Homicide by the Rich and Famous: A Century of Prominent Killers

by Gini Graham Scott JD Ph.D

Many people express shock and horror when they hear of a wealthy or famous person killing another person. As a society, we seem to expect the rich and famous to behave better, to commit fewer crimes, to be immune to the passions that inspire other, less prominent people to kill. After all, the rich and famous have everything―why would they need to murder? But the rich and famous kill for the very same reasons others love, power, money, jealousy, greed, revenge, and rage. Here, Scott takes us on a tour of murders committed by the rich and famous during the last century, looking at the motives, the responses of the community and local law enforcement, the media, and the outcomes. She argues that the rich and famous may kill for the same reasons as others, but they receive vastly different treatment and are often able to get away with murder.

Homicide by the rich and famous is not new in this country, nor is fascination with the crimes committed by our most revered citizens. But being among the upper echelon of society does afford such suspects with a greater ability to escape punishment. They have greater access to better respresentation, they have the means to flee the country, they have influential friends in high places willing to put themselves on the line, and they are generally treated better by law enforcement and the criminal justice system. This book profiles the many ways in which homicides committed by the rich and famous are similar to other murders in their motives, but differ from those committed by everyday citizens in their outcomes. Scott provides readers with a showcase of crimes that will infuriate and fascinate readers.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Bud · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun to read.
This could be an instruction manual for the former president of the United States. DT may have used Thomas Capano as a role model.
It also points out that it is very unlikely that DT will ever be in prison.
Money can buy delay, and just keep extending his time out on bail.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a sucker for true crime books. That's probably been brought up before on this blog. Other things I am a sucker for include sociology and well-told stories, and Homicide By the Rich and Famous has all three.

To be perfectly honest, this book would probably be a guilty pleasure if I bothered to have guilty pleasures anymore. It's pretty cheesy, and it's definitely built on "look how different the rich and famous are from us," which is a trope I can generally live without. It's a collection of stories about murders committed by the rich and/or famous, and in at least one case the formerly rich and or famous, loosely organized by topic, to wit: motives, weird methods, hiring people, covering things up, connections getting people out of stuff, the power of the press (tightly linked to connections), the ability to hire good lawyers, rich kids murdering people, and mental illness, in this case when it's affected by wealth.

I want to give Scott props here for not resorting to the obvious cases. There's no OJ Simpson here, though you will find Lizzie Borden and Leopold and Loeb. She also made an effort to collect cases widely scattered in time, from Lizzie Borden in the 1890s to Susan Cummings in 1997. Since her stated goal is to show patterns in the cases of homicide by the rich and famous that set them apart from more lower-class homicides, this wide range of cases supports her argument. The book actually makes a very strong case that there are several things that set the wealthy apart, perhaps not in how or why they kill but certainly in how they're prosecuted for it.

Unfortunately none of this is news, and several of the cases have a strong air of "look how much better we are than the rich and famous." So I wouldn't necessarily recommend this unless you're a true crime buff. It's well-written and makes a great case for itself, though, and it's certainly an interesting read. It could perhaps have been better with a less academic air about it, since it's essentially gossip masquerading as science, but then, what history isn't.

If you have the patience for "the wealthy are worse than us, look how good we are about things," an interest in true crime, or if you like gossipy stories about murder, I'd recommend this. Otherwise, skip it.


One amusing thing: a friend of mine had a relative attend the same school that the Wardlaw sisters (discussed in the book) would later drive into the ground. So that was a fun little coincidence.

[Donna Humble · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is an interesting book that covers 9 murders from different time frames.