Author’s expose of corrupt US police
AN author from Widnes has picked up where Netflix’s hit documentary series Making A Murderer left off examining what he branded the ‘dark underbelly’ of the US justice system.
Shaun Attwood said his latest book Un-Making A Murderer is a damning expose of ‘corrupt law enforcement officials’ in what he claims is the ‘strategic framing’ of Steve Avery and his young nephew Brendan Dassey.
The 10-part series which inspired the book provoked out- cry and widespread speculation about whether Steve Avery’s conviction was a major miscarriage of justice.
Shaun said his book unveils covert tactics deployed by Manitowoc and Calumet County deputies and challenges traditional assumptions and conventional beliefs in the US justice system.
He said the book goes on a journey where the lines between truth and justice are blurred as the ‘fight for a conviction takes precedence over finding the real perpetrator’.
Aspects of the case involved the ‘gut-wrenching manipulation of a young intellectually-limited Brendan Dassey’ and the ‘wrong- ful conviction’ of Steven Avery, in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, where ‘innocent people do go to jail, and killers, stealthily go about their business’.
The book argues that there was a ‘conspiracy to abuse the law’.
The title is the latest book by Shaun, who became a writer and schools speaker after he was released from prison the US having been sent down for ecstasy supply.
His first books dealt with his rise as a stockbroker and rave organiser, time behind bars and the transformation he underwent while gorging on the great works of literature and philosophy and practising yoga.
He has also written about Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, putting his empire in the wider context of prohibition and the US war on drugs. ● A RUNCORN singer-songwriter’s band that takes its name from an Amazonian shamanic plant has launched its debut single.
Psychedelic three piece Ayawaska released The Ride on Monday, January 30, a week after releasing the video for the song online featuring a ride around Liverpool city centre on some bikes.
In September, singer-songwriter Mike Davies, of Runcorn, under his stage name Mike Juvenile, teamed up with drummer Dan Delgardo, originally from Venezuela and now living in Wirral, and bassist Marc Gibbs from Liverpool after years on the live music scenes in Liverpool and Runcorn.
The band’s name takes its inspiration from the South American plant Ayahuasca, which is used by shamans to induce mystic visions, and which has become the subject of TV documentaries, books and art.
Ayawaska’s music’s influences span the early 1960s to modern indie-rock and bands such as The Smiths, Oasis, The Stone Roses, Radiohead, Joy Division, The Cure, The Beatles, The Doors and Arctic Monkeys.
On the band’s choice of band name, Mike said: “I watched a documentary ages ago and I came across this drink the indigenous people took for ceremonies – I used to like watching the weird documentaries.”
He added: “Everything’s been going great so far. It’s like indie-alternative with a bit of psychedelia, we’re quite openminded to different styles.
“At the moment we’re trying to get as much exposure as we can and we’re going to start applying for the festivals. “We spend most of the time working on new songs and recording and things like that – we’ve got quite a lot of material.”
The Ride is available to buy online from iTunes, Amazon, Googleplay and other digital outlets and the video is available on Youtube.