Is the Sex Offender Registry a Hit List?

Rights activists claim that America's sex offender registry constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, and, in extreme cases, is even being used to track down convicted pedophiles to maim or murder:

Incidences of violence against registered sex offenders -- particularly child molesters -- are on the rise, experts warn; premeditated attacks on RSOs made easier since the sex offender registry is accessible  to anyone with internet and a grudge.

In fact, in some states registered pedophiles have been serially stalked and killed by vigilantes.

Are the civil liberties of those convicted of sex crimes being violated because the law now exclusively compels these particular ex cons to publish their names and current addresses online? And does it matter that a sex offender registry may be putting their lives in danger?

by Eponymous Rox

POLICE: Hannah Graham Kidnapper a Serial Killer

The vanishing of Hannah Graham from her Virginia university town in mid-September is the fifth such disappearance of a young female from that particular locale in as many years. And only one body has ever been found. 

That's the bad news, considering the search for Graham -- or what remains of the 18-year-old -- has become more desperate by the hour.

The good news is that police now believe they finally have the serial killer in custody after DNA evidence linked Jesse Matthew, the prime suspect in Graham's disappearance, to a similar attempted abduction and sex assault in 2005 as well as to the rape and slaying of Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington four years later.

If their theory is correct, then the 32-year-old exceptional athlete with an exceptionally checkered past that includes a rape charge would also be an exceptional serial murderer too, since, by and large, such violent sadists are supposed to be young white males.

That has been the longstanding supposition, of course, with infamous Ted Bundy the standard bearer.

Lately, though, experts have been cautioning homicide investigators that the rule book on this class of deadly perpetrator contains some outdated and extremely faulty data; namely that black offenders just like Jesse Matthew are grossly underrepresented in it, and they and their victims wrongly falling under the radar as a result.

How, in the land of Rodney King, Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown could that happen?!

Because, as with most other types of criminal profiling, when law enforcement officials try to pinpoint who a likely serial killer may be, and who he likely could not be, they rely on age-old beliefs borne mainly out of bias: Maniacally murderous men who successfully evade detection and arrest are smart (really, really smart like Jack the Ripper was) and Caucasian males are obviously way smarter than African American males are. At the very least because they're better educated.

It's called racial stereotyping at its most perverse and reverse, but the myth of a deviously-brilliant white man butchering for sport and eluding capture for years or even decades might not only be bigoted to the core. It could in fact be the only reason why some serial killers are never caught.

After all, the crime experts appear to be dead right in their latest assessments -- a majority of the world's homicidal sociopaths did not turn out to be anywhere near the geniuses once thought, and a fair number of them have also been dark-skinned as well.

So too the perceived status of victims and their communities unjustly factor into the criminal justice equation, more often than not, determining the speed and depth to which certain investigations are conducted, if at all. 

Thus, cases of affluent individuals who are missing or murdered in affluent areas typically garner greater public attention and resources than those of down-and-out vagabonds, prostitutes or drug addicts. Especially if the latter unfortunates fell victim to foul play in economically-depressed neighborhoods -- the exact environments where, studies show, serial killers of color almost exclusively prey.

That historically prejudicial treatment by police and the press explains why we know and care so much right now about still-missing college coed Hannah Graham and her unlucky lookalike predecessor Morgan Harrington. Yet the same killer's equally tragic victims who were themselves either black or lesser privileged ... not so much.

A societal slant which, to the opportunistic predators hiding among us, makes for fertile hunting grounds.

Eponymous Rox

*Look for more case updates in the comment section

UPDATE: Authorities are offering a $100,000 reward for information which leads to the safe return of Graham. The University of Virginia sophomore’s been uncharacteristically missing since September 13th.

Additionally, they are now examining a number of other unsolved homicides and missing person cases of young people throughout the Virginia areas that suspect Jesse L. Matthew was known to have either lived or worked in.

For instance, in Campbell County police are searching for a link to the abduction, rape and murder of Cassandra Morton, whose body was dumped in woods near Lynchburg in late 2009. 

Orange County police are also re-investigating the case of Samantha Ann Clarke, missing since September 13, 2010.

