the time of the murders. Mr. Paul Witte was a member in high regard within the early church there, as was his mother - both of the murder victims.

   Instead Mr. Linedecker begins with a fanciful legend based loosely on fact regarding an early local Lakeshore resident and how in his mind the stories were similar in sensationalism.

   Having attended grade school with Eric, I found the author's focus misleading and disappointing. I wanted more of a profile and less of a National Enquirer version with fabrications made and details left out.




3. The house that the grandmother was killed in is the same house I live in. My parents were the ones that bought the house at the auction. I sleep in the same room that the grandmother was killed in. The ironic thing is that my father is best friends with the person that they bought the trash compactor from in LaPorte,Indiana. At least the house was blessed and then my mom went into labor with me.



4. I felt this was a very good book and had a hard time putting it down, infact I bought it twice because the fist time around I gave it to somebody to read and I wanted to read it again.

2 comments about Lynch Law.

1. One of the most realistic writings of midwestern history that I've ever read. The author made you feel like you were right there during the trial and lynching. What an exciting book! We are expecting great things from this author!



2. I just returned from the Pekin area. I finished reading "Lynch Law" this past winter. I enjoyed detail the writer used in describing the area. I felt like I knew the area when I drove arrived in the Pekin area. I found the book to be acruate in its lay out of the towns and area. I plan to reread the book now that I have been in the area. I enjoyed the mixture of history and mystery.

5 comments about The Man Who Could Not Kill Enough: The Secret Murders of Milwaukee's Jeffrey Dahmer.

1. This book was written by the Milwaukee Journal crime reporter who was the first reporter on the scene when Jeffrey Dahmer's personal slaughterhouse was revealed to the public on July 23, 1991. This book was published the following year and as such it doesn't have the benefit of time with which to look back on the murderer that shocked Milwaukee and the nation. Of course, Jeffrey Dahmer himself didn't have much time, either -- he was killed in prison in November 1994 by a delusional fellow inmate.

   Dahmer's misdeeds are widely known, if only in part, but this book does bring forth the full horror in the very first chapter. Working the crime beat, Anne E. Schwartz, the wife of a cop who frequently got to go "under the yellow tape" for a closer look, was one of the few who actually got to stand in Dahmer's cramped, fetid apartment. Upon entering, she first noticed the general clutter and the trappings of a gay single man: potato chip bags, cigarette butts in an ashtray, and posters of muscular hunks adorning the walls. But she also couldn't help but notice the twisted and macabre additions that lurked in every room: a filing cabinet containing multiple human skulls, a scrapbook containing photos of partially dismembered corpses, containers of formaldehyde and chloroform, not to mention various bones and decomposing body parts. She knew this would be the case of a lifetime and in fact she was the one who broke the story.

   Schwartz's carefully compiled narrative follows Dahmer from his younger days to the last eighteen months of his life before his arrest, a time he used to kill a dozen men. The book starts strong because the story is simply so shocking. But Schwartz has also spoken personally to many members of the victims' families. Their stories really frame the tragedy, and Schwartz does keep the book moving, but the book nevertheless begins to be less about Dahmer at this point. And while not many other authors would have had the perspective on Milwaukee to address just how badly this case fractured the city and exposed raw racial divisions, the book really ceased to be about Dahmer at this point. I felt it lost its focus. The story of Milwaukee is certainly one that needed to be told -- just not in a book with this particular title.

   For those interested in "profiling" or criminal motive, this book will disappoint you. It's not a detective story, either. Schwartz does go into some depth regarding Dahmer's relationship with his probation officer (recall that Dahmer was on probation when he killed many of his victims) and these details reveal just how sad, miserable, and lonely Jeffrey Dahmer was in the last year of his freedom. But for the most part, this is a book that will appeal mostly to avid Dahmer fans or to those who want to read about the fallout from the case on the city of Milwaukee, its Police Department, and its citizens. It might also hold interest for those who are interested in how journalists work with police departments to report on crime.

   Those of us who are looking for explanations might instead turn to Robert Ressler's book on serial killers, I Have Lived in the Monster. There is a lengthy interview with Dahmer perforated with Ressler's commentary that helps explain why Dahmer felt compelled to commit such acts of violence.




