Thursday, December 2, 2021
Is one of the last photos taken of JonBenet show her with an alleged sex trafficker?
Thursday, October 21, 2021
Missing 3 year old Major Harris' body was found today, but media is more concerned with Brian Laundrie's body being found. Updated 10/11/2024
10/11/2024 Update: Major Harris' body was found in a container near some garbage bins in an alley at North 35th Street and West Rohr a week after his mother's murder.
Authorities thought that Major could have been with Jaheem Clark, a man whom cops identified as a suspect in the mom's death. Around 4 p.m. on October 17th, police appeared at a home on the 5400 block of N. 31st Street where they had hoped to find him. About 15 minutes after their arrival, officers said they heard at least two gunshots that they believed came from inside the house. After the officers entered the house 45 minutes later, they found Clark with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was later pronounced dead. There was no Major found at the scene. Also missing was Major's mom's black 2008 Chevrolet Equinox, that Clark had been driving.
The family of 3-year-old Major Harris and his mother, 25-year-old Mallery Muenzenberger released a statement after the shocking news.
Three-year-old Major Harris hadn't been seen since October 9th, 2021. On October 21st. No amber alert was issued until Saturday, October 16th, two days after Harris' mother, was found dead in a back yard near North 37th Street and West Clarke Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
On Monday, October 18th, Clark's SUV was found in a parking lot on North Sherman Boulevard at West Villard Street in Milwaukee. Within the SUV was evidence suggesting Major had been in the vehicle. Allegedly, some of that evidence was traces of blood. Authorities began canvassing the area.
October 21st, Major's body was found near N. 35th Street and W. Rohr Ave. in Milwaukee based on information authorities received from two men currently in custody in connection with the homicide of Harris' mother.
"On behalf of the family of Mallery Muenzenberger and Major Harris, we want to extend our many thanks to the Milwaukee community volunteers and the Milwaukee Police Department for all of your diligence in searching for Major. It has truly been a helpless feeling for all of us that have not been able to assist in the search for Major due to having to prepare for Mallery's funeral. We are heartbroken as we prepare to say our final goodbyes to Mallery who was taken from us in such a violent fashion.
"Mallery was a beautiful kind soul who loved her little boy with all of her heart. She raised him as a single mother, working 2 jobs at times trying to provide for him. Her early aspirations were to become a nurse, and she would have made a very caring one! Mallery became involved in a life she never shared with our family. She was much too private. She was an honest person with too much trust we have found out. As we have been searching through her belongings we came across her high school senior project. How ironic that the topic she chose to present was Domestic Violence Awareness. Mallery faced her death in the hands of domestic violence in October, Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
"Mallery was raised in a family unit based on their strong faith. She attended Bible studies, Bible camps, weekly church services and daily prayer. Her son was her life — her joy — her purpose — her future. She loved her family. As we look through the pictures of her growing up, we continually see her contagious, sweet smile. You couldn’t help but be drawn to her lovable personality. She had a quiet innocence about her. She never had to be the center of attention, more than likely she was the one smirking in the corner of the room with that devious look of hers.
"Mallery’s life will not be forgotten. We will never let her memory go. We will continue to search for her beautiful baby boy, Major, and bring him home to La Crosse, to the family that loves and cares for him. Major has been a part of Mallery’s family since his birth and his missing has left an incredible void in our lives.
"We will always approach the month of October with a new appreciation and awareness on her behalf. We ask that all of us keep the victims of domestic violence in your hearts, and say a prayer that their souls rest in peace. As we transition our focus of putting Mallery to rest, we will never rest until we locate Major. We are desperate for any information regarding his whereabouts. If you have any information please contact the Milwaukee Police Department, and bring Major home. #majorstrong"
Friday, October 8, 2021
After 37 Years Tina Faelz's Murderer Was Caught, Next Year He Comes Up For Parole.
" I had a dream.
It was a beautiful dream.
It was a fantasy come true.
Tina came home.
We were all home again.
They laughed and cried,
and soon the teasing I missed began,
but soon Tina had to leave.
Some day we'll all be together again.
I miss the family I had,
and I wish at that time I knew how lucky I was,
but the dream ended long ago,
and her last words were,
'Bye, mom."
By Shirley Ann Griffiths Orosco
Tina Marie Faelz was born on April 27th, 1969 in Washington to Shirley Ann Griffiths Orosco. She had a younger brother named Drew. The family lived in the Valley Trails neighborhood in Pleasanton, California.
Tina was described as a kind, freckled face, smiling, tomboy who was shy until you got to know her. She loved soccer and sleepovers. Sometimes she would pretend to take pictures with a filmless camera.
On April 4th, 1984, Tina attended Wells Junior High in Dublin, California with her best friend named Katie. Unfortunately, Tina was bullied mercilessly at school by a pack of mean girls. Because of the torment that she would endure daily, a then 14 year old Tina decided not to take the school bus that day and instead took a short cut home through a culvert. A short cut that would turn into a deadly mistake.
A truck driver driving on the highway, above the culvert, looked over to his right and saw something he thought suspicious. It seemed to be maybe someone that had been harmed. He pulled over and started walking down the culvert. He then noticed a large amount of blood and discovered a dead body down in the creek. The truck driver, horrified, quickly left to find a payphone. While the truck driver was phoning in his gruesome discovery, two kids stumbled across Tina's body.
