The Palm Beach Murder by Marion Collins -- For millionaire James Sullivan, 33, sweeping Lita McClinton off her feet was easy. But when the social climber and adulterer turned marriage in their Palm Beach mansion into hell, Lita wanted out-and half of her husband's fortune. In 1987, a hit man unloaded three bullets into Lita's head. But it wasn't until eleven years later that a confession would bring Sullivan's life crashing down. He was indicted and fled to exotic private playgrounds before settling with his fiancée in a resort near Bangkok, where he was arrested four years later. From Palm Beach elite to a squalid Thailand jail cell this is the one man's flight from justice.
The Wife Who Knew Too Much, The American Justice
Story of high-profile Atlanta lawyer Fred Tokars, who hired a gunman to murder his wife in front of their two young children. Tokars, who sought to collect $2 million in life insurance and stop his wife from exposing his illegal drug-dealing activities, is serving a life sentence--and the insurance money was awarded to the children.
American Justice: Drowning in Lies Edward Post drowned his wife in a bathtub to collect the insurance money he needed to settle his debts. But it took two trial convictions, two appeals court reversals, and finally a guilty plea to put Post away for good.
Finding Susan is Molly Hurley Moran's pointed exploration of the disappearance of her sister and her family's descent into the surreal world of psychics and detectives they once dismissed as the stuff of Lifetime movies. Susan Hurley Harrison disappeared from upscale Ruxton, Maryland on August 5, 1994. Her body was discovered in the woods of northern Maryland two years later and her death was ruled a homicide.
Fatal Journey by Jack Gieck "Monster!" That's the word used to describe Jesse Pratt. The would-be macho trucker and pimp was so threatening, even his own mother was terrified of him. Obsessed with his secretary, Carrie Love, 20, Pratt charmed and stalked her. He forced her to accompany him on a business trip, he raped her, then stabbed her to death. To hide her identity, he ran over her with his tractor/trailer.
City Confidential: Lopez Island: Foul Play On The Friendly Isle -- A retreat embraced on the sparkling waters of Puget Sound, Lopez Island is a small, close-knit community. Ruth Neslund, a bed and breakfast proprietor was at the heart of island life. But her life took a turn when her seafaring husband, Rolf, retired. Neslund's relationship deteriorated with violent arguments. Then, in 1981, Rolf disappeared. Ruth said he flew to Norway, but never arrived. As detectives detail here, the investigation that lasted years, and ended with Ruth accused of murder. Ruth maintains her innocence, but police say they've got evidence that she shot Rolf in the head, cut up his body in a bathtub, and burned the remains in a barrel.
Ruby McCollum, a wealthy African-American wife, finds herself pregnant a second time by her white physician lover. Torn between her husband, who threatens to shoot her if she has another white baby, and her lover, who threatens to shoot her if she aborts his child, Ruby chooses to murder her lover. Ruby McCollum's trial took place in a time when there were no controls over the judge who denied her First Amendment rights, yet her testimony-appearing here in print for the first time-sounded the death knell of "paramour rights," the unwritten antebellum law declaring a white man's right to take a black woman as his paramour, whether she was married or not.
City Confidential - Gibsonton Gibsonton, a sleepy hamlet near Tampa, Florida, is close to the headquarters of Ringling Brothers Circus, a getaway and safe haven for the denizens of carnival side shows. And until 1992, "The Lobster Boy," Grady Stiles, lived among them. Born with a rare genetic disorder that twisted his hands into claws, he was a sideshow performer. He settled in Gibsonton, with his wife and stepson. But on November 29, 1992, someone put three bullets into Grady's head. Initially, police thought it was a robbery gone awry, but a loose-lipped neighbor bragged that he had been paid $1,500 by Grady's wife and stepson to kill the "Lobster Boy."
Carlsbad - City Confidential Carlsbad New Mexico, 1980, a controversial murder polarized its residents. Johnny and Elaine Volpato were shot at their pharmacy late on February 5, 1980, leaving Elaine dead and Johnny with injuries. Investigators believe Johnny was the perpetrator and his own injuries were self-inflicted to cover for the murder of his wife. Johnny's lawyers -- and others -- believe police framed him. Two trials, four years apart resulted in dramatically different verdicts. The issue of Volpato's guilt or innocence still divides the city.
City Confidential - Newberry, SC -- Newberry, South Carolina June 12, 1994, police found the body of Vickie Lander Beckham in her car on a local back road. Vickie was the daughter of State Senator James Lander. Her husband, Stephen Beckham, was the son of a retired bishop and involved in distribution of hardcore drugs, using a Myrtle Beach strip joint as a front. Richard Anderson was a bouncer at the club. The two men began to suspect that Beckham's wife knew about the drugs.
City Confidential: Bad News In Battle Creek -- Diane Newton was a reporter working her way up the network affiliate ladder as soon as she graduated from college. In 1989, she was hired to anchor a morning news program, and she moved with her husband, Bradford King, to the quiet suburb of Battle Creek. But Bradford could only find a part-time job, and spent most of his time at home with their two small children. Diane started to receive threatening letters, and she feared that she was the target of a stalker. Bradford didn't feel the letters were serious until Diane was ambushed and killed early in 1991.
Kathleen Jones, professor of women's studies and political science, was shaken by the domestic violence murder of one of her students, Andrea O'Donnell, in 1994. Jones' research into the case resulted in her writing the book.
Living Between Danger and Love: The Limits of Choice. What emerges is what Jones calls "unreasonable choices" - the kinds of choices that most of us feel we are expected to make between love and power.
American Justice: Perfect Murder -- The Shannon Mohr Case -- 1980, a young, happily woman dies in what appears to be a horseback riding accident. Her husband seems far from grief-stricken and investigators discover lies and pharmaceuticals that provide an alternative explanation for the "accidental" death.
City Confidential - Midnight In Miami -- His wife was downstairs sorting clothes for a charity drive. The Cohens appeared to be living a fairytale life. But behind the faade there were cracks: she was addicted to cocaine and spending money faster than he could make it, and Stan had turned to an old flame for comfort. When she called the police to report the murder, saying only that she had seen "shadowy figures" run down the stairs, they were immediately suspicious. Why had the burglar alarm been turned off? Why was their protective Doberman Pinscher locked in a back room with her? The investigation was handled by the real Miami Vice, who played the part down to the Gucci loafers. And like the fictional detectives, they got their man, in this case Joyce Cohen.
Oil, Money...And Murder-American Justice -- The shocking story of a Texan, reported to be worth $500 million, who murdered two people and hired a hit man to kill the judge in his divorce case, but used his wealth to win acquittals in both cases. August 2, 1976, Cullen Davis invaded a Fort Worth mansion intent on murdering everyone inside, and succeeded in killing two--including a 12-year-old girl--and wounding two others. But despite a wealth of evidence and eyewitnesses, Davis' high-powered team of attorneys, including Richard "Racehorse" Haynes, who talks on camera about the case, managed to win his acquittal. But the story doesn't end there--nine months after the trial concluded, Davis was arrested again for hiring a hit man to murder the judge in his divorce case! The whole deal was captured on tape by the FBI, but, once again, Davis walked! A chilling indictment of the justice system's failure in the face of wealthy defendants, OIL, MONEY... AND MURDER includes an incredible interview with Cullen Davis himself. |
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Watch for new True Crime Books and DVDs as they are published!
According to the US Department of Justice, 1/3rd of the women murdered in America between 1976 and 1999 were killed by their husband, ex-husband, or boyfriend. The federal numbers decreased from 1,600 in 1976 to 1,218 in 1999, but it is impossible to know how many spousal murders go unreported.
Gwendolyn Moore was discovered in a well. She had been missing since the night before. She was married at 15, had four kids, and was dead at 30.
Wall Street tycoon Ted Ammon was murdered in his sprawling East Hampton, Long Island, estate in October 2001. Daniel Pelosi was convicted of second-degree murder in the bludgeoning death of the millionaire investment banker as he slept in the bedroom of his $10 million mansion. Pelosi killed Theodore Ammon, the estranged husband of Pelosi's lover, Generosa Ammon, at Ammon's home in the eastern Long Island community of East Hampton. Ammon was beaten more than 30 times on the head with a blunt object. The War for Ted Ammon's Children.
 Almost Paradise The East Hampton Murder of Ted Ammon Kieran Crowley -- This is the story of a murder in the high society world of East Hampton, the playground of New York’s super rich. On October 22, 2001, handsome multimillionaire financier Ted Ammon was found bludgeoned to death in the East Hampton mansion he’d built with his volatile wife, Generosa. She had a history of violent outbursts and bizarre obsessions. She stood to make millions, but it wasn’t the money that made Ted’s friends suspicious. Generosa, a talented decorator, fashioned a lavish lifestyle for her husband and two children, divided between Fifth Avenue, the Long Island estate, and a manor house in England. When Generosa discovered Ted had a mistress, she began a very public affair with Danny Pelosi, a womanizer who was her electrician. She called him her “tool belt guy.” He was an ex-con with a mile-long rap sheet suspected of playing a pivotal role in Ted’s murder. Kieran Crowley who covered the Ammon case recreates the three lives that fatally intersected in East Hampton. He tracks Generosa from an orphaned, lonely, abused, angry, unwanted teenager to a temperamental Manhattan artist and society wife. The odyssey that transformed Pelosi from a banking executive's privileged son, to a street fighter, alcoholic, to an unsuccessful contractor charged with murder the charmed life and tragic death of Ted Ammon, whose money and status couldn't save him from his ultimate brutal demise.
Susan Wright, 27, mother of two, said she was a victim of domestic abuse and stabbed her husband, Jeff Wright, 193 times in self-defense.
 A Wife's Revenge by Eric Francis -- Susan Wright was a victim...who admitted to killing her husband Jeffrey in their Harris County home in 2003, by stabbing him to death in self-defense. She recounted a tale of domestic abuse-one. But prosecutors claimed Susan was a seductress ...who set the mood for kinky sex with her unsuspecting husband, after tying him to the bed, she straddled him, stabbed him 193 times with a butcher knife, and buried him in their backyard. Justice would not come easy. The theatrics in the Houston courtroom would brand Susan as a desperate martyr and a brutal killer.
