cold case – CrimeFeed

Both Jack the Ripper and H. G. Wells travel through time to the present day in the new TV series Time After Time (based on the 1979 film of the same name). In addition to the usual fish-out-of-water time-travel tropes, they are both faced with the fact that the “future” is full of violence, murder, terrorism, and war, which they’re bombarded with by ever-present screens.

Josh Bowman as Jack the Ripper in Time After Time [ABC promotional image]

Related: Jack the Ripper Finally Busted? Patricia Cornwell Claims Scientific Proof

For his part, Wells is dismayed, as he had envisioned a Utopian future, where humans would have evolved out of the need for conflict and violence. The Ripper, however, has happily found his place in a world full of serial killers, where people look away and don’t get involved when a threat erupts in their midst. Murderers are featured on the TV news every night, which viewers can see as they channel surf through true-crime programs and horror films. (Let’s not spend too much time wondering how genius/scientist/inventor Wells is so mystified by modern tech, but the Ripper immediately figures out remote controls and burner phones.)

***

As I climbed the stairs of the Jack the Ripper Museum in East London and heard a woman’s terrified screams playing on a recorded loop, it hit me that he’s right: These days, our culture’s obsession with serial killers is stronger than ever.

But sadly, while forensic investigation and crime-solving tools may be more technologically advanced than in the past, for sex-worker victims not much has changed since Victorian-era London.

Poster of the Ripper's victims [Photo: Catherine Townsend/Investigation Discovery]

Poster of the Ripper’s victims [Catherine Townsend/Investigation Discovery]

The five known Ripper victims — Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Jane Kelly — were all brutally murdered in London’s East End between August 31 and December 20, 1888.

The museum has five rooms, and uses waxwork mannequins to re-create key scenes. One room depicts the police station on Leman Street where detectives attempted to identify the murderer, along with several artifacts.

Another sitting room has surgical instruments from the era — and a cloak and hat that visitors can touch and try on as they ponder theories about the Ripper’s identity.

Upstairs is a bedroom simulating how Mary Kelly, who was born in Limerick and worked for some time in a high-class brothel, might have lived.

For most Ripperologists, the best-known photo of Kelly is the iconic image of her butchered remains. But her bedroom tells a sad story of a desperate woman fighting poverty. Kelly was married, and reportedly turned to prostitution following the breakup of her marriage, and was also battling an addiction to alcohol.

Most of the women had sad stories: Many were married and turned to sex work to take care of sick children in a society where welfare did not yet exist.

Poster of Jack the Ripper's victims at the museum [Catherine Townsend/Investigation Discovery]

Re-creation of a police station desk at Jack the Ripper Museum [Catherine Townsend/Investigation Discovery]

In addition, the museum also explores the death of the 11 women held in the “Whitechapel Murders“ case file, which are unsolved attacks on female victims in the East End of London over the same two-year period that the Ripper murders took place.

Re-creation of a crime scene at Jack the Ripper museum [Photo: Catherine Townsend/Investigation Discovery]

The museum attracted controversy when it opened in 2015, with many feminist groups calling for its closure because “it glamorises sexual violence against women,” according to the Telegraph.

But others say that the museum is merely a reflection of the brutal reality. For example, experts say that sex workers in the United States risk violence and death on a much greater scale than their peers in countries where prostitution is legal.

According to the Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP), prostitutes are up to 400 times more likely to be murdered on the job than the average worker.

Sex workers continue to be targeted by serial killers, including the Long Island Serial Killer, who is believed to have murdered at least 10 victims and dumped many of the bodies on Gilgo Beach in New York. Sadly, like the Ripper victims, many of the LISK victims were dismissed due to their profession.

Poster of the Gilgo Beach victims [Photo: Suffolk County Police Department]

Poster of Gilgo Beach victims [Suffolk County Police Department]

“It had seemed enough, at first, to say the victims were just Craigslist hookers, practically interchangeable — lost souls who were dead, in a fashion, long before they actually disappeared, ” Robert Kolker wrote in his book Lost Girls. “There is a story our culture tells about people like them.”

Serial killer Joel Rifkin and Hillside Stranglers Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono all targeted prostitutes because they believed — unfortunately, sometimes accurately — that their victims were less likely to be missed.

Green River Killer Gary Ridgeway was more blunt. He said:

“I picked prostitutes as my victims because I hate most prostitutes, and I did not want to pay them for sex,” he said. “I also picked prostitutes as victims because they were easy to pick up without being noticed. I knew they would not be reported missing right away and might never be reported missing.”

Today, women have more rights and opportunities than ever. But within the marginalized communities of women who follow men into dark shadowy corners, violence continues to be an occupational hazard.

Main image: Exterior of Jack the Ripper Museum in London [Catherine Townsend/Investigation Discovery]

The post Jack The Ripper Museum: Serial Killers And Their Sex Worker Victims, Time After Time appeared first on CrimeFeed.

Christopher Tapp has revealed his feelings about being released from prison after serving 20 years for a crime he may not have committed.

“I want to experience my life. I want to go start my life and show that I was worth something. I’m innocent of this crime, and I’ve always been innocent of this crime,” Tapp, who was convicted of the 1996 rape and murder of Angie Dodge, said in an interview from jail with East Idaho News.

“I can’t wait to hold my mom and not watch her leave,” he added.

Tapp was sentenced to life in prison after confessing to investigators that he had indeed committed the crime. But, in recent years, a slew of experts have concluded that Tapp’s confession was false and motivated by the fact that the police threatened him with the gas chamber if he did not cooperate.

In addition, testing done on sperm DNA and hairs left at the 1996 murder scene have found that none match Tapp.

“I want to be the voice for people who have been wrongfully convicted,” Tapp said. “I want to be there for some child one time in my life so they don’t make the same mistakes I did.” He adds, however, that he would be “happy digging ditches for the rest of my life” if it means that he can take care of his family.

He said that he feels some “anxiety” about re-entering a world that has changed a lot since his incarceration — the Motorola flip phone was in vogue when he went away — but is excited to begin the rest of his life. Tapp, who plans to move away from the Idaho Falls area, said that he hopes to continue to draw attention to Dodge’s murder, and that he wants the city of Idaho Falls to continue to hunt for the killer.

There may be some progress on that front: The Idaho Falls Police Department has obtained a sketch of a primary suspect in Dodge’s rape and murder. The sketch was compiled by using DNA from the semen found at the crime scene.

Idaho Falls police said they could not release the sketch to the public at this time, because they are still investigating.

LocalNews8.com

Main photo: Christopher Tapp speaks from prison [East Idaho News/YouTube (screenshot)]

The post Chris Tapp’s Last Interview From Prison; Idaho Police Obtain Sketch Of Killer appeared first on CrimeFeed.

Marion “Suge” Knight has sensationally revealed that his ex-wife — along with former Death Row Records security chief Reggie White, Jr. — killed Tupac Shakur. Knight also insists that he was the intended target of the drive-by shooting, which took place in Las Vegas on September 7, 1996.

Knight’s attorney Thaddeus Culpepper wrote in a signed affidavit that “Knight has known for many years that Reggie Wright, Jr., and his ex-wife Sharitha were behind the murder of Tupac and attempted murder of Knight.” He added that Knight also has information about Wright’s alleged involvement in the Biggie Smalls murder case.

The rapper, who until now has always refused to identify the shooter, reportedly decided to speak out after hearing the theories put forward in the new documentary Tupac Assassination: Battle for Compton.

Codirector Richard Bond reportedly claimed that Knight admitted to Culpepper that the theories in the movie were true — and said the rapper even sent private investigators to figure out how the writers learned what actually occurred.

According to the film, the drive-by shooting was orchestrated in order to help Knight’s estranged wife get control of Death Row Records, the label that was cofounded by Knight and Dr. Dre among others.

Russell Poole, the former LAPD detective who helped uncover widespread police misconduct throughout the LAPD’s Community Resource Against Street Hoodlums (CRASH) unit in the late ’90s, agrees with the hypothesis put forward in the documentary.

Suge Knight Finally Reveals The Shooter Who Killed Tupac Skakur And Claims He Was The Real Target. Link in bio to read Cliff Note: Marion ‘Suge’ Knight has finally he revealed that he was the real target in the drive by that killed Tupac ShakurRapper has always refused to identify the shooter of Tupac until now Suge said that new documentary Tupac Assassination: Battle for Compton had got the facts about the 1996 fatal shooting right, according to the filmmakers Film states that Suge had always been the real target Tupac was just in the way Also tells of attempted coup at Tupac’s label Death Row Records which was co-founded by Suge and Dr Dre Filmmakers say they have a signed affidavit from Suge’s attorney confirming that everything in their documentary is true Lawyer also claims shooting was first in a history of attempts on Knight’s life Suge, 50, is currently behind bars charged with murder and attempted murder after running over two men in Compton January 2015

A post shared by Fameolous (@fameolousent_) on Apr 3, 2017 at 12:52pm PDT

Poole told Vice in 2015 that Wright, Jr., and Knight’s ex, Sharitha Knight, orchestrated the murder. Since Sharitha was not divorced from Knight, Poole alleged that she believed that she could take over Death Row Records.

According to the documentary, the 1996 events may have been the first in a history of attempts on Knight’s life, culminating in the recent attempted killing of Knight at the 1OAK Club in Los Angeles, where Knight was shot six times.

DailyMail.com

Vice

Main photo: Tupac Shakur and Suge Knight [famoulousent/Instagram]

The post Suge Knight Bombshell: “My Ex-Wife Killed Tupac” appeared first on CrimeFeed.

UPDATE (APRIL 6, 2017):

One of the two sets of human remains found in rural western Missouri has been identified as those of 21-year-old Jessica Runions (above, left) who disappeared in September, police said Wednesday.

The Cass County Sheriff’s Office says a medical examiner identified the remains as Runions, of Raymore, Missouri, who was last seen after leaving a gathering in south Kansas City on September 8. Runions left the event with 27-year-old Kylr Yust, who was later charged with burning Runions’ vehicle.

The case has been officially classified as a homicide.

CBS News

ORIGINAL STORY:

CASS COUNTY, MO — A mushroom hunter found a human skull in a quarry in rural Missouri, and although the remains have not yet been identified, authorities have asked the families of two local missing women to meet with investigators. Following that discovery, searchers found a second skull near Belton in Cass County.

Authorities used cadaver dogs to search a six-mile area near East 233rd Street and Missouri Y, according to Cass County Sheriff’s Captain Kevin Tieman.

Rhonda Beckford held hands with Jamie Runions — the mother of Jessica Runions, who disappeared in early September — at a press conference. Beckford’s daughter, Kara Kopetsky, was last seen at Belton High School in May 2007 when she was 17.

But the moms, who have become close friends, say that although the missing girls didn’t know each other — and disappeared nine years apart — the fact that their daughters could be together brings them some comfort.

“If it’s her, I’m glad she was with Kara,” Jamie Runions said Tuesday. “My biggest fear was that she was alone. I’m glad they were together.”

Jessica Runions was last seen on September 8 leaving a gathering of friends in south Kansas City. Runions left the gathering with Kylr Yust, 28, who was a friend of her boyfriend. Runions’ burned-out vehicle was found a few days later, and Yust was arrested for the car fire. Yurst also has a checkered past of various other arrests, and has served some time in prison.

Yust was questioned by police, but not charged in the disappearance of Runions. In a chilling parallel, Kara Kopetsky had been dating Yurst for several months before she vanished. In the days before her disappearance, she had gotten an order of protection against him.

Both womens’ family members say they have been searching for them constantly since the day they disappeared. Officials say that they do not yet know how long it will take to identify the remains.

If you are in search of a missing person, make sure to enter their information into the database of the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.

The Kansas City Star

KCTV5.com

KansasCity.com

Main photos: Jessica Runions (left) and Kara Kopetsky (right) [U.S. News (screenshot)]

The post UPDATE: One Set Of Human Remains Found In Missouri Has Been Identified As Jessica Runions appeared first on CrimeFeed.

Izard County, Arkansas, is located in an idyllic part of the Ozarks known for its natural beauty, where directions are distributed via sentences like “down the road a piece” rather than GPS coordinates.

But on September 27, 2004, search crews who stopped near a steep embankment on Highway 9 a few miles outside of Melbourne weren’t taking in the breathtaking views — they were recovering the remains of missing college student Rebekah Gould. Rebekah’s body was found partially clothed in the heavily wooded area near Devil’s Knob Wildlife Management Area. It was a bright, sunny day, and vultures could be seen circling overhead. It was a tragic end for 22-year-old Rebekah, who was beautiful, charismatic, and beloved by friends and family. She had appeared to have the world at her feet.

One week earlier, she walked into the Possum Trot convenience store in Melbourne to pick up some snacks after dropping off a male friend at work. This was the last time someone other than her killer saw her alive, according to Lieutenatn Bill Beach of the Arkansas State Police.

Scenic area five miles outside of Melbourne, Arkansas, near where Rebekah Gould's body was found [Photo: Catherine Townsend/Investigation Discovery]

Scenic area five miles outside of Melbourne, Arkansas, near where Rebekah Gould’s body was found [Catherine Townsend/Investigation Discovery]

For more than 12 years, the mystery has been one of the biggest cold cases in the state of Arkansas.

Rebekah’s sister Danielle went to high school with my younger sister, and I’ve been following the case for years. Danielle, who looks strikingly similar to her late sister and was only a year behind her in school, told me that the two were “super close.” “Rebekah loved life, and would give the shirt off her back to help people. She did not care if you were rich or poor, she would do whatever she could to help you,” she said.

Danielle, who now has two young daughters, has tried to move on with her life, but admits that her sister’s murder still haunts her. Danielle and Rebekah shared an apartment in Fayetteville, where they attended college, but would often return on weekends visit friends in Melbourne and the surrounding areas.

On the weekend she went missing, Danielle said that Rebekah was staying with her friend Casey McCullough in the nearby town of Guion. She said that Rebekah was originally supposed to stay with her on Friday night, but later told her that she would be back on Monday instead.

Though on the surface there was nothing unusual about this, Danielle told me that she had a “bad feeling” all weekend, but began to seriously worry when Monday morning rolled around without a call from her sister.

Rebekah had known that the girls were due back in Fayetteville by 12 P.M. — but she never showed up.

The search began, and police found Rebekah’s Chevrolet Cavalier, cell phone, purse, and other personal effects at McCullough’s house. They also found blood at various locations around the house — which led them to suspect that the primary crime scene was inside the house, and then Rebekah was forcibly removed to another location.

Arkansas State Police have never released what exactly happened inside the house where Rebekah Gould was murdered, but the evidence points to a brutal scene. Blood-stained sheets were discovered in the washing machine, and a blood-covered mattress had been flipped over.

An uneaten breakfast sandwich, possibly from the Possum Trot, sat on the bedside table.

Giefer Possum Trot gas station/store [Photo: Google Maps]

Giefer Possum Trot gas station/store [Google Maps]

According to Areawide Media, the official autopsy report concluded that the killing blow was likely struck from a piano leg that was missing from McCullough’s home.

Police believe that Rebekah, who was found wearing a nightshirt and underwear, could have been taking a nap before her trip back to school when she was woken up by her attackers.

There was no evidence that Rebekah had been sexually assaulted, but due to the length of time Rebekah’s body was outside, the report concluded that this evidence could have been lost.

The missing-person case sadly turned into a murder investigation, and, in a small town, everyone became a suspect.

Special Agent Dennis Simons with Arkansas State Police told KAIT 8 that authorities believe Rebekah was “very familiar” with her killer(s) and that people who knew Rebekah “at least casually have not been completely forthcoming with information.”

“There’s a lot of rumors locally about what happened inside the residence, but law enforcement knows, and the person that killed Rebecca knows. So, we’re not releasing that information,” he said.

Over the years, investigators have attempted to piece together a timeline of Rebekah’s last weekend on earth. Arkansas State Police investigator Mark Hollingsworth said Gould and McCullough were seen together at Harp’s grocery store in Mountain View on September 19, and that by all accounts, she was acting normally.

Police say they have questioned McCullough, who met Rebekah when she was a car-hop at Sonic, several times, and ruled him out as a suspect. He said he stayed with a friend after work on September 20, and assumed Gould had gone back to Fayetteville.

On the road near where Rebekah Gould spent her final hours, there are a lot of quirky residents [Photo: Catherine Townsend/Investigation Discovery]

Some homes in this area have blacked-out windows, signs that warn visitors not to trespass, and vans, like the one pictured, parked out front [Catherine Townsend/Investigation Discovery]

Journalist George Jared wrote in his book Witches in West Memphis: The West Memphis Three … and another false confession that McCullough told him that he was back at work the next day when he heard Rebekah was missing. He said that when detectives began to interrogate him, “That’s when it turned into a bunch of shit.”

“She would never hurt anybody,” McCullough said. “I don’t know who would want to hurt her. This is, and will be, the biggest tragedy of my life.”

McCullough has never confirmed the exact nature of his relationship with Rebekah, but Danielle said that McCullough “adored” her sister. Danielle said Rebekah told her during their final drive that McCullough “wanted to get exclusive” but she was not sure about taking that step.

Rebekah’s father, Dr. Larry Gould, is a local dentist. For years, he has battled to get justice for his daughter — including contacting the press, hiring private investigators, and working with local organizations to put up reward money.

Dr. Gould told The Baxter Bulletin that he heard rumors that Rebekah might have been involved in small-time drug dealing, or that a jealous girl dating one of her ex-boyfriends may have decided to assault her. He’s also very interested in a theory about a party that reportedly took place at McCullough’s house over the weekend, which at least one of Rebekah’s ex-boyfriends and his new girlfriend were said to have attended.

In 2016, there appeared to be a break in the case when Dr. Gould received a letter from someone who said they overheard at least four people talking about the murder at Ozarka College in Melbourne before it was widely known that Rebekah vanished. The letter writer claimed to be able to identify three people involved with the killing, who were described as two women and a man who approached another man with dirty blond hair, who asked them, “Did you get it?”

