Mark Gado

Former Detective Mark Gado’s 29 years as with the City of New Rochelle Police Department in New York and two years as a federal agent on a Drug Enforcement Administration task force gives him a perspective on murder that few other true crime writers have. During his D.E.A assignment, he received the International Award of Honor in New Orleans, Louisiana. Gado was also named Investigator of the Year 2000 and received dozens of other awards and commendations during his long police career.

As a police department veteran, he knows how to get research material that would elude other writers and is comfortable approaching fellow officers, prosecutors, and judges for interviews. Like his colleagues, Gado had lived with the gut-wrenching frustration of trying to build a case against a heinous criminal when other key elements of the community are not cooperating. Unique law enforcement expertise is not the only thing that Gado brings to the table. He is an excellent storyteller, bringing together in the narrative the points of view of the victims’ family and community, as well as those in the criminal justice system.

Gado’s first book, Killer Priest: The Crimes, Trial, and Execution of Father Hans Schmid, was published by Praeger in March, 2006. Killer Priest is the true story of the only Catholic priest in American history to be executed for murder. His second book, Death Row Women: Murder, Justice, and the New York Press, was published by Praeger in November, 2007.

As a writer for more than 20 years, his work has appeared on numerous websites and in many publications, including Time Warner’s Crime Library, Law Enforcement Journal, Cobblestone, Vietnam Express, Strange Days magazine, Correction History, Rochester Magazine, and Famous American Crimes and Trials Encyclopedia (2004). His story about serial killer Carl Panzram, “Carl Panzram, Monster of Minnesota” (2004), won a Page One award for one of the top three magazine articles of the year. He also appeared in a Swedish public television documentary on the 1964 Kitty Genovese murder case. Gado has a B.A. in Criminal Justice and an M. S. in Criminal Justice from Iona College.

Like many of his law-enforcement colleagues, Gado joined the rescue effort at Ground Zero immediately after September 11. He is also a U.S. Army combat veteran of Vietnam, 1967-1968.