Friday, December 30, 2011
Happy New Year -Glorious 2012
I am not sure if everyone will agree but most people I know had a really bad 2011 so coming from that it can only get BETTTERRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On that note lets count down to a glorious 2012!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Monday, December 19, 2011
Why it would be a crime to go to the Seychelles and not use self catering accomodation
In this global recession where we get told it things will be better next year until it is November then we get told it will get better in the second half of next year and so on...
We can actually do our own homework.Just check out the property prices and compare them to 2005.Are any of them better? So how can it have improverd marginally?
So take action.If you are going on holiday (which we can hardly afford) then the responsible thing is to use self catering facilities.These are usually family owned and in dire need of the income.I was there and the wonderful personal attention I received does not compare to any 5 star resort.
Anyway enough of the babbling
here is a wonderful family owned self catering facility on Mahe, Seychelles
It is called La Rocaille tel no 2 524 238.please dont forget your international code.
Here is their website:
La Rocaille Seychelles
If you wish to see the other islands the owners will refer you (and do the booking) to another self catering facility called Le Port Chalets which is right on the Praslin harbor.Visits to La Digue can be done daily so in one small fell swoop,with a minimal budget you get to see Mahe Island ,Praslin Island and La Digue Islands.
Happy Holidays!!!
We can actually do our own homework.Just check out the property prices and compare them to 2005.Are any of them better? So how can it have improverd marginally?
So take action.If you are going on holiday (which we can hardly afford) then the responsible thing is to use self catering facilities.These are usually family owned and in dire need of the income.I was there and the wonderful personal attention I received does not compare to any 5 star resort.
Anyway enough of the babbling
here is a wonderful family owned self catering facility on Mahe, Seychelles
It is called La Rocaille tel no 2 524 238.please dont forget your international code.
Here is their website:
La Rocaille Seychelles
If you wish to see the other islands the owners will refer you (and do the booking) to another self catering facility called Le Port Chalets which is right on the Praslin harbor.Visits to La Digue can be done daily so in one small fell swoop,with a minimal budget you get to see Mahe Island ,Praslin Island and La Digue Islands.
Happy Holidays!!!
braam botha why not to build with him: architect? i dont think so!!!!
braam botha why not to build with him: architect? i dont think so!!!!: BRAAM BOTHA IS AN ARCHITECT WORKING OUT OF 180 VONKPROP STR, SAMCOR PARK. HE WILL TAKE YOUR MONEY AND THEN NOT COMPLETE THE WORK AS PROMISED...
Also check out Megan Power from The Times Live for a full report of other clients conned by this "architect"
Report by Megan Power
Also check out Megan Power from The Times Live for a full report of other clients conned by this "architect"
Report by Megan Power
Sunday, August 21, 2011
New True Crime Books Published in May 2011
(May 28, 2011)
The advanced edition of this true crime novel "Operation Twins – 911: THE ACCUSATION – Bringing the Culprits to Justice” was written to inform the public about the fact that everything that happened on September 11, 2001 in America was known in detail for years in advance. That this crime would happen was not only known in particular to the Central Intelligence Agency of America, to President Ronald Reagan, Vice President and later President George Bush, Bill Clinton, and finally to Bush Junior, but also to the leaders of many other countries, such as Helmut Kohl, Slobodan Milosevic, Francois Mitterrand, Ariel Sharon, John Major, Tony Blair, Ruud Lubbers, Wim Cook, etc., etc., etc ...
Dear reader, all of this can be corroborated: the library of the White House in Washington contains all the copies of the magazine "The Serbian Army, in which from 1991 to the fatal attack by aircraft photo collages have been published, showing how passenger planes are directed to all those targets in America that on September 11, 2001 were destroyed!
In 1999, the first part of the novel Operation Twins appeared, in 2005 the English translation.
So now it is up to you dear readers and people of the world to ask the of above-mentioned persons who are still alive, to bear witness to the truth and to finally bring all the direct and indirect perpetrators of this heinous crime to justice.
Sincerely,
Dr. Slobodan Radojev Mitric
Slobodan Radojev Mitric, also known as Karate Bob, is a former top Yugoslav Counter Intelligence agent, who after defecting to the West in 1973 was appointed World Director of Reserve Police International (RPI) based in Tucson in 1993 by General Raymond Healey. A Karate master 10th DAN and criminologist with an honorary degree in law from the Arizona College of Police Science (1986), he is also a poet, playwright and artist in his own right.
The cover of his book shows the mirrored title page of the spy thriller and screen-play entitled Operation Twins by the author dated in 1982. It was also used for the cover of part 1 of the republished English book version from 2005.
The author lives and works in exile from his native country Serbia since 1973 in Amsterdam under constant threat of being deported. He was married to the Dutch artist Iris de Vries, who died on January 10, 2006 under suspicious circumstances in an Amsterdam hospital.
9/11 The Accusation
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(May 27, 2011)
What happens when the worst 10 minutes of your life go viral and are shared with the world? The true story of a Texas newspaper columnist who investigates the shenanigans of a small-town police department -- then pays a price. At a local restaurant one day, he orders his misbehaving son, 11, to walk home. When the father returns, police are waiting. The dad is arrested and charged with two felonies. The world weighs in about whether he's a bad dad.
An entertaining and thought-provoking book that explores with brutal honesty: parental responsibility, child-rearing practices and discipline, journalistic ethics, small-town corruption and retribution, and the moral consequence of being a public figure.
