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True Crime Case Histories - Volume 3: 12 Disturbing True Crime Stories
12 True Crime Stories of Murder & Mayhem
Third Book of the True Crime Case Histories Series (2019)
As with the two prior volumes of True Crime Case Histories, I want to start with a quick word of warning. Most news articles and television true crime shows skim over the sticky details of truly gruesome crimes. In my books I don’t gloss over the facts, regardless of how horrible they may be. I try to give my readers a clear and accurate description on just how demented the killers really were. I do my best not to leave anything out. The stories included in these books are not for the squeamish.
Volume 3 features: longer stories, photos, two bonus chapters and an online appendix with additional photos, videos, and documents.
A sampling of the stories include:
The Canal Killer - A violent psychopath cuts off the head, hands, and feet of his girlfriends and dumps them in the canals of London and Rotterdam.
The Head in the Bucket - A drug kingpin chops off the head of one of his dealers and carries it around in a Home Depot bucket.
Captain Cash - Another drug dealer butchers an entire family so he can take over a man’s fruit shipping business and transform it into a drug shipping business.
The Coffee Killer - A young woman, jealous of her rich socialite friend, poisons her by lacing her coffee with cyanide in a public coffee shop.
The Arizona Torso Killer - A petite trophy-wife shoots her husband, freezes his body, hacks him up with a jigsaw and dumps his torso in a dumpster behind a grocery store.
The Oxford Murder - A young college student strangles his girlfriend and crams her body into an eight-inch crawlspace beneath the stairs.
Plus six more disturbing true crime stories.
The twelve true crime stories included in this collection are dark and creepy and will leave you with a new understanding of just how fragile the human mind can be.
If there’s any common theme between these cases, it would be that many of them happened near places I’ve lived throughout my life.
Three stories took place in the London area. One of which happened just a five-minute walk from my home. Two other stories took place in Scottsdale, Arizona where I’ve lived the majority of my life. Another took place in Maui, Hawaii while I was living there. And finally, another took place in Oxford, UK very close to where I’ve been working over the past year.
The stories in this volume took place all over the world, and range from the 1940s to 2018.
Third Book of the True Crime Case Histories Series (2019)
As with the two prior volumes of True Crime Case Histories, I want to start with a quick word of warning. Most news articles and television true crime shows skim over the sticky details of truly gruesome crimes. In my books I don’t gloss over the facts, regardless of how horrible they may be. I try to give my readers a clear and accurate description on just how demented the killers really were. I do my best not to leave anything out. The stories included in these books are not for the squeamish.
Volume 3 features: longer stories, photos, two bonus chapters and an online appendix with additional photos, videos, and documents.
A sampling of the stories include:
The Canal Killer - A violent psychopath cuts off the head, hands, and feet of his girlfriends and dumps them in the canals of London and Rotterdam.
The Head in the Bucket - A drug kingpin chops off the head of one of his dealers and carries it around in a Home Depot bucket.
Captain Cash - Another drug dealer butchers an entire family so he can take over a man’s fruit shipping business and transform it into a drug shipping business.
The Coffee Killer - A young woman, jealous of her rich socialite friend, poisons her by lacing her coffee with cyanide in a public coffee shop.
The Arizona Torso Killer - A petite trophy-wife shoots her husband, freezes his body, hacks him up with a jigsaw and dumps his torso in a dumpster behind a grocery store.
The Oxford Murder - A young college student strangles his girlfriend and crams her body into an eight-inch crawlspace beneath the stairs.
Plus six more disturbing true crime stories.
The twelve true crime stories included in this collection are dark and creepy and will leave you with a new understanding of just how fragile the human mind can be.
If there’s any common theme between these cases, it would be that many of them happened near places I’ve lived throughout my life.
Three stories took place in the London area. One of which happened just a five-minute walk from my home. Two other stories took place in Scottsdale, Arizona where I’ve lived the majority of my life. Another took place in Maui, Hawaii while I was living there. And finally, another took place in Oxford, UK very close to where I’ve been working over the past year.
The stories in this volume took place all over the world, and range from the 1940s to 2018.
