The Unsolved Murder of Lindsay Jo Rimer

Getting back to unsolved murders on this side of the pond, we look at the case of a young teenage girl that was murdered just over twenty years ago.  The case of Lindsay Jo Rimer, aged 13.  Lindsay, born February 17th 1981, was discovered in the Rochdale Canal five months later, just a mile away from her home in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire.  She vanished on the evening of November 7th 1994, as she went to a local Spar supermarket to purchase some food.  She stopped off at a pub, the Trades Club in Holme Street, where her mother was having a drink with a friend.  She asked Lindsay if she wanted to stay and have a soft drink but Lindsay declined, making her way to the shop.  CCTV cameras recorded being in the store at 10.22pm but after that, she vanished.  A huge search was initiated the following day, with hundreds of volunteers searching through the town but nothing was found.

    Police looked into the possibility of family problems and that she simply ran away, but this was strenuously denied by her family.  One of her sisters took part in a reconstruction of her movements that night, but this still did not produce any leads.  Five months later, on April 12th 1995, two workmen came upon her body in the Rochdale Canal.  She had been weighted down. The Post Mortem was carried out by Professor Mike Green at the Royal Halifax Royal Infirmary.  lindsay had been strangled but there was no sign of sexual assault.   Despite an extensive investigation, nobody has been charged.  Suspects such as John Taylor, the killer of Leanne Tiernan, have been looked at but there is nothing to connect him to Lindsay's murder.  As ever, if anybody knows anything, do the decent thing and report it.

Tales From The Wirral

Coming from the Wirral Peninsula, it is understandable that every so often I like to post stories from around the area.  It was a haven for smugglers, particularly at the northern end.  Pubs like Old Mother Redcap's - near the Floral Pavilion - was somewhere that the smugglers and bandits could take their loot and hide it in one of its many hiding places.  Traps were laid to catch out any customs officers.  The pub name went back to the 1770`s, and a woman called Polly Jones, a friend to sailors and bandits, who reputedly wore a red cap.

    Birkenhead is long known as a rough area - at one time in the 1950`s, there were more attacks on people in the street than anywhere else in the country.  There will always be the persistent offenders in all towns and cities.  Elizabeth Formstone was one such person.  She had been charged more than seventy times for drunkenness, prostitution and other petty offences.  In February 1891, she encountered a Constable in Market Street and gave him a volley of abuse.  Constable Mountfield was very familiar with this woman, and told her to move on.  She was shouting obscenities about another Constable who had pressed charges against her.  She then went into a pub and carried on her tirade.  The landlord quickly led her out but she turned and started attacking him.  PC Mountfield struggled to arrest her but eventually he got her into the station.  As she was being booked in, she attacked Mountfield again, who had to subdue her and place her in a cell.  She appeared before a Magistrate the next day, who was very familiar with her.  She faced two charges, was convicted and given two months hard labour on both charges.  She reacted by grabbing a Policeman`s helmet and throwing it at the Magistrate.

    This tale from the Wirral, was one that happened in my old neck of the woods:  Little Sutton.  On April 2nd 1907, a young lady named Margaret Jones was returning to her home in Great Sutton, from Chester, by train. She alighted at the tiny station at Little Sutton and proceeded to walk home, which would have been a bit of a journey.  She suddenly found a young man walking alongside, trying to strike up a conversation.  This was 18 year old Edward Warrington from the tiny village of Capenhurst - I used to work near there - but she ignored him.  Suddenly, he grabbed her and they struggled.  He tore his tie in half and shoved it into her mouth, to try and silence her, but her continued screams drove him away.  She reached home safely.  Two days later, she spotted him driving a horse and trap, and quickly alerted the beat constable who arrested him.  He appeared before the County Police Court and was found guilty and sentenced to six weeks jail, after a plea for leniency was made by his family.  There was no explanation for his actions.

    A minor tale was that of a youth who killed a cat simply because it wandered into his bedroom.  This occurred in the tiny and lovely little village called Thornton Hough - a great pub is the Cheshire Cat - in November 1919.  James Hayes was awoken by his sister shouting that a cat had wandered into the house and upstairs.  For some unknown reason, Hayes totally over-reacted and smashed the cat over the back with his father`s walking stick, after chasing it downstairs.  He then picked it up and threw it out into the garden.  The cat`s owner, Agnes Taylor, witnessed this and furiously confronted him.  He claimed he did it because he was scared of it.  Mrs Taylor brought a Police Officer, whom Hayes confessed to, saying he did not mean to harm it.  Before Neston Petty Sessions, he pleaded guilty and showed remorse and was ordered to replace Mrs Taylor`s Cat!  What a punishment!

The "Looking For Mr Goodbar" Murder - Roseann Quinn

Do you remember the film starring Diane Keaton & Richard Gere, about the film with the teacher who led a double life?  It was based on a real case from a couple of years before, that of Roseann Quinn.  The case inspired the novel by Judith Rossner - "Looking for Mr Goodbar."  What happened?  Roseann Quinn was born November 17th 1944 in the Bronx to John & Roseann Quinn, who also had two sons and another daughter. At the age of 11, her family moved to Mine Hill Township in New Jersey, where her father worked as an executive for Bell Laboratories.  Roseann contracted Polio at the age of 13, requiring her to spend a year in hospital, which left her with a slight limp.  She attended Morris Catholic High School in Denville, NJ and graduated from there in 1962.  She then enrolled in the Newark State Teachers School and graduated from there in 1966.

    She found work in 1969 at St Joseph's School for the Deaf, in the Bronx, teaching a small group of eight year olds.  In May 1972, she moved into an apartment at 253 West 72nd Street.  She kept herself to herself when she went out but struck up a conversation with a man after lip reading what he was saying.  Then it became known that she took men back to her apartment, regardless of their temperament.  Neighbours became used to hearing shouting, scuffles and her sporting bruises.  She had enrolled at Hunter College and was halfway through her course to getting her degree in teaching deaf children.  On New Year`s Day 1973, she went to a bar W.M.Tweeds, where she met John Wilson.  He had been drinking with a friend, Gary Guest, who left the bar before Roseann entered.  They went back to her apartment and shared some marijuana and then tried to have sex with Roseann.  He later claimed that he was unable to get it up and so Roseann taunted and insulted him.  She then told him to get out and a struggle broke out.  He picked up a knife and stabbed her eighteen times.  He also claimed that Roseann pleaded with him to kill her!

