True Murder: The Most Shocking Killers

Three-time EMMY® award-winning investigative reporter Mark Pettit, returns to write the final chapter in his best-selling, and now newly updated book - A Need to Kill: The Death Row Drawings." Dramatic and chilling new evidence comes to light exposing the sinister thoughts running through the mind of John Joubert - the man behind the brutal murders of two young boys in Nebraska. In the spirit of Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood," Pettit delves into the Joubert case to tell the dramatic story from all angles as a non-fiction novel. In a series of exclusive, face-to-face interviews with Pettit, Joubert admits to a string of violent crimes and another killing that sends investigators into a frenzy ending with Joubert being convicted for a third murder and ultimately executed in Nebraska's electric chair. Now, Pettit uncovers shocking new evidence from Joubert's prison records proving the killer was fantasizing about committing more violent crimes. Never-before-seen death row drawings made by Joubert while he waited to be executed once again send a chill through Nebraska and those touched by Joubert's horrific crimes. In the updated version of his book, Pettit opens his investigative files to the public sharing never-before-scene evidence. Pettit reveals aspects of Joubert's personality from exclusive interviews and details from the death row discussions that have never been shared publicly. Criminal profiler Keith Howard--who has investigated more than 1,000 crimes--weighs in with a dramatic assessment of the death row drawings, calling Joubert as a "sexual sadist, pedophile and organized killer." Howard's full assessment of Joubert is included in the book. Pettit is a 25-year veteran journalist. A former anchor at CNN, Pettit also worked as an anchor and investigative reporter at WXIA-TV (NBC) in Atlanta and KMTV-3 (CBS) in Omaha. A NEED TO KILL: The Death Row Drawings-Mark Pettit Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com

For more than a century, Dr. Thomas Neill Cream has been listed as a potential 'Jack the Ripper' suspect. Indeed, he was a sinister character, preying on the unfortunate souls who were forced to make a living as streetwalkers in Victorian London, and ultimately led those poor women to an untimely and torturous death. These crimes eventually branded him the 'Lambeth Poisoner'.However, during the time of the heinous Ripper murders, Dr. Cream was incarcerated in Joliet Prison, Illinois. Over the decades, this fact alone has caused debate as to whether or not he deserves to be under suspicion of being the Whitechapel fiend. Was it possible that Dr. Cream bribed his way out of jail? Perhaps he used a doppelganger to take his place whilst secretly finding a passage to England with murder in mind?This fascinating book, told from the standpoint of Cream himself, explains the twisted logic behind his actions. The author has done considerable and meticulous research, tracing Cream's life from his adolescent years in Canada to his last moment on the gallows at Newgate. PRISONER 4374-A.J. Griffiths-Jones Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com

This book tells the story of five different homicide cases from Kansas City, Missouri as told by the prosecutor who handled the cases himself, Phil LeVota. Five different stories are the five chapters that tell the different tale of true crime from the criminal's perspective, the police perspective, and the prosecution perspective. The Jackson County Prosecutor's office and the Kansas City Police department were involved in obtaining justice for the victims. From the horrific crime where the murderer made his son help him cut off the victim's head and hands to the robbery and rape of the sweet neighborhood grandmother, this is a "hard to put down" book that keeps you wanting more. HIS NAME WAS MURDER: Real Kansas City Crime Stories From the Prosecutor-Phil LeVota Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com

In this superb work of literary true crime—a spellbinding combination of memoir and psychological suspense—a female journalist chronicles her unusual connection with a convicted serial killer and her search to understand the darkness inside us."Well, well, Claudia. Can I call you Claudia? I’ll have to give it to you, when confronted at least you’re honest, as honest as any reporter. . . . You want to go into the depths of my mind and into my past. I want a peek into yours. It is only fair, isn’t it?"—Kendall FrancoisIn September 1998, young reporter Claudia Rowe was working as a stringer for the New York Times in Poughkeepsie, New York, when local police discovered the bodies of eight women stashed in the attic and basement of the small colonial home that Kendall Francois, a painfully polite twenty-seven-year-old community college student, shared with his parents and sister.Growing up amid the safe, bourgeois affluence of New York City, Rowe had always been secretly fascinated by the darkness, and soon became obsessed with the story and with Francois. She was consumed with the desire to understand just how a man could abduct and strangle eight women—and how a family could live for two years, seemingly unaware, in a house with the victims’ rotting corpses. She also hoped to uncover what humanity, if any, a murderer could maintain in the wake of such monstrous evil.Reaching out after Francois was arrested, Rowe and the serial killer began a dizzying four-year conversation about cruelty, compassion, and control; an unusual and provocative relationship that would eventually lead her to the abyss, forcing her to clearly see herself and her own past—and why she was drawn to danger. THE SPIDER AND THE FLY: A Reporter, a Serial Killer, and the Meaning of Murder-Cluadia Rowe Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com

