Gitte's Posts - CrimeSpace2024-03-28T14:43:56ZGittehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Gittehttps://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/60992041?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1https://crimespace.ning.com/profiles/blog/feed?user=r7v0soxuoyf6&xn_auth=noDear Pastor Rehwinkeltag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-03-11:537324:BlogPost:1873322009-03-11T08:19:55.000ZGittehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Gitte
"Dear Pastor Rehwinkel: I am very sorry to add this additional burden to your work."<br />
<br />
<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" height="208" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70744349?profile=original" width="218"></img></p>
That's how John List started his confession in a letter to his pastor in 1971. List went through numerous reasons - or excuses - as to why he had murdered his own mother, wife and three children.<br />
John List was an accountant and a devout Lutheran who had severe financial problems such as a mortgage he couldn't pay and he was also quite concerned about his wife Helen…
"Dear Pastor Rehwinkel: I am very sorry to add this additional burden to your work."<br />
<br />
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70744349?profile=original" alt="" width="218" height="208"/></p>
That's how John List started his confession in a letter to his pastor in 1971. List went through numerous reasons - or excuses - as to why he had murdered his own mother, wife and three children.<br />
John List was an accountant and a devout Lutheran who had severe financial problems such as a mortgage he couldn't pay and he was also quite concerned about his wife Helen who was ill from dementia and unwilling to go to church. He feared that such a decision on her behalf would harm the children. Also, his daughter Pat wanted to get into acting and List considered this a sinful occupation.<br />
<br />
He summed up in his letter that if he had only been troubled by one of these problems he might have pulled through but facing all of them at once, he felt it would be better for his wife and children to leave this world. As to why he murdered his mother, List stated that he did not want to shock her when she found out about the murders.<br />
<br />
List finishes off his letter with a simple "P.S. Mother is in the hallway in the attic - 3rd floor. She was too heavy to move". He asks for forgiveness and then he leaves his hometown of Westfield, New Jersey and disappears for the next 18 years.<br />
<br />
It wasn't until 1989 when his story was featured on America's Most Wanted that he was apprehended when people recognized an age-progressed clay bust by Frank Bender as a man called Robert Clark.<br />
<br />
Bender was very successful in predicting List's appearance. He used old photographs of List's parents and added a pair of glasses to the bust because he and psychologist Richard Walter had speculated that List would want to appear clever and important and would therefore be wearing glasses.<br />
<br />
At the time that John List was apprehended, he was living in Richmond, Virginia under the name Robert Clark which was actually the name of a former classmate.<br />
List had remarried and was once again working as an accountant.<br />
<br />
In 1990 List was found guilty of five counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to five life sentences. In a later interview when List was asked why he had not merely committed suicide instead of murdering five innocent people, he stated that suicide would bar him from getting into heaven where he was hoping to be reunited with his family.<br />
<br />
John List died in 2008 at age 82 and was buried next to his mother.<br />
<br />
The movie "The Stepfather" was loosely based in the List case. In 1993 a TV movie was made about this case. It was called "Judgment Day / Deliver them from evil" and starred Robert Blake as John List.<br />
<br />
I wonder if it's possible to buy that movie anywhere?<br />
I would love to watch it.The Pignataro Casetag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-03-03:537324:BlogPost:1861842009-03-03T18:36:22.000ZGittehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Gitte
<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" height="231" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70744273?profile=original" width="313"></img></p>
<br />
Right now I am reading Ann Rule's book "Last dance, Last chance" which is one of her many collections of crime stories. The main story in this book is about a man called Anthony Pignataro who was a cosmetic surgeon living a flamboyant lifestyle in New York State with his wife Debbie and his two children. The most important person in Anthony Pignataro's life was himself and he had little time for his wife or his children. He had numerous affairs, did…
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70744273?profile=original" alt="" width="313" height="231"/></p>
<br />
Right now I am reading Ann Rule's book "Last dance, Last chance" which is one of her many collections of crime stories. The main story in this book is about a man called Anthony Pignataro who was a cosmetic surgeon living a flamboyant lifestyle in New York State with his wife Debbie and his two children. The most important person in Anthony Pignataro's life was himself and he had little time for his wife or his children. He had numerous affairs, did drugs and worst of all performed operations that he did not have any formal training in. A young mother lost her life on Pignataro's operating table and he did a short time in prison and later lost his medical license.<br />
<br />
His wife Debbie stayed by his side through it all.<br />
<br />
She later found herself to be the victim as Anthony tried to poison her with arsenic over a long period of time. She was hospitalized for many months, slowly regaining her mobility and living through excruciating pain. Police felt that his motive for poisoning his wife might have been to clear himself of the charges in the death of the young mother who died during a breast augmentation in Pignataro's surgery. He was trying to prove that any doctor can lose a patient.<br />
<br />
Debbie Pignataro recovered and were reunited with her children.<br />
<br />
