Room for Rent

When Baltimore public defender Anton J.S. Keating got a note from his boss that he was assigned to represent accused killer James Francis Smith, he couldn’t imagine how the case would affect him. Keating was used to defending murderers, but something about this sociopath who preyed on innocent women would haunt him in a way other clients didn’t.

Room for Rent tells the surprising story of con man and killer, James Francis Smith, the 1970s version of a Craigslist Killer, who preyed on older women offering rooms for rent. His elaborate con would cheat women out of money, but those who lost only money were the lucky ones. Doris Martin lost her life.

Martin’s murder is the case that would bring Smith into Keating’s life. What the two men had in common was the ability to maneuver their way around the criminal justice system to achieve the results they want. What would set them apart is their ability to live with the results.