Serial Killers by Mitzi Szereto - Defrosting Cold Cases

Serial Killers by Mitzi Szereto is an anthology of sixteen authors. They present us with sixteen serial killers and the stories about their victims. In the introduction, Mitzi explains that she brought together a group of authors, all experts in their fields.

The cases are maybe less well-known than the usual cases that pop up when you do an online search for serial killers. Nevertheless, all these killers had a huge impact on their communities, countries, and beyond.

Below is a list of all the serial killers discussed in the book. As some have many victims they are not listed here.

The Serial Killers

Dennis Nilsen
James Randall
Tsutomo Miyazaki
Fred & Rose West
Brynhild Paulsdatter Størseth
Bible John
Tiago Henrique Gomes da Rocha
Peter Sutcliffe
Vlado Taneski
Billy Richard Glaze (see below)
Dr. Harold Frederick Shipman
Clifford Robert Olsen, Jr.
Private Eddie Leonski
Peter Moore
Nora Kelly who was renamed Jane “Jennie” Toppan by her foster parents
Cesare Serviatti

You may be familiar with some of these names but I found a few I did not know. In all cases, it is explained what we now know set off these murderous thoughts and behaviors. The home-situation plays a huge role in all these cases as well as the relationship to the parents. However, some cases also tell us about doubts especially in the case of Billy Richard Glaze.

Billy Richard Glaze

Glaze, also known as Jesse Sitting Crow, was suspected to be responsible for the murders of approx. 50 women in multiple states. He was convicted for three murders after he was arrested in 1987.

“DNA testing conducted by the Minnesota Innocence Project in 2009 found that semen from one victim’s rape kit didn’t match Glaze, but instead matched another Minnesota man, a convicted rapist. Additional testing done in 2014 on a cigarette butt found near the body of a second victim came back as a match to that same man. In spite of testing dozens of pieces of evidence from the three crime scenes, none came back as a match to Glaze.”

Glaze died in prison in 2015. He did not live long enough for his day in court to clear his name. The carrier of the found DNA profile was found in CODIS. He is known by the initials J.A.S. He is a Native from Minnesota and a convicted rapist. In this article, you can read why J.A.S will never answer to a court of law. He is a free man.

The Authors

The sixteen authors who we meet are: Stephen Wade, Craig Pittman, Joe Turner, Francesca Roe, Vicki Hendricks, Lee Mellor, James Young, Danuta Kot, Marcie Rendon, Martin Edwards, Mike Brown, Anthony Ferguson, Mark Fryers, Richard o. Jones, Deirdre Pirro, and Mitzi herself. Their bios are in the back of the book.

Mitzi Szereto

Mitzi Szereto is an author and anthology editor of multi-genre fiction and non-fiction. She blogs at Errant Ramblings. She is the creator/presenter of the Web channel Mitzi TV, which covers the “quirky” side of London, England. She’s been featured internationally on radio and television and in major newspapers and magazines. She gives talks and readings at book and literature festivals and teaches creative writing workshops around the world.

The Book

The book is well written. All parts keep their pace despite describing cases in various writing styles. As it is an anthology, it is harder to write a review. Which story do you highlight? As there was only doubt expressed in one story, I highlighted that possible wrongful conviction.

There is a table of contents listing all the authors and in the back are references per author’s story. There is a part about the editor and of course, short author biographies. There is regrettably, no index.

A word of caution

A book about serial killers is unavoidably cruel. As much as all authors have tried to not sensationalize their stories, some stories are hard to read no matter how objective or clinically described. I wish to caution you for the story ‘The Rat Man’ by Joe Turner. It deals with child cruelty and it can definitely trigger disturbing thoughts. I have read a lot in my life and I had to pause there. Just the heads up!