The Language of Murder Cases describes fifteen court cases for which Roger Shuy served as an expert language witness, and explains the issues at stake in those cases for lawyers and linguists. Investigations and trials in murder cases are guided by the important legal terms describing the mental states of defendants-their intentionality, predisposition, and voluntariness. Unfortunately, statutes and dictionaries can provide only loose definitions of these terms, largely because mental states are virtually impossible to define. Their meaning, therefore, must be adduced either by inferences and assumptions, or by any available language evidence-which is often the best window into a speaker's mind. Fortunately, this window of evidence exists primarily in electronically recorded undercover conversations, police interviews, and legal hearings and trials, all of which are subject to linguistic analysis during trial. This book examines how vague legal terminology can be clarified by analysis of the language used by suspects, defendants, law enforcement officers, and attorneys. Shuy examines speech events, schemas, agendas, speech acts, conversational strategies, and smaller language units such as syntax, lexicon, and phonology, and discusses how these examinations can play a major role in deciding murder cases. After defining key terms common in murder investigations, Shuy describes fifteen fascinating cases, analyzing the role that language played in each. He concludes with a summary of how his analyses were regarded by the juries as they struggled with the equally vague concept of reasonable doubt.

The book looks at 10 toxic molecules and discusses their chemistry and effects in humans, followed by a re-examination of their deliberate misuse in high profile murder cases.

From Jack Henry Abbott, who stabbed a waiter through the heart for not allowing him to use the toilet, to the "Zodiac," an unknown California serial killer who may have murdered as many as 37 people, this reference work details 280 of the most famous murder cases of the twentieth century. Each entry contains, when applicable, birth and death dates, aliases, occupation, location of the murders, weapons used, number of victims, and the time period when the killings occurred. Films, plays, television shows, videos and audio programs based on or inspired by the case are then cited, followed by a brief overview of the murder case and a bibliography of English-language works related to it.

How to Try a Murder Case covers the preparation from the very beginning -- even before the crime was committed -- and progresses through the investigation to searches, arrest, and interrogation. This book explains the law, provides examples, and gives advice by offering the reader vicarious experience in trying a murder case.

Examines notable unsolved murder cases, including those involving Jack the Ripper and Lizzie Borden, and also considers the death of the Reverend Edward Hall and the choir singer, Mrs. Mills, and the mysterious disappearance of mass-murderer Bela Kiss

Listening to Killers offers an inside look at twenty years' worth of murder files from Dr. James Garbarino, a leading expert psychological witness who listens to killers so that he can testify in court. The author offers detailed accounts of how killers travel a path that leads from childhood innocence to lethal violence in adolescence or adulthood. He places the emotional and moral damage of each individual killer within a larger scientific framework of social, psychological, anthropological, and biological research on human development. By linking individual cases to broad social and cultural issues and illustrating the social toxicity and unresolved trauma that drive some people to kill, Dr. Garbarino highlights the humanity we share with killers and the role of understanding and empathy in breaking the cycle of violence.

Her hometown of Loomis, Louisiana, holds no charm for Jodie Gilmore. Why be reminded of her mother's abandonment? Then the novice FBI agent is assigned to a missing person's case, and refusal isn't an option. Her coworkers are counting on her. Surely the tight–lipped locals will talk to one of their own. Or will they? A decades–old double homicide is discovered, and Harrison Cahill, the handsome forensic anthropologist on the case, thinks Jodie knows more than she's saying. But speaking freely can be deadly in Loomis....