commentary by Patrick H. Moore

Not all serial killers are weird like Charles Manson or Jeffrey Dahmer. Or at least they’re not totally weird. They may even have redeeming features. A surprising number of the multiple slayers who are washed up on the rocks of justice and are serving lifetime prison terms, or are languishing on Death Row, once had families and children, allegedly presided at backyard barbecues and may have even gone to PTA meetings. Others were young men just coming of age who made mistakes they couldn’t undo.

Or so Sarah LeTrent of CNN would like you to believe. Witness this conversation between Melissa Moore, age 33, and her father, Keith Hunter Jesperson, in a post entitled “A killer in the family.” Jesperson was a long distance truck driver who strangled eight women while on the road and sent letters to the local police stations bragging about his conquests. He had the habit of signing his mea culpas with a Happy Face and was dubbed, the Happy Face Killer:

“Missy, you need to change your last name,” the shackled man in the orange prison jumpsuit said into the receiver, staring blankly at his 15-year-old daughter’s tear-stained face.

“That’s when I knew that these things were true,” recalls Melissa Moore, now 33.

Until that day, the man behind the glass partition, Keith Hunter Jesperson, was simply her father; the one who used to tuck her into bed at night “like a burrito.”

Keith “Happy Face” Jesperson went to trial and lost. He is now serving life in prison with no possibility of parole. If we dig a little deeper, we discover that LeTrent’s article is not telling us the whole story. Jesperson, who was Canadian born, had always been weird, the typical “loner” child with a propensity to torture. Wikipedia has this to say about him:

He had a violent and troubled childhood under a domineering, alcoholic father. Treated like an outcast by his own family and teased by other children for his large size at a young age, Jesperson was a lonely child who showed a propensity for torturing and killing animals. Despite consistently getting into trouble in his youth, including twice attempting to kill children who had crossed him, Jesperson graduated from high school, secured a job as a truck driver, got married, and had three children. In 1990, after 15 years of marriage, Jesperson was divorced and saw his dream to become a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman dashed following an injury. It was that year, after returning to truck driving, that Jesperson began to kill. Jesperson is known to have killed eight women over the course of five years. Strangulation was his preferred method, the same method he often used to kill animals as a child.

So despite his horrific childhood, the Happy Face Killer kept it together for a long while, many years as a family man, before he snapped and went on his killing spree. Melissa Moore no doubt realizes that there are worse things than being tucked into bed “like a burrito”. Might her day have come — if her father hadn’t been stopped?

Whatever the circumstances, very little hits a family harder than discovering that one of their members is a serial killer or a mass murderer. Children don’t even want their parents to sing in public. Imagine how they feel when they find out Dad is a murderer.

After much soul-searching, Melissa Moore made the reluctant decision to sever ties with her father. She changed her name when she got married and set out to build a new life.

In her article, Sarah Letrent states:

Moore is a part of an exclusive group, those who share blood relations with someone perceived by the public as a monster: a mass murderer. With that unenviable tie can come isolation, guilt, grief, fear, disbelief, even post-traumatic stress disorder, in addition to a very public stigma.

In the aftermath of a massacre, questions and criticism are frequently directed at the parents, spouses and children of the accused. The public sometimes sympathizes, often criticizes and even goes so far as to blame family members for the actions of their kin.

This issue of guilt by association can be extremely hard for the family members of serial killers to deal with. A part of you is horrified beyond words by what Dad or Junior (or in rare cases Mom or Sister) has done, but a part of you will still want to defend your shamed loved one.

Sarah LeTrent cites Michael Price, a professor of evolutionary moral psychology at Brunel University in London, who states that people are hardwired to defend their kin, like Melissa Moore did before she realized her father’s guilt.

“There will be strong psychological and emotional incentives to defend and remain loyal to the family member, and to delude and self-deceive themselves about the reality of their relative’s guilt,” Price said.

At the same time, Price said individuals may be prone to protect their own reputations and disassociate themselves from the killer to avoid being ostracized.

“They may experience anger at the relative for putting them in such a conflicted position,” Price said.

In short, the family members of convicted serial killers will be pushed and pulled in diametrically opposed directions. They may wake in the morning feeling the deepest filial connection to their fiendish family member and by noon they’ll be wishing that they had never even met.

One of the hardest things innocent family members face is the public expectation that they will step up to the plate and make a statement about what has happened. I know what you’re thinking, that you’d rather chew on barbed-wire, but the expectation is nevertheless front and center in the mind of the eager, avaricious public.

Recently Adam Lanza’s father, Peter, met with Robbie and Alissa Parker, the parents of 6-year-old victim Emilie, to discuss his son’s actions.

“One of the main reasons that I wanted to speak to him was I wanted to just speak to him as a father, one father to another father,” Robbie Parker told CNN’s Piers Morgan. “And I understand that, despite the circumstances, that he lost his son and that he needed to grieve that as well, just as much as I needed to grieve my daughter. And so I wanted to express those condolences to him, and I felt that we were able to do that for each other.”

You can’t help but feel considerable respect for Robbie Parker. I can’t help wondering how he feels about this revelation:

In documents released Thursday, it was revealed that 20-year-old Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza’s mother (whom he shot in the forehead before turning his guns on 26 more victims, as well as himself, at the elementary school) gave him money earmarked to purchase weapons and allowed him to keep a gun safe in his bedroom.

Susan Klebold, the mother of Dylan Klebold, one of the Columbine shooters, finally opened up in a 2009 issue of Oprah Magazine with a personal essay titled “I Will Never Know Why.”

She wrote: “Through all of this, I felt extreme humiliation. For months I refused to use my last name in public. I avoided eye contact when I walked. Dylan was a product of my life’s work, but his final actions implied that he had never been taught the fundamentals of right and wrong. There was no way to atone for my son’s behavior.”

For pure carnage, Virginia Tech gunman Seung-Hui Cho, who killed 32 people before shooting himself, in April of 2007 is at or near the top of the list. Of course Cho took the easy way out. His family was left to “meet the press.” On behalf of the family, Sun-Kyung Cho, the sister of the shooter, said:

“We have always been a close, peaceful and loving family. My brother was quiet and reserved, yet struggled to fit in. We never could have envisioned that he was capable of so much violence. He has made the world weep. We are living a nightmare.”

The Chos haven’t spoken to the media since.

The bottom line is that having a serial killer or a mass murderer in your family will, more likely than not, turn your life into a special kind of mental hell. It will always be with you — and though strong souls may perhaps keep it at bay — the memory will never be silenced entirely. Among other things, unless you can somehow manage to live an entirely private existence, you will inevitably find yourself “in the cross hairs” of public expectation, obliged to rub elbows with the hungry masses and talk about what happened which somehow, paradoxically, makes all the listeners feel a little more alive.

by Darcia Helle

A recent article in Rolling Stone magazine titled The Entrapment of Jesse Snodgrass prompted me to write this piece. I wanted to keep my professional distance but, when I sat down to write, I found it nearly impossible to keep my outrage from bleeding into my words. This is Jesse’s story, though it could belong to anyone.

In August 2012, Jesse Snodgrass was a 17-year-old high school student at Chaparral High School in Temecula, California. Jesse was troubled, though not in the way that leads to criminal problems. Jesse has Asperger’s syndrome, which is a form of autism. He also suffers with Tourette’s syndrome and bipolar disorder. Because of these challenges, Jesse was an easy target for bullies. Throughout his school years, he’d been taunted, teased, and called “retard”. The anxiety caused Jesse to turn inward and injure himself; he would bang his head, scratch and punch himself during the worst times.

Needless to say, making friends was a momentous struggle for Jesse. Under the best of circumstances, socializing can be a challenge for teens. Add psychological problems to the mix, and you can pretty much guarantee that child will be shunned. Jesse had only one friend in school, a developmentally-challenged boy also in special education classes. But the boy and his family had recently moved to another state, leaving Jesse on his own. To further complicate matters, Jesse’s parents had lost their home and they had to move to a new school district. The loss and disruption set Jesse back and worried his parents.

All of this would have been difficult but tolerable for Jesse had it not been for what happened next. Early in the school year, Jesse was approached by another new student called Daniel. To Jesse’s amazed delight, Daniel wanted to be his friend. And this, right here, is what derailed Jesse and almost destroyed him. This boy calling himself Daniel was not a boy at all. He was actually Deputy Dan Zipperstein, and he was on a mission to get kids to sell him drugs, whether they wanted to or not.

This practice of undercover school stings started in 1974 with the LAPD. Youthful-looking cops pose as teenagers. They attend classes, turn in homework, go to house parties, and generally insinuate themselves into the lives of these kids. As a rule, only the superintendent and one or two others are aware of the sting operation. Neither the teachers nor the school principal know the new kid is actually a cop. And no child is off limits.

By the 1980s, the anti-drug fervor caused by the “war on drugs” made school stings a favored practice with law enforcement. San Diego Sheriff Bill Gore once boasted this method of wrangling in and arresting teens was “almost too easy”. The stings are highly organized events, with names such as Operation D-Minus and Operation Jump Street. In the case of Jesse and Chaparral High School, it was Operation Glasshouse.

Jesse and Daniel attended art class together. By all accounts, Jesse’s psychological issues were obvious. He required extra attention and guidance during class. He clearly struggled with the material. He spoke in a kind of flat monotone, and was slow to respond during conversations. While some of his classes were mainstream, he was a special-ed student. There could be no doubt in Deputy Daniel’s mind that Jesse was a child with developmental problems, not a drug dealing threat. Still Daniel pursued Jesse relentlessly.

t began with Daniel attempting to bond with Jesse. He told Jesse about his problems at home, about how his parents didn’t understand him and how he was always in trouble for no reason. Once Jesse felt comfortable with Daniel, and no doubt thrilled to have a friend confiding in him, Daniel went into destructive mode. He asked Jesse to get him some weed, because he was stressed and needed to relax his mind. Jesse wanted to be cool and helpful in his friend’s eyes, but he knew nothing about marijuana, and so he stalled. Daniel, though, kept pushing to the point of insanity. As the weeks passed, Daniel sent Jesse 60 text messages, all focused on getting Jesse to fulfill his “promise” of getting the marijuana.

Jesse felt trapped. He wanted nothing more than to make his friend happy. And, to some extent, he understood the need for self-medication. He was on medication himself and, to Jesse, there wasn’t much difference between the pills he took to feel better and the marijuana Daniel claimed to need to make himself feel better. Still, he had no idea where or how to get the stuff.

Jesse’s anxiety built along with Daniel’s insistent hounding. One day the pressure became unbearable, and he raced to the boys’ bathroom where he burned his arm with a lighter. Later that same day, Daniel handed Jesse a $20 bill in exchange for a promise that Jesse would bring him the weed.

Now Jesse believed he had no choice but to keep his promise. Days passed, and each day Daniel pestered him for the weed that he had no idea how to purchase. Finally, he remembered there was a marijuana dispensary near where his parents shopped. Jesse went there with the $20. Unsure what to do next, he hung around until he found someone who agreed to get the bag of weed for him. Jesse handed the person the money and received a baggie of marijuana. At that moment, he was probably elated to have succeeded for his friend, as well as terrified to have the marijuana in his possession.

Jesse wanted Daniel to come to his house to make the exchange but Daniel refused. Instead, Daniel asked Jesse to meet him at a nearby strip mall before school. Jesse asked his father to drop him off there. To Doug, Jesse’s father, this was an exciting moment. His son had made a friend and was going to hang out for a bit before school. He was thrilled that Jesse was adjusting to his new school, and happily dropped him off with a smile and a wave to Daniel.

In that parking lot, Jesse nervously handed Daniel the baggie of marijuana. Daniel was careful not to show his disappointment at the meager contents, which turned out to be about a half-gram; $5 worth of marijuana. The two drove to school together, and later that day Deputy Daniel gave the baggie to another deputy to be taken in as evidence.

Evidently, Daniel was undeterred at the measly amount of weed Jesse had given him. Two weeks later, he gave Jesse another $20 for which he received an even skimpier amount of marijuana. Daniel then asked Jesse to sell him some Clonazepam, which is a benzodiazepine Jesse took for his anxiety. Jesse refused, because that was his medication and he needed it. Despite Daniel’s persistence, Jesse remained adamant that he would not sell his medication. Eventually Daniel lost interest in both Jesse and their friendship, and he moved on to other kids at the school.

Daniel’s behavior hurt Jesse. He thought he’d finally made a friend, but Daniel no longer seemed interested in him at all. He didn’t understand what he’d done wrong. Things would only get worse and more confusing for Jesse.

On December 11, 2012, five armed police officers wearing bulletproof vests stormed into Jesse’s art class calling his name. A police helicopter hovered over the school. Jesse was immediately handcuffed and dragged out in front of his classmates. Fifteen other kids were arrested at Chaparral High School that same day.

At the police station, Jesse waived his Miranda rights. He didn’t understand those rights, but agreed because he wanted to cooperate with the police. He did not want to be a problem to them. When asked about selling drugs, he denied the charge. Deputy Daniel Zipperstein was then brought into the interview room, which further confused Jesse. Deputies had to break the situation down and explain several times to Jesse that he’d “sold” drugs to Deputy Zipperstein when he’d taken money in exchange for the marijuana. Still, Jesse could not make sense of the situation, which became even more disconcerting when he was ushered to the hospital for drug testing along with a half-dozen other kids who’d admitted to doing drugs within the past 24 hours.

At the hospital, a cop asked Jesse, “Are you mentally retarded?” to which Jesse replied that he had Asperger’s. The cop reportedly groaned but made no effort to intervene. Instead, Jesse was brought to Juvenile Hall and placed in a holding cell.

Throughout this ordeal, no one – not the police and not any of the school officials – notified Jesse’s parents of his arrest. Frantic with worry when he didn’t return home, his mother finally made contact with someone at the school who informed her of the situation.

When Catherine, Jesse’s mother, made contact with the police, she was informed that Jesse would be detained a minimum of two days. During this time, the Snodgrasses would not be allowed to see him. Catherine explained her son’s situation, detailing his tendency to self-injure when anxious. When she dropped off his medications at Juvenile Hall, a female officer told her, “You know, Mama, the kids here love it. They get three square meals and a bed. They love it here, and they keep coming back.” The sarcastic implication that Jesse was destined to become a career criminal had to be surreal to the Snodgrasses.

