In 2007 I was promoted to Lieutenant of Investigations at the Beatrice Police Department. I was briefed about the appeal process that was already in motion involving Joseph White. I was thinking “what a waste of the courts time." When the DNA results came back I was surprised to say the least. The Helen Wilson task force was formed, and I was given the opportunity to be in charge of it and handing out assignments. I was thinking “how are we … [Read more...]
Who Was Helen Wilson’s Killer If The Beatrice 6 Are Innocent? Read The Book
It might be Alabama or Alaska, Tennessee or Texas, Michigan or Minnesota. The name of state doesn't really matter. Most wrongful conviction cases have a similar theme - Person A gets arrested for a shockingly heinous killing. He's vilified in the media. The victim's family hates him. The judge throws the book at him. The convicted killer goes off to prison. The media coverage stops. Ten years pass, maybe a lot longer. Then, like a piano … [Read more...]
Did A Psychic Help Solve The Helen Wilson Rape-Murder in Beatrice, Nebraska?
As of February 1988, the Helen Wilson murder investigation was in need of a fresh set of eyes - like a psychic, perhaps? By 1988, more than a hundred potential suspects had been interviewed, examined and excluded. Mostly these were southeastern Nebraska residents, but some were out of state serial rapists from the likes of Kansas and Colorado as well. It didn't matter. Wherever the Beatrice Police Department seemed to go looking, … [Read more...]
Listen to the F.B.I. Interview of the Serial Killer Featured in ICE AND BONE
Here is an audio clip I obtained from the F.B.I. of an interview with Joshua Wade shortly after his arrest in connection with Mindy Schloss’s disappearance. The interview appears in Chapter 40 of ICE AND BONE. What you obviously can’t see is Wade’s reaction when Agent Thoreson claims they “talked to Mindy.” Both Agent Thoreson and Detective Perrenoud, who were in the room, told me that a devious smirk came over Wade’s face: From Chapter … [Read more...]
New York Times Bestselling Author Steve Jackson Reflects On An Unexpected Reward From Writing SMOOTH TALKER
Writing true crime books has it's ups and downs. It can be a dark road through hell researching and writing about the terrible things human beings--if some killers can be classified as such--do to other human beings. It also has its rewards, some of them quite unexpected, as I was recently reminded. Anyone who reads my books knows that I'm not big on going into the gory details, or including the more "shocking" photographs included in … [Read more...]
True Crime Author Steve Jackson Discusses SMOOTH TALKER Picture Puzzle Pieces
I've been asked why I chose to write SMOOTH TALKER: Trail of Death, especially as I have already written about serial killer Roy Melanson in the past. In 2002, I published a book called NO STONE UNTURNED: The True Story of the World's Premier Forensic Investigators, which was about the history and some of the best early cases involving NecroSearch International. NSI is a group of scientists, as well as former and current law enforcement … [Read more...]
Check Out Preview of Steve Jackson’s New True Crime Book SMOOTH TALKER on Investigation Discovery’s Epic Mysteries
New York Times bestselling author Steve Jackson's latest true crime book, SMOOTH TALKER, will be featured on the Investigation Discovery's Epic Mysteries show on April 9th, 2016, at 9pm ET. SMOOTH TALKER is the story of serial rapist Roy Melanson, his depredations, and the intrepid police work that went into bringing him to justice. Check out this preview. From The Preface of SMOOTH TALKER: He’s just a fat old man rotting away in a Colorado … [Read more...]
Listen To A Sneak Preview of Steve Jackson’s New True Crime SMOOTH TALKER
Check out this sneak peek of the audiobook version of New York Times bestselling author Steve Jackson's new true crime book, SMOOTH TALKER. SMOOTH TALKER will be available for digital on April 7 and print April 9. Then be looking for the audiobook in early May. … [Read more...]
In THE TRAIL OF TED BUNDY, Kevin Sullivan Compiles Never Before Published Interviews and Clues from this Historic Case
THE TRAIL OF TED BUNDY: Digging Up the Untold Stories A look into the life of serial killer Ted Bundy, from those who knew him, to those who chased him, and from those who mourned his many victims... The Trail of Ted Bundy: Digging Up the Untold Stories, is a journey back in time, to when Ted Bundy was killing young women and girls in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. It’s told by those who knew him, and you’ll hear their … [Read more...]
True Crime Author Steve Jackson Books Hot Topics On 48 Hours, Investigation Discovery
Author To Fight Defense Attorney's Subpoenas Holy Smokes! I'm suddenly a hot commodity with 48 Hours for two separate books I'm working on. And in the meantime, another book project about serial killer Roy Melanson will be the featured topic on the Investigation Discovery channel's new show Epic Mysteries in April. Working on a book in Oregon about a man accused of murdering his girlfriend and the mother of his child by pushing her off a … [Read more...]