It's A 911 Day

I've been away from the blog for a few days because I've been dealing with a family medical emergency.
Now that things have settled down, I am moving back into work.
And today, my head runs to three digits...911.
Maybe because we're moving close to  the infamous date of 9-11 and the loss of so many lives at the hands of terrorists -- many of whom since have been taken down.
Another reason I keep running the number 911 through my head is because I ordered some 911 tapes for a client just now. They involve one lover calling  911 re: his lover's suicide... which some believe was murder.
And most important,  911 is in my head because if a medical emergency happens...
I know those three digits could mean the difference between life and death.

I listen to a lot of 911 tapes in the course of my work.
It was many moons ago that I came upon the following tape, which I find quite amazing, albeit grim.
Took me a while to find it again, so here it is.
The subject matter isn't pleasant, neither is the man making the call.
However, it is 100% real...
and that's what this blog is all about.
Reality. Which can often be quite disturbing.

Real 911 Call From Killer Husband AKA "Village Idiot"

Methhead's Mama

It is Sunday morning. The hurricane on the East Coast is passing. That is a good thing.
My cell phone rang an hour ago.
I was not sure whether that was a good thing because the number was blocked.
I picked up anyway.

It was someone, a woman and mother, I have not spoken to for years.
She knew I am a P.I. and how to reach me because I gave her my card when I helped investigate her then minor son's case a while back, with the help of a personal injury attorney.
The case closed favorably.
The son acquired a settlement when he turned 18.
It was a BIG sum, she told me.

I seldom know what clients get in injury cases I work on because I tend to step away by that time. Sometimes they call and tell me.
The mom who called this morning,  told me how much her son got in his injury settlement.
I said "Wow, that's alot for a young kid."
Then she said, "It's all gone."

"All of it?" I asked, trying to figure out how an 18 year old could blow all that money by the time he turned 19.
"All of it. " she said.
"Where'd it go?" I asked.
"Up his nose," she said.

If I said I was stunned, I'd be lying.
I hear about this all the time.
Young people get an injury settlement or inheritance and blow it.
This time, literally.
"How can I help?" I asked.
She then told me her was arrested for assault  with a deadly weapon, the victim was in the hospital,  in full view of witnesses.
It certainly didn't help that he had a bag of meth on him when the police searched him...
and was higher than a kite when arrested.
He was in seriously deep guano.

She said she couldn't afford a private criminal attorney and investigator... and asked if I would help.
I paused... then respectfully declined.

I decided to be blunt, to tell her what I know about Methamphetamine and people addicted to it.
How the first use for many is euphoric, followed by three solid days of energy... then a crash.
Then a craving, pursuit and use of more Methampheatmine.
I told her how Meth burns holes in the brain.
The holes never repair themselves completely.
I told her Meth is like an agent of  living decomposition, it destroys the body from the inside out.
It rots the teeth.
It tries to escape through the skin and causes these bloody acne-like pock marks all over.
Then I went into the litany of other changes, physical and psychological.
I told her how sorry I was, that I could not help her.
Truth be told, I was sorry for her.
I felt no sorrow for her son.
It bothers me a bit I have hardened so much.
However, was his choice.
He had it all.... and he blew it.

So I referred her to the Public Defender Agencies and Private P.I,'s and Private Criminal Defense Attorneys who feed on such cases.
Then I asked for her email address.
I told her I wanted to send her something.
I didn't tell her I thought her ignorance about Meth was astounding.
Instead, I decided to help her learn that  on her own.
So I sent her two things.
The video that follows.
And the Tim Burton video on Meth, which is longer...
and is listed on the links on the left side of this blog if you care to check it out.
Not a happy blog subject, I know.
Just a real one.

"The Effects Of Crystal Meth" by Mike Çota

Re: Good Life

For those of you who follow this blog, you may have noticed I put up a post and then took it down,  hours later.
Reason why?
It was stupid.
I knew better... felt was sort of borderline before I put it up.
However, after sharing the animated detective piece with my trusted crew, it got thumbs down.
Too long and boring.
I decided to take it down. Which, by the way, is what makes blogs so magical and fluid. You can take things down and put things up anytime you feel like it.
So, I felt... rather than just leave a hole in my little blog's soul until I can get here again...  I'd post a song my daughter shared with me a while ago.
I came to love this song because it bridges the gap, I believe, between cultures and generations.
It speaks to what we all want... for ourselves.... and each other.

One Republic - Good Life

Josh Powell Husband Speaks with Forked Tongue

Susan Powell Case Reawakens

I was not too far from Susan Powell's husband's house yesterday.
Susan Powell is a missing woman who allegedly showed up missing after her husband took his young sons camping in a  snowstorm.
Excuse me... who goes camping in mid winter in the middle of the night with two small kids?
Family and  friends suspect Josh, Susan's husband... who fled back to my area...the Pacific Northwest...  to be with his father who now accuses Susan of coming on to him.
S'cuse me, but can you say B.S?

We saw it happen with Casey Anthony.
We saw it happen with OJ.
We could see it happen with Josh Powell -- one more evil spirit gets away with murder of an angel.
Susan Powell was a very good woman, according to those I've met who knew her.
Her husband is not a good guy.
In my opinion, both father and son are liars.
Police are looking hard for evidence right now as I write and head to that area yet again to work a different case.

Meantime, for this unfamiliar with this case, study it.
I suspect much will unfold in the days again.
Rumor is in the wind that lies are going to catch up with Josh and his father.

At the very least,  I hope the children can land in  the safer hands of the maternal family...
than killer dad and lying grampa.
In my opinion, the kids would be better placed, right now, out of the paternal environment.
To bad the system doesn't work that way.
Innocent until proven guilty.

Though in my head, the verdict's in.
Dad wanted the kids and got him.
Susan would never have left her children.

9 Crimes - Damien Rice

Re: Interviews

Today is an interview day.
Fortunately, I need not leave my office this Sunday, all these interviews can be done by phone because I am sorting through a long lost of potential witness to determine who saw what.
Once I find people I think are key witnesses, I set up an in-person interview...
my ultimate goal being a report of interview, a statement, declaration or deposition.
Of course, getting a phone call from a P.I. on a Sunday can be disconcerting to some, so the job is not as easy as it may sound.
Credibility must be established, then trust and rapport.

And often, finding those interview subject isn't easy.
Many are rarely home.
I find many people on Sundays, especially Sunday nights. I think of it as my magic locate day.
The religious might say, the higher power is with me on Sundays.
However, interviewing is work, not worship.


Not only do you have to take  word for words notes at the speed of light...
you have to be able to professionally elicit information from a wide variety of people with a whole slew of personality types.
Your list of questions has to be at hand, you have to know what you need and what you don't.
And everything you do must be done right so it can stand up in court.

The key to interviewing is as much physical as it is psychological.
Sometimes it requires a soft touch, other time, a more assertive one. 
Ad very often, it requires acting.
You must get every bit of info you need from a subject...
and be able to chillax even when the person you are talking to is "difficult" or  "different"

I have walked into rooms where people have instantly hated me "just because."
I employ techniques to turn those people from haters to allies.
In other cases, I have interviewed people with a few screws loose and I have to figure out how to screw them back in enough to find out what they know.
Which is why I included the You Tube below.

For those "House" Fans, yes indeed, that is Hugh Laurie.
I think its a good representation of how a very simple interview can turn out no so simple after all.
And besides that, it's a hoot.
So here's your Sunday funny.... while the 24/7 shift of a self employed P.I. continues ever onward.

"Your Name Sir?" with Hugh Laurie & Stephen Fry

Longings

This has been a week of longings.
Longing inside.... for the people I love in this world... to get, stay and be well.
Longing for a way to stop injustices I see swirling around me.
There appears to be no whirled peas.

And there has been a longing for this blog.
So before I hit the road again, I am hitting the keyboard.

A majority of my work as a P.I. is Personal Injury, meaning I work for lawyers with injured clients and legitimate claims against the DEF that caused that person's injury.
I find great satisfaction in this work because the attorneys I work for make a huge difference in people's lives.
There is no high quite like helping someone who is uninsured get treatment.
Or guiding someone who is lost to the attorneys who know the way and truly care about their clients.
According to many experts, a great cure for depression is volunteering, helping others less fortunate.
As a PI, I get paid to do that.

Though it is  often difficult work.. because the injured I deal with, are seriously hurting and their body and lives are falling apart.
And not all the injured clients make it.
I write the word, "deceased", next to their name on my case file. 
I work many death cases in the personal inury field.
And I also have my own death investigations, from private parties, the family or families of the deceased.
Most of those are homicide vs. suicide.
The families are convinced their loved ones were murdered and didn't commit suicide.
Often, this is true.
Most often, the murderer gest away with it.
 So maybe I'm the only one noticing this.
It sure seems to me murders staged as suicides are on the rise.
With the economy tanking,  many bad people are preying on good people for the almighty dollar.
Insurance policies are seductive pots and targets to those without moral, scruples and money.
Because so many marriages are ending... many over money issues....
it takes only one psycho to stall a divorce to reap maximum rewards.
And with so many people stuck in situations where they can't pay their mortage, and can't sell their home, adversarial couples are living together under the same roof with children.
It is not pretty.

And if there is an insurance policy in place...
and one loose cannon in a relationship just feels it's cheaper NOT to keep her (or him) alive...
we got murders staged as suicides.
Money is the motive for so many murders.

I know I have written about this subject frequently. That's because these cases don't go away.When the police and medical examiner investigate, that  alone can be enough to make a determination, for example, of  "suicide by self inflicted gunshot wound to the head."
The prosecutor may consider probing further, yet with budget cuts everywhere, there are not enough police detectives and prosecutors to investigate  the huge ocean of cases.
Some ships sink unnoticed unless the family hires a Private Detective/P.I. 
The family hopes we can get the case re-opened, the death certificate changed, the killer behind bars.
And if only it were that easy.

Even if you, as a P.I., are  100% convinced there's enough evidence to reopen a case, just getting the death certificate changed from suicide to "undetermined" is hard enough. Getting someone indicted and convicted for staging a murder as a suicide is very difficult. Truth be told, I have yet to be successful doing any more than getting death certificates changed except in one case.
There simply is not enough evidence for a grand jury to indict.

Now I tell my clients (being,the families of the murder victims whose death were staged as suicide),
that even if we do find the evidence, "Look at the Casey Anthony criminal case. Look at the OJ case. They were declared innocent in criminal court. Look at all the money the families spent. Think hard about how far you want to take this case."

In civil court, it  turned out differently for OJ on the murder charge.
I  also suspect Casey Anthony will have her hands full in the civil arena.
Maybe it's not cool to be this opinionated as a PI...however, I worked on neither case.
And I am entitled to my opinion.

I'd put all my money on the table Casey Anthony is guilty  and murdered her child.
And I believe OJ Simpson killed Nicole and Ron.
Yet they both remained free for their crimes.
OJ, now behind bars, is at least... a broken man.
I have heard he has lost his celebrity status in prison.
Yet he didn't land there on murder charges. What got him to prison was a crime involving sports momentos.
How absurd is that?

Still, the families of the murdered were drained dry physically and financially by legal and investigative costs.
There is no joy in such matters.
The grieving never stops.
And justice is not served.

Today I send prayers out to the universe and hope someone up there is listening.
A lot of people are hurting right now and  many folks on planet earth could use a helping hand.
May the righteous, honest and vigilant among us protect the weaker ones from the predators.
Today is a fine day to say grace.

"Ship of Fools"

Not a Good Life

When I asked her what her monthly mortgage is, she said this:
"$8,000 a month, but we haven't paid for months, who knows when they're going to foreclose?"
It took a conscious effort to contain my involuntary response. An $8,000 a month mortgage? Are you kidding me?
That's some default.

Here's the deal now...
She's got a child in private school and a brilliant husband who happens to have many college degrees, one includes law.
He is quite successful and conniving, yet he is pleading  near poverty.
For some reason all of his business shut down just two months before the divorce.
Allegedly, all he is making now is 35k a year, so he says he can barely afford child support...
let alone the spousal support he agreed to when he could afford the 8k a month mortgage.
He wants spousal support eliminated.

They divorced five months ago but still live together because their mansion is in on the market,
and no one wants it.
After all, what's another multi-million house in a tanking economy?
Both live there together.... in their own rooms or suites or whatever...
divorced but co-habiting in the behind-closed-doors, mysterious way rich people do in their own private worlds.
My job was to find his hidden assets.
Which I couldn't  do.
I looked under every rock I could legally overturn.
I've got maybe 100 pages of data.
Nada.
Meaning, nothing helpful to my client's case.
Certainly.... there could be off shore accounts.  But I can't find them.
And alot of those off shore accounts, after the market crash, had their funds frozen or seized by banks/governments going under.

Either  he is a great pretender.... hider...
or he, like so many, invested heavily in the stock market,  lost it all.
She said,  he claims that's what happened.
He said they got all their money in the market.
And lost it.
However, I read alot about him on the net.
He made major bucks as a high-powered attorney.
Based on the toys in their house....
from the high priced prestige cars to tennis court...pool... to the  50k wine collection...
it all lingers there, waiting to  be repossessed.

I first heard her story in Starbucks.
I will be ending it at the post office today with a package, a case file, for her attorney.
In the course of this investigation, I may not have found more money, evidence of fraud...
however, we did find, since he had everything in his name...
that he got all the cell bills and records and saw the number for every call she made.
He put a keystroke monitor on the computer he bought her and is still is his name for the warranty.
He owned the cars in which the gps was placed.
He was on her like white on rice... and because he was an attorney he tracked/stalked her, legally.

So maybe I didn't find any more money my client could go after, post divorce because he lied pre-divorce, which could constitute fraud.
I  did find a way to convince my client to finally leave her ex- husband and their 8k a month, soon-to-be-foreclosed-on house.... and move on.


My client is from a family of wealth, the family is paying my client's  $350. an hour attorney bill.
My client's ex-husband  is an attorney, so it costs him nothing financially to destroy her with motion after motion, hearing after hearing, arbitrations are endless.

I said her family's money would be best spent now that they are divorced building a new life...
getting a apartment or house to rent while she gets a job or a business going and gets back on her feet.This War of The Roses stuff, living together post-divorce, is nuts in my opinion.
Yet for so many, it's the only option.
It's hard enough to support one relatively happy household.... let alone two miserable ones while going under. I told her that her boat was sinking and it was time to abandon ship.

She'll be leaving her divorced husband next week.
It'll be up to the son, age 16, to decide who to stay with.
It is not a good life for her...  or her son anymore... she said, over the phone last night.
I agreed, hung up... and went to bed grateful I was not sleeping in her world.

Sundays

Every one has their own feelings about Sundays.
Today, on Sunday, this PI woke up thinking about a call I got last Saturday night from someone who found out the person they are with is not the person they thought.
Lies were the foundation of their relationship. Serial cheating is involved.
They have two kids.
And while the person who called said "why would she confess all this to me on a Saturday night?"
I was taken aback because the question was, to me at least, odd.
I could have' said, "because she was drunk" because she was.
Instead, I said, "Why would finding out on a Sunday be any better?"
And that, dear blog reader, is the point of the song below.

"Tell Me On A Sunday" ....Please.

Love The Way You Lie- Rihanna+ Eminem

Burnin' Love

When I encounter victims of repeated domestic violence -- physical, emotional, verbal abuse -- be they men or women, I always ask why they keep going back to the people who bring them harm.
The answer is either "because I love him/her" or, "because if I leave, he/she will kill me."

The first answer drives me batty, really. I've stopped arguing that point and usually just shake my head.
Really, I'm better off beating my head against the wall... than arguing the point that love is not meant to hurt.

My reaction to the second answer is more verbal and complex.
Because some people are really trapped in relationships so abusive, the decision and action of leaving actually generates greater violence. And death. Not just to spouses, but to children.
Domestic violence calls are among the most dangerous police officers face. Escaping those relationships in one piece, or alive, require some real tactical moves.

Yet some people are so afraid of being alone, they would rather get verbally or physically beaten up... than be alone and endure the pain of what they perceive as rejection/failure/whatever.
And some people simply think they can't make it on their own.

Solitude to me, is a blessing.
As is the company of a good person -- I'm all for a friend, partner, associate who treats me well.
However, cross a certain line in the sand and then you are dust in my wind.

The things is, there are people I care about now who are in relationships that are not good.
Or healthy.
The most dangerous ones are fueled by alcohol, drugs, or someone who has a few emotional screws loose.
Get a  drunk couple talking about money issues... and issues with the kids... add alcohol or drugs...
and you've got combustion.

Certainly there are degrees of abuse, just like there are degrees of burns.
Some people resort to name calling, others prefer to control you.
Some find sarcasm at your expense amusing when it is really mean.
Some call you names behind your back.
Some choose to isolate you from family, friends, your prior hobbies/communities and others.
Some tell you what to do and how to act, dress, where to be and when.
Some plan to drain your bank account dry; or marry you, divorce you and take your house.
Some raise their voice, some shut down, others control you or  play-act charm you...
until they have everything you own and then... kick you to the curb.
Remember the economy is tanking.
Predators a are everywhere.

All abusers, in my opinion, are control freaks. Bitter, angry people.
Many victims don't see the abusers coming... because abusers can be  attractive, seductive charmers in the beginning.
That's how they pull you in.
The faster they trap you in their web -- entangle you financially and emotionally -- the faster they can suck your resources dry and cast your dumbfounded remains to the winds.

A fire is a fire.Abuse is abuse.
Whether someone puts you down... embarrasses you... degrades you... or  slams your head against the wall, it IS  abuse.
It is NOT okay.
And it must STOP.
Do not keep the abuse to yourself.
You have the choice of fight or flight.
I do not believe you can win a fight with an abuser.
Once police intervention fails, I like flight for my clients --  it does feel good to help people walk, escape, disappear, from their abusers.
Sometimes, runaway brides are wise.

It is far better to live alone happily...
than live with someone miserably.

So before you tie the knot with anyone, make sure that knot is not a noose.
Do not rush into a permanent commitment -- marriage -- without studying your partner.
Many abusers hide civil and criminal records and you don't find them until after you're locked in with a marriage certificate.
When a client asks me to run a background, I go through prior divorce documents looking for incidents of asset theft, fraud and domestic violence.
Often I find alarming indicators.
Yet when I share those with my client, they proceed anyway.
Despite every argument I can think of.
Despite all the evidence I can produce of past, multiple, miserable marriages.
Despite alienation of family and friends in the name of  "love".
That's why I am posting the following song.
Chances are, you've heard it many times.
Now study the words.
Rihanna was a victim of domestic violence, the song she sings stems of her own experience with it.
Profits, from the song go to domestic violence victims.

My All Time Favorite Motivational You-Tube

Can't Stay Away.

Can't do it.
Can't step away from this blog.
Try as I might, I think about it day and night as a means by which to "expunge" the darker things I see... often.

Being a PI is nowhere near as tough as manning the battlefields as a soldier; the streets as a police officer; covering the ER or being a first responder on accident scenes.
Still, being a PI does have its "moments" when you think...
"Okay, this is not a good situation."
"This person is insane and.or a loose cannon."
"Oh yuk, this scene/shot goes way beyond disgusting to disturbing.
"Where is the nearest exit?"

It wasn't until a few days ago... one of my kids, who is really an adult now, informed me that most times I talk about my day as PI... when I walk it in the door... at dinner when we all talk... she has nightmares.
Always had, always will hated to hear me speak of my work, but never told me.
Go figure.
She doesn't find  my tales of gore, brutality, destruction, twisted metal and bodies or domestic-battles from-hell enchanting?
No.
In fact they have horrified her for years. Yet it was only a few days ago she told me that all her life I have traumatized her, admittedly, unknowingly with my answer to that inocuous question, "what did you do today".
That was one of those uh-oh, vs. aha moments for me.
When I asked her, "Why haven't you told me sooner?"
She said "I thought you needed someone to share the stuff you see with."

I was touched. She was willing to take an emotional hit for me.
I thanked her for that.
Then she suggested if I have all these dark, gross stories inside me, maybe I should see a therapist or someone to get them out.
I told her I don't need to get it out, some people actually like true crime and I figured she was one of them until she said otherwise.
I have learned over many years,some people like my kind of stories, some do not.
So there are plenty of people to listen, when necessary.
I had not a clue my daughter hated, yet tolerated, these stories for my sake.
It is a profound revelation that caused me to pause.

That conversation also and ultimately, led to the point I am at now.
Blogging again.
After I said I wouldn't.
Guess I'm just realizing I do use this place as a sort of safe house, a place to cut loose.
It need not preclude a book...
rather, embrace the writing of it.
Like friendship and love... time too can expand exponentially.
I have also found through lots of emails, people actually like this blog.
Here comes another "go figure."

I have to hit the road quickly. Just want to breathe a little more life into this space,  this blog place before I go... by sharing with something I was pondering on my morning rounds.

I have a Facebook friend, he just moved into a shelter with his wife....and she was (in my FB friend's mind) assaulted or harassed last night at the shelter. I have never met him. He's a regular person like you and me who was not as lucky as many and lost it all. It can happen to anyone, No job, home, insurance, income.... and down, down, down the rabbit hole we go.

I have conversed with him and I follow his page daily and I feel like I know him. So he was struggling with how to contain his emotions, his anguish, angst, in the shelter and "we", his  FB friends, were rallying with advice, words of wisdom which really will do no good.

Meantime, I said bon voyage to a dear friend of mine who is about to embark on a 2 week cruise to the most faraway places... a trip costing upwards of 10k.

And I am thinking, "what is wrong with this picture?"

I don't think it has to be feast or famine for the whole human race.

People who lose everything do not "do it to themselves."
Some people are born into money.
Others earned every cent of enormous wealth legitimately and by working hard.
Many times, people are born into poverty.
And for the rest of  us regular folks... stuff happens.  Bad stuff. Medical, employment, emotional, deaths, divorces.... life can be hard, cruel and strip you down the bare bones.
It is important, if you are one of the people who "have" to realize America has now more "have-nots" than ever before.  And besides money, the most help you can give a person who is down and out is dignity and respect.

Okay, I am sufficiently purged for the day.
Now time to let people know the blog is back.
If you don't mind, add a comment below so I know you stopped by.
Don't be shy. I have many friends named "Anonymous."

" Private Eyes" - Hall and Oates

Eulogy?

I'm not sure what to do with this blog.
I don't really have a clue who really reads it... or cares.
There's a comment section below every post, though I don't get a whole lot of comments, usually one or two every now and then.
While my stat counter shows readership all over the world, over 16k readers...
and advertisers appear to love it...
ultimately, this blog is a time consuming effort for no financial, or really, emotional, return.
You just sort of throw the words out there and hope someone cares... or cares enough... to read them and learn. If you're lucky, someone comments.
.
As some already know from previous posts, I am struggling  with pushing the blog button...
the button that puts the blog on hold for a while...
so I can write a book and worry less about what goes down here.
I figure, that way,  I can write my alleged book in three months.
Meantime, no worries for blog readers.
There are over 700 posts here... lots of reading for those who may have just arrived to this place.
People watch TV re-runs.  Read some books multiple times. Maybe the same hold trues for blogs.

So this will be it for a while on the posts I write that take me deeper into the underbelly of this business. That will come with the book... which will also be more instructional in nature.
I'll visit the blog daily for a number of reasons...
To look for comments after this last post and see if anyone really wants the blog anyway.
Occasionally, I may add A You tube that is too intense, or adult, for my FB wall.
I plan to continue to add to the blog's lists of investigative links at the left.
My ultimate goal... is to keep this blog space alive,  while I get a book out there.
Then the blog will revive itself.
Just like that!

Oddly though, this feels like some kind of eulogy... so I'll leave a parting song in my wake.
If you're game, leave a parting comment below.
Meantime, you know where to find or friend me.
On Facebook.

Blog Drive-By

I know I've been away from the blog way too long. Busy time.
Meantime, I'm off to meet the guy below and thought I'd leave his first You Tube in my wake.

Rough Day?