    Wilson then said that he showered, covered her body, wiped around the apartment to remove fingerprints and then left.  (Effectively destroying any claim of insanity)  He returned to he was staying with Guest and told him of the murder.  Guest believed he was making it up in order to get money for a plane ticket.  Guest gave him money and so he flew to Miami to meet his wife and then flew home to Indiana.  Roseann was discovered on January 3rd, when she had not appeared at school, and had sent somebody to check her apartment.  The building superintendent let them in and Roseann was found.  Her body was identified by her brother John.  She was buried at St Mary`s Cemetery in Mine Hill.

    The Police had nothing to go on.  Nobody could remember the man she left with but a sketch was done of a man; Gary Guest.  He saw the newspaper article on the case with the sketch.  He contacted two friends, Ebb & Greenwood but would not discuss details over the phone.  He travelled to Los Angeles and told Ebb the full story.  He in turn contacted a therapist who recommended a lawyer.  The Lawyer advised Guest to return to New York and the friends to say nothing.  After going back to New York, it still took a fortnight for him to be persuaded to talk to the Police.  Detectives travelled to Indianapolis, and with a local cop, arrested Wilson at his mother`s home.  Wilson was detained at Manhattan Detention Center, otherwise known as "The Tombs" then transferred to Bellevue Hospital for tests.  Then he was taken back to the Tombs and put on suicide watch, but had a dispute with a guard and threatened suicide.  The guard taunted him and offered him sheets so he could hang himself, and indeed, later threw sheets into the cell.  He hung himself.  It was May 5th 1973.  Gary Guest was guilt ridden over his friend and had moved to Arizona and checked himself into a mental hospital as a John Doe.  

    What drives people into living a double life?  Is it a desire to leave their respectable world behind them at night?  Usually, the person is not bothered what kind of people they mingle with.  But it can lead to tragic consequences, as Roseann was to discover.

Thoughts From The Dark Side PT3

In this post, "The Chameleon" gives his take on the Torrey Pines State Beach murders in 1978 & 1984.  Many incarcerated serial killers avidly watch crime shows on tv, and so are able to have a basic knowledge of some cases.  Here is what he had to say.  "I believe the killer(s) of Barbara Nantais saw an opportunity to have her once they both went to sleep. (Barbara & boyfriend Jim Alt)  He/they clubbed Jim Alt and went after her.  A spur of the moment thing.  Not well thought out.  Imagine young kids, 13, 14, 15 years old, deciding to have some fun.  They club him while he sleeps and when they go after her, it isn't working out as he/they had hoped it would.  So she is killed, sand poured in her mouth and he/they were angry enough to stab her genitalia and cut her breast.  This is an act of someone that blames the woman/girl for not being what he wanted to have.  So he mutilates what has caused him to do what he did.

    Six years later, 1984; Claire Hough found dead - body mutilated, breast severed.  Found at Torrey Pines Beach.  Thing is about DNA.  The cigarettes could have been there before the murder happened.  It means nothing at the moment.  They didn't come forward for whatever the reason. (this means the friends Claire met up with)  Could be they have no idea what has happened.  Not everybody follows the news.  Not everything at a murder scene is involved in the crime.  Lots of cross contamination exits.  What really makes sense is that a woman killed these girls.  (the deadlier than the male syndrome) Profiler John Kelly shouldn't be blaming Vietnam or soldiers or pilots.  That case in Northern California, Wayne Adam Ford.  He walked into a County Sheriff`s office and tossed down a severed breast.  Trouble is; Ford turned himself in in around 2000 thereabouts.  With no mention of Torrey Pines Beach.  Killers don`t forget.  Whoever has killed these young girls, has gotten away with it.  Blame it on the Zodiac killer again."  (this must mean Steve Hodell who blames his father for Zodiac, Black Dahlia and another serial killing!)

    Two suspects emerged but both are dead now.  One was a sex offender and the other a forensics officer.  If it is because of the DNA on the cigarettes, we are not told.  But dead tell no tales, and with cynicism, you could say it conveniently closes the cases.  Jim Alt remains unconvinced and keeps the case in the public eye.  He suffered horrific head injuries that he miraculously survived and suffers PTSD.  He deserves closure as do the families.

Kiernan Kelly - Murderer PT2

A new claim about hushed up killings involves a man convicted of two murders in 1984, but who later confessed to eight murders, has hit the public consciousness.  A former detective, Geoff Platt, has stated publicly that the Police decided to cover up the claims of Kiernan Kelly, in order to avert a panic on the London Underground.  Kelly was a vagrant and drifter, who told Police that his tally of murders was actually eighteen.  Most of them, he said, he pushed in front of oncoming trains, and were looked upon as suicides.  Detective Platt was told to investigate the claims made by Kiernan.  He said himself that he initially, he thought it was a load of bollocks.   Then he discovered that people were dying in front of trains, with Kelly at the scene, and that he happened to be stood next to the jumper.

    Mr Platt says that a decision was taken not to brief or inform the press that a man had been going around shoving unsuspecting people in front of trains, fearing a panic, and people would stop using the line.  Kiernan was convicted of killing William Boyd and Hector Fisher but cleared of murdering Maurice Weighly in Soho and the attempted murder of an elderly man who who was pushed in front of a train in 1982.  The train driver managed to stop in time.  Did he commit all these murders?  There must be something to the claims for a detective at the time, who did investigate the claims, to believe them.

Thoughts From The Dark Side PT2

My anonymous correspondent from the USA that I have codenamed "The Chameleon" has given his views on an old unsolved serial killings case from Maryland in the early 1970`s that was given the name by the media as "The Freeway Phantom."  His views can only be construed from the limited information that I was able to dig up.  To truly give it justice, it needs all the facts from the case, maps of areas of homes, abductions and dump sites, the access points of the freeways, etc.  But here is a view from a man who does know about murder; The Chameleon.

"The Freeway Phantom?  There is a lot of stuff we are not being told in these cases.  Like: How was the area lit up or not?  In 1971, it is pretty common to pull over on the side of a freeway and not have a cop stop to check you out.  Without a map showing where these girls lived and disappeared from, it is hard to determine who had access.  Were these girls held captive for days?  Or were they dumped just hours later?  Calling home? (Presumably he means a random attack)  The boyfriend did it to buy him time? (Again, a presumption that cops looked at boyfriends or close male friends?)  Bullshit!  He had time and would take the time to do what he wanted to her.  The Police are guessing badly.

    A bunch of black girls killed.  Probably a black man really did kill them all.  Maybe the Green Vega Gang did it. (A local gang thought to have been involved)  A deal to point at another member is suicide.  The case will never be solved.  Too much time has elapsed.  People die, people move on to reality.  Killing is not what it is cracked up to be.  Just taking too many chances will one day catch up up to us.  And here I am."  

    Not much, I grant you, but as I said, I can only get limited information.  A black man was a suspect but nothing could be proved so it ran nowhere.  Does anybody out there in the U.S. know more than we do?

The New Jersey Jellyfish Murder

This post is another example of forensic science providing the vital evidence, and identifying the victim.  A man was foraging for wood on the New Jersey shoreline when he came across what he believed was the bones of a large animal, but to be on the safe side, he called the local Police.  The Police gathered all the bones they could see and convinced it was an animal, nonetheless, they duly took them to a vet for confirmation.  Upon looking at them, the vet informed the officers that these were human bones, not an animal.  They then transported the remains to the local Medical Examiner's office.

    The M.E. told Police to go back to the spot where they were discovered and thoroughly search the area for more bones.  They brought back bags of bones and what was thought of as jellyfish.  The M.E. said that the bones were that of a woman, but the jellyfish were not jellyfish.  They were breast implants, and as these carry identification numbers, Police were able to check all hospitals that carried out cosmetic procedures.  The M.E. also said that the body had been dismembered with a hacksaw.  The Jane Doe was soon identified as a young blonde woman named Carter.  Enquiries revealed that she had been involved with a burglary gang and it was believed she had been killed and then her remains thrown from the nearby Margate Bridge.  It was thought that her remains had been there for between twelve and eighteen months.  It is unknown at present if her killers were caught.

Forensic Anthropology Solves Murder

I still find it amazing just what can be achieved through the advancements in forensic science, although going back thirty years, the technology was not advanced as it is today.  But the experts in bones, their knowledge goes back decades.  Sir Sydney Smith, a man not really given the slavish admiration that has been heaped on Bernard -"I am right, everybody else is wrong" - Spilsbury, once looked at some thigh bones and deduced the deceased person had a limp.  And was later proved right.  But Dr Clyde Snow, a Forensic Anthropologist, in 1983, came up with some pretty startling detective work, when presented with a section of a body.  This case started when two fishermen saw something in the Mississippi River flowing through Iowa.  They immediately called Police, who retrieved it from the river and took it to the Medical Examiner.  The torso was female.  It was decided to send it to a specialist in Oklahoma, Dr Clyde Snow.  

    Dr Snow decided that it was best to deflesh it and work from the bones, which were only a lower trunk and part of a leg.   After exhaustive tests and examinations, Dr Snow deduced that the victim was five feet three inches tall, or three inches either side, aged 28 to 40, weighed 125 to 140 pounds, and the bones showed strenuous exercises through sit-ups. The body had been cut up with a chainsaw by somebody with some anatomical knowledge. Police trawled the Iowa missing females list - 79 - but only one fell into that category,  This woman was Joyce Kindt, 33, 5` 5", weighed around 130 pounds and was known as a frequent exerciser.  She had been reported missing by her husband, Jim Klindt, a Chiropractor.  Delving into his life, Police discovered the usual problem; he had a woman on the side, whom he had told he would leave his wife.  Klindt was arrested in 1984 and when it came to trial, his girlfriend told of the promises he had made her.  Klindt was convicted but it was a few years later that he confessed to killing his wife.  All thanks to the great scientific work by Dr Clyde Snow.

Harvey Glatman - The Lonely Hearts Killer

Further to my last post on what constitutes sex crime, this post is about one man who brought sex crime right out into the public consciousness, solely through his twisted desires.  Harvey Glatman murdered three women, and had convinced them that he was a photographer who took cover pictures for detective magazines.  This meant lurid pictures of women bound and gagged, or blouses opened up with the man holding a gun or knife to her.  At the time of these offences - 1958 - pornography was still very coy, certainly no comparison to what is viewed today.  Books by Mickey Spillane, the Mike Hammer series, were considered violent and explicit.  Something for young lads gathered at school to have a quick read of the racy bits.  Glatman enjoyed pornography but it had to be a certain type to meet his "needs."  Sadistic sex killers need the more extreme porn, to fulfill their fantasies.  Sex and violence are not separate in their minds.  They are joined together at the hip.  Sex is not sex without violence.

    Harvey Glatman was born in 1928 in Denver, Colorado, and was an athletic person with a lop sided grin and he reputedly had a high IQ of 130.  During his adolescence, Glatman began a fascination with bindings and ropes.  An early warning sign that something was not quite right with him was when his mother discovered him in his bedroom, naked, with a piece of string tied around the end of his penis and the other end tied to a doorknob.  No explanation was made for this.  Then his parents saw red marks around his neck when he was twelve.  Was he already experimenting with "Autoerotic Asphyxia?  If so, where did he learn of it?  Or was it an accidental discovery made during a botched suicide attempt?   His parents took him to a doctor who in the time honoured tradition, said that young Harvey would grow out of it.  His father saw things differently and was a very harsh disciplinarian. (No surprises there!)  If he caught Harvey masturbating, he gave the usual condemnations, he would suffer mentally, it would cause other physical problems, etc, etc.  Harvey could not be deterred from his fantasies.

    It was just after he left school, that he was arrested for very odd behaviour.  He used a toy gun to subdue young girls, tie them up and then gently fondle them.  If they had any money, he took that from them.   Harvey moved away to New York and began a career as an armed robber, but that earned him a five year stretch in Sing Sing.  Whilst incarcerated, he received psychiatric care.  When released, he returned home to Colorado, and moved out to the west coast and Los Angeles.  He was set up in a tv repair business by his mother.  But Harvey had his needs, and what he found stimulating, were detective magazines and in particular, the lurid covers.  To meet women, he joined a lonely hearts club, and told prospective dates that he was a photographer.  He even managed to persuade them to let him thoroughly bind and gag them, assuring them these were magazine shots.  He took numerous pictures of them, and after he felt satisfied, he killed them.  He told Police that he raped them and needed bondage to make him aroused.  He was caught after another potential victim, after being shot in the leg, managed to snatch his gun and hold him at gunpoint until Police arrived.  He was convicted and sentenced to death, going into the Gas Chamber at San Quentin in August 1959.

What is "Sex Crime?"

I was asked this question by my anonymous source in the USA that I have called "The Chameleon" a convicted multiple killer - hence the anonymity.  This is a very broad subject that can cover so many bases, that I am going to attempt to answer it with my own personal views.  I will not resort to high falutin theories or psychobabble, I am merely a meat & potatoes guy that goes the simple route.  Obviously, enforced sexual intercourse or molestation are sex crimes, but what other bases does it cover?  Examples to start with?  How about Jack the Ripper?  He killed prostitutes, but apparently did nothing sexual to his victims.  Were the killings of them his sexual thrill, the fulfilling of his fantasies?  The pointing of fingers at Aaron Kosminski over the last couple of decades, and the fact that he had serious mental issues, could be construed as a factor, but to me, it points to him as simply being a deranged killer, not a sexual deviant.  I do not regard the ripper murders as sex crimes.  On the other hand, Peter Sutcliffe wore an upside down v-neck pullover over his lower body, with his genitals hanging free.  Obviously, it was so he could masturbate over his victims after killing them.  This makes these sex crimes.

    But for many decades, lurid and sordid details were kept from public view, due to what would be termed, the "morals of the times."  We had Gordon Cummins, the Blackout Ripper, during WW2, killing prostitutes and show girls.  Then there was John Reginald Halliday Christie, the serial killer of Rillington Place, in Notting Hill, London.  Christie, originally from Halifax, West Yorkshire, had endured sexual taunts in his early life, from girls.  He was referred to as "Reggie no-dick!"  But when he was killing, he at last, had power over them.  There were claims that Christie masturbated over some of them, and maybe had sex with his victims whilst they were incapacitated.  He was thought to have been a necrophiliac.  The motive was obviously sexual, as he could do as he pleased with them, either dead or unconscious.  He now had power over women, something he never had before.

    The ongoing controversy over the Boston Strangler killings is like our own A6 murder -Hanratty - is one of those cases that will never go away.  These are the cases that authorities want buried.  Was Albert DeSalvo the killer?  Despite what authorities come up with, there are too many odd occurrences that will not sway my opinion.  Albert DeSalvo had a very abnormal sex drive, in that he needed sex five or six times a day.  What he definitely did commit, where the "Measuring Man" crimes, in which he sweet talked women into letting him take their measurements, and even talked some into having sex with him.  Then there was the "Green Man" rapes, in which women were raped, but on occasions, the assailant apologised to his victims.  But as to the murders?  The first number were elderly women, and violated with objects, with no rape.  DeSalvo wanted sexual release.  Where was his gratification with shoving objects into the place where he would have wanted his todger put?  Then the victims became younger.  There was staging of the crime scenes, for shock effect to the people who found the victims.  Where was the kicks for DeSalvo in that?  He simply wanted sex!  He was fascinated by the murders, and was adept at breaking into apartments.  How many crime scenes did he later break into, simply to have a look around.  The shit only hit the fan when he was persuaded by another inmate - he was facing a good spell in jail - to admit he was the killer and he would go to a psychiatric hospital rather than a jail.  But the fallout can be a legal minefield, as we do not have the right to an opinion like they do in the USA, so I err to the side of caution.  The killer or killers were sexual sadists, DeSalvo was a sex addict, simple as that.

Unsolved Murder : Nancy Daugherty

Back to the cold case USA strategy and today it is the unsolved murder in St Louis County in Minnesota of Nancy Daugherty.  The 38 year old outgoing and very friendly mother of two, was preparing to move to Minneapolis from her home town of Chisholm.  She worked as an aide in a local nursing home and helped out the Chisholm Ambulance Service by volunteering as an EMT.  She was dedicated to helping others.  Her planned move to Minneapolis was so she could work as a paramedic, was for July 16th 1986.  The night before, she was with some friends, when she received a phone call.  She told the caller that she could not talk at that time and the caller should ring back later.  Police later said that Nancy was a very private person when it came to her private life.  She was to be helped in her move by a friend, who went out later that evening with her - July 15th - and they returned to her apartment at 1.00am.  The friend left but remembered that something needed to be asked.  When the friend reached the apartment, Nancy had changed her clothes, which the friend thought was strange.  The friend left.

    At 3.00am, a couple of girls were passing by the house when they heard some screams, followed by choking sounds and sounds of a struggle.  Yet, incredibly, they carried on and went home.  It was 8.00 am when the friend returned, with the intention of helping Nancy move town.  However, he found the house locked up and the curtains drawn.  Getting no answer, he left to return later but still received no answer.  He called the Police, who forced entry, and there they found her.  She was naked in bed, had been strangled and raped.  Death was determined to have occurred between 3.00 & 5.00 am.  What had happened to Nancy?  Who was the mysterious phone caller?  Why did she change her clothes?  This indicates that she must have been going out again.  Was it with the mysterious caller?  (Oh my god!  Me and my trouble stirring guesswork!!)  The girls heard a commotion at 3.00 am, involving screams, choking and a struggle.  No doubt at all, this was her murder.  Why did these girls ignore it and carry on walking?  Again, could it have been the mystery man?  Did she let him in, indicating she knew him?  Did he then dissolve into the background or did he hot foot it out of town?  The case has remained cold for nearly thirty years, so will more modern forensics point to the guilty party?

Elmore "Fuck `em" Davies

I suppose it was only a matter of time before I put up a post about the man who inspired a catchphrase across Merseyside.  This was bared in a fly on the wall documentary series entitled "Mersey Blues" and followed Police around covering major and serious crime.  At times, it resembled the old silent films about the Keystone Kops.  But one episode covered the investigation into a senior officer over allegations of corruption.  This officer was Detective Chief Inspector Elmore "Elly" Davies.  And the covert investigation brought in a tv star ("Warrior - Your cell is.....ready!) who acted as middleman between Davies and big time villain Curtis Warren.  The spark that started this all off was a shooting at a nightclub, The Venue.  Philip Glennon Jr, was facing charges arising from this incident.

    Davies shared a flat in Birkenhead with tv star Michael Ahearne - Warrior - from the show "Gladiators" who knew Warren, and he became the go-between for Warren and Davies.  £10,000 was said to have been offered for information that could scupper the trial of Glennon.  But this all went pear shaped with the arrest of Davies & Ahearne.  At Nottingham Crown Court, Davies received five years, and Ahearne received fifteen months, in 1998.

    Davies had been a copper for thirty plus years, had served in Mike Molloy`s team that smashed much of the drug trade in Birkenhead that had truly exploded towards the mid 1980`s - he was a sergeant at that time.  Now as a DCI, the cameras followed Davies and his team, the drugs squad, as they went about their job.  A promotion was up for grabs and Davies really wanted it, but was passed over.  His disappointment was there for the nation to see as he spat out the immortal phrase "FUCK `EM!!!"  Not surprisingly, this was adopted by people all over Merseyside who walked past people and said "fuck `em!"  At this time, I was working with a good number of lads from Birkenhead, and you kept hearing this for quite some time.  I still like to bring up this catchphrase with my work colleague. I would say "The bile rose in his throat until he could not take it anymore" and he shouts "Fuck `em!"  Brilliant.

Bill of Rights - What a Joke!

Here we go with this not very fair isle attempting to do something that has been in practice for many, many generations in the United States.  Every time this country tries to copy the American model, it is a spectacular failure.  The laughable attempts to form our own version of the FBI, resulted in the National Crime Squad.  Instead of fighting your way into this squad, it was an amalgamation of the Regional Crime Squads.  Do people remember the scandal of the extensive corruption in the South East Regional Crime Squad?  Or the Midlands RCS using a professional "Agent Provocateur" Graham Titley, to persuade people to set up criminal enterprises and then grassing them up?  Or officers from the North East RCS with close ties to drug smuggler Brian Charrington?  Not good at all!

    Now politicians want to set up a Bill of Rights for us Brits.  Will it have anything like the US First Amendment?  That is, the right to free speech or an opinion.  Not a fucking chance!  There are too many barristers and solicitors in Parliament to allow that to happen.  No matter what political party they represent, they will all band together to stop any repeal of our draconian libel laws.  It would mean that certain firms of solicitors would have to start practicing other areas of law, resulting in a severe drop in income, and having to put up with the tantrums of the luvvies of the showbiz world, because they all can longer come crying and wailing when somebody makes the merest suggestion of something.  When these libel cases go to court, the only winners are the lawyers.  Private Eye magazine once commented that IT firms supplying useless systems to various organisations, were making so much money from the "Pisspoor systems" that libel lawyers were envious.  Says it all, doesn't it?  Private Eye also refers to the USA as "The land of the free" in other words free speech.  Nobody used our draconian libel laws to threaten and silence critics, more than the "Bouncing Czech" Robert Maxwell.  Will things change?  I will not be holding my breath. 

Stephen Heaney - Killer Paedophile

This double homicide from 1995 was close to home.  For two reasons.  Firstly, it happened in Eastham, on the Wirral, just a couple of miles away from Ellesmere Port, and secondly, a close work colleague of mine, used to employ the killer.  Events began in July 1995, when a Police search found the bodies of two young boys, aged 12 & 13.  Robbie Gee & Paul Barker.  They were found by ponds used for fishing, close to the M53 Motorway that by-passed Eastham.  Both boys were found with their clothes interfered with.  Paul had been strangled, bludgeoned and stabbed.  Robbie had been strangled and stabbed ten times.  Suspicion immediately fell on 37 year old Stephen Heaney, a loner who still lived at home with his parents in Eastham.  He confessed to the murders.  However, it seems that he has never given any explanation for his brutal actions.  Sentenced to life, Mr Justice Ognall said that he presented a serious risk if ever released.

    Heaney had tried to entice two young boys shortly before the murders, telling them of badgers and owls in the local vicinity, and arranged to meet them the next day.  But the boys appeared with a girl of 12, who Heaney tried to grab, so they refused to go anywhere with him.   Then he arranged to meet two other boys at these ponds, where he separated them by asking one to go to another pond.  He then launched his attacks.  After he had finished, he went for a drink in his local pub, the Stanley Arms.  After his conviction, it was announced by Police that they were going to interview him over a sex attack on two boys at a fishing pond in Lytham St Annes, near Blackpool, in 1990.

    Then the media frenzy began with various people racing forward with their Heaney stories.  Some were published, some were not.  Some with their stories, I actually knew.  My friend employed Heaney some years before and never noticed anything wrong, and did tell me some of the secrets of the people who sold their tales to reporters.  Would have made good reading for the News of the World but libel writs would have flown about - for telling the truth!  Two of them I knew, and they had nothing to shout about.  Heaney may never be released and frankly, I say good.  Another example of the evil that can lurk below the surface in people.

Carl Grossman - The German Butcher

Butcher by trade and butcher by nature, this was a very apt description of Carl Grossmann.  He wreaked havoc in Berlin as the great war was raging.  Berlin suffered from severe shortages, particularly in meat.  Grossmann decided to fill that gap.  In the worst and most gross way imaginable.  He started out by renting a room, and getting the landlord to make an entrance to the kitchen that he had exclusive use of, and that he could use the kitchen without any interference.  Despite this odd request, the landlord was grateful for the money Grossmann handed over.  But the landlord was not to know that Grossmann had an appalling criminal record.  He had more than two dozen arrests, with three of these for assaulting children.  He was  given hard labour each time for these offences.

    Grossmann begged his way around until he found a job as a butcher.  Grossmann was observed having a regular stream of women calling at his room but instead he took them to the kitchen.  This was thought to be strange but obviously Grossmann had a very powerful libido, and on top of that, he was very intimidating.  He was never bothered.  What went on in the kitchens was truly obscene.  He first had sex with the women, then he killed them and meticulously dismembered and carved them up.  He then sold them to Berliners as pork or beef.  He carried on this sick practice right into peacetime.  He was a silent killer and butcher, and received no problems from the landlord because he always paid his rent on time.

    His luck ran out in August 1921 when he had a prostitute visit him.  He had sex then, in his usual routine, he killed her. But she fought him and the noise alerted the landlord, who brought the Police.  They forced their way into the kitchen to find the dead woman and Grossmann busy sharpening knives, ready to dissect.  Grossmann refused to say how many women he had murdered but there was a suggestion of at least 50.  He was tried, convicted and given the death sentence.  Grossmann hanged himself in jail in July 1922, cheating the executioner.

Thoughts From The Dark Side

This is a controversial post but it will be interesting to see what my readers will think, and no doubt will provoke comments, but we will see where it leads.  A contact in the USA has correspondence with a multiple killer incarcerated until he dies.  My contact suggested questions for him and he duly answered them, all carried out through the third party.  What follows after my question or scenario are entirely his thoughts. I have named him "The Chameleon" for reference purposes.

    Convicts in the US prison system avidly watch crime series or real life documentaries, and naturally many would like to feature in them.  One particular favourite is "Dark Minds" hosted by Matthew Phelps, which looks into unsolved murders.  He is assisted by profiler John Kelly.  Kelly has a "friend" in jail, a serial killer who gives opinions on murders, the killer and possible motives.  He is codenamed "13".  Phelps has one called "Raven"  This is what "Chameleon" thinks of the profiler and related things.

    "I have been asked for years by people about the characters in "Dark Minds" by other killers waiting to be another "13" and recently, the "Raven" person.  The Torrey Pines story?  (Double murder of girls in 1978 & 1984)  All speculation, no real evidence to secure a conviction.  Really easy to blame dead men now they are dead.  It solves nothing.  As for John Kelly, he has his opinions.  Mostly it is all about him.  He feels he is right and everybody else is wrong.  Profilers are like that.  Watch "Criminal Minds" every profile given is the truth, as it turns out on tv.  Play 20 questions long enough, sooner or later, you`ll get something right.  When you do, emphasise what you got right and ignore the the ones you guessed wrong."

    So what goes through a killers` mind when he looks for a victim?  What are his motivations?  Does he select victimology rigidly, as in Criminal minds?

    "Murder is a mindset.  We believe we can murder, drop the body and move on.  That we are doing a job.  We see it as a job.  Not a hobby.  We are motivated by the idea we are still not in custody. We witness how it is really going on.  We no longer fear God because God`s followers have no idea we are killers.  A guilt trip left us a long time ago.  Paranoia went out of the window.  We see things most people will not even give a second glance.  We will understand who we have to watch out for.  As a murderer, we become more aware of everyone around us.  We see who is watching us, watching them.  Go to a mall or busy center and sit down and study people.  You`ll begin to see behaviour patterns develop.  As a killer, you soon realise who can be gotten and how to get them."

    This person is very much real, and has committed a number of homicides.  Regular readers will notice that for some time, I have been featuring unsolved murders, unsolved serial killings and such.  My aim is to try and get into the minds and motives of these killers, but it is important to remember, these people do not operate to a strict regime as depicted in Criminal Minds.  Not everything is set in stone.

    

The Two Susans Murders

Two unsolved murders that seemed to come from a script for "Criminal Minds," for twenty five years, were thought to be the work of a possible serial killer.  However, extensive DNA testing proved that the two victims were murdered by different people.  This was the case of the "Two Susans" in St Paul, Minnesota in the 1980`s.  What was initially bizarre, was that the girls with the same forename, were murdered in the same neighbourhood, exactly two years apart.  The victims also wore very similar raincoats.  Was this a man who liked to kill women called Susan?  And in the same area?  Police could not be faulted for thinking on such lines as it is a most unbelievable coincidence.  And coincidence it much later turned out to be.

    Susan Peterson aged 28, was found in an alley by 500 Block on Mount Curve Boulevard in the upscale Highland Park district of St Paul on May 17th 1983.  She had been sexually assaulted and strangled.  Then two years later to the day, 16 year old Susan Rheineck was found not far from the scene of the first murder.  She too, had been sexualy assaulted then killed.  But strangely, she was found tied to a tree in a hilly area, close to the Mississippi River, by 1400 Block, on Mississippi Boulevard.  Both victims had similar coats, and both had been last seen in the same part of town.  Convinced a serial killer was on the loose, over the next few years on May 16th & 17th, Police were on alert in University Avenue and in the Highland Park area in general, but nothing happened.  The cases ran cold.

    Sergeant Anita Muldoon of the cold case unit had said that both women had some trouble in their lives but did not elaborate.  Then evidence in 2009 was subjected to much DNA testing, revealing two different profiles, meaning two different killers.  There was talk of bringing retired cops back to help the cold case unit, but the Police union strongly objected.  The unit was set to review well over 100 unsolved homicides.

Cold Cases: Linda Rousseau, Jeanine Warden & Mary Schlais

Here are three cold case murders from the State of Minnesota stretching back to the 1970`s.  The first concerned the murder of 19 year old Linda Rousseau.  She had left her family home in the Midway district of St Paul, in May of 1971, going to a fast food outlet.  She never returned.  Her remains were discovered in a shallow grave in Hidden Falls Park, located off Mississippi Road Boulevard.  But the case ran cold after a couple of months, and remained that way for more than 35 years.  In January 2007, her brother, Terry, and her sister, Judy, convinced St Paul Police to reopen the case.  Many of the cold cases that are reviewed rely heavily on the continuing advancements in forensic technology, which the brother and sister were relying on.  Remarkably, they were allowed to read all the files on the case by Police, and started their own little investigation, drawing up a possible list of suspects.  One thing they do remember was their sister saying that she was concerned about a couple of people around at the time.

    The second case comes from 1977, and the murder of 17 year old Jeanine Warden.  It was in April of that year, on a rain swept Friday night, that Jeanine and a friend had been to a school banquet in Forest Lake.  They hitchhiked a lift from a passing motorist who dropped them off, not far from their Anoka County homes.  They said their goodbyes and parted company but it was thought that within minutes, Jeanine had been beaten severely and left in a ditch.  She was found by another motorist who immediately summoned authorities.  Jeanine lived on for six weeks in hospital before succumbing to her extensive injuries.  It seems that she was unable to give Police anything.  Was it the driver who dropped her and her friend off, then turned around, and saw her on her own?  Or was it another passing driver who was an opportunist?

    The third case concerns the murder of Mary Kathleen Schlais.  Mary was an Artist & Honours Graduate at the University of Minnesota, when she left her Uptown Minnesota apartment in February 1974.  She was travelling to Chicago to attend an Art Show, but never made it.  Within hours, her body was discovered in a snow bank just off a rural road, 90 miles away in Dunn County, Wisconsin.  Mary had been stabbed more than a dozen times.  Police had a witness who saw a man dump her body and then drive away.  However, this did not lead them very far.  Mary`s coat and purse have never been found.

    Information is a bit thin here but as ever, if anybody reading this, knows anything, pass it on to Police.  Families deserve closure.

Double Killer Dodges The Needle

A man died on Death Row in San Quentin prison on April 22nd 2015.  Ray Steele, 67, had spent twenty five years on death row for a sadistic murder in 1988 of a mentally handicapped woman.  Lee Ann Thurman, aged 24, was viciously attacked in her apartment in the town of Redding, in Shasta County.  At the hands of Steele, she endured strangulation, stabbings and mutilation of her sex organs.  Steele then proceeded to leave California and headed into Nevada, stopping off in Reno.  He entered the Circus Circus casino and informed the staff that he had committed murder and that wanted a drink.  Needless to say, the staff called Police who arrested him.  He confessed everything to them.  He was sentenced to death for this crime.  But he had an appalling criminal record.

    Steele had murdered way back in 1971.  The victim was a fifteen year old girl, babysitting for his girlfriend.  She was murdered in a similar way to Lee Ann Thurman, years later.   As in his second murder, he confessed immediately.  He was rewarded with only a second degree conviction!  But that was not the start.  He had a conviction in 1967 for kidnapping and raping a woman.  You can work out that he was treated very leniently as he was out committing the murder of a schoolgirl just four years later!  In the USA, many felons are hit very heavy sentences, yet there are numerous examples of twisted and sadistic felons being given relatively light sentences.  Steele was thought to have died naturally.  His victims did not.  But does that matter to the liberals and bleeding hearts of this world?

Another Cop Killer Receives Death

Yet another example of somebody drugged up to the eyeballs, who runs amok and commits murders, received his punishment on the gurney in Texas.  Kent Sprouse had been ingesting amphetamine, cannabis and methamphetamine, when in October 2002, he pulled up in a garage in a small town called Ferris, which is situated twenty miles south of Dallas.  He then walked into the store with a shotgun resting over his shoulder.  What would the immediate thought be of the staff on duty?  That`s right! Robbery!!  He then announced that he was having problems with his vehicle, then walked out and returned to his car.  Two men were nearby using a payphone.  For absolutely no reason, Sprouse opened fire at the two men.  Another man was present at the pumps, Pedro Moreno, aged 38.  Then Sprouse turned to this man, innocently filling his vehicle, and shot him dead.

    Staff immediately called 911 and first on the scene was 28 year old cop Harry Steinfeldt.  He was shot by Sprouse after getting out of his patrol car.  Despite wearing body armour, pellets entered through his armpit and into his chest, severely wounding him. Officer Steinfeldt returned fire, wounding Sprouse, but then collapsed and died.  Other officers arriving on the scene arrested Sprouse.  He was convicted of the Capital murders of Officer Steinfeldt and Mr Moreno.  On April 9th 2015, 42 year old Sprouse was executed by lethal injection.  Another example of people going berserk after taking these substances that the pro-drug scumbags say should be legalised.  What will these cunts say to the families of Mr Steinfeldt and Mr Moreno?  Of course, it would never be to their faces.  Would it?

The 1919 Liverpool Police Strike

As far as I am aware, there has only been one strike by Police in the twentieth century.  This occurred in that what was once labelled "Our wickedest city" - Liverpool.  Disgruntled officers throughout Merseyside downed truncheons, and the residents of "our wickedest city" took full advantage.  The officers that stayed on duty were completely and hopelessly out of their depth in trying to maintain order on the streets.  Troops had to be brought in to bolster the ranks.  The strike began on July 31st 1919.  What the grievances were about, were the low pay they received, the long hours they were expected to be on duty, and they wanted to be allowed to join a trade union.  The officers that went on strike, included 954 in Liverpool, 63 in Bootle, 114 in Birkenhead and one solitary officer in Wallasey.

    Within days, 900 soldiers from three regiments were transported to Liverpool, in readiness for the trouble that was about to erupt.  Troops were also sent to Birkenhead to ensure the safety of the docks.  The soldiers were issued with proper ammunition.   Everything erupted on August 2nd when a jeweller's shop window was smashed and looted.  This signalled the start of widespread looting, with Police and troops making dozens of arrests, and the area resembling a battlefield.  An armoured car arrived, escorted by numerous troops with bayonets at the ready.  Inside was a magistrate, who used a loudhailer to read the Riot Act.  It seems nobody took any notice.  Now vicious fighting between Police, troops and the rioters exploded.  The city CID went in four man teams, helping the soldiers to beat the rioters back or make arrests.  They swung heavy batons.

    The rioting and looting went on for days.  Then a detachment of Royal Marines assembled at the Pier Head, with the task of assisting Police in raids on houses where stolen and looted property were thought to be stashed.  The threat of complete anarchy so shocked the Government, that they sent another regiment of soldiers to assist the authorities.  They also sent a number of tanks, which were lined up outside St George`s Hall.  Then a death occurred.  A known hard man, Cuthbert Howlett, chased and continually gave abuse to the soldiers, who responded with warning shots.  This had no effect on Howlett came back for more.  This time, a shot was fired that struck Howlett in the thigh.  He was taken to hospital but he later died.

    The troubles continued for the next few days, with violent battles between locals and the Police and Army.  No quarter was given on both sides.  One soldier fired a warning shot but it`s ricochet hit one man in the neck.  Hospitals were full of people injured in the bloody battles.  The local jail, Walton, was packed solid.  Then the Government ordered the Navy to sail to Liverpool.  The Capital Battleship HMS Valiant and a two destroyer escort arrived in the Mersey and anchored.  Their purpose was to safeguard the docks.  This was the move that ended the strike.  The huge warship was not there merely for show.  The extent of damage was estimated at more than £200,000, but in the end, the striking cops did not win.  Everyone of them was dismissed immediately with loss of pension, and a union was never formed.  To understand the harsh working conditions of the Merseyside bobbies, and the unyielding and unwavering rules and regulations they had to adhere to, a good book to read is "On The Mersey Beat" by Mike Brogden.  Eight years earlier, Liverpool again stood on the brink of anarchy with the Transport Strike of 1911.  Gunboats and a Cruiser moored by the docks and troops ordered in Churchill.  Two people were shot dead.

Burglary Spree in My Neck of The Woods

Getting away from the world of murder and high profile crime, an area that I work everyday, has been hit by a spate of burglaries.  The number of places that have been hit, in a small area, truly stunned me.  Some of these people had cars stolen as well.  Last week, two homes, very close together, were hit in the early hours.  Whilst I was being told about this, one young guy came out of his home to tell me and one of his neighbours, that he discovered his family home front door open, and the downstairs ransacked whilst his parents were asleep upstairs.  One of the cars that was stolen, was found with a smashed in front end, on a rough and notorious estate.  I was informed of this today.  What was more sinister, that same night, further up the road, a resident awoke to look out of his bedroom window, to see a man wearing a ski mask, enter his garden.  He chased this perpetrator off.  But when some scumbag is masked up, this surely means he had either an extremely violent intention or he was a sexual predator searching for a victim.  Whilst working, I informed as many people in the area as I saw, to be extremely vigilant and be security conscious.  Not surprisingly, women were shook up at the thought of a masked intruder being in the area.

    What are the Police doing?  These were the words of the man who told me of these incidents - me and my buddy call him "The Vigilante" because he knows what goes on in his little area.  We all know that the Police are stretched to breaking point, despite the usual bullshit spouted that crime is falling sharply, and endorsed by dickheads who have no conception of the real world.  If the perpetrators are caught, the usual load of bollocks will be put up as excuses; unemployment, poverty, marginalisation, etc, etc, etc.  The real reason is these bastards do not want to work.  Why should they graft for a living when they can steal.  Why should they be part of "The Mugs" who work their fingers to the bone for a living.  Many people live hand to mouth but do they go and rob somebody`s car?  No!  Do they break into a house and ransack it?  No!!  Some of you will probably disagree with me but I have stated before, I have had two cars stolen - never got them back! - cars vandalised and numerous attempts to break in to my former home.  Try to excuse the actions of the bone idle scumbag bastards when you have suffered that!!!!

    But one person, whose sick diatribe always got my back up, was Joe Strummer.  Was this arsehole a "working class hero?"  Was he fuck!  Did he come from a shithole council estate?  No chance!  His father was a barrister.  He came from a good background.  Oh dear, not a truly heroic upbringing.  Strummer made his money, with the Clash, in that land of Capitalism, the good ole USA.  Strummer harped on about people having wealth, but certainly had no hesitation in accepting it from the capitalist Americans.  (No offence intended for my US readers)  Do people remember the comments from this "hero" when rioting occurred here and he claimed that looters were being "provoked" into action.  When Classic Rock did a feature on him after he exited, it said he had not done anything for a number of years.  Nice to know that you can do nothing for years but still get by very nicely.  How many of you out there can sit on your arse for years but do not have to worry about being able to survive?  Unfortunately, in the real world, people have to do something to get by.  Strummer had no worries.  After all, the land of capitalism saw to that.  One of my colleagues calls Strummer "a fake" but he is a massive fan of Roy Harper.  Anything to say about him and I will pass it on.  Is the true "working class hero" Billy Bragg? 

The Murder of John "Goldfinger" Palmer

Has the so-called "Curse of Brinks-Mat" struck again or is it totally unconnected to the notorious gold bullion heist?  A security depot was robbed by a gang expecting to find £3,000,000 in cash.  What they did find was an incredible £26,000,000 worth of gold.  Most of the gold has never been found but the gang and assorted associates have been jailed and at least twenty, connected to the gold or gang in various ways, have met violent deaths.  John Palmer, a dealer in scrap metal and jewellry, was charged with handling the stolen gold.  He said he had no idea where the bullion came from and was acquitted.  It earned him the monicker of "Goldfinger."  Palmer then became involved in the timeshare business in Tenerife, which essentially was a con, and 17,000 people were supposed to have been fleeced.  Palmer was jailed for fraud in 2001 for eight years but served only half.  He has been given the accolade of being labelled Britain`s wealthiest villain.  Another man given that plaudit was drug baron Curtis Warren.

    Authorities believed that Palmer amassed a fortune of £300 Million through various crooked schemes.  He, like Warren, made it onto the Rich List!  But in 2005, Palmer was declared bankrupt by a judge and ordered to pay more than £3,000,000 in compensation to victims of his timeshare con.  Personally speaking, if he amassed just one third of what the authorities said, then being declared bankrupt must have made him laugh, and repaying that money would have been loose change in his pocket.  He was arrested by the Spanish authorities in 2007 and spent the next eight years on bail.  He spent his time between his home in Essex and his luxury yacht moored up abroad.  Not bad for a supposed bankrupt.

    But on June 24th 2015, Palmer, 64, was found collapsed at his home in South Weald, near Brentwood in Essex.  At first, unbelievably, it was thought that he had suffered a heart attack.  Nearly a week later, the autopsy revealed that Palmer had been shot in the chest!!!!!  Now it is a case of "Who could have done it?"  Time share revenge?  Brinks Mat?  Could it have been a more mundane reason?  As of now, it is a Police investigation.  But if the tales of John Palmer are only half true, then it makes him one of THE premier villains in British history and makes ridiculous, the sad, pathetic bastards, who still harp on about sixties villains.  You know who I mean.

The Silk Road

I must admit that all these different sites on the "Dark Web" I have never heard of, but then again, I have never had the slightest inclination to look at them.  The big controversy was a trial earlier this year in New York, in which a computer geek received a life sentence for setting up a drug buying website, money laundering and other offences.  He was ordered to pay $183 million in restitution.  The sentence seems savage, but what is the story?  The Dark Web is used by people who want to avoid the reaches of search engines.  Apparently you need to acquire certain types of software to access them.  Naturally, there will be huge amounts of security, as many of these sites offer all kinds of services.  Drugs, guns, fake ID`s and child pornography.  The Silk Road, a website named after an old trade route in the far east, was the brainchild of computer geek Ross Ulbricht.  He was a supporter of free markets, so his site was like ebay or a peer-to-peer group.  Payments were carried out using bitcoins - a sort of cryptocurrency or similar.  A bit complicated for me to truly understand.  The administrator was said to take a cut or commission.  Everything was done with cryptic names.  The administrator was called Dread Pirate Roberts, who prosecutors and the FBI said was 31 year old Ross Ulbricht.

    He stood trial in New York, but claims were made that the Judge, Katherine Forrest, constantly over-ruled his lawyer and denied defence witnesses the opportunity to fully explain the finer side of virtual currency and the dark net.  There was a claim that Ulbricht had paid a vast amount of money to have six people killed but there were no murders and no evidence was produced to back it up.  Judge Forrest ruled that this could not be introduced as evidence but the prosecution still mentioned it.  Two Federal agents involved in the investigation, were arrested for supposedly stealing money from Silk Road.  Judge Forrest ruled that it could not be used.  Defence lawyers stated that the real target for Federal authorities was another man, who then set up Ulbricht to be the patsy.  Ulbricht`s mother said she thought her son was spending his time creating a new computer game.

    What has emerged is that all the personal details of Judge Forrest - home address, telephone number and social security number, were splashed on the web.  No attempt at intimidation there.  That is not to say Ulbricht knew anything about it, but shows what others would stoop to, in order to protect their "interests."  A newspaper report asks if Ulbricht REALLY did mastermind the site.  He said he set it up five years ago as a free market experiment and soon passed over the running of it to others.  If he created it and set it up, then he masterminded it.  It is that simple.  It was his brainchild.  What this case is bringing up is that the road to supreme riches is in cybercrime.  Hacking - the hacking into a major ISP "cloud" is proof of that.  The web can be used for all types of money making schemes and scams, and you do not need a large "staff" to accomplish it.  One man can be capable of so much.  Did he want to create what is an illegal market and paid the price for it?  If this was his aim, then tough.