The Cop Who Wouldn't Quit

Story of how the policeman tracked down and prosecuted one of my high school classmates, who had plotted and carried out the murder of an entire family for insurance money. Interesting read for those of us who went to school every day with him.

I came to read this book after I went on 2 dates, and became friendly, with a man named Michael Davis. As it turns out, Michael Davis was the name taken by Walter Waldhauser after he was released from prison after serving 7 years of a 30-year sentence. Walter Waldhauser master-minded the murders. When I was with him, I had no idea I was sitting across the table from a murderer. After someone told me my date was this convicted murderer, I changed my phone number and moved.

The logical conclusions of this excellent book are about to play completely out. As murder mastermind Markham Duff Smith was strapped to a gurney and rehabilitated several years ago, triggerman Allen Wayne Janecka will now be strapped to a gurney and rehabilitated this coming July 24, 2003. That pretty much takes care of all the players -- except for Walter Waldhauser, who will probably spend the rest of his life in prison for some sort of embezzlement schemes he operated in Dallas, years after the events depicted in this book. Did anyone really think he would ever turn his life around?

This book reads like a Stephen King novel. Rick Nelson is a phenomenal writer. He throws you head first into the story - and this is one amazingly frightening story.

What a great book. It has been over 15 years since I read it and I still tell people to read this book. I actually went to school with this cops daughter and hung out in most of the places in the book as a teenager. If you grew up in the Houston area this book is one you must read...

The true story of the murders of several generations of a wealthy and seemingly happy family. Not only does a family member scheme to have his family killed for their money, but he gets away with it until the cops and a seasoned investigative reporter team up to solve the crime. This is a book that proves that truth is stranger than fiction. A priest turned forensic psychologist, who begins imitating the medical examiner in dress, the good cop who is losing his family to the pressures of the job, and a group of money-hungry, well dressed criminals willing to kill a whole family, including a sleeping child to get what they want.