Alone With the Devil: Famous Cases of a Courtroom Psychiatrist [Mass Market Paperback]

M.D. Ronald Markman (Author), Dominick Bosco (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1990

As a forensic scientist, Dr Markman is often alone in a room with someone who has killed - sometimes without provocation or apparent motivation. After lengthy interviews and evaluations, his findings determine the degree of a murderer's responsibility at the time of the crime and thus influence his sentence in court. This is Markman's analysis of some of his toughest cases, including two of Charles Manson's followers, Marvin Gaye's shooting by his father, the infamous "Vampire of Sacramento" and Norma Jean Armistead, who wanted a baby so much that she was willing to kill for it. The book should appeal to everyone who has a morbid fascination about murder and wants to know more about the people who have killed.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This engrossing if disquieting study, and the strongly held views of forensic psychiatrist Markman, treats the role of psychiatry in the courts. Despite frequent "battles of experts," psychiatrists determine whether the accused was sane at the time of the crime and is competent to stand trial, and their findings influence the prepetrator's fate, stresses this study, coauthored by former Prevention magazine editor Bosco. From the hundreds of murderers he has interviewed, among them serial killers and mass murderers, Markman focuses on the trials of those found guilty of vicious homicides. He seeks to discover why they become killers and how their minds work, then to evaluate subtleties of behavior of a deranged psyche in terms of a justice system that, he contends, favors the criminal over the victim. Unlike other criminals, killers, according to the book, "best represent a cross-section of America," which helps explain why the murderous violence of most psychotics is impossible to predict. First serial to Los Angeles Times Magazine; Doubleday Book Club selection.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

With the help of former Prevention magazine editor Bosco, Markman, a California forensic psychiatrist, has written a riveting account of some of his more famous cases, including the Hillside Strangler and the Manson family murders. Markman's job is to evaluate the criminal's state of mind at the time of the crime, a decision that can determine whether the criminal serves prison time or is rehabilitated in a psychiatric setting. Definitions of insanity and the plea of "guilty but insane" are hot topics in the medical and legal communities, and Markman uses his case studies to support his strong opinions on these subjects. The breezy writing style and the notoriety of many of these cases will make this of interest to the general reader. Recommended.
- Sandra K. Lindheimer, Middlesex Law Lib., Cambridge, Mass.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Bantam Books (April 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553285203
• ISBN-13: 978-0553285208
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,284,145 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Informative or entertaining?, April 11, 2000

By 

Lynda Cosgrave (Dublin, Ireland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alone With the Devil: Famous Cases of a Courtroom Psychiatrist (Mass Market Paperback)

This book could be classed as either depending on the reader. This book does not concentrate on just the one aspect of the crime but rather gives a rounded outlook. I found it to be unbiased and complete. It also explains the circumstances behind the crime and the affects of it in the aftermath. It gives an indepth view into the pyche of the killers and it is not full of psychoanalytical words and is easy to read. I'd reccommend it to all.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good History of the Struggle Between Psychiatry and the Law, May 20, 2005

By 

Sires "I enjoy mysteries, historical and proc... (Chesapeake, OH, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alone with the Devil (Hardcover)

This book documents in a very accessible manner the struggle to mesh the legal system and psychology. Markman who holds degrees in both areas documents, through cases he has been involved with professionally-- some well known, some almost forgotten-- the tension that exists between justice and psychology. The fact that someone may be mentally ill, but criminally culpable and that the system must decided both issues, is something that gets lost in the political frenzy that sometimes occurs when someone is accused of a highly charged crime.

Markman notes that for political reasons certain criminals such as Charlie Manson and Sirhan Sirhan will never be released, although those who have done much worse have done much less time. (Not that he is advocating for their release, he just wants to point out what we should all be aware of-- justice is not necessarily just.) The fact that the Vampire of Sacramento was found sane was probably one of the great feats of judicial blindness of the 20th century. However no one would possibly want him out walking the streets.

Markman also discusses one of the sources of the great influx of homeless individuals onto the city streets in the latter part of the 20th century-- the "least restraint" laws that emptied into the streets individuals who were not capable of making their own way in the world due to mental illness.

While probably a bit simplistic and certainly a bit self serving, I recommend this book to anyone interested in beginning to learn about forensic psychiatry.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vampire Of Sacramento, February 15, 2005

By 

Laura Torrespico (Chicago, U.S.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alone with the Devil (Hardcover)

This was by far one of the spookiest true crime forensic psychiatric books I have ever read. Markman discusses famous cases such as the Hillside Strangler, The Manson murderers and other cases in addition, to what the term of guilty but insane means in the California criminal justice system. Nevertheless, the creepiest of all was the case of Richard Chase. Richard earning the name "The Vampire Of Sacramento" because he believed and drank human blood to survive, displayed signs of being very mentally ill at a very early age but his parents did not much about it. Whether his family was in denial of his illness or there was just no hope for Richard, the crimes he committed were so atrocious in nature that I it seemed impossible that the court system would even give him the benefit of an insanity plea. The book is well worth reading it is full of interesting facts and the way our society views killers and mental illness. In Richard's case, if he had gotten the insanity plea he would have been put away for a few years in a criminal mental institution then let go to a halfway house. Once there he could have easily got off his medications and committed another murder.