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In this chilling story with
startling parallels to the O. J. Simpson case, journalist Wilt Browning
takes us deep into the twisted life of All-American football hero
Pernell Jefferson and the women he stalked and terrorized.
Reared in poverty in Benson,
North Carolina, Pernell saw sports as his way out. His future looked
bright indeed when he led his Guilford College football team to high
national ranking, became the leading kick returner in the nation, and
signed with the Cleveland Browns.
But Pernell's confident and
charming demeanor was only a cover for the the deep insecurities and
fears of rejection that led him to walk out of the Brown's training camp
just as he was about to be offered a starting spot on the team and
caused him to inflict vicious abuses on the women who loved him.
Jeannie Butkowski was one of
those women. When she was discovered missing from her home in
Chesapeake, Virginia, just two months after she had been abducted,
raped, and beaten after trying to break off her relationship with
Pernell, her family had no doubt about who was responsible for her
disappearance. But police never even questioned Pernell.
Eight months later, hunters
discovered Jeannie's charred remains in a dry creek bed in Amelia
County, and a savvy rural county sheriff became determined to stop
Pernell's reign of terror and bring him to justice.
Was Pernell, as he now
claims, a victim of "Roid Rage," a condition caused by years
of using illegal steroids to build and strengthen his body? Or was
something deeper--and more evil--at work?
This spellbinding true-life
thriller not only considers those questions but offers stunning insights
that could have applied to the O. J. Simpson case as well.
about the author
Wilt Browning, a sports columnist for the News & Record
of Greensboro, North Carolina, has been an editor of the Atlanta
Journal, a sportswriter for the Charlotte Observer, and
director of public relations for the Atlanta Falcons and the Baltimore
Colts. He is the author of four other books.
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