commentary by Patrick H. Moore

Although the occasional lucky soul appears to find true love without much difficulty, many other folks go through endless romantic/sexual encounters without ever managing to forge a successful and lasting relationship. We can probably assume that these individuals generally have positive experiences in the early stages of their relationships before they founder upon the shoals of “bad romance”. (According to at least one definition, a “shoal” is “a sandy elevation of the bottom of a body of water, constituting a hazard to navigation.”)

Then there are relationships in which the “good times” appear to have been of very short duration, and are quickly replaced by “bad times” which may last for a considerable period of time and are characterized by cruel or sadistic treatment of one partner at the hands of the other.

An extreme example of this sort of awfully bad relationship occurred over the last 18 months in the small south-central Idaho community of Buhl. Buhl, which has the honor of being located on the old Oregon Trial is often called the Trout Fishing Capital of the World .

This awfully bad relationship, which has been reported by numerous local and national media outlets, had little if anything in common with trout fishing, healthy outdoor living, or anything, for that matter, that smacks of the natural, the normal and the socially acceptable, and, in fact, in some ways, reminds us of Ariel Castro and his vicious treatments of his three kidnap victims.

In this case, the unidentified 27-year-old female victim appears to have entered into what was initially a consensual relationship with a 36-year-old man named Oscar Ayala-Arizmendi, whose bad habits included smoking crystal meth, approximately six months before Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight escaped Ariel Castro’s clutches. (Why is it that chronic crystal meth use makes people so god-awful cruel and crazy, mean like a snake, if you will?) The relationship soon turned sour, and two weeks after escaping in early April, the victim reported her abuse to the local authorities.

Laura Zuckerman of Reuters writes:

A 27-year-old woman told county sheriff’s detectives that Arismendiz imprisoned her for 18 months in two separate houses in a small farming community west of Twin Falls by keeping her “drugged up on meth,” and by beating her with a hammer or threatening to chop her into small pieces and flush her down the toilet if she tried to escape, according to legal documents.

The woman told authorities she broke free in early April with the aid of her brother and three others, who used “force and some deception” to extract her with only the clothes on her back..

She told detectives Arismendiz began mistreating her, raping her and denying her access to the outdoors and others soon after she began living with him.

He “forced her to smoke meth as much as two or three times a week … and often would place rope around her neck and lead her around the house ‘like a dog,’” a Twin Falls County detective said in a sworn statement.

Detectives who searched Arismendiz’s home reported “numerous chains and locking devices mounted on walls and lying in various rooms,” boarded windows and a wiring system designed to deliver “a high level of electrical current” to anyone who sought to escape, according to legal documents.

In addition, the victim reported that at times Arizmendi would hold a gun to her head.

Based on further information provided by Sara Malm of The Daily Mail, it appears that after the unidentified victim came forward with her gruesome tale, Twin Falls County law enforcement officials moved quickly into action:

Twin Falls County Prosecutor Grant Loebs said on Thursday that following the woman’s report, police worked to collect enough evidence to make the arrest.

Authorities searched the house near U.S. Highway 30 and reported finding chains and locks mounted to walls and floors, chains on exterior doors, a handgun, and an electrical wire system intended to shock anyone trying to escape.

The woman told the investigators that “she believes she left the home three or four times over the past six months,” but would always return on threat of harm or death.” She explained that the failed escape attempts resulted in additional beatings and that at night, Ayala-Arizmendi would lock them both in his bedroom that he would secure with a metal gate fastened and locked to the inside of the door.

The victim reported that because of this, she had no choice other than to use a wastebasket as a toilet, and a Detective Koning did report that detectives found a metal waste can with urine in it.

The authorities have also reported that they photographed a bruise on the woman’s leg that she explained happened the day she escaped.

Detective Koning also reported that the house also had security cameras mounted around it, with (you guessed it) monitors in the bedroom.

In essence, the victim told investigators that among all the other indignities she was forced to endure, she was Ayala-Arizmendi’s sex slave and was forced to perform sexual acts, shackled or with a gun to her head.

Ayala-Arizmendi has been charged with first-degree kidnapping, rape and possession of a controlled substance. His bail was set at $1 million and his next court appearance is scheduled for May 23.

*     *     *     *     *

The instinctive reaction to this kind of case is to denounce the perpetrator as an absolute fiend, a despicable excuse for a human being who should be punished to the full extent permissible by law, and I’m relatively certain that if convicted, Ayala-Arizmendi will be sentenced to decades, or possibly life, in prison, a sentence I fully support.

Nonetheless, I can’t help but wonder why the victim got involved with this loser in the first place. A mere glance at the available photos suggest a cruel and vicious individual, not the sort of guy a sensible woman would become involved with, and certainly not the charismatic sociopath type who famously lures innocent, unsuspecting women into their clutches. (Of course, mug shots almost always present defendants in a bad light.)

Was there a self-esteem issue on the part of the victim, and possibly hard drug use, prior to meeting the lover who turned into her tormentor? Had she perhaps previously been a victim of abuse stemming from other individuals in her life? Because I don’t have the facts, I can only conjecture. At least she’s free of him now. Hopefully, she will seek the therapeutic help she undoubtedly needs to help her come to grips with the trauma she’s undergone. And if she is willing to dig deeper, this young woman may be able to begin to understand the forces and negative life experiences that may have led her to take up with Ayala-Arizmendi in the first place.

commentary by Patrick H. Moore

Charles Manson may be the most infamous mass murderer of all time (though he was insidiously clever at having his followers do his dirty work for him), but no one can deny that he always had a way with the ladies. When he was let out of state prison while still in his early 30s, he hightailed it up to the Haight-Ashbury which then in full flower and began collecting women. Like a little little bearded leprechaun with his guitar slung over his shoulder, according to the stories — which may be apocryphal but are true in essence — Charlie would wander up to a lost hippie maiden, fix her with his hypnotic gaze and say something like, “I’m the gardener and I want to plant you in my soil.”

No doubt it didn’t work every time but it clearly worked often enough as became horribly evident when his girls and a few of his guys went on the infamous killing rampage in Los Angeles in the summer of 1969 which resulted in the death of screen siren Sharon Tate and numerous other privileged Southern Californians including hairdresser-to-the stars Jay Sebring and Leno and Rosemary LaBianca.

Manson, now 79, would probably have long since received the death penalty but because it was temporarily abolished in California in 1972, he is still alive costing the taxpayers money and giving him — curiously enough — the opportunity to make himself available to any misguided women that might come along.  He is incarcerated at California’s Corcoran State Prison, where he walks with a cane and sports chipped prison dentures.

It’s now reported that Manson not only has  a young female admirer but that she is determined that he and she will “walk down the aisle together” or however marriages are handled in the notorious California State Prison system. Her name is Star and she is a 25-year-old brunette who’s been loyally visiting Manson in jail since she was 19 years old. She maintains several websites devoted to defending her man and his pro-Earth environmental causes. Star told Rolling Stone that she became enchanted with Manson’s environmental stance, which he calls ATWA — air, trees, water, air — when she was only 19.

In 2007, Star moved to Corcoran to be near Charlie, whom she visits each Saturday and Sunday for up to five hours a day. She makes him gift boxes packed with snacks, clothes and guitar strings.They are only allowed a kiss at the beginning and end of their visits and are always under the supervision of prison guards. Star regrets the fact that inmates with life sentences are not allowed conjugal visits. She states that “California lifers no longer get them,” and adds that if they were an option, “we’d be married by now.”

“Yeah, well, people can think I’m crazy,” she says. “But they don’t know. This is what’s right for me. This is what I was born for.”

Star hails from a town on the Mississippi River near St. Louis, where her deeply religious Baptist parents feared she’d lost her way (“I was smoking marijuana, eating mushrooms, not wanted to go to church every Sunday,” she explains). Although they probably should have sought some form of counseling, instead, they locked her in her room for most of her high school years. The turning point came when a friend gave her some of Manson’s environmental writing. Impressed, she started corresponding with him. Manson apparently reciprocated in kind and when Star was 19, with the help of $2,000 she’d saved up working in a retirement home kitchen, she hopped a train to Corcoran.

After meeting in person a few times, Manson named her Star. In his honor, she recently carved an X onto her forehead.

Many people have commented on the fact that Star bears a resemblance to former Manson Family member Susan Atkins. This does not please Manson’s young devoted admirer and she works hard to distinguish herself from Atkins who was incarcerated for her role in the Tate-LaBianca killings until her death in 2009.

“That bitch was fucking crazy,” Star told Rolling Stone. “She was a crazy fucking whore. ‘Oh Charlie, I did this for you.’ She didn’t know what she was doing.”

Star believes she can prove Manson is more devoted to her than any other girl. Who these other girls are is somewhat of a mystery. Are there a bunch of other Star-like devotees running around enchanted with the old misfit?

“I’ll tell you straight up, Charlie and I are going to get married,” she stated. “When that will be, we don’t know. But I take it very seriously. Charlie is my husband. Charlie told me to tell you this. We haven’t told anybody about that.”

Manson, however, in his typically cynical fashion, refused to corroborate Star’s impassioned statement. “Oh that,” he says. “That’s a bunch of garbage. You know that, man. That’s trash. We’re just playing that for public consumption.”

On another occasion he told Rolling Stone: “Star! She’s not a woman. She’s a star in the Milky Way!”

Star no doubt would disagree.

*     *     *     *     *

I find it disheartening that this misguidedly idealistic young woman carries a torch for the old devil. Had he even a modicum of basic decency, he would not be leading her on like this.

Click here to view our earlier Charles Manson post:

Charles Manson: Murderer, Scapegoat, Superstar

commentary by Patrick H. Moore

The Elliott Rodger massacre in Isla Vista, California is a shocking example of what can happen when an angry young man who conspicuously lacks the milk of human kindness runs amuck with a gun. The coastal California college town will never be the same and we – as a society – are floored by the fact that due to cutbacks, regulations, inertia and just plain bad luck, these disturbing incidents keep happening with numbing regularity.

The Rodger massacre was on Friday night. Two nights later and a continent away in Little Haiti, FLA, near Miami, two young high-spirited boys lie dead of gunshot wounds, not from any thorough-going malevolence on the part of the shooter, 14-year-old Stephen Odeus, but rather because the lad, in an act of wanton immaturity, pulled out a gun and shot his beloved brother, 16-year-old Stanley Blanc, because Stanley was adamant about wanting to borrow some of Stephen’s clothes for a dress-up event.

Immediately after shooting his brother, Stephen appeared to grasp the enormity of his mistake. In any event, he reportedly ran across the parking lot and shot himself, following his brother to wherever dead folks go.

Stephen and Stanley’s older brother, Mark Blanc, witnessed the double-barreled tragedy; in fact, in an attempt at peace-making, he initially broke up the fight but then it flared up again.

Lydia Warren of the Daily Mail writes:

He (Mark Blanc) then watched in horror as Stephen pulled out a gun and shot his brother once as they stood in the hallway…

Right before my eyes my brother just shot my other brother,’ Mark told CBS4.

‘You think it’s just going to be a regular fight,’ he added to WSVN. ‘Just the usual fight, you know, it’s about something small, and then it escalates into a death. It’s the world we live in.’

As is so often the case with gunshot wounds, the boys were rushed to a hospital but nothing could be done and they were pronounced dead.

Gaby Fleischman of CBS Miami writes that officials have stated that the shooting occurred just after 11 p.m. near NE 71^st Street and 2nd Avenue in Little Haiti.

“It started off as a small petty argument over clothes that escalated into a fight,” said Marc Blanc, the victims’ brother.

“Stanley wanted to wear Steven’s clothes, Steven didn’t want him to,” said Kedner Louis, a family friend.

 “Right before my eyes my brother just shot my other brother. I heard my second brother die because he shot himself.”

 ‘You never expect it to get to that point.”

Mark said that he had never seen his brother with a gun before and thinks he got it from a neighbor. He also said his mother has not stopped crying since the shootings.

Stephen Odeus was scheduled to graduate from Horace Mann Middle School in El Portal on Tuesday. No middle-schooler should die of a gunshot wound, even if it is self-inflicted.

Neighbors were shocked at the passing of the boys, whom they termed “inseparable”. The neighbors also pointed out that the boys had always been respectful young people and good neighbors.

On Monday evening, the community came together for a candle light vigil to remember the teenage brothers.

Two memorials with teddy bears and balloons were set up at the spots where the boy lives’ ended, and dozens of family members, friends and neighbors voiced their prayers.

“I feel like a part of me is missing.. they were like little brothers to me,” said Tyquane Williams, a friend of both boys. “I love Y’all, you will always be in my heart and I will never forget y’all.”

Marc Blanc said he feels grief and guilt and wishes he could have done more to help his brothers.

“I’ve been crying a lot. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and I want people to know, love your kids, love one another, don’t sweat the small stuff.”

*     *     *     *     *

Based on what is currently being reported, Stephen Odeus was far from a cruel or heartless child. He and his deceased brother Stanley Blanc appear to have been dedicated followers of fashion, which is normally probably better than obsessing on drugs or alcohol. Unfortunately, they got into what was apparently a very heated argument on Sunday evening over who was going to wear what.

If Stephen Odeus had not obtained the handgun from an unidentified source, both brothers would almost undoubtedly still be alive. Without the gun, Stephen’s hot-headed moment would have probably blown over. But he had the gun and as a result, both brothers are dead, and a mother’s heart is broken.

commentary by Patrick H. Moore

You are in for a few surprises if you take a gander at the art and antics of one of Merrie Old England’s hardest “hard men”, Charles Bronson (not ‘Death Wish’ Charles Bronson, the American actor). An artist known for his disturbing ‘crime art’ and a published author, Bronson is also one of Great Britain’s most famous living convicts.

Born Michael Gordon Peterson, he cut his teeth with petty crime before getting slapped with some serious time — seven years in 1974 for an armed robbery at a Post Office. He then began to make a name for himself as the freshest (and one of the scariest) bull goose loonies in Her Majesty’s Prison Service. Since first entering prison 40 long years ago, he has spent just four months out of custody and 36 of those years in solitary confinement.

According to Wikipedia, he is known for fighting both convicts and prison officers. Fiercely independent yet seemingly loyal to a select few, he has embarked on one-man rooftop protests. This original “problem prisoner” has been moved 120 times during his 36 years in custody. His original 7-year- stretch elongated into 14 years, before he was finally released on 30 October 1988. Apparently not the best candidate for a smooth transition to civilian life, Bronson spent only 69 days as a free man before getting attested again.

*     *     *     *     *

Now the man known as “the most violent prisoner in Britain” is back in the news because of a little dust-up he had with a dozen prison guards at Full Sutton HMP after he got bent badly out of shape after his team Hull lost to Arsenal 3-2 at Wembley on May 17^th.

Bronson’s recent antics have been passed on to posterity in the form of a letter he wrote to Ronnie Kray’s wife Kate Kray two days after the catastrophic defeat. In the letter, this intensely expressive man bemoans the slings and arrows of his outrageous fortune.

In the letter to Kate Kray, Bronson said the “rumble” with officers in riot gear left him with broken ribs. He explained that he had slathered on the Lurpak hoping that the grease would make it harder for them to restrain him.

Bronson, who is 61, wrote to Ms. Kray: “Not good news. I’ve had another rumble. This time with a dozen riot mob on the yard!”

The attack was very reminiscent of an earlier assault on 12 prison officers at Wakefield prison in 2010.

“Obviously I had my reasons and I’d sooner swallow teeth than my pride. Sadly I came off worst – got smashed up ribs.

“Life goes on Kate! You won’t hear me moan!”

The hard man went on: “It was sunny! A scorcher! Arsenal was playing Hull. I so wanted Hull to win, coz I’m Spurs.

“I got Lurpak and spread it on thick. Then a small cloud appeared.

“I swear I see Ron’s face. It was eerie. Go on son, let ’em have it!”

Bronson explains his vision in his letter: “I know the mind plays games in moments of mad events but it is still a comforting thought Ron’s still around. Made me feel happy. Safe! Double up for it!”

A “hard man” doesn’t get moved from prison to prison 120 times for being a peace-loving fellow, and the incident at Full Sutton jail in York came just months after Bronson was accused of attacking the governor of Woodhill prison for having had the cheek to criticize his artwork.

Bronson is due to go on trial on September 1 for the alleged attack on the Woodhill governor. He claims to have been offered a 1/3^rd discount on his sentence if he pleads out.

