Posts
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Sunday, November 7, 2010
On The Tracks
I've spent way too many days away from the blog.
The challenge I face is the same one you do every day, provided you're one of those trying to dig yourself out of the current global economic sinkhole.
Ever since the internet bubble burst, work comes first when you intend to remain financially independent. And my work is no nine-to-five gig.
Basic, yet important domestic things like laundry, dishes, vacuuming, grocery shopping, get tossed by the wayside.
My list of to-do's grows longer by the day. As does the guilt that follows from not doing it.
Friendships are hard to maintain because the timing is seldom in sync.
Family meals are not the norm.
Blogs are fewer and further between.
And sleep only comes because the body won't let you stay awake any more.
Most days are spent on the road, going to see people who can't get out of their hospital beds, homes.... or even graves.
I represent the living, the dead and those whose status has yet to be determined.
Once I gather info on their cases, time is so essential to getting those case moving.
Every case has to be investigated.... on scene and on net.... then written up, photos have to be developed, often follow-up calls made, everything has to be packaged up, evidence secured. All followed by invoice and delivery to the attorney or the private client.
I don't get paid sick days, holidays or health insurance.
I don't get a water-cooler around which to chat with my associates.
I don't get 15 minutes breaks.
I don't get L&I or Worker's Comp.
I don't get bonuses, a union or any guaranteed hours.
As a self-employed subcontractor, I spend my time working, driving.... and getting new business going and flowing to cover life's basics.
I know many people who do not need to work. Or do not want to. This is a hard concept for me to fathom.
I think even if I won the lottery, I would still investigate because it is not just a job to me, it's a passion. And work is fun when it's something you love.
I'm not jaded by this business, I'm enthralled by it.
I have never worked in any business like investigation.... where I can help, change, improve...and most important of all -- recognize and acknowledge lives that all too often go unnoticed. Or disregarded.
This brings us to last week, when I was squatted down on the edge of a train platform, the toes of my boots touching the orange edge of the marking on the platform that said, "warning do not cross."
I was still in the safe, legal zone.
I looked left and saw the distant lights of a train coming, it was close.... so I switched focus, first to my camera.
Then, had I been a dog, my ears would have perked up as I opened the air canal to some serious sound in the chamber.
No horn, just the growing ominous roar of the train getting closer and closer to me left.
I squatted in the exact spot my now deceased young client had stood.
When the incident happened, he was beside a friend and many people were present.
He was happy, excited and definitely not suicidal.
He was just a teenager watching the trains when something bad happened.
What that something is remains to be determined.
He went under that train and died before he had a chance to grow into a man.
So I was there to investigate why and document what I could.
I was there with his mom who wanted to come and knew the exact spot where everything happened.
We arrived in separate vehicles and didn't speak as we walked.
Then we found the place, "This is it!" she shouted.
She pointed to a spot where an impromptu memorial had once been, it was made by all his friends, kids at schools, notes from strangers. Time had passed, the memorial came down, now there was nothing left except some duct tape.
I photographed that area and moved to the tracks.
I squatted down, with my camera, in the same space where my dead client last stood... and a little voice in my head said, "Bring it on."
The train's sound turned into a roar....
the wind whipped up....
and I clicked the locomotive first as it blew right past me with a huge endless growing gust that ripped the clip off the back of my hair. The last shot I saw of my favorite (and rare) combat-colored banana clip was a peripheral glace as it went under the train.
I kept still and strove to remain steady to get the shots.
I pressed my feet and body into the ground, in a fetal-like vertical position, placed the camera on my knees and became a human tripod while snapping pictures.
More than once, I wondered if I might get sucked under the train by forces of physics... as some claim my client was.
I thought of that young client and what he thought in his last moments.
I listened to the screech of metal, the roar of train's engine, my nose filled with train track dust.
The train was all there was in the world at that moment.... it over-rode any conversation, any movement, anything else. It was there, it felt greater than a force of nature and you didn't mess with it.
And this speeding chain of steel boxes kept rolling.
No horn sounded, it just passed by the platform.
I recall thinking it had to be the world's longest train.
