For I Have Sinned: True Stories of Clergy Who Kill (Holy Killer) [Mass Market Paperback]

John Glatt (Author)

Book Description

Series: Holy Killer | Publication Date: November 15, 1998

They went from praying to preying...

Priests, pasters, ministers, and nuns: they are the men and women of God. We trust them unconditionally, tell them our darkest deeds, turn to them in our most desperate hour. We would never, in our wildest dreams, expect them to be...cold-blooded murderers. Now, peek into the confessionals of eleven clergymen and -women who did the unthinkable-- who broke the most sacred commandment: Thou shalt not kill.

Pastor Edmund Lopes could bring a congregation to its knees. Little did they know that years before, after murdering his wife and stabbing his girlfriend, he had found religion in prison and jumped parole to become a Baptist minister-- until police caught up with him, ten years after his escape.

Sister Sheila Ryan De Luca, having left her Franciscan convent after allegations of a lesbian affair with another nun, stands accused of brutally murdering a man who she claims raped her. Ultimately she served ten years in prison until her conviction was overturned.

Reverend Freddie Armstrong heard the voice of God telling him to "kill the Antichrist," so the schizophrenic ordained priest took a sharp butcher's knife and proceeded to stab and decapitate 81-year-old Fred Neal, a beloved local minister who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Read on for more stories of clergy who raised cain with eight pages of shocking photos!

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

John Glatt's For I Have Sinned tells the compelling, lurid, and all-too-true stories of 11 clergy--priests, ministers, and even a former nun--who have committed murder. Each tale is told meticulously, providing motivations, details, and graphic descriptions of the killings. Although Glatt's conjectures about the internal dialogue of the killers stretch at times, his overall approach is clear and methodical. The common thread to most of these stories, apart from the killers' vocations, seems to be their sense of entitlement. They murder to save their reputations, to punish those who have wronged them. Most seem unduly concerned with their public images and ironically unconcerned about the consequences, both spiritual and legal, of their actions. The brutality and the selfishness of these murders stand out more than any spiritual or ethical motivations on the part of the murderers. Men and women of God, it would appear, kill for the same reasons that everyone else does: jealousy, revenge, and greed. --Lisa Higgins

From the Back Cover

Priests, pastors, ministers, and nuns: they are the men and women of God. We trust them unconditionally, tell they our darkest deeds, turn to them in our most desperate hour. We would never, in our wildest dreams, expect them to be...cold-blooded murderers. Now, peek into the confessionals of eleven clergymen and -women who did the unthinkable--who broke the most sacred commandment: Thou shalt not kill.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's True Crime (November 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312967411
• ISBN-13: 978-0312967413
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #575,061 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John Glatt is an investigative journalist with more than thirty years experience. In the last fourteen years he has written 12 true crime books and 4 biographies. With more than half a million books currently in print all over the world, Glatt is acknowledged to be one of the best true crime writers working today.

A native of London, England, Glatt left school at sixteen and worked in a variety of jobs - including tea boy and messenger - before joining a small weekly newspaper outside London, where he honed his keen news sense. Over the next few years he freelanced for many national English newspapers, including The Daily Express, The Sunday People, The Daily Mail and Woman Magazine.

In 1981 he moved to New York, working on staff for News Limited, as well as freelancing for Newsweek, Omni, the New York Post, the Australian, Modern Business and other newspapers and magazines worldwide.

His first book Rage & Roll: Bill Graham and the Selling of Rock, was published in 1993 to critical acclaim. Two years later he wrote Lost in Hollywood: The Fast Times and Short Life of River Phoenix, a well received biography on the tragic movie star. His next book, The Chieftains: An Authorized Biography, which was published in 1997, saw him nominated for a 2000 Grammy in the spoken word category. In 1998 wrote the well-received The Ruling House of Monaco: The Story of a Tragic Dynasty, uncovering many new revelations about the Grimaldis.

In 1998 he wrote his first true crime book, For I Have Sinned: True Stories of Clergy Who Kill. A year later he followed it up with Evil Twins, an anthology of twins that kill. And since then he has written a True Crime book a year for St. Martin's Press True Crime Library, establishing him as a master of the genre.

Over the years, Glatt has appeared on scores of television and radio programs all over the world, including Dateline NBC, Fox News, Current Affair, BBC World, and A&E Biography.

He and his jewelry designer wife Gail divide their time between New York City, the Catskill Mountains and London.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Eleven horrible stories, August 22, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: For I Have Sinned: True Stories of Clergy Who Kill (Holy Killer) (Mass Market Paperback)

"For I have sinned - True storied of clergy who kills" contains eleven horrible stories of pastors, priest, ministers, and nuns who commit the ultimate sin : they kill! In each story Mr John Glatt explains the perpetrators and their victims backgrounds, the act of killing, and what happens afterwards - all in vivid detail.

The victims range from a 22-year-old woman to a couple in their 90s. In one story the murder weapon was found next to the Bible and in another the murderer later delivered the victims graveside eulogy.

Mr John Glatt has done an excellent job with "For I have sinned". He pays attention to many details and he writes in an easy-to-read manner. It is one of those books that is extremely hard to put down. If you think you know your priest, then read this book. The victims thought they knew their priests....

With 8 pages of photos.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This was a really great book, October 10, 2007

By 

Kristal Baker "kristal" (Omaha Ne) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: For I Have Sinned: True Stories of Clergy Who Kill (Holy Killer) (Mass Market Paperback)

I really enjoyed this book. I have read all of John Glatts book and he is one of my favorite authors. This book does not dissapoint!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Short and to the point snippets into murder., August 28, 2005

By 

ihgr (Albany, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: For I Have Sinned: True Stories of Clergy Who Kill (Holy Killer) (Mass Market Paperback)

John Glatt has written an excellent account of murder performed by eleven men and one woman with religion being focal to the crime. The snippets are easily read in one sitting. After reading one, you're compelled to keep reading to see what intrigue the next case will included.
The best story centers around the death of Marvin Gaye. It's the last story and the most interesting.