The "In Her Own Words" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Just added a few more books onto my Kindle for an upcoming vacation.  Picked up the latest books by James Patterson et al as well as Stuart Woods.  Also added one from an old favorite whom I haven't read lately, Clive Cussler.  Began a search for one more and decided to pick a local author or a story about Lancaster and found a book called "Love, Murder, and Corruption in Lancaster County."  

Sounded interesting until I began to read some of the reviews about the book.  Seems it was a story about Lancaster native Lisa Michelle Lambert who was sentenced to life in prison for the 1991 killing of a romantic rival, Laurie Show.  For years she has been complaining that her trial and lawyers weren't fair to her.  The author of this new book, which was recently published, is a Philadelphia attorney named David Brown.  The book describes the December 20, 1991 murder of Laurie Show in her East Lampeter Township condo by Lisa, Tabitha Buck and Lawrence Yunkin. Yunkin pleaded guilty to his part in the murder and served his 10-20 year sentence.  The two girls are both still in jail and probably will be for the rest of my lifetime.  In the late 1990s, Lambert was released when a Federal Judge agreed with her that the prosecutors tampered with evidence and framed her.  Wasn't long before she was back in jail once again.  Since that time she has filed appeal after appeal which eventually went to the U.S. Supreme Court.  Today she sits in a Massachusetts prison cell.  The reviews of the book don't tell much that I haven't read over and over again in the newspapers during the trial and eventual appeals.  Lisa still says she was framed by the police who gang-raped her earlier in the 1990s before the murder was committed.  She claims she was controlled by her two accomplices and that she was actually trying to help Show. Evidently in the new book's preface, Lisa tells of her nearly Amish upbringing and wonderful parents and the fact that after a 2010 TV story about her life aired decided to tell her story once again.  And that is done by Philadelphia lawyer and author David Brown.  He says he was intrigued by her story and proposed co-authoring her version of events once more.  Mr. Brown has practiced law for more than 20 years, but says his passion is writing books.  He claims the book is primarily in Lisa's words with a few commentaries by himself.  Brown attempts to discredit Pennsylvania judges in the book and tells that just about everyone wants to keep her in jail.  He claims that if a wrongly convicted person persists enough, eventually they will be exonerated.  His book on Amazon is Lisa Michelle Lambert's latest attempt to claim her innocence.  He does say that since Lambert is barred by law from profiting from the crime, he will receive all the profits from the book.  OK, now I get it!  I think I'll look for another book for vacation rather than pay someone for something I have read over and over again in the local newspaper.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.