Böcker av Pete Dove

Some problems become more troublesome the longer they are left. The aching molar which remains untended; the lawn which is left uncut. The same might be said of the case of Ray Gricar. Although, of course, the disappearance and possible death of a man, one with a high local profile, is much more serious than sore teeth or an unkempt yard.Gricar was last seen on Friday April 15th 2005. It was a glorious day - one of the first of the year in which Spring had lightened the sky and warmed the air. Gricar had awoken at the normal time. He was living with his girlfriend, Patty Fornicola, in his comfortable Bellefonte, Pennsylvania home. What happened to Ray Gricar?

Bruce Cleland was smitten when he first saw Rebecca Salcedo. The sexy Latina cook was mixing up spices at the local swap meet and he couldn't believe his eyes. She was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen...But in him, she only saw dollar signs. The two would marry and Bruce would shower his high-maintenance bride with extravagant gifts and vacations, even including a breast augmentation. Salcedo, on the other hand, would cheat on her dutiful husband with men...and women...Salcedo soon grew tired of Bruce's devotion and wanted out...but not without some compensation. Forging his signature as well as tallying up his assets, she figured she could get over one million dollars upon his death...but could she get away with murder?

David Berkowitz, aka the Son of Sam, plead guilty to eight separate attacks that terrorized New York City in the hot summer of 1976. His weapon of choice was a .44 caliber revolver which he used to kill the six and wound seven others. The attacks put the entire city on alert and Berkowitz managed to elude New York's finest for over a month as he taunted them with letters. After his arrest, he confessed to the crimes but maintained he was under orders from a demon named "Sam". He would later admit that this excuse was indeed a hoax but the questions remained....What possessed David Berkowitz to commit these atrocities?

On December 28th, 2010, Billie Dunn had an early shift at her place of work. The job was not great, but it provided an income - something people do not sniff away in towns like Colorado City. She had a twelve hour shift ahead, so her daughter Hailey would be alone for most of the day. However, with father Clint living just opposite and slightly down the road, Billie was confident that Hailey would be fine, and would probably visit her father for some of the long hours ahead.Nobody is sure what took place that chilly December day, yet by the time Billie had completed her shift, and returned home, Hailey was gone. But Billie's live in boyfriend, Shaun Adkins, was at home. He had a clear explanation for the young girl's whereabouts. She had gone to a friend's house where she would spend the night.Except that she never turned up.

It was September 14th 2015 when Jack Taylor, a 25 year old gay man was found dead in St Margaret's church in East London. 'If that's where Jack's been found, someone's put him there,' said Jack's sister, Jen. 'The Police could have put a stop to it, and Jack would still have been here.'Three previous murders had been committed in 2014. In each case, a body was found within a short distance of the others - sometimes in the exact same spot. Yet police assumed there was no connection between the crimes. It was only after the discovery of Jack's body that investigators realised they had a serial killer on their hands. Earlier that month, Jack made contact with the man who would go on to poison him on the gay dating site, Grindr. That person was Stephen Port, a forty year old Chef who lived in Barking, East London.

It was a beautiful sunny Wednesday morning on May 31st, 2000 and the talented and young Jill Behrman decided to take advantage of the weather and go for a satisfying morning ride. At nineteen years old, Jill was an avid cyclist and enjoyed keeping fit. She had a few hours to spare as her work was only to start later on in the day, around 12pm, so she hauled out her bike, put on her gear and hit the road...When she did not return, her family notified authorities. When her bicycle was found on a field north of town, it was assumed that she had become a crime victim and an extensive search for her was initiated...What happened to Jill Behrman??

A collection of True Crime stories on the most unlikely of serial killers...even police officers are included here with the likes of Antoinette Frank... Who do you trust? A doctor. A teacher. A police officer? There is something bizarrely discomforting about crime committed by those in authority. It should not really be so surprising, though, that even those in positions of power still err; after all, behind the suit, or the white coat or the badge is a human being. One with the same passions, strengths and weaknesses as anybody else.But, somehow, we expect more from these people. And so, we feel a greater let down when they act in ways that disappoint. Add to that, when one of their victims is little more than a child, and the other a cop, any lingering sympathy that might exist for the culprit is swept away as was the case with Antoinette Frank.

Juan Corona terrorized ranchers in the Sacramento Valley for years, evading capture because of the selection of his victims...people who would not be missed.

HE STARTED WITH HIS WIFE...'Michelle was extremely loyal, ' said her close friend, Debbie Knight, 'she was giving, she was caring, she was dedicated. An amazing woman.'Lisa Emmons concurred. 'Michelle was fun so smart and organized, 'It had been a long time since her many friends had seen the successful executive, or even heard from her. In Michelle's case, a long time being more than a couple of days. That was unusual, in fact so strange that these friends began to worry. In the end, tensions rose, and Debbie decided that she had to visit. The increasingly alarmed messages that she had left on Michelle's answer phone had not been answered, and the probability that something bad had happened to her friend could be ignored no longer. Even so, none of these concerned women could have had the slightest idea of the extremes of violence they would discover all done by the hands of the unassuming Charlie Brandt. This story and more are featured in this anthology of True Crime.

Has The Claremont Killer Been Brought To Justice? Sometime in 2020, when the warm Australian winter is turning to searing summer, Bradley Robert Edwards will discover whether or not he has been found guilty of the homicide of two, perhaps even three, of the Claremont murder victims. These were the young women who, in a spate of assaults in the mid 1990s, lost their lives in sexually motivated attacks. The quietly spoken, outwardly calm middle aged man, pillar of society and apparently upright citizen has already admitted to a number of offences relating to other young women who were victims of sex attacks, but whether the judge in this case, Justice Steven Hall, finds the former technician guilty of murder as well remains to be seen. Whatever, the peaceful community of Perth knows that the upcoming trial will dominate headlines in the months to come.

Truth stranger than fiction? We've all heard the phrase. Actually, it's a bit of a falsehood. Invention acting as truth. Reality always wins out in the end. Doesn't it? But, in the case of Valerie McDaniel, truth runs even the most bizarre fiction close.Had Valerie survived her darkest days of 2017, she may well now be serving time behind bars. Certainly, prosecutors in Houston, Texas, have little doubt about that. Then again, it is the prosecutors' job to believe in the guilt of those they are employed to accuse. It would be hard, for all but those completely lacking in any moral compass, to attempt to put somebody they believe to be innocent away in prison. Wouldn't it?We shall never know the absolute truth regarding whether or not veterinarian Valerie McDaniel did actually commit a crime, because her trial never took place. Nor shall we know, with certainty, whether there were any mitigating circumstances to be taken into account when judging any wrongdoing she did undertake. We can though, tell her story. We should do so fairly and in a balanced way that allows the reader to make up their own minds in this unusual case. Because Valerie's story is important. She leaves behind a young child, a daughter, who will grow up without her mother. If, one day, that daughter decides to investigate for herself what happened to her mother, it is essential that she can access information untainted by both opinion and interest. This is a tale of two parts. The first, and overwhelmingly longer one, tells of a woman whose life, career and family seemed successful and happy. The second covers just a few weeks, and sees the personality of the protagonist apparently change, making decisions that caused her to throw away that career, that reputation, that loving daughter and, finally, her life itself.Did a once respected veterinarian suddenly decide to become the head of a murder for hire scheme? This is the story of Valerie McDaniel.