Defending America’s ‘Meanest Man’: The Consequences of Our Criminal Justice System
CHARLESTON, S.C. (PRWEB) July 29, 2014 -- In 40 years of trial practice, nothing stands out more to attorney O. Grady Query than the decade he spent defending a serial killer.
The second time Donald Henry “Pee Wee” Gaskins was tried for murder, the court appointed Query to delve into the history and motivation behind the person dubbed “Meanest Man in America.”
Lacking remorse or hesitation, Gaskins brutally murdered more than 50 people in a matter of three decades. While struggling to understand Gaskin’s horrific lifestyle and troubling past, Query was prompted to pen, “Pee Wee Serial Killer or Homicidal Maniac.”
“I have always believed that disseminating the information about sociopathic personalities like Pee Wee might provide insight into the reason such people exist and into the possibility of altering the outcome,” Query said. “Prisons themselves do not reform, rehabilitate nor enlighten.”
In a book comprised of two volumes, Query provides readers with a detailed account of the killer’s childhood and experience with multiple arrests and prison. Intimately involved in trials, court negotiations and police investigations surrounding Gaskins, Query illustrates his subject’s life using personal recollections and definitive statements from the defendant himself.
As an insider to the criminal justice system, Query explains the misleading nature of the final disposition and the flawed process in handling mass murder cases. He emphasizes that understanding the demented mind of a serial killer can in no way diminish the horror of cold-blooded murder, but can perhaps give insight into preventing cases like Gaskins’.
Query leaves readers with the question, “Can we as a society justify what occurs in the prisons and what price are we paying for this non-solution?”
“Pee Wee Serial Killer or Homicidal Maniac”
By: O. Grady Query
ISBN hard cover: 978-1-4918-6548-4
ISBN soft cover: 978-1-4918-6549-1
ISBN e-book: 978-1-4918-6547-7
Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Author House
About the author
O. Grady Query is an attorney and senior partner at Query, Sautter and Forsythe. For 40 years, he has practiced criminal defense law and represented defendants charged with felonies including murder, rape, and larceny. He is a member to the Federal Bar Association and American Association for Justice among many other professional organizations. Query enjoys tennis and sailing and is happily married with four children.
Andrea Hawman, Bohlsen Group, +1 (317) 602-7137 Ext: 2063, [email protected]
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