Speaker 1: Welcome to the WBZ book Club. This is Jordan Rich.
Speaker 1: Well before the term serial killer was even coined, over
Speaker 1: one hundred years ago, there was a series of murders
Speaker 1: in Austin, Texas that rivaled those of Jack the Ripper
Speaker 1: across the pond in England. The book is The Midnight
Speaker 1: Assassin Panic Scandal and the Hunt for America's First Serial
Speaker 1: Killer by author Skip Hollinsworth. The city of Austin, Texas,
Speaker 1: in the late eighteen hundreds was terrorized by a vicious,
Speaker 1: diabolical killer dubbed the Midnight Assassin, who at first prayed
Speaker 1: mainly on poor black women in the community, ultimately brutally
Speaker 1: murdering members of the white elite community. Weapons used include axes, knives,
Speaker 1: and long steel rods. Eighteen eighty eight, investigators in London
Speaker 1: actually tried to connect the murders in Austin, Texas with
Speaker 1: those of Jack the Ripper. Suspects were arrested, many of
Speaker 1: them poor black men, tinged by the racial prejudice of
Speaker 1: the time, But the author of this book, Skip Hollandsworth,
Speaker 1: offers his take with a lot of circumstantial evidence as
Speaker 1: to who could be responsible. The Midnight Assassin that's the
Speaker 1: book Club. WBZ, Boston's news radio