Michael Benson – författare

The true crime story of a New York mother who killed and a daughter who wouldn’t die, from the author of A Killer’s Touch and Watch Mommy Die.

Anti-Freeze For A Husband

It looked like a suicide. A man’s corpse on the bathroom floor—next to a half-empty glass of anti-freeze. But fingerprints on the glass belonged to the deceased’s wife, Stacey Castor. And a turkey baster in the garbage had police wondering if she force-fed the toxic fluid down her husband’s throat.

Pills For A Daughter

In desperation, Stacey concocted a devious plan. She mixed a deadly cocktail of vodka and pills, then served it to her twenty-year-old daughter Ashley. The authorities would find Ashley with a suicide note, confessing to the anti-freeze murder. But Stacey’s plan backfired—because Ashley refused to die . . .

A Killer For A Mother

Charged with murdering her second husband—and attempting to kill her oldest daughter—Stacey Castor sparked a media frenzy. But when police dug up her first husband’s grave—and found anti-freeze in his body, too—this New York housewife earned a nickname that would follow her all the way to prison. They called her “The Black Widow.” And with good reason.

The story that inspired the Lifetime film, Poisoned Love: The Stacey Castor Story, starring Nia Vardalos.

Case Featured On 20/20

ALBERT ANASTASIA’S STORY IS TOLD IN THE FILM THE ALTO KNIGHTS, WRITTEN BY NICHOLAS PILEGGI AND DIRECTED BY BARRY LEVINSON From acclaimed true-crime author Michael Benson and real-life "Mafia Survivor" Frank DiMatteo, the gripping account of the life and crimes of the most infamous mafia boss of all time: Albert Anastasia, the man whose name is synonymous with Murder, Inc., and whose actions helped create the American Mafia.

The blood-soaked saga of the Murder, Inc. legend who helped create the modern American Mafia--one body at a time--featuring shocking eyewitness accounts... Umberto "Albert" Anastasia was born in Italy at the turn of the century. Five decades later, he would be gunned down in a barbershop in New York City. What happened in the years in between--and why every crime family had reason to want him dead--is one of the most brutal and fascinating stories in the history of American organized crime. This in-depth account of the man who became one of the most powerful and homicidal crime bosses of the twentieth century from Mafia insider Frank DiMatteo is the first full-length book to chronicle Anastasia's bloody rise from fresh-off-the-boat immigrant to founder of the notorious killer's club Murder, Inc.--featuring never-before-told accounts from those who feared him most... They called him "The One Man Army." "Mad Hatter." "Lord High Executioner." Albert Anastasia came to America mean and became a prolific killer. His merciless assassination of Mafia godfather Vincent Mangano is recounted here in chilling first-hand detail. He set the record: the first man in the history of American justice to be charged with four separate murders--and walk free after each one. But in the end, he was the last obstacle in rival Mafia hoodlum Vito Genovese's dream of becoming the boss of bosses--and paid the ultimate price...