"The Phantom Killer" by James Presley (2014)

This is a case which they still speak of in Texas. It has never been solved. The Phantom Killer; so dubbed by the local press in Texarkana; is America’s Jack the Ripper. We think we know who did it; but then again, we’re not quite sure. And the fascination with the case may be more entertaining than actually finding out who really did it. It’s kind of like JFK and Dallas. We want to know, but then what would we do about it?

The town of Texarkana straddles the two states of Texas and Arkansas. The old joke was that a man could stand in the center of town with his mule and claim he was in Texas while his ass was still in Arkansas. With the advent of the oil industry; and later the war; work was plentiful and Texarkana was somewhat of a boomtown. But with all of the quick money came increased crime and a transient population. 

The author; James Presley; is the nephew of Sheriff Bill Presley; who was the the chief investigator on the case and; as a trained historian with a Pulitzer Prize nomination to back him up; has taken all of the eye witness accounts and affidavits from the investigation, distilling them down to a very convincing argument as to who the Phantom was. In addition he draws upon his knowledge of the local folk lore and geography to paint a portrait of the town; as well as the effects the crimes had upon the average citizen.

Eventually, after the town has been literally terrorized as they wait for the next killings; which occur with regularity; every African-American is pulled in for questioning. Eventually, though, the leads all point to a white man named Youell Swinney and his girlfriend Peggy. But catching him proves difficult, until his alibis don’t seem to match up. And just as the noose is tightening in the case against him, he marries Peggy, thus avoiding her having to testifying against her new husband. But, still their stories don’t match the facts and the investigation continues for years.

Swinney had a rap sheet going back decades by the time he was prosecuted again in 1981 for other violent crimes. Fans of CSI will be aghast at the way the investigation was done; with officers from 2 counties trampling over evidence and not roping off crime scenes. They even allowed the public to swarm all over the terrain where the killings took place; rendering any evidence gathered useless.

In the end Swinney walked free. But he continued to have problems with the law until 1981, when he was finally convicted of larceny. This is a great insight into the way that justice has changed; along with crime detection; over the last 6 decades. It is also look at what society was like in the heady days after the end of World War Two, when life sometimes seemed more perfect than it was. And to this day no one has been proven guilty of the 5 murders that terrorized the entire town in the summer of 1946.

  

"A Serial Killer in Nazi Berlin" by Scott Andrew Selby (2014)

This is the bizarre but true story of Paul Ogorzow, one of the world’s most infamous serial killers. It is also the story of the Nazi’s; arguably the world’s biggest serial killers; and their attempt to find him in wartime Berlin. Apparently it was an “It’s okay to kill Jews on a mass scale, but don’t mess with our women” type of mentality.

It took over two years to catch this monster, in large measure because the Nazi’s couldn’t be perceived as having been stumped by the perpetrator. At first he was considered to be a Jew; why not? But then, realizing that meant the regime was not able to keep the people safe from Jews and other minorities, they began to focus on the hunt for the real killer.

The only thing they had to go on was that all the crimes; which began as nuisance type of offenses; had escalated to rape and murder. The crimes had all taken place along one line of the Berlin train system, known as the S-Bahn. The killer lived in the area as well as worked there.

The blacked out streets of the “garden area” where half of the crimes occurred, were dark for the blackout necessitated by the Allies relentless bombing. It was literally pitch black, making identification almost impossible. The living victims could only describe a vague sort of uniform. Germany was rife with uniforms at the time so it could have been any number of people.

The main concern of the Nazi’s was that the women would be too frightened to report to their jobs at the factories where the munitions and other necessities of war were manufactured. Moreover, what were the men at the front supposed to think when they heard that their loved ones were not safe at home? Would they desert? Would you blame them?

All of these things combined to keep the news from reaching the public; until the killer shifted his modus again; this time to early Sunday mornings when it was still dark. The meager clues that the authorities had all began to take shape and form. They finally had a suspect.

In the end, absent any of the modern means of detection; and with scant clues to go on; this investigation boiled down to good, old fashioned detective work.  The author’s account of the final interrogation is reminiscent of the tension found in Poe’s “The Tell Tale Heart.”

Plainly written; almost too simply it seems at first; this book is a study of one particular case. But is also an insight to what justice was like under the local authorities in Nazi Germany. From all indications it was surprisingly normal if you were of Aryan descent. Paul Ogorzow was ultimately found guilty of the murders and sentenced to death by guillotine. This was a fascinating book.