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Bad Dad
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(May 27, 2011)
Following the revelations of the secret conspiracy between British Military Intelligence and the gunmen of the Ulster Defence Association in Ten-Thirty-Three, Nicholas Davies now dramatically reveals the evidence and facts that the Sir John Stevens Inquiry is still trying to establish regarding links between the security services and loyalist terrorist groups.In Dead Men Talking, Davies exclusively details the covert killing operations planned, organised and carried through by the RUC Special Branch and MI5, as well as by the British Army's covert intelligence organisation, the Force Research Unit. He provides new evidence on the killings that were authorised at the highest level of MI5 and the British Government, and carried out by loyalist terror groups. Davies also reveals the existence of a hitherto unknown secret intelligence unit operating under MI5 and examines its role in the government's undercover operation. Davies traces the work carried out by the legendary 'Steak Knife', the British super-spy who infiltrated the highest echelons of the Provisional IRA and passed their secrets to MI5 over a 30-year period. For the first time, Davies gives details of Steak Knife's extraordinary life, reveals some of the Provo bombings and shootings which he thwarted, and details vital secrets he passed to British Intelligence. Dead Men Talking uncovers the true story of the murder of Belfast solicitor Patrick Finucane, of UDA gunman William Stobie and the subsequent murders of others allegedly involved. Dead Men Talking uncovers the true story of the murder of Belfast solicitor Patrick Finucane, of UDA gunman William Stobie and the subsequent murders of others allegedly involved.
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Dead Men Talking
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(May 27, 2011)
Violet Hinton started out as a factory worker and put herself through college and law school with the help and support of her husband and four children.
She has been an attorney for 23 years and has primarily practiced in the areas of family and criminal law. On a couple of occasions she has found herself out investigating the crime that her client, Ellery Rose, was being accused of. The first time she couldn't get the prosecutor to look at the case and it was dropped. This time, however, she decided to investigate the crime which turned out to be a twist and turn of events. She had read about witches but this was one person who actually thought she was a witch, not just a witch but a black witch. Those around this black witch feared her.
After investigating this case it is clear that the Chief of Police was scared of Heather Rose and since no one will pursue her, the State Police must know something that they will not divulge even though the Freedom of Information Act is in place. The prosecutor will not do anything. Either Heather Rose is so evil that she made everyone fear her, or they know that she is 6-foot under as the Chief of Police said that she should be killed.
The only way to bring this danger out to the public is to write the story of what occurred back in January 1996. Yes it happened in Battle Creek, Michigan but she could be anywhere now, maybe living next to you.
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No Justice For David
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May 26, 2011)
"Bob Dekle has written a true-life murder mystery about the arrest and prosecution of serial killer Ted Bundy that will fascinate both seasoned lawyers and arm-chair detectives. Dekle takes the reader 'behind the scenes' to show that homicide investigations are arduous, unglamorous processes that can be sidetracked by both dead end leads and bureaucratic pettiness and that the resulting trials often experience unexpected legal and evidentiary potholes. Bundy's eventual conviction is a testament to dogged hard work by Dekle, his fellow prosecutors and assisting law enforcement."
While awaiting execution, America's most notorious serial killer Ted Bundy confessed to having murdered 12-year-old Kim Leach. But the details of his confession turn out to be false. What were his motivations for lying? And how do investigators get down to the truth? In this case, details like a handful of sand and a pile of mildewed cigarette butts helped reveal the truth.
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The Last Murder: The Investigation, Prosecution, and Execution of Ted Bundy
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(May 12, 2011)
Kate McCann's personal account of the agonizing search for her missing daughter
"The decision to publish this book has been very difficult, and taken with heavy hearts. My reason for writing it is simple: to give an account of the truth. Writing this memoir has entailed recording some very personal, intimate and emotional aspects of our lives. Sharing these with strangers does not come easily to me, but if I hadn't done so I would not have felt the book gave as full a picture as it is possible for me to give. As with every action we have taken over the last four years, it ultimately boils down to whether what we are doing could help us to find Madeleine. When the answer to that question is yes, or even possibly, our family can cope with anything. What follows is an intensely personal account, and I make no apology for that. Nothing is more important to us than finding our little girl." —Kate McCann, May 2011
"It is a sad fact that not a single police force anywhere is proactively looking for Madeleine (as is the case for many other missing children). I am sure this book will reenergize the search for our daughter and the public will get behind the Find Madeleine campaign once again. It is simply not acceptable that the authorities have given up on Madeleine—especially when no comprehensive review of the case has been undertaken. Our daughter, and whoever took her, are out there. We need your help to find them." —Gerry McCann, May 2011
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Madeleine
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(May 11, 2011)
This story is a personal account of my life with a sociopath beside me, a journey which takes you inside his mind and inside his darkness.
A Sociopath Beside Me is a true story about my life with a sociopath and the devastating circumstances he created for his many victims. This personal journey leads to the discovery that a sociopath was in our midst, examines his dishonorable behaviors, uncovers his hidden secret agendas, and validates the suffering of his victims.
The mission of this book is to give the reader the needed tools to recognize the sociopath who walks among us, so that we might avoid becoming their next unsuspecting victim.
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The Sociopath Beside Me
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(May 10, 2011)
Murder, the Only Way Out explores evidence The Boston Globe used in September 7, 1950 to determine a young Boston mother named Martha Fairburn threw her two little boys out her fifth floor apartment window, and then jumped to her own death.
A police report of the same date, which the researcher for this book resurrected from the department’s archives, reveals evidence that could contradict The Globe’s assertion. In her book, June Stephenson brings this evidence to the forefront which indicates that Martha did not murder, but was herself murdered.
About the Authors:
June Stephenson has published twelve books, though this is her first true crime volume, written as a novel. She has a BA in economics from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. in psychology. June has two daughters and two granddaughters, and lives in Thousand Oaks, California, with her Labradoodle named Happy.
