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Legacies Based on copious research in primary sources, Lavergne has skillfully assembled the story of Abdelkrim Belachheb, his life, and his crimes... The book reads as smoothly as a novel, telling a tale that in many ways is stranger than fiction. Southwestern Historical Quarterly Lavergne's historical narrative of this horrific crime and the ensuing trial was clear, concise, and insightful... The overall strength of the book is the descriptive and detailed narrative of the events leading up to the crime and the actual crime itself. His use of the court records and extensive witness interviews and an easy-flowing writing style provides almost a perfect re-creation of the night... Worse than Death is an engaging and informative look into the fields of criminal justice and law enforcement and provides excellent analysis, research, and writing about one of the most significant mass murders in Texas history. International Social Science Review Even if Worse Than Death does not follow the form of social science research monographs, it nevertheless tells an interesting story that can provide the reader with a little more insight about criminology through an examination of the workings of the mind of one more deranged criminal. Texas Lawyer Worse Than Death worth the read: For such a strong
book about a nearly forgotten bit of Texas criminal law history, there's
something off-putting about the screaming three-word title of "Worse Than
Death." East Texas Historical Association Journal Gary Lavergne... does an excellent job of exploring the unique aspects of these murders, including capital punishment, the insanity defense, and Belachhebs's easy entry into the United States... Worse Than Death reads like a good mystery novel but constitutes an important contribution to the debate over crime and immigration in the United States. Lavergne once again proves he is an excellent writer and superb story-teller. San Antonio Lawyer Worse Than Death gives the reader a unique view of the criminal mind of a mass murderer, as well as of the serious problems constantly confronting our immigration authorities in screening those who seek entrance into the United States. Gary Lavergne makes us acutely aware of how innocent, unsuspecting people can be confronted by sudden tragedy and sudden death... Tales From Early Texas by Jerry Turner Worse Than Death tells the whole tale. Lavergne has already written two great books about Texas badmen. If you like a good book, pick up a copy of Worse than Death. It is an excellent read that tells a lot about life in today's Texas. Brazosport Facts Worse Than Death is a thoughtful look not only at this case, but also at the capital punishment issue and the question of immigration screening. Midwest Book
Review Worse Than Death: The Dallas Nightclub Murders And The Texas Multiple Murder Law by Gary M. Lavergne (Director of Admissions Research, University of Texas - Austin) is the straightforward accounting of a 1984 multiple murder in Texas - when Moroccan national Abdelkrim Belachheb walked into a restaurant and shot seven people, six of whom died. The confessed and convicted defendant could not be sentenced to death due to a quirk in the state law, and could only be given life imprisonment - arguably "worse than death." House Bill 8, the "multiple murder" statute, was passed directly in response to the case. Worse Than Death examines all sides of this horrific incident, including the legal, political, and cultural debates concerning it. This criminology and judicial case study has direct relevance to present day concerns about violent immigrants and our contemporary legal system nationwide. MobMagazine.com The Dallas Nightclub Murders And The Texas Multiple Murder Law by Gary M. Lavergne is the straightforward accounting of a 1984 multiple murder in Texas - when Moroccan national Abdelkrim Belachheb walked into a restaurant and shot seven people, six of whom died. The confessed and convicted defendant could not be sentenced to death due to a quirk in the state law, and could only be given life imprisonment - arguably "worse than death." House Bill 8, the "multiple murder" statute, was passed directly in response to the case. Worse Than Death examines all sides of this horrific incident, including the legal, political, and cultural debates concerning it. This criminology and judicial case study has direct relevance to present day concerns about violent immigrants and our contemporary legal system nationwide. Dallas Morning News A night of gunfire that still echoes Book looks at nightclub murders and how they changed Texas law Sunday, June 27, 2004
In Texas, the name Abdelkrim
Belachheb stands ignominiously with those of Charles Whitman and George
Hennard, like bodies of Old West badmen on public display in open pine-box
caskets. It's been most of 20 years
since that summer night when Mr. Belachheb walked into a North Dallas
nightclub and killed six people, but longtime Dallas residents – and many
Texans – will likely remember his name. Shortly after midnight on June 29,
1984, the Moroccan-born wig-wearing and self-proclaimed ladies' man
entered Ianni's Restaurant and Club with a semiautomatic pistol and a
sociopath's score to settle. Gary M. Lavergne, a
university researcher and author of A Sniper in the Tower: The Charles
Whitman Murders, has resurrected that night's horror – six dead, one
wounded – in his newest book, Worse Than Death: The Dallas Nightclub
Murders and the Texas Multiple Murder Law. Worse Than Death is
an engrossing, heavily footnoted (though inelegantly written) account of
how one twisted man changed lives and the Texas criminal code. The murders
in the club at Midway Road and LBJ Freeway exposed the inconsistency in
the state's capital punishment statutes. Before the slayings, a mass
murderer did not automatically face the death penalty unless he killed
during commission of another felony. Worse Than Death is a graphic
tale with bloody crime scene photos of the dead – though redacted and in
black and white. Victims' portraits in happier times provide a sad
memorial to the mostly forgotten names of Mr. Belachheb's victims: Janice
Smith, Marcell Ford, Linda Lowe, Ligia Koslowski, Frank Parker, Joe
Minasi. More recognizable names, at least to Dallas residents, also fill
the pages of Worse Than Death: Dallas County District Court Judge
Gerry Holden Meier, a no-nonsense judge known to some as the Iron Maiden,
and later, Attila the Honey; Norm Kinne, one of the county's best
prosecutors who later in his career displayed a replica wooden shark fin,
an admirer's gift, in his office; Dallas homicide detective Bill Parker,
who arrested Mr. Belachheb two hours after the slayings; and defense
attorney Frank Jackson, a former professional football
player. Worse Than Death
details how Mr. Belachheb came to the United States and Texas, how
he felt victimized by the world, what precipitated the slayings and
their place alongside mass murders by Charles Whitman, who in 1966 killed
15 people on the University of Texas at Austin campus, and George Hennard,
who killed 23 in a Killeen restaurant in 1991. But perhaps the most
startling revelation is that Mr. Belachheb, who remains in an Amarillo
prison, is eligible for parole on June 29, 2004, the 20th anniversary of
the slayings. According to his prison "datasheet," however, his projected
release date is 99 99 9999. According to the author,
that's computer code for "never." Freelance writer Dan R.
Barber lives in Forney.
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