Customer Reviews

Blood Justice (St. Martin's True Crime Library)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

After dissipating my youth and innocence by reading almost all of the Ann Rule true crime books in print, I was beginning to think most serial killers hung out or originated in the Pacific Northwest. "Blood Justice" by Tom Henderson soon set me straight. Michigan harbors its share of brutal, secretive killers, too.

I had seen an episode on 'Cold Case Files' concerning two 'stranger' rape-killings that occurred many years apart in Flint and Romulus Michigan, and before the glory days of DNA. The killer had also left a bloody partial fingerprint at one of the crime scenes. "Blood Justice" delves much more deeply than the T.V. show into the lives and deaths of the victims: a music professor and an airline stewardess.

Unlike Ann Rule, this author does not automatically make saints out of the victims or heroes out of the law enforcement officials. In fact, a few of the attorneys seem downright incompetent, or more intent on political gain rather than achieving justice. A few Detroit judges take it on the chin, including 'Half-a-Day' Hathaway. I had the honor of serving on one of Judge Hathaway's juries, and yes, he did spend portions of the testimony with his eyes closed, but he was a courteous old gentleman and I always made a point of voting for him until he retired.

I wish I had served on one of Judge Drake's juries. She presided over the Jeffrey Gorton case and the author has nothing but admiration for her. The judge, prosecutor, and most of the jurors were women, which really seemed to freak out the defendant--especially one of the jurors who closely resembled his victims. Coincidentally, one of the prosecuting attorneys was a former flight attendant.

It was the DNA evidence, the partial fingerprint, and dogged police work that finally brought the killer to justice. Only after the DNA had been matched from the two separate crime scenes many years later did the police realize that the rape/murders were committed by the same man. The AFIS (fingerprint matching system) had just come on-line in 1986 when Gorton killed his first known victim, but it was not able to make a match against a partial print. When the partial was sent back to the FBI in 2001, the fingerprint matching system (now called IAFIS) was much improved. A match was made against a man who'd been convicted of assaulting a woman in Orlando, Florida in the early 1980s.

It was Jeffrey Gorton.

Like many psychopaths, Gorton was able to keep his family completely in the dark about his violent tendencies, although his wife must have wondered about the boxes and suitcases of women's underwear that he kept as trophies.

Both the author and the defense attorney are convinced that Gorton committed other murders. In fact, the defense attorney said that when his client was freaking out about the number of women involved in his trial, he hinted at other murders: "...before Gorton was through ranting, he'd told him [the attorney] he'd killed women in Ohio and Florida and that he'd made up code names for the underwear he'd stolen from his murder victims."

If so, I hope this book is someday revised to let us know how Gorton fares in a state with the death penalty.

I'm not a huge fan of true crime but I was looking for one that my husband wanted to read and saw this on the shelf, so needing something to read, I bought it. It was a gripping, hard to put down read and absolutely terrifying. Jeff Gorton was apparently, just a normal guy living a normal life, who'd even fooled his wife of several years. A loving father, a good friend, a nice looking guy. But the murders he committed were so awfully gruesome. I can't imagine the terror the victims felt when he descended on them. And I have a hard time understanding how, after doing something so awful, this man was able to carry on with his life as if nothing at all had happened. It was just so strange. I've never in my life read such a disturbing story. My heart goes out to both the Eby family and Arthur Ludwig and for all they have endured as a result of this man. If you like reading true crime, this is definitely a must read. But be prepared, it is terribly graphic and gruesome.

Gotta say I really enjoyed this book. I'm a truecrimeaholic, and this one kept me glued to the barcolounger in my living room. I couldn't get up and do anything on my "to do" list because I didn't want to put the book down.

I read this book in 2006 and have since seen a Cold Case Files episode detailing these crimes. It is very rare that I continue to think about how scary a murderer is once I have finished reading about the crimes, but I was plagued by fears for months after reading this book. Jeffrey Gorton is truly a very scary man.

