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Rope Burns: The Shocking True Story of the Most Twisted Couple in American Crime!
Depraved Duo
Michelle Michaud was a suburban northern California mother and a part-time prostitute. James Daveggio was a drug abuser and violent rapist. Together, they forged one of the most perverse alliances in criminal history - and in September 1997 - began a nightmare spree of incest, kidnapping, rape, torture...and maybe, murder.
Torture Van
After customizing Michaud's green minivan into the ultimate mobile torture chamber, the predatory pair hit the road to hell. From California to Nevada, they abducted defenseless young women, including one of Daveggio's own relatives, and forced them to endure hours—sometimes days—of unspeakable sexual acts in their orgy of terror.
Rope Burns
Eventually captured by police, Michaud and Daveggio were convicted on May 19, 1999 for the abduction and rape of 20–year-old Juanita Rodriguez in Reno, Nevada. They have also been indicted for the first degree murder of Vanessa Samson, 22, in Pleasanton, California. Now awaiting trial, they face a possible conviction that could condemn them both to die by lethal injection.
16 Pages Of Shocking Photos!
Michelle Michaud was a suburban northern California mother and a part-time prostitute. James Daveggio was a drug abuser and violent rapist. Together, they forged one of the most perverse alliances in criminal history - and in September 1997 - began a nightmare spree of incest, kidnapping, rape, torture...and maybe, murder.
Torture Van
After customizing Michaud's green minivan into the ultimate mobile torture chamber, the predatory pair hit the road to hell. From California to Nevada, they abducted defenseless young women, including one of Daveggio's own relatives, and forced them to endure hours—sometimes days—of unspeakable sexual acts in their orgy of terror.
Rope Burns
Eventually captured by police, Michaud and Daveggio were convicted on May 19, 1999 for the abduction and rape of 20–year-old Juanita Rodriguez in Reno, Nevada. They have also been indicted for the first degree murder of Vanessa Samson, 22, in Pleasanton, California. Now awaiting trial, they face a possible conviction that could condemn them both to die by lethal injection.
16 Pages Of Shocking Photos!
352 pages, Paperback
First published September 5, 2001
90 people are currently reading
329 people want to read
About the author
Robert Scott
45 books51 followersRobert Scott was an investigative journalist and crime expert.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
January 8, 2020
A really despicable couple who commited heinous crimes. It makes one shudder to realise that folks like this walk among us. There is an updated version of this book, which reveals what happened in the first degree murder trial that is mentioned in this book.
An interesting sidenote, they were suspected of being the kidnappers of Jaycee Dugard. This book was published in 2001, and Jaycee didn't escape her captor until 2009.
3 Stars = I liked the book. I'm glad I read it.
An interesting sidenote, they were suspected of being the kidnappers of Jaycee Dugard. This book was published in 2001, and Jaycee didn't escape her captor until 2009.
3 Stars = I liked the book. I'm glad I read it.
April 22, 2017
Release Date: March 5, 2005
Genre: True Crime
I bought this book on a whim because it was on sale for $1.99 (still is on kindle) and I have always loved a good true crime novel. With that, this one was good. However, I feel like much of it veered off in so many different directions, especially in areas that had no relation to the crimes that took place between these two sickos, which ultimately made it extremely long and drawn out. Had the author cut out this nonsense then I think it would have been better.
Readers who enjoy true crime novels (you know, like those true stories we see on Investigation ID) may enjoy this one. It's also not a bad book to pick up for only $1.99. However, you should be warned that it is extremely graphic. And just plain sick. So beware if you do pick this one up. You may become sick to your stomach.
Genre: True Crime
I bought this book on a whim because it was on sale for $1.99 (still is on kindle) and I have always loved a good true crime novel. With that, this one was good. However, I feel like much of it veered off in so many different directions, especially in areas that had no relation to the crimes that took place between these two sickos, which ultimately made it extremely long and drawn out. Had the author cut out this nonsense then I think it would have been better.
