Abandoned Prayers: An Incredible True Story of Murder, Obsession, and Amish Secrets (St. Martin's True Crime Library)

On Christmas Eve in 1985, a hunter found a young boy's body along an icy corn field in Nebraska. The residents of Chester, Nebraska buried him as "Little Boy Blue," unclaimed and unidentified-- until a phone call from Ohio two years later led authorities to Eli Stutzman, the boy's father. Eli Stutzman, the son of an Amish bishop, was by all appearances a dedicated farmer and family man in the country's strictest religious sect. But behind his quiet façade was a man involved with pornography, sadomasochism, and drugs. After the suspicious death of his pregnant wife, Stutzman took his preschool-age son, Danny, and hit the road on a sexual odyssey ending with his conviction for murder. But the mystery of Eli Stutzman and the fate of his son didn't end on the barren Nebraska plains. It was just beginning. . . Gregg Olsen's Abandoned Prayers is an incredible true story of murder and Amish secrets. Review "A searingly tragic look behind the headlines that broke America's heart. Brilliantly researched, wonderfully written."--Anne Rule "A riveting and deeply disturbing chronicle of true crime. Olsen has done a superior job."-- Cleveland Plain Dealer "Among the top true crime books published. Once picked up, it's hard to put down."-- New Philadelphia Times Reporter "A superior true crime account that should not be missed."--Jack Olsen, author of Doc and I: The Creation of a Serial Killer "A tough new voice rises in the ranks of true-crime writers. Even the reigning giants of the genre are taking notice and offering praise."-- Seattle Post-Intelligencer From the Inside Flap "A tough new voice rises in the ranks of true-crime writers. Even the reigning giants of the genre are taking notice and offering praise ." - Seattle Post-Intelligencer Acclaim for the True-Crime Classics of Gregg Olsen Abandoned Prayers "An absorbing, sobering, disturbing book."-- Omaha World-Herald Bitter Almonds "Absolutely fascinating...One of the most devious female minds in crime history. Stella Nickell has won her dubious spot in the annals of crime-thanks to Gregg Olsen's research and reporting."--Ann Rule "[A] truly remarkable book. The trailer park babes of Bitter Almonds leap off the page, fingernails sharpened and aimed for your eyes...meticulous reporting and engrossing, vivid detail plunges the reader into a world of schemes and dreams. This is one of the best true crime books of the '90s."-Jack Olsen, author of Son: A Psychopath and His Victims and "I": The Creation of a Serial Killer "A real page-turner...a compelling and fascinating tale of family psychopathology taken to the extreme."--Jonathan Kellerman "Masterfully written...a tale of intricate suspense."-Rod Colvin, author of Evil Harvest Confessions of an American Black Widow "More interesting than the crime itself is Olsen's portrait of Nelson as a brash, trashy, manipulative sexpot...watching Nelson as she almost gets away with murder will fascinate long after the last page." - Publishers Weekly "This time Gregg Olsen has given us a very sexy book that is as disturbing as it is seductive. One reads it compulsively and wonders afterwards 'Why did I like this so much?' as if one had not so much read it as had a very destructive affair with it. A dangerous and informative book, as irresistible as its painfully, wonderfully vicious heroine-or villain, whichever she is. This book might make some moralists more humble." -Darcy O'Brien, bestselling author of Two of a Kind: The Hillside Stranglers and Murder in Little Egypt "Gregg Olsen's standing as one of America's finest crime journalists will rise even higher with The Confessions of an American Black Widow. Here are all the ingredients of a great crime story-murder, infidelity, greed, nymphomania. But the main element is Olsen's skill at describing and explicating human misbehavior. A must read!" -Jack Olsen, bestselling author of Doc and Predator "What a combination! God, Mammon, carnality, all rendered vividly under Olsen's assured touch." -Stephen Michand, bestselling author of The Only Living Witness and Murderers Among Us "Gregg Olsen introduces the reader to a character so mesmerizing, so frightening and so evil that one has to keep reminding himself that this amazing fast-paced story is true." --Carlton Stowers, bestselling author of Careless Whispers "This brilliant true crime story deserves acclaim and thunderous applause." -Elizabeth Loftus, co-author, The Myth of Repressed Memory and 1998 President of American Psychological Society "That rare book that is at once a page-turner and an important chronicle of true crime. An enlightening and devastating read." -Steve A. Eggar, PhD., author of Killers Among Us: An Examination of Serial Murder and Its Investigation "This is probably Gregg's best work yet. Sharon Lynn is the kind of woman-and this is the kind of book-that people will talk about. Gregg Olsen shows us just how chilling it is to realize what might be going on in the house next door." -Clark Howard, bestselling author of Love's Blood If Loving You is Wrong "Gregg Olsen's If Loving You is Wrong is a wonderfully researched book that makes the tabloid stories about Mary Kay Letourneau and her forbidden love sound like comic book stuff. Everyone who wants to understand the back-story of the child-woman and her overwhelming passion for a man-child must read If Loving You Is Wrong . Olsen's books is both gossipy and sympathetic, searing and brilliant. If Mary Kay is the Humbert Humbert of the female sex-and she is-this book is her Lolita. A must-read for both true crime aficionados and students of abnormal psychology! I read until 3 a.m.!" -Ann Rule, author of Bitter Harvest and A Rage to Kill

