Rage: The True Story of a Sibling Murder.

Julie Rekai Rickerd is a Toronto broadcaster and public relations
consultant.

The death of a 12-year-old child is always a tragedy. When that death is the result of a brutal knife attack, it becomes a nightmare. When the attacker turns out to be the child’s elder brother, the act is both reprehensible and incomprehensible.

Such a horrific attack took place in Toronto on November 25, 2003, the day Kevin Madden, a 250-pound, 6-foot-tall, seriously disturbed 16-year-old threw his 12-year-old, 100-pound younger brother down a flight of stairs and repeatedly stabbed him with a kitchen knife. Madden’s frenzied and fatal attack was witnessed by two of his similarly unbalanced friends.

Author/journalist Jerry Langton’s book is a mesmerizing investigation of this terrifying crime; not only an account of the crime itself and the two trials that ensued, but also a study of the backgrounds of the families and friends of those involved directly and indirectly in this tragedy.

Langton uncovers an Internet subculture among the teenagers that readily embraces vampire and Goth behaviour as suitably outrageous to be their norm. Seemingly harmless young men and women display abhorrent behaviour, often unable to differentiate between fantasy and reality. They are totally committed to violent websites that may lead to tragic consequences. These sites play a major role throughout the book and greatly influence the outcome.

The trials of Kevin Madden and his two friends reveal shocking testimonies and serious problems in Madden’s family life as well as in his personality. As the first trial was about to end, a young journalist came upon information on the Web that contradicted the testimony of one of the witnesses and led the judge to declare a mistrial.

The second trial led to the conviction of Madden for murder and of one friend for manslaughter; another was acquitted of all charges.

Rage is a study not only of a senseless crime and its consequences but also of the dangerous disconnects in families. Langton’s exemplary research into the case, its causes, and the two trials it generated, along with his objective yet caring style, make this book a disturbing but most engrossing read.