5 comments about Forever And Five Days.

1. This book was wonderful! To the reviewer from Australia that was turned off by the book's (grammer) that would be grammar!



2. Catherine Carpenter, that is how I know Cathy Wood. I know her personally because you see, I am the Debbie/David of her imagination. I am Debbie. Not David. I can tell you from experience, Catherine May Carpenter-Wood probably did the killings herself. One day while driving along in my car, she asked me if I ever wondered what it would feel like to stab someone, and that she wondered how it would feel as the knife cut into their skin. This gave me the creeps and after I dropped her off at her house, I never went back nor saw her again. She knew I was gay, she knew I was a girl and not a boy. I was out of the closet to my parents at the age of 13 and everyone that knew me knew I was gay. Lowell Caufield said in his documentary that he believed that Cathy made up a lot of things to cover up the fact that she was gay. He is right. She covered up the fact of my being a girl to her friends and family so that she would not be further mocked. Being a heavy girl, she got a lot of razzing from others. On my 28th birthday, my girlfriend and I were at the carousel bar. A drink was sent over to my table with a note on it saying "Remember me, Cathy". Of course I had no idea who it was from, it had been so many years later. Soon a large figure stepped in front of me as I was making my way up to the dance floor and it was her. I was in shock to say the least but she was smiling at me with that snear grin of hers as if to say Uh huh its me. She invited my girlfriend and I to her house and gave us directions. She said it was for an after the bar party. I didnt really want to go but my girlfriend said why not and maybe it would wake her up a little bit to be around others. We had to drive back home which was 85 miles north. When my girlfriend and I arrived, there wasnt anyone at home but Cathy herself. She led me down to her basement to "show me photos of her daughter". I believe that if it werent for the fact that I praised and showed admiration over her beautiful little daughter, I would have died in that basement with my girlfriend tired and sleeping out in our car. Gwen entered the house just as I was leaving. She was obviously drunk. She shot grim looks at Cathy and tossed her head in my direction. I saw Cathy shrug her shoulders and I as I looked back on that moment for years I knew that there was something that was suppose to happen in that house that night. I summed all of the nights events up to one thing. 1. No one was there but Cathy when we arrived. 2. Cathy led me to the basement to show me photos of her child. 3. The look that Gwen gave Cathy when she realized that I was still there or rather still alive. 4. The creeped out feeling I had the whole way home and conversed with my sleepy girlfriend about it in the car on the way back. I believe they conspired to kill me that night along with my girlfriend. I also believe that my girlfriend staying in the car to sleep was one part of the deal they hadnt counted on. I consider myself lucky to be alive. After hearing about their arrests on the news almost 4 months later, I knew in my heart that all my feelings about that night were real. Cathy is a brilliant, manipulative mind playing person and I believe that Gwen Graham and her should have switched places as far as sentencing. I dont believe that Gwen is Innocent but I believe with all my heart and soul that Catherine Wood is responsible for more than one of the deaths at Alpine Manor Nursing Home. The mind games she played were only a part of Catherine Wood. She also liked to play with people's lives by making up things about them to see the outcome of it all. I am hoping that the parole board sees through Cathy and decides to let her ride out the 40 years instead of parolling her this year. I can see the lies pour out as I watch her on the documentary. Only those of us who knew Cathy in person could actually tell when she was lying and when she was telling the truth. She tries to look you in the eyes when she speaks to you hoping that you will believe her. She told me that once a long time ago about lying to her parents. I hope that Cathy stays in therepy after her release for the sake of her child, and her family as well as herself. I feel for the families of all her victims. Coincedentally I worked at Alpine Manor for a day in 1984. I was horrified because I saw first hand some abuse that was going on and I immediately quit, but it was nothing as horrific as what these two women carried out. I could say more about this woman and tell you a lot of stories about how as a teenager she manipulated her friends and family, but I'll save it for my novel. Thank you Mr. Caufield for mentioning my telephone call to Ken Kolker in your book. I hope you will write a follow up book about all the mind games Catherine Wood has been playing while in prison. I'm sure she has and it would fill another book.



3. Although it is clear from the start that the two women are responsible for the murders of the nursing home patients, the author does keep back some details until the end. The shifting accounts from witnesses and interviews opens new thinking as the tale unfolds.
   I had to really mentally shift gears at the end once all the details were laid out and even then I'm glad I wasn't on the jury.
   Some of the incidents cropped up over and over, but I began to realize the different points of views given to each retelling. Sifting out what was real, what was staged, and who was covering for someone makes it a really complex case.
   True crime readers will find it worth wading through.



4. With all the bad reviews and remarks about the grammar and typos... I'll have to go buy the book now. The ones who are putting the book down because of the typos etc., come on.... you still understood what Mr. cauffiel was saying right? These comments make the person want to buy the book to see what the hype is all about. Great job bad reviewers... more sales for Mr. Cauffiel.