The three people in question responded, by graphically describing Rebekah’s final moments. The alleged killer said that Rebekah was dragged through the house, adding that “blood was everywhere” and “she put up a fight” and “screamed a lot.” They then allegedly said they were not able to retrieve “stuff” from Rebekah before dumping her body.

“This could very well be a game changer,” Dr. Gould told Areawide Media last year. “There’s no other way to say it. I think the letter is authentic, and it’s very detailed. The person who wrote this letter may finally bring justice to my daughter, Rebekah.”

Special Agent Simons says Arkansas State Police and the Izard County Sheriff’s Department are continuing to follow leads, and ask anyone with information about this case to contact the sheriff’s department (870) 368-4203 or ASP at (800) 553-3820. Tips can also be sent to info@asp.arkansas.gov.

KAIT8

AY Mag

Baxter Bulletin

Main photo: Rebekah Gould [Batesville Daily Guard / Facebook]

The post Murder In The Ozarks: Who Killed Rebekah Gould? appeared first on CrimeFeed.

On December 12, 2012, the body of 51-year-old Sherese Bingham was found in White River State Park in Indiana.

Indiana State Police detectives later determined that Bingham had taken her two beloved German Shepherds for a walk along the canal — where someone shot her to death with her own handgun.

That was over four years ago, and her grieving family and police are still waiting for her killer to be brought to justice.

The dogs were so protective of Sherese, police say, that medics had to call for backup before reaching her body.

Investigators concluded that the person who killed Sherese must have known both her and the dogs — and suicide and accidental discharge were ruled out. One person with whom the dogs did feel comfortable was Sherese’s husband, Eugene Bingham.

Additionally, Sherese’s brother Keith Walker said a friend and an officer told him his sister suspected her husband of cheating. Sherese’s Aunt Deborah McMurray confirms this, and revealed that the couple had seemed to drift apart, and that, in fact, they were sleeping separately, with Eugene staying in the basement.

McMurray recalled a conversation she’d had with Sherese, in which the victim told her, “I’ve been sleeping with the enemy, I don’t even know this man.” Allegedly, Eugene was leading a double life, and had been having an affair for 14 years. Soon after discovering this betrayal, Sherese’s apparently hawked her wedding ring to a pawn shop.

Eugene Bingham [WTHR/YouTube (screenshot)]

Officers arrested Sherese’s husband Eugene Bingham, 53, in July of 2014, but prosecutors dropped the charges in August 2015 due to a lack of evidence.The lawyer who represented Eugene has told reporters that he has no comment. Family members would continue to hold suspicions, however, pointing out that Eugene’s behavior had been “odd.” There is also the persistent fact that he would have been able to approach the German Shepherds safely.

Investigative reporter Russ McQuaid also believes that the dogs hold the answer to this case. “These dogs are devoted to her, and for somebody to get close enough to her to shoot her, if she didn’t shoot herself, they would have to know those dogs, those dogs would have to know that person,” he said. “There’s only one other person those dogs know, and that’s Eugene.”

McMurray said there had been other mysterious factors, such as a conversation she had with Sherese in which she claimed that she had been being followed by a “dark blue Blazer.” Also, about three hours before she was murdered, Sherese phoned McMurray, just to tell her that she loved her.

During the investigation, both Eugene and his girlfriend were given polygraph tests. Eugene’s results were “inconclusive,” and his girlfriend failed. But with no additional evidence to show that she was involved in Sherese’s murder, the girlfriend has never been charged.

Police have asked anyone with information on this still unsolved case can contact Crime Stoppers at (317) 262-8477.

WISH TV

Fox 59

CrimeWatchDaily

Main photo: Sherese Bingham [WTHR/YouTube (screenshot)]

The post In The Mysterious Murder Of Sherese Bingham, The Dogs Have The Answer appeared first on CrimeFeed.

A serial killer who said he is haunted in prison by the ghosts of his victims admitted to slaying two additional victims in California — in Aptos and Santa Cruz — prosecutors announced Monday.

Terry Childs, 61, pleaded guilty Friday to murdering Joan Mack and Christopher Hall, both cold cases that had remained unsolved for more than 30 years.

On October 11, 1984, Mack’s body was found at Beer Can Beach. She had been stabbed to death. On February 3, 1985, Hall was found shot to death in San Lorenzo Park. For these murders, Childs was sentenced by Judge Timothy Volkmann Friday to two terms of life without possibility of parole, to be served consecutive to each other.

Mack’s daughter Alexis, who was only five at the time of her mother’s death, expressed her gratitude to the prosecutors after the trauma she suffered as a child.

Childs, who is currently behind bars at Salinas Valley State Prison in Soledad, is set to serve the new sentences consecutive to murder sentences he is already serving for convictions in Santa Cruz in 1987, Nevada in 1998, and Santa Clara in 2007.

As the son of a bail bondsman, Childs studied police techniques to cover up his tracks while carrying out an unknown number of homicides.

This isn’t Childs’ first confession since he’s been imprisoned. Ten years ago, he told investigators that he kidnapped, beat, strangled, and stabbed 19-year-old Linda Ann Jozovich in 1979 before dumping her body in the Santa Cruz mountains. Childs abducted Jozovich from the parking lot of a store where she worked as a clerk, then drove her to a remote area near Lexington Reservoir and killed her. He said that he had been upset with his mother after an argument when he stumbled upon his victim.

In past confessions, Childs has told police detectives that some of his victims were haunting him in his cell, staring at him, and “eating up his brain” s— and also revealed that Jozovich was one of these victims who haunted him until he confessed to the crime.

SFGate.com

Santa Cruz Sentinel

Main photo: Terry Childs [Santa Cruz Police]

The post Serial Killer Admits To Unsolved Murders In California, Says Victims’ Ghosts Haunt Him In Prison appeared first on CrimeFeed.

Since her tragic death and her mother Casey Anthony’s controversial acquittal, the image of little Caylee Anthony has been burned into the brains of all of us with an interest in true crime.

Haleigh Cummings [Putnam County Sheriff’s Office]

But almost no one remembers five-year-old Haleigh Cummings, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl who went missing in the small Putnam County town of Satsuma, Florida.

Haleigh, who would be 13 this year, was last seen alive on February 9, 2009 at the home of her father Ronald Cummings.

Haleigh’s photo, shown age-progressed to 12 years [National Center For Missing & Exploited Children]

An Amber Alert was issued for Haleigh on the day of Caylee’s memorial service, and the media immediately jumped on the story of another missing girl in Florida.

Misty Croslin, who was Ronald Cummings’ then-17-year-old live-in girlfriend at the time, said she was babysitting Haleigh and her younger brother Ronald, Jr., and that Haleigh disappeared during the night.

Investigators became suspicious when Croslin first claimed Haleigh was sleeping with her in the big bed but eventually said that she was sleeping on a small mattress on the floor in the master bedroom.

Croslin said she went to sleep around 10:00 P.M. after doing laundry, then woke up during the night and saw a light in the kitchen, the back door held ajar by a cinder block — and no sign of Haleigh.

But while Caylee’s story focused on a middle-class family, the world inhabited by Cummings and Croslin brought out a cast of seemingly less sympathetic shady characters, violence, and drugs.

When TV stations tried to interview Cummings and Croslin, Croslin just stared ahead in what appeared to be a drug-induced stupor.

Ronald had obtained custody of his two children because their mother, Crystal Sheffield, allegedly also had a history of drug problems. Sheffield, who had met Cummings when she was also underage, had accused him of violence against her and the children.

In his book The Murder Business, former LAPD detective Mark Furhman (who took the spotlight during the O.J. Simpson murder case) wrote:

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

Investigators cleared Cummings, who was working that night, of involvement, but later said that other people were present at the house the night Haleigh disappeared, including Misty Croslin’s brother Hank Croslin, Jr., and her cousin Joe Overstreet.

The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office brought Misty Croslin and the others in for questioning for months, but no trace of Haleigh was ever found.

Reporters left the scene, and the case is rarely mentioned, except in local papers.

On April 15, 2010, Sheriff Jeff Hardy announced Haleigh was most likely dead, and the case was being worked as a homicide. The Sheriff’s Office released a statement, saying the ongoing investigation has “minimized the likelihood that Haleigh’s disappearance is the work of a stranger,” and that those who know what happened still won’t tell investigators.

But — while murder was one of several scenarios detectives investigated — police have said that with no body, they did not have enough evidence to bring charges against anyone suspected of involvement. Until a body is found — or a killer brought to justice — Haleigh’s agonized family continues to wait for answers.

Last year, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children released an updated age-progression photo of Haleigh at age 12.

Ronald Cummings mug shot [Putnam County Jail]

Misty Croslin [Florida Department of Corrections]

Misty Croslin, Ronald Cummings, Hank Croslin, Jr., and two others were arrested in January of 2010 for trafficking in pain pills during an undercover sting operation that had been going on for months. They all eventually pleaded guilty or no contest, and are all serving lengthy prison terms.