Readers who enjoy true crime novels (you know, like those true stories we see on Investigation ID) may enjoy this one. It's also not a bad book to pick up for only $1.99. However, you should be warned that it is extremely graphic. And just plain sick. So beware if you do pick this one up. You may become sick to your stomach.
October 23, 2019
This book was very well written, not to many chapters on the court case. The interesting fact of this book is that it mentions Jaycee Dugard crime and wondering if these perpetrators did it. This book was written before she had been discovered.
April 6, 2024
James Daveggio and Michelle Michaud are the stars of this creepy tale of abduction, rape and murder. The happy couple traveled in a green minivan on their journey of madness. James was a tattooed biker with a violent past and Michelle honestly described herself as a "hooker, ho and a prostitute." The term "sex worker" infuriates me.
Her "career" started at the age of fifteen and she met her soul mate at thirty-seven; plenty of city miles on the woman.
The pair descended into lives of crack addiction, and the once alluring hooker turned skeletal. She was supported by two elderly sugar daddies and horrified patrons at a bar with tales of sexual depravity. The horny couple ventured into threesomes with Michelle admitting that she preferred women.
As with most murder convictions, DNA solved this case. I should warn of the graphic descriptions of fecal matter and a curling iron used by the pair of sick bastards.
Rosary beads hanging from the rearview mirror of the van was part of the evidence described by a survivor of a rape. It seems that Michelle was the patron of a Catholic church and fellow congregants saw her as a soccer mom with two children. The reality turned out to be stranger than fiction.
Rope Burns is well researched book and an excellent read.
Her "career" started at the age of fifteen and she met her soul mate at thirty-seven; plenty of city miles on the woman.
The pair descended into lives of crack addiction, and the once alluring hooker turned skeletal. She was supported by two elderly sugar daddies and horrified patrons at a bar with tales of sexual depravity. The horny couple ventured into threesomes with Michelle admitting that she preferred women.
As with most murder convictions, DNA solved this case. I should warn of the graphic descriptions of fecal matter and a curling iron used by the pair of sick bastards.
Rosary beads hanging from the rearview mirror of the van was part of the evidence described by a survivor of a rape. It seems that Michelle was the patron of a Catholic church and fellow congregants saw her as a soccer mom with two children. The reality turned out to be stranger than fiction.
Rope Burns is well researched book and an excellent read.
January 16, 2016
This is not a easy book to review so I am going to be be brief. Michelle Michaud and James Daveggio together kidnapped, raped, tortured and murder many young woman.
Book is over done with details on just what all they did to each one of the woman, which I find not necessary. It was like reading a police report in parts and other parts was speculation on what happen.
Book is over done with details on just what all they did to each one of the woman, which I find not necessary. It was like reading a police report in parts and other parts was speculation on what happen.
December 27, 2019
The book is interesting, but it meanders and bogs down here and there, particularly toward the end.
January 31, 2013
I don't know why I read stuff like this. Reading about these sickos and pervs can make the most free-loving flower child buy a revolver and watch a Death Wish marathon. You can't make this stuff up. Actually I read this before, but re-read it to review. Not because it is a feel-good book. It is not.
Robert Scott's narrative of James DaVeggio's and Michelle Michaud's perv-a-palooza begins on a cringeworthy note as he details a brutal crime in their rapemobile, down to what gets stuck where and the verbal abuse involved. It's too bad he started the book like this. I felt that the violence was sensationalized and I felt a little dirty reading it. I can imagine some weirdo getting a thrill from this chapter. Fortunately, as he follows the various investigations on these two maggots though several jurisdictions, the narrative emphasizes the legal and forensic efforts of the cops and DAs that eventually prosecuted the two and ends with suitably touching tributes to the one known murder victim, Vanessa Samson, and the other probable, but unconfirmed, victims of the two, like Jaycee Lee Dugard.
