[Profiles in Murder 01] • Pacific Nocturne, 1944

BASED ON A TRUE STORY

In 1946, a letter-to-the-editor appeared in the USMC Leatherneck Magazine asking if other Marines recalled the "Mad Ghoul" on the island of Pavuvu, 65 miles off the coast of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Sea. The subscriber was attacked, as were others who responded in later 1946 issues to his query. The attacks were true events, holding 16,000 Marines of the 1st and 3rd Divisions "hostage" while resting, refitting, and recuperating after 10 months fighting for Guadalcanal. The mysterious Ghoul would cut square holes in the tents while the Marines within were sleeping, then reach down and fondled their throats. When awakened, the Marine would see a huge K-Bar fighting knife in the moonlight about to plunge into his face. Everyone was scared -- there were no Japanese on the island, no one was killed, and the Ghoul was never found -- the activity started when the Marine divisions arrived and stopped when they left five months later. "Leatherneck" editors searched the military archives for reports of the incidents -- but no files, no records, no reports, nothing was present except that 6 or 8 Marines wrote in swearing it had happened to them.

Profiles in Murder: Book 1

In August of 1944, the tiny island of Pavuvu, nestled in the South Pacific near Guadalcanal, housed more than sixty thousand Marines and medical personnel. The war was in full swing, the Japanese constantly a threat. Around the Marine encampment, however, the Japanese were not the only ‘thing’ that needed to be feared.Cold, calculated murders perpetrated by a seemingly unseen and unknown ‘beast’ held all the occupants of the small island in terror. No one was safe. When the body count reached five, Lieutenant Peter Albioni Toscanini, a rising star in the Medical Corps because of his interest in the mind and brain of a murderer, is summoned to help solve the murders and shed light as to the identify of the man-beast the Marines had dubbed “The Mad Ghoul”.In the midst of his investigation and attempt to trap the murderer, Toscanini finds himself having to provide security detail for visiting dignitary Bob Hope on tour to provide entertainment for the troops. Of all places, Lieutenant Toscanini gets his wish and corners the “Mad Ghoul” in the officer’s latrine while escorting Mr. Hope. Saving the famous actor/comedian, Toscanini also learns that the murderer isn’t just one single person, but two working together; both of which he considered to be his friends. Thinking the murders would now stop, he is sent stateside for a short leave, only to find out that the love of his life was with someone new, and the murders on Pavuvu hadn’t stopped.

About the Author

Don DeNevi has been a contributor to Leatherneck magazine for more than 25 years and, in addition to being the Director of Recreation at San Quentin Prison for more than 15 years, Don has taught and lectured extensively on the Criminal Mind. Mr. DeNevi is considered an expert on criminal profiling and has worked with the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit.