Crimes of Passion: The Dark Side of the Heart

With love can come jealousy--followed by revenge, violence, and death. From honor killings to crimes of passion, these true stories of romance gone bad capture the blood-chilling side of human nature. Sometimes, the characters' emotions and impulses spin out of control with horrifying results. Other times, it's a matter of ice-cold opportunism. International in scope, the selections range from the Pamela Smart and Lorena Bobbit cases in the US; the O.J. Simpson murder trial; the Sada Abe case in Japan, which inspired the film In the Realm of the Senses; and the recent Oscar Pistorius case in South Africa, in which the Olympic athlete shot his girlfriend.