- Genre:true crime
- Sub-genre:Murder / General
- Language:English
- Pages:272
- Paperback ISBN:9781543962000
Book details
Overview
"Save my babies!" Amanda Hamm's screams echoed in the late summer air surrounding Clinton Lake in rural Illinois.
"The Unforgiven" is the story of how what appeared to be an accident turned into a crime. But was it murder?
In this anatomy of an exceptional case that attracted national media attention, readers journey through unspeakable tragedy, small town justice and the consequences of scalding decisions that changed people's lives forever.
The story stretches well beyond the deaths of Amanda's three children to a Chicago courtroom years later where she is caught once again in the state's sticky web of justice. This time the lives of her three new children are at stake.
"The Unforgiven" offers an inside look at how the criminal justice system handled this exceptional case. The co-authors are veteran journalists with extensive first-hand knowledge of the matter and access to nearly every record related to the court proceedings. Edith Brady-Lunny covered the story from start-to-finish. Steve Vogel, who lives nearby, is author of Reasonable Doubt, a New York Times best-seller.
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It's a case reminiscent of the explosive story of Susan Smith, convicted in the drownings of her two young sons in South Carolina. But in "The Unforgiven", three young children are in the back seat of a car driven by Amanda Hamm's boyfriend as it slips into an Illinois lake. Amanda and her boyfriend survive. Her three children do not.
The question of whether it was a horrible accident or a murderous plot divided family and friends and traumatized the entire community. The brief but intense police investigation included seven interviews Hamm voluntarily gave police without the benefit of counsel. The outcome remains controversial to this day and comes full circle with state child welfare workers' concern about children born to Hamm since the fateful day at Clinton Lake.
"The Unforgiven" co-author and journalist Edith Brady-Lunny covered the case from start-to-finish, beginning the night of the drownings. Her co-author Steve Vogel lives nearby. His "Reasonable Doubt", considered a true crime classic, was a New York Times best-seller. Together they have extensive first-hand knowledge of the case and access to nearly every record related to the court proceedings.
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