tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10721250470082759222024-03-18T09:47:46.177-07:00Kidnapping, Murder, and MayhemKidnapping, Murder and Mayhem. They're as old as human history, and as fascinating. Welcome to Robert A. Waters' true crime blog.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger726125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1072125047008275922.post-57924435961792896702024-03-16T14:54:00.000-07:002024-03-18T09:47:13.350-07:00"Righteous" Self-Defense Stories<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguAU_Gho5VeUsAeNy9ad1Ihje2eQI_aOeaaptNizrUOwcMibSiyi6nFPrboD8xy88hFw_q6XrAqXyG9-IdXrn2-T8G_2WBmaIL_zJFO2bvHQrvTUp_HweoFSuCaFX2D6qykTFdi93V1SGIoGn6l7g90BNmURXFbbtJ1PmcoPea8Ey0F0eEiE9jxNmgkb8/s725/Book.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="725" data-original-width="696" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguAU_Gho5VeUsAeNy9ad1Ihje2eQI_aOeaaptNizrUOwcMibSiyi6nFPrboD8xy88hFw_q6XrAqXyG9-IdXrn2-T8G_2WBmaIL_zJFO2bvHQrvTUp_HweoFSuCaFX2D6qykTFdi93V1SGIoGn6l7g90BNmURXFbbtJ1PmcoPea8Ey0F0eEiE9jxNmgkb8/s320/Book.jpg" width="307" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div style="text-align: left;"><i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Guns-Self-Defense-Inspirational-Survival-Firearms-ebook/dp/B07RCY13TZ/ref=pd_ybh_a_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=MWHQTETDZ00SVWWJ5F4Q">Guns and Self-Defense: 23 Inspirational True Crime Stories of Survival with Firearms</a></i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">By Robert A. Waters and Sim Waters</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></div>Here's a little-kept secret: tens of millions of liberals, independents, and conservatives in America own firearms. Gun ownership is one of the few issues that crosses all sides of the political spectrum. The book, </span><i style="font-family: georgia;">Guns and Self-Defense: 23 Inspirational True Crime Stories of Survival with Firearms,</i><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i> </i>describes exciting stories in which a cross-section of every-day citizens used guns to fend off violent assaults.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">These are real-life stories most media outlets chose not to report.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Have you ever heard of Harry and Janet Lodholm? This Lakewood, Washington couple survived a brutal home invasion by a murderous gang that mistook their house for that of a drug-dealer they planned to rob. Crashing through the front door, the gang pistol-whipped Harry and slashed Janet with a knife. When the assailants finally realized they had chosen the wrong house, they took what valuables they could find and fled, leaving the bound and tortured victims stunned and bloody. In their haste to leave, however, the robbers left their backpack in the house--worse yet, the backpack contained their cellphones. In the meantime, the couple had freed themselves and relocked the front door. The frustrated gang broke into the house for the second time, determined now to silence the victims who could identify them and retrieve the evidence that would send them back to prison. But the robbers hadn't counted on the couple's resilience. Harry and Janet had retreated to their bedroom. As Janet dialed 9-1-1, Harry grabbed his firearm. When the gang kicked down the bedroom door, Harry and his 9mm semiautomatic made quick work of the robbers.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">What a story! But the mainstream media never reported it, likely because it didn't fit their anti-gun narrative.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Based on police reports, interviews with victims, court documents, media sources, and other public records,<i> Guns and Self-Defense</i> recounts the courage and resourcefulness of armed citizens who refused to become easy prey.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Each story is set in a time and place. Characters are delineated in depth, both would-be victims and attackers. The aftermath of many of these stories are poignant. In some cases, the victims suffered life-altering injuries, as well as lingering mental trauma. Without a weapon, most would have been murdered. Many of the assailants were hardcore drug users; others had mental health issues. In still other cases, street gangs, unconcerned with any sense of right and wrong, preyed on the innocent. The majority of attackers had been in prison, and most had been released early.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">By the way, for those who fancy identity politics, the would-be victims in this book represent a microcosm of America: liberals, conservatives, independents, white people, black people, other minorities, males, females, the able-bodied, and the disabled.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">What kinds of weapons did these would-be victims use? A woman home alone used a shotgun. Several used semiautomatic handguns. Others used revolvers. In one case, a wheelchair-bound victim used a pistol loaded with 16-gauge shotgun shells. In two cases, convenience stores had a "house gun," a weapon stashed beneath the counter that employees could use in case it was needed.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW-woAqMu_balGiqeV2_y1lTB4i_JSRHYuZjataaJNBzXlCaYQWjte6pi_XDzTyComir6R3PbzfWaDQDQYhvPtVBr15BPFfJirb5T01Irds7wJPwS5lP3GHAmsp5zsqnPll_6cA5SbSDU9pv25x9OWnSDQRODV-O3rKjVqigXtIvcGT5Ngj_BrMIsfAPk/s3072/Taurus.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2916" data-original-width="3072" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW-woAqMu_balGiqeV2_y1lTB4i_JSRHYuZjataaJNBzXlCaYQWjte6pi_XDzTyComir6R3PbzfWaDQDQYhvPtVBr15BPFfJirb5T01Irds7wJPwS5lP3GHAmsp5zsqnPll_6cA5SbSDU9pv25x9OWnSDQRODV-O3rKjVqigXtIvcGT5Ngj_BrMIsfAPk/s320/Taurus.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">All these cases involved "righteous" self-defense--meaning the would-be victim acted legally and was not charged with any crime. In many of the cases, law enforcement officials praised the citizens' actions.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">You'll read about the drug-addled thug who tried to rob two disabled old ladies in a low-income retirement home. (It might have been funny if it wasn't deadly serious.) After being severely injured by the assailant, one of the women used a small .22-caliber handgun she called a "derringer" to stop the violent assault. The "derringer" did its job: it paralyzed the assailant so he can never hurt anyone else.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">You'll read about the nurse who helped police capture a gang of carjackers that had been terrorizing the city of Milwaukee for months. The night before, they shot an innocent victim in the jaw, nearly killing him. The nurse, however, had a concealed carry permit, and put an end to the crime spree when they attempted to carjack her. (One member of this gang also ended up partially paralyzed.) Sometimes what goes around comes around!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiECq43Uty09pA_CT2opuokijKpUjEetvx9Sd20qtgonZm3Kh2SGrZ-EXsnMfCkxq1-TiTtrRsH23BO9qGtRsbwk-GbgI_XksCTv7imDvIlWaPjpTdbANHZl9ukKrf8BqwuTVbg0aW0_RPWNfHa20iR9dfqXBb9nnv3ah6ej7ecvb1CAf9oTYgw2v9hZEo/s2000/Beretta%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiECq43Uty09pA_CT2opuokijKpUjEetvx9Sd20qtgonZm3Kh2SGrZ-EXsnMfCkxq1-TiTtrRsH23BO9qGtRsbwk-GbgI_XksCTv7imDvIlWaPjpTdbANHZl9ukKrf8BqwuTVbg0aW0_RPWNfHa20iR9dfqXBb9nnv3ah6ej7ecvb1CAf9oTYgw2v9hZEo/s320/Beretta%201.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span style="font-family: georgia;">The last chapter in the book involves a street gang that actually named themselves "The Cutthroat Committee." One summer morning, in Jacksonville, Florida, as Pam Coker got ready to go to work, she heard a loud bang, then the back door exploded open. Her husband, Foster, didn't have to be at work until later, so he was sleeping. An intruder raced toward Pam and pummeled her to the floor. Foster heard the commotion and ran out to help his wife. He engaged the much younger home invader, and the two fought a horrific hand-to-hand battle in the middle of the living room. Finally, Foster, bloody and about to pass out, told Pam, "Honey, you've got to get my gun." The intruder, armed with an Beretta Centurion (<i>pictured above</i>) that had a "30 clip," kept hitting Foster with the butt of the gun. Blood flowed all over the home as Foster and the invader fought from room to room</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">. While Pam, with severely injured legs, stumbled to the bedroom to retrieve her husband's gun, the wild fight continued. Pam returned with a five-shot revolver and handed it to Foster. The homeowner emptied it, hitting the assailant three times. That's when the intruder fired a shot that grazed Foster's head. With his gun empty, Foster realized the attacker still wasn't dead. He jumped back onto the invader, pinning down the Beretta to keep him from shooting again. Pam once again hobbled back to the bedroom, grabbed a second pistol, came back, and shot the invader twice. This intruder, like the Lodholm gang, had mistakenly pegged the Coker home to be that of drug dealers. Because of the actions of Foster and Pam Coker, the Cutthroat Committee was disbanded by police. All the members of the gang ended up in prison. Their attacker, a founding member, ended up in the graveyard.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I like stories that uplift my soul. Maybe you do, too.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">NOTE: For more than 30 years, Robert A. Waters has researched and written about armed self-defense cases. If you enjoyed <i>Guns and Self-Defense</i>, co-written with Robert's son, Sim, you might also like <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Guns-Save-Lives-Inspirational-Self-Defense/dp/1798942739">Guns Save Lives: 22 Inspirational True Crime Stories of Survival and Self-Defense with Firearms</a></i>.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1072125047008275922.post-85128129618579420632024-03-04T17:09:00.000-08:002024-03-06T06:43:20.296-08:00GI Lost Four Limbs in the Battle of Okinawa<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU6ankDyHG5NbQbJWnY0BbDgxO2ifEgJdPklHaxhAxlWSu_t4Jf32hvahoB1_mnWIHZnW7DOG6_GFG3u6guOFiMwKCBFy5zsO4nILPKKqKaZr0uYu3XSFx5KF-rrH4xSrdR48cIVRSg_nZP4-5dNrD1C07vvDrEMcO8PXdQjewJBbFqdN_e1gTh5Fg-ng/s819/Frederic%20Hensel.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="819" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU6ankDyHG5NbQbJWnY0BbDgxO2ifEgJdPklHaxhAxlWSu_t4Jf32hvahoB1_mnWIHZnW7DOG6_GFG3u6guOFiMwKCBFy5zsO4nILPKKqKaZr0uYu3XSFx5KF-rrH4xSrdR48cIVRSg_nZP4-5dNrD1C07vvDrEMcO8PXdQjewJBbFqdN_e1gTh5Fg-ng/w400-h223/Frederic%20Hensel.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium; font-weight: 700; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Man who Wouldn’t Die</span><p></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-0ac400bb-7fff-9695-9712-cb5b1faa4fe0"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">By Robert A. Waters</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">On June 2, 1945, Frederic Hensel, born in Virginia and raised by an uncle in Kentucky after he was orphaned, found himself on a small Pacific island called Okinawa. A tank battalion master sergeant with the 77th Infantry Division, Hensel soon learned that Okinawa was a miserable place for tank warfare. Relentless rain, rugged terrain, a doggedly determined enemy, and a vast network of cleverly formed defenses slowed advancement to a crawl. It took American GIs 82 days of brutal fighting to capture the island. 16,000 Americans would die there, and a staggering 40,000 would be wounded. </span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Associated Press wrote that "for four days prior to being injured, Hensel led a detachment of men through the mine-infested clearing on Okinawa where they were repairing [tanks] to go into battle.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">"On June 2 he was working on a Sherman tank and decided to go back to headquarters for more repairs, taking another soldier with him. Realizing they were walking over dangerous ground, he ordered his companion to keep a good distance away.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">"They hadn't gone far when Hensel stepped on the mine. The sturdy soldier didn't lose consciousness while his companion gave him first aid, nor until medics arrived with drugs."</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvS8tTEpEg4tEfjJzruBSlIoUL4W24EME4zrTk6kDAQEODJVmQW1j5u1pZhGQwiv1JeFrtFbVToMCR1urUAhIaF99XuRDvnjWQQpqZZjmN8een9RC6LSdJjaoTTtmTiUbaflY_d3cSM5uDXtjdwHB14Q5TMe5cWOWsU6j5FEDSjDRji7gPO-BjvD7Ctq4/s1600/Tank.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1143" data-original-width="1600" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvS8tTEpEg4tEfjJzruBSlIoUL4W24EME4zrTk6kDAQEODJVmQW1j5u1pZhGQwiv1JeFrtFbVToMCR1urUAhIaF99XuRDvnjWQQpqZZjmN8een9RC6LSdJjaoTTtmTiUbaflY_d3cSM5uDXtjdwHB14Q5TMe5cWOWsU6j5FEDSjDRji7gPO-BjvD7Ctq4/w400-h286/Tank.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium; white-space-collapse: preserve;">"Hensel’s injuries were devastating," Time reported. "The explosion blew off both legs above the knee, his left arm above the elbow, [and] mangled his right hand…" While on the ship carrying him back to the states, his crushed hand developed a "gaseous gangrene infection" and had to be amputated.</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Once Hensel arrived at Percy Jones Hospital in Battle Creek, Michigan, the media got wind of his arrival. No one, even the battle-numbed doctors and nurses, had seen injuries this severe. They quickly informed newsmen that Hensel was the only living soldier during all of World War II who had lost every limb. (NOTE: Before the war ended, four more soldiers would endure the same type of wounds.)</span></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">He was fortunate to have physicians and nurses familiar with rehabilitating soldiers who had grievous wounds. Time reporters wrote: "Eventually Sergeant Hensel will be far from helpless. After operations on all four stumps, he will get artificial limbs and be able to walk again. Last week, still suffering from shock and slightly deaf from concussion, he was thinking of starting a little chicken farm when he is discharged. He told reporters, 'This sure changes things a lot…I’d make an excellent propaganda photo to end all wars.' His dark-haired wife, at the hospital to greet him, said, 'We’ll get along fine.'"</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Jewel, his wife, charmed reporters. A photogenic woman with a captivating "Southern accent," they had been married for three years. Newspapers raved about her beauty and her loyalty to her husband. </span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Before he joined the army, Hensel had known only farming. As a child, he toiled on his uncle’s Kentucky farm. He informed reporters that, except for war, farming was all he knew. The plucky soldier’s determination to overcome his handicap resonated with Americans on the home-front.</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Out of the blue, someone sent a small check to Hensel to help him buy a farm. Newspapers quickly joined forces with everyday citizens and soon Hensel found himself deluged with donations. Many checks were for only a dollar or two, but they added up. The Associated Press wrote that Sergeant Hensel and his wife, Jewel, "received some $60,000 in cash gifts today as they celebrated their third wedding anniversary. Hensel captured the admiration of the public when he arrived here from Okinawa five weeks ago and announced that he was going into the chicken farm business despite what seemed like insurmountable handicaps." </span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">That money would buy him a nice farm. While many men may have quickly blown through the cash, Hensel and his wife did not. Eighteen months after entering the hospital, Hensel left in a wheelchair. He now had two new artificial arms and hooks, as well as prosthetic legs. He did indeed buy a chicken farm in Kentucky, but a couple of years afterwards, sold out, moved to Alabama, and bought a dairy farm. He hired employees to do the milking and physical work he could not do.</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Hensel prospered and became known as a successful businessman. He and Jewel had four children. Eventually, they retired to south Florida. Jewel died in 1987 at sixty-seven years of age.</span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Hensel outlived his beloved wife, but I have been unable to locate the date of his death. (<b>NOTE</b>: If anyone knows when he died, please let me know and I’ll add it to this story.)</span></p><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1072125047008275922.post-1540207381557704652024-02-25T05:18:00.000-08:002024-02-25T13:19:00.023-08:00"Corpses of the drowned"<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b><i>Stalin, Mao, Communism, and their 21st Century Aftermath in Russia and China</i></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Dr. Miguel A. Faria, Jr.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Cambridge Scholars Publishing</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">2024</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i>Review written by Robert A. Waters</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipaSLWbJe8oQiT4CG5SnjsbnruKlXymgua0r9DzylXtQamulaK4wkKm50p6U9_CHzVOavs1N-wNplQX-V5RDB2PN_3-MOVJtjnSBta38aLIgbIEiOCd7urZPW1ZJStc_ikAZ_MaQ_wxIOzXTbs3g49Bd32llWo2cU8CSqpVowBjjWP89lx-PjIUEmq6uA/s518/Stalin.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="518" data-original-width="341" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipaSLWbJe8oQiT4CG5SnjsbnruKlXymgua0r9DzylXtQamulaK4wkKm50p6U9_CHzVOavs1N-wNplQX-V5RDB2PN_3-MOVJtjnSBta38aLIgbIEiOCd7urZPW1ZJStc_ikAZ_MaQ_wxIOzXTbs3g49Bd32llWo2cU8CSqpVowBjjWP89lx-PjIUEmq6uA/w264-h400/Stalin.jpg" width="264" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i>"To choose one's victims, to prepare one's plans minutely, to slake an implacable vengeance, and then go to bed...there is nothing sweeter in the world."</i> Joseph Stalin</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In his far-sweeping book about communism, Dr. Miguel Faria, Jr. describes a hellish nightmare. Almost every page drips with the blood of victims, most unknown, but many high-ranking, or even famous. My thought at the end of the book was, who in his or her right mind would wish to live in such a society? And yet, many who thrive under freedom in today's world seem to have a yen for communistic-style governments.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">So what is communism? Faria writes: "To paraphrase Mao Tse-tung, communism is the attainment of political power by the barrel of a gun and complete control of all services and the methods of production, distribution, and consumption of goods by the omnipotent state." </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The oppressors and killers who rule totalitarian dictatorships care nothing for the people they rule. </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Joseph Stalin, an unredeemable psychopath, murdered or caused the deaths of at least 20-40 million of his own people. Mao Tse-tung also killed 20-40 million. (These staggering numbers are low--there were likely millions more unknown victims.)