THE VIOLATORS

Hardback. True stories of "criminals" who might be one's next-door neighbours, from the files of a veteran Probation Officer of the Bronx County Court. The book tells the stories and traces the lives of 27 persons convicted of felonies in New York City. All were guilty of the crimes with which they were charged, from murders of blind passion as in "The Case of Adam Kale," to plain and not so plain robbery as in "The Case of the Fetishist." What were they like before they became felons? Were there extenuating circumstances for their crimes? As Probation Officer for nearly 20yrs in the Bronx County Court, the author had the duty of seeking the answers to these questions in order to report to the Court before the judge pronounced sentence. He learned, for one thing, that no two offenders are quite alike. Some, like lovely, wanton ex-model Mildred Pallister, were psychopaths who probably needed care in a mental hospital more than prison. Others, like narcotics victim Stephen Spence, Jr. came from "good" backgrounds; or like Air Force veteran Bobby Coons, who became an amazing swindler, seemed to have criminal careers thrust upon them. Whether narcotics offenders, rapists, murderers, abortionists, sex offenders, or swindlers - the author considers them, first of all, as human beings who went wrong and who conceivably might be put right. 253pp. 8vo. h/back. From the library of true crime writer, Wilfred Gregg, with his personal b/plate. Lightly browned pp. o/w Vg+ in Vg. sl. creased dw. which has a small closed tear.