Toxic Love

The Shocking True Story of the First Murder by Cancer

By: Tomas Guillen

Narrated by: Peter Lerman

Omaha, Nebraska, 1978.

Sandy Johnson was in shock. Her husband, Duane, and young daughter, Sherrie, were violently ill when word arrived that her infant nephew just died of mysterious causes. Days earlier, the entire family was happy, healthy, and living the American dream. Now they were at the center of a terrifying medical crisis.

Duane soon died in a condition unlike anything the doctors had ever seen. As they raced to discover what disease or toxin could have done so much damage so quickly, Lt. Foster Burchard of the Omaha police began to suspect foul play. Sandy herself became a primary suspect, as did her ex-boyfriend Steven Harper - a man prone to violence who never got over their breakup.

In Toxic Love, investigative reporter and true crime author Tomás Guillen offers a detailed and vivid account of this baffling case from the day of the poisoning to the harrowing trial and the murderer's eventual suicide on death row.

©1995 Tomás Guillén (P)2020 Tantor

Diabolical plan!

Never would have fathom this kind of plot!! crazy with long lasting implications...so sad !

An in-depth assessment of a truly remarkable crime!

Beautifully written and well preformed. I had seen the case explained on Forensic Files, and was curious about how it all came about.
It is absolutely heartbreaking that so many people had their lives ruined by the mental illness of one person.

True story

This is a sad but important story during 2020/2021.
Spoiler alert
While the details are thorough, it is never mentioned if the victims actually had cancer or just health problems due to being poisoned.
I think it's an important detail since, if someone has cancer, it would be important to know how they got it. i.e. smoking = lung cancer etc.
I listened while driving and I was never bored

True Crime Story I’ve never heard before

Interesting story and told concisely and clearly. It’s sad and tragic. It seems like I’ve heard of most sensational true crimes but this one was new for me.

Please avoid this narrator

This was such an interesting story, and I had never heard of the case before. I love medical true crime, so I thought I had won the jackpot with this book. Boy, was I wrong. The story itself is interesting, but the writer didn't do it enough justice by skimping on the psychological motivations. I don't think the author did any personal interviews for the book.

The worst and irredeemable part was the narrator. He read like a 5th grader trying to sound out words. There was no inflection, pauses, or anything that resembled competence in... reading on an adult level. Please don't suffer through the agony of listening to this book.