</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Because he murdered friends and enemies alike, as well as millions of anonymous souls caught in his web, Faria calls Stalin's reign the "meat grinder." This is an apt description. The author writes that "Stalin would use terror indiscriminately as a matter of course, not only against the civilian population but also most ominously and unflinchingly against his former comrades, and without sparing the families of political opponents (including his own)."</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Nickolai Yezhov, chief executioner for Stalin, is an example of what happened when an insider knew more than he should. Yezhov was no innocent: he may have been responsible for a half-million torture-murders orchestrated by the Russian dictator. But he ended up being labeled a "traitor" by Stalin and was dispatched with a bullet to the brain.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC48MKj_-7i0s7VaqGTT6BM8uecR-lx-qJr72XH97qPXLHaoFOnerTsDCGc0iek9ZQyrlFSfizTYnsXOscGPbJn2F_IXtToSzwPA2-ehRdSrcOeibFFooAyZprQgmJBLeWZzVwYuqGWHyYL6E0leQ7BEyR0UYM34coDT9hzb_qx1vnuVJjOOxllzdNJBs/s1680/MarijaSpiridonova.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1680" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC48MKj_-7i0s7VaqGTT6BM8uecR-lx-qJr72XH97qPXLHaoFOnerTsDCGc0iek9ZQyrlFSfizTYnsXOscGPbJn2F_IXtToSzwPA2-ehRdSrcOeibFFooAyZprQgmJBLeWZzVwYuqGWHyYL6E0leQ7BEyR0UYM34coDT9hzb_qx1vnuVJjOOxllzdNJBs/s320/MarijaSpiridonova.jpg" width="229" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">Maria A. Spiridonova (<i>pictured above</i>) suffered for decades at the hands of both Lenin and Stalin. In 1918, she criticized the Bolsheviks, saying, "I accuse you of betraying the peasants, of making use of them for your own ends." Faria writes, "Spiridonova was persecuted for years, arrested, harshly interrogated, released, resentenced repeatedly, sent to various labor camps and settlements in the Gulag and in exile. Finally, she was executed in 1941."</span></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Life was not pleasant for most Russians.<br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Faria writes that Russian "citizens died from privations, neglect, and mistreatment; of starvation from government-orchestrated famines; diseases due to malnutrition; and mass executions or a simple shot to the back of the head. They died in prisons, in their homes, during mass deportations, and from overwork and exposure while slaving away in the Gulag system of destructive labor camps."</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Arthur Koestler, a former communist and author of the anti-communist book, <i>Darkness At Noon</i>, wrote: "I went to Communism as one goes to a spring of fresh water and I left Communism as one clambers out of a poisoned river strewn with the wreckage of flooded cities and corpses of the drowned."</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Communism in Russia was a total and complete disaster for its people. Faria has covered it all. From the well-known overthrow and murders of former Tsarist government officials, to the Great Purges, to rounding up and assassinating almost all the old Bolsheviks, to Stalin's brutal war on intellectuals and Russia's Jewish population, to his deliberate starving of millions of Ukrainians, and much more...the list of victims continues through Faria's book. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Years after communism in Russia failed, former President Boris Yeltsin said, "Our country has not been lucky...It was decided to carry out this Marxist experiment on us...It has simply pushed us off the path the world's civilized nations have taken...in the end, <i>we proved that there is no place for this idea.</i>" (NOTE: my italics.)</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Eastern-style communism under China's Mao Tse-tung was no better.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Faria writes that "Mao committed whatever crimes were necessary to attain and preserve supreme political power. For him, democracy, justice, equality, fraternity, and freedom were merely words to be used for propaganda purposes--not ideas to be pursued."</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Anyone unfortunate enough to be born into a political system where one individual has complete power will be subjugated to the leader. That was true under Stalin, and true under Mao. Communism is an easy system for tyrants to manipulate. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The research done by Faria is amazing. In <i>Stalin, Mao, Communism, and their 21st Century Aftermath in Russia and China</i>, the author quotes from numerous works about Russian and Chinese history. He has published more than a hundred high-quality photos of many of the players involved. He has tied together disparate parts of a massive jigsaw puzzle of events and framed them into a terrifying whole. With so much going on in secretive societies such as Russia and China, that's hard to do. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">After Mao won the Chinese civil war against President Chiang Kai-shek, he ruled as a ruthless dictator. Faria writes: "Tragically, the significant and historic events in communist China were not peaceful socio-economic advances, but militant initiatives begun by Chairman Mao to destroy the bourgeoisie, wipe out traditional mores, erase and rewrite Chinese history, and construct a fully self-sufficient communist state..."</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Unfortunately, Mao's policies "only brought social upheaval and violence, economic disaster, devastation, suffering, and death."</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Faria juxtaposes the former Chinese communist government with the current government. </span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">President Xi Jinping is slicker and craftier than Mao, but his goals remain much the same, i.e., domination of all who fall into his orbit.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Because of its historical significance, this book will find an audience. But will the modernists of our generation learn from the past? That, to me is the critical question.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i>If anyone has seen the true face of communism, it is Dr. Miguel A. Faria. He and his father barely escaped Fidel Castro's Cuba. He arrived in America and became a neurosurgeon. He has dedicated a vast portion of his life fighting to retain the freedoms we have in this country. Check out his website: </i></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i><a href="https://haciendapublishing.com/">https://haciendapublishing.com/</a></i></span></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1072125047008275922.post-20687372547915868892024-02-15T15:43:00.000-08:002024-02-17T14:18:49.874-08:00"This type of violence will not be tolerated..."<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QmLjfw9Vp4Q" width="320" youtube-src-id="QmLjfw9Vp4Q"></iframe></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 700; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Jugging Victim Paralyzed in Brutal Assault – Attacker shows no Remorse</span><p></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-fc6b01ca-7fff-22a3-7d32-659e3e63fc77"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">By Robert A. Waters</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Note: <i>Jugging occurs when an individual withdraws cash from a bank or ATM and then that person is followed by a robber who attempts to steal the money, usually after the victim stops his or her automobile. Jugging has become common in many crime-ridden cities.</i></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">On the morning of February 13, 2023, forty-four-year-old Nhung Truong (<i>pictured below</i>) drove to the Bank of America on Blackhawk Boulevard in Houston, Texas. She withdrew $4,300 in cash, money she’d saved working at a nail salon for seven years. Truong planned to use the cash to fly her family back to Vietnam to visit relatives.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh6fw_Q-5kdm1nE856BnhpzTgjYVptfZSsKY-mgxSwhUIpkH5tEzkL2XKLUV_oaFaTHAxxZxM36BjU77cVPRUjxO265-MDctMDaX5SO7keASXCtu0S1VLBiuBwJzPhxrCqJc0rnimfzzsxNb3SkNtaL9z_xRy8AiibMgkJVSQa5JzZTiqatHWd9buzLkk/s1920/Truong%201.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh6fw_Q-5kdm1nE856BnhpzTgjYVptfZSsKY-mgxSwhUIpkH5tEzkL2XKLUV_oaFaTHAxxZxM36BjU77cVPRUjxO265-MDctMDaX5SO7keASXCtu0S1VLBiuBwJzPhxrCqJc0rnimfzzsxNb3SkNtaL9z_xRy8AiibMgkJVSQa5JzZTiqatHWd9buzLkk/s320/Truong%201.webp" width="320" /></a></span></div><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">As she drove to the Belleair shopping center where she worked, the petite mother of three didn't realize she was being followed. Long-time criminals Zy’Nika Ayesha Woods, 19, and her boyfriend, Joseph Harrell, 17, trailed Troung for 24 miles.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">After parking, Truong took the family's passports and the envelope with her money and walked toward her place of business.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFjSVEYnku-efJ0bP_KxOh-_Q1tDHIShra-bF1mfVdfhYRftpkhuSj3Mz7iauEqfeuIVYWmRAb3oLSbBzpsPb8cfejSHxwNhz7r7bTPVF7dwLIDdmq3iedNtZc-JhmgauxCOZIHvgtCejCJLAqqjKulUSyOgbJjSUyv33Pwx3Q8XDh2yqZ_wDTDmt8SKI/s840/Zynika.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="472" data-original-width="840" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFjSVEYnku-efJ0bP_KxOh-_Q1tDHIShra-bF1mfVdfhYRftpkhuSj3Mz7iauEqfeuIVYWmRAb3oLSbBzpsPb8cfejSHxwNhz7r7bTPVF7dwLIDdmq3iedNtZc-JhmgauxCOZIHvgtCejCJLAqqjKulUSyOgbJjSUyv33Pwx3Q8XDh2yqZ_wDTDmt8SKI/w400-h225/Zynika.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><div><span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span></div>A surveillance camera caught the robbery in living color.</span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">At about 11:30 A.M., while Woods waited in the car, Harrell stalked his prey. He approached Truong as she walked down the sidewalk. Sensing that Harrell had invaded her space, Truong attempted to move out of his way, but he suddenly seized her around her waist and flung her against a wall. The items she carried, including the envelope with her money, flew from her hand and were strewn across the sidewalk. Truong then collapsed onto the concrete.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">DailyMail</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> reporter Lewis Pennock wrote: “In the video, the thief could be seen snatching an envelope that police believe he thought was Truong’s cash from her scattered belongings. He began to flee but then [turned] around and body slammed Truong to the ground and fled with the [envelope containing her] money.” </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The attack was over in seconds.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The city of Houston reeled in shock. It’s sometimes hard to ascertain why some cases go viral while others don’t, but this one had all the ingredients that terrorize people. An innocent victim and mother of three lay hospitalized with broken ribs and a fractured spine. Unable to walk, doctors opined that she might never make a full recovery. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Harrell, already out on bond for a weapons charge, would later be charged with yet another robbery that occurred just days after this assault. In one of the dumb things criminals sometimes do, he posted a photo of himself on Tik Tok wearing the same distinctive shirt he wore during Troung’s assault.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A few weeks later, Harrell was identified and arrested. A judge initially set his bond at $200,000.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Authorities routinely record jailhouse telephone conversations, and the public got an earful from Harrell. “We was snatching purses,” he told a friend. “I snatched a purse. Basically when I snatched the purse the lady ran with the money. I grabbed her and slammed her and she’s paralyzed.” Harrell can be heard chuckling as he recounts the crime.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">When the friend explained that Truong had received $230,000 from a “gofundme” page, Harrell brightened up even more. He opined that he shouldn’t be charged with </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">any</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> crime because the victim would now be okay.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">But the victim would</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> not</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> be okay.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Houston Police Chief Troy Finner held a press conference and said, “This type of violence will not be tolerated in our city. It is just senseless. I just spoke to Ms. Troung…and assured her, and I want the city of Houston to stand behind us. These are very serious injuries. The recovery is very long. And I want her to know the love of our agency but also the great citizens in this city.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Citizens did respond and raised more than $250,000 to help the injured woman pay her medical bills.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Then Houston's completely broken criminal justice system struck back against law-abiding citizens...again. Yet another Houston judge, this time a Republican, reduced Harrell’s bond by half. Judge Kristin Guiney reset his bond to $100,000. Fortunately for the Houston community, though, Harrell was still unable to make bond and get out of jail.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">At trial, Harrell pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated robbery causing serious bodily injury. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Insiders familiar with the Texas justice system, however, say it’s likely he’ll be out in 15. (Watch out, Hustletown, when a fully matured and even meaner Joseph Harrell returns to your fair city.)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">His accomplice, Ny’Nika Woods, pleaded guilty to a downgraded charge of robbery causing bodily injury. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Speaking in Vietnamese, Troung told reporters that “I’m feeling very horrible and sad at the same time. They don’t know when my leg can walk again. I need to practice, try to walk and stuff. I’m very sad that this happened to me and I just want to let other people know to be careful.” </span></p><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1072125047008275922.post-8840687129702104092024-01-30T15:13:00.000-08:002024-01-31T05:42:15.985-08:00Crazed Killer Strikes Again in "Hustletown"<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieR5GgvqNHTjeXPObMC09SoRWpSEiobnp1u9r8XAoeEGHU_0gA5voaEnnY91XQIDYVEGvcuAJzzxd154kM-i2ApjDY2lPcg221DWu_PiV3t6GUptJASGqzKKnowqnryk_61IJmwB3Vy-DxH8JRIsSFRruksG5-HIZSzH3CwAezCziBvzPSKbDkIZ6vhdk/s790/McDonald's%20Uvalde.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="790" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieR5GgvqNHTjeXPObMC09SoRWpSEiobnp1u9r8XAoeEGHU_0gA5voaEnnY91XQIDYVEGvcuAJzzxd154kM-i2ApjDY2lPcg221DWu_PiV3t6GUptJASGqzKKnowqnryk_61IJmwB3Vy-DxH8JRIsSFRruksG5-HIZSzH3CwAezCziBvzPSKbDkIZ6vhdk/w400-h266/McDonald's%20Uvalde.webp" width="400" /></a></span></div><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i>(Above is a photo of the McDonald's where Andrew Williams murdered Martha Medina. Also pictured is the convicted killer. It's hard to believe but Williams was out on bail after being arrested for a previous murder. He was even wearing an ankle monitor. The Medina family not only blames Williams, but also the judge who set bond for this violent career criminal.)</i></span></p><p style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b>The Jugging Murder</b></span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">By Robert A. Waters</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On the morning of September 23, 2021, <b>Martha Medina</b>, 71, pulled up to a Chase Bank ATM in Houston, Texas and made a small cash withdrawal. She then drove to McDonald's at 430 Uvalde Road, parked near the entrance, and walked inside to purchase takeout breakfasts for her family. As she walked back to her car holding a bag of food and her purse, she had no idea she'd been followed from the bank by three career criminals. On the streets, they call it "jugging." </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Unlike Martha, a productive, well-respected member of her community, 41-year-old <b>Andrew Williams</b> had been a violent felon for most of his existence. In 2000, he spent time in the state prison for aggravated robbery. In 2014, Williams served time for fraud and feloniously using another person's identification. After being released, Williams ran down his girlfriend with his car but served little jail time.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span style="font-family: georgia;">And in 2019, he shot a bystander during an armed robbery, killing her. Doug </span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Wylie wrote: "Williams...[was] involved in a 'drug deal gone bad' when Chima Ogbonnaya was shot in the back of the head and left for dead in a darkened, desolate parking lot." After Williams was arrested, the prosecutor urged 248th Criminal District Court Judge Hilary Unger to deny bond. However, the judge disagreed and soon the lifelong criminal was back on the streets of Houston, i.e., Hustletown. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span style="font-family: georgia;">At the time he murdered Martha Medina, Williams wore an ankle monitor</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">. This helped police seal their case against him.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On that fatal day in 2021, </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Williams</span><span style="font-family: georgia;"> followed Martha to McDonald's. Two accomplices, </span><b style="font-family: georgia;">Lawrence "Dirty" Earl Thomas</b><span style="font-family: georgia;"> and </span><b style="font-family: georgia;">Felton Ford</b><span style="font-family: georgia;">, </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">allegedly assisted him. A police spokesperson said Thomas served as a lookout while Williams and Ford committed the robbery. Williams ran toward Medina as she was getting into her car. He quickly wrested her purse away and, in the scuffle, Medina fell to the ground. The robbers rushed back to the getaway car and climbed in. Williams, driving, sped through the McDonald's parking lot and ran over Medina, who was lying on the pavement.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Wylie wrote: "Williams waited for his victim to emerge from the eatery with take-out food in hand. Then, he began his assault with a strong-armed purse-snatching, got into his car, and during his attempted escape struck Medina, running her over and dragging her some distance beneath the vehicle." </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Bystanders attempted to give Medina aid, but she was pronounced dead when she arrived at a local hospital. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The court recently convicted Williams of murdering Martha Medina and sentenced him to life in prison. (The other alleged suspects are awaiting trial.)</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span><span style="font-family: georgia;">Judge Unger narrowly won reelection against Republican challenger Julian Ramirez. During her campaign, she made no bones about her beliefs. </span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;">"Courts should find alternatives to incarceration with an eye towards rehabilitation," Unger wrote on her website.</span></span></p><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">It would have been an amazing transformation for Andrew Williams to go from a past riddled with drugs, violence and murder to becoming a model citizen. Elections mean something. If you don't believe it, look at this case. Had Ramirez been elected, he likely would not have let Andrew Williams bond out for murdering Ogbonnaya.</span></div><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Martha Medina would likely be alive today.</span></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mE9DhhT8jT8" width="320" youtube-src-id="mE9DhhT8jT8"></iframe></div><p></p><p><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1072125047008275922.post-29204084970888951132024-01-20T13:27:00.000-08:002024-01-20T13:34:09.999-08:00There's a $20,000 reward waiting if you can identify this killer <p></p><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaWDMqgB6cCexn-Z2P8lk3ZM2y1LPez7TDmSvozwcnd_PErKLYOiBepnQ0DBpnqiT8j1BbN3YL-EaNza2N-acMsedHBCtbFevOnIhF3bo6MSz-urFsaxRrFEiVn-ZasQnXS4nwimysZXkrMv5n3utpV-7IPEgQjKHQBiQoTtsUvB-a_Shz097lKN6Iy88/s585/Road%20Rage%20Killer.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="585" data-original-width="506" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaWDMqgB6cCexn-Z2P8lk3ZM2y1LPez7TDmSvozwcnd_PErKLYOiBepnQ0DBpnqiT8j1BbN3YL-EaNza2N-acMsedHBCtbFevOnIhF3bo6MSz-urFsaxRrFEiVn-ZasQnXS4nwimysZXkrMv5n3utpV-7IPEgQjKHQBiQoTtsUvB-a_Shz097lKN6Iy88/s320/Road%20Rage%20Killer.webp" width="277" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b>Teenage Girl Murdered in Road Rage Shooting</b></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">By Robert A. Waters</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i>Do you know this man? $20,000 awaits you if you turn him in.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">On Sunday morning, December 10, seventeen-year-old Louise Wilson (<i>pictured below</i>) was traveling from Whitney, Texas to Galveston. Two passengers, one in the front seat, the other in the back, traveled with her. On the Pierce Elevated on I-45 in Houston, she swerved to avoid a braking vehicle in front of her. In doing so, she accidently cut in front of another car.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The unidentified driver (<i>pictured above</i>) of the vehicle that was cut off sped up beside Louise and opened fire. After being shot through the heart, the teenager heroically pulled her car to the side of the road, avoiding an accident. However, she died at the scene. A passenger, also shot, survived.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCy7wPzLEMhWYXE3sR5G9MakpKRtoEq2_ggCThTzJ3MbT2kWtkRWIEs1Hy21retymZBKthz-gHtb6oVZFbJESLoLZ0aus604cztdzo90UFVQOXPIo36rtNSCSxBHx1Te5RowZc5ecz1ugqw3CynueEuUNwqWwCiNTh1uBPq0vkMLKEkYd79dfZDqnyx5A/s580/Louise%20Wilson.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="326" data-original-width="580" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCy7wPzLEMhWYXE3sR5G9MakpKRtoEq2_ggCThTzJ3MbT2kWtkRWIEs1Hy21retymZBKthz-gHtb6oVZFbJESLoLZ0aus604cztdzo90UFVQOXPIo36rtNSCSxBHx1Te5RowZc5ecz1ugqw3CynueEuUNwqWwCiNTh1uBPq0vkMLKEkYd79dfZDqnyx5A/s320/Louise%20Wilson.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Louise, much-loved, had just graduated from high school. Her father addressed the media. "To my daughter's killer," he said, "I want to say that you're a coward. But unlike how you've taken Louise's life, we have taken yours. We've just given you up to 20,000 reasons to doubt and not trust everyone in your world right now. You will have to live with that doubt for the rest of your life, having to wonder who might turn you in--your mom, dad, brother, sister or friends, [and] those who [you] bragged to about what you did to our little girl."</span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Please view the following video interview with Louise's parents:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ASdV4vub4sg" width="320" youtube-src-id="ASdV4vub4sg"></iframe></div>If you have any information about this case, or know who the shooter is, please contact Crime Stoppers of Houston at 713-521-4600. Or you may dial Houston Police Department directly at 713-884-1331.</span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> </span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1072125047008275922.post-1605135537960073222024-01-12T06:57:00.000-08:002024-01-15T07:45:52.880-08:00Armed Robbers Got What They Deserved<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YK5DqOblLVk" width="320" youtube-src-id="YK5DqOblLVk"></iframe></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div>California Storeowners are Literally Up in Arms</b></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">By Robert A. Waters</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">On January 1, 2024, at about 10:00 A.M., two armed robbers burst into the MSM Jewelry Store in Oakland, California.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The owner, who wished to remain unidentified, told police he saw two men park their car in the wrong direction outside the store. When they exited their car, he noticed they wore masks and held semiautomatic weapons. As they entered the business, the owner opened fire with a 9mm handgun. He said, "They told me, 'don't move or we'll shoot.' So I started shooting at them because they had guns pointed at me. They were shooting back."</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Both robbers quickly realized they were facing a determined foe, so like cowards, they turned and scampered for the door. One fell and lost his shoe as he was slipping and sliding across the slick the floor. The owner insists he hit one in the shoulder.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The store owner was not charged with any crime.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Maybe the California authorities will get DNA from that lost shoe. And maybe they'll arrest the robber. And maybe they'll charge him with something like, say, <i>attempted murder</i>. Or maybe, like usual, prosecutors will let him go with no indictment and no punishment. California's criminal justice system under Governor Gavin Newsom is becoming a joke for the rest of the country to laugh at. Unfortunately, it's not funny for the people who live and work there.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Robberies in Oakland are so prevalent that some city council members are calling for a meeting with police to discuss how to reduce the mayhem.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I have one suggestion: in the next election, </span><span style="font-family: georgia;">vote for prosecutors who will take crime seriously.</span></span></div><div><br /><div><div><div><div class="container slug--oakland-residents-call-for-emergency-meeting-with-city-after-shootout-during-attempted-robbery type--content-article" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #101010; font-family: "Publico Text", serif; font-size: 21.12px; margin: 0px auto auto; max-width: 100%; min-width: 280px; position: relative;"><div class="row" style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; width: auto; zoom: 1;"><div class="row" style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; width: auto; zoom: 1;"><div class="col-12" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-left: 0px; position: relative; width: 1485.6px; zoom: 1;"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1072125047008275922.post-70523765239911415252024-01-02T17:13:00.000-08:002024-01-06T15:10:33.836-08:00Smash and Grab Robbers Routed by Armed Store Owner<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/O1ZEQQMOcSg" width="320" youtube-src-id="O1ZEQQMOcSg"></iframe></div><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">"It's Terrifying Living in California"</span></b><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">By Robert A. Waters</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">On December 11, 2023, a gang of smash and grab robbers stormed into the Estates Consignment store in Pleasant Hill, California. It was the middle of the day when a "scout," a woman dressed in a colorful dress, wandered around the shop eyeing surveillance cameras and speaking into her cell phone. A security guard stood at the locked door, allowing customers to enter and exit.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">When the woman left the building, she held the door open long enough so the group of thieves could force their way inside. Two robbers threatened the unarmed security guard, holding him at bay, while five men raced straight toward the jewelry section of the store. One robber carried a sledgehammer. Expensive rings, watches, necklaces and high-end gems sat in glass cases near the rear of the store.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">As the men neared the jewelry cases, a clerk screamed, alerting business owner Albert Marcu.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The brazen attitude of the thieves struck him. They acted like they owned the store. Marcu pulled a .38-caliber revolver from his pocket and moved to confront the men. "I told them to 'watch it' and they saw the gun and ran away," he said.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">That's an understatement. As they neared the counter and noticed the gun, they stopped dead in their tracks. It was if all five men hit a brick wall at once. They halted, turned and sprinted for the door, kicking over chairs in their panicky flight.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">In thirty seconds, the thugs were gone.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Albert Marcu is a remarkable man. He grew up in communist Romania, but fled when he was 19. He landed in Germany and obtained a degree in architecture there. Immigrating to America, Marcu worked for a few years in that profession. However, his passion was making and repairing jewelry and he soon opened his successful Estates Consignment shop.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">After defending his store, the storeowner gave interviews to several networks.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">"I feel very, very bad for this country," he said, "which is one of the best countries in the world. We beg the politicians to help us small businesses and help communities all over California. I'd say about 99% of my customers complain about crime."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Marcu told reporters he had a premonition his store might be hit "as large-scale retail thefts have become synonymous with the Bay area."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">In an interview with Fox News, Marcu was asked about Governor Gavin Newsom's claim that San Francisco outperformed other areas in the state in reducing thefts. "Not true," Marcu said emphatically.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">"I didn't want to shoot anybody," he said. "But I have to make a statement. Too many bad things have happened. Stores get robbed left and right. I have a message for all business owners, to take example and fight for themselves, because if you don't fight for yourself, nobody will."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">"It's terrifying living in California," Marcu said.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">As of this writing, none of the would-be robbers that attacked Albert Marcu's consignment store have been apprehended. If they are caught, they'll likely be released and face no charges. (In the Golden State, many prosecutors refuse to indict criminals except for the most violent crimes.)</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1072125047008275922.post-79856196450592418502023-12-16T14:53:00.000-08:002023-12-19T05:56:49.408-08:00<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiswONxaR1-g979P5OA3-ODgOloeW5ARZdlHt3Xe8eD1Quc0qQAn5RV59QehYUlE-KJWN2EtCYV4tzMXQQ9S8l8mfi8oawRzlTz6egXPV52EgIffLI2B3cBevlChkP249Ofoc_zxgdVBnLTSXBntSPC9rPkHYAVNiGMzpPLGWUG16d3dQ81n1e82AvSp_M/s640/Journeymen.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiswONxaR1-g979P5OA3-ODgOloeW5ARZdlHt3Xe8eD1Quc0qQAn5RV59QehYUlE-KJWN2EtCYV4tzMXQQ9S8l8mfi8oawRzlTz6egXPV52EgIffLI2B3cBevlChkP249Ofoc_zxgdVBnLTSXBntSPC9rPkHYAVNiGMzpPLGWUG16d3dQ81n1e82AvSp_M/s320/Journeymen.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b>Fennario: Scottish Folk Song Becomes Americanized</b></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">By Robert A. Waters</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Fennario, a town mentioned in an old folk song, does not exist in Scotland...or America. The fictionalized city was actually a small town near Aberdeen called Fyvie. The original title of the tune may have been "Peggy-O" or "The Bonnie Lass of Fyvie." Although the author is unknown, the song is thought to have been written around 1640. (That seems amazing to me--this tune of the common folk is nearly 400 years old and still being sung in various forms.)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The story is about the captain of an invading army who falls in love with a beautiful girl in the town he has conquered. In many versions, the girl rejects him and the captain "dies for love." The ballad is often sung in the third person, by one of the captain's soldiers.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">In an earlier iteration, the song starts with the following lines: "There once was a troop of Irish dragoons/Cam marching doon through Fyvie-O." In an Americanized version, lyrics to the song begin: "As we marched down to Fennario/We marched down to Fennario/Our captain fell in love with a lady like a dove/And they called her Pretty Peggy-O."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">In America, numerous versions are extant. While the Grateful Dead never recorded the song, they played it often in their concerts. Bob Dylan called the song "Peggy-O" and recorded it on his first album. Joan Baez recorded the tune during the folk revival of the 1960s. Many others have put it on tape, vinyl, or CDs.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">How did a song sail across three thousand miles of ocean and land in America?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">In the 1700s, many immigrants from Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland settled in the southern Appalachians. These states include North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Kentucky. Life on the frontier was often brutal, but settlers brought their music with them. Initially, they would sing the old songs with the same lyrics they had learned back in the old world. But eventually, lyrics changed to reflect life in the new world. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">For instance, the popular country song, "Knoxville Girl," began its life in the English town of Wittam. The song had numerous versions as it wandered through the English countryside. At some point, someone decided to transport the murder of an innocent girl from England to Knoxville, Tennessee. In the early 1900s, as technology evolved so voices and musical instruments could be recorded, "Knoxville Girl" became a standard in the repertoire of many folk and country crooners.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Life in the Appalachians was hard. For more than a century, the average lifespan of those who settled there was about 35 years. Accidental death, violent death, and early death from natural causes, including childbirth, was prevalent. (<i>Check out the photo below to see the home of an Appalachian family</i>.) </span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoK5SC4G2qz9FEGwBGFzm5KMU3UubaUm0-i9chgWxas44IOOYPJd-qz-WMflsqIh3aQYLMDGIK6DpePi6Iw77QMvzfMgDoBsbUvxKXfNbQqqA8YdBHqmbixLpWEdzua8NVoxlIx1Mwj9djGH5alHlObxb4o6oea4WRXbNiEKLKq5-x9eWm_YxhsT0Cy5U/s620/Appalachian%20Home.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="620" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoK5SC4G2qz9FEGwBGFzm5KMU3UubaUm0-i9chgWxas44IOOYPJd-qz-WMflsqIh3aQYLMDGIK6DpePi6Iw77QMvzfMgDoBsbUvxKXfNbQqqA8YdBHqmbixLpWEdzua8NVoxlIx1Mwj9djGH5alHlObxb4o6oea4WRXbNiEKLKq5-x9eWm_YxhsT0Cy5U/s320/Appalachian%20Home.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">While the original song allegedly took place in a war between Ireland and Scotland, the lyrics in America morphed into a different conflict: the Civil War.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The Journeymen, a 1960s folk group, recorded this version of the tune:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAseWGZDA3c">Fennario</a> </b>(Click link to hear the song)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">As we marched down to Fennario,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">We marched down to Fennario,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Our captain fell in love with a lady like a dove</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">And they called her Pretty Peggy-O.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Come trippin' down the stairs, Pretty Peggy-O,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Trippin' down the stairs, Pretty Peggy-O,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Come trippin' down the stairs combin' back your yellow hair</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">And waitin' for you there is sweet William-O.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">"Oh, would you marry me, Pretty Peggy-O?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Would you marry me, Pretty Peggy-O?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">If you'll marry me then the city will go free</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">And it's this I promise thee, Pretty Peggy-O."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">"I would marry you, Sweet William-O,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I would marry you, Sweet William-O.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I would marry you, but you wear that coat of blue,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">I'm afraid my ma would be angry-o."