And in nearby Montgomery County, the sheriff's office is revisiting the 2009 double homicide of Virginia Tech students Heidi Childs and David Metzler. The two were in a long term relationship and sitting together in a parked vehicle the night they both were shot to death and then robbed. DNA evidence emerged in the case a few years later but their murders remain unsolved to date.

Craigslist Dog Torturer and Killer being Sheltered

Hunted Craigslist dog torturer and killer Jason Brown has "issues" his lawyer says, so the serial killer of canines is being sheltered now from the growing mobs eager to put him down.

Brown, 24 and a meth head, went on a canine killing spree last month at a Motel 8 in Nevada. His defenseless victims were all dogs he had "adopted" for that purpose via Craigslist.

His gruesome acts, which included decapitation and dismemberment, took place this July and were discovered at that time by a maid who was finally able to enter Brown's chained up room.

The horrified woman immediately notified management and the police because there was "blood everywhere" she said, "and dog heads in the bathtub and refrigerator."

Investigators also found evidence of torture and small body parts like ears, tails and penises. They say it's clear thus far that at least six dogs were victimized there, but continue to examine the entire case, as it is now known that any individual who abuses helpless animals in such a manner will often go on to become a full-blown serial killer.

Brown himself has readily admitted to having homicidal "urges of rage" and that butchering dogs "made [him] high." When questioned as to whether he also has similar feelings toward human beings, he replied, "Dogs are good for right now."

Sporting a face so evil it would make even Ted Bundy seem angelic, Jason Brown was apprehended at the Super 8 motel on July 9th 2014, when he unexpectedly returned to the scene of his crimes while officials were still investigating.

Since then the demented Craigslist dog killer has been held at an undisclosed location in lieu of $70,000 bail; his name removed from the Nevada police registries and websites "for his protection."

But activists everywhere are up in arms over his unprecedented case of premeditated animal cruelty. They are demanding Brown's jail bond be rescinded so he can remain in police custody while awaiting trial. At least.

E.R.

The Corpses of Castaic Lake: Is Bryce Laspisa One of Them?

Possible serial killer link to Bryce Laspisa case:

“I believe the autopsy was performed,” an inspector in the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office now says. But adds she's not permitted to release the medical examiner's findings or the burned man's identity.

California police operating on an unusual ‘security hold’ are quietly exploring the possible connection of a body dumped in Gorman last week with Wednesday's burning man incident at nearby Castaic Lake and an AWOL college student.

The shroud of secrecy plus a purported "backlog" at the coroner's office is allegedly what's delaying a full autopsy on those charred remains as well as official confirmation as to who they actually belong to.

Many fear the dead man -- burned beyond recognition -- is missing 19-year-old Bryce Laspisa who, days earlier, strangely vanished after wrecking his vehicle only a few miles from the crime scene. Divers and rescue teams have been futilely searching for him in and around Castaic Lake ever since.

Just two days before Laspisa's troubling disappearance, homicide detectives had been called to neighboring Fraser Mountain Park Road off Interstate-5 in Gorman after a work crew there stumbled upon a dead body wrapped in plastic. 

The victim in that incident was an adult African American male. He too is at the morgue now.

Over the years, there have been a number of other corpses found in this area so it's likely their cases will also have to be revisited soon. Many that were ruled accidents or suicides could in fact be the work of a serial killer cruising the interstate and remote rest areas for easy prey.

If the Castaic Killer does indeed exist, perhaps this then was the message he hoped to send police by torching his last victim so close to a busy thoroughfare -- it wouldn't be the first time a serial murderer felt he wasn't getting enough attention for his handiwork.

And he wouldn't be the only nomadic one, either.

As a matter of fact, the FBI has begun urging the public to exercise extreme caution when traveling the nation's highways. Particularly at rest stops and scenic pullovers where, the Bureau warns, roaming serial killers like Israel Keyes are now routinely lurking.

According to the FBI, they've seen an alarming uptick in the number of cadavers strewn along major U.S. roadways this past decade, many of which were dismembered and badly decomposed and therefore remain unidentified.

