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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to the WBZ book Club. This is Jordan Rich.

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<v Speaker 1>Well before the term serial killer was even coined, over

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<v Speaker 1>one hundred years ago, there was a series of murders

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<v Speaker 1>in Austin, Texas that rivaled those of Jack the Ripper

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<v Speaker 1>across the pond in England. The book is The Midnight

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<v Speaker 1>Assassin Panic Scandal and the Hunt for America's First Serial

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<v Speaker 1>Killer by author Skip Hollinsworth. The city of Austin, Texas,

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<v Speaker 1>in the late eighteen hundreds was terrorized by a vicious,

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<v Speaker 1>diabolical killer dubbed the Midnight Assassin, who at first prayed

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<v Speaker 1>mainly on poor black women in the community, ultimately brutally

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<v Speaker 1>murdering members of the white elite community. Weapons used include axes, knives,

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<v Speaker 1>and long steel rods. Eighteen eighty eight, investigators in London

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<v Speaker 1>actually tried to connect the murders in Austin, Texas with

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<v Speaker 1>those of Jack the Ripper. Suspects were arrested, many of

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<v Speaker 1>them poor black men, tinged by the racial prejudice of

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<v Speaker 1>the time, But the author of this book, Skip Hollandsworth,

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<v Speaker 1>offers his take with a lot of circumstantial evidence as

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<v Speaker 1>to who could be responsible. The Midnight Assassin that's the

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<v Speaker 1>book Club. WBZ, Boston's news radio