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Hi all,
Just wanted to get some feedback on whether y'all thought this might be a worthwhile project. Below is the "Summary" that I'd put in the proposal. It's not polished or perfect, but should give you an idea of the book. Let me know what you think, good, bad, or indifferent.
Thanks!
Mark
On November 15, 2001, a storm hits Austin, Texas, and hits hard. In the midst of the driving rain, 44-year-old Tony Russo pulls up in front of the expensive house owned by successful businesswoman Diane Holik, the house she is looking to sell. He knocks on the door and she lets him in, recognizing him from a previous visit in which he’d said the house was perfect for him and his wife. She hands him a towel to dry off while they talk. What she doesn’t know, can’t know, is that the pious-acting man in her home has an uncontrollable penchant for choking women, one that has already landed him in the penitentiary for twenty years.
She finds out soon enough, in the worst way imaginable.
When her body is found the next day, police canvas the area and find out that a man has appeared at the home of several women, all young and pretty, trying to sell their homes. One them, a former reporter, became suspicious and wrote down his license plate and the trail led to Russo, who worked as a worship leader and music director at a Church in Bastrop, Texas, a short drive from Austin.
Detectives were sure he was their man, especially when they discovered his previous conviction for kidnapping—he’d grabbed and choked several women—and his frequent visits to necrobabes.com, a website devoted to “erotic horror for adults,” including strangulation. His religious conversion, culminating in his prison marriage to the woman who had converted him, and his self-published book about his prison experiences couldn’t hide his true nature or quell his desires.
All the way through trial, Russo maintained his innocence, but by applying several types of forensic science and technology, from DNA to cell phone triangulation, prosecutors were able to disprove his story and convince a jury of his guilt.
This book is told with the help of numerous individuals, most notably the homicide detectives who caught Russo, and the prosecutors who tried the case. Russo’s defense lawyer has also agreed to cooperate, as far as client-confidentiality allows. Also interviewed for the book are several of the women Russo attacked and choked before he took the ultimate step. Additionally, the psychiatrist who testified for the state has agreed to give his opinions on Russo, and his conclusion is no surprise: Russo was on his way to becoming a serial murderer; a Killer, Interrupted.
Just wanted to get some feedback on whether y'all thought this might be a worthwhile project. Below is the "Summary" that I'd put in the proposal. It's not polished or perfect, but should give you an idea of the book. Let me know what you think, good, bad, or indifferent.
Thanks!
Mark
On November 15, 2001, a storm hits Austin, Texas, and hits hard. In the midst of the driving rain, 44-year-old Tony Russo pulls up in front of the expensive house owned by successful businesswoman Diane Holik, the house she is looking to sell. He knocks on the door and she lets him in, recognizing him from a previous visit in which he’d said the house was perfect for him and his wife. She hands him a towel to dry off while they talk. What she doesn’t know, can’t know, is that the pious-acting man in her home has an uncontrollable penchant for choking women, one that has already landed him in the penitentiary for twenty years.
She finds out soon enough, in the worst way imaginable.
When her body is found the next day, police canvas the area and find out that a man has appeared at the home of several women, all young and pretty, trying to sell their homes. One them, a former reporter, became suspicious and wrote down his license plate and the trail led to Russo, who worked as a worship leader and music director at a Church in Bastrop, Texas, a short drive from Austin.
Detectives were sure he was their man, especially when they discovered his previous conviction for kidnapping—he’d grabbed and choked several women—and his frequent visits to necrobabes.com, a website devoted to “erotic horror for adults,” including strangulation. His religious conversion, culminating in his prison marriage to the woman who had converted him, and his self-published book about his prison experiences couldn’t hide his true nature or quell his desires.
All the way through trial, Russo maintained his innocence, but by applying several types of forensic science and technology, from DNA to cell phone triangulation, prosecutors were able to disprove his story and convince a jury of his guilt.
This book is told with the help of numerous individuals, most notably the homicide detectives who caught Russo, and the prosecutors who tried the case. Russo’s defense lawyer has also agreed to cooperate, as far as client-confidentiality allows. Also interviewed for the book are several of the women Russo attacked and choked before he took the ultimate step. Additionally, the psychiatrist who testified for the state has agreed to give his opinions on Russo, and his conclusion is no surprise: Russo was on his way to becoming a serial murderer; a Killer, Interrupted.
