Bibliograph

When a killer calls, a haunting story of murder, criminal profiling, and justice in a small town, John Douglas and Mark Olshaker

Type

Label

When a killer calls, a haunting story of murder, criminal profiling, and justice in a small town, John Douglas and Mark Olshaker

Language

eng

resource.biographical

contains biographical information

Illustrations

platesillustrationsportraits

Index

no index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

When a killer calls

Responsibility statement

John Douglas and Mark Olshaker

Series statement

From the case files of the FBI's original mindhunter, 2

Sub title

a haunting story of murder, criminal profiling, and justice in a small town

Summary

On May 31, 1985, two days before her high school graduation, Shari Smith was abducted from the driveway of her family home in South Carolina. Based on the crime scene and the abductor's repeated and taunting calls to the family, law enforcement quickly realized they were dealing with a sophisticated and highly dangerous criminal. A letter arrived the next day entitled "Last Will & Testament," in which Shari, knowing she was to be murdered, wrote bravely and achingly of her love for her parents, siblings, and boyfriend. The abduction rocked her quiet town, triggering a massive manhunt and bringing in the FBI. A few days later, a phone call told the family where they could find Shari's body. Then nine-year-old Debra May Helmick was kidnapped from her yard, confirming that Smith's murder was no random act. John Douglas devised a risky and emotionally-fraught strategy to use Shari's lookalike older sister Dawn as bait to draw out the unknown subject. This case details how the eerily-accurate profile he created -- alongside his carefully-crafted and stage-managed manipulation of the killer's psychology -- combined with dedicated police work and cutting-edge forensic science to end a reign of criminal terror

Target audience

adult

Contributor