Shoot And Demonise: The Death Of Roni Levi

Biography True Crime Criminology Media Ethics Australian Social History Policing Studies Mental Health Policy

First published in 2000, James Miller’s Shoot and Demonise: The Death of Roni Levi is the definitive Australian true-crime biography that dissects the 1997 Bondi Beach police shooting and the media storm that followed. In only 158 tightly-written pages, Miller—an academic who specialises in criminology—unpacks how a mentally-ill man on a Sunday morning became front-page “public enemy number one” within hours, and why the label stuck. The book is structured like a courtroom drama: each chapter cross-examines eyewitness statements, police transcripts, and tabloid headlines, allowing readers to watch a narrative being manufactured in real time. The result is a gripping, fast-paced case study that has become a set text in Australian university media-ethics and policing courses.

What makes this particular copy appealing to collectors is its scarcity in “very good” condition. Most circulating copies are ex-library or heavily annotated; this paperback retains clean, unmarked pages, a square spine, and only minor cover scuffing—ideal for both reading and display. Because the title was never reprinted, a well-preserved first edition is increasingly hard to source, especially outside Australia. For true-crime enthusiasts, criminology students, or anyone tracing the evolution of 24-hour news culture, owning a tidy copy is the equivalent of holding a piece of Australian social history that still influences policing and mental-health policy debates today.

Beyond collectability, the content remains eerily relevant. Miller’s analysis of how quickly a distressed individual can be recast as a “terrorist” prefigures today’s social-media pile-ons, making the book a prescient read for young adults and adults alike. Compact enough to finish in a single sitting yet referenced often enough to stay on your shelf for years, Shoot and Demonise is both a cautionary tale and a masterclass in critical thinking—an essential addition to any serious true-crime library.

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