Investigating the Smiley Face Murders

An expanded and revised paperback edition of The Case of the Drowning Men (above) has been issued this spring to address significant developments and breakthroughs in the ‘Smiley Face Murders’ and includes more photos, forensics and victim profiles. It now also provides survival tips on how to avoid becoming a Smiley statistic, as well as a guide for what to do if your own young man goes missing and is later “found drowned.” 

Much has been happening in the decades-long drowning spree since the author’s original investigation was first published, and this enhanced volume will bring both newcomers and longtime case followers up to date.

This expanded and revised print edition also contains additional images, such as autopsy and water recovery photos, which some sensitive readers may find gory and disturbing. These are included out of scientific necessity, not for shock value.

As with the first edition, you’ll still find the only in-depth overview and analysis available of an unsolved serial case that has confounded waterfront communities, coroners and cops ever since 1997, and which in recent years has spread from the original killing fields of North America internationally.

With hundreds of victims documented in the United States, Canada and abroad now, no other serial murderers in the history of serial murdering have come anywhere near the body count of the ‘Smiley Face Killers.’ And that death toll continues to climb.

Learn everything there is to know about this elusive criminal gang, their widening victimology, and what progress is being made in the ongoing effort to capture them in The Case of the Drowning Men, by true crime writer Eponymous Rox.

Yes, there is a full-color limited edition of this new release here.

Announcing Smiley Face Killer Interview #1 with Gannon and Gilbertson

KILLING KILLERS is pleased to announce our upcoming Smiley Face Killer interview with none other than former NYPD homicide detective Kevin Gannon and internationally renown criminologist D. Lee Gilbertson.

It was Detective Gannon who, in 1997, first identified Victim Zero -- 21yo Patrick McNeill -- in what would become a decades-long *drowning* spree by an elusive "group" dubbed the Smiley Face Serial Killers.

Nearly 20 years ago, Gannon promised McNeill's grieving parents he'd never stop hunting their son's murderer, and to this day he has kept that vow, at great cost and consequence.

In that epic pursuit, Gannon joined forces with St. Cloud University's acclaimed sociologist and criminal-justice professor, D. Lee Gilbertson, and together this duo became one of Smiley's most relentless and formidable foes.

Since the late 1990s, Gannon and Gilbertson have been throwing a wide net for Smiley; forensically and statistically proving beyond a reasonable doubt, that the missing young men being victimized weren't drowning in cold weather by "accident" or committing "suicide."

In 2014 though, frustrated with local authorities stomping on Smiley Face crime scenes and with coroners rubber-stamping suspicious water fatalities as "accidental," they published the definitive, 462-page death-by-drowning analysis.

Gannon and Gilbertson's Case Studies in Drowning Forensics painstakingly dissects over a dozen  high-profile 'Smiley Face' disappearances and murders in the last 19+ years -- with autopsy results, photos, phone records, GPS data, and other never-before-seen evidence, permanently debunking the official "accidental drowning" myth.

So, if you're independently hunting Smiley too, then don't take another step until you've read this major treatise. Because, yes, your hunch that the Smiley Face cases are actual homicides is correct, and Gannon and Gilbertson can show you why.

And don't miss our exclusive Smiley Face Killer interview with Kevin Gannon and Dr. Gilbertson this week!

MORE ABOUT KEVIN GANNON: Kevin Gannon retired as a Detective-Sergeant for the NYC Police Department after 20 years of service, 14 of which were in supervisory positions. In addition to policing, he has extensive training and experience in personal and physical security, investigation and surveillance, and disaster response, including biochemical warfare training with the Department of Defense. Gannon has held leadership positions in the personal protection of numerous international dignitaries and celebrities, and was an NYPD representative on ex NYC mayor Giuliani’s 1997 "Operation ICE" (Interagency Chemical Exercise) task force, which planned and coordinated emergency responses to any major chemical disaster in lower Manhattan. 

As a detective and sergeant, Gannon routinely supervised plainclothes personnel in anti-crime, narcotics and robbery units, and was second in charge of the NYPD's Missing Persons Squad. He also headed the Bronx Homicide Task Force 'Nightwatch' from 1999 until his retirement. During his distinguished career in law enforcement, Gannon has made over 1000 felony arrests for offenses involving narcotics, burglaries, robberies and homicides, and was awarded almost 100 medals for heroism in the line of duty. As such, he remains one of the most decorated members of the Special Investigation Division of the NYPD's Detective Bureau, receiving the Medal of Valor twice before retiring. In 2008, Gannon also received the Frederic Milton Thrasher award for his continued investigative work on gang crime, a field in which he's also considered an expert.

ABOUT D. LEE GILBERTSON: A three-time recipient of the Frederic Milton Thrasher award, Dr. Gilbertson holds a doctorate in sociology with a concentration in gang criminology and substance abuse, as well as a Master of Science in Criminal Justice focusing on criminology and victimology. His background includes 16 years of exemplary military service (signals intelligence and infantry) from 1976 to 1992. He also trained in and served as the unit Alcohol and Drug Coordination officer (responsible for substance-abuse prevention training and overseeing urinalysis collections), and as the unit Nuclear and Biochemical Warfare Defense officer.

Dr. Gilbertson currently teaches at Saint Cloud State University and regularly works as a law enforcement consultant, providing training in the areas of forensic victimology, crime analysis, and gangs. He has in fact studied gangs, militias, and extremist groups since 1995 and is a certified gang specialist as well as the executive editor of the Journal of Gang Research. He's also presented and taught at numerous national and international conferences and academic institutions, and is a staff member of the National Gang Crime Research Center, participating in all phases of its 'International Gang Specialist Training' conferences.

EPONYMOUS ROX

Hunting the Smiley Face Serial Killers

The Smiley Face killers have been busy these past couple of years, especially in America's northeastern kill zone, where the disappearances and drownings first began almost two decades ago.

But Killing Killers is constantly watching and hunting Smiley, and it seems that things haven't been going his way lately.

Smiley's made a few mistakes...

FEATURED IN THIS DOUBLE ISSUE OF HUNTING SMILEY

Bones in the River: The cold cold-case disappearance of Michael Jansson [partially] solved;

What Goes Down Must Come Up: Refloat times for submerged cadavers & autopsy photos;

Missing - Found Drowned 2014: sampling includes the Shane Montgomery case in Philly;

Manslaughter in Milwaukee: Looking back on the Nick Wilcox disappearance & drowning;

FBI to Join the Hunt for Smiley:  How independent investigators achieved the impossible;

Diatoms and Drowning: Examining why single-cell organisms can solve major crimes;

Missing - Found Drowned 2015: sampling includes the baffling case of Paul Kochu in PA;

Smiley Breakthrough:  Two arrested in murder and drowning cover-up of Donta Williams;

‘Still Missing’ in 2016:  Open and unsolved, including the 2008 Brandon Swanson cold case;

No Foul Play:  Elements of authentic recreational drowning deaths with examples & pics;

Featured Autopsy:  Dawn Brancheau, SeaWorld trainer attacked & drowned by killer orca;

The Case of the Drowning Men:  What we know now; profiling and victimology at a glance;

Across the Pond:  Manchester England’s serial ‘Pusher’ drowns his 29th victim since 2008;

Why People Don’t Drown Outdoors, Even in Summer: Some cold facts and hard stats...

AND MORE