This is the kind of story I really enjoy reading. It's about a true sociopath with absolutely no regard for other people's feelings. Someone who considers himself the center of the universe. I have tried to do a little research online about this case but it seems there is very little to be found. I did find one newspaper article dating back to August 31, 1999, and it explains something about the wife and children of the former Dr. Pignataro having been poisoned but at the time nobody knew who did it.<br />
<br />
The police were never able to establish exactly how Pignataro poisoned his wife but I did find another article with the headline "Hairpiece inventor charged with attempted murder". He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.Carlton Gary, The Stocking Stranglertag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-02-13:537324:BlogPost:1818032009-02-13T12:46:41.000ZGittehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Gitte
<p style="text-align: left;"><a class="noborder" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70744102?profile=original" target="_blank"><img alt="" height="192" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70744102?profile=original" width="170"></img></a></p>
<br />
Carlton Gary was born in Columbus in 1952. His father abandoned him early on and he grew up with his mother who moved from place to place and sometimes with his aunt.<br />
<br />
He was only 16 when he started his criminal career, stealing cars and breaking and entering. He was convicted of firebombing a store because he had a grudge…
<p style="text-align: left;"><a class="noborder" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70744102?profile=original" target="_blank"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70744102?profile=original" alt="" width="170" height="192"/></a></p>
<br />
Carlton Gary was born in Columbus in 1952. His father abandoned him early on and he grew up with his mother who moved from place to place and sometimes with his aunt.<br />
<br />
He was only 16 when he started his criminal career, stealing cars and breaking and entering. He was convicted of firebombing a store because he had a grudge against the store owner.<br />
<br />
During this time Carlton got married and together with his wife he fled to Connecticut, from New London to Hartford and then Bridgeport. They had two kids. In Connecticut Carlton was once again arrested, this time for assaulting a police officer.<br />
<br />
He and his family went to New York so he could start a music career and he got some jobs in different nightclubs.<br />
<br />
A woman called Nellie Farmer was raped and murdered in 1970 and a short time after that another woman called Josephine Deitz was attacked by a black man who broke into her place. Carlton Gary was apprehended for this crime and he was to implicate a partner in crime called John Mitchell.<br />
<br />
Gary testify against his partner and John was convicted but later had his conviction overturned on appeal.<br />
<br />
Gary was freed from prison in 1975 and attacked yet another woman who survived the gruesome assault. There was no evidence linking Gary to the crime and the victim could not identify him but he was put back in jail anyway because of a parole violation.<br />
<br />
He escaped to Columbus, Georgia.<br />
<br />
This is when several elderly women were attacked and murdered. They were raped and strangled with a nylon stocking. The police arrested a suspect but when the murder occurred with the suspect in jail, everybody was aware that the killer who was now termed the Stocking strangler was still at large.<br />
<br />
At one point Carlton nearly got caught but managed to run away from the police and murder another elderly woman, this time with Venetian-blind cord. When the detective on the case saw this, he burst into tears and was found to suffer from exhaustion.<br />
<br />
In June of 1978 Carlton moved back to Florida where he robbed restaurants with a sawed off shotgun.<br />
<br />
He was convicted of robbery and in 1984 he escaped and this time went back to Columbus, Georgia where he was born.<br />
<br />
But now the police were on to him because his fingerprints were matched to those found in the home of a strangler victim.<br />
<br />
On May 3, 1984 Carlton Gary was arrested and admitted to robbing some of the victim's homes but he claimed that another man did the rapes and murders.<br />
<br />
In 1986 he went to trial for the Stocking stranglings, a whole nine years after the last killing. Carlton Gary had almost turned into a ghostlike figure impossible to catch and here he was, a human being, flesh and blood.<br />
<br />
The jury convicted him on all nine counts of which he was charged and he was sentenced to death.<br />
<br />
Carlton Gary has married in prison and adopted his wife's daughter. He passes time doing artwork until his appeals have been exhausted and the sentence will be carried out. He's been sitting there for more than twenty yrs now..<br />
<br />
There's been quite a lot of talk about Carlton Gary possibly being innocent - if you're interested in that debate, search for his name on <a href="http://youtube.com">Youtube</a> and you will find a few videos about that.<br />
<br />
I know very little about the subject but I do wonder why a black person would kill elderly, white ladies. I thought serial killers mostly stuck to their own race? Just a thought.I think O.J. did ittag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-02-09:537324:BlogPost:1809022009-02-09T14:45:41.000ZGittehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Gitte
<p class="zemanta-img" style="margin: 1em; float: right; display: block; width: 212px;"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:O.J._Simpson_1990_%C2%B7_DN-ST-91-03444.JPEG"><img alt="NBC Sports commentator and former professional..." height="134" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8f/O.J._Simpson_1990_%C2%B7_DN-ST-91-03444.JPEG/202px-O.J._Simpson_1990_%C2%B7_DN-ST-91-03444.JPEG" style="border: medium none ; display: block;" width="202"></img></a> <span class="zemanta-img-attribution">O.J. Simpson, Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:O.J._Simpson_1990_%C2%B7_DN-ST-91-03444.JPEG">Wikipedia</a></span></p>
<span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">Right now</span> I am reading John Douglas' book…
