The Man from the Train: The Solving of a Century-Old Serial Killer Mystery

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James makes the point that we knew a lot about ballplayers like Kingman at the time, but we know even more about them now, because we have access to the sort of advanced statistical tools that James and others invented. We know more about Kingman than his contemporaries did — we know information about Kingman that he never knew about himself, information that’s only available through modern insights like Value Over Replacement Player statistics, or through the application of modern information technology analytical tools. In a review for The New York Journal of Books, Bill McClug described The Man from the Train as "an interesting and fascinating albeit rather unknown story, and it is commendable that the authors have chosen to bring it to light." [9] But he also criticized the writing style as overly casual and thought it unlikely that the Jameses' case could be conclusively proved after a century. Still, the book delivers on the promise of its subtitle – “The Solving of a Century-Old Serial Killer Mystery” – and you could be forgiven for forgiving its manner, because what other choice did the authors have? They needed to show readers that a bunch of mass murders were committed by one person, but not all the mass murders of families during that time period. Making those cases requires patient detailing by the authors, and some indulgence from the reader. Avenues for Exploration There is no way to know for certain who he was. Even the two authors are not in complete agreement about which of the crimes profiled here were the work of The Man from the Train. However, the reasoning behind including a crime or not is logically presented and left to the readers to decide whether they agree.

In other cases James’ tone is almost conspiratorial which make me feel in need of a shower. Something in the room would later cause the chief detective to describe the perpetrator as a “moral pervert”; what that was was never revealed, but you and I know. Shudder! The crime was discovered by the Hugheses’ neighbors, who, on December 8, found the family’s home ablaze. After the fire calmed down, searchers found the body of 42-year-old Benjamin Hughes, 42-year-old Eva Hughes (Benjamin’s wife), 19-year-old Emma, and 14-year-old Hattie. All had died in their sleep, with their heads crushed completely by the blunt side of an ax. The core problem of the book is that it’s not much of a story. It’s not even an argument. It’s a bunch of data points that are so unusual yet consistent that only an idiot could fail to see them as related once they’ve been collected. The achievement of the book is that careful assemblage. Overall, this was a very fascinating read, with a fresh approach and presentation. It is nearly impossible to know for certain if they have guessed the real identity of the ‘man on the train’, or if these mostly forgotten crimes are indeed the work of one killer, but I think the authors did an amazing job of collecting evidence and researching police procedures of the era in question.Right? I mean, this is obviously Kingman, you can tell from the high levels of home runs and strikeouts. This was Kingman’s career year; his batting average was fifty points over his career average, and somehow he drew 45 walks, third on the team behind Ivan de Jesus and Steve Ontiveros . (This may be a function of intentional walks, though.) So far, so good, we can find a set of behaviors in a specific year that lines up well with Kingman’s known behaviors.

Similarly, the sketchy statistical assertions wore thin. (Assigning % likelihood of the man from the train as the killer, and calculating by those percentages the deaths for each crime, to get a hypothetical total death toll). Moreover, earnestly promising that they were very conservative with the estimations of % likelihood, it rather defeated the purpose, and lessened their credibility. And for some reason, completely missed I think in my first listening, was the author (not sure if it was the father or daughter of the team) berating the listener, calling them expletives if they think the crimes happened in little towns where nothing ever really happens. Where did that come from? Unnecessary. Still, the book was quite engrossing, and I have to accept that my first impression was honest, but my second was a little more critical. Book Genre: Adult, American History, Crime, ers, Historical, History, Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Nonfiction, North American Hi…, sers, Thriller, True CrimeBut, I did find myself caught up in his enthusiasm, and was determined to keep an open mind. It is obvious that besides the research, that much thought went into how these crimes were connected- or not- in some cases. He explains why those arrested or suspected were probably innocent, and proceeds to lay out a case for the defense or prosecution, as the case may be. The killer's primary motive is believed to have been a sadistic sexual attraction to pre-pubescent girls, factoring in a majority of the killings. While adults were typically ambushed and murdered in bed while sleeping, girls often showed defense wounds or other evidence of struggle. Media reports of the crimes often included veiled references to the killer having ejaculated at the crime scenes or his having molested the girls after death. [8] The presence of a slab of bacon at the Villisca scene, possibly used as a masturbation aid, may bolster this theory according to the authors. To give you an idea about what’s involved, let’s try a thought experiment. I am going to give you the statistics of three players from the 1979 Chicago Cubs; you tell me which of them is Dave Kingman: