Was Madeleine McCann the victim of a robbery gone amok?

Apart from the brutal rape, bludgeoning and strangulation of child model JonBenét Ramsey, no case has quite captured the public's attention and concern than that of long-missing toddler Madeleine McCann.

The blonde 4-year-old is believed to have been abducted from her Portugal hotel room in 2007, but just who those kidnappers might have been and their actual motive remains an unsolved mystery.

Now authorities have reinvigorated the worldwide search for 'Maddy' and some theorize that her abduction may have been related to a string of robberies in the resort neighborhood where the McCann family was vacationing.

It's possible that young Madeleine McCann could have unwittingly seen or even interrupted a burglary in progress, detectives working the case anew are actively speculating. 

If so, the girl would have been especially vulnerable to the consequences of such a discovery because she and her two infant siblings were left alone that evening while Mr. and Mrs. McCann were dining at a nearby restaurant. 

The McCanns -- frequently the target of suspicion and scorn themselves -- welcome the new theories and interest in the case, having never given up hunting for their daughter and for the criminals who took her away from them.

Investigators have also released new sketches of the potential perp/s involved in Madeleine McCann's disappearance, whilst revising the timeline closer to the precise hour Mrs. McCann found her daughter gone without a trace.

They're refocusing their inquiry mainly on a Caucasian male between 20 and 40 years of age.

The unidentified individual was observed in the area by another tourist from Ireland who said he and his family members noticed a man carrying a blonde-haired child around 10 PM, the same time Maddy's mother was about to return to the hotel to check on her small children.

According to that eyewitness, Martin Smith, 64, the girl he saw being carried from the premises was wearing pajamas and did not appear distressed.

The above information, however, is not all that *new* in reality, having been in the hands of the Portuguese police for almost the entire time Maddy McCann was declared missing.

Smith further claims that the Portuguese police deliberately disregarded his reports because they were fixating instead on a different suspect who later proved to be the wrong man.

With an investigation into the baffling abduction of Madeleine McCann revitalized this week, over 1000 fresh tips have already been phoned in or e-mailed, with two separate people providing the exact same name of the thus far unknown male sought for questioning.

Could a break in this cold case finally be only days away now?

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

 

DORNER IN A CORNER: panicked commander of petrified posse orders "Get the gas, burn it down!"

 

UPDATE February 13th: In what is bound to be determined an illegal order, leaders of the petrified police posse trying to maintain a stranglehold around expert marksman and ex-cop Chris Dorner gave the shocking command yesterday to burn down his mountain hideout. With him in it.

 

So ended the week-long rampage the decorated soldier and former policeman had waged against his corrupt colleagues at the Los Angeles Police Department.

 

There are conflicting reports this morning as to whether a body has been found in the charred rubble or not. Some officials say they have indeed found some remains, believed to be those of the fugitive cop. Others claim the site is still much too hot to search.

 

One thing is for certain, though, Christopher Dorner has definitely proven his case against the LAPD -- all week they've been shooting at innocent passersby, conducting illegal searches and surveillance, resorting to excessive use of force, and outright lying to the media.

 

Now, with this Waco-style solution to the standoff, it will be all but impossible for the police to defend their actions in the court of public opinion.

 

Today, websites like YouTube are already broadcasting the voice of the official who demanded his men incinerate the cabin where a heavily armed Dorner was holed up in. That thus-far-unnamed individual was overheard on police scanners and by the press stationed close to the scene.

 

Witnesses said the cabin was fully ablaze within only minutes of someone ordering "get the gas, burn it down" and that a single shot then came from inside, but no one ever emerged from the conflagration.

 

Original coverage of this event is below:

 

SHOOTOUT ON BIG BEAR MOUNTAIN

A few more lawmen have learned the meaning of "sharpshooter" firsthand today, as they found themselves being airlifted to a nearby emergency room for gunshot wounds they received as they tried to surround fugitive ex-cop, Chris Dorner.

 

Dorner is barricaded in a cabin on Big Bear Mountain, 100 miles from the city of Los Angeles, and nowhere near the secret Mexican hideaway earlier reported by LAPD spokesmen and mainstream media.

 

Police had been continuing to scour the mountain range for days ever since they found Dorner's burnt out truck at its base, but at the same time they were also doing car by car searches throughout the southern California region, and had even set up checkpoints at the border with Mexico.

