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ISBN: 9781770416123

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The "Mr Big" Sting

The Cases, the Killers, the Controversial Confessions

How the police create an imaginary criminal gang to trick homicide suspects into a confession and a prison cell.

There are people in prison who got away with murder until they told the boss of a powerful criminal gang all about it. When the handcuffs were snapped on, the killers learned they’d been duped — that “Mr. Big” was actually an undercover police officer. These killers ended up with lots of time to think about how tricky police can be. In this captivating book, we learn why Mr. Big is so good at getting killers to confess — and why he occasionally gets confessions from the innocent as well. We meet murderers such as Michael Bridges, who strangled his girlfriend and buried her in another person’s grave. Bridges remained free until he told Mr. Big where the body was buried. We also meet people like Kyle Unger, who lied while confessing to Mr. Big and went to prison for a crime he did not commit. The “Mr. Big” Sting is essential reading for anyone interested in unorthodox approaches to justice, including their successes and failures. It sheds light on how homicide investigators might catch and punish the guilty while avoiding convicting the innocent.

Contributors

Mark Stobbe

Mark Stobbe has a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Saskatchewan and has taught at Keyano College and Okanagan College. He began studying the criminal justice system after being accused and acquited of the murder of a loved one. Dr. Stobbe now lives and works in Regina, Saskatchewan.

Chapter Title Contents Contributors Pages Year Price
The chapter begins with descriptions of a series of murders where a Mr. Big strategy was later used. Mr. Big is an undercover operation in which police attempt to trick a suspect to disclose a … 27 $2.70
This chapter details a crime and how the Mr. Big sting was used to demonstrate the guilt of a suspect, from the introduction of the victim, the sting, the arrest, to the legal process and how the … 18 $1.80
This chapter details a crime, how evidence was ignored, and a jailhouse informant was believed to build a Mr Big sting. The suspect was subsequently charged and convicted, but more than a decade … 19 $1.90
In this chapter a double homicide is solved with a Mr. Big sting using illegal tactics. In addition, the uncertain evidence and conflicting accounts of the accused do not lead to a certainty of … 18 $1.80
This chapter builds on the case studies of previous chapters by breaking the RCMP’s Mr. Big operations into the component parts: case selection, making contact, establishing a relationship, … 47 $4.70
This chapter argues that Mr. Big seeks the truth and does so by lying. The author looks closely at the power and danger of seeking truth from confession and disclosure. 17 $1.70
The author descrbes the dogged determination by the police that is an essential part of every Mr. Big case. This can create a danger as determination can become transformed into “tunnel … 17 $1.70
This chapter examines Mr. Big’s ability to deal with nuance. Guilt can be more subtle than an absolute “guilty” or “not guilty;” It matters what the charge is. 15 $1.50
The author looks at how Mr. Big has been received in other countries with criminal justice systems that are like Canada’s, such as the US, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. 21 $2.10
This chapter tracks the history of the 30 years of Mr. Big tactics, the constitutionality of Mr. Big, and the arguments for improving vs. abolishing Mr. Big. 34 $3.40
While Mr. Big has retained the same basic structure over the past three decades, a lot of changes have been made. A Mr. Big operation today is much longer, more expensive, more sophisticated, and … 17 $1.70