5. The author has done a brilliant job of creating for us a nightmarish true-life series of murders in a nursing home. We've all read occasional news stories of some nursing home employee or hospital worker being imprisoned for serially killing off patients. In this book, though, we're led to the evolution of two mentally unstable women who became lovers and then killers. We're led through the months of lover's fighting and quarrels and the games they played both in the nursing home and outside of it. What disturbed me most, though, was how devoted the lovers of one of the killers, Cathy, remained even after she was proven to be a killer. Her long-suffering husband continued loving her and taking her back even after she tried to murder him with a baseball bat. Even after he heard her confession of serial murders, he told no one until more than a year later. The lover of the second killer, Gwen, are equally hard to forgive. Her girlfriend, Robin, continued to ignore Gwen's repeated confession of mass murder and Robin destroyed valuable evidence that police needed in their case against Gwen. The author does an outstanding job of bringing this cast of killers and enablers to life. His other book, by the way, MASQUERADE, is a classic and I've read it several times. I like his style much better than Ann Rule, who spends pages and pages describing the weather and the geographical background of her murders which become highly boring. Bravo to Lowell Cauffiel for doing such a superb job once again!

5 comments about Human Monsters : An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the World's Most Vicious Murderers.

1. This book is a quick-reference book for the numerous serial killers that have roamed the land since the 1800s. This book starts with those who thought they were werewolves (feasting on children), to those who believed they were cannibals and breeded with each other, to the notorious Speck, Killer Clown and Dahmer. There are a few pages dedicated to each killer, complete with an easy-reference index. Only the most gruesome details are highlighted.



2. i wish i had seen that guy from swedens review before i bought that book.. i must agree with him.. from the first page i was reading incorrect information.. i will be returning this book for sure. i was all excited to get the book and when i saw incorrect information in first page, i went to the part about dahmer (about whom i have read a lot of books) and the info there was not consistant w/other books on him. i would like to know where they got some of their information for this book. it reminds me of another bad book 'cannibal killers' by moira martingale. if you want to read a really decent, accurate book... read a book by john douglas or robert ressler!!!



3. The segment on the Bender family is fascinating. Luring travelers to their country home for dinner and a night's board, and Wham! Don't sit with your back to a sheet room-divider is the moral I guess. The chapter on Sawney Beane is just as great. Inbred Scottish cannibals living in a cave, where the only entrance is concealed by water due to the tide most of the day. Why isn't this story a movie?



4. And I'm not. There are many murderers listed in this book, in apparently no kind of order, so if you're looking for a specific one, take your time. Most of these are the gory killers, whose sadism and senseless torture of their victims (humans and animals alike) would make me ill if I read it, so I skipped those parts, which left me with not much to read.
   
   I will have to take the word of previous reviewers who noted errors in the stories, since I'm not very familiar with the serial/torture killer type. I did notice that Mr. Everitt mentioned that Charles Whitman wrote a note requesting an autopsy before he went on his shooting spree in the tower at the University of Texas, but the author fails to mention that one was done afterward, and a large tumor was found in his brain. Just so you know.



5. This collection is great. I owned this book for years and would always go back and forth flipping through the pages, finding new twisted tales.
   
   Another reviewer called it inaccurate, well, maybe, who cares really, I read it for the hair raising tales and pure shock and awe!
   
   If you like serial killer literature, I haven't seen too many better then this book!

5 comments about Everybody Pays.

1. On September 27, 1972, Billy Logan was murdered on his front lawn. Neighbor Bobby Lowe was an eye-to-eye witness. Hit man Harry Aleman had left his car to check on the victim when Bobby's dog leapt in front of him. For a few seconds, the two men stared at one another, Bobby in shock, and then Harry broke the spell and returned to his car, which then sped away. And Bobby's life changed forever.

   Though Bobby told the police he had been an eye witness (much to his family's dismay) and had identified Harry's picture in a mug book, nothing happened. It was buried. Harry Aleman was well connected with the local mob and a nephew to one of its kingpins. Authorities estimated Harry had killed over 20 people. Four years later the case was reopened, and this is when Bobby's personal hell began. Before the trial (estimated to be a slam dunk), Bobby, his wife and three children were placed in one seedy motel after another. They had to give up their jobs, the children changed schools on a weekly basis, and they lived off fast food. The trial was a farce, Aleman was found not guilty and the Lowes entered the Witness Protection Program without adequate identification to secure a decent job. Bobby spiraled down and lost his job, his family and self-respect. Finally, he got his life back together, discarded his false identity, and regained his family. In 1997, the case was reopened again, 25 years after the crime. Bobby had no choice but to testify again.

   Possley and Kogan do a masterful job in presenting this complex case without wasting a word. Bobby's character is done so well, you feel like you have known him all your life. The research and documentation are meticulous. The only mystery that remains is Harry. He was an excellent husband and adoring father that just happened to be a cold-blooded killer. I would buy another book explaining to me what made Harry tick.

   Sadly, the message I received was to never, ever admit to being a witness to a mob killing. The Witness Protection program, which is devastating and mind shattering even if it worked perfectly, was a farce for the Lowe family. "Everybody Pays" is true crime and investigative journalism at its finest.
   -sweetmolly-Amazon Reviewer




2. This is a true story of a hit man literally getting away with murder in 1970s Chicago because of a pyramid of power and payoffs, only to have the story come full circle more than twenty five years later and have justice prevail in the end. The hit man, neighborhood wiseguy Harry Aleman, thought that he had gotten away with murder. After all, he had been tried and acquitted, and one can't be tried for the same twice on the theory that double jeopardy would bar such a second bite of the apple. Or would it? Well, more than a quarter of a century later, the Department of Justice thought otherwise. After all, how much jeopardy could Harry Aleman have actually have been in, if the fix were in?

