California-based Marquis Publications (a division of the Marquis Gallery) newest release "The Topography of Evil: Notorious Northern California Murder Sites" is author and photographer Marques Vickers return to 26 crime scenes and the shocking and tragic nature behind each.
Following their initial commission, some of the higher profiled kidnappings and homicides captured significant national attention. The majority of the 26 profiles have remained regionally publicized and in many cases, forgotten or unsolved. Northern California has been the residence for many notorious killers including the Zodiac, Ted "Unabomber" Kaczynski, Dan White, Jim Jones, Richard Allen Davis and Scott Peterson. Other homicidal personalities were renamed with monikers including The Children of Thunder, The Vampire of Sacramento, Zebra Killers and the Death House Landlady. The region has also buried numerous high profile victims including George Moscone, Huey P. Newton, Harvey Milk, Oscar Grant III, Polly Klaas, Lacy Peterson, Chauncey Bailey and 412 unclaimed bodies from the People's Temple Massacre in Jonestown, Guyana. Vickers' edition is segmented into nine categories of crime and murder: assassinations, abductions, historical legacies, premeditated, reckless homicides, unsolved, rampage and serial killers. The author raises important questions within his case summaries about the varying roles that media, racial profiling, law enforcement and local politics have influenced some of the more celebrated cases.Videos