And then it was gone.
Silence.
I took many photos that day.
Talked to a few of the people standing around who were curious and watched.
Some approached me with questions about why I was there.
Some heard of the young man killed that day.
Others told of others such instances at other railroad crossings.
One wanted to discuss the last episode of CSI.
I finished my worked and lingered longer with the mother.
She grabbed my hand and asked me an odd question.
"Are you psychic?"
I decided not to tell her the truth.., being, yes.
Instead, I said, "Sometimes, though I tend to think being intuitive is mistaken for being psychic."
She said, "Well if my son communicates with you, will you tell me?"
"Of course," I said, leaning forward to receive her hug.
At that moment, there was a down-burst of rain, tears from heaven.
I tucked my camera in my pocket and we quickly said our good-byes. I pulled up my hood, then jogged to to my car.
I had to get prepped for my next case. I was running a half hour behind.
And now, today, it all gets written up, packaged up, mailed or delivered top various attorneys and clients.
Yet there are life moments, pearls, like the moment at the train station last week, that are too precious not to mention.
Not to write somewhere.
Not to share with someone out there.
Lesson learned from this one:
However bad you think you have it, someone has it worse.
The challenge I face is the same one you do every day, provided you're one of those trying to dig yourself out of the current global economic sinkhole.
Ever since the internet bubble burst, work comes first when you intend to remain financially independent. And my work is no nine-to-five gig.
Basic, yet important domestic things like laundry, dishes, vacuuming, grocery shopping, get tossed by the wayside.
My list of to-do's grows longer by the day. As does the guilt that follows from not doing it.
Friendships are hard to maintain because the timing is seldom in sync.
Family meals are not the norm.
Blogs are fewer and further between.
And sleep only comes because the body won't let you stay awake any more.
Most days are spent on the road, going to see people who can't get out of their hospital beds, homes.... or even graves.
I represent the living, the dead and those whose status has yet to be determined.
Once I gather info on their cases, time is so essential to getting those case moving.
Every case has to be investigated.... on scene and on net.... then written up, photos have to be developed, often follow-up calls made, everything has to be packaged up, evidence secured. All followed by invoice and delivery to the attorney or the private client.
I don't get paid sick days, holidays or health insurance.
I don't get a water-cooler around which to chat with my associates.
I don't get 15 minutes breaks.
I don't get L&I or Worker's Comp.
I don't get bonuses, a union or any guaranteed hours.
As a self-employed subcontractor, I spend my time working, driving.... and getting new business going and flowing to cover life's basics.
I know many people who do not need to work. Or do not want to. This is a hard concept for me to fathom.
I think even if I won the lottery, I would still investigate because it is not just a job to me, it's a passion. And work is fun when it's something you love.
I'm not jaded by this business, I'm enthralled by it.
I have never worked in any business like investigation.... where I can help, change, improve...and most important of all -- recognize and acknowledge lives that all too often go unnoticed. Or disregarded.
This brings us to last week, when I was squatted down on the edge of a train platform, the toes of my boots touching the orange edge of the marking on the platform that said, "warning do not cross."
I was still in the safe, legal zone.
I looked left and saw the distant lights of a train coming, it was close.... so I switched focus, first to my camera.
Then, had I been a dog, my ears would have perked up as I opened the air canal to some serious sound in the chamber.
No horn, just the growing ominous roar of the train getting closer and closer to me left.
I squatted in the exact spot my now deceased young client had stood.
When the incident happened, he was beside a friend and many people were present.
He was happy, excited and definitely not suicidal.
He was just a teenager watching the trains when something bad happened.
What that something is remains to be determined.
He went under that train and died before he had a chance to grow into a man.
So I was there to investigate why and document what I could.
I was there with his mom who wanted to come and knew the exact spot where everything happened.
We arrived in separate vehicles and didn't speak as we walked.
Then we found the place, "This is it!" she shouted.
She pointed to a spot where an impromptu memorial had once been, it was made by all his friends, kids at schools, notes from strangers. Time had passed, the memorial came down, now there was nothing left except some duct tape.
I photographed that area and moved to the tracks.
I squatted down, with my camera, in the same space where my dead client last stood... and a little voice in my head said, "Bring it on."
The train's sound turned into a roar....
the wind whipped up....
and I clicked the locomotive first as it blew right past me with a huge endless growing gust that ripped the clip off the back of my hair. The last shot I saw of my favorite (and rare) combat-colored banana clip was a peripheral glace as it went under the train.
I kept still and strove to remain steady to get the shots.
I pressed my feet and body into the ground, in a fetal-like vertical position, placed the camera on my knees and became a human tripod while snapping pictures.
More than once, I wondered if I might get sucked under the train by forces of physics... as some claim my client was.
I thought of that young client and what he thought in his last moments.
I listened to the screech of metal, the roar of train's engine, my nose filled with train track dust.
The train was all there was in the world at that moment.... it over-rode any conversation, any movement, anything else. It was there, it felt greater than a force of nature and you didn't mess with it.
And this speeding chain of steel boxes kept rolling.
No horn sounded, it just passed by the platform.
I recall thinking it had to be the world's longest train.
And then it was gone.
Silence.
I took many photos that day.
Talked to a few of the people standing around who were curious and watched.
Some approached me with questions about why I was there.
Some heard of the young man killed that day.
Others told of others such instances at other railroad crossings.
One wanted to discuss the last episode of CSI.
I finished my worked and lingered longer with the mother.
She grabbed my hand and asked me an odd question.
"Are you psychic?"
I decided not to tell her the truth.., being, yes.
Instead, I said, "Sometimes, though I tend to think being intuitive is mistaken for being psychic."
She said, "Well if my son communicates with you, will you tell me?"
"Of course," I said, leaning forward to receive her hug.
At that moment, there was a down-burst of rain, tears from heaven.
I tucked my camera in my pocket and we quickly said our good-byes. I pulled up my hood, then jogged to to my car.
I had to get prepped for my next case. I was running a half hour behind.
And now, today, it all gets written up, packaged up, mailed or delivered top various attorneys and clients.
Yet there are life moments, pearls, like the moment at the train station last week, that are too precious not to mention.
Not to write somewhere.
Not to share with someone out there.
Lesson learned from this one:
However bad you think you have it, someone has it worse.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Charlie Sheen's Smallest Victims
I just don't get it. I do not know... and never will understand why... some men choose to break up families for whatever reason, mood, motive or excuse they choose.
They know why they're leaving, it's just the person whose been left that doesn't get it.
The man may claim to have another women.
Or he may say he was drunk, seduced or just wanted to stray.
They may say they felt ignored by their wife.
They may say their wife no longer appeals to them "that way."
Maybe the wife has grown old and wrinkled and the man would like to trade her in for a newer model.
Whatever the reasons/excuses/justifications....
all I do know, and there is no nice way to say it... "power makes men horny."
There are exceptions, though I do not believe those exceptions to be the norm.
The more famous they are, the hotter they think they are. Presidents, governors, senators, rock stars, golfers, bikers, actors, coaches. You name it.
You see a man in a position of power and my guess is more of those men men submit to weakness in the opposite sex department than women.
Not that women are faultless.
There may be a 50/50 sexual equality in cheating for all I know. I don't follow the statistics.
Occasionally I follow the cheaters.
Regardless, I have a small window of time here to add an interesting and highly visible domestic case to the blog.
While you read it, think of the kids.
They're the true victims here.
Charlie Sheen is leaving a load of messed up kids in his wake.
They will never grow up the same.
How can they...with their parents exposed in such a way on the net.
I can't help of thinking about David Hasslehoff's daughter filming her own drunken father for the internet, in the hopes the exposure will shock him to sobriety.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0H9AN5gitco&feature=related
No such luck.
He's still drinking.
The link on Charlie Sheen, his wife and kids below, comes from Radar Online.
Admittedly, some people call this info source questionable at best.
However, I like it... and how deep its links go into a story.
Ultimately, we each determine the truth to a story on our own.
There's interesting evidence, however, in this story:
Brooke Mueller Wants Sole Physical Custody Of Kids | Radar Online
They know why they're leaving, it's just the person whose been left that doesn't get it.
The man may claim to have another women.
Or he may say he was drunk, seduced or just wanted to stray.
They may say they felt ignored by their wife.
They may say their wife no longer appeals to them "that way."
Maybe the wife has grown old and wrinkled and the man would like to trade her in for a newer model.
Whatever the reasons/excuses/justifications....
all I do know, and there is no nice way to say it... "power makes men horny."
There are exceptions, though I do not believe those exceptions to be the norm.
The more famous they are, the hotter they think they are. Presidents, governors, senators, rock stars, golfers, bikers, actors, coaches. You name it.
You see a man in a position of power and my guess is more of those men men submit to weakness in the opposite sex department than women.
Not that women are faultless.
There may be a 50/50 sexual equality in cheating for all I know. I don't follow the statistics.
Occasionally I follow the cheaters.
Regardless, I have a small window of time here to add an interesting and highly visible domestic case to the blog.
While you read it, think of the kids.
They're the true victims here.
Charlie Sheen is leaving a load of messed up kids in his wake.
They will never grow up the same.
How can they...with their parents exposed in such a way on the net.
I can't help of thinking about David Hasslehoff's daughter filming her own drunken father for the internet, in the hopes the exposure will shock him to sobriety.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0H9AN5gitco&feature=related
No such luck.
He's still drinking.
The link on Charlie Sheen, his wife and kids below, comes from Radar Online.
Admittedly, some people call this info source questionable at best.
However, I like it... and how deep its links go into a story.
Ultimately, we each determine the truth to a story on our own.
There's interesting evidence, however, in this story:
Brooke Mueller Wants Sole Physical Custody Of Kids | Radar Online
Sunday, October 31, 2010
A Real Life Body Snatcher
If you haven't heard of this guy, you're probably better off not knowing. So read no further if you're a wee bit squeamish about the idea of a deviant dentist turned into a body parts harvester.
And a bad body parts harvester at that.
However, this being Halloween, what better time to introduce you to a living monster, who....like Ted Bundy....happened to be quite good looking?
Who woulda' thunk?
Meet Michael Matromarino.
http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/03/body_parts_scheme_mastermind_p.html
-0-
I came across another story while looking for a summary of Mastromarino's case for this blog.
There's a whole lot more about him on Wikipedia
Turns outs the demented dentist's story is featured on "Who The Bleep Did I Marry?" a new series on Discovery ID. I found the blog of the actor who is playing the part of Michael Mastromarino and thought you might find his point of view as interesting as I do.
So here's a link to that too.
http://arthurkade.com/?p=8019
And a bad body parts harvester at that.
However, this being Halloween, what better time to introduce you to a living monster, who....like Ted Bundy....happened to be quite good looking?
Who woulda' thunk?
Meet Michael Matromarino.
http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/03/body_parts_scheme_mastermind_p.html
-0-
I came across another story while looking for a summary of Mastromarino's case for this blog.
There's a whole lot more about him on Wikipedia
Turns outs the demented dentist's story is featured on "Who The Bleep Did I Marry?" a new series on Discovery ID. I found the blog of the actor who is playing the part of Michael Mastromarino and thought you might find his point of view as interesting as I do.
So here's a link to that too.
http://arthurkade.com/?p=8019
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Gaming Addicts Guilty of Starving Baby to Death
Yesterday on my Facebook Page, if you scroll down, you'll see an article I posted about a mother who is addicted to Farmville and shook her baby to death. I and many others found this outrageous, disturbing and inconceivable.
Welcome to my world and business.
So, after discussing this late last night, I began to search out other deaths related to people who have been so addicted to Facebook and its games... people who have been neglected or harmed others like baby-shaking mother in Florida did.
That's when I stumbled upon the lovely couple I will lead you to in the link that follows this post.
Here's the headline:
" Korean couple Convicted of Abandoning Newborn Daughter While They Addictivelt Played Online.
This happened in May and it is true.
