Download or read book The Fatal Affair in Monte Diablo Canyon written by James S. Reed and published by . This book was released on 2014-01 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1866 a gang from Indiana led by men named Reno and Sparks pulled off the first train robbery in history. Four years later in a copy-cat crime, the Central Pacific Railroad's Overland Express was robbed of over $41,000 in gold coin by a bunch of petty criminals. Strangely enough, the latter robbery took place near the Nevada cities of Reno and Sparks. It was the West's first train robbery and the first of the new transcontinental railroad. The robbers were quickly caught, tried, and imprisoned, thanks to the determination of a lawman whose dogged perseverance is mindful of Inspector Javert, Jean Valjean's pursuer in Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. A year later the robbers instigated the largest prison escape in the country's history, as twenty-nine inmates breached the gates and scattered. Two men were murdered by rioting convicts. Several others, including Nevada's lieutenant governor, were seriously wounded in the battle at the state prison in Carson City. Six of the convicts headed south and along the way killed a young mail rider from the mining camp of Aurora, Nevada, which not long before had been the home of the young Samuel Clemens. The murder was so gruesome that it put the town on the warpath. The convicts holed up in a canyon in the Eastern Sierra near present day Mammoth Lakes, California, some one hundred fifty miles south of Carson City. Using Henry rifles stolen from the prison armory, they outgunned a posse out to take them dead or alive. Two more men were killed, including a popular merchant and Wells Fargo agent. An enraged citizenry from two states would ignore the law in wreaking swift and terrible retribution. The story is told in the context of its time: the construction of the Central Pacific over the Sierras, Reno's birth as a railroad town and its emergence as Nevada's then largest city, the violence of life in the mining camps, the tribulations of imprisoned men, and the preference for vigilantism over tiresome judicial procedures. In some chapters a modified historical fiction approach is used to give some immediacy to the lives-and anxieties-of the desperate men involved, two of whom were murderous psychopaths. The title of the book-"The Fatal Affair in Monte Diablo Canyon"-is taken from a September 30, 1871, article in the Inyo Independent, the newspaper of record in nearby Inyo County. The article describes the gun battle in the canyon and its aftermath. The peak, then called Monte Diablo, is now Mount Morrison, named in memory of the Wells Fargo agent killed in the battle. The lake in the canyon is now Convict Lake, a well known Sierra destination.

Download or read book Man Hunters of the Old West written by Robert K. DeArment and published by University of Oklahoma Press. This book was released on 2017-04-06 with total page 339 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Settlers in the frontier West were often easy prey for criminals. Policing efforts were scattered at best and often amounted to vigilante retaliation. To create a semblance of order, freelance enforcers of the law known as man-hunters undertook the search for fugitives. These pursuers have often been portrayed as ruthless bounty hunters, no better than the felons they pursued. Robert K. DeArment’s detailed account of their careers redeems their reputations and reveals the truth behind their fascinating legends. As DeArment shows, man-hunters were far more likely to capture felons alive than their popular image suggests. Although “Wanted: Dead or Alive” reward notices were posted during this period, they were reserved for the most murderous desperadoes. Man-hunters also came from a variety of backgrounds in the East and the West: of the eight men whose stories DeArment tells, one began as an officer for an express company, and another was the head of an organization of local lawmen. Others included a railroad detective, a Texas Ranger, a Pinkerton operative, and a shotgun messenger for a stagecoach line. All were tough survivors, living through gunshot wounds, snakebites, disease, buffalo stampedes, and every other hazard of life in the Wild West. They also crossed paths with famous criminals and sheriffs, from John Wesley Hardin and Sam Bass to Wyatt Earp, Butch Cassidy, and the Sundance Kid. Telling the true stories of famous men who risked their lives to bring western outlaws to justice, Man-Hunters of the Old West dispels long-held myths of their cold-blooded vigilantism and brings fresh nuance to the lives and legends that made the West wild.

Download or read book Under the Banner of Heaven written by Jon Krakauer and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2004-06-08 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From the author of Into the Wild and Into Thin Air, this extraordinary work of investigative journalism takes readers inside America’s isolated Mormon Fundamentalist communities. • Now an acclaimed FX limited series streaming on HULU. “Fantastic.... Right up there with In Cold Blood and The Executioner’s Song.” —San Francisco Chronicle Defying both civil authorities and the Mormon establishment in Salt Lake City, the renegade leaders of these Taliban-like theocracies are zealots who answer only to God; some 40,000 people still practice polygamy in these communities. At the core of Krakauer’s book are brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a commandment from God to kill a blameless woman and her baby girl. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this appalling double murder, Krakauer constructs a multi-layered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, polygamy, savage violence, and unyielding faith. Along the way he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of America’s fastest growing religion, and raises provocative questions about the nature of religious belief.

