What do you think?
Rate this book
Solving Cold Cases #2
Solving Cold Cases: Vol. 2: True Crime Stories That Took Years to Crack
Solving a criminal investigation is never as simple as it looks on television. With so many steps between the initial crime, and the moment of conviction, the potential for a case to remain unsolved is always dangerously high. As well as those hard-to-solve minor crimes like petty theft, even the biggest, and most complicated, crimes have the possibility of becoming stuck at some point. So much of the process can depend upon luck that it should be no surprise to see that detectives, and investigators, often struggle to find that single eureka moment, that one instance of divine inspiration that might help them solve the crime.
In this book, we will be looking into some of the highest profile criminal investigations that go years without being solved. These are known as cold cases. When a case goes cold, the trail of clues runs dry, and it becomes difficult to see an end point. But this book will examine those cold cases which have been solved. The murders, conspiracies, kidnappings, and other crimes contained within the book will be those which reach a satisfying conclusion. Even when everything looks bleak, either pure fortune, or diligent work, will be used to achieve a breakthrough.
We will travel the world to look over some of the most interesting, and complicated cases, which took years to solve. If you are at all interested in true crime, criminal investigations, or just examples of humans who never give up hope, then the stories contained within will be perfect for you. The true examples of cold cases in this book will take in despicable, and deplorable, crimes. Even when you might think the perpetrator got away, there will be one clue that finally got them convicted. So read on, and discover just how some of the world’s coldest cases were finally solved.
Inside find true crime stories that will captivate you, including:
• The anonymous corpse that came known as 'Tent Girl'
• A murdered man who was far from innocent
• The killer who went on the run and battled against his extradition
• Trying to track a man who was perpetually on the run
• What happens when the rich and powerful protest their innocence in a murder cases
• And much more
In this book, we will be looking into some of the highest profile criminal investigations that go years without being solved. These are known as cold cases. When a case goes cold, the trail of clues runs dry, and it becomes difficult to see an end point. But this book will examine those cold cases which have been solved. The murders, conspiracies, kidnappings, and other crimes contained within the book will be those which reach a satisfying conclusion. Even when everything looks bleak, either pure fortune, or diligent work, will be used to achieve a breakthrough.
We will travel the world to look over some of the most interesting, and complicated cases, which took years to solve. If you are at all interested in true crime, criminal investigations, or just examples of humans who never give up hope, then the stories contained within will be perfect for you. The true examples of cold cases in this book will take in despicable, and deplorable, crimes. Even when you might think the perpetrator got away, there will be one clue that finally got them convicted. So read on, and discover just how some of the world’s coldest cases were finally solved.
Inside find true crime stories that will captivate you, including:
• The anonymous corpse that came known as 'Tent Girl'
• A murdered man who was far from innocent
• The killer who went on the run and battled against his extradition
• Trying to track a man who was perpetually on the run
• What happens when the rich and powerful protest their innocence in a murder cases
• And much more
112 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 19, 2015
82 people are currently reading
76 people want to read
About the author
Andrew J. Clark
25 books4 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database. For more information please see Andrew J. Clark.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 10, 2016
Solving Cold Cases - Volume 2 by Andrew J. Clark Solving Cold Cases - Volume 2: True Crime Stories That Took Years to Crack by Andrew J. Clark shows how detectives & investigators often struggle to find the clues to solve cold cases. This book shows some of the highest profile investigations that took years to solve. I gave it almost four stars.
The first case revealed showed the time frame between 1975 & 1995 with a final date of conviction of Ted Kaczynski in 1998. He masqueraded under the name "the Unabomber". It finally took a tip from a family member to help solve this 20 year case.
At the age of sixteen he was admitted to Harvard University with a scholarship where he studied mathematics. He never seemed to be able to socialize. Finally he moved back to Montana & lived in a cabin.
"After surmising that all of these attacks (1979 & 1980) the Postal Service, the FBI, & the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms all worked together to set up an investigation. This would be known as UNABOM, an acronym which stood for University & Airline Bombing." That's how he became known as the Unabomber.
He killed three people & wounded twenty-three by the bombs he sent around the country. He wrote his philosophical writing about "Industrial Society & Its Future" which was a 35,000 word essay which advocated return to simple living. It was released in 1995 & known as the Unabomber Manifesto.
His own brother through an attorney contacted the FBI to turn him in but wanted to insure he was not harmed.
The next case took place at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia on July 27, 1996. The suspect was Eric Robert Randolph & his date of conviction was August 2005. It was the site of the Olympic Games.
"Bomb attacks are some of the most difficult cases to solve. Once detonated, a large amount of the physical evidence is lost in the explosion, hindering forensic attempts to delve deeper into the crime scene."
