Old Whiskey and Young Women : American True Crime Tales of Murder, Sex and Scandal

Murder and mystery, society, sex and suspense were combined in this case in such a manner as to intrigue and captivate the public fancy to a degree perhaps unparalleled in recent annals.

Ohio vs. Sheppard, 165 Ohio St. 293, 294 (1956). While this should no longer occur in a criminal trial, it can in a book. And this is the book in which it does. Here, some of the most notorious legal cases in American history are explored.

What they have in common is that they titillated, if not repulsed, the entire nation when they first occurred.

What they still have in common is that, for the most part, they are today nearly totally forgotten.

From the unfair framing for murder of America s most famous comedian, to America s first capital case involving an older woman and her much younger lover murdering her husband, to Mad Harry Thaw, the wealthy and mad son of a steel magnate, killing America s foremost architect over a beautiful woman, all come to life in gripping detail and drama. And meet the real Norman Bates of Alfred Hitchcock s Psycho, whose mother fixation and real life gruesome crimes far outmatched those of any fictional character.

This book brings to life these notorious characters and many more from the rich pages of history.