True Crime Jury Verdicts: A Prosecutor's Tale by Randy Carroll

Randy Carroll is a retired North Carolina prosecutor whose true crime memoir opens with a defendant who was convicted of killing two wives in almost identical fashion, the first in Greensboro, North Carolina and the second four years later in Pittsburgh. This case is featured in episodes on Forensic Files, Discovery ID and the American Justice series on A&E. Another domestic murder is highlighted by Carroll reading a letter from the grave that purports to be from from his decedent and he read to the jury during his closing argument. That defendant was convicted of first-degree murder. These are but two of many major cases that Carroll includes in his true crime book from his twenty-seven years career in the Guilford County, North Carolina District Attorney’s office. Other cases include the story of a serial rapist, a heroin trafficker, Carroll’s own dumb criminal story and many others. In telling these stories he weaves in numerous personal connections he had with many of his cases. This book is about serious cases that reveal the honest and personal side of a career prosecutor that at times include what Carroll describes as “anecdotal courthouse humor” proving the adage that the truth is often stranger than fiction. If you are a true crime junkie, Carroll’s book is a must read.