About this item
She was seventeen years old, a beautiful girl with a Hollywood smile and luminous brown eyes. Sprawled in a culvert just off the gravel road like an abandoned doll, she wore only toe socks, a sweatshirt, and a necklace. She was not the killer's first victim. Nor would she be his last.The lush, green hills that mark the border of North and South Carolina are home to a close-knit community. When the savaged remains of high-spirited Heather Catterton and sweet-natured Randi Saldana were found and a local man was linked to their murders, residents were forced to face an evil in their midst. The killer was one of their own . . . Danny Hembree was far from being an upright, law-abiding citizen. But he was part of the fabric of the local scene, devoted to his mother and sister.
About the Author
True-crime analyst, creator/executive producer and host of Investigation Discovery's DARK MINDS (2011 - 2014) , award-winning investigative journalist M. William Phelps is the New York Times best-selling author of 43 nonfiction books and winner of the Excellence in (Investigative) Journalism Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. Phelps has written for numerous publications, including the Providence Journal, Connecticut Magazine and Hartford Courant. Diversifying his talents, Phelps consulted on the first season of the hit Showtime cable television series DEXTER and is a constant presence on crime film sets.A major project, 11 years in the making, season 1 of his investigative, narrative podcast focused on four missing Connecticut girls Janice Pockett, Debra Spickler, Lisa Joy White, Irene Larosa, and one confirmed murder, Susan Larosa, for iHeart Radio is available now.His next book, WE THOUGHT WE KNEW YOU, about the murder of Mary Yoder in Utica, NY, is out December 29, 2020. Phelps' book, written from victim Debra Newall's point of view, about the infamous "Dirty John" Meehan case, slated for September 2021.Produced by Catalina Productions, executive-produced by Phelps for Oxygen, Phelps has completed work on "NOTORIOUS: The Happy Face Killer," his 2-hour documentary based on his book "Dangerous Ground: My Friendship with a Serial Killer."Adding to his extensive television work, Phelps is executive producer and creator of TO CATCH A KILLER, a 6-episode series co-produced by Crazy Legs Productions, that premiered on Investigation Discovery in October 2018. See Phelps on SEX, LIES & MURDER (REELZ) ; Oxygen's SNAPPED; and DEADLY WOMEN. Phelps consulted and produced Piers Morgan's SERIAL KILLER with PIERS MORGAN and KILLER WOMEN; and continues his expert commentary on several series, such as KILLER COUPLES, WICKED ATTRACTION, FORENSIC FILES, ICE COLD KILLERS, EVIL STEP MOMS, TWISTED LOVE, and more.Having written 7 books about them, Phelps is a highly sought-after expert and speaker for his extensive knowledge regarding historic and contemporary serial killers-and the psychology shaping the mind of the murderer.In a revealing essay for The Edge magazine, which ignited support and social media dialogue, Phelps published A MILLION VOICES, MENTAL ILLNESS, A LIFE CHANGED FORVER in January 2019.He grew up in East Hartford, Connecticut, and now lives just north of Hartford, in Tolland County.In July 2017, Phelps published his definitive, 5-year project with Happy Face Killer, DANGEROUS GROUND: My Friendship with a Serial Killer.Touched by tragedy himself, due to the unsolved murder of his pregnant sister-in-law, Phelps is able to enter the hearts and minds of his subjects like no one else. He lives in a small Connecticut farming community and can be reached at his website, www.mwilliamphelps.com. Author photo Investigation Discovery/Dark Minds