 

That's also close to where they had found their suspect's wallet and ID planted this week, deepening their suspicions that Chris Dorner has at least one accomplice helping him to evade capture. Somebody thus far only referred to in newly filed police documents as "JY".

 

Since he launched his bloody rampage against the corrupt LA Police Department, there have been a number of false sightings of Dorner during the week, but he was finally located this afternoon after stealing a white truck from a couple vacationing on Big Bear.

He is said to have burglarized their mountain retreat and tied them up before leaving the place ransacked, but one of them evidently managed to  get free soon after and swiftly reported the encounter.

 

Local deputies spied the stolen vehicle in question and gave chase, but Dorner abandoned it and, amidst a hail of bullets and smoke bombs, safely fled to yet another cabin to hide. He is believed to still be holed up there and heavily armed.

 

With local law enforcement agencies, SWAT teams, and federal agents rapidly descending, gunfire and obscenities can be heard echoing across the serene hilltops now, and it's doubtful the former officer and soldier will actually be taken alive...even if authorities wanted it that way.

 

Which also seems rather unlikely.
 

 

read my original coverage here and Dorner's unedited "manifesto" here

 

Closing the Year on Crime & Punishment

Killing Killers wishes everyone the very best of fortunes for 2013 and is closing out the calendar of 2012 on a light note today, since this year's news has been so heavy.

 

CRIME & PUNISHMENT

 

It might appear, from the photo above, that these two bashful teenagers were in the midst of a tryst of sorts and got busted by their peers.

 

But take a closer look and you'll see it just isn't so. The boys are merely getting their comeuppance for doing what some boys seem to do so well: brawling in the schoolyard.

 

Most school administrators take the view that fighting is a very serious crime no matter how old or young the perpetrators. Consequently, it's the kind of conduct that usually amounts to suspension as the swiftest and most appropriate form of punishment.

 

Of course, as in the real criminal justice system, determining just how long somebody should get banned from attending their classes usually depends on whether it's his first offense or if it's part of a troubling pattern.

 

Two days, a week, a month, forever...despite what most students loudly say about this in the presence of their friends, it's actually not their number one objective. Suspension from school for any length of time, or worse even permanently, is not ideal in the long run.

 

In fact, apart from being a lonely experience much akin to being publicly shunned, most kids can easily comprehend it's a real academic hassle as well. Especially those who have plans to graduate and get somewhere in life.

 

That's what the principal of Westwood High School in Mesa Arizona was figuring when he stumbled upon Charles and Julio above engaged in all out fisticuffs on school grounds. He broke their fight up and gave each young man the option to be suspended for the squabble or, alternately, to simply hold hands for an hour and be done with it.

 

A picture's worth a thousand words---you can see what these two intelligent youngsters prudently decided between them.

 

Leading up to this particular day in Westwood history, principal Timothy Richards had been highly praised for his somewhat maverick approach to student tardiness, delinquency, and other educational problems running rampant at Westwood before he was hired.

 

Indeed, during his brief tenure there, Richards' innovative policies were credited for thwarting the scholastic failure of some 300 students at the high school. Although not by forcing them all to hold hands, naturally.

 

For this particularly inventive method, however, the man has drawn some fire and ire. Not from Julio and not from Charles, mind you, but from critics on both sides of the isle.

 

But, regardless of this controversy over whether the punishment fits the crime or is way over the top and socially "traumatizing", the youths made the final choice, and this time they used their heads and chose very well.

 

What's more, at least one of them claims to have learned a valuable lesson from this experience, and that would be an obvious one: "Don't fight in school," Charles told an inquisitive CBS reporter earlier this month.

 

Right.

 

His arch nemesis, Julio, appears to have crumpled a bit under days of ridicule and unwanted Facebook photo-sharing. But, last heard, he's back in classes again too, and not fighting.

 

- Eponymous Rox 

 

 

Deadly Dingbat Attempts Jail Cell Suicide

It's a dilemma, isn't it? Whether to save lethal loonies like the Colorado Theatre Shooter from doing themselves in, or give his victims and their families swift closure by allowing him to succeed?

 

Prison officials report that Colorado Theatre Shooter, James Holmes, the young man responsible for the largest civilian-on-civilian massacre in the history of the United States, "attempted suicide yesterday" by repeatedly bashing his head into the wall of his jail cell. He survived the incident.

 

That's going to leave a mark, obviously, but in the meantime the misguided effort to off himself also resulted in his inability to come to court this afternoon.

