Babyface Killers: Horrifying True Stories of America's Youngest Murderers

by Clifford L. Linedecker

Heartbroken adolescents and bullied school children. Kids from broken homes and seemingly well-adjusted children. Unexpected juvenile violence can happen any place, anytime...And it seems as if recent years have ushered in more of these appalling incidents than every before. here, in shocking and vivid detail, are true stories of young assassins from all around the country, kids who stunned their classmates, their families, and even themselves...

Luke Woodham was a chubby teen who was constantly teased by cruel classmates. So one morning he walked into his mother's bedroom and bludgeoned her to death. He then drove to his Mississippi high school and opened fire on a slew of startled teenagers.

Fourteen-year-old Andrew Wurst, dubbed "Satan" by his classmates, wanted to make his middle-school dance "memorable". So while the romantic theme for Titanic played in the background, Wurst turned on his stupefied classmates and fired wildly at them.

Eleven-year-old Andrew Golden and his thirteen-year-old cousin Mitchel Johnson stunned not just the town of Jonesboro, Arkansas, but the entire nation, when they sprayed helpless teachers and students with a shower of deadly bullets.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Biography

328 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published December 15, 1999

About the author

Clifford L. Linedecker is a former daily newspaper journalist with eighteen years experience on the Philadelphia Inquirer, Rochester (N.Y.) Times-Union, Fort Wayne News-Sentinel, and several other Indiana newspapers. He is an experienced investigative reporter who has covered police and the courts on each of the papers where he was employed. He is a former articles editor for National Features Syndicate in Chicago, and for "County Rambler" magazine. He is the author of numerous true crime titles, including The Man Who Killed Boys, Night Stalker, Killer Kids, Blood in the Sand, and Deadly White Female.

Reviews

[J.H. Moncrieff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was both interesting and horrifying, but IMO, it suffers from too much exposition. Then again, my dislike of the long paragraphs detailing courtroom outcomes may be from a lack of personal interest. I'm always more interested in the victims, the perpetrators, and the actual crimes than the legal wrangling that takes place afterwards.

The book really falls apart in the final chapter, when the author strongly suggests he's in favour of teachers carrying concealed weapons to class, and that the high number of guns in the US has actually made Americans safer. He also suggests that heavy metal music and violent films and cartoons are the work of the devil. The author may use other people's quotes to back him up, but it's clear that he agrees, although he admits that such music and other violence in entertainment may not necessarily increase the likelihood of demonic possession.

Good to know.

[Regan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing style is just not for me. The author documents aspects of these tragedies in very clear ways, but jumps around randomly all over the place and can’t seem to stay on topic. It was really difficult to force myself to finish it.

[Nicki Kendall · Rating 3 out of 5]

A disturbing book about children who kill.

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reads like a book report

[SouthWestZippy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clifford L.Linedecker puts together a collection of children that have killed. The book was published in 1999 and sad but true lots more killings have happen. Linedecker is a great job researching and giving a unbiased real look at the crimes.

[lajoiearchives · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sad stories, kind of infuriating the lengths they go to keep guns laws the same and make schools jump through hoops to avoid having mass shootings. Interesting to learn but I didn’t think the style of writing was for myself. It wasn’t a page turner

[Melissa Frolich · Rating 5 out of 5]

very interesting look at these child killers. very sad as well. but good infomation