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Preface
Human life is very precious to most of us; nothing is as valuable as drawing in breath and feeling the reassuring beat of our hearts. Most of us feel the same about the lives of other creatures, from fellow humans to animals, and this often includes even bugs' small lives. Some people eat meat but would never think of hunting wild creatures. Some are vegetarians or vegans. The majority of us feel sad and even cry when we hear of disasters halfway around the world in which hundreds of people we never knew have perished. This ability to empathize -- to identify with the pain of others -- is the part of us that makes us human.
Yet there are other people who feel no sorrow or empathy when someone else suffers or dies. When they want something, the end justifies the means. Their motivation is usually financial gain or sexual conquest, but sometimes they act out of a need for revenge. If they look back at all on the death of someone who got in their way, it is without regret or guilt. With those who have no conscience and no empathy, there are no lingering doubts.
Despite my having written about a thousand or more killers, the ability to understand those without conscience is, for me, the most elusive. I can deal with it intellectually -- but not emotionally.
The title of this book came to me full-blown, almost in a nightmare: Worth More Dead. As disturbing as it is to accept that these murderers believed their victims were, indeed, more valuable to them dead than alive, I know that it is true.
The first case history is about a man I encountered in a courtroom many years ago and never expected to hear about again. That he kept bouncing back into the headlines amazed me. He may have been smarter than many cold-blooded killers, or he may only have been more devious than most. He was always circumspect about choosing someone else to blame. Had he held the death weapons himself? That was always the question, but I think I may have finally answered it.
"It's Really Weird Looking at My Own Grave" is the story of a serial killer and rapist who believed that if his victims were dead, they could not come back to identify him. Fortunately, some of them were smarter than he was.
"Old Man's Darling" is a Colorado case, curious to ponder. The woman involved looked like an action-movie heroine, but her obsessions didn't lend themselves to a romantic last chapter. How dare her aging lover cast her aside? Furious and desperate, she took action, and a terrible finale ensued.
"All for Nothing" is one of the most shocking cases I've ever written about, and my longtime readers know that that's saying a great deal. Was it the result of a love triangle ripped apart? Or was it simply the inevitable ending to the erotic games one brilliant woman played with the men she delighted in enticing? She didn't realize that one man was playing for keeps.
All of these murderers had what they considered a good reason to want their victims dead -- be it financial or emotional -- and the last case in this book, "A Desperate Housewife," seems to have been fueled by both emotions. It is one of the saddest I've ever written about, although certainly none of the cases I cover are cheerful. What happened was so unnecessary, so selfish, and it will probably haunt you as it has me.
Copyright © 2005 by Ann Rule