Kindle Edition
First published November 25, 2019
1177 people are currently reading
601 people want to read
About the author
Jason Neal
123 books153 followersFor news and special offers, join Jason's mailing list at:
http://truecrimecasehistories.com
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http://jasonnealbooks.com
Jason Neal is a Best-Selling American True Crime Author living in Hawaii with his wife, who is also an author writing Women's Fiction as G.T. London. Jason started his writing career in 1989 as a music industry publisher and wrote his first true crime collection in 2019.
As a boy growing up in the 80s just south of Seattle, Jason became fascinated with true crime stories after hearing the news of the Green River Killer so close to his home. Over the coming years, he would read everything he could get his hands on about true crime and serial killers.
As he approached 50, Jason began to assemble stories of the crimes that have fascinated him most throughout his life. He’s especially fascinated by cases solved by sheer luck, amazing police work, and groundbreaking technology like early DNA cases and, more recently, reverse genealogy.
http://truecrimecasehistories.com
or
http://jasonnealbooks.com
Jason Neal is a Best-Selling American True Crime Author living in Hawaii with his wife, who is also an author writing Women's Fiction as G.T. London. Jason started his writing career in 1989 as a music industry publisher and wrote his first true crime collection in 2019.
As a boy growing up in the 80s just south of Seattle, Jason became fascinated with true crime stories after hearing the news of the Green River Killer so close to his home. Over the coming years, he would read everything he could get his hands on about true crime and serial killers.
As he approached 50, Jason began to assemble stories of the crimes that have fascinated him most throughout his life. He’s especially fascinated by cases solved by sheer luck, amazing police work, and groundbreaking technology like early DNA cases and, more recently, reverse genealogy.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
June 8, 2020
I occasionally enjoy reading true crime books, so when I saw a BookBub promotion for this book, I took a look at it. With ratings of 4.4 on Amazon and 3.92 on Goodreads, I figured it would be a good diversionary read.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t nearly as good as the ratings and reviews led me to believe. The book is a collection of random stories about fairly grisly murders. There’s no unifying theme (except, apparently, that many of the murders happened in places near where the author has lived). That in itself isn’t a problem. Based on the author’s description of the book, I didn’t expect anything different. But the crime stories are, on average, just okay. I’d say only one or two are particularly memorable, with “God Chose Us” being the best, in my opinion. I think most of them could have been told better by a more accomplished writer.
I really have to take issue with the reviewers who praise the author’s writing style. I found most of the writing to be flat and uninspired, and in many places, awkward or just inept. Please, take a basic writing course or hire a good copy editor. It’s not that hard to write sentences with proper antecedents, tenses, prepositions, and relative pronouns (has the author ever considered using “who” instead of “that” when referring to a person?). The very sloppy writing frequently distracted me and detracted from my enjoyment of the book.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t nearly as good as the ratings and reviews led me to believe. The book is a collection of random stories about fairly grisly murders. There’s no unifying theme (except, apparently, that many of the murders happened in places near where the author has lived). That in itself isn’t a problem. Based on the author’s description of the book, I didn’t expect anything different. But the crime stories are, on average, just okay. I’d say only one or two are particularly memorable, with “God Chose Us” being the best, in my opinion. I think most of them could have been told better by a more accomplished writer.
I really have to take issue with the reviewers who praise the author’s writing style. I found most of the writing to be flat and uninspired, and in many places, awkward or just inept. Please, take a basic writing course or hire a good copy editor. It’s not that hard to write sentences with proper antecedents, tenses, prepositions, and relative pronouns (has the author ever considered using “who” instead of “that” when referring to a person?). The very sloppy writing frequently distracted me and detracted from my enjoyment of the book.
December 10, 2020
Fascinating book!
This book offers details of several murders in the United States as well as other countries. As the author warns potential readers at the first of the book , the book is graphic as several of the murder victims were dismembered, and readers should be aware of that fact before reading the book. I highly recommend this book to other true crime readers.
This book offers details of several murders in the United States as well as other countries. As the author warns potential readers at the first of the book , the book is graphic as several of the murder victims were dismembered, and readers should be aware of that fact before reading the book. I highly recommend this book to other true crime readers.
