The Southern Charles Manson
Book Review: Dig Me a Grave by Dick Harpootlian
Dig Me a Grave by Dick Harpootlian
Published: December 16, 2025 by Citadel
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Synopsis:
Of the hundreds of murder cases that noted South Carolina attorney Dick Harpootlian has prosecuted, one in particular haunts him. Donald “Pee Wee” Gaskins was a serial killer and rapist, a master manipulator who claimed to have killed over 100 people and is known to have murdered over a dozen, including a toddler, and his own teenage niece. Yet it was on Death Row that he pulled off his most audacious murder—killing another inmate with a military grade explosive.
As personable as he was ruthless, Pee Wee defied easy categories. He killed to avenge minor slights as well as for pleasure, using any convenient method—including stabbing, shooting, poison, suffocation, and drowning. Evidence suggested he forced at least one victim to dig his own grave, stand in it, and be shot.
With escalating callousness, Pee Wee murdered acquaintances, friends, family members, and strangers. Yet within his North Charleston community he was well-liked—a family man who took neighborhood kids to the beach and hosted cookouts. Ice-cold within but outwardly charming, he joked with judges, reporters, and Harpootlian himself, but didn’t hesitate to hatch a plot to kidnap the prosecutor’s daughter in order to extort an escape.
Rating:
Review:
Having read a lot of books about serial killers over the years, I was excited to dive into this one. I have not heard of PeeWee Gaskins and found the brief synopsis fascinating. A man who managed to murder someone with explosives while on death row?? Sign me up!
The best part of this book was the actual conversations and discovery of Gaskins. I found Gaskins to be utterly fascinating. He was completely depraved and yet believed himself to be an average sort of fellow. He treated his victims with utter disdain but was perfectly polite when he wanted to be. This kind of contradiction is very appealing to read about and boggles the mind.
Unfortunately the rest of this book was very confusing. Because this is an investigation that took years and continued for a long time even after Gaskins was imprisoned, there’s a lot of people involved. But I had a difficult time keeping them all straight. The author presents the information in a matter of fact way, which I appreciated, but it meant I didn’t connect to any of the characters. They blended together into the background and it left me very confused. This book felt like it had a lot of filler that wasn’t needed. And it impacted how much I enjoyed the book. I fell asleep at one point but didn’t really care enough to go back and listen to what I missed.
If you’re very familiar with Gaskins already then this will undoubtedly add layers of complexity and color to the story that you already know. If you’re knew to the story of Gaskins, maybe listen to a podcast about it first so that you can keep up.