Insured for Murder

The book I ordered came very fast. It was probably in very good condition when sent to me, but the box had gotten crushed a bit by the postal service, and that in turn had crushed the book a bit. Even so , I was very satisfied by my purchase and would order from this sender again.

I was 18 years old living in the French Market in Columbus Ohio going to Bradford Business School. John Hawkins lived in my apartment building one floor down. He was incredibly goodlooking. I lived with 3 other girls at the time and we made friends with him and his friends. As a matter of fact, one of my classmates worked at his Just Sweats store at the French Market. He would routinely come into the store and take the cash out of the register then leave. This would make the manager so mad because they wouldn't be able to reconcile the books. I remember that he drove a black porsche. I was in his apartment a few times to borrow a wine opener. I remember him having a very expensive stereo system and big screen t.v. Back in 87', it was a big deal to have such a system. I came very close to sleeping with this man. To his credit, he thought I was too young. I look back now and think what a naive little girl I was. It wasn't long after I graduated from Bradford, that he was wanted for murder. I remember watching the news and seeing his face and the accompaying news story. My jaw dropped to the floor. This man was addicted to the fast life. He used his looks and charm to get what he wanted. I haven't read this book but I plan on buying it.

I first heard about the John-Hawkins, Melvin-Hanson case from the movie, "If Looks Could Kill"(1996), starring Antonio Sabato and Brad Dourif. Then I heard about the case again on an episode of "Murder by the Book" from TruTV, which featured commentary by the author Jonathan Kellermann as well as Cathy Candisky, co-author of >Insured for Murder<. The TruTV program first brought the book to my attention. <br />Candisky and co-author Robin Yocum were just reporters at the Columbus Ohio >Dispatch< who had been assigned to follow up on a story about the death of a local man, Melvin Hanson, co-owner of Just Sweats, Inc., a chain of clothing stores around Columbus; but his death had apparently been faked as part of an insurance scam. The day after Candisky filed her first story, her phone began to ring off the hook: <br />Page 19: "Are you the reporter who wrote this article about Just Sweats?" <br />the caller asked. <br />"Yes." <br />"Why didn't you write about all the money those two embezzled?" the woman demanded, as if to imply Candisky was protecting Hawkins and Hanson. <br />Candisky scrawled "embezzlement" on a pad. <br />Page 20: "Are you going to write any more stories about John Hawkins?" <br />"Planning to," Candisky answered. "Do you know him?" <br />"Sort of . . . . Did you know Hanson ripped off the company big time before he quit?" <br />Page 20: "This is Cathy." <br />"Yeah, about the story in today's paper. Where did you get your information?" <br />Candisky rolled her eyes. "Mostly from the lawsuit." <br />"Man, I'm telling you, this is such total b___s___ . . . . Gene Hanson is dead. He had AIDS." <br />Page 21: "Hi, this is Cathy Candisky at the >Dispatch<. Is this John Hawkins?" <br />The man's laugh was groggy. "No, John is not here. This is Erik DeSando. <br />I'm John's roommate." <br />"Well, I was trying to get a hold of him for a follow-up of today's story." <br />"Story?" DeSando asked. "What story?" <br /> <br />A confidence man fools everyone, and his spouse or best friend is often the last one to realize it. <br />>Insured for Murder< will leave the reader laughing at the incidental and gallows-type humor of two hardened urban journalists. <br />