   This is a well researched, well-written, compelling chronicle of a case that would would have great impact on an eyewitness to a murder. It also a fascinating narrative on the influence that the mob once wielded over the criminal justice system in Chicago. It is a fascinating birdseye view into a criminal justice system so rife with corruption, it will keep the reader riveted to its pages. It is also the story of one man who tried to be a stand up guy and do the right thing under this corrupt system and found himself the one paying the price for its shortcomings.

   Bob Lowe, a working class stiff who worked at a gas station, had the misfortune to stumble into the murder of Billy Logan, a neighborhood acquaintance, one night. In the mean streets of Chicago's West Side, Bob saw Harry Aleman blow Billy away with a sawed-off shotgun. In that one brief moment, simply by being in the wrong place at the wrong time, Bob's life and that of his immediate family would change forever. From that moment on, it would be Bob, and not Harry, who would be on the run.

   Placed with his family in a witness protection program that was ineffectual and problematic, characterized in a negative way by the corrupt judge who presided over the trial, and seeing a murderer vindicated at his expense, Bob Lowe saw his life, as he knew it, simply ebb away. He became awash in a haze of booze and drugs, doing some crime and doing some time. His life was a continual lost weekend, until he was finally able to pull himself out of the personal morass into which he had descended. Over a quarter of a century later, he would find himself finally vindicated at Harry Aleman's second trial for the murder of Billy Logan, as Harry Aleman would finally get the verdict he should have gotten over a quarter of a century earlier. The wheels of justice did, indeed, grind slowly.




3. "Everybody Pays" is the tale of two families. One is that of Harry Aleman, a heavy hitter in the Chicago mob. Here in New York City, he'd be called a "capo". The other family is that of one Bob Lowe. The fates of the two families intersected one night in the Fall of 1972 when Bob was an eyewitness to a rubout in his neighborhood. Harry was the hitman. Against his family's judgement, Bob agreed to testify at trial The story that follows is a sad one: Prosecutors are not completely straight with Bob. His family's life in a witness protection program was a disaster. It was painful just reading about it. One can imagine the daily struggle of living through it. The trial of Aleman is a second disaster. He was acquitted in a juryless trial. The judge had been bribed! Therein lies the best part of EP. The sheer cynical nature of the Chicago "justice system" is laid bare with crooked cops, jaded State's Attorneys, judges bought and sold, with shadowy "operators" greasing palms. There was a second arrest of Aleman and yet a new trial. This reviewer will end at this point in the interest of not divulging the ending. The opinion here is that EP will be better received by Midwestern readers. Eastern folks have their own criminals. And while the authors have done first rate research in composing EP, this reviewer was left with a deflated feeling at the conclusion. Others may disagree. Midwest folks and especially those in Chicagoland can safely skip over this review, adding 2 stars to the rating above. They will best appreciate the local "flavor". The rest of the world of amazon is cautioned! An interesting closing note: EP has NO(!)centerfold photos. This reviewer usually advises skipping over them since they frequently divulge endings. It is just as well. Readers will quickly realize that Mr. Lowe will not want his picture displayed anywhere, much less in a popular true crime story.



4. This book fascinated me and chilled me to the bone at the same time. I couldn't put it down. I highly recommend this eye opening and inspiring true story.



5. A wonderfully insightful crime story that examines the realities of the mob during the height of their Chicago power, and the lives of the people they touched. The characters are realistic and the plot is suspenseful, so one might be tempted to read this book simply for fun. That is certainly possible, but it is also possible to read it at a deeper level, considering the moral issues that plague us all. How much are we willing to sacrifice for what is right?

5 comments about The Co-ed Call Girl Murder.

1. I was a friend of Tina Biggar. I was shopping one day, after her murder, when I was shocked to see this book covering the checkout shelves. I decided to read it to see what they had to say about the generous, intelligent, sweet girl that I had known. Well, sad to say, I was disappointed. Mrs. Weinstein, and Mrs. Wilson advertise themselves as being truthful, but I was horrified by some of the things that they had to say about Tina. Tina was a good girl that made a terrible mistake, and I understand that. Unfortunatly, Mrs. Weinstein and Mrs. Wilson never knew Tina, and instead of writing the truth, they took what they knew and twisted it into a book that would sell. I think they forget that there are people out there that knew Tina, and loved her. They failed to ask us about what she was like.



2. This book was written with an easy to follow timeline. The characters come to life and seem real; the reader can feel sympathy for each of them, even those one doesn't expect to. Little is said about the actual murder itself because, of the only two people that were there, the victim is dead and the killer keeps changing his story. So the reader is left not knowing how Tina really died, but it doesn't seem so important by the end of the book. What matters is that she is gone from this world; I feel it would've taken away from the story to sensationalize on the gory aspects. All in all, this book is definitely worth reading.



