David Pietras

Deep within the city streets of New York there is an ongoing war. Some of these battles manage to make it to the front pages of our newspapers or the top news story on the 6 o'clock news. All too often these battles play out in the shadows of the back alleys and back rooms of everyday businesses. We know the names of the Families fighting these wars and now we are going behind enemy lines, to take a closer look at the battle between these families....

Visit even the smallest of towns in the U.S. and you're likely to hear some local ghost stories and discover a few haunted houses. But some American cities have gained the reputation for being particularly ghost-ridden thanks to their rich and often bizarre historical backgrounds. Though only a few centuries old, America has amassed an impressive number of eerie residences, each deemed haunted due to paranormal activity or a frightful past. From spooky...

Sandy beaches, beautiful sunsets and of course amusement parks are what comes to mind when you think of Florida. The allure of paradise has drawn millions to this wonderful state better known as "The Sunshine State". But for some, the sunshine has turned into a nightmare. We will look at five of the most notorious serial killers in the history of Florida. We will look at their upbringing and the path that lead them to Florida and ultimately to the...

We will explore the cases of 8 parents who decided to kill their own children. We will look deep inside the lives of the killers. We will find out what caused them to commit such a horrific crime against the very people that they were supposed to protect. We hope that this book will alert others to keep a vigilant eye on the children and parents in their communities and hopefully prevent the next killing from happening.

John Gotti was the last great leader of the Gambino crime family, the dominant Sicilian mafia family of New York. Gotti's boys had their fingers in everything from gambling houses, to drug trafficking, prostitution, to weapons dealing. Gotti originally came to lead the organization in 1985, but had been an enforcer for the mob since the early 70's. Originally, Gotti made a name for himself by helping avenge the death of Manny Gambino, nephew of the...

The question often posed when we are confronted with such senseless acts of violence as these, is what causes medical professionals to kill individuals for which they have a fiduciary duty to protect? Are there contributing factors shared among them which predispose them to murder? When the implicit trust relationship between doctors and nurses and the patients they care for is exploited for their own perverse deviant gain, what can we do? Betrayal...

Charles Manson and other members of his so-called family were convicted of killing actress Sharon Tate and six other people during a bloody rampage in the Los Angeles area during two August nights in 1969. Since that night "Charles Manson" has become a household name. Over 40 years later we will revisit the gruesome crime scene and the carnage of that deadly night. And then we will visit each one of the "Family members" to see where they are today. Warning:...

In 1997, a court found Darlie Lynn Routier guilty of probably the worst of human crimes: killing two of her natural children in cold-blood. Motive is still a mystery, but the prosecution painted her as a shrewish, materialistic young woman who, sensing her lavish lifestyle crumbling, slew her two sons Damon and Devon in a mad attempt to resuscitate her and her husband's personal economy. The following story relates the events of the murder and those...

Darlie Routier is on death row in Texas, convicted of the murder of one of her two sons, who were killed in the early morning of June 6, 1996. The media coverage of the investigation into the murders of Devon and Damon Routier depicted the crime as another heartless mother whose children were getting in the way of her lifestyle, so she killed them. After a jury trial in Kerrville Texas, Darlie was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. Most...

What makes a police officer disregard his oath and cross the Thin Blue Line. Some say that it may be caused by the stress of the job. While others say that they are just criminals themselves. We will take a look at four police officers, Richard Crafts, Drew Peterson, Lawrencia "Laurie" Bembenek, and Gerard Schaefer. We will try to figure out what caused them to murder and cross that Thin Blue Line.