They got so busy raising their virtual baby online, they neglected to raise their human one in the land of the living.
Their fragile, alive, beautiful, breathing baby girl died.
Unbelieveable.
Yet believe we must.
Someone on my Facebook wall yesterday said people who become parents should be licensed.
I wonder if it would have made a difference.
An addiction is an addiction -- be it chemical, bio-chemical, psychological, it's all-consuming and all the same.
In the end game of addiction, some one dies.
In my opinion, better the addicts die than their children.
Here's the link:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/05/28/world/main6527471.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody
.
Welcome to my world and business.
So, after discussing this late last night, I began to search out other deaths related to people who have been so addicted to Facebook and its games... people who have been neglected or harmed others like baby-shaking mother in Florida did.
That's when I stumbled upon the lovely couple I will lead you to in the link that follows this post.
Here's the headline:
" Korean couple Convicted of Abandoning Newborn Daughter While They Addictivelt Played Online.
This happened in May and it is true.
They got so busy raising their virtual baby online, they neglected to raise their human one in the land of the living.
Their fragile, alive, beautiful, breathing baby girl died.
Unbelieveable.
Yet believe we must.
Someone on my Facebook wall yesterday said people who become parents should be licensed.
I wonder if it would have made a difference.
An addiction is an addiction -- be it chemical, bio-chemical, psychological, it's all-consuming and all the same.
In the end game of addiction, some one dies.
In my opinion, better the addicts die than their children.
Here's the link:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/05/28/world/main6527471.shtml?tag=contentMain;contentBody
.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Armageddon Online?
I'm adding this link for two reasons.
First, because my brother sent it to me and he never sends me anything unless it's good.
Second, because I can't believe a site like this actually exists.
I'm not quite sure what to make of it though.
Initially, I thought, how depressing.
Now I am thinking, how intriguing.
Because none of us gets out of here alive. Not a one.
And I'm not sure yet how I want to go.
This link that follows offers other options.
Armageddon Online - Home
First, because my brother sent it to me and he never sends me anything unless it's good.
Second, because I can't believe a site like this actually exists.
I'm not quite sure what to make of it though.
Initially, I thought, how depressing.
Now I am thinking, how intriguing.
Because none of us gets out of here alive. Not a one.
And I'm not sure yet how I want to go.
This link that follows offers other options.
Armageddon Online - Home
Link To Blink and Kyron Hormon Case Update
This is a link to Blink On Crime, and the Kyron Horman case update by Family Law Attorney Lea Conner.
I think this is an incredible article. It sheds light in a different direction...
and shows how the media can judge and convict even before a person or body is located, or an indictment is issued.
It also shows how the media can check itself when attorneys like Lea are given a forum to express another, credible point of view.
A child abduction case must not be a witch hunt. It has to be an investigation.
Otherwise all eyes focus on the witch, while the monsters in the closet get away.
There is so much infighting in Kyron's family... meantime, a little boy lost must be found.
Please... take a moment go to this link and really study Lea Conner's article.
Then explore Blink's blog further.
Blink is an amazing woman I am honored to consider a friend... and she's a true crime-fighting hero.
Please follow this link.
http://blinkoncrime.com/2010/10/29/kyron-horman-case-update-blinkoncrime-com-legal-analyst-lea-conner-weighs-in/
I'm also following this post with a video about the Mooors Murder. I'm guessing most people here are too young, too far away, or perhaps too disinterested to know about these cases. This is a good summary.
I think this is an incredible article. It sheds light in a different direction...
and shows how the media can judge and convict even before a person or body is located, or an indictment is issued.
It also shows how the media can check itself when attorneys like Lea are given a forum to express another, credible point of view.
A child abduction case must not be a witch hunt. It has to be an investigation.
Otherwise all eyes focus on the witch, while the monsters in the closet get away.
There is so much infighting in Kyron's family... meantime, a little boy lost must be found.
Please... take a moment go to this link and really study Lea Conner's article.
Then explore Blink's blog further.
Blink is an amazing woman I am honored to consider a friend... and she's a true crime-fighting hero.
