She tried to tell her friends. She even went to the police. No one would believe her--and now she was dead. Problems had always followed Susan White, but when she remarried and moved to Houston's posh suburbs, she thought the past was behind her--until she met a deputy sheriff named Kent McGowen who would soon become her worst nightmare. McGowen was an aggressive cop with a spotty record. When Susan rebuffed his advances, she claimed he stalked and harassed her, using her troubled teenage son as bait. And then, in an act of arrogance and revenge, he made good on his threats, setting her up for the kill. In A Warrant to Kill, Kathryn Casey meticulously pieces together the tragic shards of the case to create a riveting story of vengeance, fear, and justice--of the terrifying power a badge can have in the wrong hands. "Kathryn Casey joins Carlton Stowers as the premier chroniclers of Texas crime," --NYT bestselling author Gregg Olsen "Kathryn Casey stakes her claim as one of the best in the business," M. William Phelps, author of Love Her To Death "One day you'll believe me, but by then I'll be dead." I first heard those words in 1992, repeated by a man in a restaurant piano bar not far from my Houston home. We’d been introduced by a mutual friend, and that night Ray Valentine belted down drinks, his eyes wet with tears, as he told the story of the tragic death of a woman he’d dated, Susan White. Throughout that hot Houston summer, White had complained that a man named Joseph Kent McGowen was harassing her. She said she’d rebuffed his advances and in retaliation he’d stalked her, threatening revenge against her and her troubled teenage son. "One day you'll believe me but by then I'll be dead, and it'll be because Kent McGowen killed me," she'd said. Valentine hadn't believed her. McGowen was a cop, a deputy sheriff who’d sworn to protect and defend. "A cop's not going to hurt you," he’d insisted. But Valentine didn't know McGowen. By the time I first heard about her entreaties, Susan White lay buried in her grave, the victim of three bullets fired by McGowen’s county-issued gun. McGowen was on duty, serving a warrant signed by a judge for White's arrest. He claimed he'd fired only when she'd pulled a gun. White’s gun was found on the scene. At first it seemed a clear case of self-defense. But the rumors persisted, talk of a power-hungry cop not adverse to manipulating the legal system to satisfy a vengeful rage. In the end, I would spend years investigating Kent McGowen, Susan White, and how their paths so fatally intersected. Theirs is a cautionary tale of the terrifying power of one bad cop and the helplessness of a woman caught in his sights. I hope you enjoy "A Warrant to Kill." Kathryn Casey She tried to tell her friends. She even went to the police. No one would believe her--and now she was dead. Problems had always followed Susan White, but when she remarried and moved to Houston's posh suburbs, she thought the past was behind her--until she met a deputy sheriff named Kent McGowen who would soon become her worst nightmare. McGowen was an aggressive cop with a spotty record. When Susan rebuffed his advances, she claimed he stalked and harassed her, using her troubled teenage son as bait. And then, in an act of arrogance and revenge, he made good on his threats, setting her up for the kill. In A Warrant to Kill, Kathryn Casey meticulously pieces together the tragic shards of the case to create a riveting story of vengeance, fear, and justice--of the terrifying power a badge can have in the wrong hands. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Kathryn Casey is an award-winning, Houston-based journalist, the author of six highly acclaimed true crime books, and the creator of the Sarah Armstrong mystery series. SINGULARITY, the first in the Armstrong series, was included in Booklist's best crime novel debuts of 2009, and Library Journal chose the third in the series, THE KILLING STORM, for its list of the best books of 2010. Casey's protagonist is a Texas Ranger/profiler headquartered in Company A, Houston. In addition, Ann Rule calls Casey, "one of the best in the true crime genre."       Casey has appeared on Oprah, Oprah Winfrey's Oxygen Network, Court TV, Biography, Nancy Grace, E! Network, Investigation Discovery, and A&E.