5 comments about The Murder of Princess Diana.

1. I probably own every book ever published about Princess Diana (before, during and after her death) and found this book to contain many things I had never read before. Mr. Botham brings up theories that I discussed with my late fiance, a Brit, but was afraid to talk about in public. Since Graham lived and worked in London, and ran in 'certain circles' he knew a great deal more than I did about her untimely death. There were things he simply refused to discuss, even with me. A couple of these verboten items are in the book.
   
   I was stunned to read that Princess Anne lost her virginity to Camilla's ex-husband, Mr. Parker-Bowles. Of course Camilla was not married at that time, but the fact that the Parker-Bowles's were involved with both brother and sister Royals seems a bit, well, incestuous.
   
   While he mentions that the French driver who died in the crash (Henri Paul) was suspected of working with foreign intelligence, he does not mention what many other books do of his working with Israeli intelligence. Botham does note that Diana's romance with Dodi (an Egyptian) was of great concern to the Israeli government at the time. Henri Paul seems to have had his hands in all the pies. And we see what greed gets you. Dead.
   
   This book is either very accurate and frightening, or it is chock full of lies, and should be regarded as fiction. When I was reading it I could not help but wish my fiance were still here to read it with me. He would have thoroughly enjoyed it. Diana's death was not a surprise to me at all. I knew it was only a matter of time before she left the stage. I can't believe it has been ten years since she died. My heart still aches for her sons. Time will never heal their loss. I just hope that before he dies, Mr. Al-Fayed gets some sense of justice and a sense of finality. He is not the crackpot he is made out to be. Whether he is rich, powerful, famous, liked or disliked, he is a father. He does have deep feelings. After all these years, he still doesn't have answers. It all seems so sad on so many levels.



2. YES, I most defintley believe that there was a cover up and consiprisy in Princess Diana's death. I believe without a doubt that she was murdered. Diana was more loved and popular than the Royal family, she was in love with a muslim and maybe pregnant. She was the peoples Princess, therefore she had more love and power than the Queen and Prince
   Also she had information ( hidden ) that was removed, never to be found, by the Royal family, this information would have greatly embarressed and brought Prince Charles and his family down, The Royal family where afraid of all her information, this is absolutely a FACT, so how can this be ingnored ?
   
   She was everything the Royal family could never be, Loving, Kind , and Giving, loving her sons enough that against the Queens wishes, Diana gave birth in the hospital, that was a firt for the Royal family. I have researched and read about this for 10 years now, and she was indeed murdered.



3. Very well written. A lot of research went into this book. I truly believe there was a cover up in the death of Princess Diana and it will probably never be brought to light. I loved this book and would highly recommend it.



4. When i finished reading this book i was entirely conviced that Princess Diana was murdered. All the facts add up and nobody can deny that her death took some heavy weight off some people's shoulders.
   The way the author presents all the evidence was amazing to me because i always thought that the theory of Princess Diana assassination was just that, a theory, but now i know that they're really lots of facts backing up that theory.
   This book is very interesting and i highly recommend it.



5. I love this book (and the movie that closely followed the book). It is
   just about what I'd figured it out, too. It could not have been a simple
   "accident" because too much evidence disappeared, bungled investigations,
   etc. She had a pretty miserable existence during and after her marriage
   ended, afraid for her life and pursued constantly. Such a sad ending for
   such a truly beautiful woman who rightly should have been Queen one day.
   May she have peace now, that she didn't have in real life.

5 comments about Inside the Mind of Scott Peterson.

1. The first book I read by Keith Ablow was Psychopath- and I couldn't put it down. As I read this book on Scott Peterson-so many questions were answered. Dr. Ablow gives examples, and explains in full detail from birth to prison how Scott Peterson became the person he was.
   
   As a psychologist there were so many questions I had about Peterson's past life with his family- now I know about his controlling, manipulative mother, his spineless dad. Amazing.
   
   A must read.



2. I have read all the books out on the Peterson case as well as having paid close attention to the news at it unfolded on national TV. I realize Keith Ablow, M.D. is an expert and very respected so I weigh my words carefully as I am simply a lay person, a medical transcriptionist for fifteen years who has typed a lot of psychiatric histories and have read true crime for years now. I do believe Dr. Ablow is on the mark with the family history and how Scott Peterson got to the point of looking like a solid human being but in actuality being as empty and void as a hollow chocolate Easter rabbit. Appearances of deception. I agree, this is a must read for anyone who followed the case. I think my mixed feelings come from the way Dr. Ablow presented his thoughts...I am at a loss quite honestly as to how to explain what I mean...I am believing other avid readers will understand after reading the book why it is difficult for me to explain. I think some of the way he presented his thoughts/findings/beliefs were odd. Again, I'm sorry I can't be more specific. Dr. Ablow talked numerous times about the pasted on SMILE, the plastic smile of Scott Peterson. What is strange here is the fact that just prior to reading Dr. Ablow's book I read the book by Laci's mother - and the cover has Laci and her mother on it smiling the same extremely wide...EXTREMELY WIDE...what I call "plastic, beauty pagent" type of smile that hurts my face muscles just looking at the picture. Every photograph of Laci has the same smile and her mother speaks in the book of her daughter ALWAYS SMILING. No one smiles ALL THE TIME, and if they do, there's something going on not being addressed. My heart aches for Laci, Connor and her family - please know I am not speaking of this for deliberate negativity, and Lord knows no one on earth deserves what she went through / what her family is going through every day of the remainder of their lives. I am only trying to understand why Dr. Ablow doesn't make a connection with Laci / smile - perpetual - as he does with Scott - smile - perpetual yet a sign of "hallowness and nonperson".
   I beieve Scott Peterson definitely is insane. I believe Laci had many, many of her own issues - like so many of us do - and sad to say, her own personality and smile masked to her family - to the world perhaps - much of the reality that was going on in her own life. So often it is said "If it looks too good to be true, then for sure it is."
   Like Laci's mom said - there always is divorce...then again, fairy tales do not end in divorce. They should not end in murder, either. I strongly urge anyone interested in this case to read Dr. Ablow's book, make your own judgment and please know I submitted my review with a genuine effort to express how the book left me feeling.



