Silent Witness

The Karla Brown Murder Case (Onyx)

By: Don W. Weber, Charles Bosworth

Narrated by: Kevin Pierce

Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's Summary

An account of the murder of Karla Brown describes how, after years of investigations, a prosecutor's brilliant courtroom strategies won a conviction against a long-time loser with a vicious hatred of women.

©2015 Charles Bosworth, Jr., Don Weber (P)2016 Charles Bosworth, Jr.

We get it...beautiful...beautiful etc.

I'm sorry, but what is said when the victim is not 'beautiful' or when the victim is black or an older woman?
There is a lot, and I mean a LOT of comments of the victims looks. Yes, it's tragic, just as any human being tortured and violated before being brutally murdered. This is a common theme with detectives and prosecutors...the pretty young women are high profile. I get the feeling the way this book read that they were tsk tsking the great loss of a beautiful girl as much as sadness for needless loss of life and a brutal, cruel murder.
I dunno I'm sure most people don't notice, but I watch lots of true crime television also and I get rather sick of the blonde beautiful girl being a tragic victim when in reality all life is precious, not just cheerleaders and young 'girls'
it's an interesting story, too bad they describe every woman's looks and come very close to giving each woman a 1-10 rating.
Murder is always tragic....men get murdered too. Just saying....check yourselves, authors.
Very good narration, btw.

Outstanding book!

Best written AND narrated book I've ever "read"! Loved the story and narration. Riviting every moment. The ending was excellent

True Crime at its finest!

I got this book for free for a honest review, and I am that: Honest!

I don't mind True Crime, but I generally don't really care. I love too be wrong, and this book proves that: This book was published with me in mind I almost think. Kevin Pierce is on his top on his game, and that shows into his reading! Silent Witness is a really really good story, and I got it! I'm sure I will read it again, because it was THAT good! I wish there was more true crime like this!

Great story telling!

I am a die hard true crime lover. However, serial killers are my niche, so it takes a really good story to grab my attention and this one did. This book grabbed me by the collar, gripped me tightly, shook me around a few times and never released it's grasp until the very end when I slumped to the floor and could FINALLY exhale. Ok, ok, a little dramatic but of ALL the TC I've read over the years, there is only one other book I hold in higher regard. From the synopsis this may not seem like the most interesting crime, but it is the storytelling that is compelling. When you think back on a book years and years later and say to yourself "damn that was a good book" but not even remember the particular details, then you know it was the crafting of the story that deserves all the praise. Add the great narrator Kevin Pierce and this is a "must listen" book.

Wow. Awful. PS. There's no silent witness

(Some spoilers below)

So this book has almost universally good reviews on Audible, and even mentions the famed behavioral FBI unit that was gaining prominence back then. How could this book possibly be bad? About a quarter of the way through the listen, I realized oh how very bad it could be. I kept listening in the hopes that there would be some magical reveal or some of those famed psychological twists.

First off, the writing is completely skewed to the viewpoint of the police and prosecutor. And I'm not saying like, "Oh, you know, they didn't really portray the defense fairly." I mean that the author abjectly said the alleged killer was a hippie loser and of course he was a loser, because he was a hippie, and what did he expect from his burn-out hippie lifestyle. I was like, "Wait, I feel sorry for the guy, and he's the supposed killer." Also, I say "alleged/supposed killer" not to be cute or technical, but because...the evidence they have on this dude is ridiculously sparse. I googled his name after the book ended because I was outraged. A bunch of "wrongful conviction" suits came up. There was so little evidence. It's shocking. This was just a good illustration of a small town looking to convict ANYBODY for the murder of a pretty blonde, and just going with the hippie slacker, because...he's a dirty hippie, after all.

The prosecutor is a flat-out bully. You'll want to shake him. What is described as manipulative guile by other people is written as canny strategy when the police and prosecutors use it. It's incredibly, infuriatingly biased. Oh, and of course, the trial is the part written about the most. Why? Because that part is already written-up in the court transcript and requires little research or skill from the writer. Womp womp.

After, I was interested in the non-Audible reviews and was unsurprised how poorly this was supposedly written and edited. The narrator on the Audible version tries to give it some punch and inflection, but it just comes across flat. No one is likable in this, not even the victim, really. Definitely not the prosecution or police. There's no meat. Even Kevin Pierce as the narrator couldn't save this book.

Hard skip for true crime aficionados. Use my pain of sitting through this as warning.

Weber comes of as a parading peacock

What disappointed you about Silent Witness?

This book should have been a testament to Karla Brown. This book should have focused on the injustice of her death, the solace and minimal justice available to her family, friends, and fiance. The majority of this book was a lot of preening on how brilliant, clever, and oh so important Don Weber was as the prosecutor. To hear him tell it it was he alone that shouldered the great burden of seeing to justice for Karla. It was an embarrassing display of peacock parading that I have ever encountered in a true crime book and I was ashamed for Weber and Bosworth.

Would you ever listen to anything by Don W. Weber and Charles Bosworth again?

I have purchased others. I'm going to have to go back and listen to see if I just missed this in past books. If this is in fact their usual style then no, I most certainly will never purchase another book by them.

Which scene was your favorite?

This question is not applicable to true crime. There is no favorite scene.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Silent Witness?

Everything that is gloating about Weber and his actions other than what is necessary to tell the reader/listener what happened to bring the case to justice.

Any additional comments?

I am truly sorry for Karla's family, friends, and fiance. I believe Weber and Bosworth owe them an apology.

True story - Truly told and narrated

I received this book at no charge from the narrator of the book for an unbiased review. I enjoy reading true crime stories. Often writers of true crime wonder off into too much detail, leaving the reader wanting to skim the pages or fast forward. Silent Witness does not do this. The authors give you enough detailed information to keep the reader engrossed in the story and familiar with the people involved.The narration was superb and added to the overall enjoyment of the story. I would recommend this book to a friend.

Very enjoyable

Great reading/listening! No clutter and no filler. If I walked away for Five minutes, I had to turn back to see what I had missed and more than often that missed 5 minuted had added content to the story. Quite a difference between 1978 and 2016 in how crimes were or were not solved. Great listening.

Good bye karla

I remembered this case when it happened I live in a neighboring town. It was chilling.

Rectangle space Rectangle space TRIANGLE!

Would you listen to Silent Witness again? Why?

Yes, I love real life mysteries and this one did not disappoint. The whole story grabbed me and did not let go even when it was over. I then googled the characters to see how they looked.

Who was your favorite character and why?

It is hard to have a favorite character in a real life book.

Which scene was your favorite?

When they finally got justice for Karla.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I found myself chanting "Rectangle space Rectangle space TRIANGLE!" while driving and listening. You must listen to the book and then this will make sense. :)

Any additional comments?

This audiobook was provided by the author/narrator/publisher free of charge in exchange for an unbiased review.

Tragic! So Cruel!

The Narater's Dark and Intense Delivery was So Appropriate, and it kept A Steady and Intense Pace throughout! A Man's Struggle to Maintain Self Control, Impossible due to a misguided lack of Self Worth that, Inevatably, would cause Him to Cross that Line that Most of Us Manage to Avoid no matter how Traumatic Our Upbringing! A Tragic Tale that ended The Life of A Much-Loved Member of A Small Tightly-Knit Community!

Didn't enjoy it

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

A part from the narration I didn't enjoy this book. It was over sentimental and drawn out. Not a punchy crime. I listened once but won't listen a second time.