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Blood Warning: The true story of the New Orleans slasher

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John Dillmann became the youngest homicide detective in New Orleans. He won the highest honor for bravery five times, and is now the head of a private investigation firm. This is the story of a psychopathic serial killer who left no clues, witnesses, or apparent motive. Names have been changed for privacy. On 11-26-80 Dillmann received a call for a murder. The victim was slashed to death, there was blood all over the apartment. This level of violence suggested emotional hatred. Two days later there was a similar slasher murder in a posh hotel. A guard provided a rough description of a running man. The chapters tell of the investigation. In fiction killers are shown to be clever, in real life they act on impulse to get money, drugs, sex, etc. (Chapter 9). Most of them brag about what they did, and the stories get around.

Dillmann and Reilly find their suspect and bring him in for questioning (Chapter 13). He confessed to the murder and provided incriminating details. Louisiana law allows the presiding judge to appoint a defense lawyer in a capital case for an indigent defendant. This case relied on a confession and lacked physical evidence (p.204). The expert witness for the defense said the defendant's use of drugs and alcohol made him vulnerable to suggestions. Chapter 15 has the testimony of the psychiatrist and a clinical coordinator at a hospital. The defendant's blood type did not match the blood found in the hotel room (p.225)! Did somebody mix up the blood samples? The judge delivered his verdict (Chapter 17).
This book lacks a Index, photographs, and map.