Lacey Spears trafiła na pierwsze strony gazet w styczniu 2015 roku, gdy została oskarżona o zamordowanie swojego pięcioletniego synka Garnetta. Prokuratorzy stwierdzili, że 27-letnia matka otruła go wysokim stężeniem soli przez sondę żołądkową. Dla świata zewnętrznego Lacey wydawała się idealną matką, regularnie publikującą w mediach społecznościowych dramatyczne informacje o wstrząsających problemach zdrowotnych swojego syna. W rzeczywistości jednak Lacey była podręcznikowym przypadkiem zastępczego zespołu Münchhausena. Odkąd Garnett był niemowlęciem, celowo doprowadzała go do choroby, aby wzbudzić współczucie wśród lekarzy, a także setek obser - wujących ją osób na Facebooku i innych mediach społecznościowych. Kiedy w kwietniu 2015 roku ława przysięgłych hrabstwa Westchester uznała ją winną zabicia Garnetta, skazano ją na dwadzieścia lat pozbawienia wolności z możliwością przedłużenia do dożywocia.
English-born John Glatt is the author of Golden Boy Lost and Found, Secrets in the Cellar, Playing with Fire, and many other bestselling books of true crime. He has more than 30 years of experience as an investigative journalist in England and America. Glatt left school at 16 and worked a variety of jobs—including tea boy and messenger—before joining a small weekly newspaper. He freelanced at several English newspapers, then in 1981 moved to New York, where he joined the staff for News Limited and freelanced for publications including Newsweek and the New York Post. His first book, a biography of Bill Graham, was published in 1981, and he published For I Have Sinned, his first book of true crime, in 1998. He has appeared on television and radio programs all over the world, including ABC- 20/20Dateline NBC, Fox News, Current Affair, BBC World, and A&E Biography. He and his wife Gail divide their time between New York City, the Catskill Mountains and London.
This was a true crime where it felt someone was pulling on my heartstrings. Wow so hard to read. I have always "enjoyed"reading books about children who suffer from women with munchausen by proxy. I hate absolutely hate when you read in news articles or even in this case a judge saying the mum suffered from this disease. No she did not suffer. Her son did!! This is not a mental illness and it seems people forget that. Glad to read the author has the same opinion and knew what he was writing about.
Now I also have a soft spot for John Glatt because he wrote a book I really liked (Playing with Fire) and then I began getting more of his books and most I like a lot. I even ordered a few of his oldies and am anxiously awaiting the package to arrive here.
This was a good book although I got a bit sick of all the facebook messages but I am not a big fb fan even though I do have an account there.. I read that now with all the social media easily accessible, the abuse has gotten worse with people that use their children to get attention by making them sick.They love to post all their sad stories so they will get the attention.
What pissed me off were all the people especially the ones who thought she was a munchausen by proxy mum and did not do a thing with it. They all let that poor child down and why did they give him a feeding tube? There was apparently no proof only the words of mum that he needed one. It is true that doctors take the word of mum and dad very serious. Then she was also a liar but that was also for her to get sympathy. I said it wrong, she did not want the attention, yes she loved it but she wanted the sympathy and people looking up to her, good mother Theresa.
A few days ago after I finished I looked online and one article had a person saying there was no proof lacey was guilty. No proof? I decided not to engage. Some people do not want to see the truth. Especially when the subject is handsome or good looking. To me she is scu of the earth. I would have respected her a bit more if she would have been honest but she keeps up the facade of course. A very interesting story and well written in my opinion.
Wow! Just Wow! This book is about a young mother with the diagnosis of Munchausen's by proxy who eventually killed her little boy. While it is a hard subject to read about I think it is something everyone should know about. This boy may have lived if the people in her life and the doctors had been more aware of what was going on. Some of them did suspect but didn't investigate further. This book also is interesting because of the aspect that social media played in the case. She probably wouldn't have been caught if she wasn't so addicted to Facebook and Myspace. Note to all criminals: what you post on line can and will be used against you. I will deduct one point because the trial is about 100 pages and is mostly transcript and/or what has already been told to us before. Otherwise, it would easily be a 5 star book and one of the best True Crime books I have read this year.
I've long been fascinated by these trash bags who call themselves Mothers and do this to their own children. This woman should've been hung, not imprisoned.
The book itself wasn't written in any style other than journalistic, which made it kind of a dull, repetitive read. It's established quite early that the mother is a loony tune who spends most of her time showboating on Facebook.
John Glatt has the ability to write interesting books, but can sometimes repeat himself and that's what happened here.
The story itself was, for lack of a better word, fucked up. I remember hearing about this case, but I never went deeply into it. And it's probably better that I didn't...
Also an oddity I noticed, the audio version mentioned a different doctor's name than the ebook does in one scene, I'm wondering if anyone else noticed that.
The only reason why I even checked that is because the last name sounded Serbian and I was like hold on hold on did I just hear that correctly? And then when I checked in the book to confirm, the doctor's name was completely different, but I know what I heard, not just once but several times.
Well, actually, there's a whole lot more to the short life of little Garnett Spears.
This is a well told true story, through which there are many "intake of breath" instances, particularly as it involves such a young child and his own mother. You don't have to be a mother to be horrified by her actions, nor to fall for little Garnett.
The mother was extremely devious, and at least it can explain why her actions went on not properly challenged for so long.
This is a new author to me, I appreciated the writing, and I feel that I got the whole picture, as much as was possible.
This will be appreciated by true crime fans, and I will be reading another offering in the future - but not quite yet, I have to mourn little Garrett first.
This is perhaps the most heart wrenching true crime book I have ever read. Lacey Spears... I just have no words. It's not that I had never heard of munchausen by proxy but I've never read a case where that was the most likely cause of a child's death. If you have strong reactions to stories that include children I would strongly caution you to be aware that this book is going to strike deep.
In addition to saying that the story is one that is bound to cause the reader an emotional reaction there are a few other points I would like to make.
1. John Glatt is quickly becoming one of the best true crime authors I've had the pleasure to read. This is I think my 3rd or 4th book from this author. He is fantastic at taking the time to weave the pieces together into a cohesive narrative for the reader. I'm positive the research didn't come to him this clean and clear.
2. This book is extremely well researched. There are excerpts from the trial, quotes from the individuals involved, interview notes from investigators and journalists. Glatt took time to interview people who knew Lacey, and even Lacey herself. It is a thoroughly researched and complete work.
3. This book is not an indictment against social media, but maybe to some degree it should be considered a reminder that social media has social consequences. In this case, Lacey used social media to gather the sympathy should would not otherwise have gotten by keeping Garnet sick. It is a tragic story from beginning to end.
The book wasn't very well-written, which why I can't give it a higher rating. At times, it read like the author got ahold of the trial transcripts and just copied and pasted large sections. BUT it was worth the read. It sheds light on this situation and will hopefully save some other child's life.
John Glatt is a talented writer and he did a great job telling the story of Garnett Spears life. As I read this book I was struck by two things equally.
1. How a can a mother purposely cause her child pain? I have watched my own son suffer through two heart surgeries, 4 1/2 years with a g-tube, and countless medical procedures and tests. The HARDEST thing I have every done in my life was watch my toddler suffer...and at times hold him down during painful procedures. I cannot fathom doing this purposely.
2. The second thing I was struck by was HOW IN THE WORLD did Lacey convince these doctors to do all these tests, procedures and surgeries on Garnett? My husband and I had to fight tooth and nail to get any doctor to listen to us when we repeated said, "our son is sick, he is suffering". As it turns out, what his doctors said was "reflux" and a "milk allergy" was a congenital heart defect that required surgery.
And the third third, though lesser, aspect I was struck by was the repeated references to Lacey using the proper medical terms and how surprised the doctors were by this...and how it sruck them as odd I have news for you: when your baby is sick, you become an expert in that disease/disorder. You bet my husband and I use proper medical terms.
I can define laryngomalacia, tracheamalacia, double aortic arch, vascular ring, and more. I can explain the difference between a rigid and flexible bronchoscopy. I can explain why a child how has had their left subclavian artery rerouted is at a higher risk for subclavian steel syndrome...that is becuase as a parent of a sick child, you can bet I have become an expert in my son's medical issues. I find it terrifying that this is seen as "odd" or an "indicator" for Munchausen by Proxy...I call it being a responsible parent.
Halfway through the book, and it is evident that the 4 and 5 star reviews are based of the traumatic story and not the book itself. This book is poorly written, and reads like newspaper clippings or Facebook timeline. The disorganization of this book and the slowness is annoying. I've read worse so that is why I am not giving it 1 star, but this book is 🗑🔥
John Glatt, jeden z najlepszych współczesnych autorów true crime, w swoich książkach przedstawia historie z życia wzięte. Reportaże jego autorstwa są rzetelne i bardzo szczegółowe, wzbudzających tym samym w czytelniku ogromne emocje. Osobiście nie przeszkadzają mi brutalne i mocne sceny, których, nawiasem mówiąc, w reportażach autora nie brakuje. Jednak, czytając książkę, która opowiada prawdziwą historię, nie sposób jest nie poczuć przerażenia, strachu, czy nawet uronić łzy. Historia, którą Glatt przytacza w swojej najnowszej książce „Mój słodki aniołku” opowiada o Lacey Spears, matce, która z zimną krwią zabiła swojego pięcioletniego synka Gartnera.
Lacey Spears dla świata zewnętrznego była idealną matką, która regularnie publikowała w mediach społecznościowych, ich trudną sytuację i problemy zdrowotne Gartnera. Rzeczywistość jednak była inna – Lacey to podręcznikowy przykład osoby cierpiącej na zastępczy zespół Münchhausena. Niemal od pierwszych dni życia Gartnera, kobieta robiła wszystko by doprowadzić u niego do choroby wzbudzających tym samym ogromne współczucie wśród personelu szpitali, jak również osób, które śledziły jej media społecznościowe. Wszystko uległo zmianowi w styczniu 2015 roku, kiedy to media obiegła wstrząsająca wiadomość. Lacey została oskarżona o otrucie swojego pięcioletniego synka wysokim stężeniem soli, którą podała poprzez sondę żołądkową.
„Popełniła ostateczną zdradę, jaką może popełnić matka. Miała go kochać, wychowywać, opiekować się nim i go chronić. Zamiast tego zrobiła coś zupełnie przeciwnego: zabiła go.”.
To, o czym przeczytałam w książce, nigdy nie powinno mieć miejsca. Przyznaję, że do tej pory nie znałam tej historii i dzisiaj będą po lekturze reportażu Johna Glatta zrobiłabym wszystko, by wymazać z pamięci tę historię i dalej żyć w niewiedzy, że gdzieś tam za oceanem jest kobieta, która bez żadnych skrupułów pozbawiła życia swoje dziecko. Niestety, nie da się. Ta historia już na zawsze pozostanie w mojej pamięci.
„Pod wieloma względami zbrodnia ta była niewyobrażalna w swoim okrucieństwie, a działania oskarżonej – godne pogardy. Nawet w szpitalu nie okazała ona litości swojej ofierze, którą był jej własny syn. Mały Garnett został okradziony z szansy na normalne dorastanie i szczęśliwe dzieciństwo, bo jego matką kierowała potrzeba zwrócenia na siebie uwagi”, czytał w uzasadnieniu wyroku sędzia rozpatrujący sprawę.
