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Engaged to Murder: The Inside Story of the Main Line Murders
A gentle, unassuming English teacher at one of America’s finest public high schools, Susan Reinert was found naked, bound, and abused, in the trunk of her car. Her children, Karen and Michael, had disappeared. For seven years, dozens of state troopers, FBI agents, and prosecutors searched for the bodies of Karen and Michael, now presumed dead, and for the men who had murdered them. Residents of main line Philadelphia were horrified by the murders, but the convictions shocked them even more, because the men how had murdered Susan and her children were not strangers, they were highly respected members of the community, and they had been entrusted with the care and education of children. William Bradfield, charismatic, intelligent, attractive, ran the English department at Upper Merion High. Engaged to Susan Reinert when she died, at the time of publication, he was serving three life sentences for conspiracy to commit murder. Also, at the time of publication, Dr. Jay Smith, for twelve years the principal at Upper Merion, was on Death Row, sentenced to the electric chair for three counts of murder. Driven to understand how so many people could so misjudge two men, how the William Bradfield who was loved and revered by women, colleagues, and students could be the same man who planned the brutal, sordid murders of a mother and her children, Loretta Schwartz-Nobel spent more than three years probing every aspect of the case. She interviewed everyone who knew Susan and William; she had complete access to FBI and police records; she attended all trials and she talked to Bradfield himself during countless prison visits when he discussed literature, God, and Susan Reinert. Relentless in her research and intrepid in her intimate exploration of Bradfield and Smith, Schwartz-Nobel has written a riveting and terrifying book about three murders that shattered the fundamental tenets upon which every community of human beings depends for survival. If Bradfield and Smith are guilty, is there anyone of whose innocence we can be certain?
- GenresTrue CrimeNonfiction
301 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 9, 1987
12 people are currently reading
117 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
January 26, 2016
A really good read, very hard to put down. The author used a lot of court transcripts, but did not bog down even once in trivia or mind-numbing discussion of legal concepts. She clearly interviewed almost everyone directly involved with the case and did a terrific job of compressing three trials -- no, four -- into under 300 pages.
May 20, 2025
This old true crime book started out quite interesting. A mother murdered, her two children missing. All fingers point towards her lover, an off/on again relationship the victim had left her husband for.
In the book, it touches upon the perps relationships with women, who seem to become deranged with love for him. The murder victim broke up her family, threw herself on the floor at work sobbing, wrote endless explicit and increasingly desperate love letters, all to no avail. He was no longer interested, the rejection driving her to desperation.
However, upon her coming into inheritance, he is back in her life with hearty talks about their future and investing her money. Not long after, he is named beneficiary of her will. I feel sorry for the children who were innocent victims to a scheming manipulator and in all honesty, their mother’s naivety. But I’m sure that’s easy to say in hindsight. I frustratingly never got a feel for the motivation and decision making of Susan Reinert, although I understand she was clearly manipulated by Bradfield and her death was a tragedy.
The author talks of being granted visitation to the perp while incarcerated, in order to write the book. What a honour bestowed upon her, a female author, by such a kindly and generous man. An attempt to control the narrative perhaps? He maintains his innocence and befriends the author as he so enjoys their visits and it would be upsetting for him to see her no longer, when she has finished the book, considering he now views her as a friend.
The author frets about how best to write the book. Should she remain neutral, or sway one side or another. She decides upon letting the different voices in the story each say their own piece, a cop out? It’s a format that doesn’t work, with pages of rambling from the two accused (the other being a weird colleague). I thought this could have been interesting as there was an element of this in Fatal Vision, one of my favourite true crime reads, and the psychological insight proved fascinating. However, I think the rest of the text needed to be presented exceptionally well to balance it out. It wasn’t and, as a result, it often felt muddled and confusing to follow.
In the book, it touches upon the perps relationships with women, who seem to become deranged with love for him. The murder victim broke up her family, threw herself on the floor at work sobbing, wrote endless explicit and increasingly desperate love letters, all to no avail. He was no longer interested, the rejection driving her to desperation.
However, upon her coming into inheritance, he is back in her life with hearty talks about their future and investing her money. Not long after, he is named beneficiary of her will. I feel sorry for the children who were innocent victims to a scheming manipulator and in all honesty, their mother’s naivety. But I’m sure that’s easy to say in hindsight. I frustratingly never got a feel for the motivation and decision making of Susan Reinert, although I understand she was clearly manipulated by Bradfield and her death was a tragedy.
The author talks of being granted visitation to the perp while incarcerated, in order to write the book. What a honour bestowed upon her, a female author, by such a kindly and generous man. An attempt to control the narrative perhaps? He maintains his innocence and befriends the author as he so enjoys their visits and it would be upsetting for him to see her no longer, when she has finished the book, considering he now views her as a friend.
The author frets about how best to write the book. Should she remain neutral, or sway one side or another. She decides upon letting the different voices in the story each say their own piece, a cop out? It’s a format that doesn’t work, with pages of rambling from the two accused (the other being a weird colleague). I thought this could have been interesting as there was an element of this in Fatal Vision, one of my favourite true crime reads, and the psychological insight proved fascinating. However, I think the rest of the text needed to be presented exceptionally well to balance it out. It wasn’t and, as a result, it often felt muddled and confusing to follow.
March 8, 2015
I've already read Echoes in the Darkness and have become quite interested in this case. I was left with the nagging question of how so many supposedly intellectual individuals could be conned by Wm. Bradfield. Ms. Schwartz-Nobel does an excellent job in her book of showing how Bradfield's intellect and self-serving charm can easily sway even the most astute individuals (as illustrated by her own struggles reconciling the poet to the convicted killer).
February 21, 2022
FYI: I did not read this twice like GR says I did, but I might!
What an unbelievable case. I first read about the Mainline Murders in Joseph Wambaugh’s book Echoes in the Darkness in 1987. Hands down, this is the weirdest true crime case ever—with a fantastical cast of characters. I mean, I know it was the ‘70’s, but how does someone like Jay Smith stay principal of a high school for 12 years, for God’s sake! The rough draft of a letter to one of his lovers entitled “Status Report,” addressed to “Lover Woman” is, alone, worth the $6.99 I paid to get Schwartz Nobel’s account on my Kindle. From high school teacher Bill Bradfield—who thought he was Ezra Pound—to an incomprehensibly gullible crew of unwitting accomplices, one of whom actually wiped down money for him, to Jay C Smith, the Prince of Darkness, himself—this story will leave you mulling over how low and bizarre the depths of human behavior can sink.
As an attractive young journalist, Schwartz Nobel was the perfect person to mine the manipulations of Bradfield—and her account doesn’t get bogged down with macho, outrageous prose stylings, as does Wambaugh’s. Also, Schwartz Nobel’s reaction to Bradfield during and after interviews goes a long way to explain how murder victim Susan Reinert was seduced by his inexplicable magnetic pull. Peter Coyote, who played him in the mini series version of Echoes in the Darkness, IRL, he was not.
Just an update—the case took an even weirder turn, when in the ‘90’s, it was discovered that Wambaugh paid investigators 50,000 dollars to hide that sand had been discovered between Reinert’s toes, a detail that might have and eventually did, help to legally exonerate Smith.
Highly recommend for pure plausible implausibility.
What an unbelievable case. I first read about the Mainline Murders in Joseph Wambaugh’s book Echoes in the Darkness in 1987. Hands down, this is the weirdest true crime case ever—with a fantastical cast of characters. I mean, I know it was the ‘70’s, but how does someone like Jay Smith stay principal of a high school for 12 years, for God’s sake! The rough draft of a letter to one of his lovers entitled “Status Report,” addressed to “Lover Woman” is, alone, worth the $6.99 I paid to get Schwartz Nobel’s account on my Kindle. From high school teacher Bill Bradfield—who thought he was Ezra Pound—to an incomprehensibly gullible crew of unwitting accomplices, one of whom actually wiped down money for him, to Jay C Smith, the Prince of Darkness, himself—this story will leave you mulling over how low and bizarre the depths of human behavior can sink.
As an attractive young journalist, Schwartz Nobel was the perfect person to mine the manipulations of Bradfield—and her account doesn’t get bogged down with macho, outrageous prose stylings, as does Wambaugh’s. Also, Schwartz Nobel’s reaction to Bradfield during and after interviews goes a long way to explain how murder victim Susan Reinert was seduced by his inexplicable magnetic pull. Peter Coyote, who played him in the mini series version of Echoes in the Darkness, IRL, he was not.
Just an update—the case took an even weirder turn, when in the ‘90’s, it was discovered that Wambaugh paid investigators 50,000 dollars to hide that sand had been discovered between Reinert’s toes, a detail that might have and eventually did, help to legally exonerate Smith.
Highly recommend for pure plausible implausibility.
July 14, 2020
Author Details Plus Writing Style 4-Star Presents Quality True Crime Book! Story Well-Educated Teachers, But “Naive” Unable Escape Sociopathic People Has A Lesson! “Don’t Believe External Of People, Research, And “Have 100% Nothing To Do With Sociopathic Manipulator People”! Educational Resulting Outcome “Is BE Smart About People”
October 23, 2023
A good true crime book. It did drag a bit but, overall I like it
September 1, 2024
Fascinating exploration of the Reinert murders and trials
October 1, 2024
The case itself is fascinating but the author's personal insights into the man at the center of the murder made the book much more interesting.
May 4, 2022
Good book , good story and writing. I loved it. I never heard about this till I found her book in Thriftbooks. Its so sad that Children had to die just for money.
February 22, 2017
Very well-researched and presented. Recommend if you like true crime.
September 23, 2010
Talk about one of the most bizarre crimes ever----and the eeriest part of this book is that, yes, it happened right in my hometown, something you think will never happen and is only the stuff of movies. I have read this a few times and I still can't shake the feeling that even though Smith was a total nut-job (how does a person like this become a school principal?), I felt that Bradfield did everything on his own and dragged Smith and everyone else into it with his charm and cunning. I am not saying Smith was completely innocent, I just think he wasn't as guilty as Bradfield. I can't believe there has still never been a trace of the missing kids; it's unsettling that a High School principal and English teacher could commit a crime that has left no traces of the victims (with the exception of Susan R), makes me think it wasn't their first time.
October 3, 2007
About the same murders as Echoes in the Darkness.
May 29, 2011
A very sad story.
June 16, 2016
My favorite aspect of the book is that the author shows you the evidence and tells you her personal opinions, then lets it rest and allows you to come to your own conclusions.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews