jjares reviewed Hidden Brutality: Life of Serial Killer Carl Eugene Watts (Serial Killer True Crime Books) on + 3289 more book reviews
This book shows how difficult it was to catch and convict serial killers before the age of digitized records and forensic evidence. Carl Eugene Watts (aka Coral Watts) was a strange child. As a teen, he spent time in a mental hospital. Once, he attempted suicide. In Michigan, it was known that he attacked and assaulted several women.
However, before the Internet and digitization, records were kept in folders and were often placed in dusty cabinets. There was no way to cross-reference previous cases. Police departments operated independently and did not communicate with each other. With forensics in its infancy, random killings were very difficult to solve.
When things got too hot in Michigan, Watts moved to Texas. He worked in various jobs in Houston and started killing again. When Watts was finally apprehended, he was offered a plea bargain. If he pled guilty to twelve murders, he would be charged with burglary with intent to murder. This would get Watts off the streets for sixty years. Watts accepted the deal because Texas was (and is) a state with the death penalty.
However, Watts was categorized as a nonviolent felon in the appeals court, making him eligible for release in 2006. The police in Michigan moved to overdrive to find someone to convict Watts of murder. Joseph Foy, who saw Watts kill Helen Mae Dutcher, testified at the trial. Watts was found guilty of murder.
Watts died of prostate cancer a few months after that trial. Watts is considered to be one of the worst serial killers ever. Over ninety cases are attached to his name, but Watts never admitted to the lives he snuffed out in Ann Arbor, Detroit, and Houston, TX. Because I lived in Houston then, people were relieved when Watts was convicted.
The author, Jack Smith, has an eye for the story but needs to refine his style. He needs to give more dates to allow the reader to understand the story's progression. He may say, "In November," but what year? While I was trying to establish a crime time frame, it was hard to follow the author's information. Overall score = G+.
However, before the Internet and digitization, records were kept in folders and were often placed in dusty cabinets. There was no way to cross-reference previous cases. Police departments operated independently and did not communicate with each other. With forensics in its infancy, random killings were very difficult to solve.
When things got too hot in Michigan, Watts moved to Texas. He worked in various jobs in Houston and started killing again. When Watts was finally apprehended, he was offered a plea bargain. If he pled guilty to twelve murders, he would be charged with burglary with intent to murder. This would get Watts off the streets for sixty years. Watts accepted the deal because Texas was (and is) a state with the death penalty.
However, Watts was categorized as a nonviolent felon in the appeals court, making him eligible for release in 2006. The police in Michigan moved to overdrive to find someone to convict Watts of murder. Joseph Foy, who saw Watts kill Helen Mae Dutcher, testified at the trial. Watts was found guilty of murder.
Watts died of prostate cancer a few months after that trial. Watts is considered to be one of the worst serial killers ever. Over ninety cases are attached to his name, but Watts never admitted to the lives he snuffed out in Ann Arbor, Detroit, and Houston, TX. Because I lived in Houston then, people were relieved when Watts was convicted.
The author, Jack Smith, has an eye for the story but needs to refine his style. He needs to give more dates to allow the reader to understand the story's progression. He may say, "In November," but what year? While I was trying to establish a crime time frame, it was hard to follow the author's information. Overall score = G+.