3. It gives a true account of who Scott Peterson really is. It helps to understand a person like Scott Peterson



4. I found Ablow's writing of this book informative and extremely educational. I have read many of his books of fiction, but, between this one and the one I read of his that shared quite a bit of his notes on his first years of psychiatric medicine I realize the author's vast knowledge and ability to 'educate'.



5. Keith Ablow describes Scott Peterson as a man who was already dead. A man who had a three generation bloodline of childhood loss and abandonment. He was a complete sociopath who viewed life as a vision of death. This is why he killed Laci and Connor. This is one of the most interesting books and explanations on the actions of Scott Peterson that I have ever read. I highly recommend this book. It so clearly explains in detail his thought process, his childhood fears and adandonment issues, his addiction to sex and to Amber Frey and his flippant attitude about the killings and how he will be released someday, that is was all just a big misunderstanding. Please read this book! Keith Ablow is brilliant and explains this story in such engrossing detail.

5 comments about Sleep In Heavenly Peace (Pinnacle True Crime).

1. Recently there have many books published about mothers who kill there children. But this book by M. William Phelps relays the story of Dianne Odell who murdered four of the twelve children she would give birth to and then proceeded to carry their bodies with her around the country. It wasn't until she could no longer pay the bill on a self storage unit in Arizona did her murderous acts become public knowledge and finally put her in the criminal spotlight where she so belonged.
   
   Phelps attempts to keep the reader from falling into a rut while reading by jumping between time frames and point of views by chapter is a little annoying, and at times causes the information to become jumbled; it does actually add something unique to the book and many times incites a reader to keep reading to come to a "continued" part from a couple of chapters previous.
   
   Generally, I'm not a fan of mothers who murder, but the story of Dianne Odell is well worth reading if you are a true crime genre fan. Odell's explanations, history, and attempts at defense in themselves are interesting case studies into criminology. Was she simply a killer, or was she a killer because she was a victim? Read the book and form your own opinion!



2. SLEEP IN HEAVENLY PEACE (SIHP) is the 4th of M. William Phelps' books I have read and reviewed. I feel that one, EVERY MOVE YOU MAKE, is outstanding true crime, but that SIHP shares the same strengths and weaknesses of the others, LETHAL GUARDIAN and PERFECT POISON.
   
   The strengths: Phelps is an outstanding and exhaustive researcher. His books are not cut and paste or rush to print jobs. He clearly invests a lot of time and energy in his work. And Phelps is an excellent writer when what he is writing about is interesting. The first 275 pages of this book are a fascinating look at the life and times of Dianne Odell, a woman accused of murdering three of her children upon their birth and taking them, packed in boxes, around with her wherever she moved for 20 years until she was finally caught and brought to trial. A lot of the information here comes from Phelps' interviews with Odell and is thoughtful, informative and unbiased. Likewise the lengthy account of various police interviews with Odell move briskly and are important to the story.
   And in SIHP Phelps uses a technique of every other chapter switching back and forth in time from past to present events. I note that some readers found this annoying. I found it to be effective and that it created a sense of dramatic tension that may otherwise not have existed.
   And, as always, Phelps has chosen a fascinating case to write about.
   
   The weaknesses: SIHP is way too long, at least 75 or so pages. The problem Phelps seems to have is knowing what to leave out of his books. In most cases the trial segments in true crime writing are better handled
   by summarizing what is important and omitting narrative which does no more than repeat what has already been made clear earlier. Phelps' plodding presentation of the trial is numbingly repetitive of information he has previously provided, often more than once. And I almost always find detailed rote reporting of forensic testimony boring. Not content with reporting once, for one of numerous examples, that - and why -
   Diane's attorneys had a dilemma in deciding whether to put her on the stand, Phelps repeatedly mentions it. He discusses the problems the pathologist, Dr. Baden, had in determining exactly how the baby died. Then he does it again. Then it is repeated in the trial section. And we are advised repeatedly that Baden is a major league star in his field.
   And the way Phelps' writes about Baden illustrates another aspect of his work that I find irritating, the glorification of law enforcement officials, policemen, prosecutors, whomever. I don't know that he especially intends this, but I've noticed it in each of his books that I've read.
   
   To summarize, when SIHP enters the trial section, basically the last 150 pages, it slows to a crawl and becomes tiresome to read.
   Reading it is almost like reading two separate books. The reader could just read the first 300 or so pages and then skip to the last 20, miss almost no new or valuable information, and enjoy a great read.



3. I just read Sleep in Heavenly Peace and thought it was great,I mean the horror of having some of your own children and then carrying them around w/ you from state to state in storage unit to storage unit and knowing that as long as you held on to those bodies you were bound to be caught sooner or later shows that this person has no remorse,I had just finished reading Because You Loved Me by Phelps and that book was sooooooo much better,but I also bought Perfect Poison which I started last night and on Chapter 25, and also bought Lethal Gaurdian and Murder in the Heartland recently.I only can hope the last 3 measure up to his other 2.It's not that Sleep In Heavenly Peace was bad because I found it great it was just that I would have given 6 stars to Because you Loved Me and I did buy the rest of his books that were published,so all in all I think he is a great true crime writer



4. Mr. Phelps has outdone himself with this one. While it might be a bit long as others have said, it is no less riveting. I was reading 3 books at the time and found I kept coming back to this one until it was done because it was just so intriguing. Who could imagine having 3 (possibly 4) babies and carrying their mummified bodies around for so long with no one discovering her secret until she forgot to pay the storage fee for the storage space they ended up in.
   
   To this day I still am not sure because of how well this was written whether Ms. O'Dell did this all on her own or her now deceased mother helped her. Awesome Work Mr. Phelps!



5. I really enjoy this author. He always does a great job researching his book. This is a really good book and very tragic, especially for her family.

3 comments about The Killers Among Us: Examination of Serial Murder and Its Investigations (2nd Edition).

1. When Mr. Egger tries to validate the investigation of Henry Lee Lucas and terms him one of the most brutal serial killers, he is a fool. He was given access to the Texas Rangers' investigation of Lucas, which has been refuted by solid media reporting, an attorney general's investigation and the governor of Texas (who commuted Lucas' death sentence). If Eggers was as good a reporter as promoter, this might be worth something. And he never even met Bundy.



2. This study of serial murder has been acclaimed as both scientifically sound and reliable. Dr. Egger puts down numerous myths that have confused and bedeviled the study of serial killers for decades. A noted authority, a strong academic voice on the subject of criminology. A fine work. Includes studies of John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, the Hillside Stranglers and Henry Lee Lucas. Dr. Egger spent more than 50 hours with Lucas who managed to fool everyone in authority by retracting his early confessions. The damning factor about Lucas is that teenage girls are no longer disappearing from the highways of South Texas like they did for the past 30 years.



3. As a researcher, writer and student of serial murder, I believe that Dr. Egger's work is important for three reasons. #1- He writes for the average person who wants to know more about serial murder. He attempts to dispel some of the myths about these people. He gives the average interested person a standard to judge media coverage and the facts in a more informed way. #2- He writes for the person in the criminal justice system whose job it is to deal with the Killers Among Us. His observations and suggestions are helpful and succinct. #3- Dr. Egger is one of the few "experts" in this field who is a voice for the victims and encourages and demands that we do not forget the many victims who have died at the hands of a serial killer.
   Dr. Egger was the first person in the world to deal with the investigation of serial murder as a PhD student. His understanding of this phenomenon is enormous.
   This book is used in universities throughout the world to introduce students to serial murder and to critically look at this field beyond the pop culture symbolism that it is usually looked upon. This second edition showcases three student contributors. Dr. Egger's motives are to inform, educate, and contribute to apprehending these killers as he said in his PhD dissertation, "so that lives can be saved."
   I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants an accurate overview of the subject.

5 comments about Blood Done Sign My Name: A True Story.

1. I finally got around to reading this memoir this summer and was in awe of the author's narrative gifts. This story reads like a novel and is full of plain human wisdom, an emotional openness combining humility and pride, wry humor, sharp political analysis, and a can't-put-it-down story line that comes to terms with America's number one cultural problem: racism. This is a book of local history that gets at the human condition, and a work of history that reads like great literature. I'm telling everyone I can to read it, and that includes whoever reads this. Don't pay attention to any of the so-called "corrections" made by some other reviewers here. This is a must-read historical work that shows an astute and perceptive ability to understand its widely varying participants' points of view and experiences, while not shrinking from the moral and historical obligation to draw judgments. There is only one word to use: *brilliant.* (I'm not one to use that lightly when talking about either autobiography or
   history.)
   
   Disclaimer: The writer of this review is a professional historian with a Ph.D., but one who has never met Timothy Tyson.



2. Blood Done Sign My Name is a non-fiction work that combines the personal memoirs and research of Timothy Tyson, Professor of Afro-American Studies at the University of Wisconsin. The most striking aspect of the novel is the description of Dickie Marrow's murder from the points of view of different citizens of Oxford. This unique feature makes the book appealing to many age groups. Teenage readers can relate to Tyson's personal anecdotes about growing up in rural Oxford, North Carolina. Even if younger audiences do not understand the symbolism behind the text, they can still enjoy the well-developed characters and eventful plot. Adult readers can gain insight into many themes concerning race and white supremacy. Tyson elegantly expresses the naiveté of children on the issue of morality and treatment of other races. This is best conveyed in the passage where young Tyson taunted a black child solely because his friend had started an insulting chime. The author describes that it was fear--not hatred--that bred the twisted idea of white supremacy. Parents can also connect with the decisions and actions of Vernon and Martha Tyson. The Tysons believed that their children should be exposed to many different opinions yet respect all races. The difference in perspectives in the work allows readers of all ages to enjoy and understand the truth behind the Civil Rights Movement.
   The book contains a few minor flaws that diminish the lucidity of the text. The plot is rather erratic; from time to time, the events are not connected perfectly. This technique may be Tyson's personal style of writing, but it proves to be rather confusing at major points in the plot. For example, Tyson usually explains a personal memory of the murder and follows it with completely unrelated information about another character. These discontinuities in the plot make the book difficult to comprehend at first. Gradually, however, the reader gets acclimatized to this original form of writing. The gaps between personal stories build suspense and enable the reader to process a feasible prediction for the sequence of events. The novel also includes many extraneous details about minor characters that play an insignificant part in the plot. Tyson extensively describes his mother's childhood, even though his mother does not affect the sequence of events in any fashion. This extra information, however, does not detract from the book's overall theme. Though the story contains a few negligible weaknesses, Tyson maintains his overall claim and presents it in an interesting and distinctive manner.
   Blood Done Sign My Name is an enthralling story that expresses the moral wrongs of racism. To call it a mere story does not do Tyson proper justice; it is more fitting to call the book a documentary. By citing several engrossing stories throughout the novel, Tyson maintains the reader's attention and successfully proves his thesis. Other than its occasional lack of continuity, Timothy Tyson has written a classic non-fiction work for readers of all ages.