3. The Coed Call Girl Murder, written by Fannie Weinstein and Melinda Wilson, is your basic murder story involving 23 year old Tina Biggar and her double life as a prositute. Both Weinstein and Wilson equally contribute theit talents to create a well told story. They use excellent descriptive detail in specific parts such as when police break into Ken Tranchida's appartment and find him "bleeding like a stuck pig" (239). Another example is when Mr. Tranchida states that he wanted to be a general, Weinstein and Wilson describe this as, "...he said with a shy smile, sounding like an eight-year old boy daydreaming about his toy soldiers" (282). Despite this wonderful characteristic of the authors' writing style, Weinstein and Wilson have a habit of changing point of views, alternating from third person limited and third person omniscient. Also, Weinstein and Wilson seemed to draw out their version of the story, causing it to be monotonous and dull. At the same time, Weinstein and Wilson do keep readers attention by adding their opinion of the situations to give the novel that extra umph. This novel would seemingly be enjoyable for mature teenagers and adult readers who are interested in true crime and are entralled with man's inhumanity to another of one's kind.



4. THE CO-ED CALL GIRL MURDER is a true crime retelling of the life and death of Tina Biggar, college student by day and call girl by night, who was murdered by a delusional john.
   
   The authors, Fannie Weinstein and Melinda Wilson, try mightily to cast Tina as the prototypical midwestern All-American Girl, and a previous reviewer and friend of Tina's laments her death in moving tones. Still, it becomes clear that Tina Biggar was in part a very troubled young woman with serious issues relating to her self-esteem, self-worth, and body image (at 5' 7'' she weighed 150 lbs.). Offsetting this, she was personable, pretty, intelligent and diligent. Had she mastered her demons she would have excelled at life. She certainly had the potential.
   
   Weinstein and Wilson all but gloss over her unexpected teenage pregnancy and early relationship with an abusive boyfriend, but it is easy to imagine that Tina suffered a great deal of emotional travail from these experiences, especially coming as she did from a staunchly Catholic "military brat" family. All of this is said in respect to Tina, who certainly did not deserve to be murdered.
   
   It is easy to see that some of Weinstein's and Wilson's insights ring all too true. At the time of her death, Tina was living a sordid double life, keeping her identity as a call girl from her family and her live-in boyfriend. Weinstein and Wilson cast the boyfriend as somewhat of a goodhearted boob, repeatedly making silly comments, being arrested (and rearrested) for alcohol offenses, occasionally straying during the several emotionally stressful periods in their relationship, and being generally clueless when it came to Tina's wants and needs.
   
   It's clear that Tina could be immature, vindictive and unforgiving when provoked. She repaid her boyfriend's infidelities with her own (ultimately becoming a call girl), and was emotionally distant and neglectful---even psychologically abusive. Perhaps she was, in truth, punishing herself for some self-perceived flaw. All-American Girls do not generally choose prostitution as a job; nor do they cling to men who are clearly losers at life's game.
   
   Yet, Tina remained overlong with her first abusive boyfriend, maintained a personal friendship with her killer outside of her call girl role, and kept up a relationship with her long-suffering boyfriend even as she berated and belittled him. She carried on as an escort for far longer than she should have. She innocently gave the benefit of every doubt to a man with a mysterious past who eventually killed her. Tina Biggar did not make "a terrible mistake"---she made a lengthy series of them, which in the aggregate led to her death. Tina deserves our compassion, never our scorn.
   
   THE CO-ED CALL GIRL MURDER is a sad story of a promising life cut short under horrible circumstances.



5. While I found this book to be extremely interesting and able to keep me so interested that I read it within two days, I have to disagree with the point-of-view writing of the authors.
   
   From the beginning it is very apparent that the writers want to, understandably, grant the wishes of Bill Biggar whose daughter Tina Biggar is the "escort" murdered in this book by her "client" (read "john") Kenneth Tranchida.
   
   Throughout the book, the authors hint strongly at a young woman suffering from manic depression (better now known as being Bipolar); who spent money as fast as she could earn it, had a love/hate relationship with her boyfriend, Todd, and was obviously sexually premiscious at an early age as evidenced by her pregnancy at the age of fifteen. Yet, the book is filled with insinuations that Tina was simply "a good girl gone astray." Like her parents and friends, even the authors enable Tina in death by making excuses for her and glossing over the actual facts.
   
   Irregardless of the foregoing, it still makes for interesting reading. In the area of true crime, it's a must read.

5 comments about Blood Will Tell: A Shocking True Story of Marriage, Murder, and Fatal Family Secrets (St. Martin's True Crime Library).

1. I found this book a bit slow and tedious compared to writings by other true crime writers like Ann Rule and Jerry Bledsoe. The author reveals from the first chapter that Ken is in prison so the book never builds any anticipation as to whether the police will build a case against him. The most interesting thing about the whole book is the eerie similarities to the Michael Peterson case going on right now in NC which is being televised on CourtTV. Actually, that case is more interesting, skip the book.



2. I just finished reading this book and was very disappointed with it. He tell everything that happen through the whole trial. All of this could have been left out and then at the end of the book all he writes is the jury knew Ken had killed his wife. Then he just ended the book. He didn't say what the sentence was or how long he will have to serve. This is a very important part of a true crime book'



3. I couldn't finish the book. It was so tedious that I fell asleep. If you want a good true crime try: "Scream at the Sky" by Carlton Stowers, "Salt of the Earth" by Jack Olsen or any one of John Walsh's books.



