The man from the train
Subtitle: the solving of a century-old serial killer mystery
By: Bill James and Rachel McCarthy James
Contributors: James, Rachel McCarthy, author
Edition: First Scribner hardcover edition.
Published: 2017
Language: eng
Number of pages: 464
ISBN-13: 9781476796253; 9781476796260
Subjects: Mass murder investigation; Serial murderers; Serial murder investigation; Mass murder; History
Description: "Using unprecedented, dramatically compelling sleuthing techniques, legendary statistician and baseball writer Bill James applies his analytical acumen to crack an unsolved century-old mystery surrounding one of the deadliest serial killers in American history. Between 1898 and 1912, families across the country were bludgeoned in their sleep with the blunt side of an axe. Jewelry and valuables were left in plain sight, bodies were piled together, faces covered with cloth. Some of these cases, like the infamous Villasca, Iowa, murders, received national attention. But few people believed the crimes were related. And fewer still would realize that all of these families lived within walking distance to a train station. When celebrated baseball statistician and true crime expert Bill James first learned about these horrors, he began to investigate others that might fit the same pattern. Applying the same know-how he brings to his legendary baseball analysis, he empirically determined which crimes were committed by the same person. Then after sifting through thousands of local newspapers, court transcripts, and public records, he and his daughter Rachel made an astonishing discovery: they learned the true identity of this monstrous criminal. In turn, they uncovered one of the deadliest serial killers in America. Riveting and immersive, with writing as sharp as the cold side of an axe, The Man from the Train paints a vivid, psychologically perceptive portrait of America at the dawn of the twentieth century, when crime was regarded as a local problem, and opportunistic private detectives exploited a dysfunctional judicial system. James shows how these cultural factors enabled such an unspeakable series of crimes to occur, and his groundbreaking approach to true crime will convince skeptics, amaze aficionados, and change the way we view criminal history"--
Table of contents: title: Preface; title: Villisca; title: Section I. 1909 to 1912; title: The bloody penny; title: Logan's turnpike; title: The scandalous Schultzes; title: Marshalltown; title: The New Orleans axeman; title: Which is not really a chapter; title: Martin City; title: The Casaways; title: Oregon; title: The double event; title: Monmouth; title: Ellsworth; title: Paola; title: Section II. Summer 1912; title: Villisca 2; title: Villisca 3; title: Villisca 4; title: Villisca 5; title: Dynamite Pfanschmidt; title: Section III. 1900 to 1906; title: Stepping backward; title: Trenton Corners; title: Standing by Henry; title: An uncertain set of names; title: Just when you thought this story couldn't possibly get any uglier; title: Hughes; title: The Christmas Day murders; title: West Memphis; title: Jacksonville; title: Cottonwood, Alabama; title: Murder in the cold; title: The worst one ever; title: The Lyerly family; title: Section IV; title: Hiatus; title: The crimes of 1908; title: Section V; title: Conversation with the reader; title: Hurley; title: Beckley and beyond; title: The Zoos and the Hubbells; title: Clementine Barnabet; title: Harry Ryan; title: The first crime; title: Brookfield and Villisca; title: Where the evening is spread out against the sky; title: Hinterkaifeck.