With a formal ID of the burning man still pending today, the parents of Bryce Laspisa have yet to learn if this was the same fate of their young son who, just prior to disappearing, had detoured from Interstate-5 to catch some sleep at Castaic Lake before resuming his journey home. 

Story by Eponymous Rox for Killing Killers

Bookmark for further updates on this case.

Study the profile of a serial killer here.

Alaska serial killer Israel Keyes update

Feds hike body-count of Alaska serial killer Israel Keyes
NEW JERSEY VICTIM UPDATE PUBLISHED HERE
DID HE MURDER THE MCSTAY FAMILY TOO? 

The death toll has risen to nearly a dozen confirmed slayings now, but the investigation into the deceased serial murderer's trail of blood is hardly closed, FBI spokesmen announced today.

The Bureau has also provided a revised travel timeline for the highly mobile killer Keyes, and their new one not only ominously stretches overseas, it's interactive.

Many of the thus-far nameless victims being sought by authorities were gradually hinted at by Keyes himself while incarcerated for the rape, murder and dismemberment of Alaskan teen Samantha Koenig in 2012.

But he killed himself in his jail cell before agents could extract the precise details of his decade-long murder spree.

So once again they're asking for the public's aid in identifying and locating victims of the Alaska serial killer.

You can read all about this fiendish "murder addict" and his numerous misdeeds in my original coverage below (last updated 12/12/12). Use the search box for additional references, including the case of Colin Gillis, still listed as missing from Keyes' neck of the woods in upstate NY. 

FBI requests public’s help with

dead serial killer, Israel Keyes

 
He is proving to be one of the most criminally insane serial killers of all time, with an unprecedented crime spree that includes rape, murder, dismemberment, arson, and bank robbery.

But, thankfully, Israel Keyes’ decade-long, cross-country reign of terror, which even involved burying caches of weapons, money and other materials for preplanned homicides, has officially come to an end this winter:

He committed suicide in an Alaskan jail the first week of December 2012, leaving behind a blood-soaked note currently being analyzed by the FBI. >

In so doing, Keyes executed his last sadistic act on humanity, slamming the door forever on a tenuous and terrible dialog investigators had necessarily established with him while he was in custody awaiting trial for brutally slaying a teenage girl in Alaska.

It was an arduous process getting the 34-year-old psychopath to come clean about his crimes, and throughout these interviews Keyes displayed a distinctly unfunny sense of humor which agents had feigned to be entertained by, in hopes of extracting from Keyes all the locations, names and details of his unknown victims.

But they didn’t succeed at this gruesome task in time. 

Felonies for fun 

Israel Keyes was a trained U.S. soldier in the 1990s stationed at some point in the Middle East, and when he finally returned from his tour of duty he set himself up first as a handyman and later as a construction contractor, cunningly inventing a cover for cruelties he would keep well-hidden from his wife, child, friends and neighbors.

In the construction industry he had an ideal profession, one that would give him the perfect excuse for traveling the countryside at length in search of unlucky individuals and couples to torture and kill.

It was a double life Keyes had led up until his capture in 2012; an elaborate ruse he "enjoyed" immensely within which he was able to make every state in the Union his hunting ground, and every kind of American citizen his game.

And in his capacity as a self-styled, roving serial murderer, Keyes was to be indiscriminate; he killed females, he killed males, he killed the old and the young. 

Madness to his methods 

Although Keyes was classified as an 'organized' serial murderer for his coolheaded, coldblooded criminology, at the time he was apprehended by authorities he was already descending into killer chaos of the “disorganized” variety: Targeting pairs and couples for prey, and breaking his own rules in obtaining these hard-to-get victims by killing on his home turf, using his own vehicle, and stealing victims’ credit cards to fund his adventures and travels.

This is how he got himself snared, fortunately, and it’s not that uncommon either—crafty Ted Bundy’s mental faculties also rapidly deteriorated toward the end, until he was killing solely by maniacal compulsion and leaving at his crime scenes a long and bloody trail.

