It was the midcentury murder that fascinated a nation and kept it glued for two years to radio, television and newspapers through three trials. Did the handsome, wealthy doctor and his beautiful young paramour plan to kill his glamorous socialite wife? Or did the gun accidentally discharge as he claimed? Early in the evening on July 18, 1959, Dr. Bernard Finch and his girlfriend, Carole Ann Tregoff, drove from their Las Vegas love-nest … [Read more...]
Mike Rothmiller On Why He Resurrected Stories From The 1800s: “I Thought I Had Seen and Heard It All, But I Was Wrong”
True Crime Chronicles volumes 1 & 2 are my recent works. The books are filled with shocking true crime stories from the 1800s as they originally appeared in newspapers. My commentary accompanies each story. Unlike today, these articles detail the grisly killings, the investigations, and in many cases, the unearthing of bodies the killers buried in gardens or fed to the hogs. In the 1800s, these stories mesmerized the nation. The … [Read more...]
Frank C. Girardot Jr. Joins Lori Orr Kovach To Tell The Story of Her Father, Serial Arsonist Of Los Angeles, In BURNED
For years Lori Orr believed her Los Angeles firefighter dad was a selfless hero. When Lori’s dad was arrested and charged with four murders and countless arson fires, it was her testimony that helped keep him from being sent to Death Row. Eventually, Lori’s search for the truth lead her to the dark secrets lurking in her family’s past and to an inescapable conclusion about the remorseless killer and arsonist known as the "Pillowcase Pyro" and his … [Read more...]
The Infamous Charles Manson is Featured In OUTLAW LOS ANGELES
Every generation has its bogeyman. Before 1969, maybe it was Adolf Hitler. After 2001, Osama bin Laden. But for those 30 or so years in between it was unquestionably an aspiring musician, deeply damaged outlaw, and hippie Svengali named Charles Manson. On two nights in the summer of 1969—the same summer as Woodstock—Manson rose from nobody to America’s most fearsome monster. Born in Ohio to an unwed, 15-year- old girl, Manson’s childhood … [Read more...]
OUTLAW LOS ANGELES Takes Readers To The City Where Anything Is Possible, Even The Ghastly
A sunset cruise through a place where ordinary inhumanities are entertainment... Los Angeles is where America’s dreams and nightmares got all tangled up. In this otherworldly place of seemingly everlasting life, death could have an otherworldly quality, too. In a city where anything was possible, even the ghastly could happen. Where else does a list of a city’s top five most recognized citizens include a mass murderer? Stand in the footsteps of … [Read more...]