4. Its nice to feel confident when ordering from Amazon...knowing that the item will be shipped as stated and arrive just as advertised.
   Keep up the great work gang....
   Don



5. This was a pretty good book. I have read better books by Carlton Smith, but it was still worth my time. The husband is so irritating, you can't put it down wanting to see just what he is going to come up with next!

2 comments about Dracula Killer: Dracula Killer.

1. This story full of blood is very terrible. But the author may be lack of skills to describe this thing clearly!



2. I was doing a research project for school when I stumbled upon Richard Trenton Chase. I read the reports of his crimes and assumed him to be Schizophrenic. Most people would look at his acts as disgusting, but I can totally understand the logic behind his reasonings which drove him to kill. I think the book couldve been written better, but as far as Richard himself, people shouldnt look at him as a murderer, but more as a victim. His whole life he was scared and there was never a time when he wasnt paranoid. He took his own life because he couldnt handle it anymore. If youre interested in psychology or criminology then this might be a good book for you to read.

1 comments about The Mammoth Book of Famous Trials: The 30 Greatest Trials of All time, Including Charles Manson, Oscar Wilde, O.J. Simpson and Al Capone (Mammoth Book of).

1. While the book was readable I was acutally dissapointed in the fact that what trials were included, they didn't seem to be well searched out, more as though they were writing about gossip on the street. I hate to say anything bad but I do not believe that this is worth the money I spent to purchase it with.

5 comments about Portraits of Guilt.

1. I am a reseacher in the area of human memory. My university studies and thesis are in the area of crime victim recall and memory malleability. I was given Miss Boylan's book by a fellow doctoral student who said simply, "Read this. This woman gets it."

   To my astonishment, this was true and to know that there is a woman struggling essentially all alone to enlighten police about the seriousness of memory malleability made me want to jump into the pages of this book and yell to the police she works with that there is scientific data backing up every word she says about this topic.

   Miss Boylan unfortunately writes in too kind a fashion, seemingly concerned about offending the masses, but sometimes creating change requires the proverbial 2 X 4 to create the desired impact. Although I appreciate Miss Boylan's subtle and polite manner, my only complaint about this book and her story is that she should and could have been much more hard hitting in her critique of what has historically gone wrong in criminal investigations. With what she's experienced, she is entitled to be direct.

   With the knowledge we in the academic world have now of how memory works, there is no excuse for the mistakes made in past cases to continue to take place. Jeanne Boylan should scream her message and take her lumps. I'd rather see her save lives than to worry about winning a popularity contest. She can speak from inside the world of police, whereas "us" in our ivory towers, don't have access to the real world as she does.

   Boylan relied on us to give her the foundation for her work and my predecessor's findings of three decades now, but those of us doing the empirical research have to rely on people like her to deliver our findings to the point of practical application in the police world. She can be the go-between from our world to inside real life criminal investigations.

   Overall, Portraits of Guilt is a great book, great 'on the mark' insights into crime victim memory and some lessons in Boylan's stories that had better be paid attention to before we lose more lives such as Polly Klaas. (Her book is dedicated to the Klaas girl's memory.)

   I give this book a five star rating for it's general level of readibility and for her stunning insights into trauma victim memory malleability, but Miss Boylan, if you write a second book, and I hope you do, next time, take the gloves off and try to come out swinging.




2. I found this book on Oprah's website under "Oprah's Books" and think highly of her choices so ordered it. I'm happy I did. It was a fast moving, compelling read and gave me a view into a world I knew nothing about. I feel entertained, educated and wiser from reading it. What more could you ask... I endorse the book, author and Oprah's good taste.



3. I've read a lot of good books about healing from trauma and the effects trauma has upon memory. I've also read a lot of books about the fallibility of memory that do not correctly take into account the actual experience of the trauma. Jeanne Boylan has succeeded in writing the first book that accurately addresses both sides of the understanding of memory. She clearly illustrates the way that traumatic memory can be malleable in the presence of suggestion. It is through the insight of Jeanne Boylan's work that we can keep the innocent people out of jail and the guilty people can be handled accordingly.

   She succeeds at what she does because she has both a natural ability and a deep understanding of trauma and memory. She also succeeds because she knows how to reach the heart. She works from her intuition as well as her logical understanding. Her kind and gentle nature is a true asset in the work that she does, and she could not achieve what she has achieved without it. In addition to all of this she has the added gift of being an incredible artist. Jeanne Boylan was born to do the work that she does; it is an inborn gift, which was further honed by her own personal experience of trauma and surviving a crime.

   Jeanne Boylan describes traumatic memory as being like a fifty-cent piece that has been tossed below eight feet of water. The memory gets buried by the intense emotional trauma, but at the same time is locked into memory. As the emotions arise our minds protect us by blurring the image, like the movement of water. We can still see it, but it is distorted. With the right approach the memory of the trauma can be brought back to the eyewitness's conscious memory in it's original condition, just as the fifty-cent piece can be retrieved from the water fully intact.

