A national bestseller on Canada's original "puppet master"
Written by Calgary Herald journalists Robert Remington and Sherri Zickefoose, the book tells the
shocking, true story of "J.R." who was convicted of participating in the murders of her mother, father and eight-year-old brother in the spring of 2006. Her accomplice and boyfriend, 23-year-old Jeremy Alan Steinke, professed to be a 300-year-old werewolf with a taste for blood. Together, the pair concocted a plot to murder J.R.'s family so they could be together in a relationship her parents forbade.
The case is similar to that of Melissa Todorovic, another Canadian teen killer who was sentenced to life in 2009. A Toronto judge called Todorovic a "puppet master" for using sexual blackmail to convince an older male to murder a perceived rival. But her crime, committed when Todorovic was 15, pales in comparison to that of J.R., Canada's original puppet master. Runaway Devil, as J.R. called herself online, was barely 12 when she convinced her older lover to kill at her behest. Her body count was higher than Todorovic and her tender age was shocking.
As the authors wrote on Page 85, long before the Toronto judge issued his "puppet master" description of Todorovic: "JR appeared to be the puppet master and Jeremy her marionette."
The book contains previously unpublished details of the notorious crime that shocked a nation.
Remington and Zickefoose describe how JR went from a suburban, middle-class honour student with a loving family to become Canada's youngest multiple murderer, and have exclusive interviews and a court exhibit never seen by the public.
For author interviews or more information, e-mail:
Ruta Liormonas, Publicity Manager
McClelland & Stewart
In Alberta, contact:
Cathy Tippett