Bundy too had started spilling the beans while he was incarcerated and facing death in the electric chair, and it’s believed that he did, by his last breath, tell investigators everything. More or less without the kind of exaggerations that some of his ilk are wont to do once they’re thrust into the spotlight.

Israel Keyes studied up on the likes of Bundy, he told his interrogators, but he also made it very clear to them that he was nobody’s copycat.

The chilling kills he did admit to doing show such boasts might just be true.

However, Keyes did not tell all before he expired, and, rest assured, those awful murders which he did confess to committing were not the embellished accounts or fabrications of a delusional madman perversely seeking adulation. Each and every one of these have so far been corroborated in follow ups by police. Right down to the minutest detail.

But there’s much more that Keyes had alluded to in his final days, and he was ever so slowly revealing the course of these hellish journeys and acts he undertook, before his cowardly end left investigators hanging.

So the FBI is now urgently requesting the public’s assistance in solving the half-told horrors Israel Keyes committed as he drove and flew from state to state, deliberately targeting remote areas such as campsites, boat launches, and parks to lurk in and kill. 

An urgent appeal from the FBI: 

"Mary Rook, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for the state of Alaska, requests the public’s assistance in developing information concerning the travels of suspected serial killer Israel Keyes, deceased, in order to identify additional victims. Anyone with information concerning Keyes is encouraged to contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI.

"Based upon investigation conducted following his arrest in March 2012, Israel Keyes is believed to have committed multiple kidnappings and murders across the country between 2001 and March 2012. Keyes lived in Washington from 2001 to March 2007, at which time he moved to Alaska. While living in Alaska, Keyes worked as a general contractor but traveled extensively. In a series of interviews with law enforcement, Keyes described significant planning and preparation for his murders, reflecting a meticulous and organized approach to his crimes. It was not unusual for Keyes to fly into an airport, rent a car, and drive hundreds of miles to his final destination. This was the case in the murder of Bill and Loraine Currier, where Keyes flew into Chicago, rented a car, and drove across several states before arriving in Essex, Vermont. After the murder of the Curriers, Keyes continued his travels on the east coast before returning to Chicago and then to Alaska.

"Keyes admitted responsibility for robbing several banks during this timeframe, two of which investigators have corroborated. Keyes used the proceeds from his bank robberies to pay for his travel, along with money he made as a general contractor. Keyes also admitted traveling to various locations to leave supplies he planned to use in a future crime. Keyes buried caches throughout the United States. The FBI has recovered two caches buried by Keyes—one in Eagle River, Alaska, and one near Blakes Falls Reservoir in New York. The caches contained weapons and other items used to dispose of bodies. Keyes indicated the other caches he buried throughout the U.S. contain weapons, money, and items used to dispose of victims.

“Investigators believe that Keyes did not know any of his victims prior to their abductions. He described several remote locations that he frequented to look for victims—parks, campgrounds, trailheads, cemeteries, boating areas, etc. Keyes also told investigators that prior to the Currier case, his victims’ disappearances received little if any media coverage. Based on his own research, Keyes stated that one of his victims has been recovered but authorities ruled the death accidental. Investigators have not identified this victim or where this crime occurred.

"Keyes admitted to murdering four people in Washington; he killed two people (independent of each other) sometime during 2005 and 2006 and murdered a couple in Washington between 2001 and 2005. It is unknown if these victims were residents of Washington or if they were vacationing in Washington but resided in another state. It is also possible Keyes abducted them from a nearby state and transported them to Washington.

"Additionally, Keyes admitted to investigators that in 2009 he murdered a victim on the east coast and disposed of the body in New York State. Based on Keyes’ statements, investigators believe Keyes abducted the victim from a surrounding state and transported him/her to New York.

"The timeline below is an outline of Keyes’ travels and whereabouts throughout the United States from 2001 to present. Due to Keyes’ pattern of traveling significant distances by car, the locations are grouped by region rather than specific states." 