Imagine what it must have been like for Jesse’s parents that day. They sent their child off to school, with every expectation that he would be supervised in an environment meant to help kids thrive. Instead, their son is swept up in an arrest under highly questionable circumstances, and not one person bothered to let them know. Jesse’s special needs aside, these are minors. They cannot be absent a day without a parent’s consent. They cannot go on field trips without a parent’s consent. Yet, these same parents are not told about undercover police stings or the arrest of their child. We are supposed to send our children to school in order to provide them with the necessary tools to succeed in life. Instead, police and school officials are teaming up in order to set them up for failure.

Jesse’s case seemed to get even crazier after his arrest. Two days later, when his parents were finally allowed to see him, Senior Deputy District Attorney Blaine Hopp strode into the room where the Snodgrasses waited with other parents and announced, “This should be a wake-up call to all of you. Your children are drug dealers.”

Jesse was charged with two felonies – one for each marijuana sale. Despite the probation department having recommended Jesse be released, Hopp fought for Jesse to be retained in custody for at least one month. Hopp insisted each child arrested posed a danger to the community. The judge, fortunately, did not agree and ordered Jesse’s immediate release.

During his two days in a cell, Jesse had regressed horribly. For the next six weeks, he barely spoke. He sat still, sometimes waving his hand in front of his face like he’d done as a toddler. Eventually, he told his parents he wanted to die. He had emergency therapy sessions and adjustments to his medications. His parents kept all-night vigils to ensure he would not hurt himself. And through all this, the school was threatening to expel Jesse for the drug offense.

In a rare moment of relative sanity throughout this ordeal, the criminal judge cited Jesse’s autism as “unusual and exceptional circumstances”, and sentenced him to informal probation with 20 hours of community service. This meant that, if he kept out of trouble and did his community service, his record would then be wiped clean. The Snodgrasses accepted the quickie plea deal in part to protect Jesse from the trauma of a trial, but also because they had a second fight on their hands. The school still wanted to expel Jesse and his parents weren’t going to let that happen.

Few families in their situation fight back. Sometimes it’s a financial issue. Lawyers are expensive. But often it’s because of shame. Parents feel their children are in fact guilty of some terrible crime. They’re embarrassed. But Jesse’s parents had been fighting for Jesse’s rights from his early years, and they weren’t about to back down. “We have nothing to be ashamed of, Jesse has nothing to be ashamed of,” Doug Snodgrass stated. “The people who do this, they’re the ones who should be ashamed.”

In February 2013, Jesse endured a six-day hearing to fight the school expulsion. Witnesses who’d been part of his trusted school support team now testified against him, assuring Jesse knew right from wrong and therefore knew what he was doing when he sold Deputy Zipperstein marijuana. Michael Hubbard, the school district’s Director of Child Welfare and Attendance, who was one of only three administrators with prior knowledge of the sting, testified about his faith in Operation Glasshouse and Jesse’s subsequent arrest. He stated, “I didn’t believe it was coercion or entrapment for any of the kids.”

In March 2013, Judge Marian Tully’s 19-page ruling said otherwise. “The district placed Student in an extremely difficult social-problem scenario that would have been difficult even for typical high school students.” Judge Tully ordered that Jesse be allowed to return to school immediately.

Throughout all this, Jesse’s emotional and mental health declined horribly. He suffered panic attacks and nightmares. He continually scratched at the back of his hand, gouging a deep groove. He was diagnosed with PTSD and dealt with paranoia. Perhaps most telling of the damage done is this: while driving with his parents, he would crumple to the floor any time they passed a police car. His faith in the people he’d been taught to look toward for help had not only shattered, but turned into intense fear. The very sight of a police car sent him spiraling downward.

Back at school, Jesse was faced with the school counselors who’d testified against him but now offered smiles. The other kids shunned him even more than usual. And in a stunning example of idiocy, the school district filed an appeal to fight the administration’s ruling. They wanted Jesse expelled.

Readers might assume that Jesse’s case is an anomaly. Most of the kids arrested must be troublemakers, drug dealers, little criminals in the making. In reality, that doesn’t appear to be the case at all. These kids are not bad, they’re just kids. Every teenager wants to fit in. It’s human nature. Kids do things for each other because they want to be liked. Often the decisions they make aren’t particularly smart, but they’re far from criminal masterminds.

Stephen Downing, a former LAPD Deputy Chief who now works with the advocacy group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, had this to say about school drug stings, “This is not about public safety – the public is no safer, and the school grounds are no safer. The more arrests you have, the more funding you can get through federal grants and overtime.”

Using our children for financial gain is what this is about.

These high school drug stings are typically shrouded in secrecy. The public is not given details. We are, however, given 15-second media hype and provocative headlines designed to make police look as if they’ve infiltrated a major drug ring.

In the case of Operation Glasshouse, officials declined to divulge the quantities of the drug sales, insisting that the amount confiscated was beside the point.

Is any of this helping our kids? Do the arrests put these kids back on the right track?

The answer to those questions appears to be a resounding no. State Director Lyman said, “These kinds of practices push students out of school and toward the criminal justice system. It is known as the school-to-prison pipeline.”

This should come as no surprise. Once arrested for their crime, these kids are expelled from school. They have a criminal record, even if they’re lucky enough to escape without being sentenced to do time in a juvenile facility. If they manage to get their GED, most colleges won’t accept them. Most employers won’t hire them.

This is only part of the long-term problem. These kids have suffered absolute betrayal at the hands of people they trusted. The school system, which is supposed to be protecting them, has allowed them to be set up. The police, who they are taught to respect, have pursued them, used them, set them up for absolute failure. The children have learned the hard way not to trust anyone.

Studies have shown these stings do more bad than good for communities. In 2004, questions about these tactics led the LAPD to abruptly shut down its 30-year-old undercover School Buy program. But Riverside County, where Jesse lives, is undeterred by the controversy. In December 2013, one year after the raid that swept Jesse into the system, 25 high school students in the cities of Perris and Meniffee were arrested in a new sting. Among those students was a 15-year-old special-ed student who reads at a third grade level. Jonathan Greenberg, the Perris Superintendent, deemed the operation “an unqualified success”.

As for Jesse, he graduated high school at the end of last year. He still suffers with PTSD and various setbacks. When asked his thoughts about all that happened, he had this to say, “They were actually out to get us.”

Indeed they were.

As I ponder this case, I can’t help but consider adults in similar circumstances. How many adults share their medications, despite knowing it’s wrong? Your coworker asks for one of your painkillers because he threw his back out over the weekend. Your friend asks if she can buy some of your sleeping pills because she has severe insomnia and can’t afford a visit to the doctor. In these circumstances, we’re dealing adults who know right from wrong, and we are not dealing with entrapment. Still, adults do these things all the time. Does supplying a prescription painkiller or a sleeping pill to a friend make you a drug dealer?

I am unable to find one single redeeming factor in all of this. As a teenager, I did a lot of stupid things. That’s all part of growing up. Social psychology and neuroscience has proven that adolescents are most inclined toward risky reward-seeking behavior and most vulnerable to peer-pressure. This combination naturally predisposes teenagers toward riskier behavior. Had an undercover cop been placed in my school, my life might have been much different than it is now.

Please click to below to view Darcia’s Helle’s many excellent posts:

Modern Day Executioners Despise the Death Penalty

‘Trial by Media’ Is Not a New Phenomenon: The Kangaroo Hanging of Alvin Edwin Batson

“Met Her on the Mountain”: Cold Case Social Worker Hog-Tied, Raped and Killed in Appalachia

Jovial Private Bartender Snaps; Assaults and Drags Obnoxious 84-Year-Old Club Patron

Frank Lloyd Wright and the Great Gasoline Mass Murder

Edward Elmore Rode the Legal Railroad to 30 Years on Death Row: His Crime? Simple! He Was Black and Poor

 “The Wrong Carlos”: Non-Violent Manchild Executed for Murder He Did Not Commit

The Electric Chair Nightmare: An Infamous and Agonizing History

Autopsies: Truth, Fiction and Maura Isles and Her 5-Inch-Heels

Don’t Crucify Me, Dude! Just Shoot Me Instead! Spartacus and Death by Crucifixion

To Burn or Not to Burn? Auto-Da-Fé Is Not Good for Women or Children!

The Disgraceful Entrapment of Jesse Snodgrass: Keep the Narcs Out of Our Schools

Why Should I Believe You? The History of the Polygraph

“Don’t Behead Me, Dude!”: The Story of Beheading and the Invention of the Guillotine

Aileen Wuornos, America’s First High-Profile Female Serial Killer, Never Had a Chance

The Terror of ISO: A Descent into Madness

Al Capone Could Not Bribe the Rock: Alcatraz, Fortress of Doom

Cyberspace, Darknet, Murder-for-Hire and the Invisible Black Machine

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

compiled by Patrick H. Moore

Based on the photographic evidence, 18-year-old Isabella Guzman of Aurora, Colorado is quite an attractive young lady. Her Facebook page contains selfies which seem to combine poise and a natural loveliness that are striking. Nonetheless, Isabella now stands charged with 1st-degree murder for slashing her mother, 47-year-old Yun-Mi Hoy’s, throat and stabbing her a total of 79 times in the upstairs bathroom of their suburban home on the evening of August 28, 2013.

It’s not yet clear what specifically caused Isabella to go berserk as if she were a psychopathic monster. Yet she did.

There had been signs since Isabella’s early childhood — when she was sent for a period of time to live with her biological father after her parents separated — that all was not right between her and her mother, but no one expected matters to deteriorate to this point of no return. After Isabella’s arrest in a parking garage the following day 16 hours after the slaying, homicide detectives were unable to offer any clues as to a motive for the brutal act. Isabella’s stepfather, Ryan Hoy, however, informed them that raising the teenager had been a challenge.

In fact, Ryan Hoy told the detectives that on the day of the murder, Isabella’s mother had called the police because of the ongoing strife between Isabella and her mother. Hoy stated his step-daughter had become “more threatening and disrespectful” toward Yun-Mi Hoy in recent days. In fact, according to the arrest affidavit, Isabella Guzman had allegedly threatened Yun-Mi Hoy in an email telling her, “You will pay.” The police had reportedly told Isabella that her mother could kick her out of their home if she did not shape up.

In an attempt to ameliorate the situation, Isabella’s father, Robert Guzman, had spoken to her about her “teen rebelliousness” about three hours before the 911 call.

“I went to talk to her because her mother was worried and wanted me to talk to Isabella,” Guzman told 7News. “So, I went to talk to Isabella and we sat down in the backyard looking at the trees and the animals and I started to talk to her about the respect that people should have for their parents. And I was trying to let her know that she should be obedient to her parents, not rebellious, that she should try to listen more and everything was going fine.”

“In the conversation, I thought that I made progress,” he added. “But obviously it didn’t do nothing, because hours later, this thing happened.”

*     *     *     *     *

The police report states that Aurora police dispatch received a 911 call just past 10 p.m. on August 28 from Ryan Hoy. Hoy told dispatch that Yun-Mi Hoy had come home from work about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday and had taken a shower. Soon after, he heard a “thumping” and his wife calling his name. Hoy moved quickly to investigate but he couldn’t get in the bathroom, because — according to the affidavit — Guzman was holding the door closed from the inside. A separate report states that Hoy could not get in the bathroom because the door was locked.

In any event, Hoy could see blood seeping out from under the door. Hoy raced downstairs to call the police, and when he returned he said he saw Isabella — dressed in a pink sports bra and turquoise shorts — standing in the bathroom doorway holding a knife. His wife on the floor, covered in blood. There was a baseball bat beneath her.

“He never heard Guzman say anything, and she didn’t speak to him as she exited the bathroom,” the affidavit says. “Guzman was just staring straight ahead when she walked past him.”

After Isabella fled, Ryan attempted to revive his wife, but to no avail. Her throat had been slashed and by the coroner’s count, she suffered 31 stab wounds to the face and an additional 48 to her neck.

*     *     *     *     *

Although Isabella may still have been in the area when the police arrived, she managed to elude capture. At 11:30 a.m. the next day, officers were called to a parking garage at 2851 South Parker Road based on a report that a body had been spotted inside a car. That proved to be a false alarm, but the police did detect items that they linked to the previous evening’s violence.

More cops arrived and began to canvass the area. Eventually, someone spotted Guzman trying to walk out of the garage. She was then taken into custody, and on Friday, she was formally charged with first-degree murder, appearing before Arapahoe County Judge Stephen F. Collins, who ordered her to remain in custody without bond on suspicion of first-degree murder. During the proceedings, Isabella sat there silently in an orange jumpsuit, a bandage on her right wrist.

*     *     *     *     *

Isabella Guzman looks neither poised nor particularly attractive in her mug shot. Rather, she looks like someone who may just be starting to catch on to the enormity of what she has done — now that it is too late.

Update:

Isabella Guzman, 18, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to first-degree murder charges for stabbing her mother 79 times. The troubled teen entered the plea during a hearing in early December, according to Arapahoe County court records. She was later sent to the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo for a psychiatric evaluation.

It appears from court records that officials expect Guzman’s psychiatric evaluation to be lengthy. A judge scheduled the next hearing in the case for Feb, 28, but said Guzman does not have to appear, she does have to appear for another hearing March 21.

According to an arrest affidavit filed against Guzman, she had been feuding with her mother in the days leading up to the attack.

Hoy’s husband and Guzman’s stepfather told police that two days before the attack, Guzman threatened her mom and spit in her face.

2nd Update:

Michael Roberts writes that a judge has accepted  Guzman’s not guilty by reason of insanity plea and she has been remanded to a state hospital in Pueblo, Colorado where she will receive treatment. Naturally, it is far to early to know whether she will everbe released back into the community.

It seems that Meloney, who is 55 and mentally ill, became convinced that her next door neighbor, Tony Pierce, was “telepathically raping” her. Notwithstanding her illness, Meloney found this in no way acceptable — and being a woman of pride and honor — she ordered her husband Michael Selleneit, also 55, to go next door and shoot the bastard.