„Mój słodki aniołku” to przerażająca historia, która nie tyle wzrusza i wyciska łzy, ona szokuje i wstrząsa czytelnikiem. Autor bardzo szczegółowo przedstawia wszystkie wydarzenia, nie koloryzuje. Widać, że Glatt poświęcił wiele czasu, zrobił dokładny reaserach, by historia, którą nam przedstawia, była rzetelna. W książce zawarte zostały również, zapisy z prowadzonego przez policję śledztwa oraz przesłuchań świadków, bardzo szczegółowo opisany został również cały przewód sądowy. W tej całej historii najbardziej przeraża fakt, że nikt z bliskich, czy nawet dalszych znajomych Lacey nie zauważył, że z tą kobietą dzieje się coś dziwnego, a w jej domu rozgrywa się niewyobrażalna tragedia. „Mój słodki aniołku” to wstrząsająca historia, która pozostanie w mojej pamięci już na zawsze. To jedna z tych historii, której nie da się przeczytać na raz, bo okrucieństwo, jakiego doświadczył Garrnet, jest niewyobrażalne. Wiem, że nie każdy będzie w stanie przeczytać tę książkę i poznać historię pięcioletniego chłopca, którego wszyscy uważali za cudowne, zawsze uśmiechnięte i otwarte na przyjaźń dziecko, gdyż jest to mocna lektura, ale mimo wszystko zachęcam, ze względu na to, byśmy szerzej otworzyli oczy i nie wierzyli we wszystko to, co widzimy w mediach społecznościowych.
I feel mean giving this one star because it's going to be a good factual resource for me - but as a book it's unreadable, at least in its totality. Clearly, a lot of work went into it - and you can tell because it feels like there was not one detail that Glatt omitted. In fact, I feel like every single detail was not just stated, but repeated; Glatt is constantly referencing Lacey Spears' trial - rather than progressing like a totally linear account - but, then, come the investigation into Garnett Spears' murder, the account also follows the police around as they ascertain the exact same facts and exact same details. Anything that is organically interesting about this horrendous crime is never explored.
For instance, there's a very surreal moment (that is repeated twice - naturally) when Glatt finally gets to speak to Lacey Spears in person. She tells him that Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy is not a real diagnosis and the judge was wrong to label her with it. The interesting thing is...she's at least right about Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. But hers also really "feels" like a classic case (of a disorder that she technically can't be diagnosed with). I kept wondering if Glatt was going to pick up this detail and actually explore it, but nope. Their dialogue is simply repeated right at the end and...that's it.
While I don't want to disparage the amount of research clearly done for this book, people spoken to and interviews held, those basic facts aren't really engaging or interesting. It would've made a really great read in the form of serialised newspaper pieces or even one very long deep dive, but as a nearly 500 (!!) page book, it does nothing to grip the reader's interest or even give a better understanding of what happened than a very thorough timeline would have.
What an uncomfortable read. My Sweet Angel is a book about Lacey Spears, the mother who killed her 5-year-old son Garnett, and was diagnosed afterwards of Munchausen-by-proxy. She was convicted in 2015. I knew going into this that I was going to be a bit emotionally swayed by the story, and I was right. All of my sympathy was with Garnett, and was happy to see Lacey getting what she deserved.
John Glatt's writing style is great for true crime. He writes so factually. He doesn't report on anything that can be left to speculation; and while you can definitely tell what his opinion is on Lacey Spears (spoiler alert, it's not good), he doesn't out and out say it in favor of highlighting the facts behind the opinion instead.
My gripe: This could've been a 5 star book for me, but it wasn't. I was turning pages like crazy for the first half of it. But once we get into the investigation and trial portions, I felt like they were just reiterations of everything that happened in the first half. Otherwise, what a compelling case. Even though the writing is so facts-based, there's no way you can't be a bit emotional about this poor boy's story.
Książka dużo lepsza niż "Złoty chłopak". Temat jest przede przystkim dużo bardziej ciekawy i poruszający i to od początku wzbudzało chęć na poznanie tej historii w szczegółach. Książka jest długa, faktycznie są momenty, które nic nowego do sprawy nie wnoszą, a jedynie potwierdzają to co zostało przedstawione wcześniej, ale jednak chłonie się to i czytając chce się samemu zadać sprawiedliwość. Historia wywołuje bardzo silne emocje. Jest przerażająca i trudna. Trudno uwierzyć, że można się posunąć do takich rzeczy. A jednak. W audiobooku słucha się tego tragicznie, bo lektor czyta tekst i tyle. Ale mi akurat udało się to jakoś przetrwać, bo jednak historia, oparta na faktach, zrobiła na mnie duże wrażenie.
Nie wiem co więcej można napisać o tej historii niż „wstrząsające”. Szokujący reportaż o chorej psychicznie matce, który warto przeczytać chociażby w hołdzie dla tego, jak wiele cierpienia zniósł jej syn.
The story was very gripping, however, the writing was not. The book read like a collection of cut and paste from social media, interviews, and trial transcripts. The second half of the book, the trial portion, read like a repeat of the first half and had no new information.
I enjoyed this book, as much as you can enjoy a book about a mother who killed her son, but I found the second half, about the trial, to be very repetitive from the first part.
Lacey Spears, notoryczna oszustka. Miała 27 lat, gdy został postawiony jej zarzut podania śmiertelnej dawki soli w butelce wody swojemu pięcioletniemu synkowi Garnettowi. Opieka nad jej własnym dzieckiem nie była dla niej niczym innym, jak drogą wybrukowaną kłamstwem i egoistycznymi pobudkami. Wymyślanie chorób i googlowanie tych potencjalnych przeszło u niej do porządku dziennego. Wmawiała wszystkim wokół, iż jej syn wymaga stałych hospitalizacji, podawania licznych leków i przestrzegania restrykcyjnych diet. Posunęła się nawet do tego, aby skłonić lekarzy do wprowadzenia u niego sondy żołądkowej. Ludzie jej współczuli, choć niejednokrotnie złapali ją na kłamstwach. Jakim cudem ona twierdzi, że jej dziecko nie ma apetytu, kiedy w jej nieobecności mały zachowuje się jakby nigdy nic i je wszystko, co zostanie mu podane? Nie wymagając przy tym specjalistycznego sposobu podawania mu pożywienia? Bez zbędnego nakłaniania, wykazuje się normalnym apetytem i sprawia wrażenie zupełnie zdrowego... Lacey przejawiała podręcznikowe skłonności, jakim objawia się zespół Münchhausena. Krzywdząc własne dziecko, sprawiając mu niesamowite cierpienie, które doprowadziło finalnie do jego zg0nu, karmiła swoje ego i publikowała przejaskrawione do granic możliwości posty na Facebooku, w których doszukiwała się wsparcia ze strony swoich obserwujących.
Książka opisuje historię od podszewki przedstawiając w najdrobniejszych detalach psychologiczne aspekty, zachowania Lacey sprzed narodzin Garnetta, jak również te towarzyszące jego boleśnie krótkiej egzystencji. Każdy człowiek, niezależnie od emocjonalnej wytrzymałości, będzie tu odczuwał ogromną niesprawiedliwość, jaka spotkała to niczemu niewinne, biedne i nieświadome dzieciątko. Nienawiść i chęć wymierzenia sprawiedliwości rozpierają trzewia i nie pozwalają odejść od tej sprawy, bez poznania jej zakończenia. Glatt przeprowadzi nas przez momenty hospitalizacji, domysły, niemożliwe do udźwignięcia rychłe odejście chłopca, by następnie krok po kroku przejść przez etapy dochodzenia i rozprawy sądowej. Solidnie spisany dokument, w suspensowej ocenie mocne 4+/5, gdzie połówkę zabieram właśnie za te sceny z sali rozpraw, która mogłaby zawierać mniej powtórzeń. Jakkolwiek - czytajcie / słuchajcie audio, ja niebawem zabieram się za kolejną pozycję spod pióra autora - tym razem o „idealnym” tatusiu, który zam0rdował swoją żonę i dwie córeczki... ---------------------------------------------------------------- ig: suspense_books www.suspensebooks.pl
This was so disturbing. As the book states, this particular ‘syndrome’ is fed these days by instant likes and attention on social media. People posting pictures of their children sick or in hospital with no dignity or privacy afforded to them, as their most private moments are shared amongst strangers on the internet.
