Scoundrel: how a convicted murderer persuaded the women who loved him, the conservative establishment, and the courts to set him free
(Book)
In the 1960s, Edgar Smith, in prison and sentenced to death for the murder of teenager Victoria Zielinski, struck up a correspondence with William F. Buckley, the founder of National Review. Buckley, who refused to believe that a man who supported the neoconservative movement could have committed such a heinous crime, began to advocate not only for Smith’s life to be spared but also for his sentence to be overturned. So begins a bizarre and tragic tale of mid-century America. Sarah Weinman leads us through the twists of fate and fortune that brought Smith to freedom, book deals, fame, and eventually to attempting murder again. In Smith, Weinman has uncovered a psychopath who slipped his way into public acclaim and acceptance before crashing down to earth once again. From the people Smith deceived—Buckley, the book editor who published his work, friends from back home, and the women who loved him—to Americans who were willing to buy into his lies, Weinman explores who in our world is accorded innocence, and how the public becomes complicit in the stories we tell one another. Scoundrel shows, with clear eyes and sympathy for all those who entered Smith’s orbit, how and why he was able to manipulate, obfuscate, and make a mockery of both well-meaning people and the American criminal justice system. It tells a forgotten part of American history at the nexus of justice, prison reform, and civil rights, and exposes how one man’s ill-conceived plan to set another man free came at the great expense of Edgar Smith’s victims.
Notes
Weinman, S. (2022). Scoundrel: how a convicted murderer persuaded the women who loved him, the conservative establishment, and the courts to set him free. First edition. New York, NY, Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)Weinman, Sarah. 2022. Scoundrel: How a Convicted Murderer Persuaded the Women Who Loved Him, the Conservative Establishment, and the Courts to Set Him Free. New York, NY, Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)Weinman, Sarah, Scoundrel: How a Convicted Murderer Persuaded the Women Who Loved Him, the Conservative Establishment, and the Courts to Set Him Free. New York, NY, Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2022.
MLA Citation (style guide)Weinman, Sarah. Scoundrel: How a Convicted Murderer Persuaded the Women Who Loved Him, the Conservative Establishment, and the Courts to Set Him Free. First edition. New York, NY, Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2022.
Record Information
Last Sierra Extract Time | Apr 23, 2024 05:40:10 PM |
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Last File Modification Time | Apr 23, 2024 05:40:16 PM |
Last Grouped Work Modification Time | May 02, 2024 01:34:39 AM |
MARC Record
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245 | 1 | 0 | |a Scoundrel :|b how a convicted murderer persuaded the women who loved him, the conservative establishment, and the courts to set him free /|c Sarah Weinman. |
250 | |a First edition. | ||
264 | 1 | |a New York, NY :|b Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers,|c [2022] | |
300 | |a 447 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates :|b illustrations, photographs ;|c 24 cm | ||
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504 | |a Includes bibliographical references (pages [365]-425) and index. | ||
505 | 0 | |a Introduction -- Part I: The sand pit (1957). "Where is Vickie?" -- The Mercury -- "If you're looking for a fall guy..." -- Openings -- "I just threw it out the window" -- "Eddie and Don aren't friends anymore" -- "It can't be" -- Part II: The death house (1958-1962). Patricia -- Divorces -- Part III: The conservative (1962-1966). A "lifetime" subscription -- "My God, I wish I could be absolutely certain" -- Meeting in Trenton -- Waiting for death -- Part IV: Making the brief (1967-1968). Lunch at Paone's -- "They must think I am Houdini" -- Blood, nerves, vibrations -- Hatkic -- March to publication -- The breach -- Brief against death -- Part V: Reasonable doubts (1969-1971). Rogue's wake -- A reasonable doubt -- Bid for a new trial -- Conviction overturned -- Part VI: Getting out (1971-1976). Non vult -- Freedom's first dawn -- The celebrity convict -- Counterpoint -- Paige -- Part VII: Boiling over (1976-1979). Rage, revived -- On the run -- Arrested again -- "The saga of a bad man" -- "Used and betrayed" -- Part VIII: Staying in (1980-2017). A strange triangle -- Vacaville -- Coda: 1948. | |
520 | |a In the 1960s, Edgar Smith, in prison and sentenced to death for the murder of teenager Victoria Zielinski, struck up a correspondence with William F. Buckley, the founder of National Review. Buckley, who refused to believe that a man who supported the neoconservative movement could have committed such a heinous crime, began to advocate not only for Smith’s life to be spared but also for his sentence to be overturned. So begins a bizarre and tragic tale of mid-century America. Sarah Weinman leads us through the twists of fate and fortune that brought Smith to freedom, book deals, fame, and eventually to attempting murder again. In Smith, Weinman has uncovered a psychopath who slipped his way into public acclaim and acceptance before crashing down to earth once again. From the people Smith deceived—Buckley, the book editor who published his work, friends from back home, and the women who loved him—to Americans who were willing to buy into his lies, Weinman explores who in our world is accorded innocence, and how the public becomes complicit in the stories we tell one another. Scoundrel shows, with clear eyes and sympathy for all those who entered Smith’s orbit, how and why he was able to manipulate, obfuscate, and make a mockery of both well-meaning people and the American criminal justice system. It tells a forgotten part of American history at the nexus of justice, prison reform, and civil rights, and exposes how one man’s ill-conceived plan to set another man free came at the great expense of Edgar Smith’s victims. | ||
600 | 1 | 0 | |a Smith, Edgar,|d 1934-2017. |
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