Don’t think for a minute, though, that Michael was simply a member of the infamous “Honey Do” club and said to Meloney, “Yes, honey. I’ll do it. I’ll take care of it right away.” Instead of jumping the gun and going off half-cocked, he and Meloney sat down and discussed the matter carefully and conscientiously. According to the arrest warrant, Michael Selleneit was convinced that Pierce had been “telepathically raping” his wife for years, and was using crack cocaine to control her mind, which I assume means the purpose of the crack was to soften Meloney up so that she would be receptive to the “telepathic rape.” I realize this is a rather an odd concept, but like I said, this is a very weird case. In any event, according to the arrest affidavit, the couple discussed the matter and came to the conclusion that the only honorable solution would be for Michael to “go for it,” to use Meloney’s phrase, i.e., march over to Tom’s house and plug him. Meloney informed the police that she was not absolutely certain that Michael would actually go through with the attack. What she knew for sure, though, was that Michael would not have shot Tom without her encouragement. 

Without further ado, Michael — doubly fortified by his belief that Tony had been committing the heinous act for years and his wife’s encouragement — took the bull by the horns and marched over to Tony’s house where he found him gardening in his backyard. Michael came up behind Tony and shot him twice in the back with a handgun. Witnesses say that after the shooting Michael walked calmly back to his trailer. Fortunately, Tony received medical attention promptly and lived through the attack.

This is not a new case; the shooting occurred on Nov. 10, 2011. For the past two years, Meloney has been in a Utah state mental hospital receiving care for a variety of mental illnesses including schizophrenia. She had been previously found unfit to stand trial but the presiding judge, Thomas Kay, recently reversed his decision. Thus, since she had long since incriminated herself, not to mention the fact that there were apparently witnesses, Meloney pleaded guilty on Sept. 19, 2013 to illegally possessing a weapon, and criminal solicitation.

Michael Selleneit had already pleaded guilty in January of 2012 to attempted manslaughter and illegally owning a weapon. He was sentenced to two consecutive one-to-fifteen year prison sentences and is serving his time at a Utah mental institution. Michael had also been previously arrested in 1990 for sexual contact with a child.

Meloney Selleneit is current being held in Utah state custody. Although she was scheduled to be sentenced on October 31st, the date has apparently been continued.

Update:

That fact that Michael Selleneit is serving his time in a mental institution rather than a state prison is clearly a good thing. Although I don’t anticipate that he will be let out anytime soon (particularly considering that he has a previous arrest for sexual contact with a child), he at least will presumably suffer far less than he would if he were in in state prison.  As for Meloney Selleneit, as nearly as I can tell she continues to languish in state custody while awaiting sentencing.

commentary by Patrick H. Moore

In Aileen Wuornos’ final interview with Nick Broomfield one day before her execution, she starts out calmly enough and appears to have made her peace with dying. She believes in an afterlife and seems to have no fear of what lies ahead. But then she gets angry and starts dissing on the system. In her mind, she has been used, abused and manipulated by society. Like many people who have been badly hurt, given the chance, she is quick to place the blame on others. Many people who have viewed her final interview, including Nick Broomfield, believe that Ms. Wuornos had succumbed to madness as the final hours of her life ticked away.

Yet, if we examine a selection of Ms. Wuornos’ quotes (brought to us courtesy of brainyquote.com), we find a fairly lucid individual who seems to assess herself unflinchingly without pulling any punches. So what does it all mean? Hard to say for sure but we can be confident on one important point. Aileen Wuornos had been deeply hurt by life and it had rendered her a very angry woman.

• I am a serial killer. I would kill again. (She appears to know herself quite well.)

• I wanted to clear all the lies and let the truth come out. I have hate crawling through my system. (She is in a sense relieved that her killing spree is over but now all that remains is her self-hatred and loathing for the human race that has so damaged her.)

• I need to die for the killing of those people.  (An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. This makes me wonder how I would react if I was a serial killer who had been arrested and was facing execution. Would I want to live or die? How precious is life if you are serving life with no chance of parole?

• I’m one who seriously hates human life and would kill again. (Again Ms. Wuornos expresses her deep loathing for the human race. I am reminded of an angry acquaintance who ultimately killed himself. In a final statement, he wrote: “All men are zombies. Do you agree? Because all men are zombies, the only humane thing to do is to kill. Do you agree?” In this mindset, we see a reversal of the normal human desire to help, not harm, others. The serial killer (or potential serial killer) projects his or her self-loathing onto the entire species.

• I really got tired of it all. I was angry about the johns. (Understandably, Ms. Wuornos was worn down psychologically by working as a prostitute. I’m sure the attitudes of prostitutes toward their “work” and their customers varies greatly from person to person, and Ms. Wuornos falls into the category of those “ladies of the night” who despise their johns. I’ve known two prostitutes personally, both of whom were drug addicts. One was reasonably fond of her customers, especially the old guys whom she described as gentle and grateful. The other woman never said anything about her johns. My sense is they were merely a means to an end — the drugs she so desperately desired.)

• My main concern is if this composer has been made aware of the fact that I’ve come clean in all of my cases. I killed in pure hate, robbing along the way. So if this person hasn’t, then I’d sure appreciate it if someone would inform him or her of it. (Ms. Wuornos seems to have a strong need to set the record straight and likes to talk about how pure and undiluted, albeit negative, her motives were.)

• I robbed them, and I killed them as cold as ice, and I would do it again, and I know I would kill another person because I’ve hated humans for a long time. (This is why she is, in a sense, glad that her murderous spree came to an end. Somewhere deep within there is the lost part of Ms. Wuornos’ psyche which has been buried and eroded by “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” that would prefer to live in a kinder and more compassionate world.

• “May your wife and children get raped, right in the ___.” (To the jurors who convicted her.) (Hopefully, the powers that be were not listening. Too many people are already victimized in this manner.)

 Click here to view Darcia Helle’s compelling Aileen Wuornos post:

 Aileen Wuornos, America’s First High-Profile Female Serial Killer, Never Had a Chance

commentary by Patrick H. Moore

Everyone knows that teenagers march to the beat of a different drummer. They delight in taking risks that “sensible adults” would reject without a second thought, and they do it regularly. It can be anything – smoking, experimenting with drugs, engaging in unprotected sex, shoplifting, cutting school, and, in some cases, partaking in violence to the point of no return.

Out of these six vices, I was marginally guilty of at last five during my teen years. I will leave it to you to figure out which category I eschewed (or perhaps never quite got around to because the other ones kept me pretty well occupied).

There is a clear and simple reason why teens are prone to conspicuous risk-taking. We might aptly refer to it as a biological imperative. For a teen to grow out of adolescence and into adulthood, he or she has to break away from the powerful influence of their parents. If the kid doesn’t cut the umbilical cord, he or she would be a kid forever. This would mean that within a few generations, all the adults would have died out and society would be nothing but kids and over-aged kids. It would be horrendous. It would be the end of civilization as we know it.

The biological imperative to escape the smothering confines of mother’s apron strings and father’s authority could not succeed, and thus we would ultimately face the disaster of an adult-free world, were it not for certain quirks in the teen’s brain chemistry that, in effect, egg the teen on to take the risks that so confuse and confound the older generation.

Science writer Amanda Leigh Mascarelli explains:

A major reason why teenagers often respond to those influences with irrational decisions is the presence of a brain chemical (one of the all-important neurotransmitters) known as dopamine. The brain releases dopamine when something makes us feel good, whether it’s receiving a teacher’s compliment or finding a $20 bill. Dopamine levels in general peak during adolescence. In teenagers, the strength of this “feel good” response helps explain why they often give in to impulsive desires.

More dopamine is released “between the ages of 13 and 17 than at any other time during human development.”

Thus, that horrible period when your kid enters high school and in many cases changes so dramatically that you often feel like you don’t even recognize the little monster coincides with their little pea-brains being overloaded with dopamine.

PBS.org breaks down the dramatic increase in dopamine levels that result from various pleasurable activities:

“In lab experiments done on animals, sex causes dopamine levels to jump from 100 to 200 units, and cocaine causes them to spike to 350 units. “[With] methamphetamine you get a release from the base level to about 1,250 units, something that’s about 12 times as much of a release of dopamine as you get from food and sex and other pleasurable activities.”

So if you want to scare yourself, just meditate on the state of a teen’s already over-amped brain if he or she decides to push the envelope further by smoking a little meth. Pretty damned scary…

But what the scientists probably can’t fully explain is why some teens – and we’ve seen it happen over and over again during the 22 months we’ve been running All Things Crime Blog – reach a peculiar point of no return in which (no doubt locked and loaded with excessive dopamine levels peaking in their still not wholly-formed brains) they not only plan to kill one or both of their parents but actually go ahead and do it for the flimsiest of reasons.

This appears to be what happened (in a case that has been reported by myriad news services but with singularly few details) to 17-year-old Seth Ramsey of Harrington, Delaware, who – in an advanced state of teenage delirium – made the horrible decision to shoot and kill his father, 41-year-old Todd Ramsey, with a crossbow because he was afraid that his father would be mad at him cutting school.

Mr. Ramsey’s body was discovered by police during a routine check at the home he shared with Seth after they had been alerted by concerned co-workers that the father had not reported for work.

Peter Holley of the Washington Post writes:

Police say they stopped by the teenager’s home in Harrington on Thursday to check on 41-year-old Todd Ramsey after coworkers reported him missing. Inside the house, police discovered Ramsey dead in his bedroom with a single arrow wound to his upper torso, according to an ABC affiliate.

The ABC affiliate reports that according to a police affidavit, Seth explained that his fatal decision to kill his father stemmed directly from his concern that his father would be angry because he had skipped school:

“He said that his father was in his bedroom from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Seth said that he knew when his father came out he would be mad so he shot him.”

As is our national predilection in capital cases involving under-aged kids, Seth has been charged as an adult with first-degree murder and possession of a deadly weapon. Despite being charged as an adult, he is being held at a juvenile detention facility without bail.

It hardly takes a neuroscientist to determine that charging Seth as an adult is the height of folly. If the kid had been more mature, which in theory would have resulted in “normal” dopamine levels, he probably would not have shot and killed his father with the crossbow over something as insignificant as him cutting school. Hell, if he were more mature he probably would not have even been cutting school in the first place. He probably would have been like his poor departed dad – a worker showing up at his place of employment regular as clockwork.

As it is, however, he’s screwed… As we’ve pointed out in the past, under-aged felons often get sentences 2 to 3 times longer than adults who commit similar crimes.

So who’s being irrational here? The answer is both sides are. The teens do crazy things because their hormones are out of whack, and the adults – who should know better and can’t use excessive dopamine levels as an excuse – insist on trying them as adults even though they clearly are not.

commentary by Patrick H. Moore

Haleigh Cummings disappeared from her family’s home in Satsuma, Florida on February 10, 2009. Approximately 24 months later another little girl, 20-month old Ayla Reynolds, vanished from her home far to the north in Waterville, Maine. Although the cases bear some striking similarities (drugs, the fact no one has ever been arrested in either case, and the fact the little girls appear to be gone forever), Ayla – unlike Haleigh who vanished without a trace – left behind more than a cupful of blood, or as the investigators so quaintly described: “More blood than a small cut would produce.”

Ayla Reynolds was last seen at 10 PM on the evening of December 16, 2011. According to a family member, she was there in her bed that night, but was discovered missing by her father, Justin DiPietro, the next morning. Ayla’s disappearance triggered the largest criminal investigation in Maine state history, and was the third largest search for a missing child.

It was a somewhat circuitous route that ultimately placed Ayla in her father’s care. She had been cared for by her mother, Trista Reynolds (although heart-breakingly beautiful, you should never name your child Trista for grief is likely to strike at the heart of anyone whose name contains this essence of sadness), but Trista had a drug problem which led her to enter a substance abuse recovery program. She therefore sent Ayla to stay with her maternal grandmother, who apparently did not pass muster, leading the social workers to remove her from her grandmother’s home, which meant she was then sent to stay with her father, Justin.

Although Justin DiPietro and his two companions who were there at the house that fateful evening, namely, his girlfriend Courtney Roberts, and his sister Alisha DiPietro, have never been arrested and are no more than “persons of interest”, the investigators have always believed that little Ayla was not abducted, the obvious implication therefore being that either Justin or one of his companions that night, or perhaps all of them, are responsible for the toddler’s disappearance. Thus, this is one of those maddening cases in which there would appear to be obvious suspects yet “they are not suspects”.

Justin DiPietro told the police that “the last time he saw Ayla, she was wearing green polka dot pajamas with “Daddy’s Princess” written across them, along with a soft cast on her left arm.”

It was at a news conference five months after Ayla’s disappearance that the investigators’ findings concerning the copious amount of blood and the identities of the three individuals who were at the house that night were announced.

A mystifying further detail is the reported claim that “DiPietro had taken a two-hour road trip before reporting Ayla missing”, which seems inculpatory, and the fact that “DiPietro had also taken out a life-insurance policy on Ayla” (equally or even more inculpatory).

David Sharp of the AP writes in a new article:

Though investigators believe Ayla is dead and the three adults know more about what happened that night than they’re telling, no charges have ever been filed.

Now the clock is running out on some of the lesser charges the girl’s mother believes could have already been brought. The statute of limitations on misdemeanors like child endangerment expires in a matter of weeks, on the third anniversary of Ayla’s disappearance.

“All of them should be put in jail,” said Ayla’s mother, Trista Reynolds.

Trista, however, is not in regular contact with police and does not believe that any charges — including those of a capital nature – are on the horizon.

Although Trista is very frustrated by the apparent lack of any substantial progress (which of course would seemingly include charges) in the investigation, Steve McCausland, a Maine State Police spokesman, insists that the investigation remains “active and ongoing.”

Jim Burke, a professor at the University of Maine School of Law, has a convincing explanation for the fact the police have up till now chosen not to bring any of the lesser possible charges. First of all, there is no statute of limitations for any type of homicide charge and there’s a six-year limit for other felonies, which means the prosecutors still have a full three years to bring any other felony charges such as kidnapping or false imprisonment. While it’s true that the statutory limit of three years for the lesser charges – misdemeanors including simple assault and endangering the welfare of a minor – is rapidly approaching, it could (and possibly would) be completely counterproductive to bring misdemeanor charges at this time.

According to Burke, the last thing the prosecutors want is to put their homicide investigation at risk for the sake of pursuing misdemeanors. Bringing the lesser charges “would expose evidence central to the homicide investigation and could allow the defense to try to prevent harsher charges by claiming double jeopardy, said Assistant Attorney General Leane Zainea. She said prosecutors are keeping “an eye toward the more serious offenses.”

In a similar vein, Kennebec County District Attorney Maeghan Maloney, who is well aware of the case although she is not prosecuting it directly, expressed her belief that the prosecutors know exactly what they are doing and are fully aware of what sort of evidence they would need to win at trial should murder charges be brought. Maloney stated:

“They’re absolutely devastated by this case that has consumed them. They’re trying to do everything they can. I have 100 percent confidence in them.”

As the months have trickled by, Reynolds has done what she can “to put pressure on DiPietro and law enforcement agencies while trying to keep her daughter in the public eye.” In a curious encounter, she and her compatriots actually chased DiPietro following an unrelated court appearance last year, shouting “murderer!” and “Where’s Ayla!”

Maloney, who is clearly sympathetic to Trista, said she doesn’t blame her for being frustrated and demanding justice: “What she’s going through is the worst thing a parent could go through.”

Professor Burke reminds us that in the real world criminal investigations often do not play out nearly as quickly as they do on TV or in film. In fact, they often take years.

“The state is not going to go away,” said the professor. “Sometimes it takes 20 years for someone to slip up. So they sit and wait. They never give up.”

* * * * *

It appears to me that the investigators are leavening urgency with needed caution. They are undoubtedly determined to bring the killers to justice while being equally determined to not screw things up by jumping the gun or otherwise exposing any weaknesses on the side of the prosecution.

commentary by Patrick H. Moore

Although unlike Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy rarely elicits much sympathy or compassion from the “typical” true crime fan, oddly enough, his death by electrocution in the Florida State Prison, in the aptly named town of Starke, appears to have aroused compassion in the minds and hearts of certain individuals who witnessed his death, some of whom spent time with him prior to his execution. It must be admitted, however, that the vast majority of the crowd assembled near the prison were over-joyed by Mr. Bundy “frying in the hotseat.”

In an LA Times article dated January 24, 1989, Barry Bearak describes the scene with real poetic flair:

Ted Bundy, the notorious serial killer, died today in the electric chair after a night of weeping and praying, just as the sun rose over the north Florida plains.

Gone was the storied cockiness. He was ashen as two guards led him into the death chamber to be executed for the 1978 rape and murder of a 12-year-old girl. They strapped his chest and arms and legs to the shiny wooden chair.

Bundy’s eyes searched for familiar faces behind the glass. He nodded to some of the 42 witnesses, including the men who had prosecuted him. His lips moved in a faint mumble.

Then his head bowed. The shaved skull glistened where an ointment had been applied. It would enhance the work of the electrodes.

His Last Words

As is customary at these peculiarly American events, the Supt., a Mr. Tom Barton, asked Bundy if he had any last words at which point the murderer of more than 30 young women was momentarily at a loss for words. Them, his voice quivering, the man who has gone down in history as one of our most famous serial killers, spoke:

“Jim and Fred, I’d like you to give my love to my family and friends.”

Jim Coleman was one of Bundy’s lawyers. He nodded solemnly. So did Fred Lawrence, a Methodist minister out of Gainesville, Fla., who had spent the night with Bundy in prayer.

(Now this is downright odd. Could a just god forgive Bundy his most heinous crimes, even assuming his repentance was real, which was not necessarily the case. Furthermore, it’s well known that Bundy desperately hung on to life and did everything in his power to keep getting his day of destiny postponed.)

Barry Bearak writes:

With that, it was time. A last thick strap was pulled across Bundy’s mouth and chin. The metal skullcap was bolted in place, its heavy black veil falling in front of the condemned man’s face.

Barton gave the go-ahead. An anonymous executioner pushed the button. Two thousand volts surged through the wires. Bundy’s body tensed and his hands tightened into a clench. A tiny puff of smoke lifted from his right leg.

A minute later, the machine was turned off, and Bundy went limp. A paramedic opened the blue shirt and listened for a heartbeat. A second doctor aimed a light into his eyes.

At 7:16 a.m., Theodore Robert Bundy–one of the most active killers of all time–was pronounced dead.

One it was over, as he left the Q Wing of Florida State Prison, a witnessing newsman raised his hands to signal the news to the 500 or so civilians who were waiting eagerly in a dewy cow pasture cross the street. Based on the reports, these individuals were hardly among the sympathetic souls; on the contrary, they seemed to delight in what must have been an agonizing death.

Some of the onlookers began chanting with much enthusiasm, if not much originality, “Burn, Bundy, burn!” Others reportedly sang or hugged or banged on the frying pans they had brought along to “make a joyous noise”.

David Hoar, a policeman from St. Augustine, Fla., remarked moronically, “I wish I could have been the one flipping the switch.”

A Few Somber Souls

Following the execution, some of the witnesses came outside and began pacing the field. They were reportedly a somber bunch, and some are believed to have been shocked “at the celebration that filled the chilly morning air.”

“Regardless of what Bundy did, he was still a human being,” said Jim Sewell, who was police chief of Gulfport, Fla. Sewell, however, who was apparently suffering from post-execution stress disorder (PESD), stated that he felt great relief knowing that Bundy was finally dead.

The famous story, of course, is that of religious broadcaster James Dobson, who interviewed Bundy the night before his death. This is the interview in which Bundy “talked at considerable length about the process of desensitization” he underwent while raping, murdering and sometimes eating literally dozens of women in Washington, Oregon, Utah, Colorado and Florida.

Well, yeah… Of course, Bundy became desensitized while committing the awful murders with increasing regularity.

Many crime fans may also be somewhat desensitized merely from reading about and viewing endless violent crimes; I know I am. I don’t recall raping or murdering any comely females lately, though, which I guess is to my credit.

In his interview with Dobson, Bundy talked about how his addiction to pornography and subsequent thirst for more and more violent pornography had increased exponentially until “there was nothing more that would give him that high” other than rape and murder.

Bundy Claimed to Be Remorseful

James Dobson made a point of emphasizing Bundy’s remorse, “He wept several times while talking to me. He expressed great regret, remorse for what he had done, for the families that were hurting.”

Perhaps I am a cynic, but I am somewhat skeptical as to the validity of Bundy’s remorse. His weeping for the girls and women he raped and murdered could easily be mere projected emotion, displaced sorrow over the fact that he was going to die for his crimes. Bundy was a charismatic hustler and could easily have “pulled the wool” over Dobson’s eyes, who as a compassionate Christian probably wanted to believe Bundy felt sincere remorse and contrition.

The Killer’s Final Phone Calls

Another peculiar part of the Executioner’s Song are the final phone calls, both of which Bundy placed to his mother in Tacoma, Washington.

According to the Tacoma News Tribune, at the conclusion of his second phone call, Bundy’s mother told him, “You’ll always be my precious son.”

*     *     *     *     *

Bundy was convicted of three Florida murders, and was blamed for dozens more.

Technically, the murder that broke the camel’s back was the 1978 slaying of 12-year-old Kimberly Leach of Lake City, Florida. After killing her, Bundy dumped her body under a collapsed hog shed.

George Robert Dekle, who prosecuted that case, and witnessed Bundy’s death, had this to say:

“The thing that kept going through my mind was the awful crime scene I saw 11 years ago. I kept saying to myself that is where it started and this is where it ends.”

*     *     *     *     *

I realize that my take on this is rather churlish but I can’t help it. I might feel differently if Bundy had murdered one or two women and then turned himself in so that he wouldn’t (indeed couldn’t) re-offend. But that’s hardly what happened. At the time of his arrest, he was going berserk and stepping up the pace of the killings sharply, much as Jeffrey Dahmer had done prior to his apprehension. If Bundy hadn’t been stopped when he was, he would have violated and murdered many more women and girls, with a tally reaching, perhaps, into the hundreds for the simple reason that he had utterly lost control and nothing short of arrest was going to stop him.

Click here to view our previous Ted Bundy posts:

Ten Fatal Facts about Ted Bundy’s Formative Years

14 Cold-Blooded Quotes by Serial Killer Ted Bundy

commentary by Patrick H. Moore

Some handsome guys seem to have all the luck when it comes to attracting and seducing the lovely ladies…but sometimes these same handsome guys also seem to have a bad habit of trying to kill (or in some cases actually killing) these same lovely ladies when they piss them off (and as we’re all painfully aware, every man or woman who is involved in an intimate relationship succeeds in pissing off their beloved now and again).

A swinging dick named Tyler Mook, formerly of Tennessee and more recently a resident of Palm City, Florida, definitely fell into the first category (if the allegations hold any weight) when he attempted to drown his current lady, Robin Donech, in October of this year.

Considering that he also seems to be a permanent “person of interest” in the disappearance (and probable death) of his ex-wife, Shelley Mook, who was last seen at his Tennessee home in February of 2011, he may also conceivably fall into the second category of the handsome guy who actually succeeds in killing his lady and — rarity of rarities — gets away with it.

The Daily Mail writes:

The ex-husband of a missing Tennessee teacher is now facing an attempted murder charge involving his new girlfriend.

Tyler Mook, 34, is accused of trying to kill Robin Donech in October by pushing her off a boat in Florida and trying to drown her.

His ex-wife, Shelley Mook, disappeared in February 2011 – her burnt out car was found the day she went missing near Murfreesboro, reports The Tennessean.

Shelley Mook, who as the photographs attest, was (is?) a very attractive woman, was last seen at YOU GUESSED IT Tyler’s house where she had taken their 6-year-old daughter, presumably because Tyler had visiting rights.

Although the authorities have long had their suspicions that Tyler may have killed poor Shelley, they apparently have not been able to gather sufficient evidence to charge him or take it before the grand jury which is why he is a mere “person of interest” rather than a “suspect.”

Like any dude who may or may not have a murder hanging over his head, Tyler decided that the grass was greener (and the water was bluer) in good old Florida and relocated there sometime after things had cooled down a bit in Murfreesboro.

In Palm City, Tyler caught the eye of the still surviving Robin Donech whose heart undoubtedly went pitter-patter pitter-patter thump thump thump at the sight of this Big Hunk and before long they were a regular item on the dating scene.

It’s unclear whether Robin was aware that her Big Guy was a permanent “person of interest” in the Volunteer State based on the possibility that he may have killed his ex-wife. I imagine, though, that if she was aware, she somehow managed to rationalize it away and perhaps even felt great gobs of female sympathy for her allegedly wrongfully accused new boyfriend.

In any event, Tyler and Robin (whose picture is not available though I’d bet a 12-pack of Heinekin that she’s also a lovely lady) had been dating for two years when Tyler reportedly lost his temper over nothing and tried to drown her. (BTW, drowning is a form of murder that hadn’t jogged my pea-brain for a while and I bet you we will now have a spate of murders, or attempted murders, by drowning.)

Here’s what happened, “according to witnesses in a police report.”

The Daily Mail writes:

Mook and Donech were on a boat with his brother, Andrew Mook, and his brother’s girlfriend, Nicole Gvajardo, when the incident occurred.

Donech had asked him to slow down in a manatee zone, which saw him fly into a rage, and triggered the attack, according to the report.

So let’s back off for just a moment to break this down. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission describes what happens if a boat hits a manatee, a peace-loving aquatic mammal which often reaches a length of 13 feet and weighs up to 1300 pounds:

Approximately 25-30% of manatee deaths statewide are attributed to watercraft. In recent years, manatee deaths caused by blunt-force impacts (non-cutting) have outpaced manatee deaths caused by propeller cuts, with a small portion of the deaths/injuries attributed to both causes.

The faster a boat goes, the more force is applied to a “strike.” For instance, the force of a strike at 30 miles per hour is four times that of a strike at 15 miles per hour, all other factors being equal. If a watercraft strikes a manatee in the head, such as while the animal is taking a breath, the animal may die immediately. Strikes in other areas can result in acute injuries that quickly result in death but also can result in chronic injuries that linger for days, weeks, or longer before the manatee finally succumbs. Internal injuries, such as broken or dislocated ribs, can result in death from internal bleeding or infection.

So it seems clear that Robin, who had presumably been in Florida a lot longer than our Big Hunk, very considerately didn’t want her boating party to injure or kill any innocent manatees (they are mostly vegetarians, after all) so she asked her BF to “slow the freak down,” perhaps politely, perhaps with some heat in her voice.

Tyler, bless his much-maligned soul, took umbrage at Robin’s request:

Tyler Mook tried to rip off the top of Donech’s bathing suit and then threw her into the water where he tried to keep her submerged, according to the report.

She managed to get free, but he immediately pushed her under again.

Andrew Mook told investigators that when he saw Tyler attempt to hold Donech underwater, that he grabbed a water ‘noodle’ and jumped in after her. (For you landlubbers such as I, a water noodle is a cylindrical piece of polyethylene foam.)

So brave Andrew placed his demented brother in a choke hold, which forced him to release Robin.

Tyler, who is no doubt a regular water baby, then swam back to the boat, where he reportedly told Andrew’s girlfriend Nicole Gvajardo: “No one disrespects me in front of my family. I will kill her.”

This was not smart and clearly took a bad situation and made it that much worse.

Our gallant knight Andrew, who apparently is perfectly capable of treading water while wearing chain mail, stayed in the water with the perhaps lucky to be alive Robin until a passing watercraft picked her up and whisked her to safety.

Robin, who by this point was clearly peeved, flagged down a police officer at Sandsprit Park and told him her boyfriend tried to drown her “and would have succeeded” if a gallant knight in chain mail had not intervened.

Mook was originally arrested on domestic battery charges, but in the perhaps overly enthusiastic manners of so many prosecutors these days, the charges were soon upgraded to attempted first degree murder.

Shelley Mook’s’ mother, Debra Sikora, is currently caring for Shelley’s daughter, who must now be about 9 years old. In response to Big Hunk’s attempted first-degree murder charge, Debra stated, choosing her words carefully and with laudable poetic flare:

‘I want the hurt to stop for those that have and are still affected by the acts of one person. Strength be to those who will stand and have their voices heard. It is by those voices that justice will come.

‘By those voices, healing can begin, closure can be sought and faith in others can be restored.’

Big Hunk’s bond has been set at $100,000 and he is cooling his heels in the Martin County jail.

So all you ladies repeat after me: “I will not be taken in by the next handsome dude that comes along without running a background check on him before I let my guard down and let my heart go thump-thump-thump.” Ah, forget it! I know some of you will be taken in and a few of you will die because of it. That’s just the way it is…

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, although he apparently will be going to trial soon 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.

by Patrick H. Moore

Richard Ramirez, the world-famous Night-Stalker, died of “natural causes,” reportedly Hepatitis C or some other form of liver disease, in June of 2013. He was only 52. Few murderous crime sprees have matched that of Ramirez for sheer ferocity. During a relatively short period of time in 1985, Richard wreaked such havoc that when he was finally captured in East Los Angeles by a group of angry citizens on August 31, 1985, he was charged with thirteen murders, five attempted murders, six rapes, three lewd acts on children, two kidnappings, three acts of forced oral copulation, four counts of sodomy, five robberies and fourteen burglaries. Out of the 55 counts, he was convicted of 41 in a Los Angeles county courtroom on September 20, 1989. Since then, he has been serving time on Death Row in San Quentin.

Ramirez’ distinctive moniker was based on his modus operandi. He typically crawled into homes through open windows in the early morning hours. He was an equal-opportunity slayer who alternated between strangling, throat slashing and shooting. He left spray-painted pentagrams — a distinctive Satanist symbol — on the walls of the some of victims’ homes. The killings so terrorized Los Angeles County that there was a significant increase in the sale of guns, ammunition, locks and window bars.

One of the strange aspects of the Night-Stalker’s case is that he was captured and beaten by angry citizens in East Los Angeles after trying to steal a woman’s car. He made a frantic effort to escape seven Los Angeles Police patrol cars that chased him for 20 minutes, but was subdued by four determined citizens who worked him over with a steel rod. When the police finally arrived, they found him covered in blood, begging for his life in Spanish:

“Dejeme en paz! Dejeme en paz!” — Spanish for “Leave me in peace!

According to writer Jennifer Grise:

Richard was born in 1960 in El Paso Texas, to parents of meager economical means. His father, Julian Ramirez, a Mexican immigrant, and his mother, Mercedes Ramirez, a Mexican American citizen, both worked long hours every day to support their five children. Julian was an abusive parent as his father was before him. If Mercedes or any of the children did anything that Julian considered wrong they were physically beaten.

Richard and his siblings all had medical difficulties during early childhood, in part due to the Government-sponsored nuclear bomb tests in nearby New Mexico. The radioactive fallout from the bombs was wind-borne to El Paso, infecting the landscape, the livestock and the human population. The Ramirez children were born with problems ranging from respiratory difficulty to bone deformation, which permanently disabled Richard’s older brother Reuben.

In 1959, while pregnant with Richard, his mother Mercedes “was working at Tony Lamaís boot factory… mixing chemicals such as benzene, xylene and toluene.” During that era, the toxicity of these chemicals was either unknown or ignored. Mercedes gave birth to Richard on February 29th, 1960.

While in the 5th grade, Richard began having grand mal seizures in school and was diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy. By this point, he had put his childhood ailments behind him “and was considered to be a healthy although hyper and aggressive child.”

Richard’s home environment was hardly a picture of mental health, but the single most destructive influence in his life was his cousin Michael, a Vietnam veteran just back from the war who had enjoyed killing and raping Vietnamese women. After his arrest, Richard reported that when he was 12 years old, Michael showed him a series of detailed photographs depicting him raping a Vietnamese woman. It is unclear who took the pictures or if they are authentic, but there is little doubt that they had a markedly deleterious effect on Richard. According to Richard, the last picture in the sequence was of the same rape victim’s severed head, “held by Michael in his hand, positioned so that the victim’s mouth was placed around his penis.” The series of photographs was, in effect, a photographic snuff film. Michael also taught Richard how to shoot a gun, and how to effectively maneuver a knife.

After a few months of this diabolical tutelage, a tragedy occurred:

Richard and Michael were at Michael’s house playing billiards. Michael’s wife Jessie was very angry with her husband, a fight ensued and Michael shot her, right in front of a twelve year old Richard. He then casually told Richard to get out of there before the police arrived, and never to tell a soul what he saw. This traumatic event was locked inside Richard’s mind for an extremely long time. Richard admits that he was especially sexually aroused by the photographs of the rape/murder victim that Michael showed him. He knew it was wrong to feel that way, and he couldn’t talk to anyone about it without getting Michael in trouble. So Michael remained his most special confidant and teacher, until he killed himself shortly there after. Richard continued to practice shooting the gun and wielding the knife until he was arrested.

When Richard turned 18, he moved to Los Angeles where he hit the streets and soon became an alcoholic and a cocaine addict. He and his crew hung out at the bus station. Honing his criminal skills, Richard obtained a master set of keys to Toyota and Honda cars. Each night, he stole a car and drove around Los Angeles looking for houses to rob. His all-around crime skills quickly improved:

Within two years he was robbing up to two homes per night. Once he became a master at burglarizing homes, he decided to up the anti. He began raping women and robbing them when he was through. Eventually Richard’s behavior escalated to include torture and murder. His torture, rape and murder spree was underway.

Although Richard claimed to be under the sway of Satanic influence, he had no specific identifying, ritualistic behavior to leave as his mark at each crime scene. He was no “This Is Zodiac Speaking.” He was rather an all-around murder generalist. Stabbing, strangling, shooting, it did not matter. He was no cannibal nor is there evidence he was fascinated with corpses a la Jeffrey Dahmer. Rather, he was a stone-cold killer, and a county of 10 million souls recoiled in fear as he left his swath of destruction in his bloody wake.

Click here to read:

Eight Awful Quotes by Richard Ramirez, Night Stalker

commentary by Patrick H. Moore

There is no finer public servant than a dedicated elementary school teacher who has spent decades performing the sometimes thankless but often rewarding job of imparting skills and knowledge to her youthful charges. It’s a job that requires a whole lot of heart to go along with the endurance, elbow grease and dedication.

Somehow, in the case of Lori Ann Anderson, who teaches elementary school in a tiny Ohio hamlet of less than 2,000 people named Cridersville, the “heart” may not have extended to the homefront where, it turns out, Ms. Anderson, with the “help” of her ex-husband, 53-year-old Charles Wycuff, allegedly raped her 12-year-old son on multiple occasions in 1999.

Weird. You betcha! Nina Strochlic of the Daily Beast writes:

Lori Ann Anderson, who’s been teaching for 29 years “without a single complaint,” appeared in court Monday and pleaded not guilty to 23 felony charges, including sexual battery, gross sexual imposition, and 11 counts of rape, along with two counts of obstructing justice. Ms. Anderson’s lawyer, Richard Kerger, told The Daily Beast that she is preparing to go to trial and that she is ‘relieved to tell her side of it.’

Naturally, tiny Cridersville, where this infamy allegedly transpired, markets itself as ‘small-town America at its very best.’ (My God, I grew up down on the farm just outside of a small town named Campbellsport that seemed to have plenty of civic pride. I wonder if stuff like this was going on in my town.)

Ms. Anderson was indicted along with her ex-husband, 53-year-old Charles Wycuff. Wycuff faces a whopping 54 felony charges. Ms.Anderson’s charges allegedly occurred beginning in June of 1999 when her son was a young teen. Although it’s unclear how this all fits together, Wycuff’s alleged offenses began two years earlier and his charges include pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor, rape, and sexual battery.

To my knowledge, there are only two crime areas where the statute of limitations typically does not run its course in 5 to 7 years: capital cases and sex cases. It’s very weird to think that this has been hanging over Ms. Anderson’s head for all this time and that she’s been going to class day in and day out all this time proceeding as if everything is normal.

A special prosecutor from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office certainly didn’t think ‘everything was normal’ which is why he had been investigating Anderson and Wycuff for more than two years before filing charges Friday.

It appears that the case would have stayed dormant forever were it not for the fact the victim apparently got his courage up, well over a decade after the alleged abuse, and went to the police.

Attorney Kerger is trying to deflect the blame in Wycuff’s direction, stating that he was “abusive, dominant, engaged in misconduct,” and that he was “pretty much in charge of orchestrating it.”

What the hell does that mean: “Pretty much in charge of orchestrating it?” It would appear to mean that Ms. Anderson was also involved. She and Wycuff have been separated and presumably divorced since at last 2003.

Wycuff’s lawyer is having none of it. He stated on Wednesday that his client “maintains he is innocent of all charges pending against him.” Nonetheless, Wycuff is not getting out and is being held on $500,000 bond.

Ms. Anderson’s son is now around 30 years of age and no longer resides in Ohio, according to Kerger. In what is so often the case in these bizarrely dark affairs, Ms. Anderson had another son living with her and Wycuff at the time of the alleged abuse, but that boy was apparently not mistreated.

Because she is a lady, Ms.Anderson is out on bail. Kerger believes she has been relieved of her teaching duties. Most recently, she was teaching first grade at Cridersville Elementary. Historically, she’s been teaching first through third grade in the public school system for 29 years, “without a single complaint.” Somewhat nonsensically, Kerger stated:

“She likes teaching kids, young kids.”

The fact that the investigation has been going on for years appeared to be reflected in Ms. Anderson’s rather worn look, which is evident in her photographs.

This is a very sad situation but if the allegations are ultimately substantiated, those feeling sympathy for Ms. Anderson will be few and far between.

commentary by Patrick H. Moore

There is little doubt that a Michigan man named “Master Bob” Bondage Bashara thought he was a real swinging dick. Sort of a man for all seasons, SOJ (Son of a Judge) Bondage Bob was a Rotary club President some of the time and an S & M dude who “dabbled in bondage and domination in a sex dungeon under a bar called the Hard Luck Lounge” some of the time (apparently with willing participants from various states). SOJ Bob was a marketing executive (of course) who lived in Grosse Point Park, an upper middle class suburb of Detroit.

The problem was Bondage Bob had a wife, Jane Bashara, who was apparently in the way. B. Bob (the name is very close to “boob”) didn’t want to whack her himself so in a decidedly scurrilous act of manipulation, according to prosecutors, this SOJ “coerced a handyman with a low IQ to strangle his wife, Jane Bashara, in the family garage and to abandon the body in Detroit.”

(Imagine the awful thoughts that much have been rolling through Jane’s mind when the handyman’s strong hands closed around her throat on what she may have assumed was just going to be another “day in the life”.)

Despite the fact that Bondage Bob repeatedly declared his innocence, Wayne County Judge Vonda Evans was not impressed. Ed White of the AP writes:

Calling him a “master of manipulation,” a judge sentenced a former Rotary Club president to life in prison Thursday for arranging his wife’s killing so he could devote more time to cavorting with other women who shared his love for sexual bondage and domination.

“You lived in two worlds,” said the Judge. “Light — your family, community and friends. And darkness where your lies were your truth and your truth was a lie. … I have no mercy for you.”

According to some reports, at first it looked like Bondage Bog might get away with the murder-for-hire, but soon the investigators closed in and his goose was cooked.

SOJ Bob, who is 57 years old, resorted to crossing himself and got a little weepy “as Jane Bashara’s sister and mother spoke about the pain they’ve experienced in the three years since she was found dead in her Mercedes-Benz in a Detroit alley.”

The trial appears to have been a bit of a dog-and-pony show. SOJ Bob’s mistress testified along with other women from Oregon and Chicago who had apparently “done time” with Master Bob in his creepy sex dungeon.

Even Judge Vonda apparently couldn’t resist getting into the act. According to Ed White of AP, she mocked Bob stating snarkily:

“Master Bob — master of manipulation.”

Nasty Bob, however, didn’t give an inch and stated emphatically, “I loved my Jane dearly.”

“I did not murder her. I did not conspire with anyone. … I will never stop fighting for justice and truth until my hands are raw, blood comes from my eyes and I take my last breath.”

Yeah, Mr. Rotary Club can lay it on thick, can’t he?

The Nasty One also complained about being portrayed as a “monster”.

In Michigan, as in many states, the victims of crime have the right to speak their mind before a defendant is sentenced. Poor Jane’s mother, Lorraine Engelbrecht, said she fantasizes about Boob Bob “someday burning in hell.”

“Every day of my life I ask, ‘Why didn’t he just go and live his scummy dungeon life and leave my daughter and my grandchildren alone?’” Engelbrecht said.

The murdering handyman, Joe Gentz, 51, who despite his own hideous act, also appears to be a victim of sorts, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He was expected to be a star witness at The Boob’s trial, but he backed out of the bargain in October. No worries – Big Nasty was convicted without him.

Actually, this is Big Nasty’s second conviction. He had already taken a plea and was already in prison for trying to have Poor Joe killed in jail in 2012.

Of course, you can’t feel too sorry for Big Hands Joe. After all he applied the pressure while Poor Jane felt the breath leaving her body.

Meanwhile, with his penchant for S & M action, Bilious Bob should be a natural for doing hard time in a Michigan state penitentiary. This, however, will not bring Poor Jane back to life.

commentary by Patrick H. Moore

It’s well known that more than any other cause, money issues can put great strain on marriages and are often instrumental in triggering divorces. One doesn’t expect the money squabbles to erupt, however, during the wedding reception and one certainly doesn’t expect the irate husband to MURDER his own lovely wife right there at the reception before turning the gun upon himself.

If I might draw a brief comparison: My wife and I are both as tight as a well-wrapped Ace bandage, yet at our reception the thought of murdering her over money never entered my pea-brain.

Here are the facts:

On Saturday, Oct. 4th, Dr. George “Scott” Samson, 54, a Terre Haute, Indiana anesthesiologist and licensed gun dealer, exchanged nuptials with Kelly Ecker, a rather young  and pleasant looking 50-year-old nurse. They were both employed at Union Hospital.

So far we see nothing strange or potentially deadly about any of this.

According to Advance Indiana blogger, Gary R. Welsh, the plan was to hold both the wedding and the reception in a tent that had been set up outside their stately semi-rural home. Due to bad weather, however, (the first sign of doom?) a decision was made to move the wedding and reception to the Ohio Building in downtown Terre Haute.

So the wedding vows were made, presumably on cue, and the festivities began.  At some point, however, during the reception, Dr. Samson and his new wife Kelly began to squabble and then it got nasty.

“Did you see that? Did he really call her a gold-digging bitch?

“Somebody give that man a chill pill.”

Apparently there were no ‘chill pills” on hand strong enough to cool things out and things got so acrimonious that the embarrassed guests started leaving. Dedicated friends, however, chose to stick around.

Gary R. Welsh writes:

“The couple and guests retired to the couple’s home for an after-reception gathering. The last guests left the home a short time prior to the shooting as fighting between the two escalated.”