2. I quite enjoyed this book, but found it was in part poorly researched. Dahmer was never cruel to animals, in fact he loved them and would look after them , as did another notorious 'cannibal' killer, Dennis Nielsen, who also killed for company. It was only dead animals eg.road kill that he dissected.
   I have also read Brian Master's book , "The Shrine of Jeffrey Dahmer" and was more impressed, although I was surprised he would put Dahmer and Ted Bundy in the same category.
   Dahmer was an extremely sick human being, but not a torturer.Sadly we will never know what mental illness made him commit these horrific crimes which ruined the lives of so many families.
   I don't recommend this book.



3. I would not recommend this book at all. It seems to me that this author used the book to brag that she's married to a cop and has an inside scoop on everything instead of using it to tell us the story of Dahmer. I have read many Dahmer books from different points of view and this one was my least favorite. I guess it's worth a read but be warned, it isn't the greatest Dahmer book there is.



4. This manages to make Dahmer's macabre story boring by stiffly recounting the tale in chronological fashion. The writer, a cop's wife and a Milwaukee newspaper reporter who was first on the scene, doesn't really have the skill to write a full length book. She needed a ghost writer to make the facts come alive. It reads like a long and dull newspaper article. With so many better accounts on the market, don't bother with this one.



5. I was interested for the first few chapters, and then completely lost interest, which is crazy because I find the whole Dahmer story very intriguing. She talks far too much about journalism and what the police went through rather than telling about what was going on with Dahmer during all this, and it just seemed to me like she was bragging about being a good journalist who was in with the cops and that she was married to one. It took me weeks to read it just because I kept having to force myself to go on reading about all these things when I just wanted to know more about the man himself. She went to far off topic, it read like an extremely long drawn out newspaper article, and I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.

5 comments about Sex Kill: Lust crimes that shocked a generation!.

1. 
   One month ago, my wife and some of the other women in the neighborhood decided to clean out the attics and hold a combined garage sale. Towards the end of the sale when most of the other wives have left a creepy guy in a white van shows up and starts to look at everything --- a bit too long, around 35 minutes. He is interested in every item and asks questions like, "do you have more of these (coins, comics, books, baseball card, dvds, etc.) for sale in the house?" Then he tells Lynn (the woman who was holding the sale) that he was a plumber/electrician/carpenter and he was will to work cheap and he noticed a section of shingles on Lynn's roof that appeared to be loose and could lead to water damage. At this time my wife slipped away to call me (only four houses away.) When she was gone, he asked to see the attic and when Lynn refused he asked to use the bathroom. This is when I showed up. Before I confronted him, I walked up to his van and took the plate number. This caused him to drop his act and with out another word he drove away.
   
   Five days ago I received SEX KILL in the mail. One of the chapters was about a man who answered classified ads early in the morning in order to rape housewives who are still in their robes and pajamas. The account was terrifying and struck accord with me. I reported the garage sale incident and the plate number to the police who did have a previous report of a man passing out home improvement flyers door-to-door who tried to force his way into a home. When they retrieved a flyer, they discovered that the phone number on it was bogus and the investigation turned cold.
   
   I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the abhorrent nature of the pervert/rapist/killer as cautionary tales, yet not to fall into the same traps as so many other unfortunate victims. But I would also offer this warning: SEX KILL is a hard and brutal read that accurately reflects a hard and brutal world.



2. 
   David Jacobs author of the COURT TV book series dredges the pitch-black swamp of true crime for this hyperbolic collection of the perverted accounts of love-struck necrophiles, degenerate kiddie-snatchers, serial lust killers and sadistic torturers of the innocent. This is Jacob's hardest book to date, easily usurping his 1993 SEX SADISTS - FROM THE FILES OF TRUE DETECTIVE MAGAZINE in both tone and graphic detail and, needless to say, is NOT for the young or emotionally immature.