Assuming he’s guilty, which appears to be somewhat of a foregone conclusion, Bronson’s attack on the governor was triggered by His Excellency’s inflammatory claim that his style of art – his pictures often depict prison officers in violent scenes — was too aggressive.

In a heartfelt moment, Bronson admitted to Kate that he was mortified over the incident with the governor because it had upset his mother, Eira Peterson, who is 84.

Kate said: “Apparently he lost it and attacked the governor for saying his art was too explicit, too violent. He got put back in the cage and started drawing Easter bunnies instead of his usual disturbing pictures. But he is really upset that he’s upset his mum.

“I’d told him I was planning an auction of lots of Ron’s and Reggie’s stuff, so he said, ‘Can you put my drawings in auction to send my mum on holiday?’”

Kate is kindly selling nine of Bronson’s pictures, as well as a poem called Asylum, a statement about his art and a copy of an official complaint he made against the Prison Service in 2009 after his ­spectacles were allegedly stolen.

In one drawing, he stumps for “Kate Kray for Prime Minister”.

In another drawing, which depicts severed limbs, there is a note saying: “Remember me to Santa.”

In another Bronson relaxes on a sun-lounger on Blackpool beach with a bird and a speech bubble saying: “I’m sure that’s the Birdman of Broadmoor.”

And so it goes. Bronson is clearly no slouch as an artist and his chillingly entertaining work has been featured in exhibitions around the world.

Kate explained:

“I got to know Charlie through being married to Ron and included him when I was working on TV documentaries and books about Britain’s hardest villains.

“Of all the people I have interviewed, including murderers and maniacs, if you were to ask me, ‘Would you let Charles Bronson stay at your house overnight?’ I would say yes. It is testosterone-led with Charlie.

“Charlie has only two things to occupy him in his cage. His fitness regime and his art. If you keep a man in a cage for 36 years, then rattle that cage, be prepared, he’ll bite.”

Bronson’s talent is such that his surrealist pieces have sold for up to £1,000 and have been displayed in galleries across London. One of his pieces was briefly on display at Angel Tube Station.

“Come and join us on a journey into madness,” says his website. “But if you’re coming… bring a torch.”

*     *     *     *     *

Britain’s most violent prisoner clearly has a short fuse to go along with his considerable talent. His relative lucidity, combined with his artwork, despite spending most of 36 years in solitary confinement, is the stuff that legends are made of.

by Patrick H. Moore

Texas troopers in both the Dallas and the Houston areas have sunk to a new low (or perhaps it’s just standard procedure in that part of the country). In a pair of videos posted online, female state law enforcement officers are shown probing the genitals and anal regions of three women they claim to suspect of possessing marijuana. One of the women was pulled over for littering. The other two were stopped for speeding. In one of the videos, a woman is seen bent over and grimacing as an off-camera police officer conducts the search. Before one of the searches, a male officer explains to the “victim” that he is calling a female officer over to do the search“because I ain’t about to get up close and personal with your woman areas.”

In both videos, a male officer asks the women if they have any marijuana in the vehicle and the women state that they do not. The troopers, using the sort of “mind like a steel trap” logic that compromises their integrity, decide that the women must be lying. And if there’s no marijuana lying around in the car, it stands to reason that it must be concealed within the women’s bodily orifices. After all, everyone knows that a lot of women are cruising up and down the Texas highways with the “killer weed” hidden deep within.

In the case of the littering victim, the “trooper logic” probably went something like this:

“Okay. She threw something out the window. Must be drugs. Therefore she must have more drugs. And if the drugs aren’t in the car, they gotta be inside her.”

Now clearly, if you’re driving along the highway carrying weed, you’re not going to throw it out the window just for the fun of it. People carrying weed usually want to hang on to it long enough to smoke it or hand it off to somebody else. They don’t want to just throw it away.

“Wait,” you say. “Perhaps she tossed it after she noticed the tell-tale red light flashing. She didn’t want to get caught with it.”

“Well then,” I say, “if that’s the case, the weed wouldn’t still be in one of her “cavities,” would it?”

Never mind, the troopers were certain that there was weed inside the women. I’m not sure if they were certain“beyond a reasonable doubt” or were merely going by Vegas odds, but they were pretty darned sure it was there. So they called in the female troopers to perform the searches.

In one of the videos, just before conducting her search of one woman’s genitals, the female officer informs the victim that if she“hid something in there, we’re going to find it.”

And it must be noted that in all three cases, the female trooper conducting the search used the same gloved finger to search both the victim’s anus and her vagina.

And although it nearly a moot point, it must be stated that all of this supremely invasive effort turned up not so much as a gram of the killer weed.

*     *     *     *     *

Although police do have broad latitude to search a vehicle when they have probable cause to believe that they will uncover contraband inside it, there is no legal precedent that extends this right to searching the suspects’ intimate parts. The Supreme Court held in a 2009 decision regarding a student who was strip searched by school administrators:

“Both subjective and reasonable societal expectations of personal privacy support the treatment of such a search as categorically distinct, requiring distinct elements of justification on the part of school authorities for going beyond a search of outer clothing and belongings.”

Admittedly, the Supreme Court’s decision rested in part upon factors specific to that case, such as the youth of the person subject to the search. Nevertheless, the Court stressed the fact that the authorities had no “reason to suppose that [the student] was carrying pills in her underwear.” This means that if officials want to conduct an unusually intrusive search into a suspect’s  private areas, they must have a case-specific reason to believe that contraband will be found in those private areas. And as I’ve suggested above, it’s very doubtful that Texas troopers had any valid reason to truly believe that the three women searched in these videos were carrying marijuana in their body-cavities.

According to the New York Daily News, one of the officers involved in these incidents, Jennie Bui, was fired on June 29. Another officer, Trooper Kelley Helleson was also fired and charged with two counts of sexual assault. Two of the other officers are believed to be under suspension.

Click on this link for an in-depth discussion of this case and its aftermath.

by BJW Nashe

American Psycho as a stage musical? Twenty years ago, if you had tried to turn Bret Easton Ellis’s satirical slasher novel into a glitzy musical production, people would have thought you were mad — nearly as psycho as the maniac in the book. In fact, you simply would have been thinking too far ahead. Sometimes it takes a while for the scandals du jour to morph into tomorrow’s entertainment. Now it seems the time is ripe for Ellis’s serial killer to sing. One of the most hated characters ever created — homicidal stockbroker Patrick Bateman — is the star of a slick new musical in London, playing to sell-out crowds at the Almeida Theatre.

Whether this is a good thing or not depends on one’s point of view. When Hollywood took a stab at American Psycho in 2000, with a carefully crafted big screen adaptation directed by Mary Harron, the film raised interesting questions about literature, entertainment, commerce, and crime. These same questions are even more relevant for the musical version. No matter what the medium — text, film, stage drama — it’s easy to get seduced by the sensationalized plot synopsis: a Wall Street investment banker leads a double life as a sexually deranged serial killer. American Psycho is not primarily concerned with either banking or murder, though. The story’s main focus is the dehumanizing nature of mass consumer culture. Whether this can be adequately conveyed in a popular entertainment form such as a musical is debatable.

First, some information about this deadly extravaganza in London. The production has a fair amount of creative heft behind it. It is directed by Rupert Goold, who has garnered acclaim for his work with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, English National Opera and Chichester Festival. The largely electronic musical score — performed on synthesizers and drum machines — is the work of Duncan Sheik, who has had previous success with the show Spring Awakening. The script was written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, whose stage and screen credits include Glee, the recent remake of Carrie, and the Broadway spectacular Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark. Matt Smith, from the BBC’s global hit Dr. Who, stars in the leading role as Patrick Bateman.

On the whole, Londoners have to admit that, by Jove, American Psycho is a bloody hit. The show is sold out for the duration of its run at the Almeida, which lasts through February. Reviews have been mixed, however. The Guardian’s four-star review states that the show “works superbly,” and goes on to praise Rupert Goold’s “stylish production, Duncan Sheik’s music and lyrics and Matt Smith’s beautifully defined performance as the deluded hero.” Variety disagrees, claiming that, “Beneath the highly polished surface there’s little drama or, crucially, danger.” The Telegraph is flat-out merciless, calling the production “glib, heartless and pretentious.” Critic Charles Spencer writes: “You could sense the audience lapping up this empty mixture of ironic style and sudden moments of violence.”

The dissenting voices, however, are nothing compared to the cries of protest that greeted the novel’s appearance in 1991. American Psycho started causing trouble even before it was published. When word leaked out in early 1991 that Simon and Schuster had dropped the book at the last minute due to “aesthetic differences,” rumors spread that Ellis had created a monster. When the “monster” was subsequently released by Vintage Books, the press smelled blood in the water. Serious discussion of the novel’s literary merits were largely drowned out by denunciations of the book and its author for allegedly glorifying violence and misogyny. All of this attention proved to be a double-edged sword for Ellis. No doubt the controversy provided a ton of free publicity, which gave sales a definite boost. Yet he found himself attacked and demonized in the press for months on end, and even received several death threats.

Those who condemned the novel on moral grounds were missing a crucial point. Convicted murderer Paul Bernardo may have claimed during his trial that American Psycho was his “bible,” but the book is anything but a celebration of violence and murder. Patrick Bateman’s acts of rape, torture, and mutilation are never presented as “entertainment.” We are never meant to view him in a positive light. We are never meant to empathize with him as we do with the fully rounded characters who inhabit most realistic fiction. Nor are we led to approach Bateman’s transgressions in terms of psychology or criminology. It is a mistake to approach American Psycho the same way we view a thriller such as The Silence of the Lambs, for instance. Ellis is treating this material in a more detached, conceptual manner in order to engage in sharp social satire.

The satirical thrust of American Psycho is directed toward the hollowness of consumerism. The main subject of the novel is not murder. The murders simply serve to illustrate the seriousness of the book’s main theme, which is commodification. In fact, the number of pages in the book devoted to physical violence are relatively few — twenty or thirty pages in all. In contrast, we have over three hundred pages of relentless, pitch-black comedy that serves to ridicule and eviscerate crass materialism. This is skillfully achieved through Patrick Bateman’s stream-of-consumer-consciousness narration, which dwells obsessively on the products and commodities that dominate his existence.

In page after page of the book, Bateman describes his affluent daily life, all the while detailing the name brands and prices associated with clothing, accessories, home decor, cars, health products, food, restaurants and nightclubs, drugs, etc. Everything is a product that comes with a price and serves as a status symbol. This includes people, who are viewed as objects of repulsion or desire, as pieces of meat that may or may not have value based entirely on appearances. People are appraised based on their “net worth.” Bateman and his peers evaluate each other based on their business cards and their expensive suits. Women are sized up for sexual desirability. Homeless people out on the street are treated like worthless pieces of garbage. Bateman’s own health and fitness regimen — the workouts, the manicures, the facials — are evidence of narcissistic self-commodification.

In this context, Bateman’s horrific killing spree — not to mention the psychic violence of his racist, sexist, and pornographic ranting — is not simply an aberration. It is treated as a logical culmination of living in a consumer culture gone haywire. Ellis is showing us, in graphic detail, that the end result of all this branding and marketing and buying and selling is total dehumanization.

One can argue that Ellis has overstated the case. Even the greediest and most materialistic consumers are rarely turned into sadistic murderers. Yet the question of their dehumanization remains. Has the never-ending parade of pure products led us all to become fundamentally dead inside? Are we incapable of treating others with dignity and respect? Are we habituated to violence and exploitation? Ellis’s novel is exaggerated and over-the-top for a reason. By forcing the issue and pushing his character to such extremes, he hopes we as readers will be inspired to question our own relationship to the worst aspects of rampant consumerism. His novel is best seen as a form of shock therapy. American Psycho, oddly enough, is in this sense a very morally-driven book.

The moral concern arose out of a deeply personal crisis, rather than a class in sociology. After distancing himself from his most incendiary work for the past two decades, Ellis has recently been speaking more openly about his experience writing American Psycho. As a successful, wealthy young author in the 1980s, whose first book Less Than Zero had catapulted him to instant fame, Ellis started losing his bearings. In a July 2010 interview with The California Chronicle, Ellis explained:

“[Bateman] was crazy the same way [I was]. He did not come out of me sitting down and wanting to write a grand sweeping indictment of yuppie culture. It initiated because of my own isolation and alienation at a point in my life. I was living like Patrick Bateman. I was slipping into a consumerist kind of void that was supposed to give me confidence and make me feel good about myself but just made me feel worse and worse and worse about myself. That is where the tension of American Psycho came from. It wasn’t that I was going to make up this serial killer on Wall Street. High concept. Fantastic. It came from a much more personal place, and that’s something that I’ve only been admitting in the last year or so. I was so on the defensive because of the reaction to that book that I wasn’t able to talk about it on that level.”

No doubt there is irony involved in delivering an anti-consumerist message in the form of a novel. Novels are commodities, after all. But novels are perhaps better suited to a counter-cultural stance than are blockbuster films and glitzy musicals. The latter are typically marketed as pure entertainment, and tend to operate right at ground zero deep inside our mainstream consumer culture. Thus, when I think of a well-dressed, well-fed crowd forking over serious English pounds to see a fit and well-toned Matt Smith take the stage as Patrick Bateman, wearing nothing but tight white underpants as he croons along to Eighties style synth-pop — well, I have to wonder whether somebody has lost the plot here. Is this really an effective way to capture Ellis’s sense of “slipping into a consumerist kind of void?” Maybe so. Maybe the Glee approach is the best way to get at the heart of soullessness. But I’m not so sure. In fact, I’m confused. When I read that American Psycho is “non-stop materialism set to song,” I can’t help but cringe. Same goes for descriptions of Bateman performing “a sexual threesome with a large pink teddy bear,” or singing an “ode to business cards,” or performing aerobics dance routines offset by the high-tech sheen of stunning set designs. Meanwhile the brutality of treating people as things, and the bloody spectacle of the murders, are downplayed so as not to get in the way of the “fun.”

But the show is a sell-out, and it’s making cash money, so no one is likely to get hung up over something as academic as “commodification.” If Brad Pit and Angelina Jolie decided to perform semi-nude interpretive readings of Karl Marx at a fancy supper club, and charged five hundred bucks per ticket, that might sell out too. And everyone would be happy.

commentary by Patrick H. Moore

When you live in the USA, as many of us do, you live with the realization that American sentimentality is a powerful, and sometimes, corrosive force.

I mean, check it out trumpet fanfare! People are even sentimental about the Civil War. My beloved niece and her husband play Civil War games. They design apparently authentic clothes from that era which they wear proudly at their retreats. North vs. South, brother vs. brother, and a great good time is had by all. But don’t think I’m knocking it. Hell, I’m sentimental too only it’s the Revolutionary War that I get off on. Though I got over carrying my flintlock around on my shoulder by the age of 11…

Now we hear that the hot town of McAlester, OKLA, is waxing nostalgically over “Old Sparky”, its faithful electric chair that it last used in 1966.

Or rather I should say that the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, which sits within the city limits, last used the “hotseat” in 1966. According to Wikipedia, Oklahomans sometimes refer to the state prison simply as “Big Mac” or “McAlester,” and the town is referenced in that manner in the opening pages of Steinbeck’s  The Grapes of Wrath when Tom Joad is released from there. The prison features an “inside the walls” prison rodeo from which ESPN’s SportsCenter once broadcast. That was perhaps on one of its better days. The prison was also the site of a 1973 riot that lasted for days and is generally regarded as one of the worst in American prison history.

Although the city of McAlester is very eager to gain custody of Old Sparky, the state is dragging its feet because it thinks they need to hang onto the old relic just in case it needs to put in a guest appearance as an execution machine.

John Johnson of Newser writes:

It is one of the craziest custody disputes you could imagine. A city in Oklahoma wants the state to give it back “Old Sparky,” an electric chair last used about 50 years ago. McAlester officials want to put it on display as a piece of history. But the state says it’s keeping Old Sparky in storage, just in case the relic needs to be fired up again. “That would be possible,” a state DOC spokesperson tells the McAlester News-Capital. Old Sparky had its heyday from 1915 to 1966, when it was used to execute 82 inmates at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.

It now sits mothballed in a state facility, as the city and the DOC bicker over who owns it.

And don’t think that the state is just coming out of left field with this hardline position. Oh no, Legal Execution is a serious business in those states that make it their business to legally executes some of its inmates with disturbing regularity.

The McAlester News-Capital cites a letter from the DOC to the city in 2010 in which it explains why the state needed to keep the chair. “In the event our lethal injection protocol is ruled unconstitutional, the electric chair must be used by the state as the back-up method of execution.” That position might have seemed far-fetched at the time, but given the fact that the Sooner state’s botched lethal execution of inmate Clayton Lockett in April is now under review, whoever crafted the letter back in 2010 now seems like a genius.

And keep in mind that the nearby Volunteer state, Tennessee, just voluntarily brought back its electric chair.

All of this is duly noted, says McAlester’s mayor, Steve Harrison, in a conversation with the Guardian, but he is downright dubious about Old Sparky.

“That chair has not been used since 1966. My assumption would be if it ever got to the point the electric chair was needed again they would start with a new one.” (Click to read about how lawmakers elsewhere prefer the return of the firing squad.)

I know next to nothing about Mayor Harrison, but he does have a very good point about the need to – in the event a “hotseat” execution is scheduled in the Dustbowl  state – get a new freakin’ electric chair. I mean do we really want a repeat performance of earlier botched “hotseat” executions. For example, consider the death by electrocution of William Kemmler, in Auburn Prison in Buffalo, New York in 1890. Sure, it was a long time ago, but it’s foolhardy to deny that Old Sparky is also a little long in the tooth. A few months ago, Darcia Helle described William Kemmler’s ill-fated grand finale in her post, “The Electric Chair: An Infamous and Agonizing History.”

On August 6, 1890, William Kemmler made history at Auburn Prison in Buffalo, New York. A group of doctors and reporters gathered anxiously to watch the historic event. Kemmler was strapped into the electric chair and jolted with 1,300 volts of electricity for 17 seconds. Just as the group was about to celebrate their success, someone yelled, “Oh my God! He’s breathing!” The warden immediately ordered the current to be restarted. A full two minutes passed while they waited for the charge to reach the full 2,000 volts of electricity. All the while Kemmler’s chest continued to heave as he gasped for breath, frothed at the mouth, and moaned. Finally, Kemmler was given another 70 seconds of electricity. He thrashed and convulsed in the chair, as the electrodes seared his head and arms and the room filled with the acrid smell of burning flesh. His body began to smolder, then caught fire. Some witnesses fainted, while others fled from the room in desperation to escape. In the end, the state-sanctioned “humane” murder turned into several minutes of torture. The autopsy later revealed the electrode that had been attached to Kemmler’s back had burned all the way through to his spine.

*     *     *     *     *

You know what they say about the “best laid plans…” Personally, if I was to be a designated victim of state-sanctioned execution, I would use every ounce of persuasive power I could muster to convince them to line me up before the firing squad. If you must go, go nobly, and, at the risk of stating the obvious, there’s nothing noble about hanging (strangling), the “hotseat” (frying), or lethal injection. Whereas, it must be admitted, that if a man or woman can bravely face the firing squad and await his/her allotment of hot lead with equanimity, then that dude/lady has indeed shown real courage at the final reckoning.

by Lise LaSalle

On the evening of June 5, 2011, everything was going well for Latavia Taylor. She had just moved into a new apartment in a character building in Minneapolis and her friend, CeCe McDonald, was the best roommate she could have asked for. They were close and got along so well that they referred to each other as cousins.

“If I am hungry, she will bring something to eat,” Taylor says of McDonald. “If I don’t have no clothes, no shoes, she will buy it.”

That very night, CeCe and Latavia were entertaining three of their friends: Larry Tyaries Thomas (Ty), Zavawn Smith (Zay) and Roneal Harris. They barbecued in the backyard and according to Ty Thomas, lounged around chillin’, drinking and smoking.

At around 11:30 p.m., Latavia suggested they walk to Cub Foods to grab a bite.

The store was little more than a half-mile from the apartment: a right out the door, a quick left on 29th Street, and another right along Minnehaha Avenue would bring them to the parking lot shared by Cub Foods and Target.

CeCe McDonald, who was a transgender woman of color, accompanied her four friends to the store. As they neared Cub Foods, they began to hear catcalls coming from a group of white people standing outside a local bar.

This came as no surprise to CeCe who had often been the object of that type of uncivilized behavior. According to CeCe’s’s friend, Ty Thomas, the taunting grew very ugly and became racist in nature with homophobic slurs.

In a move hard to comprehend, McDonald decided to confront her tormentors. In the altercation that followed, a woman named Molly Shannon Flaherty smashed a glass across CeCe’s face, slicing her severely.  The rest of the story is murky, but what is known is that in the midst of the fight that ensued, Flaherty’s former boyfriend, Dean Schmitz, ended up dead with a pair of scissors planted in his chest.

Gary Gilbert worked security at the Schooner Tavern and he called 911 to get help. All he could see and say was “Black lady with a knife.” Meanwhile, Dean Schmitz was laying on the sidewalk in front of the bar looking seriously injured.

When the 911 operator asked for a description of the culprit, Gilbert followed the suspect as she fled the scene. He described her as wearing shorts. She had a weave, was 5’7’’ or 5’8’’ and appeared to be heading towards Target.

A man named Anthony Stoneburg happened to be in the area visiting his aunt when he stumbled upon the bloody scene. Schmitz’s stab wound was ¾ inch long and was at least three inches deep and had punctured his heart. Stoneburg tried his best to help Schmitz whose breathing was labored and to stop the bleeding.

Molly Flaherty was kneeling beside Schmitz and could be heard trying to comfort him. He died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

In the meantime, Minneapolis officers had found their suspect in the parking lot of Cub Foods across from Schooner Tavern. In fact, she is the one who flagged down the officers as soon as she spotted them. As a 23-year-old woman who had studied fashion at the local Community College, CeCe did not have the look or the attitude of a dangerous killer. Nor did she have any previous history of violence.

Nothing about this case would turn out to be as it appeared.

In the 11 months following Schmitz’s death, the details about that night were repeated countless times to police, lawyers, journalists, politicians and protestors. The facts remained quite constant but the huge debate surrounding the case remained: Who is the protagonist and who is the villain?

McDonald was accused of Schmitz’s murder even though she insisted that it was a case of self-defence. Apparently, he had approached her in a threatening manner and had ignored her warnings to back away. She was convicted of second-degree manslaughter and sentenced to 41 months in prison which she served at a men’s facility. According to some activists, this was a violation of the 2003 Prison Rape Elimination Act

“I’m sure that to Dean’s family, he was a loving, caring person,’’ McDonald told the Court at her sentencing hearing, according to the Star Tribune. “But that is not what I saw that night. I saw a racist, transphobic, narcissistic bigot who did not have any regard for my friends and I.’’

McDonald’s supporters were outraged after it was revealed that Schmitz had a lengthy criminal record and ties to white power organizations. Advocates repeatedly called for the charges against CeCe to be dropped, but the prosecutor proceeded with the case.

Her supporters declared her a victim of a brutal attack and balked at her being charged with any crime. To some, she became some kind of hero, a transgender Matthew Shepard, who was the young man who was tied to a fence and murdered because he was gay.

“This could have been any of us,” says Billy Navaro, a transgender man and co-founder of Support CeCe, an advocacy group for McDonald. “She wasn’t asking for any trouble whatsoever. She was going to the grocery store with her family.”

Even City Councilman Cam Gordon publicly announced his support for McDonald, calling the incident “another example of transgender women of color being targeted for hate-and-bias-related violence.”

National transgender celebrities, including author and activist Leslie Fineberg, traveled to Minneapolis to visit McDonald in jail and attend her court appearances. Supporters held rallies and dance parties outside the Hennepin County Jail in her honor.

But Hennepin County Attorney Michael Freeman did not consider McDonald a hero. He insisted that the case was unfairly politicized and that the fact that McDonald is a transgender was inconsequential.

 “We see all kinds of crime by all sorts of people against all sorts of other people,” said Freeman. “We try to review it as racially blind, as sexual-orientation blind, as economically blind as we can be. The scales of justice have got a blindfold on them for a reason, and we try to follow that.”

Could the tragedy that took place in front of the Schooner Tavern on the night of June 5, 2011, have been more about bad timing than a homophobic/racist incident? Was it a chance meeting between two very different people that was bound to explode?

In January 2014, McDonald was granted an early release from prison after serving two-thirds of her sentence. Advocacy groups welcomed the news but continue to call for better legal protections for the LGBT community which is often victimized by hate crimes.

The case “reinforced the belief there is a double standard applied to us. CeCe was trying to defend herself from hate violence. The charges against her did not fit the crime,” Transgender Law Center senior strategist Cecilia Chung told a reporter.

*     *     *     *     *

•  In 2006, four New Jersey African-American lesbian and gender-non-conforming women were sent to prison for between three-and-a-half and 11 years for defending themselves against a man who sexually propositioned them and subsequently choked and spat on them, pulled out their hair, and threatened to sexually assault them. The women are known among LGBT advocates as the “New Jersey 4.”

• On December 5, 2013, Betty Skinner, a 52-year-old disabled transgender woman, was found dead in her Cleveland assisted-living facility. She had been beaten severely and died of blunt force trauma to the head.

• Nearby, less than a day later, a 22-year-old transgender woman named Brittany Nicole Kidd Stergis was found shot to death in her car.

The murders were the second and third killings of transgender women in Cleveland in 2013. In April, Cemia “CeCe” Dove, 20, was found tied to a concrete block at the bottom of a Cuyahoga County pond.

Police told the Cleveland Plain Dealer that the crimes didn’t appear to be related, and neither was deemed a hate crime. But Aaron Eckhardt of the Buckeye Region Anti-Violence Organization, which fights LGBT discrimination, states, “It’s hard to believe otherwise.”

On August 16, 2013, lslan Nettles was walking on the streets of New York City with friends when a group of young men approached her, learned she was a transgender woman, and began taunting and maliciously beating her in front of a police precinct in Harlem.

The fashion design student with delicate features was punched in the face, knocked to the ground and beaten until she lost consciousness.

“They were called f****, they were called he-she’s, she males, things of that nature,” Nettles’ mother told a local reporter.

Islan Nettles fell into a coma she would never awake from. She died after being taken off of life support at the tender age of 21. Her assailant, Paris Wilson, was booked on a misdemeanor assault charge and freed on $2,000 bail. The charges against Wilson were subsequently dropped as the prosecution did not have clear evidence that he was the one who had committed the crime. Even though he was identified by several witnesses at the scene, Judge Statsinger and the prosecutors were not satisfied with this witness identification.

The site of the violence, near a police station, highlights a startling increase in hate crimes against the LGBT community, and what some view as a historic lack of police empathy or interest.

In January 2014, a 16-year-old high school transgender student in Hercules, Calif., Jewelyes Gutierrez, was brought up on battery charges by local authorities for defending herself against bullies at her school. None of her assailants have been charged.

Local law enforcement isn’t commenting on Gutierrez’s case — but in Minneapolis, officials have been consistent in their contention that McDonald is a criminal. Some say she has paid a debt to society that she didn’t owe, while others perceive her punishment as having been too light.

McDonald could have easily been sentenced to twenty-five years and her 41 month sentence was judged as very reasonable by many members of the public. Her advocates, however, would not have any of it — especially after finding out that Molly Flaherty, who was nicknamed the “Black Widow’, was a meth head and a troublemaker with a record. Schmitz, who is survived by one child, also had a criminal background.

I would like to think that Molly Flaherty and her friends realize that their outrageously abusive behavior contributed to the death of their friend. Slashing someone’s face can only entice violence. But I also believe that McDonald and her group, despite the many aggravating factors, had no business confronting these losers. If they had walked away, none of this would have happened. Was CeCe really only defending herself against her assailant? If so, she should not have been charged, but it was not a clear cut case.

At trial, McDonald said that they tried to walk away but that Flaherty would not let them. Gary Gilbert recalled that McDonald appeared to be holding a blade, while Schmitz had his fists clenched. According to a witness, Schmitz said to McDonald “you gonna stab me, you bitch?” Schmitz then hunched over, put his hand to his chest and said “you stabbed me,” to which McDonald allegedly replied, “Yes I did.”

Molly Flaherty was charged in May 2012 with second-degree assault with a deadly weapon and third-degree assault causing substantial bodily harm. Her case was referred to the Washington County Attorney’s Office to avoid a conflict of interest. She was subsequently sentenced to six months jail time to be followed by probation.

The case of beautiful Islan Nettles is unequivocally one of unprovoked attack leading to death, as opposed to McDonald’s case. And the perpetrator walked. In my opinion, she is a more suitable poster girl for transgender injustice than CeCe. I have no doubt that many members of the LGBT community are not out of the woods and are still at risk. But as far as McDonald goes, I am not convinced of her total lack of responsibility in the tragedy.

What do you think?

crime novel review by Lori

We all know there is an overload of high quality mystery and detective novels out there for anyone who loves the genre. Sometimes, it’s next to impossible to decide what to read next.  My new solution to the problem is too simply read crime novels by Darcia Helle.  I just finished her book Hit List which kept me fascinated from beginning to end. This is an author who should not be missed.

Hit List is the story of a P.I. named Lucianna Martel.  She is everything you would expect in a strong female lead character, but in Darcia’s hands, she is also very human and even vulnerable at times.  Don’t let her softer side fool you; I would trust her to solve the case every time.

Lucianna employs her Uncle Vinnie as her office manager.  A military veteran and former police officer, Vinnie’s skill set is far more than merely that of a receptionist.

As the story begins, Lucianna is a professional who seems content with her business as well as her independent personal life.  Living alone with her cat, who absolutely exudes personality without ever speaking, there is no sense of her missing out on anything. At least, until Lucianna meets Ian.

Ian McCormick is a contractor/carpenter who doesn’t even know if he needs a P.I., but is willing to give it a shot. His mother, Corinne, has recently gone insane. Non compos mentis! At least she seems to be certifiable and Ian is barely managing. It’s one thing to work for a living but working and caring for a deranged mom is more than Ian can handle.  Going to an investigator feels like a last ditch effort to try to understand where and how his mother’s mind went off the rails, and if it can be restored.  So Ian hires Lucianna to try and get to the bottom of things.

Although we as readers feel the instant attraction between Ian and Lucianna, the author develops the characters with skill and patience, until it feels right for them to connect personally.

Unraveling the fact that a normal, functioning woman of 48 years has lost her mind in one day is no easy task, but Luciana is determined to break the case.  Early on we discover that even though Corinne really is crazy, there is much more to the story. We want to know what, and who and why.  Darcia does not disappoint.  She unveils the layers of her mystery with considerable skill. Each interlocking piece falls into place at just the right time to keep you reading.  The descriptions are vivid; Darcia is an expert at showing, not telling.  As readers, we are allowed to eavesdrop on what the characters are saying. Their speech is not unlike our own which adds to the overall believability. The imagery can be almost too strong; at times, I felt like closing my eyes during particularly wrenching passages.

The perspective shifts throughout the book from one character to another; even minor characters get their chance to be heard.  Theses shifts in perspective were seamless and felt entirely natural. Needless to say, only a talented writer can pull this off.

Perhaps surprisingly, I felt sympathy, or maybe even empathy, for the villains; they are also human in Darcia’s world.  I wanted them to lose but I felt their pain strongly as their fortunes unwound. Looking inside the head of someone who has lost their marbles is uncomfortable, to say the least, but felt strangely normal in Hit List, at least in the case of Corinne. The reader wants to delve deeply into her mind, but can’t, because she can’t.

Despite her insanity, we can see the person she really is and that person is witty, strong and intelligent. Referring to her psychiatrist as “Dr. Hartley” (AKA Bob Newhart) appears to be just one more piece of crazy on the outside, but becomes hilarious as we strive to get into her head.  We also root for Lucianna and Ian to connect; the author presents us with two realistic and very “human” human beings.

As the story moves forward, the author gives us poignant glimpses into how the lives of these characters came to overlap. The good guys are flawed and the bad guys are not evil incarnate, but they come close, they are really bad. What began as the straight-forward desire to understand what caused Corinne to lose her mind, evolves into a fast-paced, multi-layered plot that keeps you guessing.  The old adage, “just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you”, is all part of the fun.  Nothing is predictable in this journey of discovery.

I hope Lucianna and Vinnie reappear in future stories, but for now I will see what treasures Darcia has in store for me in her other books. With the ease of ordering books at the touch of a button in our high-tech world, it can be a daunting task to sort out the real gems.  I am so pleased to have found a new (to me) author, and I can’t wait to see what else she has up her very talented sleeves.