Download or read book Nevada Gunsmoke written by Elmer D. McInnes and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2022-01-27 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From 1860 to 1900, many towns in Nevada sprang up to serve the mining camps in the area. These towns provided the breeding ground for a unique character known as "the mining camp gunman." This book delves into the violent and gritty lives of various Nevada characters, including gunfighting miner Dick Prentice, lawman and politico Leslie Blackburn, peace officer William McKee, ruthless killer Hank Parrish, outlaw escape artist John Burke and other characters.

Download or read book Die For Me written by Don Lasseter and published by Pinnacle Books. This book was released on 2014-09-10 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1985, Charles Ng and Leonard Lake were spotted shoplifting. Ng escaped, but Lake's capture led police to a concrete bunker in the Sierra Nevada foothills, where they discovered the grisly evidence of an orgy of sex crimes, torture and murder that claimed at least sixteen victims. Lake committed suicide: Ng fled to Canada, where he was tracked down and extradited to California. This 14-year, $10 million legal case was the costliest and longest criminal prosecution in California history.

Download or read book In Cold Storage written by James W. Hewitt and published by U of Nebraska Press. This book was released on 2015-07 with total page 151 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1973 the small southwest Nebraska railroad town of McCook became the unlikely scene of a grisly murder. More than forty years later, author James W. Hewitt returns to the scene and unearths new details about what happened. After pieces of Edwin and Wilma Hoyt's dismembered bodies were found floating on the surface of a nearby lake, authorities charged McCook resident Harold Nokes and his wife, Ena, with murder. Harold pleaded guilty to murder and Ena pleaded guilty to two counts of wrongful disposal of a dead body, but the full story of why and how he murdered the Hoyts has never been told. Hewitt interviews law enforcement officers, members of the victims' family, weapons experts, and forensic psychiatrists, and delves into newspaper reports and court documents from the time. Most significant, Harold granted Hewitt his first and only interview, in which the convicted murderer changed several parts of his 1974 confession. In Cold Storage takes readers through the evidence, including salacious details of sex and intrigue between the Hoyts and the Nokeses, and draws new conclusions about what really happened between the two families on that fateful September night.

Download or read book Mark Twain written by George Williams and published by River Publishing. This book was released on 1986 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the account of Mark Twain's early mining days and the beginning of his long literary career.

Download or read book Blood Legacy written by James Pylant and published by Jacobus Books. This book was released on 2008-04-01 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1925 Texans were stunned when a young man’s severed head was found in an abandoned farmhouse near the town of Stephenville. An investigation led to ex-convict F. M. Snow and the mysterious disappearances of his wife and mother-in-law. But this shocking, bloody saga began 50 years earlier . . . Beautiful, vivacious Samantha Jones had a penchant for dangerous men. Her teenage marriage to gambler Amos Smith ended when he was gunned down in a hit orchestrated by his wife’s alleged lover, who was lynched. The widow then married the abusive Bill Olds, who was later arrested for theft, forgery and murder. Violence stalked the next generation when Samantha’s daughter, Maggie Olds, was twice widowed with the brutal murders of her second and fourth husbands. Yet Maggie’s unfortunate choice for a fifth husband, F. M. Snow, led to a gruesome, triple tragedy. In Blood Legacy: The True Story of the Snow Axe Murders, James Pylant delves into family history and sheds new light on a tale of twenty shocking deaths fueled by greed, insanity and revenge. "From hits to lynchings to black widows, this chronicle proves endlessly intriguing." —The Midwest Book Review "Set in the seemingly quiet isolation of small-town Texas, Blood Legacy is a well-written, well-researched true tale with Gothic overtones and more than a hint of Stephen King-style horror." —Carlton Stowers, best-selling and award-winning author

Download or read book Die for Me written by Don Lasseter and published by Pinnacle Books. This book was released on 2000 with total page 452 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The terrifying true story of the CKharles NG/Leonard Lake torture murders.

Download or read book Careless Whispers written by Carlton Stowers and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2001-01-15 with total page 484 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When the bodies of three teenagers were found on the shores of Lake Waco, Texas in July, 1982, even seasoned lawmen were taken aback by the savage mutilation and degradation they had been subjected to. Yet only 52 days after the gruesome triple-murder was discovered, frustrated authorities suspended the case indefinitely. Patrol Sergeant Truman Simons, who had been called to the scene that night, saw the carnage first-hand -- and vowed to find the ferocious killer or killers. He soon became a man with a mission, risking his career and his family's safety in search of evidence. Plunging himself into a netherworld of violence and evil, Simons finally got close enough to a murderous ringleader to hear his careless whispers--and ultimately, put him and his three accomplices behind bars for the brutal slayings. Now, in his Edgar Award-winning account of the Lake Waco killings, acclaimed true crime writer Carlton Stowers lays bare the facts behind the tragic crimes, the twisted predators, and the heroic man who broke the investigation--with important updated information based on new developments in the case.