 Elisa McNabney, was charged with the murder of her husband, Sacramento lawyer, Larry Williams McNabney, 53. McNabney was killed with a lethal dose of horse tranquilizer after Sept. 10, 2001. His body was stuffed into a refrigerator months before it was found buried in the vineyard on Feb. 5, 2002. Elisa, left January 2002. Her real name is Laren Renee Sims, a Florida ex-convict.
Marked For Death by Brian J. Karem Larry McNabney, a respected California attorney was seduced and murdered with a lethal dose of horse tranquilizer by his deeply disturbed wife, Elisa McNabney, aka Laren Renee Sims, an ex-convict from Florida .and her female lover, Sarah Dutra, a Sacramento California State University student. Includes an 8-page photo insert. Other books by Brian J. Karem
Cold Blooded Carlton Smith -- California attorney Larry McNabney a wealthy and well-connected legal ace was the proud owner of a champion show horse. When his wife Elisa reported him missing in September, 2001, she claimed he abandoned her and join a cult after an argument . three months later, when his body was found in a shallow grave Elisa was gone. Driving a red convertible Jaguar, with her dark hair bleached blonde, the ex-con, with 38 aliases, and a rap sheet 113 pages long.
Jilly's Law is named in memory of Jill Russell-Cahill, who was murdered by her husband, James "Jeff" Cahill, in October 1998. At the time of the murder, Jeff was out on bail after being charged with beating Jill with a baseball bat six months earlier. Jill was still recovering in the hospital when Jeff snuck into her room, disguised as a janitor, and poisoned her with cyanide.
 While She Slept by Marion Collins --When Jill Cahill was leaving to return home after visiting with her family for a week, she turned to her sister with a grin, and said: "If Jeff kills me, you can have all my things." A few days later, she was in a coma in a Syracuse hospital, her skull shattered by a savage beating inflicted by her 37-year-old husband. Six months later, she was dead. Jeff and Jill Cahill seemed to have it all. Two kids, a dog, a nice house of the picket fence variety. But their relationship wasn't as happy as it seemed. Jeff and Jill had been having serious financial problems and were headed towards divorce, legally separated but living in the same house until Jill could afford to move out. But on April 21, 1996 Jeff and Jill had a torrid argument while their kids were upstairs sleeping. In the aftermath, Jeff claimed that his wife had started stabbing him with a kitchen knife-and that was the reason for his taking a Louisville slugger straight to her head. She lay in a coma for nearly six months, and just as she started to show signs of coming out of it she received a visitor. On October 27th of that same year, staffers at the University Hospital in Syracuse New York, noticed a strange-looking guy lurking in the hallway wearing a wig and outdoor boots. When Jill's nurse went to check on her patient, she found her gasping for air, with bruises around her mouth, and white powder (later to be determined as cyanide) flecked across her chest. Other books by Marion Collins
 March 6, 1996, a steel pipe crushed Penny Scaggs' right cheek bone, breaking her jaw while she was home alone in the evening. Her husband of 35 years, Roger Scaggs, CEO of American Physician Services Systems (APS), returned home from the office at 9:15 pm and called 911. Austin Texas emergency medical technicians found Penny covered in blood with her throat cut. Roger Scaggs, was a respected church elder. Louanne Ehrle "Penny" Scaggs was known for her course on "being a good wife" taught at Church.
 In 1987, Janet Levine and Perry March, a lawyer were married. Six years ago, Janet disappeared from Nashville Tennesee. On the day Janet disappeared, she had asked her mother to go with her to see a divorce lawyer the next day. Six days after Janet disappeared, Perry replaced the tires on his car with new ones. A week into their investigation, police found Janet's car, parked at an apartment complex miles from the March house. Perry says he's become a target, pursued by people determined to destroy him and kidnap his children, Sammy, 12, and Tzipi, 8. Janet 's friends do not believe Perry's suggestions that Janet's disappearance had something to do with drugs or an extramarital affair. But what he said to their children that disturbs Larry and Carolyn Levine. "He told the children that their mother ran away and abandoned them ... nobody loved them more than their mother," " said Carolyn. Police are hoping to find enough evidence to make an arrest, despite the fact it appears most of the evidence was destroyed. August 3, 2005, nearly nine years after the disappearance of Nashville's Janet Levine March, her husband, Perry March, was deported from Guadalajara, Mexico to FBI custody and charged in Davidson County with second-degree murder, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence. Perry pleaded not guilty November 9, 2005 to new charges he plotted with his father to have his former in-laws killed. Arthur March, Perry's 80-year old father who lives in Ajjic, Mexico has also been indicted but is fighting extradition. The indictment alleges that while in jail, Perry solicited Russell Nathaniel Farris, aka Bobby Givings, to murder Carolyn and Lawrence Levine of Nashville, Tennessee. Authorities contend, Arthur March, agreed to pick up Farris at a Guadalajara airport and provide him with housing and money after the murders.