 

(He's guilty as sin anyway, so what difference does it make.)
 

A hint at things to come...

 

What do these homicidal maniacs all have in common?

 

  

"Pitching a fit"

One month anniversary for The Butcher of Braintree

It's been just a little over a month now since Dr. Amy Bishop (aka Amy Bishop-Anderson) pled guilty to massacring her fellow biology professors at the University of Alabama at Huntsville in 2010, and, in so pleading, spared herself from the electric chair.

 

Since that time, she's been assigned brand new digs at famed Tutwiler Prison, where she was promptly whisked away this past September, without ceremony and with little or no time for her to start "pitching a fit."

That's the term her former guards and jail warden had become accustumed to using in describing Bishop's  fairly predictable and routine outbursts under their watch.

 

Pitching a fit, getting into fisticuffs, and basically wreaking havoc on whatever community she's a member of, is standard misconduct for this violent career felon. And even corrections officials, now fully acquainted with the Butcher of Braintree  and her overall negative attitude  toward her fellow human beings, automatically know to duck her moods and swings, having learned for themselves what a difficult inmate (and person) she can be.

 

It probably also doesn't surprise them much, having gotten to know the professor so well these past two years, that Bishop can turn murderous at the drop of a hat.

 

For the 30+ days Bishop's been housed at Tutwiler, the place where she'll ultimately be spending the rest of her life without the remotest possibility of parole even if she could summon up good behavior, she's been isolated from the other prisoners. But that situation is going to change any day now. Which means, if you know anything about this haughty mass murderer, she'll be on the bloody warpath soon for some perceived wrong or minor slight.

 

That's right, I predict, once she's fully released into the general population, that all hell's gonna break loose in Tutwiler Prison, and that, what's more, it won't take very long for that to happen.

 

(I'll keep you updated on this, rest assured.)

 

 

PEOPLE VERSUS SIGG: a quick guide to understanding the 17 charges brought against teen killer Austin Reed Sigg

Colorado throws the book at Jessica Ridgeway's killer

 

(Can't read this court document? Click the image to enlarge it.)

 

 

"Austin Reed Sigg unlawfully and feloniously, acting alone, committed sexual assault, and in the course of or in furtherance of that crime caused the death of Jessica Ridgeway...There's DNA evidence, and the evidence is overwhelming."

 

 

 - SUMMARY OF THE SEVENTEEN SEPARATE CHARGES -

 
COUNT  1: Murder in the First Degree per intentional and premeditated homicide
 
COUNT  2: Murder in the First degree during the commission of kidnapping

COUNT  3: Murder in the First Degree during the commission of robbery

COUNT  4: Murder in the First Degree during the commission of sexual assault

COUNT  5: Second Degree Kidnapping - aggravated by sexual offense
 
COUNT  6: Crime of Violence (sentence enhancer for first degree offenses)

COUNT  7: Second Degree Kidnapping - aggravated by robbery

COUNT  8: Crime of Violence (sentence enhancer for second degree offenses)

COUNT  9: Sexual Assault On a Child - aggravated by age variables
 
COUNT 10: Crime of Violence (sentence enhancer for sexual assault on a child)

COUNT 11: Robbery as a result of force, intimidation, or threats

COUNT 12: Criminal Attempted Murder in the First Degree of female jogger May 2012

COUNT 13: Crime of Violence (sentence enhancer for attempted first degree murder)

COUNT 14: Criminal Attempted Sexual Assault of female jogger May 2012

COUNT 15: Crime of Violence (sentence enhancer for attempted sexual assault)

COUNT 16: Criminal Attempted Second Degree Kidnapping of female jogger May 2012

COUNT 17: Crime of Violence (sentence enhancer, attempted second degree kidnapping)
 
 

Austin Sigg charged with 17 counts today

Teenage psychokiller Austin Reed Sigg made a formal court appearance today in Jefferson County Colorado where he finally learned the extent of the charges he will have to face for the kidnapping, sexual assault, murder, and dismemberment of schoolgirl Jessica Ridgeway earlier this month.

Some of the 17 counts brought against Sigg pertain as well to the attempted abduction and murder this past spring of an adult female in the park across from where Sigg lives and close to where his 10-year-old victim also resided. He unsuccessfully tried to use a chemical-soaked rag to overcome that particular victim. The woman managed to escape and reported the incident to police.