3. Detailing some of the most famous true crime stories of all time, SEX KILL is ***NOT*** for the weak of heart.
   
   Beginning with X-ray technician Karl Tanzler - a man who could not distinguish reality from his twisted fantasy, to Frank Heideman - the rapist and murderer of the teenager Marie Smith, these fiends ultimately did pay the price for their evil, but not before destroying the lives of innocents and their families.
   
   For fans of true crime from decades past, the lesson to be learned here is that these times of American prosperity carried with them a dark underbelly of evil that manifested in small towns, big cities, and from the minds of these cold-blooded sadists - and that (figuratively speaking) the children and grandchildren of these evils continue to manifest today, with the only protection being strict vigilance.
   



4. SEX KILL collects some of the prior century's most horrific true stories of crime, with the period flavoring of Detective/True Crime Magazines like POLICE DRAGNET CASES and MASTER DETECTIVE.
   
   More than just police reports, these stories present with an intensity and emotion that that is unmatched even today.
   
   For any fan of books/movies like L.A. Confidential (Two-Disc Special Edition) this is one book that you have to add to your collection!



5. Sex Kill is a compilation of true stories based on the crimes of some of the most sinister (and demented) minds to exist. To paraphrase one of my favorite movies, it reads like a tale of demon's machinations - stories of murder, sadism and terror.
   
   These criminals might be called "mad dogs" - but the reality is that many of them were sane, and had the presence of mind to know right from wrong. Unfortunately for their victims, they chose the path of the latter, where concepts such a morality and decency simply do not exist.
   
   If you are a fan of True Crime, the book is a must have.

4 comments about An Act Of Murder.

1. This is one of the worst, if not THE worst, true crime books I've ever read (and I've read quite a few). If you're looking for the facts of the Kimberly Hricko case, they're all here, but you'd be better off surfing the web and reading court transcripts than slogging through Ms. Rosencrance's repetitive, shallow, and virtually unreadable book. It's quite a shame, as there's a lot to the story - infidelity, arson, poisoning, and of course murder. The problem is that the author provides virtually no description of Kimberly Hricko, no insight as to her background, no real explanation of her motives, and buries the story under a lot of third-person he-said-she-said dialogue, most of which is repetitive and adds nothing to the story. Ms Rosencrance spends several pages on a transcript of the murder mystery play, even though it's not at all related to the story. What's more, while many people reading this might already know the details, those who don't have a spoiler in the first chapter, as Ms. Rosencrance jumps randomly between present and future when describing events and reveals the method Kimberly used to murder her husband before we've barely been introduced to the book, thus spoiling any suspense a reader might have about the events.
   
   Stick to watching the case (via Forensic Files and Snapped!) and leave this book on the shelf.



2. I truly enjoyed reading this book. At first I was totally convinced that Kim was guilty of murdering her husband, but as I got further into the book there was a sliver of chance that maybe she didn't kill him. They didn't have any real hard evidence proving that she killed him, she was convicted totally on circumstantial evidence only.
   It is a very well written book. This book was hard to put down once I started it, I didn't want to stop till the end.This is a must read book...



3. Interesting story that could have been told in 20 pages, but this author chose to stretch her meager research into 300 plus looong pages. Watch an episode of Snapped online or read only if really interested in the case. I guess when you start with Ann Rule, everyone has big shoes to fill.



4. I have read numerous true crime books. In fact that is mostly all I read. This book however was disappointing mainly because there was no info. about Kim Hricko's background. Just the same info. over and over again. I skipped over about half of the book as I didn't need to hear the same thing repeated. I was hoping a movie would come out based on this case. Even at its worse it could never be half as boring as this book.

No comments about A Hanging in Nacogdoches: Murder, Race, Politics, and Polemics in Texas's Oldest Town, 1870-1916 (Clifton and Shirley Caldwell Texas Heritage Series).

5 comments about Murder at Yosemite (St. Martin's True Crime Library,).

1. Unfortunately, I probably read more information and had more insight on this crime having read the local paper. Not only was the editing poor but the whole story lacked any substance. Too bad! I love true crime but after this I won't buy any books by this author. Sorry! Don't waste your money.