<p class="zemanta-img" style="margin: 1em; float: right; display: block; width: 212px;"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:O.J._Simpson_1990_%C2%B7_DN-ST-91-03444.JPEG"><img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8f/O.J._Simpson_1990_%C2%B7_DN-ST-91-03444.JPEG/202px-O.J._Simpson_1990_%C2%B7_DN-ST-91-03444.JPEG" alt="NBC Sports commentator and former professional..." style="border: medium none ; display: block;" width="202" height="134"/></a><span class="zemanta-img-attribution">O.J. Simpson, Image via <a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:O.J._Simpson_1990_%C2%B7_DN-ST-91-03444.JPEG">Wikipedia</a></span></p>
<span style="color: rgb(0, 153, 0);">Right now</span> I am reading John Douglas' book <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html%3FASIN=009942794X%26tag%3Dzemanta-20%26lcode=xm2%26cID=2025%26ccmID=165953%26location=/Journey-into-Darkness-John-Douglas/dp/009942794X%253FSubscriptionId=0G81C5DAZ03ZR9WH9X82" title="Journey into Darkness" rel="amazon">Journey into Darkness</a> where he goes through a lot of interesting cases. The chapter that I find the most exciting is the one called Murder on S. Bundy Drive in which he profiles the killer of Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Goldman" title="Ronald Goldman" rel="wikipedia">Ronald Goldman</a>. The murder happened on June 12 1994 and both victims were stabbed to death in front of Nicole's condominium.<br />
Her two children were asleep in the upstairs bedroom.<br />
<br />
Nicole's ex-husband, O.J. Simpson, the former American football star and actor, stood trial for the murders and was acquitted to many people's amazement. Simpson had been stalking and harassing his ex-wife and records show that they had a very troubled relationship up until the murders.<br />
<br />
I'm going to go through some of the points that John Douglas makes in his book because I find them really interesting.<br />
<br />
1. The murders occurred outside Nicole's house so Nicole was the primary target of the attack. If the kill wanted to attack Goldman, he would have done so while he was alone and not waited until he was with another person. Also looking at the injuries, Nicole was murdered almost in a military style having her throat slit and after that there was a lot of overkill which also leads to a very personal type of murder.<br />
<br />
2. The crime scene seemed both organized and disorganized meaning that something happened that the killer had not expected. Perhaps Nicole was alone to begin with and Goldman entered the scene while the attack took place and therefore the killer had to attack him also. This would have been unexpected and the attack on Goldman was <span style="font-style: italic;">less</span> personal than the one on Nicole. Goldman were stabbed because the killer <span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0); font-style: italic;">had to</span> eliminate him - Nicole was stabbed because the kill <span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 0); font-style: italic;">wanted to</span> eliminate her. You can see that by the overkill done to Nicole. The killer brought a cap, gloves and a knife to the scene so he was obviously planning to murder or attack Nicole but Ronald Goldman put up a big fight and the killer cut his own hand in the process.<br />
<br />
3. There has been speculation that this was done by a hit man but Douglas points out that the crime scene points to an unexperienced killer who left the gloves and the cap behind. Also it could <span style="font-style: italic;">not</span> have been done by a rapist because there was no sexual assault. Could it have been a robber? Douglas says no. Nothing was taken from the house and there were no problems with burglaries in that particular area. Also a burglar does not normally bring a knife to the scene. Burglars rarely attack people, they will do so only if they are cornered and they will pick a weapon that does not require up and personal contact because they just want to get the hell out of there, to quote John Douglas. They'd rather use a gun.<br />
<br />
4. <span style="color: rgb(102, 51, 102);">This is what Douglas thinks happened</span>: Goldman has dropped by Nicole's house and the killer has been stalking Nicole for while. He sees the two of them together and he becomes enraged but the fact that he brought the gloves and the knife does show that he intended to attack Nicole. Goldman tries to calm the man down but the killer whacks Nicole over the head, then proceeds to attack Goldman in order to neutralize him and then he returns to Nicole and murders her. He then goes <span style="font-style: italic;">back</span> to Goldman to make sure that he is dead which would also indicate that this is not a professional hit man - he has to be certain that his victim is dead. Goldman is stabbed more times than Nicole but the attack on her is personal and her head is almost severed from her body.<br />
<br />
5. It has also been speculated that this might be a murder like the Tate/La Bianca murders committed by the <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Manson" title="Charles Manson" rel="wikipedia">Manson family</a> but John Douglas says that in a cult situation you would expect symbolism at the scene, like messages written on walls or doors and there was nothing like that at the Goldman/Brown murder scene.<br />
<br />
6. In Nicole's house there were knives on the kitchen table which would suggest that she had been anticipating a threat. Nothing shows that Goldman was the target but <span style="font-style: italic;">Nicole</span> had a controlling ex-husband who had been harassing her and beating her. Nicole was extremely scared of knives which would also indicate that she was attacked by a person who <span style="font-style: italic;">knew</span> her and would know this fact about her.<br />
<br />
<a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O._J._Simpson" title="O. J. Simpson" rel="wikipedia">O. J. Simpson</a> has played a Navy SEAL on TV and would therefore be trained in military style attacks. Douglas says that if the killer had not been interrupted by Goldman, he would have probably staged the crime scene to look like a rape and he would have probably called somebody to say that he was worried about Nicole and somebody needed to check on her. He would have gotten back home in plenty of time to pull off his alibi.<br />
<br />
7. Douglas believes that Simpson's behavior after the murders were not consistent with the behavior of an innocent person. O.J. did not show any remorse at the death of his ex-wife and he did not become outraged when he was arrested as an innocent person would.<br />
<br />