Police Chief Bill Eastman was the man that responded to the scene that day. This was the first time in his career he had seen something so tragic happen to such a young individual. Tina's body was still warm, which let police to believe that this terrible crime had happened only a short time ago. Tina had been stabbed 44 times. Later, the coroner would determine that for the first 38 times she had still been alive. Some of the stab wounds were up to 5 inches deep. It was surmised that there was no slip guard on the knife due to the lack of marks or indentations. And so detectives concluded that there was a good chance that the killer had cut himself in the process of killing Tina.A grid search was set up at the scene, but there were no fingerprints, footprints and no murder weapon found. Officers did find something up in a tree, dangling above Tina's dead body, it was what turned out to be Tina's purse with her report card in it.
The next day the family was interviewed. Tina's mother's boyfriend, Keith Fitzwater, had recently moved out. He had been creating some family tension in the home. He had a bad temper, had been violent towards Tina's mother and was a heavy drinker. According to Tina's brother, Drew, a few days before Tina's murder, Tina had yelled at Keith to leave their mom alone.
Allegedly the only day that Keith had been nice was on the night of Tina's murder. He had asked his boss to give him a ride to console Tina's mom. Detectives interviewed Keith. He claimed that he had been at work at the time of Tina's murder. Detectives then talked with Keith's boss who claimed that Keith had been wearing a belt with a knife on the day of the murder. The boss also said that when he gave Keith a ride to Tina's house that Keith asked him to hold onto the knife. The knife was sent to the lab and it came out clean.
Officers also went to Tina's school to interview students and staff to help find answers. They found out that the previous morning, the girls that were mean to Tina had thrown rocks at her. They also had allegedly stated "Let's tie Tina to a tree and stab her." On further investigation, it was found out that the girls had been in detention when Tina was murdered, so they had an alibi.
Officers also went to Tina's school to interview students and staff to help find answers. They found out that the previous morning, the girls that were mean to Tina had thrown rocks at her. They also had allegedly stated "Let's tie Tina to a tree and stab her." On further investigation, it was found out that the girls had been in detention when Tina was murdered, so they had an alibi.
A fellow student of Tina's came forward. Steve Carlson claimed that he and another classmate, Todd Smith, had been riding around after school and had seen Tina heading to the culvert. Steve also said that he saw another student, Jeff Michaelson, following Tina.
Jeff Michaelson was known to carry a hunting knife, grab and grope girls and was also a bully that would pick on smaller kids. One of those kids was Steve Carlson. On the day of Tina's murder, Jeff was seen tossing Steve in a dumpster and locking him in. Steve spend around ten minutes in the dumpster until a teacher came along and let him out.
Officers went to question Jeff and notice he had a cut on his finger. He gave two different versions to police of how he acquired the cut. On was that he slipped at work while carrying a pan and cut himself. Later, he said that he got cut when cleaning a vent hood. He also never reported the cut to his boss. A search warrant for Jeff's house was then obtained. Two hunting knives were found and sent to the lab for analysis. There was no traces of blood or anything found on the knives, they came out clean.
April 26th, 21 days after Tina's murder and the day before her birthday, Walter Nyman, was on a bridge and sexually assaulted a 17-year-old girl walking home from school. The girl got away and Walter was arrested.
Investigators found out that at the time of Tina's murder Walter lived in her town. Investigators talked with Walter's grandmother, who also lived in Tina's town. The grandmother claimed that Walter came knocking on her door on the day of Tina's murder looking all flustered and out of sorts. He told her that he wanted to get out of town.
Police searched Walter's home and found two bloody knives and bloody clothes. When the they were tested, the blood on the knives and well as the blood on the clothes came back as positive for animal blood.
Three potential suspects and none of them found with any concrete evidence tying them to the crime.
After Tina's murder, her brother, Drew, didn't feel safe. Every time he heard a noise it freaked him out and he'd call police. He even had kids joking with him that they were the ones that killed his sister.
There was no on to fill the void that Tina had left in her brother and mother's lives. Tina's mother slowly fell into a deep despair and battled with her sanity.
Michael Ihde use to live in Tina's town. Three years after Tina's murder, Tina's mom came across an article about Michael, who was serving a prison sentence at a Washington State prison. In the article, Michael had been accused of killing a young girl around the same time of Tina's murder. Tina's mom thought the looked familiar, so she went through some of her photos. She found of photo of herself and who she thought was Michael at a barbeque.
Detectives traveled up to Washington State to interview the people that had introduced Tina's mom to Michael at that barbeque. They said that that was not Michael.
Tina's case grew cold and her mother spend much time in and out of mental hospitals.
February, 2008, a new pair of eyes peered into Tina's case. Dana Savage went over the 20,000 pages of statements and notes. She went through all the horrific crime scene photos.
Dana had the idea of looking into the three different serial killers that were active in the area.
December, 1983, 14-year-old Kellie Jean Poppleton was found murdered with Robert Rhoades being the killer.
In November of 1984, 18 year old, high school student, Lisa Monzo was found murdered and Michael Idhe was found responsible.
In 1989, James Daveggio and his girlfriend, Michelle Michaud, kidnapped Vanessa Lei Sampson and sexually assaulted and tortured her in their van rigged with hooks before strangling her and dumping her body in a snowbank.
Vanessa wasn't James and Michelle's only victim and Tina fit the profile of most of their victims. James had also attended Tina's school many years earlier. Around the time of Tina's murder, James around disappear for days on end and he knew about the shortcut that Tina had taken through the culvert.
James, who was spending life behind bars, was interviewed. He denied having any involvement in Tina's murder and instead pointed the finger at his friend, Walter Nyman.