But the majority of the charges against Austin Sigg--some 11 in all--relate solely to the Ridgeway girl's slaying. These include four counts of murder in the first degree, two counts of second-degree kidnapping, robbery, and sexual assault on a child.

 

For the record, one of those murder counts has been additionally described as 'after deliberation'. The kidnapping and sexual assault charges are also each accompanied by a 'crime of violence' sentence enhancer, indicating the eagerness of prosecutors to put this dangerous predator away for as long as legally possible.

Sigg, who will be tried now as an adult and will therefore no longer have the same measure of case secrecy as he's thus far enjoyed, sat shackled and grimfaced at the hearing. However, despite having the book thrown at him (so to speak) some of the privileges of being a juvenile will still linger to his advantage: Even a youth who is tried, convicted and sentenced as an adult cannot be put to death or jailed for life without parole, because, according to the US Supreme Court, both kinds of sentences when applied to a minor are "cruel and unusual" punishments.

The maximum amount of time Sigg will serve for his heinous crime spree then is 40 years.

 

Looting After Superstorm Sandy

*Rethinking Disaster Preparedness*

 

If the lawless aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is any indication, and if electric, internet and other important utilities are not swiftly restored to New York, Long Island and New Jersey, then the "major disasters" declared in those heavily populated areas, caused by Hurricane Sandy's unprecedented destruction, will be exponentially compounded soon.

 

Perhaps as early as this evening, when darkness descends and people begin to forage for food and water, or for other desirable commodities that may be temptingly unguarded and therefore ripe for the taking.

 

Although the death toll from this montrous superstorm so far is surprisingly marginal, millions of people still remain in these devastated districts, without utilities nor the means to leave if they want to or must. Below the flooded streets of Manhattan the subways are flowing with a toxic effluence formed by the fifthy waters of the East River and a sudden salty deluge from the Atlantic Ocean. And along the Atlantic's ravaged coastline southward the waters are only gradually beginning to recede, revealing a similarly bleak scenario.

 

Gone, but hardly forgotten, the damaging waves responsible for such mayhem may yet return at high tide, for days to come.

 

The famed NY metropolitan area with its internationally vital financial district is all but at a standstill at the moment, authorities and emergency crews barely able to crawl about in order to properly assess the damages and the scope of their citizens' needs, let alone to address them.

 

This is the real disaster unfolding--residents in afflicted zones having to resort to their own devices to survive while their leaders scramble to get a grip on the situation. All because city planners and heads of government had hid their heads in the sand for years and, as a result of this collective denial, were not prepared for the type and scale of disasters that accompany global warming.

 

Though surely, whether they wished to see or not, they had fair warning of what the future held in store well before Sandy struck such a deadly blow. What with Hurricane Irene grimly foreshadowing such events only 14 months prior.

 

In the wake of Sandy's widespread and costly destruction, the governor of New York state has just issued a statement calling, belatedly, for natural disaster preparedness to be seriously rethought now, emphasizing that the dramatic shifts in climate must finally be acknowledged and fully planned for.

 

Great idea, Mr. Cuomo. But in the meantime, the hours pass without relief, and soon night on a crippled region will fall.

 

 

Police seek secondary crime scene in Ridgeway girl's slaying



A search of self-confessed murderer Austin Reed Sigg's Westminster Colorado residence produced the missing parts of Jessica Ridgeway's body, stashed by the killer in a crawlspace beneath his home, but no evidence that her corpse had actually been dismembered in that location.

 

Investigators have therefore extended their search now to the suspect's father's nearby mansion, hoping to pinpoint the secondary crime scene they know must exist and, possibly, to find more clues and evidence that may link this budding young serial killer to other attempted abductions and/or homicides in the area.

 

Sigg's father, Robert Sigg, a career criminal himself, has a rap sheet about a mile long which dates back to the early 80's and includes drug dealing, battery, and fraud. It's not known at this time the true source of his revenue which would facilitate owning and maintaining such a tony address and acreage (shown above), but he recently undertook to remove all of his online business profiles from the web following the news of his son's arrest and confession in the Ridgeway murder. 

 

Robert Sigg (pictured in the above police booking) is allegedly out of the country, but issued  condolences to the Ridgeway family this week in a carefully and eloquently worded statement.