8. Douglas sums up at the end of the chapter that behavior is consistent and none of the evidence suggested that Nicole and Ron were murdered <span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">by anybody other</span> than Nicole's ex-husband.<br />
<br />
I find it really fascinating that John Douglas can read a crime scene like that and point to the suspicion that most people had at the time of the murders: O.J. did it. Douglas does not come right out and say it, of course, but he does say that nothing points to the conclusion that <span style="font-style: italic;">anybody else</span> did it.<br />
<br />
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/VssuCNMjgBg&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="never"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/VssuCNMjgBg&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="never" width="325" height="244"></embed></object>
<br />
I would love to hear your opinion on it. Who did it?<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.mylivesignature.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://signatures.mylivesignature.com/54487/72/A63F3CA7914304D442F6C2B44F95E4EB.png" style="border: 0pt none ! important; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;"/></a>More than 15 true crime books I recommendtag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-01-28:537324:BlogPost:1785322009-01-28T18:33:55.000ZGittehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Gitte
The wild, wacky, wonderful list of Gitte's true crime books is here!<br />
<br />
<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" height="471" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70743864?profile=original" width="558"></img></p>
<br />
Ann Rule:<br />
<br />
Empty Promises, a collection of true crime files<br />
Kiss me, Kill me, another collection<br />
Bitter Harvest, the case of doctor Debora Green who murdered her two kids<br />
Every breath you take, the story about Allan Blackthorne who had his ex wife murdered by a hit man<br />
The Want-Ad Killer, about serial killer Harvey Louis Carignan<br />
Dead by Sunset, about attorney Cheryl Keeton who was…
The wild, wacky, wonderful list of Gitte's true crime books is here!<br />
<br />
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70743864?profile=original" alt="" width="558" height="471"/></p>
<br />
Ann Rule:<br />
<br />
Empty Promises, a collection of true crime files<br />
Kiss me, Kill me, another collection<br />
Bitter Harvest, the case of doctor Debora Green who murdered her two kids<br />
Every breath you take, the story about Allan Blackthorne who had his ex wife murdered by a hit man<br />
The Want-Ad Killer, about serial killer Harvey Louis Carignan<br />
Dead by Sunset, about attorney Cheryl Keeton who was killed by her ex<br />
And never let her go, the story about Thomas Capano who also murdered an ex girlfriend<br />
Last Dance, last chance, a collection of crime files<br />
Small Sacrifices, about Diane Downs who shot her three kids<br />
Everything she ever wanted, the story of a depraved Southern Belle<br />
The stranger beside me, Ann Rule's story about serial killer Ted Bundy who was her friend<br />
<br />
John Douglas (with Mark Olshaker):<br />
<br />
The Anatomy of Motive, sharing what motivates some of the most depraved killers of our time<br />
<br />
Mindhunter, where Douglas explains how he established the practice of criminal profiling<br />
<br />
Journey into darkness, crime cases and crime prevention/rehabilitation<br />
<br />
Anyone you want me to be, about the world's first internet killer John Robinson who found his victims online<br />
<br />
Obsession, the FBI's legendary profiler probes the psyches of killers, rapists and stalkers and their victims and tells how to fight back<br />
<br />
<br />
Terry Sullivan & Peter T. Maiken:<br />
<br />
Killer Clown; The John Wayne Gacy Murders<br />
<br />
Brian Masters:<br />
<br />
Killing for company, the story of a man addicted to murder (Dennis Nilsen)<br />
The shrine of Jeffrey Dahmer, looking into the mind of Dahmer<br />
<br />
Harold Schechter:<br />
<br />
Depraved, the story of America's first serial killer H. H. Holmes and his castle of horror in Chicago<br />
<br />
Thomas French:<br />
<br />
Unanswered Cries, a true story of friends, neighbors and cold-blooded murder<br />
<br />
Maria Eftimiades:<br />
<br />
Lethal Lolita, the story about Amy Fisher who shot her lover's wife<br />
<br />
Robert Ressler (with Tom Shachtman):<br />
<br />
I have lived in the monster; On the trail of the world's deadliest serial killers<br />
Whoever fights monsters, a brilliant FBI detective's career-long war against serial killers<br />
<br />
Don Davis:<br />
<br />
The Milwaukee Murders, Nightmare in apartment 213, obviously about Jeffrey Dahmer<br />
<br />
Robert Cullen:<br />
<br />
The Killer Department, hunting Russia's Hannibal Lecter: Andrei Chikatilo<br />
<br />
Colin Wilson & Donald Seaman:<br />
<br />
The serial killers, a study in the psychology of violence<br />
<br />
Ken Englade:<br />
<br />
Cellar of Horror, the true story about Gary Heidnik who kept women prisoners in his cellar<br />
<br />
Nancy Gibbs, Richard Lacayo, Lance Morrow, Jill Smolowe and David Van Biema with the editorial staff of Time Magazine:<br />
<br />
Mad Genius, The Odyssey, pursuit and capture of the Unabomber Suspect<br />
<br />
Moira Martingale:<br />
<br />
Cannibal Killers, a journey into the minds of cannibals<br />
<br />
Katherine Ramsland, Ph.D. :<br />
<br />
The Human Predator, a historical chronicle of serial murder and forensic investigation<br />
<br />
And one that's not really a true crime book but more of a self help category:<br />
<br />
Gavin de Becker:<br />
<br />
The Gift of Fear and other survival signals that protect us from violencechikatilo: The evil mantag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-01-19:537324:BlogPost:1773972009-01-19T11:11:36.000ZGittehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Gitte
<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" height="354" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70743857?profile=original" width="324"></img></p>
This is somewhat of a daunting task but I'm going to attempt it anyway because the subject intrigues me.<br />
I am going to write about Andrei Chikatilo, the serial killer accused of murdering 52 women and children in the Russian SFSR (Sovetskaya Federativnaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika).<br />
