The stakes were high--could they stop a serial killer before he struck again?

"Oh, they had him," came the casual comment from Lieutenant Paul Echols of the Carbondale police department, as I was gathering my things prior to departing his office.

Stunned, I abruptly sat back down, asking what he meant.

The solving of the cold case murder of my neighbor, Virginia Lee Witte, had come about through confessions made by serial killer Timothy Wayne Krajcir. This visit was meant to be both a celebration of Echol's part in the investigation, as well as my chance to obtain answers to long-held questions.

Instead, I suddenly found myself traveling a dark, twisted path through case files of this true crime, and the criminal's mind itself. Surprising and unsettling discoveries, of lives taken and lives forever changed, awaited me on this journey.

But, the final destination was in sight. With detectives scrambling to play catch-up and a prosecuting attorney gearing up for trial and the death penalty in play, yet one more twist would determine Krajcir's fate--will justice be served for all?

Find out in Hunted in the Heartland: A Memoir of Murder