Criminal Forensics

The recent arrest in New Orleans and the HBO documentary The Jinx have put Robert Durst back in the headlines. Here, from the first reporter to access Durst’s NYPD files, is the authoritative account of a decades-long criminal odyssey—the very book found in Durst’s own apartment when it...

Where can a tin of tuna buy you clean clothes? Which British education system struggles with 50 percent illiteracy? Where do teetotal Muslims attend AA meetings? Where is it easier to get 'spice' than paracetamol? Welcome to Her Majesty's Prison Service, a creaking and surreal world that has been left to rot for decades in the shadows of polite society. Like most people, documentary-maker Chris Atkins didn't spend much time thinking about prisons. But after becoming embroiled in a dodgy scheme to fund his latest film, he was sent down for five years.

Ever think Scrooge had it right before the ghosts ruined his life? Meet Aidan O'Conner. At one time he was a world-renowned celebrity who gave freely of himself and his money without wanting anything in return...until those around him took without asking. Now Aidan wants nothing of the...

Edmund Emil Kemper III achieved notoriety as a serial killer when he took the lives of 10 people between August 27, 1964, and April 21, 1973. His victims included his adoptive grandparents, six co-eds from the University of Santa Cruz, his mother, and his mother's friend. This book explored the life of Kemper from his abusive childhood to his sentencing in November 1973. The horror of Kemper's actions go beyond the killing of his victims; it was what he did with his victims' bodies after killing them.

A riveting blend of science writing and true-crime narrative that explores the valuable but often shocking interface between crime and nature--and the secrets each can reveal about the other--from a pioneer in forensic ecology and a trailblazing female scientist. From mud tracks on a quiet...

Written by the world's leading expert on false confessions, this landmark book reveals the psychology behind why innocent men, women, and children, intensely stressed and befuddled by the promises, threats, trickery, and deception of a police interrogation, are duped into confession, no matter how horrific the crime.

In this gripping – and sometimes terrifying – account, former South African Police Service (SAPS) head profiler Dr Gérard Labuschagne, successor to the legendary Micki Pistorius, recalls some of the 110 murder series and countless other bizarre crimes he analysed during his career. An expert on serial murder and rape cases, Labuschagne saw it all in his 14 and a half years in the SAPS.

"Creepy crawling" was the Manson Family's practice of secretly entering someone's home and, without harming anyone, leaving only a trace of evidence that they had been there, some reminder that the sanctity of the private home had been breached. Now, author Jeffrey Melnick reveals just how much the Family creepy crawled their way through Los Angeles in the sixties and then on through American social, political, and cultural life for close to fifty years, firmly lodging themselves in our minds.

Psychopathy is a personality disorder that has long captured the public imagination. Newspaper column inches have been devoted to murderers with psychopathic features, and we also encounter psychopaths in films and books. Individuals with psychopathy are characterized in particular by lack of empathy and guilt, manipulation of other people and, in the case of criminal psychopathy, premeditated violent behavior. They are dangerous and can incur immeasurable emotional, psychological, physical, and financial costs to their victims and their families.

At the age off twenty-one, Leslie Van Houten was sentenced to death, along with Charles Manson and his other disciples, for the infamous murder rampage spanning two nights in August 1969. Leslie, who was present at the Rosemary and Leno LaBianca stabbings, serenely accepted her sentence, wishing...

Forensic Psychology 101: A Quick Guide That Teaches You the Top Key Lessons About Forensic Psychology from A to Z is aimed toward people interested in a brief but comprehensive guide about the application of psychology in the legal system.

How can one man be so incredibly frustrating but so sexy at the same time? Ryder knows two things. Tragedy can strike at any moment so you have to hold tightly to the gifts life gives you. And Shay is one of those gifts. To Ryder their 15-year age difference is nothing, Shay is the man he wants. Now he just needs an opportunity to plead his case with the sexy lawyer. He gets his chance when Shay asks him to assist on a case involving a missing person, but the investigation quickly turns perilous.

Warning: This audiobook describes several crime scenes that are graphic in nature and may be very disturbing to some people. Do not proceed if under the age of 18 or are disturbed by scenes of death and violence. One after another, young women disappeared without a trace in the night. One by one, their brutalized bodies turned up, the macabre crime scenes suggesting they shared the same cruel fate. Abducted, bound, and raped, all fell prey to an unknown killer; all became the victims of a deadly deception.

As a forensic psychiatrist, it's Dr Das' job to treat and rehabilitate what the tabloids might call the 'criminally insane', many of whom assault, rob, rape and even kill. His work takes him to high-security prisons and securely locked hospital wards across the country, as well as inside courtrooms, giving evidence as an expert witness.

An especially useful book for women living alone, parents who are concerned about their children's safety, and employers worried about employees who might go postal, Dangerous Instincts gives us the tools used by professionals to navigate potentially hazardous waters. Like The Gift of Fear and The Sociopath Next Door, it will appeal to anyone looking to make the right call in an ever threatening world.

Throughout this audiobook's various chapters, listeners will explore the historical context of the Joker's creation, delve into the character's symbolic and iconic qualities, examine the psychological profile of the Joker, and analyze his relation to various philosophical theories such as Carl Jung's trickster and Nietzsche's will to power.

Forensic Science Errors and Wrongful Convictions: Case Studies and Root Causes provides a rigorous and detailed examination of two key issues: the continuing problem of wrongful convictions and the role of forensic science in these miscarriages of justice.

From the Roaring '20s to the 1970s, detectives reigned supreme in police departments across the country. In this tightly woven slice of true crime reportage, Thomas A. Reppetto offers a behind-the-scenes look into some of the most notable investigations to occur during the golden age of the detective in American criminal justice.

Serial crimes don’t emerge from nowhere. Beneath the surface of each calculated murder, repeated sexual assault, or ritualistic arson lies a distinct behavioural footprint. In Forensic Psychology: 10 Ways it Helps Profile Serial Offenders, author Daran Volcroft takes listeners into the critical but often misunderstood world where psychology meets criminal investigation.

Was a monstrous killer brought to justice or an innocent mother condemned? On an April night in 1989, Jo Ann Parks survived a house fire that claimed the lives of her three small children. Though the fire at first seemed a tragic accident, investigators soon reported finding evidence proving...