“I served as a career police officer for the City of Lyndhurst with my last 10 years as chief of police and retired from the force three and a half years ago,” said Porrello. He enrolled at Lakeland Community College, earned an associate’s degree in criminal justice and served in law enforcement for over three decades. He grew up in Cleveland Heights, graduated from Heights High School and his first career was a jazz drummer at the age of 18.ĭespite having an up-and-coming music career, Porrello decided to turn in his drumsticks for a police badge, a dream he had since childhood.
Porrello’s unique perspective when it comes to writing true crime stories comes from his knowledge on both sides of the fence. “Those story aspects further drew me in.” “Henkel was closely associated with a Pittsburgh-area police officer and some investigators believed that the cop was involved in some of the murders Richard Henkel committed,” said Porrello. Set in Pittsburgh with numerous connections to Ohio - particularly the Youngstown and Warren areas - Porrello said Henkel and his crew reportedly conspired to kidnap the owner of a major sports team in a brazen plot. Porrello said after doing a little research, he found it to be a fascinating, albeit tragic, true crime story and decided to make it his next book. “A seed was planted as sometimes happens when a writer learns of a story idea they might want to develop.” “I first learned about Richard Henkel, the main character of my current book ‘There’s More Bodies Out There,’ from Phil Christopher, the subject of my 2006 title ‘Superthief,”’ said Porrello.
The story follows the life of Richard Henkel, a Mafia associate during the 1970s and 1980s who was a serial killer claiming to have murdered 28 people. 17 at Versare Café + Market in Chester Township. So much so, he just released his fifth book, “There’s More Bodies Out There: The True Story of a Mafia Associate and a Cop Who Emerge as Suspected Serial Killers” - which is having its official launch party Dec. As a former law enforcement officer for 33 years, Russell Township resident Rick Porrello has a knack for writing captivating true crime stories.
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