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You are here: Home / Book Reviews / Serial Killers by Mitzi Szereto

Serial Killers by Mitzi Szereto

February 29, 2020 By Alice

Serial Killers Mitzi SzeretoSerial 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
  1. Dennis Nilsen
  2. James Randall
  3. Tsutomo Miyazaki
  4. Fred & Rose West
  5. Brynhild Paulsdatter Størseth
  6. Bible John
  7. Tiago Henrique Gomes da Rocha
  8. Peter Sutcliffe
  9. Vlado Taneski
  10. Billy Richard Glaze (see below)
  11. Dr. Harold Frederick Shipman
  12. Clifford Robert Olsen, Jr.
  13. Private Eddie Leonski
  14. Peter Moore
  15. Nora Kelly who was renamed Jane “Jennie” Toppan by her foster parents
  16. 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!

Note

I received a copy of this book from Mango Publishing in exchange for an honest review. My other book reviews are here.

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Filed Under: Book Reviews Tagged With: Book Reviews, Mitzi Szereto

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On this website, I write about old, unsolved cases. Most are from the pre-DNA era and are in need of renewed media attention. I only do research and leave the active investigation of these cases to the professionals.

My posts are about homicides, missing and unidentified people, wrongful convictions, and forensics as related to these cases.

On book reviews: I only review select works of true crime, crime fiction, and historical fiction/mysteries. The stories have to fit my website's theme and research. It remains my prerogative to not review a book.

My database has over 325 cases listed by the victim’s last name. You will find a brief description there as well. The database will always be free to the public to use. You cannot buy ad space on my website, ever.

All writing suggestions that come in by email are added to my to-do list in the order in which they were received. Please be patient. My to-do list is very long but no case gets dropped and I will get back in touch.

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Alice de Sturler

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William Thomas Zeigler

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On March 31, 2016, an evidentiary hearing was held to request touch DNA testing. On July 18, 2016, Judge Whitehead denied that request.

On November 23, 2016, an appeal was filed with the Florida Supreme Court. On April 21, 2017, the Florida Supreme Court denied the request for touch DNA analysis.

On May 8, 2017 a motion for a rehearing with the US Supreme Court was filed. It was denied November 13, 2017.

In the summer of 2019, the appeal for DNA testing to the Florida Conviction Integrity Unit was denied.

Richard Lapointe

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In March 2015, the Connecticut State Supreme Court ordered a new trial for Richard lapointe. On Oct 2, 2015, International Wrongful Conviction Day, Richard was set free. The judge ruled that he cannot be retried for the 1987 rape-murder of Mrs. Bernice Martin. Richard Lapointe died on Aug 4, 2020 of Covid19 complications.

In 1987, someone killed Bernice Martin. I hope that she will not become a forgotten file.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Copyright: Please add a link back if you use my work. Let your readers know where you found your information. I do the same for you. If you need help with this, just contact me. Thank you, Alice de Sturler

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