Review of 'The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
It's so sad and disturbing to visit the injustices of our "justice" system :-(. As I read (or in my case, listen) I keep thinking "if only I had been on the jury! It would at least have been hung!" I know that bite mark evidence fits in the same category as had bumps (I forget what that's called) and is totally meaningless. But I know that, until recently, it was considered real. That's okay; there's no way I would bid on any of those juries to start with because I am avidly against the death penalty – but that's neither here nor there.
Seeing the past, with that marvelous 20/20 hindsight, there were so many things that were flags and should've been picked up on regarding Haynes [I have only only the audiobook, so I really have no clue how the name is spelled] and West! With the number …
It's so sad and disturbing to visit the injustices of our "justice" system :-(. As I read (or in my case, listen) I keep thinking "if only I had been on the jury! It would at least have been hung!" I know that bite mark evidence fits in the same category as had bumps (I forget what that's called) and is totally meaningless. But I know that, until recently, it was considered real. That's okay; there's no way I would bid on any of those juries to start with because I am avidly against the death penalty – but that's neither here nor there.
Seeing the past, with that marvelous 20/20 hindsight, there were so many things that were flags and should've been picked up on regarding Haynes [I have only only the audiobook, so I really have no clue how the name is spelled] and West! With the number of autopsies that Haynes was conducting, there is no way that any of them could have been thorough! And to be honest, the fact that "bite marks" or even found on so many bodies is alarming, at least! But I personally don't have so much contact with violent crime and the horrific results that come of it; maybe the bites are more common than I believed! In any event, the picture painted of the justice system in Mississippi is definitely, well, "sketchy" at best! Of course, it does cause one to wonder about the justice system in OTHER states (like mine?)
About the book itself: the timeline was a bit confusing, although I know that in order to point things out, it basically had to be. That may have been as much a byproduct of the actual content as anything else. It did a pretty good job describing Hayne and West as well as the two girls and their murders and the connection between the injustice in the investigations and convictions – as well as pointing out the great injustices! I was able to affirm that I am really glad that I don't live in Mississippi, but at the same time, I do wonder about our whole national system! I know that it's each individual state's responsibility to set and maintain their own criminal justice systems, but this book makes me start to wonder how much input the federal government should exert. I know that USA is the United STATES of America, but how much IS it a NATION? Lots to think about…