An uneven but well-documented mix of forensic science, narrative nonfiction and criminal psychology.
Important developments in 19th-century forensics and criminal justice are interwoven with the killing spree of French serial killer Joseph Vasher.
Starr (Journalism/Boston Univ.; Blood: An Epic History of Medicine and Commerce, 1998) ushers readers into a French society in which criminals were not only becoming more violent but also more sophisticated. Meanwhile, the criminal-justice system was hampered by outmoded methods of investigation, dated autopsy procedures and often inappropriate dispensation of justice. The author situates his studies where forensic science and criminal-justice theory began to catch up with increasingly frequent and complicated 20th-century crimes. Then entering the picture are forensic scientists Alexandre Lacassagne and Cesare Lombroso. Lacassagne believed that criminals were shaped by sociological factors, while Lombroso insisted that crime was caused primarily by biological factors—criminals were “born,” not made. Intertwined with the intermittently compelling story of these scientists’ achievements is the more gripping account of “Killer of Little Shepherds” Vasher’s murderous rampage outside Lyon, France. Vasher was an honorably discharged sergeant who also happened to be a homicidal maniac. After a short stay in two different asylums, he was released, and the “cured” Vasher embarked on a series of gruesome murders that surpassed even Jack the Rippers’ in quantity and brutality. Although Starr’s heavy immersion into forensics and investigative procedure makes interesting reading for CSI fans, his focus too often meanders—from autopsies to “root” causes of crime to, finally, an inconclusive look at the sticky business of separating “insane” murderers from “sane” ones. Ironically, the evidence leading to Vasher’s capture and murder conviction had little to do with the forensic advances of either Lombroso or Lacassagne. Through a particularly cagey mode of psychological trickery, private investigator Emile Fourquet finally elicited a murder confession from the long-elusive killer.
An uneven but well-documented mix of forensic science, narrative nonfiction and criminal psychology.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-307-26619-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: June 9, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
Mostly forsaking sensationalism for plodding detail, Fuhrman disappoints: this is only for people interested in the tedious...
The grisly account of a Spokane, Washington, serial killer’s spree, and a critique of the local police department’s investigation of the crimes.
On October 19, 2000, Robert Yates pled guilty to the murder of 13 women. According to detective-turned-journalist Fuhrman (Murder in Greenwich, not reviewed), the killer could have been apprehended two years earlier. The author traces the Yates case as it unfolds through the late 1990s. He may have left police work for journalism and a ranch in Idaho, but he was anything but a disinterested citizen when dead women began appearing at various dumping sites in the Spokane area. In fact, Fuhrman and his colleague, radio co-host Mark Fitzsimmons, began to explore the murders themselves. The author presents a detailed diary of their investigations, laying out a blow-by-blow recounting of each body’s discovery, the atmosphere of the crime scenes, and the possible thoughts of the killer. At the same time, Fuhrman documents the Spokane police department’s reluctant handling of the case, its insularity, and its refusal to release substantive details to the public. Indeed, for a long while, the department refused even to acknowledge the existence of a serial killer. In his unofficial search, the author repeatedly turned up witnesses who were never questioned and leads that were never followed. He concludes with a close analysis of the arrest affidavit, substantiating his allegation that the department could have caught the culprit years earlier if they had relied less on their computer database and DNA testing, and more on investigating phoned-in leads with basic police work. Although he claims that “the last thing [he] wanted to do was second guess them,” Fuhrman has little patience with the Spokane police; his tone is that of an indignant everyman wondering what the clowns in uniform were doing.
Mostly forsaking sensationalism for plodding detail, Fuhrman disappoints: this is only for people interested in the tedious nitty-gritty of apprehending a killer.Pub Date: June 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-06-019437-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The most thorough and comprehensive assessment published to date of the extent and seriousness of criminal activity in Russia. Handelman, Moscow bureau chief for the Toronto Star from 1987 to 1992, provides an unprecedented degree of detail to document prevailing charges of the pervasiveness of organized crime, which allegedly accounted for 30 to 40 percent of national turnover in goods and services in 1993, according to Russian law enforcement agencies. Handelman rightly points out the difficulty of arriving at an agreed definition in a country where high taxes and red tape make it hard for business to be conducted honestly. But among the useful points he makes are that smuggling and the black market had become vital to the functioning of the state in the last 20 years of the Soviet Union's existence—which gives, as he says, new meaning to the phrase ``evil empire.'' The KGB and government officials have commandeered the whole process of privatization. And despite repeated declarations of war on crime, the government has failed to deal with the phenomenon. (Some statistics are ambiguous, however. Numbers showing how widespread corruption is—in 1993, 46,000 officials from all levels of government were tried on charges of corruption or abuse of power—could also prove the diligence and incorruptibility of those bringing the charges). Finally, according to Handelman, this wave of criminality has led not only to a disenchantment with capitalism, but to ``an overwhelming sense of defeat.'' While Handelman disclaims pessimism and pays tribute to the ingenuity and grit of many Russians, his last chapter, titled ``Who Lost Russia?,'' is not reassuring. Somewhat journalistic in style, but a careful and serious- minded effort to understand the significance of a pervasive criminality that threatens the structure of the state.
Pub Date: June 14, 1995
ISBN: 0-300-06352-0
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Yale Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
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