Books and Lyrics by JoAnne

Good morning everyone. Welcome to my blog and the sixth day of the Fool For Books Giveaway Hop. I had a great Easter Sunday, and I hope you enjoyed the day also. This party is almost over, and I hope you have learned more about me and my books. Here at my Books and Paintings by JoAnne Blog, you will find my books and canvas art, for all your reading and home decor' needs. Today I will be posting about my biography true crime anthology, "Twisted Love"- 12 cases of love gone bad. As always, I will be awarding one book per day of this hop, so please do comment. Have fun, eat a lot of ham, and please browse around my website before moving on.

It’s a chilling reality that homicide investigators know all too well: the last face most murder victims see is not that of a stranger, but of someone familiar.

The End of Autumn-To keep from paying child support for his three children, Rodney Williams, plots with his parents to kidnap his estranged wife, 25-year old Autumn, in broad daylight. This 2011 crime shocked the small community of Logan, Ohio.

Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing-In 2011, 53 year old Russell Strothers, and his teenage accomplice find their victims through Craigslist and strike with calculating and deadly force.

A Senseless Killing-This 2010 case uncovers how a 40 year old likable barmaid was lured to her death after she rejects her young admirers sexual advances.

The Death of Innocence-This 2011 murder case involved 4 year old Marcie Willis, and her evil stepmother 25 year old Cheryl, from the small bedroom community of The Plains, Ohio.

The Girl Not Forgotten-This cold case took 26 years to solve, but brought justice for 13-year-old Holly Buford, and put serial rapist, 40-year-old Stanley Snead, behind bars.

The Possession-When 29-year-old Valerie Harris severs the penis of her sexually abusive father, it makes national news in 2007.

Home Town Hero-When deaf students are murdered in the prestigious Rose Brick College of the Deaf in 2008, everyone is shocked when discovering the killer is one of their own.

Horrible Sin-When 42 year old Fortune Teller Sally Vu and her 21-year-old daughter Veronica are discovered murdered and physically desecrated, in 2001, evidence points to revenge and a spell gone wrong.

All For the Family-In 2003, as a way to erase her 22-year-old husbands criminal past, 19 year old Molly Abbott devises a ghoulish and desperate strategy.

Thicker Than Water?-When 52 year old Kim Michaels is found dismembered inside her burned out home in 1996, officers find the crime more confusing than a jig saw puzzle.

Mail Order Murder-The last thing the beautiful Russian mail order bride Anna dreamed of in 2001, was being murdered by her controlling and older American husband.

Where’s Christopher?-When four year old Christopher Ellis goes missing, numerous excuses and an odd odor emanating from the backyard in 1991, raises eyebrows.

Few women find themselves in such a bizarre relationship, as did eighteen-year-old Anna Tonkov, a Russian native. Speaking minimal and badly broken English, the family expressed high expectations for their tall, voluptuous raven-haired daughter. Anna was the only child of senior and ailing parents, and her mother said she and her husband only wanted the best for her.

In a country where the average yearly income was three hundred dollars per person, Mr. and Mrs. Tonkov, believed that Anna’s future happiness lay with the United States.

Mrs. Tonkov recalled how Anna did not want to leave. It was the parents’ idea for her to be a mail-order bride. According to Mrs. Tonkov, Anna said, “‘what if I don’t find a husband? What if you and papa waste your money?’”

Mr. Tonkov recalled telling her daughter, that she was never a waste of their money. She was everything to them, and they wanted her to have everything America offered.

Mr. and Mrs. Tonkov then took Anna‘s photograph in a dress she had made, not like many of the other women posing for the magazine-loose women, half naked. “No good man wants them,” they said.

Anna was a lady, explained Mr. Tonkov-a good Christian girl. Hardworking and responsible. She was raised the right way, they both said.

In the spring of 2007, Anna became number M245 in a Russian mail-order catalog with a circulation of over twenty million viewers. The magazine was bursting with dozens of glossy, full-color photographs of young hopeful women, all looking for husbands to rescue them from their poverty, stricken and unhappy lives.

It was not long before Anna had her first letter from a perspective admirer. She returned to her small four-room home from her part-time job at a nearby bakery, and her glowing parents greeted her just inside the front door.

Mrs. Tonkov recalled how surprised Anna was when she saw her and her husband smiling. She then handed her daughter the pink envelope with trembling hands.

At first, Anna was afraid to open the letter, said Mr. Tonkov, but he told her it was from an American man. He said he and his wife watched as Anna read each word silently; her large dark eyes wide with anticipation. They said she was hesitant to respond to the sender. Maybe friendship would bloom. “If not you brush up on language skills,” said Mrs. Tonkov.

That made Anna laugh, recalled Mr. Tonkov. He still remembers her pretty laugh, “as if (she were) a small child without cares.”

According to fifty-eight-year-old Fire Chief Reginald Whitehall, a phone call came into the station around 9 pm, on August 18, 2010, sending the short, plump, salt-and-pepper-haired man and other personnel rushing to the scene. When they arrived, it appeared a Molotov cocktail, had been thrown through a living room window-a homemade device considered a simple and cheap form of arson. Minute’s later, area police arrived.

The caller identified herself as being fifty-two-year-old Kimberly Michaels, owner of the bombed house. The tall round woman with gray hair and brown-eyes, made it safely outside and waited on the sidewalk. She was being comforted by her neighbor, thirty-six-year-old Bonny-Jean, a petite red-head with blue-eyes, when fire trucks arrived.

The first thing forty-four-year-old veteran Detective Erick Bowers said he noticed was that the glass from the alcohol bottle was mostly on the outside of the window, lying on the ground. That alone screamed “inexperienced arsonist,” such as a young person, said the sandy-haired and green-eyed bachelor. That area was known as a drug-infested high-crime neighborhood.

According to the Fire Chief, the home was insured. There was minimal damage to the burned area. He knew of Kimberly’s neighborhood watch, and within that area, she was considered a hero. He said it took guts to stand up to drug dealers and gang members, but she did it.

Kimberly kept tabs on the officers assigned to her home arson case, recalled her older sister Rachel. According to Rachel, Kimberly said she wanted the crime solved. She wanted the bastard responsible for setting her beloved home on fire to pay. She was a determined woman, and she was not letting up.

According to Det. Bowers, he had his officers out in full force. Officers canvassed the entire area for five city blocks, looking for any witnesses, who might have seen or heard something peculiar around the time of the bombing. Reportedly, they found nothing useful to explain the bombing, or who might be the bomber.

Unfortunately, before the minor damage was repaired, the home was bombed again. This time two bombs came through the master bedroom of the home, Kimberly’s bedroom.

The Fire Chief was not the only one involved with the initial investigation who thought it strange for the same house to be bombed twice within two weeks. He said he wondered whether maybe the Good Samaritan had video taped the wrong crime, and her good luck had run out.

Talking with Rachel, police discovered Kimberly was a very caring daughter to their ailing parents. The father had built the couple’s house in 1940, when he and his wife first married. Kimberly grew up in that house and kept it immaculate. She never married or had children. She worked hard throughout her life and saved her money.

With the fires happening so close in time to one another, the Fire Chief theorized they might be retaliation bombings. Kimberly Michaels, was known for video taping the streets outside her house for drug activity. She then turned the tapes over to police, which had resulted in the arrests of several drug dealers.