Secrets Can Be Murder - What America's Most Sensational Crimes Tell Us About Ourselves

Neighbors were unaware of what went on behind the tightly closed doors of a house in Fresno, California—the home of an imposing, 300-pound Marcus Wesson, his wife, children, nieces, and grandchildren. But on March 12, 2004, gunshots were heard inside the Wesson home, and police officers responding to what they believed was a routine domestic disturbance were horrified by the senseless carnage they discovered when they entered.

By Their Father's Hand is a chilling true story of incest, abuse, madness, and murder, and one family's terrible and ultimately fatal ordeal at the hands of a powerful, manipulative man—a cultist who envisioned vengeful gods and vampires, and totally controlled those closest to him before their world came to a brutal and bloody halt.

In the lovely town of Pleasant Valley in upstate New York, the maple trees were ablaze with fall's blood-red color. The air was crisp. And a woman named Susan Fassett left her weekly choir practice at a church--when a killer emerged from the shadows and mercilessly gunned her down. . ..

Stunned, the police immediately suspected Susan Fassett's husband and surrounded his home. They couldn't have been more wrong. Susan Fassett had been living a secret life, entangled in a passionate web of dominance, lesbian sex, betrayal--and a depraved plan for murder. After detectives untangled a web of secrets and corruption hidden in plain sight, the town of Pleasant Valley would be rocked again when a shocking trial exposed the whole sordid truth. . .

"Phelps proves that truth is more shocking than fiction." --Allison Brennan

"Phelps is one of America's finest true-crime writers." --Vincent Bugliosi

In September 2001, Carmen Rodriguez, a beautiful 32-year-old Hartford mother of four, went missing. At first police were stymied. . .until a killer's crucial mistake led investigators down a long, dark road of cold, calculated murder. . .

"Phelps is a first-rate investigator." --Dr. Michael M. Baden

In 1987, single mother Mary Ellen Renard was strangled, repeatedly stabbed, and left for dead in her New Jersey apartment. Her vicious assailant had already killed once. . .and would kill again. But unlike the fiend's other victims, Mary Ellen lived to tell the tale...

"Phelps gives readers an exclusive, insider's look." --Anne Bremner

Clean-cut, popular and on the fast track at a multinational computer firm, Rutgers grad Edwin "Ned" Snelgrove shocked friends and colleagues with a plea bargain for Renard's brutal attack--and the heinous 1983 murder of college girlfriend Karen Osmun. Vowing never to be caught again, Ned spent his time in prison obsessively studying the violent career of his idol Ted Bundy. . .then was released ten years early for good behavior. . .

"Phelps proves that truth is more shocking than fiction." --Allison Brennan

Unflinching and brilliantly researched, this is an exclusive tour into the twisted mind of an all-American killer. . .and a state attorney's tireless efforts to lock him away forever.

The definitive inside story of the case that captivated the nation. . . and the verdict that no one saw coming.

It was the trial that stunned America. On July 5, 2011, nearly three years after her initial arrest, Casey Anthony walked away, virtually scot-free, from one of the most sensational murder trials of all time. She'd been accused of killing her daughter, Caylee, but the trial only left behind more questions: Was she actually innocent? What really happened to Caylee? Was this what justice really looked like?

In Imperfect Justice, prosecutor Jeff Ashton, one of the principal players in the case's drama, sheds light on those questions and much more, telling the behind-the-scenes story of the investigation, the trial, and the now-infamous verdict. Complete with never-before-revealed information about the case and the accused, Ashton examines what the prosecution got right, what they got wrong, and why he remains completely convinced of Casey Anthony's guilt.

Jeanne Dominico's fiancé found her body on her kitchen floor. More than forty stab wounds and blows to her head with a blunt instrument had cut her life short. What monster had struck in the heart of a peaceful New England town?

Jeanne was a hard-working single mother. Nicole, her fourteen-year-old daughter was on the honor-roll and head over heels in love--with an eighteen-year-old man she'd known only through the Internet. Once the lovers met in person, Jeanne's motherly instincts sensed trouble. If only she'd known that the life in danger was her own.

With a history of psychological trouble and family misfortune, Billy Sullivan's obsessive and controlling power over Nicole contributed to the brutal slaying of her mother. But it was Nicole's stunning confession and guilty plea that led to Billy's sensational trial, where a sordid tale of love, loss, betrayal and murder finally took a cold-blooded killer offline--and on line for justice.

"Phelps is a first-rate investigator." --Dr. Michael M. Baden

Despite advances in DNA testing, forensics, and the investigative skills used by police, hundreds of crimes remain unsolved across Canada. With every passing day trails grow colder and decades can pass before a new lead or witness comes forward if one comes forward.

In Unsolved, Robert J. Hoshowsky examines twelve crimes that continue to haunt us. Some cases are well-known, while others have virtually disappeared from the public eye. All of the cases remain open, and many are being re-examined by police using the latest tools and technology. Hoshowsky takes the reader through all aspects of the crimes and how police are trying to solve them using three-dimensional facial reconstructions, DNA testing, age-enhanced drawings, original crime scene photos, and more.

None of the individuals profiled in Unsolved deserved their fate, but their stories deserve to be told and their killers need to be brought to justice.

The Deadly Crime Spree of the Craigslist Killer

A producer from 48 Hours Mystery teams

with a Boston Globe reporter to reveal the

secret life of the young man known

as the "Craigslist Killer"

Compressed into a seven-day time span, the story of the Craigslist Killer just kept unfolding: three vulnerable women, each cornered in a hotel room, one of them murdered when she resisted. Who would be next? The images of the suspect are jarring: an all- American handsome young man who could be the guy next door, clean-cut and casually dressed. Using hightech investigative tools and old-fashioned shoe leather, detectives from the Boston Police Department track down their man and arrest the unlikeliest of suspects: twenty-three-year-old Philip Markoff, a brilliant, wellregarded medical student at Boston University who is engaged to be married on the beach at sunset to a beautiful and trusting fiancée. If guilty, what is his motivation? Why did he allegedly use Craigslist, the online bulletin board, to pick out his victims? The arrest of Markoff, a man with no criminal record, seems incomprehensible, but the evidence against him seems overwhelming. Police match his gun and fingerprints to the crimes, and use a trail of digital bread crumbs to lead to Markoff's doorstep.

When Manhattan model and masseuse Julissa Brisman agreed to meet a client at the Boston Marriott Copley Place Hotel, she thought it would be just one more day on her road to recovering from an alcohol addiction. Instead, she was discovered lying facedown in a pool of blood on a hallway carpet, her head battered, a bullet through her heart. The hotel's surveillance cameras captured the image of a tall, blond, clean-cut man, texting on his BlackBerry. As police moved in, pieces of an astonishing puzzle emerged: investigators revealed that the Boston University medical student was linked to several incidents across the Northeast, all involving women with whom he connected on Craigslist -- including the armed robbery of a prostitute at another Boston hotel, and the assault of an exotic dancer in Rhode Island. The Craigslist Killer was arrested by Boston police barely a week after Julissa Brisman's murder. As the public tried to understand why someone with everything to live for would be so reckless, the double life of Philip Markoff began to materialize, and he appeared to be an out-of-control thrill seeker hiding a secret sexual life.

With the in-depth analysis that distinguishes TV's 48 Hours Mystery, this penetrating profile of Markoff and his crimes goes well beyond newspaper headlines to reveal how a young man described as "a beautiful person inside and out" hid his dark obsessions from the world -- and how the Internet can make any one of us the next victim of the most unlikely killer.

First, he bound and beat his girlfriend, a 43-year-old librarian. Then he went after her teenaged daughter-warning her, "Scream and I will kill you both”-before knocking her unconscious. When the teenager awoke, he proceded to rape her. And in a final horrifying act of depravity, he forced the girl to watch as he slit her mothers throat. But the killing didnt stop there...

In The Crosshairs Of A Killer…

Stephen Stanko was described as "a perfect gentleman” who "seemed so pleasant…and so normal.” But behind Stankos mild-mannered appearance, round spectacles, and quiet intelligence was a coldblooded ex-convict who kept a grisly scrapbook on serial killers-and convinced everyone he was a nice guy-until he killed and killed again.

On The Trail Of A Psycho…

A well-orchestrated manhunt caught up with Stanko, who tried to get away with his crimes by pleading insanity. But the jury saw through his ruse and the ruthless killer was sentenced to death.

Case Seen On 48 Hours

Includes 16 Pages of Shocking Photos