General True Crime Shows

[Annber03]

Oh, god, that episode. That story really stuck with me after I saw it-it's so freaking heartbreaking. I cannot even begin to imagine what it was like for that poor girl, finding out what happened to her entire family and having to deal with that. Especially given how old she was at the time. 

I share your anger at the family members trying to defend the guy who did the killings. That really bugged me, too. I don't care what his problems with them were, you just do NOT do that to people. You do NOT point a gun at innocent children. He knew full well what he was doing when he walked over there-and didn't he come back to his place to reload before heading back to the house to finish what he'd started, too? Yeah. Sorry. At that point, there's no sympathy.

That's the thing that always floors me about that show, though-that tragedy happened because of a dispute over a property line.. Like, seriously? Somebody killed people over a damn property line issue? Really? It's absolutely crazy how extreme a lot of those neighbor disputes can get on that show. 

On 9/7/2017 at 1:21 PM, kathyk24 said:

Anyone watch Shattered last night? I thought it was interesting that the murderer was sympathetic and the victim was a villain. That's unusual for an ID show.

Yeah, such a tragic outcome all around. Even before they said out loud what that pastor had been accused of, I had a feeling that's where it was likely going. Sad that such things are so predictable. And that poor mom, losing both her sons in such different ways. I agree with @auntjess about the sentence seeming off, considering what other people have gotten away with. 

I was also struck by how both she and the other woman they interviewed seemed to be conflating the pastor's struggle with his sexuality with his abuse of boys. I don't know if that was intentional on their part or not, but it frustrated me. 

[KellsBells]

20 hours ago, Annber03 said:

Yeah, such a tragic outcome all around. Even before they said out loud what that pastor had been accused of, I had a feeling that's where it was likely going. Sad that such things are so predictable. And that poor mom, losing both her sons in such different ways. I agree with @auntjess about the sentence seeming off, considering what other people have gotten away with. 

I was also struck by how both she and the other woman they interviewed seemed to be conflating the pastor's struggle with his sexuality with his abuse of boys. I don't know if that was intentional on their part or not, but it frustrated me. 

I just finally watched it yesterday. It felt as if there were a lot of missing facts and a lot of just speculation. He had a son; yet the cop said he found gay porn and the mom was told that he was abusing young boys, but was he? There never seemed to be any direct accusations against him. He definitely was dealing drugs and, according to the guy that killed him, they were both high as kites and got into a dispute over the drugs. Yes, that seemed like an unnecessarily harsh sentence, as if he should at least have gotten a chance at parole, but I felt that there was so much missing from the story, maybe it wasn't. 

[SunnyBeBe]

Anyone see American Monster last night? Two episodes.  One about the wife/mother who was not at all as she seemed.  The other about a husband/dad, who attempted to rape a stranger, was facing charges when he murdered her before the trial.  He had made a video diary of himself fishing at the time the woman was murdered to give himself an alibi.  He didn't realize that experts could tell the actual time by the location of the sun. lol  They got him.  He had changed the time on the video to reflect a time earlier than when he actually recorded it.  

His wife was so shocked.  This guy was at least 40 years old with no criminal background.  I wonder how he went all those years and then tries to rape a woman and then MURDERS her.  It really didn't add up., although, he's obviously guilty.  I wonder if there were many others that never were discovered.  Who goes into serious felonies that late in life with no warning and no seeming propensity?

Edited September 11, 2017 by SunnyBeBe

[auntjess]

2 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

He had made a video diary of himself fishing at the time the woman was murdered to give himself an alibi.  He didn't realize that experts could tell the actual time by the location of the sun. lol

I recorded it, but didn't realize that it was this one.  It's a Forensic File, and I've seen it several times.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2609120/

[SunnyBeBe]

Hmmm...I had heard of it, but, this was the first one that I saw of it in detail.  They had a lot of home family videos.  Do you know if they said in other shows WHY he did it?  I mean, was he suspected in other cases or just flipped out and attempted to rape, then murder this one lady?  They didn't know each other and the police said that she had been stalked!  That the person knew her schedule and that she would be alone, yet they never said how she got his attention. She lived in a different town and seemed to have no connection to him.  I found that curious.  

