John Ferak has 4 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 3 narrators, with an average listener rating of 5★ across 12 ratings. The most-rated is Wrecking Crew.
Wrecking Crew
Summary
“Whatever you thought you believed about this infamous case, get ready to change your mind or be more convinced than ever.... Fascinating.” (New York Times best-selling author Steve Jackson) In 2016-17, while working for the USA Today Network’s Wisconsin Investigative Team, author John Ferak wrote dozens of articles examining the murder case again Steven Avery, who had already beat one wrongful conviction only to be charged with the murder of Teresa Halbach in 2005. The case became the wildly successful Netflix Making a Murderer documentary. In Wrecking Crew: Demolishing the Case Against Steven Avery, Ferak lays out in exacting detail the post-conviction strategy of Kathleen Zellner, the high-profile, high-octane lawyer, to free Avery. To create this work, Zellner, perhaps America’s most successful wrongful conviction attorney, gave Ferak unique access to the exhaustive pro bono efforts she and her small suburban Chicago law firm dedicated for a man she believes to be a victim of an unscrupulous justice system in Manitowoc County.
©2018 John Ferak (P)2018 WildBlue Press
Bloody Lies
Summary
The remote farming community of Murdock, Nebraska, seemed to be the least likely setting for one of the heartland's most ruthless and bloody double murders in decades. In fact the little town had gone more than a century without a single homicide. But on the night of Easter 2006, Wayne and Sharmon Stock were brutally murdered in their home. The murders garnered sensational front-page headlines and drew immediate statewide attention. Practically everybody around Murdock was filled with fear, panic, and outrage. Who killed Wayne and Sharmon Stock? What was the motive? The Stocks were the essence of Nebraska's all-American farm family - self-made, God-fearing, and of high moral character. Barely a week into this double murder investigation, two arrests brought a sense of relief to the victims' family and to local residents. The case appeared to fall neatly into place when a tiny speck of murder victim Wayne Stock's blood appeared in the alleged getaway car. Then an obscure clue left at the crime scene took the investigation down a totally different path, stretching into Iowa, Louisiana, New York, Texas, and Wisconsin. By the time this investigation was over, the charges against the original suspects were dismissed, and two new individuals emerged from the shadows. Over the next few years, the astonishing bloody lies were revealed, culminating in a law enforcement scandal that turned the case on its head and destroyed the career of Nebraska's celebrated CSI director, David Kofoed. The book is published by The Kent State University Press.
©2014 The Kent State University Press (P)2015 Redwood Audiobooks
Dixie's Last Stand
Summary
Dixie Shanahan had a terribly troubled and abusive marriage in the sleepy little town of Defiance, Iowa. Then one summer day in 2002, Dixie's mean and wicked husband was gone. Some of the local residents presumed that Scott packed his bags and left town. But others were skeptical. After all, Scott's brown Ford pick-up truck was still parked in his driveway. The disappearance mystified Defiance for more than a year. Then in late October, 2003, the truth emerged - or did it? "This fascinating story will leave you asking yourself one question, was the punishment that Dixie received in her case justified? Highly recommended for all true crime readers." (RJ Parker, best-selling true crime author)
©2015 WildBlue Press (P)2015 WildBlue Press
Failure of Justice
Summary
Everyone felt the same way: Small-town Nebraska widow Helen Wilson didn't have an ounce of meanness in her body. Then, on February 5, 1985, one of the coldest nights on record, the unthinkable happened. The 68-year-old resident was murdered inside her second-floor apartment. But why? Local residents were horrified. What type of monster would target a vulnerable widow to fulfill his homicidal sexual fantasies? The crime scene was eerily ritualistic. The trail of evidence turned frustratingly cold until an astonishing breakthrough occurred four years later. A torn scrap of money recovered at the crime scene became the presumed smoking gun that helped solve the hideous crime. The news of six arrests was absolutely stunning to the locals in this easygoing blue-collar community of 12,000 residents. But why were six loosely connected misfits who lived as far away as Alabama, Colorado, and North Carolina being linked to the rape and murder of a beloved Nebraska widow? As they sat in jail, the constant threat of Nebraska's barbaric electric chair frightened these troubled souls, except for one of them. Joseph White remained defiant in his fight to prove his innocence. It didn't matter. All six of the condemned were convicted of murder and sent away to prison for the ghastly crime. The town moved on, convinced that justice had been served. For more than 25 years, the Beatrice 6 rotted in prison. In 2008, DNA tests proved that there'd been a terrible failure of justice, but what would it mean to the prisoners?
©2016 John Ferak (P)2016 WildBlue Press