One person was killed by the shrapnel of the bomb, but because it had been moved & the authorities alerted, the stands were cleared & only one hundred & eleven people were wounded. A cameraman running toward the scene had a heart attack & died.
In spite of this, the decision to continue with the rest of the Olympic Games was made.
Richard Jewell was first hailed as a hero for helping people out of the stands & then he became a suspect.
He was hounded by the media until he was finally exonerated of all suspicion. He filed a number of lawsuits against the media.
Then two new bombings took place. One was at a lesbian nightclub & the other at a clinic that provided abortions. There were similarities in the bombs constructions. That's when Eric Robert Randolph became a suspect. He vanished into the Appalachian Mountains. The FBI included him on their '10 Most Wanted' list.
He spent five years running from the police.
He was arrested as a burglar & soon pled guilty to all the bombings. He had wanted the Games to be canceled.
The next story is about an anonymous corpse that came to be known as 'Tent Girl' on May 17, 1968. The victim was later identified as Barbara Ann Hackman Taylor in Georgetown, Kentucky. This is a case where the suspect remains unknown & the case is cold.
The townspeople buried her with the known details on her headstone as 'Tent Girl' hoping that someone could identify her at some point.
The son-in-law of the man who found her corpse made it his personal mission & after decades of searching came across a missing persons report to help identify her.
The next story was the mystery of the school girl who spent ten years hidden in her boyfriend's home. This was Tanya Nicole Kach from Pennsylvania. The suspect was Thomas Hose & his date of conviction was 2006. He was a guard at the school she attended as a student. When she was fifteen she began a secret relationship with him. However, after moving in, the situation became intolerable & she was kept a virtual prisoner.
There are mixed stories about what actually occurred. She had a credibility problem & had supposedly wanted to be with him because of her home situation.
Charlie Keever & Jonathan Sellers were killed on March 27, 1993 & the suspect was Scott Erskine. He was convicted in September 2004. He had been in custody on other charges. It was solved because of a DNA match.
Andrew Kissel was murdered in 2003. The suspect was Carlos Trujillo & his date of conviction was March 2008. Kissel had been an embezzler of almost $4 million.
"As the technology employed by police forces gets better & better, we might find ourselves with an increasing ability to look over the old cases on our books & be able to put them to bed."
I received a complimentary copy in an Amazon promotion. This did not change my opinion for this review.
link to purchase: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014...
The first case revealed showed the time frame between 1975 & 1995 with a final date of conviction of Ted Kaczynski in 1998. He masqueraded under the name "the Unabomber". It finally took a tip from a family member to help solve this 20 year case.
At the age of sixteen he was admitted to Harvard University with a scholarship where he studied mathematics. He never seemed to be able to socialize. Finally he moved back to Montana & lived in a cabin.
"After surmising that all of these attacks (1979 & 1980) the Postal Service, the FBI, & the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms all worked together to set up an investigation. This would be known as UNABOM, an acronym which stood for University & Airline Bombing." That's how he became known as the Unabomber.
He killed three people & wounded twenty-three by the bombs he sent around the country. He wrote his philosophical writing about "Industrial Society & Its Future" which was a 35,000 word essay which advocated return to simple living. It was released in 1995 & known as the Unabomber Manifesto.
His own brother through an attorney contacted the FBI to turn him in but wanted to insure he was not harmed.
The next case took place at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia on July 27, 1996. The suspect was Eric Robert Randolph & his date of conviction was August 2005. It was the site of the Olympic Games.
"Bomb attacks are some of the most difficult cases to solve. Once detonated, a large amount of the physical evidence is lost in the explosion, hindering forensic attempts to delve deeper into the crime scene."
One person was killed by the shrapnel of the bomb, but because it had been moved & the authorities alerted, the stands were cleared & only one hundred & eleven people were wounded. A cameraman running toward the scene had a heart attack & died.
In spite of this, the decision to continue with the rest of the Olympic Games was made.
Richard Jewell was first hailed as a hero for helping people out of the stands & then he became a suspect.
He was hounded by the media until he was finally exonerated of all suspicion. He filed a number of lawsuits against the media.
Then two new bombings took place. One was at a lesbian nightclub & the other at a clinic that provided abortions. There were similarities in the bombs constructions. That's when Eric Robert Randolph became a suspect. He vanished into the Appalachian Mountains. The FBI included him on their '10 Most Wanted' list.
He spent five years running from the police.
He was arrested as a burglar & soon pled guilty to all the bombings. He had wanted the Games to be canceled.
