Search - Dead By Sunset: Perfect Husband, Perfect Killer?

Based on a true story -

When attorney Cheryl Keeton's brutally bludgeoned body was found in her van in the fast lane of an Oregon freeway, her husband, Brad Cunningham, was the likely suspect. But there was no solid evidence linking him to the crime. He married again, for the fifth time, and his stunning new wife, a physician named Sara, adopted his 3 sons. They all settled down to family life on a luxurious estate. But gradually, their marriage became a nightmare....

In this gripping account of Cheryl's murder, Ann Rule takes us from Brad's troubled boyhood to one of the most bizarre trails in legal history, uncovering multiple marriages, financial manipulations, infidelities, and monstrous acts of harassment and revenge along the way. DEAD BY SUNSET is Ann Rule at her riveting best.

Dead By Sunset is the extraordinary true story of a charismatic man adored by beautiful and brilliant women who always gave him what he wanted. But he wanted everything--sex, money, and their lives. How long would it take before he finally got what he deserved?
Now the former Seattle policewoman brings us the horrific account of a charismatic man adored by beautiful and brilliant women who always gave him what he wanted...sex, money, their very lives....
When attorney Cheryl Keeton's brutally bludgeoned body was found in her van in the fast lane of an Oregon freeway, her husband, Brad Cunningham, was the likely suspect. But there was no solid evidence linking him to the crime. He married again, for the fifth time, and his stunning new wife, a physician named Sara, adopted his three sons. They all settled down to family life on a luxurious estate. But gradually, their marriage became a nightmare....

In this gripping account of Cheryl's murder, Ann Rule takes us from Brad's troubled boyhood to one of the most bizarre trials in legal history, uncovering multiple marriages, financial manipulations, infidelities, and monstrous acts of harassment and revenge along the way. Dead By Sunset is Ann Rule at her riveting best.

Publishers Weekly
Brad Cunningham was handsome, brilliant, a high-school hero in his native Seattle, a football star at the University of Washington. His family background was unusual, with a Native American mother of whom he was ashamed and an Anglo father who was contemptuous of women. As an adolescent, Brad was violent with his sisters and his mother. This pattern continued in his first, second and third marriages but reached its apogee with his fourth wife, Cheryl Keeton, a highly successful lawyer by whom he fathered three sons. When their marriage collapsed and she sought custody of their children, Brad, a bank executive, threatened her; in September 1986, she was found bludgeoned to death in her car on an Oregon highway. The case remained unresolved until Cheryl Keeton's estate filed a civil suit for damages against Brad in 1991. A criminal trial followed in 1993, in which Brad was found guilty of murder and sentenced to a minimum of 22 years. Rule (Small Sacrifices) provides a perceptive character analysis of a malignant, self-centered, charismatic con artist. It's a chilling, haunting portrait.

True story about a obessed man who killed his wife in front of his children. So much better than the movie and I thought it was terrific. Lots more information on this guy who though he was hot stuff. I couldn't believe he could be such a jerk.

Wow this guy was insanely charming to woo these professional women, get them to pay for his excessive lifestyle and then even kill one of them. He gets what he deserves at the end but the story is gripping. It really makes you think about those charmers out there!

Very good true crime book. I love the way Ann Rule writes, we get to know the people who committed the crime and the victims. Rule delves into the backgrounds of both and we end up with a very concise picture of everyone involved.

THIS BOOK MADE ANN RULE, ONE OF MY FAVORITE AUTHORS.

Awesome storyline

One of Ann Rule's best writings

A very good book like all Ann Rule's books.

This one is so sad..........another one of her greats!

ANOTHER GREAT TRUE CRIME

Multiple marriages, murder, lies, and betrayal. All the things that make a Ann Rule book grear

A disturbing account of "If I can't have you, no one will."