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Counterfeit Prince of Old Texas, The: Swindling Slaver Monroe Edwards (True Crime)
By Lora-Marie Bernard. 2017
After Monroe Edwards died in Sing Sing prison in 1847, penny dreadfuls memorialized him as the most celebrated American forger…
until the turn of the century. With a bizarre biography too complicated for easy history, his critical contributions to Texas settlement, revolution and annexation were inextricably mired in his activities as a slave smuggler and confidence man. Author Lora-Marie Bernard unravels the unbelievable story of one of the most notorious criminal adventurers ever to set foot on the soil of the Lone Star State.Wicked Ridgefield, Connecticut (Wicked)
By Jack Sanders. 2016
Ridgefield is no stranger to life's shadier characters. The history of this idyllic community includes cunning crooks, suburban embezzlers, bungling…
burglars and wandering scallywags. In 1894, a group of bank robbers literally blew it in a heist at the Saving Bank--the explosion attracted witnesses to see the gang miss out on a grand haul of fifty dollars. Half a decade later, in 1940, a skeleton whose origins still befuddle experts was unearthed in a tree nursery. This look at the darker side of Ridgefield's past includes sad and tragic moments as well, such as newlyweds imprisoned in the Tombs, the Satanists of the '70s and a hermit murdered for love. Local editor Jack Sanders tells fascinating tales of two centuries of Ridgefield criminals, n'er-do-wells and even wayward do-gooders in this entertaining--and occasionally humorous--glimpse into some of the town's wickedest moments.On Memorial Day 1933, Stanford executive David Lamson found his wife, Allene, dead in their Palo Alto home. The only…
suspect, he became the face of California's most sensational murder trial of the century. After a judge sentenced him to hang at San Quentin, a team of Stanford colleagues stepped in to form the Lamson Defense Committee. The group included poets Yvor Winters and Janet Lewis, as well as the "Sherlock Holmes of Berkeley," criminologist E.O. Heinrich. They managed to overturn the verdict and incite a series of heated retrials that gripped and divided the community. Was Lamson the victim of aggressive prosecutors, or was he a master of deception whose connections helped him get away with murder? Author and Stanford alum Tom Zaniello meticulously examines the details of a notorious case with a lingering legacy.Wicked Muncie (Wicked)
By Douglas Walker, Keith Roysdon. 2016
Muncie is the classic small American city. But for much of the past two centuries, the city fell victim to…
murder, corruption and the bizarre. Mayor Rollin Bunch went to prison for mail fraud, while his police commissioner faced a murder rap. Viola "Babe" Swartz ran a brothel out of a truck stop that was raided by police at least a dozen times but ran for sheriff in the 1974 primary election. June Holland, of the locally famous Holland triplets, killed her neighbor for refusing to sell her house. Authors Keith Roysdon and Douglas Walker explore the notorious and unusual side of Muncie's history.Wicked Omaha (Wicked)
By Ryan Roenfeld. 2017
In old Omaha, the scent of opium wafted through saloon doors, while prostitutes openly solicited customers. When the St. Elmo…
theater ran short of the usual entertainment, the residents could always fall back on robbing strangers. Tenants of the Burnt District squirmed under the extorting thumb of a furniture dealer dubbed the Man-Landlady. The games of chance and confidence and outright municipal graft all played a part in a wicked city where gambler Tom Dennison ran politics and Madam Anna Wilson drove philanthropy. Join Ryan Roenfeld for a stroll along the seamier side of Omaha’s past.1960s Austin Gangsters: Organized Crime that Rocked the Capital (True Crime)
By Jesse Sublett. 2015
Timmy Overton of Austin and Jerry Ray James of Odessa were football stars who traded athletics for lives of crime.…
The original rebels without causes, nihilists with Cadillacs and Elvis hair, the Overton gang and their associates formed a ragtag white trash mafia that bedazzled Austin law enforcement for most of the 1960s. Tied into a loose network of crooked lawyers, pimps and used car dealers who became known as the "traveling criminals," they burglarized banks and ran smuggling and prostitution rings all over Texas. Author Jesse Sublett presents a detailed account of these Austin miscreants, who rose to folk hero status despite their violent criminal acts.Early Organized Crime in Detroit: Vice, Corruption and the Rise of the Mafia (True Crime)
By James Buccellato. 2015
Though detectives denied it, the Italian mafia was operating in Detroit as early as 1900, and the city was forever…