Also, may I just play devil's advocate for a minute?  Is there any chance that this defendant did NOT rape the woman, but, at the prospect of going to prison as an innocent man, he shot her to prevent that? lol I know it sounds crazy, but, was there any evidence of him being the rapist, other than the woman saying she recognized his voice? I mean, what are the odds that she would have gone into a store and heard the clerk speak and figured out it was him? It just sounds bizarre.  I hope he was the rapist, because, if the lady was wrong........it caused a terrible chain of events.  

I never heard of any evidence other than the lady saying that she recognized his voice.  How reliable is that?  I"m not defending the guy, but, just trying to sort out what really happened. So, this man who had no history of improper sexual conduct, no peeping, no stalking, suddenly in mid life, stalks and attempts to rape a stranger?  

Edited September 11, 2017 by SunnyBeBe

[Annber03]

Yeah, I remember seeing that story on "Forensic Files" years ago, too. I remember being in total awe of how they were able to figure out that he'd messed with the time stamps, and used the angles of the sun to prove that the time of day it actually was didn't match up with the time listed on the video. Still pretty impressive all this time later. 

4 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Do you know if they said in other shows WHY he did it?  I mean, was he suspected in other cases or just flipped out and attempted to rape, then murder this one lady?  They didn't know each other and the police said that she had been stalked!  That the person knew her schedule and that she would be alone, yet they never said how she got his attention. She lived in a different town and seemed to have no connection to him.  I found that curious.  

I don't remember them ever giving a reason why he committed his initial attempted rape against her, either, no. Like you said, it does seem weird, considering she was in a totally different town. Maybe he encountered her somewhere along the way and became obsessed with her or something? I dunno.

I felt bad for the guy's wife. Wanting to believe the best of her husband only to have that belief so horribly dashed-that's heartbreaking. 

[SunnyBeBe]

Yeah, well, there's no doubt that he murdered the woman, but, I never did see any evidence that he tried to rape her.  Odd.  

Edited September 11, 2017 by SunnyBeBe

[auntjess]

12 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Yeah, well, there's no doubt that he murdered the woman, but, I never did see any evidence that he tried to rape her.  Odd.  

Well the delivery man walked in on them before he got to the evidence-leaving stage.

[auntjess]

What gets me, is that the criterion for being an American Monster, is being in home videos.
Not to lessen his crime, but I always thought the term monster, as applies to a criminal, was someone who was a serial killer usually, or if not, someone who committed an especially brutal crime.
And how do you find people to feature.
I mean, I've seen Maury, and they'll advertise, "if you or someone you know, thinks your grandmother's boyfriend is the father...," so is there some ID show that says "if you have home videos of a friend or family member, who was subsequently convicted of murder, call 800..."

Edited September 12, 2017 by auntjess

[azshadowwalker]

1 hour ago, auntjess said:

What gets me, is that the criterion for being an American Monster, is being in home videos.
Not to less his crime, but I always thought the term monster, as applies to a criminal, was someone who was a serial killer usually, or if not, someone who committed an especially brutal crime.
And how do you find people to feature.
I mean, I've seen Maury, and they'll advertise, "if you or someone you know, thinks your grandmother's boyfriend is the father...," so is there some ID show that says "if you have home videos of a friend or family member, who was subsequently convicted of murder, call 800..."

I consider all rapists to be monstrous. To stalk, attempt to rape, then murder the victim more than qualified. Look at how cool he was on the tape after shooting her. 

As for his past, I am more than willing to believe that it wasn't his first crime, especially because he was so cool on the tape--not to mention planning the alibi to begin with. It was just the first time he got caught. Lots of rapists never get caught the first time. Add to that the fact that he had a wife who was totally dependent on him, he did not have anyone looking to find fault in him. She could not even drive. She certainly wasn't keeping tabs on him, so there was no one who could.  I completely believe that this was the latest in a series. 