Scott's writing can be cheesy at times and wouldn't look out of place in a true crime detective magazine of the '50s, but it's rarely boring. Sometimes he goes off on tangents that are tenuously related to the main subject (eg., Michael Idhe), but that's okay. Real crimes are not always clear cut (usually not) so you sort of have to bear with all the paths cases might take. Overall his narrative is serviceable and makes for a fairly engrossing read. Particularly notable is the role DNA evidence played in prosecuting these cases, the degree of which was, as I understand, rather new at the time.
Robert Scott's narrative of James DaVeggio's and Michelle Michaud's perv-a-palooza begins on a cringeworthy note as he details a brutal crime in their rapemobile, down to what gets stuck where and the verbal abuse involved. It's too bad he started the book like this. I felt that the violence was sensationalized and I felt a little dirty reading it. I can imagine some weirdo getting a thrill from this chapter. Fortunately, as he follows the various investigations on these two maggots though several jurisdictions, the narrative emphasizes the legal and forensic efforts of the cops and DAs that eventually prosecuted the two and ends with suitably touching tributes to the one known murder victim, Vanessa Samson, and the other probable, but unconfirmed, victims of the two, like Jaycee Lee Dugard.
Scott's writing can be cheesy at times and wouldn't look out of place in a true crime detective magazine of the '50s, but it's rarely boring. Sometimes he goes off on tangents that are tenuously related to the main subject (eg., Michael Idhe), but that's okay. Real crimes are not always clear cut (usually not) so you sort of have to bear with all the paths cases might take. Overall his narrative is serviceable and makes for a fairly engrossing read. Particularly notable is the role DNA evidence played in prosecuting these cases, the degree of which was, as I understand, rather new at the time.
June 5, 2022
A Really Despicable Couple
Rope Burns by Robert Scott is the true story of Michelle Michaud and James Daveggio who forged a perverse alliance when they meet. Together they rape both of their own young teenage children, then after customizing Michelles minivan into a mobile torture chamber, the pair hit the road and began a nightmare spree of incest, kidnapping, rape, torture, and murder.
I found this book so annoying as the author kept changing subjects and much of the book veered off in so many different directions that ultimately, I found it made it extremely long confusing and very drawn out especially in areas that had no relation to the crimes that took place between this Despicable Couple. I would have marked the book higher but for this. I am part of the ARC group for Wildblue Press and BookSirens and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Rope Burns by Robert Scott is the true story of Michelle Michaud and James Daveggio who forged a perverse alliance when they meet. Together they rape both of their own young teenage children, then after customizing Michelles minivan into a mobile torture chamber, the pair hit the road and began a nightmare spree of incest, kidnapping, rape, torture, and murder.
I found this book so annoying as the author kept changing subjects and much of the book veered off in so many different directions that ultimately, I found it made it extremely long confusing and very drawn out especially in areas that had no relation to the crimes that took place between this Despicable Couple. I would have marked the book higher but for this. I am part of the ARC group for Wildblue Press and BookSirens and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
June 3, 2022
A Really Despicable Couple
Rope Burns by Robert Scott is the true story of Michelle Michaud and James Daveggio who forged a perverse alliance when they meet. Together they rape both of their own young teenage children, then after customizing Michelles minivan into a mobile torture chamber, the pair hit the road and began a nightmare spree of incest, kidnapping, rape, torture, and murder.
I found this book so annoying as the author kept changing subjects and much of the book veered off in so many different directions that ultimately, I found it made it extremely long confusing and very drawn out especially in areas that had no relation to the crimes that took place between this Despicable Couple. I would have marked the book higher but for this. I am part of the ARC group for Wildblue Press and BookSirens and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Rope Burns by Robert Scott is the true story of Michelle Michaud and James Daveggio who forged a perverse alliance when they meet. Together they rape both of their own young teenage children, then after customizing Michelles minivan into a mobile torture chamber, the pair hit the road and began a nightmare spree of incest, kidnapping, rape, torture, and murder.
