Killer: A Journal of Murder

The book details American serial killer Carl Panzram's entire life inside the American prison system as well as the many murders he committed. Henry Lesser was a young jail guard at the Washington DC district jail when Panzram arrived for incarceration in 1928. After hearing of Panzram's harsh imprisonment, Lesser befriends him and convinces him to write a biography. 40 years after the execution of Panzram, Lesser found a writer for a book that would contain the writings of Carl Panzram and the circumstances of Panzram's many incarcerations over the course of his life.

Parts of Panzram's original manuscript, as collected by Lesser, were used in the book. This book should not be confused with the much longer original autobiographical work by Panzram, donated by Lesser in 1980 to San Diego State University, where they are housed, as the "Carl Panzram papers," in the Malcolm A. Love Library.[2]

The book was adapted as a film in 1996. It starred James Woods as Carl Panzram and Robert Sean Leonard as Henry Lesser.[3]

• Crime Library Article : "Carl Panzram: Too Evil to Live", by Mark Gado.