True Crime Stories

I eluded to this case a bit in my last blog mentioning that a clear motive could not be determined in this case. Earlier I posted a case about Gregory Phillips who murdered his neighbor, her daughter and then himself. This left a lot of unanswered questions for authorities and they were forced to piece together what happened based on the evidence. The same was the case here. The difference between this and the Phillips case is that there is a clear theory of motive in this case and it is not the kind you see very often. On March 14, 2002 some officers were paroling an area in McMinnville Oregon when some neighbors in the area stopped them and expressed concern about a family in the area. No one had seen the Bryant family in quite some time and there seemed to be no movement in the home. Officers went to the home and after noticing that the mail had seemingly piled up for several days and getting no answer at the door they began looking in windows. It was then that one...

Here is another one that should not be super long, but I have a problem with that. In the last case I talked about the perpetrator committed suicide at the scene of the crime and so many questions were left unanswered. In fact, the one after this one is much of the same but it has more “twists and turns” than the last one. But, the problem I have with this one and the information is that there should be more and things be more specific. I know there was an episode of the Investigation Discovery show Fear Thy Neighbor , because I have seen it so when I researched the case on the Internet I could visually remember that case, but not enough that I felt comfortable adding things to my research. On September 24, 2011 fifty-one year old Anthony Davis was shot by his neighbor, Lennie Paul Tracey, at about three in the morning, in Santa Clarita California. Like so many other neighbor cases that I have done recently this was not their first run in with each other. This had be...

Some of you may feel refreshed when you see that this post will not be as long as most of the cases that I blog about. There is a part of me that too feels excited that I can sit down and do a “quick” post, but that means there is a) not a lot of information out there about the case and b) less information likely means less “excitement” or twists and turns. But, no less it is still a crime and has earned its way here. On September 27, 2016 911 operators in Glynn Louisiana received a call from a nine year old girl. It is not clear exactly what she told them other than they obviously needed to come to her home. When officers arrived at the home they found three bodies in the yard of Donna LeBlanc, a deputy sheriff for the West Baton Rouge police department. The bodies at the home belonged to forty-two year old Donna, her twenty year old daughter, Carli Jo and their twenty-nine year old neighbor, Gregory Phillips. Investigators had to let the evidence and informatio...

Once again I have come across a neighbor dispute case. As I have said several times recently, these case intrigue me. You never know who your neighbors are and it seems so many of these types of cases start out small and the escalate quickly. Another interesting thing about these types of cases it that for the most part they involve the men. A few, like this case, bring the women into the case but so many of them revolve around the men getting angry over things and neither one wants to back down. They tend to want to one up them or start confrontations. This almost always makes things worse. This case is a little different in the fact that it appears that children were brought into the mix too. On May 5, 2014 Jennifer Cleven and seen Jacob Zumberge while she was out and she called the police. The week before Jennifer and her long time boyfriend, Todd Stevens had had a confrontation with the twenty-four year old Jacob in which it was alleged that Jacob had threaten...

This case begs the question of just what is insanity and just what does it take to be considered insane. I know what the courts say, but that is not something I have ever really agreed with. The courts simple answer to that question is whether the perpetrator knows the difference between right and wrong. If they do, they are sane.... period. Seventeen years ago when Andrea Yates drowned her children in their bathtub one by one the issue of insanity, as well as postpartum psychosis, was brought to the forefront. I have noticed that over the years it seem that people have softened on their thoughts of Andrea. It used to be that I was in the minority in my thinking and considering her mental illness. Either that has changed or I just surround myself with people more in line with my thinking because I see more people today understanding her issues and realizing that knowing the legal difference between right and wrong does not mean you are sane. But, Andrea Yates clearly suff...

I have done several cases in which a spouse has been accused of murdering another spouse. These are not generally one of my “favorite” types because sadly, they are almost common place. I have also done several such cases recently involving women who have murdered their husbands, and others with arsenic poisoning, most happening decades ago. I feel as if I have done few cases from say prior to 1970 in which there is a murder of a woman by her husband. Of course there is the Sam Sheppard case and then just at the turn of the decade the Jeffrey MacDonald case but off the top of my head I cannot recall any others from that era that I have researched and discussed. This is one of those cases in which I am unsure where I obtained the name to make it to my list. My research says that there was an episode of the Investigative Discovery show A Crime to Remember , that centered on this case but honestly, I do not remember seeing it. In fact, I am more than surprised that I kne...

On the night of November 8, 1988 family members of eighty-eight year old farmer, William Dulin, found his body near his Sheldon Illinois home. He had suffered a gunshot wound to the head. It did not take long before investigators had a tip and by their estimates solved the crime. The morning after William's body was found a man named Chuck Gullion walked into a bank expecting to cash a check for $4,500. The name on the check was William Dulin. The bank teller had heard about the discovery and called the police. Investigators arrived and arrested Guillion along with his companion, Gayle Potter. The two would be interrogated but it seems that Guillion knew nothing beyond the fact that Potter had asked him to cash the check at the bank. Potter would freely admit to forging the check. But, investigators were less worried about that check than they were about catching who had murdered William Dulin. It is not clear how long it took but Potter would tell investigato...

This is one of those cases that I am unsure exactly how I feel about, especially as I start this. Upon starting my research the first article I have come across spoke of Dennis DeChaine's defenders in believing in his innocence. At this point DeChaine has spent more than twenty-five years in prison for a horrendous crime that he and his supporters claim he did not commit. But, apparently DeChaine has not always proclaimed his innocence And, then there is the issue of if you believe that coincidences can be just that in a murder case, and if so, just how many can there be before you decide they are not just coincidences? On July 6, 1988 twelve year old Sarah Cherry was babysitting for the first time near her home in Bowdoin Maine. When Jennifer Henkel returned to her home, where Sarah was watching her children, she would not find Sarah there. Strangely in her driveway she would find the receipt for a car repair and a notebook with the name Dennis DeChaine on them. ...