August 25, 2025
Auch Band 3 offenbart wieder eine Vielzahl an kaum vorstellbaren Verbrechen.
Beschönigt wird hier nichts. Gut finde ich den sehr sachlichen Ton; die Fälle sind schon dramatisch genug.
Beschönigt wird hier nichts. Gut finde ich den sehr sachlichen Ton; die Fälle sind schon dramatisch genug.
December 5, 2019
Contains graphic crime details
Volume 3 continues with more astonishing crime cases told in graphic detail for true crime aficionados who want to know the truth. We also like to hear at the story's end that justice has been meted out. Readers who shrink from the truth and ignore the evil that exists in the world should not pick up this book.
The more you know about evil, the more likely you are to recognize it. Teach your children about the dangers that threaten them. Don't send them to the battlefield that is today's world without weapons.
There are many lessons to be learned in this book. Crimes are committed for such paltry reasons. A young woman poisons her best friend, but why? Husbands kill wives and wives kill husbands, but why? Often the reasons given are only petty annoyances, and the victim had no awareness of it.
I'll be looking forward to Volume 4.
Contains photos.
30
Volume 3 continues with more astonishing crime cases told in graphic detail for true crime aficionados who want to know the truth. We also like to hear at the story's end that justice has been meted out. Readers who shrink from the truth and ignore the evil that exists in the world should not pick up this book.
The more you know about evil, the more likely you are to recognize it. Teach your children about the dangers that threaten them. Don't send them to the battlefield that is today's world without weapons.
There are many lessons to be learned in this book. Crimes are committed for such paltry reasons. A young woman poisons her best friend, but why? Husbands kill wives and wives kill husbands, but why? Often the reasons given are only petty annoyances, and the victim had no awareness of it.
I'll be looking forward to Volume 4.
Contains photos.
30
February 18, 2024
A further collection of true crime stories, some more well known than others. Like the previous two volumes, the stories vary in length but none go into too much graphic detail. I sometimes prefer reading true crime this way, as the cases themselves can be quite taxing to read when they go into a proper deep dive. I understand there's many volumes by this author, so I'll work my way onto the next.
Read
March 8, 2022This was an interesting little freebie collection I downloaded, and mainly on the back of seeing John Tanner's photo on the front, as I remember that case really well. I had no idea that he had only served 11 years, returned to New Zealand and then tried strangling another girl and is banged up once again. Apparently, he didn't manage to kill this one and she's standing by him. She'll be sorry......I'm sure it won't be the last time his name pops up in the headlines. Once a murdering, jealous weirdo, always one, in my opinion.
The Jessica Wongso case was a fascinating one as well. Another proper nutcase ! She was lucky to escape a death penalty and I'm unsure why the Australians wouldn't return her to Indonesia if she'd be sentenced as such. After all, she belonged to THEM, not Australia. The Canadians appear to do the same as we do here......by not deporting someone, and then they go and murder some innocent and it's too late. They DID deport the Hungarian killer 4 times but the fact he could return 4 times defies belief. Somebody, somewhere wasn't doing their job !! I wish things still stood as they did back in the 1940s where one particular ne'er-do-well here was executed 4 months after his first killing. All these bleeding hearts that persist in keeping these rodents alive for decades on our dime cheese me off. The nastiest piece of work in this volume was James Patterson Smith.....what he did was just appalling. Yet he only got 20 years ! Really ?? Though he does remain in prison for now, while we feed it and keep it warm for years.....where is there justice in doing this ? And why ? He'll never be rehabilitated. The judicial system are kidding themselves if they believe that nonsense.
There are a lot of dropped fullstops at the end of sentences and an annoying habit of misplacing apostrophes and he then wrote alter as opposed to altar. But he committed the sin of amending the spelling on somebody's name, altering Souter to Suitor !! Ouch ! This cost him a star from me.
All in all, a quick but interesting group of cases are included here.
