Cellar of Horror

Rating:
Summary: Very Readable True Crime
Review: Ken Englade is the author of many true crime books. This one rates four stars because it is well written, using the English language well. It is easy to read. Initially, the book moves from Heidnick's past, then back to the crime for which he was arrested and sentenced. He held women in a cellar in terrible conditions and demanded sex so that he could have children. Half of the book focuses on the crime and the other half on the trial.

The reason the book does not get five stars is that it lacks investigation of Heidnick's childhood and family. It does briefly go into his hopitalizations for mental illness. So many opportunities for Heidnick to get the help that could have prevented this crime. Also, Heidnik accrued quit a bit of money through some sort of investment. Going into that also would have been interesting.

Finally, I did not give this book five stars because there were very few pictures. Pictures of childhood, details of the scene of the crime, pictures of the victims along with a postlogue of the current fate of the victims would have added immensely to the book.

Rating:
Summary: In the Basement
Review: The story of Gary Heidnik is one of the more disturbing in the whole genre of true crime. Ken Englade does a commendable job of outlining Heidnik's spiral out of control in "Cellar of Horror".

The facts show Heidnick imprisoned as many as five women at varying times to serve as a "baby making machines" for him. All of the women were African American with a background of mental deficiency or prostitution. The women were starved, tortured, raped, and beaten at varying times during their captivity. Two women died in captivity. One woman's remains were cooked, causing a tremendous odor in the neighborhood, and fed to dogs mixed in with dogfood. One of the more interesting aspects of the capitivity shows the social dynamics that caused one of the prisoners to gain favor over the others and align herself with her captor.

The trial shows a judge wiping her behind with the consititution to railroad the jury into a first degree murder verdict. Judge Abraham clearly wanted as little evidence of insanity presented as possible. She allowed the prosecution to present evidence which the defense was forbidden to present. This was among her many offenses. A more clear case of not guilty by reason of insanity may not be possible. Heidnik was given disability pay by the military and diagnosed with schizophrenia. In addition, he was in and out of mental health institutes over twenty times between his years in the military and his arrest for murder.

Ken Englade tells a riveting story in "Cellar of Horror". It is a relatively short read, but one that I had trouble putting down as I read it in two days. Because of its thoughtfulness, it is essential true crime.