The Murder of Billie-Jo
Title | The Murder of Billie-Jo PDF eBook |
Author | Sion Jenkins |
Publisher | Metro Publishing |
Pages | 318 |
Release | 2009-09-07 |
Genre | True Crime |
ISBN | 1843582201 |
In February 1997 Billie-Jo Jenkins was murdered at her home in Hastings, Sussex. In July 1998 her foster father Siôn was convicted and sent to prison for life. After a monumental legal battle, in which there were an unprecedented six court hearings, Siôn Jenkins was finally acquitted in February 2006 after a gross miscarriage of justice. Having already faced three criminal trials, Siôn Jenkins had to undergo a fourth - a trial by media which continues to this day. Now, Siôn Jenkins puts on record what actually happened; the whole story from the beginning.
Murder in McComb
Title | Murder in McComb PDF eBook |
Author | Trent Brown |
Publisher | LSU Press |
Pages | 318 |
Release | 2020-02-19 |
Genre | True Crime |
ISBN | 0807173657 |
What remained of the badly decomposed body of twelve-year-old Tina Marie Andrews was discovered underneath a discarded sofa in the woods outside of McComb, Mississippi, on August 23, 1969. Ten days earlier, Andrews and a friend had accepted a ride home after leaving the Tiger’s Den, a local teenage hangout, but they were driven instead to the remote area where Andrews was eventually murdered. Although eyewitness testimony pointed to two local police officers, no one was ever convicted of this brutal crime, and to this day the case remains officially unsolved. Contemporary local newspaper coverage notwithstanding, the story of Andrews’s murder has not been told. Indeed, many people in the McComb community still, more than fifty years later, hesitate to speak of the tragedy. Trent Brown’s Murder in McComb is the first comprehensive examination of this case, the lengthy investigation into it, and the two extended trials that followed. Brown also explores the public shaming of the state’s main witness, a fifteen-year-old unwed mother, and the subsequent desecration of Andrews’s grave. Set against the uneasy backdrop of the civil rights movement, Brown’s study deftly reconstructs various accounts of the murder, explains why the juries reached the verdicts they did, and explores the broader forces that shaped the community in which Andrews lived and died. Unlike so many other accounts of violence in the Jim Crow South, racial animus was not the driving force behind Andrews’s murder; in fact, most of the individuals central to the case, from the sheriff to the judges to the victim, were white. Yet Andrews, as well as her friend Billie Jo Lambert, the state’s key witness, were “girls of ill repute,” as one defense attorney put it. To many people in McComb, Tina and Billie Jo were “trashy” children whose circumstances reflected their families’ low socioeconomic standing. In the end, Brown suggests that Tina Andrews had the great misfortune to be murdered in a town where the locals were overly eager to support law, order, and stability—instead of true justice—amid the tense and uncertain times during and after the civil rights movement.
Too Pretty to Live
Title | Too Pretty to Live PDF eBook |
Author | Dennis Brooks |
Publisher | Diversion Books |
Pages | 315 |
Release | 2016-02-09 |
Genre | True Crime |
ISBN | 1682301982 |
Murder begins with the click of a button in this true crime story of Facebook, catfishing and deadly jealousy—as seen on Investigation Discovery. Chris was a CIA agent worried for the safety of Jenelle Potter. Contacting her parents and boyfriend, Chris warned them that Billy Payne and Billie Jean Hayworth were bullying Jenelle online and posed an imminent, physical threat. Something needed to be done, Chris said. And he’d have their backs if they took action to protect Jenelle. And so they did. Jenelle’s father and boyfriend murdered Payne and Hayworth in their own home—mercifully leaving the couple’s infant unharmed. But when they told their story to the police, they discovered a devastating truth: there was no Chris. It had been Jenelle the entire time, catfishing them to exact revenge over a Facebook feud. Using forensic linguistics and diving through the brambles that Jenelle laid to cover her tracks, police were able to put together a chilling portrait of a sociopath who set a double murder in motion from the shadows of the internet. Dennis Brooks, the lead prosecutor in this strange and tragic case, examines the crime and trial from all angles in Too Pretty to Live. What the police investigation turned up, though, made this crime all the more terrifying. Jenelle had been Chris the entire time, catfishing her family and her boyfriend to act in vengeance on her behalf. Using forensic linguistics and diving through the brambles that Jenelle laid to cover her tracks, police were able to put together a chilling portrait of a sociopath, made all the more ruthless by the anonymity of her online life. Bizarre and unforgettable, Dennis Brooks examines the crime and trial from all angles, bringing his expertise as the lead prosecutor in the strange and disturbing case.