The Jessica Wongso case was a fascinating one as well. Another proper nutcase ! She was lucky to escape a death penalty and I'm unsure why the Australians wouldn't return her to Indonesia if she'd be sentenced as such. After all, she belonged to THEM, not Australia. The Canadians appear to do the same as we do here......by not deporting someone, and then they go and murder some innocent and it's too late. They DID deport the Hungarian killer 4 times but the fact he could return 4 times defies belief. Somebody, somewhere wasn't doing their job !! I wish things still stood as they did back in the 1940s where one particular ne'er-do-well here was executed 4 months after his first killing. All these bleeding hearts that persist in keeping these rodents alive for decades on our dime cheese me off. The nastiest piece of work in this volume was James Patterson Smith.....what he did was just appalling. Yet he only got 20 years ! Really ?? Though he does remain in prison for now, while we feed it and keep it warm for years.....where is there justice in doing this ? And why ? He'll never be rehabilitated. The judicial system are kidding themselves if they believe that nonsense.
There are a lot of dropped fullstops at the end of sentences and an annoying habit of misplacing apostrophes and he then wrote alter as opposed to altar. But he committed the sin of amending the spelling on somebody's name, altering Souter to Suitor !! Ouch ! This cost him a star from me.
All in all, a quick but interesting group of cases are included here.
December 11, 2019
Maybe my new favorite
This is my 3rd book from this author and I must admit I am hooked! I can't wait for more to come out. I love how he doesn't why away from what the true crime is like. As crazy as it sounds to me it makes the book so much better. It also makes the imagine or crime easier to imagine. I know these types are books are not for everyone but if you are like me and love true crime books then look no further. I promise (as long as you have the stomach) you will be hooked as well. I must admit the more details and stuff the more interesting it makes it. I mean after all it's a true crime book so of course I want to know what the actual crime scene was like. Most authors try to tone it down or are not comfortable with writing about all gruesome details......... But I've finally found an author that writes it exactly how it is and also has no personal opinions in it. He tells it like it is!
I am so ready for another book of his to read
This is my 3rd book from this author and I must admit I am hooked! I can't wait for more to come out. I love how he doesn't why away from what the true crime is like. As crazy as it sounds to me it makes the book so much better. It also makes the imagine or crime easier to imagine. I know these types are books are not for everyone but if you are like me and love true crime books then look no further. I promise (as long as you have the stomach) you will be hooked as well. I must admit the more details and stuff the more interesting it makes it. I mean after all it's a true crime book so of course I want to know what the actual crime scene was like. Most authors try to tone it down or are not comfortable with writing about all gruesome details......... But I've finally found an author that writes it exactly how it is and also has no personal opinions in it. He tells it like it is!
I am so ready for another book of his to read
December 10, 2020
Interesting book
I kinda wish there were more details about the fate of these killers. Some seem to have only gotten the minimum sentence of what they deserved.
I kinda wish there were more details about the fate of these killers. Some seem to have only gotten the minimum sentence of what they deserved.
February 12, 2020
A series of twelve crimes, all quickly summarized in a few pages. This isn't the in-depth true crime novel that I typically pick up. However, this is a great book for if you want to be able to read through something rather quickly. Because each case is shortly summarized, you can easily pick up, set it down, and come back again without really forgetting anything.
March 26, 2023
A good quick overview of several true crime cases.
September 8, 2025
Kurzweilige True Crime Storys, angenehm zu lesen mit dem ein oder anderen Übersetzungsfehler.
December 19, 2020
Body and great!
I came by this book on Amazon free books
Not normally my thing but thought it could be interesting
I absolutely could not put it down!
Yes it was shocking but I had to get to the end lol
Well done i will definitely look out for the others in the series
I came by this book on Amazon free books
Not normally my thing but thought it could be interesting
I absolutely could not put it down!
Yes it was shocking but I had to get to the end lol
Well done i will definitely look out for the others in the series
December 14, 2020
I am new to true crime books. I really enjoyed this book. I look forward to reading more.
December 26, 2019
Excellent
I really enjoyed this book. It was well researched and extremely well written. I couldn't put it down until I finished the book.
I really enjoyed this book. It was well researched and extremely well written. I couldn't put it down until I finished the book.
