Murder by Family: The Incredible True Story of a Son's Treachery and a Father's Forgiveness

This book tells an incredible but true tale. In one night, wife Tricia Whitaker and her son Kevin Whitaker. Her husband Kent Whitaker (the author of the book) is shot in the arm and left for dead by the attacker, as well as her other son Bart. Is it a random act of violence, or a criminal with a vendetta against the family's business? No-as the police investigation uncovers, it is the act of Bart, who due to feelings of abandonment, incompetence, and hatred, has arranged to have his family murdered and himself injured in the attempt to make it look like he had nothing to do with it. That is the basis for a lot of violence, and a lot of true crime books have dealt with the above issue before. But this book is about the forgiveness of Bart Whitaker by his Father, Kent Whitaker. Mr. Whitaker gives examples of other acts of christian forgiveness in equally horrible situations in the Bible: King David's forgiveness of his son Absalom, and Jesus's parable of the Prodigal son. In fact, Mr. Whitaker (and he discusses this in the book) life seems like that of Job's in the Bible. His path to forgiveness, and fighting for his son's life in a court room is riveting. As you can tell by my previous reviews (if you ahve read them) I read a lot of true crime books. This one is unusual because it is by someone who is of the Christian faith, and who uses their faith to continue to have a relationship with the murderer. Mr. Whitaker writes of his memories with his children and his wife in an emotionally haunting way, and seemingly ordinary memories take on a new life with his writing skill. He has beleif in God's faith despite his personal tragedies when most people would be cursing God, and disowing their child that did this heinous crime. I was very touched by this book, and I found myself crying at Mr. Whitaker's writing of memories of his wife and son. The page were he discussed, although briefly, how he would never be able to hold his son Bart again (due to his incarceration, and eventual death by lethal injection) saddened me immensly, and resulted in another round of tears. Near the end of the book, where Mr. Whitaker runs into Marshall Slot, a police officer who was instrumental in gaining evidence against Bart that resulted in his arrest for murder, and how he realizes that Marshall was just doing his job for the police also moved me to tears. The pictures in the middle, of a seemingly normal family, also were very upsetting to me. I cried on sight of the last pictures, which showed Bart with his brother, and of Tricia and Kevin at the restaurant. Who would have thought that such a lovely night would end so terribly. I would have enjoyed reading more about Mr. Whitaker's family, how he met his wife, and what day to day life was like with Bart before and after the murder (his son lived with him until he went on the run for 15 months before his arrest). I am not sure why Mr. Whitaker did not include more memories of his life before th

I enjoyed reading this book. It was well written even though the subject was horrific. I love to the it was detailed. For those of us who believe in forgiveness being the very key to christianity this is a must read.

What an outstanding movie this would make. Because who could believe the facts? A happy family comes home one night to meet a masked intruder, who shoots to death two family members and nearly murders the father. A fourth, the eldest son, claims he is shot in the left arm when he came upon the intruder and struggled with him. From the first, the police zero in on the eldest son, with gunshot wound that is minor in comparison to what the others suffered. Kent, the father, simply cannot believe that his own son could coldly murder his own mother and brother and nearly kill him. Yet, bit by bit, evidence begins to pile up, and then, suddenly, his son flees to Mexico. What makes this book so mesmerizing is the wrenching agony of the father as he comes to grips with the knowledge of what his son has done. And then to read how, as a devout Christian, Kent painfully tries to forgive his son and heal the rift between them. Not a book you are likely to forget.

This is an extraordinary story -- not just extraordinary because of the events that transpired, nor just because of the writer's ability to draw you into those events. Kent shows that no "ordinary" human being (and he would count himself as ordinary) has the ability to transcend this level of personal betrayal and loss. It is not just the skillful recounting of a tragedy but how Kent represents it and has been able to rebuild not only his own life but that of the murderer of his family. This is a must-read. Latayne C. Scott www.latayne.com

wow. i finished this book in 3 sittings. it was impossible to put it down. the unraveling of this story was absolutely an incredible process of unimaginable events. it was hard for me to understand why kent whitaker wrote this book. as i've researched into it, the situation seems that "it is his dog, he doesn't want anyone else to kick it..." Kent has donated every penny of his revenue from this book to charity. wow... i still cannot fathom losing my whole family... his ability to continue to live a tremendous testimony to his faith...