KIDS WHO KILL

Hardback. Craig Price, Richard Jahnke Jr., Cheryl Pierson, John Justice, Ginger Turnmire...their stories have been told in newspapers across America. Some have even seen actors portray them in TV movies. They come from different backgrounds. They don't know each other and probably wouldn't even recognise each other's names. But they share one important thing in common: before they were 18yrs old, all of them had killed someone. Every year, nearly 2000 children - boys and girls - under the age of 18 are arrested for murder or manslaughter. Some of the killings are clearly premeditated, others are spontaneous and horribly violent. Who are these young killers? Where do they come from, and why do they commit such brutal acts? The author presents the most comprehensive study of the subject ever attempted. Many of the stories he relates here are so cold-blooded as to test the convictions of even the most compassionate reader. Others reveal common threads that run through the lives of a large number of these killers, threads that raise profoundly disturbing questions about the true faces of guilt and innocence in America. As he describes the psychology of juvenile killers and the roles that poverty, drugs, gangs, and devil worship play in contributing to this problem, the author forces us to confront some of the most difficult challenges facing the criminal system and society today. Senseless killings, sexual homicides, ritual murders, gang and theft-related killings, parricides - all are hard enough to deal with when the killers are adults. However, they become infinitely more complicated when the killer is a child. What can be done to stop these children from killing? Are the courts capable of dealing with them? How do we punish them? And to what extent is society to blame for their actions? With Notes and Index. 205pp. 8vo. h/back. From the library of true crime writer, Wilfred Gregg, with his personal b/plate. F. in Vg+ dw.