Too Pretty to Live

The Catfishing Murders of East Tennessee

By: Dennis Brooks

Narrated by: John Pruden

In this stunning true-crime thriller of Facebook, catfishing, and jealousy, a double murder begins with the click of a button.

When Bill Payne and Billie Jean Hayworth began their romance, they unknowingly set in motion a diabolical plot that would end with them murdered in their own home, Hayworth holding their mercifully unharmed infant.

Chris was a CIA agent who was concerned about Jenelle. Seeing the cyberbullying she had endured, and worried for her safety, Chris got in touch with Jenelle's protective parents and her devoted boyfriend, warning them that Payne and Hayworth were a danger to Jenelle. He got especially close with Jenelle's mother, Barbara, who thought of Chris like a son, though she had never met him. Chris claimed that surveillance of Payne and Hayworth revealed that the two of them were planning on harming Jenelle, that it was imminent, and that something needed to be done immediately. Chris promised that he would have their back if they were to act to protect Jenelle. And so they did. Jenelle's father, Buddy, and her boyfriend, Jamie, broke into the home of Payne and Hayworth and murdered them in their own home.

What the police investigation turned up, though, made this crime all the more terrifying. Jenelle had been Chris the entire time, catfishing her family and her boyfriend to act in vengeance on her behalf. Using forensic linguistics and diving through the brambles that Jenelle laid to cover her tracks, police were able to put together a chilling portrait of a sociopath made all the more ruthless by the anonymity of her online life.

Bizarre and unforgettable, Dennis Brooks examines the crime and trial from all angles, bringing his expertise as the lead prosecutor in this strange and disturbing case.

©2016 Dennis Brooks (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Not the fault of the author or reader...

It was difficult to listen to this audio book as it heavily relied upon poorly written text and Facebook message transcripts. Many of the ramblings of the main characters in written communication are filled with grammatical errors and terrible spelling / misused words. Heavy with cussing and negative language many excerpts were hard to listen to and left you annoyed with having to filter through the ignorant language to understand the story. Maybe it would be easier to read but it was not easy to listen to.

Had a stroke while listening

The story is an interesting catfish murder story, however- trying to listen to the poor grammar and writing of the accused’s emails is AWFUL. Not to mention, the same exact LONG email readings are gone over multiple times. My GOD! “You do this thing and then and we can and you are and ok, bye” I’m sorry, what? Yikes those parts were SO difficult to listen to.

Sad, Intriguing and Leaves you shaking your head!

Excellent narration! I could listen to John Pruden all day! Crazy, sad story of how dangerous social media can be when paired with mentally unstable people!

print version might be a better format

the story is good but the emails are a key part and are difficult to follow in the audio format

Blown Away!

The first thing I do when listening to a book, is to determine if I will be able to sit and continuously listen to the narrator. The narrator of this book was great!

On the book itself, I have worked in Emergency Rooms, and doctors offices, I typically say that it’s pretty hard to surprise me, in terms of the things people do. I also Love, Love, Love, true crime documentary’s and if I watch TV or want background noise my TV is set to a channel that airs true crime documentaries.

This book and story surprised me may times, it definitely gives the reader something to listen to and contemplate about.

The only 1 fault that I found was that listeners are invested in Jamie’s story, yet we didn’t find out the outcome of his case.