From that point on, the deadly (and apparently one-sided) battle escalated:

“Kelly made a frantic 911 call around 1:30 a.m. Sunday morning pleading for help. “He’s beating the shit out of me,” Kelly told the operator. “Who is?,” the operator asked. “My husband.” The call ended and moments later Kelly called back. “Help,” she pleaded. “Oh, my God. He’s going to kill me.” Multiple gun shots can be heard as the call ended.”

When the Terre Haute Police special response team arrived at the couple’s Eastern Vigo County home, they discovered Kelly Ecker’s ten-year old son and Samson’s elderly parents were present, which means they had witnessed the whole appalling affair. It was determined that our Coward of the Week, Samson, hid in the basement when the police arrived and at some point turned the gun on himself breaking what can only be described as a very tenuous connection. Based on an autopsy, “Kelly died of multiple gunshot wounds to the neck and chest.”

Dr. Samson had plenty of guns laying around the house. Gary R. Welsh writes:

Police recovered dozens of guns, including assault rifles and several hundred rounds of ammunition. The Vigo Co. Sheriff’s Department told WTHI-TV that Samson legally possessed the guns as a registered federally-licensed gun dealer.

Advance Indiana has an inside source who has divulged what led to the ferocious argument and Samson’s lethal actions. It seems that the original argument during the reception at the Ohio Building was all about money. The big-hearted doctor is reported to have told Kelly that she would never get her hands on any of his money, a desire on his part that was apparently reflected in a prenuptial agreement.

But wait, there is more to this. Advance Indiana reports that “Scott exploded when he went to pay the bill for the reception at the Ohio Building and learned that his wife had maxed out his credit card and the charge couldn’t be processed.”

So it appears that Kelly’s mistake (in addition to marrying this fool) was — in what could be construed as passive-aggressive behavior — maxing out his credit card. Ay Yi Yi!

And of course there is still more, thanks to Mr. Welsh’s excellent slething:

It seems that Kelly’s parents had serious concerns about her marrying the Good Doctor to such a degree that they chose not to attend the wedding.

This, if you think about it, may have been very unfortunate because there is just a slim sliver of chance that if Kelly’s parents had been there and had seen things deteriorating dramatically, they just might have called 911 much earlier and the horrible outcome could just possibly have been averted. But I realize this is a long shot.

The world has changed greatly since the 1960′s and — generally speaking — individuals are held to a much higher standard of conduct with respect to sexual “indiscretions” and other form of blatant or serious criminal misconduct. In this post, the facts of which are provided by  Lachlan M. and Javier Yepes at Cracked.com, we cover three celebrities who “got away with murder”, figuratively speaking, in previous decades, but would probably get far more than “a slap on the wrist” if they were apprehended for these crimes in today’s world.

We will start with legendary rock guitarist Jimmy Page before moving on to Vince Neil of Motley Crew and —surprise surprise — Sean Penn.

Jimmy Page Kidnapped a 14-Year-Old Girl and Kept Her Prisoner for Several Years

In addition to his fantastic career with Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page turned in a monumental body of excellent studio work in the mid and late ’60s. He played on Tom Jones’s pop smash “It’s Not Unusual”, The Kink’s monster hit “You Really Got Me” and Van Morrison instant ’60′s classic “Gloria”, before going on to stardom with Led Zeppelin.

According to Lachlan M. and Yepes, in 1972, Page was hanging around a nightclub and laid eyes on 14-year-old Lori Maddox. Page sent roadie Richard Cole to Maddox’s table with the message, “Jimmy told me that he’s going to have you whether you like it or not.” The roadie then grabbed her and chucked her in the back of a limo.

From there, it was on to Page’s house, where the “affair” was quickly consummated. Page may have been sleazy but he was not unintelligent and he knew that if the word got out, hecould be in serious trouble. So for the next few years, although Maddox reportedly traveled with the band at times, she was kept out of the public eye as much as possible so that the relationship wasn’t brought to the attention of the authorities. Even in the wild ’70′s, you could still go to jail for something like this.

Page got away with it and never went to jail or got arrested. Lori Maddox may still be infatuated with him and calls him “romantic.” Perhaps this is a case of the Stockholm syndrome. Here are Maddox’s own words from Hammer of the Gods: The Led Zeppelin Saga:

 “It was magnificent. Can you believe it? It was just like right out of a story! Kidnapped, man, at 14!”

Motley Crue’s Lead Singer Vince Neil Killed Someone While Drunk Driving and Only Got 30 Days in Jail and a Large Fine

According to Wikipedia, Motley Crue has sold 90 million albums over their 30-year career. Known and loved for their hard rocking and hard-partying ways, the Crue consumed enough cocaine to put dozens of cocaine dealers’ children through college

Their shenanigans were so over-the-top crazy that it made them caricatures but no one seemed to care. After all, it was the hedonistic ’80s. But not everything they did was lovable. Certainly not the time they killed  a man.

On December 8, 1984, lead singer Vince Neil was enjoying day 3 of a three day party at his Vegas pad. The booze was running low so he jumped in a car with his rocker friend Razzle and drove to a liquor store. Out of control crazy, he soon lost control of the car and collided head-on with a Volkswagen coming the other way. Razzle died instantly, and the two people in the other car were hospitalized. One reportedly suffered brain damage and was comatose for a month.

Neil was convicted of DUI and vehicular manslaughter, which could have resulted in up to 10 years in prison. Being a superstar, Neil hired a “weasel lawyer” and paid him a lot of money. The lawyer talked the sentence down to 30 days in jail, five years’ probation, and $2.5 million in fines. Neil only served 20 of those 30 days because Motley Crue had a tour scheduled.

To his credit, Neil certainly realized how fortunate he was, stating:

“I wrote a $2.5 million check for vehicular manslaughter when Razzle died. I should have gone to prison. I definitely deserved to go to prison. But I did 30 days in jail and got laid and drank beer, because that’s the power of cash. That’s f_____ up.”

It is noted that Neil’s contrition has not stopped him from driving under the influence on one of more occasions since then.

Sean Penn Tied Up and Physically Abused Madonna

Sean Penn is one of our most well-respected actors. Who can forget his roles in “Milk”, “Mystic River” and “Dead Man Walking.” He is also a noted progressive who vehemently opposed our involvement in the war with Iraq.

Therefore, it’s easy to think of him as not only a fine actor but someone who cares about humanity.

In Penn’s earlier years, however, he was known for his violent and aggressive outbursts. The incident that could have resulted in severe repercussions including substantial prison time was the time he assaulted and battered Madonna in 1988.

Their marriage was a stormy affair and Penn’s heavy drinking certainly didn’t help. Finally, in 1988, after he flew into a rage over Madonna’s supposed affair with Warren Beatty, she called the marriage off. Penn responded by turning into an abusive nutcase. Although accounts of the beating vary with respect to details, here is the story according to Lachlan M. and Javier Yepes:

After he got good and drunk (again), Penn climbed into Madonna’s house, where she was alone. He then grabbed her, tied her to a chair, and assaulted her for hours, both physically and emotionally. He then went out for more booze, came back, and kept up the beating. Madonna only escaped after telling Penn that she had to go to the bathroom, which meant he had no problem battering, beating, bloodying, and bruising the supposed love of his life, but felt it would have been too degrading to make her pee in front of him.

While Penn was arrested, the charges were dropped because Madonna didn’t want to generate a media circus, which may have been the one and only time in her life that Madonna actually wanted the press to go away. A couple of decades of political activism and two Oscars later, and the world barely remembers an incident that would turn most people into a pariah.

*     *     *     *     *

In today’s world, any of the above three incidents would result in some serious prison time. For kidnapping and carrying on a sexual relationship with Lori Maddox, Jimmy Page could easily get 20 years or more in prison. For his DUI vehicular manslaughter, Vince Neil would probably be looking at two to three years minimum. As for the violent Mr. Penn, he would be lucky to escape with a year’s county time, depending on whether the authorities wanted to make an example of him.

by Lise LaSalle

Eminem’s song for daughter Hailie – Now it don’t feel like the world’s on my shoulders, Everyone’s leaning on me, ‘Cause my baby knows that her daddy’s a soldier, Nothing can take her from me

Little Haleigh Cummings was reported missing from her family’s Satsuma, Florida, home on February 10, 2009. She was 5-years-old at the time with blond hair and brown eyes. The police in this small north Florida community had nothing else to go on, but this physical description.

Haleigh disappeared from the mobile home of her father Ronald Cummings, after being put to bed for the night. By the next morning, an Amber Alert and 14 months of search efforts and investigation into thousands of tips covering several states had begun.

Misty Croslin, 17, who was Ronald Cummings’ girlfriend at the time, was the last person to have seen Haleigh. Her story about the events of that night kept shifting and it became very difficult for the investigators to determine the exact time or circumstances of this vanishing act.

Croslin was the live-in girlfriend of Ronald at the time and while he was working that night, she was babysitting Haleigh and her little 4-year-old brother, Ronald Jr. At first, she claimed that Haleigh was sleeping with her in the big bed but eventually said that she was sleeping on a small mattress on the floor in the master bedroom, barely four feet from the bed.

Croslin said she went to sleep around 10:00 p.m. after doing laundry. Ronald Cummings was working the night shift as a crane operator. He says the back door was locked and secured by him before he left and that the deadbolt was hard to open even for an adult. No way that his daughter Haleigh could have opened it.

Croslin supposedly woke up during the night to use the bathroom and saw a light in the kitchen and the back door held ajar by a cinder block. Someone had opened that door and it was not Haleigh who was gone baby gone.

So far, the story made sense and was going to be properly investigated. But what came next could only be described with words spoken by Slim Shady: Let’s get down to business, I don’t got not time to play around, what is this, must be a circus in town, shut the shit down on these clowns, can I get a witness?

The morning Haleigh was reported missing in Florida, a Memorial service was held in Orlando for Caylee Anthony. The media, especially HLN, had filled the air with this story and it had become the cash cow of the century for them. They kept the public enthralled with the ‘search’ for Caylee when we all knew from day one that she was dead, dead, dead. But it was profitable to keep her alive and missing. The girl’s grandparents played their part with brio in this charade at keeping their granddaughter missing from here to eternity. It kept suspicions from floating directly to the culprit, their daughter, known as ‘tot mom’.

It is not surprising that pretty little Haleigh would become the logical replacement for Caylee who was never missing but had been found nevertheless. So the networks jumped at the chance of interviewing the protagonists in this sad case of ‘real’ kidnapping. But boy would they be in for a big surprise. If they thought that Caylee Anthony’s case was gloomy, this investigation was going to blow the lid wide open from this Satsuma portable toilet.

As it turned out, Ronald Cummings and his underage girlfriend, were living in a world surrounded by drugs, violence and shadiness. They were definitely in a state of 911. Ronald had obtained custody of his two children because their mother, Crystal Sheffield, allegedly had a history of drug problems and basically did not show up for a custody hearing because she had not received the notice. Being unemployed had also been a huge strike against her. This distraught and vulnerable mother who had met Cummings when she was also underage, described him as a volatile man with a drug-related past. She accused him of violence against her and the children. It so happened that Ronald was also another woman’s baby-daddy.

The fact that he would leave his two children in the care of a defiant, troubled, uneducated teenager constantly high as a kite demonstrated very well his lack of parental skills or care.

The circus really came to town when several TV stations started ‘trying’ to interview Ronald and Misty on their shows. It was like asking a donkey if God exists. Ronald was somewhat in control but his teenaged girlfriend would stare ahead with this glazed look. She was not just high, she was in a stuperous, narcotized state.

Ronald soon enrolled his mother Teresa for the media rounds because unlike Misty, she could cry a river in front of the camera and act distressed. Ronald would go down on his knees in front of the cameras, and cry an oxy/meth river of tears.

When NBC host Meredith Vieira asked Misty why she changed her story so often, she woodenly replied, “I don’t know.’’ When Ronald was asked by Vieira why he had married Croslin recently, knowing full well she might have been involved in his daughter’s disappearance, he became rude and defensive and basically told her to mind her own business. It was not going well for the media.

Most of the stations pulled out but HLN kept on trucking with a string of guests like toothless grandma Flo and her crocodile stories and cousin Jo Overstreet with his ‘It was not me’ mantra. Jo was in town visiting family when Haleigh disappeared and he supposedly had a fight with Ron over a gun. Nancy Grace was not going to let go of this bone easily. She was never going to be hungry again and would maintain her ratings no matter what. In the meantime, most people were starting to say “frankly my dear Nancy, we don’t give a damn about these people.’’

Mark Fuhrman said it very well in his book The Murder Business:

“It had turned into too much of a white-trash nightmare, too much of a freak show. Viewers can take the bizarre, frightening underbelly of White America only in small doses in a careful context, as guests in Jerry Springer or Maury Povich’s circus acts or when they’re anonymous.’’

A colleague of Fuhrman called him from Satsuma to urge him not to make the trip there to investigate. “Everybody here is high on something.’’ “And everyone is a nightmare to interview and put on TV.’’

Strangely enough, Nancy Grace, who is the queen of outrage when it comes to cases of missing children, took Ronald Cummings’ side in this saga. She invited him on her show and would soothe him and cheer him on during his ‘cry me a river’ displays for his lost daughter. She brought up every possible suspect, including illustrious cousin Jo, Misty, her brother Tommy, drug dealers, the pedophile brother-in-law, but in her eyes, Ronald remained white as snow, pun intended. He became her favorite pet rat. I even wondered if she carved Nancy loves Ro on a tree in the enchanted forest in her head.

We know that Nancy Grace went shamelessly after Richard Ricci in the Elizabeth Smart case and never apologized publicly when he was later found innocent. The poor man died in prison, no doubt aggravated by her actions. Poor Melinda Duckette committed suicide after being badgered by Grace. She also went after the Duke Lacrosse players with a vengeance. They were eventually cleared and declared innocent of the charges. What is it about Ronald Cummings that touched her heart? Maybe he was her perfect soul mate, considering the darkness they both share. They would have been perfect partners on Dancing with the Stars. What a hot tango they would have pulled off.

It never bothered her that Cummings had married Croslin shortly after Haleigh’s disappearance, probably to keep her from testifying against him. Who would marry the woman minding the fort when his own child is abducted under her watch? He obviously had to keep her close to minimize the possibilities of her singing the blues to the police.

We can only speculate as to what happened to this precious child. Many scenarios are possible but if they do not involve or incriminate Misty or Ronald, you would think someone would have spilled the beans by now. Misty claimed to have passed a lie detector test but according to Texas Equusearch who had administered the polygraph tests and a voice stress test, she had failed miserably. Ronald Cummings was asked by Nancy Grace about taking a polygraph test. He declared he had passed but there is no evidence and such information was never released by the authorities.

