The story behind the attack that shocked a nation and opened a new chapter in the history of American crime. On July 14th, 1966, Richard Franklin Speck swept through several student nurses’ townhouse like a summer tornado and changed the landscape of American crime. He broke in as his helpless victims slept, bound them one by one, and then stabbed, assaulted, and strangled all eight in a sadistic sexual frenzy. By morning, only one young nurse had miraculously survived. The killer was captured in seventy-two hours; he was successfully prosecuted in an error-free trial that stood up to appellate scrutiny; and the jury needed only forty-nine minutes to return a death verdict. Here is the story of Richard Speck by the prosecutor who put him in prison for life with a brand new introduction by Bill Kunkle, the prosecutor of the infamous John Wayne Gacy Jr. In The Crime of the Century, William J. Martin has teamed up with Dennis L. Breo to re-create the blood-soaked night that made American criminal history, offering fascinating behind-the-scenes descriptions of Speck, his innocent victims, the desperate manhunt and massive investigation, and the trial that led to Speck’s successful conviction.

In compelling narrative, the authors probe the sensational cases of Nathan F. Leopold, Jr., and Richard A. Loeb, the Scottsboro "boys," Bruno Richard Hauptmann, Alger Hiss, and O.J. Simpson, highlighting significant lessons about criminal behavior and the administration of criminal justice. Each case study details the crime, the police investigation, and the court proceedings, profiles the major players, and examines the outcome and aftermath of the trial. The authors untangle the perplexities surrounding the cases and illuminate the many mysteries that remain unsolved today. These celebrated trials reveal issues of overzealous prosecution, sloppy police work, judicial bias, race, class, and ethnic struggles, and the role of wealth in securing a competent defense. They also show how the temper of the times and frenzied media coverage heightened the intensity of drama in the cases.

Traces the two-and-a-half year investigation by the New Jersey State Police of the Lindbergh kidnapping case, challenging the effectiveness of the investigation and the evidence that convicted Bruno Hauptmann.

Addressing developments since the book's initial publication in 1982, Kurtz provides a new introduction and updated bibliography. He discusses the publicity and controversy surrounding Oliver Stone's film JFK, the new books and television programs that have dealt with the different conspiracy theories, new information about the possible role of organized crime in the assassination, and certain materials from the Kennedy autopsy that have only recently come to light.

Crime of the Century is a comprehensive book about classic rock’s connections to true crime cases with over twenty true stories of classic rock musicians and their encounters with murderers, and musicians who committed murders. Inside the book you’ll find the most famous stories like how The Beach Boys met Charles Manson and how Phil Spector went from legendary producer to convicted murderer. There are stories of how classic rockers encountered some of the most notorious serial killers like The Kinks meeting John Wayne Gacy on their 1965 American tour and Debbie Harry allegedly getting into Ted Bundy’s car in the early 70s. You’ll see how the Manson Family’s classic rock connections run deeper than you thought with their encounters with Neil Young, John Phillips, Tony Valentino, Phil Ochs, and Frank Zappa. You’ll also learn how classic rockers were only a few degrees of separation from presidential assassinations and attempted assassinations like The Band meeting Jack Ruby, Squeaky Fromme pursuing Jimmy Page, and John Hinckley’s encounter with DEVO and how they used the poem he wrote for Jodie Foster as song lyrics. It’s a wild and crazy ride through classic rock history. But believe it or not, these are all true stories.

Wisconsin's most notorious crimes and criminals are profiled in this book of the Crimes of the Century series. Read about the killer dairy princess and meet notorious fiends Edward Gein, Jeffery Dahmer, and others.