3. I recommend this book not only to those of us who lived through the time but also to younger adults who care about racial issues in America. The author's personal account allows readers to experience recent history through his eyes. The book is informative and a very good read!



4. I read this book for a college course and found it shocking and heartbreaking. I grew up very close to where the event of the story take place. After I had finished the book I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Tyson. This is when I began to become suspicious. I also met the offspring of people involved in the story. They, along with many other residents of Oxford confirmed what I already suspected. Much of this story is COMPLETELY MADE UP! Some of the events did actually happen, but are blown WAAAAAY out of proportion, and the means by which Mr. Tyson acquired some of his information are very shady. So my verdict: as a piece of fiction I think it's a beautifully tragic piece of fictions. As a "true story" this novel loses all credibility and so does Mr. Tyson for any of his other work and he should be prosecuted for his slanderous words.



5. I had the pleasure of meeting and spending a week with Dr. Timothy Tyson as part of a Civil Rights Tour in Alabama with my public school district. Although I was "required" to read this BEFORE the tour, I did't pick it up until after I had returned home. Reading Tyson's words in print doesn't compare to listening to him in person, but the book is extremely powerful and eye opening to say the least. My parents were of the segregationist baby boom in Alabama and little mention of the civil rights movement was ever made to me during my childhood in the deep south. It is my opinion that most Americans are of the impression that it began with Brown v. Board and ended with the assassination of MLK. The book is only the beginning of an unearthing of long-buried truths about the struggle for racial equality and the unsung heroes who continue the fight.

5 comments about Hot Blood (St. Martin's True Crime Library).

1. this expose of the otherwise ignored goings on in the world of Hunters and Jumpers is shocking to those not on the "inside". To others, it is business as usual. Unfortunately. Truly appalling is that these people who KILLED their horses for money are STILL involved in the business. AND there are others who didn't get caught...

   This book is a MUST READ for anyone involved in the horse world.




2. Anyone involved in the showing of hunter/jumper horses on the
   A-Circuit should read this book. It is well researched and I could not put it down. Although it came out in 1996..the same thing is going on in 2004.
   I show horses & what I have seen during the past few years in the name of "sport" is disgusting. This book accurately portrays the greed, lack of character & criminality of some so-called horse people. It is such a shame for the honest,good horse professionals out there. They usually get drummed out of the A'Circuit if they won't play ball w/ the crooks that have control
   In the Virginia, Maryland area, it is business as usual. Drugging horses & ponies, showing lame animals, ruining them & "having to put them down"...because, "oh well, they can't do the job anymore" & collecting insurance to buy another expensive horse & pay more commmissions to the trainers & middlemen.
   I've seen a well- known broker/dealer of ponies becoming rich by lying & conning unsuspecting parents who are listening to the "advice" of their trainers...not realizing that they are all tied in on the "con". Kickbacks, pay-offs, drugging,not claiming sales/commissions on tax returns, falsifying the true ages of horses & ponies, as well as, falsifying vet records. You name it, it's happening right now.
   AHSA (now called USEF) the governing body of show horses has been completely ineffectual in rectifying this criminal behavior. When trainers are caught using illegal drugs on their ponies & horses, they get a mere slap on the hand. The type of customer that stays w/ them is just as bad...the win at all cost attitude w/ no regard for the harm it does the horse or risk for the rider...many who are children.
   I applaud the DA in Illinois who went after these scum (some who are currently still involved in the horse business)
   I think a criminal investigation should be opened up on this entire racket. It is a huge fraud.
   THis book accurately depicts the horse show world right now.



3. The FBI could not solve the Helen Brach murder because I think an FBI agent found the truth and was payed alot of money.
   
   When the FBI screws up or gives up on a case they give it over to possibly the most corrupt organization in the world! (The ATF)
   
   The ATF mainly special agent John Rotunno pays informants to lie for them. Joe Plemmons and Cathy Olsen have lied over and over again then 10 years later totally change their stories to make money and lie for the ATF!
   
   Michael and Donna Hunter have been paid lots of money and let off crimes to say exacltly what the ATF wants to set people up.
   
   Alot of what you read in these Helen Brach murder books are ATF lies to help set people up. Joe Plemmons and Cathy Olsen have just proved that by lieing for the ATF. Joe Plemmons, ATF John Rotunno and Chuck Goudie have just been caught in a big scandel!
   
   Look on the internet and see the truth of the Helen Brach murder investigation. This will go down as one of the biggest blunders by the ATF. Please take note of ATF agent Bob Hauffmans remarks on Jan 10, 2005 on CBS 60 minutes saying that he can substantiate one of the three ATF woman agents saying they have been sexually harrassed by ATF agents. He went on to say that in all of his years as an ATF agent, (all of the criminals he has put away have more HONOR than the TOP OFFICIALS OF THE ATF!) He said I know this is sad commentary but this is my experience working with the ATF!



4. Excellent reading and an amazing and startling story of the greed and determination of some of high society within the equestrian industry.
   
   I would recommend this book to anyone involved in the Equestrian industry.
   
   Jack Fort Lauderdale, Florida



5. A real page turner. Ken Englade did an excellent job organizing and presenting all of the people, facts, and situations involved...not an easy task.

5 comments about The Last Victim: A True-Life Journey into the Mind of the Serial Killer.

1. Don't waste your time. This book is more about Jason Moss and his egomania then it is about serial killers. It did not offer any new insight or information at all.



2. The author apparently had alot of spare time to mess with serial killers. All poor Jeff Dahmer needed was to be loved.
   
   Too bad John Wayne Gacy didn't make soup out of the author.
   
   The worst of all the books on serial killers I've read.
   