Art Hersh researched the facts for this crime, exploring over a half a century of genealogy and public documents. He holds two graduate degrees in engineering, one from USC and one from MIT. In his management consulting firm, he numbered the FBI and Department of Justice among his clients. He has two sons and one grandson, and lives with his wife in Wayland, Massachusetts, near the scene of the crime.
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Murder,The Only Way Out
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(May 5, 2011)
Don't visit Thailand without reading Thailand Land of Scams first. This book could possibly save you hundreds, even thousands, of dollars by knowing what to look out for in Thailand. It could even keep you out of jail.
There are numerous scams that go on every day in Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket, and other tourist locations throughout Thailand.
Forewarned is forearmed.
Recognize scam artists before they even opens their mouths. Learn where most of the scammers hang out and what their methods of operation are.
Thailand Land of Scams was written by Larry Westfall, a long time visitor of Thailand and a current expat in Khon Kaen, Thailand.
Don't have your vacation ruined by scam artists that prey on unsuspecting tourists.
Twenty-five different scams are identified and explained and additional tips for your safety and security are also offered.
A five dollar investment in Thailand Land of Scams could save you thousands of dollars and a lot of heartbreak.
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Thailand Land Of Scams
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(May 1, 2011)
This is a true story of my rape and molestation by a Catholic priest during my youth. I have lived with these memories throughout my entire life, and have made it my mission to expose those who rape and molest innocent children and teens. I wish to expose many who hide cloaked behind their red and black robes of deceit and to reveal the hypocrisy that bleeds from within the walls of the Catholic Church. My Story shows how this satanic predator of a priest was finally defrocked by Pope John Paul II on January 11, 2004, after 39 long years. My attorney, the Honorable Justin "Chuck" Ravitz, believed my story along with the many others who came forward and bared their souls of torment from being raped and abused by these priests of the Catholic Church. He represented all of us in a class action lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Detroit in January, 2005 to no avail. The Catholic Church's lawyers and hierarchy blocked the victims from ever having their stories told in open courts. People need to know the truth about how these victims suffered at the hands of these "holy" priests. My book in a very small way opens the door to the truth of these matters and cites references for further education about these crimes, victims and perpetrators.My mentor, A.W. Richard Sipe, a well known court expert witness and consultant in over 200 cases, is a former priest trained in dealing with these problems. He is currently married having one son, and I am thankful to have him as my consultant while writing my book. He has his own website www.richardsipe.com dedicated specifically to this horrific problem. Another website to visit is www.bishop-accountability.org, where one will be aghast as to the many priests, bishops and cardinals whose names appear as perpetrators of these sexual crimes against the innocent as well as a resource cite to glean more from the many articles posted.My book is just one small story from just one victim who has the courage to come forward and bring this into the light. Too many "sexcretes" (my term for sex secrets within the Catholic Church), too many lies, too many cover-ups by the hierarchy, too many silent victims forced to live their personal horror the rest of their lives. It was not my fault for being a victim nor is it the fault of any of the other victims of these sexually deviant perverted privileged society of cardinals, bishops and priests.
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Raped By A Catholic Priest
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(May 1, 2011)
In 1973, a woman was brutally murdered in a graveyard in a picturesque market town. Stephen Downing, aged 17 but with the mental age of 11, was working as a gardener in the graveyard. He was charged with the crime and served 27 years in prison. Six years ago, Don Hale, the editor of the local newspaper, began his own investigation into the murder. This is the story of one man trapped in a web of evil, and of another's courageous fight to free him.
Don Hale's fight to clear Stephen Downing of murder, and the trail of clues the authorities want to hide.
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Town Without Pity
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(May 1, 2011)
First, he bound and beat his girlfriend, a 43-year-old librarian. Then he went after her teenaged daughter - warning her, 'Scream and I will kill you both' - before knocking her unconscious. When the teenager awoke, he proceeded to rape her. And in a final horrifying act of depravity, he forced the girl to watch as he slit her mother's throat. But the killing didn't stop there...Stephen Stanko was described as 'a perfect gentleman' who 'seemed so pleasant...and so normal.' But behind Stanko's mild-mannered appearance, round spectacles, and quiet intelligence was a coldblooded ex-convict who kept a grisly scrapbook on serial killers - and convinced everyone he was a nice guy - until he killed and killed again. A well-orchestrated manhunt caught up with Stanko, who tried to get away with his crimes by pleading insanity. But the jury saw through his ruse and the ruthless killer was sentenced to death.
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Watch Mommy Die
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Saturday, August 20, 2011
New True Crime Books Published in June 2011
(Jun 30, 2011)
The true story of sex killer Westley Allan Dodd-his victims were too small to fight...and too young to die! Includes eyewitness execution report.
By all appearances, twenty-nine-year-old Westley Allan Dodd was the perfect all-American boy—model high school student, camp counselor and U.S. Navy enlistee. But behind his mask of normalcy lurked a predatory sex fiend with a seventeen-year history of appalling acts of molestation and violence. Children were his victims and the parks of the Pacific Northwest his personal hunting grounds.
On September 4, 1989, his unnatural desires had driven him past simple satisfaction to abduct, torture, and kill two young boys in Vancouver, Washington. Undetected despite his record, Dodd killed a third innocent victim only weeks later near Portland, Oregon. But only when he was caught trying to kidnap a child from a local movie theater was he finally taken into custody by police. Confessing to this heinous murders, he was convicted on all three counts and sentenced to death.
Based on exclusive access to police files and riveting trial testimony, personal interviews with Dodd himself and excerpts from his chilling "diary of death," Driven to Kill dramatically recounts a hideous spree of death and horror that brought every parent's worst nightmare frighteningly to life!