December 9, 2020
Amazing
The stories are really gruesome and hair raising. Each story gave me goosebumps. It is indeed difficult to trust anyone after reading about such horrific incidents.
The stories are really gruesome and hair raising. Each story gave me goosebumps. It is indeed difficult to trust anyone after reading about such horrific incidents.
June 8, 2020
I love every true crime case history book, because it seems Jason Neil goes the extra mile. It is a very rare occurrence when reading a true crime anthology by Jason Neal that I have found stories that have already been done to death… Pardon the pun. I can only give him five stars because those no higher amount which he would clearly deserve. I listen to the audiobook and found the narrator was perfect and the narration was done perfectly. He didn’t sound like he wanted to be the star of the show he was just there to read the book and that is what he done. So all in all the book and the narration is a perfect combination for a great listen, it is written with great style and is intriguing enough to keep your attention. Even if you are a diehard true crime fan I promise there are many stories in this book you haven’t heard because I pride myself on knowing a lot of true crime stories and these were new to me. I know that means nothing to you, but my husband would be astounded.
July 30, 2020
I really liked this book. I don't think there were too many gory details. I would have liked to know more about the killers lives and especially the victims. Can't wait to read more of your True Crime books!! Its difficult to find good true crime books and I am so glad I found your books!
April 8, 2020
good rrad
a good read loads of facts and easy to understand. i had to finish it in one go it took me a couple of hours.
a good read loads of facts and easy to understand. i had to finish it in one go it took me a couple of hours.
July 12, 2025
This is another great True Crime collection from Jason Neal. I like that he covered new cases as well as old timey murder cases, all in one book. Being from and living in Arizona I have heard of both the torso murder cases before and I remember how crazy it was hearing the developments of both cases especially the Marjorie Orbin case. I like how that case was covered, but I feel that the first Arizona Torso murder could've been given a couple more pages as there were plenty of crazy developments in that case as well. Another example of a really detailed case covering was the Larry Gene Bell case in which the author includes snippets of actual phone conversations the family of the poor little girl who was kidnapped and murdered by him had with the killer (some full phone conversations are included in the appendix at the end of the book). It was really interesting to see the psychology of a killer at large and at work (he would kidnap and murder another child while keeping in contact with the family of the first murdered girl). Most of the other chapters in this book are really good, somewhat short overviews of the crimes, the victims, and the perpetrators. He also includes an online appendix with more photos/videos of select crimes (not all cases are included in this online appendix which was slightly disappointing). The primary reason this book gets four stars from me is because there were only three or four stories that stood out to me in which the author did a really good job of covering the crimes and conveying the story in a compelling, memorable way. Another minor issue I has was that the author included two bonus chapters which were essentially cut and paste chapters from previous True Crime Case Histories. I'm assuming he did this for advertising purposes which rubbed me the wrong way. I get you want to make money on each book, but why not let the writing and storytelling speak for itself and not ads at the end of the book? However, I truly did enjoy this book and would recommend to any true crime buff. I can't wait to read volume 4 and on!
December 9, 2019
Mr. Neal Hits the Bullseye
Jason Neal is becoming more impressive as a true crime writer. His concern about the reader is to be commended. Should he tone down what he writes in terms of the gruesome details associated with the vicious killers he portrays in his stories? I vote NO! Those of us who read True Crime regularly prefer, at least I do, the more in-depth details of what happened to the victim. This helps to better understand the level of depravity, narcissism, psychopathology, lack of empathy, and sometimes mental illness or downright evil demonstrated by the killer's actions.
Getting to know the family members, their strength and determination to have the killers brought to justice, to find the only peace available after losing a beloved member of the family. The color photos and bonus scenes show even more how deceptive the looks of the killer can be.
Mr Neal keep writing using your own style. It is what we want.
Jason Neal is becoming more impressive as a true crime writer. His concern about the reader is to be commended. Should he tone down what he writes in terms of the gruesome details associated with the vicious killers he portrays in his stories? I vote NO! Those of us who read True Crime regularly prefer, at least I do, the more in-depth details of what happened to the victim. This helps to better understand the level of depravity, narcissism, psychopathology, lack of empathy, and sometimes mental illness or downright evil demonstrated by the killer's actions.
Getting to know the family members, their strength and determination to have the killers brought to justice, to find the only peace available after losing a beloved member of the family. The color photos and bonus scenes show even more how deceptive the looks of the killer can be.
Mr Neal keep writing using your own style. It is what we want.
May 11, 2021
TRUE TO FORM
I enjoyed the first two books in this series, and this one was good, too. There's not much to say about it that I haven't already said about the other two because they're similar, even with some of the same stories, but different enough that it was still good. These are not for the squeamish, but I like the details, and the stories are short, so if you can't take too much at once, it's easy to read one story, then move on to something a little lighter for a while if you have to. I like these books though.
I enjoyed the first two books in this series, and this one was good, too. There's not much to say about it that I haven't already said about the other two because they're similar, even with some of the same stories, but different enough that it was still good. These are not for the squeamish, but I like the details, and the stories are short, so if you can't take too much at once, it's easy to read one story, then move on to something a little lighter for a while if you have to. I like these books though.
May 14, 2021
I enjoy the books by Jason Neal, he is always very well researched. I view the case histories that he writes more of an introduction and overview of t(e cases he includes but he also writes about individual murderers where you get a more detailed in dept( look at them. If you like to read about true crime then I would highly recommend however be prepared t(at he does not leave anything out including the details of how the victims were killed as well as any injuries sustained.
August 28, 2021
This is the third book that I have read by this author simply because they were free. I felt that the stories were flat and didn't have any depth. As entertaining as reading a label on a medicine bottle. I will not be reading anymore books from this author whether they are available for free or not.
October 10, 2021
Good TC anthology series
The books in this true crime series are quick read anthologies. Many of the cases are somewhat obscure and take place during different eras and countries. This third volume is better than the first two because there are some nice colored pictures. On to book four!
The books in this true crime series are quick read anthologies. Many of the cases are somewhat obscure and take place during different eras and countries. This third volume is better than the first two because there are some nice colored pictures. On to book four!
December 21, 2024
Good Read!
I liked this book quite a bit actually. I've read the other two in the series so far and I'm definitely going to keep reading books by Jason Neal. The people depicted in this book did things that nightmares are made of. It was however a good read, well written and highly recommended!
I liked this book quite a bit actually. I've read the other two in the series so far and I'm definitely going to keep reading books by Jason Neal. The people depicted in this book did things that nightmares are made of. It was however a good read, well written and highly recommended!
March 3, 2021
The first thing I’ve read by this author
I had high hopes for this short book. As a reader of true crime I had high hopes when it popped up as a suggestion on kindle. It has the facts written without feeling . I found it rather flat. The author has potential to write really well.
I had high hopes for this short book. As a reader of true crime I had high hopes when it popped up as a suggestion on kindle. It has the facts written without feeling . I found it rather flat. The author has potential to write really well.
December 29, 2021
Well written
I have always been interested in true crime and this was my first taste of this series. This is wonderfully put together and enjoyable to read. I like that each case feels condensed, but is explained thoroughly.
I have always been interested in true crime and this was my first taste of this series. This is wonderfully put together and enjoyable to read. I like that each case feels condensed, but is explained thoroughly.
March 27, 2022
Excellent read.
This has a good mix of stories, from all over the world. Some were really sad, like the young woman, found in a barrel. She was pregnant at the time. Justice delayed, doesn't always mean justice denied.
This has a good mix of stories, from all over the world. Some were really sad, like the young woman, found in a barrel. She was pregnant at the time. Justice delayed, doesn't always mean justice denied.
June 21, 2022
I enjoyed the book since I enjoy True Crime. This Volume did have some stories that I hadn't heard about so I enjoyed that also. Another thing I enjoyed was that the stories were longer than in other volumes and of course, I love the pictures even though some can be a bit gross.
December 21, 2022
Jason Again
This author has quickly become my latest favorite author to become obsessed with...to the point of researching each case as much as I can after taking in the initial shock of witnessing evil.
This author has quickly become my latest favorite author to become obsessed with...to the point of researching each case as much as I can after taking in the initial shock of witnessing evil.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews