True Crime Stories

Cases that involve the murders of children are always the most difficult for me whether it is to read a book about a case or to research them to publish here. I belong to several true crimes groups and so I know that I am not alone in this feeling. Children who are murdered by strangers are hard, but not as hard as those committed by parents or those in a parental position. That being said I have also blogged about several child murders. I have told the stories of many children who were removed from abusive homes only to be placed in a foster home, or even adoptive home that was even more abusive considering it ended in their deaths. I have blogged about cases where child protective services are allegedly actively involved in cases and yet still something happens. The Susan Powell case comes to mind. Authorities suspected her husband as being involved in her disappearance and while her parents had legal guardianship of her children their father, Josh, was granted supervis...

From time to time I come across a case where I just cannot comprehend what happened. This is one of them. It is also a case in which makes me question the M'Naghten Rule. This is the rule that determines the sanity of defendants. The problem I have always had with this is that the standard is way too simple. If a person knows that they did was wrong then they are sane and are fit for trial. Now, for one this case never went to trial because the defendant struck a deal to prevent the death penalty but allegedly she had been tested and said to be sane. I doubt that anyone who continues to read this story will believe that this woman was sane. Does that mean I think she should get a pass for what she? Absolutely not. But Tiffany Hall is not your average murderer. On September 21, 2006 Tiffany Hall had a funeral for a baby she had said she had given birth to nearly a week prior. On the night of September 15 th Tiffany had called the police in Belleville Illinois to ...

I lived in Indianapolis, where this crime technically began, at the time that this occurred. I was very young but I still remember bits and pieces of it from the days in which they were attempting to solve the crime. Steven Judy became infamous in Indiana because of this crime. First there was the callousness of the crime because it involved the deaths of three young children. I could tell you that it was a heinous and brutal crime, and while it was, sadly by today's standards I am unsure it compares. Then there was the fact that not only did the prosecutors ask for the death penalty, but so did Steven Judy. In fact, he threatened the jury and the judge what would happen if they did not sentence him to death. Once getting his wish and being sentenced to death Steven Judy ordered his lawyers to end the automatic appeal that comes with a death sentence and he waived all subsequent appeals. On March 9, 1981 Steven Judy became the first person in Indiana executed since capi...