Poison Mind: The True Story of the Mensa Murderer -- and the Policewoman Who Risked Her Life to Bring Him to Justice

by Jeffrey Good, Susan Goreck

Many of us have had neighbors whose loud music, objectionable habits, or destruction of property get on our nerves. This is the story of a man who got so annoyed, he poisoned his neighbors with an extremely painful nerve toxin.

The personalities are what make the book: the cartoon-character nerd who was a disgruntled househusband to a female orthopedist, the quietly charming policewoman who went undercover to get the goods on him, the loving Southern family who suffered so much. And there's a revelation at the end of the story that will appall you.

As the New York Times wrote, "Florida, the cradle of creepiness in detective fiction, offers up some weird criminals in real life, too.... The authors are good at portraying the oddly disconnected society of small-town Florida, as well as the man who almost committed the perfect crime there."

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime

353 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Wendy Luv · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me start by saying Peggy Carr is my aunt there for this book holds a special place in my heart. Jeffery Good did a great job with telling the story of my aunts murder, As well as tell the story of Susan the undercover agent who never gave up and worked so hard to bring justice to our family.This book will leave u wanting more.
What the book dont tell you is that the FBI said this was the 8th hardest case they ever had to crack cause this was almost the perfect murder.

[Mauoijenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story. A little long in some of the descriptions.

[Ari Damoulakis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting book, but wish it was longer and had more criminology.
But what is so striking is what an absolutely senseless crime it was.
And yet he planned it and took time doing it.
Such ridiculous reasons for a crime.
He was in Mensa, but gosh, this must mean you can be intelligent and irrationally mad.
Even if you know the whole crime and story you’ll enjoy the book.
I know there was a documentary about this crime I watched once on the TV, but it is nothing compared to the book.
You can understand because of the skill of the crime why he is in Mensa, but obviously Mensa must probably also consists of totally eccentric weirdos.
Even though the crime and book is old, it is a very interesting read.
Now our song, but we are not doing that today. I’m reposting this because we mustn’t be allowed to forget.
https://youtu.be/0Uv6bVqqdPA?si=nHu1M...

[Bill reilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poison Mind begins in January of 1949 with a difficult Cesarean birth at New York Hospital. George Trepal was a surviving twin born with a scar on his face. A Cain and Abel analogy is used; a possible fetus vs. fetus murder; an ominous beginning to little Georgie’s life. In 1988, Peggy Carr, a 41 year-old waitress, was taken to the hospital with flu like symptoms. Dr. Richard Hostler ordered extensive lab testing and one of them revealed a high level of thallium. Someone had deliberately poisoned the woman. Thallium had been used as a pesticide but was banned by the EPA in 1972. A comprehensive police investigation traced the poison to bottles of Coke at Peggy’s house, which she shared with her third husband, Pye and their combined children from previous marriages. Peggy died after five months in a coma. After eliminating the husband, the detectives focused on the next door neighbors who had complained about the Carr’s noisy teenage sons. The Trepal’s tranquility was being interrupted by loud music from the house next door. George Trepal had no job and was being supported by his wife Diana, a surgeon; nice gig. He had served time in prison for manufacturing methamphetamines. A female cop, Susan Gorelick, went undercover and befriended the amateur chemist. She created a terrible marriage with a loathsome husband who was making her life miserable. George sympathized with Susan’s plight. The abusive spouse was played by a fellow detective. The squabbles performed with George as the audience are comical, like something out of a Sascha Baron-Cohen routine. After being undercover for a year, Susan’s dogged determination finally led to some circumstantial evidence. The most intriguing aspect of the book is the relationship between George and his wife Diana. They had met at a Mensa meeting and friends described an almost parasitic dynamic to their marriage. The passive and aggressive roles alternated on a regular basis. Two brilliant but insecure souls somehow found each other. At trial, the defense wished to bring up Pye Carr’s weekend trip when the poisonings occurred. An alleged mistress was also a good strategy. The judge would not allow it. The courtroom procedures were fairly routine, with no Perry Mason “gotcha” moments. Read Poison Mind to uncover the verdict.

[Candice · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't particularly like the book, but I feel I'd be disrespecting the memory of the victim and her family by assigning it the lowest rating.

This book was about 4 times longer than it needed to be, essentially a "howdhecatchem" and police procedural hybrid that dragged on and on and... you get the idea. The book detailed literally every conversation (phone and in person of the cops, the FBI, and the suspect/undercover cop), meeting, letter, you name it. I was surprised to see that the book was "only" 370 pages; I felt I'd been reading 1,000 pages.

You already know by reading the synopsis that George Trepal is guilty of the crime; unfortunately the book didn't provide me with a sense of justice when George was finally found guilty. It did, however, disappoint me that I still had 20-some-odd pages left to read.

I think perhaps the single most upsetting thing about this book, or should I say, about the subject of this book, is that after a Google search (I was curious) I found out that the murdering cretin George Trepal is still alive and well after a whopping TWENTY YEARS on death row. As of March 2011, he's still got TWO appeals left. That is "legal insanity" to me (the insanity being on the part of the justice system.)

[Cath Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a captivating read - I read the first 150 pages in one sitting - finished by noon the next day. I do not typically read this type of genre, but thus the reason for being part of a book group - you agree to read books you might normally not. I don't believe has opened the door to reading more real life crime stories - but maybe a mystery or two.

[Fishface · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good read about a very, very unusual murder case. Well-written and never bogs down despite the fact that most of the story is about the almost-endless cat-and-mouse game played by an undercover cop and the suspect. Even the trial moved along quickly. Well worth a read.

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

A family is rushed to the hospital, near death. They have all been poisoned. But how? And why? And why is their neighbor acting so strange? A fascinating and disturbing true crime story.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

an interesting non fiction book about a MENSA member who murdered his neighbor and really thought 1. she deserved it, and 2. he was smart enough to get away with it. The interesting part was pitting this sociopath against good old honest, boots-on-the-ground police work that eventually brought him down.

[Frances Rettenmaier · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a few pages I realized I had read it before. It is quite interesting. I had also seen it on The Forensic Files which explained how the tops were taken off and recapped. I finished it anyway. Evil nut case!!!

[Jill CD · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written true crime book that keeps you engaged and somewhat frightened of the lack of empathy in certain people.

[Laura Leilani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four and a half stars.
Pretty well written. Exciting story. Be sure to look up Dr Diana Carr, the accused murder’s wife. Her photos and rate-my-Doctor scores are online and add zest to the story

[Jean Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was unbelievable. Very sad story and goes to show you how some people don’t care about others. To do what the person in the book done. Really very good read.

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting true crime novel that highlights the work of the undercover cop who helped catch the murderer. Well written and engaging.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got this book for christmas and couldn't put it down! It was unbelievable!

[Catheryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I happened across this book in the library and since my parents lived in Winterhaven Florida, this book intrigued me. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and found it engaging and educational to dive into the mind of a passive/aggressive killer. The profiling of the FBI agent was point on and amazing on how people that use poison as their weapon of choice are submissive in nature. The only reason I didn't give it five stars is because the story was a bit tedious at times. I had to do some Thallium research to understand what it actually did to the family which I think would have been better described in the book. Otherwise a good story about a brave women and the strangeness of Mensa.

[Rayna · Rating 4 out of 5]

My friend recommended this book since George Trepal's (ex?) wife is her surgeon. I read it and was just blown away. Unlike other reviews, I didn't think it droned on too much about things like thallium and some of the more technical details. I was quite intrigued the whole way through. I enjoyed the little details that gave insight into George Trepal and the type of evil genius that he is. I still am not convinced he didn't have help from his wife, but maybe that is just me. I thought this was a good read, and the fact that it was 100% fact is just chilling. Just a very interesting and sad story. My heart goes out to this family for having to go through such a tragedy.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This nonfiction account of a poisoning in Florida surprised me. I had expected a dry police procedural, but what I got was an engaging story of a nutty neighbor who poisoned his next-door neighbors because their kids played their radios too loudly. The account also shows how hard the Florida police worked to crack the case.

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating story - a little too long on insignificant details.

[Shirley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I worked with Jeff Good at the St. Petersburg Times. It was an honor to have known a talented and Pulitzer Prize winning writer.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not often shocked given some of the books I read. This was chilling.