Heartbroken for the wife and the victim's family. 

Edited September 12, 2017 by azshadowwalker

[Akhna]

19 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Anyone see American Monster last night? Two episodes.  One about the wife/mother who was not at all as she seemed.  The other about a husband/dad, who attempted to rape a stranger, was facing charges when he murdered her before the trial.  He had made a video diary of himself fishing at the time the woman was murdered to give himself an alibi.  He didn't realize that experts could tell the actual time by the location of the sun. lol  They got him.  He had changed the time on the video to reflect a time earlier than when he actually recorded it.  

His wife was so shocked.  This guy was at least 40 years old with no criminal background.  I wonder how he went all those years and then tries to rape a woman and then MURDERS her.  It really didn't add up., although, he's obviously guilty.  I wonder if there were many others that never were discovered.  Who goes into serious felonies that late in life with no warning and no seeming propensity?

This one really baffled me at first. The way the wife seemed to be defending him in the beginning made me wonder if things were going to twist around to show him innocent. When it didn't I wanted to know more so did a quick google search and this is what I came up with.

*I'm terrible at remembering names, sorry*

After the victim identified her attacker police searched his truck and found a gun, a hat that matched the victim's initial description, materials that matched materials that had been used to restrain her, and a newspaper clipping about the attack. At some point (not sure whether it was during the trial or later) the guy claimed that the fishing video was made not to serve as an alibi for the murder, but for his wife to believe he was out all day fishing when he was actually at a strip club. I also found a facebook page "Free Kevin Dowling" which claimed that all his lawyers had been incompetent, members of the police force and prosecutors' office had been corrupt, etc. 

The thing that bugged me watching the show was that there was never any reason given, no motive. Had this guy raped or murdered before? Was this his first time? It all just strikes me as so bizarre.

[One Tough Cookie]

I was in a forum about Dowling and found this:

Anonymous said...

I was married to Kevin at the time of Mrs. Myers murder. I have no doubts that Kevin indeed committed the unspeakable crimes he has been accussed of! I feel they should most definitely enforce the death penalty when it is a case such as this, all evidence points to one person-Kevin. Why does he get so many rights? He most certainly did not give Mrs. Myers her rights that day!!! Execute him!!! The closer it would bring to so many people would be a relief. and as far as "cruel and painful" reread what this man did to her...lethal injection is calm compared to what he did to her! EXECUTE HIM!!!

22 October 2010 at 11:38:00 GMT-7

[riley702]

Wow.

[auntjess]

17 hours ago, azshadowwalker said:

I consider all rapists to be monstrous.

I don't disagree with this, but if you use "monster" that way, and US crime show could be called American Monster, and that doesn't seem how this show uses it.
Dowling may fit your definition, but several cases don't fit, in my opinion.

[azshadowwalker]

Just watched the Lori Jones episode of Shattered. Heartbreaking for those daughters. I did some research on Mike Braae. Of course, he did the "consensual sex, but not rape and murder" song and dance, despite all the other dead and missing women in his wake. 

I read about the daughters, too. Kind of weird that they showed snow when they talked about Elisa spending Christmas with her sister after their mom was murdered. I could tell that the older woman lived in the southern half of Arizona just by the brief video of her. Turns out she is in the eastern suburbs of Phoenix. We get very, very  rare snow in Tucson. Phoenix just doesn't. 

Horrible that Elisa's father was also murdered. Doesn't seem to have impacted her as much, but I am sure it's still horrible. 

[SunnyBeBe]

All I can say about the story on Abigail Simon (2013)....is how bizarre.  Another defendant, who rejected a plea deal of pleading guilty and being sentenced to a few months, so she could bash the 15 year-old victim in a trial and was found guilty and sentenced to 8-25 years. (She may be paroled in 2022.)  Her story is that she was afraid of the student and placated him by sending him nearly naked photos, thousands of explicit texts and having sex wit him.  Pretty bold and totally unbelievable, imo.  I wonder why she resisted an Alford Plea.  The evidence against her was overwhelming.  PLUS, she tweeted the young boy after being charged and tried to establish contact with him, against court orders.  She seemed very disturbed to me, but, hellbent on not accepting responsibility.