 Mark Hacking worshipped his wife of five years, Lori, and he wasn't afraid to show it. Hacking is accused of murdering Lori in their Salt Lake City home and dumping her body.
Almost everyone who knew Mark and Donnah Winger thought the Springfield Illinois couple were perfect together.
The story of Kurt and Nancy Sonnenfeld -- New Year's - 2002 Together they appeared as the perfect couple but Nancy planned to leave because he was using heroin and slept with other women. Kurt Sonnenfeld, a videographer documented the recovery at the World Trade Center for the Federal Emergency Management Agency was arrested in 2002 after his wife died of a gunshot wound to her head on New Year's Day. She was still alive when police were called but they had to knock the door down because Sonnenfeld refused to let them in. Prosecutors dismissed 1st-degree murder charges against Kurt June 13, 2002, the day before his trial was tto begin. He remarried and moved to Argentina. After prosecutors refiled murder charges over two years later due to new evidence he was arrested in Buenos Aires.
 When Tacoma, WA Police Chief David Brame shot his battered wife Crystal, to death, and then committed suicide in front of their young children, police officials dismissed the murder-suicide as an aberration but in reality it was just the tip of the iceberg.
In 1998, Patrizia Reggiani, Italy's "black widow," was sentenced to 26 years in jail for hiring a hitman to kill her estranged husband, fashion heir, Maurizio Gucci, Mafia-style, outside his Milan office. Her family now claims new medical tests show the extent of the brain damage from a brain tumor years ago meant she could not have planned a murder.
The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed by Sara G. Forden --Did Patrizia Reggiani murder her ex-husband, Maurizio Gucci, in 1995 because her ex was preparing to marry his mistress, Paola Franchi? Or is there a possibility she didn't do it at all? This account of the ascent, collapse, and resurrection of the Gucci dynasty, takes us behind the scenes of the trial and exposes the greatest fashion family of our times.
 Celeste Beard Johnson -- Is serving a double life sentence for manipulating Tracey Tarlton, her lover into killing her elderly, millionaire husband, Steven Beard. Tarlton, the confessed killer, is serving a 20-year sentence.
The Fortune Hunter by Suzy Spencer Multi-millionaire Steven Beard, Jr., 70, knew his family was suspicious of his bride, Celeste, 32. He didn't know about her involvement with a lesbian patient, Tracey Tarlton. Tracey shot Steven while he slept, then Celeste tried to put a hit on Tracy.
 The Surgeon's Wife by Kieran Crowley -- In the summer of 1985, in his exclusive Upper East Side Manhattan apartment, Robert Bierenbaum, a prominent surgeon and certified genius, strangled his wife Gail to death. He then drove her body to an airstrip in Caldwell, N.J., and dumped it into the Atlantic Ocean from a single-engine private plane. The next day he reported her missing. Gail's parents were thrilled she was marrying Bierenbaum. He was from a well-to-do family, a medical student who fluently spoke five languages, a skier, and even flew an airplane. Robert tried to choke Gail because he caught her smoking. She filed a police report. She alleged he tried to kill her cat because he was jealous. Her sister and her therapist warned her she could eventually die at the hands of the man she married.
Fifteen years after the crime, a jury found Robert Bierenbaum guilty of murder.
 Jane Andrews -- The former aide to the Duchess of York, has been found guilty of murdering her fiancé, Tom Cressman, 39, after discovering a sexy e-mail he sent to another woman and sentenced to life imprisonment. Jane Andrews is appealing her conviction. Relentlessly portrayed as a callous social climber, here she gives her account of their relationship and the hours that led up to the killing.
 Margaret Rudin -- Bright lights, big weirdness Sex on dirty carpets, betrayal, decapitation, spirit possession, mega-money and a defendant they're calling the "Black Widow." Can Las Vegas' latest lurid trial be good for its image? You bet.
"If I Die ..." : A True Story of Obsessive Love, Uncontrollable Greed, and Murder by Michael Fleeman He'd been shot at least four times in the head, decapitated, and set on fire. Even before the remains were found, circumstantial evidence was building against Rudin's wife, Margaret, 52, who stood to inherit her husband's fortune. By the time authorities closed in on Margaret Rudin, she'd disappeared. It would take two-and-a-half years to hunt the Black Widow down, and to discover the cold-blooded secrets at the heart of a poisonous marriage.
November 1, 1994, Rabbi, Fred Neulander, found his wife, Carol, face down on the living room floor. Two trials and 8 years later, the founder of the largest reform synagogue in southern New Jersey was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. The rabbi had hired 2 men to kill his wife, so he could continue an affair with Philadelphia talk-show host, Elaine Soncini. Neulander promised to pay Len Jenoff, $30,000 to kill his wife. Jenoff recruited his drug-addicted schizophrenic roommate, Paul Daniels. Victoria Lombardi, "Miss Vicki, of Haddonfield" Tiny Tim's ex-Wife, and the rabbi are good friends.
 Broken Vows by Eric Francis. Rabbi Fred J. Neulander was the respected head of one of the largest synagogues in New Jersey and an unfaithful husband who spoke of desire to see his wife killed. Six years after the killing, PI Leonard Jenoff came forward with the confession that Neulander hired Jenoff and Paul Daniels to kill his wife. Jenoff thought he was hired to kill an anti-Jewish terrorist. Daniels blamed schizophrenia for his involvement. Neulander insisted he was innocent.
The Rabbi and the Hit Man: A True Tale of Murder, Passion, and Shattered Faith by Arthur J. Magida -- In a gripping examination of the misuses of the pulpit and the self-delusions of power, Magida paints a portrait of a man who used his position in the temple to attract mistresses and befriend a lonely recovering alcoholic, he convinced to kill his wife "for the good of Israel." The Rabbi and the Hit Man straddles the juncture of faith and trust, and confronts issues of sex, narcissism, arrogance, and adultery. It is the definitive account of a charismatic clergyman who paid the ultimate price for ignoring his own words of wisdom: "We live at any moment with our total past ... What we do will stay with us forever."
 Jami Sherer disappeared from her home Sept. 30, 1990, after phoning her mother to say she was coming over with lunch. Judy Hagel testified her daughter, a mother, and Microsoft secretary, had the courage to escape her abusive marriage. She never made it to her mother's house, and her Mazda RX7 later turned up in a church parking lot. Steven Sherer, pleaded not guilty to charges he tried to burn down the home of his former mother-in-law and son.
 Empty Promises by Ann Rule Rule Unmasks the deadly motives inside a seemingly idyllic marriage: a young wife, Jami Sherer, and a prosperous husband, the scion of a family building business. But evil permeated their days and nights, dragging them into a world of drugs, sordid sex, and con operations. Sudden, violent death brought their charade of a romance to a tragic end -- whose fight for justice spanned an entire decade.
 A Woman Scorned: The Shocking Real-Life Case of Billionairess Killer Susan Cummings by Lisa Pulitzer -- Billionairess Susan Cummings slept with a .357 Magnum under her pillow. Some people called her strangely obsessive, eccentric, and emotionless, with a strong distrust of people. Her lover, Roberto, an Argentinian polo player, was possessive...and he was cheating on her. But police, answering a mysterious 911 call, saw him as a bullet-riddled corpse. Susan displayed the blood running from knife wounds on her arm, and said she shot him in self-defense. Yet Roberto had been dead so long, the pool of his blood looked sticky. Lisa Pulitzer reveals the truth about a the wealthy elite...and where money can buy almost everything... Eight pages of startling photos.
City Confidential - Middleburg: Pistols, Ponies, and Foul Play -- On an autumn morning in 1997, on a 300-acre horse farm in Virginia, heiress Susan Cummings pulled a 9-mm pistol and fired four shots into boyfriend Argentine polo star Roberto Villegas's chest and throat. His abusive past led many to assume it was self-defense, but some to question how much justice a rich heiress could buy.
 New Year's Eve 1977, candy heiress Helene Voorhees Brach and Richard Bailey "danced the night away" at New York's Waldorf-Astoria. Bailey and a co-conspirator arranged an extensive show for Brach,to persuade her to invest $150,000 in horses. Events in the disappearance of Helen Brach.
Who Killed the Candy Heiress: Helen Brach The case of the candy heiress who disappeared without a trace in February 1977. Even though her former lover was convicted in 1995 in connection with her death, her body has never been found and questions about her disappearance remain.
City Confidential - Chicago Horse Mafia -- Helen Vorhees Brach, sole heiress to the Brach Candy empire, was last seen checking out of the Mayo Clint on February 17,1977. When the Chicago socialite disappeared, she left behind a lavender Rolls-Royce, Cadillacs in red, pink and coral, an eighteen-room mansion, and a fortune estimated at $75 million. As investigators delved deeper into the case they learned of Brach's recent involvement in thoroughbred horse breeding. Could her disappearance be connected to the suspicious deaths of a string of champion racehorses?
 The Prosecution of Clara Harris - The video, the Mercedes, the girlfriend, the deadly affair. Behind the shocking headlines. For the first time, the Texas dentist who ran over her cheating husband reveals her side of the story.
Out of Control by Steven Long Clara and David Harris were married on Valentine's Day, they developed a thriving dental business, built a half-million-dollar mansion, and raised a family. Then whispers of an affair between David and his secretary drifted through their Houston social circle. A private detective confirmed the rumors. When Clara saw her husband with his mistress, she climbed behind the wheel of her car and put an end to their life together-by crushing her husband to death underneath the wheels of her Mercedes-Benz. What the trial revealed was: marital infidelity, and deadly passion.
 Millionaire Convicted in Murder-For-Hire -- Texas millionaire, Allen Blackthorne, 45, was convicted of arranging the 1997 murder of his ex-wife, Sheila Bellush, 35, shot with her throat slit as her 2-year-old quadruplets crawled in her blood. She who was found by their 13-year-old daughter. Case Updates and Overview.
May 10, 2000, in the basement of Sheila and Eric Molnar's home was an expression of the couple's sexual life or a violent criminal abduction.