changed. Bootleggers controlled the Detroit River and created a national distribution network for illegal booze during Prohibition. Gangsters, cops and even celebrities fell victim to the violence. Some politicians and prominent businessmen like Henry Ford's right-hand man, Harry Bennett, collaborated closely with the mafia, while others, such as popular radio host Gerald Buckley, fought back and lost their lives. Social scientist and crime writer James A. Buccellato explores Detroit's struggle with gang violence, public corruption and the politics of vice during the tumultuous first half of the twentieth century.Oklahoma Scoundrels: History’s Most Notorious Outlaws, Bandits & Gangsters (True Crime)
By Robert Barr Smith, Laurence J. Yadon. 2016
Early Oklahoma was a haven for violent outlaws and a death trap for deputy U.S. marshals. The infamous Doolin gang's…
OK Hotel gunfight left five dead. Killers like Bible-quoting choir leader Deacon Jim Miller wreaked havoc. Gunslinger femme fatale Belle Starr specialized in horse theft. Wannabe outlaws like Al Jennings traded train robbing for politics and Hollywood films. And Elmer McCurdy's determination and inept skill earned him a carnival slot and the nickname "the Bandit Who Wouldn't Give Up." Historians Robert Barr Smith and Laurence J. Yadon dispel myths surrounding some of the most significant lawbreakers in Sooner history.This &“gripping social history&” (Publishers Weekly), with all the passion and pathos of a classic opera, chronicles the riveting first…
campaign against the death penalty waged in 1895 by American pioneer activist, Cora Slocomb, Countess of Brazzà, to save the life of a twenty-year-old illiterate Italian immigrant, Maria Barbella, who killed the man who had abused her. Previously published as The Trials of Maria Barbella. In 1895, a twenty-two-year-old Italian seamstress named Maria Barbella was accused of murdering her lover, Domenico Cataldo, after he seduced her and broke his promise to marry her. Following a sensational trial filled with inept lawyers, dishonest reporters and editors, and a crooked judge repaying political favors, the illiterate immigrant became the first woman sentenced to the newly invented electric chair at Sing Sing, where she is also the first female prisoner. Behind the scenes, a corporate war raged for the monopoly of electricity pitting two giants, Edison and Westinghouse with Nikola Tesla at his side, against each other. Enter Cora Slocomb, an American-born Italian aristocrat and activist, who launched the first campaign against the death penalty to save Maria. Rallying the New York press, Cora reached out across the social divide—from the mansions of Fifth Avenue to the tenements of Little Italy. Maria&’s &“crime of honor&” quickly becomes a cause celebre, seizing the nation&’s attention. Idanna Pucci, Cora&’s great-granddaughter, masterfully recounts this astonishing story by drawing on original research and documents from the US and Italy. This dramatic page-turner, interwoven with twists and unexpected turns, grapples with the tragedy of immigration, capital punishment, ethnic prejudice, criminal justice, corporate greed, violence against women, and a woman&’s right to reject the role of victim. Over a century later, this story is as urgent as ever.The Unexpected Cop: Indian Ernie on a Life of Leadership
By Ernie Louttit. 2018
“From his small community in northern Ontario to the military and the Saskatoon Police Service, Ernie Louttit has made an…
incredible journey helping others and protecting Canadians. Known as ‘Indian Ernie’ in Saskatoon’s inner-city, he has been both hated and revered by the Indigenous peoples he has served. He has played roles of both protector and enforcer. In this moving account, Ernie tells an insightful story that illuminates his personal journey.” —Doug Cuthand, author of Askiwina: A Cree World Bestselling author Ernie Louttit helped put an end to Saskatoon’s notorious “Starlight Tours.” In The Unexpected Cop, he demonstrates that being a leader means sticking to your convictions and sometimes standing up to the powers that be. An outsider who became an insider, he was tough on the beat but was also a role model for kids on the streets. “Louttit fearlessly takes on some of the most problematic public issues of the day…and confronts them with the objective practicality of a thoughtful, observant foreigner.” —Les MacPherson, former editor and columnist with the Saskatoon StarPhoenixLa carta: Historia de un comisario franquista
By Antoni Batista. 2010
La historia del comisario franquista Juan Creix: una crónica histórica esencial para comprender las tensiones de un régimen en descomposición.…
