4-Sided Love Triangle  Michelle Hetzel, Keary Renner, and Devon Guzman were three high school girls who shared a secret: their lesbian desires. After high school, Michelle married Brandon Bloss, 25, while Keary and Devon lived together. Michelle used her husband's credit card to finance a trip for herself and Devon to the island of St. Croix, where they were secretly wed. Back home in Easton, Pennsylvania, on a night in June 2000, Devon broke up with Michelle, and a series of violent quarrels ensued among the foursome. The next day, Devon was found dead in her car. Geometry Of Murder  Devon's death was murder made to look like suicide. Her throat had been cut clear through to the spine. Who was the killer? Keary Renner had been physically abusive to Devon in their relationship. Michelle was furious at being rejected by Devon. And Brandon Bloss wanted his wife to stay faithful to him. Forensic evidence indicated that Brandon and Michelle were the culprits. A jury agreed, sentencing them both to life prison terms. Here is a searing true account of secret lives, lethal passions--and savage murder. Includes 16 pages of shocking photos. John Kearney has been an award-winning newspaper and science writer for fifteen years and served for three years as a writer and editor for "Diagnostics Intelligence, " a scientific publication on blood and DNA testing. He lives in New Jersey.

The two women found dead in their beds had been executed. There was no robbery, no sexual motivation.The satanic writings and red candles found at the scene had been staged to throw investigators off track. The killer, or killers, just wanted the women dead! One of them, Betty Lou Gray, had been the primary target, while the other, a close friend, had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time.From the beginning, the prime suspect had been Betty Lou's husband Bill. A dominating and controlling husband, he had kept his wife penniless and almost in bondage for 28 years until, finally, she'd had enough and asked for a divorce.The obvious motivation was money, a $250,000 life insurance policy, and with his wife dead there would be no splitting of assets in a divorce settlement. If he could succeed in hiding the insurance money and the pawnshop assets from his children, Bill Gray would become a rich man.It seemed an open and shut case, but it was not to be. In this true story, Dixie Murphy follows a trail of suspicion and intrigue, and reveals the virtually unprecedented means used to finally bring a murderer to justice.

Ash WednesdayBeautiful, bubbly, 20-year-old Kim Antonakos was returning to her New York City apartment after a night of clubbing with a friend. A business major with wild black hair, long polished fingernails, and a new Honda her loving father had bought her, Kim took good care of herself and looked forward to a bright future. But on her way home in the early morning darkness of that Ash Wednesday, Kim was abducted-and her mysterious kidnappers would be the last people to see her alive.Scorching BetrayalAs Kim's father, wealthy computer executive Tommy Antonakos, launched a widespread, feverish search for his daughter, he had no idea that her abductors were right under his nose. A cold mastermind had ordered had ordered Kim to be bound, gagged and left in the freezing basement of an abandoned house, hoping to extract ransom from her father. When the plans fell through, he and his henchman panicked, returned to the basement and doused a near-frozen Kim with gasoline, setting her on fire.Burned AliveWhen the fire was extinguished, all that was left of the lovely coed were her charred, lifeless remains. What would drive the kidnappers to commit such a cruel and senseless murder? How did their plans to cover their tracks result in another killing? And how were the murderers finally snared? Read all of the fascinating facts in a startling expose of extortion, murder, and ultimate justice.

Olsen ("The Man with the Candy", "Son") has another winner in his account of the 1984 double murder of Texas lawyer James Campbell and his wife Virginia by their daughter Cindy and her lover, David West. It is a somewhat unusual true-crime study, not because the case was broken by a private detective rather than the police and not because the final disposition of the case is not included, but, rather, because of its searching psychological depiction of the killers. The analysis of the daughter suggests that she was a classic sociopath, a pathological liar incapable of any emotion or thought that did not involve her self-interest, unique in a close and loving family. The lover was far more complex, a weak man, an ex-Marine, who desperately wanted to appear strong, a man chivalrous toward women and uniformly unsuccessful with them. Their story makes for shattering reading.

LOVE GONE BAD. MURDER GONE WRONG.West Coast doctor Kenneth Stahl would do anything to free himself from his wife Carolyn. Then Adriana Vasco--Kenneth's former receptionist and mistress of nine years--obliged by introducing him to ex-con Dennis Earl Godley. The deal was set. Godley would murder Carolyn for thirty-thousand dollars. On the day after her 44th birthday, the trusting victim was lured to a lonely stretch of road. The deadly rendezvous took a shocking turn. Not only was Carolyn gunned down with a .357 Magnum, but Kenneth would also be killed.The hit man's getaway driver was the other woman, Adriana Vasco. In a sensational trial, a tangled web of lies, sex, and betrayal unfolded as Adriana and Dennis turned against each other…

