No Reason to Kill: The search for Sheila Elrod's killer - Paperback

by Russell S. Smith (Author)

No Reason to Kill, Russell S. Smith's second nonfiction book, revolves around a murder that some say robbed San Angelo, Texas of its innocence. Twenty-year-old Sheila Elrod was shot to death during a jewelry store robbery on February 12, 1980. Police officers collected evidence and detectives pursued anything that even looked like a lead, but it was 21 years before a persistent Texas Ranger and DNA technology would place a suspect behind bars. Noted author and newspaper columnist Ross McSwain wrote the introduction.

Author Biography

Russell Smith was born in Uvalde, Texas to parents Dick and June Smith. He started writing poems and short stories long before he graduated from high school in 1969. He attended Southwest Texas Junior College, Howard College and Angelo State University; the majority of his classes dealt with criminal justice. His law enforcement career began as a reserve deputy with the Tom Green County Sheriff's Department in 1977 and ended when he retired as the San Angelo Texas Police Chief in 1999. This experience spurred his professional writing career when he sold his first article to a police trade magazine in 1980. Russell spent five years as an outdoor columnist for the San Angelo Standard-Times and several magazines. He received numerous awards for his writing and photography from the Texas Outdoor Writers' Association. He continues to do research for non-fiction books from his home in San Angelo, Texas where he and his wife reside.