A SPECIAL KIND OF EVIL-Blaine Pardoe and Victoria Hester

The New York Times bestselling author of The Kennedy Women chronicles the powerful and spellbinding true story of a brutal race-based killing in 1981 and subsequent trials that undid one of the most pernicious organizations in American history—the Ku Klux Klan.On a Friday night in March 1981 Henry Hays and James Knowles scoured the streets of Mobile in their car, hunting for a black man. The young men were members of Klavern 900 of the United Klans of America. They were seeking to retaliate after a largely black jury could not reach a verdict in a trial involving a black man accused of the murder of a white man. The two Klansmen found nineteen-year-old Michael Donald walking home alone. Hays and Knowles abducted him, beat him, cut his throat, and left his body hanging from a tree branch in a racially mixed residential neighborhood.Arrested, charged, and convicted, Hays was sentenced to death—the first time in more than half a century that the state of Alabama sentenced a white man to death for killing a black man. On behalf of Michael’s grieving mother, Morris Dees, the legendary civil rights lawyer and cofounder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, filed a civil suit against the members of the local Klan unit involved and the UKA, the largest Klan organization. Charging them with conspiracy, Dees put the Klan on trial, resulting in a verdict that would level a deadly blow to its organization.The Lynching brings to life two dramatic trials, during which the Alabama Klan’s motives and philosophy were exposed for the evil they represent. In addition to telling a gripping and consequential story, Laurence Leamer chronicles the KKK and its activities in the second half the twentieth century, and illuminates its lingering effect on race relations in America today. THE LYNCHING: The Epic Courtroom Battle That Brought Down the Klan-Laurence Leamer 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

30 Juni 20161h 4min

Mary Thompson was your average mother in early 1990s Eugene, Oregon. She was a community organizer and upstanding citizen … by day. By night? She was “Gang Mom.” Living the ultimate double life, Thompson ran a gang of teenagers—including her own son—who terrorized the unsuspecting city with drugs and violence. When a fellow gang member named Aaron Iturra was suspected of snitching on Thompson’s son, Beau, she mercilessly put a hit on him. Fred Rosen’sGang Mom gives an inside look into the true story of a mother who would do anything—even murder—to protect her son and keep her gang empire alive. GANG MOM: The Evil Mother Whose Gang Secretly Preyed on a City-Fred Rosen 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

23 Juni 20161h 37min

Just days before Kurt Cobain's body was discovered on April 8, 1994, Courtney Love hired private investigator Tom Grant to locate him. In The Mysterious Death of Kurt Cobain Tom Grant takes readers behind the scenes of the investigation. Here, you can read a day by day account of Grant's investigation and learn about the evidence for murder regarding Kurt Cobain's death. There are many new details contained in The Mysterious Death of Kurt Cobain, including new transcripts of recorded telephone conversations with Courtney Love and others, as well as an updated list of "persons of interest" in the crime. In this book, you will get a clear picture of 1) Why Kurt Cobain was killed and 2) Who is responsible for his death. The book also contains a compelling account of Tom Grant's struggles to blow the whistle on the botched investigation into Cobain's death. Did Kurt Cobain really commit suicide? Or was he murdered? You won’t be able to honestly answer that question until you read THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF KURT COBAIN: Suicide or Murder? You Decide-Matthew Richer 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

21 Juni 20161h 35min

In a park in Bacup, Lancashire, England on the night of August 11, 2007, 21 year-olds Sophie Lancaster and her boyfriend Rob Maltby were savagely attacked by five teenage boys, aged 14-17. They were attacked simply because they dressed 'differently'. Sophie had been attacked after trying to protect her boyfriend and was pulled from life support 13 days later. Robert survived with numerous serious injuriesThe first journalist on the scene Catherine Smyth provides a dramatic perspective to the case as a mother and a member of the media who became inextricably involved in the story-forever. The book chronicles the attack, the town where it happened, the court case, the national and international media interest and the launch of the Sophie Lancaster Foundation. It also uncovers some anomalies. The police admitted initially attending the wrong park; the ambulance service has yet to explain why it took 14 minutes for first paramedics to reach the scene just a mile away." THE SOPHIE LANCASTER STORY: Catherine Smyth 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

