Body Parts (Pinnacle True Crime) [Kindle Edition]

Body Parts is a meticulously researched and soberly written look at the fascinating case of Wayne Ford, who was convicted of four California murders and sentenced to death in 2006. This case has all of the lurid elements out of which the typical, schlocky true-crime yarn could have emerged, but journalist Caitlin Rother avoids the low road. Unfortunately, the publisher did not choose the same high road: The book's gritty title and cover art give a misleading impression that may turn off more thoughtful readers.

Serious readers who do get past the cover will be interested in Rother's well-researched presentation of both the crimes and Ford's early history, which helps to explain how his complex and warped psychosexual makeup developed. Abandonment during his adolescent developmental period by an emotionally cold and promiscuous mother fueled a deadly blend of neediness and simmering hostility toward women. A head injury at age 18 may have reduced his ability to control his darker impulses. (Rother gives short shrift to the head injury theory, but it sounds like the legal defense team may not have presented it compellingly. You don't need to be in a coma for days in order to suffer frontal lobe damage enough to produce behavioral impulsivity.) We end up with a chronically depressed alcoholic diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and a laundry list of sexual abnormalities, including hypersexuality, exhibitionism, voyeurism, masochism, partialism (abnormal focus on a specific body part, in this case breasts), picquerism (he got aroused by putting pins in the breasts of women), and -- the most deadly -- sexual sadism.

As a forensic psychologist, I was intrigued to read about the roles of well-known experts in the case. These included Reid Meloy and Park Dietz, both of whom have been involved in recent controversies (Meloy for his role in the wrongful conviction of a Colorado teen, Timothy Masters -- see my blog posts at bit.ly/reid -- and Dietz for his inaccurate testimony during the trial of child-killer Andrea Yates in Texas), and Deborah Davis, a University of Nevada professor who is an expert on coerced confessions. (After he voluntarily surrendered to police, tag teams of detectives from different jurisdictions questioned Ford for days without giving him access to an attorney.)

Ford's story belies the myth of the cunning serial killer (the prototype being Ted Bundy) whose lust for death leads inexorably to greater and greater carnage. Ford was a bumbling, disorganized sadist whose murders were almost accidental, the product of sadistic acts with a high risk of death rather than an end in themselves. Although at least four women died, many more were released after being raped and tortured. For readers who are interested in a scholarly historical analysis of serial killers more generally I would recommend Elliott Leyton's Hunting Humans: The Rise Of The Modern Multiple Murderer; my review is on that book's Amazon products page.

In summary, I recommend this book as a solidly written, psychologically intriguing entry in the true crime genre.

Speaking as one who was intimately involved in this case from the time Wayne and his brother Rodney arrived at the doorstep of the Humboldt County Sheriff's Department until its court disposition (they are never officially concluded until the death of the perpetrator), I have complete knowledge of the investigation of this case and the outcome.

I can therefore state publicly that Ms Rother has done an exemplary job of presenting the case in a way that puts the reader into the life history of Wayne Adam Ford and presents the information and the facts of the case in such a way that the reader can understand Wayne and his motivations, sexual deviency, attitudes and his defense to the extent that is possible. The author covered Wayne's evasive answers when asked the details of the killings, why he cut up two of the victims and so on. She also covered the defense's use of that information during the trial. Ms Rother's narrative switched back and forth to different periods in Wayne's, the victims, and Wayne's families lives, and back to the investigation of the initial murder in Humboldt and to the other murders.

The details of what duties I and my fellow deputy sheriffs had to perform during this investigation are indeed lurid, horrible and way beyond what I thought I had signed on for in law enforcement. Of course by the time this case came up I had been a homicide and major crimes detective for some years and had been able to keep such things where they belong in my psyche.

Ms Rother presents the life history of Wayne in a progressive and cohesive manner for the reader. It is very accurate as I can attest, as I did most of the early interviews with Wayne's ex wives, friends and family members. I won't repeat the psychological examination of the book by Ms Franklin but to say that I agree with most of her conclusions. In the book, the testimony by Drs Deitz and Meloy are shown by Ms Rother to be what they are; conflicting but equally compelling opinions. Ms Rother also examines the testimony of Dr Davis, the expert on coerced confessions. Ms Rother does a good job of presenting the facts of what happened during the investigation which did not, in the opinion of the court, deny Wayne his constitutional rights, including his right to an attorney if he so desired. (a criminal suspect has to be 1. in custody and 2.subject to an interrogation for Miranda to be in effect) Rother also correctly reported that Wayne invoked his rights early on, and they were honored by me and other members of our agency. Ms Rother also accurately reported that later on, Wayne changed his mind and decided to talk to me about his crimes.

The book also examines the defense team's assertion that Wayne's depression was mitigating evidence and Ms Rother does a good job of covering the prosecution's and the defense's cases. The book also portrays the case in detail from both sides. Ms Rother does not take sides with anyone involved in the case and she has presented the case in amazing detail and accuracy. Ms Rother has honored the information, the story of Wayne's life, the crimes he committed, and the famililies of the victims, who are still and will be victims as are homicide or major crimes' victims, and their families left behind by the tragic deaths.

The other point Ms Rother made is that Wayne Adam Ford seemed to be a normal 36 year old man. He had friends, socialized in kerioke bars, was personable, attractive looking, and seemed to be a nice guy to his friends, and yet he committed unspeakable crimes. I am glad I decided to trust Ms Rother with this case because it is an unusual story of serial killings that needed to be told, and because Ms Rother did such an outstanding job of pulling all of the information together in an informative yet entertaining way. This book was tough for me to read because I lived the case, but it was so well written I had to read it all.

Was Wayne Adam Ford sorry for his crimes? He never said he was sorry to me. Did Ford really turn himself in? The true hero of this case is Rodney Ford who almost dragged Wayne into the Sheriff's Office after Wayne told Rodney he changed his mind. Rodney did not know what crimes Wayne had committed when they arrived at the Sheriff's Office, just that he "had hurt some people.". If Rodney had let Wayne have his way..............?

This was a great true crime read. You almost feel sorry for the killer, all the torment and regret he feels for his victims but in the end you just know he used the women he killed for his own psycho sexual gratification.