Wages of Sin

A New York Times–bestselling author’s true account of a “mysterious and unspeakable murder . . . broken families and squandered dreams” (The Austin Chronicle).

Stephanie Lynn Martin, despite her devout Southern Baptist upbringing, was reborn as a sultry stripper and calendar girl. William M. Busenburg was a good-looking wannabe living his own lies. They came together in an explosion of violence and sex. Then they decided there was only one thing missing from their romance: murder.

On January 11, 1995, deputies outside Austin, Texas, found a mutilated body laid across a cold campfire—head destroyed, hands cut off, skin singed by the flames. In less than three days, they had the kill zone: a small apartment, where shy Christopher Hatton was shot at point blank range in his bed.

Within days, Martin and Busenburg were under arrest and savvy prosecutors learned the ugly truth behind the senseless slaughter of Busenburg’s friend—how twisted fantasies of murder fueled the couple’s lust and led to the unspeakable crime, and how they both tried to cover up their heinous deed . . . until they finally ran out of lies.