Based upon testimony from relatives and other business contacts, Gorton spent an inordinate amount of time "prowling" for women he found attractive, often following them in their cars while driving his business van to and from appointments. In fact, he was often late because he went out of his way to follow women he found attractive. It is also frightening that the nature of Gorton's work gave him access to the inside of every home he serviced. Judging from the astounding number of panties and other undergarments hidden throughout his home - many of them labeled with names and addresses - Gorton used his time inside the homes he was servicing to rifle through panty drawers and steal whatever he found stimulating. He even stole panties from his own niece and other female relatives. It was as if no one was off limits.

During the jury trial, one observer commented that each time an attractive brunette was in the courtroom to testify or simply to watch the proceedings, Gorton's eyes followed her freely and his mouth would begin to curl into a sick smile. His very nature was so PREDATORY that he could not even control his fantasies within the court environment.

The author comments, and I concur, that it is highly unlikely that Jeffrey Gorton only murdered two women... waiting 14 years in between the two crimes. Both murders were well planned and there is evidence Gorton took the time to shower following the butchery. There was also testimony from several women whom he attacked in parking lots for the purpose of forcibly stealing their pantyhose. This man was on the hunt every waking minute of his life and I find it very difficult to believe that he "lost control" on only two occasions 14 years apart.

I suppose it is the predatory nature of these crimes that so unnerved me and caused me to consider my own safety as a female. I have been this unsettled on only one other occasion... that being when I finished reading "A Stranger Beside Me" by Ann Rule. Like the infamous Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Gorton was and is a PREDATOR by nature. It is a basic part of who he is and every women was a potential victim because of it. Truly, truly frightening. If you are a woman, I would suggest not reading this book at home, alone, at night.

My only complaint about this book is that some sections are rather tedious. While I appreciate a history and information about the victims, the information included about Margarette Eby, Victim #1, was extended and unnecessary. In contrast, there was much less information and NO PHOTOS of the second victim, Nancy Ludwig. I only know what Ludwig looked like because of the Cold Case Files episode I saw shortly after finishing this book. If you can plow through some of the tedious information, however, the history of the offender is riveting.

I'm not a huge fan of the true crime genre. But agreed to read this book after a friend could not stop talking about it. I'm glad that I did. This book is terrifying. It lets us all know that anyone can be a victim. The author succeeded in making you feel like you were there. READ THIS BOOK!

This is one of the best true crime books I've read. Very good research, interesting subject, shocking crimes. I would recommend this book in a heartbeat.

I read the author's first book because we share a home state, last name and first initial. I liked that book, which was a surprise because i didn't read true crime.

This latest is a real page turner. I was glad i was on vacation when i read it because i couldn't put it down. it was like watching an impending train wreck -- you know what's coming, you know it's going to be tragic, but you can't take your eyes away.

Blood Justice was riveting, powerful, fascinating. Tom Henderson knows well how to make a complex story flow from beginning to end. Great job! If you like true crime, you'll love Blood Justice.

I won't deny that this started as a fairly interesting story, but Henderson immediately and consistantly bogs it down with full dossiers on every witness, aquaintence, family member, investigator, et.al. associated with both cases, which ends up clogging the essential storyline. Henderson is a technical writer and his compulsion to detail makes this book extremely tedious, not to mention that his repeated 'rimshots' undermine his abilities as storyteller with an almost sophomoric quality. I disagree that his style is similar to Ann Rule; I've read hundreds of true crime books and I've certainly never felt like abandoning one of hers. After all of the exasperating, unnecessary information one must ingest along the way, the ending chapters on justice served become rather anti-climatic. Remember how aggravated you were the last time you finished a book merely because you had already invested too much time in it? There are many far better true-crime reads out there.

I knew this guy in the late 80's, right after he arrived back in Flint. I never knew any of this had happened and he had been in my home. Reading the book, made me wonder...how many pieces of my clothing was in that collection. I read the book and watched Forensic Files on this. This is a "can't put down" book. I read it in one day...Tom Henderson did a great job describing Flint and the characters in the book (as I know most). This is a must buy book if you like True Crime stories.