I read that she's fighting having to wear an electronic monitoring for the rest of her life. (after release from prison.)  

[hoosiermom]

I just watched the most recent episode on A & E of the murder of Laci Peterson. No comment on the series in general but may I say I have never been so disgusted by the conduct of jurors ever. I am not talking about  their verdict, just their behavior. I don't consider the death penalty nor the murder of a beautiful young woman and her unborn son a laughing matter under any circumstances.

[iMonrey]

Quote

No comment on the series in general but may I say I have never been so disgusted by the conduct of jurors ever. I am not talking about  their verdict, just their behavior. I don't consider the death penalty nor the murder of a beautiful young woman and her unborn son a laughing matter under any circumstances.

Context is everything. This show has gone out of its way to make it look like Scott Peterson was railroaded by the media and a botched police investigation. They cherry pick the details and the witnesses to portray Scott in a positive light. I doubt very much any of the jurors were sitting around laughing during the trial or the deliberations. The fact that this show managed to find interview footage of some of them at some unspecified later date cracking jokes about Scott Peterson is just more fodder for the show to portray the verdict as unjust and undeserved and the jury as misguided and incompetent. 

[ButterQueen]

On 9/12/2017 at 1:44 AM, azshadowwalker said:

I consider all rapists to be monstrous. To stalk, attempt to rape, then murder the victim more than qualified. Look at how cool he was on the tape after shooting her. 

As for his past, I am more than willing to believe that it wasn't his first crime, especially because he was so cool on the tape--not to mention planning the alibi to begin with. It was just the first time he got caught. Lots of rapists never get caught the first time. Add to that the fact that he had a wife who was totally dependent on him, he did not have anyone looking to find fault in him. She could not even drive. She certainly wasn't keeping tabs on him, so there was no one who could.  I completely believe that this was the latest in a series. 

Heartbroken for the wife and the victim's family. 

I agree.  That wasn't his first assault.

23 hours ago, One Tough Cookie said:

I was in a forum about Dowling and found this:

Anonymous said...

I was married to Kevin at the time of Mrs. Myers murder. I have no doubts that Kevin indeed committed the unspeakable crimes he has been accussed of! I feel they should most definitely enforce the death penalty when it is a case such as this, all evidence points to one person-Kevin. Why does he get so many rights? He most certainly did not give Mrs. Myers her rights that day!!! Execute him!!! The closer it would bring to so many people would be a relief. and as far as "cruel and painful" reread what this man did to her...lethal injection is calm compared to what he did to her! EXECUTE HIM!!!

22 October 2010 at 11:38:00 GMT-7

She's not so anonymous anymore.

10 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

All I can say about the story on Abigail Simon (2013)....is how bizarre.  Another defendant, who rejected a plea deal of pleading guilty and being sentenced to a few months, so she could bash the 15 year-old victim in a trial and was found guilty and sentenced to 8-25 years. (She may be paroled in 2022.)  Her story is that she was afraid of the student and placated him by sending him nearly naked photos, thousands of explicit texts and having sex wit him.  Pretty bold and totally unbelievable, imo.  I wonder why she resisted an Alford Plea.  The evidence against her was overwhelming.  PLUS, she tweeted the young boy after being charged and tried to establish contact with him, against court orders.  She seemed very disturbed to me, but, hellbent on not accepting responsibility.

I read that she's fighting having to wear an electronic monitoring for the rest of her life. (after release from prison.)  

Abigail be CRAZY!

[One Tough Cookie]

19 minutes ago, ButterQueen said:

Her story is that she was afraid of the student and placated him by sending him nearly naked photos, thousands of explicit texts 

There were a few students I wasn't comfortable around, but instead of having sex I had another adult in the room when I I was tutoring. Abigail is exactly where she needs to be.

