True Crime Stories

I am sure that some of you will be glad to hear that this will likely be one of my shortest blogs.  This case is rather open and shut.  So what is so interesting about it that it is worth blogging about?  Well first off of course it falls into the category of true crime or it would not be here.  Secondly, because of the time period, once again the 1950's laws were different at that time. And thirdly, for me I find it interesting due to the speed in which not only was crime solved, but completely finalized, ending in the execution of Jack Graham. On the evening of November 1, 1955 at close to 7pm the sky lit up near Longmont Colorado.  This is when United Airlines Flight 629 had an explosion in the air and landed in a sugar beet field.  The FBI was brought in initially to help identify the victims.  There were 39 passengers and 5 crew members on the flight.  There were no survivors.   Pretty early on investigators noticed that this did not...

I am uncertain that I have done any blog here that I have done more searching of correctional institutes for inmate searches or even searched more individuals involved in a case.  I have seen this case profiled on many true crime shows including Snapped and others and knew most of the story but I did not know just all of the controversy surrounding the case and the players.   On October 25, 2000 the bodies of Andrew Cataldi and Tricia Nordman were found in a dumpster in downtown Indianapolis.  They could not be ID'd so the police and media decided to release pictures of tattoos belonging to the victims. This is when a woman who lived only a few blocks from the discovery identified them as people who lived with her neighbors, Richard Hull and Sarah Jo Pender. Richard Hull was a bouncer at a local bar and had an extensive criminal record. Sarah, his girlfriend, worked as a secretary for a local contractor and had a clean record.  It was soon learned that both Ca...

Once again I find myself looking over a case in which not only must I be very careful in examining the information due to the time period of the crime but it is a crime that to this day, over 60 years later seems to be a debate.  Now, I will state right out of the gate that unlike some, I do not believe it is likely that Burton Abbott was framed or that he was innocent of the crime that he was ultimately convicted and executed for.  With that said, I do believe Burton Abbott's rights were violated and his execution should have never taken place when it did... but I will get to that later. On April 28, 1955, fourteen year old, Alameda County California (near Berkeley for those who know) resident Stephanie Bryan did not arrive at home after school. A massive manhunt was formed but no trace of Stephanie could be found.  On May 2nd a textbook belonging to Stephanie was found in a field that would have been on her route home, but nothing else was found.  The textbook it...

This is one of those cases that as I sit down to type this I am not sure just how I feel about it.  This happens from time to time but generally by the time I am done here and have complied it all together I have taken a side.  The problem with this case is it nearly comes down to a he said/she said issue and without knowing more about the people, or seeing their demeanor and testimony in court I am unsure that I can adequately resolve that, at least with myself that is.  I welcome feedback and information from readers on all of my blogs but the ones that are like this I tend to like to hear even more. On November 23, 1987 near Holland Michigan Rick Brink's parents and his boss went to his home after they realized that neither twenty-eight year old Rick or his twenty-two year old wife, Gail had gone to work that morning.  It was unusual for both of them.  They knew before they entered the house that something was terribly wrong.  Inside his Chevy Blazer i...

Once again I have chosen a case in which authorities consider to still be open despite already getting one conviction in the case.  Considering the situation in the case and the information that has already been released, although my expectation that this case will again be brought to court are slim, my hope is high.  I generally try to stay away from cases that have not technically reached a conclusion because it means trying to go back and edit information long after I have compiled it, but this one is worth it for a few reasons.  First, as I said above, while I hope that this case does end up back in the courts I cannot say that I am sure that it ever will.  Secondly, this case pertains a legal issue (which I am more adamant about than true crime itself) that I found very interesting as well as hopeful.   Some will say that this case began on November 7, 2009 when two of Patricia Kimmi's children called the police to not just report their mother missin...

I had to be very careful when I researched this case for a few reasons.  I think we all know that we cannot believe every story or article read even in today's media completely and that facts are sometimes exaggerated or embellished. Well, in the 1950's when the crimes of Leslie Irvin occurred it was even more true.  It was not quite as bad as in the height of early "yellow journalism" but it was not much better.  While the times of real yellow journalism could be compared to a daily dose of the old National Enquirer (even they have been forced to get better) by the 1950's articles for newspapers were still written not just for sensationalism but for emotion in the wording.  When you read articles from that time sometimes it was just the words that were used to bring more emotion to the reader instead of just simply stating the facts as they were.  For example, let us say that someone was beaten by another person and it was being described by a reporter for...