Click here to view Darcia Helle’s crime novel, Hit List.

Darcia Helle lives in a fictional world with a husband who is sometimes real. Their house is ruled by spoiled dogs and cats and the occasional dust bunny.

Suspense, random blood splatter and mismatched socks consume Darcia’s days. She writes because the characters trespassing through her mind leave her no alternative. Only then are the voices free to haunt someone else’s mind.

Join Darcia in her fictional world: www.QuietFuryBooks.com

The characters await you.

by Patrick H. Moore

Is Karla Homolka the most hated women in North America? It’s hard to think of any other female who evokes the utter loathing that is directed at Homolka from journalists, bloggers, and commentators online.  This would appears to set her apart from other serial killers, whether male or female, or solo practitioners or part of a deadly duo. Most serial killers, although objects of interest, are not utterly despised by those who follow them. True fiends such as Jeffrey Dahmer or John Wayne Gacy are the subject of thousands of internet searches daily by readers who are fascinated by the dark recesses of the criminal mind.  Here at All Things Crime Blog we get daily referrals from “surfers” trolling the Internet for fresh insights into the psyche of the deadly Mr. Dahmer, often in the middle of the night. When I go to sleep, I chuckle to myself knowing that in the morning when I “hit the blog running” I will discover that — sure enough — the Dahmer people have made their faithful nocturnal courtesy calls. I thank them and I think I understand them. There is something so eerily creepy about Dahmer that you just can’t get enough of him.

But I don’t believe that most of the individuals that make up Team Dahmer loathe and despise the man. Rather, I believe that they — for the most part — are entertained and fascinated by Dahmer, whose mere existence (he lives on in infamy) raises endless questions about the dark inner reaches of the human mind. In the final analysis, like life and death, he remains an eternal mystery. And, to top it off, Jeffrey had his fetishes — his skulls, his body parts, his specimen jars, his penchant for necrophilia; he was what back in the day was called: “A Real Sick Puppy.” And some of us can’t help — at a certain level — feeling some degree of sympathy for the “poor devil.”

Well, such is not the case with Karla Homolka. Although she and Paul Bernardo were apparently only responsible for the rape, torture and death of three Canadian schoolgirls (including of course Karla’s sister Tammy, whom they drugged and both raped), based on the hatred she evinces, you would think the number was much higher. The loathing is deep and visceral. It is felt by Canadians and Americans; it is shared by “regular folks” and the press alike.

For example, when All Things Crime Blog recently posted an article on Karla and subsequently canvassed some of the Canadian bloggers and message board posters who write frequently about Homolka, we received numerous responses which indicate just how raw the Karla Homolka wound remains for many Canadians.  Here is one particularly interesting response:

I am, however, far too familiar with the type of woman Karla is, and with the way they think. People – particularly men from what I’ve been reading – constantly under-evaluate their danger and malice (and malevolence) and make excuses for them.

After all, if she went through all of this only to have a sexual affair in prison with Gerbet, really just how naive and innocent was she in the first place?

But really, if you’re looking for vetting of any articles on her, I’d suggest you might want to run them by the crime reporters who covered the trial. They have a major bee in their bonnet about her to this very day – every single one of them. No matter the article, you can just feel the sense of disgust, dismay, and injustice whenever the subject of Karla comes up for any of them. They’re all award-winning writers who are extremely skilled at what they do. The fact that every one of them remains so disturbed all these years later should tell us something.

Heck, even though she’d been a crime reporter for some time at that point, Patricia Pearson was so knocked off balance by what she learned at that trial that she wrote a book to get it out of her system. Christie Blatchford and Rosie DiManno still write about her her often, with a level of pain and sadness and anger that seems little diminished from when they first covered the trials.

Patricia Pearson also writes eloquently on the Homolka case.

See also the “proboards.com” Homolka-Bernardo discussion group.

In Rosie DiMannio’s 2012 article, in which she describes how journalist Paula Todd tracked Karla down in Guadeloupe where she is living with her husband and three children, the journalist pens this revealing passage:

Any insights culled from this exchange must come from Todd. She is the one who witnessed Homolka interacting with husband and children, at one point arching her back and assuming a sultry pose as she breastfeeds her baby.

 That’s the Karla Homolka those of us who saw her home sex movies in court will remember, a frankly carnal and lascivious creature, a predator without an ounce of conscience. That breast, now suckling a child, is familiar, as are all Homolka’s intimate body parts.

 She was a succubus.

 She is a killer.

 It’s not a story she’ll tell her kids, tucking them in at night. But they’ll learn of it, someday.

To me, this is a little strange: Did Karla, when observed by Paula Todd, really “arch her back and assume a sultry pose as she breastfeeds her baby?” Could there be a bit of poetic license informing Paula Todd’s fine writing? But far be it from me as a male observer to speculate on what women feel or do as they breastfeed their babies. But what we can certainly gather from this is the fact that dedicated followers of the Homolka-Bernardo schoolgirl murders truly loathe Karla.  I get the impression that some of the “haters” would love nothing more than to be given the opportunity to get in the ring with Karla and beat her to a bloody pulp, or maybe do even worse things. But now I’m getting carried away.

But be that as it may, the fact of the matter is that many apparently perfectly normal people TRULY HATE KARLA HOMOLKA with a hatred that is deep, visceral and unrelenting.

So what fuels this?

As an American who only heard about this case fairly recently, but is developing a mounting interest in it, it seems useful to discuss some of the observations that fuel this unrelenting distaste:

Justice Has Not Been Served

Homolka served 12 years for manslaughter and was released in 2005.  The relatively light sentence reflects a plea bargain which became known in Canada as the “Deal with the Devil”, in large part because of the perception that Homolka minimized her participation in negotiating the plea bargain — only to have the true extent of her involvement revealed when video tapes of the sexual crimes, not available to the authorities at the time of the plea bargain, were disclosed and showed Karla a willing participant.  Subsequent analysis showing that Karla had revealed the full extent of her participation in the assaults on her sister, Leslie Mahaffey, and Kristen French does not seem to have done much to diminish the outrage on this count.

The Theory That Karla Was the Real Murderer

The theory that Karla, not Paul Bernardo, was the actual murderer who took the lives of the victims is one that has gained significant traction among many.  Trish Wood writes in some detail about the theory and its proponents in The Case Against Karla Homolka.  In it, she cites FBI profiler Candice Skrapec, and Dr. Vincent Dimaio.  Skrapec watched hundreds of hours of Homolka interrogation and interviews and came to the conclusion that sexual sadist Bernardo was only half a psychopathic equation — and that Homolka was afflicted with “malignant narcissism” which likely drove her to kill.

“This personality cannot tolerate humiliation. It is capable of destroying others in the service of meeting its ego needs.” In Skrapec’s view, Homolka would have had no tolerance for anyone who she thought might take her rightful place at the side of Bernardo. . . .

Under this theory, Bernardo was essentially a garden variety rapist who extended his rape activities to include the sexual enslavement of French and Mahaffey — but was not the killer.  It was Karla who really called the shots and performed the ultimate loathsome deeds.

Karla is Strangely Without Affect and Is Unrepentant

In her interrogation videos and in her testimony, it was remarked that Karla was strangely without “affect” or animation, and even after being released back into society, she has never apologized to the victims’ families or otherwise demonstrated that she is in any serious way repentant.  Indeed, while in prison she engaged in a sexual relationship with a murderer not altogether different from Paul Bernardo, further cementing the notion that she had gamed the system and was flaunting that fact to anyone paying attention.

It’s a Canadian Thing

Americans have long ago adjusted to the idea that there are lunatic Americans who will occasionally surface and wreak mayhem, and when they do, we do not feel our national identity threatened.  Not so in Canada, where crimes of this sort are rare — and this crime in particular rankles because the perpetrators in essence masqueraded as clean-cut, good young Canadians — the veritable boy and girl next door.  This sense of deception, and the sense that Homolka and Bernardo were the “enemy within” seems to continue to fuel the anger.

A Modest Proposal

I sense that many good-hearted, essentially moral Canadians (and, no doubt, some Americans) feel genuinely betrayed by Karla and I will tell you why I believe this is so:

Most citizens observe what Jean-Jacques Rousseau so famously called “The Social Contract.” In return for living within a society that provides us with opportunities for shelter, sustenance and the all-important sense of belonging, we, as citizens, sign a sort of mental contract with society. In return for the right to live within the society and utilize the many comforts it provides, we, in turn, agree to follow “the rules.” Sure, we are not required to be perfect but we are required to proceed within certain boundaries. This means we do not drive 100 miles per hour during rush hour traffic.  We do not steal other people’s identities and pillage their bank accounts. At work, we put in reasonably effort and do not “screw the boss.” Most dramatically, we do not rape and murder anyone, and particularly not vulnerable school girls. We simply do not.

It is, of course, true that some of us may entertain aberrant fantasies from time to time, but we certainly don’t act upon them. We would not even consider doing so. Those of us who strive to maintain a reasonable level of appropriate social interaction take pride in being decent people.  You could say that we are all part of the “decent people club.”

I believe that the Homolka haters justifiably sense that Karla did not have to run amuck in the manner she did. Unlike Jeffrey Dahmer, she wasn’t born with obscure mental problems and raised in a weird and unnerving environment (Dahmer’s mother was reportedly very unstable and his father was a strange, retiring scientist with a penchant for bizarre experimentation). Homolka’s upbringing appears to have been quite normal.  This fact is supported by the manner in which her family helped her go to the authorities when she finally decided the end the game. That’s right, to Homolka it appears to have all been a dark and evil game, fun for her and Bernardo. Just kicks! “Wow! Wasn’t that something? Did you see how scared that little bitch was? Now how do we get rid of the body?”

My impression of Homolka’s essential normalcy is borne out by the fact that she now leads a conventional family life. In fact, she may well be essentially normal. Except she’s not. A;though she has paid her debt to society, she still raped, tortured and murdered and appears to have thoroughly enjoyed committing the horrofic.  And therein lies the rub. A normal person does not rape, torture and murder for the fun of it. But Karla did. And many of those who recognize this will never forgive her this shameful self-indulgence.

Click on the following links to read previous Karla posts:

Watching Karla Homolka: Karla Wheels and Deals but Cannot Beat the Odds

Watching Karla Homolka: Reality Bites and Karla Becomes Unhinged

Karla Homolka Psychological Evaluation, Part One: Abuse Victim or Just Plain Evil?

Watching Karla Homolka: It’s a Family Affair

Was Karla Homolka a Normal Child? The Answer Is a Resounding No

The Karla Homolka Files: A U.S. Perspective on Karla Homolka’s Plea Bargain

Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo: Canada’s Most Notorious Serial Killer Case

commentary by Patrick H. Moore

With very few exceptions, no one likes being told what to do. It’s especially tough when you’re young because teens, and younger children, are constantly being told what to do by teachers, coaches, scout leaders, Sunday School teachers, and, of course, their own parents. Naturally, each kid must develop a personal survival strategy – a way to deflect the endless demands, even while acquiescing to some of them, in such a way that you maintain your sanity, and under no circumstances, make the tragic mistake that seems to be waylaying more and more young people these day.

What tragic mistake? Easy. The tragic mistake of killing your parents without having a foolproof alibi in place (and a way to support yourself once you are on your own).

Now I realize that many moralists would state unequivocally that under no circumstances should you murder your parents, and for the most part, I agree with that position (although there may be some exceptions).

But my purpose here is not to argue whether parricide may, in some cases, be justified. My sole purpose in this brief Sunday morning offering is to point out, using a recent Virginia double-parricide as an example, how incredibly stupid it is to kill your parents without having a credible alibi in place (e.g.: I was having sex with a Great White Shark off the coast of Madagascar on the night my parents met their maker).

Our example of how not to kill your parents comes to us out of Virginia. Joe Kemp of the New York Daily News writes:

A 16-year-old Virginia boy said he beat and stabbed his parents to death because he was sick of routine punishments “like my dad taking away my iPod and stuff,” authorities said.

Vincent Parker told investigators that he killed his 57-year-old mother, Carol, and 55-year-old father, Wayne, inside the family’s Norfolk home on Dec. 19, 2013, according to his confession revealed in court on Wednesday.

The teen, an only child, pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder.

“I just remember getting mad,” he told police, according to WTKR-TV. “It’s all from my dad. All this stuff like my dad taking away my iPod and stuff.”

Here, we note two important points. 1) Our moronic murderer, Vincent, definitely talks like a mindless teenager: “my dad taking away my iPod and stuff”. That’s pure teenager-ese. 2) Vincent does not appear to have properly analyzed his overall situation prior to the murders. For one thing, you probably don’t want to kill the old folks right there in the house, and, it might be wiser to kill then (or have them killed) separately so that the slayings appear random and unmotivated.

The teen, who happens to have been an honor roll student at Norview High School, explained to the investigators that he first attacked his mother as she exited a bathroom inside their Bland St. home. In order to rattle her and take her out of her comfort zone, Vincent first doused his mother Carol with pepper spray. So far this makes good sense tactically – if Mom is blinded by pepper spray she’s going to have a tough time fighting back or defending herself. Right at that moment, however, Vincent seems to have deteriorated dramatically; in short, he appears to have gone berserk. He stabbed his mother in the eye and beat her with a baseball bat and a crowbar “until she stopped breathing.” A medical examiner identified 25 separate smashes and stabs to Carol Parker’s neck, face and head.

It’s never a good idea when killing your parents to let the Little Berserker Within take over completely. You have to stay calm and collected just as you would if you were having sex with a Great White Shark.

When Vincent’s father Wayne Parker came home, Vincent appears to have once again let the Little Berserker Within hold sway. Vincent struck his father with a crowbar and stabbed him several times. Somehow, Wayne Parker managed to call 911 and was still hanging onto life by a slender thread when the police arrived. Wayne apparently “spilled the beans” and although Vincent first claimed his father had been the aggressor, according to the investigators, he changed his story and admitted he killed his parents. Vincent was Carol and Wayne’s only child.

Mike Mather of WTKR.Com describes further:

Vincent, who is 16, pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder in adult court. He’ll return to Norfolk Circuit Court in September to learn his sentence.

Why an honor-roll student with no criminal record snapped so violently over such benign punishments is a mystery to his family.

“He is a smart young man,” said his grandfather, Allen Taylor, father of Carol Taylor. “He is smart in school. I don’t know what happened.”

According to defense attorney Emily Munn, a psychiatric evaluation has revealed that Vincent was both sane and intelligent. Despite the fact Vincent is being sentenced as an adult, Attorney Munn told the judge she is going to ask the court to consider letting the boy serve at least part of his sentence in a juvenile facility. Although he obviously faces decades in prison if he’s sentenced to the maximum for both murders, his grandfather is hoping for a much shorter punishment.

“I want him to get some type of counseling,” said Mr. Taylor. “Help him to grow up and be an understanding man. Be sorry for what he did do. I told him to ask God to forgive him for what he did.”

*     *     *     *     *

Wow, Vincent! You have really screwed up. I suppose it’s always good to confess your murders and you may gain spiritual “brownie points” by ‘fessing up, but — and I’m sure you’ve considered this — as a result of not planning your parricide properly, not only are your parents dead, which you may regret down the road, but you’ve managed to entirely wreck your own life. You’re going to be in prison forever, dude! What a freakin’ sap you are! Over an iPod…

What this does definitively prove is just how irrational teens can be. Their brains really don’t work very well at that age, as Vincent  Parker has proven. He clearly didn’t have the wherewithal to plan his crime properly, and without a solid alibi, he simply had no business committing the awful crime.

by Nicholas Frank

Still Rising Down

After Eaton’s hammer struck him down and he walked the deputy sheriff gauntlet in the tombs, Nathan returned to Wayside to prepare for transfer to the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi.  “Tehachapi” is a facility where a new prisoner goes through “Reception,” a period of total separation from his old life so he can begin to come to terms with his new reality.

The goal of “reception” is to minimize unpredictable behavior from new inmates.  It is better if the new inmate comes to grips sooner rather than later with the fact that the concrete and metal surrounding him is the new landscape of his life.  The sooner he does so, the less likely he is to act out in reaction to the frustrating, demoralizing and dehumanizing conditions that characterize prison life.  In a prison, unpredictability is danger’s energetic partner.  Of course, unpredictability is also a stock in trade for adolescents.

