True Crime Stories

  I came across this story when watching the television show American Monster. It was one of those that I was surprised that I had never heard about; it was also one of those that had me angry at investigators by the time it was done. Dateline has also done an episode on this case titled 11 Minutes . I attempted to find it on a streaming service to watch but was not successful. I point out the title to their episode however because “11 Minutes” kind of says it all. These were eleven crucial minutes that in my opinion makes the case regardless of what investigators may say. I will say that at this point and time it appears as if while the investigators may still have a grudge to hold the prosecutor in the case eventually made a reasonable decision. It is just sad that a) it took so long to happen and b) that investigators had already convinced people they had the guilty party to the point that they cannot accept that the prosecutor was correct in their decision. Jesse ...

This case is different than a lot of cases that I blog about. There is no dispute as to what happened or who committed the crime. The case never saw the inside of a courtroom. Because of such the facts of the case are sparse, but it also opens up a whole world of other types of speculation. People have debated on whether the adults in the situation handled things as they should have; they have debated on whether law enforcement could have done more; and they have debate just who was in the right, despite the end. Seventy-two year old Paul Crawford bought his lakeside home apparently sometime in 1995. Just how long his neighbors, Warren and Marcella Schloegl, had lived in the Sauk Centre Minnesota neighborhood is not clear, but it appears it had been significantly longer. Prior to Paul moving into his home the Schloegl family had built a boat dock on the edge of what they believed to be their property allegedly because it was the only place that it could go. When Paul ...

I have often stated here that while I obviously do cases that involve the murder of a spouse I have to be in the “mood” to do them to give them the same justice other cases receive by me. This is mainly because these sorts of crimes are almost commonplace in our world right now. While researching this case I read an article published in 2013 that stated that 750 marriages end in murder (by a spouse) every year in America. The article went on to say that 80% of those crimes are committed by the male in the relationship. This may be why a lot of the spousal crimes that I blog about are in the other 20% that are committed by the female. This is one of them. On February 19, 2013 local Walton New York police officers went to a cabin home owned by the Bosco family. They had gone there looking for Debra Sundstrom. Debra had been dating Dominick “Nick” Bosco for close to a year, but they were not there for anything related to their relationship. No, officers were there to s...

*** Before I start I want to point out that Taber was spelled also sometimes as Tabor, often even in the same article that I would read. However, I chose to go with Taber because this was the name used that I found on an obituary site as well as on Findagrave.com.*** This is a bit different than most murder/suicide cases you will read about. I believe this is the first one I have read in which the victims were found in different places. Ricardo “Rick” Taber's body was found inside his St. Peter Minnesota trailer on July 25, 2009. Police found him when they went there to question him about the disappearance of his neighbor, Michaela “Micky” Widmer. According to Mickey's finance', Darnell Mears the last he had heard from her she was with Rick the night before. Micky's four year old daughter, Kassandra, was with them also. Kassandra had been found late the night before about 11:30 alone at a boat ramp. Someone had pulled into the area to turn around an...

Judith Barsi was only ten years old when her father killed her and her mother on July 25, 1988 in their California home. She was a ten year old with a promising future. She was already all but supporting her family with her film career. Judith had been discovered at the age of five while at a skating rink. By the time of her death she had made numerous commercials, starred in several television shows, and had appeared (or did the voice) in at least three movies. Children will forever know her voice as Anne-Marie in the animated classic, All Dogs go to Heaven. This would be her final film and released after her death. The saddest thing about Judith's death is that it was all completely avoidable. Not only did those close to the family know that her father, Jozsef was increasingly abusive but so did others, including Judith's agent and even child protective services, which had been brought in after a child psychologist had reported to them. But mostly i...

Despite having several murder/suicide cases on my list I do not do put a lot of them together because as sad as this sounds they are quite often much alike. The motive of murder/suicides, especially when they involve an entire family is often surrounded by financial issues and the perpetrator most often cites, if they they cite anything at all, the unreasonable idea that they are saving their family from shame and embarrassment. I have a few others together that have researched and have considered one day when I have a few more doing one post devoted to those cases and combining them. However, this one was a bit different for a few reasons. One, the perpetrator, John Markle, was the son of an Oscar winning actress, although not one very well known, at least by today's standards, even for someone like me who next to true crime has a passion for movies. The other interesting thing was the way in which the crime was played out. It was nearly 4:20 in the morning on Novem...

I have often said before that I do not do a vast majority of cases that involve spouse on spouse because sadly they are almost routine it seems in today's world.  However, from time to time I do blog about those sorts of cases because there is generally other issues involved that give the story a different spin.  This is one of them and this case has several different or unique spins to it.  This is not just a case of a couple going through a divorce where domestic violence not only was alleged but ended the lives of two people.  This is also a case about the "Blue Code" of silence and how that code, along with political corruption nearly brought down an entire town.  We have heard of case after case where money and prestige prevents any sort of justice being dealt.  We saw it in the O.J. Simpson case; we saw it in the JonBonet Ramsey case.  On a much smaller scale we could have seen it here if it were not for the final actions of David Brame. On the...