Description
Book SynopsisThomas Riha vanished on March 15, 1969, sparking a mystery that lives on 50 years later.
A native of Prague, Czechoslovakia, Riha was a popular teacher at the University of Colorado at Boulder and a handsome man, with thick, graying hair and a wry smile. After his disappearance, the FBI and the CIA told local law enforcement and university officials that Riha was alive and well and had left Boulder to get away from his wife. But, as Eileen Welsome convincingly argues, Riha was not alive and well at all. A woman named Galya Tannenbaum, she concludes, had murdered him.
Galya-a mother of four, a talented artist, and an FBI informant-allegedly went on to murder two more people in Denver as the trail to find Riha ran cold. Her weapon of choice? Cyanide. Galya was a chameleon, able to deceive businessmen and experienced investigators alike. But she had an Achilles' heel: she couldn't spell. She consistently misspelled words, such as "concider" and "extreemly."
For the first time, Galya's signature misspellings are linked to documents once thought to be written by Riha and two other murder victims, as Welsome reexamines the facts and evidence of the case. She argues that these misspellings prove that Galya forged the documents and committed other murders. Her conclusion is buttressed by a wealth of additional information from police reports, depositions, and court testimony.
During the Cold War era, the Riha case had an extraordinary ripple effect that reached even the highest levels of government. When the local district attorney in Colorado threatened to subpoena intelligence officials to find out who was behind the "alive and well" rumors, the CIA's representative in Denver claimed the information originated with the FBI. Director J. Edgar Hoover was infuriated by this assertion and actually cut off relations with the CIA.
Presenting a compelling cast of characters in an era of intrigue and with astounding attention to detail, Eileen Welsome demonstrates why Galya Tannenbaum's alleged crimes continue to fascinate-even as her motivations remain mysterious.
Trade Review"The research is breathtaking in its scope, and the author 'connects the dots' in a way that would make even the most skilled intelligence analyst proud."—Eric Haseltine, author of The Spy in Moscow Station: A Counterspy's Hunt for a Deadly Cold War Threat
"Welsome conjures a story that hums with fully realized characters, magnificent scenery, and a devious plot. The fact that her tale is completely true only makes it more harrowing. I hope Welsome has a safe house—her pulse-pounding exposé is bound to trigger blowback."—Kathleen Sharp, author of Blood Medicine: Blowing the Whistle on One of the Deadliest Prescription Drugs
"Pulitzer Prize author Eileen Welsome has given us a thoroughly researched conclusion to the mysterious disappearance of Professor Tom Riha. On March 18, 1969, he failed to appear to teach his class at the University of Colorado. His table was set for breakfast, and his briefcase sat on his desk in his office. Riha had vanished, never to be seen again. Shocked colleagues and friends tried for months to learn what had happened to him, to no avail. Welsome's exhaustive research has provided us with long-awaited answers."—Joyce Lebra, author of The Scent of Sake
