True Crime Stories

  I have seen more than a few different television shows based on this case and while I cannot say for sure what I think happened, the tactics used by law enforcement, as well as family members, have bothered me. We have seen many cases that involve both criminal and civil cases. In a criminal trial the standard to reach a guilty verdict is said to be “beyond a reasonable doubt” while in a civil trial a jury only has to consider “the preponderance of evidence” and determine if it is “likely” that a defendant committed a crime. Some say in a civil try one only has to be convinced 51% to in order to reach a verdict. In most, although admittedly not all, a civil case is generally not conducted until after a criminal trial has taken place. The civil case is some times filed before the criminal trial but is often delayed until after the criminal trial is conducted. Now, part of the reason for that is that in most case criminal charges have already been filed so the defendant is...

The Murder of Angila Wilder We see it every day in true crimes. A person is murdered and their current, or former spouse is found to be responsible. They are always the first person looked at for the crime. It is not unusual for a new spouse or significant other to given the person an alibi that either later would be proven to be false, or that they retract after the relationship sours. What is less common, although not unheard of, is that the new spouse or boy(or girl)friend helped in the commission of the murder. Of course they too are often looked at as the perpetrator initially but it just seems too easy for a new spouse to claim innocence in the crime. Investigators may have their suspicions, but suspicions cannot make a case beyond reasonable doubt. It seems that most prosecutors are simply happy getting the ex-spouse and closing the case rather than dig anymore into the case. Cynthia Wilder, could have been one of those people if she had not had a conversa...

I am often amazed by the lengths that not only people will go to ensure someone remains in their life, but the fact that they do not think of the consequences of their actions. Most often you see this in cases involving child custody. One parent, or even sometimes a grandparent, will murder the other parent to ensure custody goes their way. I recently blogged about the case of Joanna Hayes who murdered her soon to be ex-daughter in law thinking her son would get custody of their son. Reality was Joanna's son did not want custody and the couple had already made an agreement. In the end the young child lost his mother, basically his father and his grandmother. Any time a parent is murdered, especially if they have young children, the long term affects can be devastating. Twenty-one year old Rose Goggins was living with her future in-laws, Steven and Sylvia Beersdorf in Beech Creek Tennesse, a small community about eighty miles northeast of Knoxville. In Januar...

I do not do a lot of cases that do not take place in the United States because to be fair I am not up on International Law. When it comes to America I can tell you what charges are more serious than others. For instance, first degree murder would be the most serious charge one could face, whereas the charge of manslaughter would fall further down. However, based on comments I found on articles pertaining to this case I was given the impression that in British Columbia it is exactly opposite. I attempted to confirm this but I was unable to do so. Normally I may have just decided to scrap the case at that point but I find this case intriguing in many ways and so I continued. On January 4, 2015 twenty-six year old Roxanne Louie went “missing.” Roxanne lived in Vancouver British Columbia but she and her three year old son had gone to visit Grace Robotti in Pentiction. Roxanne was the ex-girlfriend of Grace's grandson. Interestingly the grandson's name was never ...