No good deed

the long version

A Shocking True Story of Jealousy, Rage, and Murder. Two days before Christmas in 1998, David Stevens's Chrysler LeBaron exploded into flames in the upscale California neighbourhood of La Jolla. The "accident" wasn't enough to hide evidence of homicide- two bullets unloaded into the skull of the thirty-eight-year-old dating-service employee. And he didn't have an enemy in the world. The baffling case languished unsolved for three years... Then out of the blue, authorities received a call from Ny Nourn, an acquaintance of the victim. She knew details about the murder known only to police. She related a twisting tale of an abusive husband, a night of intimacy, a friend's sanctuary, a bizarre punishment of "cleansing flames"-and a motive for David Stevens's slaying that was even more shocking than the crime itself