Known as the 'American Sherlock Holmes,' Edward Oscar Heinrich was one of America's greatest forensic scientists, with a skill level that seemed almost supernatural. Heinrich spearheaded the invention of new forensic tools that police still use today, including blood spatter analysis, ballistics, lie-detector tests, and the use of fingerprints as courtroom evidence. His work, though not without its serious - some would say fatal - flaws, changed the course of American criminal investigation. Based on years of research, American Sherlock captures Heinrich's life, work, and legacy.
From R. Barri Flowers, award-winning criminologist and the bestselling author of Murderess on the Loose, Murder of the Doctor’s Wife, Murder at the Pencil Factory, and The Sex Slave Murders, comes the gripping historical true crime short, Murdered by the King of Western Swing: The Beating Death of Ella Mae Cooley in 1961. On Monday, April 3, 1961, thirty-eight-year-old former vocalist Ella Mae Cooley was beaten to death in her home in Willow Springs, an unincorporated area located in Kern County, California. The cruelty of the crime was shocking to local residents in the normally idyllic community. A greater shock was that the murder was committed by the victim’s fifty-year-old husband, Donnell Clyde Cooley, a well-known big band leader, musician, actor, host of a television variety show, and businessman. Ella Mae and Donnell Clyde, who generally went by the name Spade Cooley, were both struggling with accusations of unfaithfulness in their marriage that had produced two children. They were in the midst of a divorce when tragedy struck. Cooley snapped in deciding to end the marriage prematurely by murdering his wife The horrific assault was witnessed by the couple’s fourteen-year-old daughter, Melody, who would testify against her father at his trial. In spite of her untimely presence at the crime scene, Cooley sought to attribute Ella Mae’s death to an accident. This fell flat, as did a short-lived attempt to plead insanity in the death of his wife. Spade Cooley would be convicted of murder and sent to prison for his heinous act of criminality, forever casting a shadow over a successful career in Western swing music and television. See how this tragic story of celebrity, suspicion, and homicidal rage unfolds in the historical crime of passion. Included is a complete bonus historical short tale, The Gold Special Train Robbery: Deadly Crimes of the D’Autremont Brothers, as well as excerpts from the author’s bestselling true crime book, Serial Killer Couples; the riveting historical true crime short, Murder of the Banker's Daughter: The Killing of Marion Parker; and the gripping historical true crime tale, Mass Murder in the Sky: The Bombing of Flight 629.
From award winning criminologist R. Barri Flowers and the bestselling author of The Sex Slave Murders 1 & 2, Serial Killer Couples, and Murder of the Banker’s Daughter comes Murder Chronicles, a gripping collection of true crime tales. The collection includes ten compelling stories of murder, madness, and mayhem that span more than a century of American history and homicidal criminality that will keep you reading from beginning to end. 1. Murder at the Pencil Factory: The Killing of Mary Phagan - 100 Years Later, the brutal murder of a young girl turn locals into vigilantes out for justice. 2. The "Gold Special" Train Robbery: Deadly Crimes of the D'Autremont Brothers, a daring train robbery by a trio of brother bandits goes wrong and turns deadly. 3. Murder of the Banker's Daughter: The Killing of Marion Parker, a brazen abduction of a schoolgirl turns tragic as authorities hunt for the killer. 4. Mass Murder in the Sky: The Bombing of Flight 629, a mother’s Christmas gift turns deadly, exploding in an airliner above Denver, with a domestic terrorist on loose. 5. The Amityville Massacre: The DeFeo Family's Nightmare, family is shot to death by a killer too close to home. Inspiration for The Amityville Horror movies. 6. The Pickaxe Killers: Karla Faye Tucker & Daniel Garrett, pair of killers seek revenge and pay the price themselves. 7. Murderous Tandem: James Gregory Marlow and Cynthia Coffman, two killers pick off victims one by one till brought to justice. 8. Murder in Mission Hill: The Disturbing Tale of Carol Stuart & Charles Stuart, a wife’s murder draws national attention with an unlikely killer on the loose. 9. Murder in Bellevue: The Killing of Alan and Diane Johnson, in a case of parricide, a teenage girl’s obsession turns deadly. 10. Murder of a Star Quarterback: The Tragic Tale of Steve McNair & Sahel Kazemi, adultery, jealousy, fame, and fortune turn deadly for a well-known ex-football great. Bonus material includes excerpts from bestselling true crime books by R. Barri Flowers, The Sex Slave Murders and Serial Killer Couples. Follow the author in Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Goodreads, LibraryThing, YouTube, Flickr, Wikipedia, and www.rbarriflowers.net and www.rbarriflowers.com.
