club of victims of homicide.”
Because of her background as a criminologist and researcher and her decades of experience actually working“ in the system,” Martin knew that victims need a voice.
“ I wanted to make a point of including the families in this project because I wanted to talk about the women,” she said.“ I talked about the killers but I didn’ t want to glorify them. I wanted to give justice to the victims and their families.” Families and friends of these women were allowed to make contributions to the book. Most of these write-ups by the family members and friends are included in Chapter 10—“ The Victims and their Families Deserve Justice.”
“ After publicizing what I was writing, I started documenting my journey on social media,” she said.“ I started posting things on Facebook and people started coming out of the woodwork— former cops, police officers, sheriff’ s deputies, witnesses that actually talked to the police back then.”
Martin communicated with both the Hood County Sheriff Roger Deeds and Granbury Police Chief Mitch Galvan early on to inform them of her book project, both of whom were supportive. They inherited the cold cases.
“ Aficionados of true crime will enjoy the slice-of-life tales from Granbury, Texas, that the author spins throughout,” Kilpatrick said.“ It helps break up the terror and heartbreak of reallife murder, and the impact of murder on family, friends and community is eye-opening.”
Martin started her career in 1995 as an adult probation officer and throughout her tenure was a pre-sentence investigation officer, a court officer, an officer in the specialized sex crimes unit, a training officer, search and seizure team leader, an officer in several specialized units for substance abusers and general caseloads.
She also has 18 years experience
Courtesy photo Former Johnson County probation office Kelli Martin signs copies of her debut book,“ Homicide in the Hood.”
in executive-level management and administration in community corrections agencies, including supervising the Sex Crimes Unit, Training Academy director and research and policy planner. In addition to that, she has many years of experience as a college instructor teaching over 15 different classes, including several special topics courses for which she developed the curriculum.
For information on Martin and her work, visit homicideinthehood. com.
The website also lists resources for victims suffering from domestic violence, sexual assault or other trauma. It also details criminal laws and statistics, as well as a list of national resources for crime victims.
UPCOMING SIGNINGS
Oct. 4: 10 a. m. to 3 p. m. Granbury Oktoberfest, Paradise Bistro & Coffee Co., 129 E. Pearl St. in Granbury
Oct. 11: 4:30-7:30 p. m. at the Reading Rabbit Bookstore, 13006 S. FM 730 in Azle
Oct. 14: 5-7 p. m. at Alvarado Public Library, 210 N. Baugh St. in Alvarado
Oct. 18: 11 a. m. to 2 p. m. at Major Perk! Coffee Shop, 177 Center Point Road in Weatherford
22 Community Life