True Crime Books

When two General Motors executives drove into Crater Lake National Park in July 1952, no one could predict they would be dead within an hour—not even their killers. It was a crime of opportunity, a botched robbery during the middle of summer in a crowded national park. When Albert Jones and Charles Culhane were found shot to death two days later, the story became a national obsession. The FBI used every resource and available agent but, as time wore on, the investigation ran out of steam. A lack of evidence worked to the killer’s advantage. He had committed a perfect crime. The FBI tried hard to solve the case. Their 2,000+ page report details a staggeringly complex, multi-agency effort: 200 ballistic tests, 1000 interviews, 466 license plate identifications. The man hours were beyond calculation, and yielded valuable information— buried within the individual reports of the FBI, Oregon State Police and local agencies are many clues to the nature and identity of the perpetrator. The FBI file has rarely been seen by anyone outside the Bureau until December 2015 when the author received it on two discs, satisfying a Freedom of Information Act request submitted three years before. This book summarizes all the information: the FBI file, Oregon State Police reports, fresh research and interviews, county records, rare first hand accounts, reaction from one victim’s family and an obscure college thesis that first named the killer. Add to this, the personal account of a man to whom the killer confessed. Before the confessor died, he swore his wife to secrecy, reminding her about “the things that nobody talks about.” The Crater Lake Murders tells the true narrative: four men with nothing in common until the day they met and, after that, the Fate all Men share.

On May 27, 2001, a nurse in Kansas City oncologist Dr. Hunter-Hicks’ office placed a five c.c. vial of Taxol chemotherapy medicine in a package and sent it to the National Medical Services laboratory. On June 12, 2001, the lab results arrived back. The Taxol sample from the lab was a bombshell. It had approximately one-third of the amount of Taxol the doctor had ordered. Diluted medication could result in serious, possibly fatal outcomes.In September 2001, the FBI opened a new case file: Diluted Trust. Overseen by FBI Director Robert S. Muller III, Diluted Trust was the FBI’s highest priority case in the nation until the terrorist attacks on 9/11.The FBI discovered that pharmacist responsible for the scam, Robert Ray Courtney, had been diluting chemotherapy drugs for years and had brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars. But beyond the crime of overcharging for diluted medication was the human toll it took. At least 4,200 patients were affected with at least 40 known deaths. This was the first case of its kind in American medical history.Prescription for Evil is the story of Robert Ray Courtney, the FBI case against him, and the devastation he wrought among thousands of patients and their families.

LaDonna Humphrey gains a new ally in her effort to find justice in the 1994 unsolved murder case of Melissa Ann Witt when Alecia Lockhart reveals a dark and troubling secret from her past.  Together, Humphrey and Lockhart must delve inside a dangerous and twisted world known as the "dark web" to unlock a series of mysteries, including Alecia's haunting connection to Melissa Witt's murder.  Strangled is the shocking and suspenseful account of the war Humphrey and Lockhart wage on a warped and depraved online community set on destruction, murder and mayhem.  The stakes are high.  Their safety is compromised.  Evil lurks with every click.  Just how far are they willing to go to find the answers they need? 

Use authentic crime scene tips to write murder believably! Arm Yourself. It’s Time to Kill Your CharactersThere’s a dead body on the floor, and your detective character has to learn every detail about the crime in order to solve the case and bring the murderer to justice. If you’re not an experienced forensic investigator, how can you describe the manner of death accurately so that the evidence means what you want it to mean? Kill Your Characters by former detective and forensic investigator Steve Rush gives you the tools you need to pass the inspection of all the armchair detectives (and more than a few real ones) out there. Discover your ultimate empowerment source for writing the page-turning inciting incident you have always wanted to write. Become a master and save hours of research effort searching elsewhere for accurate information. This book will help you address such issues as: How did your character die? What were the circumstances of the murder? What weapon did the killer use? What evidence was left behind? How can you build a rock-solid case against the suspect? With Kill Your Characters you will be able to answer these questions and more with facts to back up your fiction. When plotting the next murder scene for your story, you may run into obstacles such as how the detectives determine time of death, or the forensic evidence left by a gunshot wound. Steve Rush’s extensive experience is accumulated in a series of writing tips and activities that will significantly improve your story. Kill Your Characters is for any author looking to elevate their murder scenes with credible and authentic details.

