Book description
Based on five years of investigative reporting and research into
forensic psychology and criminology,
Erased
presents an original profile of a widespread and previously
unrecognized type of murder: not a “hot-blooded,” spur-of-the-moment
crime of passion, as domestic homicide is commonly viewed, but a
cold-blooded, carefully planned and methodically executed form of
“erasure.” These crimes are often committed by men with no criminal
record or history of violence whatsoever, men leading functional and
often successful lives until the moment they kill the women, and
sometimes children, they claimed to love. A surprising number go on to
kill a second or even third wife or girlfriend, often in exactly the
same way.
In more than fifty chilling case studies, Marilee Strong examines the
strange and complex psychology that drives these killers-from the
murder a century ago that inspired the novel An American
Tragedy to Scott Peterson, Mark Hacking, Jeffrey MacDonald, Ira
Einhorn, Charles Stuart, Robert Durst, Michael White, Barton Corbin,
and many others. Erased also looks at how these men manipulate
the legal system and exploit loopholes in missing persons procedures
and death investigation, exposing how easy it can be to get away with
murder.
Marilee Strong is an award-winning journalist who specializes in the
coverage of psychological and social issues. She is the author of A
Bright Red Scream, on the aftereffects of childhood abuse and trauma.
She has also written widely for newspapers and magazines on such
topics as child abduction, women in prison, gang violence, hate
groups, and psychological treatment for sex offenders.