The Kristine Fitzhugh Case
 Blood Will Tell by Carlton Smith For twenty years, Ken and Kristine Fitzhugh and their two sons had lived in the university town of Palo Alto, California. Then Kristine was dead, the victim of a terrible accident... By the time the Palo Alto Police Department looked closer at the death, there could be only one conclusion. Someone murdered Kristine in her own home, inflicting a series of blows to the back of her head, then cleaned up the mess to make it look like an accident. Ken was tried for murder. As the case progressed, the secrets of the Fitzhugh family came spilling out. . .
Texas v. Walker: 'Obsessed' man kills ex-wife -- April 10, 2000 -- 5 days after Richard Walker, 44, discovered his friend hiding in his ex-wife's bedroom closet, the investment manager confessed, "I shot Aneeka 8 times. ... She's lying in a pool of blood." Then he stopped at his favorite restaurant for lunch and a martini.
Bob and Jane Dorotik were married 30 years in February 2000 when Bob disappeared. His body was found near their Vista CA home. Police arrested Jane for murder.
Did 'The Jerry Springer Show' Cause a Murder? -- Jerry Springer Guests Apprehended - The Jerry Springer Show with Nancy Campbell-Panitz - Ralf Panitz, accused of killing his ex-wife hours after the couple appeared on The Show.
Dr. Richard Sharpe - Millionaire cross-dressing, Boston dermatologist admits he killed his wife, Karen, July 14, 2000, but claims insanity. Sharpe was a cross-dresser with a penchant for his daughter's underwear, took hormones to grow breasts, and stole his wife's birth control pills to supplement them.
 Twisted: The secret desires and bizarre double life of Dr. Richard Sharpe by John Glatt When high school sweethearts Karen and Richard Sharpe married, they shared an interest in medicine, a desire for family, and a dream for the future. For After years of abuse Karen ended their 26-year marriage. Fearing a divorce settlement, Richard unloaded a .22-caliber rifle into her chest. The murder revealed Sharpe was a compulsive cross-dresser with a penchant for his daughter's underwear-who had not only been taking hormones to grow breasts, but stole his wife's birth control pills to supplement them.
A Florida jury recommended life in prison for former deputy, Roy Kipp, convicted of murdering his estranged wife, Sandra, and a fellow officer, Sergeant Jeffrey Klein on May 20, 2000.
Sharee Miller -- May 1999, a month after marrying Bruce Miller, 20 years her senior, Sharee, a chat-room regular, met Jerry Cassaday of Missouri, an ex-law officer with drug and alcohol problems. Sharee enticed Jerry to kill her husband. They had been married 7 months. Cassaday drove from Missouri to Michigan kill Bruce on Nov. 8, 1999. Later he took his own life.
Fatal Error by Mark Morris, Paul Janczewski -- Michigan housewife Sharee Miller, a pathological liar, man she met in an Internet chat room into murdering her innocent husband, Bruce, on Nov. 8, 1999.
Rae Carruth sentenced to 19 - 24 years in prison after a jury convicted the former Carolina Panther of conspiracy and other charges stemming from the fatal November, 15, 1999 drive-by shooting of his pregnant girlfriend, Cherica Adams.
American Justice: Conspiracy to Kill -- A look at the trial of the star football player implicated in the killing of Cherica Adams. In 1999, Adams, more than six months pregnant with Carruth's baby, was gunned down in her car. Before slipping into a coma, Cherica implicated Carruth in the shooting. Doctors managed to save her baby, but within weeks, Cherica died. Was she killed as a result of a botched drug deal, as the defense maintained, or did a greedy Carruth coldly mastermind the shooting to avoid paying child support?
Drugs, Booze in Hartman Murder -- May 18, 1998, Brynn Hartman consumed booze, cocaine and prescription pills before killing her husband, popular comedian, Phil Hartman and herself.
Amanda Mayhew Dealey, daughter of slain Texas millionaire, Charles Mayhew Sr., sued her brother Charles Mayhew Jr. for his wrongful death shooting death Feb. 28, 1998.
Rinette Riella Bergna was killed in a mysterious crash June 1, 1998 at near Reno, Peter Bergna, 45, her husband of 11 years, became suspect.
Angleton was arrested and indicted by a Federal Grand Jury.
June 12, 1994, the body of Vickie Lander Beckham, 36, South Carolina, was found in her car beaten to death. Vickie was the daughter of state senator Jim Lander. Police arrested Richard George Anderson, 35, a bouncer at a Myrtle Beach nightclub. Anderson was hired by Vickie's husband, Stephen Beckham, 37, son of a Episcopal Bishop, William Beckham.
1994, Russ Smith, 32, and Khristine, 27, married for 8 years they lived in Kalamazoo, Mich., with their daughter Candace, 7. Smith, told neighbors his wife had run off with another man. Eyewitness accounts of the body disposal convinced Smith to plead guilty.
Heiress' Mom: Judge Let Abusive Hubby Stay - The mother of murdered newspaper heiress Anne Scripps Douglas blasted the judge who allowed her daughter's husband to stay in the home after she sought court protection. Douglas was killed Dec. 31, 1993, by her husband, Scott, a house painter who then killed himself.
