Death of a Dream

Paul LaRosa · Erin Moriarty

Mar 2008 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

A BEAUTIFUL GIRL WITH AMBITIOUS DREAMS -- DID FOLLOWING HER HEART COST HER LIFE?

Award-winning journalists from TV's 48 Hours Mystery go inside the case that shocked even jaded New Yorkers: the murder of aspiring dancer Catherine Woods.

She was a gifted midwestern beauty, the daughter of Ohio State University's marching band director: to dance on Broadway. Soon after high school graduation, Catherine left Columbus for New York City, determined to be a star. Three years later, she was dead -- murdered in cold blood in her East Side apartment. The shocking revelations that emerged from the police investigation made tabloid headlines: few knew that the struggling artist paid her bills by dancing in a topless club. But there was another hidden facet to Catherine's life -- a shattering love triangle with two men, one of whom would ultimately be convicted of her brutal stabbing death. It's a chilling account of obsession, violence, and the surprising, minute evidence on which the entire case hinged. For a talented young woman reaching for the top, and the heartbroken family she left behind, it is truly the death of a dream.

Ratings and reviews

Very good read. Read it in less than 2 days, I simply couldn't put it down. I was convinced prior to reading that Paul Cortez was guilty (watched the 48 Hours episode). Now, I"m not so sure. Maybe they really did get the wrong person.

Excellent reading. Believe he is innocent & needs a new trial. Shoddy detective & lawyer work.

I really enjoyed this book. I finished it over 5 nights. Im not convinced they have the murderer.

About the author

Paul Larosa is an Emmy Award-winning producer for the CBS newsmagazine 48 Hours. He won a Primetime Emmy for the acclaimed CBS documentary 9/11, and has also won a Peabody Award, a Christopher Award, and an Edward R. Murrow Award. For sixteen years he was reporter for the Daily News (New York), where he was the co-winner with Anna Quindlen of the Meyer Berger Award given by Columbia University’s School of Journalism. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and their two children.