03-20-2017, 11:44 PM
Ramsey book creators sued
Former reporter says book libels him
By Camera staff
October 15, 2002
A former newspaper tabloid writer has filed a lawsuit against a publisher and an author he says libeled and defamed him in the book "Perfect Murder, Perfect Town," a publication about the JonBenet Ramsey murder investigation.
Jeffrey Shapiro, 29, of Florida, who wrote about the high-profile homicide for the Globe, filed his case on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque, N.M., because the state has a three-year statute of limitations on libel and defamation cases.
The book, written by Lawrence Schiller and published by Harper Collins Publishers Inc. in February 1999 in hardcover and in November 1999 in paperback, was distributed throughout the country.
According to the complaint, Shapiro says one sentence in the book contains a libelous statement that could have been corrected before paperback editions were printed.
"It's one sentence with pretty substantial ramifications," Shapiro's Los Angeles attorney, Neville L. Johnson, said Monday.
That sentence implicates Shapiro in an alleged extortion of former Boulder police Det. Steve Thomas when, in reality, Shapiro warned authorities of the crime, records showed.
In August 1998, the Globe editors told Shapiro of plans to blackmail Thomas into providing details of the investigation, according to the complaint. Shapiro then told Thomas and police Chief Mark Beckner about the tabloid's plan to extort Thomas, the document showed.
Two months later, Shapiro reported the plot to the FBI, the complaint said. Shapiro was fired in February 1999.
The lawsuit alleges that during a conversation with Schiller before the book was published, Schiller read a passage to Shapiro that said, "... Shapiro had a conversation with the FBI about the possibility someone had engaged in extortion with Thomas."
The published passage said "Several months later, the FBI talked to Shapiro about the possibility that he had engaged in extortion with Thomas."
In a subsequent conversation with Schiller, which Shapiro recorded, the author said he would change the sentence before the paperbacks were published. It was not changed, Shapiro's attorneys said.
"He's the man who went to the FBI to say my supervisors want to do something bad," Johnson said. "We've got Schiller admitting that he was incorrect."
Schiller said Monday night he had not seen the lawsuit, and declined to comment.
The suit is one of several that have sprung from the 1996 slaying of the Boulder girl. JonBenet's beaten and garroted body was found the basement of her parent's Boulder home on Dec. 26 of that year. The murder has gone unsolved.
http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/city_news...66,00.html
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1. "DP story"
In response to message #0
JonBenét book spurs libel suit
By Jim Kirksey
Denver Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 15, 2002 - Former Globe newspaper freelance reporter Jeffrey Shapiro contends that "Perfect Murder, Perfect Town," the book about the murder of JonBenét Ramsey and the subsequent investigation, is not a perfect account.
Shapiro has filed a libel suit against the book's author, Lawrence Schiller, saying the book misrepresents Shapiro's role in an alleged extortion plot by the editors of the Globe against former Boulder detective Steve Thomas in an attempt to get information about the case from Thomas.
Shapiro says in the suit that he warned Thomas of the extortion plot, then told Boulder police and the FBI, even playing tapes of his conversations with the Globe editors where the plot was discussed.
The former reporter contends he explained his role in the matter to Schiller on three occasions, and that role was acknowledged by the author. In the book, however, Schiller wrote that "the FBI talked to Shapiro about the possibility that he had engaged in extortion with Thomas."
The suit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in New Mexico does not specify damages, but there is a floor of $75,000 at issue to qualify for filing in U.S. District Court.
The suit was filed in New Mexico because the statute of limitations is less restrictive in that state, said Shapiro's attorney, Neville Johnson.
Schiller said he was not aware of the suit. Attempts to reach co-defendant HarperCollins Publishers, which published the book, late Monday afternoon were not successful.
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413...7E,00.html
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
EXHIBIT 1
Page 722 "Perfect Murder, Perfect Town" soft-back:
Shapiro said. Thomas thought the reporter was playing
good cop, bad cop – the oldest trick in the book.
“They know about your mother, Shapiro continued.
“We know she committed suicide.”
“My mother…my mother…”Thomas said, staring at
Shapiro.” You’ve got that all wrong. Thomas had been just
seven years old when his mother became suddenly ill and
died.
“I don’t want to see that story run,” Shapiro said. “I’m
just trying to protect you.”
But the way Thomas saw it, Shapiro was trying to buy
him. He told the reporter to leave at once.
three days later, a FedEx package arrived at Thomas’s
home. In it was a letter from Craig Lewis of the Globe, who requested an interview. Enclosed
were pictures of Thomas’s
long-deceased mother and late aunt, who had died of brain
cancer.
That afternoon, Thomas told his lawyer to write
Shapiro and the Globe that any further contact with him
would be met with legal action. Before long, Thomas heard
that the DA’s office was floating a rumor that mental
instability ran in his family.
Several months later, the FBI talked to Shapiro about
the possibility that he had engaged in extortion with Thomas.
Shapiro played them a tape he had recorded during a
conversation with Globe staff, where the topic of how to go about
levereging Detective Steve Thomas had been discussed.
Thomas decided not to press charges against the Globe
or any of its employees and the FBI dropped the investigation
for the time being. To clear his own name, Shapiro
went public with excerpts from more than half a dozen
phone conversations he’s recorded with his editors at the
Globe. It wasn’t long before he was appearing on TV and in such publications as Editor and
Publisher with his views on
tabloid journalism.