In spite of all that had happened, at nineteen years old, Nathan still saw the world through a defiant adolescent’s eyes and thought with a still developing adolescent brain.  Before long, his stubborn, self-destructive immaturity would converge with the inherently destructive spirit that pervades life in prison and Nathan would find himself at the very brink of madness and death.

*     *     *     *     *

Incredibly, in spite of all that time to think about the terrible condition his bad choices had led to, and in spite of all evidence that his gangster “friends” had done nothing but ruin his life and abandon him, his goal during reception was to get to the main line so he could connect with others from the Crips.  He told me this years later.  Foolishly, he believed he had a place in this gang.  His downward trajectory had not hit bottom yet.

The same adolescent mind that led him down the wrong path in the first place and that proved to be such a handicap when it came to making sound decisions during his trial prevented him from seeing reality in those first few months and years in prison.  Like a kid, he was still most interested in the approval of peers, even though “his peers” no longer considered him to be one of them.

I think, in a way, he could not conceive of life without the gang anymore.  It is irrational thinking of course, but he was still an adolescent whose irrational thoughts were at least as powerful as his rational thoughts.  He had come to define himself largely by his gang membership.  The hold that gang-life had on Nathan was reinforced by his belief that there was no other world for him.  “I just figured that I had gone so far, there was no way I could come back.  It seemed like my life before the gang was someone else’s memory.”  The idea that he could leave his gang must have appeared to be a choice between something real – the gang – and nothingness.

He did, however, learn valuable lessons in Tehachapi.  It became an institution of higher education where Nathan learned about the most primitive survival, with lessons in self-defense, life and death.

Nathan Hits the Main Line, and the Main Line Hits Back

Still in darkness, he wanted to get back to his “people” and prove to the Crip “shot callers” in prison that he could hold his own.  Little did he know, on the prison mainline he had no “people.”

On the streets, Race is important but is ultimately a flexible limitation when it comes to the gang’s work.  That flexibility for convenience is how a white kid like Nathan can be recruited into a black gang.  On the main line yards of California’s prisons, however, Race is a near absolute of order.  It forms the bright lines of separation, allegiance, and organization.  Blacks stick with blacks; whites with whites; browns with browns; Asians with Asians; Native Americans with Native Americans, etc.  There might be other lines within the three primary delineations: Crips, Bloods, Aryan Brotherhood, Nazi Lowriders, Mexican Mafia, Mara Salvatrucha, etc.  But Race trumps them all.

Nathan was a white kid who had been part of a “black” gang.  To the black organizations in prison, he was a liability.  To the whites, he was a traitor to his race.  To the Mexicans and others, he was irrelevant, valueless and an affront to the prison world’s “natural order.”  He did not know it, but he was on his own in a place where to be on your own is to be part of a hunted and endangered species.  In his typically bold fashion, he flaunted his arrogance and affiliations that he still believed existed and counted for something.

The inmates know who has “hit the yard” as soon as someone new arrives.  Most of the Tehachapi population comes via the LA county jail system.  Therefore, the alliances of new inmates are known before they get off the bus.  By the time a new inmate joins the general population, decisions about his fate have most likely already been made, and plans for Nathan were in place before he finished “reception.”  Within days of getting to the yard, skinheads attacked him as he was in line returning from breakfast.  They wanted him dead for his affiliation with a black gang.  His cellie jumped into the fight as soon as it went off.  A full-scale melee ensued.  When the guards restored control of the situation, Nathan was on his way to Ad-seg, “the Hole,” and was charged with engaging in “mutual combat.”  It was the first time, but not the last that he would be in Ad-seg.

*     *     *     *     *

Years later, Nathan told me about one of the experiences he had during those first stretches in Ad-seg.  I thought it was a revealing little story about the strength of one’s basic good nature and the power and ingenuity of hope, even in the worst of circumstances.  I told him to write it down, and he did.

“I had been in Ad-Seg (administrative segregation or the “Hole”) for roughly 5-6 months when I stumbled across a much needed companion.

It happened in the dead of night while stumbling across my cell to use the restroom.

Half asleep, with my eyes closed, I was taking a piss when something wet and slimy plopped onto one of my feet.  Losing control of my aim (!!), I pierced the quiet with a yell and fell backwards in shock.

What the hell was that?

I had been in this cell for months on “single cell” status (solitary confinement) and something as odd as this was definitely out of the ordinary.

Anyhow, guided by familiarity I made my way to the light switch through the pitch-black cell.  With my heart pounding in my throat, I turned on the light.

There, next to the toilet was this small frog/toad!  Well, it was so damn cute my heart just melted.  It had been years since I had a pet to call my own.  Not to mention the desolate, lonely feeling of 24 hr. confinement had definitely taken a toll.  This was a much needed friend!

So, I cleaned the inside of the toilet out and placed the frog in the water.  He stroked a few laps around the perimeter of his new found pool, and then crawled up onto the dry surface of the inside.  To me, he seemed content.  Seeing this, I shut the light off and went back to bed.

The next morning, I awoke eagerly to see how my buddy was fairing.  Picking him out of the toilet, I set him on the floor to have more room to explore.

Next I made a “door cover” plugging up the crack in-between the floor and the bottom of my cell door so that he wouldn’t wander off.

I knew that he wouldn’t want for food, seeing as how my cell was constantly plagued by insects, bugs, spiders, etc.

In fact, it became one of my favorite pastimes to lie on my bunk, watching while this frog stalked the bugs like prey.

He would observe where the potential food was heading and align himself right in its path, holding himself as still as stone.  The unsuspecting creature would crawl just past him when he would snatch it up lightning-quick.  He would do this over and over all day.

At night, I would clean out the toilet to let him swim around until the next morning.  I figured it was a perfect “play pen” since when he became tired of the “back stroke” he could climb onto a dry piece of the metal.

Months passed by, and my buddy and I watched them go together.

He started to get big!  Not only was he keeping the cell creature-free, but I had started to feed him little pieces torn off of my daily ration of bologna.  He seemed to like it.

I even began to keep the door “blocker” out of the way.

I remember the first day I did that!  I watched him like a parent scoping out their child making sure they don’t stray too far.

Then I started to keep him out of the toilet at night.

And finally, I began to leave him to come and go as he pleased.  Which come and go he did.

All day he would stalk the bugs of the cell and at night he would make his escape to freedom.

Right outside of my cell door was the “yard door.”  Basically an outside patio lined with “dog kennel” like cages where we are released once or twice a week for exercise.  By theses cages is a small storm drainage system.  I suspect that is where he would go, and where he came from.

Even though he would leave to unknown places at night, in the mornings, before the guards slid my food tray through the slot in the door, he would be back in our cell.

This continued until the day I was transferred.

For me, this is a friendship I will never forget.  In a time of deep depression, hopelessness and despair this small companion brought a lot of relief and happiness.  As I was in a transitional period in my life, where friends did not exist, confusion was a constant, and loneliness my lifestyle, this little exterminator brought warmth and comfort.

I like to think he brought some of that to the next man that took my place.”

By itself, Nathan’s little story about his “little exterminator” buddy might appear to be no more than a pleasant aside.  Placed into the context of his whole life, however, I see the fundamental qualities of his personality – the qualities that defined him before he ran off the rails, and that define him today.

*     *     *     *      *

Out of solitary, however, Nathan’s basic nature continued to be suppressed.  He was in a cycle of conflict and solitary.  Little did he know when he was watching his “little exterminator” buddy that he was coming to a series of life changing crossroads just as he was leaving adolescence.  Which way would he finally choose as he became an adult there in prison?

Would he ultimately return to the generous, decent person he was before he leapt into a criminal lifestlye?  Or, would he finally turn away from everything he was and become one of the irredeemable?  The next few years of his life would find him surrounded by mayhem, and on the brink of madness and oblivion.  The real Nathan would have to arise to deal with it all.

Click on this link to order Nicholas Frank’s book, “Destructive Justice”

Click below to read Nicholas Frank’s previous “Destructive Justice” posts:

“Destructive Justice”: Nathan’s Life as Death in a Two-Man 6′ by 9′ Cell

“Destructive Justice”: Men’s Central Jail, L.A., “Nathan” Nearly Beaten to Death by Skinheads

“Destructive Justice”: The Worst News in the World

“Destructive Justice”: A Life Sentence without Cause and for No Good Reason

commentary by Patrick H. Moore

Here at All Things Crime Blog, we spend quite a bit of time describing the abuses that some parents heap upon their children. Therefore, it is with considerable alacrity that I launch into this happy tale of a devoted mother who is defending her beloved daughter to the bitter end (and based on the charges her daughter is facing, the end could be bitter indeed).

The mother’s name is Alice “Polly” Caison and her daughter, the embattled Tammy Moorer, is currently being held, along with co-defendant, her husband Loverboy Sidney Moorer, on allegations that the two of them kidnapped and murdered 20-year-old Heather Elvis, a young woman and fellow resident of the Myrtle Beach, South Carolina area, on Dec. 18, 2013.

Amanda Kelley of the Sun News writes:

Alice “Polly” Caison is the mother of 42-year-old Tammy Moorer who, along with her 38-year-old husband Sidney Moorer, is charged with murder, kidnapping, obstruction of justice and two-counts of indecent exposure in connection with the Elvis case.

Polly Caison said her daughter, who in some ways is the ultimate Disney mom, and her son-in-law Sidney, couldn’t have committed the crimes. Polly is adamant that Tammy and Sidney are good parents “who wouldn’t hurt a fly and should be home with their three children.” Prior to their arrest, Tammy was a stay-at-home mother who went to the trouble of homeschooling their  three kids (two boys ages 8 and 15, and a girl age 12) while running a travel agency part-time from their home. Prior to his arrest, Sidney Moorer was the owner Palmetto Maintenance, LLC, a home-and-business refurbishing and construction company.

“You can ask anybody, Tammy is a good mother,” said Polly Caison. “Tammy would not have done something like this to put her kids in jeopardy.”

Although I suspect that Tammy may well be up to her ears in Heather’s murder, it does seem very strange that she would risk her children’s welfare just because Sidney couldn’t keep it in his pants, particularly considering all the effort Tammy had put in over the years to homeschool the kids, introduce them to the joys of Disney, and (I assume) raise them as good young Christians.

While hoping for a fair trial if the charges aren’t dropped, Polly was emphatic in her claims that her family, i.e., Tammy and Sidney, had nothing to do with Heather Elvis’s disappearance:

“I promise you one thing, whatever happened to that girl it did not happen here. God help him [Terry Elvis] find his daughter because my family did not have anything to do with it. I hope they find her and I hope she comes home.”

According to authorities, Heather Elvis was last seen on the night of Dec. 17th and last heard from early on Dec. 18. She was reported missing the following day after Horry County police found her car, which was registered to her father, parked at the Peachtree boat landing. Elvis’ keys, cellphone and purse were not found in the locked car and she, of course, remains missing.

The murder and kidnapping charges were brought on Feb. 24th, and Tammy and Sidney have been in custody pending trial since that date.

In building their case against the couple, at the initial bond hearing, the prosecutors cited cellphone records and video surveillance, which showed a truck authorities said belonged to the Moorers, arriving at the Peachtree boat landing shortly after Heather Elvis, who had exchanged numerous phone calls with Sidney, arrived there in her vehicle. Based on the video surveillance, the alleged Moorer vehicle remained at the landing for a mere matter of minutes before retracing its route back toward the Moorer residence, which sits behind the Caison family home near Secondary Highway 814.

The Moorer’s defense attorneys insist that all of the evidence against Tammy and Sidney is circumstantial, and that there is no concrete link that ties the couple to Heather Elvis’ disappearance. Of course, as we all know, many a murder suspect has been convicted on purely circumstantial evidence.

For her part, Polly Caison said that the truck police are referring to never left the Moorer’s yard that night and that the police didn’t spend nearly enough time investigating other potential suspects, but instead targeted the Moorers, probably because of Sidney and Heather’s love affair, which was well-known in and around the Myrtle Beach and Socastee areas.

Here is the timeline of the events concerning Heather and Sidney, and the truck, during the wee hours of Dec 18th:

1:35 am:  Phone call from pay phone by Sidney to Heather. The call lasted 4:53 minutes.

1:44 am:  Nine minutes later, Heather calls an unidentified person who was in Florida at that time. Heather tells her friend that Sidney just called and told her he is leaving Tammy. Heather was apparently upset because she had been trying to get her life back in order after her affair with Sidney and subsequent harassment by Tammy. Heather is still at her home when she makes this call which lasts 2:20 minutes.

2:29 am: Heather attempts to call the pay phone Sidney called from several times earlier that night. This time no one answered.

48 minutes later at 3:16 am, Heather calls Sidney’s phone but he doesn’t answer.

One minute later at 3:17 am Heather calls Sidney’s phone again and this time they connect for 4:15 minutes. Heather is still at her home and Sidney is believed to be at his which is about 3 miles from Peachtree Landing. Heather hangs up, gets into her car and drives directly to Peachtree Boat Landing.

It is noted that Sidney, after initially denying the phone call ever took place, admitted to police that he’d spoken with Heather but claimed it was just to tell her to quit calling and leave them alone.

3:38 am: Heather has arrived at the boat landing. She obsessively phones Sidney 4 times during the next 3 minutes.

Her phone data ends at 3:41 am.

Meanwhile, at 3:36 am, a private residence video surveillance shows a Ford F-150 coming from the direction of Sidney’s house heading towards the boat landing. This camera is about halfway between Sidney’s residence and the boat landing.

Three minutes later, a business video surveillance, a mile closer to the boat landing, captures this same vehicle still proceeding in the direction of the boat landing.

It is not unreasonable to infer that Heather got in the vehicle with Sidney after he arrived at the boat landing because at 3:45 am, the same business video reveals the same vehicle traveling from the boat landing heading back towards the Moorer residence. The camera is approximately 1.2 miles from the landing which almost certainly means Sidney wasn’t at the landing for more than 60 to 120 seconds. It seems unlikely that he would have shot, stabbed or throttled Heather on the spot in that brief time period. More likely, he asked her to get in and away they went, back toward the house where Tammy was very possibly waiting for them. (I am aware that the warrants state that Heather was killed at the boat landing but I doubt the accuracy of that theory.)

At 3:46 am, the private residence video surveillance captures the vehicle heading toward the Moorer residence.

This is why the police searched the Moorer residence so carefully, looking for evidence of Heather’s murder. We don’t know what they found, or if they found anything of significance.

Horry County police, as well as attorneys working the case, are under a gag order banning them from talking about the matter. In a May court hearing, however, Horry County senior solicitor Donna Elder said authorities investigated with care and deliberation before filing the charges.

“This is not a case where law enforcement rushed to make an arrest,” Elder said. “Contrary to public pressure . . . they arrested them over two months later after a full investigation.”

Attorneys for both Moorers have said repeatedly that there is no evidence against their clients in the case.

At a bond hearing in May, where Tammy Moorer was denied bail for the second time, her attorney, Greg McCollum, stated:

“There is no evidence at all to link Tammy Moorer to the possible disappearance or death of Heather Elvis. She’s innocent, not just presumed innocent, but innocent.”

Tammy’s younger sister, Ashley Caison, managed to put her two cents in stating that Sidney Moorer’s alleged affair with Elvis isn’t reason enough to accuse him and Tammy of the kidnapping/murder. She said the affair had been over for some time when Elvis was reported missing.

At a bond hearing in March, prosecutors said that Heather Elvis and Sidney Moorer had begun a relationship in June 2013 and had ended it in October, largely because when Tammy Moorer found out about the affair, she began to harass Heather Elvis.

“Heather was in fact fearful of Tammy during this time period,” Elder said, adding that after discovering her husband was sleeping with the pretty 20-year-old, Tammy Moorer handcuffed her husband to the bed at night, a condition he agreed to for a six-month probationary period.

In my mind, this peculiar detail moves this case solidly into the A & M (Adultery and Murder) Hall of Fame.

Polly Caison said she didn’t know about the affair until the murder investigation began. It is true that shortly before their arrest, Tammy and Sidney took the kids on a family vacation to, among other places, Disneyland in Los Angeles, and apparently took full advantage of the opportunity to spend quality time together.

“Tammy and Sidney decided to put their life back together,” she said. “They went on vacation for three weeks and when they came back this thing started against them. They were over it … they had forgiven each other and decided to put things aside and that’s why Tammy was trying to get pregnant.”