Oscar Clifton's conviction let the Visalia Ransacker go free. For Tony Reid, this case began as a claim of innocence in the murder of Donna Jo Richmond in 1975. While the errors in the original investigation and a flawed trial resulted in a guilty verdict, the reassessment confirmed that the defendant was framed but the question became: by whom? Working with a new team of investigators, which included two of the original detectives, the probe uncovered a startling new possibility: Was the real culprit a serial offender? Turning to the public for information, Mr. Reid created the 12/26/75 podcast. Based on primary evidence and new interviews surrounding the murder of Donna Jo on that date in Exeter, California, the team re-examined every possibility. The investigators soon found something more than a terribly failed verdict. They discovered connections to the unsolved murders of Jennifer Armour and Claude Snelling—and links to The East Area Rapist. They uncovered shocking corruption by the original lead investigator who illegally destroyed trial evidence and looked into the unexplained death of the original defense attorney. This pursuit led them right back to Exeter, where a new suspect in these murders emerged: Joseph DeAngelo, who was then a full-time sergeant with the local police department, the officer in charge of violent crimes and burglary investigations. This book is more than an adaptation of the 12/26/75 podcast. It shares new insight formed during the investigation and provides a first-hand look at the Tulare crimes, as well as exposing the faulty evidence used to obtain and maintain the false conviction. More than anything else, 12/26/75 demonstrates the enormous consequences of letting a serial killer go free, made worse when combined with the painful mistakes, in-fighting, and finger-pointing by certain jurisdictions. The catastrophic results are undeniable. Now that the mystery of how it all unfolded is revealed, we can also begin to examine the reforms necessary to prevent this tragedy from happening again.

Justice for Melissa Witt For over two decades the identity of Melissa Witt’s killer has been hidden among the dense trees and thorny undergrowth rooted deeply in the uneven ground of a remote mountaintop in the Ozark National Forest. Determined to find answers, LaDonna Humphrey has spent the past seven years hunting for Melissa’s killer. Her investigation, both thrilling and unpredictable, has led her on a journey like no other. The Girl I Never Knew is an edge-of-your-seat account of LaDonna Humphrey's passionate fight for justice in the decades-old murder case of a girl she never knew. Her unstoppable quest for the truth has gained the attention of some incredibly dangerous people, some of whom would like to keep Melissa’s murder a mystery forever.

Are you entertained by Sudoku and serial killers? Crosswords and crime? Then play detective and solve these entertaining puzzles! Alongside some of your favorite brain teasers are facts about infamous true crime cases. From word searches and encrypted messages to coloring Ted Bundy in court, the True Crime Activity Book will test your puzzle-solving skills and feed your need for true crime. In line with Genius Books' philosophy, this book honors the victims and celebrates the heroes who fight for them. 

It was a brisk April morning in 1990 when a woman walking her dog stopped cold in her tracks. She reeled back from something strange and disturbing blocking the drainage tile: a human skull. Forensic examination showed that it was the remains of Joan Webster, the 25-year-old Harvard graduate student whose disappearance had rattled the community and stumped investigators for the past eight and a half years. The prosecutors had a suspect, Leonard Paradiso, who was tried and convicted for the murder of another local woman. The only similarity between the entangled crimes was that both victims had long dark hair. Assistant District Attorney Tim Burke was obsessed with proving Paradiso guilty of both murders. However, between the lack of evidence and ever-changing stories, the circumstances of Joan Webster’s death remains a mystery to this day. Hope is not lost as Joan’s sister-in-law, Eve Carson, continues to fight for justice. Simple, Safe & Secret divulges the diabolical details and dysfunctional system that has denied and obstructed justice in solving Joan Webster’s murder case. The messy truth of the botched investigation and a wrongful conviction may be darker than the story of Joan’s murder itself.

In the early 2000s, Elliott Smith was a rising Indie music star, a multi-instrumentalist with a drug habit and a dark outlook on life. His music conveyed the depths of his pain and the heights of his hope. When he died in 2003 of an apparent suicide, the media and his fans were ready to believe. As the facts came out, however, the events of that day weren’t so clear. His girlfriend publicly claimed she and Elliott had had a heated argument, and while she had locked herself in the bathroom, Elliott had stabbed himself twice in the chest, an apparent suicide. A few hours later, he died in the hospital of his wounds. The Los Angeles County Coroner, upon examining the evidence, wasn’t ready to rule on the cause of death. Eighteen years later, the case remains open. Alyson Camus is a loyal Elliott Smith fan with a desire to know the truth. A Question Mark details her investigation into the Oscar-nominated singer’s alleged suicide. The truth behind the events of his death may be a bigger question mark than anyone is ready to believe.

Mysteries in the Music: Case Closed examines the secrets, myths, legends, hoaxes, conspiracies, and the wildly inexplicable events that are such an intriguing part of rock and roll history. Jim Berkenstadt, aka The Rock And Roll Detective®, has spent decades researching the players behind these famous soundtracks and the mysteries hidden within the music itself.  Travel back to the 1950s to uncover “Who Really Discovered Elvis Presley?” Revisit a time in the 1960s when a famous folk troubadour tried to form a supergroup with members of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Learn the origin behind big name artists using pseudonyms to mask their true identities. Go behind the scenes of CIA intrigue in Jamaica 1976 to discover whether the spy agency tried to influence an election and arrange for the assassination of reggae superstar Bob Marley. Discover whether The Beach Boys actually stole a song and the copyright from psychotic cult leader Charles Manson, and kept all of the royalties. Finally, uncover the secrets in the making of Nirvana’s Nevermind album, considered by many to be the most influential rock album of the 1990s. These mysteries have intrigued rock and roll fans for so long because no one has ever asked eyewitnesses the tough questions or dug through the primary sources and documentary evidence left behind... until now. After many decades, the back stories of pop and rock music lore are finally unearthed—and the truth is revealed in Mysteries in Music: Case Closed. See the review of Mysteries in the Music on CultureSonar.

Jim Dunham killed six people on the evening of May 26, 1896. That much is certain. What remains unclear 125 years later is exactly why he did it. Why murder his wife and her parents, or kill his brother-in-law, or murder two farmhands on the ranch where they lived? Why leave his three-week-old son alive in bed next to his murdered mother? With the twentieth century looming, Santa Clara, California was a small farming community south of San Francisco, and Jim Dunham was a family man with ambitions. Somehow in the spring of that year, his great plans derailed. We know Jim Dunham killed all those people. The messy truth is that we may never know why. In Cold Wrath: The 1896 Rampage of James C. Dunham, author Barney Terrell takes us through the known facts and eyewitness accounts, the manhunt, and the enduring questions. It is just as important, all these years later, to understand the forces that drove Jim Dunham to unleash his wrath on the victims.

When a priest promised Anne Levey he would help put her young son Paul back on the straight and narrow, she thought her prayers had been answered. Little did she know the reason her 12-year-old son was rebelling was because the priest—Gerald Ridsdale—was sexually abusing him. But the predator—who had offended before—used the woman’s blind faith in the Catholic Church to his advantage. Paul was sent to live with his abuser in the Mortlake presbytery. There he was sexually abused by the priest almost every day for about a year. Years later this secret that haunted Paul’s every waking minute was revealed. But if he thought his nightmare was over, he was wrong. Paul would go on to find out that many high-ranking leaders in the Catholic Church knew Ridsdale was a child molester, and yet they did nothing to stop the evil man from snatching Paul’s innocence and turning his life into a living hell. Sadly, it was a story all too common—the Catholic Church became a playground for paedophiles, a safe haven for them to commit atrocious acts. Now Paul is sharing his story in a bid to end the silence. Retraction On Page 17 there is a factual error. In the second paragraph it should say Paul and other survivors found out that Edward had indecently assaulted a young boy and that Edward pled guilty and was given a 12-month good behaviour bond.

