On a sunny morning in October 2000, Chris Northon lay dead in a sleeping bag at a campsite beside a pristine river, while his wife drove four hours to a friend's house, sobbing inconsolably. The marriage seemed to be unraveling, but Chris struggled to hold it together, afraid he'd be separated from Bjorn and from Liysa's son, Papako. She complained to her closest friends that her husband was a heavy drinker who beat her. Nothing was quite enough for her - she wanted more money, more property, and a future that included fame as a Hollywood screenwriter. They had beautiful homes on the mainland and in Hawaii.īut it wasn't long before Chris saw a side of Liysa that he hadn't glimpsed before. Their son, Bjorn, looked just like his dad, and they were raising Liysa's son by a previous marriage. Their friends admired the romantic couple: Chris - tall, athletic, handsome with a thatch of blond hair, a pilot for Hawaiian Airlines - and Liysa - attractive, charismatic, seductive, an acclaimed surf photographer, with a tanned, perfect body. Liysa and Chris Northon seemed the epitome of idyllic lovers when they married on a moonlit beach in Hawaii. A lifetime of sociopathic manipulations and lies had been expertly hidden behind her façade of perfection - as was her rage to destroy any obstacle to her ultimate happiness, even if it was the man she vowed to love forever.In perhaps the most profound character portrait she has ever drawn, America's bestselling true-crime writer, Ann Rule, asks, Can the female really be deadlier than the male? In Heart Full of Lies, she answers that question in one of her most intriguing tales ever - a riveting story of seduction, betrayal, and murder.

Her controversial trial stunned all who thought they knew her. But crime scene evidence led detectives to wonder if Liysa was a killer, not a victim.

Liysa soon revealed herself as a victim of domestic abuse that culminated at the campsite, where she shot Chris in self-defense. And no one anticipated the fatal outcome of a family camping trip in an Oregon forest.

But few, including Chris, had seen Liysa's other side - her controlling behavior and dark moods, her insatiable hunger for money and property. An idyllic Hawaiian wedding held the promise of a wonderful future for handsome, athletic Chris Northon, an airline pilot, a confirmed bachelor-turned-devoted family man and Liysa, an acclaimed surf photographer, loving mother, and aspiring Hollywood screenwriter.

Heart Full of Lies by Ann Rule