Download or read book The Trapper Murders written by Melany Tupper and published by . This book was released on 2013-08-30 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the author of The Sandy Knoll Murder, a sequel: In the spring of 1924, the bodies of three men were found just off shore of the main boat launch at Lava Lake. Then, as now, the site is a recreational hot spot of the Cascade Lakes region and nearby Bend, Oregon. The trappers had disappeared from a cabin at Little Lava Lake, isolated by several feet of wintertime snow. This is the true story of the Lava Lakes triple murder, long believed to have been the work of two men, and the search for the previously unidentifed partner of the only known suspect in the case. A chain of similar, unsolved killings points to one man as that parnter, for the case contained several inescapable facts: there was indeed a relationship between the two criminals; the bodies had been shoved through a hole in the ice of Lava Lake; one of the men had been bludgeoned, and there was a peculiar half dollar-size hole in the right side of his head. Each of these facts are suggestive, but when taken together, they are almost conclusive.

Download or read book Mysterious Murders written by Drew Creeden and published by Drew Creeden. This book was released on with total page 86 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The tragedy and injustice of an unsolved murder tends to have a profound effect on true crime enthusiasts. As a keen true crime follower, I can't learn about an unsolved murder and not try to figure out who did it and why. From suspicious deaths to unsolved massacres, the Mysterious Murders anthology covers crimes that provokes the inner detective in all of us. The cases in this book have gone years, often decades, without a shred of justice for the victims. Stories such as 'The Boy in the Box' and the case of the teen girl bludgeoned to death by an unknown assailant will leave you perplexed as to who committed these crimes, and how they got away with it. Some cases expose the depravity of human nature, such as The Keddie Cabin murders, where a family was brutally slain as they slept. Then there are fascinating, stranger than fiction cases, like the tale of Teresita Basa, whose story reads like a movie script. I've researched many cold cases over the years, and from one keen true crime reader to another, I've included ones I feel don't get as much attention or coverage (like The Zodiac Killer or Jack the Ripper, for example). While some of these cases did hit headlines at the time they happened, it's frustrating to find lack of clues ended up in lack of interest over time. True crime is never the lightest of reads, but the cases in these book are made all the more heavy due to the victims never being granted justice, nor their families closure. It's frightening to think that when a crime goes unpunished, it will likely be repeated, a notion that makes the crimes in this anthology all the more chilling.

Download or read book Forthcoming Books written by Rose Arny and published by . This book was released on 1984-03 with total page 898 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Exhibitor written by and published by . This book was released on 1947 with total page 1098 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Some issues include separately paged sections: Better management, Physical theatre, extra profits; Review; Servisection.

Download or read book An Officer s Perception of the Little Big Horn And A Centennial Expose written by Barry Cornish Johnson and published by . This book was released on 1989 with total page 520 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Montana Murders written by Brian D'Ambrosio and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2023-08-03 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Award-winning Montana author Brian D'Ambrosio examines the most notorious murders in the state's history. Some are historical accounts from Montana's early Wild West history, but most are contemporary cases that shocked communities, investigators, and families. Many remain bafflingly unsolved. Some cases have been featured in national media, such as the famous and inexplicable murders of the parents of television's Patrick Duffy (Dallas) and the serial murders by the hermitic Unabomber. But D'Ambrosio also unearths gruesome, little known cold cases that haunt surviving families and friends to this day. Drawing on official investigative reports and numerous personal interviews with law enforcement officials, witnesses, and survivors, D'Ambrosio describes each murder like a good detective story. Readers will find riveting details about the murderers, their motives and methods, and their unfortunate victims. Includes 20 black and white photos.

Download or read book Women Behaving Badly written by John Stark Bellamy, II and published by Gray & Company, Publishers. This book was released on 2005 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Women who murder . . . why are they so much more fascinating than their male counterparts? For evidence, dip into any of the sixteen strange-but-true tales collected in this anthology by Cleveland’s leading historical crime writer. You’ll meet: • Ill-fated Catherine Manz, the “Bad Cinderella” who poisoned her step-sister in revenge for years of mistreatment, then made her getaway wearing her victim’s most fetching outfit, a red dress and an enormous feathered hat . . . • Velma West, the big-city girl who scandalized rural Lake County in the 1920s with her “unnatural passions”—and ended her marriage-made-in-hell with a swift hammer’s blow to the skull of her dull husband, Eddie . . . • Eva Kaber, “Lakewood’s Lady Borgia,” who, along with her mother and daughter, conspired to dispose of an inconvenient husband with arsenic and knife-wielding hired killers . . . • Martha Wise, Medina’s not-so-merry widow, who poisoned a dozen relatives—including her husband, mother, and brother—because she enjoyed going to funerals . . . And a cast of other, equally fascinating women who behaved very, very badly. This is wickedly entertaining reading!