18 Juni 20161h 22min

When an eleven year old James Renner fell in love with Amy Mihaljevic, the missing girl seen on posters all over his neighborhood, it was the beginning of a lifelong obsession with true crime. That obsession leads James to a successful career as an investigative journalist. It also gave him PTSD. In 2011, James began researching the strange disappearance of Maura Murray, a UMass student who went missing after wrecking her car in rural New Hampshire in 2004. Over the course of his investigation, he uncovers numerous important and shocking new clues about what may have happened to Maura, but also finds himself in increasingly dangerous situations with little regard for his own well-being. As his quest to find Maura deepens, the case starts taking a toll on his personal life, which begins to spiral out of control. The result is an absorbing dual investigation of the complicated story of the All-American girl who went missing and James's own equally complicated true crime addiction.James Renner's True Crime Addict is the story of his spellbinding investigation of the missing person's case of Maura Murray, which has taken on a life of its own for armchair sleuths across the web. In the spirit of David Fincher's Zodiac, it is a fascinating look at a case that has eluded authorities and one man's obsessive quest for the answers. TRUE CRIME ADDICT: How I Lost Myself in the Mysterious Disappearance of Maura Murray-James Renner 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

9 Juni 20161h 30min

"On May 5, 1993, second-graders Christopher Byers, Stevie Branch, and Michael Moore disappeared from their West Memphis, Arkansas, homes. The following afternoon, their nude, beaten, and bound bodies were discovered in a drainage ditch less than a mile away.After a troublesome confession, three local teenagers, later dubbed the “West Memphis Three,” were arrested, tried, and convicted in early 1994. Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley received life sentences, while ringleader Damien Echols went to death row. Three years later, the documentary film “Paradise Lost” premiered on HBO, and the effect on viewers was dramatic. Many became skeptical of the verdicts and also felt one of the fathers of the victims was a better suspect—John Mark Byers. In Untying the Knot, author Greg Day tells the true story of John Mark Byers and the about-face he made to free the men convicted of the crime. Day exposes the propaganda campaign used to convince a gullible public that Byers was complicit in the deaths of his wife and son. Based on court transcripts and hours of personal interviews, Untying the Knot explores all the case evidence while interweaving dialogues and statements. It traces the life of Byers from his roots in rural Arkansas, to his son’s murder and the death of his wife, to his ultimate imprisonment in 1999. It reveals a man redeemed by prison and whose change of heart changed his life.  UNTYING THE KNOT: John Mark Byers and the West Memphis Three-Greg Day  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

5 Juni 20161h 32min

With shocking insights into one of the most talked about murder cases in American history, Abomination: Devil Worship and Deception in the West Memphis Three Murders reveals the truth about the death of three children in West Memphis, Arkansas in 1993. By analyzing original police transcripts and court documents, William Ramsey conclusively proves that witchcraft and the occult were involved in the heinous murders, and that a continuing wall of deception has prevented the public from realizing the awful truth about the West Memphis Three child killings. ABOMINATION: Devil Worship and Deception in the West Memphis Three Murders-William Ramsey 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

26 Maj 20161h 28min

Watch Me Die is a firsthand account of Ohio's death row and the state’s execution process unlike any other. Dr. Kimberlin, a trained clinical psychologist and professor of psychology, goes beyond the prison walls and into the world of death row inmates. No bars, no shackles, and no chains. Kimberlin spends time one-on-one with some of Ohio's worst killers to learn about their life on death row. Then he watches them die.  You will see how these inmates think as Kimberlin not only spends time interviewing them but also eats meals with them and, in some cases, is the last person to speak to them before they are executed.   You will also be walked through the full execution process, starting from when the inmate is placed on suicide watch and going until they are pronounced dead on the execution table.   You will see the flaws in the system and be able to judge for yourself if the death penalty, as it is utilized today, is really worth pursuing.   This book promises to take you into the depths of death row and into the minds of killers like no one else has ever been able to do before. You will see their artwork, their writings, and their mindset as they prepare for their final days on this planet. WATCH ME DIE-Dr. Bill Kimberlin 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

19 Maj 20161h 29min