Deacon of Death: Sam Smithers, the Serial Killer Next Door

Baptist deacon, family man, pillar of his Florida community . . . and serial killer of prostitutes: chilling true crime from the author of Lobster Boy.

By day, Sam Smithers was the deacon of his Baptist church in Plant City, Florida, a respected neighbor to many, and a devoted husband and father. But after the sun set, he became something else: a violent attacker—and killer—of prostitutes.

Smithers's twisted double life came to light when a local woman who had hired him to take care of...