Quizá el hecho más destacado de la biografía de Juan Creix sea haberse convertido en el único mando de la policía política franquista depurado antes de la muerte del dictador. En los estertores de la dictadura, los sectores moderados del régimen necesitaban posicionarse para el pacto inevitable de la Transición, y el comisario Creix constituía un grave problema: era el arquetipo de la represión contra esos demócratas con los que tendrían que entenderse en un futuro próximo. La reacción de Creix se encuentra en este libro: escribe una larga carta en la que relata sus servicios al régimen y la envía a quienes pueden ayudarle. En ella traza una completa historia de la represión a modo de biografía epistolar y da cuenta de sus operaciones más importantes: en Cataluña detenciones de comunistas y anarquistas y destacadas operaciones contra el movimiento obrero y estudiantil; en el País Vasco arrestos de los miembros de ETA que han matado a Melitón Manzanas, su antecesor, sentando en el banquillo a los encausados en el Proceso de Burgos; en Sevilla, adonde le llevan sus éxitos en Euskadi como jefe superior de Policía de Andalucía, se ha enfrentado a Comisiones Obreras y a un notorio delincuente común: el Lute. Su carta es un testimonio excepcional que ha permitido a Antoni Batista trazar un bosquejo de la durísima represión sufrida por quienes se enfrentaron a la dictadura y un retrato psicológico del que fue uno de sus principales comisarios.3.096 días
By Natascha Kampusch. 2010
3.096 días recoge la realidad del secuestro que conmocionó al mundo, 3.096 días de miedo, de superación y de auténtica…
esperanza. «Con este libro he intentado cerrar el capítulo hasta ahora más largo y oscuro de mi vida. Siento un gran alivio al haber encontrado palabras para expresar todo lo inexpresable, lo contradictorio. Verlo escrito me ayuda a mirar hacia delante con confianza. Pues todo lo que he vivido me ha dado fuerzas: he sobrevivido al cautiverio en el zulo, me he liberado a mí misma y me he mantenido firme. Sé que también puedo llevar una vida en libertad. Y esa libertad empieza justo ahora, cuatro años después del 23 de agosto de 2006. Sólo ahora puedo poner fin a todo aquello y gritar: soy libre». 3.096 días de miedo, de superación y de auténtica esperanza. La victoria de una niña sobre la barbarie y la crueldad humanas, la fortaleza mental de una mujer para soportar las situaciones más extremas; una voz, la de Natascha, que surge desde el infierno para gritar al mundo su verdad. 3.096 días recoge la realidad del secuestro que conmocionó al mundo, la dureza de una situación extrema vivida a diario. En el libro se ofrecen además códigos de descarga gratuitos para móviles que permiten el acceso a vídeos inéditos que completan algunos de los pasajes de la biografía de la joven austriaca. Reseñas:«De Natascha sorprenden su valentía, su inteligencia y su capacidad de lucha. Este libro para mí es una lección de vida».Gemma Nierga, La ventana, Cadena Ser «Resulta admirable que este libro cuente tanto sin decirlo. Que queme tanto entre las manos».Lola Huete, El PaísAn operatic story of jealousy, obsession, vast fortunes, and moral crusaders set against the glittering backdrop of Gilded Age New…
York City. When Stanford White, one of the most famous architects of the era—whose mark on New York City is second to none—was murdered by Harry K. Thaw in 1906, his death become known as “The Crime of the Century.” But there were other players in this love triangle gone wrong that would play a part in the incredible story of White’s murderer. Chief among them was the ambitious district attorney William Travers Jerome, who had the opportunity to make—or break—his career with his prosecution of Thaw. Award-winning journalist Mary Cummings reveals a new angle to this incredible crime through Jerome’s story—a story that is ripe for our post-“Serial” era. Thaw was the debauched and deranged heir to a Pittsburgh fortune who had a sadistic streak. White was an artistic genius and one of the world’s premier architects who would become obsessed with a teenaged chorus girl, Evelyn Nesbit. White preyed on Nesbit, who, in a surprising twist, also became a fixation for Thaw. Nesbit and Thaw would later marry, but Thaw’s lingering jealousy and anger toward White over his past history with Nesbit would explosively culminate in White’s shocking murder—and the even more shocking trial of Thaw for a murder that was committed in front of dozens of eye witnesses. The promising young D.A. would find his faith in himself and the law severely tested as he battled colorful crooks, licentious grandees, and corrupt politicians. Cummings brilliant reveals the social issues simmering below the surface of New York that Jerome had to face. Filled with mesmerizing drama, rich period details, and fascinating characters, Saving Sin City sheds fresh light on crimes whose impact still echoes throughout the twenty-first century.Red River: Blazing Guns On The Chisholm Trail