A grisly manuscript about killing one's wife gets another look, now that the author has confessed to police that his book is autobiographical. 1991
Testimony of Laurie Kellogg 25-years to life -- My husband was shot to death by a young man, who found out he had been molesting his girlfriend and her friend. He was on drugs ... he was heavily involved in the occult. At 16 she met the 15 years older Bruce Kellog. She didn't know he "bought" her.
Betty Broderick: A divorce turned her into the murderer of her ex-husband, Dan, and his new wife Linda while sleeping in 1989. Letter from Dan's Sister. -- Broderick was interviewed in March 2001. Calif. v. Broderick
American Justice: Woman Scorned
Charles Stuart case --The classic suburban nightmare. October 23, 1989, Carol Stuart, a pregnant, white lawyer was shot in the head in Boston. Carol died of her injuries after her baby was delivered via C-section. The baby had immediate seizures due to blood and oxygen deprivation.
City Confidential: Boston - Betrayal in Beantown -- Charles and Carol Stuart met and fell in love at Boston College. Carol was seven months pregnant with their first child when Charles called 911 from his car phone to report that they were attacked by a black car jacker. Police arrived to find Carol dead, and Charles in serious condition. It was like a spark in a powder keg: police stormed through the city's black neighborhoods, arresting almost every young black male they came across. And then it became clear that Charles had been lying.
1975 Lita McClinton, 23, who was black, fell in love with James Sullivan, 33, a white businessman who inherited millions. After 9 years of marriage, Lita filed for divorce and half of Sullivan's estate. Lita was shot in the head, and died soon afterward.
'Black widow' killed mates for insurance money -- Maryland -- Twice widowed grandmother, Josephine Gray, 55, used voodoo and witchcraft to frighten witnesses. Gray was charged with killing her 1st husband, Norman Stribbling in 1974 and her 2nd husband, William Gray in 1990. William and Josephine Gray were charged with killing Stribbling in 1974, but the witnesses disappeared. In 1991, Josephine and her young lover, Clarence Goode, were charged with killing William Gray, but witnesses recanted. In Baltimore Gray is a suspect in the 1996 killing of Goode.
Kari & Associates
PO Box 7126
Olympia, WA 98507
January 8, 2006
Copyright Kari Sable Burns 1994-2006 |
Needle Work
Every Breath You Take: A True Story of Obsession, Revenge, and Murder by Ann Rule --If anything ever happens to me, promise me that you will see that there is an investigation," Sheila Blackthorne Bellush told her sister after she divorced multimillionaire Allen Blackthorne.
The Killer Within - American Justice -- Bill Kurtis probes the bizarre murder case of Tom Bonney, who shot his 19-year-old daughter 27 times in 1987. Claiming that he suffers from multiple personality disorder, Bonney says that one of his "other" personalities committed the killing.
The Serpent and the Spirit: Glenn Summerford's Story by Thomas Burton A story of Holiness snake-handling preacher Glenn Summerford, who is serving ninety-nine years for attempting to murder his wife, Darlene, by forcing her to be bitten by a rattlesnake.
American Justice: Till Death Do Us
Crimes of Passion-Pamela Smart -- She was a teacher at a New Hampshire high school. He was her 15-year-old student. Their relationship turned from innocent friendship to deadly romance. The 90s tragic and sordid tale of Pamela Smart and Bill Flynn. Smart used sex and lies to manipulate the teen into killing her husband. When he pulled the trigger, the story exploded into the news nationwide.
Deadly Deception: A True Story of Duplicity, Greed, Dangerous Passions and One Woman's Courage
by Brenda Gunn, Shannon Richardson
Brenda and Glen Gunn settled into their home to plan a family. But as the honeymoon fades, Brenda picks up the phone to hear Glen and her best friend plotting to kill her. With the police unwilling to step in, Brenda must take matters into her own hands to survive.
City Confidential: Tyler - Fallen Rose In the 1980s, the Lucas family was successful and respected in the Texas town of Tyler. But after Baker Lucas Jr., the family patriarch and Mayor, died in a car accident in 1985, the Lucas' fortunes started a reversal that would end with Baker's son Steve in prison for murdering his mother. Bette Lucas wound up lying at the foot of her stairs, terminally injured. The jury in Tyler was unable to come to a decision, a problem not repeated when tried again in Dallas. A failed business, a bored socialite and a troubled son.
The Stranger In My Bed by Michael Fleeman
In 1974, the estranged wife of John David Smith disappeared. A body found in 1980 was identified as hers. Fifteen years later, Smith's second wife vanished. Smith soon married again, and in 2000, Diane Smith discovered why the FBI was investigating her husband.