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Driven to Kill
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(Jun 28, 2011)
On April 14, 1989, for reasons still debated today, Mexican immigrant Ramon Salcido went on a violent rampage in the idyllic Sonoma Valley wine country where he lived and worked. In the course of just two hours, he killed his wife, Angela, her two younger sisters, his mother-in-law, and the man he suspected Angela of having an affair with. He then slashed the throats of his three young daughters - four-year-old Sophia, three-year-old Carmina, and twenty-two-month-old Teresa - leaving them for dead in the county dump. A little more than a day later, the bodies of his daughters were discovered. Miraculously, tiny Carmina was still alive and able to tell her rescuers 'My daddy cut me'.
In Not Lost Forever , Carmina Salcido explores the events surrounding these headline-making murders with extraordinary clarity and composure. Reaching back to understand the events that traumatized her childhood - and weaving them together with the recollections of detectives and witnesses - she reconstructs the story of her father's crimes, and their aftermath, in sobering detail.
Yet Carmina's story doesn't end there. Those who remember her as the tiny victim of these murders will also be shocked by what followed: how she was adopted by a Catholic extremist family that tried to change her name and bury her past; how she tried to escape their sheltering influence by joining a Carmelite convent and then a ranch for troubled girls; and how the psychological trials she endured along the way nearly broke her spirit - until, at last, she found peace by returning to the one relative still alive to share her grief: her grandfather.
Now a young woman, Carmina returned to California to share her experience and discover the family that was brutally taken from her. The devout Catholic also returned to look into her father's eyes on Death Row and confront the man who took away her entire family. With clear-eyed candor, courage, and grace this brave young woman takes readers along on her miraculous journey of survival, discovery, and hope.
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Not Lost Forever
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(Jun 28, 2011)
A devoted wife and mother and a Harvard-educated scientist working as a biology professor at the University of Alabama–Huntsville, Amy Bishop seemed to have it all. But when she was denied tenure, her whole world came crashing down and she reacted in a way no one ever could have imagined.
On February 13, 2010, Amy was charged with murder for opening fire in a staff meeting the day before, killing three colleagues and injuring others. How could one woman’s fury unleash such destruction? While the campus massacre made national headlines, authorities began a thorough investigation and uncovered another chilling episode in Amy’s past.
When she was twenty-one, Amy fatally shot her teenage brother, Seth. His death was ruled an accident—and no charges were pressed. But for many involved in the case, Amy’s story didn’t add up, and law-enforcement officials suspected it was murder…After the Huntsville rampage, the cold case was reopened and Amy would find herself charged with killing her own brother—murder in the first degree. If Amy had been found guilty twenty-four years earlier, three lives might have been saved.
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A Professor's Rage: The Chilling True Story of Harvard PhD Amy Bishop, her Brother's Mysterious Death, and the Shooting
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(Jun 27, 2011)
In March 1999, just months after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, human rights lawyer Rosemary Nelson was assassinated when a bomb exploded under her car. The attack was claimed by a loyalist paramilitary group but, over the last ten years, there have been several government enquiries into Nelson's murder. The latest one, which has been ongoing since 2005, has dramatically alleged that there may have been some security service collusion in the killing. Rosemary Nelson came to prominence for representing high-profile Republican and nationalist clients. It was no secret that her life was at risk and she had received many death threats - but had always been refused police protection. She had even claimed publicly that her life was being threatened by members of the RUC - allegations which have always been denied by the police. This fascinating and in-depth book takes an unflinching yet impartial look at this controversial case. As well as investigating the events leading to Rosemary Nelson's murder, author Neil Root draws on first-hand interviews with those relevant to the case. He also examines the striking similarities between her death and the assassination of solicitor Pat Finucane in 1989. This is a complex and terrifying story which deserves to be told...
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Who Killed Rosemary Nelson?
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(Jun 24, 2011)
The Case Against Casey Anthony is fascinating! Everybody wants to know the truth but I fear we will never truly know what really happened to poor little Caylee Anthony. Even if Casey stood up in court and cried, “Enough of this circus! I did it!” We couldn’t really believe her, could we? As the murder trial continues day after day, the case takes us on a wild ride of ups and downs, twists and turns. I am captivated! It seems that Caylee was so loved, so how did she end up thrown like trash into the woods? It simply does not make sense! I can’t wrap my mind around it, can you?
Tragedy has fallen upon this seemingly normal, successful American family and we all want answers. Follow me into this dark world as I ask all the crucial questions about the Casey Anthony Case the world wants answered!
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The Case Against Casey Anthony Crucial Questions The World Wants Answered
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(Jun 23, 2011)
On Sunday 15 November 2009, detectives hunting one of the most prolific sex offenders in Britain finally made an arrest; 17 years after the first terrifying attack took place. Delroy Grant, the ‘Night Stalker’ first struck in 1992, raping an 84-year-old woman in her flat in Croydon. What followed was a sickening series of horrifying sexual assaults on elderly victims across south London, Kent and Surrey. All the victims lived alone and were woken in the night by a man dressed in black, his face obscured by a balaclava. Delroy would shine a torch into their eyes, or switch off their electricity, before subjecting them to terrifyingly violent attacks. DNA profiling revealed a list of 21,000 possible suspects before officers working on Operation Minstead finally pieced together enough evidence to make an arrest. This is the full story of the man dubbed the ‘Night Stalker’, who brought terror and violence to the streets of South London.
Publisher:BOOK PROMOTIONS
ISBN:9781843586401
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(Jun 23, 2011)
Former Baltimore City homicide detective Kelvin Sewell has seen it all. Gang members burned alive; a baby unceremoniously stuffed into the ground by its own mother; a sex offender who killed a child in a delusional jealous rage. The constant grind of bearing witness to violent death has given Sewell an unprecedented perspective into the minds of killers.
