Thomas Bartlett Whitaker was born in Houston, Texas, in 1979. His parents, Kent and Trish, spoiled and coddled this child throughout his life. They bought him a townhouse that they paid the utilities for. They bought him luxury cars. They bought him expensive clothes and accessories. They paid for his education, which he lied about. He was in trouble frequently, being convicted of a string of burglaries at age 17. In December 2003, he lied to his parents about graduating from college, getting them out of the house so that two people he hired to murder them could get prepared. One of the men entered the home, shooting and killing the mother and brother. The father was also shot but survived. Of course, this genius didn't plan his actions very well and was subsequently convicted in these murders. His father plead for him to not be sentenced to death, which I think is absolutely stupid.

This book offered plenty of details about this case that were not covered as in depth on the Dateline episode featuring this case. I like this true crime author and was pleased with the book. I just watched the rerun of this episode the other day, and didn't realize I had the book from the reading list. If you haven't heard about this case, it is a solid book.