Welcome to our very first “official” featured blog tour post. Our first volunteer is Mr. Bob Dekle a Columbia County Writer. He specializes in writing non-fiction stories about famous murder trials. He is a retired trial lawyer and it is only natural that he writes about what he knows.
Brief Biography:
Officially named, George Robert Dekle, who was born in Gainesville, Florida and raised in Lake Butler, right down the road. He attended the University of Florida and became a great prosecuting attorney after a brief stint as a defense attorney. He is the one who prosecuted the infamous Ted Bundy. There were big featured articles written about Bob and Bundy in 2019 which was the 20th anniversary of his execution. There are numerous write-ups and videos online for you to see and enjoy. He started out writing textbooks during his time as a professor at UF then expanded into other types of non-fiction. He also loves to play chess. That is a great skill for a prosecutor.
Mr. Dekle wrote a book about the investigation and trial of Ted Bundy. He has talked about his experiences on numerous occasions. You can find more videos on YouTube. The video below features Mr. Dekle giving the lecture on the Investigation, Prosecution, and Execution of Bundy. Great quality video and information too. I just couldn’t find any videos of him talking about writing. This will be his first.
Research in Newspapers
Just for fun, I searched through the online newspaper archives to see if I could find some interesting articles about Bob that would be great to share. I found his name mentioned quite a lot beginning in the 1970s. Bob began his career as a defense attorney. He was fired as one of the defense attorneys of Julian Kennedy (Tampa) in his murder trial. Not a great loss I say.
During the late 70s, he was just starting out as a prosecuting attorney, he became involved in the Ted Bundy case. With the kidnapping of the little girl from Lake City until Bundy’s eventual conviction, Dekle was in the newspapers all across the country. He was in the newspapers again with Bundy’s execution and once more on each of the major anniversaries. Even as a prosecutor that is not a great thing to have to relive over and over. Writing about it, one can only hope, helps purge some of that reality.
These days Dekle’s name is listed in newspapers only when local reporters seek out legal opinions for current cases. It is not uncommon for you to see, “According to former Prosecuting Attorney, George “Bob” Dekle, Sr…” in quite a few stories. There are not any stories featuring him just as a writer. Bummer.
25 Oct 2018, T12 – Tampa Bay Times at Newspapers.com – Dekle is asked to weigh in
23 Sep 1979, Page 120 – The Orlando Sentinel at Newspapers.com –
Brief Profile Sketch of Dekle inside Bundy Article
About His Writing
He does participate with the local writer’s group that meets at the Columbia County Florida Library on the second Tuesday of each month. I have attended a few as well. This writer’s group is about average in size with between 6 to 10 people. In each meeting, the writers read something they have written. The other authors offer comments or suggestions. Participating in these types of small groups helps a lot of writers to produce more elegant prose. Most of the members try to encourage each other to publish what they have written. They can be a great source of support and helpful information for new and established writers alike.
Contact the Writer
Website: http://www.bobdeklebooks.com/
Blog: http://bobdekle.blogspot.com/
Amazon Author Profile: https://www.amazon.com/George-R-Dekle-Sr/e/B004NK3I7A
He Even Has a Wiki Page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_R._Dekle_Sr.
List of Published Works
Six Capsules: The Gilded Age Murder of Helen Potts
Prairie Defender: The Murder Trials of Abraham Lincoln
The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case: A Critical Analysis of the Trial of Bruno Richard Hauptmann
Abraham Lincoln’s Most Famous Case: The Almanac Trial
The Last Murder: The Investigation, Prosecution, and Execution of Ted Bundy
Cross-Examination Handbook: Persuasion, Strategies, and Techniques
Prosecution Principles: A Clinical Handbook
The Case Against Christ: A Critique of the Prosecution of Jesus
Chronicles of Crime and Criminals
Misc eBooks:
Ted Bundy: Celebrity Slayer
The Evolution of Chess
The Killing of Jorm Pelorvis
I hope you will take the time to visit his website and read about his published works. All of our North Florida Writers would appreciate you purchasing the books or at least checking them out of the local libraries. But most of all a quick, honest review on Amazon or Goodreads will go a long way in encouraging our great writers to keep publishing good stories.
AUTHOR UPDATE
Congrats! – FAPA 2020 Book Awards Winner in the Political/Current Events category – GOLD to George R. Dekle Sr. for Six Capsules: The Gilded Age Murder of Helen Potts
Our Promotional Video with the Authors Interview Question on YouTube