Billie Starr's Book of Sorries
Title | Billie Starr's Book of Sorries PDF eBook |
Author | Deborah E. Kennedy |
Publisher | Flatiron Books |
Pages | 299 |
Release | 2022-10-04 |
Genre | Fiction |
ISBN | 1250138442 |
“Funny yet bitingly realistic look at small-town life...A grim literary mystery and a hopeful family story, this genre-blending novel manages to be both charming and heartbreaking.” —Kirkus “An enthralling suspense thriller...Exquisite prose matches deep characterization. Kennedy deserves to win an Edgar.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review Sometimes, a woman has to rescue herself. Jenny Newberg, Queen of Bad Decisions, is about to make another one. In a small town where everyone knows everyone’s business, down-on-her-luck single mother Jenny is on a first-name basis with the debt collector at the bank, who is moving toward foreclosure. She is constantly apologizing to her precocious young daughter, Billie Starr, who is filling a book with her mother’s sorries, and it seems to Jenny that no apology will ever be enough. Then a pair of strangers in black suits offers her a hefty check to seduce someone known as the Candidate. Finally, something will go her way. But nothing ever goes as Jenny plans, and she is swept into the Candidate’s orbit. Surrounded by a wide universe of new ideas, she realizes how constrained her life has been by the expectations of everyone around her, and she starts to see how much more she might be capable of. And when her world is rocked to its core and Billie Starr may be in danger, Jenny is forced to do what she once thought impossible: trust in herself and her own power to make things right. Shimmering with rage and sparkling with subtle humor, Billie Starr's Book of Sorries showcases Edgar Award-nominee Deborah E. Kennedy's singular voice and shines a light on the town of Benson, Indiana, where lakes, grudges, and family rifts run deep – but so does a mother’s love.
Death Cruise
Title | Death Cruise PDF eBook |
Author | Don Davis |
Publisher | Macmillan |
Pages | 313 |
Release | 2007-04-01 |
Genre | True Crime |
ISBN | 1429903457 |
The New York Times–bestselling true crime author reveals the gruesome tale of a family falling victim to assault and murder on the waters of Tampa Bay. For Joan Rogers and her two teenaged daughters, a Florida sunset cruise was a dream come true. While on a family vacation, they gladly accepted a ride on beautiful Tampa Bay with friendly boat owner Oba Chandler. But behind Chandler’s gracious façade lurked the twisted mind of a killer. As the sun set on the Gulf of Mexico, Chandler shut down the engines, dropped anchor . . . and turned into a sadistic torturer. Hog-tying and brutally raping all three, Chandler tossed them overboard—alive—with forty-pound cement blocks tied to their necks. But the waters of Tampa Bay refused to hold his monstrous secret, and after only three days, the bodies of his victims surfaced. Thanks to a dedicated team of detectives, and clues provided by Chandler’s neighbors, the depraved killer was apprehended before he could prey on his next victim.
Kill Grandma for Me
Title | Kill Grandma for Me PDF eBook |
Author | James DeFelice |
Publisher | Pinnacle Books |
Pages | 324 |
Release | 2004 |
Genre | True Crime |
ISBN | 9780786012824 |
In 1994, a thirteen-year-old honor student convinced her boyfriend to strangle her grandmother to prove his undying love, and then proceeded to hold her little sister hostage in this true story of murder and depravity.
Out of the Dust (Scholastic Gold)
Title | Out of the Dust (Scholastic Gold) PDF eBook |
Author | Karen Hesse |
Publisher | Scholastic Inc. |
Pages | 254 |
Release | 2012-09-01 |
Genre | Juvenile Fiction |
ISBN | 0545517125 |
Acclaimed author Karen Hesse's Newbery Medal-winning novel-in-verse explores the life of fourteen-year-old Billie Jo growing up in the dust bowls of Oklahoma. Out of the Dust joins the Scholastic Gold line, which features award-winning and beloved novels. Includes exclusive bonus content!"Dust piles up like snow across the prairie. . . ."A terrible accident has transformed Billie Jo's life, scarring her inside and out. Her mother is gone. Her father can't talk about it. And the one thing that might make her feel better -- playing the piano -- is impossible with her wounded hands.To make matters worse, dust storms are devastating the family farm and all the farms nearby. While others flee from the dust bowl, Billie Jo is left to find peace in the bleak landscape of Oklahoma -- and in the surprising landscape of her own heart.