True Crime Serial Murders

Meeting in 1971 at a Seattle crisis clinic, Ann Rule and Ted Bundy developed a friendship and correspondence that would span the rest of his life. Rule had no idea that when they went their separate ways, their paths would cross again under shocking circumstances.

In his 26 years in the field, Richard Taylor has worked on well over a hundred murder cases, with victims and perpetrators from all walks of life. In this fascinating memoir, Taylor draws on some of the most tragic, horrific and illuminating of these cases - as well as dark secrets from his own family's past - to explore some of the questions he grapples with every day: why do people kill? Does committing a monstrous act make someone a monster? Could any of us, in the wrong circumstances, become a killer?

On a December night in 1978, Courtney Lund O'Neil's mother, teenaged Kim Byers, saw her friend Rob Piest alive for the last time. At the end of his shift at the pharmacy where they both worked, fifteen-year-old Rob went outside to speak to a contractor named John Wayne Gacy about a possible job. That night Rob became Gacy's final victim; his body was later found in the Des Plaines River. Kim's testimony, along with a receipt belonging to her found in Gacy's house, proving that Rob had been there, would be pivotal in convicting the serial killer who killed over thirty young men and boys.

From 1926 to 1928, Gordon Stewart Northcott committed at least 20 murders on a chicken ranch outside of Los Angeles. His nephew, Sanford Clark, was held captive there from the age of 13 to 15, and was the sole surviving victim of the killing spree. Here, acclaimed crime writer Anthony Flacco - using never-before-heard information from Sanford’s son Jerry Clark - tells the real story behind the case that riveted the nation.

The lush, green hills that mark the border of North and South Carolina are home to a close-knit community. When the savaged remains of high-spirited Heather Catterton and sweet-natured Randi Saldana were found and a local man was linked to their murders, residents were forced to face an evil in their midst. The killer was one of their own….

When veteran LAPD homicide detective Steve Hodel discovered that his own late father, Dr. George Hill Hodel, was the killer in the infamous Black Dahlia murder case, he wrote the best seller Black Dahlia Avenger, a book that convinced even the L.A. County Deputy District Attorney that George Hodel was responsible for Elizabeth Short's gruesome death.

Ted Bundy killed at least 35 girls and women, and possibly hundreds. Was his first victim eight-year-old Ann Marie Burr who disappeared from their Tacoma, Washington neighborhood in 1961? Her body was never found and there were no clues, just two tenacious detectives who spent the rest of their lives trying to solve the case.

In the late 1800s, the city of Austin, Texas, was on the cusp of emerging from an isolated western outpost into a truly cosmopolitan metropolis. But beginning in December 1884, Austin was terrorized by someone equally as vicious and, in some ways, far more diabolical than London's infamous Jack the Ripper. For almost exactly one year, the Midnight Assassin crisscrossed the entire city, striking on moonlit nights, using axes, knives, and long steel rods to rip apart women from every race and class.

A Fever in the Heart dissects an explosive triangle that led to obsession and murder in a small town in the northwest of America. Ann Rule reveals the story of an alluring wife and the two men desperate for her love; a story with a bizarre and deadly twist that no one could have suspected. In this and several other riveting true-crime cases from her personal files, Ann Rule masterfully probes the delusions of the criminal mind, the fateful circumstances and the unrelenting investigative forces at work in the aftermath of murder.

Revelatory investigation into the police handling of the Yorkshire Ripper Case which spanned over 14 years. For the first time, the files have been opened, the detectives are talking and the victims are reliving the nightmare. For almost 20 years the dark secrets of the biggest criminal manhunt in British history have remained a closed book.

Former district attorney Jeanine Pirro was cast as the bad guy 15 years ago when she reopened the cold case of Kathleen Durst, a young and beautiful fourth-year medical student who disappeared without a trace in 1982, never to be seen again. Kathie Durst's husband was millionaire real estate heir Robert Durst, son of one of the wealthiest families in New York City - but though her friends and family suspected him of the worst, he escaped police investigation.