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">"If ever I return, Pretty Peggy-O,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">If ever I return, Pretty Peggy-O,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">If ever I return then the city I will burn,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">And destroy all the ladies in the are-o."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">"Sweet William, he is dead, Pretty Peggy-O,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">William, he is dead, Pretty Peggy-O,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Sweet William, he is dead, and he died for a maid,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">And he's laying in the Louisiana country-o."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">If this story interested you, here are a few more folk songs I've written about.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com/2008/05/knoxville-girl.html">Knoxville Girl</a> - Louvin Brothers</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-hills-of-roane-county.html">The Hills of Roane County</a> - Tony Rice</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com/2012/04/folk-songs-about-titanic.html">The Titanic</a> - Graveyard Johnny Fast</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com/2012/12/delias-gone.html">Delia's Gone</a> - Johnny Cash</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">NOTE: The photo shown in the article is of an Appalachian home in Andersonville, Tennessee and was copyrighted in 1910 by M. H. Gass.</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1072125047008275922.post-71784177853562168882023-11-28T14:44:00.000-08:002023-12-02T08:00:43.784-08:00"Which one of you guys wants to die first?"<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV2DR6FE2aVJlyg5236fNKHZDvIpz2sNx8wxCQ4JXeorl4pxfSN49fxn4ibAV9yUNJz4YAUw3yyfmY3noy8-QcOVieUfyft5XN4WDHFAC2Jq8mXl3YrRa5YHJK0W863uH8KN80D9wgWfzk_aJ1NhB3964xkabIVqbYy0c0RcRB0Vxr1w_cg9Z8SobfZ9I/s1360/USBank.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1020" data-original-width="1360" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV2DR6FE2aVJlyg5236fNKHZDvIpz2sNx8wxCQ4JXeorl4pxfSN49fxn4ibAV9yUNJz4YAUw3yyfmY3noy8-QcOVieUfyft5XN4WDHFAC2Jq8mXl3YrRa5YHJK0W863uH8KN80D9wgWfzk_aJ1NhB3964xkabIVqbYy0c0RcRB0Vxr1w_cg9Z8SobfZ9I/s320/USBank.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b>Violent Bank Robbery Stuns Peaceful Community</b></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">By Robert A. Waters</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i>There are no mountains anywhere close to Mount Dora, Florida. However, it is situated on a plateau 185 feet above sea level. In 1888, surveyors, possibly in jest, named the town after an early settler and its high elevation. The normally peaceful community sits in Lake County. A hundred years after receiving its name, Mount Dora had a population of about 10,000 souls.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span>At 11:51 A.M., March 20, 1999, a 9-1-1 call crackled in from the Publix grocery store in Mount Dora. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b>Dispatcher</b>: 9-1-1. Do you need police, fire or rescue?</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b>Caller</b>: Police. There's been a shooting over at the bank at United Southern.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b>Dispatcher</b>: In Southern?</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b>Caller</b>: Yes. Everybody's running in here screaming, saying there's been a shooting over at the bank.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b>Dispatcher</b>: Hold on...(internal dialog to police officers) There's been a shooting at United Southern Bank. There's a shooting at United Southern Bank.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span>(Internal dispatch dialog)</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b>Dispatcher</b>: Did they say how many people are involved?</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b>Caller</b>: I have no idea...people were just screaming and crying.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span>(More internal dialog)</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b>Dispatcher</b>: Can you stay on the line? Can anyone give you a description? See if anyone can give you a description.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span>(More internal dispatch dialogue)</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span>(A second voice appears on the line)</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b>Dispatcher</b>: Did you see the shooter?</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><b>Second voice</b>: Well, I saw...I walked into the bank, and there was nobody in the lobby. And I heard screams...And there was somebody in the vault...</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span>Mount Dora police officers arrived at the bank within seconds of the call.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span>It was a placid morning when thirty-one-year-old </span><b>Fred Anderson, Jr. </b><span>(</span><i>pictured below</i><span>)</span><span> entered United Southern Bank for the second time in two days. Earlier, he had informed bank employees he was a college student writing a paper on banking and finance, and wanted to learn all he could about the subject. With no reason to suspect treachery, the manager chatted with Anderson for nearly an hour. When he left, staff seemed impressed with the "student."</span></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJqN_gQqrtpP5GKVWjDPNnM-si0LYA2ARk34VRviLy7Kl6K_9q_7ISTTrxUZqT4GHwV8vE6WnhI7e8kou08-2aITF_OHChRdq_6PdOslaMGxSvFZ2I4WOzziNbYb_eoGFyCbzlOtysZIgEUIDhMu7dhTta_zjjIudIDT9FXgTtTJN7A1AHcTH2moS6CM0/s344/Mt.%20Dora%20-%20Anderson%20Pic.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="344" data-original-width="292" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJqN_gQqrtpP5GKVWjDPNnM-si0LYA2ARk34VRviLy7Kl6K_9q_7ISTTrxUZqT4GHwV8vE6WnhI7e8kou08-2aITF_OHChRdq_6PdOslaMGxSvFZ2I4WOzziNbYb_eoGFyCbzlOtysZIgEUIDhMu7dhTta_zjjIudIDT9FXgTtTJN7A1AHcTH2moS6CM0/s320/Mt.%20Dora%20-%20Anderson%20Pic.jpg" width="272" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span>He came back the next day. </span><i>Anderson vs State</i><span> lays out what happened: "Anderson took a second revolver from his mother's house (he had another gun he'd stolen) and headed to USB with donuts and juice, ostensibly to thank the employees for their help the day before. Victims </span><b>Heather Young</b><span> and </span><b>Marishia Scott</b><span> (<i>pictured below</i>) were the only employees working at the time. After leaving the bank briefly [Anderson] returned with both revolvers, forced Young and Scott into the bank vault, and ordered them to fill a trash bag with money. Then after asking the women who wanted to die first, Anderson began firing both [.22-caliber] revolvers, killing Young and paralyzing Scott. Anderson fired a total of ten shots, nine of which hit the victims."</span></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTm_JrocgmQQ43pU6NBe1Ck8ro406HWvCiQ6JzPVXu0x6JTtAmqACyd_nFJNVRwMxgCFWiBvbRfPCRSvpTwmVC_EvOI7Xqrlta67yuYoXePsus257kxPNTEV_E8J5V6b34rzoyUavS-bmB3I4H3V7px0K6LP7MlHnahOHpuCTqqVgaFmkA8bjKJ964Yak/s207/Marishia-Scott.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="207" data-original-width="207" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTm_JrocgmQQ43pU6NBe1Ck8ro406HWvCiQ6JzPVXu0x6JTtAmqACyd_nFJNVRwMxgCFWiBvbRfPCRSvpTwmVC_EvOI7Xqrlta67yuYoXePsus257kxPNTEV_E8J5V6b34rzoyUavS-bmB3I4H3V7px0K6LP7MlHnahOHpuCTqqVgaFmkA8bjKJ964Yak/w400-h400/Marishia-Scott.webp" width="400" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As the robbery and murder was unfolding in real time, Sherry Howard entered the bank with her two children. She saw Anderson in the vault firing multiple handguns, and quickly exited. Anderson had not seen her. She raced to Publix and yelled for someone to call police. Howard later testified she heard Scott yell, "Please don't" or "Please, no." Immediately after that, the witness heard additional gunshots.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">After cops arrived, officers spotted Anderson still inside the bank, attempting to remove a VCR containing surveillance video. More officers arrived and arrested Anderson holding a "trash can" containing $75,000.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Paramedics rushed Young and Scott to local hospitals.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Heather Young died while being transported to the hospital. According to court documents, "the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy on Heather Young testified that Young had a total of seven gunshot wounds. She said that all of Young's wounds could have been fatal, with the possible exception of a wound that had entered Young's chin and exited near the eye. [Another] of the wounds had a pattern of gunpower 'tattooing' around it, which indicated that it had been fired at close range."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Scott had been shot twice. One round hit her in the shoulder. Another struck her neck, severing her spinal cord. She would be a paraplegic for the rest of her life.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The verdict in Anderson's trial was a foregone conclusion. Overwhelming evidence included DNA matches of the victims' blood on Anderson's clothing and shoes; ballistics matches of bullets from one of the guns used in the crime; the killer having been caught at the scene; and several confessions. At trial, Anderson was convicted of the first-degree murder of Young, attempted first-degree murder of Scott, armed robbery, and grand theft of a firearm. The jury unanimously sentenced him to death.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">On February 4, 2015, Marishia Scott died of complications from her paralysis. Her death ended sixteen years of hard suffering.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Before being shot, Scott had been at a good point in her life. A "country" girl, she lived on a farm with her long-time partner and fiance, Clint Brighurst. In addition to farming, they raised cattle. One friend told reporters that Marishia was "such a happy person. Both she and Clint are very hard workers, and they were always planning ahead." From 1999 to her death 16 years later, Scott remained a paraplegic.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Heather Young's longtime boyfriend, David Curlow, spoke of romantic trips they'd taken to the Caribbean, of parasailing in Key West, and of spending "quiet evenings in lawn chairs by the lake."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">After Scott's death, prosecutors considered charging Anderson with her murder. However, they, along with Scott's family, decided not to take him to trial. Scott has run out of appeals on his death sentence, and the district attorney knew a conviction in Scott's case would open a pandora's box of future appeals.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">When will Anderson face the vaunted needle? Who knows? It might be decades. It could be never. Many people realize there's little<i> real</i> justice in America. This case proves the point.</span></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1072125047008275922.post-67307986012979836102023-11-14T16:00:00.000-08:002023-11-20T07:26:59.157-08:00McCown's Longspur Is No More<p></p><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH-GrEC6B5FdNEHpuy7-X9VCY1fc9nLDtIsQc645lMThqzHB3zBGPcVbrXCS-uDEIevjAN72N_Q9D7GYK0g3C-p5wLucn1rW_NXv1n7bm-M5QOAdPBsk316Rad0c5KRTprBL2K0mqsvBxcNJNXdC9HSkcTC8Y3IQYaUbu3_qCUgvfocWMNg0EGRFFM2m8/s2400/McCowns'%20Longspur.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="2400" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH-GrEC6B5FdNEHpuy7-X9VCY1fc9nLDtIsQc645lMThqzHB3zBGPcVbrXCS-uDEIevjAN72N_Q9D7GYK0g3C-p5wLucn1rW_NXv1n7bm-M5QOAdPBsk316Rad0c5KRTprBL2K0mqsvBxcNJNXdC9HSkcTC8Y3IQYaUbu3_qCUgvfocWMNg0EGRFFM2m8/w400-h266/McCowns'%20Longspur.webp" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The
Moralists Among Us<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">By Robert A. Waters<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Like so many
Southerners in 1861, Tennessean <b>John P. McCown</b> (<i>pictured below</i>), a career soldier and graduate
of West Point, joined the Confederate army. His resume up to that point had
been typical of lifers. He’d fought with the United States army in the Mexican American
war, the Seminole Wars, and in Utah, Nebraska, and the Dakota Territory. His
service, while not spectacular, was above average.</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">In the Civil War,
his record was spotty. In 1863, Confederate General Braxton Bragg
court-martialed McCown, ostensibly for disobeying orders at the Battle of
Murfreesboro in Tennessee. After his six-month suspension without pay, he
continued to fight until the very end. He surrendered and was paroled on May
12, 1865. (Later evidence indicates the court-martial of McCown was likely
triggered by his virulent criticism of the tactics of Bragg and CSA President
Jefferson Davis.)</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSpvvRFasDWYIobLws4LyPflGEOZ4NlacNwy7Se794ODPRq359XNo9EXeHlsnkM-0SjuV9Wrqop8NDo-UPbeka-Wq0Nubqx5EcOMdviMbMiW0e-sFLqMUFUtfrmqgpD9mtgWU7noOZINVA8X-_WvZcCjJ9ZlAImT2vVgUDAo_9YmzWajv0lf8QiGZ5lck/s400/McCown.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="320" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSpvvRFasDWYIobLws4LyPflGEOZ4NlacNwy7Se794ODPRq359XNo9EXeHlsnkM-0SjuV9Wrqop8NDo-UPbeka-Wq0Nubqx5EcOMdviMbMiW0e-sFLqMUFUtfrmqgpD9mtgWU7noOZINVA8X-_WvZcCjJ9ZlAImT2vVgUDAo_9YmzWajv0lf8QiGZ5lck/s320/McCown.jpg" width="256" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">While serving in
the west before the Civil War, McCown became interested in ornithology.</span><p></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">According to Audubon Magazine, "In 1851, John P. McCown, an amateur ornithologist and army officer stationed in Texas, shot a group of larks on the prairie. Examining his kills, he noted two examples of birds he'd never seen before: pale gray longspurs with a spot of chestnut on the wings and prominent white patches in the tail. After preparing the specimens, he sent [them] off to an ornithologist friend, who gave it the name McCown's Longpsur."</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">In the 1800s, amateur ornithologists across the country often mailed specimens to places such as the Smithsonian Institution for identification. Many times, new birds would be named for its discoverer or the place it was found. This method of documenting species led to the naming of thousands of birds, fish and animals.</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">But in 2018, ornithologists began a campaign to rob many a bird of its given name. Slave-owners, colonizers, Confederates, alleged white supremacists, and other "deplorable" humans were to be banned from having his or her name grace any fowl.</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Even John James Audubon doesn't make the cut with ornithologists now because he owned slaves and hated abolitionists. In the near future, we can expect the Frenchman who did so much to define our natural environment to be banned from polite society with other reviled Americans, such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and, of course, Robert E. Lee. </span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">In fact, almost no person who lived 150 years ago or more can meet the insane standards of today's moralists. (NOTE: If you don't believe it, look up some of Abraham Lincoln's comments about black Americans.)</span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">So, goodbye <i>McCown's Longspur.</i> Hello <i>Thick-Billed Longspur.</i></span></p><p align="left" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">It might be wise for the name-changers to remember the old saying, "What goes around comes around."</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1072125047008275922.post-9456597119732319262023-11-01T07:23:00.003-07:002023-11-01T07:35:13.219-07:00New Review of A Wilderness of Destruction<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLNH9RaUzFa_fGAT_DF1I3y29VVyYlAcCRLGuugZyWESa4HyPBgAgZjgMVKY7Q79jCziY8mIIQMGnNMYGicDWoikMAFvaoTtv92qHJslWaQo-5EhIx1-xMs-TiBGJlbiiWDBy7s0wj_svDaxXROKmXiBosE-O3SNo_pbAe_s90M22MzS0OyXpCf7-EPTc/s1500/AWOD2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLNH9RaUzFa_fGAT_DF1I3y29VVyYlAcCRLGuugZyWESa4HyPBgAgZjgMVKY7Q79jCziY8mIIQMGnNMYGicDWoikMAFvaoTtv92qHJslWaQo-5EhIx1-xMs-TiBGJlbiiWDBy7s0wj_svDaxXROKmXiBosE-O3SNo_pbAe_s90M22MzS0OyXpCf7-EPTc/w266-h400/AWOD2.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i>Here is another review of my brother Zack's great Civil War book, </i>A Wilderness of Destruction<i>, about Florida's role in attempting to save the homeland during that devastating conflict. Zack has several possible awards coming up, and I hope he is honored for the massive amount of research he did and the fine writing that he is known for.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Perspectives on the Civil War Era from the Journal, <i>Civil War Book Review</i></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">A Wilderness of Destruction: Confederate Guerrillas of East and South Florida, 1861–1865</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Author: Zack C. Waters</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Book Review by Ralph Mann</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">University of Colorado</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Zack Waters, a veteran researcher and writer on Florida’s Civil War, has written a very comprehensive survey of guerrilla warfare in east and south Florida. It is based on a huge amount of reading and research in the available secondary literature, as well as in the records of Florida’s Civil War government and federal records of the War of the Rebellion (OR) and Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion (ORN). He looks at engagements at all levels, from ambushes to pitched, although small-scale, battles. He recounts Union officers being captured while partying and wagon trains seized on the way to Union-held towns and fortifications, as well as battles for towns—Gainesville, Jacksonville. It is hard to imagine a fight he has missed, including a bloodless skirmish on a creek I crossed every day going to junior high and high school. As long as the conflict can be classified as a guerrilla action, or involves men he identifies as guerrillas, he recounts it. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">This coverage is vital for understanding Florida’s Civil War, because all the Confederate government wanted from Florida [were] soldiers and cattle, and it essentially abandoned the state early in the war. Florida’s Confederate soldiers would fight in the Armies of Northern Virginia and Tennessee, leaving the defense of the state to its own resources—which, as Florida’s governor, John Milton, quickly realized, meant a regiment under state control. His efforts resulted by mid-1862 in the 2nd Florida Cavalry, raised by locally influential men, generally large planters, and soon operating as guerrillas. One of the companies, from Marion County (Ocala), was led by John J. Dickison, who would be the state’s most effective partisan raider, and whose memoir would become Waters’ prime source for combat descriptions.