scarier than fiction

The Cases That Haunt Us includes the story of the unsolved murder of JonBenet Ramsey. Written by Mindhunter John Douglas and Mark Olkshaker, an independant reviewer ranks this book as number 43 of 50 best true crime books of all time--





The 50 best true crime books: truth stranger -- and scarier -- than fiction, Part 2
by Michelle Kerns

"Ready for more unabated true terror? If you missed the first 25 books on the list of 50 best true crime books of all time, catch up on all of the horrific cruelty, nutjob serial killers, and heroic detectives here.

Check the bathroom window is locked; now, on with the list.

43. The Cases That Haunt Us: From Jack the Ripper to JonBenet Ramsey, the FBI's Legendary Mindhunter Sheds Light on the Mysteries That Won't Go Away - John Douglas and Mark Olkshaker

Written by the same duo that wrote Mindhunter, this one delves into the details of unsolved cases such as Jack the Ripper, the Zodiac crimes, and th Black Dahlia murder..."

Michelle Kerns writes for a disturbingly eccentric collection of print and online publications. She watches the movie Hot Fuzz every Thursday night, passionately adores the literary character Melrose Plant, and believes strongly in the four food groups: red wine, white wine, Guinness, gin. She knows where her towel is. Contact her with rants, raves, recommendations, or review copies here.

Mindhunter

John Douglas, who back in early 1997 was one of the first to identify the gaping holes in suspicions that JonBenet's parents killed their daughter, is hosting the premier of documentaries titled "Mindhunter" this Sunday on MSNBC at 10PM EST - -



Here is an excerpt from the MSNBC press release:

At any given time, there are an estimated 30-50 serial killers active in the United States. Former FBI Agent, John Douglas, knows them better than most. Renown as the architect of American criminal profiling, John Douglas knows that "the only way to truly understand the criminal mind is to get inside it." His approach is different from that of a journalist. Drawing on his 25 years of experience in the FBI's Behavioral Science unit, Douglas taps into the minds of the killers he interviews in order to find out who they are and what drove them to murder. In "Mindhunter," Douglas goes head-to-head with two of the nation's most disturbing and violent serial killers: Joseph Kondro and Donald Harvey.

Kondro is every parent's worst nightmare—a murderer who killed his friends' children.

Harvey began his murderous lifestyle at age 18 as a hospital orderly. That year alone, he killed more people than most serial killers do in their entire lifetime. All of them were patients.

Douglas' discoveries have changed the nature of crime investigation. As a criminal profiler, his interviews have helped crime investigators create profiles that will more effectively identify and capture the serial killers among us.

In partnership with Gregory Breck with site design by Douglas J. Gallagher, Mr. Douglas also maintains the Mindhunter website to "answer to numerous requests for more and ongoing information about John Douglas and his work. The site is designed to be a regularly updated resource for current information about John Douglas, including his participation in the investigation of open cases, his lectures, personal appearances, projects, book releases, and media events. "

John Douglas - what kind of person could kill JonBenet?

The Cases that Haunt Us

From Jack the Ripper to JonBenet Ramsey, the FBI's Legendary Mindhunter Sheds Light on the Mysteries that Won't Go AwayBy: Douglas, John; Olshaker, Mark

What kind of person could kill six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey on Christmas night in her own home? Douglas was called in on the case shortly after the horrifying murder, and his conclusions are hard-hitting and controversial. Why, in the face of the majority of public, media, and law enforcement opinion, including former FBI colleagues, does Douglas believe that John and Patricia Ramsey did not murder their daughter? And what is the forensic and behavioral evidence he brings to bear to make his claim?

Genesis of a Psychopath

Russell Smith's great tool, the "Brace Character Profile" of Casey Anthony has been published for some time now, along with an interview wth Smith over at Crimson Shadows. Toward the end of Smith's analysis of Anthony, I noticed this provocative statement about the former suspect in the Ramsey case - -

It is noteworthy that there is a significant positive correlation with the self-made media celebrity John Mark Karr and with the fictional character, Kia, of Jack Osborne's novella, BLOOD RED: Genesis of a Psychopath

Smith performed a Brace anlaysis on Karr.

Now here is the blurb about Jack Osborne's Blood Red - -

BLOOD RED: Genesis of a Psychopath is stark and unrelenting in its graphic presentation of the character development of psychopaths. Some of the characters and events are real. All of the characters are realistic and they provide the raw material to introduce a new profiling technique. The author, Jack Osborne, is a correctional professional who has worked directly with scores of real life psychopaths in maximum custody prisons. The character profiles were completed by Russell L. Smith, developer of the BRACE™ model and the BRACE Character Profile™. Jack and Russell are friends and in combination they have produced a unique work of interest to law enforcement, writers, and anyone else interested the nature of psychopaths or in profiling known or well conceptualized characters." ... JOHN DOUGLAS, New York Times best-selling author, founder and ex-Chief of the FBI’s
Investigative Support Unit, criminal profiler.