 

He is divorced from Austin's biological mother Mindy, but took both on an impromptu luxury vacation in the Virgin Islands shortly after the unsuccessful attempted abduction of a female jogger in the park across the street from the Sigg's Westminster home in May 2012. Austin Sigg has confessed to that assault as well and his DNA was matched to the Ridgeway girl's slaying from evidence taken at that time. 

 

When informed of these developments, authorities in the Virgin Islands expressed grave concerns about the case and are currently in the process of reviewing their missing person reports during the timeframe that Austin Sigg, and convicted felon Robert Sigg and his ex-wife, were *vacationing* in their country.

 

Of the threesome, only Mindy Sigg has no police record of any kind, as it has just been learned that Austin Sigg had at least one mark on his record prior to being apprehended this month for abduction and murder. Because he is a minor, that matter was brought in the juvenile justice system and, at the date of this writing, remains sealed and a mystery.

 

Austin Siggs was also reprimanded and treated for a pornography addiction. He was only 15-years-old at the time of this offense. A family member with knowledge of these charges made the following remarks, on condition of anonymity:
 

“We heard that he was in counseling over issues related to the family breaking up--you know, Rob was in and out of prison sort of thing--but while Mindy kept telling everyone she was told this kind of phase of wearing black,  being holed up in his room playing video games, and charging porn movies on her accounts was normal for a teenage boy,  we had discussed someone taking the lead and mentioning we thought Austin did not seem “normal” for as long as I could remember.  But then he had a girlfriend for a while and he seemed to sort of snap out of it. 

"The last thing I remember was that they had gone to some formal and the next thing we knew Austin was pulled out of school and in intensive therapy for a pornographic addiction, so I don’t know if that is what broke the kids up, or what.   Mindy had it rough with the two boys on her own. She put herself through that school in Denver on her own dime while Rob got locked up at about the same time.  I think the kids were probably very much on their own and by the time Austin started having really big issues, it may have been too late obviously.

"We still don’t know how he [Rob Sigg] comes out of prison and paid off over $140K in fines while Mindy was forced to file bankruptcy this summer. I tried to look up Rob’s stuff on the internet, but a bunch of the files from his criminal case are still sealed.”

Austin Sigg was studying mortuary science and crime scene investigation at Arapahoe Community College at the time of his arrest. His father, Robert Sigg, is not as yet a suspected accomplice in the Jessica Ridgeway killing, but sources indicate that his activities are necessarily being scrutinized now too, considering his own criminal background and the serious nature of the crimes his son has planned and orchestrated.

Full coverage of the Sigg serial abductions and slayings will be posted here soon

as part of the  upcoming Kids Killing Kids special true crime report - visit again.

 

 

start DUNGEONS DRAGONS MURDER here:

 

click the pistol & start reading this famous case for FREE

 

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.

 

 

Find a Fiend

JUSTICE FOR JESSICA

ten-year-old Jessica Ridgeway

was abducted on her way to school,

killed, dismembered, and dumped

 

Mental health experts estimate that approximately one per hundred individuals worldwide are psychopathic. One percent doesn’t seem that big a deal in the scheme of things, of course, but it’s still not a number to scoff at since these individuals manage to perpetrate a whopping 30% of all violent crimes committed annually and constitute more than 25% of the prison population.

Predominately male, psychopaths come from every walk of life--every ethnic, every race, every nationality--and their inherited tendencies toward remorselessness and a lack of empathy makes them toxic people to know, whether or not they ever engage in acts of violence.

Thankfully, statistics show that most psychopaths are not usually dangerous individuals. These more benign types exist day to day in a “sub-criminal” state of mind, infecting and disaffecting all they meet with their unabashed selfishness, their compulsive lying and boasting, and their guiltless pursuit of pleasure and gain at other people’s expense. In short, though this aberrant majority may stop shy of actually plotting and executing criminal offenses, they still live at all times on the very edge of civility.

When a psychopath does fall over that precipice, however, when his motives and impulses become uncontrollable and reach far beyond the bounds of civilization, he becomes a serious threat to society.

Life-threatening.

The demented psycho who, for a thrill kill, abducted and murdered 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway this October, and then dumped parts of her mutilated body in garbage bags a few miles from her Colorado home, is still at large in the area and, undoubtedly, has killed before and will kill again.

In fact, investigators have just confirmed that DNA lifted from the victim’s remains and from various items uncovered at the crime scene directly link this madman to at least two prior foiled abductions of young women who were jogging in the park right across from Jessica’s house.

And, to make matters worse for the terrified community this vivacious schoolgirl once lived in, profilers suggest that it’s very likely the murderer is not a complete stranger, but rather someone who resides and/or works in the neighborhood.

That assertion would be consistent then with national homicide stats which reveal that, in over 85% of all murders, the victims are somehow acquainted with or even related to their killers.

The only good news in this tragic and frightening affair, is that dozens of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies are on the Ridgeway case, relentlessly striving to identify Jessica’s sadistic killer before he can strike again. Police know by the magnitude of this slaying that he’s on a spree, so time is of the essence in apprehending him.

With that aim, they are actively seeking assistance from the public in deciphering clues recently collected. Of specific interest to them at this time is a small wooden cross that may have been a pendant to a necklace, and which was recovered in the open field near where Jessica’s body parts were found. Some telltale grocer receipts were discovered near that site too, evidence which has additionally helped to narrow the focus of the search for a perpetrator.

As well, officials are also asking neighbors to maintain a state of vigilance now and to report any suspicious behavior of colleagues, coworkers, family members, or friends, particularly on the morning of Jessica’s abduction and during the days immediately following it. They say conduct that ought to send up red flags would be any or all of the following:

1. A person suddenly missing work or appointments, with or without a plausible excuse;

2. Making dramatic changes in their personal appearance;

3. Making alterations to their vehicle;

4. Escalating the use of alcohol or other substances;

5. Packing up and leaving town without notice;

6. Having an obsessive interest in media coverage of the case, possibly coupled with an extreme unwillingness to discuss the murder whenever the subject is raised.

Additional details concerning a potential suspect profile have also been furnished in the past few days. Investigators believe that the individual in question is a short Caucasian male between 18 and 40 years of age, and so profoundly disturbed that his psychological issues would be hard to disguise, in general, and well known to those who see him on a regular basis. There is also a good chance that the man is unattractive and unkempt, expert profilers say, two physical characteristics allegedly quite common to this class of serial offender.

 

Police affirmed just yesterday that Jessica’s schoolbag, located in an adjacent city almost a week after the child’s disappearance, contained her clothes, and was planted there by the killer both as a taunt and as a decoy intended to lead them away from his trail. This further underscores their working theory that the perp is a resident of Jessica Ridgeway’s hometown and may even live within walking distance from her home.

With Halloween looming at month’s end, and the prospect of children en masse trick-or-treating in a municipality where a vicious and opportunistic murderer is on the loose searching for easy prey, there is a growing sense of urgency by law enforcement personnel to solve the Ridgeway abduction and slaying as quickly as possible. They have been following through on literally thousands of leads in the case and are asking for more public help of this nature.

Jessica’s killer originally tried to abduct grown females for his victims, but, when those attempts proved unsuccessful, he switched to younger targets. This is a grim reminder that, as adults become increasingly more prudent and cautious in order to avoid becoming victims of crime, children are made all the more vulnerable to those whose deviance knows no limits and whose bloodlust can never be quenched.

But, despite Hollywood’s penchant for portraying these ruthless predators as omnipotent, they are not brilliant and invincible. The murderer of young Jessica Ridgeway may delude himself into thinking he’s as evil a genius as the fictitious Hannible “the cannibal” Lecter, but he is terribly mistaken in that belief, and has made some serious mistakes along the way, too. Yes, apparently his DNA does not match any currently on file in the nation’s sex-offender databases, but that’s not a real obstacle to catching him. Rest assured, this sick creep can and will be brought to justice soon.

Tips to the authorities can be phoned in at 303-658-4336, or, alternately, emailed to PDamberalert@cityofwestminster.us.

Who do you believe the Long Island Serial Killer is?

When a high-profile series of murders go suddenly cold, public speculation and finger pointing can start to run rampant.

 

Such is the case with the Long Island serial killings, uncovered at Gilgo Beach in 2010 after a bizarre 911 call from a Craigslist call-girl named Shannon Gilbert led to her subsequent disappearance, a fumbled search, and her weird drowning.

 

The discovery of Gilbert's body and, with it, a dozen other similar victims, was a pretty hot story then, but it's one that has since begun to languish in the media as the Suffolk County Police Department remains either tight-lipped about the matter or utterly disinterested in apprehending a perp (or perps), for fear it's somebody they might know.

 

Nevertheless, the $25,000 reward SCPD is offering for information leading to the arrest of the "unsub" (Unknown Suspect) still stands...