By Borden Chase. 2020
The book that launched the classic Howard Hawks western starring John Wayne and Montgomery Clift.—HALF A CATTLE EMPIRE—for a son...Now…
Dunson turned that blunt gaze on Tess. He let the gray eyes run slowly over her shoulders and breasts and hips...“What would you say, Tess Millay, if I offered you half of an empire in exchange for a son?”“...Your son?”“Yes.”The great State of Texas is dying...herds of cattle run wild...an uncharted trail leads to nowhere—but Colonel Dunson would fight on to save his empire, just so long as he had this woman by his side.Here is a Western that has been cut out of the lonely stretches of Texas, patterned from the lives of great giants of the land. A smashing story that pounds like the drumming hoofs of 10,000 cattle—a yarn that will hold you through the 100-day drive along the historic Chisholm Trail.Stories and Legends of the Palm Springs Indians
By Francisco Patencio, Margaret Boynton. 2020
Chief Francisco Patencio recounts the stories and legends of his people in this slim, but, invaluable record of the Palm…
Springs Native Americans. Originally published in 1943 by the Palm Springs Desert Museum, the tales and traditions of the Cahuilla are kept alive in the new edition.Spirit Gun of the West: The Story of Doc W. F. Carve
By Raymond W. Thorp. 2020
First published in 1957, this is the complete, fascinated biography of "Doc" William Frank Carver, a legend of the American…
West. Even the expansive sub-title shows that there is no limit to the talents of Doc Carver—“Plainsman, Trapper, Buffalo Hunter, Medicine Chief Of The Santee Sioux, World's Champion Marksman, And Originator Of The American Wild West Show.”Doc’s life began in the era of American pioneering to the West. As a youth he lived with the Santee Sioux, from the plains of Illinois and the forests of Minnesota he graduated to the beautiful prairies of Nebraska where he became supreme as a horseback-riding buffalo hunter, and came to count among his close friends the mountain men and plainsmen of whom James B. Hickok, John Y. Nelson, Texas Jack, and the boastful “Buffalo Bill,” were but a few.To California, at thirty-five years of age, was Carver’s next move. Here he discovered in his reading of sporting magazines that men were making fortunes by shooting—men who were not good shots! His innate confidence assured him that he was the best shot in the world, and he began the work of proving to the world that he was not only the best marksman, but that he was to become one of the world’s outstanding showmen.Caveat Emptor: The Secret Life of an American Art Forger
By Ken Perenyi. 2012
It is said that the greatest con man in the world is the one who has never been caught--and here…
for the first time is the astonishing story of America's most accomplished art forger Ten years ago, an FBI investigation in conjunction with the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York was about to expose a scandal in the art world that would have been front-page news in New York and London. After a trail of fake paintings of astonishing quality led federal agents to art dealers, renowned experts, and the major auction houses, the investigation inexplicably ended, despite an abundance of evidence collected. The case was closed and the FBI file was marked "exempt from public disclosure." Now that the statute of limitations on these crimes has expired and the case appears hermetically sealed shut by the FBI, this book, Caveat Emptor, is Ken Perenyi's confession. It is the story, in detail, of how he pulled it all off. Glamorous stories of art-world scandal have always captured the public imagination. However, not since Clifford Irving's 1969 bestselling Fake has there been a story at all like this one. Caveat Emptor is unique in that it is the first and only book by and about America's first and only great art forger. And unlike other forgers, Perenyi produced no paper trail, no fake provenance whatsoever; he let the paintings speak for themselves. And that they did, routinely mesmerizing the experts in mere seconds. In the tradition of Frank Abagnale's Catch Me If You Can, and certain to be a bombshell for the major international auction houses and galleries, here is the story of America's greatest art forger.Chase Darkness with Me: How One True-Crime Writer Started Solving Murders
By Billy Jensen. 2019
