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Wm. Stage

Wm Stage

Litchfield : A Strange and Twisted Saga of Murder in the Midwest Paperback – July 1, 1998

by Wm Stage (Author)

11 ratings

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Prom Night, 1993, Litchfield, Illinois: The nude, headless body of a woman is found burning in a campground. A mysterious red van seen nearby seems to vanish into the cornfields. Seventy miles away, in St. Louis, a 35 year-old bank teller is reported missing and presumed dead. A year passes before detectives piece together the puzzle of events connecting the two cases. The body I.D.'ed, a new investigation begins: the search for her killer.

Print length

272 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Floppinfish Pub Co
Publication date

July 1, 1998
Dimensions

4.75 x 0.75 x 7 inches
ISBN-10

0962912417
ISBN-13

978-0962912412
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Editorial Reviews

Review

...a gripping tale that will captivate readers long after the campfire smoke fades away. -- Illinois Times, Springfield, IL

About the Author

Wm. Stage is a writer and columnist for the Riverfron Times, a weekly newspaper in St. Louis. He has taught photojournalism at St. Louis University and feature writing at the Defense Information School, Ft. Benjamin Harrison, Indiana.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Floppinfish Pub Co; 0 edition (July 1, 1998)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0962912417
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0962912412
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.75 x 0.75 x 7 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #4,867,429 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #13,476 in Murder & Mayhem True Accounts

Customer Reviews:
11 ratings

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Wm Stage

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5 star		83%
4 star 0% (0%)		0%
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Terence Mahoney

I knew the killer discussed here, Curtis Thomas, ...

Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2017

Verified Purchase

I knew the killer discussed here, Curtis Thomas, while in high school. In fact, it was largely to verify that it was the same person, something I had long wondered, that I read this. Stage misses the nuance to a lot of the things he discusses. For instance, he makes it sound as though he ran some sort of literary salon at his little bookstore in the U. City Loop. I visited there twice I believe. One of those times he shouted over the video games to tell a customer which magazine had the pictures of the woman with the three breasts. Then there are the stories he plain skipped researching. He faked his own death, it is said, by putting his identification on a dead homeless person. Is this certain? And if so, how, exactly, did he just happen to stumble on a dead homeless man? If there is any truth to this story, then it is an essential one in the life of Thomas, yet it isn't discussed beyond a brief mention. Stage spends too much time discussing how he feels about things and how he went to one place or another. It is a fascinating, lurid story though.

One person found this helpful

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linda faye goss

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2016

Verified Purchase

Great local history. Loved getting the details of the crime I remember.

One person found this helpful

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Same Ole - SE MO

Creepy, Interesting Read...

Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2013

Verified Purchase

The book was received within the specified time frame and was exactly as described. A creepy but interesting read; worth reading if you like crime stories.

One person found this helpful

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Dan Bogaty

Locals Will Be Interested, Others I'm Not So Sure About

Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2010

In LITCHFIELD: A STRANGE AND TWISTED SAGA OF MURDER IN THE MIDWEST, author Wm. Stage presents the story of St. Louisans Curtis Thomas and his wife, Lynne Matchem-Thomas. Lynne goes missing. A short time later a headless torso is found incinerated in a park in Litchfield, IL. Though her head has never been found, Lynne was identified by her fingerprints, which, though Lynne had never been arrested, were on file with the St. Louis P.D. on an old application she had filed to obtain a security guard license. Stage's book progresses from the original missing person report through the investigation, arrest, and trials, providing along the way considerable current information on the personalities and lives of both Curtis and Lynne as well as a little - but not enough in my opinion - on their pasts.

LITCHFIELD is in some ways an interesting book. The reader learns a great deal about Curtis, whom Stage presents as your typical sociopathic, narcissistic, philandering con man; and about Lynne, a somewhat lost young woman with mental health issues. And a unique factor is that Stage, a St. Louis writer, knew Curtis, and while he clearly does not particularly like him, describes him as intelligent and interesting.

A problem I had with the book is that Stage interjects a lot of himself in the book. Fortunately this is not continual, and the book is not at all about Stage. But at the same time, there are passages where Stage has himself and other writers who are covering the trials sitting around over beers and discussing the case, complete with snippets of their conversations which I felt were superfluous and which tend to diminish the success of the book.
Also, Stage writes in a breezy style which at times borders on the smart-alecky. I believe this is because a part of this book was originally published as an article in the St. Louis alternative weekly newspaper in which the style would have been more appropriate.

I enjoyed LITCHFIELD, certainly in part because it is a local story for me, and one which I didn't remember. The book is a quick read and I never felt like I had to force myself to continue with it. But at the same time, it is hardly great true crime, and I'm not sure how much readers who are not from the St. Louis area will like it.

2 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

Litchfield

Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2020

I have been in this town since 1982 and we have seen some crazy stuff in our little town, but this story has been one of the worst ones. Our whole community was rocked by this horrible situation. We still pray for the family that was left behind. This is a very good version of went down that night. Definitely worth the read.

Helpful

Michael Bastian

Good book on legal issues

Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2018

I like the descriptions of places and people. The author is truly gifted in being able to observe humans and then describe them when he writes his novels and news articles. When his characters utter words you will listen and be impressed.

Helpful

Tami Burdell

Interesting, since my husband and I found the victim .....

Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2001

The book is not a masterpiece by any means, but was interesting for me since my husband Todd Burdell and I are the ones that found the victim, Lynn. Imagine our horror when, after fishing at the lake, we try to put out a "brush fire" to be good samaritans, and wind up finding in the fire was a woman with her head gone... The author definitely took liberties with dialogue, since he never even asked us what we saw when we found her, or asked about our reactions. But I do believe he states this in the book that he was going to take liberties with certain conversations. Still think the book would have been better if he had interviewed some people in Litchfield where it happened!

7 people found this helpful

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Litchfield : A Strange and Twisted Saga of Murder in the Midwest Paperback – July 1, 1998

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