Ulterior Motives: The Killing and Dark Legacy of Tycoon Henry Kyle

On July 22, 1983, multimillionaire Kyleborn into poverty in the mountains of Tennessee, a Marine Corps fighter pilot and war hero, and a Texas businessman who had just bought into a Hollywood film studiowas fatally shot in his Bel-Air mansion. His older son, slightly wounded at the same time, originally spoke of thieves who had broken into the house, but then confessed to having killed his father himself. A lengthy trial revealed that the father had abused his older son both physically and verbally, and that he also had mistreated his numerous wives. Much of the book, devoted to the first trial, is tedious in its over-attention to detail. That trial ended in a hung jury, but a later one convicted Ricky Kyle of involuntary manslaughter, and he is now serving a five year sentence. Finstad is the author of Heir Not Apparent. Photos not seen by PW.(August 18)