Dear Reader, Love Caitlin Rother

 

Dear Reader,

This book is about serial killer Wayne Adam Ford, a long-haul trucker who raped and killed four women, dismembered two of them, then did the rare deed of turning himself in so he wouldn’t kill again. I wrote this book because I was intrigued to learn more about the only serial killer I know of to surrender to authorities like this. As I dug deeper into this case, I found Ford to be a fascinating case study in what makes a sexual predator. 

I’m the New York Times bestselling author of 15 books, the majority of which are true crime books. My characters are not depicted in black and white terms, or as all good vs. all evil, because I don’t see the world that way. We live in a world of gray. I don’t believe mentally people are evil. They’re sick. 

So, it shouldn’t surprise you that I present Ford’s positive characteristics along with his telling interview sessions with detectives, during which he cries, confuses details about the more than 50 women he had rough sex with, including the four whom he choked out, but could not be brought back with CPR. Those interviews illustrate just how psychologically disturbed this man really is, and that he is aware of that. Please know that I’m not rationalizing or sympathizing with what he did to those women, I’m merely explaining it so you, the reader, can understand him better. 

Ford’s childhood surely had a formative influence on his actions later in life. His father, who worked in Army intelligence, was seen as intimidating and aggressive. His mother, who was apparently bipolar, tried to kill herself several times, and was promiscuous while her husband was away on intelligence missions. She told Ford that he was the product of his father raping her, which the father denies, but the fact is that Ford grew up believing that. 

Ford also joined the military. While he was a 19-year-old Marine, stationed at the El Toro base in Orange County, California, he stopped on the freeway to help a car crash victim. While he was holding his hand against the victim’s neck to stop the bleeding, he was hit by a drunk driver and knocked 40 feet down an embankment, suffering a severe head injury that kept him in the ICU for nine days. Ford was an odd bird and liked kinky sex with his girlfriend before the head injury, but according to his brother, this injury caused significant changes to his personality, and only heightened those urges, which were later diagnosed as paraphilias (think fetishes x 10). While Ford was still in the military, he also experienced a mental breakdown, during which he had to be restrained, administered Haldol, and hospitalized. He also sang a mean Elvis tune at karaoke and drove a school bus. Not what you’d expect in a serial killer, right? 

I don’t write books I want to read, but one word of caution. This is my second-bestselling title, but it is more gruesome than most of my other books, due to the subject matter. Still, I don’t go out of my way to present gore or violent details, just the opposite. So, for the hard-core true crime lovers, this book should be right up your alley. Same for those who are interested in learning about the dark side of the human condition. And for all readers, I want you to know that this updated re-released edition has 32 new pages of case developments that make for a happy ending, if there is such a thing in a book about a serial killer: Ford’s first victim, whom he dismembered, was recently identified via genetic genealogy as Kerry Anne Cummings—25 years after she went missing and was murdered. So, now Kerry has her name back, her family has closure, and I was able to pay a tribute to who she was before she became Ford’s victim, which I wasn’t able to do in the original edition. 

I hope you enjoy the book. If you did, I always enjoy hearing from readers!

For more information about me and my books, please go to my website, https://caitlinrother.com, or find me on social media. 

New York Times bestselling author Caitlin Rother has written or co-authored 15 books, ranging from narrative non-fiction crime to thrillers and memoir. Among her recent titles is an updated edition of BODY PARTS with 32 pages of new developments about the Wayne Adam Ford case, and DEATH ON OCEAN BOULEVARD, the story of the Rebecca Zahau death case. Coming out in June is DOWN TO THE BONE, about the McStay family murders, and in 2026, DOPAMINE FIX, the first in a two-book deal for a new crime fiction series with Thomas & Mercer. An award-winning investigative reporter for 19 years, Rother’s stories have been published in Cosmopolitan, the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The San Diego Union Tribune, The Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, and The Daily Beast. Her more than 250 TV, radio and podcast appearances include 20/20, People Magazine Investigates, Crime Watch Daily, Australia’s World News, and numerous shows on Netflix, Investigation Discovery, Lifetime, HLN and REELZ. A popular public speaker, she also works as a writing-research coach-consultant and website designer. For fun, she binges on limited series, swims, and plays keyboards and sings in a jazzy bluesy trio called In the Lounge with her partner. Rother earned a bachelor’s in psychology from UC Berkeley and a master’s in journalism from Northwestern University. 

Website & Social Media:

Website ➜ https://caitlinrother.com  

Twitter ➜ https://twitter.com/caitlinrother 

Facebook ➜ https://www.facebook.com/caitlinrother/  

Instagram ➜ https://www.instagram.com/the_real_caitlin_rother 

BlueSky ➜ @caitlinrother.bsky.social 

BODY PARTS takes a deep psychological look at serial killer Wayne Adam Ford. A long-haul trucker, Ford confessed to picking up dozens of prostitutes and troubled women along California roads. He tortured and repeatedly choked them during sex, revived them with CPR, then did it again. Only four of them didn’t survive, he said, claiming that was an accident. After dismembering two of his victims, he dumped their bodies in the California Aqueduct and other waterways in Humboldt, Kern, San Joaquin, and San Bernardino Counties. Ford’s complex death penalty case made national news because he is one of the only serial killers to turn himself in and help authorities identify his victims. He was recently transferred from death row at San Quentin to a state prison in San Luis Obispo.  

Originally released in March 2009, this new edition of BODY PARTS has been updated with 32 pages of new developments about the identification of Kerry Anne Cummings, Ford’s first victim, whom he dismembered and who went unidentified for 25 years. If there is such a thing as a happy ending to a book about a serial killer, this is it. The new material takes the reader through the investigative process involved in solving a cold case like this one so many years after the fact. Kerry now has her name back and her family has closure after so many years of not knowing what happened to her, after being prevented from reporting her missing to police because she was using drugs. Rother is the first to interview the Cummings family about Kerry and her troubled life before she went missing in late 1997. 

Overall, the book is based on exclusive information Rother uncovered during her extensive research and exclusive interviews with Ford’s father and brother. She also interviewed, the prosecutor, sheriff’s detectives from all four counties, the defense’s sole investigator, and a woman who survived after being raped and tortured by Ford.  By obtaining a court order to release sealed court files and digging through boxes of evidence and investigators’ reports, Rother was able to paint comprehensive and compelling portraits of Ford, his family and his victims. Rother’s book shows readers how Ford’s family dynamics, his severe head injury, his bouts of mental illness, and his compulsive sexual perversions led to his tragic killing spree, tearful confessions, and dramatic trial.

This is a re-release with 32 pages of new developments about the recent identification of Ford’s first victim, Kerry Anne Cummings, through genetic genealogy 25 years after her murder. So, now she has her name back and her family has closure.

BODY PARTS is available at Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Body-Parts-Serial-Killers-Compulsions/dp/0806543914.