Police ask anyone with information about Haleigh Cummings to call the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office at (386) 329-0808.

If you are in search of a missing person, make sure to enter their information into the database of the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.

News4Jax

Main image: Haleigh Cummings missing poster

The post What Happened To Haleigh? 5-Year-Old Florida Girl Went Missing Day Of Caylee Anthony’s Memorial Service appeared first on CrimeFeed.

On April 24, 1889, William Henry Bury, a murderer whom some suspect of being the notorious serial killer Jack the Ripper, was executed in Dundee, Scotland. Bury was hanged for the death of his wife, Ellen Elliot.

Bury was a former butcher and a heavy drinker with a criminal history when he married Ellen, who, according to historical records, was probably a prostitute. There is evidence that Bury committed a couple of nonfatal slashing and stabbing attacks on women in February and March of 1888. In April he reportedly attacked his wife, attempting but failing to slit her throat.

In the early morning hours of December 20, 1888, Bury is said to have attacked a young woman named Rose Mylett, fatally strangled her, and dumped her body in Clarke’s Yard, a short walk from his home.

Sketch of Bury from The Dundee Courier [Wikimedia Commons]

Soon after, he and Ellen left London for Dundee, Scotland, arriving on the evening of January 20, 1889, and the following morning they rented a room above a bar at 43 Union Street. Bury had lied to his wife about having a work opportunity there, but some feel he fled London to avoid prosecution for the Ripper murders.

On February 4, William bought some rope and spent the rest of the day observing cases at the Sheriff Court from the public gallery, where he was rumored to have listened attentively to the proceedings.

On February 10, he visited his acquaintance, Walker, who lent him a newspaper that featured a woman’s suicide by hanging. When Walker asked Bury to look up news of Jack the Ripper, Bury reportedly threw down the newspaper with a fright. Later that evening, he walked into a police station and reported his wife’s “suicide” to Lieutenant James Parr.

Bury said they had been drinking heavily the night before her death, and he had woken in the morning to find his wife’s body on the floor with a rope around her neck. He claimed that he stabbed the body in anger, and then concealed it in one of the packing cases brought from London. Bury told Parr that he afraid that he would be arrested and accused of being Jack the Ripper.

Police searched the flat, where they found the mutilated remains of Ellen stuffed into a wooden box Bury had commissioned in London. Her stomach had been cut open in a way similar to that of some Ripper victims. They also found bizarre chalk graffiti on the door that read: “Jack Ripper [sic] is at the back of this door” and ““Jack Ripper is in this seller.”

Declaration of Sentence of Death [public domain]

Traditionally, five murders (known as the “canonical five“) are attributed to the Ripper, who terrorized London’s East End between August and November 1888. But at least 11 Whitechapel murders, which occurred between April 1888 and February 1891, were included in the same police investigation — and all of the crimes remain unsolved. One of these is the killing of Rose Mylett.

Some members of the media pointed to the fact that Bury resided in Bow, near Whitechapel, during the time period of the crimes and, like the Ripper, inflicted abdominal wounds on his victims immediately after their deaths. Also, none of the canonical five slayings happened after Bury relocated to Scotland.

On March 18, 1889, Bury was arraigned for the murder of his wife; he entered a plea of not guilty.

A few days before the execution, Bury confessed to Reverend Gough that he had killed Ellen, and claimed that he had tried to dismember the body for disposal the next day but was too squeamish to continue. But experts testified that the shallow cuts were made to Ellen shortly after her murder, and not the next day.

Despite making a full confession to his wife’s murder, Bury consistently denied any connection to the Ripper murders.

Bury’s execution was the last one held in Dundee. After his execution, a Scotland Yard detective allegedly remarked to the hangman, “We are quite satisfied that you have hanged Jack the Ripper. There will be no more Whitechapel crimes.”

Murderpedia

ExecutedToday.com

Main photo: ThinkStock

The post A Look Back: Wife Killer Who Some Believed Was Jack The Ripper, Is Executed appeared first on CrimeFeed.

On April 25, 1924, a search party in Bend, Oregon, chopped a hole in the icy surface of Big Lava Lake. The bodies of fur trappers Dewey Morris, Edward Nickols, and Roy Wison floated to the surface. They had been there for a while.

The trio had originally gathered the week before Christmas in a nearby cabin to spend the winter plying their trade in the area’s game-rich surroundings.

Adirondack_Trapper_holding_fox_pelts_(cut)

Fur Trapper [WikiMedia Commons]

A local resort owner checked in on the trappers on January 15, and reported all on site to be in “jovial” spirits. He reported that the cabin was warm and well tended to, and the group’s hunting had been yielding rich results.

The visitor then walked off via snowshoes and no one ever saw Morris, Nickols, or Wilson alive again – except for their killer.

Concern for the trappers initially arose after no one heard from them for a few months, and passersby noticed abandoned mink traps. Perhaps things had not remained “jovial” after all.

Innis Owen Morris, Dewey’s brother; and Pearl Lynnes, Tumalo Fish Hatchery Superintendent; teamed with Sheriff Clarence A. Adams to look into whether everything was all right. Alas, it was not.

The men’s cabin stood empty. Pots full of burnt food lay atop the stove, and someone had set the table for dinner. Most forebodingly, a bloodstained clawhammer had been discarded in a corner.

Outside, a transport sled was missing, and a fox pen had been opened. Untended trapping lines contained the frozen remains of 12 marten, four foxes, and a skunk.

En route to Big Lava Lake a quarter-mile away, investigators found bloody snow, clumps of hair, and a human tooth. The men’s sled turned up, too, also stained with blood. Impressions in the ice indicated that someone had chopped a large hole in it just off the shore.

Enough of a thaw had set in for searchers to take a boat out on the water. Once there, Morris, Nickols, and Wilson bobbled into sight.

Autopsies determined that each trapper had died of a combination of blunt-force trauma and blasts from both a pistol and a shotgun. The wounds indicated a struggle occurred and, indeed, the clawhammer had come in to play.

Suspicion fell fast on a moonshiner named Indian Erickson, who camped nearby alongside Cultus Lake (what’s with all these cool, kind of scary names?). Erickson had an alibi, though, and he walked.

The Trapper Murders by Melany Tupper [Amazon]

The Trapper Murders by Melany Tupper, front cover [Amazon]

The cabin’s owner next directed police to Charles Kimzey, a local hustler using a fake name who had once accused the trappers of stealing his wallet. He had reportedly even threatened to come back after the dust-up and kill Nickols.

Once they got past Kimzey’s assumed identity, police discovered he was an ex-con who did time in Idaho before escaping from jail. More recently, Kimzey had been arrested in 1923 for robbing and beating an Oregon rental car driver named W.O. Harrison. Kimzey had even tossed his victim down a well to die.

Harrison lived, but Kimzey skipped town before his trial.

Further building the case, a traffic cop identified a photo of Kimzey as being that of a man who he saw carrying a gunnysack of furs on January 24. The man even asked the officers for directions to a place where he could sell his bounty.

Law enforcement promptly offered $1,500 for any information leading to Kimzey’s capture. Nobody came forth, though. Deschutes County Sheriff Claude L. McCauley later wrote in his account of the crime:

“For the next four years, the hunt for Kimzey went on unceasingly…. Every report was investigated, and sometimes Kimzey was reported seen in a half a dozen places at once. Gradually, the Lava Lake murder mystery was more or less forgotten by everyone except the officers of the law and friends of the murdered men.”

Ultimately, Kimzey spent nearly an entire decade on the lam. In 1933, he finally got nabbed in Montana and shipped back to Oregon.

The trader who purchased the furs on January 24 could not positively identify Kimzey as the seller, though. As a result, the cops couldn’t hold their prime suspect for the triple homicide.

Authorities did, however, finally take Kimzey to trial for the attempted murder of W.O. Harrison. He got life behind bars at the Oregon State Penitentiary. Some may feel that at least some justice may have been served for the murder of the trappers.

As a still officially unsolved crime, though, the mystery of who killed Dewey Morris, Edward Nickols, and Roy Wison remains just that: a mystery.

Main photo: Fur Trapper [WikiMedia Commons]

The post Blood On The Ice: The Fur Trapper Massacre On Big Lava Lake appeared first on CrimeFeed.

He’s a six-foot-five former cop. She’s a glamorous Los Angeles lawyer.

This may sound like the pitch for a new TV sitcom, but the two investigators on the new Investigation Discovery show Reasonable Doubt are re-examining controversial real-life murder cases — and the stakes couldn’t be higher.

Retired homicide detective Chris Anderson and Los Angeles–based criminal defense attorney Melissa Lewkowicz then help the desperate families of those convicted of murder decide if it’s time to appeal, or accept the guilty verdict once and for all.

Melissa Lewkowicz and Chris Anderson [Investigation Discovery]

“The issue of wrongful convictions is one that is near and dear to my heart,” Anderson told CrimeFeed. “If you have a wrongful conviction it disrupts the entire system.”

Anderson said he clicked with Lewkowicz immediately. “Physically, we’re total opposites and look kind of like the millennial Odd Couple,” he said. “But it only took us about 45 minutes to figure out that, when it comes to investigations, we have very similar mindsets.”

