Sabermetrics savant Bill James forever changed the way we measure performance on big-league baseball fields. Now, employing the same research and analytical skills, he is altering our view of a series of more than century-old murder cases from Florida to Kansas to Oregon – tying them to a single, ax-wielding serial killer.
 
In a discussion of his new book The Man From the Train: The Solving of a Century-Old Serial Killer Mystery, James and his co-author, daughter Rachel McCarthy James, recount an exhaustive investigation that began with their attempt to solve the gruesome slaying of a family of six and two houseguests in Villisca, Iowa, in 1912. They found similar murders and a pattern: proximity to train stations, use of an ax, victims’ valuables left untouched. Digging further, they pointed convincingly to a lone homicidal suspect.
 
Co-presented by Rainy Day Books.