DEADLY MASQUERADE A True Story of High Living, Depravity, and Murder

Hardback. An expertly researched true-crime account of a jet-set couple whose life in the fast lane careered into decadence and murder. Diane and Joseph Pikul seemed to have it all, and have it all together. Their lavish life included a Greenwich Village home, a Hamptons hideaway, and the best of everything that Joe's million-dollar Wall Street income could buy - private schools and an endless stream of baby-sitters for their two golden children, expensive clothes, trendy restaurants, limos, and all the trappings of 1980s style success from Joe's power position in international finance, to Diane's high-profile job at 'Harper's' magazine. But what looked like the Money Decade dream was really a nightmare of madness, murder, and despair. In the wake of 1987's stock market crash, facing the prospect of divorce and a bitter custody battle, Joe Pikul beat and choked his wife, Diane, to death at their Hamptons home and ripped away the glossy veneer masking a decadence that shocked America. Joe and Diane's storybook lives were caught up in a tangle of sexual perversion, blackmail, violence, and rampant drug and alcohol abuse. Joe Pikul, an accused murderer, with a history of wife abuse and compulsive cross dressing, was granted custody of his two young children despite overwhelming evidence of his guilt, an indication that he posed a threat to their safety. Going behind the scenes in police stations and courtrooms to show how they operate, and how police, lawyers, and judges handle violence perpetrated by the rich and powerful, this book is a sad sensational story of shattered dreams and lurid excess, played out against the backdrop of a corrupt and deadly decade. Illus. + Epilogue. 420pp. lge. 8vo. h/back. From the library of true crime writer, Wilfred Gregg, with his personal b/plate. Lightly browned edges o/w Nr. F. in Nr. F. dw. A fairly heavy book which may require additional postage.