It was the third week of October in 2003. My first week at the Omaha World-Herald newspaper in Nebraska when a news alert came over the Associated Press wire from neighboring Iowa. A woman in a small-town was put in jail, accused of killing her husband. (More about DIXIE'S LAST STAND: Was It Murder or Self-Defense?) I grabbed my reporter's notebook. I hopped into one of the newspaper's many company cars with Rudy Smith, a long-time and … [Read more...]
Award-winning John Ferak Applies Twenty-Year Investigative Journalism Career To His True Crime Book And Feature Writing
My passion for writing, particularly storytelling and investigative journalism, traces back to my senior year of high school – when I dug into a fascinating story about the Ghost of Joliet Catholic High School for my school newspaper. Despite spending several frightful nights worried that the ghost of the dead priest would visit me, I quickly became enamored with writing about the darker things in life. For nearly twenty years, I’ve led a … [Read more...]
John Ferak Discusses Bloody Lies, a True Crime Story – Part 2/2
John Ferak Discusses Bloody Lies, a True Crime Story out of Omaha, Nebraska Part 2 of 2. … [Read more...]
Author John Ferak Pens an Updated Epilogue for the WRECKING CREW 5th Anniversary, November 2023
"Ferak chronicles the long and sordid history of the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department and the reason Sweaty's license was suspended. Framing Avery was just par for the course." -Kathleen Zellner Updated 5th Anniversary Edition Including Exclusive Interview with Steve Avery In 2016-17, while working for the USA TODAY NETWORK's Wisconsin Investigative Team, author John Ferak wrote dozens of articles examining the murder case against Steven … [Read more...]
TERROR TOWN, USA
During the early morning hours of July 17, 1983, fatigue became a factor for the young couple from central Illinois who spent their day under the hot sun at Marriott’s Great America amusement park north of Chicago. On their drive home, the tired teenagers pulled to the shoulder of Interstate 55 to get a restful sleep. As the teens slept inside their car under the moon and the stars, a dangerous force of evil lurked in the shadows, parking … [Read more...]
Why “Making a Murderer 2” Is Probably Better Than The Original
Last weekend, I was glued to my couch as I finally had an opportunity to binge watch and critique Netflix's highly anticipated "Making a Murderer 2." Friday night/Saturday morning I finished episodes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Saturday night was episodes 6,7, 8 and 9. I saved episode 10, the captivating finale, for Sunday afternoon. I have a close connection to the case, having produced dozens of in-depth pieces when I was living in Wisconsin as an … [Read more...]
FAILURE OF JUSTICE’s John Ferak: Cutting Wrongful Conviction Book Can Be Challenging
Since embarking on this wrongful conviction book project in January of 2014, A FAILURE OF JUSTICE underwent multiple revisions. One of my early drafts contained a curious older gentleman named Earl. He grew up in Nebraska, graduated from the University of Nebraska but went to prison for an underage sodomy charge. “I was busted in Lincoln for a man lying to me about his age in 1953 for a homosexual act, and I did thirteen months in the men’s … [Read more...]
Jury Verdict Is In; $28.1 Million Goes to the Wrongfully Convicted Beatrice 6
A federal civil rights jury in Nebraska has dinged Gage County, Sheriff's Corporal Burt Searcey, deputy/psychologist Wayne Price and the estate of late sheriff Jerry DeWitt to the tune of more than $28 million - for reckless misconduct involving the nation's largest-ever wrongful conviction case - 6 wrongful convictions in a lone murder. The terrible plight of the Beatrice 6 was the subject of my recent book for WildBlue Press titled, "FAILURE … [Read more...]
Readers: John Ferak’s True Crime Book FAILURE OF JUSTICE Is A Must Read
FAILURE OF JUSTICE marks my fourth non-fiction book and third with publisher WildBlue Press of Colorado. It's the true story of America's biggest modern miscarriage of justice. And it's not your ordinary true crime story at all. It's much more. It's about the death penalty. It's about fixing a broken justice system. It's about fairness and redemption. It's about rebuilding your life - in this case six lives - after a horribly misguided police and … [Read more...]
Reflections From FAILURE OF JUSTICE Author on Week 1 of Beatrice 6 Trial
Lincoln, Nebraska. That's where the media spotlight returned this past week. A handful of journalists are covering the plight of the Beatrice 6. It's now been eight years since Beatrice, Nebraska, a city of 12,000, became the new home of the country's worst nightmare involving a miscarriage of justice. A total of 6 people lost 70 years of their lives for somebody else's rape and murder. The threat of Nebraska's dreaded electric chair played a … [Read more...]