Massacres, mayhem, and mischief fill the pages of Outlaw Tales of Oregon, with compelling legends of the Beaver State's most despicable desperadoes. Ride with horse thieves and cattle rustlers, duck the bullets of murderers, plot strategies with con artists, and hiss at lawmen turned outlaws.
This collection of fifty outlaw tales includes well-knowns such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Frank and Jesse James, Belle Starr (and her dad), and Pancho Villa, along with a fair smattering of women, organized crime bosses, smugglers, and of course the usual suspects: highwaymen, bank and train robbers, cattle rustlers, snake-oil salesmen, and horse thieves. Men like Henry Brown and Burt Alvord worked on both sides of the law either at different times of their lives or simultaneously. Clever shyster Soapy Smith and murderer Martin Couk survived by their wits, while the outlaw careers of the dimwitted DeAutremont brothers and bigmouthed Diamondfield Jack were severely limited by their intellect, or lack thereof. Nearly everyone in these pages was motivated by greed, revenge, or a lethal mixture of the two. The most bloodthirsty of the bunch, such as the heartless (and, some might argue, soulless) Annie Cook and trigger-happy Augustine Chacón, surely had evil written into their very DNA.
What is the connection between the number 13 and Jack the Ripper? Why was the number 18 crucial in catching Acid Bath murderer John George Haigh? And what is so puzzling about the number 340 in the chilling case of the Zodiac killer? The answers to all these questions and many more are revealed in a unique, number-crunching history of the ultimate crime. James Moore's Murder by Numbers tells the story of murder through the centuries in an entirely new way ... through the key digits involved. Each entry starts with a number and leads into a different aspect of murder, be it a fascinating angle to a case or revealing insights into murder methods, punishments and, of course, the chilling figures behind the most notorious killers from our past. From the grizzly death toll of the world's worst serial killer to your own odds of being murdered, this guide will appeal to the connoisseur of true crime and the casual reader alike.
R. Barri Flowers, award-winning criminologist and the bestselling author of Serial Killers & Prostitutes and The Sex Slave Murders, brings together seven of his best previously published true crime stories in this captivating second volume of Murder and Menace: Riveting True Crime Tales. Mass Murder in the Sky: The Bombing of Flight 629 tells the unbelievable and horrifying tale for all aboard a United Air Lines plane in 1955 when an act of vengeance by a ruthless and unlikely killer is carried out. Killers of the Lonely Hearts: The Tale of Serial Killers Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck is the gripping story of sex, jealousy, and preying on lonely women by murderous con artist lovers during the 1940s and the ultimate price they paid. Murder of a Star Quarterback: The Tragic Tale of Steve McNair and Sahel Kazemi tells the riveting story of an NFL sports legend, his young mistress, jealousy, money, and desperation that spins dangerously out of control in Nashville, leading to deadly results. Murder on Cromwell Street: The Chilling Story of Serial Killers Fred and Rosemary West chronicles the twisted lives of Britain's most infamous serial killer couple and the horrors they inflicted upon their young female captives, including bondage and murder, over two decades before the terror finally came to an end. The Gold Special Train Robbery: Deadly Crimes of the D'Autremont Brothers tells the harrowing story of a daring robbery by determined siblings in search of gold on the Southern Pacific Railroad Express Train bound for San Francisco in 1923 that ended in murder and mayhem. The Most Wanted Killers: The Serial Crimes of Alton Coleman and Debra Denise Brown relives the frightening rape, robbery, and murder spree by an African American serial killer couple over a two month stretch, while making the FBI's Most Wanted List. Murder in Bellevue: The Killing of Alan and Diane Johnson tells the horrific tale of an Idaho couple who were gunned down in their own home in a shocking and unforgettable case of family violence that turned deadly. Also included is a bonus excerpt from the author's bestselling true crime book, The Sex Slave Murders: The True Story of Serial Killers Gerald and Charlene Gallego, a deadly married couple who preyed upon teenage girls and young women to fulfill perverted sex slave fantasies. Other bonus excerpts include, Dead in Kihei, from the Eddie Naku Maui Mystery series and a noir mystery short story, The Wrong End of a Gun, by R. Barri Flowers. Stay tuned for the upcoming third volume of Murder and Menace: Riveting True Crime Tales.