Please follow this link.
http://blinkoncrime.com/2010/10/29/kyron-horman-case-update-blinkoncrime-com-legal-analyst-lea-conner-weighs-in/
I'm also following this post with a video about the Mooors Murder. I'm guessing most people here are too young, too far away, or perhaps too disinterested to know about these cases. This is a good summary.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Another Day, Another Shooting
Link To Seattle Shoooting
The video from You-Tube below, appears in the text of this full story,
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/429093_shot26.html
The video from You-Tube below, appears in the text of this full story,
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/429093_shot26.html
Murder by Parachute
Love triangles never turn out well.
This one took the concept of eliminating the competition to new heights.
Lesson learned from the case that follows:
Falling for the wrong person can have disasterous consequences.
This one took the concept of eliminating the competition to new heights.
Lesson learned from the case that follows:
Falling for the wrong person can have disasterous consequences.
Murder verdict for woman who disabled parachute
Els Clottemans wipes a tear as she is found guilty of murder at the courthouse in Tongeren, Belgium, on Wednesday. (Yves Logghe/Associated Press)BRUSSELS (AP) — A jealous schoolteacher was found guilty of murder Wednesday for sabotaging the parachute of a rival in a love triangle, causing her to crash to her death.
The verdict against Els Clottemans, 26, ended a monthlong trial that revealed no hard proof that she had sabotaged Els Van Doren's parachute so that neither it nor a safety chute opened during a Nov. 18, 2006, jump over eastern Belgium.
Van Doren, then 38, jumped that day — with 11 other parachutists, including Clottemans — from a small plane flying at 4,500 meters (30,000 feet).
The 12 jurors agreed with the prosecution that the evidence was circumstantial, but overwhelming.
They agreed that jealousy was a motive: The killer and her victim were intimately involved with the same a man, a Dutch skydiver, whom Clottemans wanted for herself.
She and Van Doren were members of the same parachute club.
During the trial, the jury was told that Clottemans, an accomplished skydiver, knew very well how to disable a parachute.
Evidence showed she also sent anonymous letters about Van Doren's love life to mutual friends and is psychologically unstable, having attempted suicide in December, 2006.
Sentencing is set for Thursday. Clottemans faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Her trial opened Sept. 24 with the accused sitting nervously near the mud-caked parachute bag and helmet that Els Van Doren wore on the day she died.
The jury saw video footage Van Doren had shot during what would be her last jump.
She and Clottemans were among the last four jumpers to leave the Cessna plane.
The video, shot by Van Doren's helmet-mounted camera, showed how the victim looked up, yanking at her gear, hoping to see an open canopy above her.
It never happened.
She crashed into a garden in Opglabbeek, a small town in eastern Belgium and was killed instantly.
Neither her parachute, nor a smaller safety chute designed to open the main parachute in case of a malfunction, opened. Investigators testified the gear had been tampered with.
Throughout her trial, Clottemans maintained her innocence.
On the last day in court, she told the jury, "For four years now I have been accused of something I did not do. That does something to you. ... They questioned me (saying) 'It's you! 'It's you!' But it is not me!"
The victim's son and daughter, 17 and 19 respectively, left the courtroom in tears after Clottemans pleaded for clemency saying she had lost her father at a young age.
Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
From Hiccups to Handcuffs
You're probably sick of the story by now. Not me. I find this stuff fascinating.
One reason I'm a P.I. is because of a lifetime obsession with attempting to understand what drives people to do horrible things... specifically murder.
I think my curiosity came from two places: a morbid curiosity.... and a desire to learn enough to keep myself, my family and friends, from being murdered.
I have always wondered about the individual components involved in the process of becoming a killer... or being involved with killing another.
I used to think murder was a combination of two key components: nature and nurture.
I used to think someone could raise you to kill just by what was done to you as a kid.
I also used to embrace the natural born killer theory, the theory being something was not wired right from day one in the brain.
Now, over the years and with experience not only studying murderers, but interviewing them in the course of defending them in the past...
I know now the equation is not so simple as variations on the nature vs. nurture theme.
