Guilty was the cry of the gavel in the courtroom that April day of 1995. A slender redheaded girl hung her head and was escorted out of the courtroom in handcuffs. Still, it was hard to see from my side, as an investigative reporter, how a judge could give a juvenile seventy-three and a half years in prison. In the next few months, I really wanted to dig further in what happened in this case.

Rita Marcoli was born in Palo Alto, California and was raised as a country girl with a flare for writing. She holds a master's degree in psychology, speaks three languages, is a world traveler, and is well-versed in criminal law. This is Ms. Marcoli's second book.