The next story is about an anonymous corpse that came to be known as 'Tent Girl' on May 17, 1968. The victim was later identified as Barbara Ann Hackman Taylor in Georgetown, Kentucky. This is a case where the suspect remains unknown & the case is cold.
The townspeople buried her with the known details on her headstone as 'Tent Girl' hoping that someone could identify her at some point.
The son-in-law of the man who found her corpse made it his personal mission & after decades of searching came across a missing persons report to help identify her.
The next story was the mystery of the school girl who spent ten years hidden in her boyfriend's home. This was Tanya Nicole Kach from Pennsylvania. The suspect was Thomas Hose & his date of conviction was 2006. He was a guard at the school she attended as a student. When she was fifteen she began a secret relationship with him. However, after moving in, the situation became intolerable & she was kept a virtual prisoner.
There are mixed stories about what actually occurred. She had a credibility problem & had supposedly wanted to be with him because of her home situation.
Charlie Keever & Jonathan Sellers were killed on March 27, 1993 & the suspect was Scott Erskine. He was convicted in September 2004. He had been in custody on other charges. It was solved because of a DNA match.
Andrew Kissel was murdered in 2003. The suspect was Carlos Trujillo & his date of conviction was March 2008. Kissel had been an embezzler of almost $4 million.
"As the technology employed by police forces gets better & better, we might find ourselves with an increasing ability to look over the old cases on our books & be able to put them to bed."
I received a complimentary copy in an Amazon promotion. This did not change my opinion for this review.
link to purchase: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014...
March 24, 2016
Interesting cold cases solved
The author presents interesting accounts of several cold cases that were solved, sometimes decades past the commission of the crime. Despite numerous errors, I enjoyed reading this book.
Some of the cases are extremely bizarre, such as the man who apparently kidnapped his stepchildren and then married one of them. The more familiar cases are those of Theodore Kaczynski, the Unabomber, and Martha Moxley.
The author presents interesting accounts of several cold cases that were solved, sometimes decades past the commission of the crime. Despite numerous errors, I enjoyed reading this book.
Some of the cases are extremely bizarre, such as the man who apparently kidnapped his stepchildren and then married one of them. The more familiar cases are those of Theodore Kaczynski, the Unabomber, and Martha Moxley.
July 18, 2022
This is a highly readable series of stories about cases that took years to close. Ted Kaczinski was the first case discussed. It took twenty years to catch "the Unabomber." The value of books like this is that they tell the story from beginning to end, often covering years of intrigue.
This author retells solved cold cases that clear through the painstaking efforts of investigators. But unfortunately, the detectives often have to wait decades for science to improve to analyze clues in the light of advancing forensics. This author points out the difference between the date of the victim's death and the date of conviction. Sometimes, it takes a generation (or longer) to bring someone to justice. Ira Einhorn went to Europe after killing Holly Maddux in 1977. It took until 2001 to get the French to extradite Einhorn, and the reasons for their delay are fascinating.
True Crime Cold Cases Solved Series
Solving Cold Cases, Volumes 1 - 9
This author retells solved cold cases that clear through the painstaking efforts of investigators. But unfortunately, the detectives often have to wait decades for science to improve to analyze clues in the light of advancing forensics. This author points out the difference between the date of the victim's death and the date of conviction. Sometimes, it takes a generation (or longer) to bring someone to justice. Ira Einhorn went to Europe after killing Holly Maddux in 1977. It took until 2001 to get the French to extradite Einhorn, and the reasons for their delay are fascinating.
True Crime Cold Cases Solved Series
Solving Cold Cases, Volumes 1 - 9
January 19, 2021
A good range of solved cold cases which I hadn't come across before. Well written but very brief; I actually looked up a number of the cases which I was more interested in to try to find out more details and found that these chapters were almost a repeat of the Wikipedia articles on the cases. It was nice to have them collected together in this way though and it's important that these stories get told.
September 1, 2019
Thorough!
If you enjoy mystery and crime, this books for you. Thorough in detail from start to finish. With police procedures.
If you enjoy mystery and crime, this books for you. Thorough in detail from start to finish. With police procedures.
April 15, 2020
Very amazing read
I will read more of these books and I will recommend this book to anyone who is interested in true crime books. That is an amazing read.
I will read more of these books and I will recommend this book to anyone who is interested in true crime books. That is an amazing read.
April 7, 2025
Mildly interesting.
March 3, 2016
Five stars
Intriguing story. Well written and well documented. The writer was accurate in the detailed descriptions of all of the crimes. I found this book to be a page Turner!
Intriguing story. Well written and well documented. The writer was accurate in the detailed descriptions of all of the crimes. I found this book to be a page Turner!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews