When writer Joseph Harms hears of our idea to make a podcast about criminal writers, he leaves a series of disturbing messages pointing us in the direction of one of Abbott’s famous penpals: Jerzy Kosinski.  Harms claims that Kosinski killed a man, would regularly hide in people’s walls for days at a time and was somehow responsible for the Manson murders! Allegations such as these are way too juicy not to investigate. So that’s what we do. This episode starts at the beginning, and looks at Kosinski’s early life, especially the years he spent in hiding during the holocaust. We also explore the childhood of Abbott’s other famous penpal, Norman Mailer and glimpse the budding ego and machismo that will define his life, his writings and his crimes.