From a teen vampire cult that killed one member's parents to naked people who tell cops, “nothing to see here,” Frank Stanfield has seen it all in thirty years as a newspaper editor and reporter, mostly in Florida. Vampires, Gators, and Whackos: A Newspaperman's Life recalls rustlers hiding ranchers' bodies in a bottomless pit and a Jane Doe so mauled people believed it was a bear attack. It exposes cops who bungle murder cases and praises those who are heroes. There are tales of bears, sharks, snakes, alligators, and potbellied pigs. There is the teacher who was too pretty to go to jail despite having sex with a middle-school male student. Hurricanes lash out, tornadoes spin a blender of death, and sinkholes swallow homes, roads, and people. All of this takes place while newspapers—with their own zany characters—are fighting for their survival.
The disturbing Central Florida cult murder case is revealed in full shocking detail in this true crime by the reporter who covered the case for decades. Central Florida residents were horrified when sixteen-year-old vampire cult leader Rod Ferrell was arrested for bludgeoning a cult member's parents to death. When investigators realized the couple's fifteen-year-old daughter was missing, they feared she was another victim. Detectives and journalists across three states soon uncovered a web of blood-drinking occult rituals, illicit sex, dysfunctional families, and spiritual warfare. And when police officers captured the teens, they discovered that the murdered couple's daughter was among them. But was she a victim or a participant? Ferrell faced the death penalty, sparking Constitutional battles over capital punishment and juveniles in the court system. Psychologists working to save him were locked in opposition with prosecutors who wanted him dead. Decades later, the court battles continue. Is Ferrell a changed man deserving freedom? Or is he still gaming the system?
Morgan Stanfield, burned-out with the American dating scene and not wanting to follow the good advice of friends, heads off to Russia in search of love.
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