 

No takers as yet, but, really, who is murdering prostitutes in the New York City district and then dumping their bodies in the remote, swampy regions of Long Island?

 

Is it, as rumored in the press, a local police surgeon with unsavory connections and questionable predilections? Or, perhaps, a rabidly misogynistic out-of-towner vacationing on Gilgo in the summer months? Or even a pair of former NYPD detectives with a hater agenda and really bad attitudes about women?

 

Or is it someone else completely?

 

Well, whoever this fiendish slayer is, they've got a pretty good knowledge of police forensics, apparently, and a rather pronounced and passionate dislike for workers in the sex trade, evidently.

 

KillingKillers.blogspot.com has a good working theory about this elusive killer's identity.

 

Who do you think the Long Island Serial Killer is?

More Drowning Men Cases

Barely a week has passed since the drowned corpse of missing grad student Jonathan Dailey was found in Boston's chilly Charles River, tethered to a chain and a cinderblock. Yet his roommate and longtime pal, Miles Smith, has already crossed off his deceased friend's name from the mailbox they both shared, and is packing up his own things, he said, with the aim of leaving town.

 

And the suspicious death itself still remains shrouded in mystery; the police as mum as ever about the latest fatality in this 15-year string of weird and chronic drownings.

 

Was young Dailey's demise a homicide? A suicide? Or a bungled 'Smiley Face' killing?

 

INTERESTING TIDBIT: The late Jon Dailey and his (ex)roommate Miles Smith met years ago as undergraduates at Appalachian State University in North Carolina. Why is that information so intriguing? Because ASU was recently the scene of a strange drowning event too, and only a few days before Dailey first went missing.

 

Police and university officals in North Carolina confirm that 19-year-old Tyler Blalock was discovered drowned in a campus creek September 29th 2012, with apparent head injuries. His death has nevertheless been ruled 'accidental'. 

 

However, Blalock was an expert swimmer and a lifeguard, so his family is not entirely convinced he isn't the victim of foul play, and they also question why someone so savvy about water safety would have been at the creek at all, especially by himself.

 

“I know he wasn’t there alone,” his mother insisted. “I know he wouldn't have been there alone.”

 

Mrs. Blalock is asking the public to assist in finding the answers to what could have happened to her son the night he allegedly drowned.

 

“Anybody that knows anything [or] somebody that was with him last night...just come forward and talk to the police,” she pleaded through tears. “Just so I can know what happened to my baby. That's all I ask … I beg for that.”

Anyone with information regarding this tragic incident is encouraged to call the ASU Police Department at 828-262-2150.

 

At the time of his death, Tyler Blalock was a sophmore at Appalachian State University, Dailey's and Smith's alma mater. 

 

Weird coincidence, eh?

 

 

Amy Bishop Trial - Breaking News

Dr. Amy Bishop, the Harvard-educated professor who gunned down three of her colleagues and injured three more at the University of Alabama at Huntsville in 2010, and who pleaded guilty to mass murder earlier this month, has just been sentenced to life in prison without parole.

 

Prosecutors in Massachusetts have been eagerly awaiting the Alabama jury's sentencing decision in order to determine how to next proceed in a trial soon to be calendared there. Bishop must now face justice in that state as well for the shooting death of her 18-year-old brother Seth in 1986.

 

All late-breaking Bishop updates will be posted on this site. Download the complete case profile and analysis of this killer and career criminal, including details of the murder of her brother in Braintree Massachusetts, HERE or HERE

Closure nearing for Huntsville Massacre

BISHOP MASS MURDER TRIAL BEGINS @ 10:00 AM TODAY:  Now that Dr. Amy Bishop has pled guilty to the Huntsville Alabama campus rampage she planned and executed in 2010, she no longer has to fear the death penalty; nor will she be able to bog down Alabama's cash-strapped justice system with proving her insanity defense. Sane or not, doesn't matter anymore. But because she faces, instead, life without parole for slaying three of her fellow biology professors and wounding three more, she must still sit through an abbreviated trial for sentencing purposes. That finally begins today.

 

Whatever the final legal disposition of this contest should be, it's not the last we'll hear from or about The Butcher of Braintree, since she'll also have to face trial in Massachusetts soon for the 1986 murder of her younger brother Seth. Breaking news regarding that matter, and all other Bishop updates, will continue to be posted here on Killing Killers.

 

Have a NookReader? Download my Bishop case study here.

 

 

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