Welcome to the fourth and final book in my memoir series: A Journey to the Center of the Mind-
Book IV.
As you may already be aware, Book I is all about my early childhood through my early 20s, growing up in the 1960s and mid-1970s in Philadelphia, and ending with my graduation from the Pennsylvania State Police Academy in 1976.
Book II is about my 11 years as a police officer, plainclothes officer, detective, and sergeant at the suburban Philadelphia, PA, Bensalem Township Police Department.
Book III is my first 10 years in the FBI, from Quantico in 1987, to New York City, to my promotion to the Profiling Unit, and ending with a very detailed chapter about my role in the Unabomb case.
This book, Book IV, picks up right where the last one left off, and without skipping a beat. It’s me, Jim Fitzgerald, aka “Fitz,” relating to you the various cases, criminals, characters, places, and everything and everyone of relevance in-between. More on some of these cases and people in a bit.
As you’re reading here, consider this as me, Fitz, talking to you are on a long car ride somewhere, or while sitting in a bar or coffee shop, or hanging out on a quiet beach with a few friends, and you’ve asked me about one or more of my most interesting FBI cases. “Sure, why not?,” I would reply. “And how about if I start in chronological order to my career – well, post-Unabom? That usually makes sense, right?”
So let’s see…how about if I start with the Atlanta Olympics bombing and the subsequent bombings by Eric Rudolph; then discuss the FBI agent/Russian spy working alongside of me at Quantico, Earl Pitts; then the JonBenet Ramsey case, or at least one very interesting aspect of it; the abortion doc assassin, James Kopp; the TV lawyer pundit who almost got me fired (even though she never meant to); the murders of two Dartmouth College professors; 9/11; the anthrax case; the DC sniper case; my time in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; oh, and let’s throw in a dozen profiling and/or forensic linguistic cases in which I provided expert testimony, some which made headlines, some which didn’t; later, in retirement, my several seasons as the technical adviser on Criminal Minds; my membership in the Vidocq Society in Philadelphia; the one (and only) case I ever worked for the criminal defense which resulted in two assistant U.S. attorneys being forced to resign, and a U.S. Attorney fired; the aftermath of the Discovery Channel TV series, Manhunt: Unabomber, and some wacky former FBI agents who to this day still don’t know the difference between a TV documentary and a scripted series; CNN outright lying about me; and much, much more to include the most difficult and frustrating criminal case of all for me, the still unresolved murder of a good friend.
Lastly, in my first three books before each initial chapter, I included a quote by a famous person. They were, respectively, Winston Churchill, Davy Crockett, and Paul de Man. As such, I want to include a quote here too before we begin Chapter One. Strangely, the quote’s physical presence followed me through practically my entire life on the inside lid of a small wooden collectible box one of my sisters gave me as a young boy, then sometime around 10 years of age, I came upon a small sticker or stamp, if you will, of the quote of which you’re about to read. Very interestingly, even way back then, it seemed to foreshadow my future professional life. It is as follows:
“Knowledge.
I had six honest serving men,
they taught me all I knew.
Their names were where and what and when,
and why and how and who.”
– Rudyard Kipling.
Yes, I’ve lived by, if not with, those imaginary six men (or perhaps “persons” we’ll say in the 21st century) my whole life, and they’ve served me well. In fact, they’re still around. I’ve asked, and continue to ask, those questions and sometimes still get the answers I seek. It made me the investigator, profiler, forensic linguist, and most importantly, the person who I am today.
Now, let’s get started.
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