Addicus Books

Books to Educate and Comfort

Navigation

Reactions Coming in on Showtime Docuseries on Caril Fugate

By

…Caril Ann Fugate: after 65 years, her story still fascinates. Unwilling hostage or willing participant in Charles Starkweather’s kill-spree? Watch THE 12TH VICTIM on Showtime and make up your own mind. Amazing semi-documentary.

…Another horrific tale of the influence of insecure men on trusting females. Caril Ann, I hope U see this, I KNOW you’re innocent! You were a BABY who was taken advantage of & then abused again by the very system that should’ve protected U.

….What a documentary. I hope that she lives to see her get her pardon.

…Just watched a terribly moving and sad documentary about Caril Fugate, called “The Twelfth Victim”. Very moving and I feel incredibly sad.

…She was just a little girl but we know what how conservative politicians and the courts in NE think of girls and women. From refusing to use the word rape in a rape trial to railroading 14 year old Caril.

…Starkweather really took everything from Caril Ann Fugate. Her parents, her sister, her innocence, her freedom — her whole damn life

…I just watched “The 12th Victim” and Nebraska’s refusal to pardon Caril Fugate is shameful and reprehensible.

…The 12th Victim is super interesting!!!! Clearly several levels of toxic masculinity distorted the truth

…Showtime’s THE 12th VICTIM, about Caril Fugate: She was 14 when her Charles Starkweather, went on a murder spree, she’s never been anything but credible and consistent in telling her story, and history STILL remembers her as an accomplice.

 

Best-Selling Author Applauds The Twelfth Victim

By

It’s back to press for The Twelfth Victim—The Innocence of Caril Fugate in the Charles Starkwather Murder Rampage.  

Best-selling author, Harry MacLean, (In Broad Daylight—A Murder is Skimore, Missouri), praises, The Twelfth Victim—The Innocence of Caril Fugate in the Starkweather Murder Ramage.

The Twelfth Victim is a much-needed addition to the Starkweather literature. Authors Berry and Batistti develop new information and deliver a searing attack on the justice system that convicted Caril Fugate of first-degree murder. It is a must read for anyone interested in the question of Caril’s guilt or innocence.

Starkweather, 19, was one of the nation’s first spree killers. In 1958, he murdered ten Nebraskans and one man in Wyoming. He kidnapped his ex-girlfriend, Caril Fugate, 15, and took her with him. The authors of this book produce information, showing Caril’s innocence.

Nonetheless, in 1958, she was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. At age 32, she was paroled.

Addicus True-Crime Book Featured on Oxygen Channel

By

Unholy CovenantAn episode of Killer Siblings, which debuts on the Oxygen Channel in December, features an interview with Lynn Willis, author of the Addicus Books true-crime work, Unholy Covenant—A True Story of Murder in North Carolina by Lynn Willis.  The book tells the tragic story of a young bride, Patricia Blakely, who is murdered by her husband and his brother.

After 60 Years, Caril Fugate Denied Pardon

By

The Twelfth VictimIn 1958, nineteen-year-old Charles Starkweather became one of the nation’s first spree killers, murdering eleven people in Nebraska and Wyoming. He kidnapped his fifteen-year-old girlfriend, Caril Fugate, forcing her to accompany him on the spree. He told Caril if she didn’t obey, he would murder her parents and baby sister. Little did she know, he had already killed them.

Days later, both were captured and went on trial. Starkweather claimed Fugate helped with the murders, but she was, in fact, innocent. Still, she was charged with murder and sentenced to life in prison; however, after eighteen years, she was paroled in 1976. In 2017 Fugate applied for a pardon. Three years later, The Nebraska Pardons Board refused to hear her case at a pardon’s board meeting in February 2020. Her request for pardon was denied.

Author of Battle at Alcatraz Passes in California

By

Ernest LagesonErnest Lageson, author of the bestselling book, Battle at Alcatraz, A Desperate Attempt to Escape the Rock, passed October 25, 2019, in Kensington, California.  In his book, he told the story of the 1946 escape attempt by six inmates. It was one of the bloodiest uprisings in the history of American prisons. During the three-day siege, inmates took nine guards hostage.  When it appeared their escape attempt was failing, the inmates shot all nine hostages.  One of the guards, Ernie Lageson’s father, survived.

Ernie was fourteen at the time; he and his family lived on Alcatraz Island—in the apartments for employees. He drew from personal insights as he told the story.

For many years, Ernie traveled to the Alcatraz Island as the guest author, signing his books and sharing his unique knowledge of the famous island’s history with visitors and tourists. Ernie Lageson was 87.

True Crime Still Selling Two Decades Later

By

Evil Harvest: The True Story of Cult Murder in the American HeartlandEvil Harvest, the True Story of Cult Murder in the American Heartland, is still selling twenty-six years after it was first published.  The true crime work, by Rod Colvin, was first published by Bantam Books as a mass-market paperback in 1992.  Addicus Books published the book as a trade paperback in 1997.  Author Rod Colvin said, “I am pleased that this book still sells as a paperback and as an e-book.  It is especially popular in the Midwest, where the story took place.”

Dennis Ryan Featured in Investigation Discovery Channel (ID) Program

By

Dennis Ryan was a teenager when his father, Mike Ryan, became a cult leader on a Nebraska farm in the mid-80s. The cult became notorious after it was discovered that two people had been murdered on the farm.  The story is told in Evil Harvest—The True Story of Cult Murder in the American Heartland, written by Rod Colvin.

In February, the Investigation Discovery Channel  (ID) aired an episode of their program Evil Resides Here,  called “Son of the Prophet,”  featuring Dennis Ryan.  The program premiered on Wednesday, February 12, at 10:00 P.M. The episode may be watched with the Investigation Discovery Go app or online here. (A cable subscription is required to view the content.)

#rulo,#cults,#Nebraska, #MikeRyan,#Kansas

Attorneys in Netflix Documentary Cite Addicus True Crime Title

By

9781938803659The attorney for Brendan Dassey, a teenager convicted of murder in Wisconsin, cites the The Twelfth Victim—The Innocence of Caril Fugate in the Starkweather Murder Rampage, (Addicus Books 2014), as an example of a book with stories about individuals wrongly convicted of murder. (“Seventeen Books on False Confessions.” Read the article here.) Dassey is the nephew of Steven Avery, also convicted of murdering 25-year-old Teresa Halbach. The attorneys for Dassey and Avery lay out their case, claiming the men are innocent, in a 10-part documentary on Netflix. The program, The Making of A Murderer, has been so popular that producers are considering a second season.