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Getting away with murder on the Texas frontier : notorious killings & celebrated trials -
Bill Neal ; foreword by Gordon Morris Bakken.
Book review (H-Net)
Table of contents only
Lubbock, Tex. : Texas Tech University Press, c2006.
xix, 308 p. : ill., maps ; 24 cm.
Annotations:
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 285-295) and index.
The coming of the law -- The unlikely saviors of Thomas J. Fulcher -- The 1896 Wichita Falls bank robbery -- The 1890s Wells Fargo murder trials -- Pardon me, please! -- More scandalous adventures of the Isaacs family -- Murder and mayhem in the Knox County courthouse -- Strychnine in the bride's flour -- And the perpetrator walked.
"Longtime Texas prosecutor and defense attorney mines trial records and other primary sources to analyze murder trials from 1880 through WWI in West Texas and Oklahoma. Addresses not only legal and illegal ploys but also inherent pitfalls for a nascent criminal justice system in a frontier society. Historical photographs"--Provided by publisher.
Reviews:
- Book News (Book News Reference, February 2007)
While working as a criminal lawyer in West Texas for four decades, Neal made a fascinating discovery: from the 1880s until World War I, an astonishing number of confessed or otherwise proven murderers walked away from courts West of Fort Worth as free men with "not guilty" verdicts. Here, Neal examines the factors, from the institution of Texas law to the influence of Hispanic practices and society at large, that contributed to this phenomenon. His information was gleaned from a number of primary documents (court decisions, transcripts, and newspaper articles) as well as books and interviews with contemporary West Texan law practitioners. About 30 b&w photographs accompany the tales of bank robbers, matricidal brothers, and other murderers who got away scot-free. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) 2006, Texas Tech U. Press, 308pp, $27.95. Ages: Adult professional Subjects:
- Trials (Murder)--Texas.
Criminal justice, Administration of--Texas--History Sources.
Frontier and pioneer life--Texas Sources.
| Language | Call Number | LCCN | Dewey Decimal | ISBN/ISSN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English (eng) | KF221.M8 N43 2006 |
2006005618 |
364.152/309764 |
0896725790 (cloth : alk. paper) 9780896725799 |