Erie's Backyard Strangler


Book Description

On a cold morning in December 1960, sixty-year-old Laura Mutch was found strangled behind a house in downtown Erie.... The city was reaching new heights, including a triumphant run for the coveted "All-American City" award, yet the incident created pandemonium. As investigations progressed, attacks on women continued, sending citizens and seasoned investigators to the brink of chaos. Seventy-two-year-old Clara Carrig was brutally stabbed, and Helen Knost narrowly survived an attempted killing. Mary Lynn Crotty, Eleanor Free and Marian Graham were found murdered, all by strangulation. Women throughout the region locked their doors and avoided the streets at night. The case attracted nationwide attention after the arrest of truck driver John Howard Willman in 1963 yet many questions remain unanswered. Author Justin Dombrowski charts the harrowing attacks, investigations and mystery surrounding Erie's 1960s reign of terror.




Erie's Backyard Strangler: Terror in the 1960s


Book Description

On a cold morning in December 1960, 60-year-old Laura Mutch was found strangled behind a house in downtown Erie.... At a time when the Gem City was at its peak, including a triumphant run for the coveted 'All-American City' award, the murder created a pandemonium. As the investigation progressed, attacks on women in and around the city of Erie continued, sending citizens - and seasoned investigators - to the brink of total chaos. Infamous attacks such as the brutal stabbing of 72-year-old Clara Carrig, the attempted strangling and knifing of Helen Knost and the strangling murders of Mary Lynn Crotty and Eleanor Free caused women to lock their doors and avoid the streets at night. The arrest of truck driver John Howard Willman in September 1963 was not the end of the story as soon the case attracted nationwide attention - including a lawsuit by the ACLU. Just who was Erie's infamous 'Backyard Strangler?' Would a technicality by police cause the suspected murderer to roam free again to kill more victims? Author Justin Dombrowski charts the harrowing attacks, investigations and mystery surrounding Erie's 1960s reign of terror.




Nobody's Women


Book Description

On a Thursday evening in late October 2009, Cleveland Police detectives arrived at the home of Anthony Sowell—an ex-Marine and a registered sex offender—to arrest him on week-old rape charges. But this was no ordinary house, nor would it be a routine arrest. For even though Sowell was not at home, officers knew immediately something was horribly wrong. After initially finding two rotting corpses inside the home, their investigation would lead them to discover the bodies of eleven women. This is the shocking true account of Sowell’s legacy of depravity and cold-blooded murder. His mannered and well-spoken veneer masked a monster who felt no mercy for those he butchered. His twisted existence spent among the decaying bodies of his victims. And how he picked his victims from the fringes of society—lost souls with criminal records or drug habits that would make them less likely to arouse alarm if they simply disappeared. But that didn’t mean they wouldn’t be avenged… INCLUDES PHOTOGRAPHS




Free Culture


Book Description

How big media uses technology and the law to lock down culture and control creativity. ""Free Culture is an entertaining and important look at the past and future of the cold war between the media industry and new technologies."" - Marc Andreessen, cofounder of Netscape. ""Free Culture goes beyond illuminating the catastrophe to our culture of increasing regulation to show examples of how we can make a different future. These new-style heroes and examples are rooted in the traditions of the founding fathers in ways that seem obvious after reading this book. Recommended reading to those trying to unravel the shrill hype around 'intellectual property.'"" - Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archive. The web site for the book is http: //free-culture.cc/.




Son of Sam


Book Description

40th ANNIVERSARY OF THE CASE THAT ROCKED THE NATION Discover the harrowing true story of the notorious serial killer who terrorized New York City forty years ago during the summer of 1977—David Berkowitz, otherwise known as Son of Sam—for true crime fans and viewers of The Lost Tapes: Son of Sam documentary now on the Smithsonian Channel. Son of Sam recounts the incredible, “can’t miss” (Kirkus Reviews) story of how a single man killed six innocent people, wounded several others, and sent millions of New Yorkers into a panic from July 1976 through August 1977. It is also the story of the greatest manhunt in the history of the New York Police Department—the intimate narrative of the men assigned to tracking down a lone killer who prowled supposedly safe neighborhoods and randomly shot pretty young women with his .44-caliber revolver. The police task force investigated more than 3,000 suspects while politicians watched a city fall into panic. Yet the interest didn’t fade after an arrest was made, and the criminal justice system showed itself incapable of coping with the man who committed such horrendous crimes. Now, based on more than three hundred recorded conversations between David Berkowitz and psychiatrists, police, district attorneys, and his defense counsel, along with his own handwritten notes and diaries, as well as the accounts of the survivors and the families of victims, this chilling book thoroughly explores the full horror of Son of Sam.




Stay Sexy & Don't Get Murdered


Book Description

The instant #1 New York Times and USA Today best seller by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, the voices behind the hit podcast My Favorite Murder! Sharing never-before-heard stories ranging from their struggles with depression, eating disorders, and addiction, Karen and Georgia irreverently recount their biggest mistakes and deepest fears, reflecting on the formative life events that shaped them into two of the most followed voices in the nation. In Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered, Karen and Georgia focus on the importance of self-advocating and valuing personal safety over being ‘nice’ or ‘helpful.’ They delve into their own pasts, true crime stories, and beyond to discuss meaningful cultural and societal issues with fierce empathy and unapologetic frankness. “In many respects, Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered distills the My Favorite Murder podcast into its most essential elements: Georgia and Karen. They lay themselves bare on the page, in all of their neuroses, triumphs, failures, and struggles. From eating disorders to substance abuse and kleptomania to the wonders of therapy, Kilgariff and Hardstark recount their lives with honesty, humor, and compassion, offering their best unqualified life-advice along the way.” —Entertainment Weekly “Like the podcast, the book offers funny, feminist advice for survival—both in the sense of not getting killed and just, like, getting a job and working through your personal shit so you can pay your bills and have friends.” —Rolling Stone At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.




And the Dead Shall Rise


Book Description

The definitive account of one of American history’s most repellent and most fascinating moments, combining investigative journalism and sweeping social history "Years later, the tale of murder and revenge in Georgia still has the power to fascinate...Intense, suspenseful.” —The Washington Post Book World In 1913, 13-year-old Mary Phagan was found brutally murdered in the basement of the Atlanta pencil factory where she worked. The factory manager, a college-educated Jew named Leo Frank, was arrested, tried, and convicted in a trial that seized national headlines. When the governor commuted his death sentence, Frank was kidnapped and lynched by a group of prominent local citizens. Steve Oney’s acclaimed account re-creates the entire story for the first time, from the police investigations to the gripping trial to the brutal lynching and its aftermath. Oney vividly renders Atlanta, a city enjoying newfound prosperity a half-century after the Civil War, but still rife with barely hidden prejudices and resentments. He introduces a Dickensian pageant of characters, including zealous policemen, intrepid reporters, Frank’s martyred wife, and a fiery populist who manipulated local anger at Northern newspapers that pushed for Frank’s exoneration.




The D-Day Bank Massacre


Book Description




Westcott’s Plant Disease Handbook


Book Description

It was a compliment to me to be asked to prepare the fourth edition of Westcott's Plant Disease Handbook, and the decision to accept the responsi bility for the fourth edition and now the fifth edition was not taken lightly. The task has been a formidable one. I have always had a great respect professionally for Dr. Cynthia Westcott. That respect has grown considerably with the completion of the two editions. I now fully realize the tremendous amount of effort expended by Dr. Westcott in developing the Handbook. A book such as this is never finished, since one is never sure that everything has been included that should be. I would quote and endorse the words of Dr. Westcott in her preface to the first edition: "It is easy enough to start a book on plant disease. It is impossible to finish it. " This revision of the Handbook retains the same general format contained in the previous editions. The chemicals and pesticides regulations have been updated; a few taxonomic changes have been made in the bacteria, fungi, and mistletoes; the changing picture in diseases caused by viruses and/or viruslike agents has been described. A few new host plants have been added, and many recently reported diseases as well as previously known diseases listed now on new hosts have been included. In addition, photographs have been replaced where possible, and the color photograph section has been retained.




Merriam-Webster's Vocabulary Builder


Book Description

The ideal book for people who want to increase their word power. Thorough coverage of 1,200 words and 240 roots while introducing 2,300 words. The Vocabulary Builder is organized by Greek and Latin roots for effective study with nearly 250 new words and roots. Includes quizzes after each root discussion to test progress. A great study aid for students preparing to take standardized tests.