The 1978 murder of actor and American icon Bob Crane remains one of the most high-profile unsolved celebrity murders of all time. Thirty-eight years after his brutal murder in Scottsdale, Arizona, millions around the world still want answers. Was John Carpenter the killer? Or did police arrest an innocent man?For nearly 40 years, police remained convinced of Carpenter’s guilt. Early DNA testing, decades ago, was unable to positively link Carpenter to the crime. The two friends lived on the edge, sharing a dark obsession—videotaping women during their sexual encounters.In an unprecedented investigation, reporter John Hook retests the original blood evidence using modern DNA science in a final search for answers. Scientists believe this is the last chance to test DNA from the crime scene— the final close-up—in identifying Bob Crane’s killer.Hook has exhausted all remaining avenues to unearth answers in this intriguing and haunting cold case. Will he close the book on the Crane murder once and for alll.Who Killed Bob Crane? is Hook’s first-hand account of a two-year investigation and search for the truth. It’s seen though the eyes of the people who were there—witnesses, detectives, prosecutors, jurors, and family members. John Hook takes readers on an incredible reporter’s journey for an inside look at the sensational physical evidence in a final attempt to learn the truth in Who Killed Bob Crane?: The Final Close-Up-John Hook Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com

The story of two American teens recruited as killers for a Mexican cartel, and their pursuit by a Mexican-American detective. At first glance, Gabriel Cardona is the poster boy American teenager: great athlete, bright, handsome, and charismatic. But the streets of his border town of Laredo, Texas, are poor and dangerous, and it isn’t long before Gabriel abandons his promising future for the allure of the Zetas, a drug cartel with roots in the Mexican military. His younger friend Bart, as well as others from Gabriel’s childhood, join him in working for the Zetas, boosting cars and smuggling drugs, eventually catching the eye of the cartel’s leadership.Meanwhile, Mexican-born Detective Robert Garcia has worked hard all his life and is now struggling to raise his family in America. As violence spills over the border, Detective Garcia’s pursuit of the boys, and their cartel leaders, puts him face to face with the urgent consequences of a war he sees as unwinnable.In Wolf Boys Dan Slater shares their stories, taking us from the Sierra Madre mountaintops to the,dark alleys of Laredo, Texas, on a harrowing journey into the heart of the Mexican drug trade and Gabriel’s evolution from good-natured teenager into a feared assassin. Wolf Boys depicts more than just Gabriel, Bart, and the officers who took them down. It shows the way in which the border itself is changing, disappearing, and posing new, terrifying, and yet largely unseen threats to American security. Ultimately though, Wolf Boys is the intimate story of the “lobos” themselves: boys turned into pawns for cartels. Their stories show how poverty, ideas about identity, and government ignorance have warped the definition of the American dream. WOLF BOYS: Two American Teenagers and Mexico's Most Dangerous Drug Cartel-Dan Slater Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com

In 1964, a band of motorcyclists mysteriously appeared in Milwaukee. Over the course of the next decade, the Outlaws Motorcycle Club (OMC) became synonymous with acts of intimidation and violence. In the ruthless world of renegade bikers, the OMC’s Milwaukee chapter became known as the “Wrecking Crew.” You Gotta Be Dirty: The Outlaws Motorcycle Club in & Around Wisconsin, examines the evolution of outlaw motorcycle clubs in the United States. From 1947 to the early 1960s, the influence of rogue riders, the one-percent of motorcyclists living outside the law — spread from the west coast and in to America’s heartland. In Wisconsin, investigators linked members of the Outlaws to at least eleven murders. Four of the innocent persons killed were women and two were elderly. Three children also lost their lives: A fifteen-year-old boy was killed by an explosive device; an infant perished in an arson fire; and a ten-year-old boy was executed vis-à-vis a gunshot to the head. During the tumultuous 1990s, the Outlaws orchestrated a guerrilla-style offensive in a quest to beat back the expansion of the world’s largest one-percent motorcycle club — the Hells Angels (HAMC). During this period, the HAMC began courting the Hell’s Henchmen Motorcycle Club, a group with chapters in Chicago, Rockford, and South Bend, Indiana. The Hells Angels’ bold move into northern Illinois touched-off a seven-year conflict that was exacerbated by beatings, bombings, and shootings. "As a former outlaw biker investigator,” wrote author and retired Milwaukee Police Department Detective Larry Powalisz, “I participated in the investigations of several of the incidents documented in this well-researched book. This history of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club shines a bright light on the one-percent motorcycle subculture." YOU GOTTA BE DIRTY:The Outlaws Motorcycle Club in and around Wisconsin-Michael Grogan Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com

From the outside looking in, Jennifer Pan seemed like a model daughter living a perfect life. The ideal child, the one her immigrant parents saw, was studying to become a pharmacist at the University of Toronto. But there was a dark, deceptive side to the angelic young woman.In reality, Jennifer spent her days in the arms of her high school sweetheart, Daniel. In an attempt to lead the life she dreamed of, she would do almost anything: lie about her whereabouts, forge school documents, and invent fake jobs and a fictitious apartment. For many years she led this double life. But when her father discovered her web of lies, his ultimatum was severe. And so, too, was her revenge: a plan that culminated in cold-blooded murder. And it almost worked, except for one bad shot.The story of Jennifer Pan is one of all-consuming love and devious betrayal that led to a cold-hearted plan hatched by a group of youths who thought they could pull off the perfect crime. A DAUGHTER'S DEADLY DECEPTION: The Jennifer Pan Story-Jeremy Grimaldi   Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com

On a hot night in July 1995, Janet Downing, a 42-year-old mother of four, was brutally stabbed 98 times in her home in Somerville, a city two miles northwest of Boston. Within hours, a suspect was identified: 15-year-old Eddie O’Brien, the best friend of one of Janet’s sons.But why Eddie? He had no prior history of criminal behavior. He was not mentally ill. He had neither motive nor opportunity to commit the crime. Yet none of that mattered because powers beyond his Somerville neighborhood decided that Eddie needed to be guilty. The timing of this case did not bode well for Eddie. A movement hoping to stop the supposed rise of young “superpredators” was sweeping the nation, and juvenile offenders were the targets. Both the Massachusetts governor and an elected district attorney who personally litigated this case supported juvenile justice reform, and both aspired to higher offices.Eddie O’Brien’s case garnered both local and national publicity: He was the youthful Irish Catholic boy next door. His grandfather was the retired chief of the Somerville Police Department. Court TV covered the trial in adult court gavel to gavel, calling it the altar boy murder case. His highly publicized case changed the juvenile laws in Massachusetts. Other states began to follow suit. But did the justice system fail Eddie? That’s the contention of author-attorney Margo Nash in her explosive expose, THE POLITICS OF MURDER. Appointed Eddie’s guardian ad litem, Nash attended every court session and eventually gained access to all his files. Now after painstaking research and examination of each step of the investigation, trial transcripts and the forensic evidence, Nash makes the case that Eddie could not have committed the crime and that other viable suspects were never properly considered. THE POLITICS OF MURDER-Margo Nash.Nash. Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com

The heinous bloodlust of Dr. H.H. Holmes is notorious -- but only Harold Schechter's Depraved tells the complete story of the killer whose evil acts of torture and murder flourished within miles of the Chicago World's Fair. "Destined to be a true crime classic" (Flint Journal, MI), this authoritative account chronicles the methods and madness of a monster who slipped easily into a bright, affluent Midwestern suburb, where no one suspected the dapper, charming Holmes -- who alternately posed as doctor, druggist, and inventor to snare his prey -- was the architect of a labyrinthine "Castle of Horrors." Holmes admitted to twenty-seven murders by the time his madhouse of trapdoors, asphyxiation devices, body chutes, and acid vats was exposed. The seminal profile of a homegrown madman in the era of Jack the Ripper, Depraved is also a mesmerizing tale of true detection long before the age of technological wizardry. DEPRAVED: The Definitive True Story of H.H. Holmes, Whose Grotesque  Crimes Shattered Turn-of-the-Century Chicago-Harold Schechter Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com