This is a courtroom-drama collection of some of the most extraordinary defences tried in Australian manslaughter and murder trials. Most people have used ridiculous excuses to avoid punishment, but when it comes to classic excuses one group of people leaves all others for dead - killers. The courts have made up their minds, now it's your turn. 'I was trying to exorcise a demon.' 'I thought he was a deer.' 'We were just having sex - in the sea.' Classic excuses used by killers to try and avoid punishment. Intriguing insights into human behaviour. 'Whydunits' fascinating explanations on why people kill. Author Wayne Howell covered the courts for the Herald Sun newspaper and AAP for ten of his eighteen years in journalism. He is the author of three collections of true crime stories.
A simple step-by-step process for breaking any writing project large or small into bite-sized chunks and then turning them into the desired finished format at lightning speed. A must-read book for all levels.
John Wayne Cheever keeps his obsession with serial killers in check by a set of rigid rules that he lives by, hoping to the prevent himself from committing murder, but when a body turns up at a laundromat, must confront a danger outside himself.
Mort Basset - the powerful owner of the Slash B ranch - thinks he and his men have got away with the killing of the Cadman family, when the corrupt Broken Mesa court finds them not guilty. But Basset and his men soon find that this is not to be. The men involved in the murders begin to be hanged or shot dead by an unseen avenger, and they soon find that the man they are after is a deal cleverer than they anticipated, and the killings continue. Where will it end?
Bug has a secret. Actually, he has a lot of secrets ... NUMBER ONE: he's formed a basketball team at his new school based on a giant lie. NUMBER TWO: his parents don't know he's playing basketball again. NUMBER THREE: his new team-mates have no idea he isn't allowed to play, and they definitely don't know why. Bug will do ANYTHING to keep his secrets, keep his new team and keep his life from falling apart. Because no one can know THE BIGGEST SECRET OF ALL ... Bug risks his life every time he steps out onto the basketball court.
Nick Powers gave up a career in law enforcement at the behest of his wife, Caroline, after his hunt for serial killer Billy Bonner almost cost him his marriage. Six months later, however, when he gets a telegram from Canadian authorities asking for his help in an investigation, he jumps at the chance. A serial killer is loose up north, and the similarities are hard to ignore. Is Bonner back? If so, who better to stop him than the cop who hunted him in New York? Nick's obsession with the job soon earns him a divorce. Along with his buddy Pete Dawson, he opens a private detective agency in Manhattan. Business is good. Nick almost forgets all about Bonner until he and Dawson are summoned to Los Angeles, where Bonner is suspected to have struck again. His body count is into the hundreds; this monster must be stopped. As the investigation heats up, Bonner makes things personal. He involves a member of Nick's family, and now Nick is out for blood. Despite this killer's intellect and elusiveness, Nick and Dawson will stop at nothing to bring a murderer to justice. The closer Nick gets to Bonner, though, the more his emotions take over; Nick may soon take the law into his own hands.
A collection of chilling stories of murders from Mexico, one of the world's most prolific hunting grounds for serial killers. 'If I was a serial killer looking for new victims, I'd head over the border to Mexico because life is cheap there and the police have got so much other sh*t to investigate, they don't bother with random killings.' - A former FBI agent For decades, America has been considered to be the natural home of serial killers. Infamous names like Ted Bundy or Jeffrey Dahmer are internationally known and feared, and rightly so. But what if, just south of the border, there was a far more active network of serial killers? What if the perfect storm of crime, fuelled by this nation's deadly narco wars, has turned Mexico into an ideal hunting ground for many of the most bizarre and blood thirsty serial killers the world has ever seen? Serial Killers of Mexico delves into this criminal underbelly to tell the stories of the psychopathic loners, professional narco assassins and the overwhelmed law enforcement trying desperately to hunt them down.
In The Hands Of A Sadist... 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 proceded 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... In The Crosshairs Of A Killer... 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. On The Trail Of A Psycho... 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. Case Seen On 48 Hours Includes 16 Pages of Shocking Photos A PRETTY YOUNG WOMAN . . . Denise Amber Lee was a 21-year-old happily married mother of two little boys. She had her whole life ahead of her...until an intruder broke into her Florida home. Within a few short hours she was savagely terrorized, murdered, and buried naked in a shallow grave near a desolate swamp. A DEPRAVED KILLER . . . Michael King, a 38-year-old out-of-work plumber, was a ticking time bomb. For years, neighbors called the police on King, complaining that, among other things, he'd thrown battery acid in their pool and slashed their tires. Denise’s fate was far worse. In a horrifying act of cruelty, King bound her with duct tape, raped her repeatedly, then shot her dead. A TRAGIC FAILURE. . . Incredibly, Denise managed to call 911 twice during her abduction. Eyewitnesses and her distraught husband also called, but a slow, inefficient system tragically failed her. As a result, Florida passed the Denise Lee Law, setting voluntary standards for 911 systems. King was sentenced to death. But for Denise and her loving family, it was too late. Includes 16 Pages of Shocking Photos Difficult to put down. . .. This is one that I highly recommend. --True Crime Book Reviews on Watch Mommy Die Die For Love Sarah Ludemann was new to love. The Pinellas, Florida, 17-year old was a late bloomer. When she fell for a boy she was blind to the world of sex, drugs and drama swirling around her. Soon, Sarah had a bitter enemy in 18-year-old waitress Rachel Wade; both girls were head-over-heels with a cocky two-timer named Joshua Camacho. On a warm spring night, their passions erupted into violence. A knife flashed under the streetlights. When the fight was over one girl was dead and the other charged with murder. In an emotion-packed courtroom the whole story took shape--a troubling tale of conflicting lives, tangled sexual affairs, and the high price of having the right feelings for the wrong guy. . . "Brisk pacing. . .shocking details." --Publishers Weekly on The Burn Farm Includes dramatic photos.
Lawyers' ethics have been condemned for centuries, but they received little scholarly scrutiny until the last few decades. Ethics in Practice brings together leading experts in the emerging field of legal ethics to discuss the central dilemmas of practicing law. This collection cuts across conventional disciplinary boundaries to address the roles, responsibilities, and regulation of contemporary lawyers. Contributors address common concerns from diverse perspectives, including philosophy, psychology, economics, political science, and organizational behavior. Topics include the nature of professions, the structure of practice, the constraints of an adversarial system, the attorney-client relationship, the practical value of moral theory, the role of race and gender, and the public service responsibilities of lawyers and law students. Unique in both its breadth and its depth, this book redefines debates that are of enduring significance for both the profession and the public.