   I wanted to use no stars, but, I had to choose one :(



3. This book is certainly not the worst True Crime book I have ever read. However, it presents with some obvious problems. It is NOT a journey into the mind of serial killer as much as a journey into the mind of the author. Much of the book is about the author himself and his own thoughts. While the book is organized and understandable, the style of writing is rather juvenile and lacking in depth. That said, the prison visits Mr. Moss had with Gacy were interesting and somewhat frightening; it is difficult to believe that prison guards were willing to leave the author alone with Gacy for periods of time long enough to constitue danger for the author. However, this is what happened. The last scheduled visit with Gacy truly scared the author and he never returned.
   
   I knew the author of this book, having met him when he applied to be a Big Brother in Las Vegas, Nevada. As a True Crime fan, I did not find his interest in serial killers disturbing or exceptional. However, it is a bit odd that he found it necessary to correspond with so many of the high profile serial killers. During a routine "home visit" to his apartment as part of the Big Brother screening and application process, Mr. Moss showed me his album of response letters from many other serial killers, includig Charles Manson and Richard Ramirez. (I enjoy True Crime, but this was a bit too close for comfort for me.) If my recollections are correct, he did serve as a good Big Brother to a little boy who needed a male mentor. He did not present as narcissistic... although the tone of his book is self aggrandizing. However, perhaps Mr. Moss was less stable than he appeared at times. Another reviewer states the author took his own life. Somehow, this does not completely surprise me.



4. Jason Moss did indeed turn into Gacy's "last victim". He eventually shot himself. Sad ending.
   ~RIP Jason Moss~6/06/06~
   
   but why did he choose that date? 6 6 6.
   Strange man, yet still tragic.



5. This is a quick read. Typical true-crime pulp style. Nothing spectacular about the writing, but the story is indeed unique.
   
   There are a lot of problems with the morals the book is trying to sell though.
   
   Not a bad beach book, but don't expect to learn a whole lot from it.

5 comments about Murdered Innocents.

1. This book was very gripping and yet sad. It tells the story of 4 innocently wasted lives. Corey Mitchell is very good at holding my attention.



2. Corey Mitchell uses such imagery in this book like when he mentions the deleted scene from The Exorcist I actually got chills because I remember the scene vividly. It made what he was describing that much more intense.
   
   This is a great book and it did indeed leave me with lots of questions Mr. Corey so we shall be chatting soon :)



3. In MURDERED INNOCENTS, Corey Mitchell presents the story of the rape and murder in 1991 of 4 teenage girls in an Austin, TX, yogurt store. The store was then set on fire to cover up the crime. Amid the confusion at the shop - policemen, firemen, EMTs - the crime scene was not processed as well as it might have been. For the next 8 years the Austin PD haphazardly followed leads with no results. Then, again seemingly at random, they began an investigation of a suspect, Michael Scott, who eventually implicated himself and 3 of his friends. The book is written in linear time and in typical true crime fashion: crime description, investigation, trials, and sentencing.
   
   There are some praiseworthy aspects to MURDERED INNOCENTS. Mitchell, as I previously discovered when I read his DEAD AND BURIED, is an intelligent, literate writer. This book is honest - the product of a lot of hard work and research. There is no soap opera, no suggestion of how the reader should think, and no bias in Mitchell's presentation.
   I think the best and most thought-provoking sections of MURDERED INNOCENTS are the transcripts of the police interviews with two of the suspects, Robert Springsteen and Michael Scott. I find reading transcripts of generic police interviews boring, but these are anything but run of the mill. The lies, intimidation, threats, refusal to accept answers not fitting a predetermined scenario, all mixed with feigned friendship - your good cop, bad cop - perpetrated on the subjects by a police department, desperate after 8 years to solve an horrific case that had a massively traumatized the city, was nothing short of outrageous. Mitchell's narrative requires the reader to question how the use of these techniques renders it possible to actually determine anyone's guilt or innocence. I couldn't see how anyone would be able to convict the suspects in this case, though they may well have been guilty, based on the confessions elicited from them after long hours of questioning in a psychological environment that must have felt like trying to think in quicksand. And the confessions were the ONLY evidence there was.
   
   There are also facets of the book which I felt were less than successful.
   The trial section is boilerplate and too long. Some of it is necessary as it ties the case together, but it is really not that interesting.
   While just my personal preference, I would have liked a lot more back story on the boys who were accused of the crime. There is some - more than you'll find in a lot of true crime - but to me the more the better.
   Mitchell is totally capable of this and proved it in DEAD AND BURIED.
   
   Ultimately I just felt that except for the police interrogation scenes,
   MURDERED INNOCENTS is just not that interesting a read. It isn't a bad book, but neither is it very compelling, and toward the end I wanted to be finished reading it without actually having to read it.
   True crime readers can do a lot worse than this book, but I wouldn't put it at the top of my list.



4. This is a true crime story that was featured on two television shows, 48 Hours and America's Most Wanted. It is a story that rocked the city of Austin, Texas, as it involves the murders of four well-liked teenage girls who were killed in on December 6, 1991 in the yogurt store in which two of them worked. Bound and gagged, they had been sexually assaulted, and shot. The perpetrators then set fire to the store in hopes of masking their horrific deed.
   
   With no eyewitnesses and little physical evidence to tie the murders to anyone, the case languished for years, unsolved. It was not until eight years later that the police were able to solve the crime. I must confess, however, that I am not totally convinced of the the guilt of the defendants. It almost sounds as if the detectives assigned to the case fed them their so-called confessions, bit by suggestive bit. Quite frankly, I was appalled by the confessions, as they did seem totally constructed by the police. Moreover, with no physical evidence linking those arrested to the crime, I was more than a little skeptical of those spoon fed confessions. It also sounded as if the author of the book also had reservations.
   