I found this book so annoying as the author kept changing subjects and much of the book veered off in so many different directions that ultimately, I found it made it extremely long confusing and very drawn out especially in areas that had no relation to the crimes that took place between this Despicable Couple. I would have marked the book higher but for this. I am part of the ARC group for Wildblue Press and BookSirens and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
April 10, 2009
Very good book but I MUST WARN YOU this book is quite "graphic" is certain places.
"The shocking and true story of the most twisted couple in American crime! From back cover: "Michelle Michaud was a suburban northern California mother and a part-time prostitute. James Daveggio was a drug abuser and violent rapist. Together, they forged one of the most perverse alliances in criminal history - and in September 1997 - began a nightmare spree of incest, kidnapping, rape, torture...and maybe, murder".
"The shocking and true story of the most twisted couple in American crime! From back cover: "Michelle Michaud was a suburban northern California mother and a part-time prostitute. James Daveggio was a drug abuser and violent rapist. Together, they forged one of the most perverse alliances in criminal history - and in September 1997 - began a nightmare spree of incest, kidnapping, rape, torture...and maybe, murder".
March 23, 2025
This is one of the few true crime books I've read that just didn't hold my interest. I think it is because the book had lots of information on OTHER crimes that, as far as I could tell, had very little to do with the stated title -- a couple (James Daveggio and Michelle Michaud) who captured, raped, and, at only one instance I could glean, murdered young women/girls.
There was a lot of what I consider "filler" information in this book:
* Lots of information on Michael Ihde, who Daveggio had known in high school and who had committed rapes/murders in and around the same area;
* information on another couple (Gerald And Charlene Gallego) who had committed similar murders around the same time and area;
* information about the kidnapping, imprisonment and rape of Jaycee Dugard, which was done by another couple (Phillip and Nancy Garrido).
So all this extraneous information placed throughout the book, which had nothing to do with the killer couple/duo the book purported to be about -- made me lose interest in the supposed "subjects" of the book.
I managed to finish this book, but only just barely. The only good thing I can say about this book is that, since I only read once I get into bed each night, it was a great sleep inducer. Unlike other, better books, it didn't keep me up until all hours of the morning, because of just not being able to put it down.
I am happy to see, after reading some other reviews, that I am not alone in considering this book to have too much information on unrelated murders and murderers.
There was a lot of what I consider "filler" information in this book:
* Lots of information on Michael Ihde, who Daveggio had known in high school and who had committed rapes/murders in and around the same area;
* information on another couple (Gerald And Charlene Gallego) who had committed similar murders around the same time and area;
* information about the kidnapping, imprisonment and rape of Jaycee Dugard, which was done by another couple (Phillip and Nancy Garrido).
So all this extraneous information placed throughout the book, which had nothing to do with the killer couple/duo the book purported to be about -- made me lose interest in the supposed "subjects" of the book.
I managed to finish this book, but only just barely. The only good thing I can say about this book is that, since I only read once I get into bed each night, it was a great sleep inducer. Unlike other, better books, it didn't keep me up until all hours of the morning, because of just not being able to put it down.
I am happy to see, after reading some other reviews, that I am not alone in considering this book to have too much information on unrelated murders and murderers.
August 15, 2018
Starts off with way too many disturbing, graphic details. Saying that, there weren’t quite as many graphic details throughout the book as the beginning made me expect. I wasn’t a fan of how it jumped between so many criminals/crimes. Overall, it was an okay book, but it doesn’t make my recommendations list.
March 22, 2020
Evil among us
Serial killers are fascinating to me as their vicious and evil deeds are often masked by their seemingly normal appearances. The depravity of the two characters in Rope Burns convinced me they must have been guilty of other crimes. The story was plainly told, which j u st served to underline the horror.
Serial killers are fascinating to me as their vicious and evil deeds are often masked by their seemingly normal appearances. The depravity of the two characters in Rope Burns convinced me they must have been guilty of other crimes. The story was plainly told, which j u st served to underline the horror.