   Jeanne Boylan works with survivors to draw near perfect portraits of the criminals. Her technique is the art form. She says, "The answers to uncovering memory reside in understanding the powerful inner workings of the human mind-- and more importantly, in the power of the human heart. (p. 11)" She says "The higher the degree of personal trauma, the harder the mind works to discard or bury the image, but, also, the more likely it will have been encoded into memory in the first place, even if it is housed at a much deeper level of recall... Sometimes if we can coach the conscious mind to move aside we can still access the original untainted image--if there is reason enough for it to have been retained in memory. (p.13)" It is the release of emotions, no matter what form, that helps reach the image. She uses an interview technique, which brings the person into a safe space in order to access the memory without the emotions blocking it, and she uses carefully worded questions to prevent suggestions from distorting the original memory.

   During her chapters about the devastating kidnap and murder of twelve year old Polly Klass, she provides new insight into how to recognize the veracity of an eyewitness account. She explains that when witnesses remember the trauma or the attacker differently that this is actually a sign that they are telling the truth because no two people remember an experience identically. The discrepancies help to validate and preserve the images and details of the memory for later needs (as long as suggestion has not been introduced). There is usually one stronger witness, however that witness will often have a degree of self-doubt that can be increased when she/he encounters discrepancies among the other witnesses. Jeanne Boylan was the first person on the case of Polly Klass to treat the witnesses (also twelve years old) with the validation and support that they needed.

   The chapter about the abduction and torture of Sister Dianna Ortiz was the most powerful aspect of the book, for me. Anyone who has experienced a similar trauma will find a lot of healing and peace in reading this chapter. We watch Sister Dianna Ortiz work through the intense PTSD, become empowered, speak out and overcome the accusations that her experiences were a figment of her imagination. Sister Dianna Ortiz speaks of her healing, "Healing comes in many forms. I know I will always carry the memory of what happened to me on November second, 1989. For more than six and one-half years I have allowed my Guatemalan torturers and Alejandro to haunt me. Many times, I've felt like they danced within me. Many times I've felt that if I got close to anyone, I was going to contaminate them with the evilness that they left inside me. But today, I can sit here and say that that evil does not exist inside me anymore, and that is because of the work that I was able to accomplish with Jeanne Boylan. (p.282)... The images of my torturers and Alejandro have always stayed within me, and I have held myself responsible for the horrible things that happened on that November day, but today, because I was able, with the help of Jeanne Boylan, to put a face to these monsters, I can put them away from me. They no longer live in my soul. Until I faced them, I could never be free. (p283)"

   In the next chapter called Awakenings Jeanne Boylan says, "Though I knew instinctively the importance of freeing a victim of the evil left from an attack, never before had I realized so clearly the emotional power that floods the soul when the residual grip of an assailant is finally loosened, and gently removed from the heart. (p. 286)"

   Jeannie Boylan ends the book with the conclusion she left us wanting to hear since the Prologue. She weaves in her own experience, and powerfully does for herself what she has already done for so many others.




4. I became interested in this author after seeing her speak about eyewitness memory on the Oprah Winfrey Show. I found the book, read it and then noticed a composite drawing in the Elizabeth Smart case that seemed to bear no likeness to the man arrested for the kidnapping. Jeanne Boylan's name was periodically associated with the case and I felt let down that she'd so badly erred in doing the less than stellar drawing. (Though now we know that the man was caught because the Smart family realized his religious name, announced it to the public and then were given real photos by the man's own family that were aired on TV which then resulted in his subsequent identification and quick arrest.)

   Now, in more recent news reports, I found out that Jeanne Boylan actually interviewed the younger sister of Elizabeth about her memory of the abduction night and that the poor suspect drawing the media was showing was not from her interviews, but was from a local portrait person and was not taken from the little sister's sighting the night of the abduction but rather was taken from the family who knew the man and had spent many hours with him. Now I understood why the descrepancy.

   I felt relief. I momentarily thought Jeanne Boylan had lost her skills. Now I understand the difference between her interview and the drawing that is now linked to the case but does not look like the kidnapper.

   I look forward to the sequel of 'Portraits of Guilt' and to reading more about what happens to eyewitness's memories when the sightings are endured during moments of fright and fear and how that forces their vision very deep into the recesses of their mind as it did for Elizabeth's little sister.

   Praise the Lord that with help and encouragement, Elizabeth's little sister finally remembered the religious name with the help of the loving Smart family, the apparently astute police and Jeanne Boylan who all had fiercely guarded the young child's evolving memory while it was gradually surfacing so that the kidnapper was finally caught. Good things come to those who wait!




5. Jeanne Boylan could be a movie star or model. She is tall, slim, and blonde. She began her artistic career by doodling in notebooks as a child. Her art career is really based on getting serial killers, mass murderers, and criminals brought to justice. Her relationship to Marc Klaas, the father of murdered victim Polly Klaas who became an activist seeking justice for the victims. The book's narrative is taken by the author's perception and experiences. The Smith case rendered the same feeling that the mother was involved in her sons's abductions and murders. Reading about how Jeanne and Marc learned about their fates were both horrifying. They still had hope that a mother would not have gone so far or over the edge of the unthinkable. We all think that the criminals can be monsters but Susan Smith was also the mother to two innocent young boys, Michael and Alexander. Nobody believed her story of an abduction in a rural road in the middle of the night. Most motives behind carjacking is the car itself. Carjackers don't want two babies in the backseat. Sadly, a carjacker would have probably returned Michael and Alexander safely somewhere but Susan's story never washed out. Her sons' bodies were in the bottom on John D. Long Lake. Of course, Boylan writes about her failed marriage, her background in Montrose, Colorado, and how she became known as the woman behind criminal portraits which led to the captures of the Unabomber or Ted Kaczynski and others.

3 comments about The Lincoln Murder Conspiracies.

1. This book showed each side to any conspiracy that could have been involved in the Lincoln assassination. I became confused after reading a chapter and then all of that historian thinking was rejected by some other guy. If you are into that kinda thing, sure go ahead and read the book, but I just got confused. I can't determine what really happened and what was people's thoughts.



2. Since the day Lincoln was assassinated, many theories have emerged about who was the mastermind behind the plot. Among the accused have been members of the Confederate government, including Jefferson Davis, the Catholic Church and members of Lincoln's own Cabinet.

   Hanchett examines these conspiracy theories and the people who put forward the theories in an attempt to find out if a higher authority, civil or religious, ordered John Wilkes Booth and his co-conspirators to kill Lincoln and members of his Cabinet. By examining each theory individually as well as the motives behind those who suggested the theories, Hanchett does an excellent job of refuting some of the more unlikely theories.




3. I've had it with all these idiotic "conspiracy books" that flood the market. If it's not JFK, it's space aliens and "black helicopters" and sad to say, Abraham Lincoln is not imune to the lunacy. But for the SERIOUS student, here is a book that dispells all of the dribble concerning the assassination of our 16th president. The author takes on each of these wacked out theories and disects them. BRAVO! The most laughable ones concern the Vatican's involvement as well as the European bankers. When in doubt, blame the Catholic church or the rich was the montra in America during the late 1930's and '40's. I'm neither rich, nor Catholic, so I have no axe to grind. Oh, I'm sure the "believers" will continue this psychophantic devotion to blaming Stanton, Andrew Johnson, et al. But face it, Booth was a basket case and he destroyed any attempt at a peaceful reconstruction after the war. What really amazes me is how this hack actor managed to pull off the murder with such a motley collection of mental idiots and buffoons. Booth's derringer was of larger caliber than their collective I.Q. If you are tired of the nonsence of conspiracy theories and want to deal in solid fact, read this book.

5 comments about Chasing Justice: My Story of Freeing Myself After Two Decades on Death Row for a Crime I Didn't Commit.

1. Kerry Cook had a few scrapes with law enforcement as a teenager in a small Texas town - joyriding, kicking out the windows of a store that falsely accused him of armed robbery. Thus, police "knew" they had their man when his fingerprints were found at the scene of a grisly murder.
   
   The abuse of justice started immediately, continued for two decades, and nearly ended with Cook's execution. First it was merely physical - police slamming him into a wall, holding his head underwater in a toilet, arranged beatings by fellow prisoners, refusing showers and clothing, and sleep deprivation to force Kerry to confess. More serious abuses then occurred - withholding evidence from Kerry's attorneys, coaching witnesses to slant/fabricate testimony against Kerry, providing scientifically unfounded testimony that "aged" Kerry's prints to the time of murder, solicited false testimony from fellow inmates that Kerry had confessed - culminating to Kerry's arrival on Death Row in 1978. There Kerry was raped three times, and attempted suicide after each. Then his appeal stalled for eight years, and ultimately was denied.
   
   Finally, things started to go Kerry's way. The prisoner who initially testified Kerry confessed, decided to come clean. An FBI expert provided an affidavit stating that scientific fingerprint "aging" was not possible, information was uncovered that a pathologist had told police that the victim's librarian prior boyfriend had ordered a book describing how she had been mutilated (police ignored, and did not provide to Kerry's defense), the major Dallas newspaper printed a major expose of how Kerry had been railroaded, a foundation funded Kerry's successful re-appeal.
   
   The judge in the retrial, however, prohibited introducing most of this new evidence, the foundation funding Kerry's defense ran out of money (his attorney worked pro bono, but could not afford expert witnesses), and after a mistrial (deadlocked jury) and third trial it was back to Death Row for Kerry.
   
   Fortunately, this conviction was reversed again, and Kerry was offered a "No Contest" plea in exchange for time served. His initial decision was to refuse and go back to trial - however, Kerry accepted the deal after learning that the potential jurors generally thought he had gotten out on a technicality and that they were there to "make it right." Finally, after being freed, results of a DNA test came back, exonerating Kerry and pinning the crime on the librarian originally identified by an eyewitness who had been coerced by prosecutors to change her testimony. Yet, prosecutors continued to contest his exoneration when interviewed.
   
   Kerry, however, is not blameless in this miscarriage. Throughout the trials he lied about how his fingerprints got on the victim's door, instead of simply admitting she had invited him up there. (Kerry claims his father told him not to admit this; however, such an action makes no sense whatsoever.) Finally, while Kerry also should be commended for writing the book himself, continually referring to his parents as "momma" and "daddy" was both infantile and aggravating.
   
