Family Blood: The True Story of the Yom Kippur Murders: One Family's Greed, Love, and Rage

I read a lot of real crime books that gets gory but I think this book got to me. I remember watching the mini-series with Mimi Rogers as Melody Woodman, Elliot Gould as Stewart Woodman, Sam WAnamaker as Gerald Woodman and Kim Hunter as Vera WOodman. Reading this book answered a lot of questions that the mini-series never fully explained but just skimmed the surface. It's a Greek style tragedy with nobody winning. The Woodmans had a lot more than most of us. They had wealth, servants, and lived a lifestyle where only we can imagine. Sadly, they weren't happy. Gerald Woodman didn't deserve his tragic fate but he was not at all blameless. Poor Vera Woodman suffered a marriage that produced 5 children and knew her husband had affairs and produced a daughter. I don't believe for a moment that Stewart and Neil were convicted because of anti-Semitism. They were convicted because they were guilty of planning a horrendous murder on the end of the holiest day of the Jewish year. Like I wrote, I read a lot of gory true crime books but I think because Neil and Stewart could be the guys next door, family men, husbands, and fathers, made it more frightful. They were broke and in debt but spent money wildly. They help bankrupt their parents. Of course, it was no surprise they were murdered and the police asked who could have done something so horrible and they just Neil and Stewart which goes to show that this could happen to any family. I recommend the mini-series highly. Just because you have money, wealth, and live well doesn't mean that you're happy. My heart goes to the Woodman family wherever they are and to the people of Manchester Plastic Products.

AS THE "VICE PRESIDENT" OF MANCHESTER PRODUCTS COMPANY, AND VERY CLOSE TO "STEWART WOODMAN".....MORE LIKE A BROTHER TO HIM..THAN THE BOOK WILL REVEAL "HE EVER HAD!"..... IT SEEMS THAT TIME HAS PASSED, SINCE THE HORRIFIC FACTS THAT MADE THIS BOOK A "REALITY".....BUT THE SHOCK AND HORROR AND MEMORIES STILL LINGER...AS TO WHAT REALLY HAPPENED IN 1985!!! EVERYTHING CHANGED.....FOR ME, MY FAMILY AND EVERYONE AROUND US.. NOW IN 2005....ALTHOUGH THE DETAILS OF THIS BOOK SOMEWHAT HAVE PASSED IN TIME..THE PAIN AND SUFFERING STILL REMAINS AS TO REMEMBERING "WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED IN THIS "OUTWARDLY EXOTIC WEALTHY CHARASMATIC FAMILY".....HOW IT HAPPENED AND OF COURSE EVERYONE SINCE 1985 ASKED ME: W H Y ????? STEWART AND NEIL HAVE BEEN IN PRISON SINCE 1986...AND ALTHOUGH MANY YEARS HAVE PASSED....THE PUNISHMENT WILL NEVER FIT THE CRIME OF WHAT THEY DID TO THEIR PARENTS ON THEIR RELIGIOUS HOLY DAY...AND LITERALLY CHANGED ALL OF LIVES SO "DRASTICALLY" THAT WORDS COULD NEVER EXPLAIN THE FEELINGS THAT COME OVER ALL OF US WHOM WERE THE "SILENT VICTIMS" WHO ARE MENTIONED IN THIS BOOK.... YET NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT....AFTER THE MANY YEARS OF TRIALS AND MEDIA COVERAGE WHICH ENSUED AFTER SEPTEMBER 12, 1985. LIFE GOES ON...HOWEVER...WHEN READING THIS BOOK....TRY TO IMAGINE ACTUALLY "LIVING THE LIFE OF HIGH STYLE" WHICH I DID... ONLY TO BE LEFT WITH "EMPTY FEELINGS OF GUILT" DUE TO THE FACT THAT ONE ONLY CAN HAVE HOPED....."WHY DIDN'T I SEE THIS COMING?" AND/OR "WHY COULDN'T I HAVE STOPPED THE BROTHERS IN THEIR FINAL HORRIBLE DECISIONS THAT CHANGED EVERYONES LIFE?" STEWART AND NEIL WERE RIDING A WAVE OF ARROGANCE, AND GREED THAT ONLY CAN BE WRITTEN ABOUT NOW.....NOTHING COULD STOP THEM AND NOTHING "THEY FELT" COULD REACH THEM IN THEIR "ULTRA POSITION" WHICH THEY WRONGLY THOUGHT THERE WERE IN. THEY RESPECTED "NO ONE"......NOT EVEN THEIR OWN PARENTS! THEY CARED FOR "NO ONE"......NOT EVEN THEIR OWN FAMILIES! IF THEY HAD ANY FEELINGS AND/OR LOVING MOMENTS...IT WAS ONLY WITH THEIR OWN SELFISH THOUGHTS OF REVENGE AND HATE..... IT IS HARD TO BELIEVE THAT 2 BROTHERS COULD HAVE TURNED OUT THE WAY THIS BOOK PROTRAYS.....ESPECIALLY STEWART, WHOM WAS VERY CLOSE TO ME......AS WE WORKED SO HARD TO BUILD THAT WONDERFUL PLASTICS BUSINESS AND "FOR WHAT?"....."D I S A S T E R !" AS THEIR FAMILYS WERE TORN APART...SO WAS MINE..... AS THEY LOST EVERY DOLLAR OF WEALTH THEY HAD BUILT..SO DID I.. READ THIS BOOK AND LEARN FROM IT.....EVERYTHING "NOT TO DO" OR LEARN FROM THE WOODMAN FAMILY...."HOW NOT TO ACT OR RE-ACT!"... THIS BOOK LEAVES HORRIBLE MEMORIES AND PAIN FROM THE FACTS SHOWN IN GREAT DETAIL.....BUT MAYBE SOMEDAY....SOMETHING POSITIVE CAN BE LEARNED FROM THIS FAMILY TRAGEDY THAT "NEVER SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED!" RICK WILSON (PAGE 69)