Wolves Among Sheep: The True Story of Murder in a Jehovah's Witness Community

Ashley Thomson is a full librarian at Laurentian University and co-editor or co-author of nine books, most recently Margaret Atwood: A Reference Guide, 1988-2005.

In August 1985, James Kostelniuk’s ex-wife, Kim, and two children were
brutally gunned down by Jeff Anderson, Kim’s estranged husband.

In this book, published 15 years after the murders, Kostelniuk tries to
comes to terms with what happened. The story begins with his own
childhood, his marriage to the unstable Kim, the birth of his children,
his separation and divorce, and his ongoing attempts to retain contact
with his children after his remarriage. After the murders, he set out to
discover the motivation for Anderson’s crime. Was it sudden anger or
something deeper? As part of his investigation, Kostelniuk began an
extensive correspondence with Anderson and even visited him in prison on
one occasion.

In the end, Kostelniuk uncovered some shocking information about
Anderson that allowed him to put his questions to rest. His
well-organized, well-written, and remarkably informative book explores
the troubled lives that he, his family, and Anderson led as Jehovah’s
Witnesses; it also addresses such criminal justice issues as capital
punishment, restorative justice, and the faint-hope clause.