Convergence

Today I sit down with former Cook County Prosecutor Gregg Owen to discuss their book, Convergence.

This story seems impossible. But every word is true.

Convergence is the account of a vicious double homicide in 1970s Chicago and a trial that almost didn't happen.

This is a different kind of true crime book.It isn't a mystery, because the killer was arrested right away. It's not a police story, although Convergence is there at every step of their investigation. It's not a defense lawyer's story.

This is a story from the other side of the courtroom.

Convergence is the story of Gio Messina and Delphine Moore's murders and the trial that followed, but this time told from the perspective of the prosecution. You are there to witness how a case is built, how it's brought to court, and how it unfolds when the trial starts. You see what happens when power and money try and keep the trial from starting at all. You follow the prosecution from the courtrooms of Chicago to rural Tennessee looking for new evidence to replace the evidence that's vanished.

You're introduced to the choreography of the courtroom: listening in on the careful strategizing, understanding the thought behind what a jury hears, and getting a close view of what's involved in how it's presented. Most importantly, you're introduced to Mike Goggin and Gregg Owen, the two prosecutors who fought to have the case heard. Goggin and Owen had set a record for convictions that still stands. They refused to let the Messina and Moore murders break it.

Convergence is a historical snapshot of a time when Chicago was changing, and a timeless picture of how justice is sought and found.

Buy The Book