Lewkowicz calls her partner “charming, dynamic, and brilliant” and says, “He’s got heart. He’s got soul. He’s very God-fearing and religious. When he’s on a case, he eats it, sleeps it, and breathes it. He becomes the case. That’s his skill set.”

Lewkowicz, who has obvious passion for her work, continues:

“We’re looking to expose the raw truth. We live in a world that is black and white, and we’re working in the gray area, where no one wants to look. It’s excruciating for Chris and I, as people who live for justice, to recognize cases where the justice system failed. But it’s also excruciating, in a different way, to deliver the sad news to families that, yes, this person needs to be behind bars, and it’s time to close the case.”

Anderson, who spent 21 years on the police force — and 17 to 18 working in homicide — said that he has lots of experience in digging for facts in an environment where there is constant pressure to make progress. “You have to compartmentalize, and remember that you are out there searching for the truth,” he said. “If you find yourself going down the wrong path, as an investigator you have to take two steps back — and maybe even sometimes start completely over.”

In the new show, the investigators often pore through clues previously overlooked by police – or barred by the court.

“I’m very good at reading people,” he says. “‘I’m able to ask those hard questions be a very good listener. I’m also not one-sided; you can always change my mindset if you have enough evidence. That’s my speciality.”

“Melissa is a very studious person,” Anderson says. “She’s very knowledgable about case law, she’s able to read and apply what she’s read to these cases, and we’re able to decompress everything that we’ve learned and figure out which way we’re going to decide on these cases.”

Anderson said that none of his cases when he was on the force ended in a wrongful conviction. “Often, wrongful convictions happen because there is only a single shred of evidence, or one ID witness when there should be several,” he said. “If I only had a single piece of evidence, I would keep going,” he added.

He also said that, even though it can, at times, be annoying for an investigator, in the end having a District Attorney with “very high standards” when pursuing criminal prosecution was an asset. “I’m thankful,” he said. “Because it made me have high standards as well.”

Melissa Lewkowicz and Chris Anderson, across from Sheila Phipps. Pictures of Mac Phipps and Club Mercedes are laid out in front of them. [Investigation Discovery]

The premiere episode follows the case of rapper McKinley “Mac” Phipps, Jr., who was convicted in 2001 of manslaughter charges in the death of Barron C. Victor, Jr., 19, during a nightclub shooting. Phipps, now 39, was sentenced to 30 years to life.

Before the shooting, Phipps was a rap phenomenon who went from recording his first album at age 12 to becoming a rising star on Master P‘s No Limit Records. His albums, 1998’s Shell Shocked and 1999’s World War III, were hits.

Phipps, who is currently behind bars in Louisiana, has always maintained his innocence.

In cases where he and his partner are forced to ultimately conclude that the right person is behind, bars, Anderson says he hopes the show can at least help the relatives of those incarcerated accept the verdict.

“Ultimately, it’s about giving the families closure,” he said.

Watch the premiere of Reasonable Doubt on Wednesday, April 26, at 10/9c on Investigation Discovery or on ID GO.

Realscreen

Main photo: Chris Anderson and Melissa Lewkowicz [Investigation Discovery]

The post Meet The Hosts Of New ID Show “Reasonable Doubt” Who “Live For Justice” appeared first on CrimeFeed.

LAKEVILLE, IN — Who killed the Pelley family on prom night?

Police say that on April 29, 1989, 17-year-old Jeffrey Pelley, who was angry after his minister father grounded him and forbade him from going to the dance, killed his father, stepmother, and two sisters by shooting them to death at close range at their home in Lakeville, Indiana.

The bodies of the Reverend Robert L. Pelley, 38; his wife, Dawn, 32; and their daughters Janel, 8; and Jolene, 6; were found in the church parsonage on the following Sunday after the family failed to appear for services at the Olive Branch Church of the United Brethen in Christ.

It was neighbor Will Tisdale who found the bodies, after going to the house to check on the family. After discovering the Reverend’s corpse shot dead on the floor, he found the children. “The kids was at the foot of the stairway just a little ways down the stairway … and I didn’t go all the way down, I went about two or three steps. That was enough for me. … It was a bloody mess,” he said.

Jeffrey Pelley [AP Photo/Joe Raymond]

Investigators claim that after slaughtering his whole family, that Jeffrey Pelley cleaned up and went to the dance at LaVille High School.

His prom date, Darla Adams, told ABC News in 2007 that Pelley appeared to have had a premonition during their date. “He told me he had a strange feeling something bad happened at home,” she said. Adams had been surprised when her date showed up, as she didn’t expect the elder Pelley to change his mind about allowing his son to attend the dance. Pelley told her that his father had relented at the last minute. The day after the prom, Jeff and his girlfriend went to the Great America Theme Park north of Chicago.

For years, the case remained cold. In the meantime, Pelley had relocated to Florida, gotten married, and had a child. Pelley, who has always maintained his innocence, was not charged until 2002, when the case was re-investigated. In 2006, he was found guilty and sentenced to 160 years in prison for the murders, 40 years for each killing.

His attorneys argued during his trial that he would not have time to have killed his family, cleaned up, and still made it to the prom. They also claimed that he could not have acted “normal” at prom, as his friends testified during the trial that he did, so soon after such a horrific act.

The defense also questioned the decision by investigators not to look for fingerprints at the crime scene, reportedly due to the fact that police considered Pelley their only suspect.

They became convinced that Pelley was the killer largely due to the fact that they found it unlikely that his father, who had reportedly been “adamant” about grounding his son, would have suddenly had a change of heart and allowed Pelley to participate in all of the prom activities. The motive for the massacre, police said, was to attend the events and save face in front of his girlfriend.

During the trial, jurors reportedly found a photo of a gun rack, which was missing a gun, combined with Pelley’s stepsister Jessica’s testimony that she remembered both a bow and a gun being in the rack on the Friday night, compelling. The gun used to commit the murders was never found.

Still, the case against Pelley was reportedly so weak that two district attorneys over two decades refused to prosecute.

According to the website Justice For Jeff, run by Jacque Pelley, in March of 2009 the Innocence Project from Indiana University School of Law – Indianapolis agreed to take the case. According to an update posted in 2016, they are still working on a resolution.

Main photo: Public domain/Morguefile

The post Did Jeffrey Pelley Really Massacre His Family So He Could Go To The Prom? appeared first on CrimeFeed.

IDAHO FALLS, ID — The murder of Angie Dodge remains unsolved, despite the fact that a man served 20 years in prison for the crime.

Christopher Tapp spent 20 years behind bars for the brutal rape and murder of 18-year-old Dodge on June 13, 1996. Over the years, after looking at the circumstances surrounding the case, many experts came to believe that Tapp had made a false confession. And in fact, DNA evidence at the scene did not match Tapp, who was 20 at the time of Dodge’s murder.

In March 2017, a judge exonerated and released Tapp after vacating his rape conviction and resentencing him to time served.

[Idaho Falls Police Department]

And now, in a quest to identify the real killer, police say that they are using DNA to create an image of what he looks like. Using technology that takes DNA and creates a picture of a suspect’s face, investigators plan to release two “snapshots” of Dodge’s killer this week.

Joelyn Hansen, Public Information Officer for Idaho Falls Police Department, revealed that the department does have DNA from a semen sample from the crime scene, but so far has not been able to find a match. Hansen explained that, using the DNA, experts can create a prediction of a person’s physical appearance. “DNA technology has improved phenomenally. We’re able to do a lot more. We’re able to do things that we were not able to do back … 21 years ago,” Hansen said.

Police plan to release two computer generated “phenotypes”: One of the suspect 20 years ago, and another age-progressed photo of what the person may look like today. “We hope that it does generate some good possible leads into bringing us one step closer to bringing us justice for Angie Dodge,” Hansen said.

KPVI

Main photo: detail of poster [Idaho Falls Police Department]

The post Police Use DNA To Create “Snapshot” Of Angie Dodge’s Killer appeared first on CrimeFeed.

At around 10 P.M. on Thursday, May 3, 2007, three-year-old Madeleine McCann vanished without a trace while on vacation with her family in Portugal.

Madeline went missing from her bed at the now-infamous address of apartment 5A on Rua Dr Agostinho da Silva as her parents, Gerry and Kate, dined with friends at a restaurant nearby. It’s been 10 years since the little girl seemed to vanish into thin air — and no trace of her has been found since.

The mystery of Madeline’s disappearance has made headlines around the world over the years, and police and other experts have followed countless leads.

Today marks the 10 year anniversary of Madeleine McCann's disappearance I have thought about her ever since, I used to tie a yellow ribbon around my ankle in support of her. Madeleine is 14 in 9 days. The last picture is an age progression, she could look similar to this. I believe she is out there. I believe she is alive For information on how you can help, go to findmadeleine.com All hate will be deleted/blocked.

