Women Who Kill Men: California Courts, Gender, and the Press examines the role that gender played in the trials of women accused of murder in California between 1870-1958. The authors trace the changing views of the public towards women and how these views may have affected the outcomes of the cases. Some defendants faced the death penalty and were executed; some were spared. Often the public was deeply fascinated with all aspects of the trial and punishment. The book, written by Gordon Morris Bakken and Brenda Farrington, provides in-depth details of 18 murder trials through court records and news coverage.
Gordon Morris Bakken is a professor of history at California State University, Fullerton. Brenda Farrington is a lecturer in the history department at Chapman University. (G. Bakken and B. Farrington, “Women Who Kill Men: California Courts, Gender, and the Press,” originally published by University of Nebraska Press 2009; published in paperback and electronically, 2013; DPIC posted, May 10, 2013). See Women and Books.
