Killing Season: The Unsolved Case of New England's Deadliest Serial Killer

by Carlton Smith

The investigation of a Massachusetts serial killer reveals a story of prostitution, drugs, botched police efforts, shattered careers, and eleven victims, and offers suggestions for what can be done now to catch the murderer. Original.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime, Mystery, Audiobook, Death, History

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 1994

Reviews

[Chris Steeden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carlton Smith begins this grisly tome by providing a brief overview of the ups-and-downs of New Bedford in Massachusetts which was once a thriving whaling port that fell from grace to be a drugs den by the late 1980s. The picture he paints of the 1988 New Bedford is not pretty. He says that the harpoon was swapped for the hypodermic needle. New Bedford was the place where, in the mid-1980’s, four men raped a woman by pinning her to a pool table in Big Dan’s tavern. The Accused with Jodie Foster was based on this. A father of one of the murdered women (Sandy Botelho) states that New Bedford “is one of those cities that hurts everybody. It’s a city of hurt.”

A skeleton of a woman (Debra Medeiros) is found in the woods and so begins the story of a serial killer, missing women, drug addicts, abusive men, prostitutes, political shenanigans, rape, snuff films, false arrests, petty crime, a botched investigation and destroyed lives. This is the story dubbed the ‘Highway Murders’ once bodies had been found dumped by the side of the road. The killer had an affinity for dropping victims off the side of major highways leading out of New Bedford notes Smith.

From the discovery of that first skeleton Smith takes us through, chronologically, when the women went missing or when other remains were found. In all, 9 bodies are found and two are still missing. He would go back to provide more historical information on the victims and possible last sightings or movements. We see the possible perpetrators and hear each of their stories.

There are so many characters of a dubious nature in this book, as you can well imagine. It really did feel like a little area of seediness, violation and crime. Many of them are in-and-out of prison for all manner of offences it was no wonder that they had a long suspects list. The victims were either prostitutes or drug addicts. Normally both and this was part of the issue it appears. As the sister of one of the dead) women ((Nancy Paiva) says “And they don’t care because these women weren’t Chamber of Commerce material. I’ve always contended that if Nancy or any one of them, if they had been little college coeds, we might have had a different reaction from the public.”

Like many true crime books of this nature it is highly detailed but never boring. It felt like I needed one of those boards that you see detectives with in the old movies with names and lines of connections criss-crossing in a jumble but all connecting to one name in the middle. If only this investigation was that simple. Smith shows the mess made by the District Attorney and how other departments fight to investigate in a thorough professional manner coupled with the slapdash way others go about it. The in-fighting does not help the investigation in the slightest. The DA, Ron Pina, reminded me of the mayor in Jaws where he has his own views and his mind is closed and will carry-on regardless while the killer is still out there. If ever there was a ‘lessons learned’ on how to identify, or in this case how not to identify a serial killer then this is it.

The author died in 2011 so he did not find out who did it. Makes you wonder if they will ever find out who did it. Now, with the technology I am sure the killer would have been caught quickly but 30 years ago the technology was not quite there plus the courts would not receive a lot of the evidence that used certain technologies at that time.

I see that the Standard-Times reporter Maureen Boyle released a book a year ago (Sep-2017) called Shallow Graves: The Hunt for the New Bedford Highway Serial Killer. That gets good reviews.

[♥ Sandi ❣ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

The beginning of the synopsis of this book says ~~

"Over the course of seven months in 1988, eleven women disappeared off the streets of New Bedford, Massachusetts, a gloomy, drug-addled coastal town that was once the whaling capital of the world. Nine turned up dead. Two were never found. And the perpetrator remains unknown to this day."

That is the perfect review of this book.

I would have probably given this book a better rating however it started to drag around the middle of the book. The first third of the book was good - telling of the kidnappings and the discovery of the bodies. The next third was both boring, repetitive and it drug terribly. The last of the book was not as good as the first third, but so much better than the middle content.

This book was a bit unsettling, as was the case. You want to know who the culprit was and know they had been punished, but in this case that has not happened. What I thought was interesting was the number of people involved in this series of deaths, who on the publication of this book in 2011, were still in office. A few have died and the main suspect committed suicide. Pina the DA who bungled this case is now dead. And to this day the killer has not been found.

[Fishface · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story of what may be an unsolved serial-murder case. Or maybe it's not unsolved. The story bogs down in places because the author errs on the side of telling you every word everybody said...but overall it's a good read that leaves you understanding more about why police go through so much Excedrin.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book , very political though, feel sorry for the families of the victims. Has this murder ever been solved even now?

[Marsha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although this whole topic and situation is fascinating and illuminating, I good only get through three quarters of the book due to disorganization and the lack of a consistent timeline (it jumped back and forth with no rhyme or reason) or overall story, conclusions, or goal. I understand that that latter totally describes the case, but although it was a confusing mixed up case, the presentation itself should not be confusing and mixed up. Characters come in and out and come back in, etc. with no underlying explanation or justification. The one thing I got from this book is a need to actually study the purpose of a grand jury and a "special" grand jury. It would appear that the 2 are distinct and have different purposes, but I don't know… Anyway, I would be interested in learning about the entire case and exploring what went wrong without the story and description THEMSELVES going wrong in the telling!

[Ronnie Cramer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This true-crime book by the late Carlton Smith includes a lot of area history and politics. While not completely satisfying, it's better than most books about unsolved cases. The author paints unflattering portraits of the District Attorney, the police investigation, and of New Bedford itself.

[Ana-Maria Bujor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very frustrating story as it gives no answers simply because there are no answers. 11 women from the fringes of society, who also knew each other for the most part, were killed and dumped along highways, but we still don't know why or more importantly who did it.
The author introduces us to a cast of DAs, investigators, relatives and suspects, all of whose lives were affected by the case. Add to that a case that started off wrong from the beginning, egos, tunnel vision and lack of communication between the people working on it and it's no wonder the person was never caught. It's easy to blame one person or another, but the whole system was a mess bound to fail. Add to that the strangest and unreliable witnesses one could find, together with theories about snuff films, bestiality and satanic cults and it would have been a true miracle if they actually solved the case. At least no one got convicted while innocent.
Overall, the author does a good job at making the reader frustrated with the situation, looking for more information that simply isn't there. Information that could have been found had the investigation started off the right way. My only issue is that the author seems to want me to feel sorry for a serial rapist, dismissing his victims's trauma for the most part because they were prostitutes. Sorry, not much sympathy for that fellow.

[wendi wigham · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read

An interesting account of how ego & political ambition gave a serial killer carte blanche.
Ron Pina's term in office was a mockery of the judicial system in Bristol County. Self serving is the phrase that comes to mind. He did like to pass the buck when at fault, but grab any potential glory he !might think is out there - when he frequently misjudged the situation & ended up with egg on his face anyway!
His supporting cast (or not) didn't fare much better, whether following instructions, such as they were, or deliberately being obtuse.
His so called suspects were provisionally ruled out fairly early on, DNA testing etc. So I hate to think how much money was wasted by continuing to pursue these individuals.
As to the eleven murders, I do believe the case could be solved today. It would mean starting from scratch, but a decent team who knew there was no I in team would get results.
Carlton Smith was very good at laying out the facts of a case with clarity & with objectivity.
His co authorship of the book about the Green River killer is also an excellent book - especially as it was written way before Gary Ridgeway was arrested & confessed to forty nine murders accused of, plus others not known to authorities.

[Stefanie Robinson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book discusses the case of the New Bedford Highway Killer. The person believed to be responsible for the disappearances of two women and the murder of nine women whose bodies were found. The deaths/disappearances occurred between March 1988 and April 1989. All of these women were known to be sex workers, drug users, or both. It is likely that is how their murderer came into contact with them initially. There were several suspects in these murders, though police and their investigations were unable to nail someone down definitively.

This interested me for a lot of reasons, least of which was the fact that this was ongoing while I was born. I was born in July 1988, and it is just weird to me to think about events like this going on while I was just screaming in my mother's face oblivious to everything. I am a double history major, as well as a true crime partaker, and I read and watch a lot of stuff about a lot of things over a lot of years. I am not really sure why this particular set of events took me aback but it did. Anyway, this is not one of my favorite true crime authors, however I thought the book was decent and I got quite a bit of information from it. If you are interested in this case, this may be worth a read.

[Bradley Noell · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an interesting book about how the police botched multiple murder investigations and let what was most likely a serial killer go free. It's an interesting case but unfortunately it deserved better cops on it and a better writer to tell it.

The case itself was all over the place. Confused with timelines that frequently didn't make sense (especially with the cops fucking up as much as they did), but the writing shouldn't match that. The individual chapters make sense and I was able to follow everything, but there had to be a better way to organize these events. There's nothing really wrong with the writing style or the rest of the book, it was perfectly serviceable, nothing fancy but not actively bad either. But the organization of the information was just bad. It should not be this hard to follow something unless the author is deliberately making the events confusing and in a non fiction book there is no reason for that.

[Bill reilly · Rating 1 out of 5]

Heroin addiction became a major problem in the 1980s in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Cocaine and crack were also being used in the former whaling capital of the world made famous by Herman Melville.
It all begins in the summer of 1988 when a woman discovered a skeleton off the side of the road while relieving herself. The victim would later be identified as Debra Medeiros, a prostitute and police informer. The eleven women murdered by the Highway Killer all shared in common drug habits and all of them had children.
What follows is a convoluted story of political in-fighting. Witnesses give ever changing testimonies to a grand jury. The dregs of society fill the book. A recovered drug addict turned lawyer was the subject of the grand jury.
I usually avoid unsolved cases and Killing Season only reinforces my aversion to these type of books. I do not recommend Smith's tedious read.

[Suzanne Auckerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was well written, but very unsettling. I don't remember hearing about this when it occurred, but that was a busy time in my life.

The book had interesting information about the history of New Bedford, whose most prosperous time was when whaling was at its height. It also explains when and how different immigrant groups arrived in New Bedford and how the economy changed over time. Eleven women were missing and 9 bodies were found between 1988 and 1989. These women were drug users and or prostitutes. However, they had families that cared about them. It is frustrating these areas were known by authorities and there was little intervention to stop this and provide alternatives. (Reminds me of Hill Street Blues) The DA made the investigation political and chaos ensured.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, but at times it did get bogged-down in details. I definitely appreciated the Moby Dick quotes in the segues as they tied the “whaling town” roots to it’s grittier present. Even now, New Bedford has a major drug epidemic and many people living in poverty.

The one thing I’d criticize is how this new 2017 edition of a book from 1994 didn’t have its epilogue updated for the present. It would have been a minor effort. By 2015, both Pina, the DA and Ponte, the embattled suspect, were dead. The epilogue says they’re still living and working in South Coast Massachusetts to this day.

Of course, the author also died in 2011 so that would have been up to the publisher.

[John Lyman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am sure that I have liked other books by Carlton Smith, that’s probably why I chose to read this one. I wish I hadn’t. It started out well and I learned a lot of the history of New Bedford. True to the title and the author’s explanations, the murders were poorly investigated from start to finish and the many levels and divisions of law enforcement were major obstacles to a successful investigation. Ultimately the book devolves into hundreds of pages of nebulous investigations, accusations and charges by a bunch of very dubious witnesses. I guess I need resolution and you sure won’t find that here.

[Quanita · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to get mad about a serial killer getting away because of political infighting-this is your book. State troopers versus the police, each thinking the other incompetent. The district attorney looking for his Hollywood moment. Unidentified bodies found along the highway, evidence not processed because it was found by the "other", and easy scapegoats make this a compelling read. Throw in some false witnesses who weren't even there. Worth your time to see the workings of the justice system when it doesn't work.

[Jane Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

True Crime

Carlton Smith was a well-known true crime writer. This book is interesting because the author puts the focus in the hunt for a serial killer on the District Attorney rather than a suspect. However, it leaves the reader in suspense because a suspect is not even hinted about.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comprehensive and disheartening. Killing Season is the story of the highway murders of New Bedford MA. The author clearly makes the case that just about everyone involved contributed to a lack of resolution to a string of murders. While the story is frustrating and at times hard to believe, the book is nonetheless fascinating.

[Sabrina · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very boring and hard to read. Too political and wordy. I prefer to read true crime that focuses more on the victims and their side of the story rather than the investigation and court proceedings. I want to know why the crime happened and who the victims are. I don’t give much thought to the lawyers, investigators and judges.

[Karine Lelièvre · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted more information about the crime and I got tired of all the information of what created a bad relationship between people responsible in investigating it. It was just too much details which made it hard for me to see the big picture. I had more details about the crimes and the victims in a kids books than in this book, which made me sad.

[Tiffany spicer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This author has done great research on the case and it provides a lot of information. However, I personally found the book to move very slow and could not help but feel like I was moving towards no conclusion. I only read 50% of this book before calling it quits

[Jen Hart · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dry and rambling. SO many characters were introduced but not in any order or timeline. This book was more about the town politics than the circumstances involving these poor women's deaths. Disappointing read.

[Mikki O · Rating 4 out of 5]

Killing Season

Great book, excellent Author. I've enjoyed reading his books, this one dragged on a little more than it probably should have but I definitely finished it and would recommend it.

[Ann W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Where to begin...interesting but shows you how petty departments, from different branches of the law, can become narrow minded.

So many people, it can become confusing when listening to the audiobook. For me, 3 stars.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

😲

A recounting on an unsolved serial murder case. The failings of all involved on possibly allowing the murderer to go free.
A very matter of fact telling of all the ins and outs of the investigation and practically of every word said.

[Rik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good. Interesting coverage of an unsolved case. Very detailed, as i've come to expect from this author. What i really liked was there wasn't a single hint of theorising or conjecture, he just sticks to the course of the police investigations and doesn't play amateur detective.

[Tina · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a long book that was extremely repetitive and quite frankly, got on my nerves. It seems to me that this whole book was about political ambitions and playing "the blame game" as opposed to actually doing what needed to be done to solve horrendous crimes.

[Candice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh. Could have done without the Moby Dick references for a start. It was okay.

[Zina Losey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting

Shows what can go wrong in a major case! Was confusing in parts with all the different characters. Felt like the last part was clearer and easier reading.

[Ietrio · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sounds like a case for El Chupacabra.

Another hungry journalist digging up the graves in search of something eerie enough. A better writing style would have made wonders.

[Sean Ewing · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's ok, nothing great but I did enjoy.