October 20: The Crime Book + An In-Depth Look at Four High-Profile Murders linked to Las Vegas
Author and journalist Cathy Scott has covered many of Las Vegas’s most notorious murders as a reporter over the past 20 years.
LAS VEGAS’S LAST MOB HIT
Scott was one of the first reporters at the scene of the Mafia hit-for-hire of Herbert “Fat Herbie” Blitzstein in 1997. Blitzstein, who ran a lucrative loansharking racket, was one-time right-hand man to Tony Spilotro, the Chicago Outfit’s local crime director in Las Vegas until Spilotro’s murder in 1986. Scott will discuss the difficulties covering the case while dealing with both local and federal officials.
THE MURDER OF RAP SINGER TUPAC SHAKUR
The car-to-car shooting of Shakur in 1997 held the world captive with daily headlines from around the globe. Scott covered this story, first as a reporter, then in her book, The Killing of Tupac Shakur. Hear the gritty details of this sensational and unsolved case.
THE KIDNAPPING AND KILLING OF LAS VEGAS SALSA SINGER GINGER RIOS
Rios’s murderer eventually confessed to three murders, including killing Rios. Scott will relate the series of one-on-one interviews she held with the man responsible for Rios’s death.
THE DEATH OF MOB DAUGHTER SUSAN BERMAN
Since 2000, Scott has been engrossed in the colorful life and tragic death of Susan Berman, daughter of Las Vegas mobster Davie Berman. In her book, Murder of a Mafia Daughter, Scott delves into the execution-style death of Berman, her crime boss father and what secrets may have led to her death. Robert Durst, real estate heir and subject of the HBO documentary The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst, was charged with Berman’s death in November 2016. A preliminary hearing is set for this fall.
Following the talk, Scott, who served as the U.S. consultant and wrote the forward for the book, will sign copies of The Crime Book, Big Ideas Simply Explained. The book explores some of the most infamous cases of all time from Jack the Ripper to Jeffrey Dahmer, including details of both Rios’s and Shakur’s deaths.
Part of the Big Ideas Simply Explained series compiled by DK Publishing, the book was published in May of this year. Other books in the series have covered psychology, art, history and politics.
The presentation and book signing are held in conjunction with the Vegas Valley Book Festival.