She Is Evil!: Madness and Murder in Memphis

SHE IS EVIL by Judith A. Yates is a compelling story and yet shows an incredible lack of insight into the mental illness component impacting this case.Yes, there is no doubt domestic violence is present. However, the author is vague as to who's the victim and who's the perpetrator. If her intent was to do so, Yates doesn't make it clear.However, from my viewpoint Leah, the victim's second wife and perpetrator of Ejaz Ahmad's murder, was a sociopath who also had bipolar disorder. Without the dialogue as to how these issues factored into Leah's antisocial behaviors and the ultimate murder leaves the storytelling one-sided.In no way am I saying that the perpetrator isn't responsible for her actions due to mental illness. Rather, there's a great teaching moment lost as a forewarning to others in a similar situation.Sociopaths choose victims who are naive and trusting. Ejaz was exactly the kind of person to be targeted, as he was trusting, empathetic, giving, and helpful to someone in need. The fact that he also didn't understand the bipolar symptomology his wife exhibited was also to his own detriment.No, this doesn't mean someone who is a sociopath with bipolar disorder equates to being a murderer. It does, however, suggest a guarantee of extreme, irratic, impulsive, out-of-control behavior that is incredibly destructive and crazy-making emotionally, financially--and sometimes physically--to those in close proximity. When the person is off her medications, the emotional swings can be even more immense and intense.Yet Ejaz just attributed Leah's actions to "being crazy" (an ignorant oversimplification) and ended up sorely underestimating her abberrant psychology. He also ignored his own instincts, which were alerting him to get out of the relationship. When Ejaz finally made the attempt, he naively thought he could simply respectfully cut ties and move on.That doesn't mean blame the victim. However, it does mean an opportunity was lost in this story's telling that perhaps could have helped other victims leave abusive relationships BEFORE a WORST case scenario happens by better understanding the mental and emotional components involved.Also, to be clear, the domestic abuse in this story from my viewpoint is that of Ejaz being abused by Leah--not the other way around. Leah's description of the events leading up to the murder and allegations of abuse aren't to be believed any more than anything else coming out of her mouth. She is a skilled, compulsive liar, and Ejaz' reputation, as seen through the eyes of numerous friends and loved ones, is one of respectfulness and nonviolence.Instead of a bunch of information on the cycle of abuse being dumped at the end of the book, it would have been much more educational to have it integrated to the storyline as examples of what the information means.Further, all Leah had to do the day of the murder was give Ejaz his pouch of documents back to de-escalate the situation. If she feared for her life, it could quickly have been resolved. However, I don't believe she was ever abused by the victim.Yet, all in all this is an interesting read of a very bizarre case. Yates does a pretty good job of presenting the material but occasionally repeats responses and information.For example, numerous times Yates tells about an Afro-American male Ejaz would allow to work on his cars who wasn't good at the task. But he allowed him to do it because the man needed work. This man was mentioned so much initially in the book that I thought he would end up being part of the murder, which wasn't the case at all. There was no point to repeatedly telling about this man. Yates also repeats this same kind of mistake especially as it relates to loved one's feelings about Ajax.Ultimately, this book doesn't rate as one of the best true crime stories I've ever read in any way, shape or form, but for the price of $.99 is worth the read.

"She Is Evil" is a captivating story about a woman who took advantage of everyone who crossed her path. Her destructive world could not have ended happily. Now one man is dead, one woman is in prison for life, and two families and numerous friends are forever in pain from the loss.Someone wrote a review saying the author did not write much about the woman Leah Joy Ward's mental illness. Well, if you read the end you see Leah Ward would not participate. Helpline and info for bipolar disorder is in the references. The author is not a doctor or psychologist so how can they discuss mental health issues? It would be like a pet store employee doing operations on dogs and cats. They know their business, but not enough to make clinical, safe comments.Other reviews are spot on. A good, intelligent man named Ejaz wanted to help Ms. Ward. He gave her an education, money, a home. He treated her well and was not a violent person, as his in-laws attest. Even his ex wife said he was never violent. Well, Leah Ward decided to use the "I was defending myself" defense when she shot and killed him. This is horrible especially because there really are women who kill in self defense. So now Leah has made even more people look like liars.She beheaded the victim and cut off his scrotum area. She claimed she just did not remember where she put them! Then she hid the body in Ejaz's own backyard. I think Leah thought she just would not get caught ... it's Leah's world, her rules. I truly believe she did not think anyone would investigate.This is the story of a true sociopath and what happened when someone tried to do good by her. But as the cover says it is also about religion, mental illness, and the harm people do to one another.This would make a great movie!!!

The book was well written. I believe the author did a good job writing and it was very interesting to read. What I DISLIKED about the book was the writing that seemed a bit racist to African American people. Once when describing a scary man she wrote about his height, weight, that he was barrel chested, and Black. That would have been enough. A huge barrel chested guy knocking on my door would have been frightful. Saying he was Black was a relevant description. However, she wrote that he was the BIGGEST BLACKEST guy the person had ever seen using the words biggest blackest to make him sound scarier. If the scary man had been light skinned would he have been less scary? That bothered me. If she took that out of the book I probably would have given it another star. She's a good author. However, she should consider how non white people may view that kind of language and do a better job to make it readable for all people.

Interesting story, not well told. Here is an example:"Upon arrival, they entered the ground floor of the tall, cool building. An officer pushed the button to open the doors of the elevator and they entered. The officer pushed the button for the eleventh floor, the elevator doors closed quietly, and the elevator began its slow ascent, while Leah Ward’s world was about to descend."

Factual read, I enjoyed it, the writing was as short and to the point. She conveyed the family and friends’ pain, while respecting the story. The murderer…just wow. She truly is evil. She should’ve gotten the death sentence, taxpayer money should not pay for this type of evil to keep existing.

Leah Joy Ward - unusually loathsome specimen of the boringly predictable 'wild-child' sort. Never fails to astonish how much misery these evil/moron hybrids can contrive for themselves and all around them. If you ever hear the words 'wild-child' or 'free spirit' run a mile.