Sometimes, killing is a response to what someone perceives as an injustice.
Other times, it's an issue of "if I can't have you no one can".
Often a hair-trigger temper brings a finger to a trigger.
Some of my investigator friends are armed investigators who are hired to stand guard at companies where employees are laid off.
And there are those cases where someone's life turns on a dime... they get left or betrayed; they go broke; they get caught doing something bad.
Florida teen, Jennifer Mee....A.K.A. Hiccup girl.... while not the murderer, was a catalyst to it.
I was taken by surprise by her involvement in this case.
She lured the victim to the spider's web.
What a complete and total waste of so many lives.
First and foremost, the life of the man who was killed in the robbery gone bad.
His killing is like a pebble in the water.... its effects ripple to the the victim's and the perp's family and friends and will resonate forever.
And then there's Hiccup Girl.
She's helped turn Shannon Griffin from a living human being to a memory, leaving a shattered family in her destructive wake.
And she's ruined any chance she had of being a normal young girl who would grow into a woman one day.
All because of the choices she made and the people she chose to hang with.
It's all over for Hiccup Girl now.
the only future she has is her history.
She's gone from hiccups to handcuffs and lock-up.
Oddly I have not an ounce of sympathy or empathy for her.
I do understand though, how life can shift for some... and how we face decisions that are questionable when desperate.
Still, crossing the line... any line... is a choice.
Make good choices and good prevails.
Make bad choices, like Hiccup Girl did in the company she chose to keep and bad prevails.
The defense will say, robbery gone bad, she was influenced by bad guys, she was exposed to the media too young, whatever
.
For Hiccup Girl all that's left is damage control.
For the young man Hiccup Girl and her boys killed.... Shannon Griffin... my heart goes out to his family, his friends, his community. He was only 22. The well of emotions is unfathomable.
Unfortunately, when the media spotlight fades, Griffin will be just one more statistic on a list that keeps growing while we keep trying to understand it all.
I think Hiccup Girl's mom made an interesting comment in an interview given to a radio station.
"I've said for a while now, her case of the hiccups wasn't a case of the hiccups, it was a curse of the hiccups," Mee's mother, Rachel Robidoux, told the 93.3 WFLZ "MJ Morning Show" in Tampa on Monday. She said she didn't know what happened, said the situation was a nightmare and said for a year, her daughter had not lived with her.
While I don't buy into mom's "curse of the hiccups" defense theory, I can't help wondering how her life would have gone had she never been Hiccup Girl in the first place.
One reason I'm a P.I. is because of a lifetime obsession with attempting to understand what drives people to do horrible things... specifically murder.
I think my curiosity came from two places: a morbid curiosity.... and a desire to learn enough to keep myself, my family and friends, from being murdered.
I have always wondered about the individual components involved in the process of becoming a killer... or being involved with killing another.
I used to think murder was a combination of two key components: nature and nurture.
I used to think someone could raise you to kill just by what was done to you as a kid.
I also used to embrace the natural born killer theory, the theory being something was not wired right from day one in the brain.
Now, over the years and with experience not only studying murderers, but interviewing them in the course of defending them in the past...
I know now the equation is not so simple as variations on the nature vs. nurture theme.
Sometimes, killing is a response to what someone perceives as an injustice.
Other times, it's an issue of "if I can't have you no one can".
Often a hair-trigger temper brings a finger to a trigger.
Some of my investigator friends are armed investigators who are hired to stand guard at companies where employees are laid off.
And there are those cases where someone's life turns on a dime... they get left or betrayed; they go broke; they get caught doing something bad.
Florida teen, Jennifer Mee....A.K.A. Hiccup girl.... while not the murderer, was a catalyst to it.
I was taken by surprise by her involvement in this case.
She lured the victim to the spider's web.
What a complete and total waste of so many lives.
First and foremost, the life of the man who was killed in the robbery gone bad.
His killing is like a pebble in the water.... its effects ripple to the the victim's and the perp's family and friends and will resonate forever.
And then there's Hiccup Girl.
She's helped turn Shannon Griffin from a living human being to a memory, leaving a shattered family in her destructive wake.