<br />
I have recently finished reading Robert Cullen's "The Killer Department" and it is a fascinating story. Chikatilo is probably one of the most evil figures I have…
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70743857?profile=original" alt="" width="324" height="354"/></p>
This is somewhat of a daunting task but I'm going to attempt it anyway because the subject intrigues me.<br />
I am going to write about Andrei Chikatilo, the serial killer accused of murdering 52 women and children in the Russian SFSR (Sovetskaya Federativnaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika).<br />
<br />
I have recently finished reading Robert Cullen's "The Killer Department" and it is a fascinating story. Chikatilo is probably one of the most evil figures I have ever read about. The book concentrates on the hunt for one of the world's most savage killers and the man who was determined to catch him: Viktor Burakov, head of the special investigative unit.<br />
<br />
Chikatilo, also known as the red Ripper, was born in the Ukraine and suffered what you might call a typical childhood of a serial killer. He suffered physical abuse and was a bed wetter from early on. During the Ukrainian famine, Chikatilo's mother told him that his older brother Stepan had been captured and eaten by starving neighbors and Chikatilo would also witness the effects of the German bombing raids.<br />
<br />
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70743816?profile=original" alt="" width="253" height="319"/></p>
He would grow up to be a dangerous young man, suffering from chronic impotence, feeling socially awkward and harboring a deep anger.<br />
<br />
After getting out of the military in 1960, he worked as a telephone engineer and also had his first sexual experience, jumping a teenage girl and ejaculating while she struggled.<br />
<br />
Despite of his social awkwardness, Chikatilo married in 1963 and fathered a son and a daughter. He then tried working as a teacher but he was let go after allegations of molestation.<br />
<br />
It was in 1978 that Chikatilo moved to Shakhty which is a coal mining town near Rostov. Here he was to commit his first murder, that of a nine-year-old girl whom he attempted to rape and when he found himself unable to get an erection, he instead stabbed her as she struggled and found himself sexually aroused by the blood. An innocent man was sentenced and executed for this crime.<br />
<br />
Chikatilo managed to control the urge until 1982 where he killed several times. He would approach children or young women at bus or railway stations and convince them to go with him for food or in the children's cases candy. They would go together to a nearby forest where he would murder them. The big bad wolf luring children away from safety. Chikatilo murdered six times in 1983 but in 1984 the murders escalated to 15 , all killed in horrible, sadistic ways.<br />
<br />
Close call:<br />
<br />
It was also in 84 the Chikatilo was found to behave in a suspicious way at a Rostov railway station and when his past was undercovered, he was found guilty of theft and sentenced to one year in prison but he was free after serving only three months .<br />
<br />
The incarceration may have scared Chikatilo a little bit because he would not kill again until August 85 and then commit yet another murder in 87 when he killed a little boy during a business trip.<br />
<br />
The hunt had also intensified since Issa Kostoyev had taken over the case, railway stations were being watched carefully and witnesses were interviewed together with known sex offenders. Chikatilo followed the case closely and this may also have been the reason why he had his urges somewhat under control between 85 and 87. Chikatilo was far from a crazed monster who didn't know what he was doing - he was not crazy, he was a human being able to resist murdering when the risk of getting caught was too great .<br />
<br />
In 1988, however, the killings erupted again as Chikatilo would murder eight people that year alone and then again there was a lapse until between January to November of 1990 where another nine people died .<br />
<br />
The police had uniformed officers at every major bus and railway station around the Rostov area thus forcing the killer to hunt a smaller stations where a number of female agents would dress as homeless people or prostitutes wandering around stations waiting for the killer to strike .<br />
<br />
In 1990 Chikatilo could have been caught .<br />
<br />
He was coming out of the woods having just killed a young woman. He was carrying a sports bag and had blood stains on his face. An undercover officer stopped Chikatilo, looked at his papers and let him go . Had he searched the sports bag , he would have found a severed breast . There was no reason to arrest a Chikatilo and therefore he was let go . It was another close call .<br />
<br />
It was also what sparked the police's interest in him and he was watched 24/7 from now on . The police found him wandering around town trying to strike up conversations with children. He was arrested while coming out of a café .<br />
<br />
Naturally the police hoped the Chikatilo would confess and they used the strategy of mental illness, telling Chikatilo he was a very ill man who needed help and a psychiatrist was involved in questioning him . It was after a lot of talking that Chikatilo confessed to murdering 52 people which stunned the police who only knew of 36 murders until then. When Chikatilo showed the police some undiscovered grave sites, they were sure he was being truthful...<br />
<br />
Chikatilo was imprisoned in a cell by himself because child abusers and murderers are equally loathed in the prisons around the world . He would act normally in his cell , eating well and exercising but his behavior would become bizarre in front of the investigators . This would also be the case during the trial where Chikatilo sat in a big cage to prevent relatives of his victims to attack him .<br />
<br />
At one point Chikatilo would drop his pants and act crazy , going into long rambling speeches , a tactic used to convince the judge that he was indeed insane .<br />
<br />
There was no doubt how the trial would end . Chikatilo was sentenced to death for each offense , the murder of 52 people . The audience applauded .<br />
<br />
It was the end of a miserable life when Chikatilo was taken into a sound proof room in Rostov prison and killed by a gunshot behind the right ear.<br />
