Shattered Hopes: A True Crime Story of Marriage, Murder, Corruption and Cover-Up in the Suburbs [Hardcover]

Barbara C. Schaaf (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1993

An account of the murder of Dianne Masters describes how Alan Masters enlisted the help of two Willow Springs police officers to kill his wife, recounts their capture and trial, and describes how the killers almost got away with murder. National ad/promo.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In 1982 Dianne Masters, the estranged wife of a suburban Chicago lawyer, was murdered. Her husband, Alan, we're shown here, was somewhat sleazy: he was a "fixer" with ties to the underworld and influence over many police officers and judges, secured by bribes. Physically abusive and obsessed with controlling his wife, he was furious to learn that she had taken a lover and planned to divorce him. He hired two police officers to kill her, but, according to Schaaf ( Mr. Dooley's Chicago ), murdered her himself, and the cops disposed of her body in a nearby canal. Because of Alan's connections, the three were not brought to trial until 1989. They were convicted of soliciting and arranging the murder and given long prison sentences. Even more disheartening than this case, covered so interestingly and effectively here, is the wider implication which, Schaaf notes, has not been resolved: "It would be satisfying to write that the . . . corruption and criminal activity revealed during the Masters trial resulted in a cleanup of the system, but it would be untrue." Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 427 pages
• Publisher: Barricade Books (September 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0962303291
• ISBN-13: 978-0962303296
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,032,633 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sad story with great writing, November 18, 2003

By 

Susie Rigsby "([e-mail])" (Eldorado, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shattered Hopes: A True Crime Story of Marriage, Murder, Corruption and Cover-Up in the Suburbs (Hardcover)

Schaaf writes a heartbreaking tale of continuous crime and corruption within the law enforcement agencies and the judicial system with this story. No doubt she spent a great deal of time with the preparation and research in writing SHATTERED HOPES. The acknowledgments are quite extensive to those who assisted in this writing endeavor, and I do highly recommend this nonfiction piece of work as a very good read.
The murder of Diane Masters in 3/82 is still an open file, even though the persistent investigation of then Sgt. John Reed of the Cook County Sheriff's office eventually landed convictions for Diane's husband, Alan Masters (an attorney) and his two accomplices, Corbett (a former Chief of Police) and Keating (a former Cook County Sheriff's lieutenant). The sad part about this is that the convictions didn't happen until 1989. The strong arm of the law moves at a snail's pace, especially when that's what those involved expect. Even so, the file still remains open and no one was actually charged with Diane's murder. Convictions were handed down for bribery, taking payoffs, case fixing, conspiring to murder Diane Masters, aiding, abetting and soliciting her death that brought forth twenty year sentences, as well as a fine for Alan Masters. Sadly to say, however, Reed's involvement in the investigation managed to get him removed from his investigator's position, which was a true slap in the face for doing his job. It wasn't until 7/93 that a major shakeup in the Sheriff's office saw Reed being taken off the shelf and promoted to lieutenant. Reed's previous demotion for a job well done is a prime example of what can happen to an honest cop trying to do the job right; proper enticement, no doubt, for making a good cop want to turn his head the other way when corruption within the brotherhood is staring them in the face.
Schaaf's research had her making note of more crime and corruption that was exposed by a FBI sting operation dubbed as OPERATION GREYLORD. If you haven't read this true story about Judge Brocton Lockwood, then do yourself a favor and try to find a copy somewhere. I dearly value mine. In 1978, after being newly appointed as an Associate Circuit Judge in Southern Illinois, Lockwood was expected to serve a six-week stint in Chicago to help reduce the backlog of cases in the Cook County system. Lockwood was quickly made aware of the official corruption and misconduct running rampant in the judicial system, stating that bribery was an open, established practice ruled by bagmen. Court decisions were bought and sold like commodity futures. As Lockwood's story was being written, it had been four years since the GREYLORD prosecutions began. At that time, 70 persons to include 11 judges, 38 lawyers, 7 police officers, 10 deputy sheriffs, 3 deputy clerks, and a court-appointed receiver had been convicted. OPERATION GREYLORD is truly a fascinating and revealing story into the crime and corruption of a judicial system that apparently has never felt threatened by the exposure, and neither was it affected by the murder of Diane Masters in 1982, since the crime managed to be so effortlessly covered up by the law.
As previously stated and would be expected, the strong arm of the law does move at a snail's pace when those involved are actually members of law enforcement agencies or the judicial system. I've found it to be, that those few people who are more often in the wrong, just happen to be those who can endure to be so.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cativating, yet frightening true tale of murder, corruption, January 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Shattered Hopes: A True Crime Story of Marriage, Murder, Corruption and Cover-Up in the Suburbs (Hardcover)

A captivating, yet frightening true tale of the murder of a woman who loved not wisely--she married Alan Masters--but too well. Dianne Masters was in way over her head, and with a naive belief that she could escape Masters deadly grip, she instead fell victim to his rage.

Yet this story offers hope in the determined efforts of John Reed to uncover the corruption that made Dianne Masters murder by her husband and a sheriff's police officer possible. Fascinating most of all because the story is local, with underworld figures populating the the backdrop of Chicago politics. I recommend this for a good read. It's sad, frightening, fascinating, and true. Fortunately, Masters and his "buddies" did not get away with murder. They are now serving long sentences in prison.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars true crime, April 7, 2009

By 

Kathy A. Barber - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Shattered Hopes: A True Crime Story of Marriage, Murder, Corruption and Cover-Up in the Suburbs (Hardcover)

Arrived on time in good condition. Enjoyed the book, didn't realize the amount of corruption in the Chicago area PD and Sheriff's office.