21-04-2025
Selwyn Raab obituary: journalist who exposed miscarriages of justice
Selwyn Raab was puzzled, rather than flattered, at being portrayed on screen in 1973 by Telly Savalas. Although he was the inspiration for Lieutenant Theo Kojak, Raab was not a bald wisecracking cop with a lollipop in his mouth. Nor did he habitually tell people, 'Who loves ya, baby?' He was in fact a serious old-school investigative journalist who was content to pound the less salubrious blocks of Manhattan, during which time he exposed two miscarriages of justice and wrote arguably the most authoritative exposé on the mafia.
The rights to Justice in the Back Room (1967), Raab's book about the so-called 'career girl murders' in 1963, were bought by Universal Studios, which adapted it into the Emmy-winning film The Marcus Nelson Murders, starring