And she's ruined any chance she had of being a normal young girl who would grow into a woman one day.
All because of the choices she made and the people she chose to hang with.
It's all over for Hiccup Girl now.
the only future she has is her history.
She's gone from hiccups to handcuffs and lock-up.
Oddly I have not an ounce of sympathy or empathy for her.
I do understand though, how life can shift for some... and how we face decisions that are questionable when desperate.
Still, crossing the line... any line... is a choice.
Make good choices and good prevails.
Make bad choices, like Hiccup Girl did in the company she chose to keep and bad prevails.
The defense will say, robbery gone bad, she was influenced by bad guys, she was exposed to the media too young, whatever
.
For Hiccup Girl all that's left is damage control.
For the young man Hiccup Girl and her boys killed.... Shannon Griffin... my heart goes out to his family, his friends, his community. He was only 22. The well of emotions is unfathomable.
Unfortunately, when the media spotlight fades, Griffin will be just one more statistic on a list that keeps growing while we keep trying to understand it all.
I think Hiccup Girl's mom made an interesting comment in an interview given to a radio station.
"I've said for a while now, her case of the hiccups wasn't a case of the hiccups, it was a curse of the hiccups," Mee's mother, Rachel Robidoux, told the 93.3 WFLZ "MJ Morning Show" in Tampa on Monday. She said she didn't know what happened, said the situation was a nightmare and said for a year, her daughter had not lived with her.
While I don't buy into mom's "curse of the hiccups" defense theory, I can't help wondering how her life would have gone had she never been Hiccup Girl in the first place.
AP reports Hiccup Girl a transient prior to murder charge
Cops: 'Hiccup girl' was transient before slaying
Maj. Mike Kovacsev of the St. Petersburg police told NBC's "Today" show that police had records of about a dozen "contacts" with 19-year-old Jennifer Mee throughout the past year at a series of different addresses.
"She didn't actually live on the street, but was transient in nature because she tended to live in different motels or apartments and moved from one location to another," he said.
Mee and two men were charged Sunday with first-degree murder in the death of 22-year-old Shannon Griffin. Mee allegedly lured the man to a meeting Saturday, where he was robbed and shot. Kovacsev said police do not believe she fired the gun.
Kovacsev told ABC's "Good Morning America" that police had talked with Mee regarding several domestic-related incidents.
"She was never a suspect in any cases, she has no criminal record up to this point, but she was a victim and a subject and several times a witness to several crimes," he said.
Kovacsev told ABC that Mee accepted a friend request from Griffin on a social networking website five or six days before the robbery, but it was unclear if he had recognized her as the "hiccup girl."
Her mystery plight put her on the "Today" show as a teenager in 2007, where she was hugged by fellow guest and country music star Keith Urban.
Kovacsev told the "Today" show that he expects Mee's defense lawyers will argue that she was led astray by all the attention.
"Sometimes when you live a little bit of a transient lifestyle you tend to hang around some unsavory individuals," Kovacsev said. He said the two men charged with Mee had "minimal criminal records" but that her ex-boyfriend was in jail for robbery.
Mee's constant hiccups stopped on their own after five weeks. Her mother told Tampa radio station WFLZ on Monday that Mee had not lived with her in a year
Monday, October 25, 2010
Woman Stabbed in Anger Management Class
I believe there is a lesson in this story.
And.... in a sick, twisted way... a laugh.
If you are going to stab someone,
an anger management class is not the place.
Here's the link to the story:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2013164351_stabbing15m.html
And.... in a sick, twisted way... a laugh.
If you are going to stab someone,
an anger management class is not the place.
Here's the link to the story:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2013164351_stabbing15m.html
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Two Of Too Many Missing Children
Please take a moment, if you will, to watch the video below. Lindsay and Kyron's families have Facebook pages. Join them, show your support, give them words or hope... or tell them you understand that you can never understand what they are going through. Study Lindsay and Kyron's faces. Keep your eyes peeled, stay ever- vigilant... and pray Lindsay and Kyron find their way home.
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