Kathy Augustine book released

A book about deceased Nevada Controller Kathy Augustine’s murder has been published, written by a former Las Vegas reporter who now works for a Michigan organization.

The book by Glenn Puit is basically an account of Augustine’s death and the trial of her accused murderer, Chaz Higgs, but it also contains some biographical and political material—the latter exaggerated or distorted.

The book hypes Augustine’s career. Even the title—In Her Prime/The Murder of a Political Star—suggests she had a bright political future, when in fact her impeachment and conviction for mixing politics and duty had left her in disgrace. Her prospective 2004 appointment by George Bush as U. S. Treasurer is portrayed as probable when it was always unlikely that she would survive the vetting. (She had lost a lawsuit over her use of anti-Semitism and charges of lack of patriotism against an opponent.) The back cover copy suggests she was killed for political reasons: “One of Nevada’s best known—and most notorious—politicians. Impeached in 2004 for campaign ethics violations, she’d been allowed to serve out her term … but made plenty of enemies along the way.” The jury found it was a domestic violence murder by her husband. The politics of the state are often misrepresented, even those surrounding Nevada’s entry into the union.