He sat in the Baltimore Police Department’s interview room with 14-year-old Devon Richardson as the teen tried to explain why he shot a woman he didn’t know in the back of the head. He watched the father of 17-year-old Nicole Edmonds cry over the corpse of his dead daughter, murdered for a cellphone. But now for the first time Sewell has decided to share the insights and the pain, the dehumanizing effects of crime and waves of psychic despair and social dysfunction in his groundbreaking book, Why Do We Kill?
“I think people deserve to know the truth,” said Sewell, a 20-year veteran of Baltimore City’s police department. “They need to get a sense of why people kill in Baltimore. “I want people to see what we see as detectives,” he explained. “I think there are misconceptions about crime in Baltimore, and I hope this book will clear them up.” The book recounts some of the most notorious homicide cases in Baltimore in the past decade, all told from the perspective of the cop who worked them. Joining forces with Sewell is award-winning investigative reporter Stephen Janis, who covered City Hall for the now-defunct Baltimore Examiner and is founder of the award-winning news website Investigative Voice. “What makes this book different is the collaborative voice,” said Janis. “Kelvin would discuss his thoughts on the cases and I then tried to tell the story by adding the context that comes naturally with being a reporter.” Janis’s colleague at Investigative Voice, reporter and political scientist Alan Z. Forman, served as editor for the project. Janis is no stranger to the Baltimore crime scene, winning a string of prestigious awards for his crime reporting, including two consecutive Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association awards in Category A for his series on the murders of sex workers and his investigation into the high number of unsolved killings in Baltimore.
About the Authors
STEPHEN JANIS is an award-winning reporter who publishes Investigative Voice, an online watchdog journalism website based in Baltimore Maryland. As a staff writer for the former Baltimore Examiner (and one of only a handful of reporters who worked at the paper for its entire existence) he won a Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association award in 2008 for investigative reporting on the high rate of unsolved murders in Baltimore. In 2009 he won an MDDC Press Association award for Best Series for his articles on the murders of prostitutes. As co-founder of the independent investigative website Investigative Voice, Janis’s work uncovering corruption and government waste in Baltimore City will be chronicled in the upcoming national documentary “Fit To Print.” The site has won worldwide critical acclaim for its unconventional presentation and hardnosed reporting and is read regularly by insiders in city government as well as the police department. Janis is the author of two novels, Orange: The Diary of an Urban Surrealist and This Dream Called Death. In addition to reporting and directing content for Investigative Voice he currently teaches journalism at Towson University. KELVIN SEWELL is a 22-year veteran of the Baltimore City Police Department. A former narcotics officer tasked to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, he worked on major drug investigations for nearly a decade, later becoming a supervisor in the BPD’s Internal Affairs Division, where he led several high profile integrity operations. Sewell worked as a supervisor and investigator in the fabled Baltimore City Homicide Unit, working some of the most notorious cases in one of the most violent cities in the country. He attended Harvard Associates Forensic Science School and received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in criminology from Coppin State University. Following his retirement as a Baltimore homicide detective he took a job as Lieutenant in the Pocomoke City Police Department on Maryland’s lower Eastern Shore, where he currently continues to serve.
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Why Do We Kill?: The Pathology of Murder in Baltimore
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(Jun 22, 2011)
On Saturday morning, February 2, 2002, 7-year-old Danielle van Dam was reported missing by her mother, Brenda, who had been out partying with friends at a local bar until almost 2:00 a.m. Danielle's father, Damon, had been left behind at home to babysit their three young children, and their dog, a sleek gray Weimaraner. He said that he had put the kids to bed, cracked their doors, and fell asleep in the master bedroom, along with the dog, and with the door closed. Shortly before 2 a.m., he opened the bedroom door, and let the dog out to greet his wife, knowing she would be home soon.
Some people, like KFMB talk show host Rick Roberts, began to question the parents' behavior, after it was reported in the media that they were "swingers", and they did not check on their children, even after they said they found two outside doors open that night.
Danielle's body was discovered at Dehesa on February 27.The police had almost immediately suspected neighbor David Westerfield, as he went away that weekend, leaving his garden hose lying untidily across his neat front yard. Was he responsible for Danielle van Dam's death, or was he the victim of a "rush to judgement"?
What does the evidence say?
* No evidence was found that he was ever in her home, nor that he had been at the body recovery site.
* Why were no fibers from her pajamas or bedding found in his house or vehicles?
* Had she ever played in his motor home while it was parked in their street?
* Did his pornography collection include child porn?
* Did he fail his lie detector test?
* What is the truth about the plea deal story?
* Was the body rapidly mummified by a warm dry wind that hadn't yet begun to blow?
* What happened to the photographs the searchers took of the body?
* Did the orange fiber in her hair come from something in her own home?
* Whose hair was found under her body? It was neither Danielle's nor Westerfield's.
* On February 15, Brenda received an anonymous phone call that Danielle was abused but alive. Who made that call? The insect evidence indicates she died soon afterwards.
* A year later, James Selby, a convicted serial rapist, confessed in writing to killing Danielle. Was he just a "quack"? One of his victims was a 9-year-old girl, whom he abducted sleeping from her bed.
This book examines these questions and many more.
This was a high-profile case, with an enormous amount of public attention; the trial was broadcast live on radio and TV, so a book on it is long overdue, and this is an authoritative book. There are books with titles like "MS-DOS Bible" and "Windows 7 Bible". This book is the Westerfield-van Dam case "bible". It is a comprehensive reference source about the case, and a "must read" for everybody interested in it, and especially all those who were personally involved: the jurors, the police, the crime laboratory, the DA's office, the defense lawyers, the neighbors and other witnesses.
