About this item
Highlights
- "That woman was in danger, so I ran up behind him with a hatchet... Smash, smash, SUH-MASH!!!
- Author(s): Philip Fairbanks
- 454 Pages
- True Crime, Murder
Description
About the Book
"That woman was in danger, so I ran up behind him with a hatchet... Smash, smash, SUH-MASH!!!"
Book Synopsis
"That woman was in danger, so I ran up behind him with a hatchet... Smash, smash, SUH-MASH!!!"
Millions of people heard these words and shared the viral video with their friends. This mysterious surfing hitchhiker then vanished as quickly as he appeared, only to reappear on many late night talk shows and fan videos. But 3 months later, he was arrested and charged with killing a prominent New Jersey lawyer... in self defense against a sex assault.
Who is this mysterious hitchhiker? What was with that lawyer who drugged and assaulted him? Why would the investigators destroy evidence, tamper with witnesses, and shut the public out of the trial?
For almost a decade, the public was kept in the dark: until investigative journalist Philip Fairbanks searched for the truth in mountains of government records, witness statements, and hard evidence. At long last, he found the answers to these burning, aching questions...
And they will surprise you.
Review Quotes
Advance praise for Smash, Smash, Smash:
"Phil is not the kind of journalist who files a story and gets on with his life. That passion and integrity shine through in this book, and generally in the way Phil makes you care about the people he's covering. [...] When I read this book, as with so many things Phil has written, I feel that I am in good hands, being carefully guided to the truth."
Alissa Fleck (Newsweek, SF Gate, Houston Chronicle)
"In his latest book, Philip Fairbanks wields a wealth of laboriously earned evidence and detail, the product of five years of research, to tell a harrowing and heartbreaking tale nobody (until him) deemed worthy of telling, and some would rather remain untold. [...] In his characteristically engaging style and with a dexterous balance of compassion, curiosity, and analysis, the author walks the reader through a hellish nightmare; one that Kai was born into and in which he continues to exist."
Wendy Painting, PhD (author, Aberration in the Heartland of the Real: the secret lives of Timothy McVeigh)
Philip Fairbanks is an entertainment reporter, journalist, and amateur historian with 20 years publishing experience. His work has appeared in SUNY's art journal Afterimage, Ghettoblaster magazine, UK's Morning Star newspaper, multiple times in CUNY's graduate paper The Advocate and several other print and online publications. He has been corresponding with Kai and reporting on his case for over five years.