Monday, May 18, 2009

the 999 Challenge - May

This month I have been on a bit of a crime binge.
Lady Killer: how conman Bruce Burrell kidnapped and killed rich women for their money by Candance Sutton (Crime). Police conducted one of the biggest manhunts that lasted over ten years, after the disappearance of Kerry Whelan who vanished on her way to a beauticians appointment in Parramatta in 1997. Her husband receives a ransome note the next day demanding a payout of one and half million dollars for Kerry's release. Bruce Burrell a friend of the family and also worked for Bernie Whelan becomes the prime suspect in the case. Burrell turned up at the Whelan house three weeks before Kerry disappeared. It was thought that he intended to kidnap her then but her son was home from school sick. Burrell's property at Bungonia south west of Goulbourn was searched relentlessly by police over a matter of months but no body was ever found. What police did find was any empty chloroform bottle that was recently purchased and notes on the kidnap and ransome plan. Denis Bray the police officer in charge of the case would not give up as he also thought Burrell killed an elderly widow Dorothy Davis two years previously. Dorothy was a close family friend of Burrell's then wife. Burrell had borrowed a large amount of money from Davis and when she asked for the money back she disappeared.
After a hung jury and two trials later Burrell was finally convicted of both murders.
This book was quite an eye opener for me as I did not understand why the police were so hell bent on Burrell as the person of interest. I did not realise there was a suppression order on the evidence so that Burrell could given a fair trial. I really enjoyed the book and felt it was well written by Constance Sutton and Ellen Connolly journalists who followed the case from the start. They painted a sinister picture of a seemingly ordinary man who loved money and didn't want to work for it.
Behind the Night Bazaar by Angela Savage (Crime) Jane Keeney is an Austrlian working as a private detective in Bangkok. After running in to trouble with a case she decideds to take time out and goes to visit her good friend and cosy mystery reader Didier de Montpasse in Chiang Mai. Montpasse is accused of murdering his lover and it is claimed by police that he tried to escape when they were questioning him so they shot him dead. Jane of course does not believe this and sets out to find the truth. The story is dominated by corupt police lieutenant Ratratarn and his men. Angela Savage displays a deep understanding of Thailand, its culture and customs. It was an enjoyable thriller. I picked up this title in the good reading magazine.
Monster by Allan Savage (Crime) In 1984 Josef Fritzl drugged his teenage daughter Elisabeth and imprisoned her in an underground cellar beneath his home for twenty four years. In this time he raped and abused her. She bore him seven children of which one died. Three of the downstairs children as they were known were left on the doorstep upstairs with a note claiming there mother who had supposedly joined a religious sect, had abandoned them and left them for her mother and father to raise. The other three children were left downstairs were the Elisabeth raised them in appalling conditions. When I first heard this story I wondered like everyone else why didn't Elisabeth's mother know what was going on. Fritzl was a very cunning man bordering on genius. Fritzl owned a guesthouse in an other district which his downtrodden wife ran for at least three months of the year along with Elisabeth's siblings. He had started building the cellar long before he abducted his daughter and as he was an engineer he was able to make sure the cellar was well sound proofed. In hindsight neighbours and friends now realise they saw things they should have been reported. As he was aging he was trying to find a way to bring his downstairs family out of the cellar. Before he had a chance to achieve this the eldest daughter downstairs became exremely ill. Elisabeth begged her father to take her to hospital. The rest is history. The ramifications of living underground with no sunlight, poor ventilation and a poor diet has left the downstairs family with many health issues along with the mental issues. It not only affected the downstairs family but also the upstairs family who thought there mother had abandoned them and to find their grandfather was really their father. This story was well written and researched. It will be interesting to see how the family progresses in the future as I'm sure someone will write a continuing story.
Breaking the Spell by Jane Stork (Word of Mouth)
Jane was raised in Western Australia in a loving Catholic family. Jane married at twenty one and had two children by the time she was thirty. It was at this time she was experiencing difficulties in her marriage. Jane and her husband sought the help of a psychologist. The psychologist was involved with the Rajneesh movement led by Baghwan Shree Rajneesh. Jane and her husband become devotees of the Baghwan's teaching. They gave away all their worldly possessions and moved to the Baghwan's ashram in India. Like most cults there was free love and casual relationships which lead to the breakdown of Jane's family unit. The movement decides to move to Oregon in America were the cult constructs a new centre called Rajneeshpuram as the central town and commune. Jane is drawn deeper into the cult by the second in charge Ma Anand Sheelah and all their leadership struggles. Jane is caught up in the attempted murder of the Baghwan's doctor and the plot to kill the US Attorney of Oregon. Jane serves time in jail for her part in the crimes. When released she settles in Germany. Jane starts to find her way back to personal freedom. She finds love again and marries and reconciles with her children who are now living back in Australia. Her family welcome her back with open arms. When everthing seems to be back on track her son develops a brain tumor.
I found this an interesting book into the teachings of the Baghwan 'The Rolls Royce Guru'. This was a very big cult all over the world and at its height during the seventies and eighties. Cults seem to draw in people who are looking for a prop to hold them up and are therefore easy to manipulate. I felt sad for Jane who ended up sacrificing her life, marriage, children and family for so long. There is redemption in the end of the story. Jane was lucky she had a loving family who were there when she finally came to her senses. Maybe there are other members out there that didn't fair as well.
This is another book I found in the Good reading magazine.