The Cases That Haunt Us

The #1 New York Times bestselling authors of Mindhunter revisit some of the most infamous true crime cases of all time—from Jack the Ripper to JonBenet Ramsey and more—in this updated 25th anniversary edition.

Violent. Provocative. Shocking. Call them what you want… but don’t call them open and shut.

Did Lizzie Borden murder her own father and stepmother? Who killed JonBenet Ramsey, and why? In this updated edition, legendary FBI criminal profiler John Douglas and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker and journalist Mark Olshaker—the team behind the famous Mindhunter series—explore these tantalizing questions and more in this mesmerizing work of detection.

Using modern forensic science and criminal profiling techniques developed by Douglas within the FBI, The Cases That Haunt Us challenges conventional theories, dissects investigative missteps, and exposes the societal biases that have shaped the most notorious true crime cases in history. From the Boston Strangler to the Zodiac Killer, these are the eight cases that just won’t go away because of their senseless depravity, the doubts about whether justice was done, or because, in some instances, no suspect has ever been identified or caught.

The Cases That Haunt Us not only offers convincing and controversial conclusions, it deconstructs the evidence and widely held beliefs surrounding each case and rebuilds them—with fascinating, surprising, and haunting results.

John Douglas is the legendary FBI criminal profiler and former Chief of the FBI’s Behavioral Sciences Unit where he researched, investigated, and conducted interviews of some of America’s most violent criminals. Over the past half-century, he either directly worked on or had overall supervision in over 5,000 violent crime cases. He is one of the foremost experts of the criminal mind, its methods, and motivations. Douglas is a veteran of the United States Air Force and holds a doctorate degree in Education, and lives with his wife, Pamela, in the Washington, DC, area.

 

Mark Olshaker is an Emmy Award–winning documentary filmmaker and author of thirteen nonfiction books and five novels, including Einstein’s Brain and The Edge. His books with former FBI Special Agent and criminal profiling pioneer John Douglas, beginning with Mindhunter and most recently When a Killer Calls, have sold millions of copies and have been translated into many languages. Mindhunter was recently adapted by David Fincher into a critically acclaimed and award-winning dramatic series on Netflix. Olshaker and his wife, Carolyn, an attorney, live in the Washington, DC, area.