Tammy Moorer quite logically used the pregnancy as a basis for her second bond request, which was denied. Her attorney had requested that bond be reconsidered based on her pregnancy, a prior miscarriage and concern that the stress of being incarcerated could jeopardize her current pregnancy.

Prosecutors stated, however, that Moorer refused subsequent treatment and pregnancy testing and is not taking prenatal vitamins which the jail has offered to provide.

Polly Caison, who appears to have an answer for everything, said her daughter won’t take prenatal vitamins because they caused of a miscarriage she endured before the birth of her eldest child, who is now 15.

This case has polarized Myrtle Beach and the surrounding area in quite dramatic fashion.

Polly Caison is afraid for her daughter and son-in-law and states that they have been threatened in the community. Someone placed an X over her husband William Caison (on his headstone?), saying “One down… Rot in hell.” Another sign depicted Tammy Moorer with a bullet hole on her forehead. Ashley and Polly Caison both stated that police reports have been filed, but the threats have not ceased.

William Caison died in March, and Polly says she’s certain the stress of this situation caused his unexpected demise.

“It’s hard for me to go out,” she said. “It’s hard for me to go to sleep. You don’t never know who might pull a gun on you. We don’t trust anybody anymore. You don’t know who you can trust. It’s terrible. It’s like living a nightmare.”

Wow! Feuding like the Hatfields and the McCoys…

Polly said her grandchildren, who have been living with her since the arrests, are reluctant to leave the house. She said that fear began well before the arrests when police arrived to search the home in February.

According to Polly, being separated from her children is destroying Tammy:

“It’s running her crazy. You can tell by reading her letters. She loves her kids and she’s happy about this baby coming.”

Although there’s been plenty of negative chatter, particularly on social media, about the Moorers, Polly Caison points out that her family has considerable support in the community. The bottom line is that Polly does not believe her daughter and son-in-law had anything to do with Heather Elvis’s disappearance.

“There’s no way that my child done this and I’m sick and tired of every time I see the news or read the paper it says my kids are charged with murder. There’s no way the child could do anything like that.”

*     *     *     *     *

In Hamlet, the embattled Prince of Denmark states: “There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.” What Hamlet apparently meant it that values are not absolute, but rather our perspective on matters is what counts. A good way of grasping this is to consider any hotly-contested murder trial. Although Casey Anthony has been acquitted of the death of her daughter Caylee, a great many Americans are absolutely convinced that she murdered Caylee and these same folks flatly refuse to be influenced to the slightest degree by the fact she was acquitted.

Is Tammy Moorer a vicious kidnapper and murderer, or is she a loving wife and mother? Or is she both? We humans are complex little beasties. It’s entirely possible that Tammy loves her husband and her children deeply, yet was so jealous of him sleeping with lovely young Heather than she became convulsed with rage, an emotion so powerful that she couldn’t rest until Heather had gasped her last breath.

I wonder what she thinks privately as she wiles away her weary hours in custody? Does she realize that she is likely to be convicted of the murder if she goes to trial? Does she torture herself with the thought that Sidney could conceivably turn on her in order to get a better deal himself? Or does she simply comfort herself with the thought that at least the conniving bitch is dead now, and never again will her man get naked with the deceased Ms. Elvis?

“The grave’s a fine and private place/But none I think do there embrace.” – Andrew Marvell, “To His Coy Mistress”

Please click here to read our previous posts on the Moorer-Elvis saga:

The Sound and the Fury of Tammy Moorer!

How Tammy and Sidney Moorer May Have Lured Heather Elvis to Her Death

Heather Elvis’s Father and Sister Receive Death Threats

Swingers Sidney and Tammy Moorer Charged with Murder in Death of Heather Elvis!

Myrtle Beach Couple Arrested in Heather Elvis Missing Persons Case

by BJW Nashe

“Getting away with murder” now serves as a euphemism for avoiding the consequences of just about any kind of bad behavior. In its most literal sense, however, the phrase points to an especially troubling phenomenon — serial killings committed by psychopaths who somehow manage to avoid being caught and convicted of their crimes. The Zodiac Killer, who terrified the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a string of murders accompanied by bizarre cryptograms and letters to the press, is probably the most famous murderer who was never captured. The Zodiac is not alone, however.  Our recent history is littered with unsolved mass murders. The following rogue’s gallery — presented in no particular order, since they are all equally hideous — lists some of the ones who got away with the worst crimes imaginable.

The Bone Collector is an unidentified serial killer from the area known as the West Mesa of Albuquerque, New Mexico. In 2009, the chance discovery of a human bone by a dog-walker led police into something closer to an archaeological dig than a typical crime scene. The remains of eleven women, later determined to have been prostitutes, were slowly excavated from the area — which turned into the largest crime scene in U.S. history. Yet not a shred of promising evidence was ever unearthed from this macabre dumping ground — no DNA, no potential murder weapons, no personal clues, nothing at all. Sex workers in the area still live in fear of the killer, even though no murders associated with him have been reported for several years. To this day, the Bone Collector’s identity remains a complete mystery.

The Axe Man of New Orleans was responsible for at least eight killings in New Orleans, Louisiana (and surrounding communities) from May 1918 to October 1919. Typically, the back door of a home was smashed, followed by an attack on one or more of the residents with either an axe or a straight razor. The crimes were not considered linked to robbery, since no items were removed from the victims’ homes. The Axe Man was never caught or identified, and his crime spree stopped as mysteriously as it had started. He wrote a notorious letter to address the public, which was printed in the newspapers. Beneath the heading, “Hell, March 13, 1919,” the Axe Man explained that he was a non-human spirit, something close to the “Angel of Death,” and he vowed to take more victims before he departed earth for his native “Tartarus.” He also made it clear that music was of crucial importance:

“I am very fond of jazz music, and I swear by all the devils in the nether regions that every person shall be spared in whose home a jazz band is in full swing at the time I have just mentioned. If everyone has a jazz band going, well, then, so much the better for you people. One thing is certain and that is that some of your people who do not jazz it on Tuesday night (if there be any) will get the axe.”

Charlie Chop-Off was active in Manhattan between 1972 and 1974. He killed five black children, and attacked another who he left for dead. The nickname comes from the genital mutilation inflicted on the male victims. A principal suspect, Erno Soto, was arrested and did end up confessing to one of the murders. But Soto was considered unfit for trial and sent to a mental institution instead. The case is still considered open.

The Grim Sleeper of Southern California is thought to be responsible for at least ten murders, plus an additional attempted murder, in Los Angeles from 1985 to roughly 2007. His nickname derives from the fact that he appeared to take a Rip Van Winkle style nap, in the form of a 14-year hiatus from crime, during the years 1988-2002. When he was active, there was so much killing going on in L.A. at the time that it was hard to distinguish one murderer’s work from that of another. Thus, the Grim Sleeper was initially confused with the Southside Slayer. In any case, when the May 2007  murder of 25 year-old Janecia Peters was linked through DNA analysis to as many as twelve unsolved murders in L.A. dating back to 1985, a special task force was formed. The Grim Sleeper’s profile emerged as an African-American man who had sexual contact with his victims before strangling or shooting them with a .25 caliber handgun. On July 7, 2010, a suspect was arrested. Lonnie David Franklin Jr., 57, was charged with ten counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, and special circumstance allegations of multiple murders. We still don’t know if Franklin is guilty, though. He has not yet been put on trial for what amounts to a quarter century of killing — with plenty of time off for sleep.

The Cleveland Torso Murderer (also known as the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run) was an unidentified serial killer who killed and dismembered at least 12 victims in the Cleveland, Ohio area in the 1930s. The Torso Murderer always beheaded and often dismembered his victims, sometimes also cutting the torso in half — in the style of the Black Dahlia corpse. Most of the male victims were castrated, and there was also evidence of chemical treatment being applied to their bodies. Although two suspects were investigated for these horrifying crimes, with Elliot Ness in charge of Cleveland police at the time, no one was ever convicted of the murders.

Jack the Stripper was responsible for the London “nude murders” of 1964 and 1965 (also known as the “Hammersmith murders” or “Hammersmith nudes” case). The similarities with the nineteenth century Ripper murders are obvious. The Stripper murdered at least six prostitutes, whose nude bodies were discovered around London or found dumped into the River Thames. Two additional victims are often attributed to him, although these do not appear to fit his modus operandi. The Stripper’s third and seventh victims were allegedly connected to the 1963 Profumo Affair. Also, some victims were known to be involved in London’s underground party and pornographic movie scene. Scotland Yard’s initial investigation included nearly 7000 suspects, which was supposedly narrowed down to just 20 men, then 10, and eventually only three. No one was ever convicted of the crimes, and the Stripper, for whatever reason, ceased his killing spree.

The Doodler was responsible for slaying 14 men and assaulting three others in San Francisco between January 1974 and September 1975. The nickname derived from the perpetrator’s habit of sketching his victims prior to having sex with them and then stabbing them to death. (One wonders whether the sketches ever made it onto the murderabilia market.) The perpetrator met his victims at after-hours gay clubs, bars and restaurants. Police zeroed in on a prime suspect in the case, who was identified by two of his surviving victims. Yet the cops were unable to proceed with an arrest, since the survivors (an entertainer, and a diplomat) refused to “out” themselves by way of testifying. The suspect, who never admitted his guilt, has never been publicly named, and the murders have faded into obscurity.

Bible John reportedly murdered three young women after meeting them at the Barrowland Ballroom in Glasgow, Scotland between 1968 and 1969. All three women were raped, strangled, and beaten to death. Just prior to the third murder, the killer supposedly took a taxi ride with the the victim and her sister. The sister said the man, who was named John, was soft-spoken and liked to quote from the Bible. As of 2013, the killer has never been identified, although the location and activities of known Glaswegian serial killer Peter Tobin strongly suggests that he may have been behind the killings. No proof of this has ever been established, however, and the case remains unsolved.

The Phantom Killer is responsible for the “moonlight murders” committed in and around the twin cities of Texarkana, Texas and Texarkana, Arkansas in 1946. The Phantom Killer is credited with attacking eight people, and killing five of them. The attacks occurred on weekend nights, nearly always three weeks apart, and always involved a .32 caliber pistol. The case terrified the entire area, and eventually inspired the 1976 horror film, The Town That Dreaded Sundown. Two of the earliest victims were able to give a description of their attacker — and it only served to heighten the sense of terror. They described a six-foot tall man with a plain white sack worn as a hood over his head, with holes cut out for the eyes and mouth. One suspect, a man named Youell Swinney, was imprisoned as a repeat car theft offender in 1947, and released in 1973. He was never charged with the crimes. Due to the killer’s hooded disguise, some in law enforcement and the press have speculated that the murders may have been the early work of the Zodiac Killer, but this has never been proven.

The Babysitter Killer of Oakland County, Michigan was responsible for the murders of four or more children — at least two girls and two boys — in the years 1976-77. The children were abducted and then held for time periods ranging from 4-19 days, before they were killed by either strangling, suffocation, or shooting. Two of the victims were also sexually assaulted with an object. These atrocious deaths caused extreme public fear bordering on mass hysteria, and triggered a murder investigation which was the largest in U.S. history at the time. The Detroit News offered a $100,000 reward for the killer’s apprehension. A number of suspects were investigated — some authorities even considered John Wayne Gacy to be a likely perpetrator. However, the murders remain unsolved.

A more deranged bunch than this is difficult to imagine. How did they get away with it? Dumb luck? Skillful evasion? Police incompetence? Or all of the above? The truth probably resides in the simple fact that it is often just plain difficult — and very time-consuming – to solve murder cases. We tend to take homicide investigations for granted, and assume that justice will be served. However, given the sheer number of homicides, and the complexities involved in most cases, we shouldn’t be surprised that some of our worst psychopaths are able to slip through the cracks, and get away with murder.

Retired U.S. District Court Judge, the Honorable H. Lee Sarokin, has kindly allowed us to re-post his article, “The Case of the Missing Transcript”, which is included here in it’s entirety.

Judge Sarokin writes:

Defendants in a Colorado case, United States of America v. Banks et al., claim, in addition to asserting their innocence, that their Fifth Amendment rights were violated when the trial judge compelled them to testify. Following a jury trial, all six defendants (five black and one white), known as the “IRP6,” were convicted of mail fraud or conspiracy, were sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from 87 to 135 months beginning in July 2012, and are presently incarcerated pending appeal. They represented themselves during the trial, and although they were aware of their right against self-incrimination (and named themselves on a potential witness list), they contend that the judge compelled waiver of that right. Apparently the judge was frustrated by their failure to produce witnesses in a timely fashion, and they claim the judge said something that led them to believe that at least one of them had to testify in order to keep their defense open. The case is now on appeal. Usually out of deference to the circuit court handling the matter, I would not comment. However, there is one aspect of the case that intrigues me, and since the matter has been pending for a considerable period while the defendants languish in prison, I thought some general airing might be appropriate.

Resolving the issue should be a no-brainer, right? Look or listen to the transcript; read or hear what the judge said and decide whether or not the defendants reasonably concluded that at least one of them had to testify. But here’s the rub. There apparently is no record or transcript of the conversation available to either the defendants or the appellate court. The advocates for the defendants (a-justcause.com), who have asked me to review and comment on this matter, claim that efforts to obtain the record of the conversation between the judge and the defendants on this issue have been met variously with claims that there is no record (the reporter missed the conversation), that it exists but is missing, that it existed but has been destroyed, or that “we have it but won’t turn it over.” They also claim that all informal and formal attempts to obtain that critical exchange between the court and the defendants have been denied either by the court reporter or the court. They advise that the relief was even denied in a separate civil suit brought against the reporter for the turnover of the transcript.

Because there is always a danger in these matters of hearing one side, I insisted that I be furnished with the government’s version of what transpired in this disputed exchange. The government’s brief (U.S. Answering Brief) summarily dismisses the claim by stating, “Because nothing in the record other than the defendants’ own self-serving assertions supports their claims of compulsion, the exact language used by the district court during the sidebar conference is immaterial “ (emphasis mine). Roughly translated, the statement should read, “There is nothing to support the defendants’ position on the record, because there is no record.” It is an obvious concession by the government that the record before the court of appeals does not contain evidence of what the trial judge said to the defendants — which they claim caused them to believe that they had to testify or be foreclosed from proceeding with their case.

Although the defendants vehemently proclaim their innocence, I do not have sufficient information to comment on their convictions. But I have no doubt that whether or not they felt compelled to testify depends exclusively on what the judge said to them at that precise moment. To suggest that the court’s “exact language” is immaterial is ludicrous, particularly since the court and the defendants disagree as to what was said.

IRP Solutions Corporate Office

Certainly no judge would direct a criminal defendant to testify against his or her own will, but it is conceivable that something was said that reasonably led them to that conclusion. The answer lies in the record, which apparently does not exist, for reasons that seem to be elusive. The case raises numerous other serious questions about the prosecution, conviction and incarceration pending appeal of these defendants, but my comfort level limits me to this one strange mystery: the missing transcript. The case does raise the question of why six respected businessmen would engage staffing companies to hire and pay workers for a project that (as the government contends) defendants had no intention of completing and selling. Were they just interested in increasing the level of employment in their community? Or were they merely a typical company whose goals were delayed in fruition, did some puffing in the process and owed money as a result?

Click here to view All Thing Crime Blog’s previous IRP6 post:

The IRP6: A True Story of Debt Collection Gone Wild

For more information about the story of the IRP6 or for copies of the legal filings go to http://www.freetheirp6.org .

IRP Solutions round table part I and II:

http://youtu.be/PZRtW3To7RE & http://youtu.be/gRWML6a_WiY

The Honorable H. Lee Sarokin served on the United States District Court (N.J.), appointed by President Carter, and the United States Court of Appeals (3rd Cir.), appointed by President Clinton. He retired in 1996 after 17 years on the federal bench and now resides in Rancho Santa Fe, CA. He is also known for, overturning the Rubin “Hurricane” Carter wrongful convictions case in 1985.

commentary by Patrick H. Moore

Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, AZ, has been a lightning rod for controversy since first being elected sheriff of Maricopa County in 1992. Some of his bizarre practices have included his Tent City Jail for inmates awaiting sentencing, his Citizen’s Posse, his alleged racial profiling of Latinos, and his failure to take sex crimes against children seriously.

Now, according to multiple news services and websites, Sheriff Joe, who is certainly one of the most federally-investigated sheriffs in US history, has a new can of worms wriggling around on his desk which he may or may not be forced to swallow.

It seems that one of Sheriff Joe’s deputies, Ramon “Charley” Armendariz, may have been in the habit of ingesting methamphetamine and possibly other drugs. In any event, he certainly stockpiled plenty of drugs at his residence. Armendariz’ story hit the “flashpoint” in early May of this year.

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office reports that an investigation of Mr. Armendariz began on May 1st when he brought attention on himself by calling Phoenix police to report a burglary in progress at his residence. Nothing strange about this at first blush, but according to Deputy Sheriff, Joakin Enriquez, when the Phoenix police arrived at his house, they found Mr. Armendariz armed with a pepper ball gun chasing a phantom burglar around the premises.

On the one hand, the fact that Mr. Armendariz was apparently merely going to “mace” the burglar rather than gun him down is very much to his credit, but that may not entirely offset the fact he was chasing a phantom burglar around his property. There was nobody there.

Now when something like this happens, there are probably only two plausible explanations. Either the target is in the throes of acute major mental illness, or the target is experiencing methamphetamine- induced psychosis.

What is unclear is how the local police managed to convince Armendariz that there was no burglar. Perhaps they all sat down, shared the glass pipe, and discussed it like rational men. In any event, they reportedly found drugs on the premises and arrested Armenidariz.

Sheriff Joe himself describes what went down: “This situation started last Thursday when he called in about burglars around his house. When our deputies went in there found drugs. He resigned on Friday. He was evaluated again for mental condition and he was released from jail.”

Armendariz resigned his post on Friday, May 2^nd after nine years with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.

An investigation was launched which led to law enforcement obtaining a search warrant. When the warrant was served, the officers found marijuana, heroin, and methamphetamine. Armendariz was booked on drug charges.

The lesson here is that you should never give law enforcement a reason to get you in their crosshairs, because once they’re on to you, they may be reluctant to let go. The police returned to Armendariz’ residence near 31st Avenue and Thunderbird Road on Sunday evening, only to find that the suspect had barricaded himself inside his residence. Admirable restraint was exercised and after a five hour standoff, Armendariz walked out of his home just after 1 a.m. on Monday, May 5^th.  He was taken into custody and to a psychiatric unit for evaluation, according to Phoenix Police Officer James Holmes.

Things Got Much Worse

Three days later Mr. Armendariz was dead. Sheriff Joe explained that “Charley” apparently hanged himself. By this point, law enforcement had been to his home four times in the past nine days. He was supposed to get an ankle monitor on Wednesday May 7^th, but never showed up to get “outfitted”, which led to another trip out to his house which is when he was found dead.

Now if drugs were all that were found at Armendariz’s house, this could be chalked up as simply another case of cop goes rogue and gets hooked on drugs which leads to his demise.

This is not the case, however. KTAR.Com explains:

When Ramon Armendariz hanged himself, he left behind a house full of questions.

Among the items at his house were a stash of drugs, evidence bags from old cases, hundreds of fake IDs and thousands of his video-recorded traffic stops that were withheld in a racial-profiling case against his boss, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Now, the quest for answers has raised the possibility that a yet-to-be-determined number of his cases could be thrown out and has refocused attention on Arpaio and his department, already under close watch by a federal monitor in the profiling case.

The judge overseeing the case has raised the prospect that Armendariz may have been shaking down people living in the U.S. illegally during traffic stops, and Bill Montgomery, the top prosecutor in Phoenix described the situation as a “mess” as his staff begins to sort it out.

Sheriff Joe’s lawyer says the agency’s hope is that Armendariz was a lone rogue officer. “I don’t know what triggered him,” said Sheriff Joe, whose territory obviously includes the Phoenix area.

The reason Sheriff Joe’s lawyer hopes that Armendariz turns out to be merely “a long rogue officer” is because Armendariz was formerly part of Sheriff Joe’s human smuggling unit, which was in actually, at least in part, a group of rogue officers under Joe’s command that used racial profiling to arrest illegal immigrants.

Although Sheriff Joe is still very popular with his rank-and-file law-and-order constituency, there is considerable evidence that he may be one of Arizona’s more prolific lawbreakers. He has been accused of numerous crimes including abuse of power, misuse of funds, failure to investigate sex crimes, improper clearance of cases, unlawful enforcement of immigration laws, and election law violations.

In addition, Sheriff Joe has been found guilty of racial profiling in Federal Court, which led to a monitor being appointed to oversee MCSO operations. The Department of Justice concluded that Arpaio oversaw the worst pattern of racial profiling in U.S. history, and subsequently filed suit against him for unlawful discriminatory police conduct^.

The key court order mandates which the MCSO must now follow in order to avoid racial profiling include the following: The deputy sheriffs must mount cameras on every police car and must radio in the reason for stopping a driver before officers can approach the vehicle. They must also record all stops with audio and video, and are barred from using traffic stop quotas.

Furthermore, and this is important, Arpaio and his officers cannot rely “on a suspect’s speaking Spanish, or speaking English with an accent, or appearance as a day laborer as a factor in developing reasonable suspicion or probable cause to believe a person has committed or is committing any crime, or reasonable suspicion to believe that an individual is in the country without authorization.”

In other words, MC Deputy Sheriff’s cannot racially profile Latinos and then make unauthorized traffic stops in hopes of finding something suspicious.

Back to Ramon Armendariz

The reason Ramon Armendariz’ scandalous conduct is important, and could be a thorn in Sheriff Joe’s side now, is because as a member of the sheriff’s “human smuggling unit”, Armendariz was asked to testify in a lawsuit against the sheriff’s office that alleged that deputies used racial profiling to arrest dozens of illegal immigrants. In other words, Armendariz testified at the hearing that led to Sheriff Joe being found guilty of racial profiling, which resulted in 1) the new rules for traffic stops and, 2) the monitor being assigned to make sure the rules are followed. Subsequent to his testimony, Mr. Armendariz left the human smuggling unit.

Cecillia Wang, a lawyer who took part in the profiling case, believes that Sheriff Joe’s office is compromised (well, duh!) and should not be spearheading the investigation into Armendariz’ rampant misconduct. “A law enforcement agency that launches this kind of investigation shouldn’t have stated a desired outcome,” said Wang, the desired outcome on the part of Sheriff Joe’s contingency being to demonstrate, if at all possible, that Armendariz was simply a rogue cop and that his egregious across-the- board criminal conduct was simply an isolated case of one cop breaking bad, and that Charley’s actions do not reflect upon the already questionable (and heavily questioned) operations of Sheriff Joe and his crew.

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Arizona is so far to the right that even the criminal defense attorneys handling the big drug trafficking cases are generally card-carrying Republicans. It’s no doubt hard for an “outsider” such as myself to really grasp what’s going on down there (over there?). (It was “up there” in the case of Ramon Armendariz.)

When I first went to work in criminal defense, one day The Boss referred to Arizona as the “Republic of Arizona.” His point was that, perhaps more than any other state, Arizona marches to the beat of its own drummer, and that drummer’s rhythm is out of step with much of the rest of the country.

This was long before I had heard of Sheriff Joe, Tent City, pink boxers and all his other bizarre machinations.

Live and learn, I guess. Meanwhile Charley Armendariz won’t be chasing any other phantom burglars around his property. And, of course, the crowning irony is the fact that by reporting the burglary to local law enforcement, he, in effect, turned himself in, which led quickly to his unfortunate demise.

commentary by Patrick H. Moore

Although it is  wrong to marginalize or stigmatize sub-groups within our society, the fact remains that if you are a parent and if you are truthful with yourself, although you probably do not actively discriminate against members of these sub-groups, you might secretly hope that your son or daughter not join any of them (this list is far from complete):

A terrorist; a methhead; a violent gang member; a murderer;  a thief; a punk rocker; a homophobe; a ne’er-do-well; a prostitute; a cop; an arsonist; a metalhead/headbanger; a right-wing racist; a psychopath; a bath salt addict; a user of Krokodil; a teenage porn star; a serial killer or mass murderer…

OOOORRRRR:

A Goth Rocker.

Our society is full of these types in varying numbers. There is  little doubt that some people can slide into and out of one or more of these identities with relative ease. On the other hand, there are cases where one may be trying on one of these identities – and through a combination of bad luck and/or bad judgment – the adventurer crosses over the line and finds himself or herself in a jam from which, unfortunately, there is no going back.

With their need “to belong”, teenagers, with their need to “be cool”, are particularly susceptible to “getting lost” in one of these identities and not finding their way out until it is too late. This is precisely what happened to 16-year-old Arizona Goth rocker Jessica Burlew.

Sasha Goldstein of the New York Daily post writes:

Jessica Burlew, 16, has been charged as an adult with second-degree murder in 43-year-old boyfriend Jason Ash’s death.

A 16-year-old Arizona girl says she strangled her 43-year-old boyfriend with an electrical cord during rough, consensual sex — and that he died when it got too intense.

Jessica Burlew pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder Wednesday in a bizarre case of murder, self-mutilation and heavy metal.

The Arizona Republic reports that the 43-year-old boyfriend Jason Ash was found dead on Jan. 19 in the Glendale home of Burlew’s mother, Tracey Woodside.

Displaying a pleasing forthrightness, Jessica explained to the cops that she used an extension cord to strangle Jason as a prelude to sex. Apparently, adepts at this gentle art have agreed-upon signals to resort to in the event things go sideways or otherwise get a little haywire, but instead of giving Jessica the signal, the so-called “safe” word, on a timely basis, Jason hesitated too long and passed out instead. In this case, truly, “he who hesitates is lost.”

Once Jessica realized that Jason had ceased breathing, in desperation, she resorted to “cutting” him with a razor blade hoping the shock would revive him. It did not because Jason was already too far gone. According to the court charging documents, once Jessica realized that Jason was not going to wake up, she reports that she continued “cutting” him to “alleviate her stress from the situation”.

Like all good 16-year-old Goths rockers must do when they realize they’ve ventured into deep and unnavigable waters, Jessica eventually called her mother to say her older lover, who went by the tag “gothadelic” on social media, was dead.

At Jessica’s court appearance Wednesday, her mother Tracey wept as she told a KPNX-TV reporter that the girl was innocent and that the death was an accident.

Nonetheless, in the spirit of thorough and unbiased reporting, it’s probably only right to provide a bit more information about Jessica and Jason and their arguably unsavory ways. Keep in mind that Jessica is only 16, and had this horrific accident not transpired, she might well have grown out of this phase much as many of us have grown out of various phases as we stagger through this treacherous thing called life.

Here are certain salient facts about Jessica:

• She went by  the handle ‘soultaker11′ on a website called Vampire Freaks and called herself Xenia Nex on other websites.

• Jessica sang dark songs with creepy lyrics and posted them to YouTube. The songs had names like “Golden Age of Death” and “Poor Little Victims”. She posted videos of her singing the dark lyrics on YouTube. “She starts to decay from the demon that’s raised,” Jessica warbles in an off-key voice. “It takes away the demon that lays. And now she decays.” (Ah yes, there are few things better than the devil and decay.)

• In her various Facebook postings and YouTube clips, Jessica appeared with dark, heavily applied eye makeup, her hair various shades including teal and blue, resplendent with piercings through her eyebrows, nose and lip; in short Jessica presented as a rather stylish albeit grim, confused, and death-obsessed teen.

It can be reasonably hypothesized that Jessica apparently shared her Goth lifestyle with poor deceased Ash, who quoted disturbing lyrics on his Facebook page.

“I like to dissect girls … did you know i’m utterly insane?” Ash wrote just five days before his demise.

That same day, he posted, “Your throat, I take grasp, can you feel the pain?”

*     *     *     *     *

Although Jessica can perhaps be forgiven to some degree based on her youth, immaturity and conspicuous teenage angst, you have to shake your head in dismay and perhaps horror over a “grown-up” like Ash babbling about “dissecting girls” and being “utterly insane” while carrying on sexually with a confused and self-destructive 16-year-old.

The irony is that Ash is dead and Jessica is very much alive to face the music.

by Krystal Zara and Patrick H. Moore

After the grisly death of Annie Chapman at the hands of the mysterious slayer, who has come to be known as Jack the Ripper, fear convulsed Whitechapel; it permeated the thoroughfares and the alleyways; it was on everyone’s lips in the alehouses and in the lodging-houses. Annie was the third woman to be murdered during the past month, and although not everyone was convinced that the same killer was responsible for all three deaths, as the fear festered and grew like an unlanced boil, the Whitechapel residents grew desperate for a scapegoat. Human nature, when confronted by an especially horrific uncertainty, will do nearly anything to dispel it.

Thus, it came about that Jack Pizer, a thick-necked Jewish shoemaker with black hair, a black moustache and a sinister expression, commonly known as “Leather Apron”, became the chief suspect. The choice of a Jewish suspect was not surprising; the scapegoating of the Jewish population was an old British custom, as English as roast beef and hasty pudding, and the Jews as a whole had been the suspect group until someone put the blame specifically on Mr. Pizer.

Pizer was a man of great strength with a penchant for harassing prostitutes. A huge collection on knives had been discovered at his home and he had a second dwelling on Hansbury Street near where Annie Chapman’s body was discovered. There were reports that he had been seen threatening a woman with a knife in the early morning hours of September 8^th; however, there seemed to be no proof that the altercation was with Annie Chapman. By law, the police could only hold Pizer for 36 hours – and the witnesses seemed unreliable. Furthermore, Jack Pizer not only maintained his innocence but provided a solid alibi for the hours in question.

His release from his brief time in custody didn’t make his life any easier; the press labeled him a “crazy Jew” and called him the “half man-half beast”.

Three days after Annie Chapman’s murder the police provided a description of a man who was suspected of having been with her just before the fatal attack.  He was described as being in his late thirties with a dark moustache and beard. He was wearing a dark, shaded jacket, vest and trousers — and a scarf and hat. No one knows how the police came up with this description.

Ripper’s Victim #3: Elizabeth Stride

Elizabeth Stride, known as Long Liz on the streets of Whitechapel, was born on November 27, 1843 to a Swedish farmer, Gustaf Ericsson, and his wife Beata Carlsdotter, near Gothenburg, Sweden. In 1860, she took work as a domestic in the Gothenburg parish of Carl Johan, moving again in the next few years to other Gothenburg districts. Unlike most other victims of the Whitechapel murders, who fell into prostitution due to poverty after a failed marriage, Stride took it up earlier. By March 1865 she was registered by the Gothenburg police as a prostitute, was treated twice for a sexually transmitted disease (STD).  She gave birth to a stillborn girl on 21 April 1865.

The following year she moved to London, possibly in domestic service with a family. A year later Elizabeth met, fell in love with and married John Stride. John, however, soon lost his life aboard a ship, the Princess Alice, that collided with another ship at sea, resulting in a death toll of more than 600 people. This maritime accident was used to explain Elizabeth’s two missing teeth – but there was never any evidence to prove that she was, in fact, on board the Princess Alice at the time of the tragedy.

From 1878 to 1887, Elizabeth court a hardworking laborer named Michael Kidney. Though he was reportedly quite fond of Long Liz, their relationship soured when she turned to heavy drinking. After their breakup, Liz’s life began to founder; by 1888, she had been arrested 8 times for charges associated with drunkenness and on September 25, 1888 Michael Kidney finally broke all ties with her.

Liz would spend the next four days drunk and alone — then came September, 29, 1888 — the day Elizabeth Stride crossed paths with Jack the Ripper.

Eyewitness Accounts

J. Best and John Gardner were shocked to see, on the night of September 29th, what they referred to a “respectable” man kissing the lips of a woman who was known to be  a prostitute — a woman who looked very much like Liz Stride. It was raining but still clear enough to see that the man was “ smartly dressed” and the woman was obviously from the streets. Best and Gardner remarked that the man kissing Liz seemed oblivious to her lowly social status.

The same man and woman purchased grapes at a fruit market on Berner Street, not far from where Annie Chapman met her fate, about an hour after they were seen kissing. According to the fruit vendor, the woman had not seemed distressed. Her speech was clear and she did not stagger. The man, said the bystanders, was dark-complected and appeared to be between 30 and 35 years of age.

The couple was then seen kissing and hugging outside the lodging house of Will Marshall, who had been out on his porch.

“You would say anything but your prayers,” Marshall heard the man say to the woman. They then walked away. Later in the inquiry, Will Marshall would remark that the man was well-dressed but that he had failed to see his face.