A tragic case of triple homicideThis is a well-written account of a terrible murder that took place in Winnetka, Illinois, in April of 1989. The killer broke into a townhouse and waited for the residents to come home. Richard Langert and his pregnant wife, Nancy, were ruthlessly shot to death in their home.I was disgusted with the investigators, the way they scattered in all directions chasing down their outlandish theories and pondering the "indecipherable" message . I took one look at it and knew immediately what it said. It wasn't even a clue, but they wasted so much time on it. And I especially didn't like Lady Bulldozer Bishop! She was more hindrance than help.The case was investigated for 18 months before the murderer was handed to them on a silver platter. It was someone they didn't even suspect. They had been busy chasing down the mob, the IRA, a drug connection, and whatever other fantastic theory they came up with.The book reads like a novel and is never ambiguous or difficult to understand.9

Combining the drama of a true crime story, with the detail of a police procedural, Finding Amy chronicles the investigation into one of the most shocking murders in recent Maine history. Twenty-five-year-old Amy St. Laurent was attractive, intelligent, and responsible. One October evening, she went out to show a friend from Florida the exciting nightlife of Portland's Old Port section. She played pool. She danced. And then, she disappeared. The police investigation into her murder riveted the state of Maine for months. This inside account of the investigation alternates between Kate Clark Flora's objective tale of dedicated police work and the dramatic recollections of then-Lieutenant Joseph K. Loughlin, who oversaw the case. police's growing certainty that she had been murdered, from the heroic efforts to locate the body to the flight from Maine of their chief suspect, and from the painstaking work of collecting evidence and building a case to the struggles over jurisdictional questions to the twists and turns of the eventual trial, Finding Amy is a dramatic story of brutal murder and exemplary police work.

Nanette Johnston Packard, a sexy divorcee, liked to meet men at the gym and through personal ads. Soon after she began dating millionaire Bill McLaughlin, he moved her and her kids into his bay-front home in Newport Beach. But one man was never enough for Nanette ...Eric Naposki, her NFL linebacker lover, fulfilled Nanette's wilder cravings. Together they schemed to make her fiance's fortune their own. When McLaughlin was gunned down, authorities had suspicions - but no proof. Pulitzer prize-nominated writer Caitlin Rother explores this chilling story of a woman who seemed to have it all - until justice finally had its day.

Stella Nickell's small-time world was one of big-time dreams. In 1986, her biggest one came true when her husband died during a seizure, making her the beneficiary of a $175,000-plus insurance payoff—until authorities discovered Bruce Nickell's headache capsules had been laced with cyanide. In an attempt to cover her tracks, Stella did the unconscionable. She saw to it that a stranger would also become a "random casualty" of cyanide-tainted painkillers. But Stella's cunning plan came undone when her daughter Cynthia notified federal agents. And troubling questions lingered like the secret of bitter almonds...What would turn a gregarious barfly like Stella into a cold-hearted killer overnight? Why would Cynthia, a mirror image of her mother, turn on her own flesh and blood? Did Cynthia reveal everything she knew about the crimes? The stunning answers would unfold in a case that sparked a national uproar, dug deep into a troubled family history, and exposed an American mother for the pretty poison she was.Gregg Olsen's Bitter Almonds is true crime writing at its best.

This is the 2nd book I have read by this renowned prosecutor the first one being Precious Victims which was brilliant. This was another rich procedural true life crime drama. This case was very complicated but the professionals never gave up on bringing it to a conclusion. The book brings us from the crime and right through the many investigations. Weber writes his true crime like a novel and as he is at the heart of the action, the book is rich with detail. He knows the family well and all the investigators so you never lose sight that this is a true story.

His TargetAspiring model Sandee Rozzo's big mistake was being kind to Timothy "Tracey" Humphrey. After Rozzo refused the 'roided-up ex-con's advances, she described how he imprisoned, raped, and brutalized her for two days. When the courageous woman pledged to testify against him, Humphrey knew he had to silence her. . . His WeaponThat's when he turned to 19-year-old Ashley Laney. She had fallen in love with Humphrey, her personal trainer, and would do anything for him. On their wedding night, he made a strange request--one that would end with eight gunshot wounds and a dead body. His SchemeThe police knew Humphrey was the likely suspect, but he had an alibi for the time of the shooting. How could they prove that, even if he didn't pull the trigger, he was the manipulative psychopath behind Sandee's murder? It would all come down to a prison escape, a manhunt for a killer, and an explosive trial. . . "One of our most engaging crime journalists." --Dr. Katherine Ramsland"Phelps gets into the blood and guts of the story" --Gregg OlsenCase seen on 48 Hours Includes 16 Pages Of Shocking Photos

When small-town police officers come upon a murder scene in which the victim is a prominent millionaire with multiple blows to the head and nearly 100 stab wounds, they're in unfamiliar territory. Throw in lies, gossip, greed, international extradition struggles, and a conflicted federal agent, and the result is Murder in Mayberry. Lifting the veil on a picket-fenced, Bible Belt town, this chilling drama reveals a tale of secret lives and drug addiction, and is both an involving true crime story and the story of the author’s emotional journey from normal life to life turned upside down.