  ·         October 5, 2004 to October 16, 2004: Eastern US

·         April 20, 2005 to April 25, 2005: Washington, British Columbia

·         May 10, 2006 to May 15, 2006: Western US

·         September 1, 2006 to September 7, 2006: Alaska

·         October 21, 2006 to October 23, 2006: Western US, Mexico

·         November 8, 2006 to November 16, 2006: Alaska

·         February 5, 2007 to February 8, 2007: Southwest US

·         March 1, 2007 to March 9, 2007: Washington, Canada (drove to Alaska)

·         April 24, 2007 to May 4, 2007: Western US, Mexico

·         August 26, 2007 to September 6, 2007: Western US

·         October 29, 2007 to November 2, 2007: Western US

·         November 12, 2007 to November 13, 2007: Western US

·         12/April 2007 to 12/17/2007: Midwest and Western US

·         01/May, 2008 to 01/08/2008: Western US

·         01/28/2008 to 02/15/2008: Southern U.S. and Western US

·         May, 11/2008 to May, 17/2008: Western US

·         07/03/2008 to 07/07/2008: Western US

·         09/16/2008 to 09/24/2008: Western US

·         October 24/2008 to November 5, 2008: Southwest US, Midwest U.S. and Western US

·         December 5, 2008 to December 7, 2008: Hawaii

·         December 11, 2008 to December 25, 2008: Mexico

·         February 23, 2009 to February 27, 2009: Western US

·         April 1, 2009 to April 14, 2009: Eastern US, Western US

·         09/11/2009 to October 03/2009: Southern US

·         December 17, 2009 to December 29, 2009: Southern US

·         January 11, 2010 to February 25, 2010: Western US

·         March 1, 2010 to March 10, 2010: Western US

·         April 24, 2010 to April 30, 2010: Western US

·         May 19, 2010 to July 18, 2010: Midwest U.S. and Western US

·         July 18, 2010 to July 22, 2010: Southwest US

·         October 15, 2010 to October 25, 2010: Midwest US, Eastern US

·         June 2, 2011 to June 16, 2011: Midwest US, Eastern US

·         September 15, 2011 to September 25, 2011: Western US

·         February 2, 2012 to February 18, 2012: Southern US

·         March 6, 2012 to March 13, 2012: Southwestern and Southern US

If you have information contact 1-800-CALL-FBI.

Posted 12/3/12 by: FBI Anchorage,

Special Agent Eric Gonzalez (907) 276-4441

Screaming mad Drew Peterson declares he's innocent

I did not drown that woman! 

 

The formerly smirking and cool-as-a-cucumber Drew Peterson flipped his lid yesterday upon learning he will now have to do 38 years for the suspected slaying in 2004 of his third wife Kathleen Savio. 

 

That's a veritable death sentence when considering the sorry lot of an ex-cop in prison, and that he's hardly a young man anymore.

 

Many who witnessed the spectacle of the infuriated defendant going off the deep end in an emotional rant directed at the judge and anyone else present at his sentencing say his angry outburst was nothing but the real Drew surfacing at the eleventh hour.

 

THERE, all his diehard haters assert, was the coldblooded, serial wife-murderer who knew his day had come at last. 

 

The prosecution, victorious not through prima facie forensic proofs or evidentiary facts, but rather via Illinois's new 'Hearsay' statute enacted solely to nail Peterson for first-degree murder, even went so far as to call him "a psychopath" in their subsequent gloating statements to the media.

But is prisoner Peterson's bitter diatribe merely an example of a half-crazed killer completely losing his courtroom composure, or does this guy really have something to yell about?  find out here

 

Sigg's New Digs

 

Over numerous objections from his lawyers, Austin Reed Sigg was reportedly transferred on November 30, 2012 from Colorado's Mount View youth incarceration center to an adult jailhouse facility where he is currently being kept in isolation from the general population and can be guarded 24/7.

 

The rabid video-gamer and death-obsessed killer of ten-year-old schoolgirl Jessica Ridgeway turns 18 in January and, since he would technically then no longer be considered a minor, would have required different housing anyway.

 

An ever present danger to children, and fearing for his own safety too, officials at the youth center had kept Sigg separated from the other juvenile inmates prior to yesterday's transfer. Extreme conditions of his residency there which they'd pleaded in court papers was becoming a serious drain on their resources and couldn't be maintained for much longer.