<br />
I suppose I am fascinated by Chikatilo's case because here is a man who was evil through the core. He seems to live in people's minds as this crazy, depraved boogeyman luring children away from their parents when in fact he was a human being, able to resist killing when he was scared of getting caught. He was in total control of his urges, far from the beast foaming around the mouth, attacking in front of everybody.<br />
<br />
Chikatilo was a man. A person. The only difference between him and us is that he was dominantly evil.<br />
<br />
That's absolutely fascinating.Toy Box Killertag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-01-17:537324:BlogPost:1771882009-01-17T11:58:06.000ZGittehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Gitte
<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" height="272" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70743809?profile=original" width="221"></img></p>
It is absolutely freezing outside and I am sitting here with a thick sweater on and a cup of hot chocolate with cream by my side. Somewhat of a contrast to the case I'm going to write about which is that of David Parker Ray and his girlfriend Cindy Lee Hendy. Scary stuff.<br />
Parker Ray is also known as the toy box killer due to the fact that he would keep his victims in a torture chamber that he would call his toy box. This chamber was fully equipped…
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70743809?profile=original" alt="" width="221" height="272"/></p>
It is absolutely freezing outside and I am sitting here with a thick sweater on and a cup of hot chocolate with cream by my side. Somewhat of a contrast to the case I'm going to write about which is that of David Parker Ray and his girlfriend Cindy Lee Hendy. Scary stuff.<br />
Parker Ray is also known as the toy box killer due to the fact that he would keep his victims in a torture chamber that he would call his toy box. This chamber was fully equipped with whips, straps, leg spreader bars and surgical blades.<br />
<br />
David and his girlfriend Cindy weren't the only suspects. David's daughter Glenda Jean and a drifter called Dennis Yancy were also involved with committing the crimes.<br />
<br />
In the spring of 1999 a victim escaped after having been through three days of torture in Parker Ray's toybox. This led to the capture and conviction of David and Cindy and David was sentenced to 224 years in prison. He died of a heart attack after having served only 2½ years. Cindy got 36 years.<br />
<br />
The crimes happened in Elephant Butte, New Mexico and both Parker Ray and Hendy was actually not convicted of murder but kidnapping and criminal sexual penetration - or in Hendy's case: Accessory to criminal sexual penetration. The drifter Dennis Yancy was the only one convicted of murder, that of Marie Parker, a mother of two daughters.<br />
<br />
It is believed that Parker Ray has murdered at least six people.<br />
<br />
In the documentary series "Most Evil", Dr. Michael Stone has interviewed Cindy Hendy in prison. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPlHpBRln2s">Watch it here</a>.Starkweathertag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-01-17:537324:BlogPost:1771782009-01-17T10:30:00.000ZGittehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Gitte
<p style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" height="189" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70743764?profile=original" width="332"></img></p>
Robert Colvert, working the night shift at the Burlington Northern train yards, was to be the first victim of Charlie Starkweather, the American spree killer who murdered 11 people in Nebraska and Wyoming together with his under-age girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate in the 1950's. Apparently Charlie had tried to buy a stuffed toy on credit for Caril and Colvert had refused. Starkweather returned to the Lincoln gas station a couple of times with a loaded…
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/70743764?profile=original" alt="" width="332" height="189"/></p>
Robert Colvert, working the night shift at the Burlington Northern train yards, was to be the first victim of Charlie Starkweather, the American spree killer who murdered 11 people in Nebraska and Wyoming together with his under-age girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate in the 1950's. Apparently Charlie had tried to buy a stuffed toy on credit for Caril and Colvert had refused. Starkweather returned to the Lincoln gas station a couple of times with a loaded shotgun in his trunk, then drove Colvert to an abandoned area where he was executed.<br />
Starkweather was executed in 1959, Fugate was given a life sentence but paroled in 1976.<br />
<br />
I'm not going to go very deeply into the case right now. Just wanna let you know that <a href="http://www.journalstar.com/special_reports/starkweather/">JournalStar has a special report on the Starkweather case</a> where you can view photos, newspaper clippings and video interviews. Just follow the link to read it.A psychopathtag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-01-16:537324:BlogPost:1770372009-01-16T17:29:54.000ZGittehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Gitte
For years now I have loved reading true crime stories. Behavioral science really interests me and I'm drawn to people's dark side. Why do we do what we do? Most of the people I read about are defined as psychopaths and I'm going to explain a little about what that means.<br />
<br />
A psychopath is a person who shows antisocial behavior and I'm going to explain more about what antisocial means in a bit. Psychopathy is a personality disorder, not to be confused with a psychotic disorder.The psychopath…
For years now I have loved reading true crime stories. Behavioral science really interests me and I'm drawn to people's dark side. Why do we do what we do? Most of the people I read about are defined as psychopaths and I'm going to explain a little about what that means.<br />
<br />
A psychopath is a person who shows antisocial behavior and I'm going to explain more about what antisocial means in a bit. Psychopathy is a personality disorder, not to be confused with a psychotic disorder.The psychopath finds gratification in criminal behavior and cannot control his/her sexual or aggressive impulses. They are also unable to learn from past mistakes. Psychopaths are people lacking a conscience.<br />