A post shared by Rєвєккα (@flaneur_11) on May 3, 2017 at 9:27am PDT

Some believe that she was murdered by accident as the result of a burglary gone wrong; others accused her distraught parents of involvement. Detectives pursued other tips as well: Had she been abducted and killed by a local pedophile? Kidnapped by a European sex-trafficking gang? Snatched by a childless couple desperate for one of their own?

Twelve days after Maddie’s disappearance, 34-year-old British-Portuguese property consultant Robert Murat was named as the first “arguido,” or person of interest, in the case. After searching areas including his home, investigators concluded that Murat had no link to Madeline’s disappearance, and his arguido status was removed in July 2008.

The first senior detective on the case, Goncalo Amaral, believed Madeleine died in the family’s rented holiday apartment, and her parents covered up her death and disposed of her body. This would be the beginning of an often contentious relationship among Gerry and Kate — who have always denied any role in their daughter’s disappearance — and the Portuguese police.

According to media reports in 2007, British sniffer dogs trained to detect body scent and blood reacted in the vacation apartment. There were also reports that Madeline’s DNA had been found in a car that Gerry and Kate McCann rented 25 days after Madeline disappeared.

The misinterpretation by Portuguese investigators of the results of these forensic swabs taken led to the McCanns being questioned and seen as official suspects. When they were questioned over the DNA discoveries, Kate was asked 48 questions over an 11-hour interrogation, but instead of answering them she used her right to remain silent, speaking only once.

Some of the questions she were asked were: “Did you manage to sleep? Did Maddie suffer from any illness or take any medication? Did you work every day?” Kate’s refusal to answer seemingly innocuous queries led to police to accuse her of negatively affecting the search for Maddie.

The couple were finally ruled out when the Portuguese case was closed, unsolved, after 15 months.

‪#10Years since #MadeleineMccann when missing! Please share and help bring her HOME #FindMadeleine ‬

A post shared by Prince Christopher (@chris_billows) on May 3, 2017 at 1:30am PDT

Gerry and Kate continue to and have always denied any role in their daughter’s disappearance, and two Portuguese investigations and a Scotland Yard inquiry have found no evidence to suggest otherwise.

After hearing a report that Madeleine had been photographed by a stranger on the beach before her disappearance, another theory investigated by Portuguese police was that she could have been stolen by human traffickers. Human-trafficking gangs are known to operate in the northwest African country of Mauritania, which became the last country in the world to abolish slavery, in 1981.

This theory appeared to be bolstered when several witnesses reported possible sightings of Madeleine in Morocco. Her parents visited Morocco, but could find no evidence that she had been there.

In 2011, Portuguese detectives reopened their investigation after studying a series of attacks in resorts along the Algarve coast in the years up to 2007 — in which a man entered apartments of British vacationers and molested young girls while they slept. Investigators’ main suspect, Ocean Club waiter Euclides Monteiro, who had been killed in a freak accident in 2009, was ruled out by DNA evidence — and the perpetrator of these attacks remains at large.

Convicted British pedophile Raymond Hewlett was also reportedly considered as a potential suspect. He had been staying in a converted truck at a camping site near the Ocean Club resort in Praia da Luz in 2007. He died in Germany in 2010.

Another possible theory that has been suggested was that Madeleine left the apartment to look for her parents, and then had some sort of accident — perhaps falling into a pit at a construction site, which was later filled, or being killed in a hit-and-run car accident in which the driver panicked and hid the body.

A post shared by ☯️ (@dualityreality69) on May 3, 2017 at 10:41am PDT

Detectives recently revealed they are working on a final theory that the youngster was kidnapped by a European trafficking gang. The “spotters” are believed to have targeted the charismatic blonde toddler and taken photographs of her while she was playing on the beach and beside the pool at her holiday apartment.

In an interview to mark the 10th anniversary of Maddie’s disappearance, Gerry and Kate spoke of their enduring hope that they will find out what happened to their daughter someday. They recently suffered a setback when they lost their eight-year libel battle against former police chief Goncalo Amaral who published a book accusing them of hiding their daughter’s death. He claimed in the book The Truth Of The Lie that Madeleine had died in their holiday flat and they had faked her abduction to cover up the tragedy.

Scotland Yard shut down its investigation in 2016, but Madeleine’s family has vowed to continue to search for answers.

If you are in search of a missing person, make sure to enter their information into the database of the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.

Manchester Evening News

Main photo: Madeleine McCann in 2007, age three, and forensic artist’s impression of what she may have looked like in 2012 [Wikimedia Commons]

The post 10 Years Later: What Really Happened To Madeleine McCann? appeared first on CrimeFeed.

Embattled New York real estate scion Robert Durst’s current wife helped him cover up what happened to his first wife, Kathleen Durst, according to court papers.

Durst, 74, who was the subject of the HBO documentary The Jinx, has been suspected but never charged in the disappearance of Kathleen, who was last seen in 1982.

His first wife’s sisters allege that Durst’s second wife Debrah Charatan and his friend Susan Giordano knew what happened to Kathleen, according to The New York Times.

“Charatan, a cold-blooded opportunist, conspired and agreed to help Durst conceal” the killings of his former wife and confidante Susan Berman, the sisters’ lawsuit says. Their lawyers declined to comment Wednesday on the suit, which was filed earlier this week.

Durst, who is currently behind bars in California, was arrested for Berman’s 2000 death shortly before the final episode of The Jinx aired. Prosecutors allege that Durst shot Berman in the back of her head to stop her from telling investigators what she knew about Kathleen’s killing.

According to the suit, Charatan married Durst in 2000 so that their communications would be legally protected. Then, once Durst had fled New York while the investigation into Kathleen’s disappearance heated up, she allegedly sent him money — and took millions herself. Charatan is in charge of all of Durst’s financial affairs and is the beneficiary of his will.

Giordano reportedly got $350,000 from Durst, and allegedly helped route money to him and agreed to store dozens of boxes of his documents to keep them out of sight.

Durst’s criminal-case lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, declined to discuss Durst’s dealings with his wife or Giordano, except to say he’s very close with both.

Since a New York judge recently declared Kathleen Durst dead as of 1987, beyond the state’s legal time limit for a wrongful-death suit, the sisters’ case invokes a state law, the “right to sepulcher,” giving families the right to determine a loved one’s burial and immediate access to the body of a loved one. They are reportedly seeking at least $100 million.

Associated Press

The New York Times

Main photo: Robert Durst [Wochit News / YouTube (screenshot)]

The post New Lawsuit Claims Robert Durst’s Second Wife Helped Cover Up Murder Of First Wife appeared first on CrimeFeed.

Twin Peaks tourists are flocking to a small town in upstate New York in order to re-investigate the unsolved murder of the young woman whose death reportedly inspired the surreal TV series.

Hazel Drew [public domain]

Twin Peaks creators David Lynch and Mark Frost set the iconic 1990s show, which will make its long-awaited return on May 21, in Washington state.

The mystery of who killed Laura Palmer is central to the series, and was obsessively investigated by characters including FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper, played by Kyle McLaughlin. Palmer’s death was loosely based on the killing of 20-year-old Hazel Drew (above and left) in Sand Lakes, New York, in July 1908.

Frost has said that he was inspired by Sand Lakes because he spent summer vacations there as a child. Like its fictional TV counterpart, Sand Lake is located in the mountains, and its natural resources reportedly inspired the logging industry and Great Northern Hotel depicted in the show.

“I’d heard stories about (Hazel) all through my growing up, because she’s supposedly haunted this area of the lake,” Frost said at a 2013 Twin Peaks reunion at the University of Southern California. “So that’s kind of where Laura came from.”

It was a sweltering evening on July 7, when Hazel Drew wandered a remote section of Taborton Road alone. Women didn’t often walk alone at night back then, and it may have especially risky for Drew, who, like Palmer, was described (in her autopsy) as a blonde with a “well-formed figure.”

At around 7.30 P.M., she encountered two men: Frank Smith, a teenage farmhand who allegedly had a thing for her; and Rudolph Gundrum, a 35-year-old charcoal peddler. The men were riding in Gundrum’s horse-drawn wagon, and said they exchanged greetings with Drew.

Like Laura Palmer, Hazel’s body was discovered floating face down in Teal’s Pond several days after her murder.

According to police, she had been beaten to death with a blunt object, and her features were so distorted that she could be identified only by her clothes and the gold fillings in her teeth.

Laura Palmer was a 17-year-old homecoming queen with dark secrets. Drew, who had worked as a domestic servant since the age of 14, was also rumored to have been involved in dalliances that were kept from friends and family.

Laura Palmer on Twin Peaks DVD package cover [promotional image]

In Twin Peaks, Agent Cooper finds and reads Laura Palmer’s diary. In real life, Rensselaer County authorities discovered dozens of postcards and letters between Drew and her acquaintances.

In both the fictional and real cases, there were multiple suspects. Smith was a person of interest, until police reportedly verified his alibi.

Other suspects included Hazel’s uncle, William Taylor; a dentist who had proposed to Hazel; a train conductor she was rumored to be secretly seeing; and an Albany millionaire who ran a nearby resort where strange happenings including orgies were rumored to occur. (One Eyed Jacks, anyone?)