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Waters is very aware of the dangers of research into a topic as controversial, then and now, as guerrilla warfare. His sources are inherently biased—often for self-glorification or self-defense. Postwar memoirs could easily be caught up in “Lost Cause” rhetoric of gallant knights and loyal squires. Northern newspapers were just as prone to puffery as Southern, and even Dickison, Waters notes, was never modest. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Waters deals with this by juxtaposing accounts by both sides, to an effect that sometimes makes it hard to believe they are depicting the same engagement. Civilians caught up in the fighting suffered disproportionately and bitterly resented guerrilla leaders who enforced conscription or impressed supplies. Especially late in the war, the fighting devolved into robbery, revenge murder, arson, and family rivalry for local power, completely divorced from military goals. Race, of course, was central to the war, and Waters does not shy away from the bigotry that hamstrung cooperation between white unionist Floridians and the African Americans in the United States Army. It is clear that some guerrillas imprisoned white captives but lynched black ones as runaways or “deserters.” (Waters applauds Dickison for, unlike other guerrillas, not killing captives white or black.) And, in the end, there were totally meaningless murders.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The book is organized chronologically and by region, and that results in some repetition. And while Florida was isolated from the rest of the Confederacy, some national policies relevant to the Florida conflict should be noted. Particularly relevant is the Confederate Partisan Ranger Act of 1862, which attempted to regulate partisan warfare—and its subsequent revocation because partisan warfare, independent and close to home, was too attractive and drew men from the regular army. Did the act have any impact on Florida? The Lieber Code of 1863, which defined how Union troops were supposed to distinguish between legitimate partisans and outlaws, might also have been worth discussion, as some Florida battles combined units of the 2nd Florida, temporary outfits led by local politicians, and random rebel enthusiasts with rifles.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Was the Lieber Code ever applied in Florida? But it is never fair to ask an author to write about issues outside of his primary goal in a book, and taken as it is, it is hard to imagine that anyone else will try to duplicate Waters’s exhaustive coverage of Florida’s war.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Ralph Mann, who is Emeritus in history at the University of Colorado, Boulder, graduated from Nathan Bedford Forrest High, in Jacksonville, Florida.</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1072125047008275922.post-81201381146086817172023-10-30T16:20:00.001-07:002023-11-13T05:18:40.810-08:00The Schoolgirl Killer<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiseDIujvms9-kh6y1sNdh6VMCkM6iToZV7NphvisJ_6F_fRRo6vAkLVy7bocojru4tnVH0gG6-cawb_-fZ-HIS18nAHfD1AXTfeWmbZbq4gkGCs5-F3r6Cr1kIQlGRTrIASJQXZq5h2CdYB9dvwHeRUcslRjStczVGoBjBpOCoK6wXWiXOOpLia0UQg3c/s852/Elizabeth%20DeBuicker%20Grave.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="564" data-original-width="852" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiseDIujvms9-kh6y1sNdh6VMCkM6iToZV7NphvisJ_6F_fRRo6vAkLVy7bocojru4tnVH0gG6-cawb_-fZ-HIS18nAHfD1AXTfeWmbZbq4gkGCs5-F3r6Cr1kIQlGRTrIASJQXZq5h2CdYB9dvwHeRUcslRjStczVGoBjBpOCoK6wXWiXOOpLia0UQg3c/s320/Elizabeth%20DeBuicker%20Grave.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Murder of 11-year-old Elizabeth DeBruicker</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">By Robert A. Waters<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">On Friday, July 21, 1939, in Attica, Indiana, local newspaper
headlines speculated on the intentions of Adolf Hitler. The Fuhrer had assured
the world that the German people were "100% against going to war." Few believed
him, with good reason. Just two months later, Germany invaded Poland, starting
World War II.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Elizabeth </span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>DeBruicker </b>(pictured)</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">, 11, had
no interest in happenings 3,000 miles away. She lived with her parents and two sisters
on a small farm two-and-a-half miles from town. The <i>Lafayette (IN)</i> <i>Journal
and Courier</i> wrote that "at about noon, Peter DeBruicker arrived in
Attica…to deliver two of his young daughters to Attica School, where their 4-H
club was meeting. He planned to drive back into town later in the afternoon and
pick them up." Peter was described in the newspapers as a "Dutchman" who ran a
modest spread.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6n4Et2JVvlKmEYsgcug4RaCgWHUBKN0V9jR84at_rrRgfUgXK5vN92Xy0es_cayMjObMkmJmtSsCbY04zkrO7fNU74mLkQzUmLYUtdOSA1iwEt6CXZoTuTkaMqnadZHKY3khFpsTo8a6jXp_qzQ95gj1PTcf6DgNEG31vTXlhq1XqxxmLhJ9JMYPJP_o/s1077/Elizabeth%20DeBruicker%20pic%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1077" data-original-width="819" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6n4Et2JVvlKmEYsgcug4RaCgWHUBKN0V9jR84at_rrRgfUgXK5vN92Xy0es_cayMjObMkmJmtSsCbY04zkrO7fNU74mLkQzUmLYUtdOSA1iwEt6CXZoTuTkaMqnadZHKY3khFpsTo8a6jXp_qzQ95gj1PTcf6DgNEG31vTXlhq1XqxxmLhJ9JMYPJP_o/s320/Elizabeth%20DeBruicker%20pic%202.jpg" width="243" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The club meeting ended at 1:00, and an excited Elizabeth informed
her sister, Loretta, that she planned to go swimming at the Harrison Hills Country
Club pool, a few blocks away. Elizabeth told her sister and a friend, Lorraine
Ward, to meet her at the pool at 3:00. As the sun scorched the earth,
Elizabeth, a smart, pretty seventh grader who attended Logan Township School, walked
away.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">At the time, the rural community of Attica had about 3,700
residents.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">When Elizabeth's sister and friend made it to the pool, they
found no sign of her. They asked around, but no one had seen the girl. Peter
arrived and quickly began searching for his daughter. The search soon spread
into town, but the child had vanished.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Finally, as darkness fell, Peter reported the missing girl to
police.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Early the next morning, searchers began combing the country
club and golf course. The </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Journal and Courier</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> reported "their search of
the rolling golf greens was soon rewarded when [Ike] Rensville found
Elizabeth’s sewing basket and powder compact beneath a tree. Nearby was a
300-foot-long rainwater catch basin, and near the pond, [a] trio of searchers
found a mound of freshly turned earth. A mere six inches beneath the gravel
they found the child’s body. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The belt of
her dress, used to strangle her, still was knotted tightly around her neck. Her
shoes were missing."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">An autopsy confirmed investigators' worst fears: Elizabeth had been brutally raped as well as
strangled.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The greenskeeper of the country club, </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Thomas Allen Boys</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">,
27, was brought in for questioning. His home lay directly on the route Elizabeth
would have taken from the school to the pool. Police knew he’d been convicted
of molesting a 9-year-old girl several years before, but surprisingly, had only
received a 6-month suspended sentence for the crime. (He had offered the child
a nickel to undress for him.) Boys had a wife and three sons.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Lt. Paul Rule, commander of the West Lafayette State Police,
interrogated Boys. After many hours of questioning, the suspect broke.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Rule made the following statement to reporters: "[Boys] told us he
saw the little girl walking across the sixth green at the golf course Friday
afternoon and that he called to her to walk across to the other side of the
course with him. They sat down on a hillside and he became familiar with her.
He became panicky and made a garrote from her belt and strangled her. After
that, he related, he carried her body down to a small pond and held her face
under the water until he was satisfied she had drowned. He said he then buried
her in the place where her body was found."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Boys denied raping Elizabeth but since the autopsy revealed she'd
been "criminally assaulted," no one believed his denial.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Boys admitted he dug the shallow grave with his hands, and,
when one of Elizabeth's shoes fell off, he threw it in the pond. Searchers
located the shoe where he said it would be. Near the grave, they discovered the
sewing basket. In the basket, cops found sewing items (for her 4-H club
meeting), a bloodstained handkerchief, and Elizabeth’s "underclothing."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">After searching Boys' home, investigators found bloody pants
and a shirt.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">During that era, lynchings were always a possibility in crimes
against children. As cops questioned the suspect, more than 300 people gathered
outside the Attica jail. To keep him safe, Lt. Rule transferred Boys to the Marion
County jail in Indianapolis, about eighty miles away.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">On March 12, 1940, Boys was being held in the Montgomery
County jail. </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Capital Times </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">reported: "Late yesterday, Harry
Anderson, 60-year-old day jailor, was taking Boys back to his second-floor cell
from the basement, where the prisoner had bathed. Suddenly, Anderson said, Boys
kicked him in the groin, beat him with a broomstick he had snatched up
somewhere, and, trampling him, ran downstairs and out the front door. The
spring lock had failed to catch."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">He fled into a nearby back yard as eighty officers searched
for him. He stated he went to sleep, and when he awoke, asked the resident,
Louis Stanford, to call police. Within four hours, the escaped suspect was back
in jail.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">On May 1, 1940, Boys, after having pleaded not guilty by
reason of insanity, was convicted of the first-degree murder and rape of
Elizabeth DeBruicker. He escaped the death penalty, however, and was sentenced
to life in prison.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">In 1956, Boys applied for clemency, but was denied.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6YIIxC_GZE7dyKfaWqSV-Mi2D55TAoJoqL6hW2HBfPmhi642FzabDiVZ_F8Oso_f_Wa0Dwjk6yaSnAGHRojBrMVpUVA61WRJzqFRnOG8Z8F7xdlF0GCXdDlTynA1PHAMydb2LRobx2HLM4kXCaYAhV_Iw5NHDwcHHcTw5rjDJBuhVHMEecxyV-U2dNO0/s819/Elizabeth%20Farm.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="565" data-original-width="819" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6YIIxC_GZE7dyKfaWqSV-Mi2D55TAoJoqL6hW2HBfPmhi642FzabDiVZ_F8Oso_f_Wa0Dwjk6yaSnAGHRojBrMVpUVA61WRJzqFRnOG8Z8F7xdlF0GCXdDlTynA1PHAMydb2LRobx2HLM4kXCaYAhV_Iw5NHDwcHHcTw5rjDJBuhVHMEecxyV-U2dNO0/s320/Elizabeth%20Farm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">NOTE</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">: Boys' name was sometimes
misspelled "Boyce" by news agencies.</span></p></span></b><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1072125047008275922.post-60144211438092004442023-10-19T14:35:00.012-07:002023-10-20T05:58:11.499-07:00Story of the First Submarine in History to Sink an Enemy Ship<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaKSGYePBK5xJdZGFMlDc4N7DJZmvY6kP8Y5g-hK8zfX769qsjeI_GyFLdYZxJW532AOAyUpGxyPFiUQJ735LkTjFvUZUnJpnYTWIn2u0_VWkBvwiT31g0C6J4IdCu8_BMNgHZEibTkXOjs5V2VUoi_uUERV-XLnJzZwtISZ2BL6w8gEzENIsY-WCDxuA/s1026/CSS%20Hunley%20Pic.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="628" data-original-width="1026" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaKSGYePBK5xJdZGFMlDc4N7DJZmvY6kP8Y5g-hK8zfX769qsjeI_GyFLdYZxJW532AOAyUpGxyPFiUQJ735LkTjFvUZUnJpnYTWIn2u0_VWkBvwiT31g0C6J4IdCu8_BMNgHZEibTkXOjs5V2VUoi_uUERV-XLnJzZwtISZ2BL6w8gEzENIsY-WCDxuA/w320-h196/CSS%20Hunley%20Pic.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The CSS <i>H. L. Hunley </i>Rises Again<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">By Robert A. Waters</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a name="_Hlk144737810"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“[The<i> Hunley</i>] is more
dangerous to those who use it than the enemy.” </span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Confederate
General P. G. T. Beauregard.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">George E. Dixon and Queenie</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">On April 6, 1862, a year after the United States of America
invaded the Confederate States of America, the two armies collided near a small
village called Pittsburgh Landing, in southern Tennessee. The carnage at what was
later called the Battle of Shiloh was unprecedented in the history of the
Americas. In two days of fighting, tens of thousands were killed or wounded.
One Alabama regiment, the 21</span><sup style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">st</sup><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">, lost 200 men out of 650. Sergeant </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">George
E. Dixon</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">, a Kentuckian who had enlisted with the regiment in Mobile, was
among the injured. Before the war, he had worked as a steamboat engineer in New
Orleans, but resided in Mobile when the war broke out.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Dixon should have been just one more dead soldier hauled from
the field and hastily interred in a mass grave. But he was lucky. Before he
left for battle, his teenaged girlfriend and Mobile resident, </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Queenie
Bennett</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">, slipped a newly-minted twenty-dollar gold coin into his pocket as
a good luck charm. In the battle, Dixon was shot point-blank. The Yankee Minnie
ball struck the coin in his trouser pocket. Instead of plowing through flesh and bone and
arteries, it absorbed the impact, sparing Dixon's life.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuTvfeKkk5PUtre4fL6EQTOIoz6BFvccaXQ12VL7v04QuU0GP1n1qjMSKwcz8syfXgTXZh2_OLjNYzngynlbRqfxnHuhvlw-EKhbFIFj0nIkxwxO7ZTqSKlzrFCExPsdQAhQBuNtmMgAOUgn9-UN5xOXLQKLyQxaEyO5unVOZisvSouNdItXM-pvDrw6k/s482/CSS%20Hunley%20QueenieBennett.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="482" data-original-width="393" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuTvfeKkk5PUtre4fL6EQTOIoz6BFvccaXQ12VL7v04QuU0GP1n1qjMSKwcz8syfXgTXZh2_OLjNYzngynlbRqfxnHuhvlw-EKhbFIFj0nIkxwxO7ZTqSKlzrFCExPsdQAhQBuNtmMgAOUgn9-UN5xOXLQKLyQxaEyO5unVOZisvSouNdItXM-pvDrw6k/s320/CSS%20Hunley%20QueenieBennett.jpg" width="261" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Queenie, daughter of a prosperous steamboat captain, was known around Mobile as the </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">“the little Rebel.” Dixon, a blonde-haired, highly intelligent
22-year-old, was smitten with Queenie and, had he survived the war, they likely
would have married.</span><p></p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Dixon’s wound was severe, a broken left femur, which caused
him to walk with a limp for the rest of his short life.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">When he returned from Shiloh to Mobile to recuperate, Dixon became
aware of a “torpedo boat” being constructed nearby. The project was supposed to
be top-secret, concocted by local pro-Southern entrepreneurs and the
Confederate Secret Service. One of those loyal benefactors was </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Horace Lawson
Hunley</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">, a wealthy marine engineer originally from Tennessee. Dixon became
friendly with Hunley as the Confederate Navy feverishly attempted to mold the
submarine into a viable weapon. The Kentuckian would eventually be promoted to
lieutenant and given command of the torpedo boat.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Confederacy’s purpose in building a workable submarine was
a direct result of the Union blockade of New Orleans, Mobile and other ports.
The shutting down of Southern harbors had been one of the first actions taken
by Abraham Lincoln and his war machine. While in New Orleans, Horace Hunley and
others had begun a serious quest to build an underwater “fish” that could blow
up the blockaders.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The Torpedo Boat</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">During 1862 and the early part of 1863, attempts to construct
a workable submarine had failed miserably. As boat after boat sank or capsized during
trials, resulting in the deaths of numerous crew members, the project faltered.
But as the war progressed and the South continued hemorrhaging its limited
manpower in battle after battle, the situation became dire. The charismatic
general </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">P. G. T. Beauregard</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> issued a command that the new submarine, the
</span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hunley</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">, be moved from Mobile to the besieged city of Charleston, South
Carolina. On August 12, 1863, the submarine arrived by rail.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">In a test trial while still in Mobile, this underwater torpedo
boat had blown up an antique coal-hauling barge, bringing a glimmer of hope to
those in the know.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Constructed from iron boilerplate, the submarine was shaped
like a shark, 40 feet long and just wide and high enough to carry her cramped
crew. “The </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hunley</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> could dive by opening a valve and letting sea water
fill the ballast tank,” wrote Gerald Teaster. “A set of crude diving planes,
sticking out the side of the boat, was also provided for up and down motion. A
mercury manometer, or pressure gauge, was mounted inside to show the depth. Two
small hatches were installed on the top of the boat for getting in and out.
