Corey Mitchell

This is an excellent book written about one of the most horrific crimes ever. The rapes and murders of Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena is one of the worst I have ever read about. This book was very well researched. Very detailed about the victims, killers, and the murders - enough that you felt you were watching all of it. The group of gang members that raped and murdered these two innocent girls were all sociopaths who enjoyed inflicting pain on others. In fact, some got in trouble while show more in prison serving their sentences or awaiting execution, attacking guards or other inmates. Thankfully, 3 of them were executed, 2 others have life with no parole and 1 has 40 years. This book is excellent - well-written and well-researched. He gave depth to each character, making you love them or hate them. You feel such empathy for the victims' family and the pain they had to endure throughout their journey to justice. Corey Mitchell, the author, makes sure you always know who the victims are and that they are and should be the center of attention. I, personally, will never forget these two young ladies. I recommend this book. It is great! show less

This is the true account of Carl “Coral” Eugene Watts, a serial killer in Michigan, when Michigan got too ‘hot’ for him, in the sense that a local detective had him pegged for several murders, he moved to Texas. He didn’t stop killing though, by the time he was arrested he had killed 13 more women. Watts killed in a variety of ways and left little evidence behind. He confessed but plea bargained to burglary with a 60 year sentence. Due to a legal flaw in the Texas criminal justice show more system, Watts was supposed to be released from prison in 2006. Through the ceaseless efforts of investigators and the mother of one of the victims, Watts was finally tried and convicted to life in prison for a murder he’d committed in Michigan in 1979.

This book has it all, the life of Watts, his life of crime, a brief biography of his victims, mainly because there were so many (I counted 40 women linked to or suspected to be linked to him), the trial and then the briefs and motions he filed to reduce his sentence and the efforts made to keep him in prison. A fascinating well written account of a horrible person. show less

I was only a few years younger than Jennifer Ertman when this crime occurred, and I remember it being mentioned on the nightly news. I bought the book a few years ago, and since I was on a true crime kick, I decided to finally read it.

The crime detailed in the book is horrible. Six men, three of them technically juveniles (which is totally arbitrary, how you can be 17 years and 364 days old and your culpability is lessened in the eyes of the law, whereas if you are 18 years and 0 days old, show more you are suddenly an adult), brutally raped and murdered two girls (aged 14 and 16) on their way home from visiting friends.

I found the details in the book to be, at times, overly salacious. I know that true crime, as a genre, is somewhat voyeuristic anyway, but I really didn't need to read about the very gruesome details contained in chapter 18 or about the maggots in one of the victim's genital region (which was mentioned more than once).

It's upsetting to read how many chances there were, looking in retrospect, to prevent this crime. If only the men, many of them on probation for various crimes (AND in violation of their parole stipulations), had been been held responsible by their parole officers (who, I acknowledge, are overworked and underpaid). If only those who had been sentenced to counseling had actually gone to the sessions or been held responsible for skipping them. If only they had been caught for prior murders (at least two had been committed, possibly more, before that fateful night in that Houston park).

It's also disturbing to see how some of the defendants' parents and lawyers tried to lay some blame on Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena for their brutal deaths. It's absolutely disgusting.

The book is a little out of date now. The book shares that Derrick Sean O'Brien had been executed. As of the time of this review, the other two "adult" offenders (Peter Cantu and Joe Medellin) have been executed in Texas for their crimes. Raul Villarreal and Efrain Perez, both being 17 when they raped and helped murder the two girls, had their sentences commuted to life. show less

I read a lot of true crime and the angle on the story always seems to be something exceptional: exceptionally cruel, a large number of victims, an exceptionally famous victim, etc. The remarkable thing about these heinous crimes and their perpetrators is the banality of it all: Act I: teen hoodlums caught at increasingly criminal acts without repercussions and coming wayward from dysfunctional homes; Act II: Teen girls encounter the unruly boys whose unwanted attentions turn to rape and show more murder; Act III: Despite murder convictions, a largely slow, and perpetrator-focused legal systems leads to delayed or canceled executions.

The descriptions of the actual, homicidal crimes and the crime scene investigation and particularly lurid and detailed. show less