Without Mercy: The Shocking True Story of a Doctor Who Murdered [Mass Market Paperback]

Keith Ablow (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 15, 1996

In 1975, Dr. John Kappler, a Los Angeles anesthesiologist, secretly attempted to kill a pregnant patient by giving her the wrong anesthetic. His fellow doctors not only bailed him out of jail, but also allowed him to continue practicing medicine. At his trial, Kappler pleaded insanity, claiming he had heard voices telling him to kill. This is the chilling portrait of a healer who also became a murderer, and the medical establishment that looked the other way as Kappler became more and more dangerous.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

BENEATH ONE BRILLIANT DOCTOR'S KINDLY BEDSIDE MANNER…
Dr. John Kappler was a well-respected physician in dozens of California hospitals, yet none of his patients ever imagined that his real profession was murder…
 
LURKED AN INSATIABLE KILLER…
The horror began the day he secretly attempted to kill three patients--including a pregnant woman who suffered permanent brain damage at his evil hands. Then, in a driving rampage, Kappler rammed another car, stole it, and used it as a lethal weapon. Yet, incredibly, his fellow doctors bailed him out of jail, and he was soon back on the job.
 
WHO LURED HIS PATIENTS INTO A VICIOUS CIRCLE OF DEATH…
Desperate to satisfy his lust for killing, Kappler cruelly plunged a patient into cardiac arrest. Next, he pulled the plug on a defenseless man unconscious in a hospital bed. Still, no one stopped him. Finally, he exploded in a terrifying rage of violence and murder. Pressing the accelerator of his car to the floor, he cut down a promising young doctor and seconds later maimed a toddler's mom for life.
 
Author Keith Ablow, a close friend of the murdered physician, paints a chilling portrait of a twisted modern-day Jekyll and Hyde.
 
"Superb investigative reporting."--Michael Palmer
 
"Fascinating and evocative."
--Carol C. Nadelson, M.D., former president of the American Psychiatric Association
 

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

KEITH ABLOW, M.D., is America's most well-known forensic psychiatrist and consults on Court TV. A graduate of Brown University and the Johns Hopkins Medical School, he has been retained to testify in some of the nation's most highly publicized murder cases. He has been a guest not only on Court TV but on Today, Larry Elder, CNN, Charlie Rose, Maury, Montel, Charles Grodin, MSNBC, Fox News, and many others.
 
Visit his Web site at www.keithablow.com and www.insidethemindof.com.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 242 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (July 15, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312959230
• ISBN-13: 978-0312959234
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 3.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,623,225 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A true-life Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, April 4, 2005

By 

E. A. Lovitt "starmoth" (Gladwin, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Without Mercy: The Shocking True Story of a Doctor Who Murdered (Mass Market Paperback)

Dr. John Kappler was an anesthesiologist who had a nice family, lots of work, and seemed to live the good life. Unfortunately, he got it into his head every now and then that he had to kill one of his patients.

This urge of his was in definite violation of the Hippocratic Oath, not to mention the law of the land, but his wife and colleagues managed to protect him up until the day the voice in his head commanded him to run over two people on a jogging path.

The title of this book "Without Mercy" holds true for almost all of its characters, including the murderous Dr. John Kappler, and for the author himself who showed no mercy on Dr. Kappler's family when he wrote this true crime book. Nor did the jury show mercy on Dr. Kappler, who secretly attempted to kill three of his patients--including a pregnant woman who suffered permanent brain damage from his ministrations. The jurors did not believe Dr. Kappler was insane when he drove up onto the jogging path and killed a promising young psychiatrist, then permanently maimed a young mother.

The author is a psychiatrist and a friend of the young doctor who was killed on the jogging path, and wrote this book in spite of the opposition from Dr. Kappler's family. In fact, Dr. Kappler's wife is portrayed as one of the chief villains for her role in covering up her husband's tendency to murder. I thought this was a bit unfair, since her response to his bouts of madness was to hospitalize him and make sure he took his medications until he seemed normal again. I think she was hoping that her husband would regain his sanity, and their family life could go on as before. I can see my own mother putting on blinders and doing and hoping just what Mrs. Kappler did.

On the other hand, the young psychiatrist might still be alive if Mrs. Kappler had been completely honest about her husband's condition. Judge for yourself, and read the testimony of the psychiatrists who testified at Dr. Kappler's trial.

"Without Mercy" is more of a psychological portrait than most true crime books, and suffers from a languid second half when the psychiatrists are testifying. However it also gives the reader a detailed look at how our judicial system treats an obviously mental ill physician. Perhaps the most frightening part of "Without Mercy" is the long-term cover-up of Dr. Kappler's homicidal treatment of certain patients--by his own medical colleagues.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Doctor Turned Killer, November 24, 2003

By 

A. Vegan (Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Without Mercy: The Shocking True Story of a Doctor Who Murdered (Mass Market Paperback)

The style of this book was quite a change from the way Keith Ablow has previously written. Instead of writing fiction, he has chosen to write a bio about Dr. John Kappler. In 1975, Dr. Kappler, an anesthesiologist, secretly attempted to kill a pregnant patient by giving her the wrong anesthetic, deliberately sent a patient into cardiac arrest and with his car, ran down two innocent people. His fellow doctors not only rescued him from jail, but also allowed him to continue practicing medicine. At his trial, Kappler pleaded insanity, claiming he had heard voices telling him to kill people. This is the story of a doctor who became a killer and the medical establishment that looked the other way.

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a brilliant book for readers who like profound psychological insight, January 22, 2012

By 

godmadegreen - See all my reviews

This review is from: Without Mercy: The Shocking True Story of a Doctor Who Murdered (Mass Market Paperback)

As a professional with an interest in character development, I can't think of any other book I have read that provides such a brilliant and skillful analysis of a complex man who ultimately proved to be deadly.
I could not put this book down and read it for two days. He looks at the family, so called friends, colleagues and all who for their own reasons overlooked or colluded in covering up the anesthesiologist's decent into complete madness and chaos. He does this with a very delicate but surgical touch. How can one blame anyone for not comprehending such a fantastical scenario. The mad doctor covered up his troubles and his wife helped him.

Layer upon layer is revealed by Keith Ablow. He gives us the scientific testing that was done on the murderer. He explains how the mental health field fails people who have psychosis and other "labels" by not providing adequate help. He also makes it clear that the doctor was not going to accept help. It would take an extremely capable psychiatrist to assist someone so hellbent on maintaining his powerful image as doctor.

This book is outstanding. I don't really understand why it has been given such feint praise. Maybe because it is a book that looks at evil and goes very deeply into sorting out if there is evil or if it is a chemical aberration.