It was their idea to be rid of him, assuring the Court that their little charge was "very mature" and therefore much better suited to life in an adult prison environment.

The transfer request should come as no real surpise--the teen has been charged as an adult and will face trial as an adult as well.
 

Another mugshot, another psychotic stare

Sigg's new addy is a small dungeon room in Colorado's Jefferson County Jail complex which contains minimum, medium, and maximum security prisoners of both sexes. 

However, searching through the current inmate list for official confirmation of this repeatedly produced the following error message: "We're sorry, but we couldn't find anyone in custody with the information you gave us."

It seems then that inmate Sigg is in some kind of limbo for awhile, at least until his 18th birthday arrives and hits him like a ton of bricks.

 

Whatever cell or wing he's presently being held (or hidden) in though, Jefferson County officials say that in approximately 50 days they plan to try and fully integrate him with his fellow prisoners.

That's preferable to solitary confinement, of course, but it's doubtful Sigg will fare too well let loose among them because violent pedophiles are walking targets in such closed quarters and extremely difficult to protect.
 

Sigg could hardly defend himself against such attacks by claiming his innocence either, since he's already publicly and privately confessed to the abduction, assault, murder and dismemberment of his child victim.

 

Additionally, DNA links him to the crime, as well as to the previous attempted kidnapping of a female jogger months in advance.

 

Jefferson County's jail was originally designed for only 1300 inmates, but the facility has seen a steady growth in its numbers over the past few years and has been reported to house as many as 1500 inmates at times.

 

Crowded jails are notorious for increasing the likelihood of assaults and other cellmate offenses, so perhaps justice for Jessica will move much swifter than anticipated.

 

Pretrial predictions

 

Sigg's recent housing shake up should serve as a reality check of sorts for all the parties involved in his criminal case. Accordingly, it wouldn't be odd for Sigg and his defense team to hurriedly hatch a scheme that, if accepted by prosecutors and approved by the judge, might see him safely sentenced for life in the psycho ward instead.

 

This could also mean the teen will try to increase his bargaining strength by confessing to other similar, but yet unknown, violent crimes he's commited before the Ridgeway girl's slaying in October.

 

Revelations of that nature wouldn't exactly shock expert profilers who'd strongly suspected all along, based upon the coldblooded methodology behind the heinous act, that it wasn't Sigg's first kill and that, if he hadn't been apprehended promptly, it surely wouldn't have been his last.

 

Defense lawyers arguing Sigg is not guilty of that murder because he's insane is probably being contemplated too, just as a back up plan if all else fails. But with the prosecution holding all the cards so far, and insanity itself traditionally difficult to prove, it's not the surest legal route to be pursuing in their client's interest. Now, or during his trial...

 

Look soon for a plea offer then, accompanied by a few brand new and startling confessions.

 



Austin Sigg to Appear in Court Today

Teen psycho-killer Austin Reed Sigg is expected in court again today. What's going to happen there once he shows up is anybody's guess, however, because gag orders are keeping both sides mum about the case.

 

Likely, though, Sigg's defense team will file a last minute motion for a transfer to the juvenile courts where he'll have maximum privacy and receive a much more lenient sentence if (and when) he's convicted of the brutal slaying and dismemberment of schoolgirl Jessica Ridgeway. They've not opted to do so in the month or so that's lapsed since his previous court appearance, but it's still not impossible.

It won't work, even so -- the crimes Sigg voluntarily confessed to and for which his DNA has already been traced are far too perverse and severe to be considered those of a demented child.

So maybe he'll slap down a plea bargain instead? Cough up a few more victims to sweeten the deal...?

______

[Afternoon update: Sigg's defense team did not motion for juvenile transfer in court today -- defendant will therefore be tried as an adult. You can read the complete case update and analysis I posted earlier on Crime Magazine HERE.]
 

