How William F. Buckley Learned That Evil Is Real

The literati sometimes look down on the genre of “true crime,” but it remains enormously popular (In Cold Blood was by far Truman Capote’s best-selling work) and, if done well, can teach us important lessons about human nature, the criminal justice system, and the foibles of celebrity. Sarah Weinman’s Scoundrel recounts the tale of Death Row inmate Edgar Smith and his unlikely friendship with William F. Buckley. Smith, then 23, was convicted of brutally murdering a 15-year-old New Jersey girl, Victoria Zielinski, in 1957, so the saga also serves as a period piece set in post-WWII America. Scoundrel is fascinating, and instructive, on several different levels.

As an exercise in nostalgia, the book provides a heart-warming reminder that murders were once rare enough to create a sensation in communities when they occurred, even in suburbs of major cities, such as Bergen County, New Jersey. With the help of cooperative witnesses and energetic law enforcement, crimes were often rapidly solved, confessions (in the pre-Miranda era) were routine, and justice was swiftly meted out. In Smith’s case, he was arrested within days of the murder, quickly implicated himself under police questioning, and was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death within four months after the crime. Following a two-week-long trial, at which Smith testified unconvincingly in his own defense, the jury returned its verdict in less than two hours. Smith was scheduled for execution (to be administered by the electric chair) on July 15, 1957.

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