   Bottom Line: This book seriously questions the wisdom of the death penalty in America.



2. A first-hand account of how and why innocent men and women can spend decades on death row in the United States that should be read and discussed by both pro-death penalty proponents as well as abolitionists.
   Kerry Max Cook is a modern Dante/ Job. His story is of one who travels to hell and back, physically, spiritually, and emotionally, but who in the end has the strength to emerge as an enlightened, if wounded human being. The tortures he endures after being wrongfully convicted of the rape and murder of a young woman he only knew casually are simply inconceivable. Not only does he have to contend with the fear of losing his life on a daily basis, (the fear of execution, and the fear of being stabbed) but he also must survive psychologically the tragic deaths of loved ones in the outside world while he is in prison.
   The depth of police and prosecutorial misconduct Kerry describes is nothing less than infuriating, shocking. Yet, the presentation of his case is not intended to be an ideological rant against "the system." Merely by stating the facts, Kerry can convince us of the depth of the flaws.
   Besides being an eye-opening account into injustice, Kerry's book is also
   told in a way that draws us close to him, a human tale that cuts deeply into our hearts. It is a face-paced read that will keep you turning the pages, one that will haunt you and make you want to live each day of your own freedom to the fullest.



3. Read the Innocent Man and thought I could never be moved so much by a book-really a life story. Saw the movie The Exonerated and heard about Kerry's life. I started reading the book for about 2 hrs a few nights ago... Last night I actually read from 9 pm to 3 am and then got up snowy day here) and read from 8 am finishing the book. I felt I couldn't put the book down until this whole ordeal was over-like my not finishing it still had held him in a deplorable state on Death Rown. When he is handed his belongings and the 1.28 check from his Trust Fund I bawled like a baby. I never really thought this was a just world but never really considered how injust men could be. Amazing life story of a man overcoming and rising above horrendous acts of injustice!
   A Must Read!



4. Kerry Max Cook met young Linda Edwards in 1977 and was invited back to her apartment for a drink, where he left his fingerprints on the sliding glass door. Four days later, Ms. Edwards was found brutally murdered, and Cook was immediately arrested for the crime. In one of the worst examples of police and prosecutorial misconduct in American history, Kerry Max was put to trial with coached prosecutorial witnesses, bunk expert testimony about the "age" (six to twelve hours) of the fingerprint, and suppressed evidence that would have favored the defense. The state declared that Kerry Max was a repressed homosexual (at a time when homosexuality was a mental illness, and in rural Texas, no less) who raped and butchered a female out of repressed rage - a theory, incredibly, they stuck to even during re-trials two decades later, in the 1990's!
   
   Chasing Justice is the story of the framing of Kerry Max by the Texas justice system. The narrative was written in Kerry's own hand (1,200 pages at first draft) and condensed into a powerfully personal 350-page account of life on death row - desperation, abandonment, rape and sodomy, stabbings, and attempted suicide. The prose isn't depressing; rather, Kerry Max just fights on, always waiting for the next turn, building his cadre of supporters. Texas death row has been ruled in federal court to constitute cruel and unusual punishment. Kerry Max fought for a full two decades for his freedom, through three outrageous trials, with not a penny to his name. While the major Dallas newspaper was decrying the railroading of an innocent man, he was convicted again and again and again. To date, he is still not eligible for reparations from the state of Texas because he has not been officially pardoned, which would require the unanimous concurrence several bureaucratic offices unwilling to admit their culpability in the grave trespass of justice against Kerry Max Cook. (By the way, the state spent $5 - $7 million over two decades in their effort to execute Kerry Max).
   
   The reader will question - why Kerry Max? In his book, the author does not devote his energies to answering why, rather, he uses his energy to fight. From some brief research on the case, I have determined that the real culprit hired a very expensive, well-connected good ol' boy lawyer, requiring the police to find another suspect to satisfy the anger of the community. I can only begin to wonder how the Texas justice system conspired for 20 years to keep an innocent man behind bars. During each of his three trials, judges continually approved motions by the prosecutor and denied those of the defense, even to the point at which the court had contradicted itself on which evidence should be suppressed or allowed and for what reason!
   
   Kerry Max's remarkable story is a damning indictment of the death penalty and the Texas justice system. Right before the publication of his memoir, national crime show Body of Evidence: From the Case Files of Dayle Hinman featured forensic experts "solving" the Edwards murder based on false evidence from the prosecution. Even 10 years have Kerry Max's exoneration in the national eye, misinformation is still being spread by those in power. Kerry Max Cook's experiences should serve as clear warning not to blindly accept the word of authority.



5. What I loved about this book was that it was not written by a professional writer, it wasn't a lawyer's point of view, and it didn't preach to me about the death penalty. Instead, this book was a look at the justice system from a regular person's point of view. Kerry Max Cook raised questions about how the justice system works, or more appropriately, doesn't work, and not by hammering on lofty principles, but by showing the reader what actually happens, in court, out of court, and in prison. However, most importantly, he brings us inside the mind of a person facing the worst possible situation and how that affects him. I was inspired by his strength and ability to persevere through things that would have crushed nearly every human being. This book is a must-read for anyone who endeavors to understand the American criminal justice system and what it means to be accused of a crime.