Sheila Johnson – författare

Beautiful, beloved college sophomore Brianna Denison was home for the holidays in Reno, Nevada. After a long night out, she crashed on a friend''s couch. It would be the last time the child psychology major was seen alive. Her strangled body was found in a field nearly a month later. But Brianna was not the first victim of a murderer with a disturbing fetish, and the patience to search for his favorite prey--petite, vulnerable brunettes. In unflinching detail Gary C. King recounts the hunt for James Biela, an ex-Marine turned rapist and killer. The investigation would lead authorities to a maze of troubled relationships, crucial DNA evidence, and ultimately a death sentence--bringing this shocking true-life thriller to a chilling end. . .Praise For Gary C. King''s True Crime Books"A page?turner for true?crime fans." ??Vincent Bugliosi"Will leave you gasping." --Jack Olsen "Thorough, thoughtful, and unforgettable." ??Inside Detective magazineIncludes 16 Pages Of Dramatic Photos

Caught In A TrapFor Darlene Roberts, a quiet drive home from work turned out to be the end of the road when a stranded motorist flagged her down. As soon as she stopped, Darlene was forcibly dragged from her car and viciously thrown to the ground, bound with cords and tightly gagged. A second attacker stepped into the scene, a woman in a hood and a mask. . .. Hunted Like An AnimalIn the ensuing struggle, the woman''s mask slipped off, revealing the face of Darlene''s husband''s ex-wife, Barbara Ann Roberts. Darlene broke away, running for her life. The couple pursued her across a field until they found her hiding in the grass. A shotgun was aimed--and fired--point blank. Later, Darlene was discovered floating in a pond. . . Dead In The WaterWho fired the fatal shot? The bitter ex-wife? Or her lover and accomplice, millionaire neurosurgeon Dr. Robert Schiess III? Only one of them would be convicted of murder in this disturbingly twisted tale of lovers, cheaters, and killers in a small Alabama town. . . With 16 Pages of Revealing Photos

The true story of the horrific murder of a mother and daughter in rural Alabama—and the cop who wouldn’t rest until she closed the case . . . Includes photos.   “The worst I've ever seen”—that’s how Sheriff Cecil Reed described the July 7, 1995 slayings of Carolyn Headrick, forty-four, and her mother Dora Ann Dalton, sixty-two. The two were found in their home in rural DeKalb County, Alabama, where they’d been shot, stabbed, and even speared by a Native American-style lance. Randy Headrick, Carolyn’s husband, was the beneficiary of $325,000 in insurance money. But he swore he’d been at work when the murders were committed—and the police couldn’t break his alibi.   Headrick was a troublemaker who’d spent four years in a Texas prison for possession of a pipe bomb. More recently, he’d had an affair with a married woman—which his second wife, Carolyn, had discovered. The woman had later been harassed and her house had mysteriously burned down. The police knew Headrick was bad news, but they just couldn’t nail him on these murders. There was only one person who knew for sure if Headrick was the killer . . .

His Victims Were Uncounted. . .From the time he was a teenager, Jeremy Bryan Jones had let his violent passions run wild: attacking, raping, and mutilating. Then, in Mobile County, Alabama, Jones''s rampage was stopped. But no one knew how many bodies were in his past.His Evil Was Unmeasured. . .Convicted and sentenced to die for the brutal murder of Lisa Nichols, an Alabama mother of two children, Jones shocked authorities with the story of his life--and his claims of snuffing out over a dozen victims in thirteen years. But was he telling the truth, or was he simply taunting his captors?Until The Terrible Truth Emerged. . .Detectives from across the South scrambled to prove Jones''s claims. At every turn, the man dubbed "the redneck Ted Bundy" made a mockery of the police, the courts, and the media, and investigations into the horrifying crimes attributed to him still continue. Now, for the first time, the definitive story is told about a psychopath who enjoyed confessing almost as much as he enjoyed killing. . .. With 16 Pages of Revealing Photos!

Dead WrongOn January 23, 2000, already battered by an ice storm, the rural Alabama resort town of Mentone was about to be struck by an even more terrifying freak catastrophe. Hurtling down the highway in a Lincoln Town Car was Hayward Bissell, a 400-pound madman on a murder rampage. Ramming the pickup truck of Don and Rhea Pirch, Bissell lured Don Pirch on to the road, running him down with his car.Dead ReckoningBissell next targeted the home of James and Sue Pumphrey. After stabbing James Pumphrey in the stomach, Bissell was thwarted by two family dogs, who gave their lives to protect their owners. Their sacrifice bought Pumphrey enough time to get a gun and scare off Bissell--who didn''t know the weapon was actually inoperable.Dead EndWhen Bissell was finally stopped, police discovered that he wasn''t alone. Occupying the passenger seat beside him was the mutilated, partially dismembered body of his pregnant girlfriend, Patricia Ann Booher.In February 2002, Bissell pled "guilty but insane" and was sent to prison for life. Was he really crazy? Or was he crazy like a fox, turning it on and off to try to beat a death sentence for Booher''s murder. . .Includes 16 Pages Of Shocking Photos

Murder By MedicineIn the small southern town of Ider, Alabama, everyone knew Karri Willoughby as a devoted nurse, loving wife, and mother of two small children. When she was accused of killing her stepfather Billy Junior Shaw with a fatal injection of the anesthetic Propofol, outraged friends and family rallied to her defense. Overnight Karrie became a media sensation, portrayed as an innocent young woman caught up in a terrible tragedy—until four years later, when she walked into court and pleaded guilty as charged. Only then did the full scope of her crimes emerge.  Nurse Karri was unmasked as cold-blooded, conniving murderer. Investigative journalist Sheila Johnson draws on hundreds of pages of previously unseen police records, interviews, recordings and videotapes, to create a haunting real-life thriller of medicine, family, and betrayal. Includes Dramatic Photos

