Ladykiller: How Conman Bruce Burrell Kidnapped and Killed Rich Women for Their Money

by Candace Sutton, Ellen Connolly

In May 1997, mother-of-three Kerry Whelan disappears on the way to a beautician's appointment. Twenty-four hours later her husband receives a ransom letter: There will be no second chances. Follow all instructions or your wife will die. The case sparked Australia's greatest police manhunt, with detectives locked into a deadly waiting game for the kidnapper to make contact. As time ticked away and hopes for Kerry began to fade, a surprising suspect emerged. Bruce Allan Burrell was a seemingly respectable advertising executive living the good life with a coterie of well-to-do friends, including the Whelans. But when police delved into his background, Burrell's glamorous lifestyle proved to be a sham: in fact he was a thief and con man with a far more sinister secret. Two years before Kerry was kidnapped, wealthy widow Dorothy Davis had disappeared after advancing Burrell a large loan. When police searchers began scouring the bush of a remote country property, they did not know that they would be looking for the bodies of two of the killer's victims, as a tenacious detective and his team embarked on a ten-year mission to bring Burrell to justice.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction

228 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Alana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two good journalists who I'm sure can write a fantastic news article, but not quite cut out to write a book that captivates all the way through.

[Susan Abbey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riveting story of a Narcissistic fiend who has only $ in his mind and he will bump off old ladies and family friends to get it, eventually.........he is arrested and convicted of two murders - but will the families ever find their missing loved ones...because he is still so wrapped up in his 'innocence' he's not telling.