Each of these had a small glass viewing port.” The propeller in the back of the
submarine rotated inside a circular metal shroud that protected it from
snagging on nets or other debris. Eight hand-cranks were spaced so the crew
could sit along the length of the torpedo ship and drive the propeller shaft.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">On its final voyage, the shark-boat held seven crew members as
well as Captain Dixon. The crew, using the hand-cranks, was responsible for propelling
the ship. Dixon stood in the front of the boat with his head in the forward
hatch, looking out the glass window and guiding the crew. He also operated the
diving planes and was responsible for setting off the explosive.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">A press release from the </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hunley</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> excavation team
explained that “the </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hunley</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> used an innovative lanyard system to detonate
the torpedo. The idea was to ram the spar torpedo into a target and then back
away, causing the torpedo to slip off the spar. A rope from the torpedo to the
submarine would spool out. Once the submarine was at a safe distance, the line
would tighten and detonate the warhead.” The shark-boat had to be up close and
personal to work effectively.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">In Charleston, the </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hunley</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> team took the boat out into
the harbor numerous times to test it. However, on August 29, 1863, it sank,
killing all its crew. The boat was raised and refurbished and new trial runs
began. On October 15, 1863, it sank again. Four of its crew died, including Horace L. Hunley, while three survived.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">After this new debacle, General Beauregard famously said, “[The
CSS</span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Hunley</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">] is more dangerous to those who use it than the enemy.” But he
reluctantly agreed to let Lieutenant Dixon have one last opportunity to prove
that a submarine could sink an enemy vessel.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Engineers again raised the boat and began new tests. They renamed it CSS <i>H. L. Hunley</i>, for the man who had done so much to bring it to life.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The Attack</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Like a shark, the gray boat knifed through the water. Just
beneath the glassy sea in Charleston Harbor, the hunter had set her sights on
an outsized prey.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The night of February 17, 1864 saw calm seas in the harbor.
Seven miles out, the silhouettes of many Yankee ships could be seen waiting to
apprehend smugglers and blockade-runners. But Dixon noticed a lone Union vessel
anchored just four miles away. It was the USS</span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Housatonic</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">, a three-master
that was 207 feet long. The sixteen-gun “sloop of war” had been instrumental in
capturing several blockade runners. As she sat in the harbor, Captain Charles
R. Pickering kept the boilers running and nine guards on deck.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Confederate torpedo boat, CSS</span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Hunley</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">, was about to
make history. Never in the history of the world had a submarine made a
successful attack on an enemy ship.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Just a few hundred yards from the </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Housatonic</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">,
Lieutenant Dixon urged on his crew as they sped the boat forward. Besides
Kentuckian Dixon, three came from the states of Alabama, Florida and Maryland.
Little is known about the other four except they were of foreign descent. At
least one, who was only known only as “Miller,” hailed from Germany.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">One hundred fifty sailors manned the </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Housatonic</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">. At 8:45
P.M., through the darkness, several men standing guard noticed a wake streaking
towards their ship. At first, they thought it was a log, but soon determined it
was moving too fast to be a natural phenomenon. By then, the shark-boat was
closing fast. The </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Housatonic</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> crew did what they could: they opened fire
with rifles. Captain Dickering rushed up on deck and fired a double-barrel shotgun
at the intruder. The small arms fire ricocheted off the iron skin of the
submarine, and it kept coming.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Less than two minutes later, an explosi0n rocked the </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Housatonic</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">.
The copper keg, filled with 135 pounds of black powder, detonated just below
the waterline at the stern of the ship. The explosion was muffled, but sent a
cascade of sea-water billowing toward the sky. Five sailors died instantly, and
two were wounded. Within five minutes, the ship had sunk to the bottom.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Union sailors were lucky. The ship came to rest with part
of its masts rising out of the shallow water. Many sailors climbed the masts,
holding on for dear life until the USS </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Canandaigua</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> appeared to rescue them.
Other crew members boarded lifeboats and were rescued.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Housatonic</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> was lost.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">But what happened to the </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hunley</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">? No one knew. It never
returned to shore--it had just vanished.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Raising the first submarine to sink an enemy ship</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Fast forward to May 3, 1995. Archeologists from the National
Underwater and Marine Agency, financed in part by novelist and adventurer Clive
Cussler, discovered a rusted hull at the bottom of Charleston Harbor. Four
miles offshore, it lay in 30 feet of water. After lying on the ocean’s floor
for 131 years, experts identified the ship as the fabled CSS </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hunley.</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">In 2000, as millions watched on television, the ship was
raised intact from the ocean. A time capsule, it contained bodies of the crew
and artifacts of the soldiers. Because of the delicate condition of the ship,
it was placed in a 75,000-gallon steel tank filled with fresh water to protect
the boat. From there, archaeologists would spend years excavating the </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">H.
L.</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hunley</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Among the interesting finds was a $20.00 Lady Liberty gold piece. The coin
and a gold pocket-watch lay underneath the skeletonized remains of George
Dixon. For more than a century, historians had debated whether the story of
Queenie and the gold coin that saved the young Kentuckian was true. Many
thought the tale, like countless war-time stories, had been fabricated. But the
finding of the coin confirmed the story. Dixon had engraved the following
statement into the back of the coin: “Shiloh. April 6</span><sup style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">, 1862 My
Life Preserver G. E. D.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpoa4steHE1z3fEvi9HHcaJ6GW2JpB66gp5zbtY07JN7VTv7QcPsAlHiKzToXm6dAV3qqgmj9lwQ11m3HYf8xuI67yQLdSc42Fqlsz7ejeti2a-ND6nUzmHMhupwX8Agjn3dkKm9K26PTVoVEnC-Hu-cPV-o2i18qrjdRGLXQjILKUrTULp6pJtJ5ws0s/s2000/CSS%20Hunley%20coin%204.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1326" data-original-width="2000" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpoa4steHE1z3fEvi9HHcaJ6GW2JpB66gp5zbtY07JN7VTv7QcPsAlHiKzToXm6dAV3qqgmj9lwQ11m3HYf8xuI67yQLdSc42Fqlsz7ejeti2a-ND6nUzmHMhupwX8Agjn3dkKm9K26PTVoVEnC-Hu-cPV-o2i18qrjdRGLXQjILKUrTULp6pJtJ5ws0s/s320/CSS%20Hunley%20coin%204.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">In addition to Dixon’s artifacts, archaeologists found
artillery buttons, a pipe, a pencil, a leather wallet, and other personal
items. One item stirred much interest. A Union dog tag was found beneath the
body of crew member Joseph Ridgeway. At first, researchers thought he may have been a spy, but later determined that he had picked up
the souvenir after one of the battles he’d fought in.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">How did the </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hunley</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> sink, and how did the crew die?
These questions loomed large throughout the years as archaeologists worked to
uncover the mystery. There had been little damage to the boat, eliminating the
possibility that it had been sunk by enemy fire or had been blown up when the
dynamite exploded.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">CBC News reported that “the crew were killed by massive lung
and brain injuries caused indirectly by their own torpedo…The exit hatches were
closed and the bilge pumps that would have been used if the sub started to take
on water were not set to pump, suggesting that the crew never tried to save
themselves as the sub sunk.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Dr. Rachel Lance</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">, who graduated from Duke
University with a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering, said “There were some holes
in the hull that were the result of time under the sea. But there was no actual
damage caused by the blast itself.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">CBC News reported that “when the charge exploded, the blast
would have caused the submarine’s hull to transmit a powerful, secondary shock
wave into the submarine, crushing their lungs and brain (sic) and killing them
instantly.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">While there are other theories about how the </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hunley</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> met
its doom, this seems to be the most likely.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">On April 17, 2004, the crew of the first submarine to sink an
enemy ship were interred. Thousands of Americans, many of them descendants of
Confederate veterans, attended the funeral. After a memorial service and a
four-and-a-half mile march through Charleston, the eight-man crew was laid to
rest at Magnolia Cemetery.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikpJs9Lqym_xMFB6eSb5khhyuq0VxptMe6dsrZ-8HrwKSFNepDZzqx0OisF48sXumLy255Nlj8RYWnfrGrlDrGlyXM8pIngmZ_P_vzyCaEmTZCngm_x1rKtA73ja9lWiNWySRWUzPNx1_ce-zlTvIDn_9LQ80WrJ4LIjtxQna158QFBf3Mg_qZotW96pc/s640/HL%20Hunley%20-%20George%20Dixon%20Grave.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikpJs9Lqym_xMFB6eSb5khhyuq0VxptMe6dsrZ-8HrwKSFNepDZzqx0OisF48sXumLy255Nlj8RYWnfrGrlDrGlyXM8pIngmZ_P_vzyCaEmTZCngm_x1rKtA73ja9lWiNWySRWUzPNx1_ce-zlTvIDn_9LQ80WrJ4LIjtxQna158QFBf3Mg_qZotW96pc/s320/HL%20Hunley%20-%20George%20Dixon%20Grave.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">My friend and fellow-Southerner, </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Max Northcutt</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">, made
the trip from Tennessee to South Carolina to attend the services. He was kind
enough to lend me his extensive archives about the </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hunley</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">, which I used for
this story.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sources:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The Confederate Submarine</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> H. L
Hunley by Gerald F. Teaster<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The </span></i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">CSS Hunley<i>: The Greatest
Undersea Adventure of the CIVIL WAR</i> by Richard Bak</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The </span></i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">CSS H. L. Hunley<i>: Confederate
Submarine</i> by R. Thomas Campbell</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The <i>Hunley</i> website: </span><a href="https://www.hunley.org/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The Friends of The Hunley – The World's First
Successful Combat Submarine</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqLLo00Cj0TVc-G9x5ytMkLNRnFK-juBkL2jpCg6IP2HIf3zQR6guxvsOe9tqs27TzsN5wXAaWVz2MuR76Z3GLnrfzrJRT-9fFNZBfBsfnrYbEe2zYzF-_dUFQFbotyo_v22sZJ4E61VmYAJozPPei5OFfW96aOnJJgti4s6JXn5JIJn_XTuwo_fQP_xE/s1200/CSS%20Hunley%20Gravestone%20Pic.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="800" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqLLo00Cj0TVc-G9x5ytMkLNRnFK-juBkL2jpCg6IP2HIf3zQR6guxvsOe9tqs27TzsN5wXAaWVz2MuR76Z3GLnrfzrJRT-9fFNZBfBsfnrYbEe2zYzF-_dUFQFbotyo_v22sZJ4E61VmYAJozPPei5OFfW96aOnJJgti4s6JXn5JIJn_XTuwo_fQP_xE/w266-h400/CSS%20Hunley%20Gravestone%20Pic.jpg" width="266" /></a></span></div><br /><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1072125047008275922.post-9980280273203491782023-10-17T07:10:00.011-07:002023-10-17T10:42:10.486-07:00Mystery on Route 66<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHNmp8iOgFdUftEVzHG0_RbmRyPrMl5Nuq_XCXO7Zkw10EWc1NpPQhrpCOAl9xQNou2jHIf0Nljb8eGoQtbFDvVgPriFxmoXZ60kJEfwpKncTdmqLiRjV3p7tQXY-N-KmHxB08YtoFWDkd4LpEpAEuH1HzVNRrj8FdPtYcziCb1tn5ZyRu6iD_QDvfNEk/s1280/Jeanette%20Earnest%20Pic.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="819" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHNmp8iOgFdUftEVzHG0_RbmRyPrMl5Nuq_XCXO7Zkw10EWc1NpPQhrpCOAl9xQNou2jHIf0Nljb8eGoQtbFDvVgPriFxmoXZ60kJEfwpKncTdmqLiRjV3p7tQXY-N-KmHxB08YtoFWDkd4LpEpAEuH1HzVNRrj8FdPtYcziCb1tn5ZyRu6iD_QDvfNEk/s320/Jeanette%20Earnest%20Pic.jpg" width="205" /></a><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b>Infatuated Uncle Kidnaps, Murders 11-Year-Old Niece</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span>By Robert A. Waters</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">On November 17, 1954, Jeanette Earnest disappeared. She’d been waiting for her mother to pick her up at a Fort Worth, Texas washateria after school. But when Nadine Earnest arrived, Jeanette was gone.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The hairs on Nadine's neck stood up. She knew immediately who had taken her daughter.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">A few months before Jeanette went missing, Nadine had developed strong suspicions about her brother-in-law, forty-eight-year-old
Thurman Priest. She abruptly moved her family's worshipping place from the Baptist Church they
attended to a nearby Methodist Church. It wasn’t because of doctrinal issues—it
was because Thurman, married to Nadine's sister, had started attending eleven-year-old Jeanette's Sunday School class. It seemed so weird that even the minister got involved, asking Priest to take part in one of the adult classes instead.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;">Married to Nadine’s sister, Priest worked as a bookkeeper for
a local airline company. Newspapers characterized him "as a strange little man." In his spare time, he'd begun coming over to the Earnest home to play with
Jeanette and her brothers and sisters. After it became obvious that Priest had developed a crush on the young girl, Nadine forcefully warned him to stay away.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;">The concerned mother had even considered moving out of state to eliminate the problem.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;">Now that Jeanette had vanished, Nadine called police and reported her daughter missing. She informed investigators about Priest, describing his obsession with Jeanette. Then she called her estranged husband and Jeanette's father, H. M. Earnest, who became so upset he had to be administered sedatives.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;">Fort Worth Police Department officers began a frantic search for Priest. He had a head start of several hours and could be anywhere. But cops knew the danger and made the case a top priority. In addition to launching a manhunt locally, they contacted surrounding states asking that their lawmen "be on the lookout" for Priest.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;">As he drove out of Fort Worth, Priest told Jeanette they were moving to Ohio. She asked if "Auntie" was coming. (Auntie was Priest's wife, Etta Mae.) Priest informed the child that when he found a job, Auntie would join them.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">After less than an hour on the road, Priest stopped at a motel in Irving, Texas, but spent only an hour there. No one knows what happened in that room because Priest never told.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Their next stop was a tourist court called the Holiday Motel, in Baxter Springs, Kansas. Priest rented a cabin for one night. In a later interview, the manager, Mrs. Johnnie Page, told investigators a frightening story. She said Jeanette ran out of the cabin Tuesday afternoon, in obvious distress. Priest chased her down, shoved her into the car, and sped off. Later, a maid found bloodspots on the bathroom floor of the cabin, a small bloodstain on a towel, and an earring cops identified as Jeanette's. (Inexplicably, Page had not called police. With a phone call, Jeanette's life may have been saved.)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">A few hours later, Priest stopped at a tourist court in Stanton, Missouri. There he registered the two as man and wife. At about 6:00 A.M. Wednesday morning, they left.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Jeanette was never seen alive again.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Mount Vernon, Missouri police arrested Priest after he stopped at a motel and called his wife. Etta Mae spoke to the manager and asked if a little girl was with Priest. When the manager responded that Thurman was the only person in his car, Etta Mae asked her to call police.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Detectives interviewed the suspect. At first, he claimed he didn't remember what happened to Jeanette. But when one of the interrogators mentioned that she was a "beautiful girl," it was like turning on a faucet. He turned "dreamy-eyed" and assured the detective he was right.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The <i>Fort Worth Star-Telegram</i> reported Priest "admitted Sunday he killed his 11-year-old niece, Jeanette Earnest, and led officers to a spot four miles east of [Lebanon, Missouri] where he had hidden the body."</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8EWv5Qx7BAcFQYbsWiF6JaehN9KVT3xkDAq2YwXQ3hdlxh5eTk0cNnkOvadsENCzB2ijlJ_OLlgeXNx9Nni2eiqU3O87e79-hxVBaoE4aek_CU6sZ1kLWySoZYR0P37hey3RbjAKMNLrP5-GrojiKpYQuteTT-AL2ai2ZwSTNYG8mA6rxa7-mDGGs3UI/s1006/Lebanon%20MO.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="647" data-original-width="1006" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8EWv5Qx7BAcFQYbsWiF6JaehN9KVT3xkDAq2YwXQ3hdlxh5eTk0cNnkOvadsENCzB2ijlJ_OLlgeXNx9Nni2eiqU3O87e79-hxVBaoE4aek_CU6sZ1kLWySoZYR0P37hey3RbjAKMNLrP5-GrojiKpYQuteTT-AL2ai2ZwSTNYG8mA6rxa7-mDGGs3UI/s320/Lebanon%20MO.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The reporter wrote that "the child's fully clothed, unburied body was found in a heavy oak grove about three hundred yards off U. S. Highway 66 and almost eight miles from where the girl's blouse was found Wednesday. She had been shot once in the right temple with a .32 automatic."</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">During the police interview, Priest told cops where they could find the gun used to murder Jeanette. The <i>Star-Telegram </i>reported the FBI "identified a .32 automatic pistol and an empty cartridge found near the girl's body as having microscopic marks which showed it had been fired in the chamber of the pistol." </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The community of Fort Worth reeled in horror. Her classmates had prayed en mass for Jeanette's safe return at school on Tuesday. Her father was still bed-ridden. But Nadine remained stoic in public. Her focus was on bringing Priest to justice.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Priest claimed he and Jeanette were in love. "The last two years," he said, "I [was] always so lonesome and depressed when [Jeanette] wasn't with me. I just couldn't stand it. I was afraid the family was going to take the girl away from me. If I couldn't have her, no one could."</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">He claimed he loved her like a father and had never "raped" her. But Dr. Paul Jenkins, who performed the autopsy, stated he "could not determine whether she had been criminally assaulted. [He] also could not definitely show that she hadn't been."</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">On April 29, 1955, Priest was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">On July 6, 1960, Thurman Priest died of a heart attack while still in a Missouri prison.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmukJwOvc3q3ZhEdoUGzw_Se2JIcauWeS7SmsUzVNiPerocYsxpiyIfO57RfxBFr_3e2Y9RQUIAWyWeVC6khHxmm1j89YHSksTEdN5OdkA1DI7SwGTD-NOHV0fZLk4gbufqPdnJz_m6t4maW-eUYOqzdYZUoVxII5AnAha7AVyo3cuXwN2b-ftA9zsFcw/s1194/Thurman%20Priest%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1194" data-original-width="904" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmukJwOvc3q3ZhEdoUGzw_Se2JIcauWeS7SmsUzVNiPerocYsxpiyIfO57RfxBFr_3e2Y9RQUIAWyWeVC6khHxmm1j89YHSksTEdN5OdkA1DI7SwGTD-NOHV0fZLk4gbufqPdnJz_m6t4maW-eUYOqzdYZUoVxII5AnAha7AVyo3cuXwN2b-ftA9zsFcw/s320/Thurman%20Priest%201.jpg" width="242" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">In his confessions, Priest alleged that Jeanette "loved" him. That is doubtful. When she was younger, she may have been flattered by his attentions as they played children's games, but later she told her mother she viewed him as a nuisance. She also said she was embarrassed when he began attending Sunday School with her.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">After abducting Jeanette, it's likely he made sexual advances toward her. At the cabin in Baxter Springs, he almost certainly attempted to molest the child. She likely fought back and tried to escape. In addition to the constant threat of sexual assault, Jeanette likely felt uncomfortable spending hours and hours alone in a car with Priest. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Perhaps Nadine said it best: "I think he was mad at her because she was crying and wanted to go home. He decided that if he couldn't have her he didn't want anyone else to have her and decided to kill her." </span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1072125047008275922.post-42330164672927413792023-10-05T05:05:00.033-07:002023-10-09T05:51:19.646-07:00Women and Self-Defense<p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihOxib7OLDZZTGuH8cf-2PzeGmNDDxBgkhpM0iVZR7npc9Z14YTvbtky3O5LzPR4fpJTJzqCYJTmFHJDbuo0IULtE0gloqMpRi-CDTdXyiKmrTLFB8E6tPQrn5WmHq7jwsh8U7rHBKSrvBicpjQtEH7moOTgdviHOqR6NLjW9WYQK_L2RJBCtTUMN-UaE/s380/Gun.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="279" data-original-width="380" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihOxib7OLDZZTGuH8cf-2PzeGmNDDxBgkhpM0iVZR7npc9Z14YTvbtky3O5LzPR4fpJTJzqCYJTmFHJDbuo0IULtE0gloqMpRi-CDTdXyiKmrTLFB8E6tPQrn5WmHq7jwsh8U7rHBKSrvBicpjQtEH7moOTgdviHOqR6NLjW9WYQK_L2RJBCtTUMN-UaE/s320/Gun.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Compilation: Female Victims Fighting Back--Stories from my Blog</span></b><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">By Robert A. Waters<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I started my blog in 2008. Over the years, I’ve published
more than 700 stories. Most deal with crime, although I also enjoy writing
about the Civil War, historical events, archaeological discoveries, my family’s genealogy, etc. I also occasionally write book reviews, but only about books I enjoy.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">One of my major interests concerns citizens using guns in self-defense. As
a storyteller, I seldom engage in political discussions. I feel that a dramatized account of what occurred is more effective than a long political
lecture. Of the 700 posts, about 100 recount true, documented stories of citizens defending themselves (or others) with
firearms.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">This blog entry will provide the reader a compilation of ten of those stories--focusing on <i>women</i> and their guns. Whether you believe a gun is an equalizer or not, check these stories.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Young home invader forces elderly, disabled Shreveport woman to open her safe. Fatal mistake.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com/2014/01/protecting-her-own.html">Kidnapping, Murder, and Mayhem: Protecting Her Own (kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com)</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Persistent career criminal breaks into an elderly widow's home and pays the price. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com/2011/11/woman-kills-intruder-in-self-defense.html" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Kidnapping, Murder, and Mayhem: Woman Kills Intruder in Self-Defense (kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com)</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Young Chinese businesswoman is racially profiled by three armed robbers in Georgia. One invader dies at the scene, the others flee like cowards. High-definition video records the entire gunfight.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com/2023/09/see-video-showing-chen-fengzhu-self.html">Kidnapping, Murder, and Mayhem: Video Shows Chen Fengzhu Self-Defense Shooting (kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com)</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Pretty real estate agent uses concealed carry handgun to fight off would-be rapist.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com/2020/01/real-estate-agent-uses-gun-to-survive_20.html"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Kidnapping, Murder, and Mayhem: Real Estate Agent Uses Gun to Survive Attack (kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com)</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Armed mother hides in a secluded closet with her young twins waiting as home intruder comes closer...and closer. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com/2013/01/self-defense-files-7_12.html"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Kidnapping, Murder, and Mayhem: Self-Defense Files 7 (kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com)</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Two armed robbers burst into a check-cashing store and...surprise...surprise.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com/2008/03/life-and-death-at-mr-money-usa.html"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Kidnapping, Murder, and Mayhem: Life and Death at Mr. Money USA by Robert A. Waters (kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com)</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Elderly St. Petersburg woman hears a noise just outside her home. A stranger tries to climb in through a window...</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com/2020/10/a-lady-and-her-ruger.html"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Kidnapping, Murder, and Mayhem: A Lady and Her Ruger (kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com)</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Trapped in her bedroom, a wife and gang member engage in one of the wildest gun battles you'll ever read about.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com/2019/05/guns-save-lives-chapter-1-point-blank_40.html"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Kidnapping, Murder, and Mayhem: GUNS SAVE LIVES - Chapter 1 - POINT BLANK (kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com)</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Criminal on the run from police breaks down a 150-pound steel door. He meets a woman with her .38. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com/2017/11/self-defense-in-knightdale-north.html">Kidnapping, Murder, and Mayhem: Self-Defense in Knightdale, North Carolina (kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com)</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Milwaukee nurse returning home after her shift stops a violent carjacker.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com/2014/07/justice-for-carjacker.html"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Kidnapping, Murder, and Mayhem: Justice for a Carjacker (kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com)</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">For much more detailed full-chapter stories of armed self-defense, check out my latest book, co-written with Sim Waters, at <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Guns-Self-Defense-Inspirational-Survival-Firearms-ebook/dp/B07RCY13TZ/ref=sr_1_2?crid=YJ6730A6XDA1&keywords=guns+and+self-defense&qid=1696855628&s=books&sprefix=guns+and+slef-defense%2Cstripbooks%2C86&sr=1-2">Guns and Self-Defense</a>.</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1072125047008275922.post-18980715359048548932023-09-25T17:02:00.029-07:002023-11-05T05:29:01.329-08:00Video Shows Chen Fengzhu Self-Defense Shooting<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJdvM8zPm5mhp2F_bFkOUS6fSek22Y9oi6-YxLrzfpMw5kaNkl9SMWsu8rbUnk8zjFtj_B6SG8HKuN2wZRZ6zXiAt_lM3Gscw03LDtdGr2Vdq10b5DAQd44F4dUk65ovELWE94G6kG-w6HzDna23zob7yxqUkaCKxp1HQuceaW0ou7cpYR7Yc6LK3wWGg/s442/Chen%20Pic%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="442" data-original-width="337" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJdvM8zPm5mhp2F_bFkOUS6fSek22Y9oi6-YxLrzfpMw5kaNkl9SMWsu8rbUnk8zjFtj_B6SG8HKuN2wZRZ6zXiAt_lM3Gscw03LDtdGr2Vdq10b5DAQd44F4dUk65ovELWE94G6kG-w6HzDna23zob7yxqUkaCKxp1HQuceaW0ou7cpYR7Yc6LK3wWGg/s320/Chen%20Pic%202.jpg" width="244" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/A804A3WAbB0" width="320" youtube-src-id="A804A3WAbB0"></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>Female Restaurant Owner Routs Home Invaders</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">By Robert A. Waters<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">"Find a Chinese neighborhood 'cause they don't
believe in bank accounts."</span></i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Lyrics from a popular rap song instructs
armed robbers to invade the homes of successful Chinese business owners.
YG—Meet the Flockers</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">On September 16, 2016, at 3:43 A.M., three robbers kicked in
the door of a home occupied by restaurant owner </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Chen Fengzhu </b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>(pictured)</i></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">. Each carried
a gun and began searching for valuables. The entire incident was filmed on high-definition
surveillance video.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The 36-year-old Chinese woman quickly sent the three panicked
home invaders fleeing. Cameras show Chen raining bullets on the surprised trio
as she races out of her bedroom dressed in pajamas. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Daily Mail</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> reported "incredible footage has been released showing the moment a Georgia woman rushed out of the bed in the
middle of the night and opened fire at three armed men who broke into her
house, killing one. The surveillance footage, released by the Gwinnett County [Georgia]
Police Department, shows the intruders—all of whom are carrying guns—bursting
through the front door and rummaging the house…"</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Chen explained her actions to a reporter. "I didn’t have any
choice," she said, "so I had to take out the gun I’d hid there. Then I loaded
my pistol and walked out of my bedroom. I shot at the invaders when I saw them.
One of them fled quickly, and another one ran away from the front door. Then I
shot again. The one inside my house broke the glass on the back door and ran
away. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I didn’t feel scared at the moment and all I thought about
was how to deal with the situation."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Responding officers found </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Antonio Leeks</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">, 28, lying in
the driveway of the home. "Police took off the burglar’s clothes," Chen said, "and attempted to resuscitate him for about 15 to 20 minutes and they told me
they had failed to save him." Investigators later reported he had died from a bullet wound to his "torso."</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Cops arrested one of the invaders, </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Bernard Little</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">, a
year and a half later. He still carried a cell phone he had stolen from the house. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The third suspect has not yet been apprehended.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Cpl. Deon Washington of the Gwinnett County Police Department told
reporters the resident acted appropriately. "She exercised her right to defend
her livelihood and property," he said.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">But there's a back-story here, one few people know.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Many robbers target Chinese business owners because it’s rumored they keep lots of cash in their homes. Police speculated the invaders in
Gwinnett County specifically targeted Chen for that reason. Once inside,
the robbers began searching for cash and valuables. This
gave Chen the opportunity to wake up and get her firearm.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Chen surprised the thieves with a blitz attack, emptying the
magazine in her semiautomatic handgun. The video shows each robber fleeing in different directions. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Investigators released the video in order to identify the two surviving invaders. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Why Little was walking the streets is another back story. Born
in 1982, he committed a series of violent crimes in 1997 when he was just 15 years
old. The courts convicted Little of the following: kidnapping, hijacking a motor vehicle,
rape, aggravated sodomy, armed robbery, aggravated assault, and possession of a
firearm during a crime. He received sentences for each conviction, totaling 136
years. It’s probable he was released because of his age when he committed the
crimes. The question remains: should anyone, even a teenager, be released early after committing all these violent crimes?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">He had been on the streets for only six months before encountering Chen.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Little was convicted of the following offenses against Chen: burglary,
aggravated assault, home invasion 1</span><sup style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">st</sup><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> degree, possession of a
firearm by a convicted felon, armed robbery, and murder. He is currently serving out his sentence. According to the Georgia Department of Corrections, Little's "maximum release date is March 28, 2043."</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Does that mean he can be released earlier than 2043? </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The third intruder has never been caught. (See picture below.) If you recognize him, please call the Gwinnett County Police Department at 770-513-5000.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzdodwwpzRDC3lrUjGNbWEO00MgcaC4pvZpXfI4Wzah51CUwsZwMdViChTRga5MQMloJ4g-8NTwTvx7plUR8mMPmB_MCVxnDJNNHYqODniWlZoO-j0YDqywFFj2y4-W0-uhq7HmhKSgzUSRDUl9HgREuyrWI-AVa71siV-jDv_ncUBkJXysX0YAakb39Q/s388/Chen%20-%20Home%20Invader.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="388" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzdodwwpzRDC3lrUjGNbWEO00MgcaC4pvZpXfI4Wzah51CUwsZwMdViChTRga5MQMloJ4g-8NTwTvx7plUR8mMPmB_MCVxnDJNNHYqODniWlZoO-j0YDqywFFj2y4-W0-uhq7HmhKSgzUSRDUl9HgREuyrWI-AVa71siV-jDv_ncUBkJXysX0YAakb39Q/s320/Chen%20-%20Home%20Invader.jpg" width="275" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Robert A. Waters is the author of <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Guns-Self-Defense-Inspirational-Survival-Firearms-ebook/dp/B07RCY13TZ/ref=pd_ybh_a_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=MWHQTETDZ00SVWWJ5F4Q">Guns and Self-Defense: 23 Inspirational True Crime Stories of Survival with Firearms</a></i>, co-written with
Sim Waters. For more than 30 years, Waters has researched defensive shootings
in America. He has penned 4 books describing in detail many of those cases.<o:p></o:p></span></p></span><p></p><p></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1072125047008275922.post-75936449935455797682023-09-22T13:42:00.014-07:002023-09-25T05:53:27.594-07:00“Look at my Face” <p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX6ZOZwxqr3yvWTU1oCZVwIz3NcyK_fteSAAFi-tAIi9ijq6XuO8YvG5zOUE0e9Sf4GhmvN1hAytZ_mpCOCc7OjVCxX9j44YOJzWdKQjWAONp3DRHlrbOCWUwOCaxqHTXZa4m5NQX9-H2-KrTilscVcFvtxUf3t_ayn4s6-eBKi2ROQgvS3WOz38TlQl4/s1500/Shivanti%20Pic.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="843" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX6ZOZwxqr3yvWTU1oCZVwIz3NcyK_fteSAAFi-tAIi9ijq6XuO8YvG5zOUE0e9Sf4GhmvN1hAytZ_mpCOCc7OjVCxX9j44YOJzWdKQjWAONp3DRHlrbOCWUwOCaxqHTXZa4m5NQX9-H2-KrTilscVcFvtxUf3t_ayn4s6-eBKi2ROQgvS3WOz38TlQl4/w225-h400/Shivanti%20Pic.jpg" width="225" /></a></b></div><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Changes in Attitudes</span></b><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">By Robert A. Waters<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">On September 7, 2023, ABC channel KSTP-TV reported that
Democratic Farmer Labour Party second vice chairwoman<b> Shivanthi Sathanandan</b>
was “injured after being attacked by a group of armed men who carjacked her in
the driveway of her Folwell neighborhood home…”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Shivanthi described the attack in brutal detail. I'm
publishing this remarkable statement verbatim: “Yesterday my children and I were
violently car jacked in the driveway of our home in Minneapolis. Four very
young men, all carrying guns, beat me violently down to the ground in front of
our kids. The young men held our neighbors up at gunpoint when they ran over
and tried to help me. All in broad daylight.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Look at my face in the picture. This is the face of a mother
who just had the sh-t beaten out of her. A mother whose only thought was, ‘let
me run far enough and fight hard enough so that my kids have a chance to get
away.’ This is the face of a mother who just listened to her four year old
daughter screaming non-stop, her 7 year old son wailing for someone to come
help because bad guys are murdering his Mama in the back yard, her neighbors
screaming in outrage…all while being beaten with guns and kicks and fists.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">“I have a broken leg, deep lacerations on my head, bruising
and cuts all over my body.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">“And I have rage.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">“These men knew what they were doing. I have NO DOUBT they
have done this before. Yet they are still on OUR STREETS. Killing mothers.
