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Blood Stains
Details the horrifying true account of Ricky McGinn, a twisted man who brutally raped and murdered his twelve-year-old stepdaughter as well as two other young women. Original.
352 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 17, 2017
A decent true crime read. It's an emotional one as it deals with the murder of a child but also a frustrating one because it didn't give the victim the attention that she deserved. If your going to write a true crime novel, there should be more than a small focus on the victim seeing as THAT is the person the novel is about.
I have always been a fan of true crime novels as I hold a masters in psychology with a specific interest in abnormal psyche. However, I never get much a chance to read them these days as my blog focuses more on romance novels. So it was nice to push all the other books aside and get back into one of the genres I have always loved.
If you like true crime novels- especially those whose almost sole focus is on the TRIAL and COURT proceedings then this would be a good one for you. My particular tastes need more background information (which is something this book was seriously lacking) but if you like the trial side the books good.
I have always been a fan of true crime novels as I hold a masters in psychology with a specific interest in abnormal psyche. However, I never get much a chance to read them these days as my blog focuses more on romance novels. So it was nice to push all the other books aside and get back into one of the genres I have always loved.
If you like true crime novels- especially those whose almost sole focus is on the TRIAL and COURT proceedings then this would be a good one for you. My particular tastes need more background information (which is something this book was seriously lacking) but if you like the trial side the books good.
August 15, 2015
I have lived in Brownwood most of my life. I was in high school when this case happened and I remember it in my periphery, but didn't really know or care much about at the time. Several events caused me to become interested in learning more about the case though.
First, I met Lisa McGinn through one of my mother's friends. It was around the time that the stay of execution had been granted. I have never met any of the rest of the family, but I have always liked Lisa immensely.
Second, several years later I was training a new employee and it was close to Halloween on a night shift which led to discussion of weird or spooky topics. As a tangent to a story she was telling me, she threw out a comment about her cousin who had been murdered and left in a cemetery. She stated the killer hadn't been tried for the case because her was already on death row. I went online to see what she was talking about and figured out she was referring to Christi Jo Eggers and McGinn.
Third and last was yet another co-worker, who told me about how she was supposed to have spent the night with Stephanie that weekend, but her mother (who worked with Stephanie's mom) found out that Janet was going to be out of town and told my friend that she couldn't stay after all. My friend said that Stephanie was very upset that she wasn't staying. She has always wondered if Stephanie would still be alive if she had or if something could have happened to her as well.
All of that made me decide to pick up this book. It was a difficult one to read. The combo of it being a child and, literally, so close to home, made less abstract than reading other true crime has felt. I'm not sure how objectively I can rate the book as a result. That said, there were several things that irritated me while reading it, some I realize are really nit-picky, but then, that is who I am.
I really think that this could have benefited from a little more editing. Two of the glaring, at least for me, issues were variations in descriptions of things.
For instance on page one we are told that the family had recently moved to May, TX from Brownwood. I had thought that I remembered it being Owens, but I figured I was wrong. Then they are referred to as having live in Owens. Ok, go back to page one and yep, not crazy. During the trial, she continues to alternate between them living May and Owens. While both are on highway 183, they are not the same thing. They don't even butt up against each other like Brownwood and Early do. Like I said, nit-picky and maybe not a big deal for someone who doesn't know the area, but I think that might be even more confusing.
Secondly, this is a truck.
This is a van.
For Springer, they seem to be an interchangeable descriptor. For me not so much. She does this with two vehicles. One, the vehicle that Ricky was supposedly working on the day that Stephanie went missing and where the murder weapon was found. (Pictures in the book put this firmly in the category of picture number one above.) Two, the vehicle of the unnamed man who the McGinn family say a neighbor reported having seen driving in the area and yelling at other little girls. Both of the these are described as pick-ups or trucks for most of the narrative, but then you get a random van thrown in for both vehicles. It was something that stopped the flow of the book as I found myself combing back through early passages to make sure the mistake wasn't mine.
I didn't care for several of Springer's narrative choices. This is a total bias on my part, but I got so tired of her trying to add flavor with the references to Judge Cadenhead's down home humor or folksy way of speaking or how someone on the stand said something that made him sound even more Texan. I know I am probably overly sensitive, but I am so conditioned to those things being often defined in a broader sense as uneducated or unintelligent, that seeing those descriptions just irked me after a bit. I am not saying that my town is full of the most sophisticated people, I know better than that, but I got tired of the author pounding into our heads that we were in small town Texas here.
Another, less biased, illustration of what bothered me about her writing style was when she was addressing the final DNA analysis done during McGinn's stay of execution. The passage is this:
In theory I can see why this was included, but in practice, it felt completely unnecessary. I thought a much better and more relevant parallel was later drawn in this paragraph of the epilogue:
That simply and succinctly shows the effect and importance DNA can play in our criminal system. The James tangent felt like, "I know a neat piece of trivia and want to include it somehow."
