The Paradiso Files

On the Trail of Boston's Unknown Serial Killer

By: Timothy M. Burke

Narrated by: Wyntner Woody

In this bold and suspenseful true-crime story, former homicide prosecutor Timothy M. Burke makes his case against one Leonard Paradiso. Lenny 'The Quahog' was convicted of assaulting one young woman and paroled after three years, but Burke believes that he was guilty of much more - that Paradiso was a serial killer who operated in the Boston area, and maybe farther afield, for nearly 15 years, assaulting countless young women and responsible for the deaths of as many as seven. Burke takes the reader inside the minds of prosecutors, police investigators, and one very dangerous man who thought he had figured out how to rape and murder and get away with it.

The Paradiso Files generated headlines when first published in February 2008. Nine days later, Paradiso died at the age of 65 without commenting on any of Burke's accusations, including that he murdered Joan Webster, a Harvard graduate student who disappeared from Logan Airport in 1981. Boston-area prosecutors announced in September 2008 that Burke's revelations had led them to reopen the unsolved murder cases of three young women - Melodie Stankiewicz, Holly Davidson, and Kathy Williams. There were “too many similarities between the individual cases to ignore,” a prosecutor involved in the new investigation said. Burke's account leaves little doubt that Paradiso's deeds should go down in infamy, alongside those of the Boston Strangler.

©2008 Timothy M. Burke (P)2012 Steerforth Press L.L.C.

Critic reviews

"The criminal exploits of Boston's most notorious psychopath, fugitive gangster James "Whitey" Bulger, have been well chronicled. Now Timothy M. Burke exposes another sadistic figure who prowled Boston's streets for unsuspecting victims back when Whitey was still the man: Leonard "The Quahog" Paradiso. . . . In a suspenseful account offered by the former prosecutor who sent Paradiso to prison for the 1979 slaying of Marie Ianuzzi, Burke builds a convincing case that the Revere fish peddler was a cunning sexual predator who got away with many more slayings. . . Burke tells a compelling story, with chilling accounts of Paradiso's crimes gleaned from victims' accounts and evidence that never made it to court. . . The story transcends Boston with an insider's view of the criminal justice system. . . It's a good read. And Burke, who led the State Police investigation into Bulger during the 1980s, even manages to slip in a few observations about him" ( Boston Globe)

"Burke’s colorful and creepy debut takes a Grisham-esque ride through both the legal system and the mind of a killer... This deserves mention alongside Vincent Bugliosi’s Helter Skelter (1974) and Robert Graysmith’s Zodiac (1986) as a stellar exploration of the soul of a mass murderer." ( Kirkus Reviews)

John O'Connell

most memorable person- John O'Connell. STILL a very interesting guy who frequents the pier! The story is well written, easy to read, but the content is quite disturbing.