Twisted Confessions: The True Story Behind the Kitty Genovese and Barbara Kralik Murder Trials

by Charles E. Skoller

In the early 1960s, the quiet borough of Queens was rocked by the violent and brutal murders of Barbara Kralik, Annie Mae Johnson, and Kitty Genovese. These murders shocked not only Queens and New York, but the entire nation, especially when newspapers disclosed Kitty's neighbors heard her screams and looked on without calling the police.

Two suspects were apprehended and indicted, Winston Moseley for the Genovese murder and Alvin Mitchell for the Kralik murder. Before the trials, Moseley claimed to have committed the Kralik and Johnson murders as well, not taken seriously by the police and DA until Moseley disclosed details only the actual killer could have known. Charles E. Skoller, the young prosecutor assigned to these trials was then faced with a prosecutor's nightmare. In Twisted Confessions, he details the murders and relives his investigations and trials that followed in the almost impossible task of revealing and convicting the actual killer.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Psychology

228 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 2008

Reviews

[Fishface · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating read that compresses a year of confusion, lies, delays and general frustration into a brief, but satisfying treatment of the notorious Kitty Genovese trial as well as two other, related cases. Highly recommended.

[Valeri Drach · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very well done book by the prosecution lawyer in a few very high profile Queens, New York murder trials. He also was a great young trial lawyer, researching the second case about a young girl kill d in her Springfield home in her own bed. These two cases from the early 1960s are reminiscent of a dark crime periods during the sad story of apathy creeping up on urban neighborhoods. Not caring about your neighbors demotivates our communities. We are our neighbors keeper.

[Jonah Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a good read. This is a story I always tried to get my dad to tell me when I was a kid but he never would. It was interesting to hear it from the prosecutors side. I now know a lot more about the reason my dad was convicted of this crime.

[Mkittysamom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow.. craziness! I can't believe all that went on! Between the Zodiac, Charles Manson and then these murders! Good read! Very sad story though.

[Andrew Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up right after finishing another book on the overarching story behind the Kitty Genovese murder. This book is written by the young prosecutor at the time who was involved in both the Kitty Genovese trial and a subsequent trial for another poor young woman's murder, Barbara Kralik. The connection between the two was significant because Winston Mosely, the killer of Kitty, confessed to killing two other girls, including Barbara Kralik. Since he had confessed with tightly intimate details to killing Kitty, his guilt in that trial was certain and the only issue had been insanity. What made things messy for the DA's office was that he tried to confessed to killing two other woman, Barbara Kralik and Anna Mae Johnson. Initially this was dismissed as a ploy to bolster his insanity defense but when tiny details he confessed to the cause of death of Johnson turned out to be verified by a reexamination, the press went wild and the DA's office was in a bind.

Charles Skoller was the young prosecutor at the time who was given the opportunity to try both cases including a retrial of Alvin Mitchell, Barbara's killer. He portrays the two trials in both gruesome and vivid detail but also with a level of depth that made this a page turner. We are given a detailed look into his case preparation, motivations, and rationale for pursuing the cases with such vigor. While the case against Winston Mosely was pretty much a nonbrainer he was faced with a lot of opposition to trying Mitchell and his convictions to do so were fascinating to read. I felt like he could have outlined his rationale better but I myself was convinced Mitchell was his man but I could imagine other readers needing more. Also his detailed accounts of the trials on and off the record could easily leave readers in the dark since he does not provide too much of a explanation to many of the legal principals embodied in these trials. Nonetheless I enjoyed this book tremendously and as a young attorney who is not currently a prosecutor, it has renewed my interest in pursuing that in the near future. Skoller's meticulous case preparation for trial also served as great pointers for trials in general. Despite the lack of background information, it is still an incredibly detailed account of two (three if you count the retrial) amazing trial to two infamous and barbaric killings. I would recommend it to anyone interested in real life crime stories and the legal proceedings surrounding it.