A Beautiful Child: A True Story of Hope, Horror, and an Enduring Human Spirit

Front Cover
Penguin, Aug 2, 2005 - True Crime - 320 pages
THE INSPIRATION FOR THE NETFLIX DOCUMENTARY GIRL IN THE PICTURE

Sharon Marshall was a brilliant and beautiful student whose future was filled with promise—until her murderous, fugitive father drew her into a lifetime of deception that became one of the most baffling cases in the annals of American true crime.


A student at Forest Park High School near Atlanta, Georgia, popular blonde-haired Sharon Marshall was at the top of her class. Serving as a Lt. Colonel in the ROTC, she earned a full scholarship to Georgia Tech University to study aerospace engineering. She was the ultimate girl next door, sweet, generous, and well-adjusted. But Sharon had disturbing secrets so shocking and unique, they took more than a decade to unravel...

This is the horrifying true story of a mysterious young woman caught in the violent web of the murderous fugitive she called her father—and a heartrending testament to the profound courage and perseverance of one woman trapped in the grip of extreme evil.
 

Contents

PROLOGUE
1
CHAPTER 1
7
CHAPTER 2
21
CHAPTER 3
29
CHAPTER 4
35
CHAPTER 5
39
CHAPTER 6
47
CHAPTER 7
56
CHAPTER 18
150
CHAPTER 19
156
CHAPTER 20
169
CHAPTER 21
176
CHAPTER 22
189
CHAPTER 23
199
CHAPTER 24
205
CHAPTER 25
213

CHAPTER 8
61
CHAPTER 9
69
CHAPTER 10
79
CHAPTER 11
83
CHAPTER 12
91
CHAPTER 13
98
CHAPTER 14
112
CHAPTER 15
121
CHAPTER 16
129
CHAPTER 17
137
CHAPTER 26
224
CHAPTER 27
230
CHAPTER 28
241
EPILOGUE
249
AFTERWORD
279
SOURCES
283
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
284
RESOURCES
286
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

About the author (2005)

Matt Birkbeck is an award-winning investigative journalist and the author of The Quiet Don, Deconstructing Sammy, and A Beautiful Child. His work has been featured in a host of publications including Reader’s Digest, Playboy, Rolling Stone, the New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and People magazine. He has appeared on a variety of network and cable news programs, including CNN, ABC’s 20/20, NBC, CBS, and Investigation Discovery, among others, and was celebrated by the New York Times Book Review for his “killer leads, gripping kickers, and sensational descriptions.”

Bibliographic information