Famous Crimes #20

A tiny English criminal's towering rage drives him to seize control of the underworld with a gun in hand—until a betrayal by one of his own gang members sets a deadly trap that finally catches up with "Baby" Judson. This crime tale from 1951 explores how a man's obsession with dominating those bigger than himself becomes the very thing that destroys him.

Hugo Pound, a lazy college graduate living off his aunt's money, grows increasingly bitter over her sharp tongue and refusal to support his idleness—so bitter that he begins plotting to kill her and claim her fortune. When his initial schemes go awry, Hugo turns to a darker method, but discovers that providence has a cruel sense of timing in "Murder Backfired!", a tale where the criminal's own desperation becomes his undoing.

Bull Tuttle, a condemned murderer, seizes his chance to escape en route to execution by overpowering his guard and commandeering a car carrying George and Emma Carter—who unwittingly reveal they live nearby. Trapped with a desperate killer who's determined to use their home as a hideout, the Carters must rely on quick thinking and their son's unexpected courage to survive the night.

Tom Hastings grows impatient with his wife Helen's refusal to share her inherited fortune, and in the isolated house on Knoll Road, he puts a brutal plan into motion to claim her wealth for himself. When he reports her disappearance to detectives, his story begins to unravel—a telltale clue left at the crime scene proves far more incriminating than he realized. A scientific examination of the evidence traps him in a web of his own making.