2. As a person who happens to be friends with Cary Stayner (correspond often), I would have to agree with the previous reviews. According to things I've learned first hand, this book is TOTALLY INACCURATE in many areas. For example, the book said Cary didn't attend Stevens funeral...that is an outright LIE! McDougals book is much more accurate and fair for all involved.



3. The book is rather confusing with the details sparse. It starts off recounting the ordeal of Steven Stayner, then slowly gets into the ordeal of the murdered tourists and the step by step process the police and FBI undertook to find the killer. The author seems to go off on a tangent with minor suspects' backgrounds to a distracting degree. By the time you are nine-tenths finished with the book, Cary Stayner shows up as a major character and is given short shrift after he confesses at the conclusion of the book.

   All in all the book seems hurried and without much human interest.

   On the back of the book it's mentioned that Cary Stayner was arrested at a California nudist "colony." The use of the term, "colony," instead of "camp," "resort," or "park," reflects the sad state of the fact checking in the book. Speaking as a nudist myself, I can assure you that "colony" hasn't been accurate in nudist circles since the 1960s.




4. On February 15, 1999, three women disappeared without a trace from a motel at the entrance to Yosemite National Park. They were athletic women and in good health. They were Carole Sund; her daughter, Juli; and an exchange student from South America, Silvina Pelosso. For more than a month authorities searched extensively for any indication of what happened to them. It was the 20th of March before an answer was uncovered. Carole Sund's rental car was found. The remains of two bodies were in the trunk. They were identified as Carole Sund and Silvina Pelosso. Juli Sund's remains were found five days later near Lake Pedro.
   
   Witnessed reported odd behaviors on the part of Cary Anthony Stayner, a 37 year-old handyman working in Yosemite. Authorities located him on July 24, 1999. He immediately confessed to the murder of Joie Armstrong. Then, he confessed to killing Carole Sund, Juli Sund, and Silvina Pelosso.
   
   Great controversy exists over Stayner's guilt or innocence. Many believe he did not actually commit the murders, but simply confessed for the attention. His younger brother, Steven, was abducted at age seven by a pedophile. He was forced to live with the pervert for seven years before he could escape. Steven received extensive media coverage, including a movie. From the time of his arrest, Cary constantly asked about getting on television and having movies made.

   There is also controversy about whether he acted alone, if he is, indeed, guilty. Most people feel that he could not have handled three athletic women. They question how he could have held the gun on them and tied them up with duct tape. Many feel that there are other guilty parties still roaming free. At the time of the writing, this case had not gone to trial.

   The author frequently omits the word "that" from his sentences. This greatly reduces the clarity at times and I found myself stopping to reread a sentence slowly to discern the meaning. There were many inaccuracies and a few wayward tangents. All considered, I felt this was a poor excuse for true crime journalism and I am really disappointed that St. Martin's would allow such slipshod editing to pass.




5. Cary Stayner's poor excuse for turning into a murderer is that he was in the shadow of his younger brother (who was kidnapped as a boy)??? If standing in the shadow of a sibling is reason to become a murderer then half the country would be out there killing people. The writer gives a very tabloid type of read. There is nothing substantial to the book. John Walsh gave a chapter in one of his books to this story and I remember him describing the room that the three women stayed in. It was described so chillingly that I got goosebumps.

5 comments about Suspect Identities: A History of Fingerprinting and Criminal Identification.

1. I looked forward to this book with much anticipation...perhaps too much, as I ended up being almost thoroughly disappointed.

   First, let me say that Cole's research is by no means on the "cutting edge." Anyone who has done an extensive amount of reading or thinking on the subject of fingerprints should come to the simple conclusion that we do not currently have any way to back up the claim that no two prints are alike. Sure, in the off chance that we find two matching prints one day, the theory will be laid to rest - but without physical proof, theoretical proof cannot be created (in other words, there is no true mathematical or theoretical way to prove or disprove the theory of fingerprints). Some would say that the basis of a scientific theory is that it can be theoretically proven or disproven - hence, fingerprinting is not scientific. All I have to say to that is .... Duh. People have debated that point for dozens of years now.

