A cogent, well-documented new take on a controversial verdict.
A piece of true-crime investigative work focuses on the supposedly true killer of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.
From the time of the bloody and brutal murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman on June 12, 1994, until he finished writing this book, private investigator and author Dear (O.J. Is Guilty But Not of Murder, 2000, etc.) searched for the truth about what really happened to the two victims on that warm summer night in Los Angeles. The immediate and overwhelming opinion voiced by media, law enforcement and the public in general was clear—O.J. was guilty and there were no other suspects. As a PI, Dear disapproved of the rush to judgment amid a media circus. He probed the case, starting with a comprehensive list of possible perpetrators. One by one he eliminated them until he was left with, in his view, a viable and logical suspect. Here he makes the case that O.J.’s eldest son, Jason Simpson, was the murderer. Like a textbook for investigators, the book exhaustively uncovers, documents and extrapolates information and evidence to support his conclusions. He raises questions that were never asked, including why O.J. Simpson retained a criminal defense attorney for Jason the day after the murders. He cites the peculiar behavior by Simpson after the murders and the inept investigation by the LAPD. Yet Dear doesn’t argue that O.J. was never involved. Using everything from high-tech gadgets to the most basic gumshoe techniques, along with the patience of Job, Dear pursued evidence to support his view that Jason Simpson was the killer. He believes LAPD should conduct a new investigation. Armed with his own team of highly regarded investigators and forensic experts and a “just the facts, ma’am” approach, Dear makes a compelling case.
A cogent, well-documented new take on a controversial verdict.Pub Date: April 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1616086206
Page Count: 524
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Yes, Deborah, there once were Jewish murderers who were part of organized crime in America. The story of their time, and especially of the syndicate known as Murder, Inc., based largely in Brownsville, Brooklyn, is told in this breezily anecdotal work. Cohen, a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, focuses almost exclusively on New York from 1918 to 1945. He deftly portrays the personalities and the bloody deeds of such figures as Arnold Rothstein (who, contrary to myth and his fictional representation in The Great Gatsby, did not “fix” the 1919 World Series) and the killers Abe (“Kid Twist”) Reles and Louis Lepke. Drawing on interviews, archival research, and secondary sources, Cohen has done his homework, although he makes no reference to Jenna Weissman Joselit’s equally interesting if more scholarly Our Gang: Jewish Crime and the New York Jewish Community, 1900—1940. His book is filled with engrossing, vivid, violent anecdotes, and he is a fine teller of dark tales. Unfortunately, Cohen’s style sometimes yields flippant, hyperbolic claims, as in “The boys [of Murder, Inc.] had developed a system of killing as groundbreaking, as effective, as influential, as Henry Ford’s assembly line.” However, he does succeed admirably in explaining why even law-abiding Jewish men, including the author’s father and his friends, were fascinated by Jewish criminals, who defied the often tedious 9-to-5 work world and provided a countermyth to the Jew as victim. He also provides a satisfactory explanation as to why, for Jewish-Americans, violent crime was largely a one-generation phenomenon: By the postwar period, Jews had achieved enough upward mobility so that even criminal fathers encouraged their sons to “make it” in the professions and through legitimate businesses. For those who want to know about the dark underside of American Jewish life two and three generations ago, Cohen’s book, is a good place to begin. (16 pages b&w photos, not seen) (First serial to Rolling Stone; author tour)
Pub Date: April 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-684-83115-5
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1998
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The prolific true-crime writer Olsen profiles the charmingly named Tene Bimbos, a family of Gypsies accused of murdering the elderly for profit. Olsen (Salt of the Earth, 1996, etc.) profiles the large Tene Bimbo family, whose members specialize in the art of seeking lonely, wealthy old men and women and inheriting their fortunes. The Bimbo family was composed of the Tene brothers, sister Angela, and cousins, all of whom branched out from California to New York seeking old women, old men, deeds, and cash. Fay Faron, a Bay Area private investigator, followed the family across the country in an attempt to catch them in the act. The Tenes played a simple and sickening ruse, best illustrated by the fate of Andreas Vlasto, a proud Greek man and a retired lawyer. A lifelong bachelor, 85-year-old Andreas had for years lived in the same rent-controlled apartment in Manhattan. He was somehow befriended by a Tene clan member named Sylvia. His nephew became concerned when relatives telephoned Andreas and spoke to a stranger instead, who insisted Andreas was too ill to speak. Days later the old man was rushed to the hospital, unconscious, suffering from what seemed to be Alzheimer’s and a host of other maladies. His nephew Jim tried to visit him, but discovered that not only was his uncle married, but that the blushing bride had forbidden access to Andreas. Andreas recovered slowly but took a turn for the worse after his young wife paid him an overnight visit. He died the next day with a belly full of opiates and digitalis, a heart medication that can be fatal in large doses. Andreas died intestate, and his wife buried the body in secret and took off with the money. Faron uncovers evidence in the Vlasto case and finally gets the Tene Bimbos. The most satisfying of Olsen’s recent books, and among his saddest. (Literary Guild alternate selection)
Pub Date: May 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-312-18362-3
Page Count: 288
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1998
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