Murder by Milkshake: An Astonishing True Story of Adultery, Arsenic, and a Charismatic Killer

ISBN: 1551527464

Author: Lazarus, Eve

Condition: New

When forty-year-old Esther Castellani died a slow and agonizing death in 1965, the official cause was at first undetermined. The day after Esthers funeral, her husband, Rene, packed up his girlfriend, Lolly; his daughter, Jeannine; and Lollys son, Don, in the company car and took off for Disneyland. If not for the doggedness of the doctor who treated Esther, Rene, then a charismatic and handsome radio personality, would have been free to marry Lolly, who was the stations pretty twentysomething receptionist. Instead, Rene was charged with capital murder for poisoning his wife with arsenic-laced milkshakes.Murder by Milkshake is the compelling story of the Castellanis, and of their daughter, Jeannine, who was eleven at the time of her mothers murder and who clung to her fathers innocence, even committing perjury during his trial. Rigorously researched, and based on dozens of interviews with family, friends, and co-workers, Murder by Milkshake documents the sensational case that kept a city spellbound, while providing a snapshot of the Mad Men-esque social and political realities of the 1960s.