True Crime : Murder

Jeffrey Dahmer. Ted Bundy. John Wayne Gacy. Over the past thirty years, serial killers have become iconic figures in America, the subject of made-for-TV movies and mass-market paperbacks alike. But why do we find such luridly transgressive and horrific individuals so fascinating? What compels us to look more closely at these figures when we really want to look away? Natural Born Celebrities considers how serial killers have become lionized in American culture and explores the consequences of their fame. David Schmid provides a historical account of how serial killers became famous and how that fame has been used in popular media and the corridors of the FBI alike. Ranging from H. H. Holmes, whose killing spree during the 1893 Chicago World's Fair inspired The Devil in the White City, right up to Aileen Wuornos, the lesbian prostitute whose vicious murder of seven men would serve as the basis for the hit film Monster, Schmid unveils a new understanding of serial killers by emphasizing both the social dimensions of their crimes and their susceptibility to multiple interpretations and uses. He also explores why serial killers have become endemic in popular culture, from their depiction in The Silence of the Lambs and The X-Files to their becoming the stuff of trading cards and even Web sites where you can buy their hair and nail clippings. Bringing his fascinating history right up to the present, Schmid ultimately argues that America needs the perversely familiar figure of the serial killer now more than ever to manage the fear posed by Osama bin Laden since September 11. "This is a persuasively argued, meticulously researched, and compelling examination of the media phenomenon of the 'celebrity criminal' in American culture. It is highly readable as well."—Joyce Carol Oates. more...

Price: $19.00

In June 12, 1963, Mississippi's fast-rising NAACP leader Medgar Evers was gunned down by a white supremacist named Byron De La Beckwith. Beckwith escaped conviction - twice. His crime went unpunished for more than three decades. Here is the real-life story of an assistant district attorney's crusade to bring the assassin of Medgar Evers to justice. more...

Price: $21.95

An award-winning journalist delves behind the scenes of a chilling true crime story aired on TV's 48 Hours Mystery -- and uncovers twisting revelations inside an already shattering case of double homicide. Halloween night in idyllic Napa, California: two young women roommates -- a transplanted Southern beauty queen and a popular engineering graduate from the Napa area -- are brutally stabbed by an intruder who entered their home through a first-floor window. A third roommate heard the horrific commotion but never saw the killer. News of the tragedy sent shockwaves throughout the peaceful region as well as the nation -- but while investigators pursued every angle from a satanic cult to a disgruntled suitor, the murders of Leslie Mazzara and Adriane Insogna remained unsolved. Until someone came forward with a shocking confession -- someone who was close enough to the women to escape suspicion. Someone who knew the victims all too well. Complete with up-to-the-minute court action and the stunning crime scene breakthroughs that turned the case around, here is the full story of the Nightmare In Napa. more...

Price: $7.99

A daughter’s account of how one moment of violence shattered lives, made heroes, and continues to affect change in the world. On March 25, 1988, Debi Whitlock was brutally murdered in her Modesto, California, home. Debi’s murder devastated her family—and sent her loved ones careening on radically different paths. Debi’s mother, Jacque, wanted answers. Over the next nine years, Jacque courageously fought what others called a losing battle—and learned how to deal with the authorities, the media, and the public so that her daughter’s killer would not go unpunished. Debi’s husband, Harold, was tossed down another path. Police investigators focused their suspicions on him, eventually uncovering motives and opportunity—but never enough to make a case. Judged harshly in the court of public opinion, the once funny, intelligent, and fiercely loyal man fell into a spiral of guilt, anger, and alcoholism. Told by Harold’s adult daughter—the last person to see Debi alive—this is the story of a terrible murder and investigation that led to the ultimate end of one man’s life, and a renewed sense of purpose and hope in one woman’s life. more...

Price: $15.00

Perfect Murder, Perfect Town, Lawrence Schiller thoroughly recreates every aspect of the complex case of the death of JonBenét Ramsey. A brilliant portrait of an inscrutable family thrust under the spotlight of public suspicion and an affluent, tranquil city torn apart by a crime it couldn't handle, Perfect Murder, Perfect Town uncovers the mysteries that have bewildered the nation. Why were the Ramseys, the targets of the investigation, able to control the direction of the police inquiry?.; Can the key to the murder be found in the pen and writing pad used for the ransom note?. Was it possible for an intruder to have killed JonBenét? more...

Price: $11.99