Bloodstained Louisiana : Twelve Murder Cases, 1896-1934

Historian Alan G. Gauthreaux chronicles 12 homicide cases from late 1800s and early 1900s Louisiana--where "unwritten law" justified jilted women who killed their paramours, and police took measures to protect defendants from lynch mobs. Stories include the 1907 kidnapping of seven-year-old Walter Lamana by the New Orleans "Black Hand," the 1912 acquittal of Zea McRee (a woman of "good reputation") in Opelousas, and the 1934 trial and execution of Shreveport's infamous "Butterfly Man." Like most states, Louisiana holds mysterious and nefarious secrets about a murderous past. Bloodstained Louisiana profiles some of the most controversial (and some forgotten) homicide cases in the state's history. This macabre study demonstrates the murkiest depths of the killer imagination revolving around a cycle of continuing evil. "Historian Alan G. Gauthreaux chronicles 12 homicide cases from late 1800s and early 1900s Louisiana--where "unwritten law" justified jilted women who killed their paramours, and police took measures to protect defendants from lynch mobs"-- Provided by publisher