A riveting and deeply disturbing chronicle of true crime. Olsen has done a superior job. -Cleveland Plain Dealer

On Christmas Eve in 1985, a hunter found a young boy's body along an icy corn field in Nebraska. The residents of Chester, Nebraska buried him as Little Boy Blue, unclaimed and unidentified-until a phone call from Ohio two years later led authorities to Eli Stutzman, the boy's father.

Eli Stutzman, the son of an Amish bishop, was by all appearances a dedicated farmer and family man in the country's strictest religious sect. But behind his quiet façade was a man involved with pornography, sadomasochism, and drugs. After the suspicious death of his pregnant wife, Stutzman took his preschool-age son, Danny, and hit the road on a sexual odyssey ending with his conviction for murder. But the mystery of Eli Stutzman and the fate of his son didn't end on the barren Nebraska plains. It was just beginning...

Among the top true crime books published. Once picked up, it's hard to put down. —New Philadelphia Times Reporter

A superior true crime account that should not be missed. —Jack Olsen, author of Doc and I: The Creation of a Serial Killer

It is the world of the Amish, their secrets and way of life. The villian left the the religious community with his son after the suspicious death of his wife. He set out on what can only be called an orgy of casual, gay sex and murder. The authorities are still not sure how many he killed or if he killed his own son (because he knew too much). He was convicted of abandonment then brought up on another murder and convicted. He was suspected in the death of his wife (fire) and son (suffocation or intentional exposure to sub-zero weather) and in 1990 was the chief suspect in the murder of yet two more gay men. He seemed to be destroying anyone who could link him to what he perceived as the unpardonable sin. Throughout it all he proclaimed his innocence, got amnesia, found God, quoted Scripture while negotiating for movie rights and, incredibly, retained a cadre of folks who felt sorry for him. Gay groups raised funds, religious folk visited, women were supportive...it defies any kind of rational thought. Great book.

On Christmas Eve in 1985, a hunter found a young boy's body along an icy corn field in Nebraska. The residents of Chester, Nebraska buried him as "Little Boy Blue," unclaimed and unidentified-- until a phone call from Ohio two years later led authorities to Eli Stutzman, the boy's father.

Eli Stutzman, the son of an Amish bishop, was by all appearances a dedicated farmer and family man in the country's strictest religious sect. But behind his quiet façade was a man involved with pornography, sadomasochism, and drugs. After the suspicious death of his pregnant wife, Stutzman took his preschool-age son, Danny, and hit the road on a sexual odyssey ending with his conviction for murder. But the mystery of Eli Stutzman and the fate of his son didn't end on the barren Nebraska plains. It was just beginning. . .

Gregg Olsen's Abandoned Prayers is an incredible true story of murder and Amish secrets.

On Christmas Eve in 1985, a hunter found a young boy's body along an icy corn field in Nebraska. The residents of Chester, Nebraska buried him as "Little Boy Blue," unclaimed and unidentified-- until a phone call from Ohio two years later led authorities to Eli Stutzman, the boy's father. Eli Stutzman, the son of an Amish bishop, was by all appearances a dedicated farmer and family man in the country's strictest religious sect. But behind his quiet facade was a man involved with pornography, sadomasochism, and drugs. After the suspicious death of his pregnant wife, Stutzman took his preschool-age son, Danny, and hit the road on a sexual odyssey ending with his conviction for murder. But the mystery of Eli Stutzman and the fate of his son didn't end on the barren Nebraska plains. It was just beginning. . . Gregg Olsen's Abandoned Prayers is an incredible true story of murder and Amish secrets Please note: This ebook edition does not contain the photos found in the print edition.On Christmas Eve in 1985, a hunter found a young boy's body along an icy corn field in Nebraska. The residents of Chester, Nebraska buried him as "Little Boy Blue," unclaimed and unidentified-- until a phone call from Ohio two years later led authorities to Eli Stutzman, the boy's father.Eli Stutzman, the son of an Amish bishop, was by all appearances a dedicated farmer and family man in the country's strictest religious sect. But behind his quiet façade was a man involved with pornography, sadomasochism, and drugs. After the suspicious death of his pregnant wife, Stutzman took his preschool-age son, Danny, and hit the road on a sexual odyssey ending with his conviction for murder. But the mystery of Eli Stutzman and the fate of his son didn't end on the barren Nebraska plains. It was just beginning. . The true story of the 1985 murder of a young boy whose unidentified body was found in Nebraska. Two years later, a phone call from Ohio led authorities to the boy's father, an Amish bishop involved with pornography and drugs. of photos