Overview

Twelve-year-old Marion Parker was kidnapped from her Los Angeles school by an unknown assailant on December 15, 1927. Her body was found days later, delivered to her father by the killer, who fled with the ransom money. When William Hickman was hunted down and charged with the killing, he admitted to all of it, in terrifying detail, but that was only the start . . . His insanity plea was the first of its kind in the history of California, and the nature of the crime led to a media frenzy unlike any the country had seen up to that point. Hickman's lawyers argued that their client lived in a fantasy world, inspired by movies, unable to tell right from wrong. The movie industry scrambled to protect its exploding popularity (and profits) from ruinous publicity. Outside of the courtroom, a country grew starved for every awful detail, and the media was only too happy to feed that hunger. David Wilson, a private investigator for over thirty years, captures the maelstrom of Marion Parker's death in vivid detail. From the crime itself to the manhunt that followed, from the unprecedented trial to its aftermath, Wilson draws the listener in to the birth of the celebrity criminal.

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9781982547547

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In an in-depth look at a shocking crime and landmark case, David Wilson lays bare a time in our early mass media history when society is often presented as being safer and more peaceful, showing that the peace of that time had more to do with our inability to know our neighbors and their lives behind closed doors.-- Anthony Flacco, New York Times bestselling author

"In an in-depth look at a shocking crime and landmark case, David Wilson lays bare a time in our early mass media history when society is often presented as being safer and more peaceful, showing that the peace of that time had more to do with our inability to know our neighbors and their lives behind closed doors.-- ""Anthony Flacco, New York Times bestselling author"""

Author Information

David Wilson worked for thirty years in the San Francisco Bay Area with his own company providing investigative services. He was hired twice by the U.S. Senate to investigate political corruption involving elected officials. In 1989 he made the first of seven trips to the West African Rain Forest, where he studied the philosophy, theology, and rituals of the indigenous shamans. Based on these studies, he has written ten books on traditional Yoruba culture and has lectured extensively on the topic. He lived for five years in Mexico, where he studied the system of pyramids built throughout South America. He is currently living in New Mexico, exploring sacred sites and working as a jazz musician. He has three children and four grandchildren. Joe Barrett, an actor and Audie Award and Earphones Award-winning narrator, has appeared both on and off Broadway as well as in hundreds of radio and television commercials.

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