Alone with the Devil

Profiles the author's career as a forensic psychiatrist, recounting the many frightening criminals he has faced, including the Hillside Strangler, Juan Corona, and members of the Manson family

This engrossing if disquieting study, and the strongly held views of forensic psychiatrist Markman, treats the role of psychiatry in the courts. Despite frequent "battles of experts," psychiatrists determine whether the accused was sane at the time of the crime and is competent to stand trial, and their findings influence the prepetrator's fate, stresses this study, coauthored by former Prevention magazine editor Bosco. From the hundreds of murderers he has interviewed, among them serial killers and mass murderers, Markman focuses on the trials of those found guilty of vicious homicides. He seeks to discover why they become killers and how their minds work, then to evaluate subtleties of behavior of a deranged psyche in terms of a justice system that, he contends, favors the criminal over the victim. Unlike other criminals, killers, according to the book, "best represent a cross-section of America," which helps explain why the murderous violence of most psychotics is impossible to predict. First serial to Los Angeles Times Magazine; Doubleday Book Club selection.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

With the help of former Prevention magazine editor Bosco, Markman, a California forensic psychiatrist, has written a riveting account of some of his more famous cases, including the Hillside Strangler and the Manson family murders. Markman's job is to evaluate the criminal's state of mind at the time of the crime, a decision that can determine whether the criminal serves prison time or is rehabilitated in a psychiatric setting. Definitions of insanity and the plea of "guilty but insane" are hot topics in the medical and legal communities, and Markman uses his case studies to support his strong opinions on these subjects. The breezy writing style and the notoriety of many of these cases will make this of interest to the general reader. Recommended.
- Sandra K. Lindheimer, Middlesex Law Lib., Cambridge, Mass.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.