Death in a Fish Pond: A Perfect Husband, a Perfect Marriage, a Perfect Murder? [Hardcover]

Howard R. Lemcke (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2005

A terrified scream forever shattered the quiet calm of a Utah neighborhood as a distraught husband pulled is beloved wife from the backyard fishpond he had recently constructed. At first glance, police had no reason to be suspicious regarding Pamela Mead's death. Her husband David was obviously suffering from the loss and no evidence immediately pointed to foul play. However, in the days and weeks that followed, suspicions were steadily aroused. Women who claimed to have relationships with David contacted police with troubling stories. David's cousin, a recovering drug addict, surfaced to recount a shocking proposal made shortly before Pamela's death. An unusually large life-insurance policy was purchased mere months before the so-called accident. And when police returned to the Mead household to gather more evidence, the fishpond where David Mead found his departed wife was gone.

Written by the prosecutor of the criminal trial, Death in a Fish Pond is the chilling detailed account of the perfect husband, the murder, and the two trials to bring the killer to justice.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Unlike many true crime tales that are dashed off to coincide with the latest lurid headlines, this book is cohesive and much less sensational than its counterparts. The actual crime-doting husband David Mead kills his wife and makes it look like an accident in order to collect insurance money and marry another-does resemble the more infamous Scott Peterson case, but the similarities end there. Lemcke was the Salt Lake City prosecutor in Mead's murder trial, and his legal background shows in every meticulous detail. The book is more a courtroom procedural than a crime drama (think Perry Mason, not Sam Spade), and while Lemcke's inclusion of minutiae can be mind-numbing, he comes off as someone who is honest as the day is long, with a real concern for the parties involved. After a long phone call with a potential witness, Lemcke writes, "I lay there, spent from sharing real pain, thinking less of myself for failing to recognize someone else's humanity." In the end, readers won't feel as if they've learned much about Mead's motivations, but this in itself is oddly refreshing. Rather than conjure up false platitudes or pop psychology sound bites, Lemcke, when asked by a reporter how Mead was able to fool so many women, simply replies, "I guess there are folks out there that can just charm the pantyhose off an octopus. I don't know, man. I'm not one of them."
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 298 pages
• Publisher: New Horizon Press (June 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0882822608
• ISBN-13: 978-0882822600
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,093,534 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Scary Case, Scary People, May 24, 2005

By 

Kevin Killian (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Death in a Fish Pond: A Perfect Husband, a Perfect Marriage, a Perfect Murder? (Hardcover)

DEATH IN A FISH POND begins late one night in a pleasant neighborhood in Salt Lake City, with a call to the emergency police line, neighbors calling when they heard David Mead screaming, incoherent, in his back yard, pointing to the drowned body of his wife, Pam, whom he had just pulled out of the newly installed fish pond, where, he claimed, their big dog had knocked her into the water and she was weak from a recent operation and she just drowned while he had a solid alibi.

Police arrived at the scene. but found David Mead--a white man who made a living cleaning out airplanes between flights--too incoherent to talk to, so they let him go. A serious miscalculation but one which the author, Howard Lemcke, a Utah prosceuotr who presumably doesn't want to criticize the men and women of the police force too harshly, lets them off lightly for. But I think it was misguided indeed. No wonder it took the DA's office four years to bring Mead to trial for the murder of his beautiful, sensitive, intelligent wife Pam--a black woman in a largely white city and state.

She came from a middle class family of upwardly mobile black Americans, but she fell for the lies of a sociopath. He, David Mead, had a thing for young black women, and behind Pam's back he was dating another young girl whose head he was filling with wild fantasies about how wonderful their life would be if only he could get rid of the former Pam Stokes. This young petite woman, Winnetka Walls, wasn't my favorite character of all time, and neither is another prominent and shady witness in the story, Jack, the "ex-con, cocaine addict, and multiply convicted felon" who went to the police telling him that David committed the murder and now wanted his suspicious in-laws "off my ass."

It's a gritty story with a whole trial thrown in, told by the man on the inside, Utah's finest prosecutor Howard Lemcke. For those who couldn't tear themselves away from the Scott Peterson trial, this is like Scott and Laci, except with the "race card" added. An American tragedy.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SO HAPPY...JUSTICE WAS DONE FOR MY FRIEND PAM, September 12, 2005

By 

M. Dietz (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Death in a Fish Pond: A Perfect Husband, a Perfect Marriage, a Perfect Murder? (Hardcover)

I have been waiting 11 years to hear what really happened the night og August 15, 1984. I have heard many rumors from co-workers but of course had my own thoughts. I knew Pam well and flew with her often. This book gives her life dignity and respect. I always had that gut feeling she was WAY too good for David. She was one of the kindest and sweetest people I ever was lucky enough to meet. She also told me how much her family from Colorado meant to her. I was unable to attend the funeral and have always felt like I needed to know more. Of course I had me own suspicions from DAY ONE!! I couldn't put the book down...I was very impressed with the writer/prosecutor. Thank you Mr. Lemcke for not only writing a great book but helping a dear friend rest in peace.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fishpond is Fascinating, May 30, 2005

By 

sioux city sue "kdk" (sioux city, ia, usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Death in a Fish Pond: A Perfect Husband, a Perfect Marriage, a Perfect Murder? (Hardcover)

A vivid look into what it takes to build a case against the cold blooded but seemingly perfect husband. Loved the humanity when dealing with the other players in the drama. Great writing style and insight to how everything in the judicial process falls together.