With no concrete evidence of who ended Tina's life in such a horrible fashion, Dana look through the crime scene photos again in attempts to see if she had missed anything. That is when she got the idea to have Tina's purse tested. Tina's clothes had been tested quite a few times over the years for everything you can imagine, but her purse only had been tested once, and that was for fingerprints only.
Tina's purse was tested for DNA and on March 14h, 2011, Tina's killer was identified from drops of blood found on her purse. Steve Carlson had killed Tina.
Investigators began piecing what happened on the day.
Steve, who was just released from jail for drug charges and had been previously incarcerated for sexually assaulting a young girl, was arrested for Tina's murder.
When Steve's trial came to a close, he was convicted of 1st degree murder, but then the sentence was reduced to 2nd degree. He was sentenced 15 years to life.
At first, Steve proclaimed his innocence, but 6 years after his conviction he confessed to murdering Tina. He said he was in a drunken rage filled stupor and didn't remember stabbing her. He just remembered standing over her body with the bloody knife in hand.
Steve's next parole hearing will be in 2023. Do you think he should be set free? Do you think that he was being truthful when he said he couldn't remember stabbing Tina 44 times?
Sunday, September 12, 2021
Thursday, July 15, 2021
Mystery Deepens as California Hiker Is Gone Without A Trace. Update: Remains Possibly Found.
Update: Tuesday, August 3rd, 2021, police found a body matching Philip's description 250 yards from the trail in the park where he was last seen and beneath a tree. A coroner is slated to examine the body to make a formal identification.
37-year-old Philip Kreycik went missing on Saturday, July 10th, 2021 when he went for a brief jog alone at Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park. Philip is an MIT grad and father of two. He is no stranger to hiking, but had never been in that particular area before. It is unknown if he had water with him on a day that reached temperatures of 106 degrees farenheight. There has been many searches for Philip, but no sign of him has been uncovered.
Family members that were in the park on Tuesday night reported hearing cries for help around 1 a.m. Different agencies were brought in and did a search that is unprecedented in scope, with some of the agencies involved are using K-9’s, fixed-wing aircraft, and drones as they comb through 50 square miles of brush and tough terrain. The the massive search operation wrapped up on Wednesday night after another pass of drones and aircraft using thermal imagery turned up nothing.
Authorities are baffled as to why they have not found him yet. The family believes he is alive and might have made it out of the park. They are asking anyone living in the area to search their property for Phillip.
Family members that were in the park on Tuesday night reported hearing cries for help around 1 a.m. Different agencies were brought in and did a search that is unprecedented in scope, with some of the agencies involved are using K-9’s, fixed-wing aircraft, and drones as they comb through 50 square miles of brush and tough terrain. The the massive search operation wrapped up on Wednesday night after another pass of drones and aircraft using thermal imagery turned up nothing.
Authorities are baffled as to why they have not found him yet. The family believes he is alive and might have made it out of the park. They are asking anyone living in the area to search their property for Phillip.
Wednesday, July 14, 2021
Texas Killing Fields Victims Part One: Victims 1-7
It is an area bordering the Calder Oil Field, which is a 25-acre patch of land situated a mile from Interstate Highway 45. It is a place where, since the early 1970s, 30 bodies of murder victims have been found. Most of the victims were aged 12–25 years. Also, many young girls have disappeared from this area and their bodies are still missing.
It is believed that many of the murders are the work of multiple serial killers. Some shared similar physical features. Despite efforts by the League City, Texas police, along with the assistance of the FBI, very few of these murders have been solved.
1
Collette Anise Wilson was born in Texas on November 4th, 1957 to Claire Wilson and dentist and Thomas Owen Wilson. Besides being a dentist, Thomas had been a Lieutenant (junior grade) in the Navy. Together, Claire and Thomas had 10 children.
On June 17th, 1971, Collette was a 13 year old, 5-foot-2, 100 pound girl with long black hair, blue eyes and 9 siblings. It was the summer following 7th grade and she had played the clarinet at a band camp at Dulles High School in Sugar Land. At 12:30 p.m. her band director, Charlie Mays, dropped her off at Highway 6 and County Road 99. Her mother arrived at 12:36 p.m., with Collette's younger sister Alice in tow. She saw a car parked alongside the road with a man inside, but no sign of Collette.
Collette had learned to go to a friend’s house if she were concerned or impatient. So, her mom drove down the road to the designated friend’s house, but they had not seen Colette. The mom was starting to get worried and drove back to the intersection where she was supposed to pick Colette up.
So they called all her friends that lived nearby, but no one had seen her. There was no sign of Collette and the family knew something must be terribly wrong. However, the authorities initially labeled her a runaway. Collette's family decided to take matters into their own hands. They organized volunteers who searched the area for the next three weeks. The family also knelt around Colette's bed and prayed every day.
2
Brenda Kaye Jones was a student at Holy Rosary Catholic School. She was born on November 18th, 1956 in Galveston, Texas to Arthur Tyler Jones and Evelyn Regina Sanders Jones. Evelyn was employed as Custodian at Galveston Independent School District. The family was a loving and close-knit one that lived at 31-F Cedar Terrace.
On July 1st, 1971, Brenda was 14 years old when she disappeared while on her way to visit her sick aunt, Jennie Sealy, at Galveston General Hospital. Her family was poor and didn't have a car so she had to take the bus there and back home. Brenda made it to her destination and then was dropped off back at her usual spot, which was just a couple of blocks from her house. Several people on the bus, including the bus driver, attested to that fact. That was the last time Brenda would be seen alive.
