The Case of the Miami Vigilante — S.N. Bronstein

For three years Miami cops tried unsuccessfully to solve a series of unrelated murders. As time passed and the body count began to rise, an interagency team of detectives began to ponder the possibility that a serial killer was loose in their county of two and a half million citizens.

In 2009, the arrest of Mr. Michael Jerome brought the killing spree to an end. For the police and residents of the county, the case was concluded with a conviction on nine counts of premeditated murder. The perpetrator was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

This was not, however, to be the end of the Michael Jerome story. While conducting a routine visit to the Miami-Dade County Jail on an unrelated case, private detective Fairlington Lavender meets Jerome, who is housed in an isolation cell. Interested in this unique case, Lavender is afforded the opportunity to interview the infamous killer. On their last visit together, Jerome hands the detective a fifty three page diary which reveals every detail of his life prior to, during, and after his killing spree.

Lavender shares the diary with his friend Dr. Sanford Lerner, a forensic psychiatrist. Over a period of three months, the cop and the doctor meet and piece together the unique mosaic of Michael Jerome in an effort to understand what drove this previously law abiding man to such mayhem.

The Case of the Miami Vigilante will afford the reader access to the complete, unedited diary of Michael Jerome. The psychological autopsy Lavender and Lerner conduct as they attempt to reach consensus concerning the motivations, psychological dynamics, and ultimately the clinical diagnosis of this enigmatic man will captivate the interest of anyone who is an ardent follower of crime stories.

Was Michael Jerome a serial killer or a righteous vigilante?