Honestly, this book disgusted me and I found it appalling. A monster masquerading as a mother. It’s desperately sad that a child can be born to someone such as this, without empathy or human emotion. A child that appeared cared for and loved- yet slipped through every crack. With some cases of abuse, a well kept home and ‘happy’ child doesn’t mean all that much. The reports of him otherwise being an energetic, healthy, and fun little boy make what she did all the worst.
Her social media posts were sociopathic and scary. The lack of action amongst healthcare professionals and the system was such a terrible shame. I think what was difficult here was that there were so many opportunities to help Garrett.
John Glatt is an excellent non fiction/ true crime writer and his books are always clear, concise and pack a punch. That being said, I did find this book to be slightly longer than it needed to be. The second half, as it covered the trial, also covered a lot of old ground that I felt had already been written about.
"Mój słodki aniołku" to książka poruszająca tragedię o której trudno cokolwiek więcej powiedzieć niż zostało napisane. Można zadać sobie i innym wiele pytań, ale czy kiedykolwiek ktoś na nie odpowie ? Wątpię.
"Mój słodki aniołku" to typowa książka w wydaniu Johna Glatta - mamy tu przybliżone życie kata i ofiary, relacje bliskich I dalekich osób ofiary i kata oraz relację z procesu.
"Mój słodki aniołku" to historia matki-kata i syna-ofiary. To historia niezdiagnozowanej w porę kobiety, która doprowadziła do śmierci swojego syna.
Czy gdyby ktoś wcześniej zwrócił uwagę na dziwne zachowanie Lacey zanim jeszcze została matką doszłoby do tragedii? Czy gdyby każdego rodzica diagnozowana pod kątem chorób psychicznych podczas trzeciej wizyty w krótkim czasie na SORze dziecięcym dochodziłoby do tragedii? Zastępczy zespół Münchhausena to choroba psychiczna wymagająca reakcji ze strony osób trzecich. Ale czy jesteśmy na tyle odważni, aby o każdym podejrzanym zachowaniu powiadomić odpowiednie służby? Wydaje mi się, że nie, bo przecież na pewno nam się tylko wydaje ...
Lacy Spears tries to present herself as the perfect child caretaker but if that’s true, why do children keep getting sick under her care? A compulsive liar, she often claims her friends’ children are her own on social media. When she finally becomes pregnant, she denies to her boyfriend that he is her father.
When her son Garnet is born, Lacy’s attention seeking behavior escalates as do her lies. She creates medical crises for him until the day she poisons him to death with an overdose of salt.
I listened to the audiobook of MY SWEET ANGEL. Why a true story about a woman in the United States was narrated by a man with a British accent is beyond me. I’d have given the book five stars if the narrator was better.
Mr. Glatt sure did his homework for this book. With the amount of pages, I thought there might be chapters of dried, boring facts, but quite the opposite..... He weaves a very interesting story that just can’t be true! I mean, what mother practices killing her child, all the while asking for attention?? Besides the shocking idea of committing this, what surprised me the most is how many friends fell for her woes, her stories, hook, line, & sinker. Unbelievable. I’m relieved she is locked up and I hope she never has freedom again. She certainly does not deserve it.
Lacey Spears was born and raised in Decatur, Alabama. Spears became pregnant, lying to the father and telling him the child was not his. She named her son Garnett-Paul Thompson Spears. She was active on social media and in the community talking about the health issues her child faced. Spears moved her and her child to Florida and then to New York, where he would ultimately die in the hospital on January 23, 2014. Investigation into the death would find that Spears was the mitigating factor in his death. This was a Munchausen case, so if you are interested in that, this may be a good book for you. I personally like John Glatt books and find them to be well written and well researched. This provided plenty of details about the case. If you are a fan of the ID channel, this case was featured on Web Of Lies.
A brutal story. I found myself getting angry while reading this. How could a mother do this to their child?
The use of direct quotes from Lacey’s social media posts really allowed the reader to see her true character and sickness. At times this book was repetitive, but Glatt did a great job at reporting Garnett’s life and death.