Publisher's Synopsis
Karla Homolka is regarded by the Canadian media as North America's most reviled female serial killer for her part in the torture, rape and murder of three young girls, including her own sister, between 1991-1992. But, best- selling true crime author and former criminal lawyer, David Elio Malocco, makes the case that as she was systematically tortured and raped by her husband, the depraved sadist, serial killer and rapist, Paul Bernardo, that she was suffering from Battered Spouse Syndrome and did not emotionally comprehend the crimes of which she was convicted. He opens up the case files including psychiatric reports and never before disclosed accounts to present the Case for Karla Homolka. Despite the infamous statement of an FBI profiler delivered at a convention in 1998 that there were no female serial killers the author tells us that since 1610 there are over 700 documented cases of female serial killers. This book deals with twenty of the world's most notorious female serial killers. Of the twenty serial killers profiled, eight are still alive, seven are in prison, one is free and one is due for release in the near future. The book begins with the Hungarian Countess Elizabeth Bathory, the inspiration for Bram Stoker's Dracula. Bathory, a lesbian vampire, sexual sadist and reviled torturer, is reputed to be the world's most prolific serial killer with a total kill count of 650 victims. But newly discovered evidence, translated for the first time into English by renowned Bathory expert, Professor Kimberly Craft, dispels some of the myths surrounding the Blood Countess of Hungary. Did she really rip the throats of young virgins with her own teeth and later bathe in their blood to preserve her beauty? Read the fascinating up-dated account of this real life vampire. The author separates the killers by way of motive into Thrill Seekers (Marta Beck, Myra Hindley, Aileen Wuornos, Gwendolyn Graham, Catherine Wood and Joanne Dennehy); Black Widows (Mary Ann Cotton, Catherine Flannagan, Margaret Higgins, Belle Sorenson Gunness, Dagmar Overbye, and Dorothea Punete); the Caring Profession (Amy Archer Gilligan, Genene Jones, and Beverly Allitt); and finally Sadistic Killers (Countess Bathory, Daria Saltykova, Rose West and Dana Sue Gray). Properly researched, superbly edited and eminently readable this soon to be classic book of wicked women is a must read for anyone interested in what makes women kill and the whole concept of Battered Spouse Syndrome. This is an altogether thoroughly enjoyable read.
