Corey Mitchell

Bart Whitaker had a problem, he had lied to his parents. They thought he was graduating from college, his father had bought him a place to live while he went to classes, his mother bought him a Rolex as a graduation gift. They were celebrating with a dinner at a fancy restaurant, so what was the big lie? Bart wasn’t graduating from college, he had spent his days playing playing video games and hanging out with his friends. He decided that instead of owning up to his parents about what he show more had done or not done, he would kill them. He enlisted his friends to help with promises of a huge payout when he got the insurance money. He had a perfect plan …..

If Bart had read as many true crime books as I have he would know there is no such thing. As the detectives investigated, things didn’t add up, Bart’s lies began to catch up with him and he fled to Mexico.

This case was unique in that the victims were testifying to not have the death penalty. But the only surviving victim was Bart’s father and fathers can be kind of stupid at times.

“Now you’ve said that you only have one son left, and that’s the reason you want this jury to spare the defendant. You realize you only have one son left because he’s killed everyone else?”

This was a very interesting book, up to a point. The reporting of the crime and the biographical information was good. There were some areas that were lacking, the investigation and trial were sketchy, but the penalty phase was horrible. The author decided he want to make sure the readers knew why Bart got the dealth penalty, and he did this by giving word for word reporting of the testimony in the penalty phase of the trial. For me this ruined an otherwise informative and engaging book.

Corey Mitchell is not a horrible writer, in fact there are a couple of his books that I absolutely love, I just find him to be inconsistent. I keep reading his books because he does have a way with words.

The evil-genius mastermind Bart Whitaker had elected to take the stand in an attempt to humanize himself before the jury of his peers, who had already found him guilty of first-degree murder.”

While I didn’t love this book, I feel it does have some redeeming qualities. Someone who like to read the testimony, so they can decide for themselves, instead of reading a summary would like this book. It just didn’t appeal to me. 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

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

One of the best true crime books I've read in a while and I think it is the best of Corey Mitchell. Loved the way he build up the suspense and not began with the murders. (he told me his next book will have the same concept) I did not know what this book would be about but of course you slowly understand where this is going and it is going far, to hell and back. This is such a sad book.Highly recommend. 4.5 stars