This case has similarities to the OJ Simpson case, not only in the intensity of public and media attention, but also in the fact that George "Woody" Clarke was a prosecutor on both cases, and Jo-Ellan Dimitrius was a jury consultant on both, but for the defense in the OJ trial, and for the prosecution in the Westerfield trial. Did clever juror selection contribute to a miscarriage of justice in either case?
David Westerfield's automatic appeal is due soon, making this book timely.
About the Author
The author has spent years studying this case, debating it with others, and researching the issues involved. As would be expected of someone with a science degree, he has devoted particular attention to the scientific evidence, especially the entomology (the bugs), which involved numerous calculations.
The trial jury reportedly took a methodical approach during their deliberations. The author shows what a truly methodical approach really is. He documents flaws in the media coverage, flaws in the case presented by the defense, flaws in the prosecution case, and flaws in the police investigation. In particular, he is disturbed by the close relationship claimed by prosecutor Clarke between the District Attorney's office and the Police Department's Crime Laboratory. Scientists must be neutral, they must establish the truth. People can learn from these mistakes, and so avoid them in future.
The author has a strong sense of justice, and is suspicious of angry communities. Forensic pathologist Dr Michael Baden said that, when the passions of the community and the prosecutor are raised, one can get a false verdict, and he quoted a case (Jeanine Nicarico, Chicago, 1983) very similar to Danielle's, in which that had happened and innocents were convicted (Rolando Cruz and Alejandro Hernandez). Did that also happen to David Westerfield?
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Rush to Judgement: a critical examination of the David Westerfield, Danielle van Dam child kidnapping and murder case, San Diego 2002
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(Jun 21, 2011)
In 1988, a 29-year-old preschool fitness teacher, Julie Love, left the Atlanta home of her fiance and was never again seen alive. A year later her skeletal remains were found in a trash dump.
In 1995, the body of 42-year-old Gary Clark was discovered in a wooded lot about three miles south of Madisonville, Kentucky. He had been killed at another location by a single gunshot wound and his body dumped in the woods.
In both cases, the police initially found no leads or physical evidence.
These are just two examples of cold cases--crimes that stymie investigators and sometimes remain unsolved for many years. But for the painstaking, dedicated work of law enforcement professionals who reinvestigate and revive cases that others once abandoned, justice might never be served and lack of closure forever torment the families and friends of crime victims.
Delayed Justice documents the heroic efforts of some of the nation's most prolific cold case detectives. In collaboration with authors Jack and Mary Branson, these professionals share their insights, skills, and resources, using their most compelling cold cases as illustrations.
The authors examine how cold case investigations differ from standard investigations and why cold case detectives sometimes have success where earlier investigators failed. They also discuss some of the pitfalls of reopening long-unsolved crimes, such as lost or compromised evidence and the difficulty of getting accurate information from witnesses who must rely on fading memories. Looking to the future, the authors discuss new technology that may someday allow investigators to drastically enhance surveillance videos and create a facial recognition database as accurate as DNA analysis and fingerprints.
Both true crime readers and fellow law enforcement professionals will find the stories and expert insights described in this book to be fascinating and instructive.
About the Author
Jack Branson (Cumming, GA), a retired special agent with the US Department of the Treasury, is now the head of Branson & Associates, a private investigation firm. He has also written a novel, Terminal Justice.
Mary Branson (Cumming, GA) is a freelance writer and the president of AptWord, Inc., a literary agency. She is the author of many books, including (with Jack Branson) Murder in Mayberry and Cutting Myself in Half.
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Delayed Justice: Inside Stories from America's Best Cold Case Investigators
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(Jun 21, 2011)
Anna Nicole Smith was known as much for her sometimes-turbulent life off-camera as she was for her tabloid celebrity.
Judge Seidlin provides hard factual never-before-seen evidence on the circumstances and mysteries surrounding her death.
These new revelations come from a man who personally witnessed and participated in this tragic story, and whose legal decisions sought to bring justice.
Valentine's Day 2007. The body of model, actress, former U.S. Playmate of the Year, and international celebrity Anna Nicole Smith, dead of an apparent drug overdose, lay in a morgue in South Florida, decomposing at an alarming rate. No one could decide where to bury her. Enter Judge Larry Seidlin, and twenty-nine lawyers. The six-day trial that followed heard explosive testimony: That Anna Nicole's mother, a lifetime police officer with a nose for foul play, had predicted her death just months before. That Howard K. Stern slept on a couch downstairs while Anna Nicole and Larry Birkhead made love upstairs. That Stern, her lawyer, smuggled a duffle bag full of drugs into the hospital room of a pregnant Anna Nicole while she was under a doctor's care for her drug dependency. Under oath, both Stern and Birkhead claimed to be the father of Anna Nicole's baby daughter, Dannielynn. Was Anna Nicole Smith murdered? Did she commit suicide? If she died from a drug overdose, was it accidental or intentional? And what about Anna Nicole's son, twenty-year old Daniel, a young man who did not have a drug problem, dead just a few months before from a methadone overdose? Was Daniel murdered? Was his overdose accidental or intentional? It always came back to the drugs. Judge Larry Seidlin captivated America, and the world, during the six-day trial in which he laid bare the ugly reality of prescription drug abuse among celebrities, and the role enablers play in their addiction, and sometimes their death. Judge Larry Seidlin is convinced the original investigations into the deaths of Anna Nicole Smith and her son Daniel were seriously flawed. He believes that someone committed manslaughter, through reckless conduct, in the death of Anna Nicole Smith. Judge Seidlin believes that reckless conduct also led to the death of her son. He points out the similarities between the drug deaths of Anna Nicole Smith and Michael Jackson. In The Killing of Anna Nicole Smith, Judge Seidlin presents damning evidence and explains, for the first time, why he thinks justice eluded Anna Nicole Smith.
