 Bloody Lies
A CSI Scandal in the Heartland
John Ferak
Narrated by Rich Grimshaw
Available from Audible
Book published by The Kent State University Press
The remote farming community of Murdock, Nebraska, seemed to be the least likely setting for one of the heartland’s most ruthless and bloody double murders in decades. In fact, the little town had gone more than a century without a single homicide. But on the night of Easter 2006, Wayne and Sharmon Stock were brutally murdered in their home. The murders garnered sensational frontpage headlines and drew immediate statewide attention. Practically everybody around Murdock was filled with fear, panic, and outrage. Who killed Wayne and Sharmon Stock? What was the motive? The Stocks were the essence of Nebraska’s all-American farm family, self-made, God-fearing, and of high moral character. Barely a week into this double murder investigation, two arrests brought a sense of relief to the victims’ family and to local residents. The case appeared to fall neatly into place when a tiny speck of murder victim Wayne Stock’s blood appeared in the alleged getaway car.
Then, an obscure clue left at the crime scene took the investigation down a totally different path, stretching into Iowa, Louisiana, New York, Texas, and Wisconsin. By the time this investigation was over, the charges against the original suspects were dismissed and two new individuals emerged from the shadows. Author John Ferak covered the Stock murders from the very beginning, including all of the trial proceedings. When the criminal prosecution finally ended in 2007, he remained puzzled by one nagging question: Why was the blood of victim Wayne Stock in a car that was ultimately proven to have no connection to the murders?
Over the next few years, the astonishing “bloody lies” were revealed, culminating in a law enforcement scandal that turned the case on its head and destroyed the career of Nebraska’s celebrated CSI director, David Kofoed.
John Ferak is an award-winning Gannett Wisconsin Media investigative team editor.
REVIEWS:
“In Bloody Lies, John Ferak brings a top-notch investigative journalist credentials and search for the truth together with masterful story-telling for one of the best true crime books of the year.”
—Steve Jackson, New York Bestselling author of Bogeyman. “The scandal unfolds, and Ferak keeps you hooked the whole way — this is a first class fact-crime page turner.”
—Burl Barer, Edgar award winner, author of Man Overboard. “John Ferak spares nothing in his description of the events of Easter evening 2006... Ferak's detailing of the Stock murders and their aftermath is both captivating and painfully suspenseful.”
—Prose 'n Cons Mystery Magazine “If you need a break from your Ripper reading and want to go behind the scenes of rarely exposed law enforcement corruption, I strongly recommend Bloody Lies.”
—Tom Wescott, October 2014 true-crime book review for Ripperologist “John Ferak's bulldog approach to investigative reporting creates a page-turner that true crime fans will find difficult to fathom. The ineptitude of local law enforcement combined with a crooked CSI chief will leave readers shaking their heads in disbelief.”
—Mike Dauplaise, author of Torture at the Back Forty “John Ferak's bulldog approach to investigative reporting creates a page-turner that true crime fans will find difficult to fathom. The ineptitude of local law enforcement combined with a crooked CSI chief will leave readers shaking their heads in disbelief.”
—Mike Dauplaise, author of Torture at the Back Forty
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