[Brattinella]

After seeing the contents of Scott Peterson's trunk, I have NO doubt that he is guilty.

[KellsBells]

6 hours ago, hoosiermom said:

I just watched the most recent episode on A & E of the murder of Laci Peterson. No comment on the series in general but may I say I have never been so disgusted by the conduct of jurors ever. I am not talking about  their verdict, just their behavior. I don't consider the death penalty nor the murder of a beautiful young woman and her unborn son a laughing matter under any circumstances.

I agree, that was completely classless. There are no winners here, there's nothing funny. This may have been at a later date, but even immediately after the verdict they were out in front of the cameras acting like jerks. 

On 9/12/2017 at 1:15 AM, Akhna said:

After the victim identified her attacker police searched his truck and found a gun, a hat that matched the victim's initial description, materials that matched materials that had been used to restrain her, and a newspaper clipping about the attack. At some point (not sure whether it was during the trial or later) the guy claimed that the fishing video was made not to serve as an alibi for the murder, but for his wife to believe he was out all day fishing when he was actually at a strip club. I also found a facebook page "Free Kevin Dowling" which claimed that all his lawyers had been incompetent, members of the police force and prosecutors' office had been corrupt, etc. 

The thing that bugged me watching the show was that there was never any reason given, no motive. Had this guy raped or murdered before? Was this his first time? It all just strikes me as so bizarre.

I've seen this story before and they went into more depth. Apparently, there was a LOT of physical evidence, perhaps even DNA. Enough that he was positive he was going to prison -- thus the "goodbye" video. After initially not believing it, the wife was persuaded by the evidence, so I'm convinced too. As for the title, American Monster, that's very hyperbolic. Something like, Behind the Lens or something might be more appropriate. Oh, and one last thing: I lived in Pa for 25 years and Sheetz is located there. It's basically a 7-11. It cracked me up when he got a job as a manager and his wife was like, "it was his dream job." No, if you're a manager at Sheetz it's because it's the job you can get. 

Edited September 14, 2017 by KellsBells

[ButterQueen]

I watched a couple Vanity Fair Confidential shows today.  While I enjoyed the stories, they jump around too much with the people speaking, and show the same "crime scene" over and over.  It was very distracting.  Less real time narrative would be helpful.

I caught up with the new Swamp Murders.  It was so sad.  Not only because the poor girl was raped and murdered, but she had indeed won the karaoke contest (500.00 prize) to get her car fixed and she was abducted from the parking lot waiting on a ride.  The only reason she went to this seedy bar was for the contest.  It was all just so sad.

[azshadowwalker]

Wow. The episode of Shattered about the rapist who eventually killed three young women in Portland just had me shaking with rage, especially after I looked up the case. Dude got off on attempted rape for the rape of Shelly, and only did three years. When he got out, he was actually allowed visitation with his children. Shelly lost custody of the baby she was carrying during the rape, but he gets to see his children? Surprise, surprise, he ended up murdering a 17yo. LWOP is too good for him. 

http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20000508&slug=4019744

[Annber03]

3 hours ago, azshadowwalker said:

When he got out, he was actually allowed visitation with his children. Shelly lost custody of the baby she was carrying during the rape, but he gets to see his children? 

Wow. Seriously? 

There are no words for how incredibly fucked up that is. I share in the detective's frustration at hearing how short his initial sentence was for the attack on Shelly. Just...ugh. The hell?

This show, though...it's both powerful and utterly heartbreaking all at the same time. My heart went out to Alex's mom (and when she started talking about how her other children reacted to the loss of Alex...god, I hope that family can find the peace they're looking for eventually). 

But the whole thing with the street kids attending Alex's funeral, and showing her mom so much love and support, and then seeing Shelly and the detective staying in touch, and him attending her wedding? That was beautiful and touching. As was Shelly's visit to the park. I'm glad all of these people have been able to find some level of comfort and support along the way, and I hope that continues to be the case for them. 