But there is one crucial difference between reality and fiction: While Palmer’s killer was ultimately revealed, Drew’s murder has never been solved. Sadly, despite technological advances in DNA and other evidence, Frost stated that in some ways, not much has changed.

The hunt for Drew’s killer, Frost said, was “hastily conducted” because she was not from a prominent family, and “there was very little sympathy for female victims of that sort in this time.”

The Washington Post

NewYorkUpstate.com

DailyMail.com

Main photo: Hazel Drew [public domain]

The post Who Killed Hazel Drew? The Real-Life Unsolved Murder That Inspired “Twin Peaks” appeared first on CrimeFeed.

BALTIMORE, MD —The unsolved 1970 murder of Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik, who taught at an all-girls Catholic school near Baltimore, is surrounded with strange mysteries and horrific secrets.

The body of the 26-year-old nun was found January 3, 1970, by hunters, covered in snow near a garbage dump in Lansdowne, Maryland. Cesnik had been beaten to death, and her skull was crushed by an unknown blunt object.

At the time, Cesnik was teaching at Western High, a public high school. She had been at the Archbishop Keough High School since 1965, but in 1969 she applied for permission to take an “exclausation” — which allowed her to live outside the convent and wear “civilian” clothing.

Cesnik was last seen by her roommate, fellow nun Sister Helen Russell Phillips, leaving their apartment at the Carriage House complex on November 7, 1969. Police records show she bought dinner rolls and cashed a paycheck. Concerned when her roommate had not returned by 11 P.M., Sister Helen called two priests, Father Gerald J. “Gerry” Koob and Father Peter McKeon. The two men drove to the Carriage House apartments, where they called police at 1 A.M. to report Cesnik missing.

The priests aroused suspicion when they told police that they decided to take a walk at around 4 A.M. to “calm their nerves,” and found Cesnik’s green Ford Maverick in a nearby parking lot. After Cesnik’s body was found, investigators focused on Koob — especially after they found a romantic letter from Cesnik in his quarters.

Dated November 3, 1969, it read:

“My very dearest Gerry, ‘If Ever I Should Leave You’ is playing on the radio. I’m all curled up in bed. My ‘period’ has finally arrived, ten days late… So you might say I’m moody… My heart aches so for you. I must wait on you – your time and your need – even more than I had before… I think I can begin to live with that more easily now than I did two months ago, just loving you… within myself…I must tell you, I want you within me. I want to have your children.”

Koob denied that the relationship was ever physical, and police have said his alibi for the night Cesnik disappeared is “airtight.”

The case went cold, and did not make headlines again until a quarter of a century later when two women filed a lawsuit against the Baltimore Archdiocese, claiming they had been sexually abused by Father Anthony Joseph Maskell in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when they were students at Archbishop Keough High School. One of the plaintiffs, identified only as “Jane Doe,” testified that late in November of 1969, Father Maskell took her to a garbage dump in Lansdowne and showed her the body of Sister Catherine.

Former students who have shared their stories say that Cesnik was aware of the alleged abuse, and that they believe she planned to speak out.

The Baltimore Archdiocese reassigned Father Maskell to clerical duties in the St. Augustine Parish in Elkridge, Maryland, where he died of a massive stroke on May 7, 2001, at the age of 62. Maskell’s body was exhumed from a Baltimore cemetery earlier this year as part of the investigation into Cesnik’s murder. But detectives revealed this week that after weeks of testing, Maskell’s DNA did not match evidence found from the murder scene nearly 50 years ago.

In addition, an investigation by City Paper revealed that a second young murder victim, who was killed only four days after Cesnik vanished, attended the same Catholic church where the alleged sex-abuser had been serving as parish priest.

Both cases remain unsolved, and though the FBI and Baltimore County Police Department have recently reopened investigations into the killings, they have reportedly not attempted to make connections between the two.

The investigation continues.

People

CBS Baltimore

Baltimore Sun/City Paper

Bishop-Accountability.org

DailyMail.com

Main photo: Sister Catherine Ann Cesnik [DailyMail.com (screenshot)]

The post Who Killed Sister Cathy? The Grisly Unsolved Murder Of A Baltimore Nun appeared first on CrimeFeed.

CLEARWATER, FL — Sometime during the early morning hours of September 11, 2000, eight-year-old third grader Zachary Bernhardt disappeared from his Clearwater, Florida, home in the dead of night.

His mother, Leah Hackett, told investigators that Zachary went to sleep in her bed at around 11 P.M. She said that she went outside for a walk around the Savannah Trace apartment complex, and then a quick swim, sometime between 3 and 4 A.M. After she returned to the apartment and took a shower, she realized that her son was missing — and called police at 4:47 A.M.

There were no signs of a struggle, and no evidence of a break-in. Zachary, whose story is told in a new episode of Investigation Discovery’s “Disappeared,” had vanished without a trace.

Police took DNA evidence, secured the crime scene, and launched a massive grid search of the area around the apartment on Drew Street.

Specialized dogs were used during the search, but found no trace of Zachary leading out of the apartment [Investigation Discovery]

Over the years, investigators have interviewed thousands of people and followed endless tips — but no trace of Zachary has ever been found.

Detectives said that the circumstances of Zachary’s disappearance were “unusual.” They questioned Leah’s decision to leave the apartment at that time of night and go for a swim — without a towel — leaving the door unlocked.

Police began to ask more and more questions about Leah, and so did the local media. Following reports that neighbors had stated Leah’s car was moved on the night Zachary disappeared, during the time she claimed she had been home, investigators told reporters in September that they did not believe that Leah had told them the whole story.

As a single mother, Leah often struggled to make ends meet, and she and her son had reportedly moved 11 times in 14 years. On at least on occasion, Zachary witnessed an acquaintance of his mother’s attack her. Reports say that Leah and Zachary were facing eviction at the time of his disappearance.

Savannah Trace apartments where Leah and Zachary lived [Investigation Discovery]

Despite the family problems, Zach was a bright student, and he excelled in school. Neighbors and school officials described him as being mild-mannered and smart.

And Leah’s family insists that, despite her personal problems, she was a great mom who adored her son. “They loved each other a lot. They spent a lot of time together. They had a very tight bond,” Billie-Jo Jiminez, Zachary’s aunt, told Investigation Discovery.

Leah revealed the identity of Zachary’s father to investigators. When they questioned him, he appeared to be unaware that he had fathered a child with Leah — and police were able to rule him out as a suspect since he had been nowhere near the state of Florida on the night Zachary disappeared.

Photo of Zachary Berhardt [Investigation Discovery]

Police appeared to get a break in the case in 2001 when an informant notified police that a man named Kevin Jalbert, who resided near Zach’s apartment complex, had been bragging about being a child murderer and in search of a new victim.

The police had an undercover cop track Jalbert’s movements, and Jalbert bragged to the cop that he had abducted and raped over 1,000 children and claimed to have killed five of them. Jalbert pointed directly to Zach’s apartment complex during a drive and said he had kidnapped a child from there.

But police later claimed that Jalbert pointed to the wrong apartment unit. Also, Jalbert said the child he had abducted was wearing Mickey Mouse underwear and Scooby Doo pajamas, while Zach had been wearing boxer shorts at the time of his disappearance. And finally, Jalbert’s DNA did not match the evidence found at the scene.

When questioned by police, Jalbert denied having abducted Zach. Police did find a receipt indicating that Jalbert dropped waste at a landfill two weeks after Zachary’s disappearance, but scoured the landfill and found no trace of Zachary.

Investigators could not conclusively link Jalbert to Zachary’s disappearance — but they did find child pornography at his home. He is currently behind bars serving a 40-year sentence for his crimes.

In August of 2001, a photograph was found outside of Boulder, Colorado, in the parking lot of a sporting goods store. The photograph showed a young boy who appeared to be tied up in a wooded area, and was sent to police departments around the country. Investigators said that the boy had similar features to Zachary, and brought in his grandmother and aunt to look at pictures. The family, however, did not believe the picture was Zachary.

On New Year’s Eve in 2001, another five-year-old child went missing from the Savannah Trace apartment complex. Ten hours after the abduction, a motorist found the child alive in a dumpster, and the boy was reunited with his family. Due to his age, the details of his ordeal were not disclosed. He said that a white man with stringy hair had taken him. Detectives looked for a link between the two cases, but could not find a connection.

Around 797,500 reports are taken each year of missing children, but most turn out to be runaways or custodial abductions. Cases like Zach’s, where children vanish into thin air and no trace of them are ever found, are actually fairly rare.

Zachary’s mother, Leah Hackett, moved to Hawaii, and at some point, detectives say, decided to stop participating in the investigation. Investigators and other member’s of Zach’s family are still searching for answers, though, and making T-shirts and poster boards that show age-progressed photos of what he may look like today.

Anyone with information can call the Clearwater Police Department at (727) 562-4420 or remain anonymous and text a tip to 847411. Tips can also be made through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1 (800) 843-5678.

If you are in search of a missing person, make sure to enter their information into the database of the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.

To learn more about the case, watch Investigation Discovery’s “About a Boy” episode of Disappeared on ID GO.

