Trace Evidence

The Hunt for the I-5 Serial Killer

By: Bruce Henderson

Narrated by: David Colacci

For 10 years, the California Interstate 5 highway was haunted by a dangerous serial killer. Incredibly skilled at staying ahead of the investigators as the bodies started to pile up, there wasn't enough evidence to charge the culprit with murder even once he'd been identified. Instead, they had to build a first-degree murder case in a few months while the killer was locked up on an assault conviction.

Key to this was a cast of four: Vito Bertocchini, the burly ex-street cop who took the killing of a beautiful young woman personally; Kay Maulsby, the rookie homicide detective who helped unmask the killer; Ray Biondi, who fought severe budget cuts that threatened to derail the investigation; and criminalist Faye Springer, who attempted to tie the suspect to his victims through subtle but persuasive microscopic evidence.

Drawing on hundreds of hours of exclusive interviews with these investigators, as well as other important figures such as the killer's reclusive wife, number-one New York Times best-selling author Bruce Henderson builds a fascinating portrait of this unrepentant murderer.

©1998, 2013 Bruce Henderson (P)2020 Tantor

Great read

Exact and precise from start to finish! Sad that it took so long to perfect forensic technology. 89% of murders would have been solved after the first.

Very interesting.

I would have liked more information on the trace evidence aspect, but the book gave more than most. What baffles me is how prosecutors sit on cases unless they are going to win, which results in more crime happening. However, you here people being convicted without physical evidence in other places. Still baffles me how serial killers have zero remorse but worried about their families after they are caught. They don't even pretend to lie, just ignore the victims.

Sawlid

This book is sawlid, what a sawlid book omg I can’t believe it, this is crazy.

Good Listen

Good book to listen to. The narrator was great. Story was well written and easy to follow. A good amount of detail, but not too much.

Good story

Good story, continuous flow; book's title is like 1% of the story, but 99% of the solution

Awesome story and narrator!

This was very interesting and in depth. I also really liked the narrator! Highly recommended the book to any true crime junky!

Incredible, emotion evoking

This telling of the I-5 Killer was very detailed. The incredible story of the investigators tenacity brings out emotions of sadness and frustrations they must have felt while working this case. The Narrator's voice and able inflections made the read fantastic.

really solid book 👌

i may be biased because i loved this narrator in And The Sea Will Tell, so as soon as I heard his voice i had pretty much made up my mind that i was going to enjoy this book. it had a even amount of time spent on the investigation and crimes, capture and trial which worked well for the overall flow of the book. if you want a good solid true crime procedural that doesn't constantly jump around with timelines, or have a marathon of court transcripts near the end, id definitely recommend it. it was absolutely worth the credit.

Excellent Read

Great story, kept me interested throughout. Some of the court proceedings and evidence got a little long but a good read!

very long but enjoyable

keep going back to listen. keep my interest. Started listening to the lives of people in the book. Got emotionally connected to them.