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In this intense insider's study of murder in South Carolina, Lt. Rita Y. Shuler leads us through the dark twists and turns of twelve homicide cases that gripped the state during her career as a forensic photographer with South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED). Shuler's fascination with the criminal mind began with her exposure as a young girl to a 1953 double-homicide that shocked South Carolina. When she came face to face with the original case records twenty-four years later on her first day of work as a forensic photographer she was immediately hooked on a profession that took her deep into the investigation of hundreds of cases. Shuler's firsthand experience with forensic evidence of crime scenes and the court system gives her a unique perspective on murder and its horrifying effects on public and private lives. By combining analysis of court transcripts and official statements and confessions from murderers with her own personal interactions with the key players in some of these tragic dramas, Shuler allows the reader to see into the criminal minds of notorious killers like Pee Wee Gaskins, Rudolph Tyner, Ronald Rusty� Woomer and Larry Gene Bell. Shuler's study is a must for everyone fascinated by the criminal mind and by the most famous murder cases in South Carolina's recent past.
About the author
Lieutenant Rita Y. Shuler was supervisory special agent of the Forensic Photography Department with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) for twenty-four years. She interfaced with the attorney general's office, solicitors and investigators, providing photographic evidence assistance in the prosecution of thousands of criminal cases. Her interest in photography started as a hobby at the age of nine with a Kodak brownie camera. Before her career as forensic photographer, she worked in the medical field as a radiologic technologist for twelve years. Her interest in forensic science evolved when she X-rayed homicide victims to assist with criminal investigations. Shuler received her specialized law enforcement photography training at the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy in Columbia, South Carolina, and the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. Shuler holds a special love for South Carolina's coast and is a devoted crabber and runner. She resides in Irmo, South Carolina.