April 7, 2023
While this book is very well-written and captivating, I don't recommend reading it. I'm giving it five stars because it is a page turner but it is absolutely the most horrific book I have read in my life. Michelle Michaud and James Daveggio (and Michael Ihde) are actual devils on Earth. They are horrible, evil people and each of their crimes are disgusting and will give you nightmares.
September 28, 2023
Wow what a sick group of individuals this book is about. A great read on how the police that were involved in many of these western jurisdictions never gave up hope that the criminals responsible for the killings would be caught. It also showed that the murderers responsible for the killings got to the point that they couldn't stop killing until they were caught. Very good read!
March 21, 2020
This was not a very good true crime book. Half of the book was about another serial killer that had nothing to do with this story. The author seemed to go into way too much detail about the sexual parts and was way to graphic (and I am not prude) I do not recommend.
April 2, 2020
The Atrocities some wreak on others is Terrible.
The good thing to come of this is the training of your children how to never trust a stranger and how to try and get away when in their clutches.
The good thing to come of this is the training of your children how to never trust a stranger and how to try and get away when in their clutches.
March 17, 2022
A very complete and disturbing book. It follows the killer from an early age, his meeting and pairing up with a former prostitute and their decision to kidnap, rape, and murder young girls as a team. Ending with their multiple trials, with each one trying to lay the blame on the other.
December 28, 2018
Entertaining true crime but hard to distinguish the facts from the author’s imagined reality
December 3, 2019
This was heartwrenching and disturbing.
February 8, 2021
Unsettling
I read quite a bit of true crime but this was one of the most horrific stories I have read. It is well written and certainly kept my interest
I read quite a bit of true crime but this was one of the most horrific stories I have read. It is well written and certainly kept my interest
June 8, 2022
The book was good and well written but won’t give away anything but just know you need to have a strong stomach to read some of it! But I recommend this everyone!
July 8, 2022
Crimes in Bay Area
January 10, 2023
Honestly this is the best deepdive book that u will find on this case but it's highly sexiest so beware of that , honestly i would've liked this book if it wasn't this misogynist
March 15, 2023
True crime, crazy what some people are capable of, trigger warning for anyone who has suffered abuse, very sick and twisted individuals
June 30, 2023
I found this to be interesting as hell, but it felt like it ended abruptly.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 16, 2016
"Rope Burns" was well-researched with a lot of details. Sometimes the author went into a bit too much detail and strayed from the main subject. There was lots of focus on the crimes of Daveggio's childhood friend Michael Ihde and also a description of the abduction of Jaycee Lee Dugard, because some people suspected Daveggio and Michaud had kidnapped her because Michaud looked similar to the police sketch of Dugard's kidnapper. I also found the ending a bit rushed. There was quite a lot of descriptions of the trials in the Rodriguez case but almost nothing about the Samson trial.
"Rope Burns" was a quick and pretty interesting read that could have been better.
(Review from September 2013)
"Rope Burns" was a quick and pretty interesting read that could have been better.
(Review from September 2013)
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May 9, 2015Bone-chilling read that really scared me thinking this really occurred! I was astonished that the man got away with crimes for so many years. I imagine it is still the same way -- some people really DO get away with murder!
I enjoyed it as much as one can enjoy a true crime story. I would definitely recommend it.
I enjoyed it as much as one can enjoy a true crime story. I would definitely recommend it.
August 11, 2015
the story of james daveggio and michelle Michaud as they tortured and raped and killed young girls.was michelle the victim as she stated.this book also has reference to other kidnappings and murders at the same time as there crimes...a very interesting look at how dangerous a man and women combined can cause crimes to confuse the police...
June 15, 2011
i was love true crime books and this was a very shocking one. i could not believe a woman would do these things even to her own child. what a sick woman. i thought they way the book was put together was very good.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews