Yogurt shop murder defendants released on bond

Here's a detailed article on the temporary release of two defendants featured in Corey Mitchell's best-selling true crime book, MURDERED INNOCENTS.

Yogurt shop murder defendants released on bond

Yogurt Shop Murder Re-Trial Set

Case featured in my best-selling true crime book, MURDERED INNOCENTS.

Yogurt Shop Murder Re-Trial Set

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Coffee & Crime - 1/12/09

by Corey Mitchell

***Russia, the new breeding ground for serial killers? According to the Russian newspaper RNA Novosti, there have been over 500 murders that have occurred at the hands of serial killers in the last three years alone recorded in Russia. Nyet!

***James D. Watts, Jr. of the Tulsa World gives us a heads-up on author William Bernhardt's novel, Nemesis: The Final Case of Eliot Ness, based on the last, destitute days of famous crime fighter Eliot Ness. Bernhardt apparently writes about three three scary subjects in the book: loneliness, serial killers, and Cleveland.

*** According to Andrea Vogt in a special for the Seattle P.I., Amanda Knox (pictured left) is set to go to trial for the murder of Meredith Kercher this coming Friday in Perugia, Italy. Nothing against Kercher, but I am curious just how much coverage this case would garner if the alleged killer were not attractive.

***Looks as if author Neale Donald Walsch will be having a different sort of conversation with God. According to Motoko Rich of the New York Times, the mega-successful spiritual author pilfered a heart-warming Christmas tale for a Christian website from author Candy Chand, even going so far as to say he convinced himself he had written the piece. Ahhhh, putting the sleaze back in Christmas.

***Speaking of lying authors, check out this interesting piece by Lev Raphael over at Salon.com on a fellow, Herman Rosenblat, whom I wrote about recently in Coffee & Crime. You remember Rosenblat, right? The guy who wrote his fake Holocaust memoirs and even pitched it on Oprah. Not to be deterred, it appears as if the author may now release his book after all, as a work of fiction, with an independent publisher.

Corey Mitchell is a best-selling author of several true crime books, founder of In Cold Blog, a contributor at MetalSucks, and is feeling pretty good about his Pittsburgh Steelers today.

Vote for PURE MURDER for Book of the Year for 2008

I am honored to inform you that my most recent book, PURE MURDER, has been nominated for the Preditors & Editors Best Print/Electronic Novel in 2008.

If you would like to vote for it, please visit Preditors & Editors, click the button to the left of the book title and fill in your name and e-mail address at the bottom of the ballot.

Anything you can do to help the story of Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena reach the masses is greatly appreciated.

***DEADLINE TO VOTE: JANUARY 14***

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PURE MURDER has already made the Borders Group International Paperback Bestseller List alongside such classics as To Kill A Mockingbird and Catcher in the Rye.

PURE MURDER is also currently on the list of books to be considered for an Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime Book of 2008.

PURE MURDER was named one of the four Best Metal Books of 2008 at MetalSucks.

French Lawyer/Author Robert Badinter Speaks Out Against Death Penalty

My favorite talk radio program, The Leonard Lopate Show, hosted 80-year-old French lawyer and author Robert Badinter (pictured left) this past Monday.

Badinter, a stringent anti-penalty advocate, spoke about how the death penalty was eliminated in France, as well as his 2000 French book that has been translated into English and recently released as Abolition: One Man's Battle Against the Death Penalty.

You can hear the conversation here:


Here is the direct link if you are not able to see the embedded player.

You can purchase Badinter's book here:

Bart Whitaker, Subject of Corey Mitchell's Next Book, on Oprah Tomorrow

by Corey Mitchell

Bart Whitaker (pictured left with his brother Kevin) will appear on Oprah tomorrow (Monday, 10/6). Whitaker, currently on death row for the murder-for-hire of his mother Tricia, and brother Kevin, is the subject of my next book.

Bart is also the subject of another book, Murder by Family, written by Bart's father, Kent Whitaker, who was also shot in the melee back in December 2003. Kent's book focuses on the aftermath of the murders and how Kent forgave Bart for hiring two friends to murder his family.

As with all of my books, I plan on turning over every stone to look into Bart's background, as well as those of several of his friends who were involved in the murders. It is a truly fascinating story with numerous twists and turns, that includes hints of dark humor, overriding tragedy, and an examination of murder in seemingly one of the safest places on the planet.

I am looking forward to Kent's appearance on Oprah. I presume they will focus on Kent's ability to forgive his son for the murders of his wife and youngest son.

Visit the Oprah website to see a short commercial of the episode and chat about the case on her message board.

Mysterious Death of Dorothy Kilgallen to Hit Book, Screen

According to Variety, Hollywood producer John Davis has snapped up the rights to Good Night, Dorothy Kilgallen by Paul Alexander. Davis has a first look deal with Fox Pictures. The book, only in proposal form at this time, was sold to St. Martins Press for publication.

Dorothy Kilgallen (pictured left) was a successful reporter who covered several high profile stories on Hollywood as well as the Sam Sheppard murder case.

She was also friends with President John F. Kennedy.

Alexander's book will purportedly focus on Kilgallen's research into the murder of her friend, Kennedy, her writing of a book on his murder, and her mysterious death soon after she submitted her proposal to her publisher.

Alexander will pen a fictionalized version of the story for the screen. The article does not explicitly state if the book will be a novel or non-fiction.

If you want to know more about Dorothy Kilgallen, check out this well-written article by Sara Jordan in Midwest Today.

American Lightning Redux: ChrSciMon Likes Story, Not Book

One week ago I wrote about a scathing review of Howard Blum's Hollywood true crime book, American Lightning, that appeared in the Washington Post.

Unfortunately for Blum, the Christian Science Monitor's Randy Dotinga's recent review was not much better. It least it was a bit nicer toward the author -- well, maybe less harsh would be the better phrase.

Dotinga raves about the actual story of the bombing of the Los Angeles Times building, but holds back on distributing praise Blum's way. He writes of the book that it "succeeds in spite of its flaws. Blum’s prose is a bit too breathless at times, and the lack of detailed sourcing makes it difficult to trust his descriptions of the thoughts crossing the minds of the characters."

Dotinga does commend Blum for "painting vivid portraits" of two of the three leads in the story. This is the only praise offered up for the entire book.

If you are still interested in purchasing the book, feel free to do so below: