THE FRENCH QUARTER KILLERS The Story of the Protected Witness Murders.

Hardback. Forty-eight hours before the start of the trial of heroin czar David Sylvester, two key witnesses under the state witness protection program were executed gangland style in their New Orleans motel room, their heads covered with pillows and shot through the temple. A highly professional job, it seemed an unsolvable crime - and one of great consequence since it could destroy the credibility of the entire federal witness protection program by embarrassing the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Agency, as well as the New Orleans DA and police, at the very moment they had nailed a drug kingpin. By the time super detective John Dillmann stepped on the scene all was chaos. But as so often before in the some 600 cases in which he had been involved, Dillmann prevailed. Just how he pulled it off is the story of this true-crime thriller. Detective Dillmann operated alone, underground, disguised as a pimp, plunged into the seedy underworld of New Orleans. In this milieu of transvestites, prostitutes, international drug traffickers, and killers, he uncovered the clues one by one, and in final triumph Dillmann sent the murderers, including David Sylvester, to jail for life. Illus. 228pp. 8vo. h/back. F. in F. dw.