***With an exclusive behind-the-scenes conversation between Billy Jensen and retired detective Paul Holes on the Golden State Killer, their favorite…
cold cases, and more*** Have you ever wanted to solve a murder? Gather the clues the police overlooked? Put together the pieces? Identify the suspect? Journalist Billy Jensen spent fifteen years investigating unsolved murders, fighting for the families of victims. Every story he wrote had one thing in common—they didn't have an ending. The killer was still out there. But after the sudden death of a friend, crime writer and author of I'll Be Gone in the Dark, Michelle McNamara, Billy became fed up. Following a dark night, he came up with a plan. A plan to investigate past the point when the cops had given up. A plan to solve the murders himself. You'll ride shotgun as Billy identifies the Halloween Mask Murderer, finds a missing girl in the California Redwoods, and investigates the only other murder in New York City on 9/11. You'll hear intimate details of the hunts for two of the most terrifying serial killers in history: his friend Michelle McNamara's pursuit of the Golden State Killer and his own quest to find the murderer of the Allenstown Four. And Billy gives you the tools—and the rules—to help solve murders yourself. Gripping, complex, unforgettable, Chase Darkness with Me is an examination of the evil forces that walk among us, illustrating a novel way to catch those killers, and a true-crime narrative unlike any you've read before.Ghost: My Thirty Years as an FBI Undercover Agent
By Ralph Pezzullo, Michael R. McGowan. 2018
The explosive memoir of an FBI field operative who has worked more undercover cases than anyone in history.Within FBI field…
operative circles, groups of people known as “Special” by their titles alone, Michael R. McGowan is an outlier. 10% of FBI Special Agents are trained and certified to work undercover. A quarter of those agents have worked more than one undercover assignment in their careers. And of those, less than 10% of them have been involved in more than five undercover cases. Over the course of his career, McGowan has worked more than 50 undercover cases. In this extraordinary and unprecedented book, McGowan will take readers through some of his biggest cases, from international drug busts, to the Russian and Italian mobs, to biker gangs and contract killers, to corrupt unions and SWAT work. Ghost is an unparalleled view into how the FBI, through the courage of its undercover Special Agents, nails the bad guys. McGowan infiltrates groups at home and abroad, assembles teams to create the myths he lives, concocts fake businesses, coordinates the busts, and helps carry out the arrests. Along the way, we meet his partners and colleagues at the FBI, who pull together for everything from bank jobs to the Boston Marathon bombing case, mafia dons, and, perhaps most significantly, El Chapo himself and his Sinaloa Cartel.Ghost is the ultimate insider's account of one of the most iconic institutions of American government, and a testament to the incredible work of the FBI.Encubierto; Operación Julie - La Verdadera Historia
By Stephen Bentley. 2019
En marzo de 1978, en la culminación de Operación Julie quince acusados, incluyendo doctores, químicos investigadores, un escritor y vendedores…
de drogas “profesionales” fueron sentenciados a un total combinado de ciento veinticuatro años de prisión. La Operación Julie es, hasta el momento, el punto de referencia para todas las operaciones encubiertas y entrenamiento británico. En 2011, la BBC dijo que esta operación policíaca única y masiva fue el comienzo de la guerra a las drogas. Stephen Bentley fue uno de cuatro detectives encubiertos que trabajó en la Operación Julie, una de las redadas contra las drogas más grandes en el mundo. Junto con su compañero encubierto, infiltró a la banda que producía alrededor del 90 por ciento del LSD en el mundo y descubrió un complot para importar grandes cantidades de cocaína boliviana al Reino Unido. El bajo mundo conocía al autor como Steve Jackson. ¿Cómo logró infiltrar las dos pandillas con éxito? ¿Tuvo que tomar drogas, y de qué manera “vivir una mentira” lo afectó? Descubra las respuestas y penetre en la mente de Steve Jackson, detective encubierto. “Una perspectiva desde adentro sobre el tráfico de drogas, escrito con encanto, inteligencia y a veces humor, por un hombre talentoso, calificado de manera única para contar la historia.” –Extracto de una Revisión. “No hay drama televisivo en donde los buenos tipos y los malos tipos se pueden identificar fácilmente y donde el crimen se resuelve en una hora de tiempo al aire. En la historia de la vida real de Operación Julie, las líneas que la definen no son tan claras y me encontré intriguido por la amistad que se desarrolló entre el Sr. Bentley y uno de los hombres que estaba investigando, preguntándome cómo resolvería esta difícil situación cuando el desenlace final llegara.” -- Extracto de una Revisión. “Visión fascinante al turbio mundo del trabajo policial encubie