Shocking and brutal true crimes against innocent victims who deserve to have their stories remembered. A true crime anthology of 20 stories, Killer Case Files delivers gripping accounts of depraved and horrifying murders. These killers can range from seemingly normal people to psychopaths and serial killers who commit years of murder and mayhem.

As with the two prior volumes of True Crime Case Histories, I want to start with a quick word of warning. Most news articles and television true crime shows skim over the sticky details of truly gruesome crimes. In my books I don't gloss over the facts, regardless of how horrible they may be. I try to give my listeners a clear and accurate description on just how demented the killers really were. I do my best not to leave anything out. The stories included in these books are not for the squeamish.

Ellen Boehm, a single mom from St. Louis, Missouri, appeared devoted to her children. But in reality, she was unequipped for motherhood, financially strapped, and desperate. Within a year of each other, her sons, ages two and four, died mysteriously, and Boehm's eight-year-old daughter then suffered a near-fatal mishap when a hair dryer fell into the girl's bath. While neighbors wondered how Boehm remained so calm through it all, Det. Sgt. Joseph Burgoon of St. Louis Homicide had darker suspicions.

Are you ready to take a deep dive into darkness? This is the terrifying true story of a bizarre and brutal series of murders committed between 1974 and 1985 near the city of Florence in Italy. Over a period of nine years a sadistic serial killer killed and mutilated fourteen helpless victims and then hacked body parts from their corpses to take as macabre souvenirs. Three men were convicted of these crimes, but there are serious doubts that any of them were really guilty. All that we are certain about is the chilling name given to this killer by an Italian journalist: Il Mostro, the Monster...

18 Shocking True Crime Cases of Women Who Kill, including Darlene Gentry: A beautiful woman with a shopping obsession; a husband who could no longer foot the bill; a 22-caliber solution to the problem. Angelina Rodriguez: Frank Rodriguez is dead and, despite indications to the contrary, his wife insists its murder. Why would she do that when it makes her the main suspect? Mary Pearcey: The murders were so gruesome that some believed they were the work of Jack the Ripper. Could a woman really have done this? Valerie Parashumti & Jessica Stasinowsky: A young lesbian couple obsessed with ...

20 Shocking True Crime Cases of Women Who Kill, including; Alice Arden: Alice wanted out of the marriage; Thomas was against a divorce. Never mind, there are other ways to rid oneself of an unwanted spouse. Shirley Allen: A deadly Black Widow, Allen sent three husbands to an early grave. Her weapons of choice? Arsenic-spiked Tylenol and anti-freeze. Dorice “Dee Dee” Moore: Abraham had never won a thing in his life until the day he landed a $30 million Lotto. But here’s the thing with that much money. It draws out the predators. Shelly Arndt: Opposites may attract but they can also ...

Married to Murder: 'The Lonely Hearts' Killers is a comprehensive exploration of one of America’s most notorious killer couples—Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck. This true crime account spans their troubled childhoods, psychological profiles, manipulative schemes, cross-country killing spree, trial, execution, and cultural legacy. Through in-depth narrative and psychological analysis, the book investigates how two deeply damaged individuals found each other and embarked on a destructive path, leaving behind a legacy of fraud, betrayal, and murder. Raymond Fernandez’s early life, ...

Crime has always been a part of human history, but some criminal acts stand out not only for their audacity or brutality, but for the profound impact they have on the public. From high-profile cases that captivated the world’s attention to less known but equally consequential events, these crimes have shaped societal attitudes, influenced public policy, and sometimes even changed the course of history. In this eclectic collection, we explore a variety of crimes that, through their nature or aftermath, have left an indelible mark on the collective consciousness. The crimes presented here ...

Based on interviews with family, friends, and acquaintances of Durst, law enforcement, and others involved in the case, A Deadly Secret is a cross-country odyssey of stolen IDs and multiple identities that raises baffling questions about one of the country's most prominent families - and one of its most elusive suspected killers.