United States of True Crime: Alabama


Book Description

United States of True Crime is an anthology series devoted to the most disturbing cases in each of the 50 states. This book focuses on ten of the most chilling crimes in Alabama history. ?True crime junkies may recognize some of the highly publicized cases, but lesser-known, equally unsettling crimes are included. Not all of the cases in this book are the most violent in state history. Some of the cases are unsettling because of the gnawing sense of injustice they leave.The cases included in this book:Audrey Marie Hilley: Black widow who murdered her husband then attempted to poison her daughter. She was able to evade capture by posing as her fictional twin sister.Daniel Lee Siebert: Spree killer that butchered his girlfriend, her two young sons, and his friends. Michael McLendon: To date, McLendon's 2019 massacre was the bloodiest in the state of Alabama. He murdered his friends, family, and his family dogs. ?Richard Hawes: A family annihilator in 1888 whose crimes sparked a statewide riot. Sixteenth Street Church Bombings: Racially motivated attack by KKK members that left four young Black girls dead and is now viewed as a turning point for the Civil Rights Movement.Amy Bishop: Harvard educated professor who became infamous after a shooting rampage that left three coworkers dead. However, the attack was not her first time killing. When she was a teenager, she shot her brother under suspicious circumstances.?Joseph Dewey Akin: Code blue junkie nurse who was convicted of intentionally overdosing a patient in his care and is suspected in the deaths of seventeen former patients.Thomas Whisenhant: Murderer with a pattern of desecrating the bodies of his victims. ?Scottsboro Boys: One of the most notorious court cases of the 20th century where two white women falsely accused nine Black boys of rape.?Gerald Patrick Lewis: Serial killer whose heinous crimes include slaying a woman who was eight months pregnant and removing her fetus. ?If you're a true crime enthusiast who enjoys reading about some of the most depraved monsters in our country, you will love United States of True Crime.




Furious Hours


Book Description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • This “superbly written true-crime story” (The New York Times Book Review) masterfully brings together the tales of a serial killer in 1970s Alabama and of Harper Lee, the beloved author of To Kill a Mockingbird, who tried to write his story. Reverend Willie Maxwell was a rural preacher accused of murdering five of his family members, but with the help of a savvy lawyer, he escaped justice for years until a relative assassinated him at the funeral of his last victim. Despite hundreds of witnesses, Maxwell’s murderer was acquitted—thanks to the same attorney who had previously defended the reverend himself. Sitting in the audience during the vigilante’s trial was Harper Lee, who spent a year in town reporting on the Maxwell case and many more trying to finish the book she called The Reverend. Cep brings this remarkable story to life, from the horrifying murders to the courtroom drama to the racial politics of the Deep South, while offering a deeply moving portrait of one of our most revered writers.




Wicked Women of Alabama


Book Description

While men commit most of Alabama's crimes, women have written some of the darkest chapters in state history. Poisoners who murdered dozens. A mob icon who captivated millions. An anti-government cop killer. A madam whose courage lifted her from shame to legend. A mummified woman shrouded in mystery. Whether they enjoyed the spotlight or weaponized their status as unlikely suspects, these women left scandal and misery in their wake. Journalist Jeremy W. Gray digs into the sordid mess left behind by some of the most notorious women in Alabama history.




Alabama Scoundrels


Book Description

While legislators were writing the first laws in Alabama, some miscreant citizens were already breaking them, causing disorder and fleeing the hands of justice. Among these were cult-leader-turned-murderer "Bloody" Bob Sims, social-activist-turned-anarchist Albert Parsons, the mysterious hobo bandit Railroad Bill and the nefarious outlaw sheriff Steve Renfroe, who was credited with countless prison escapes, thefts and arson. Legendary Wild West figures Frank and Jesse James also appeared in Alabama, along with numerous other well-known gunslingers, pirates, crooks and desperados. Bushwhackers caused widespread chaos during the Civil War and were considered outlaws depending on which side you supported. Join real-life partners in crime Kelly Kazek and Wil Elrick as they recount the atrocities of some of Alabama's most infamous lawbreakers.




