UNFINISHED MURDER: THE CAPTURE OF A SERIAL RAPIST [Hardcover]

James Neff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1995

The crimes, capture, and conviction of a serial rapist is based on interviews with survivors, police, psychiatrists, and the rapist himself, in the triumphant story of a group effort to bring a criminal to justice. By the author of Mobbed Up.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Between 1983 and 1988, Ronnie Shelton raped at least 30 women in the Cleveland area. Neff (Mobbed Up), a senior editor of Cleveland magazine, discovered, after Shelton's conviction, that he had committed rapes before 1983 and estimates the total number of his victims at nearly 100. In the course of his spree, Shelton was stopped or picked up by the police 15 times for offenses like peeping into windows, but the connection to the rapes was never made. In faulting the police, Neff's chief target is Lt. Lucie Duvall, head of the Sex Crimes Unit. Yet the book is less about the rapist or inept police work than about the phenomenon of 30 victims bonding together to support one another and to testify in court about their experiences. As an outcome of their action, the judge determined that Shelton should never be released and sentenced him to 3198 years in prison. For this vivid and memorable account, the author interviewed survivors, the police and Shelton himself.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

For five years, Ronnie Shelton terrorized Cleveland's West Side in a series of rapes and sexual assaults. His violent tendencies went unchecked for years as he managed to elude capture through a combination of luck, police ineptness, and an overburdened justice system. Neff presents the account of Shelton's crimes, capture, and trial in a crisp text filled with factual detail as well as psychological insight. Shelton was finally stopped as a result of the untiring work of a detective and the victims, who banded together to testify against him. The writing is well organized and skillful, and readers will be appalled not only by Shelton's crimes but by the five-year spell when he fell through the cracks unnoticed and undeterred.
--Christine Moesch, Buffalo & Erie Cty. P.L., N.Y.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Atria; 1st ed edition (April 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671731858
• ISBN-13: 978-0671731854
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,252,050 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A disturbing account of a serial rapist, his crimes & trial, March 27, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: UNFINISHED MURDER: THE CAPTURE OF A SERIAL RAPIST (Hardcover)

James Neff's book is a disturbing account of the crimes, trial, and conviction of serial rapist Ronnie Shelton. The chapters are divided into very short subheadings, and initially the episodic nature of the writing is somewhat distracting. However, the book gains momentum as the investigation draws to its climax and Shelton is captured. I was appalled to learn that during the years of Shelton's crime spree, he was arrested fifteen times for a variety of lesser offenses, yet every time he was released with no connection made between him and the highly-publicized rapes. There was little effective coordination among investigators in various precincts and divisions, who were slow to realize that they were all looking for the same man. The investigation was also hampered by the common misconception that voyeurs (like Shelton) don't engage in, or progress to, violence and rape