Grandma Flo said on TV that it was cousin Jo with Misty’s brother, Tommy Croslin, who threw Haleigh’s body in the river attached to cinder blocks because of a gun and some unknown dispute. I think this poor woman, in her own way, was trying to get to the bottom of this murky story. Rumors of trafficking circulated and of Misty not even being at the trailer that night. Did she leave the children alone while out on a drug binge as she had done recently with another cat? Ronald had tried to call her incessantly that night and she never answered. Some speculated they had a fight. The story of a drug debt floated around. Maybe some dealers took his daughter as collateral because he owed them money. A jail letter circulated stating that Haleigh died after ingesting oxycontin at the trailer. Either way, Haleigh’s demise was surely not one for the faint of heart.

For a while, a detective working for Haleigh’s mother claimed to have cracked the case. It was another dead end. They tried to revive the story in the media but it always fell flat because of lack of evidence. Two years ago, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office finally released a statement saying: “The ongoing investigation has minimized the likelihood that Haleigh’s disappearance is the work of a stranger.’’ Thank you, Captain Obvious!

It turns out that Ronald and Misty’s magical union did not last longer than their usual high. Meanwhile, the Putnam County police, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Task Force and the Office of the State Attorney decided to investigate them during a month-long undercover operation. They were arrested with Tommy Croslin for trafficking controlled prescription medications on January 20, 2010.

Their bond were set excessively high so they would have to be remanded while in jail to await trial and sentencing. They were looking at up to 25 years. One cannot help but think that the set- up was to entrap them into confessing about little Haleigh’s disappearance. The ball was in their court now.

It was a complete bust, literally. HLN played the tapes of their jail conversations and wheeled back grandma Flo to the forefront but to no avail. We heard of a sentence reduction for Ronald Cummings for cooperating with the authorities. Misty’s time in custody did not agree with her. She aged 15 years while incarcerated but never gave an iota of helpful information, in spite of the huge sentence she was facing.

It was very telling. If the truth about Haleigh was not despicable or dangerous, why wouldn’t one of them cut a deal? They obviously had a lot more to lose if they came clean.

The prison sentences they received were excessive. Ronald Cummings’ sentence was reduced to 15 years for agreeing to testify for the state in future cases involving the drug counts or his missing daughter, Haleigh. Misty received 25 years for a single count of trafficking Oxycodone. Tommy Croslin was sentenced to 15 years. It is utterly ridiculous to send drug addicts to prison for that long on those type of charges but that seems to be how they roll in Florida. In my opinion, they should have undergone mandatory drug rehab or received much lighter sentences.

This pitiful band of ill-equipped human beings were probably targeted and thrown in the slammer to pressure them into talking about the case. These tactics should never be allowed. Abuse of power is not acceptable even in cases of suspicion of a more severe crime.

During Misty’s trial, we heard of earlier abuse in her life. She came from a broken home and both her parents did time on crack cocaine charges. It is only normal to infer that the next logical step for that poor girl was to land in the trailer of a sick bird like Ronald Cummings. Unless of course, she could have received support or directions from a teacher, friend or family member; I hear crickets on that one. Ronald was also from the school of Hard Knocks with no sugar on top. He grew up with his grandmother and was arrested multiple times for possession of drugs including heroin and GHB, the rape drug, but the charges were dropped. His mama Teresa was a police dispatcher at the time so some speculate that she scratched someone’s back. He was awarded custody of the kids after he lied to Crystal about the hearing. He is dishonest and has a long history of Child Protective Service being involved with raising his kids. He likes young girls and also has a special needs child with one of them. What you would call a triple threat on the dating scene.

They are undoubtedly the product of their upbringing and surroundings. Like so many in small town America, they got caught in the vicious circle of drug addictions and trafficking and did not have the tools or the intellect to get out of Dodge. They are what famous attorney Vincent Bugliosi described as prime candidates for the mental poverty program. But in my opinion, there is more nature than nurture brewing in the mind of Ron Cummings.

Do I believe they are sorry for what happened to Haleigh? Hell to the yes I do! But not enough to come clean and do the right thing. Saving their hide became more important, which speaks to their character but also to the horror and terror that befell that little girl.

In my mind, this case is closed. I do not want to hear the details of her demise. If more guilty parties are out there, they will hopefully be arrested and appropriately sentenced but as far as this little girl goes, she is now free from a future riddled with drugs, neglect and prison. She was trapped in a vortex of emotional emptiness and on a slow ride to hell. The adults in her life never fought for her. They chose mediocrity and self-gratification. Maybe she would have escaped that life of moral and physical stupor and moved on to greener pastures. But let’s say that the odds were not stacked in her favor. We will never know.

Through time, many artists claim to have created their best work under the influence of drugs. But what is happening right now in places like Satsuma is the mind-body decimation of the residents addicted to prescription drugs and other dangerous and destructive substances like crystal meth. Not a romantic notion anymore if it ever was one.

Lately, I imagine her running in a gigantic field under a beautiful blue sky and she is falling into the arms of the Catcher in the Rye who catches her so she does not fall from the cliff — that beautiful image of innocence so brilliantly described in the novel.

Or maybe she is clicking the heels of her red ruby slippers three times to be transported to Oz. She might also be entering a rabbit hole to follow in Alice in Wonderland’s footsteps. For the religiously inclined, she might be in the arms of an angel. For the reincarnation believers, she might be one day reunited with Ronald, Misty and her mother after a long healing.

What counts is that by some Amazing Grace, she was lost and now she is found.

Author’s note: What I have related is only my opinion. I am a huge Eminem fan and I resent Nancy Grace but I have nothing against trailers. And I totally realize that some might hope that Haleigh is still alive or would want to know exactly what happened to her.

Visit Lise Lasalle’s website, The Trouble with Justice

by JJ Rogers

I was born in Clarkston, Washington and grew up across the Snake River in Lewiston, Idaho.  The two cities are located in a deep valley at the confluence of the Clearwater and Snake Rivers.  They are not large cities and they didn’t traditionally experience the horrors of serial killers that metropoleis are known for.  That is, until the late 70’s and early 80’s when I was in my teens. That’s when everything changed.  That’s when one man, filled with loathing and complete disregard for human life, selected a series of girls and young women as the objects of his dark desires.

Every spring the Valley filled with excitement in anticipation of the Asotin County Fair, which was held on the Snake River just north of both cities. Everyone who possibly could attended. It was April 28, 1979. I was there. So was Christina White, a 12-year-old child.

At some point during the day Christina felt ill from the early spring heat, and her mother suggested she get a damp towel to cool herself down.  Christina went to her friend’s house, where she was apparently given a wet towel and also used the phone.  She reportedly called her mother, but no one knows what was said. After that, Christina was never seen again.  No one saw her leave the house at 503 2nd Avenue — she simply vanished.  The home belonged to Patricia Brennan, Lance Voss’s girlfriend.  Lance and Patricia were married 26 months later on July 24, 1981.

For the next two years the rumors concerning Christina White’s death swirled like eddies in the mighty Snake River. These rumors created fear in our closely connected region of small towns and cities. For the first time in our lives, our parents admonished us not to walk alone and began locking our doors, even in the daytime.

Then it happened again. It was unthinkable but it happened. On June 26, 1981, 22-year-old Kristen David vanished while riding her bike between Moscow and Lewiston-Clarkston.  About a week later, the dismembered body of the 22-year-old University of Idaho student was found in the Snake River. The rumors spread fast that her dismembered body parts were found in plastic bags floating down the river.

Then in September 1982 it happened a third time. Three people turned up missing who were last seen at, or near, the Lewiston Civic Theatre, where Kristen David, the dismembered biker, had once worked. These three victims were 21-year-old Kristina Nelson, her stepsister, 18-year-old Brandi Miller and Former Air Force Cpl. Steven Pearsall who was 35.

On her last evening on earth, Sept. 12, 1982, Kristina left a note in her apartment for her boyfriend indicating that she and Brandi were going downtown to do some grocery shopping at the Safeway store.  A logical route downtown would have taken them by the Civic Theatre.

Steven Pearsall, 35, worked as a janitor there — he and Lance Voss had recently helped build a pirate ship that rolled on a dolly complete with several ropes for actors playing pirates to slide down.  Steven’s girlfriend dropped him off at the theater around midnight on Sept. 12th. Steven’s plan was to practice his music.  He may have walked in while Kristina and Brandi were being attacked. Steven was never seen again, nor was he ever considered a suspect. He is presumed dead.

The bodies of stepsisters Kristina Nelson and Brandi Miller were found 18 months later in March of 1984 at the bottom of a steep embankment near the community of Kendrick, along with rope that is presumed to have been “borrowed” from the Civic Theater’s pirate ship that Steven and Lance had built together.

The authorities noted that three of the four female victims had similar names: Kristin, Christina and Kristina, and that all three were about the same height.

One person of interest was interrogated by the police, twice. That person of interest was Lance Jeffrey Voss, a big man standing 6’ 5” and weighing roughly 200 lbs. Voss was not only seen at the theater, but actually admitted to being there at the time of the murders, working on the pirate ship for the play with the missing Steven. Voss had also, of course, dated (and later married) Patricia Brennan, the owner the house on 2^nd Avenue where the 12-year-old Asotin girl, Christina White, was last seen alive. In addition, Voss admitted that he often drove the same route taken by 22-year-old Kristen David when she met her grisly fate.

Lance is quoted as stating, “I was in the theater, but asleep; yes, I just saw Kristina.” 

Lewiston authorities believe the same person killed Christina White, Kristin David, Kristina Nelson, Brandy Miller, and Steven Pearsall.  One Lewiston Police Captain went as far as to say he’s “99 percent certain” who the killer is.  But law enforcement doesn’t believe they can prove who the killer is in a court of law. Lance Jeffrey Voss moved back to the East Coast and no similar murders have occurred since he left town. It’s no secret that authorities want to bring formal charges against him, but to this day, they have taken no action.

Voss is a self-proclaimed survivalist who enjoys listening to Rush Limbaugh.  Here is a quote by Voss that I came across while I was researching the case. Hunting is of course very popular in our part of the world but Voss’s quote is certainly not something we would expect a hunter to say:

“By the way, don’t neglect edged tools/weapons in your survival kit.  After you’ve shot your dinner rabbit, preparation is much easier if you don’t have to gut it with a rock.  It can be done, but it’s not fun.”

This case is still open and surfaces from time to time in the Valley. Many of us grew up hearing, telling and re-telling this awful tale and much as we would like to, these are murders we cannot forget.

by Darcia Helle

Throughout world history, criminals have been executed as punishment for their crimes. Early methods were brutal and torturous. Held as public events, entire towns gathered to watch the accused be drawn and quartered, hanged, beheaded, or burned at the stake.

Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin came into this unforgiving world on May 28, 1738 in Manchester, England. Some say his mother went into premature labor after witnessing a criminal being broken on the wheel of the public scaffold at Saintes. The victim’s screams were too much for her. Guillotin initially obtained a Master of Arts degree from the University of Bordeaux. The essay he wrote for his degree so impressed the Jesuits that they persuaded him to join their order. Guillotin then took the position of professor of literature at the Irish College at Bordeaux.

Within a few years, Guillotin left the college and travelled to Paris to study medicine. In 1768, he earned his diploma from the faculty at Rheims.

Oddly enough, Guillotin opposed the death penalty. Elected to the National Assembly in Paris on May 2, 1789, he directed most of his attention toward medical reform. On October 10, 1789, during a debate on capital punishment, Guillotin stated that “… the criminal shall be decapitated; this will be done solely by means of a simple mechanism.” This mechanism was defined as “… a machine that beheads painlessly”.

Beheading had become a common, if imprecise practice in France during the 1700s. Most often, several strikes of the sword or axe were needed before a victim died. The executioner would miss. The process could be grisly. Furthermore, considered a noble death, beheadings were reserved for the privileged class. Commoners of that time were typically hanged. Dr. Guillotin believed that the public would be more appreciative of their rights if all capital punishment was done by mechanical decapitation, regardless of class.

Guillotin also took issue with the fact that a criminal’s family suffered monetary punishment for the criminal’s misdeeds. Property was confiscated and family members were not allowed to inherit anything of worth. Guillotin opposed this practice, believing that the criminal alone should be held responsible for the crimes and that his or her family should not suffer because of those actions.

A civil rights activist of his time, Guillotin believed that adopting a more humane method of execution was the first step toward total abolition of the death penalty. Opposed to the public spectacle these events had become, Guillotin also worked toward making the execution more private. He wanted to spare people the trauma of witnessing these executions.

In 1789, Guillotin helped pass a law requiring beheading be done by machines, rather than swords or axes. Guillotin stated that “… the privilege of decapitation would no longer be confined to nobles, and the process of execution would be as painless as possible.”

At a follow-up meeting, Guillotin spoke of his ideal machine. In his exuberance, he said, with a flourish, “Now, with my machine, I cut off your head in the twinkling of an eye, and you never feel it!” His statement elicited laughter and quickly became a popular joke. Within days, a comic song about Guillotin and “his” machine forever linked the two together.

Primitive machines for beheading had been in use for approximately 500 years. By the 1700s, beheadings of the elite by machine were routine in Italy, Germany, Scotland, and Persia. The most popular machine of the time, the Italian Mannaia, made its first appearance in France in 1631. The device held an axe that descended between two perpendicular slipboards. Other beheading machines of the time included the Scottish Maiden and the Halifax Gibbet. None of these machines held the body still, which allowed for slips and misses.

The design of this new killing machine fell to the king’s physician, Dr. Antoine Louis. He sought expert advice from Charles-Henri Sanson, the official executioner. Sanson believes that the problem with current beheadings was that the accused often lacked the “firmness which was absolutely necessary for such executions”. Criminals who were made to kneel for their beheading often fainted. He or she would fall sideways, blunting the effect of the first swing of the sword or axe. Sanson’s solution was to confine the criminal’s body to a horizontal position.

Sanson then conferred with Tobias Schmidt, a German instrument maker. Schmidt sketched the design of what would later become the guillotine.

Dr. Louis approved the design, though he questioned the crescent-shaped blade. Sanson and Schmidt agreed that a diagonal blade might be better. Both were put to the test.