   One could give Cole a little credit for bringing up some lesser known but interesting points - eg, the origin of fingerprinting in Western society as a method to further segregate and identify social undesirables (an offshoot of methods based on race, class, mental health, etc.) But, still, this is not really anything new to those that have read the literature.

   Additionally, he tends to make broad claims about what certain evidence means without bothering to back up his statements. More than any other of the techniques employed in the book, I found this the most frustrating of all...especially when he had just made a rather interesting and provocative statement, but which I was then unable to follow up on (either through a reference or a thorough logical argument on his part).

   A friend of mine suggested that perhaps my criticism is too harsh, considering that this book is most likely his dissertation and thus not as polished as a 2nd or 3rd book. I don't feel like this is an excuse for lazy or sloppy work, however, and so I can only give this book a mediocre rating at best.




2. This well written journey around the globe and into history helps us to grasp criminal identification as the complex result of social and technical evolutions. As increasing geographical and social mobility reduces personalized social control, technical means of identification develop and contribute to more and more institutionalized social control. Besides the initial anthropometric and nowadays' DNA identification, Cole mainly studies fingerprinting. It is here that my attention was most captured by some astounding flaws: Even though strong evidence shows that no two single human fingerprints are identical, this has never been scientifically proven. There is not even a consensus on the minimum requirements for attributing two fingerprints to the same individual. As a varying but often substantial proportion of fingerprint examiners have been found to be either incompetent or corrupt, the reliability of fingerprint identification seems to be much more relative than one may have thought. If Cole (Ph. D. in Science and Technology Studies from Cornell University) thus shakes established beliefs, he often stays somewhat descriptive, more conveying than argueing a critical stance. This is reflected in the bibliography (which is not separated from the references): truely large, mainly English and French, its many historical and technical titles leave limited room for more theoretical studies.



3. Simon Cole makes good points, BUT it is important to note that he is a polemicist and not a fingerprint expert.

   Cole was to give evidence in the People v. James Hyatt (Oct 2001), before Honorable Michael J. Brennan, Supreme Court of the State of New York. The judge conducted a pre trial Frye hearing on the issue and concluded that Dr. Cole's evidence would not be permitted since it constitutes "junk science."

   "Upon cross examination Dr. Cole conceded he is not a scientist in the traditional sense of the word but a historian and a social scientist. He also indicated he had not examined the actual fingerprints in this case and was aware a latent print examiner hired by the defense had examined such prints and found a match. Dr. Cole testified that he is not qualified to give an opinion on a fingerprint comparison and that his knowledge as to how latent fingerprints are examined and compared is minimal and obtained from professional literature. Dr. Cole conceded that his theories haven't been sufficiently tested to know whether they could be considered science but rather his opinion is based on scholarly research. Finally Dr. Cole admitted he has never been accepted as an expert in this area in either the State or Federal Courts and that his views were not generally accepted in the mainstream scientific community."

   "After Dr. Cole's testimony the Court took judicial notice that fingerprint identification has long been recognized and accepted by all courts in the United States and that expert testimony concerning its use is always admissible provided the proffered witness is indeed qualified as an expert in the field."




4. The book gives a historical overview of fingerprinting and why anthropometry was more inefficient for the police in the beginning of the 20th century. It furthermore is somewhat critical on the conclusions that are drawn in this field, and the limitations that exist. Also it discusses possibilities that suspects are not found in the database of fingerprints whereas the fingerprints are actually in it.

   We see that more discussion on the use of fingerprints as evidence is available on the Internet, in literature and in court. It is always good to remain critical and in this way the book helps in the discussion. In my opinion more scientific research is needed in this field, which can help to have a good overview of limitations and acceptable use. The large finger print databases that exist certainly help to do more research




5. Judge Pollak vacated and superseded the January 2002 opinion cited by another reviewer. Two U.S. Courts of Appeals have since held fingerprint evidence admissible. U. S. v. Mitchell, 365 F.3d 215 (3d Cir. 3004) and U.S. v. Crisp, 324 F.3d 261 (4th Cir. 2003). The Mitchell court rejected Cole's view that fingerprint evidence is not admissible under U.S. Supreme Court criteria for the admission of scientific opinion evidence.