A Boston Serial Killer Brought to Light

A former prosecutor has brought to light - if not to justice - a serial killer that roamed the Boston area in the 1970s and '80s.

Boston attorney Timothy M. Burke's new book, The Paradiso Files: Boston's Unknown Serial Killer [Amazon; B&N], was issued by Random House. The author posits that Leonard Paradiso was connected to one murder but guilty of as many as seven.

If the author's credentials, subject matter, and publisher aren't endorsement enough, the book has already been hailed as a page-turner. Said Kirkus Reviews: "This deserves mention alongside Vincent Bugliosi’s Helter Skelter (1974) and Robert Graysmith’s Zodiac (1986) as a stellar exploration of the soul of a mass murderer." That's quite a set of comparisons in this genre.

The publisher offers an excerpt on its website. The author recently sat down for an interview on a local Fox broadcast.

The accused man died on Feb. 28, 2008 - nine days after the book was released - and took his secrets with him.

One of those secrets may well have been his involvement in the disappearance of Harvard student Joan Webster, a missing persons case that was widely publicized in the early 1980s.

Comments

[Fiz]

I've just read it and it's brilliant, Laura. Joan Webster's parents selflessly gave up the chance of their daughter's case being solved so that the Boston police could nail Paradiso on the one slightly more solid case they had him on. Having read it, I am convinced he was a serial killer.

[Laura]

How did it get across the pond so fast? Sheesh, Fiz, you must have a standing order & have them airmailed to your door! Anyway - your good word is another great endorsement for the book.