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The Killing of Anna Nicole Smith
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(Jun 20, 2011)
This thoroughly revised and updated text is about the circumstances in which people kill one another. Authored by renowned experts, WILL TO KILL, THE: MAKING SENSE OF SENSELESS MURDER, 4/e reviews homicide laws, introduces theories purporting to explain murder, and presents up-to-date statistical data identifying homicide patterns and trends. It covers topics ranging from domestic and workplace homicide to cult and hate killings; murder committed by juveniles to serial slayings. Finally, it examines criminal justice responses to homicide, including the strategies and tactics employed to apprehend, prosecute, and punish killers. Virtually every chapter in this edition has undergone significant revision. In particular, this edition reflects recent legislative changes and Supreme Court decisions, includes new case examples, and contains extensively expanded discussions of family and school homicide
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The Will to Kill: Making Sense of Senseless Murder (4th Edition)
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(Jun 17, 2011)
Is there a fine line between love and hate? This novel tests the boundaries of these two innate emotions, intertwining them in a twisted tale filled with broken trust, tragedy and revenge. A dark tale of one man’s journey through a hellish divorce, the author explores the role of society in the court system, how men and women in today’s world can be both the victim and the destroyer and how a ‘snow globe’ marriage can easily turn into a Hollywood horror.
When the law fails, he takes matters into his own hands. Trying desperately to regain his life and son after the woman he once shared his entire world with, turns his whole world against him. Will revenge or justice prevail? After all, some say all is fair in love and war. In this story, love is war. Just be sure what you are fighting for.
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The Battered Husband: Based On A True Story
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(Jun 9, 2011)
There are 3,000 drugged-up psychopaths, armed to the teeth with blades, shooters and bombs. That's the only way I can describe Yare. It's a murderous viper's nest of assassins, cut throats and killers.'When James Miles and his best friend Paul Loseby were caught smuggling ten kilos of cocaine out of Caracas, Venezuela, they couldn’t deny their guilt. Young and naive, the lads had thought the one-off drug mule job would be a passport to a better life. But in reality it was a ticket to hell ...They were sentenced to thirty years and flung into the world's deadliest prison system, ending up in the notorious Yare. A place where drugs and weaponry are currency and the rules are: there are no rules.
This is the gripping true-life story of how two men endured untold savagery in the most appalling conditions. It's about what it's like to witness murder and rape every day, fearing you'll be next. How it feels to join a dangerous Latino gang and eat dead rats in order to survive. And, what you do when you're at the centre of a riot between thousands of men with machine guns.As seen on Channel 5’s Banged Up Abroad, this is the most shocking prison story ever told and an inspiring account of human endurance.
Publisher:Ebury Press
ISBN:9780091943509
Pages:320
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(Jun 8, 2011
At 1.45am on New Year's Day, Rachel Moran left her mother's house to make the 20 minute walk back to her own flat. She never arrived. Rachel was just like many women of her age, loved by her family, adored by her boyfriend and with a bright future ahead of her. Her fatal mistake was to walk the mile or so alone to feed the kittens she and her boyfriend kept. She was taken from the street and brutally murdered by Michael Little. Her body wasn't discovered for a month. In an attempt to make sense of what happened that night and in the months that followed, her mother kept a diary of what happened.
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The Murder of Rachel
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(Jun 1, 2011)
A hard-hitting look at the most dangerous illegal drug in North America. A fact-based account featuring up to the minute interviews and life stories from users, dealers and doctors, with a Canadian perspective on the problem and its potential solutions. An important book for teachers, parents and anyone interested in, or living close to, this devastating drug. Includes advice on how to talk effectively to your children and students about methamphetamine - and how not to!
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Crystal Death: North America's Most Dangerous Drug
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(Jun 1, 2011)
A silent, simmering killer terrorized New England in 1911. As a terrible heat wave killed more than 2,000 people, another silent killer used the heat to cover her own killing spree. That year an obituary writer for the Hartford Courant noticed a sharp rise in the number of obits for residents of a rooming house in Windsor, Connecticut, and began to suspect who was responsible: Amy Archer-Gilligan, who'd opened Archer Home for Elderly People and Chronic Invalids four years earlier. Sister Amy would be accused of murdering both of her husbands and up to sixty-six of her patients with cocktails of lemonade and arsenic; her story inspired the Broadway hit Arsenic and Old Lace.
The Devil's Rooming House is the first book about the life, times, and crimes of America's most prolific female serial killer. In telling this fascinating story, M. William Phelps also paints a vivid portrait of early-twentieth-century New England.
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The Devil's Rooming House: The True Story of America's Deadliest Female Serial Killer
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Tuesday, August 16, 2011
True Crime Books Published in July 2011
COMBINES HORRIFIC ACCOUNTS OF THE MOST VICIOUS MURDERS EVER COMMITTED WITH THE SHOCKING WORDS OF THE KILLERS THEMSELVES
''The bloodstains . . . that happened when I stored one of the guys upsidedown . . . it usually ran out of his nose or mouth or something . . .''--John Wayne Gacy
''She kinda wanted it, ya know. Sex, an' stuff like that. Then I get started, an' she starts cryin' and wants her mom, so I suffocated her.''--Arthur John Shawcross, The Genesee River Killer
''Killing a woman's like killing a chicken. They both squawk.''--Kenneth Allen McDuff, Broomstick Murderer
''I ain't so bad. I've been with hundreds of men. I just ain't killed them all. Then you get a few dirty old men who go radical on me. What am I supposed to do? It was all their fault, and that's the God's honest truth.''--Aileen Carol Wuornos, ''Monster''
''I took her into the bedroom and killed her. She screamed for her mom and the last thing she saw was the face of her dead friend lying under the sheets next to her.''--Kenneth Bianchi, The Hillside Strangler
About the Author
Christopher Berry-Dee is the Editor of The New Criminologist and Director of the Criminology Research Centre. He has written numerous books on murderers and serial killers. He was also the research and interviewer for a 13-part TV series in the Uk entitled The Serial Killers.
