The Tourniquet Killer

Author(s)
Scott H. Belshaw, Matt DeLisi
Edition
1
Copyright
2026
Pages
148
Book Type
Children's

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Paperback Book

$19.95

ISBN: 9798319746627
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ISBN: 9798319746634
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CHOOSE YOUR FORMAT
Help Me Choose

Paperback Book

$19.95

ISBN: 9798319746627
Details: 
Print Product

eBook

$13.00

ISBN: 9798319746634
Details: 
Electronic Delivery EBOOK - 365 days

By day, Anthony Allen Shore was a mild-mannered Southwestern Bell telephone lineman driving a white work van through the neighborhoods of Houston. By night, he became one of Texas’s most sadistic predators — the Tourniquet Killer.

Between 1986 and 1995, Shore abducted, raped, and murdered at least four young girls and women using a homemade ligature device that allowed him to tighten and loosen the cord at will, prolonging their terror and giving him absolute control over life and death. He confessed in chilling detail during an eleven-hour interrogation. At trial, he stunned everyone by demanding the death penalty. On January 18, 2018, he became the ¬ first person executed in the United States that year—apologizing to his victims’ families, then declaring, “There is no others,” before the lethal drugs took effect.

Co-authored by Dr. Scott H. Belshaw, the court-appointed defense investigator who spent years on Shore’s team, and renowned criminologist Dr. Matt DeLisi, this gripping account draws on exclusive access: hundreds of handwritten letters from death row, face-to-face interviews, mitigation ¬ files, trial records, and the killer’s own words. Belshaw reveals the calculating intelligence behind Shore’s double life, his re¬finement of the tourniquet after injuring his hand on the ¬ first kill, and his startling pre-execution admission to approximately sixty additional rapes using the date-rape drug Rohypnol.

Most disturbing of all are the compelling circumstantial links to the unsolved Texas Killing Fields murders along the I-45 corridor—dozens of young women and girls abducted, sexually assaulted, and dumped near the very routes Shore traveled daily. Geography, victimology, method of operation, and Shore’s own vague hints paint a haunting picture of a predator who may have claimed far more victims than he ever admitted.

A chilling portrait of evil hiding in plain sight, The Tourniquet Killer is both a de¬finitive account of a monstrous case and a disturbing look inside the mind of a killer who never lost control — even on the execution gurney.
“The full truth may never be known. He took it with him.”
— Dr. Scott H. Belshaw
 

Scott H. Belshaw

Dr. Scott H. Belshaw is a tenured full Professor of Criminal Justice and Security Studies at the University of Dayton, where he previously served as Department Chair. With more than twenty years of experience in higher education, he has taught and mentored thousands of undergraduate and graduate students across multiple institutions. His background includes service as a U.S. Navy veteran (Operation Desert Storm), a licensed private investigator, and a probation officer, giving him a unique, real-world perspective on the challenges students face both inside and outside the classroom.

Dr. Belshaw is the author of several books, including Dark Web Unfiltered and The Tourniquet Killer (co-authored with Dr. Matt DeLisi). He is known for his practical, student-centered approach to teaching and his passion for helping students build the mindset, skills, and habits needed to succeed in college and beyond. His work emphasizes resilience, ethical leadership, and the importance of finding purpose in education.

He lives in Ohio with his wife Amanda and their family. When he is not  teaching or writing, he enjoys mentoring students, exploring new ideas in criminology and technology, and supporting the next generation of learners. Dr. Belshaw believes that every student has the potential to succeed when given the right tools and encouragement. Being Successful in College is his guide to making that potential a reality.

Matt DeLisi

Matt DeLisi is Distinguished Professor and Coordinator of Criminal Justice at Iowa State University. The author of 500+ scholarly publications, Dr. DeLisi is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, and the Association for Psychological Science, the only scientist in the world so honored by all three organizations. His recent books include Criminal Naïveté with Matt Logan), True Crime America: The Functions of Our Murder Obsession, What DNA Evidence Reveals about Criminals: Cold Case Criminology, and Ted Bundy and the Unsolved Murder Epidemic: The Dark Figure of Crime.

Although he publishes in multiple content areas, Professor DeLisi is most known for his research on serious, chronic, violent, and pathological offenders. He has provided expert services and consultation on capital murder and multiple-homicide offender cases in multiple federal and state jurisdictions. In 2013, Professor DeLisi testified to the United States Senate Judiciary Committee and consulted on criminal justice policy to a variety of federal stakeholders including the United States Attorney General, National Institute of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and others. Dr. DeLisi previously worked as a research specialist with United States Probation and Pretrial Services and engaged with scores of practitioners in the federal judiciary and correctional spheres. Prior to entering academia, Dr. DeLisi worked as a pretrial services officer for five years.

By day, Anthony Allen Shore was a mild-mannered Southwestern Bell telephone lineman driving a white work van through the neighborhoods of Houston. By night, he became one of Texas’s most sadistic predators — the Tourniquet Killer.

Between 1986 and 1995, Shore abducted, raped, and murdered at least four young girls and women using a homemade ligature device that allowed him to tighten and loosen the cord at will, prolonging their terror and giving him absolute control over life and death. He confessed in chilling detail during an eleven-hour interrogation. At trial, he stunned everyone by demanding the death penalty. On January 18, 2018, he became the ¬ first person executed in the United States that year—apologizing to his victims’ families, then declaring, “There is no others,” before the lethal drugs took effect.

Co-authored by Dr. Scott H. Belshaw, the court-appointed defense investigator who spent years on Shore’s team, and renowned criminologist Dr. Matt DeLisi, this gripping account draws on exclusive access: hundreds of handwritten letters from death row, face-to-face interviews, mitigation ¬ files, trial records, and the killer’s own words. Belshaw reveals the calculating intelligence behind Shore’s double life, his re¬finement of the tourniquet after injuring his hand on the ¬ first kill, and his startling pre-execution admission to approximately sixty additional rapes using the date-rape drug Rohypnol.

Most disturbing of all are the compelling circumstantial links to the unsolved Texas Killing Fields murders along the I-45 corridor—dozens of young women and girls abducted, sexually assaulted, and dumped near the very routes Shore traveled daily. Geography, victimology, method of operation, and Shore’s own vague hints paint a haunting picture of a predator who may have claimed far more victims than he ever admitted.

A chilling portrait of evil hiding in plain sight, The Tourniquet Killer is both a de¬finitive account of a monstrous case and a disturbing look inside the mind of a killer who never lost control — even on the execution gurney.
“The full truth may never be known. He took it with him.”
— Dr. Scott H. Belshaw
 

Scott H. Belshaw

Dr. Scott H. Belshaw is a tenured full Professor of Criminal Justice and Security Studies at the University of Dayton, where he previously served as Department Chair. With more than twenty years of experience in higher education, he has taught and mentored thousands of undergraduate and graduate students across multiple institutions. His background includes service as a U.S. Navy veteran (Operation Desert Storm), a licensed private investigator, and a probation officer, giving him a unique, real-world perspective on the challenges students face both inside and outside the classroom.

Dr. Belshaw is the author of several books, including Dark Web Unfiltered and The Tourniquet Killer (co-authored with Dr. Matt DeLisi). He is known for his practical, student-centered approach to teaching and his passion for helping students build the mindset, skills, and habits needed to succeed in college and beyond. His work emphasizes resilience, ethical leadership, and the importance of finding purpose in education.

He lives in Ohio with his wife Amanda and their family. When he is not  teaching or writing, he enjoys mentoring students, exploring new ideas in criminology and technology, and supporting the next generation of learners. Dr. Belshaw believes that every student has the potential to succeed when given the right tools and encouragement. Being Successful in College is his guide to making that potential a reality.

Matt DeLisi

Matt DeLisi is Distinguished Professor and Coordinator of Criminal Justice at Iowa State University. The author of 500+ scholarly publications, Dr. DeLisi is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, and the Association for Psychological Science, the only scientist in the world so honored by all three organizations. His recent books include Criminal Naïveté with Matt Logan), True Crime America: The Functions of Our Murder Obsession, What DNA Evidence Reveals about Criminals: Cold Case Criminology, and Ted Bundy and the Unsolved Murder Epidemic: The Dark Figure of Crime.

Although he publishes in multiple content areas, Professor DeLisi is most known for his research on serious, chronic, violent, and pathological offenders. He has provided expert services and consultation on capital murder and multiple-homicide offender cases in multiple federal and state jurisdictions. In 2013, Professor DeLisi testified to the United States Senate Judiciary Committee and consulted on criminal justice policy to a variety of federal stakeholders including the United States Attorney General, National Institute of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and others. Dr. DeLisi previously worked as a research specialist with United States Probation and Pretrial Services and engaged with scores of practitioners in the federal judiciary and correctional spheres. Prior to entering academia, Dr. DeLisi worked as a pretrial services officer for five years.