Did They Really Do it?: From Lizzie Borden to the 20th Hijacker - Softcover

Rosen, Fred

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1560257741 ISBN 13: 9781560257745

Publisher: Running Press, 2006

Synopsis

From Abraham Lincoln's assassination to 9/11 and beyond, the guilt or innocence of many of the United States' most famous criminals remains in doubt. Looked at in the context of their era, Did They Really Do It? investigates each case anew. The book begins with Dr. Samuel Mudd. He was convicted as part of the group of Confederates who conspired to murder President Lincoln in 1865. It was Mudd who set John Wilkes Booth's ankle which Booth broke when he leaped to the stage at Ford's Theater after mortally wounding Lincoln. Claiming he never knew Booth, Mudd was sentenced to prison. While serving time, a Yellow Fever epidemic broke out, killing the prison doctor. Taking over, Mudd became a hero and President Johnson pardoned him in 1869. To his dying day, Mudd claimed innocence in the assassination plot. The last chapter focuses on Zacaharius Moussai, the alleged 20th hijacker in the "9/11" terrorist conspiracy who claims innocence. On the basis of a new investigation, this book proposes a dispassionate conclusion that Moussai is innocent. Other well known cases like Lizzie Borden, the alleged double ax murderess, and Bruno Richard Hauptmann, executed for killing the Lindbergh baby, are explored.

About this title

About the Author

A former NY Times columnist, Fred Rosen writes about crime with a distinct voice, at once cynical but hopeful. Through the thirteen murder investigations he has taken part in, he has come to believe that the answers to the crimes of the present always lie in the past.

Mr. Rosen is the author of 10 works of true crime, including Lobster Boy, for which he can be seen regularly as the on-air commentator on the “E!: True Hollywood Story” episode of “Lobster Boy.”

Born to the Mob, co-authored with Frankie Saggio, was published in trade paper in June, 2004 by Thunder's Mouth Press and sold out its first printing in four months. Prior to that Mr. Rosen's Evil Mother was published in April, 2004. Mr. Rosen is also a filmmaker with associate producer credit on the award-winning 1999 documentary Pitch People. He has an MFA from the prestigious USC Film School and currently teaches Criminal Justice and Film at Ulster County Community College.

Reviews

In this speculative true crime offering, author and part-time murder investigator Rosen tackles nine of history's most infamous court cases. He includes the 1865-69 case against Dr. Samuel Mudd, thought to have conspired with John Wilkes Booth in Lincoln's assassination; the highly publicized Rosenberg espionage trial in 1954; the two-part investigation into the Ku Klux Klan's involvement in the murders of Civil Rights workers in Mississippi; and the recent court battle against Zacharias Moussaoui. Reexamining the original crime scenes and using eyewitness testimony and FBI files, Rosen aims to present well-thought out and systematic answers to questions of guilt. In his summary of the case against Lizzie Borden, accused of hacking her parents to death with an axe, Rosen considers modern criminological information on patricide and pronounces her guilty, though he conjectures that given a history of abuse and the unpleasant cultural context of Borden's status as a spinster in 19th century Massachusetts, an innocent verdict might be the result in a contemporary retrial. Although some of his pronouncements sound like incredulous statements from someone who's decided the verdict before hearing the evidence, Rosen's book admirably presents cases in their historical context, illustrating how cultural shifts can affect judicial pronouncements. Photos.
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Edition details

• Publisher: Running Press
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1560257741
• ISBN 13: 9781560257745
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304