The Rest of the [True Crime] Story

The Rest of the [true crime] Story

The series of cases recounted deal with some of the most horrendous crimes committed in Canada and elsewhere. However, in telling these stories, the author takes a deeper dive into exploring why they were perpetrated and what happened to the perpetrator thereafter.

It is also a telling indictment of the processes used to convict and punish persons accused of criminal acts. What happens when the criminal justice system gets it wrong and an innocent person is wrongly convicted? What if the public’s desire for retribution turns the convicted criminal into a monster? Have we sacrificed public safety for our desire for vengeance?

The stories told here, besides being true accounts, represent a different perspective on true crime narratives. We have the opportunity to get into the heads of the people convicted of crimes and discover their motivations - a perspective rarely advanced in true crime literature.

Author John L. Hill

is a lawyer who has defended some of Canada’s most notorious criminals and also worked for the release of persons wrongly convicted. He is a triple graduate of Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario holding an Honours B.A. and M.A. in political science and a J.D. from the law school. He earned an LL.M. in Constitutional Law from Osgoode Hall law school in Toronto. He has practiced and taught criminal and correctional law at the university level for 40 years. He has lectured internationally on prison law topics and is a columnist on criminal law matters for Law 360 Canada.