Catching a budding serial killer: Austin Reed Sigg profile at a glance

name: Austin Reed Sigg

reported by: mother
residence: Westminster, Colorado
sex: male
age: 17
education: high school dropout - GED
employment: student at Arapahoe Community College
studying: forensic and mortuary sciences
crime: kidnapping and murder; unlawful disposal of a corpse
condition of victim's body: not intact
hoarding body parts: yes
confession: yes - voluntary
arrested and arraigned: yes
relationship to victim: none / neighbor
stalked victim: yes
prior offenses: assault and attempted kidnapping; pornography
aliases: "Dohastvath" (MySpace.com) "DNA" (YouTube.com)
hobbies: online gaming, pornography, video games, forensics
currently incarcerated at: Mount View Youth Services Center
bond: none

Officials: "Jessica's Killer Apprehended"

Is this the face of Jessica's killer?

 

COLORADO - BREAKING NEWS: Authorities investigating the abduction, slaying, and dismemberment of ten-year-old Jessica Ridgeway have arrested a local college student and charged him with her brutal death.

 

Austin Reed Sigg, 17, was arrested late Tuesday night, and, today, in the early morning hours, Jessica's parents were at last informed by police that the killer was in custody.

 

"We hope and pray this arrest gives them some measure of closure in dealing with their horrible loss and tragedy," said Westminster Police Chief Lee Birk, who also just apprised reporters of these latest developments.

 

Sigg, a student at nearby Arapahoe Community College, whose studies apparently also  include criminal justice, is additionally connected to a botched attempt in May to abduct a female jogger in the park near where Jessica lived.  The woman also reported that he tried to place a rag over her mouth which smelled of chemicals.

 

Jessica Ridgeway was walking to school on October 5th 2012 when she vanished without a trace. About a week later some of her mutilated parts were found dumped in an open area less than seven miles from her residence. Local and state police, as well as FBI investigators, have all along believed her murderer lived somewhere in her community and that he knew the girl's route and routine prior to snatching her.

 

Authorities have relentlessly been working day and night for a major break in this shocking case, and now they finally have it, they say.

 

If so, then R.I.P., young Jessica Ridgeway. And peace be with you now.

 

 

Killing season upon us...once again

Summer is officially over, and yet that's when the dubious drownings start up again--all young men, all mysteriously disappearing, all matching a strikingly similar description--as has been the case now since 1997.

 

THE CASE OF THE DROWNING MEN

Investigating the 'Smiley Face' serial killings: 

Add the Boston Architectural grad student Jonathon Dailey, 23, to the growing list of 2012's victims. He disappeared on October 2d and was found in the Charles River by a Boston University rowing coach on October 9th 2012.
 

Will the police insist his drowning too is "accidental" which has become the norm for them in regard to these peculiar deaths? Well, that might be kind of difficult this time since Dailey's body was discovered with a chain wrapped around it and anchored to a cinder block. But...

"It is far too early to make a determination as to manner of death, and reports indicating that the individual was the victim of a homicide are premature," said Jake Wark, spokesman for the Suffolk County District Attorney.

Just a couple weeks before Jonathon Dailey went missing in Massachusetts, 18-year-old pre med student, Harsha Maddula, likewise disappeared after becoming separated from his friends sometime around midnight. An undergrad at Chicago's illustrious Northwestern University, Madulla's corpse was found by a local fisherman on September 27th, floating near a harbor in Wilmette, Illinois.

The cause of his death is still being determined and toxicology tests may take weeks to process as well. However, Wilmette police investigators have expressed their opinion anyway, despite not being in possession of all the facts yet. "There were no signs of foul play on the body," they said.

Also consistent with a troubling pattern in the drowning men phenomena, rescue divers had already thoroughly searched the area Maddula was ultimately found in. So perhaps it's time law enforcement officials just admit that DISAPPEARING AND DROWNING OFF SEASON is unto itself a sign of foul play, and then truly begin to give this perplexing matter their undivided attention.

Or else call in the FBI...again.

 

 

Was John Wayne Gacy Innocent?

A recently resurfaced letter by "Killer Clown" John Wayne Gacy to the co-founder of Amnesty International sheds new light on the infamous serial killer's own view of his crimes and conviction, and helps to reinforce the concept that it's hard to find a guilty man in prison.   VIEW THE FULL COPY & READ IT HERE

The Long Island Serial Killer

 I got him --

in the CASE QUEUE, that is.