   The book, which promises sixteen shocking photos and delivers nothing of the kind, is not an exceptional true crime book and, despite its sad story, did not hold my interest all that well. I did not find the writing particularly engaging, though it is clear that the author did a great deal of research in putting together this book. Still, true crime buffs will find it of interest.



5. Mitchell, an inexperienced writer, focuses on the alleged guilt of defendants Michael Scott and Robert Springsteen while ignoring the abuses of the Austin Police Department in this case: the many confessions coerced by detectives such as Hector Polanco (who was later fired for this), the fact that ballistics tests eliminated the gun taken from Maurice Pierce, and that fingerprint and DNA evidence doesn't match any of the original four teens accused for this crime...or more than 20 other people that the Austin PD investigated. In fact, over 50 people have "confessed" to the Yogurt Shop Murders.
   
   Springsteen and Scott now await a second trial in Austin this fall, their original convictions having been thrown out. New DNA testing - unavailable at the time of their original trials - is again generating a profile that doesn't match up. Further testing is in progress on the girls' clothing and the rape kit taken from victim Amy Ayers.
   
   Corey Mitchell continues to pursue his writing career, and his next piece should perhaps focus on this debacle of a case and why the Austin PD is more interested in pinning this crime on four other innocents that they thought looked good for it rather than hunting down the true butcher of these beautiful young women. Mitchell's book unfortunately perpetuates this travesty of a case rather than a depiction of true justice for four girls who deserve at least that much.
   
   Innocence was indeed murdered on December 6, 1991....of the four young women who would be in their 30s today, their grieving families, and the four young men and theirs.
   
   "Details still to come."

5 comments about Torso: The Story of Eliot Ness and the Search for a Psychopathic Killer.

1. Not long after his "Untouchables" days, Eliot Ness experienced many successes as Public Safety Director of Cleveland (OH). Unfortunately, capturing the 'Torso Murderer' was not among them. A relatively little known crime, this serial killer haunted Ness' time in Cleveland. This book is both a look at Ness himself after his Chicago accomplishments, and an examination of one of America's greatest unsolved serial killings. If you are interested in either subject, this is an excellent purchase.



2. In the 1930s over a dozen murders were attributed to the "Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run", a ravine that runs through Cleveland Ohio and contains this stream and railroad yards. Most of these bodies were unidentified: headless, the arms, legs, and torso were cut up by someone who knew anatomy or butchering. It was never solved, altho one suspect was made to confess, repudiated this confession, and then found a suicide in jail. Such serial murders were rare in America; earlier serial murderers did it for money and left this trail. No motive was ever established for these murders. Most sex murderers are the product of large cities, which have anonymous victims or perpetrators. Chapter Eleven summarizes these cases.

   This book is about the later career of Eliot Ness. After Chicago, he was put in charge of the Alcoholic Tax Unit of norther Ohio. He cleaned out bootleggers, hitting a still every day. Organized crime made Cleveland a safe haven for criminals on the run. Corruption had spread everywhere; neighborhood crime had greatly increased. Harold Burton became mayor, and chose Eliot Ness as Director of Public Safety to oversee the police and firemen. (Burton later became a Senator, a friend of Truman, and was appointed to the Supreme Court.) The ineffectiveness of the police was due to widespread corruption and complacency. With Prohibition gone, Ness prosecuted gambling and union racketeering. Ness cultivated a good relationship with reporters, and got favorable publicity. He tried to purge corrupt policemen but was met with silence. Then a police captain was caught in a cemetery lot racket. Another owned a restaurant which fronted for a gambling room. The bodies found in Kingsbury Run highlighted the corruption.

   Cleveland had been the worst city (after Los Angeles) for traffic deaths and injuries. Ness purged the traffic division, began arresting drunk drivers, prosecuted ticket fixing, gave harsher penalties for unpaid fines, and started tougher automobile inspections. Ness promoted traffic safety with a public awareness campaign. He began an Emergency Patrol with first aid training to reach any accident within two minutes. This cut traffic deaths by half, and he received national recognition. Some of the increased traffic fines were put back into the police budget. Squad cars now had two-way radios. A single phone call brought police assistance within 60 seconds. Ness was criticized for wasting tax dollars, but in one year overall crime dropped 38%, robberies by 50%! Public success was followed by private problems: divorce, late night socializing, stories of drinking.

   Ness later resigned to join the Federal Social Protection Program during WW 2. Afterwards, he became a businessman but was not successful. His campaign for Mayor of Cleveland flopped. He later met Oscar Fraley and began to write his book. Just before its publication, Ness died of a heart attack; he never knew of its success.




3. The book's title is somewhat misleading us into believing that the 1930s `The Untouchables' character of Elliot Ness ran a serial killer investigation. Half this book is the life and times of Ness who happened to be Director of Public Safety in Cleveland while his skid row turned up mostly unidentifiable dismembered remains of vagrants, it was Ness who gained the most attention throughout the investigation by eventually burning down the homeless slums of the Kingsbury Run district in an attempt to clean out, tag, and fingerprint potential victims in the making, probably destroying the killer's Cleveland homeless hunting grounds, also a turning point event in Ness's career, a prohibitionist alcohol distillery buster, who once put away the national crime lord Al Capone, sadly failed systematically to progress his ratings with the city, eventually becoming involved in a hit and run accident that cost him an election run as Mayor, the over-hyped but none-the-less interesting account of Ness is all here, but maybe a little bit more than a seasoned non-crime fiction reader would care to expect, means you get only about 100 pages of the Torso investigation, where we concentrate on the city coroner Dr. Samuel Gerber and Detective Peter Merylo.
   
