Trace Evidence: The Hunt for an Elusive Serial Killer - Hardcover

Henderson, Bruce

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0684807084 ISBN 13: 9780684807089

Publisher: Scribner, 1998

Synopsis

Bruce Henderson unravels the story of the "Interstate 5" sex-strangler murders drawing on exclusive interviews with key investigators: Vito Bertocchini, the burly ex-street cop who took the killing of a beautiful young woman personally; Kay Maulsby, the rookie homicide detective who helped to unmask the killer; Ray Biondi, who fought severe budget cuts that threatened to derail the investigation; and criminalist Faye Springer, who attempted to tie the suspect to his victims through subtle but persuasive microscopic evidence.
The killer was unbelievably adept at staying one step ahead of authorities as the body count grew. Even after police finally identified the culprit - when a would-be victim escaped his grasp - they lacked the evidence to charge him with murder. Instead he was convicted of assault and sentenced to a few months in county jail. With the clock ticking, investigators worked desperately to build a first-degree murder case before the killer was set free.
Drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews - including the killer's wife, who never spoke to authorities - Henderson delves into the psychological complexities of his characters with astute sensitivity and eloquence, building a chilling, fascinating portrait of a depraved and unrepentant serial killer whose own brother was a veteran homicide detective in a neighboring county.
Trace Evidence, structured with the razorsharp precision of a Hitchcock film, is a powerful commentary about our society's priorities. If investigative resources had been based on need and not on politics, lives might have been saved.

About this title

About the Author

Bruce Henderson has taught journalism at the University of Southern California.

Reviews

As slowly and meticulously as any homicide investigator, Henderson compellingly chronicles the search for and eventual arrest of a cunning serial killer dubbed the "I-5 Strangler" because he picked up most of his victims along a lonely stretch of interstate highway near Sacramento, California. Henderson begins by recounting the escapades of a teenage boy who stole women's clothing from neighbors and then ritually cut up the garments. As an adult, the once meek teenager added kidnapping, sexual abuse, and strangulation to his repertoire. Henderson, coauthor with Vincent Bugliosi of the best-seller And the Sea Will Tell (1992), does a masterful job of tracking serial murderer Roger Kibbe's crimes and exposing the disturbed personality of the mild-mannered strangler, who fooled nearly everyone, including his homicide detective brother. Lusciously detailed and immensely readable, this is true-crime writing at close to top form. Sue-Ellen Beauregard

Because of a composite drawing and his assault of a prostitute, Roger Kibbe was the prime suspect in a series of abductions and sex stranglings over several years in the vicinity of Sacramento, California. Without hard evidence, though, the investigation of the "I-5 Killer" dragged on and the murders continued until trace-evidence specialist Faye Springer entered the case. The outwardly mild-mannered Kibbe, brother of a homicide detective, was convicted in 1991 on the basis of microscopic fibers and paint chips linking him to multiple victims. Henderson, coauthor of And the Sea Will Tell (LJ 12/90), has written a solid, compelling account of the capture of that most vicious of criminals, the random serial killer. Recommended for true-crime collections.?Gregor A. Preston, formerly with Univ. of California Lib., Davis
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Scribner
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0684807084
• ISBN 13: 9780684807089
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384