<br />
It is important to note that not all psychopaths grow up to be murderers - some psychopaths have grown up to be quite successful in many lines of work ( some would say lawyers - but jokes aside)<br />
<br />
The antisocial personality also has a mental disorder. An antisocial person shows a disregard for the rights and feelings of others and this behavior often begins in childhood and continues into adulthood.<br />
<br />
Most of the people I enjoy reading about and studying suffer from both antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy.<br />
<br />
One such person is Theodore Robert Bundy who was an American serial killer. Ted Bundy was born in Burlington, Vermont in 1946. His mother was Louise Cowell and she was unwed. Ted grew up thinking that his grandmother was his mother and his real mother was his sister. For the first few years of his life he lived in Philadelphia but in 1950 he moved to live with relatives in Tacoma, Washington.<br />
<br />
At school he was shy and introverted and he later explained that he never understood social behavior. His mother married a man named Johnny Bundy and that's how Ted turned into Ted Bundy . He grew fascinated by sex and violence and he turned into a thief and an amateur criminal - he stole his ski equipment and got arrested twice.<br />
<br />
Bundy graduated in 1965 and earned a scholarship to the University of Puget Sound and he began taking courses in psychology and Oriental studies. He also began working as a night shift volunteer at a suicide hotline and that's where he met crime writer Ann Rule. Rule would later describe him as gentle and polite. Bundy got a girlfriend called Stephanie Brooks but following her graduation she ended their relationship claiming that Bundy was immature and have no ambition. This seemed to change something in Bundy's personality - he became more determined and dominant. He got involved in politics as a Republican. He began at the University of Washington majoring in psychology. In late 1973 Bundy enrolled in law school where he did very poorly and he dropped out in 1974.<br />
<br />
He again befriended Stephanie Brooks until she agreed to marry him. But after a period of no contact she asked Ted what was wrong and he said he had no idea what she was talking about. It seems he had been planning the whole thing from the beginning.<br />
<br />
It is thought that Ted Bundy's killings began in Washington state with the disappearance of Ann Marie Burr. She disappeared when Ted was 14 and she lived on his paper route. In the mid-70s coeds began disappearing and the police were baffled that the young women could disappear in broad daylight. Some women had witnessed a young man asking for help to carry a briefcase to his VW. In July 1974 two women were abducted from the same place: Lake Sammamish State Park. Their remains were found a couple of months later.<br />
<br />
In the autumn of 1974 Ted Bundy started law school in Salt Lake City and there the murders continued. But then a victim got away! Carol DaRonch was abducted from The Fashion Place Mall by a man claiming to be Officer Roseland - he said her car had been broken into and she needed to accompany him to the police headquarters. They drove for a while and then Bundy put his handcuffs on her and when she tried to escape from the car, he swung a crowbar at her but luckily she managed to get away and flag down a car.<br />
<br />
On the same night in Bountiful, Utah Bundy abducted another woman and killed her. When he finished law school he moved on to Colorado to murder women there. In August 1975 he was stopped by a police officer in Salt Lake City and police found burglary tools in his car such as a ski mask, a crowbar and handcuffs. And Carol DaRonch was able to pick him out of a lineup.<br />
<br />
Then in 1977 Bundy was taken to the Pitkin County Courthouse in Aspen where he was supposed to stand trial for a murder committed in Colorado. He managed to jump out of the law library window and he got all the way to the top of Aspen Mountain where he lived in a cabin for two days. Then he lost his sense of direction missing two trails that could have got him out safe. He stole a car and drove back to Aspen where he was apprehended.<br />
<br />
As soon as he was back in custody he worked on a new escape plan - this time he saw his way through a metal plate in the ceiling. He got a ride into Vail and then caught a bus to Denver where he took a flight to Chicago - Bundy was free for 17 hours before anybody noticed he was gone .<br />
<br />
After his arrival in Chicago he got a room at the YMCA in Ann Arbor, Michigan and then stole a car that he drove to Atlanta, Georgia where he would catch a bus to Tallahassee, Florida - he arrived there in January 1978 . He lived under the alias Chris Hagen.<br />
<br />
By this point his sexual urges had been repressed for so long and they erupted on January 15 when he entered the Florida State University Chi Omega sorority house and killed two sleeping girls - he also bludgeoned two others, the whole thing in a matter of half an hour. Further down the street he attacked another girl who would survive.<br />
<br />
Soon after that Bundy went to Lake City, Florida where he abducted and murdered a 12-year-old girl. He was caught on a traffic violation and went to trial for the Chi Omega murders in the summer of 1979, managing his own defense. An eyewitness at the Chi Omega house pointed him out in court as the murderer and Bundy was convicted also because of bite mark evidence found on the buttocks of one victim. He was sentenced to death by electrocution and in 1980 he was once again sentenced to death for the murder of 12-year-old girl. During this trial Bundy married and his wife had his daughter.<br />
<br />
I find it very interesting how Bundy approached his victims. It usually happened in broad daylight, in a public place and he would ask for help and find numerous ways of gaining a person's trust like feigning an injury or wearing a fake cast. Wouldn't most people stop to help somebody in need? It is believed that Bundy killed as many as 35 women during his killing spree.<br />
<br />
Ted Bundy suffered from both the psychopathic disorder and antisocial personality disorder. He was attracted to criminal behavior from a young age and he showed no regard for other people's emotions or rights.<br />
<br />
I have studied Bundy extensively and I can't help thinking about what FBI agent and profiler Robert Ressler has stated: There is something that science has not yet recognized within these people and that is the element of pure evil. What do you think? Is it possible that evil is a force that is at work within us and it reflects our actions or are we products of our upbringing and our genes? Perhaps a mixture? I would love to hear your opinion because the subject interests me greatly.Was Jack a woman?tag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-01-16:537324:BlogPost:1770362009-01-16T17:28:49.000ZGittehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Gitte
An Australian scientist has been in London to take swabs from the envelope of "Openshaw letter", the one thought to be sent by Jack the Ripper to investigators.<br />
<br />
Back in Brisbane he extracted the DNA and unfortunately the results were inconclusive but he managed to make a profile which concluded that Jack the Ripper might have been a woman!! This was also the suspicion of Frederick Abberline, the detective who led the investigation. You can read more about it here.<br />
<br />
I find the news rather…
An Australian scientist has been in London to take swabs from the envelope of "Openshaw letter", the one thought to be sent by Jack the Ripper to investigators.<br />
<br />
Back in Brisbane he extracted the DNA and unfortunately the results were inconclusive but he managed to make a profile which concluded that Jack the Ripper might have been a woman!! This was also the suspicion of Frederick Abberline, the detective who led the investigation. You can read more about it here.<br />
<br />
I find the news rather interesting. A female lunatic running around slaughtering female prostitutes back in gray, foggy alleys in 1888. Exciting. Actually way more exciting than had the offender been male. Rarely do we hear about female sadists.<br />
<br />
Also witnesses claimed to have seen Mary Kelly hours after she was murdered. This caused Abberline to suspect it might have been the murderer dressed in Kelly's clothes.<br />
<br />
I do, however, wonder why Jack keeps being interesting. He didn't kill many compared to today's standards. I wonder if it's the brutality of the last crime or the fact that he - or she - was never caught.<br />
<br />
We might possibly never know who did it but it's rather exciting to think about a female offender.De Salvotag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-01-16:537324:BlogPost:1770332009-01-16T17:27:45.000ZGittehttps://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Gitte
I can't help thinking if I should just stick to watching documentaries instead of movies. Whenever I get my little greedy hands on a serial killer movie based on facts, I get so excited. And then so disappointed.<br />
<br />
Yesterday I watched The Boston Strangler with Tony Curtis as Albert De Salvo (the strangler suspect). Curtis plays brilliantly but I thought the movie was very, very loosely based on the facts of the crimes.<br />
<br />
A little about this figure known as The Boston Strangler:<br />
<br />
Albert De Salvo…
I can't help thinking if I should just stick to watching documentaries instead of movies. Whenever I get my little greedy hands on a serial killer movie based on facts, I get so excited. And then so disappointed.<br />
<br />
Yesterday I watched The Boston Strangler with Tony Curtis as Albert De Salvo (the strangler suspect). Curtis plays brilliantly but I thought the movie was very, very loosely based on the facts of the crimes.<br />
<br />
A little about this figure known as The Boston Strangler:<br />
<br />
Albert De Salvo did confess to the crimes but he never stood trial for them due to lack of evidence. In fact there is still speculation whether De Salvo really was the strangler. The crimes may in fact have been committed by different people because the victims varied so much in age, appearances and even race.<br />
<br />
A little about the crimes:<br />
<br />
From the summer of 1962 to the beginning of 1964, 11 women were strangled in their apartments in the Boston area. The victims were between 19 and 80.<br />
The murderer's signature was to leave a big bow around the neck of his victim.<br />
Victim number 11, 19 year old Mary Sullivan, was left in a sexual position, had a bow around her neck made of stockings and scarfs and between the toes of her left foot was a New Year's card.<br />
<br />
When the police had been on the case for 19 months, they were no closer to solving the case so they brought in a psychic called Peter Hurkos who arrived in January '64 (after the last murder) and he gave the police a description of the killer. They arrested a suspect who proved not to be the killer and Hurgos left the country.<br />
<br />
Albert De Salvo:<br />
<br />
De Salvo was arrested in november 1964 for a series of sexual assaults committed by The Green Man (De Salvo wore green work trousers) and he was committed to Bridgewater State Hospital and then to Cambridge Prison where his mental health grew worse. He then was sent back to Bridgewater in February 1965, mentally ill, and waited to stand trial for the Green Man crimes.<br />
<br />
It was while he was there that he boasted to another prisoner, George Nassar, about how he had killed 13 women in the Boston area and Nassar then contacted his lawyer Lee Bailey claiming that De Salvo wanted to talk to him.<br />
During the interview between Bailey and De Salvo, Bailey became convinced that De Salvo was indeed the Boston Strangler. It seemed they had their man but there was no evidence, only a confession from a mentally ill man. The prosecution were unwilling to let De Salvo confess pleading insanity and so the case was dropped.<br />
<br />
De Salvo was sentenced to life for the Green Man crimes (the series of sexual assaults) and was committed to Bridgewater again. De Salvo managed to escape once together with other prisoners and he claimed it was because he wanted people to notice that he wasn't receiving enough psychiatric help.<br />
<br />
He was transferred to Massachussets Walpole maximum security prison where he died six years later (in 1973) in a prison brawl.<br />
<br />
The movie "The Boston Strangler" has him depicted as a sufferer of multiple personality disorder. De Salvo didn't suffer from that.<br />
<br />
And about this case, former FBI profiler Robert Ressler has said that "You're putting together so many different patterns that it's inconceivable behaviorally that all these could fit one individual."