American Justice: 'Til Death Do Us Part: The Barbara Stager Story -- At 6:08 a.m. on February 1st, 1988, the police in Durham, North Carolina got the call that a man had been shot. Barbara Sanger told officers the gun her husband kept under his pillow accidentally fired and shot him in the head. According to friends, coworkers and family members, Barbara was a devoted wife, mother and Christian. It became clear Sanger was not the gentle, caring woman she seemed. The accident was a cold-blooded murder and not Barbara's first. Barbara's first husband died of a gunshot wound. A suburban housewife, Sanger went shopping for expensive clothes, luxury cars, and extramarital affairs. She feared her husband would discover her, so she bought a gun and shot him in the middle of the night. While the detective assigned to the first shooting continued to investigate Barbara, he was thwarted by his own department, wary of attracting controversy during election year. Ten years later, his suspicions were proved correct with a second tragedy.
The Torso Murder: The Untold Story of Evelyn Dick by Brian Vallee -- The "torso" murder trial of Evelyn Dick grabbed headlines in 1946 and 1947. Her husband John's head and limbs had been sawed from his body and burned in her furnace. After she was sentenced to hang, lawyer J.J. Robinette appealed her case, won her a new trial and an acquittal. But, when police found the remains of Evelyn's newborn baby encased in cement in her attic, she received a manslaughter conviction and 11 years in prison. Dick was released with a new identity in 1958. Since then, rumors, stories and sightings have abounded.
Final Affair: The Shocking True Story of Marriage and Murder
by Frank McAdams, Timothy Carney
When Janet Overton died from "unexplained causes," no one in her Orange County community suspected foul play. But a year later, Sheriff's Investigator Tim Carney sensed something amiss in this so-called "nothing case"-and uncovered the shocking truth about Dr. Richard Overton's past.
Just Another Little Murder
by Phil Cleary
In 1987, Phil Cleary's sister Vicky, 25, was stabbed to death by her ex-boyfriend, Peter Raymond Keogh. He was found not guilty of murder and received a manslaughter verdict for which he served 3 years 11 months in jail.
City Confidential - Soho: The Art Of Murder September 8, 1985, Ana Mendieta plunged to her death from the 34th floor apartment she shared with her famous husband in Soho. Ana and her husband, sculptor Carl Andre, were fixtures in the hip scene. But when Ana discovered that Carl having affairs, they exploded into a heated argument. Carl's nose and arm were scratched enough to bleed, and a doorman on the street below heard a woman screaming "No, no, no, no, don't." Seconds later, Ana's body crashed onto the roof of a delicatessen. From Carl's call to 911 to the clever legal strategy that exonerated him despite circumstantial evidence suggesting murder.
Kathleen Jones, professor of women's studies and political science, was shaken by the domestic violence murder of her student, Andrea O'Donnell, in 1994. Jones' research into the case resulted in her writing the book, Living Between Danger and Love: The Limits of Choice. What emerges is what Jones calls "unreasonable choices" - the kinds of choices that most of us feel we are expected to make between love and power.
Murdered by His Wife by Deborah Navas -- "In March 1778, Joshua Spooner, a wealthy gentleman farmer in Brookfield, Massachusetts, was beaten to death and his body stuffed down a well. Four people were hanged for the crime: two British soldiers, a young Continental soldier, and Spooner's wife, Bathsheba, 32 , the daughter of the state's most prominent and despised Loyalist, was charged with instigating the murder. She was 5 months pregnant when she hung before a crowd of 5,000 spectators.
The Preacher's Son: A True Story of Murder in North Carolina
by Lynn Chandler-Willis Pleasant Garden, North Carolina Patricia Blakely prayers' were answered in Ted Kimble, a son of a local preacher. Patricia's charred body was found among the remains of her burned-out home. But it wasn't fire that killed Patricia. It was a bullet to the back of the skull.
City Confidential: Aspen: Murder On The Slopes -- Vladimir Sabich's girlfriend, actress Claudine Longet, called the police on March 21, 1976, to report she killed him. The prosecution claimed it was deliberate; the defense argued that Sabich was showing Longet the gun when it discharged.
Finding Susan
by Molly Hurley Moran An account of a family's two-year search for Susan Harrison's body, and the circumstances surrounding her marriage.
City Confidential: Hilo: Betrayal on the Big Island Police officer Kenneth Mathison wife, Yvonne Martin, dead body was found on the highway near the couple's van. Mathison claimed she jumped out and he accidentally ran her over, but bloodstains inside the van argued otherwise. Mathison's colleagues initially charged him with a misdemeanor traffic violation. Outraged Hilo citizens demanded justice be served.
City Confidential: Green Bay: Terror in Titletown -- John Maloney, an arson investigator for the Green Bay police, and his wife Sandy met in high school, married and raised three children. But, their marriage fell apart in the fall on 1997. John moved out, and six months later Sandy was dead, after falling asleep while smoking and setting the house on fire. But investigators discovered she was strangled, and John became a suspect. While there was little evidence, John was convicted. John's children maintain his innocence, and Sandy's parents are convinced that justice was served
September Sacrifice
"If I'm ever late for work, call the police!” an Albuquerque, New Mexico bank teller Girly Chew, 36, told her boss. The Malaysian-born beauty lived in mortal fear of her pathologically deranged husband had had taken out a restraining order against.
Men's Work in Preventing Violence Against Women
by James Newton Poling
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