The best true-crime books of all time? Maybe not
Last weekend, USA Today published a Goodreads list of the “Best True Crime Books of All Time.” There are some truly great books on the list, compiled from various Goodreads […]
Read More…Author: Ron Franscell
Murderabilia, the podcast: ‘Hey, buddy, want some Manson toenails?’
The term “murderabilia” was coined by my friend Andy Kahan, who advocates for crime victims for Crimestoppers of Houston. But the word is actually more innocuous than Kahan’s feelings about […]
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Pick me, Ted: Bundy expert explores a perverse love
I recently visited a Facebook group where true-crime fans gather to chit-chat about the latest foul play. The group’s members are mostly women because, well, women are overwhelmingly the most […]
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10 Photos of Dead Criminals (with a Charlie Manson bonus)
Back in the 19th century, when photography was young, post-mortem images of dead loved ones was fashionable as a way to remember the deceased. But it also became a way […]
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Berkley-Penguin will publish ‘ShadowMan’
There are a few moments in a book’s life that are special for authors. One is when a box of finished books arrives on the front porch. Another is when […]
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Unfinished.
Once upon a time—which is how all worthwhile stories begin—I knew a man named Herman who had reached a moment when there was more of his life to look back […]
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40% of serial killers getting away with murder
The Golden Age of serial killers—the 1970s and ‘80s—is over. According to National Institute of Justice, the number of serial killers is down 85% in the past 30 years. Reasons […]
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Canadian producer developing TV series on MORGUE
Pixcom, an international production company based in Montreal, has optioned our book MORGUE: A LIFE IN DEATH—co-authored with world-renowned medical examiner Dr. Vincent Di Maio—for a true-crime TV series, the […]
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A genuine hero
Remember that story about wild man Earl Durand who killed five people in Powell in 1939? The horrible rampage ended partly because of a teenager named Tipton Cox, who wounded […]
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Tarzan of the Tetons
In 1939, mountain man Earl Durand went on a rampage. He killed five people during a sprawling chase through the mountains, ending in a daring daylight bank robbery in Powell. […]
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Pixley’s eyes
In 1964, at Jackson’s famous Wort Hotel, two little girls were raped, strangled and bludgeoned brutally with a large rock. .Andrew Pixley, a 21-year-old transient dishwasher, had sneaked into the […]
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Elvis co-star dies
In 1957. actress Judy Tyler had just wrapped up her first starring movie role, playing opposite Elvis Presley in “Jail;house Rock.” She was heading back East to appear on a CBS […]
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Butch’s mug shot
You already know Butch Cassidy was the most famous outlaw in the infamous Wild Bunch. This is his 1894 mugshot from the Wyoming Territorial Prison in Laramie. What you probably didn’t […]
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Hickok’s assassin
In 1876, not long after he’d shot the famous Wild Bill Hickok in Deadwood SD, Jack McCall was in a Laramie bar boasting about the murder. A deputy U.S. Marshal […]
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Last Wild Bunch outlaw
Wild Bunch outlaw Bub Meeks helped Butch and Elzy Lay rob the bank in Montpelier, Idaho, in 1896. But the pathologically unlucky Meeks was captured and sent to prison. He […]
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Vanished into thin air
In 1934, 21-year-old Olga Schultz married Wyoming oilman Carl Mauger just a few weeks after they met.They spent their honeymoon elk hunting. One day. Carl reportedly left Olga to rest beside […]
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