Former reporter says book libels him
By Camera staff
October 15, 2002
A former newspaper tabloid writer has filed a lawsuit against a publisher and an author he says libeled and defamed him in the book "Perfect Murder, Perfect Town," a publication about the JonBenet Ramsey murder investigation.
Jeffrey Shapiro, 29, of Florida, who wrote about the high-profile homicide for the Globe, filed his case on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque, N.M., because the state has a three-year statute of limitations on libel and defamation cases.
The book, written by Lawrence Schiller and published by Harper Collins Publishers Inc. in February 1999 in hardcover and in November 1999 in paperback, was distributed throughout the country.
According to the complaint, Shapiro says one sentence in the book contains a libelous statement that could have been corrected before paperback editions were printed.
"It's one sentence with pretty substantial ramifications," Shapiro's Los Angeles attorney, Neville L. Johnson, said Monday.
That sentence implicates Shapiro in an alleged extortion of former Boulder police Det. Steve Thomas when, in reality, Shapiro warned authorities of the crime, records showed.
In August 1998, the Globe editors told Shapiro of plans to blackmail Thomas into providing details of the investigation, according to the complaint. Shapiro then told Thomas and police Chief Mark Beckner about the tabloid's plan to extort Thomas, the document showed.
Two months later, Shapiro reported the plot to the FBI, the complaint said. Shapiro was fired in February 1999.
The lawsuit alleges that during a conversation with Schiller before the book was published, Schiller read a passage to Shapiro that said, "... Shapiro had a conversation with the FBI about the possibility someone had engaged in extortion with Thomas."
The published passage said "Several months later, the FBI talked to Shapiro about the possibility that he had engaged in extortion with Thomas."
In a subsequent conversation with Schiller, which Shapiro recorded, the author said he would change the sentence before the paperbacks were published. It was not changed, Shapiro's attorneys said.
"He's the man who went to the FBI to say my supervisors want to do something bad," Johnson said. "We've got Schiller admitting that he was incorrect."
Schiller said Monday night he had not seen the lawsuit, and declined to comment.
The suit is one of several that have sprung from the 1996 slaying of the Boulder girl. JonBenet's beaten and garroted body was found the basement of her parent's Boulder home on Dec. 26 of that year. The murder has gone unsolved.
http://www.dailycamera.com/bdc/city_news...66,00.html
1. "DP story"
In response to message #0
JonBenét book spurs libel suit
By Jim Kirksey
Denver Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 15, 2002 - Former Globe newspaper freelance reporter Jeffrey Shapiro contends that "Perfect Murder, Perfect Town," the book about the murder of JonBenét Ramsey and the subsequent investigation, is not a perfect account.
Shapiro has filed a libel suit against the book's author, Lawrence Schiller, saying the book misrepresents Shapiro's role in an alleged extortion plot by the editors of the Globe against former Boulder detective Steve Thomas in an attempt to get information about the case from Thomas.
Shapiro says in the suit that he warned Thomas of the extortion plot, then told Boulder police and the FBI, even playing tapes of his conversations with the Globe editors where the plot was discussed.
The former reporter contends he explained his role in the matter to Schiller on three occasions, and that role was acknowledged by the author. In the book, however, Schiller wrote that "the FBI talked to Shapiro about the possibility that he had engaged in extortion with Thomas."
The suit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in New Mexico does not specify damages, but there is a floor of $75,000 at issue to qualify for filing in U.S. District Court.
The suit was filed in New Mexico because the statute of limitations is less restrictive in that state, said Shapiro's attorney, Neville Johnson.
Schiller said he was not aware of the suit. Attempts to reach co-defendant HarperCollins Publishers, which published the book, late Monday afternoon were not successful.
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413...7E,00.html
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
EXHIBIT 1
Page 722 "Perfect Murder, Perfect Town" soft-back:
Shapiro said. Thomas thought the reporter was playing
good cop, bad cop – the oldest trick in the book.
“They know about your mother, Shapiro continued.
“We know she committed suicide.”
“My mother…my mother…”Thomas said, staring at
Shapiro.” You’ve got that all wrong. Thomas had been just
seven years old when his mother became suddenly ill and
died.
“I don’t want to see that story run,” Shapiro said. “I’m
just trying to protect you.”
But the way Thomas saw it, Shapiro was trying to buy
him. He told the reporter to leave at once.
three days later, a FedEx package arrived at Thomas’s
home. In it was a letter from Craig Lewis of the Globe, who requested an interview. Enclosed
were pictures of Thomas’s
long-deceased mother and late aunt, who had died of brain
cancer.
That afternoon, Thomas told his lawyer to write
Shapiro and the Globe that any further contact with him
would be met with legal action. Before long, Thomas heard
that the DA’s office was floating a rumor that mental
instability ran in his family.
Several months later, the FBI talked to Shapiro about
the possibility that he had engaged in extortion with Thomas.
Shapiro played them a tape he had recorded during a
conversation with Globe staff, where the topic of how to go about
levereging Detective Steve Thomas had been discussed.
Thomas decided not to press charges against the Globe
or any of its employees and the FBI dropped the investigation
for the time being. To clear his own name, Shapiro
went public with excerpts from more than half a dozen
phone conversations he’s recorded with his editors at the
Globe. It wasn’t long before he was appearing on TV and in such publications as Editor and
Publisher with his views on
tabloid journalism.