Brenda's nude body was found floating in Galveston Bay, a slip crammed into her mouth. Her wrists and ankles were bound together with the laces from her sandals.
The coroner surmised that Brenda had been kept alive all night and then strangled by her own laces. (She could have been shot instead. I read a few places that claimed her cause of death was a head wound.) It was also theorized that she had been dumped from a pier or boat due to the lack of damage to her body.
Brenda was laid to rest at the Galveston Memorial Cemetery.
3
Houston, Harris County, Texas to Charles E. Johnson Sr and Betty Huey. Betty abandoned the family when Rhonda was only 11 years old. Rhonda became the glue that held the family together. Music and the ocean was her escape. She loved Janis Joplin. She also would hitchhike to Galveston to surf.
4
Both girls were described as tomboys and totally fearless. They also were close as sisters.
Now the girls at first were considered runaways because they had talked before about wanting to hitch hike to California where the "good waves" were.
5
Gloria Ann Gonzales was born on October 2nd, 1952 in Houston, Harris County, Texas. She was a bookkeeper at the Houston Kroger grocery store.
October 28th, 1971 was the first day of her vacation. She was last seen walking near her apartment on Jacquelyn Street in Houston. Her roommate reported her missing when she failed to come home.
6
Debbie was born on June 23rd, 1956 in Galveston, Texas to Joseph Frank Ackerman and Deomeria Marqarete Guisti. Joseph worked as a semiskilled machine shop. He was also was enlisted in the United States Army during World War II.
7
On Monday, November 15th of 1971, Debbie and Maria were both 15 and students at Ball High School. Debbie's parents had agreed that she could stay at Maria's house for the three day weekend. The two girls hung out at the mall and then went to a Baskin-Robbins store and bought ice cream. Baskin- Robbins was a they frequented often, usually several times a day everyday. A classmate, who was also working at the Baskin-Robbins talked with Debbie and Maria. They stated that they were going to hitchhike to Huston. The classmate then watched as the two girls walked outside and attempted to hitch a ride from the vehicles that passed by. Soon a man in a white van with a peace sticker on the back window pulled up. It seemed to the classmate that the girls knew the man in the van. The classmate looked on as the van's back door opened and Debbie and Maria climbed in then drove away. That was the last time the pair would be seen alive.
On November 17th, 1971, Debbie and Maria's bodies were found nude from the waste down in Turner's Bayou. Both girl's hands had been bound with shoe laces and they both had been shot in the head with a .38-caliber pistol at close range.
sadly,
And finds the time long since you went,
And I think of you daily and hourly,
But I try to be brave and content.
But the tears I shed in silence,
And I breathe a sigh of regret,
For you were mine, And I remember,
Though all the world forget.
Sadly Missed By: Mother, Father, Wayne and Glenn."
On November 23, 1971, a man looking for buried treasure stumbled upon Gloria Gonzales' severed remains near Addicks Reservoir. Investigators surmised that animals had detached her head from her body. One of the things they found weird was that her body still had some flesh on it and the head did not. There was a four inch piece of wood cinched around her neck with a two foot cotton cord. The cause of death was thought to be that of ligature strangulation. (However, i read a few different places that it was blunt force trauma to the head.)
There had also been a human molar found there that did not belong to Gloria. Investigators returned to the scene to search further and found Collette Wilson's nude body with a gunshot wound to the skull near the Addicks Reservoir. The body was only 35 yards from where they had found the tooth a few days earlier. Her dad identified the tooth as Collette's because he had performed her dental work himself. There was no sign of her clarinet.
Collette Wilson's father, Thomas, lived only four years after her death. He had become obsessed with solving the case. He died of a heart attack at age 42.
Collette's youngest brother also died 4 years after her death. He was accidentally run over and killed in their driveway by a friend who didn't know he was behind the car. When he tried to back out of the driveway, he crushed the child.
On January 3rd, 1972, two boys fishing in Clear Lake discovered what they thought was a sports ball floating in the water. On closer inspection it turned out to be a human skull with a crucifix wrapped around the jaw bone. Six weeks later, searchers discovered the rest of the body, along with that of another, in a marsh near the lake.
Saturday, May 15, 2021
Was Jill Dando Killed Because Of Her Work With CrimeWatch?
"Don't have nightmares. Do Sleep well."
Jill was raised as a Baptist and remained a devout follower. When she was three years old, it was discovered that she had a hole in her heart and a blocked pulmonary artery. As a result, she had heart surgery on January 12th, 1965.
She wanted to be on tv so bad she wrote Jimmy Savile to try to get on his show.
Jill went to Worle Infant School, Greenwood Junior School, Worle Comprehensive School, and Broadoak Sixth Form Centre, where she was head girl. She studied journalism at the South Glamorgan Institute of Higher Education in Cardiff. Jill was a member of Weston-super-Mare Amateur Dramatic Society and Exeter Little Theatre Company. She appeared in plays at the Barnfield Theatre. In 1979 she was a volunteer at Sunshine Hospital Radio in Weston-super-Mare.
Jill's first job was as a trainee reporter for the Weston Mercury, a local newspaper company where her father and brother worked. After five years, she started to work for the BBC, becoming a newsreader for BBC Radio Devon in 1985. That year, she transferred to BBC South West, and presented a regional news magazine program, Spotlight South West. In 1987, she worked for Television South West, then BBC Spotlight in Plymouth. In early 1988, Jill moved to national television in London to present BBC television news, specifically the short on-the-hour bulletins that aired on both BBC1 and BBC2.
Jill presented the BBC television program Breakfast Time, Breakfast News, the BBC One O'Clock News, the Six O'Clock News, the travel program Holiday, the crime appeal series Crimewatch and occasionally Songs of Praise. She moved to Fulham in 1994.
From 1989 to 1996, Jill dated BBC executive Bob Wheaton. She then had a brief relationship with national park warden Simon Basil.
Jill was among those with the highest profile of the BBC's on-screen staff, and had been the 1997 BBC Personality of the Year.
In December of 1997, Jill went on a blind date with gynecologist Alan Farthing. The date went well and the two continued to see each other. Alan, who had been separated from his wife at the time, finalized his divorce a few months later.
On January 31st, 1999, Jill and Alan announced their engagement, which was set for September 25th, 1999.
On the April 25th, 1999, Jill presented the first episode of Antiques Inspectors. She was scheduled to present the Six O'Clock News on the evening of the following day. She was featured on the cover of that week's Radio Times magazine. Jill was also booked to host the British Academy Television Awards 1999, alongside Michael Parkinson, at Grosvenor House Hotel on May 9th.
Jill had been shot by a bullet from a 9mm Short caliber semi-automatic pistol. The cartridge appeared to have been subject to workshop modification, possibly to reduce its charge.
According to a British intelligence expert, the gun was place so close to Jill's head that the gases escaping the barrel of the gun exploded inside her head and muffed the sounds of the gunshot. This also prevented blood splatter from getting on the murderer.
Richard Hughes, her next door neighbor, heard a surprised cry from Jill "like someone greeting a friend". Hughes looked out of his front window and, while not realizing what had happened, made the only certain sighting of the killer. A white man was walking away from Jill's house. He well dressed, with dark hair and a solid build. He was six-foot-tall, around 40 years old and wearing a dark Barbour jacket and possibly had a cell phone.
The possibility of Jill's murder being a contract killing was thought of first, but since she was living with her fiancé and was only rarely visiting her Fulham residence, it was considered unlikely that a professional assassin would have been sufficiently well informed about her movements to have known at what time she was going to be there. CCTV evidence of Jill's last journey did not show any sign of her being followed.
It was also argued that a professional assassin would not use such a poor quality weapon. The police began to entertain the idea that the killing had been carried out by a crazed individual acting on an opportunist basis. This is what led them to Barry.
Little process was made within the first year, so the police concentrated their attention on Barry George. Barry lived about half a mile from Jill's house and had a history of stalking women and sexual offences. He was put under surveillance, arrested on May 25th, 2000 and charged with Jill's murder on May 28th.
Immediately after Jill's murder, a number of telephone calls were made to the BBC and other media outlets claiming responsibility for the killing on behalf of Serb groups. The callers spoke with central European accents and threatened further killings. These calls were mainly seen as hoaxes. However, Barry's defense barrister, Michael Mansfield QC, proposed that the Serbian warlord leader Arkan had ordered Jill's assassination in retaliation for the NATO bombing of Radio Television of Serbia's headquarters on April 23rd, 1999.
Mansfield suggested that Jill's earlier presentation of an appeal for aid for Kosovar Albanian refugees may have attracted the attention of Bosnian-Serb hardliners.
An opposition journalist was assassinated outside his home in Belgrade just a few days before Jill's murder and the method used in both cases was identical.
Barry was tried, convicted, and on July 2nd, 2001 was sentenced to life imprisonment. Barry appealed twice, both were unsuccessful, but after discredited forensics evidence was excluded from the prosecution's case, Barry's third appeal succeeded in November 2007. A second trial lasting eight weeks ended in Barry's acquittal on August 1st, 2008.
So if Barry didn't kill Jill... who did?
Cold case reviews by the police after 2008 have concluded that Jill was killed by a professional assassin in a "hard contact execution". Conservative MP Patrick Mercer was reported as saying, "It [Jill's murder] had all the hallmarks of covert forces. The killer even used specially tailored ammunition, which was a Serbian assassination trademark and something I saw when I was over there."
Friday, May 7, 2021
Susan Cox Powell
Susan was born on October 16th, 1981 in Alamogordo, New Mexico to Judy and Chuck Cox. She had 3 sisters.
She was pursuing her cosmetology license and actively involved in the LDS church when she reconnected with Josh Powell. Josh Powell had previously dated Susan's older sister and now he had his sights set on Susan.
Josh in 1976, to Steven and Terrica Powell in Puyallup, Washington. Joshua's parents had a dysfunctional marriage. Steven allegedly shared pornography with Joshua and his two brothers and refused to teach or enforce limits on certain behaviors. When Josh was a teenager he allegedly killed gerbils belonging to one of his sisters and threatened his mother with a butcher knife. He also had a history of attempting suicide.
By 1998, Josh was living in Seattle and attending the University of Washington. He met Catherine Terry Everett at a local LDS Church congregation. The two moved into an apartment together and Josh became possessive. He would limit what she could and couldn't do when it came to her family. When Everett visited a friend in Utah without Josh she didn't return and broke up with him over the phone.
During a dinner party at Josh's Tacoma apartment in November 2000 Susan fell in love with Josh. They began dating and in the Portland Oregon Temple in April 2001 they were married.
Josh in 1976, to Steven and Terrica Powell in Puyallup, Washington. Joshua's parents had a dysfunctional marriage. Steven allegedly shared pornography with Joshua and his two brothers and refused to teach or enforce limits on certain behaviors. When Josh was a teenager he allegedly killed gerbils belonging to one of his sisters and threatened his mother with a butcher knife. He also had a history of attempting suicide.