The cofounder of BET and first African American woman billionaire shares her deeply personal, “highly readable” (Kirkus Reviews) journey through love and loss, tragedy and triumph—an inspiring story of overcoming toxic influences, discovering her true self, and at last finding happiness in her work and life.From humble beginnings as a schoolgirl and a young violinist in Maywood, Illinois, Sheila Johnson rose to become one of the most accomplished businesswomen in America. A cofounder of Black Entertainment Television, she became an entrepreneur and philanthropist at the highest levels. But that success came at a painful personal cost. Sheila grew up in a middle-class family that encouraged her love of the arts and music. But her idyllic childhood ended at age sixteen when her beloved father announced that he was leaving for another woman, an act that shattered her mother and destroyed Sheila’s trust. She vowed she’d never be in her mother’s position—dependent on a man for her sense of self-worth and for financial security. Yet when she was barely out of her teens, Sheila married a man who would take her right down that same unfortunate path. Filled with sharply drawn, emotionally powerful senses, Walk Through Fire traces the hardships Sheila faced in her marriage and her professional life. Despite her skills as a violinist and music teacher, as well as her obvious entrepreneurial talent, she had to fight to overcome self-doubt and fears of failure. Sheila vividly details her struggles, including battling institutional racism, losing a child, suffering emotional abuse in her thirty-three-year marriage, and plunging into a deep depression with her divorce. And yet, out of that pain came renewed purpose and meaning. In the third act of her life, Sheila Johnson has not only made her mark as the founder of Salamander Hotels & Resorts and the only Black female coowner of three professional sports teams, she has also, finally, found true love. Walk Through Fire is a uniquely American success story. And it is the deeply personal portrait of one woman who, despite heartache and obstacles, finally found herself and her place in the world.

The cofounder of BET and first African American woman billionaire shares her deeply personal, “highly readable” (Kirkus Reviews) journey through love and loss, tragedy and triumph—an inspiring story of overcoming toxic influences, discovering her true self, and at last finding happiness in her work and life.From humble beginnings as a schoolgirl and a young violinist in Maywood, Illinois, Sheila Johnson rose to become one of the most accomplished businesswomen in America. A cofounder of Black Entertainment Television, she became an entrepreneur and philanthropist at the highest levels. But that success came at a painful personal cost. Sheila grew up in a middle-class family that encouraged her love of the arts and music. But her idyllic childhood ended at age sixteen when her beloved father announced that he was leaving for another woman, an act that shattered her mother and destroyed Sheila’s trust. She vowed she’d never be in her mother’s position—dependent on a man for her sense of self-worth and for financial security. Yet when she was barely out of her teens, Sheila married a man who would take her right down that same unfortunate path. Filled with sharply drawn, emotionally powerful senses, Walk Through Fire traces the hardships Sheila faced in her marriage and her professional life. Despite her skills as a violinist and music teacher, as well as her obvious entrepreneurial talent, she had to fight to overcome self-doubt and fears of failure. Sheila vividly details her struggles, including battling institutional racism, losing a child, suffering emotional abuse in her thirty-three-year marriage, and plunging into a deep depression with her divorce. And yet, out of that pain came renewed purpose and meaning. In the third act of her life, Sheila Johnson has not only made her mark as the founder of Salamander Hotels & Resorts and the only Black female coowner of three professional sports teams, she has also, finally, found true love. Walk Through Fire is a uniquely American success story. And it is the deeply personal portrait of one woman who, despite heartache and obstacles, finally found herself and her place in the world.

The cofounder of BET and first African American woman billionaire shares her deeply personal journey through love and loss, tragedy and triumph—an inspiring story of overcoming toxic influences, discovering her true self, and at last finding happiness in her work and life. From humble beginnings as a schoolgirl and young violinist in Maywood, Illinois, Sheila Johnson rose to become one of the most accomplished businesswomen in America. A cofounder of Black Entertainment Television, she became an entrepreneur and philanthropist at the highest levels. But that success came at a painful personal cost. Sheila grew up in a middle-class family that encouraged her love of the arts and music. But her idyllic childhood ended at age sixteen when her beloved father announced he was leaving for another woman, an act that shattered her mother and destroyed Sheila’s trust. She vowed she’d never be in her mother’s position—dependent on a man for her sense of self-worth and for financial security. Yet when she was barely out of her teens, Sheila married a man who would take her right down that same unfortunate path. Filled with sharply drawn, emotionally powerful scenes, Walk Through Fire traces the hardships Sheila faced in her marriage and her professional life. Despite her skills as a violinist and music teacher, as well as her obvious entrepreneurial talent, she had to fight to overcome self-doubt and fears of failure. Sheila vividly details her struggles, including battling institutional racism, losing a child, suffering emotional abuse in her thirty-three-year marriage, and plunging into a deep depression with her divorce. And yet, out of that pain came renewed purpose and meaning. In the third act of her life, Sheila Johnson has not only made her mark as the founder of Salamander Hotels & Resorts and the only Black female co-owner of three professional sports teams, she has also, finally, found true love. Walk Through Fire is a uniquely American success story. And it is the deeply personal portrait of one woman who, despite heartache and obstacles, finally found herself and her place in the world.