Even though she was still married to her fifth husband, Tina, an ex-prostitute from Las Vegas, rehearsed for her sixth wedding to a wealthy Maryland businessman, Robert Myers. Myers wanted his wife killed. Divorce was too expensive. Tina had proposed a blood vow. "You marry me and take care of my kids, and I'll have your wife murdered for you." He agreed. This is the true story of the brutal 1979 contract murder of Mary Ruth Myers, the 27-month long investigation of that murder, and the prosecution of the three co-conspirators. It led to the longest murder trial in the history of Maryland. The only plea offer was death in the gas chamber or by lethal injection. After a stunning double-cross by Myers' original attorney, Phillip M. Sutley, Esq., Myers' new attorney, Anton J.S. Keating, Esq. is left to try to salvage a defense and save him from the gas chamber. Myers had actually confessed his guilt to Mr. Keating, so avoiding the death penalty was even more complicated. Keating shares his insights into the tactics, strategies, thought processes and personalities of the participants in the Myers case, and the criminal justice system in Maryland. In addition, treats readers to a glimpse into his own history as a boy growing up in England during and after World War II, and into the lives of his close and colorful family. Finally, through the lens of the sentencing phase of the Myers trial, Keating outlines the history of the death penalty, articulating some of the most poignant and powerful arguments against it. "The function of the criminal law is to protect the law-abiding - not to satiate societies' lust for revenge," testified Father Meyer Tobey, Chaplain for Maryland Death Row inmates. In the end, Anton J.S. Keating, Esq. was himself put on trial, as he suspected he would be from the very beginning.
