M. William Phelps | |
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Born | Mathew William Phelps February 1, 1967 Hartford, Connecticut, U.S. |
Occupation |
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Period | 2000–present |
Genre | Nonfiction crime, history |
Subject | Murder, serial killers, history |
Notable works | Paper Ghosts, Crossing the Line with M. William Phelps |
Notable awards | 2013 Excellence in Journalism—2015 Investigative Journalism Award |
Website | |
www |
Mathew William Phelps (born February 1, 1967) is an American crime writer and investigative journalist, podcaster, and TV presenter.
Phelps is the author of 39 fact-based nonfiction (true crime) books, 2 thrillers, and four history books, including co-authoring Failures of the Presidents with Thomas J. Craughwell. [1] Phelps has written for The Providence Journal , the Hartford Courant and the New London Day , and consulted on the first season of the Showtime cable television series Dexter . [2]
After his book Murder in the Heartland was released, Phelps went on Good Morning America to talk about the 2004 murder of Bobbie Jo Stinnett covered in his book about convicted killer Lisa Marie Montgomery. [3]
Beginning in January 2012, he produced and hosted with criminal profiler John Kelly the Investigation Discovery series Dark Minds, which airs on the Investigation Discovery channel. [4] [5] [6] The series features unsolved serial murders. [7] When Phelps' book The Killing Kind was released in June 2014, Publishers Weekly wrote, "Fans of the author's Discovery TV series, 'Dark Minds,' will be rewarded." [8]
He was featured in Writers Digest with his debut true-crime book Perfect Poison in 2003 and again with the release of his eighth book, I'll be Watching You, in 2009. [9]
The New York Post in a February 2012 review called Phelps' book Never See Them Again, about Texas killer Christine Paolilla, a "riveting new book" that "examines one of the most horrific murders in recent American history." [10] Kirkus Reviews called it a "thorough account of a quadruple murder in a Houston suburb in 2003." [11]
Phelps' book Nathan Hale: The Life and Death of America's First Spy was listed as number 14 on The New York Times bestseller list in e-book nonfiction the week of May 11, 2014. [12] Twilight actor Peter Facinelli in June 2014 acquired movie rights for his Nathan Hale book. [13]
Phelps is divorced and a father. Phelps' sister-in-law was murdered in 1996, and the killer was never found. [2] He now resides in Tolland County, Connecticut. [14] [15]
A serial killer is a person who murders three or more people, with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separate events. Their psychological gratification is the motivation for the killings, and many serial murders involve sexual contact with the victims at different points during the murder process. The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) states that the motives of serial killers can include anger, thrill-seeking, financial gain, and attention seeking, and killings may be executed as such. The victims tend to have things in common, such as demographic profile, appearance, gender, or race. As a group, serial killers suffer from a variety of personality disorders. Most are often not adjudicated as insane under the law. Although a serial killer is a distinct classification that differs from that of a mass murderer, spree killer, or contract killer, there are overlaps between them.
True crime is a nonfiction literary, podcast, and film genre in which the author examines a crime and details the actions of people associated with and affected by criminal events. It is a cultural phenomenon that can refer to the promotion of sensationalized and emotionally charged content around the subject of violent crime, for the general public. Many works in this genre recount high-profile, sensational crimes such as the killing of JonBenét Ramsey, the O. J. Simpson murder case, and the Pamela Smart murder, while others are devoted to more obscure slayings.
Harold Schechter is an American true crime writer who specializes in serial killers. He is a Professor Emeritus at Queens College, City University of New York where he taught classes in American literature and myth criticism for forty-two years. Schechter's essays have appeared in numerous publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, and the International Herald Tribune. He is the editor of the Library of America volume, True Crime: An American Anthology. His newest book, published in September 2023, is Murderabilia: A History of Crime in 100 Objects.
Dennis Lynn Rader, also known as BTK, is an American serial killer who murdered at least ten people in Wichita and Park City, Kansas, between 1974 and 1991. Although Rader occasionally killed or attempted to kill men and children, he typically targeted women. His victims were often bound, sometimes with objects from their homes, and either suffocated with a plastic bag or manually strangled with a ligature.
The Servant Girl Annihilator, also known as the Midnight Assassin, was an unidentified American serial killer who preyed upon the city of Austin, Texas, in 1884 and 1885. The sobriquet originated with the writer O. Henry. The series of eight axe murders were referred to by contemporary sources as the Servant Girl Murders.
Amy Duggan "Sister" Archer-Gilligan was a nursing home proprietor and serial killer from Windsor, Connecticut. She murdered at least five people by poisoning them. One of her victims was her second husband, Michael Gilligan; the others were residents of her nursing home.
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David Elliot Grann is an American journalist, a staff writer for The New Yorker, and author.
The third season of Criminal Minds premiered on CBS on September 26, 2007 and ended May 21, 2008. The third season was originally to have featured 25 episodes; however, only 13 were completed before the Writers Guild of America strike (2007–08). Seven more episodes were produced after the strike, bringing the total number of episodes to 20 for the third season. Mandy Patinkin wanted to leave the series, since he loathed the violent nature of it. He was replaced by Joe Mantegna several episodes later.
David Groves, better known by his birth name Patrick David Mackay, is a British serial killer who is believed to be one of the United Kingdom's most prolific serial murderers.
The Devil's Cinema: The Untold Story Behind Mark Twitchell's Kill Room is a true crime book by journalist and author Steve Lillebuen. The book is a work of narrative nonfiction. In May 2013, the book won Best Non-Fiction at the Arthur Ellis Awards.
Hadden Irving Clark is an American murderer and suspected serial killer currently serving two 30-year sentences for the murders of 6-year-old Michele Lee Dorr in 1986, and 23-year-old Laura Houghteling in 1992. He was also given a 10-year sentence for robbery after stealing from a former landlord.
The Jeff Davis 8, sometimes called the Jennings 8, refers to a series of unsolved murders in Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana. Between 2005 and 2009, the bodies of eight women were found in swamps and canals surrounding Jennings, Louisiana. Most of the bodies were found in such a state of decomposition as to make the actual cause of death difficult to determine.
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Donnie Eichar is an American film producer, director and author. He wrote the book Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident in 2013. He is also known for producing the TV series Killing Fields, the documentary film Soaked in Bleach, and the TV series The Buried Life.
Michelle Eileen McNamara was an American true crime author. She was the author of the true crime book I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer, and helped coin the moniker "Golden State Killer" of the serial killer who was identified after her death as Joseph James DeAngelo. The book was released posthumously in February 2018 and later adapted into the 2020 HBO documentary series I'll Be Gone in the Dark.
Dick Lehr is an American author, journalist and a professor of journalism at Boston University. He is known for co-authoring The New York Times bestseller and Edgar Award winner Black Mass: Whitey Bulger, the FBI and a Devil's Deal, and its sequel, Whitey: The Life of America's Most Notorious Mob Boss with fellow journalist Gerard O'Neill.