Two of the biggest news stories in recent weeks involve Sheila LaBarre and Neil Entwistle. Both of them have been tried and judged to be criminals - murderers to be exact. The viewing public has shared every gory detail of their crimes, observed their behavior in the court room and watched and listened to statements by their relatives and the relatives of their victims. Newspapers and television news shows have reported on and analyzed their every move.

Just in case you have been out of the country or just too busy for the last few weeks, let me identify these people and summarize their crimes. Sheila LaBarre has been found guilty of murdering Kenneth Countie and Michael Deloge and disposing of their remains on her farm in Epping, New Hampshire. She readily admits murdering these men, but claims that she was insane at the time. Neil Entwistle has been convicted of killing his wife and baby daughter and then running home to England in an attempt to avoid capture. He claims that his wife shot the baby and then shot herself.

Criminals, especially murderers, seem to capture the public interest. Are we most interested in the who, the why, the how, or whether or not they get away with it? It's hard to say, but big crimes are big business for book publishers. Remember that controversial book by O J Simpson? The one where he doesn't admit that he committed the crime, but tells how it was probably done? Publication of this book was cancelled so that Simpson would not profit from his alleged crime, but If I did it was published by the Goldman family so that the world would know how guilty O J Simpson was.

Many criminals who have generated headlines and captured the public's attention have had books written about them. In recent years we have become well acquainted with Scott Peterson who murdered his wife Laci, John and Patsy Ramsey, who may or may not have murdered their daughter JonBenet, John Allen Muhammed and Lee Boyd Malvo, serial snipers who terrorized the Washington DC area, and Dennis Rader, better known as the BTK killer. Here are a few of the books in the library's collection recounting their crimes:
Witness for the prosecution of Scott Peterson by Amber Frey
Blood brother: 33 reasons my brother Scott Peterson is guilty by Anne Bird
Perfect murder, perfect town by Lawrence Schiller
The death of innocence: the untold story of JonBenet's murder by John Ramsey
Three weeks in October : the manhunt for the serial sniper by Charles A. Moose
Inside the mind of BTK by John Douglas

If you find that you are interested in murderers and their motives, Ann Rule is an author for you to read. Her books are well-written and detailed and involve the reader's emotions. The library has a large collection of her books. Some of the most recent are Smoke, mirrors and murder, Too late to say goodbye, No regrets : and other true cases and Worth more dead and other true cases.

Keep watching for new books! Sheila LaBarre and Neil Entwistle are sure to be written about in the near future.