The Witness: Unfolding the Anatomy of a Killer

The Witness brings a new dimension to the genre of true crime literature, piecing together shards of personal circumstances and critical life events, so often swept under the rug of family shame or neglect, revealing how the past casts a grave shadow over one’s future.

CSI has long since rolled up the tape but the investigation isn’t over. Detectives cool their heels from pounding the pavement, but the interviews have just started. The suspects – charged and booked – are left to contemplate their fate. The key to their future lies in their past; while the crime is solved, one question remains:

What is justice?

The most fascinating and interesting thread to be untangled from the horrid mess of humanity starts with the jury’s verdict – guilty.

In the second stage of the trial, the jury is charged with the task of deciding a just and adequate penalty. Instructed to put aside their own experiences and put on the defendant’s shoes, they must arrive at an impartial decision based on the facts. Draper leads them through the defendant’s lifepath, from his birth to this murderous act.

The newly convicted murderer’s motives are balanced against humanity. The DA argues that such an atrocious act warrants death. The defense and prosecution push and press the circumstances, mounting the evidence to a landslide verdict. In the midst of the overwhelming accusations and suppositions, one obstacle keeps the rising tide at bay.

Unfolding the key circumstances of childhood that lead to adult criminal behavior reveals the unique role of the expert witness, determined to leave no stone unturned in her search for unravelling the human mystery of each case. Will her discoveries uncover mitigation evidence adequate for the jury to determine just punishment – death or life in prison without parole?

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The Witness: Unfolding the Anatomy of a Killer

The Witness brings a new dimension to the genre of true crime literature, piecing together shards of personal circumstances and critical life events, so often swept under the rug of family shame or neglect, revealing how the past casts a grave shadow over one’s future.

CSI has long since rolled up the tape but the investigation isn’t over. Detectives cool their heels from pounding the pavement, but the interviews have just started. The suspects – charged and booked – are left to contemplate their fate. The key to their future lies in their past; while the crime is solved, one question remains:

What is justice?

The most fascinating and interesting thread to be untangled from the horrid mess of humanity starts with the jury’s verdict – guilty.

In the second stage of the trial, the jury is charged with the task of deciding a just and adequate penalty. Instructed to put aside their own experiences and put on the defendant’s shoes, they must arrive at an impartial decision based on the facts. Draper leads them through the defendant’s lifepath, from his birth to this murderous act.

The newly convicted murderer’s motives are balanced against humanity. The DA argues that such an atrocious act warrants death. The defense and prosecution push and press the circumstances, mounting the evidence to a landslide verdict. In the midst of the overwhelming accusations and suppositions, one obstacle keeps the rising tide at bay.

Unfolding the key circumstances of childhood that lead to adult criminal behavior reveals the unique role of the expert witness, determined to leave no stone unturned in her search for unravelling the human mystery of each case. Will her discoveries uncover mitigation evidence adequate for the jury to determine just punishment – death or life in prison without parole?

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The Witness: Unfolding the Anatomy of a Killer

The Witness: Unfolding the Anatomy of a Killer

The Witness: Unfolding the Anatomy of a Killer

The Witness: Unfolding the Anatomy of a Killer

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Overview

The Witness brings a new dimension to the genre of true crime literature, piecing together shards of personal circumstances and critical life events, so often swept under the rug of family shame or neglect, revealing how the past casts a grave shadow over one’s future.

CSI has long since rolled up the tape but the investigation isn’t over. Detectives cool their heels from pounding the pavement, but the interviews have just started. The suspects – charged and booked – are left to contemplate their fate. The key to their future lies in their past; while the crime is solved, one question remains:

What is justice?

The most fascinating and interesting thread to be untangled from the horrid mess of humanity starts with the jury’s verdict – guilty.

In the second stage of the trial, the jury is charged with the task of deciding a just and adequate penalty. Instructed to put aside their own experiences and put on the defendant’s shoes, they must arrive at an impartial decision based on the facts. Draper leads them through the defendant’s lifepath, from his birth to this murderous act.

The newly convicted murderer’s motives are balanced against humanity. The DA argues that such an atrocious act warrants death. The defense and prosecution push and press the circumstances, mounting the evidence to a landslide verdict. In the midst of the overwhelming accusations and suppositions, one obstacle keeps the rising tide at bay.

Unfolding the key circumstances of childhood that lead to adult criminal behavior reveals the unique role of the expert witness, determined to leave no stone unturned in her search for unravelling the human mystery of each case. Will her discoveries uncover mitigation evidence adequate for the jury to determine just punishment – death or life in prison without parole?


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781630479022
Publisher: Morgan James Publishing
Publication date: 07/26/2016
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 252
Sales rank: 378,749
File size: 562 KB

About the Author

Wanda Draper, Ph.D., brings over three decades of insightful experience to an action-packed lifestyle as expert witness in over a hundred capital murder cases. As professor emeritus of human development, her twenty years in the Oklahoma University College of Medicine set the format for teaching behavioral science to physicians in their psychiatry residency programs. Writing books and consulting abroad is balanced by Texas Hill Country living and gardening with her pet kittens by her side.
Collin Stutz, a Vassar College and American Film Institute graduate, has co-authored three editions of the officially authorized James Bond Encyclopedia. He is a film development executive, screenplay writer, and recognized film historian.

Read an Excerpt

The old stolen pickup rumbled down the farm road with Joseph aimlessly driving to nowhere. It was two in the morning, and he was high on drugs that he had purchased at a truck stop about 75 miles back. When he crossed the state line, Joseph was numb to the world he left behind. The black night offered only the far away specks of a few stars that danced in and out of Joseph’s range of vision.

His drugged state then prompted his right hand to turn the truck down a lonely gravel road leading to a farmhouse, illuminated only by a security light some 50 feet from the front door. As he turned the truck into the driveway, he reached for the 20-gauge semi-automatic shotgun on the passenger seat. Fueled by anger and fear mixed with drug delirium, he moved with the ease of a slithering snake into the bedroom of the old farmhouse.

As he stood in the depth of darkness, the moon suddenly illumined the room. He saw the peaceful family sound asleep. His confused mind returned to his own family that had rejected him. Without a rational thought, he pulled the trigger and blew away the life and future of the father and the mother. He then moved into the bedrooms of the son and daughter and ended their lives as well. But the eight-year-old daughter only pretended to be lifeless, as Joseph departed into the darkness from which he came.

The cell started vibrating in Wanda’s coat pocket as she waited to board a connecting flight from Phoenix. “This is she,” Wanda confirmed while striding toward a deserted gate.

An unfamiliar business-like voice inquired about her working on a new case. Wanda had to ask the voice to repeat itself. The problem wasn’t that her phone had bad reception. General airport cacophony made it difficult to hear everything this woman was saying. She understood only about every other word. Still, she was able to fill in the blanks.

“Tell me about it. I just completed one in Phoenix. We—” Her words were interrupted by an announcement for a failed connection. She then finished, “We won, by the way.”

“You may be familiar…this one.” The noise was still overpowering.

“Oh? Who is it?” Wanda’s brows furrowed in concentration as she raked her memory bank for any recent major headlines.

“Joseph Allen….believe you…on his case. In Georgia.”

She made out enough words to know what the woman was saying. “But I never had to testify. I was practically packing my bags, when I received a call telling me he took the deal offered by the DA. He pled guilty. Took LWOP.”

In front of Wanda, plenty of drama was unfolding. A little boy with blond hair and blue eyes ran away from his parents, only to have them catch and reprimand him. Within seconds, he ran away again. ‘Ah, ambivalent attachment at work,’ Wanda thought.

The voice continued to explain the situation to Wanda. However, she recognized that now the technical difficulties were more than just ambient noise interrupting. It was a bad connection. ‘I’m learning to be a fan of modern technology, but this is too much,’ Wanda told herself. “Hold a sec. I’m losing you. Let me try and get a better connection.”

She trotted over to the window. Viola! The connection was perfect. “I can hear you a lot better now. Mind repeating what you just said?”

“Sure. I was saying they want to give Joseph the death penalty again because after killing that couple in Georgia, he crossed the state line and killed three more.” Wanda sighed a deep moan. The woman continued, “Now, he’ll stand trial in Florida. Since you’ve worked up lots of data on him, we’d like your help with this one.”

“When do you anticipate”—she flipped through her new 2008 pocket calendar—“going to trial?”

“Not for several months. In fact, the trial’s expected to last about six weeks. There’ll be ‘bout five, six attorneys for the defense. This is a big one.”

Table of Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Prologue

Part One

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Part Two

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Part Three

Chapter 13

Part Four

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Part Five

Chapter 19

Epilogue

About the Authors

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