By 1998, Josh was living in Seattle and attending the University of Washington. He met Catherine Terry Everett at a local LDS Church congregation. The two moved into an apartment together and Josh became possessive. He would limit what she could and couldn't do when it came to her family. When Everett visited a friend in Utah without Josh she didn't return and broke up with him over the phone.
During a dinner party at Josh's Tacoma apartment in November 2000 Susan fell in love with Josh. They began dating and in the Portland Oregon Temple in April 2001 they were married.
Due to financial difficulties, in 2002 Josh and Susan Powell briefly moved into Steve’s home in South Hill, Washington. Steven began following Susan around the house with a camera. He would secretly steal her underwear and replace it with duplicates. He also used a small mirror to spy on her when she used the bathroom, read her journals, and even posted love songs online.
Josh and Susan moved into their own apartment. When Steven would visit he'd take Susan's childhood journals and make copies.
In July of 2003 that Josh and Susan were considering taking a new job in Greeley, Colorado. This news spurred desperation in Steven to confess his love to Susan.
On July 13, 2003, Josh and Susan traveled to a trucking firm in Kent, Washington because Josh was interested in a trucking job. Steve drove to the trucking company as well with camcorder in hand.
Josh practiced driving a semi and Steve offered to give Susan a ride to her parents’ house in South Hill. Susan agreed and pretty soon, Susan and Steve were in his minivan on their way to South Hill.
Steve placed his camcorder in a bag but accidently left it recording. The picture on the tape was black, but the microphone captured Steve's confession of love. It also recorded Susan's awkward reply.
"I don’t know where you’re going with this."
Poor Susan was trapped in a minivan with her deranged father in law that was obsessed with her.
Susan and Josh relocated to West Valley City, Utah, in 2004. Susan took up a job with Wells Fargo Financial. In Susan's emails she attributed her marital problems both to financial stress brought upon by Joshua's extravagant spending habits and to his "very, very controlling" behavior towards her.
Joshua filed for bankruptcy in 2007, declaring over $200,000 in debts.
By 2008, Susan was expressing fears and frustrations about her marriage to friends.
She recorded a video in July 2009 surveying property damage she attributed to Joshua and wrote a secret will. In the will she said "I want it documented that there is extreme turmoil in our marriage" and, "If I die, it may not be an accident, even if it looks like one."
December 6, 2009, Susan and her two sons, Charles and Braden, attended church services at the Hunter 36th Ward.
A neighbor visited them at home in the afternoon, leaving about 5:00 p.m. The neighbor said that Josh fixed pancakes for dinner and that Susan got very sleepy afterwards and went to bed early.
The entire Powell family were reported missing on December 7 by relatives. Joshua's mother Terrica and sister Jennifer Graves went looking for the family at their house shortly after being informed that the children had not been dropped off at daycare that morning. They called the police when they failed to make contact with Joshua and Susan. The police broke into the house and found no one inside, but noticed two fans blowing on a wet spot on a carpet in the house. Susan did not show up at her job on December 7. Her purse, cell phone, and car were all found at the house.
About 5:00 p.m., Josh returned home with the two boys and was taken to the police station for questioning. He claimed he had left Susan sleeping at home shortly after midnight on December 7. He had taken his boys on a camping trip to Simpson Springs in western Utah, in a snow storm.... Police visited Simpson Springs on December 10, but found no evidence of the campsite that Joshua had described.
Police searched the Powell residence on December 9 and found traces of Susan's blood on the floor.
They also found life insurance policies on Susan for US$1.5 million, and a handwritten letter from Susan expressing fear for her life.
DNA test results, released in 2013, matched one blood sample with Susan, while another sample was determined to have come from an "unknown male contributor".
August 2012, West Valley City police released documents showing that Joshua "did not appear to be concerned about Susan's welfare" He liquidated her retirement accounts, cancelled her regularly scheduled chiropractic sessions; withdrew his children from daycare and spoke to coworkers about how to hide a body in an abandoned mineshaft in the western Utah desert.
Police interviewed the eldest son, Charlie. He confirmed that the camping trip Joshua described took place. Unlike his father, he stated that Susan had gone with them and she did not return. A teacher reported that Charlie had claimed that his mother was dead. Susan's parents claimed that, while at daycare, Braden drew a picture of a van with three people in it, and said that "Mommy was in the trunk".
Investigators informed the media that they planned to question Joshua again, and subpoenaed all footage and interviews of Joshua from local television stations. December 14, Joshua retained an attorney. Police said that he grew increasingly uncooperative. He took his sons to his hometown of Puyallup, Washington, to stay with his father Steven for the holidays. December 24, Joshua was considered a person of interest in the investigation. January 6, he returned with his brother Michael to pack the family's belongings.
Soon afterwards, the website SusanPowell.org was established.
The site's anonymous entries defended Joshua as the victim of a smear campaign by Susan's family, his sister Jennifer, and the LDS Church. Posts also speculated that Susan's disappearance was connected to that of Steven Koecher, a Salt Lake Tribune journalist who vanished the same week as Susan. The posts claimed that the two had run off to Brazil together. 2010, both men claimed that Susan had abandoned her family due to mental illness and that she had left with another man. Susan's family rejected these claims as being "unsupported" by any evidence
Investigators' learned that Joshua's father, Steven "Steve" Powell, had been obsessively infatuated with his son's wife.
Computer images seized from Steven's house in 2010 turned up 4,500 images of Susan taken without her knowledge, including close-ups of specific body parts.
September 14, 2011, Utah authorities discovered a possible gravesite while searching Topaz Mountain, that Joshua had frequented as a campsite.
There were signs of recent soil disturbance and shoveling.
After digging a few feet down, police were unable to find any remains, in spite of careful sifting of the soil. Federal anthropologists ruled out the possibility of the site being an ancient burial ground. Authorities said they were following a scent detected by their sniffer dogs.
After a police raid in their home in 2011, both Joshua and Steven spoke to major news outlets regarding journals that Susan had allegedly written about the relationship between Steven and herself. Steven claimed that he and Susan had been falling in love prior to her disappearance.
He cited the content of the journals, that were written when Susan was a teenager, as evidence to support his theory that she was mentally unstable and could have run away with another man. A judge issued a permanent injunction forbidding Joshua and Steven from publishing any material from Susan's journals. The judge ordered the pair to either return or destroy any journals already published.
September 22, Steven was arrested on charges of voyeurism and child pornography.
Police found evidence that he had secretly videotaped numerous women and young girls, including Susan. John Long, assistant Attorney General for Washington State, said that Joshua was a "subject" in the child porn investigation. A friend of Steven claimed that he was preoccupied with pornography and "was hung up on Susan sexually". Charles "Chuck" Cox, Susan's father, filed for custody of her children the day after Steven was arrested. Cox eventually was granted temporary custody of the boys. The court ruled that Joshua would have to move out of his father's home if he wanted to regain custody, even though he is a person of interest in his wife's disappearance. Josh rented a house in Graham, Washington. Authorities later alleged that he had never actually moved into that house. He just made it appear as if he had satisfied the court's instructions while continuing to live at his father's home.
September 2011, Joshua's sister Jennifer stated that she believed Joshua was "responsible for his wife Susan Powell's disappearance".
She worked with police and went undercover to try to get some answers in Susan's disappearance. She even went so far as to ask Josh point blank, while she was wearing a wire, if and what he did to Susan.
His other sister Alina had also been suspicious of him as well, but later she said withdrew her suspicions and felt that Joshua had been unduly harassed by the investigation. September 28, Mayor Mike Winder stated, "We feel that we are getting to that tipping point where we have more hot evidence than we have had in the past two years", and that the case was moving forward.
2011, Joshua underwent a series of court-ordered evaluations.
The evaluations determined that Joshua had adequate parenting skills, a steady employment history and no criminal record or history of domestic violence. They also raised issues concerning the ongoing criminal investigations, Joshua's failure to admit normal personal shortcomings, his overbearing behavior with his sons, and his persistent defensiveness and paranoia. The initial recommendation was for Joshua to have visitation with his sons several times a week, supervised by a social worker.
January 2012, Utah police discovered about 400 images of simulated child pornography, bestiality and incest on Joshua's computer. The images, were not illegal due to their being in a hand-drawn, or cartoonish 3-D format. They were cause for "great concern", particularly given Joshua's earlier denial of possessing any such material. Joshua was recommended to receive a more thorough psychosexual evaluation and polygraph test, but no change was suggested in the visitation schedule with the Powell boys despite everything...
There has to be something wrong with the system when a man like this can still have visitation and in his own house..
Chuck Cox told child protective services and other authorities that he felt that if Josh felt cornered or pushed, that he might do something terrible to the boys.
Michael established a Google Sites page which claimed that Susan's parents were abusing and neglecting the boys in collusion with child welfare authorities. He also posted that West Valley Utah police had both mishandled the investigation into Susan's disappearance and were harassing Joshua. Lawyers for the Cox family disputed the allegations, and Google removed the site after a few days due to terms of use violations.
February 5, 2012, a social worker called 9-1-1 after bringing Charlie and Braden to a supervised visit at the house Josh rented. The woman, who was supposed to monitor the visit between Joshua and the boys, said he grabbed them and would not let her in the door.
She said she beat on the door and yelled to be let in to no avail. She went back to her car to call her supervisor. The house exploded, killing Joshua and the two children. Local authorities treated the case as a double murder-suicide, saying that the act appeared to have been deliberate.
Authorities notified Steven, who was in jail. Supposedly he "didn't seem very upset by the news, but was angry towards authorities who notified him". Steven invoked his Fifth Amendment right to not answer questions about the Susan Powell case. Cox and others have stated they believe that Steven knows what actually happened to Susan. Steven was convicted of voyeurism charges in May 2012 in a trial.
Officials confirmed that the explosion had been deliberately planned.
The cause of death for Joshua and the two boys was carbon monoxide poisoning. The coroner also noted that both children had significant chopping injuries on the head and neck. A hatchet was recovered near Joshua's body. He had attacked the boys with it before being overwhelmed by smoke and fumes. There was also found two five-gallon cans of gasoline, as well as evidence that gasoline had been spread throughout the house.
Friends and relatives of Joshua told authorities that he had contacted them by email minutes before. Some of them, received instructions about finding his money and shutting off his utilities. Records showed that he had withdrawn $7,000 from his bank account and had donated his children's toys and books to local charities the day before. Joshua named Michael as the main beneficiary of his life insurance policy.
Charles and Braden are buried at Woodbine Cemetery, which also contains a memorial for Susan. Later police believe they have another person of interest in Susan's disappearance, Josh's brother Michael. Police questioned Michael several times in 2012, after discovering that he had abandoned his car in a junkyard in Oregon several weeks after Susan's disappearance
Michael was "evasive". Utah authorities have since said they believe that Joshua and Michael were accomplices in the murder of Susan
February 11, 2013, Michael took his own life in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He jumped from the roof of a parking garage.
May 21, 2013, West Valley City police announced that they had closed the active investigation into Susan's disappearance.
After, the handwritten will, written by Susan, was found in a safety deposit box. It instructed the reader not to show her husband the will.
That is where the video she made in 2009 was kept as well.
March 2015, Cox won a court battle over the control of Susan's estate. Joshua's mother, Terrica, and his sister, Alina, sought to have Susan declared legally dead to collect life insurance. The Cox ultimately gained full control of the estate.
Steven was released from prison on July 11, 2017. He had served a total of seven years following his voyeurism and child pornography convictions. Steven passed away of natural causes on Monday, July 23, 2018 in Tacoma, Washington. And with his passing he took whatever secrets he had about Susan's disappearance with him to his grave.
Saturday, April 24, 2021
Who Killed Princess Blue AKA Julie Gwenn Davis?
"That's the last thing I remember of her, her giving me a hug, telling me she loved me, and she broke down in tears and walked away, and that's the last time I saw her," Danny said.
Princess Blue AKA Julie Gwenn Davis' remains sat unidentified for over 30 years. Her bones had been found along County Road 101 in Manvel, Texas on September 10th, 1990. At the time it was a dead end road East of Highway 288. A man had gotten out of his car to relieve himself and noticed a pile of debris setting behind a barricade. Upon further investigation he discovered what was a human skull sitting inside of a tire, with the rest of her disarticulated skeleton laying underneath. The man and his wife then went and called police.
Police collected Julie's bones as well as the jewelry found along with them. There was no purse, no ID, no clothing and no hair found at the scene.
The medical examiner could not determine the cause or manner of her death. However, she was likely between 15 and 19 years old with two fractured ribs, a "defect" on a bone beneath her left knee and an upper left front tooth had been surgically removed. Her height was estimated at 4'8" to 5'2 and there were no drugs found in her system. It is possible that her remains could have sat there for 6 months to a year before they were found.
The case went cold for 16 years until a new detective on the case went through what little evidence there was.
There was around 650 students that had graduated Robert E. Lee Highschool in 1975. Investigators armed with the sketch focused on those students. None of the classmates that were interviewed recognized the sketch of Princess Blue.
Princess Blue's bones were sent back to the lab for phenotyping, which can determine eye, hair, skin color and her genetic ancestry.
Julie Gwenn Davis was a teenager with blonde, curly hair. She grew up in Orange, Texas and went missing in the late 1980's after she had moved to New Orleans, Louisiana at the age of 18.
Since Julie's disappearance, her brother Danny has searched and wondered what happened to his sister. In 2019 Danny and his brother summited their DNA to state police in hopes of identifying a different missing woman. 6 months later, Danny's DNA was a match Princess Blue. It was a bitter sweet moment for Danny. He would never see Julie again, but could finally put her to rest.
Julie's parents both passed away never knowing what happened to their daughter. Danny believes that Julie was murdered. He along with the rest of Julie's siblings are on a quest for justice.
Danny was told by his sister, Shelly, that Shelly met Julie's husband at one point and she said he was from Houston. That could explain the ring from Robert E. Lee High School. Danny believes Julie got married at 18, shortly after she left home and headed for New Orleans. Danny was 17 years old at the time.
A silver ring with a scroll design, a gold ring with six clear stones and two silver rings(both rings were described as almost identical to one other.) had also been found with Julie's remains.
If you have any information in Julie's case, no matter how small, please contact the Orange County, Texas Sheriff's Office at 409-883-2612.
Hope Ann Moore Was Turning Her Life Around When She Disappeared.
Hope had a steady job at at the Bob Pagan Ford dealership and gotten a raise. She was a hard worker as well as passing every random drug test.
On the 26th, Hope didn't show up for work. Her boss thought this was odd because she had never done that before. The next day Clint showed up at the dealership, handed in Hope's keys and informed them that she wouldn't be back. The next day Hope's boss called police and reported her missing.
Clint said he was visiting his parents out of town on the day Hope disappeared. He claimed that he tampered with her brand-new truck before he left, because he didn't want her to be able to leave home. Clint refused to take a lie-detector test.
Scott claimed that Hope had came home on the 25th, in a pickup truck, packed some clothes and her checkbook, and left in an older model, dirty, beat-up Chevrolet Impala.
Both Clint and Scott are considered possible suspects in Hope's disappearance. Scott had pawned two of Hope's gold rings eight days after her disappearance, and allegedly forged a check on her bank account for $345.52, which was the exact balance of the account.
Hope has never been seen again and there has been no activity on her social security card.
Hope's eldest son was eleven years old at the time of her disappearance. She had sent him to stay at a children's home a few weeks before she went missing. Clint later told Hope's son that she'd abandoned the family. He now believes his mother met with foul play.
Authorities have always suspected Clint and Scott in Hope's disappearance and so has a private investigator.
At the time of her disappearance Hope was 5'0 - 5'1, 145 - 155 pounds with blonde hair and green eyes. She had scars on her left knee, between her eyebrows, and on her right elbow, as well as a burn near her right thumb.
She might have been wearing blue floral-print shorts and possibly garnet earrings, a rope necklace, and rings on all her fingers when she disappeared.
Hope would be 54 years old if she is still alive.
If you have any information, no matter how small, please contact Galveston Police Department at 409-765-3770 or 409-765-3766
League City Police Department at 409-797-3767
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