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A Descent Into Hell by Kathryn Casey

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A Descent Into Hell

The True Story of an Altar Boy, a Cheerleader, and a Twisted Texas Murder

Kathryn Casey

HarperCollins · Print & ebook · June 24, 2008

Reading lane: Mass Murder Cases

Bright, attractive, and both from good families, University of Texas college student Colton Pitonyak and vibrant redhead Jennifer Cave had the world at their beckoning.

At a Glance

Why This Clicks

Hard Edges

A true-crime read with Texas heat, tabloid unease, and a steady, grim pull.

Come here for

  • True-crime dread with a pulpy edge
  • A sustained, hard-to-look-away narrative

Expect

  • Edgy, lurid-adjacent atmosphere
  • Professional-grade true-crime framing

Book Details

Authors
Kathryn Casey
Publisher
HarperCollins
Published
June 24, 2008
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
Mass Murder Cases · Serial Killers
Reading lane
Mass Murder Cases

Affinity

Publisher Categories

  • Lives in History

  • Political Lives

  • Criminals & Outlaws

  • Personal Memoirs

Show all 8 publisher categories
  • Lives in Law Enforcement

  • Crime & Mystery Comics

  • Graphic Biography & Memoir

  • Criminal Law

About This Book

Bright, attractive, and both from good families, University of Texas college student Colton Pitonyak and vibrant redhead Jennifer Cave had the world at their beckoning. Cave, an ex-cheerleader, had just landed an exciting new job, while a big-money scholarship to UT's prestigious business school lured Pitonyak to Austin. Yet the former altar boy had a dark, unpredictable streak, one that ensnared him in the perilous underworld of drugs and guns. When Jennifer failed to show...

Read full description

Bright, attractive, and both from good families, University of Texas college student Colton Pitonyak and vibrant redhead Jennifer Cave had the world at their beckoning. Cave, an ex-cheerleader, had just landed an exciting new job, while a big-money scholarship to UT's prestigious business school lured Pitonyak to Austin. Yet the former altar boy had a dark, unpredictable streak, one that ensnared him in the perilous underworld of drugs and guns. When Jennifer failed to show up for work on August 18, 2005, her mother became frightened. Sharon Cave's search led to Colton's West Campus apartment, where Jennifer's family discovered a scene worthy of the grisliest horror movie. Meanwhile, Colton Pitonyak was nowhere to be found. A Descent Into Hell is the gripping true story of one of the most brutal slayings in UT history—and the wild "Bonnie and Clyde-like" flight from justice of a cold-blooded young killer and his would-be girlfriend, who claimed that her unquestioning allegiance to Pitonyak was "just the way I roll."

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