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Serial Killers: Up Close and Personal: Inside the World of Torturers, Psychopaths, and Murderers
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Amy Winehouse married on-off boyfriend Blake Fielder-Civil, a former video production assistant, on 18 May 2007, in Miami, Florida.
Fielder-Civil was a dropout of Bourne Grammar School, who moved to London at aged 16 from his native Lincolnshire.
In a June 2007 interview, Winehouse admitted she could be violent towards him when she had been drinking.
In August 2007, they were photographed, bloodied and bruised, in the streets of London after an alleged fight, although she contended her injuries were self-inflicted.
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Amy Winehouse: The Life and Death Of Amy Winehouse
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Sex, money, drugs and danger: they are all in a night’s work for millions of prostitutes around the world. But who are they? What are their lives like? And how do they really feel about what they do?
Their answers are here, the unvarnished truth of life in the modern sex trade told by those who work in it. Author Julian Davies interviewed streetwalkers, call girls, brothel workers, dominatrix and even male escorts to uncover their twilight world: the tricks of the trade; the violent punters and bizarre requests; the run-ins with the cops; the risks, the family breakdowns and the absurd situations.
Controversial, shocking and explicit, but also often funny and poignant, Hookers is the most candid account ever of life inside the underground sex industry.
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Hookers: Their Lives in Their Words
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Claudette Walker (Author), Matrix Filia (Author)
Authors Claudette Walker and Matrix Filia are together for the first time in the writer’s den, sharing a mother daughter bond that has spanned nearly 40 years, a concept as old as time. Their unique perspective and the unfortunate commonality of this tragedy inspired a comprehensive look at “The Casey Anthony Murder Trial,” for the alleged murder of her daughter, Caylee.
With all the elements of an American tragedy, complete with the elevation of the mother to celebrity status, Casey Anthony stands accused of murdering her two-year-old daughter. Caylee last seen with her mother went unreported missing for 31 days. A massive worldwide search ensued, before the discovery of Caylee’s remains in a murky swamp six months later.
Both the lawyers and witnesses seem to cross the lines between fact and fiction during this spectacle of horrors. The media covered the arrest of the mother and for the first time an American jury selection is televised, live from our home of Pinellas, Florida. From selection to sentencing, this is a comprehensive interpretation of a first-degree murder trial and our American Justice system, for good or bad. The judge, lawyers, evidence, jury, costs, media, Facebook, Twitter, verdict and sentencing are all part of the “Circus of the Century”. This is not a verbatim transcript, but a keyhole look at what happened in courtroom 23.
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The Casey Anthony Murder Trial
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Jul 15, 2011
In April 2006, Mary Turner Thomson received a call that blew her life apart. The woman on the other end of the line told her that Will Jordan, Mary's husband and the father of her two younger children, had been married to her for fourteen years and they had five children together.The Bigamist is the shocking true story of how one man manipulated an intelligent, independent woman, conning her out of £200,000 and leaving her to bring up the children he claimed he could never have. It's a story we all think could never happen to us, but this shameless con man has been doing the same thing to various other women for at least 27 years, spinning a tangled web of lies and deceit to cover his tracks.How far would you go to help the man you love? How far would he go to deceive you? And what would you do when you found out it was all a lie?
About the Author
Mary Turner Thomson was brought up in Edinburgh and worked as a marketing consultant, business adviser and motivational trainer. A proud mother of three children, she is now rebuilding her life.
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The Bigamist: The True Story of a Husband's Ultimate Betrayal
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When Jaycee Dugard was eleven years old, she was abducted from a school bus stop within sight of her home in South Lake Tahoe, California. She was missing for more than eighteen years, held captive by Phillip Craig and Nancy Garrido, and gave birth to two daughters during her imprisonment. On August 26, 2009, Garrido showed up for a meeting with his parole officer; he brought Jaycee, her daughters, and his wife Nancy with him. Their unusual behavior raised suspicions and an investigation revealed the tent behind the Garridos’ home where Jaycee had been living for nearly two decades.
A Stolen Life is being written by Jaycee herself and covers the period from the time of her abduction in 1991 up until the present. In her stark, compelling narrative, she opens up about what she experienced—and offers an extraordinary account of courage and resilience.
About the Author
Jaycee Dugard is 30 years old and has 2 daughters
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A Stolen Life: A Memoir
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Bob Briggs (Author)
On March 8, 1954, while battling post partum depression, a 24 year old Maine housewife drowned her three children in a bathtub before attempting suicide.
After spending only 5 years at the Augusta State Hospital, Constance Fisher was released from the institution. Her release marked the beginnings of a new era in the treatment of the mentally ill in America, as the nation moved to phase out the large state run mental hospitals.
On June 30, 1966, Constance Fisher again drowned her three children in a bathtub in what has been called the most bizarre murder story in the history of New England.
The incident was foretelling of another American tragedy; the plight of the acutely mentally ill with no facility left to properly care for them.
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The Constance Fisher Tragedy
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Gloria Alzenberg (Author)
Compiled from more than 6,000 pages of evidence released by the Orange County Sheriff's Department, including hundreds of instant messages between Casey Anthony and ex-boyfriend Tony Rusciano, Testimonials, and Empirical observations of the sensationalized media coverage of the trial from beginning to end.
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Casey Anthony: Not Guilty Verdict
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