Scream at the Sky: Five Texas Murders and One Man's Crusade for Justice

by Carlton Stowers

Overview

An unsolved murder spree that left a town frozen in fear...
In rural Texas, just before Christmas in 1984, a young nurse was found raped and murdered in her Wichita Falls home. Within weeks, a second woman was found-her brutalized body dumped in the frozen Texas plains. Over the next seventeen months three more women would fall victim to a faceless evil, fueling the city's fears and baffling authorities whose every lead came to a dead end. For one haunted man the case would never die.

A fight for justice as cunning and relentless as the killer himself...
Almost fourteen years to the day of the first murder, ambitious investigator John Little reopened the cold-case files determined to deliver closure to the victims' friends and families, and bring a killer to justice. Working on his instincts, following every imaginable clue, Little embarked on an ingeniously clever and exhaustive cat-and-mouse game to trap an elusive serial killer whose sick fantasies would finally be silenced forever.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250001696
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/16/2004
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Carlton Stowers is the author of more than two dozen works of nonfiction, including the Edgar Award-winning Careless Whispers, and To The Last Breath. He and his wife live in Cedar Hill, Texas.

Editorial Reviews

Only Truman Capote's In Cold Blood may match what Stowers accomplishes here.” —Philadelphia Inquirer

“An utterly compelling account of outrage, travesty, and redemption. No one does true crime better than Carlton Stowers. No one.” —Jonathan Kellerman

“It cannot be recommended to the faint of heart...the author is as methodical and skillful as Little in the forensic reconstruction of an investigation and trial that provided closure for five families and judgment and a sentence for a killer who eluded justice for 15 years.” —The Washington Post Book World

“Carlton Stowers gets it exactly right... Scream At the Sky offers compassion for the victims as well as a balanced, warts-and-all view of each...thanks to John Little, their murders were avenged. Thanks to Carlton Stowers, they will not be forgotten.” —Austin American Statesman

“Stowers deftly portrays investigators' increasing tenacity and Wardrip's trail of deceit and violence, elements contributing to the tension as readers wait for the law to catch up with a bizarre and maddeningly fortunate murderer.” —Kirkus Reviews

“The book becomes increasingly suspenseful as Little quietly builds his case against the sanctimonious Wardrip, whose composure crumbles when he's finally confronted on his old misdeeds. Stowers demonstrates sensitivity toward the many survivors of Wardrip's crimes, yet at heart this is a gory, effective meditation on the evil sometimes committed by 'ordinary' men and the great efforts necessary for justice.” —Publishers Weekly

“Stowers crams an incredible amount of detail into his narrative. He doesn't rehash the crimes as the prosecutors present new evidence to jurors. He gives readers credit for being able to remember what they learned earlier in the book. Most important, Stowers presents the murderer as a multidimensional character. Forget 'investigative' TV series. Scream At the Sky is better than CSI or Law & Order, because it's about the real thing.” —Arizona Republic, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

From the Publisher

...an utterly compelling account of outrage, travesty and redemption, depicted with a master's touch.

Jonathan Kellerman

Rural Texas endures a long-unsolved serial killing spree, in this grim suspenser by Edgar Award-winner Stowers (Open Secrets; etc.). The narrative begins in late 1984, when a young nurse is found raped and murdered in Wichita Falls; soon a second, equally brutal murder stokes the city's fears. One indictment ends in mistrial when a third murder occurs; eventually, there are five victims. Faryion Wardrip, a local eccentric with drug and money troubles, and an acquaintance of the third victim, readily confesses to her murder. Paroled after serving 11 years of his 35-year sentence for that one murder, Wardrip, purportedly a changed man, becomes active in a local church and remarries. In a classic instance of "murder will out," however, a hungry young district attorney's investigator named John Little begins working the long-unsolved murders in December 1999 and soon gleans a crucial clue from old reports that might tie Wardrip to the other murders. The book becomes increasingly suspenseful as Little quietly builds his case against the sanctimonious Wardrip, whose composure crumbles when he's finally confronted on his old misdeeds. Stowers demonstrates sensitivity toward the many survivors of Wardrip's crimes, yet at heart this is a gory, effective meditation on the evil sometimes committed by "ordinary" men and the great efforts necessary for justice. 8 pages of b&w photos not seen by PW. (Jan. 7) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

True-crime veteran Stowers (To the Last Breath, 1998, etc.) relates the grisly tale of a Texas serial killer who dodged justice for too long. The small city of Wichita Falls was an ordinary modern metropolis that in the winter of 1984–85, writes Stowers, had "come under assault from a nameless, faceless evil." Terry Sims’s corpse was found in December 1984; the brutalized body of a nurse named Toni Gibbs turned up in a pasture a few weeks later. Both women had been horrifically raped, then beaten and fatally stabbed. Bar bouncer Danny Laughlin became obsessed with Gibbs’s death, making him a prime suspect to edgy local officials. Laughlin was indicted for Gibbs’s murder on the strength of his own contradictory statements and a jailhouse informant’s testimony. Before Laughlin’s trial began, however, authorities discovered a third victim: Ellen Blau, a recent arrival whose friendliness toward strangers proved her undoing. Laughlin’s jury deadlocked, resulting in a mistrial, but local police remained convinced of his guilt. So no one really noticed when high-strung drug addict Faryion Wardrip confessed to the murder of a woman named Tina Kimbrew and mentioned in his rambling statement that he’d also known Blau. Wardrip was paroled for Kimbrew’s murder in 1997, but improved DNA technologies finally implicated him in the other crimes. A neophyte DA investigator first connected Wardrip to the Blau killing, then memorably secured a DNA sample from him by requesting a "spit cup." When confronted with the evidence, Wardrip capitulated, confessed to a fifth murder in Fort Worth, and ultimately received the death sentence. Two-time Edgar Award winner Stowers writes competently, though he’s not abovelarding on melodramatic, ain’t-it-awful asides and digressions typical of contemporary true crime. Still, he deftly portrays investigators’ increasing tenacity and Wardrip’s trail of deceit and violence, elements contributing to the tension as readers wait for the law to catch up with a bizarre and maddeningly fortunate murderer. A passable evocation of an American nightmare.

Kirkus Reviews