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Main photo: Zachary Berhardt and an age-progressed photo of what he might look like at 23 years old (right) [National Center For Missing And Exploited Children]

The post What Happened To Zachary Bernhardt? Eight-Year Old Vanished Without A Trace appeared first on CrimeFeed.

HAYWARD, CA — On November 19, 1988, nine-year-old Michaela Garecht and a friend rode their scooters to the Rainbow Market, a grocery store just two blocks from the Garecht’s home.

Michaela Garecht missing poster [Hayward Police Department]

Related: 4 Ways To Keep Your Kids Safe In Honor Of National Missing Children’s Day

After the girls purchased candy and exited the shop, Michaela noticed that one of their scooters had been moved into the store’s parking lot. When Michaela walked over to the scooter, an adult white male with long, dirty blond hair grabbed her, forced her into his vehicle, and sped off.

No one who loves Michaela has seen her since.

Based on descriptions from the friend who witnessed the abduction, several suspects have come under scrutiny for the crime, but none have thus far been arrested.

Of those questioned, most were suspected in other child-snatchings or had been guilty of similar transgressions. Prominent among them were married couple Phillip and Nancy Garrido, who, in 1991, kidnapped 11-year-old Jaycee Duggard and held her captive for the next 18 years.

Michaela Garecht at age 29 in 2008, age-progression image [National Center for Missing and Exploited Children]

Police also looked hard at the so-called “Speed Freak Killers,” Wesley Shermantine and Loren Herzog, a pair of meth-addicted serial murderers who targeted young girls in the area where the Garechts lived. Alas, the exhumation of a mass grave into which the Speed Freak Killers dumped their victims turned up no trace of Michaela.

Sharon Murch, Michaela’s mother, has stated it’s possible that her daughter fell prey to a human-trafficking ring and was taken out of the United States. Throughout the years, possible sightings of Michaela have been reported in Mexico and the United Arab Emirates.

Now, even though nearly three decades have passed, Michaela’s family still searches and maintains hope that one day they will all be reunited. Every November 19, Michaela’s family, friends, and loved ones gather outside the market from which she was taken to honor her memory and to keep the search for answers active and alive. They tie yellow ribbons around a tree in a hugely emotional demonstration of both sorrow and hope.

On the 25th anniversary of Michaela’s disappearance in 2013, Sharon Murch wrote on her blog, Dear Michaela: “Honestly, what I want to do is crawl into bed for the day and pull the blanket up over my head, but I have my yellow ribbons, and I am going to go to the store and hang them on the tree again.”

Murch has pledged to never stop seeking the truth regarding what happened to Michaela, no matter what the outcome.

If you have any information whatsoever on this case, please call the Hayward, California, Police Department at (510) 293-7272, or contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at MissingKids.com.

If you are in search of a missing person, make sure to enter their information into the database of the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.

Main photo: Michaela Joy Garecht [Wikipedia]

The post National Missing Children’s Day: Where Is Michaela Garecht? appeared first on CrimeFeed.

In the early hours of May 30, 2005, 18-year-old Alabama resident Natalee Ann Holloway was celebrating her recent high school graduation with classmates on the island of Aruba.

After a night of partying, Natalee vanished. She has been neither seen nor heard from since then.

The disappearance of Natalee Holloway remains very much an open case — at least in the court of public fascination, horror, and outrage. What follows are five key points to understanding the mystery.

Natalee Holloway missing poster [Aruba Police Force]

1. IT ALL BEGINS WITH JORAN VAN DER SLOOT

Joran van der Sloot, 2005 mug shot [Aruba Police Force]

Friends reported last seeing Holloway leaving Carlos and Charlie’s nightclub with an athletic, 18-year-old Dutch student named Joran van der Sloot. Obviously, only one of them ever turned up again.

Immediately, the case attracted international attention.

After an initial investigation, Aruba authorities arrested van der Sloot for Holloway’s disappearance on June 9, 2005. Police also arrested van der Sloot’s companions, brothers Satish Kalpoe, 18; and Deepak Kalpoe, 21. Citing a lack of evidence, the cops cut loose all three suspects that September.

2. JORAN VAN DER SLOOT KEPT IT ALL ABOUT JORAN VAN DER SLOOT

Despite being free to return to college in the Netherlands, Joran van der Sloot relentlessly thrust himself upon the mass media. For the next couple of years, neither Joran nor his parents, Paul van der Sloot and Anita van der Sloot-Hugen seemed to turn down a TV appearance.

Joran admitted that he’d lied about some details to the police, but maintained he was innocent and had no clue as to what happened with Holloway. In 2007, he even published a book, De Zaak Natalee Holloway (The Case of Natalee Holloway), in which he proclaims, “I hope every day Natalee will be found.”

The book only stirred up negative feelings and, despite denials by authorities, many observers believe it may have newly intensified the investigation.

Later that year, police cited “new incriminating evidence,” and again arrested van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers on “suspicion of involvement in voluntary manslaughter and causing serious bodily harm that resulted in the death of Natalee Holloway.” Regardless, the trio was once more quickly released. That’s when the media that van der Sloot had initially courted turned on him in pursuit of justice.

3. VAN DER SLOOT CONFESSED … THEN DIDN’T … THEN DID … THEN …

After angrily throwing a glass of wine in the face of crime journalist Peter R. de Vries on live TV in 2008, a Dutch news program aired an undercover video made by the writer. On the tape, van der Sloot appears to explain that Holloway suffered a seizure while they were having sex. After failing to revive her, van der Sloot seems to say that he and a friend named Daury took Holloway’s body out to the middle of the ocean by boat and dumped her overboard. Authorities ultimately ruled that the video was inadmissible in court.

Keeping up the pressure, De Vries next broadcast a video that purported to show van der Sloot participating in a Bangkok-based sex-trafficking operation of Thai woman. De Vries reported that pimps paid van der Sloot $13,000 for every female he delivered to them.

American TV aired an interview in November 2008 in which van der Sloot states forthrightly that he sold Natalee Holloway to sexual slave brokers who took her to Venezuela. He also claimed that he hired the Kalpoes to help him and that his father paid off two cops to keep quiet.

The same news show also played an audio recording of Joran talking to his Paul van der Sloot, making it seem as though his father knew about the sex trafficking. Many analysts, however, believe that Joran was simply doing both voices.

In 2010, after Paul van der Sloot died of a heart attack, Joran allegedly reached out to John Q. Kelly, a Holloway family attorney. He offered to reveal where Holloway’s body was in exchange for $250,000.

Kelly set up an FBI sting, in which he wired $25,000. Van der Sloot then stated he buried Natalee’s body in the foundation of a specific house. Authorities quickly determined he was lying, but before the feds could nab him for extortion, though, van der Sloot escaped to Peru.

4. JORAN VAN DER SLOOT DEFINITELY COMMITTED MURDER … AGAIN?

On May 30, 2010 — five years to the day that Natalee Holloway disappeared — Joran van der Sloot beat 21-year-old Stephany Tatiana Flores Ramírez to death with a tennis racquet. The murder happened in his Lima, Peru, hotel room, where he also robbed the college student and daughter of prominent Peruvian business leader Ricardo Flores, taking her phone, computer, and cash.

Police caught van der Sloot three days later. Initially he confessed:

“I did not want to do it. The girl intruded into my private life. I went to her and I hit her. She was scared, we argued and she tried to escape. I grabbed her by the neck and hit her.”

Not surprisingly, he shortly thereafter retracted his statement.

Following massive public fury in Peru and global attention overall, van der Sloot finally pleaded guilty to the “qualified murder” of Stephany. He claimed he’d been driven to do it because nonstop coverage of the Holloway case had driven him insane.

Van der Sloot has since been held in a Peruvian prison, where he continues to generate headlines and shocking tabloid stories. On July 4, 2014, van der Sloot married Leidy Figueroa, a local woman who peddled day-to-day goods inside the prison. She was seven months pregnant with his child. That September, she gave birth to a baby girl.

5. IT ALL CONTINUES WITH NATALEE HOLLOWAY STILL MISSING

On January 12, 2012, the state of Alabama declared Natalee Holloway legally dead. Her father, Dave Holloway, had petitioned the court to do so, despite protests from Beth Twitty, his ex-wife and Natalee’s mom.

Both parents authored books about their ordeal. In 2006, Dave Holloway published Aruba: The Tragic Untold Story of Natalee Holloway and Corruption in Paradise. Twitty followed a year later with Loving Natalee: A Mother’s Testament of Hope and Faith. Twitty also founded The Natalee Holloway Resource Center, a charity to aid the families of missing persons.

For them, the nightmare never will never be over, even if the mystery may one day be solved.

To learn more about the case, watch Investigation Discovery’s “Natalee Holloway: Lost in Paradise” episode of Vanity Fair Confidential on ID GO.

If you are in search of a missing person, make sure to enter their information into the database of the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.

Main image: Natalee Holloway missing poster [Aruba Police Force]

The post Natalee Holloway: 5 Key Facts About The Teen’s 2005 Disappearance appeared first on CrimeFeed.