True Crime Stories

I have a few lists with names of cases for me to look into at some point. These names can really come from anywhere.  Some come from the news; some come from reading about other cases.  Often times I simply write the name down and forget about it until I see it on the list and start researching it.  Most of the time once I start looking into it I will remember where I had seen the name before which had caused me to write it down.  This is not one of those cases.   My list had the name Jeanette Marie Maples on it and just as I do all of the names I start searching I added that name with the word "murder" (since most of my cases are about murder) and clicked on the search button.  I began my search and almost immediately I was reminded of Sylvia Likens. I believe Sylvia's case was one of the first that I ever blogged about here because it was the one case that I think I can say haunts me.  Sylvia was tortured and beaten in Indianapolis Indiana in 1965 no...

Once again I have chosen to blog about a case that happened in my local area in southern Indiana.  This case is a bit different than most however.  For one, it was not necessarily very high profile I do not believe.  I am sure that at a local level it caused much controversy because I was able to obtain a large amount of information on the case, but almost exclusively through the local newspaper but very little when it came to other sources of information.  Secondly, unlike many of the cases I have blogged about recently from this area, this one does not involve the death penalty.  However, in keeping with tradition it does hold a lot of questions both about the activity and the people involved. After researching this case I have even asked myself if any one of us could not have ended up in the situation in which one of the perpetrated found herself and if her role and sentence was just and deserved. On April 4, 1991 in an apartment in Evansville Indiana a day...

We have all heard the phrase "Going Postal."  It refers to when someone goes into their work place (or former work place) and begins killing people. It can happen anywhere but many of the most notable have occurred from people working in the Postal Service. I read a book about many of these types of cases and while every story is unique the one thing that most had in common seemed to be that life had become a pressure cooker from often many things and it seemed to boil over.  More often than not the perpetrator (usually a shooter) dies at the scene of their crime either by their own hands or by the hands of authorities.    On July 29, 1981, thirty-one year old Daryl McReynolds walked went to his former place of work, Crescent Plastics in Evansville Indiana and opened fire.  When he was done he had killed two people and injured three, including a police officer.  McReynolds himself was shot a dozen times by other officers.  The murder victims wer...

In keeping with my recent trend of blogging about past cases from the area in which I currently live I came upon this case.  Unlike many of the others, this one is rather short and to the point.  There really is a lot less, in the legal sense, going on with this case and yet I still found it quite interesting and leaves us with some legalities to ponder.   While the last case that I discussed, the John Matthew Stephenson case, was considered to be the longest in Indiana history, this case surely is not.  The trial lasted two days and the total time between when the murder occurred and the defendant was sentenced for the crime was less than five months.  To be honest, my first thought when beginning my research and discovering this was worry at just how fast this case was concluded. In the end that was not a concern as I realized that the defendant had admitted to the crime, but of course as defendants often do, claimed he did not intend to murder anyone. ...

When I start researching a case I go in with the belief that the outcome is the correct one.  In cases where a jury trial has occurred I have to believe that the jury "got it right." To have faith in our criminal justice system you have to think this most of the time.  Now, I am human, just as juries are and I know that they do get it wrong sometimes. But as a rule, before knowing facts we should always believe in our justice system. If you are a reader of my blog already then you know that by the time it is over I do not always feel that way.  And then of course if there is a trial that ends in a conviction there is the sentencing.  When the death penalty is being asked for by the prosecutors there is often another "mini trial" so the jury can make a recommendation on the sentence. I am neither an advocate for or against the death penalty.  I do think that it is sometimes warranted but no, I do not think that it is a deterrent for other criminals. Sometimes I j...