I think that maybe Springer tried to present this in a unbiased way, but I did feel it leaned toward sympathy for, not McGinn himself, but his mother Francis and thereby her version of events. When describing the two mothers after the execution, we are presented with a heavily grieving mother of the convicted and then we get this line about the mother of the victim addressing the press:
I do not in any way discount the grief of Francis McGinn or any of McGinn's family. No matter the circumstances, losing a loved one is never easy. But the narrative felt skewed in their favor.
Over-all, I found this book interesting because I wanted to know more about the case. I just wish it had come in a slightly better package.
First, I met Lisa McGinn through one of my mother's friends. It was around the time that the stay of execution had been granted. I have never met any of the rest of the family, but I have always liked Lisa immensely.
Second, several years later I was training a new employee and it was close to Halloween on a night shift which led to discussion of weird or spooky topics. As a tangent to a story she was telling me, she threw out a comment about her cousin who had been murdered and left in a cemetery. She stated the killer hadn't been tried for the case because her was already on death row. I went online to see what she was talking about and figured out she was referring to Christi Jo Eggers and McGinn.
Third and last was yet another co-worker, who told me about how she was supposed to have spent the night with Stephanie that weekend, but her mother (who worked with Stephanie's mom) found out that Janet was going to be out of town and told my friend that she couldn't stay after all. My friend said that Stephanie was very upset that she wasn't staying. She has always wondered if Stephanie would still be alive if she had or if something could have happened to her as well.
All of that made me decide to pick up this book. It was a difficult one to read. The combo of it being a child and, literally, so close to home, made less abstract than reading other true crime has felt. I'm not sure how objectively I can rate the book as a result. That said, there were several things that irritated me while reading it, some I realize are really nit-picky, but then, that is who I am.
I really think that this could have benefited from a little more editing. Two of the glaring, at least for me, issues were variations in descriptions of things.
For instance on page one we are told that the family had recently moved to May, TX from Brownwood. I had thought that I remembered it being Owens, but I figured I was wrong. Then they are referred to as having live in Owens. Ok, go back to page one and yep, not crazy. During the trial, she continues to alternate between them living May and Owens. While both are on highway 183, they are not the same thing. They don't even butt up against each other like Brownwood and Early do. Like I said, nit-picky and maybe not a big deal for someone who doesn't know the area, but I think that might be even more confusing.
Secondly, this is a truck.
This is a van.
For Springer, they seem to be an interchangeable descriptor. For me not so much. She does this with two vehicles. One, the vehicle that Ricky was supposedly working on the day that Stephanie went missing and where the murder weapon was found. (Pictures in the book put this firmly in the category of picture number one above.) Two, the vehicle of the unnamed man who the McGinn family say a neighbor reported having seen driving in the area and yelling at other little girls. Both of the these are described as pick-ups or trucks for most of the narrative, but then you get a random van thrown in for both vehicles. It was something that stopped the flow of the book as I found myself combing back through early passages to make sure the mistake wasn't mine.
I didn't care for several of Springer's narrative choices. This is a total bias on my part, but I got so tired of her trying to add flavor with the references to Judge Cadenhead's down home humor or folksy way of speaking or how someone on the stand said something that made him sound even more Texan. I know I am probably overly sensitive, but I am so conditioned to those things being often defined in a broader sense as uneducated or unintelligent, that seeing those descriptions just irked me after a bit. I am not saying that my town is full of the most sophisticated people, I know better than that, but I got tired of the author pounding into our heads that we were in small town Texas here.
Another, less biased, illustration of what bothered me about her writing style was when she was addressing the final DNA analysis done during McGinn's stay of execution. The passage is this:
"The thirty days allotted McGinn by Governor George Bush turned into three months of waiting for test results.
Meanwhile, in Missouri, the future of someone on death row wasn't hanging in the balance, but a curious footnote in history was. The remains of a man who died in 1951 and who had claimed to be the outlaw Jesse James were dug up. DNA analysis was to be performed to determine if the remains were indeed those of James. Bone and hair fragments from the grave were determined to be those of James and his remains were re-buried.
Both cases-the Jesse James case and the Ricky McGinn case-could have huge impacts on establishing criminal fact and human identification in technological history. The world was watching."
In theory I can see why this was included, but in practice, it felt completely unnecessary. I thought a much better and more relevant parallel was later drawn in this paragraph of the epilogue:
"In the same week Ricky McGinn's capital-murder conviction was upheld, Roy Criner, a fellow Texas inmate, was freed after spending ten years in prison for a rape he did not commit. One man executed and one man exonerated by the same scientific means."
That simply and succinctly shows the effect and importance DNA can play in our criminal system. The James tangent felt like, "I know a neat piece of trivia and want to include it somehow."
I think that maybe Springer tried to present this in a unbiased way, but I did feel it leaned toward sympathy for, not McGinn himself, but his mother Francis and thereby her version of events. When describing the two mothers after the execution, we are presented with a heavily grieving mother of the convicted and then we get this line about the mother of the victim addressing the press:
"Dressed in jeans and a bowling shirt, Janet seemed to revel in the attention."