[SunnyBeBe]

There seemed to be some reason that they allowed this guy to get a sweet plea deal after he raped Shelly.  They said it was to avoid a trial and I suppose Shelly did not want that.  It's understandable, but, he actually kidnapped (abducted her) and raped her.  To allow such a reduced plea is really obscene.  I wonder if they felt their case was weak in some way.  Hard to say.  Normally, when it's such a sweet deal, there's good reason.  Like no evidence.  I wonder if Shelly disappeared and they couldn't be sure she would be able to testify.  She says that for awhile, she was out of it, due to drugs. 

[azshadowwalker]

I would not be surprised if Shelly had personal issues at the time of the rape, and didn't want her life picked apart. Even today, this happens. 

[walnutqueen]

Dear ID - if you make more shows like Shattered, we would not be so disillusioned with you  your network.  That is all.

[azshadowwalker]

2 hours ago, walnutqueen said:

Dear ID - if you make more shows like Shattered, we would not be so disillusioned with you  your network.  That is all.

I am so impressed by this one. I was with Gone, as well, and most of the American Monster episodes I have seen have been good. Dare we hope that the corner has been turned??? 

[walnutqueen]

11 minutes ago, azshadowwalker said:

Dare we hope that the corner has been turned??? 

Nope.  

I'm fairly certain they'll find some way to fuck these up ... because, it's Disco, baby.

[walnutqueen]

5 hours ago, Midnight Sun said:

ID needs to stop running the Chandra Levy promos every three damn minutes before I put a cap in somebody's ass and become a feature on one of these shows!

Justifiable homicide.

[walnutqueen]

Just now, Midnight Sun said:

Ha, haaaa, walnutqueen, you do amuse me...I'll kill you last.

You're the only person on the planet I trust enough to kill me if I'm dying, Midnight Sun.  Never mind pulling the proverbial plug; I expect you to shoot me in the fucking head before I turn into a turnip (and feed my cats thereafter!).  ;-)

[TheGreenWave]

On ‎9‎/‎13‎/‎2017 at 1:31 PM, hoosiermom said:

I just watched the most recent episode on A & E of the murder of Laci Peterson. No comment on the series in general but may I say I have never been so disgusted by the conduct of jurors ever. I am not talking about  their verdict, just their behavior. I don't consider the death penalty nor the murder of a beautiful young woman and her unborn son a laughing matter under any circumstances.

Completely agree.  I always find it very interesting to hear from jurors after trials, and did find them interesting when interviewed for this program, but holy hell, that scene of them at the bar??  LAUGHING at the porn downloads when the reporter asked "what would you want to say to Scott right now"?  How about anything that could be considered supportive of the Rocha family???  Despite the outcome, their actions after the trial made it look like they really didn't take it seriously.  I would not want this group as the jury of my peers.  And, I didn't really follow the trial when it was happening, so I didn't realize that three jurors total had been kicked off?  My bet is that it would have been cringe-worthy to see what was going on during deliberations.  Especially with "strawberry shortcake" - she seemed like a very dominating figure at the time of the trial.  Also didn't realize that some of them had collaborated on a book.

[KellsBells]

I just watched "Unraveled" while getting my treadmill run in -- it's just a renaming of some other show, not sure which one -- but it's one of those where they have Dr. Obvious, the Psychiatrist making completely random and banal comments that you don't even need a kindergarten degree to figure out. "A gun is a symbol of power and control." No shit, Sherlock. 

[SunnyBeBe]

One common theme that I see a lot on these murder stories are defendants who don't give much if any thought about what happens AFTER the person is found dead or missing.  I mean are they just dumb criminals or do they really don't watch any kind of true crime and know how it works.  Don't they realize that phone records, bank records, life insurance, affairs, purchases, etc.  ARE GOING TO BE examined.  You can't just have a dead or missing spouse and police just take your word for it and move on. lol  

[Annber03]

I think about that, too, yeah. Especially the fact that these people have family members and friends, so yeah, they're naturally going to ask what's up when they haven't heard from somebody they love after a certain amount of time. 

