Helpful Score: 3
A horrible tale of tragedy. The best part about this true crime is that you are left wondering at the end if the husband really did it or was framed. Most true crime presents a tale of lies that is unraveled at the end. This was different.
Helpful Score: 1
This is one of the best true crime books I've read. I read this many years ago, but I still remember it, because I could not believe Hendricks was convicted. The evidence just was not there. The state's entire case was based on the stomach contents of the girls, and when they estimated that the girls ate their last meal...that's ALL they had, and yet this grieving man was convicted. What a nightmare for him!
Fascinating case and the book does it full justice I think. The only reason I didn't rate it 5 is that there are number of repetitive portions; however I did feel that the full amount of information available to jurors was presented. I liked the way Vogel approached facts, analyzed them, and then speculated on how they could cut either way toward innocence or guilt. In the end, I agree with what eventually happened and decided that, as a juror, there was not definite proof of guilt. But - I believe Vogel saw things first one way, then another, and that contributed to the meatiness of the book. Can a man be 'just too good to be true?' Obviously, but that doesn't mean he is capable of absolutely any depravity. Perhaps expectations of what being Christian means played into the ease with which some were convinced that a husband who misbehaves, could not be a 'real' religious believer. All in all, a very satisfying book.
SHocking,
Did he or didn't he? He seemed like a clean-cut Christian husband and father with a successful business. Were his business trip and phone calls home a subterfuge? Was his flat effect a sign of guilt or shock? Who else could have done it, if not him? To whom did the unidentified fingerprints and foot print belong?
Read this book and see what you think! It is one of the few true crime books I have read which left me truly wondering, did he or didn't he?
Read this book and see what you think! It is one of the few true crime books I have read which left me truly wondering, did he or didn't he?
I have not read this. From the back cover: The scene awaiting policemen as they entered the charming suburban house was one they would never forget. Three children and their mother lay havked to death in their beds, their sheets and walls soaked in blood. A butcher knife and an axe lay nearby.
There appeared to be no physical evidence, and the detective at first suspected a bungled robbery. But as the police sifted clues and questioned friends and family members, an appalling possibility presented itself: Could David Hendricks, the grief-stricken father, away on a business trip, have methodically killed his wife and children before he left? And why would a successful businessman and devoted member of a fundamentalist religious group want his family eliminated? The prosecution painted a darker picture of David Hendricks.
Convicted by his first jury, awarded a new trial, a second jury has now concluded that David Hendricks had not been proven guilty-beyond a reasonable doubt.
There appeared to be no physical evidence, and the detective at first suspected a bungled robbery. But as the police sifted clues and questioned friends and family members, an appalling possibility presented itself: Could David Hendricks, the grief-stricken father, away on a business trip, have methodically killed his wife and children before he left? And why would a successful businessman and devoted member of a fundamentalist religious group want his family eliminated? The prosecution painted a darker picture of David Hendricks.
Convicted by his first jury, awarded a new trial, a second jury has now concluded that David Hendricks had not been proven guilty-beyond a reasonable doubt.