Pro Bono

The 18-year Defense of Caril Ann Fugate

Non-Fiction - Biography
414 Pages
Reviewed on 12/29/2013
Buy on Amazon

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.

    Book Review

Reviewed by April Gilly for Readers' Favorite

Pro Bono: The 18-Year Defense of Caril Ann Fugate by Jeff McArthur gives the facts of Caril’s story after she was taken into custody the day she made a run from her boyfriend, Charles Starkweather, on the side of the interstate in Wyoming. Caril is a 14-year-old girl who is the witness to a killing spree that lasted 8 days in Lincoln and Bennett, Nebraska. Caril goes along with Charles because he has threatened her family and she witnesses him kill 10 people over the 8-day period. John McArthur and Merrill Reller, and later James McArthur, do everything they can to keep Caril from getting convicted, and once found guilty, they do everything they can to appeal her case and get her a new trial. The 3 attorneys stay with Caril through everything, up through the day she gets parole and starts life over.

Pro Bono: The 18-Year Defense of Caril Ann Fugate by Jeff McArthur is a gripping and well written book that takes you through the entire legal process, from first trial, through all appeals courts, and finally parole. Jeff McArthur stays away from the rumors and drama that circled around the case, except to mention that it was there and it affected how people thought of Caril and the trial in general. Jeff McArthur states his sources and does his best to give the facts of the case instead of doing like many others of the time and using the lies or words of Charles Starkweather. While I still don’t know if Caril is innocent or guilty of the crimes she was convicted for, I know that the justice system failed her when she needed it most.