On March 20, 1792, a carpenter by the name of Guidon was paid 5,500 francs to make the first prototype. Upon completion, Sanson tried it out on three corpses in the courtyard of a prison at Bicetre. The first two strikes with the diagonal blade were successful. The third try, using the crescent-shaped blade, was not. The diagonal blade then became a permanent part of the design.

This new killing machine initially took the name Louison or Louisette, after the king’s physician, Dr. Louis. Some time later, the French began calling it the guillotine, after Dr. Guillontin, the perceived inventor. An English poet added the extra ‘e’ for easier rhyming.

On April 25, 1792, at the Place de Greve on the Right Bank, the guillotine made its first public appearance. The victim was Nicolas Jacques Pelletin, a common criminal. Upon facing his death sentence, Pelletin fell into a dead faint. This would have made beheading by sword or axe impossible. The guillotine was an instant success.

For the first seven months, the guillotine primarily took the heads of common thieves and forgers. However, France’s political situation quickly grew more volatile and the machine soon found uses in political executions. Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were among the guillotine’s most famous victims.

Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin died in 1814 of natural causes and is now buried in the Pere-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. The association of their name with this killing machine so embarrassed Dr. Guillotin’s family that they petitioned the French government to rename it. When the request was denied, the Guillotin family changed their last name.

In 1870, assistant executioner and carpenter Leon Berger made improvements to the guillotine. Berger added a spring system, stopping the mouton at the bottom of the grooves. He also added a lock/blocking device, as well as a new release mechanism for the blade. All guillotines built after 1870 incorporated these improvements.

The murderer Hamida Djandoubi holds the dubious honor of being the last victim of the guillotine. The execution took place on September 10, 1977 in Marseilles, France.

Please click to below to view Darcia’s Helle’s many excellent posts:

Modern Day Executioners Despise the Death Penalty

‘Trial by Media’ Is Not a New Phenomenon: The Kangaroo Hanging of Alvin Edwin Batson

“Met Her on the Mountain”: Cold Case Social Worker Hog-Tied, Raped and Killed in Appalachia

Jovial Private Bartender Snaps; Assaults and Drags Obnoxious 84-Year-Old Club Patron

Frank Lloyd Wright and the Great Gasoline Mass Murder

Edward Elmore Rode the Legal Railroad to 30 Years on Death Row: His Crime? Simple! He Was Black and Poor

 “The Wrong Carlos”: Non-Violent Manchild Executed for Murder He Did Not Commit

The Electric Chair Nightmare: An Infamous and Agonizing History

Autopsies: Truth, Fiction and Maura Isles and Her 5-Inch-Heels

Don’t Crucify Me, Dude! Just Shoot Me Instead! Spartacus and Death by Crucifixion

To Burn or Not to Burn? Auto-Da-Fé Is Not Good for Women or Children!

The Disgraceful Entrapment of Jesse Snodgrass: Keep the Narcs Out of Our Schools

Why Should I Believe You? The History of the Polygraph

“Don’t Behead Me, Dude!”: The Story of Beheading and the Invention of the Guillotine

Aileen Wuornos, America’s First High-Profile Female Serial Killer, Never Had a Chance

The Terror of ISO: A Descent into Madness

Al Capone Could Not Bribe the Rock: Alcatraz, Fortress of Doom

Cyberspace, Darknet, Murder-for-Hire and the Invisible Black Machine

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

commentary by Patrick H. Moore

To our dismay, while running All Things Crime Blog, we’ve discovered that child abuse takes myriad disturbing forms ranging from child rape to locking kids in cages and starving them — to making them live naked in the backyard while starving them — to locking them in chicken coops with electronic dog collars around their necks — to chaining them to the porch with chickens (live or dead) tied around their necks — to just beating the living hell out of them – and, of course, recently we had the Texas lad Joshua Beard, a clean-cut young man who stomped his 18-year-old girlfriend’s child to death for no apparent reason other than the kid was no doubt an inconvenience and may have cried a lot.

Now we have another case out of Raleigh, North Carolina, in which the mother, a former NANNY, is accused of systematically breaking her 16-week-old baby’s bones over an approximate six week period and BITING him for good measure.This case is especially upsetting, perhaps because the child was so young that he/she didn’t even have time to act up or be obnoxious, not that such typical kid behavior would in any way justify child abuse.

Ed Crump of ABC11 writes:

Police have charged a 34-year-old Raleigh mother with biting her 16-week-old baby and breaking the child’s ribs and shoulder blades.

Mary Martin Peele, of Okelly St., was arrested by Raleigh Police Department detectives Monday.

She’s charged with one count of felony child abuse inflicting serious injury and one count of misdemeanor child abuse.

According to arrest warrants obtained by ABC11, Peele allegedly broke 12 of her baby’s ribs and both scapula bones. She also allegedly made a deep bite wound on the boy’s shoulder.

The alleged incidents are said to have occurred between the end of May and mid-July of this year.

Working in criminal defense as an investigator and sentencing mitigation specialist, I often thank my lucky stars that I am not a criminal defense attorney for the simple reason that these beleaguered souls often find themselves in truly impossible situations while attempting to defend their clients. (Of course, I don’t make nearly as much money as the defense attorneys, but hey, you can’t have everything.)

Doing his best to do the impossible on Tuesday, July 29th in the Raleigh courtroom of Judge Jacqueline Brewer, Ms. Peele’s lawyer Damon Chetson pointed out that Ms. Peele has no criminal history and worked for years as a nanny with no complaints of her ever mistreating her youthful charges. It’s always good to start out with the facts and Attorney Chetson appears to have done precisely that.

So what can the lawyer, who needless to say is truly fighting an uphill battle in this matter, do once he’s run out of positive facts? He or she must then resort to “spin”, a time-honored mode of conduct that both defense attorneys and prosecutors engage in on a regular basis. In the case of Lawyer Chetson, he opts to trot out the old sentimentality argument, stating that Ms. Peele’s baby is her “dream child” and that she was only able to carry her child to term after “suffering numerous miscarriages.” Now, if this case did not appear to be so “black-and-white”, this strategy might actually be pretty effective; one can hardly fail to sympathize with a mom who suffers through endless miscarriages, all the while dreaming of giving birth at last to her “dream child.”

The problem is the “dream child” defense is undercut by the hideous nature of what Ms. Peele allegedly did to her child. Fourteen broken bones and a deep bite in the shoulder area is no laughing matter.

Nonetheless, Lawyer Chetson plows doggedly onward stating that his client will fight the charges:

“She stands here telling the court she is not guilty of these charges, and she wants to mount a defense.”

At that point, Chetson relinquished the podium, I suspect to his vast relief.

Prosecutor Melanie Shekita then steps to the fore and makes her case. First, she states, logically enough, that the baby’s injuries “were akin to something he might have suffered in a car accident and were not something he could have done to himself.”

Then she gets heavy:

“For the first 16 weeks of this child’s life someone tortured him. I have grave concerns that if this woman had not presented him to the hospital, and I have no reason to believe that she didn’t do that, that he could have ended up dead,” said Ms. Shekita.

And then, just to get it on the record, Ms. Shekita explains that Ms. Peele “has been telling people the baby has some kind of bone disorder, but that is not the case.”

The baby, of course, could have some kind of bone disorder but that would probably not result in 12 broken ribs and 2 broken scapulas. But perhaps Ms. Peele will ultimately come up with an effective defense of some sort. She’s certainly going to need a strong defense because as things currently stand, “she could face up to 32 years, 9 months in prison on the felony intentional child abuse charge alone.”

Ms. Peele’s bond was originally set at $250,000 and she was ordered not to have contact with any minor under the age of 18 without supervision. The prosecutor requested that her bond be raised to $500,000 and the judge ultimately raised it to $400,000.

Ms. Peele wept in the courtroom suggesting she feels bad about what has happened, and it should be pointed out that, she’s apparently the one who took her injured child to the hospital. If she were completely evil, she would have just kept battering the baby until it died.

So I must say, disturbing as this case is, I hope that Ms. Peele and Lawyer Chetson are able to mount some kind of effective defense that demonstrates that she is not responsible for the horrific harm that was done to the child. The problem is I just don’t see where that defense is going to come from for the simple reason I believe Ms. Peele probably is responsible and I suspect that she will ultimately plead out and will be required to serve a long term of imprisonment.

The following 10 somewhat bizarre yet prophetically fatal facts about Ted Bundy (Monster Smooth) during his youth and young adulthood come to us from Bukisa.com and Wikipedia. Bukisa’s interpretations of these facts have been, in some cases, augmented and/or reinterpreted by Patrick H. Moore.

1)  Ted Bundy was not his birth name.

The man the world would come to know as Ted Bundy Bundy was born Theodore Robert Cowell at the Elizabeth Lund Home For Unwed Mothers (now the Lund Family Center) in Burlington, Vermont on November 24, 1946. His mother Eleanor Louise Cowell (known for most of her life as Louise) moved to Tacoma when Ted was four and changed his last name to Nelson. Within a year, his mother met Johnnie Culpepper Bundy. When they married, Johnnie Bundy legally adopted Theodore and changed his last name to Bundy.

2)  Ted Bundy thought his mother was his sister for many years.

To avoid the social stigma of having an illegitimate grandchild born to a young mother, his grandparents claimed him as their own. They told Ted that Louise was his sister and not his mother. Although Ted likely suspected that something didn’t quite add up, he did not definitively discover the truth of his maternal parentage until the end of high school or early in college.

3)  No one is really sure who his biological father was.

Louise gives us two different stories. The name affixed in the father slot on Ted’s birth certificate was Lloyd Marshall. However, she later spoke of being seduced by a war veteran named Jack Worthington. There’s still another option, however, though it may be mere speculation. Some members of Bundy’s family think that his grandfather Samuel Cowell may also be his biological father. Samuel Cowell was a tyrannical bully and a bigot who hated blacks, Italians, Catholics, and Jews, beat his wife and the family dog, and swung neighborhood cats by their tails. He once threw Louise’s younger sister Julia down a flight of stairs for oversleeping. He sometimes spoke aloud to unseen presences, and at least once he flew into a violent rage when the question of Ted’s paternity was raised.  Bundy described his grandmother as a timid and obedient woman who periodically underwent electroconvulsive therapy for depression and feared leaving their house toward the end of her life.

I don’t want to belabor the obvious but it sounds a bit dysfunctional to me.

4)  He showed violent tendencies as young as three years old.

Ted showed an unsettling predilection for violence from a very early age. His maternal aunt Julia recalls lying down for a nap and waking up surrounded by knives with a smiling 3-year-old Bundy at her side. If this is true, it is totally freakish and as Bukisa says, paints an eerie, strange picture of an eccentric (in the worst sense of the word) toddler arranging knives around his sleeping aunt.

5)  Bundy’s grandfather (who he thought was his father and indeed may have been) tortured animals.

AND, Bundy describes incidents of his grandfather Samuel abusing the family dog. Samuel would also swing neighbourhood cats around by their tails, and Ted himself reportedly mutilated animals with the ubiquitous knives that seemed to fascinate him so much. Ouch!

6)  Young Ted was active in the Methodist Church and even served as Vice President of the Methodist Youth Fellowship.

Oddly enough, despite his anti-social and no doubt sociopathic tendencies, Ted, like John Wayne Gacy, was a joiner. In addition to the Methodist Church (Note: Patrick H. Moore went to the Methodist Church in Campbellsport, Wisc. for several years when he was a kid but he somehow escaped becoming a serial killer), Ted joined the Boy Scouts of America club. It all seems like somewhat of a charade, however, a fact Bundy seemed to intimate when he later stated: “I didn’t know what made people want to be friends. I didn’t know what made people attractive to one another. I didn’t know what underlay social interactions.” you get the sense that Ted may have been thinking all the wrong thoughts both in Church and at Scout meetings. He was often described as shy and introverted at this age.

7)  His criminal activities began before he finished high school.

Ted tendency to be dangerously different, which manifested early with his penchant for knife arranging, was always apaprent in one way or another. According to some reports, he was a habitual liar. and a compulsive shoplifter. Although Bundy’s later claims must be met with some skepticism, he did say that he had gone the voyeuristic route at a young age and was a “peeper”. Bundy was arrested twice as a juvenile but the records were later expunged.

8)  He majored in Psychology and graduated with a degree in 1972.

Despite what might be called demonstratively anti-social tendencies, Bundy also had a confoundedly conforming side. Just like any up and coming lad, he was off to college after graduating high school in 1965. He went through a period when he was engrossed in Oriental Studies and later seems to have settled on Psychology. He was a desultory student at first, though, which he believed cost him the love of his life, a well-appointed and well-off California girl, possibly from the San Francisco Bay Area, who for reasons of decorum, shall remain nameless. After his first and perhaps only love broke up with him for his lack of ambition, he rededicated himself to Psychology and earned his degree in 1972. He was well-liked by his professors and graduated with honors. He started dating a young mother (a relationship that lasted six years) while covertly re-establishing his relationship with his former girlfriend who dumped him. Ted ultimately proposed to the first woman and she accepted. Then two weeks later, he dumped her and began his killing spree. Nonetheless, he did not end his six year relationship to the woman with child until he was arrested for kidnapping in 1976. The general consensus is that most of his victims looked like his original girlfriend who dumped him (long dark hair parted in the middle).

9)  He volunteered at a suicide crisis center alongside a now famous crime author, Ann Rule.

In conjunction with his psychology classes, he volunteered at a suicide crisis center where, it is believed, he quite effectively talked people out of killing themselves. At this point, Bukisa can only state: “Completely bizarre.” At the crisis center, Ted worked closely with Ann Rule who is now a well known crime writer. Ironically, at a certain point, she began researching the crimes Ted was committing, not knowing it was her friend who committed them. She later published a very readable book called : The Stranger Beside Me detailing her relationship with Ted, his numerous crimes and his trials.

10)  Ted was heavily involved with the Republican Party.

Whatever his faults and they were legion, Ted was an activist. In 1968, he managed the Seattle office of Nelson Rockefeller’s presidential campaign and attended the Republican Convention in Miami. After his graduation in 1972, he went to work for the state Republican Party. He was later involved in a minor scandal when the Democrats discovered that stealthy Ted had been following one of them around posing as a college student, taping their speeches and pirating the information back to his home office.

So where do we go from here? Hopefully, as time permits, we will have the chance to take a close look at various phases in Monster Smooth’s incredibly diabolical life.