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∞ SARAH HANNAH CALENDER, murder, 3rd February 1890. (Old Bailey Online)
Found in the court record linked above…
EDWARD ARTHUR BANTON:
We found the place had been on fire;
Four of the children were there,
But not the baby, Florence Ada—
I saw her dead body
Next day at the mortuary.
JANE HANNAH BANTON:
I was awoke
by the smoke—
I got up, and found the room full of smoke
Mr. Morment, the lodger,
He came and broke
Open the door
I did not see anything of the baby.
PHILIP FRANCIS GILBERT:
I have had the prisoner
Under observation
While she has been
in Holloway Prison
In my opinion
She is insane
She said she had heard voices,
Which she could not explain,
That people,
And a man named Emile,
Had tried to murder her
That people went about
With electricity
That certain rooms
Smelt of death
GUILTY of the act, being insane.
Ordered to be detained
Until Her Majesty’s pleasure
Be known.
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back to the crime scene #1 (via thekid 2.0)
Sometimes you just gotta say WTF and have a laugh. Your friendly neighborhood crime blogger can overdose on the serious on occasion.
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History of British Executioners (via brizzle born and bred)
Follow the link and image above to see a remarkable historic true crime Flickr account. I don’t know who runs the account, but I could spend hours just browsing.
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∞ Help Find Monique Lampron...
… Sounds like she’d be hard to miss.
The 30-year-old Ms. Lampron has been missing since Monday from Maple Ridge, BC, Canada. She is a 5’4” white woman with long blond hair and brown eyes.
If Monique comes home okay — and let’s hope she does — she may have to re-think her wardrobe choices in the future. According to 24 Hours Vancouver, Monique was last seen “wearing blue spandex pants and a white shirt with ‘who needs boobs’ written on the front and ‘with an ass like this’ on the back.”
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∞ MyFox Tampa Bay | Sheriff: 'Horrific' murders took place on Mother's Day
I always have one story in a year that pretty much lets me know my limits as a non-fiction writer who focuses on crime.
The story linked above is a good example.
Someone mutilated and murdered Lisa Freiberg and her two small children in the most gruesome manner possible. They did it on Mothers’s Day.
That’s my wall, when it comes to crime stories. I stop at knowing the kids and mom were all mutilated, and one victim decapitated. I say to myself, done now.
Not that I won’t cover other true crime stories in the news. I just won’t touch this one. My hat’s off to anyone who can. And I’m in awe of the law enforcement folks who get through this and stay on the job.
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∞ Serial Killer Paul Dennis Reid Has Competency Hearing
Eleven years ago someone was killing fast-food workers all over Middle Tennessee. That someone ended up being a tone-deaf country music wannabe named Paul Dennis Reid. Before he was done, Reid killed 7. Most of the time, he just did it to eliminate witnesses.
Reid was to be executed by the State of Tennessee in January this year, but he received a stay one week before his appointment with the needle.
His competency hearing will take place in Clarksville, where he killed two young women he kidnapped from a Baskin-Robbins. Authorities need to determine Reid’s “mental capacity.”
Paul Dennis Reid has perfectly decent “mental capacity.” Before he was caught, he managed to get professional publicity photos, hire a full band to back him for a demo (one of the most wretched things you’ll ever hear — the band was professional, Reid was truly tone-deaf, couldn’t sing a single note in tune), and get cosmetic surgery.
I have grown less sure of my opinions on the death penalty. It’s monsters like Paul Reid who always make think it isn’t such a bad idea, after all.
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∞ Arsonist hits the motherlode - WFTV Orlando
Wildfires are tearing across Brevard and Volusia Counties in Florida, and somewhere nearby, someone must be very happy. Investigators think the fires that have damaged or destroyed more than 50 homes were started by an arsonist.
Authorities say the fires started Sunday, and were set about 90 minutes apart. At one point, firefighters almost had control of the situation, but then the wind and low humidity took the ball out of their court and the flames raged on.
Police seek a brown-haired white guy possibly driving a dark-colored Honda or Hyundai. Call 1-800-423 TIPS if you think you know something that might help put this crazy bastard behind bars.