   

The Frozen Ground" with John Cusak and Nicolas Cage (2013)

Alaskan State Trooper Jack Halcombe, played by Nicolas Cage, realizes that something is drastically wrong when the department does nothing to investigate a series of murders which he considers related. All of the murders were of young women, mostly prostitutes, who were lured to “photography” sessions with the promise of several hundred dollars.  All were subsequently killed, over a period of years, and left in the frozen grounds outside of Anchorage. All, that is, but one.

Vanessa Hudgens plays the women who escaped, Cindy, only to be judged by the very police who were supposed to protect her. It becomes her word against their professional reputations, with the results being that justice is denied. Now, with the killer, Robert Hansen, played by John Cusak, looking for her; as well as her former pimp; she has nowhere to turn.

Jack Holcombe enters the picture with a sure fired conviction that these cases, although spanning a dozen years and at least 11 victims, are all connected and the result of one man; Robert Hansen. But proving it is difficult unless he can enlist the trust, and testimony of Cindy. She is, of course, reluctant to stick her neck out any further than she already has.

Based on the real life case of Robert Hansen, this film, written and directed by Scott Walker, will rivet you with its stark revelations of what depravity the human mind is capable of. Superb performances by all really seal the deal of this one, and make it a very tense and edgy drama.

"Death in the City of Light" by David King (2011)

This is the true, and bizarre, tale of a serial killer in occupied Paris during World War Two. It is bizarre in more ways than one, the first being the most obvious. Imagine the Nazi's looking for a serial killer, even while they are, arguably, the cream of the crop when it comes to mass murder. Seemingly, things couldn't get much stranger; but they do.

On March 11th, 1944 Jacques Marcais and his wife awoke to a smoke filled apartment. Not ordinary chimney smoke, but a foul, noxious odor often associated with death itself. What made this even more disturbing was the fact that the couple had lived in the apartment for the past 5 days, in order to quench the foul odor emanating from the courtyard outside their windows. The odor seemed to be coming from the vacant building next door, a 2-1/2 story town house. This building, at 21 Rue Le Sueur, would become the focal point of an investigation leading to 27 murders. The real number of victims is said to be as high as 150 persons in total.

Adding to this mystery is the location of the grisly murder scene, located, as it was, in the midst of the Nazi bureaucracy, and around the corner from Gestapo headquarters itself. Who owned the building? And who were the victims? Was this the work of a Nazi death squad? Or was it associated with the French Resistance? Were the victims collaborators with the Nazi's, or were they members of the French Underground? These are the questions which confronted Frech Commissaire Georges-Victor Massu, the Chief Inspector of the Brigade Criminelle. But, in the end, the real reason behind these murders will leave you aghast at the ability of man to exploit his fellow creatures.

Ascertaining the owner of the building makes the chief suspect a Doctor Marcel Petiot, a well-liked physician who treats the poor and also helps people kick their morphine habits. He was known locally as the "People's Doctor" for all of his generosity. But there are some things in his past which shed new light on this man's love of his fellow man.

In this Poe-like tale of murder in Paris, Inspector Massu must navigate a broken system of justice under the waning days of the Nazi occupation, he must wade through the cast of prostitutes and drug addicts who inhabited the world of the Doctor in order to arrive at the truth. And when he finally does charge his suspect, the trial takes place in a courtroom which quickly becomes a sort of black comedy of its own.

The Doctor is tried for all 27 murders at once, a feat which would tax the resources of any municipality today, let alone a city torn by war and partisanship. The case is not cut and dry, and the Doctor's defense is the up and coming criminal defense attorney Rene Floriot, who gives the prosecution a run for its money in a case which reads like a top notch thriller.

With some background involving the last days of the First World War, and the subsequent decades of the 20's and 30's, with their divergent economic differences, the author, David King, manages to cover all the bases in this complicated who-dun-it.

"The Girl In Alfred Hitchcock's Shower" by Robert Graysmith

From the author of “The Laughing Gorilla” comes another mind blowing saga of true crime. In his usual style Mr. Graysmith takes us on a journey of intrigue and suspense.

In 1946 Ed Gains mother died of a cerebral hemorrhage. This seemingly inconsequential death would set in motion a series of events that would range from the writing of a short story to the making of the blockbuster movie “Psycho” and at least one copycat serial killer. Having one of the victims turn out to be Marli Renfro, Janet Leigh’s double in the infamous shower scene, only makes this book more fascinating. Ms. Renfro was a self proclaimed “nudist” and would appear in Francis Ford Coppola’s first film “Tonight for Sure.”

Robert Bloch was home in Wisconsin for vacation in November 1954. He was a writer who would go on to write several stories that Alfred Hitchcock would use on his TV show “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.”

Opening his morning paper that day, Mr. Bloch read of a murder in the nearby town of Plainfield. A woman was found, decapitated and hanging in a barn. She had been eviscerated, and then hung, like a deer. In the house, investigators found belts made of nipples and pots made from skulls.

A man named Ed Gains was questioned and charged with several counts of homicide. His mother had been ill and when she died he nailed her room shut and began his descent into mental illness. His mother fixation morphed into an obsession with the bodies of dead women. He began, with the help of a friend, to dig up the graves of local women. The bodies would be mutilated and whole skins were taken to be used as costumes while dancing about. This was the genesis for Mr. Bloch’s short story “Psycho.” He would sell it in 1959 for $750 to a “True Detective” type magazine.

Alfred Hitchcock was, in 1959, looking about for his next subject. His secretary presented him with the magazine article and the race was on to acquire the rights.Being a big name like Alfred Hitchcock makes it necessary at times to use a “straw” buyer in order not to be overcharged. In this case the rights for the film were purchased for a mere $7,500. After taxes, Mr. Bloch would only ever see $5,000 for his story.

Meantime, in Los Angeles, Sonny Busch, almost a double of Anthony Perkins, lived with his mother about 8 miles from the set of “Psycho” and less than 1 mile from Ms. Renfro’s apartment. He was living with his mother on a temporary basis and she was becoming increasingly concerned with his erratic behavior. Several women had been murdered in the area recently and Sonny was a suspect in what became known as “The Bouncing Ball” strangulations.

After seeing "Psycho" he begins a murderous rampage. Over the Labor Day weekend alone, after seeing "Psycho", he kills several women who remind him of "Mother."

As usual with Mr. Graysmith, it is necessary to keep a close eye on all of the details in this true life murder mystery. You will be shocked at the ending.

Ms. Renfro was murdered in 1988 by a serial killer who had all the mental problems faced by the fictional Norman Bates in “Psycho.” The man who killed her was a handyman named Kenneth Dean Hunt. His mental illness also included a "mother fixation." In March of 2001 he was finally convicted of the strangulation deaths of 2 women in their own homes.

At times the book can be a bit confusing as you attempt to put all the pieces in their proper place. But when all is said and done, Mr. Graysmith has given us another compelling story of true life murder.

The only question that remains unanswered is this- Does life imitate art? Or does art imitate life?

The Laughing Gorilla by Robert Graysmith

This is a sprawling account of America's first transcontinental serial killer,Slipton Fell. Raised by parents engaged in the Funeral business he learns to do autopsies and has an obsession with death. A huge man with large hands he is quickly dubbed "The Laughing Gorilla" due to the insane laugh he emits as he leaves his crime scenes.

This book is also the story of the Police Detective in San Francisco, Captain Charles Dullea, who pursues the Gorilla Man for almost a decade. While trying to solve the case he is also faced with cleaning up a very corrupt Police Department. To complicate matters the Public Defenders Office has become a clearing house for criminals and crime. A string of safecracking heists is finally solved only to discover that the ring is lead by a Policeman. He gets his cohorts from the Public Defenders office!

When I refer to the book as sprawling I mean that the author takes you from the initial crimes in San Francisco in 1926, to the wilderness of Canada and the interior of the United States as we follow the trail of the killer. Which murders are the work of the Gorilla Man and which are copy cat killings? In the days before forensic science had reached it's current state, this was no easy question.

The book is loaded with characters, some who rival even the most imaginative creations of fiction. There is Police Chief Quinn with his armored automobile complete with a machine gun mount; there is the "Flying Squad", an elite motorcycle unit used to battle the criminal gangs along the waterfront; there are Madams and Longshoreman. They are all locked in a struggle to survive the daily life along the San Francisco waterfront of the 1920's through 30's.

While Captain Dullea battles his own demons within the Department he never loses sight of the Gorilla Man. He let him slip away once and has never forgotten it. When the Gorilla Man returns to San Francisco after an absence of almost 10 years, Dullea is determined to bring this monster to justice.

A must read for lovers of San Francisco and its' colorful history. The authors descriptions of the wharves and the Embarcadero,the Clock Tower and the daily grind of San Francisco all ring true. Set against the backdrop of the Golden Gate Bridge being built, you get a sense of a city emerging from it's past and building to a future.

Written by Robert Graysmith, the man who idenitified the infamous "Zodiac Killer",this book is a product of the same painstaking research skills which aided in cracking that case.