   Ness comes into play now and again, obviously as a propaganda figurehead designed to play to the media, backfires most of the time he does appear by getting involved in the wrong thing at the wrong time, still had a very high success rate in exposing corruption, and did work on a number of highly constructive policies like getting kids off the streets and stressing the fight against disease, obviously behind the scenes worked with the ""good guy"" force heavies getting all the important political prohibition work done (alcohol prohibition was a failure not because alcohol is safe to use but because prohibition itself actually increases the prohibited drugs risks, usage rates and overall crime goes up because of it, a statistical fact). It is reading the situation of these same propaganda violent cops becoming cold case serial killer squads, even before the term serial killer was used, makes it an absurd situation of bad police management for the 21st century reader to contend with, and was the reason Ness went bust in the end and even more importantly, why the killer got away with so much in the first place.
   
   Thus the investigation in Torso is not like any other, the cops are a different breed (just like out of a comic book meaning useless in real life) and the concept of `stranger killing' was not even present then. The classic book "The Complete History of Jack the Ripper by Philip Sugden" is based on the police records at Scotland Yard of the investigation at the end of the 19th century, news paper clippings and various memorandums that followed with surprising valid detail (all 500 pages of it). Torso reads like trying to find anything factual as if anyone except the leads could read, write or file reports, pounded and smashed their way across Cleveland in the hopes of stumbling across a sexual sadist who would suddenly admit to picking up homeless people, decapitating them with a large blade while they where asleep and or tying them up beforehand so they could not escape, a paraphiliac, expertly removed all the appendages after death with `knowledge of surgery' and bisected the body, sometimes used chemicals or freezers to keep his victims, would then wrap the pieces and begin his very strange dumping process which ranged from never-found victims, to victim's body parts appearing in the middle of the city for everyone to see, going to great lengths to leave two incomplete victims from different time periods together in the same spot, it stands to reason that Dr. Samuel Gerber and Detective Peter Merylo would give us a much better angle, and it is with the medical evidence that Gerber comes off as a sort of new-wave criminology serial killer expert, knowingly prevented other coroners from going near the victim's body parts, rightly asserts himself as a scientist in among all the investigative despair, leading some to suspect and challenge Gerber himself, after his conclusions that a recent severed leg was the work of the same hand, this statement exonerated various numbers of peoples who where obviously rotting in jail on suspicion of being the killer.
   
   Merylo correctly guessed that the killer was somewhat mobile in the area and probably moved on after the killings that did not stop at #12, Merylo at the end of his career guessed that it was probably above forty. Dr. Francis E. Sweeney is the mystery Ness suspect not named in this book but the evidence is circumstantial at best. Gerber may have given the investigators a better idea of who there man was if he did not also subscribe himself to propaganda theories (druggie maniac). It is almost a certainty that if the investigators conducted better searches of abandoned train carts that they would have discovered the killer's `laboratory', a series of abandoned carts containing three different bodies that came from Youngstown after being there for almost a year, was almost certainly that unacknowledged lab of his, but Gerber did not examine these bodies. From the victims that could be identified all where prostitutes or homosexuals. The killer probably killed them away from his home, suggesting that he lived homelessly or with a family, certainly hung around the lower classes of society, befriended vagrants and some other loiterers who where happy enough to sleep with him in train carts (if this fact you are reading now had have been known at the start it would have probably prevented more death), resided in the general area and probably killed and mutilated several times before the first official Torso was found, meaning he learned his `surgical skill' that way.
   
   He should have been caught earlier. Torso is a shallow account of the subject matter but still essential non-fiction crime literature.



4. The Kingsbury Run murders were gruesome and the killer seemingly mocked Cleveland, Ohio, Public Safety Director Eliot Ness in executing the perfect crime.
   
   The crimes - still unsolved - were committed in the mid- to late-1930s with the victims surgically butchered; the heads, arms, legs and torsos cut by someone who seemingly had a medical expertise in removing body parts. Only three of the fourteen victims were ever identified.
   
   Ness - who took center-stage in the investigation - was criticized for the inability in finding the killer. Police detective Peter Merylo actually believed that there were at least 40 murders in Cleveland, Youngstown and Pittsburgh, Pa., spanning three decades that were perpetrated by the individual.
   
   Torso captures the frustration of Ness and the concerns of the public and city leaders while discussing the various theories and suspects. In as much a political as safety decision, Ness ended up raiding & burning several shantytowns in The Flats to clear out an area where it was felt the murderer could feast on any number of "nameless" victims.
   
   According to The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, a film on the murders could be released in 2008. While that may bring new focus - and books - on the crime, Torso will surely remain an outstanding resource for those seeking an understanding of those frightening years.



5. Header pretty much tells it.
   
   Ness comes across as a fairly dull individual.
   Could have done without quite a bit of the info on Cleveland.
   
   Book is gripping and a real pager-turner when the author stays with the slasher and his victims...alas, there isn't enough of it here. Also, what compounds the problem is that the butcher was never caught.
   
   So, what do you got? A John Gilmore SEVERED type of tale? Not quite, because John Gilmore is the superior writer and his book is a compelling read every step of the way (even though John Gilmore was not certain of who did Elizabeth Short in, either.)
   
   But hey, some scribes are born true-crime writers, some are not.
   
   I did say when the author of Torso stays with the bodycount and the ensuing manhunt the book is a scream--by that I mean it just might make your lunch back up.

5 comments about The JFK Assassination Debates: Lone Gunman Versus Conspiracy.

1. The assassination of President Kennedy in 1963 was a monumentally important event in American history. The question of who did it...and why...still reverberates today. This book attempts to present a balanced view of the lone gunman theory vs the conspiracy theory by stating the basics of the case for each point of view. It then states the 'consensus...Facts' and issues a weak tilt towards 'conspiracy' by pointing to a lack of evidence implicating Oswald and the problems with the single bullet theory. This would have been a fine scholarly effort 20 years ago but in 2006 there is a lot of new factual information that the book does not mention.
   