The last person to see the couple was PC Will Smith. The time was about 12:30 a.m.  Elizabeth Stride – if that’s who she was – and the well-dressed gentleman were standing on the other side of the road engaged in an intense conversation that Smith couldn’t make out. Viewing their conversation as unremarkable, Smith carried on with his walk. Charles Letchford, a man who lived on Berner Street and had been out that night, later stated that he neither saw nor heard anything unusual. Morris Eagle, who worked on Berner Street, had been walking his girl friend home; he too claimed not to have seen anything out of the ordinary.

Liz and the Ripper’s interaction became violent at around 12:40 a.m. A witness stated that had seen the man grab the woman’s arm — a woman that he recognized as Liz Stride. He said her companion threw her to the ground and she screamed.

The next witness to come forward was Israel Schwartz. He claimed to have seen the attack upon the poor woman, but said that there had been another man standing by in close proximity lighting a pipe. The second man was perhaps 5’11”, around 30 years old and wore an overcoat and a wide, dark hat. This man also sported dark hair and a moustache. Schwartz claimed he heard a scream for help and the word “police!”

Long Liz’s body was discovered approximately 20 minutes later at the same location where the couple had been seen kissing, then talking, then fighting. Louis Diemschuntz, a purveyor of jewelry, had been riding by in his horse-cart when his horse sensed something was wrong and became distressed. The horse shied and Louis looked down to see the body of the dead woman. Her arms had been folded about her stomach — she had a red flower pinned to her blouse and she was clearly dead. It was later suggested that Diemschuntz’ horse might have scared the killer away. Apparently Long Liz had defended herself valiantly — the killer only managed to cut her throat. Her mouth slightly open, the fear was clearly visible on her face. Her throat had been slashed cleanly and the gash was large enough to expel a one-pound blood clout. Perhaps due to Louis Diemschuntz’ untimely approach, the Ripper had left hastily without performing his usual disemboweling ceremony.

Most of the locals who had witnessed Elizabeth and the well-dressed gentleman arrived at the crime scene and were naturally shocked to discover that the woman they had so recently witnessed alive, and even vibrant after a fashion, was now very dead. The post-mortem began the following day, October 1^st. Mr. Blackwell proceeded with the autopsy. It was clear that the woman’s throat had been slashed; there were no other scars or suggestions that she had been strangled. She did have evidence of trauma on both shoulders, under her collarbone and on the front of her chest.

Inspector Abberline and the other policeman who had worked on the previous murders surmised that the Ripper himself was responsible for this slaying, only this time he hadn’t had time to dissect her fully due to having been interrupted by Diemschuntz and his horse-cart. Elizabeth Stride was officially identified by fits and starts. Mary Malcolm, an acquaintance of the victim, initiially claimed that the body was that of her deceased sister Mary Watts. The police were not thrilled when Mary Watts turned up alive and blamed Ms. Malcolm for wasting their valuable time.

Oddly, the newspapers renamed Elizabeth Stride “Lucky Liz” because she hadn’t been disemboweled. The fourth victim, however, Catharine Eddowes was not so“lucky”. Catherine was also killed in the early morning hours of September 30^th  – only hours after ELizabeth Stride and she received the full Ripper treatment.

Click below to read how Jack the Ripper’s other victims met their grisly fate:

Jack (the Ripper) and Polly, Victim #1: When Love Is Murder

Jack (the Ripper) and Annie, Victim #2: Birth of a Lengend

Jack the Ripper and Catherine Eddowes, Victim #4: The Ripper Leaves His Calling Card

commentary by Patrick H. Moore

We all know that children are highly impressionable. Therefore, it stands to reason that their interactions should be monitored to a reasonable degree. This is especially true when it comes to who their friends are and what websites they habitually visit. Of course, monitoring your child’s social interactions and internet activity is no easy task; in fact, it may be virtually impossible unless a parent(s) is willing to spend a great deal of time playing kid cop, which is not much fun.

And with respect to websites, even though your child may be staying away from inappropriate internet sites, serious problems can and sometimes do arise if your child’s friends are “haunting” websites where impressionable children probably should not venture.

This is exactly what happened this past weekend in Waukesha, a suburb of Milwaukee, WI, where two 12-year-old girls, in a case that is at least superficially similar to the Skylar Neese matter, stabbed their “best friend” 19 times. One of the knife wounds came within a millimeter (centimeter?) of her heart, and had it been an iota deeper, it would almost certainly have killed her. The authorities were alerted that something was very rotten in Waukesha when a bicyclist found the wounded victim barely alive Saturday, lying on a sidewalk in the city of Waukesha. According to Police Chief Russell Jack , the unidentified 12-year-old was in stable condition at a hospital on Monday.

Todd Richmond of the AP reports that it all began when the two 12-year-old perpetrators, Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier, came across a horror website called Creepypasta Wiki, which features a mythological demon-like character named Slender Man. According to the website, if a follower of Slender Man takes the big step of killing someone, he or she can become his “proxies”and he will then accept them and let them live with him in his mansion in the Nicolet National Forest.

Therefore, the girls decided their best hope of being accepted into Slender Man’s domain was to murder their 12-year-old pal, thus fulfilling their warlock’s evil requirement for admission to his private club.

Their plan was to run away to the demon’s forest mansion after the slaying.

An endeavor of this magnitude requires careful planning, and according to the criminal complaint, the suspects had been mulling over various plans of attack since February.

Initially, they thought they would kill their “friend” by placing duct tape over her mouth while she was sleeping, prior to stabbing her in the neck.

They then decided to discard Plan #1, thinking it would be easier to kill her in a bathroom in one of their houses where there was floor drain which would expedite the cleanup process.

They ultimately also discarded this plan and decided to “do in” their friend in a park while playing hide-and-seek.

The alleged perpetrators attended the same middle school as the victim, and in order to carry out their plan, arranged to have a sleepover at the home of one of the suspects on Friday night.

It’s somewhat unclear when precisely the attack occurred, but occur it did. The police complaint reads:

“As they left for the park … (the victim) was walking in front of them and Geyser lifted up the left side of her white jacket and displayed the knife tucked in her waistband. Weier stated she gave Geyser a look with wide eyes and, when asked what that meant Weier stated, ‘I thought, dear god, this was really happening.’”

The suspects then proceeded to push the victim to the ground. One of them held the victim down while the other did the blade work.

The suspects then apparently left the victim to crawl to her own rescue, although it’s not clear whether they thought she was still alive.

Showing remarkable courage, the victim somehow managed to drag herself out of the park and onto a Waukesha sidewalk, where she was discovered by a passing bicyclist whom she told:

“Please help me. I’ve been stabbed.” The bicyclist recounted that she was in extreme pain and could only answer questions with yes or no.

After the crime was reported, the authorities searched for Weier and Geyser and found them walking near Interstate 94.

Police Chief Jack declined to say whether the suspects had blood on their clothes, but did state, “There was evidence that was readily apparent when the two were taken into custody.”

That evidence reportedly included a large kitchen knife inside a purse which Geyser identified as one of her mother’s old purses.

According to the complaint, both girls were willing to speak openly to the police.

Although some of the victim’s major organs were pierced, the wound that would have killed her, had it been an iota deeper, was the stab wound near her heart.

The two suspects are being held on preliminary charges of attempted first-degree intentional homicide. They are being charged as adults and appeared in court on Monday. Their bail was set at $500,000 for each child.

The children appeared in court wearing shackles and jail jumpsuits, surrounded by sheriff’s bailiffs, who towered over them. The family members of the two girls responded very differently to the proceedings. One group wept openly as reporters snapped photographs; the other girl’s family sat stone-faced.

Impressionable Girls

One of the girls reported that she sees Slender Man in her dreams. She explained that he watches her and can read her mind as well as teleport.

“It’s extremely disturbing as a parent and as chief of police,” said Police Chief Jack at a news conference prior to the Monday court appearances.

“I recognize their young ages but it’s still unbelievable,” Court Commissioner Thomas Pieper said during their court appearances.

Charging Decisions

The two perpetrators have done a truly awful thing and I can’t help but wonder if they were aware that their actions, complete with the extensive planning, were quite similar to what Rachel Shoaf and Shelia Eddy did to Skylar Neese. Of course, given that they were influenced mightily by the Slender Man figure, this might not be the case.

In closing, I must insist that these two girls are too young to be tried as adults. They need help and plenty of it, but society MUST find a way to punish them appropriately without discarding them in the dustbin of ruined lives.

compiled by Patrick H. Moore

This compelling yet horrifying array of 51 disturbing quotes from 19 disturbed serial killers is drawn from the public domain. Although I’m quite certain that each and everyone of these killers had their moments of intense terror and loneliness, I am struck by the fact that some of them seem far more unhappy than others. For example, Aileen Wuornos may have been one of the most unhappy women that every lived. Compared to her, suave Mr. Bundy seems to to be feeling only moderate pain, while the deadly Dahmer appears to be consumed with guilt over his actions. What all of this boils down to is that although serial killers may well shares many basic personality characteristics, they are all different which makes it tough to generalize effectively about them.

Aileen Wuornos  (the saddest woman who ever lived)

 “May your wife and children get raped, right in the ass. (to the jurors who convicted her) “

 “To me, this world is nothing but evil, and my own evil just happened to come out cause of the circumstances of what I was doing.

David Berkowitz  (was no doubt possessed by something though probably not the devil)

“A ‘possessed’ dog in the neighborhood won’t let me stop killing until he gets his fill of blood.”

“Hello from the gutters of New York City, which are filled with dog manure, vomit, stale wine, urine and blood.”

“I am a monster. I am the Son of Sam. I love to hunt.”

“I was literally singing to myself on my way home, after the killing. The tension, the desire to kill a woman had built up in such explosive proportions that when I finally pulled the trigger, all the pressures, all the tensions, all the hatred, had just vanished, dissipated, but only for a short time.”

“The demons wanted my penis.”

Ed Gein  (the inspiration for Psycho, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Silence of the Lamps. Gein lived in my home state of Wisconsin)

“She isn’t missing. She’s at the farm right now.”

“I had a compulsion to do it.”

“They smelled bad.”

Edmund Kemper (Big Ed was tall, large and reportedly had the I.Q. of a genius. He has been a model prisoner.)

“Even when she was dead, she was still bitching at me. I couldn’t get her to shut up!”

“I just wanted to see how it felt to shoot Grandma.”

“I remember there was actually a sexual thrill . . . you hear that little pop and pull their heads of and hold their heads up by the hair. Whipping their heads off, their body sitting there. That’d get me off.”

“The first good-looking girl I see tonight is going to die.”

“With a girl, there’s a lot left in the girl’s body without a head. Of course, the personality is gone.”

H.H Holmes (completely unique in that he built his notorious Murder Castle where he apparently did in his victims)

“I was born with the devil in me. I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than the poet can help the inspiration to sing..I was born with the evil one standing as my sponsor beside the bed where I was ushered into the world, and he has been with me since.”

Henry Lee Lucas (Henry was without a doubt the victim of bad parenting. The cult film, “Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer” is loosely based on him and possibly Ottis Toole. I strongly recommend it but keep in mind, it is not for the faint at heart.)

“I hated all my life. I hated everybody. When I first grew up and can remember, I was dressed as a girl by mother. And I stayed that way for two or three years. And after that was treated like what I call the dog of the family. I was beaten. I was made to do things that no human bein’ would want to do.”

“Sex is one of my downfalls. I get sex any way I can get it. If I have to force somebody to do it, I do…I rape them; I’ve done that. I’ve killed animals to have sex with them, and I’ve had sex while they’re alive. “

Ian Brady (Brady, killer of children along with his partner Myra Hindley, was apparently quite the intellectual. He is old and ill now and has expressed his fervent desire to die but the British authorities insist on keeping him alive by means of a feeding tube.)

“Contrary to popular perception, the so-called Moors Murders were merely an existential exercise of just over a year, which was concluded in December 1964.”

Jeffrey Dahmer (What can you say about Dahmer that has not already been said and re-said?)

“I carried it too far, that’s for sure. “

“I’ve got to start eating at home more..”

“My consuming lust was to experience their bodies.I viewed them as objects, as strangers. It is hard for me to believe a human being could have done what I’ve done”

“I couldn’t find any meaning for my life when I was out there, I’m sure as hell not going to find it in here. This is the grand finale of a life poorly spent and the end result is just overwhelmingly depressing… it’s just a sick, pathetic, wretched, miserable life story, that’s all it is. How it can help anyone, I’ve no idea.”

John Wayne Gacy (I don’t like this guy at all though I am weirdly enchanted by his Clown Paintings.)

“A clown can get away with murder.”

“The only thing they can get me for is running a funeral parlor without a license.”

Peter Kurten  (known as The Vampire of Dusseldorf)

“After my head has been chopped off, will I still be able to hear, at least for a moment , the sound of my own blood gushing from my neck? That would be the best pleasure to end all pleasure. “

Richard Ramirez (The Night Stalker was smart and could have done much good in the world if he’d had a decent childhood.)

“Big deal, death comes with the territory. See you in Disneyland.”

“I’ve killed 20 people, man. I love all that blood.”

“Even psychopaths have emotions, then again, maybe not.”

“We’ve all got the power in our hands to kill, but most people are afraid to use it. The ones who aren’t afraid, control life itself.”

“You maggots make me sick, I will be avenged. Lucifer dwells within us all.”

Ted Bundy  (There’s something quintessentially creepy about Bundy. A little too suave and self-serving for my taste.)

“I haven’t blocked out the past. I wouldn’t trade the person I am, or what I’ve done – or the people I’ve known – for anything. So I do think about it. And at times it’s a rather mellow trip to lay back and remember.

“I just liked to kill, I wanted to kill.”

“You learn what you need to kill and take care of the details…Its like changing a tire…The 1st time you’re careful…By the 30th time, you can’t remember where you left the lug wrench.”

“You feel the last bit of breath leaving their body. You’re looking into their eyes. A person in that situation is God!”

Albert DeSalvo (Although DeSalvo was definitely a rapist, it has not been definitively settled whether he was actually a murderer. That could be why his quote seems unlike those of the “real” serial killers. His remains have been exhumed in hopes of obtaining DNA matches.)

“It wasn’t as dark and scary as it sounds. I had a lot of fun…killing somebody’s a funny experience.”

Albert Fish (Like Henry Lee Lucas, Fish was very likely prone to exaggerating his evil deeds. He was one of the early lucky fellows to “ride the chair” at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in New York.)

“I always had the desire to inflict pain on others and to have others inflict pain on me. I always seemed to enjoy everything that hurt. The desire to inflict pain, that is all that is uppermost. “

 ”I saw so many boys whipped, it took root in my head.”

 ”I like children, they are tasty.”

Arthur Shawcross (This execrable human claimed to have eaten the vaginas of 3 of his 11 known female victims.)

“I took the right leg of that woman’s body, from the knee to the hip took the fat off and ate it while he stared at the other girl. When I bit into it she just urinated right there.”

“She was giving me oral sex, and she got carried away . . . So I choked her.”

 Dennis Rader ( “BTK” was his infamous signature. It stands for “Bind, Torture, Kill”.)

“When this monster entered my brain, I will never know, but it is here to stay. How does one cure himself? I can’t stop it, the monster goes on, and hurts me as well as society. Maybe you can stop him. I can’t.”

“I actually think I may be possessed with demons, I was dropped on my head as a kid.”

Charles Manson  (You have to admit that Charlie is quite the character.)

“I’ve killed no one. I’ve ordered no one to be killed. These children who come to you with their knives, they’re your children. I didn’t teach them, you did.”

“Total paranoia is just total awareness.”

“Believe me, if I started murdering people there’d be none of ya left.”

“You know, if I wanted to kill somebody, I’d take this book and beat you to death with it. And I wouldn’t feel a thing. It’d be just like walking to the drug store.”

Carl Panzram (Panzram confessed to 22 murders, and to having sodomized over 1,000 males. He was hanged for having murdered a prison employee at Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary in 1930.)

“I wish you all had one neck and that I had my hands on it.”

 “Today I am dirty , but tomorrow I’ll be just dirt.”

“Hurry up, you Hoosier bastard, I could kill ten men while you’re fooling around!”

The Zodiac Killer Quotes (The Zodiac was very smart although he certainly might have been brought to justice if modern forensic techniques had been available during his “reign of terror”.)

“If the blue meanies are going to get me they’d better get off their asses and do something.”