Wicked North Alabama


Book Description

Thoughts of Alabama invite images of Confederate jasmine and fertile cotton fields, sweet iced tea and Southern hospitality. But even in paradise, evil sometimes creeps in. Some of the stories captured within the pages of this book are well known to the good folks of North Alabama; others are less familiar. The scandals of Lincoln's brother-in-law, the reign of terror created by Huntsville's Southwest Molester, the Decatur man who buried his wife's dismembered body under the fish pond and the beautiful Black Widow of Hazel Green--all of these stories are well researched and masterfully written by Huntsville author Jacquelyn Procter Reeves. True-crime fans will appreciate this treasury of stories spanning nearly two hundred years of North Alabama history.




The Killer Book of True Crime


Book Description

The Killer Book of True Crime is the ultimate collection of in-depth stories, trivia, quizzes, quotes and photos gruesome and interesting enough to make any crime buff shudder in horrified delight.




The Innocent Man


Book Description

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • LOOK FOR THE NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY SERIES • “Both an American tragedy and [Grisham’s] strongest legal thriller yet, all the more gripping because it happens to be true.”—Entertainment Weekly John Grisham’s first work of nonfiction: a true crime masterpiece that tells the story of small town justice gone terribly awry. In the Major League draft of 1971, the first player chosen from the state of Oklahoma was Ron Williamson. When he signed with the Oakland A’s, he said goodbye to his hometown of Ada and left to pursue his dreams of big league glory. Six years later he was back, his dreams broken by a bad arm and bad habits. He began to show signs of mental illness. Unable to keep a job, he moved in with his mother and slept twenty hours a day on her sofa. In 1982, a twenty-one-year-old cocktail waitress in Ada named Debra Sue Carter was raped and murdered, and for five years the police could not solve the crime. For reasons that were never clear, they suspected Ron Williamson and his friend Dennis Fritz. The two were finally arrested in 1987 and charged with capital murder. With no physical evidence, the prosecution’s case was built on junk science and the testimony of jailhouse snitches and convicts. Dennis Fritz was found guilty and given a life sentence. Ron Williamson was sent to death row. If you believe that in America you are innocent until proven guilty, this book will shock you. If you believe in the death penalty, this book will disturb you. If you believe the criminal justice system is fair, this book will infuriate you. Don’t miss Framed, John Grisham’s first work of nonfiction since The Innocent Man, co-authored with Centurion Ministries founder Jim McCloskey.




Circumstantial Evidence


Book Description

The bestselling author of The Hot House once again combines the facts, the real people, and the location itself into this true story, a wide-ranging portrait of the interplay of race, sex, and justice in the American South, made all the more real because it takes place in the same small Alabama town that was the fictional "Maycomb" in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. Optioned for film by MGM. Photos.




The Sun Does Shine


Book Description

"A powerful, revealing story of hope, love, justice, and the power of reading by a man who spent thirty years on death row for a crime he didn't commit"--




Killer Book of Cold Cases


Book Description

Shocking Stories of the Most Infamous Unsolved Crimes Every criminal dreams of committing the perfect crime. A crime that is so well executed, with clues and evidence so scarce, that even the experts are left baffled. The Killer Book of Cold Cases takes you behind the crime scene tape and deep into the investigations of some of the most puzzling and notorious cold cases of all timefrom murders to kidnappings to massive bombings that were open for years before the criminal was finally brought to justice. Read about: *The New York City judge whose disappearance was so famous, his name became synonymous with cold cases * The first use of DNA to help solve a murder case that had been cold for years * The bomber who took down an entire plane of people, just to collect on his mother's insurance * The legendary bank robber D.B. Cooper * The murder of two cops in a small California town-a case that took more than SO years to solve * The Mad Bomber, who drove New Yorkers half crazy in the fifties by planting bombs all over the city Bury yourself in these edge-of-your-seat tales, read chilling quotes, and test your crime IQ with cold-case trivia. You'll stay up wondering which criminals might still be on the loose!