   The evidence in the Kennedy killing primarily consists of eyewitness accounts, photographic evidence, medical evidence from the autopsy, and a small amount of physical evidence gathered at the crime scene. Michael Kurtz accepts all of the photographic evidence as genuine, most particularly the Zapruder film, even though much credible work by David Lifton, James Fetzer, David Mantik, and others have amassed convincing proof that the film was carefully altered. Even if Kurtz ignores the compelling line-of-sight geometric analyses that have established the film's alteration, he does not address the fact that the Zapruder film does not show the appearance of the gaping wound on the rear of Kennedy's skull, the movements by Moorman and Hill, nor the huge blood spatter that covered motorcycle officers riding behind and to the LEFT of the limousine. He also does not consider that the Zapruder film shows a gruesome wound to the right side of the president's head that was not observed by any of the doctors at Parkland Hospital only minutes later. He does acknowledge, however, that some of the autopsy photos showing such a head wound were obviously fraudulent which leaves an unresolved conflict in his position.
   
   In 2006, the 'autopsy' has been so thoroughly discredited that no serious effort would give it any weight. No one can even agree any longer as to who took the pictures at the autopsy, what was photographed, and what is shown in the photographs. The wounds in Kennedy's back and neck were never dissected to establish the path of the bullets. For all intents and purposes, a real autopsy, such as would be performed on any derelict body found on a city street today, never took place. The only thing that the autopsy establishes today is that Kennedy had a lot of brain damage and that was probably what killed him. Kurtz misses all of this and instead confines himself to a brief discussion about problems with the autopsy photos, which is where researchers of the autopsy began 20 years ago but have since traveled a great distance, a journey that Kurtz has missed.
   
   Finally, Kurtz gets through the evidence, determines that a conspiracy occurred, attempts to analyze who the conpirators might have been, and runs through the usual vague list of suspects: cubans, organized crime, and the CIA. Kurtz completely ignores, however, the one person who had the power to implement a subsequent federal cover-up, who had an overwhelming motive, and who had the opportunity presented by the visit of the President to his native Texas: Vice-president Lyndon B. Johnson. This is the single most glaring omission in a book with many omissions. A lot of information has been published on Johnson in the last few years that points the finger of suspicion directly at him but Kurtz never mentions it. Finally, Kurtz never mentions the potential complicity of some members of the Secret Service in the killing. The facts are that the Secret Service detail removed the body from the hospital at gunpoint, began washing the blood off of the presidential limousine while it was still parked at the hospital ER (there's a photo of this being done), and flew the limousine (which was the crime scene) back to the White House Garage in Washington DC within a few hours of the assassination and then had Ford Motor Company personnel clean the upholstery, replace the windshield, and replace the carpet a few days later. It is also a fact that many eye witnesses reported that the limousine drastically slowed or stopped at the time of the shooting, which was contrary to their training. Kurtz never mentions any of this other than to claim that it was Jacqueline Kennedy who insisted that the Secret Service abscond with the body back to Washington DC before an autopsy could be performed in Dallas, although he offers no evidence for this assertion. Kurtz also makes an odd claim on p116 that Oswald had time to fire more than three shots. This is something that no one else has claimed and, again, Kurtz offers no evidence for this.
   
   In the end, this book presents an old, incomplete view of the Kennedy asassination that tends to obsure the real progress that has been made by dozens of independent researchers in the last few years towards a resolution of the case.



2. Michael Kurtz is to be commended for delivering a fantastic overview of the JFK assassination case at this late juncture (2006). Of most value are Kurtz's personal interviews with sundry medical personnel and even three former Secret Service agents: Roy Kellerman (deceased 1984; I spoke/ corresponded with his widow June), William Greer (deceased 1985; I spoke to his son Richard), and Robert Bouck (deceased 2004; I spoke to Bouck 9/27/92). I am on 3 pages of this book. Get it!!!



3. The chapter on the intelligence community does not go into the CIA but Castro. This is a trick lawyers use. Everyone did it but my client. The CIA is out there looking for the real killers along with O.J.



4. Professor Kurtz complied a book of essays in which he compared and contrasted conspiracy theories and the official mythology. What was missing was the scholarship that one would expect from a professor of his standing.
   
   I was expecting an analytical critique of conspiracy theories' and the offical mythology's critical themes. It was not there. The assassination debate was the equivalent dialogue between bar patrons. Both sides remained basically unchallenged because neither could cite the documntary basis for their positions, the documentary basis being the foundation for academic scholarship. What a pity that I was duped into buying a book based on the author's credentials that were not in evidence.



5. A unbiased book that offers both sides of the JFK debate and the supporting evidence for each, sounds great right? And things are rolling along pretty smoothly until Kurtz can't resist wedging in his nonsensical viewpoint in a chapter hilariously "consensus", which is filled with misleading statements("There's no proof whatsoever the rifle was fired that day". No such test exists), ridiculous standards of proof("Nobody photographed the bullet on the governor's stretcher"), supposed scientific findings with no no citations, and outright omissions of fact(Kennedy's head snapping forward). Kurtz'z allegations are seemingly devoid of the recognition that basic extension of logic entailing them leads invariably to oblivion. Hilariously, although Kurtz is disturbed by the lack of proof of CE 399 actually being found on Governor Connally's stretcher, he seems untroubled by his own assertion that it is "unknown" what happened to the bullets that were "undoubtedly" fired at President Kennedy from the front.
   
   Do not swallow the disingenuous "detached and unbiased" hook. This book is simply another in a large stack of conspiracy nonsense.