The "expertly told" true story of an FBI agent's affair that leads to murder in Kentucky coal country--soon to be a major motion picture starring Emilia Clarke (Publishers Weekly). When rookie FBI agent Mark Putnam received his first assignment in 1987, it was the culmination of a lifelong dream, if not the most desirable location. Pikeville, Kentucky, is high in Appalachian coal country, an outpost rife with lawlessness dating back to the Hatfields and McCoys. As a rising star in the bureau, however, Putnam soon was cultivating paid informants and busting drug rings and bank robbers. But when one informant fell in love with him, passion and duty would collide with tragic results.  A coal miner's daughter, Susan Smith was a young, attractive, struggling single mother. She was also a drug user sometimes described as a con artist, thief, and professional liar. Ultimately, Putnam gave in to Smith's relentless pursuit. But when he ended the affair, she waged a campaign of vengeance that threatened to destroy him. When at last she confronted him with a shocking announcement, a violent scuffle ensued, and Putnam, in a burst of uncontrolled rage, fatally strangled her.  Though he had everything necessary to get away with murder--a spotless reputation, a victim with multiple enemies, and the protection of the bureau's impenetrable shield--his conscience wouldn't allow it. Tormented by a year of guilt and deception, Putnam finally led authorities to Smith's remains. This is the story of what happened before, during, and after his startling confession--an account that "should take its place on the dark shelf of the best American true crime" (Newsday). Revised and updated, this ebook also includes photos and a new epilogue by the author.

Investigative reporter, and author of Nobody's Women, Steve Miller makes a thoroughly researched inquiry into a murder that rocked the privileged world of Grosse Pointe, Michigan.Bob Bashara: husband, father, Rotary Club president and community leader.Bob Bashara: slumlord, philanderer and BDSM enthusiast.Did he also hire a hit on his wife?Jane Bashara lived in Grosse Pointe Park, one of Metro Detroit’s wealthiest communities, when she was strangled to death in her own garage by local handyman Joe Gentz. When Joe turned himself in, he told the cops everything— including how he was hired for a hit by Jane’s husband. His payment: $2,000 and a used Cadillac.Born into one of Michigan’s elite families, Bob was sweeping out the back alley of a property he owned when his wife was being killed. He made sure the bartenders at the Hard Luck Lounge saw him there at the time of her murder. He’d often brought girlfriends by the same bar, and for the last year had been seen with one Rachel Gillett—riding around town in her convertible, even showing up at BDSM events in the suburbs of Detroit. .When Joe Gentz confessed, his 67 IQ and barfly reputation made him less than credible. Bob successfully denied any part in his wife’s murder. But he couldn’t deny his attempt to have Joe killed in prison.INCLUDES PHOTOS 

From the outside looking in, Jennifer Pan seemed like a model daughter living a perfect life. The ideal child, the one her immigrant parents saw, was studying to become a pharmacist at the University of Toronto. But there was a dark, deceptive side to the angelic young woman.In reality, Jennifer spent her days in the arms of her high school sweetheart, Daniel. In an attempt to lead the life she dreamed of, she would do almost anything: lie about her whereabouts, forge school documents, and invent fake jobs and a fictitious apartment. For many years she led this double life. But when her father discovered her web of lies, his ultimatum was severe. And so, too, was her revenge: a plan that culminated in cold-blooded murder. And it almost worked, except for one bad shot.The story of Jennifer Pan is one of all-consuming love and devious betrayal that led to a cold-hearted plan hatched by a group of youths who thought they could pull off the perfect crime.2017 Arthur Ellis Award, Best Nonfiction Book — WinnerA sinister plot by a young woman left her mother dead and her father riddled with bullets.

A fierce memoir of a mother’s murder, a daughter’s coming-of-age in the wake of immense loss, and her mission to know the woman who gave her life. When Sarah Perry was twelve, she saw a partial eclipse of the sun, an event she took as a sign of good fortune for her and her mother, Crystal. But that brief moment of darkness ultimately foreshadowed a much larger one: two days later, Crystal was murdered in their home in rural Maine, just a few feet from Sarah’s bedroom.   The killer escaped unseen; it would take the police twelve years to find him, time in which Sarah grew into adulthood, struggling with abandonment, police interrogations, and the effort of rebuilding her life when so much had been lost. Through it all she would dream of the eventual trial, a conviction—all her questions finally answered. But after the trial, Sarah’s questions only grew. She wanted to understand her mother’s life, not just her final hours, and so she began a personal investigation, one that drew her back to Maine, taking her deep into the abiding darkness of a small American town.   Told in searing prose, After the Eclipse is a luminous memoir of uncomfortable truth and terrible beauty, an exquisite memorial for a mother stolen from her daughter, and a blazingly successful attempt to cast light on her life once more.  

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