THE MANSFIELD KILLINGS

John and Nolena Niebel were planning a vacation for sometime in the early fall. They were also planning a surprise birthday party for their daughter Phyllis. It would be her twenty-first birthday, and they wanted it to be nothing but the best with cake and ice cream and a house full of her closest friends and relatives.

Then on the night of July 21st at around midnight, Robert Daniels and John West entered the Niebel house with loaded guns. They forced the Niebel family to get into their car then drove them to a cornfield just off Fleming Falls Road. The two men instructed the Niebels to remove all of their clothing, then Robert Daniels shot each of them in the head.

All together, six people died during a two-week period at the hands of Daniels and West. The rampage ended in a shoot-out where West was killed and Daniels was captured. Daniels was put on trial and electrocuted less than six months later. The brutal murders of the three members of the Niebel family caught national attention, and the two-week killing spree became known as the worst in Ohio's history.

COLD-BLOODED MURDER is a 67,000-word manuscript based on actual events. I live in Mansfield, OH, the location of the prison where the two murderers first met. My research included interviews with the son of the murdered couple as well as with friends of the victims.