Customer Reviews

By Two and Two: The Scandalous Story of Twin Sisters Accused of a Shocking Crime of Passion

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I should be surprised, but am not, by two so-called reviews of the book. What they present are not reviews but personal opinions. This is largely what the book lays out as a reason for the conviction of Betty Wilson. This woman was not convicted on any evidence or fact but on the testimony of a proven liar, schizophrenic, alcoholic, drug-addicted man that turned on his own men in Vietnam. Whether people agree or disagree with the verdict, people are supposed to be convicted on fact and not opinion. This book is eye opening and needs to be read by those possessing skills of discernment and reason. One can only hope that justice will prevail in the end although it appears that will not happen in this case.

Author Jim Schutze has written some terrific non-fiction books in the past but this is his best one! Unlike most true-crime books, this one uncovers a judicial travesty where one twin sister was sent to prison for life and the other one acquitted for a crime they didn't commit. The first twin to be tried, Betty Wilson, was a controverial figure,in that she lived a life of luxury, had numerous affairs, some with black men, and cussed a lot. These traits were instrumental in paving her way into prison for the horrific beating death of her husband, a wealthy dentist. She was convincted on the incredible testimony of a known psychotic and drug addict,James White, with a rap sheet a mile long. He was given a written contract by the district attorney, that assured him of avoiding the electric chair if he would testify that the twin sisters were behind the murder of the dentist. Betty was painted as a promiscuous, alcoholic "slut" in the Tuscaloosa, Alabama courtroom and this is basically what sealed her fate. Her twin sister, Peggy, whose case was tried in Montgomery, Alabama, was acquitted on the basis of the identical testimony that doomed her sister. This time around, her lawyers pointed out the bizarre lies told by the killer who, by the way, was sent to a dentist to have his teeth capped for his trial appearance. In the jailhouse, he was awarded the status of mascot while he smirked and grinned at the imprisoned Betty. The author says frankly that he considered the twin sisters to be guilty of something when he first started covering the courtro testimony. But he said he gradually became outraged that the district attorney used a known psychopathic criminal to railroad the twin sisters into prison. The fact that it was election year and the DA wanted a high profile case to impress the voters for his re-election, contributed to this travesty. Betty Wilson is now serving life sentence without a chance of parole in the Tutwiler Prison in Alabama. Her twiwn sister, Peggy, is still working with attorneys to have her case appealed. In the meantime, the real killer, James White, is free after savagely murdering a man. The state of Alabama has been good to him for his crime.

I like to read crime books in which, at the end, justice has been done, but such is not the case in Jim Schutze's *By Two and Two*. It tells the story of two Alabama sisters charged with conspiring to murder the husband of one of them. Although apparently neither woman was involved in the crime, one was found guilty and the other was not, because of personal, social and racial issues tangential to the case. In pursuing the investigation, well-meaning police were evidently manipulated and deceived by a career criminal who sought, and won, preferential treatment by helping them make a case against the women. The author himself was clearly disturbed by the outcome

This book is fairly typical of the mid 1990s. The Clintons were in the White House and the establishment was obsessed with racism. They could find racism under every rock and around every corner - and books about racism, especially in the deep South, stood a good chance of publication regardless of their other merits or lack thereof. The author, Jim Schutze, specialized in "racial" exposes and won awards from leftist organization for finding racism - he could find it in places where others might fail to spot it.

In this book, Schutze maintains that a white "racist" jury in a city in Alabama convicted Betty Wilson of hiring someone to kill her wealthy husband in order to get his life insurance - worth millions. Another, heavily black jury in another Alabama city acquitted her twin sister after hearing basically similar evidence. Schutze's conclusion: the white jury was biased but the black jury was fair.

The author claims that the husband's killer was coached by law enforcement to concoct a story that would incriminate the twin sisters. But he cannot explain the killer's motive - why he would kill a man he didn't know, had never heard of and as there was no robbery - he did not benefit monetarily or otherwise for his act. And he can't explain why the wife advanced him money hidden in a library book checked out in her name - or why the wife and her sister had so many documented contacts with the man - a man far below their social class with a criminal record.

Don't waste time with this book- instead get Ken Englade's book "Blood Sister" - Mr. Englade doesn't have a social agenda.

I want to know some background on Betty and Peggy. Maiden name and parents, and siblings?? What city and state they were born in? childhood pictures?

A few months ago, I saw this case on "48 Hours." It interested me because I had knowledge about this situation that was not in the program, so I bought the book. Not surprisingly, Schultze is even more biased in the book than he was on the program.

Betty: "He [Jack] insisted upon my having affairs." That statement is so outrageous that it is laughable.

Betty said that she had rather face execution in the Electric Chair rather than be locked up for life. I find that comical because if she is being honest, she should kill herself. She didn't. Yes, this is yet another outrageous lie by Betty.

Betty is a patholical liar.

Schultze either "bought into" her lies or isn't being honest in the book. When you buy it, do some independent research. Don't be fooled by Shultze's incredible lack of even basic legal concepts, and don't be fooled by his bias. He doesn't tell the entire story.

Lord, they were tried by 2 different juries. Betty's sister wasn't sleeping with whomever she met that day. The defendants were different in many ways. It was Betty's husband that she had killed, not her sister's husband. The trial of Betty's sister and the trial of Betty are two completely different events. Schultze seemingly cannot understand that basic concept.

Or, can he?

I bet his book sold more copies the way he wrote it rather than it would if he had done his research and reported the truth as unbiased as possible.

Could it be that Schultze is more concerned with $$ than with the truth?

You decide. I already have.

Schutze has no clue as to what happened or how. He has been swayed. There is a new book coming in mid 2004, it tells who, what, when, how and why. You just might be suprised!

Just in case you think any of what this writer said is real, I'll bet you that most of it was lies.

Yes, Jack was murdered. Yes, the sisters were tried. The only injustice, however, is that Peggy wasn't found guilty.

You see, the lovely thing about tv shows and books is that they can skew reality into whatever they want them to say. They don't always show what REALLY happened.

You wanna know what REALLY happened with Jack, Peggy, James, and Betty? Why don't you read through The Huntsville Times for the past 10 years? I'll bet you didn't know that Betty Wilson had actually plotted to have Jack murdered at least once before.

Yes, James is a liar, but who knows? He could've actually been telling the truth.

I actually know one of the people who was a witness in the trial. I knew the victim (he was my family's eye doctor). I know what went on, and this book is an all-out lie.