THE MURDERERS

Hardback. Of all recorded deaths in the United States, those by murder get the least attention as far as cause of prevention is concerned. This is true despite the fact that there are more murders per year in heavily populated states than there are in most countries of the world, and the FBI shows an increasing murder rate every year. The author has produced an in-depth look at four people who have committed murder, the events that led up to that ultimate act of violence, the fact itself, and the ensuing legal process. The people discussed are real people. Their names have been changed to protect their identity, but the crimes they have committed are real. What emerges is a fascinating picture of people burdened with years of personal frustration which the victim personfies in some way at a point of crisis. The situations in which the murderers find themselves are far from extraordinary. In fact, the relatively common day-to-day existence of both the murderers and the victims adds a chilling aspect to these cases. Still, the reader can almost sense when the murder is going to take place. It is this potential for predicting and forestalling murders that the author considers perhaps the most fruitful area for study. Could a life have been saved if there had only been some way to communicate with the man who calmly murdered his wife as she sat in the kitchen? Could anyone have foreseen that the unhappy years they had spent together, along with the guns he always kept handy, would someday lead inexorably to murder? Could the man who smothered his coughing wife with a pillow have found another way to escape his own stifled existence if someone had been able to read the telltale signs. Could the horribly butchered family have been saved if someone had taken an emotional profile of the quiet, troubled man who wandered into their home one warm day. The author thinks so. 169pp. 8vo. h/back. From the library of true crime writer, Wilfred Gregg, with his personal b/plate, plus tiny previous owner's name and address label. V. lightly browned edges o/w Vg+ in Vg. pcdw.