Privileged Information

by Tom Alibrandi

Frank Armani and Francis Beige were Central New York attorneys appointed to represent serial killer/rapist Robert Garrow, who went on a crime spree in the Adirondacks in 1973. Their client was charged with one killing but revealed to them the location of two other bodies. After checking to be sure the bodies were there, the attorneys tried, unsuccessfully, to use this information as part of a plea bargain.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1984

Reviews

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

N/A

[Miranda Angelucci · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're into true crime you have to check this out! The story takes place in Syracuse NY with real life people from the are as well. It follows an attorney who is asked to defend someone who is absolutely evil and the turmoil and challenges he faces throughout the investigation and trail.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Clubs are wonderful. At times they stretch you to read items that you wouldn't have read on your own. The people who join book clubs are usually avid readers so the discussion invariably reverts to talking about other books that you have read. At my last book club, one of the women mentioned having read this book and that it was a true story. Since we live in Syracuse or nearby it intrigued me. I ordered the book from the library and soon discovered why I had't heard about this case. In 1974-75 when this was happening, I was living in Nicaragua.

Robert Garrow has been in trouble most of his life. He had a troubled childhood and his parents gave him to a local farmer so that he could live with the farmer and work for him, thereby earning money for his parents. Both his mother and father were cruel to him. Robert killed a camper in the Adirondacks and was caught. Since Frank Armani had represented Garrow years before, Garrow wanted him to represent him in this case. Armani was not a criminal trial lawyer but he went ahead with taking the case anyway. Shortly afterwards he enlisted the help of Belge, who was a successful criminal attorney and they joined forces in representing Garrow. What they discovered as they interviewed him chilled their blood. When they became lawyers, they swore to uphold "client-attorney" privileges and were not to reveal anything that they were told that could harm their client. In this case, it because a dilemma of epic proportions.

Just how far should an attorney go in remaining silent, when the information that they have could be very valuable in the lives of others? The book follows the trial and the aftermath of the trial and was well written.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting, especially for someone from the Adirondacks. I'm really surprised this story has not been made into a movie.

[Fishface · Rating 4 out of 5]

This showed me a side of the legal profession I never really suspected. Silly me, I thought that whole issue of attorney-client privilege was settled centuries ago, but it wasn't even really addressed until the hideous Garrow case described in this book. The attorneys involved did things I cannot really understand and boy, did they ever pay for it. A fascinating read that involves problem drinking, fistfights between co-counsel and how to ruin your life by taking the wrong criminal case.

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite the insanity and uniqueness of the case, serial killer Robert Garrow is a pretty obscure case. He like a few other serial killers decided to use the wilderness as his hunting ground. New York's largest manhunt began in the summer of 1973. It was in the middle of Watergate, fellow serial killer Edmund Kemper had already turned him self in to the police in April of that year. Fellow serial killer Dean Corll had also been shot and killed that summer by his accomplice in Texas. The manhunt for Garrow was in July, Dean Corll's serial killing was exposed in August.

Robert Garrow reminds me a little bit of Joseph DeAngelo and Israel Keyes. Not your typical every day serial killer.

This book is very well written and reads like fiction. The beginning describes a murder by Garrow and the ensuing manhunt. What happened absolutely reads like fiction, but it's all true.

I read 86 pages the first night. A real page turner. I wanted to know what was gonna happen next. As soon as I woke up and was fully awake I read another chapter while still in bed.

I kept that up for the most part and finished this 300 something page book very fast. It's very well written and ends with a "what became of the major players" of the story and the author explaining where the information came from, who he interviewed, etc.

Robert Garrow in the book seems pretty pathetic and hilarious, at least to me to be honest. I couldn't help but imagine this pathetic bulky shell of a man, and that image gets even more hilarious when one of his lawyers suddenly asks for him to be put onto the witness stand to testify. I love the main lawyers reaction to this tactic.

The book kept me turning the page and was very very well written, but the case over all, isn't too interesting. We barely learn anything about the victims except for the last victim. We do learn about Garrow's childhood which is good.

Overall a great book, but not that interesting. It has photos, but none of the photos show really good views of the crime scenes. Actually it only shows one of the crime scenes. I would also of liked to have seen some photos of the victims, the police chief, and the lawyers.

[Miss Lily · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's about Armani, the attorney who defended Robert Garrow, a multiple-murderer and rapist in upstate New York, in the 1970s. The initial manhunt for him effectively shut down the Adirondack tourist season one year. Real piece of work, that guy. Was eventually shot after escaping from Fishkill, a medium-security facility, where he'd been transferred from a max-security. A co-worker lent me the book, as some of the officers involved were people he knows/knew from working in law enforcement up there. It was a big news issue in New York State (and made national news over the surrounding issues-- attorney-client privilege, among others) when AgentM was a younger fella-- and he worked one or more summers in the cemetery where one of the victims' bodies was dumped, and where Garrow was eventually buried. (Garrow had told his attorneys where several bodies were located; the attorneys refused-- and were later sued, and put before Grand Jury to consider charging them with Obstruction-- to divulge this information. Consequently, the victims' families had to wait a substantially longer time for an answer to whether their loved ones were alive or dead. I think, if the victims hadn't been dead at the time, the situation may have been different, and handled differently.) Overall, a typical true-crime book. I used to read a lot of the likes of Ann Rule, and what-not, haven't done so in a while. Not bad, if not astounding, either.

[Ethan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book "Privileged Information" by Frank H. Armani is an attorney's view of a court case that sets a new standard in law. The book depicts Armani's reflections and recollections of the Robert Garrow murder trial. The book also gave great detail to the facts and some interesting stories. Overall I enjoyed this book and would recomend all to read.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read, but we've had many better true crime narratives in the recent years. This was on my list for a long time due to the legal issues, but it was hardly about that at all, in fact. It is somewhere between okay and I liked it: 2-3 stars.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating account of serial killer Robert Garrow and the unorthodox, highly publicized defense practices of his two attorneys.

[Donna Germano · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was young when this happened. I remembered the story well because my maiden name was Garrow

[Michaela Cathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is absolutely wild. Incredible local true crime if that is your vibe.

[Ausy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book "Privileged Information" by Tom Alibrandi and Frank H. Armani is a gripping book written in the perspective of Robert Garrow's attorneys'. The book goes through every step he did in his court cases. It has been said that his cases have changed the way court cases operate and are looked at. Also there were stories told that no one knew about like where and when this few murders and raping happened and the after math of them. This is also a book that most people would enjoy if they like the Adirondacks history.

[Jim Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great story. One of the more underrated books in American literature. A narrative non-fiction book that is a must for everyone's reading shelf. I brought this book to work and it was days before I saw it as one person after another borrowed it and read it and read it fast. Everyone loved it. A movie "Sworn to Silence," was made based on this book.

[Tamara D'Agata Malecki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book about the NY State Police manhunt for Robert Garrow. Very interesting because it was near where I live.