Book Review: Born and Raised to Murder

Reviewed by Lisa Parker Hayreh, PhD | Content warnings: child abuse, sexual abuse, murder

A chilling memoir documenting tragic failures of foster care in the making of a serial killer

Leo Boatman was born to a life of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. The Florida foster care system failed at multiple points in his life to protect and care for him. This book documents Leo’s descent from tortured child into serial murderer who now resides on death row in the Florida correctional system. 

Born to his mother while she was committed to an inpatient psychiatric care facility, his earliest years were marked by neglect, physical abuse, and sexual abuse. Leo is eventually placed with a succession of relatives, friends, and foster care professionals. But each placement was doomed, compounding Leo’s suffering with each instance of failure. 

This memoir details the multiple ways in which the foster care system failed to identify and resolve the abuse he experienced. Young Leo endured an entire childhood filled with horrific neglect, recurrent aggression, and disturbing sexual abuse from family, friends, foster care, and juvenile correction officers.

The author, the Honorable Irene Sullivan, offers a unique perspective to this memoir. She connected with Leo following his first murder conviction to learn what prompted such violence. With Leo’s permission, she shares her letters and conversations with Leo to provide his life story. She intersperses his views with her own expert commentary. She also cites evaluations from other professionals as well as legal records. 

Born and Raised to Murderpaints a bleak picture of the experiences which conspired to create a serial killer. Specific failures regarding Leo’s care in the Florida foster care system are highlighted, and potential solutions to resolve each critical failure are identified. Experts also discuss the likelihood that these system failures still occur in present-day foster care. 

Leo’s voice alternates between intelligent reflection and unfiltered rage. His words paint a heartbreaking picture of innocence irrevocably shattered. He exists in a world of aggression and torment. At the same time, he defends those loved ones who have offered him consistent kindness even in the face of ongoing abuse. 

Irene Sullivan serves as the voice of reason in this source. She balances between sharing Leo’s experiences as well as the factual details of his aggressive behaviors and the legal outcomes of his actions. She connects the dots between the failures of the foster care system, the accumulation of a lifetime of trauma, and Leo’s choices to take his rage out on others through multiple murders. By the end of this book, our grief runs rampant for Leo, for all his victims, and for all children failed by foster care.

This book contains graphic descriptions of physical, sexual, and emotional child abuse; child neglect; and aggravated adult physical violence. These disturbing details nonetheless provide the necessary backdrop for Leo’s development from an innocent child to a convicted serial killer.

Thoroughly documented, thoughtfully compiled, and thoughtfully written, this book will shake you to the core. A must read for true crime lovers; for those who love a powerful true story; and for those interested in nonfiction about the foster care system.

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