Stephanie Scott had never been happier. She was about to marry the man of her dreams and celebrate with all her family and friends. She had worked for hours to add personal touches to the special day. When her fiancé asked her to head out of town for a party she told him she had a few more things to tick off her to-do list. One was to head into Leeton High School, where she was a teacher, to finalise plans for her replacement while she was on her honeymoon. No one thought twice when Stephanie told them of her plans. No one could predict what would happen that fateful day. No one ever thought that evil could break the heart of a town and a nation. But a psychopath had been hiding in plain sight all along, waiting to make his move. After finishing university, Stephanie Scott moved to Leeton, New South Wales, to take a position as a teacher at the local high school. She and her fiancé were making plans to spend the rest of their lives in the quiet town. Stephanie was a beloved teacher, a source of encouragement and joy for everyone she met. A week before her wedding, she decided to spend a few hours preparing for her replacement while she was on her upcoming honeymoon. When her fiancé and family couldn’t find her later that day or the days following, no one really believed anything could have happened to their cherished friend and teacher. But someone knew where she was, and he would be the last person to see her alive. United in Grief tells the story of Stephanie Scott’s murder and how the town of Leeton and indeed the entire nation of Australia was affected by her disappearance, and the grief that followed such a tragic loss.

“Everybody knows who did it!” In the aftermath of a horrific murder of a mother in front of her four-year-old son, the entire close-knit community knew the murderer could only be one man. Several witnesses—including Eric, the boy left for dead—placed the murderer at the crime scene. But in Muncie, Indiana—also known as Little Chicago for its corruption, gambling, and attraction for criminal enterprise—during the late 1970s, nothing in the criminal justice system was that simple. After the county prosecutor declared the case “open and shut,” some very important people in town became nervous that if the murderer was convicted, he would start naming names and telling stories about the criminal activities in the area. After the prosecutor received a visit from the head of the local Teamsters union, suddenly there wasn’t enough evidence to proceed, and the suspect was set free, never to be prosecuted or held accountable. Forty years have passed, and Paula Garrett’s family, friends, and community have had to live every day knowing that a murderer is walking among them. To this day, the murderer is still being protected. Eric Garrett no longer expects justice. This murder is not unsolved, it is unprosecuted, and probably never will be. But the time has come to stop accepting the status quo. Unprosecuted: My Mother’s Murder and the Search for Accountability is the story of corruption, cover-ups, and a son’s frustration at knowing that the man who brutally murdered his mother and left him for dead may never be made to account for his crimes. "Mr. Garrett's tragic story is yet another reminder why we must demand criminal justice reform." --Tristin Engels, PsyD, Forensic Psychologist

Tyler Dean had the world at his feet in late 2017. The 18-year-old had just signed the contract to begin his dream job as an apprentice panel beater in Geelong, Victoria. He had been working in Geelong and travelling home to Winchelsea each day via train. On October 18, he planned to make the long trip home, but his mother Jeynelle Dean-Hayes asked if he could stay in Geelong. She wanted him to help her and her husband Josh set up some scenes for a short film Josh was working on. Tyler said he was tired and would prefer to go home instead. When Jeynelle and Josh arrived home late that night, Tyler wasn't there. Shortly after they arrived, there was a knock on the door. It was the kind every parent dreads—standing there were two police officers. That was the beginning of their nightmare. Tyler had been hit by a car and been left for dead. Their beautiful son's life had been cut short and the person responsible had kept driving. The grief they felt has never eased and the roadblocks they have faced in their search for justice have simply added to it. Sadly, Tyler Dean is not the only person who has been let down by hit and run laws. This is what spurred Jeynelle and Josh to push for change in Australia. Today, they are advocates for changes in the laws against drivers who flee the scene of an accident. But more still needs to be done, because “car crime is a joke,” according to Jeynelle.