I do not in any way discount the grief of Francis McGinn or any of McGinn's family. No matter the circumstances, losing a loved one is never easy. But the narrative felt skewed in their favor.
Over-all, I found this book interesting because I wanted to know more about the case. I just wish it had come in a slightly better package.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 28, 2012
As it always is when readin a true crime involving a child murder, this was hard to read. It made me very angry at our justice system. It is inconcievable to me how a man with Ricky's criminal record could have been out in the free world. He had rape, child molestation & robery on his record. Something is wrong with the U.S court system that someone can commit all of these crimes and be free.
It must be hard to be Janet. She had to deal with loosing her daughter in a horrific way, but also because all of her irresponsible actions were vividly displayed in this book. It makes a reader wonder, if her actions had any play towards the ending of story. She allowed her girls to drink beer with her, she allowed them to swim topless in front of their stepdad Ricky when they were already pre-teens, & she didn't come straight home the night she found out her daughter was missing. I wonder if any of this comes to her mind at all when she thinks about Stephanie.
I was very annoyed with Ricky's notepad ramblings during his trial. It seemed like everyone was lying about him, and everyone had it out for him, or so he thought it was that way. I think in the end he got what he deserved and I was not moved by his last letter before he was executed. I only felt sorry for his mother who was innocent in all of this.
It must be hard to be Janet. She had to deal with loosing her daughter in a horrific way, but also because all of her irresponsible actions were vividly displayed in this book. It makes a reader wonder, if her actions had any play towards the ending of story. She allowed her girls to drink beer with her, she allowed them to swim topless in front of their stepdad Ricky when they were already pre-teens, & she didn't come straight home the night she found out her daughter was missing. I wonder if any of this comes to her mind at all when she thinks about Stephanie.
I was very annoyed with Ricky's notepad ramblings during his trial. It seemed like everyone was lying about him, and everyone had it out for him, or so he thought it was that way. I think in the end he got what he deserved and I was not moved by his last letter before he was executed. I only felt sorry for his mother who was innocent in all of this.
April 18, 2016
ricky mcginn is charged when his stepdaughter comes up missing while her mother is at a bowling tournament out of town .though he says he is innocent the police never check out any of the leads they are given of a strange van in the area. as ricky and his family protest that he never did it...explains the court case which kept going over the evidence seemed boring at times it was a good book...I still wonder today if he really committed the crime.
September 2, 2010
really hard to read because its so scary to think that someone can be so evil and commit so many crimes and still claim total innocence...what kind of conscience does someone have to be like that...also there was definately enough reasonable doubt concerning his step daughters death that if he hadnt committed the other crimes he might have gotten away with it...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 20, 2011
This isn't the kind of book you can like or dislike. I am continually amazed at mothers who put their children in the hands of pedophiles over and over again.
January 27, 2025
An interesting case legally, scientifically and morally, that underlines the power of DNA testing to overcome what sounds like some pretty sloppy police work as it sets aside the disbelief of the killer's family. I wish the author had gone much, much more into the other cases associated with this dangerous man, because a lot of individuals and families are still suffering because of him. Most authors just report the facts, but this one seemed to be trying to build a reasonable-doubt case in support of the defendant. With all the backing and forthing about his guilt or innocence, I feel the victims were almost completely lost in the sauce. It was worth plowing through the sometimes-clumsy, sometimes-repetitive writing to get down to what really happened here.
August 13, 2017
It is a very well written book. Kept my interest.
December 18, 2024
excruciating but compelling.
January 22, 2017
I have an indirect connection to this case. I worked as a private investigator before the 2006 prosecution of Steven Sirois, a prominent figure in this book. Sirois was convicted in 2006 for aggravated sexual assault of a child. In the course of working this case, questions continually arose about Sirois and his involvement with McGinn. This book surely didn't help Sirois' case, but evidence was pretty overwhelming. My supervising investigator had worked directly on the McGinn case, and he was convinced the outcome was valid.
My sympathies go out to all parties, including the McGinns. It is unfortunate that terrible things like this happen.
http://www.brownwoodtx.com/news/artic...
My sympathies go out to all parties, including the McGinns. It is unfortunate that terrible things like this happen.
http://www.brownwoodtx.com/news/artic...
December 5, 2009
I read this book years ago. This was a very sad crime. This man would make his stepdaughters swim with no tops on in the pond behind their house. One day while the mother was out he killed one of the daughters.
September 12, 2013
I am the sister and maybe you have questions, if so look me up babieblue82 at gmail. Dont talk about the truth if you dont know it. My mom was a good mom!!!!!! I have read it. There is so much that is from his side of the family.
Want to Read
January 21, 2013i must read this book maybe ill get closer in my heart from this book cause i have to know
get back after i read the book look a.person name christi jo egger
get back after i read the book look a.person name christi jo egger
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews