fuhrman: grade b minus

I've been waiting for some more reviews of Mark Fuhrman's book out earlier this month that as advertised, naming who killed JonBenet Ramsey. Pete Kozt delivered yesterday. Grading Fuhrman's book with a just passing mark, Kotz gave some points to the writing skills of the retired LAPD officer turned Fox TV talking-head and author.

Part of the let down for me was in between Fuhrman's rants and complaints about subject matter experts and smart-like-a-fox cable news, already well known and tired paths, there was nothing new about the cases Furman discusses. Following in the footsteps of delusional false confessors to JonBenet's murder, Fuhrman discounts non-Ramsey male DNA discovered (so far) in 4 places from 3 bodily sources at the crime scene and believes JonBenet Ramsey was killed by her now departed mother.

-yawn -

Yup. Since Fuhrman was not working this case he may have learned all this the media; maybe even on cable news. Not from case files or facts, that is certain, else he would have a very different opinion. Oh well, perhaps his version was spiced up by a few far fetched 'insider' details gleaned from certain individuals attempting to manipulate the media and public opinon. And the leaky title still may fit today, almost 13 years later.

I have always held compassion for Fuhrman, post OJ. Kotz, along with fulfilling the duty to fire point blank at the irony of Fuhrman's latest work, sums it up well: "It's clear Fuhrman's a badly damaged human. His resentment over being portrayed as the racist, inept detective..."

The Murder Business: Mark Fuhrman's Surprisingly Interesting Anti-Media Rant
Posted in The True Crime Report
By Pete Kotz

"...The book traces how police and the media covered some of the biggest criminal cases over the past 20 years -- from JonBenet Ramsey to Scott Peterson. His essential argument: The media -- by which he means cable news -- does everything it can to pimp ratings and prolong big cases for its own betterment, often interfering with police work in the process...

Fuhrman isn't big on self-reflection. He conspicuously avoids any critique of Fox, and seems wholly unaware of the irony that he now makes his living writing and talking about all these cases too.

...Fuhrman unveils a stunning level of ineptitude, spotlighting the good 'old boy networks, the preening prosecutors, and the inept coroners who make justice a 50-50 proposition. His is the view of a former detective looking over the shoulders of his peers, and it's not pretty....

The Final Call: What's interesting is not Fuhrman's theories, but seeing inside the damaged mind of man badly tarred by the media machine, and who were now supposed to trust to deliver the news despite that damage."[...read more]