I remember seeing some show once where a detective was talking about how interesting things get when exes get involved in these investigations and tell all, especially if they've been jilted by the suspect in question. There was one story I'd seen once where this couple was involved in some sort of crime, and the guy took the fall and went to jail to protect his girlfriend. 

Then when he was in jail, he somehow found out that his girlfriend was going around seeing other guys and living it up and whatnot instead of remaining devoted to him. After that, he wasn't so willing to protect her anymore. 

(Mind, sometimes bitter exes getting involved can backfire in cases, too, 'cause sometimes they can have their own agendas and won't always be honest in the stuff they say, either.)

Edited September 16, 2017 by Annber03

[auntjess]

4 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

You can't just have a dead or missing spouse and police just take your word for it and move on. lol  

Especially if your spouse "fell" down the stairs, or in the bathtub.  
Really?  You're not even trying to get away with it.

[Annber03]

I like the cases where somebody's lost a couple spouses and they both just happened to have died in eerily similar ways. Gee. What a coinkydink! 

9 hours ago, KellsBells said:

I just watched "Unraveled" while getting my treadmill run in -- it's just a renaming of some other show, not sure which one -- but it's one of those where they have Dr. Obvious, the Psychiatrist making completely random and banal comments that you don't even need a kindergarten degree to figure out. "A gun is a symbol of power and control." No shit, Sherlock. 

On tonight's episode of "Deadly Women", there was a story about a woman who killed her mother over drugs, and at one point Candice DeLong starts talking about how addicts don't think the same way non-addicts do when it comes to dealing with problems and stuff. 

Mmhm. 

Edited September 16, 2017 by Annber03

[SunnyBeBe]

Yeah, I think the teenage immature brain definitely comes into play when the teen thinks that she and her boyfriend can kill her parents, take off with a little cash and credit cards and live happily ever after/  lol  No thought that the police are going to know they did it and put them in prison.  So ridiculous. 

[KellsBells]

17 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

One common theme that I see a lot on these murder stories are defendants who don't give much if any thought about what happens AFTER the person is found dead or missing.  I mean are they just dumb criminals or do they really don't watch any kind of true crime and know how it works.  Don't they realize that phone records, bank records, life insurance, affairs, purchases, etc.  ARE GOING TO BE examined.  You can't just have a dead or missing spouse and police just take your word for it and move on. lol  

Or the husband, and there seems to be plenty of them, who "pretend" they have these great jobs and then, after their wife disappears or dies mysteriously, they don't seem to realize that the police are going to find out they've been faking it and living off their wives and their little house of cards is about to fall down.  Oh, and the college "students" (almost always male) who pretend they've been enrolled for four years and kill their parents or entire family around graduation time so they don't find out they've just been using their parents' money to party. You know, the police WILL call your college, right? 

[smittykins]

Or they search "how to murder your spouse and make it look like an accident" on their computer.  It never occurs to them that said computer will be confiscated and searched, and many times, an expert can bring back files after they've been deleted.

[auntjess]

10 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Yeah, I think the teenage immature brain definitely comes into play when the teen thinks that she and her boyfriend can kill her parents, take off with a little cash and credit cards and live happily ever after/  lol  

Yes, they've watched Home Alone 2, instead of Forensic Files.
One of the saddest was those young teen twin girls, who killed their mother.

[walnutqueen]

1 hour ago, auntjess said:

Yes, they've watched Home Alone 2, instead of Forensic Files.
One of the saddest was those young teen twin girls, who killed their mother.

Jaz & Taz - I could shoot them both in the face.  Hate!

It is a damned good thing for society in general that we are True Crime watchers, and not doers. Because we'd be downright dangerous and likely to know how to get away with murder ...

[SunnyBeBe]

Another one is when they go into the Wallmart a day before the crime ON CAMERA to purchase, large trash can, bleach, rope, and plastic gloves! Then they put it on their credit card! lol It really makes you wonder about these people.  