Launching new feature at Killing Killers

To keep visitors and readers apprised of Killing Killers ongoing true crime investigations and to allow those who may have tips and/or evidence to submit material for consideration in the related future publications, we've added a new feature to this website: You can now click the CASE QUEUE tab on the menu bar above for sneak peeks and a contact link to get actively involved in crime solving.

Loaded into the queue on 8/14/12 are the unsolved homicides of The Parkway Predator.

Check it out!

Plain Text

INVESTIGATING THE SMILEY FACE MURDERS

NEW Plain Text Kindle Edition now available

Drowning Forensics

Anatomy of a Drowning

(From THE CASE OF THE DROWNING MEN)

For those who think that drowning is a pleasant way to go, think again. Drowning is a violent assault on the body during which the frightened victim fiercely, albeit briefly, battles to survive. Death follows exhaustion within only two or three minutes.

Technically, it is true that a person can drown in as little as a cup of water. A cup, a puddle, a ditch, a bathtub—anytime liquid enters the air passages and lungs, even if someone doesn’t die immediately, it can still turn fatal because there are a host of medical complications which arise that are always life-threatening, such as pneumonia and renal failure. These type of delayed fatalities are known as “secondary drownings” and, although their symptoms may develop over the course of several days, or even longer for some patients, they’re usually triggered within only a few hours of the initial incident.

But most victims drown fully submerged in water when the nose and mouth inadvertently become covered. Sometimes, when there is an instantaneous glottal spasm blocking off oxygen, or a preexisting medical condition, death can be automatic without any signs of a struggle. In the majority of drownings, however, this is not the case. Struggling is one of the key stages leading to unconsciousness and death. In fact, so intense can this final fight for life be that, in more than ten percent of drowning fatalities, an autopsy will actually reveal bruised and ruptured muscles, particularly in the shoulders, chest and neck. Evidence of injuries of this nature suggest to a medical examiner the strong likelihood that a victim was alive in the water at the time of their demise and not placed there already dead.

The stages of a full-immersion drowning event are fairly quick and, because the victim’s airways are being blocked, either by water and/or the epiglottis, it’s often completely soundless. There will be panicked thrashing as the victim desperately attempts to get air and to grab onto nearby objects for security, and then, when they can no longer hold their breath, they’ll begin to inhale water in large quantities, gulping it into their stomach as well. This action also rapidly circulates water throughout their other systems and bloodstream with differing biochemical reactions depending on whether they’re in saltwater or in fresh. This last stage of drowning ends with coughing, vomiting, convulsions, loss of consciousness, death, and rigormortis.

Very shortly after the victim dies their body will start to sink. If retrieved soon thereafter, their arms and hands may display cadaveric spasm, a posture in death borne out of extreme mental anguish and which reveals the person’s final thoughts and movements as they frantically fought to stay alive.

If a victim is not promptly retrieved at death, then, without exception and no matter how deep or how swift the water may be, their corpse will continue to drift downward until it reaches the bottom. This is where it will remain in a somewhat fetal position until gases from putrefaction cause it to rise to the surface once more.

A semi-fetal posture is the norm for all drown victims, so if divers do locate such a body before it ascends, but it isn’t in this pose and/or the head is seen to be tilted to one side, they must include these observations in their police recovery report, as it reveals the victim died on land and was put in the water post-rigormortis.

Typically, once the body does emerge on its own, it will surface in the general vicinity of where the victim originally went under. From this location the water may then carry the corpse along for quite a distance, depending on the strength of the currents or if it becomes ensnared and is thereby prevented.

Refloat largely varies on the water’s depth and temperature, taking only a matter of hours to occur if extremely warm and up to two weeks or longer if at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or less. The timetable, therefore, is not fixed but is loosely as follows: at 40 degrees Fahrenheit it takes approximately fourteen to twenty days for a drown victim’s corpse to resurface; at 50 degrees ten to fourteen days; at 60 degrees seven to...read the rest for FREE here