Scrapped
Justice and a Teen Informant
by Lisa Peebles & John O'Brien
This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app
1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date 29 Jul 2021 | Archive Date 30 Mar 2022
Talking about this book? Use #Scrapped #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!
Description
Criminal defense lawyer Lisa Peebles was taken aback by a secretly recorded phone call and police interrogation video that surfaced in a 20-year-old kidnapping case. They held the stench of a cover-up. She recruited an investigative reporter to help unearth the truth and exonerate Gary Thibodeau, the man convicted in the 1994 kidnapping and murder of 18-year-old Heidi Allen.
Scrapped: Justice and a Teen Informant, exposes the underbelly of a system built more for finality than justice. It’s the true story of Peebles’ pursuit of new evidence against three new suspects and her discovery that Heidi had lived a double life: convenience store cashier and undercover informant. The sheriff’s office hid the truth after her death as the real killers roamed free. Peebles became a de facto prosecutor to prove their guilt and Gary’s innocence. As Heidi’s family stood by the sheriff, her remains were likely secreted right under their noses – probably inside a scrapped van and shipped to a car shredder in Canada.
A Note From the Publisher
John O’Brien was a reporter for The Post-Standard newspaper and Syracuse.com for 30 years, the last 10 as an investigative reporter. He’s a co-author of the 1996 true-crime book Goodbye, My Little Ones. In 1993, The Post-Standard nominated him for a Pulitzer Prize for uncovering corruption in the local medical examiner’s office. In 2017, he ended 35 years as a reporter to take a job as an investigator in Peebles’ office. In 2018, the Syracuse Press Club inducted him onto its Wall of Distinction.
Advance Praise
"An impeccably documented page-turner and a must-read for anyone who has ever come up against the impenetrable Blue Wall of police 'infallibility' and a complacent, sacrosanct criminal justice system more willing to destroy human lives than acknowledge and correct its mistakes." -Jack Jones, author of Let me Take You Down: Inside the Mind of Mark David Chapman, the Man Who Killed John Lennon
"This true crime book combines the talent of a crusading attorney and the drive of an investigative reporter and reads like something co-written by John Grisham and Bob Woodward." -Joel Kaplan, Associate Dean for professional graduate studies at Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and co-author of Murder of Innocence
"A stunner. Peebles and O'Brien unveil the story behind the story everyone thought they knew, and the truth will leave readers breathless." -Jennifer Pashley, author of The Watcher and The Scamp
"As each unexpected detail is discovered, the jarring revelations shine a light on justice system officials' ability to defeat the ideals of American law. A riveting and unforgettable tale of heart-wrenching injustice." -Christopher E. Smith, Professor of Criminal Justice at Michigan State law and author/co-author of 22 law books on criminal law, including Criminal Justice in America and The Supreme Court, Crime and the Ideal of Equal Justice
"This book succeeds in clearing Gary Thibodeau's name - and in answering many pressing questions that prosecutors in the Heidi Allen case never managed to solve - including, What really happened to Heidi?" -Janet Gramza, former reporter for the Syracuse Post-Standard
"Peopled with real-life characters straight out of a Coen Brothers film noir, Scrapped is a reminder that there are individuals who fight valiantly every day against injustice." -Gary Craig, author of Seven Million
"Scrapped captures the barren roads and fallow fields of Oswego County the way Capote captured Finney County, Kansas in In Cold Blood." -Tom Barbash, New York Times bestselling author of The Dakota Winters
Available Editions
| EDITION | Ebook |
| ISBN | 9781684337538 |
| PRICE | US$5.99 (USD) |
Featured Reviews
Ron B, Reviewer
What a terrific and heartbreaking story about how the law and judicial system completely accused and tried a man against all of the evidence pointing to a different person. It was horrifying to read what happened and what the individual went through. This is a great true crime novel.
Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Reviewer 422580
Was it justice or unjustice for a man the system seem guilty. Even with all the details pointing another way still does not help. Years later when this case reopened justice will prevail. To bad the one found guilty can’t truly walk free. Yet the one/s who did this horrible crime roamed free.
Valerie S, Reviewer
What a twisted story this was. Crazy true crime and “justice”. A very good read for those interested in the criminal justice system in all its glory. These stories always surprise me, but then again not really. They are scary to imagine really happening, but they do and seem to be not nearly as rare as we hoped they were. This is a sad comment on things regarding the wrongful conviction of a man, and the pain for both his family and the victim’s. It was a bit long with some repetitive areas. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Librarian 105878
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
Warning, reading this book is likely to raise your hackles and ignite your ire.
In 1994, convenience store clerk, 18 year old Heidi Allen, was kidnapped from the store (she was working alone at the time). Her body has never been found.
When local man Gary Thibodeau heard about Heidi's disappearance from the store, he went directly to the police to see if he could be of any help. He knew he had been in the store and purchased something from Heidi shortly before she disappeared. Little did Thibodeau realize what would happen next.
Through circumstantial evidence, a failed justice system, and law enforcement and local judicial personnel who may have a stake in getting this resolved quickly, Gary Thibodeau and his brother are charged with kidnapping and murder. Gary's brother is acquitted for lack of any real evidence. Gary, however, with the same evidence, is found guilty and sent to prison.
Twenty years later, criminal defense attorney Lisa Peebles hears about his case and the more she looks into it the more it looks like Thibodeau was railroaded. The prosecution's withholding of crucial evidence that might exonerate him, the lack of evidence against him alone should be enough to get a new trial. It was never mentioned, for instance, that Heidi had been a police informant and an officer accidently left her name and 'informant' note on a piece of paper outside the store where she worked.
Peebles enlists the help of an investigative reporter to do some digging, uncovering evidence (20 years after the fact!) that the police claim did not exist, including the likely whereabouts of Heidi's remains.
But what seems like it should be a slam-dunk for the defense is an uphill battle just to get a new trial. Meanwhile, Thibodeaux, presented here with compelling evidence to prove he's innocent, is slowly dying in a prison hospital ward.
This book is like a car wreck - you can't help but want to see what is happening, even though it disgusts you.
Peebles and O'Brien make a very strong case on behalf of Thibodeaux, and stronger still against those who have maliciously withheld evidence or not investigated properly or have denied Thibodeau his rights. Still, we have to remember that this story is being told from Peebles' point of view, and as a lawyer, she's used to arguing strongly to make her client appear innocent. Could so many courts continually have it in for Thibodeau?
I know how I feel after reading this ... exhausted and angry. It makes me want to stand up and say something, or do something to right a wrong. But how? What can someone like me do? That's a big part of the frustration. Gary Thibodeau struggles to be heard in legal court, but thanks to this book, he'll prevail in the court of popular opinion.
Looking for a good book? Scrapped: Justice and a Teen Informant by Lisa Peebles & John O'Brien is a thorough, in-depth look at the struggles of our legal system just to have an innocent man get a new trial even after the prosecution admits to having withheld evidence. It's frustrating and activist-instigating.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
Readers who liked this book also liked:
Lancelot Schaubert
Comics & Graphic Novels, General Fiction (Adult), Mystery & Thrillers