Oh, the DOCTOR who after his wife is murdered in a particularly odd way (shot through a window in her home from a sniper far away) reveals a NOVEL that he has written about the same scenario, only he wrote it MONTHS before his wife's murder!  This man was supposed to be really smart. 

Edited September 17, 2017 by SunnyBeBe

[Annber03]

I seem to remember hearing a story once about these two guys who brought a chainsaw as part of a murder plot...only to try and return it to the store after they committed the murder. I have to think the cops LOVE encountering criminals that stupid-makes their jobs that much easier and they can laugh at their stupidity to help balance out whatever stress and horror they feel dealing with the case itself. 

My mom always wonders what it must be like for the cashiers who sell those people that stuff if and when they find out on the news or something what it all wound up being used for. That'd be enough to send a chill down one's spine, I imagine. 

[SunnyBeBe]

6 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

I seem to remember hearing a story once about these two guys who brought a chainsaw as part of a murder plot...only to try and return it to the store after they committed the murder. I have to think the cops LOVE encountering criminals that stupid-makes their jobs that much easier and they can laugh at their stupidity to help balance out whatever stress and horror they feel dealing with the case itself. 

My mom always wonders what it must be like for the cashiers who sell those people that stuff if and when they find out on the news or something what it all wound up being used for. That'd be enough to send a chill down one's spine, I imagine. 

Right.  I think that if I were checking them out and saw those items......I might alert authorities.  I mean.....I suppose there could be a legitimate reason for the purchases, but, it sure looks sketchy. 

Then, you have those people, who are smart enough to pay cash for their tools, but, they try to save money and use their store value card to take off a few cents.  lol  That one's priceless.  I mean right after you murder your spouse, you're worried about a 12 cents savings......

And perhaps the most pathetic is the spouse who thinks that they can solicit a couple of street thugs, drug addicts or juveniles to do the murder for them and that they will  keep their mouths shut!  They don't realize how careless and loose lipped these people are and that they will fold the minute they are questioned and turn on you OR they will brag to their friends.    

Edited September 17, 2017 by SunnyBeBe

[auntjess]

5 hours ago, Annber03 said:

My mom always wonders what it must be like for the cashiers who sell those people that stuff if and when they find out on the news or something what it all wound up being used for.

If the cashier watches much ID, and a customer, middle of the night, buys several gallons of bleach, mop, sponges, and large trash bags, I'd be tempted to call the cops.
If a chainsaw was added, I'd be calling the manager, "killer on checkout 3."

Edited September 17, 2017 by auntjess

[Writing Wrongs]

The Chandra Levy show was interesting. 

[Mannahatta]

On 9/18/2017 at 1:19 PM, Writing Wrongs said:

The Chandra Levy show was interesting. 

I found it to be interesting too. For starters I hadn't realized (or had forgotten) just how sleazy and manipulative Gary Condit was: married with multiple girlfriends, very secretive, bad temper, attempted to obstruct justice by asking women to lie for him, etc, etc. I also didn't know that Chandra had told someone (I forget who) that she had wanted Condit to leave his wife for her. And then there's the question of why Chandra went to a isolated trail in Rock Creek Park that was so rocky it wasn't even suitable for running. Did she go there to meet someone? Also, unlike a lot of the well publicized cases that keep getting rehashed - there has been a major development in this case over the past year: Ingmar Guandique, who was originally convicted of her murder has been released from prison and the decision was made to not retry him. So unlike other cases that are being solely retried in the media this one could actually be retried in court - in the unlikely event that any new evidence pops up. What a sad mess of a case.

One more thing - I had to google this - Gary Condit is still married to his wife.  WTF

[SunnyBeBe]

I didn't watch the Chandra Levy recent docu, but, I have seen other reports and knew that they person who they pinned it on, had his case overturned. It looks like he wasn't guilty.  So, who did it?  IT is a mysterious case, but, it should be solvable, imo.