Mindhunters | Mark Olshaker

Death for James Holmes?

By John Douglas and Mark Olshaker On April 1, 2013 · 7 Comments

James Holmes

Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler announced today that he will seek the death penalty for James Egan Holmes, accused of the mass shooting in an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater that killed 12 people and left 58 more wounded. According to several reports, Holmes’s defense team offered to have him plead guilty in return for a life sentence with no possibility of parole. Given that this guy seems to be at least something of a nutcase, the question we need to ask is: Is the death penalty an appropriate response if Holmes is tried and found guilty?

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Getting Their Man

By John Douglas and Mark Olshaker On March 29, 2013 · Add Comment

Edwin Ernesto Rivera Gracias

We have been writing a lot lately about what’s wrong in law enforcement. But for those of us who study criminal justice, here’s a genuine feel-good story.

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Empathy for Raffaele

By Mark Olshaker On March 28, 2013 · 3 Comments

Raffaele Sollecito

Amanda Knox’s ordeal with the miscarriage of Italian justice has been horrible for her and her family and disgusting to all of us who value truth. The high Court of Cassation’s unbelievable ruling in ordering a new trial in the murder of Meredith Kercher has compounded the tragedy. But as horrible as it is for Amanda, at least she is an American citizen, back home on American soil, and protected by American laws. Not so for her then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, who is an Italian citizen and resident with no refuge from this travesty. Our empathy goes out to him. He’s already suffered more than enough for a crime of which he is completely and demonstrably innocent.

A Shared Legacy

By Mark Olshaker On March 25, 2013 · Add Comment

David Ranta

What do a beautiful college girl from Seattle, three poor and marginalized teen boys from the rural South and a printer from New York with a drug problem all have in common?

Not much, it would seem, except the single most important fact in each of their lives.

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