Customer Reviews

For I Have Sinned: True Stories of Clergy Who Kill (Holy Killer)

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"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.

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!

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.

At a time in history when we think we have heard the lowest of the low when it comes to our spiritual leaders, this book just fell into my lap. And what a book it is! Not all Catholic priests; but all spiritual leaders, it is tragic how human so many of them are -- and how easily we give them the power to judge our human frailties. How easily their victims trusted them! How tempting it is to take advantage of, and betray that trust.

Perhaps it is we who are to blame for giving any one human being the power of God in our lives. If anything will make you rethink that paradigm, this book will.

Because this book is a collection of short stories, many of them are predictably lacking in depth. While I would have preferred a great deal more research and information about a select few of these "Godless" tales of woe, this is not to denigrate the entire book. The author correctly notes in the foreword that these "Men of God" often found their callings based upon the expectations of a ready-made career and a position that garners instant respect and oftentimes, power over others. It did not escape my notice that many of these priests, bishops, and ministers were the sons of fathers who chose the same path of serving God. Perhaps the often rigid expectations of their fathers were too much for these men who later fell from grace.

Currently out of print, I would have recommended buying this book used anyway. I was particularly interested in "Twisted Sister," the story of a former nun who committed murder, later claiming she was raped by the man she shot. Unfortunately, this particular story was disappointing. Was Sheila Ryan De Luca raped? Perhaps, but she had long ago abandoned any moral codes to which she once may have ascribed. She and the man she murdered were both heavily intoxicated and using drugs, both of which contributed greatly to the trauma that followed. De Luca, a married woman, met her victim in a tavern and then agreed to leave with him. I find it difficult to feel too sympathetic.

Two of the more interesting stories include "The Sacrificial Lamb" and "Honor Thy Father." In "The Sacrificial Lamb," a respected pastor murders the church sexton, severing the head and the tatooed right forearm of the handyman. Seeking to stage his own death and begin a new life free from the expectations of others, pastor John Terry burned his own church to the ground, hoping others would assume the charred corpse of the sexton was his own. He was wrong. In "Honor Thy Father," famed singer Marvin Gaye was shot and killed by his own father, a former bishop who eventually slid into an alcoholic haze punctuated by violence toward his wife and children. Spending the better part of many years locked in self-imposed solitary confinement in his own bedroom, Gaye's father also indulged his desires to wear his wife's underwear and clothing... sometimes choosing to sit on the front porch in a dress with a bottle of liquor. Always jealous and critical of his son, the former bishop eventually shot his son at point blank range while his wife screamed and pleaded for help. Even with the damning statements from his wife, the fallen bishop managed to convince investigators that he shot his son in self defense. His sentence? Probation - 5 years. Even his wife, who later divorced him, states she never saw any evidence of grief, regret, or remorse.

Some interesting stories... some less than compelling. An easy read, I recommend this book for passing the time while traveling by plane, subway, or bus.