Giving babies psychological trauma that a lifetime of therapy cannot erase.
With no hesitation and no remorse.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">“I’m now part of the statistics. I wasn’t silent when I fought
these men to save my life and my babies, and I won’t be silent now. We need to
get illegal guns off our streets, catch these young people who are running wild
creating chaos across our city and HOLD THEM IN CUSTODY AND PROSECUTE THEM.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">“PERIOD.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Look at my face. REMEMBER ME when you are thinking of letting
juveniles and young people out of custody to roam our streets instead of
HOLDING THEM ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">“You could have been reading the obituary for me and my
children today. But instead I’m here. To write this.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“Look at my face. These criminals will not win. We need to
take back our city. And this will not be the last you hear from me about this.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Thank you to the incredible Minneapolis 4</span><sup style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">
Precinct Officers, Mayor Frey, Chief O’Hara, Paramedics, neighbors, friends and
DFL family, who all came to our aide during this terrifying experience. I’m so
grateful for this community that wraps us in love.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4IVqct74x4p2_uzwp_Gcah9gu3EoQP0iU7H0zTKGIHCdOSs-ZHBrCP3aOdRJ4tVJQHpURc7rgetzE4_By-yJBF4aBfFw5jihFch5eGNtN5KpT_sb5bjAziUgweOW-cbO18rXemUV-AIQHkMEndopPdnOW1UtmuPMMKsORCkXcYlgNKxQNCIRaaOtA_l4/s245/Shivanti%20Minneapolis%20Patch.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="205" data-original-width="245" height="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4IVqct74x4p2_uzwp_Gcah9gu3EoQP0iU7H0zTKGIHCdOSs-ZHBrCP3aOdRJ4tVJQHpURc7rgetzE4_By-yJBF4aBfFw5jihFch5eGNtN5KpT_sb5bjAziUgweOW-cbO18rXemUV-AIQHkMEndopPdnOW1UtmuPMMKsORCkXcYlgNKxQNCIRaaOtA_l4/w400-h335/Shivanti%20Minneapolis%20Patch.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">This response is a far cry from a Facebook post Shivanthi made
on June 5, 2020, after George Floyd ‘s death.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">“We are going to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department.
Say it with me.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">“DISMANTLE…The…Minneapolis…Police…Department.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">“As allies, what can we do right now. LISTEN and LEARN from
our Black siblings. And then AMPLIFY this message right now, in this moment.
MPD has systematically failed the Black Community, they have failed ALL OF US.
Its time to build a new infrastructure that works for ALL communities. If you
are still disagreeing with that BASIC FACT, I don’t know what to say to you.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">On November 2, 2021, </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">USA Today</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> reported “Minneapolis residents voted <i>not</i> to replace the city’s police department.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Two days after the carjacking, Minneapolis police located Shivanthi’s abandoned
car. It's not known if police have identified or arrested the
carjackers.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Unlike many who have called out Shivanthi’s “hypocrisy,” I’m
saddened by the attack on her and her family. For a mother to have been beaten by
four thugs in front of her young children is horrendous. She’s right, those kids will likely suffer trauma for a lifetime. She's also right that her attackers are likely hardened criminals who have violently assaulted others. And she's right in calling for these attackers to be severely punished. There’s no excuse for such
violence.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Here’s hoping those who committed this act will be found quickly. And I hope Shivanthi and her children make a full recovery.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Robert A. Waters is the author of </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Guns-Self-Defense-Inspirational-Survival-Firearms-ebook/dp/B07RCY13TZ/ref=sr_1_6?crid=24RE2FAJYDPVY&keywords=robert+a.+waters&qid=1695418802&s=books&sprefix=robert+a.+waters%2Cstripbooks%2C99&sr=1-6">Guns and Self-Defense</a>,</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">
written with co-author Sim Waters. For more than 30 years, Waters has researched
“righteous” defensive shootings. He has penned four books describing in detail
many of those cases. If this story intrigued you, check out our book. Chapter 4
recounts the true story of a black female Milwaukee nurse who used her concealed carry pistol to single-handedly stop a violent carjacking ring. The night before,
the carjackers had shot an innocent man, shattering his jaw in an attempt steal
his vehicle. In addition to this exciting case, our book describes two dozen more inspiring
stories of ordinary citizens who used guns to save their own lives or the lives
of others.</span></i></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1072125047008275922.post-70375695329604435012023-09-14T07:23:00.051-07:002023-09-15T06:04:57.934-07:00Kystie's Law<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhouEbEKoEzlzmebmjRQgNxBW-qCTojz7hE75ynd8-jUB5F8IY81-vVn8ybKSpaO1VKPsZOqUT04LZ0D9OCSeBXixezaNd0wNa_6jjRfB-0hztQohPB2e3S5ubj2UhvnOoQMDL9QqkVTjFBLcxRvmEsU5CedYoHjr8ZtvNN5IgtpNo8oboKYKuLJmusU4M/s518/Kystie%20-%20Pic.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="329" data-original-width="518" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhouEbEKoEzlzmebmjRQgNxBW-qCTojz7hE75ynd8-jUB5F8IY81-vVn8ybKSpaO1VKPsZOqUT04LZ0D9OCSeBXixezaNd0wNa_6jjRfB-0hztQohPB2e3S5ubj2UhvnOoQMDL9QqkVTjFBLcxRvmEsU5CedYoHjr8ZtvNN5IgtpNo8oboKYKuLJmusU4M/w400-h254/Kystie%20-%20Pic.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-family: georgia;">Woman Sued After Using Firearm to Save Cop</span></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: large;">By Robert A. Waters</span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium;">Aurora Police Sgt. Bill Halbig wrote the following synopsis
about the circumstances that led to a lawsuit against <b>Kystie Jaehnen:</b> "On January 20,
2017, a suspicious person prompted a call to 9-1-1 in Ohio County, Indiana. The
suspicious person was parked in an elderly person’s yard for an extended period
of time, blocking her driveway and creating a road hazard.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">"Shortly after, a police officer (</span><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Michael Powell</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">)
arrived in response to the call. The man began resisting and both the officer
and the man went to the ground. A young woman (</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Kystie</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">) standing
nearby on her property ran to help the officer. Kystie could see the officer
was losing the fight as this man reached for the officer’s gun. Fortunately for
the officer, Kystie was armed and shot the man one time which ended the fight."</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">The assailant, </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">Justin Holland</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">, 25, received immediate on-scene
medical attention but died from his wound. Some newspapers reported he was shot
once in the shoulder, others that he was shot in the abdomen. An autopsy
determined Holland had the following drugs in his system: methadone,
methamphetamine, benzodiazepines, marijuana, and dextromethorphan.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFwD2nv24dMD4cH1u8w1d5r93jict2q0u701ePWYMrCIgtPs9eZWj3l0ufd4SKiAP3tmYXvEPcpadjcWXEh8SLiNId9NiJxQAQSPOZ9DGROw83e5NxwPd0dFCx-5pmXBZw6qicsLNazAuqAVV4Uj01YBFGuM5l55rU355X1TzNJRtyw8RnfOZwo6Oi6Dk/s350/Kystie%20-%20Justin%20Holland.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="263" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFwD2nv24dMD4cH1u8w1d5r93jict2q0u701ePWYMrCIgtPs9eZWj3l0ufd4SKiAP3tmYXvEPcpadjcWXEh8SLiNId9NiJxQAQSPOZ9DGROw83e5NxwPd0dFCx-5pmXBZw6qicsLNazAuqAVV4Uj01YBFGuM5l55rU355X1TzNJRtyw8RnfOZwo6Oi6Dk/w300-h400/Kystie%20-%20Justin%20Holland.webp" width="300" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; line-height: 107%;">The Dearborn County Register</span></i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 107%;"> reported
Holland (<i>pictured above</i>) "was facing charges of fraud of a financial institution, theft
and forgery at the time of the incident and had previously been arrested for
one count of battery resulting in bodily injury."</span></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium;">Indiana State Police Public Information Officer Sgt. Stephen
Wheeles said that "it was obvious the officer was not winning the confrontation." Because of this, the Dearborn/Ohio County prosecutor refused to charge Kystie. In
fact, he praised her actions.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><u><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;">Then the family of Holland sued Kystie
Jaehnen.</span></u></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; line-height: 107%;">Eagle Country Online</span></i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 107%;"> reported "an Ohio County woman facing a wrongful death lawsuit for fatally shooting a
drugged-up man as he attacked a police officer is asking Indiana lawmakers to
enact new legal protections for people in her situation." Kystie told
prosecutors when she went to Powell’s defense, she felt she was protected under
Indiana’s self-defense law.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium;">That was not the case.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;">The complaint alleges that "Kystie L. Jaehnen used excessive
and unjustified deadly force in shooting and killing Plaintiff’s decedent, Justin
Holland. [She] acted willfully, wantonly and with reckless disregard for the
welfare of [Holland]." <i>Eagle Country Online</i> reported that "the Hollands are seeking unspecified damages, relief, and legal fees from Jaehnen, Powell and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. They demand a jury trial."</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;">Officer Powell's legal defense is covered by his department and the Fraternal Order of Police Legal Defense Fund. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources is also covered.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;">Halbig wrote: "It is tragic how one person's irrational and unlawful actions can destroy the peaceful lives of others. This case is about more than the right or wrong of one party suing another. Imagine not being able to come to the aid of another person for fear of being sued, possibly to the point of bankruptcy. This case is about a person having the basic God-given right and the 2nd Amendment right to defend both yourself and others without the fear of civil retribution."</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium;">Halbig started a <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/kystie039s-best-defense">GoFundMe</a> page that raised nearly $100,000 to cover Kystie's legal expenses.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium;">After Kystie (now married and called Kystie Phillips), testified, the state of Indiana passed Act 1284, also referred to as Kystie's Law. According to WKRC television, "the new law gives those cleared of wrongdoing immunity from civil lawsuits. The change is being praised by police groups, but the group Moms Demand Action says it encourages armed vigilantism."</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium;">In 2019, the Holland family dropped its lawsuit. No reason was given.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium;">NOTE: Michael Powell is a "conservation officer" for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.</span></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1072125047008275922.post-9523021734113908852023-09-05T16:33:00.012-07:002023-09-08T13:22:54.428-07:00Can You Help Solve This Mystery?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWdU5smvhlZKelWGBeCpBDpQXlmB0NhprG5QxgiibtnW6lRdt8ZQcgX4Z9iuLkEn_fITge6Saw4qD9rVqj_TuVHkWEZjMjpcxMjh6bmzP099cie77i-f2F6DNAugi9RWZEHgkESuO1qKJQeeiR56RwLSbg2Ys0SrHjEu8DYqcfp3B2Fy_VuM_gjuas-EU/s916/Amy%20Earings%20and%20Shoes%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="916" data-original-width="888" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWdU5smvhlZKelWGBeCpBDpQXlmB0NhprG5QxgiibtnW6lRdt8ZQcgX4Z9iuLkEn_fITge6Saw4qD9rVqj_TuVHkWEZjMjpcxMjh6bmzP099cie77i-f2F6DNAugi9RWZEHgkESuO1qKJQeeiR56RwLSbg2Ys0SrHjEu8DYqcfp3B2Fy_VuM_gjuas-EU/w388-h400/Amy%20Earings%20and%20Shoes%202.jpg" width="388" /></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Do you remember seeing any of these items years ago?</b></span><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Ten-year-old <b>Amy Renee Mihaljevic</b> went missing 34 years ago, on October 27, 1989, in Bay Village, Ohio. Her body was discovered on February 8, 1990, in Ruggles Township, Ashland County, Ohio. She had been stabbed to death and likely raped.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuEPPW2NGyF49fJPEgQNqc7sZen2NrbnVVwwRFwsvYv_m74CYAON0GsM8DJh3kLs-xHk9nWVdMWiVhtoDkbpH7rnZbOB1akh4NRrt9QmHlJitHFts4UMLDrJhR0LAAfbeu_iqrMoN1SY-ZShCaAJrljENmgZRJhPx0RuWmN2MtMD0TEieo5ZN1nVW4xUE/s1196/Amy%20pic%203.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1196" data-original-width="978" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuEPPW2NGyF49fJPEgQNqc7sZen2NrbnVVwwRFwsvYv_m74CYAON0GsM8DJh3kLs-xHk9nWVdMWiVhtoDkbpH7rnZbOB1akh4NRrt9QmHlJitHFts4UMLDrJhR0LAAfbeu_iqrMoN1SY-ZShCaAJrljENmgZRJhPx0RuWmN2MtMD0TEieo5ZN1nVW4xUE/w328-h400/Amy%20pic%203.jpg" width="328" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Amy's abductor, a stranger, called and arranged for her to meet him so they could buy a present for her mother. The man seemed familiar with Amy and her family, stating that Amy's mother was getting a promotion at work. The child fell for the ruse and was abducted from a nearby shopping plaza when she went to meet the man. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Several items she had taken with her were missing when she was discovered. I am posting these pictures from the FBI website. If you have seen shoes similar to those pictured above, or earrings that look like the one pictured, please contact the FBI.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">A few hundred yards from her body, investigators found a blanket that had been fashioned into a curtain. Amy's hair and her dog's hairs were found embedded in the blanket. It is believed the killer rolled her body into the blanket to transport her to the place where she was found. The blanket is distinctive. If you remember going to a house and seeing a blanket like this being used as a curtain, please call the FBI.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRSStHklv3FgVMpc9lonFaIGUs1f9Wy4anYhfUABMcq9Ghl9RQzH8sqWNGDj9kkiTYlGHBktttTERVSKfYAjz9_FiLxSXorfMuvz5RA5Yc7HWeGe02M1M4irE3_1MlaSaE-BDDvoplVQWwHZw5O2z6WyTKtciphyxSqgdGD9iV1-zqOT6U05_bPN4acnM/s735/Amy%20Curtain%203.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="735" data-original-width="369" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRSStHklv3FgVMpc9lonFaIGUs1f9Wy4anYhfUABMcq9Ghl9RQzH8sqWNGDj9kkiTYlGHBktttTERVSKfYAjz9_FiLxSXorfMuvz5RA5Yc7HWeGe02M1M4irE3_1MlaSaE-BDDvoplVQWwHZw5O2z6WyTKtciphyxSqgdGD9iV1-zqOT6U05_bPN4acnM/w201-h400/Amy%20Curtain%203.jpg" width="201" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcTz-H8mvTTLmNVWF0FXpsY7UdJ17_dP8ETqBxLtd9M_KYdFuNY_-OBp4CB7B380-DBFL8bcw8m6T_gD2dcGnWxbxdFlfMl41N4bf1Bti4lmlPAISKAWKsG3vnOVmaIKkVQcRtZM6qapKcx77k7t2rDQhsYCkDrB3jH_kicoej0WEjwZwfxlajuBVx8M0/s980/Amy%20Curtain%202.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="551" data-original-width="980" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcTz-H8mvTTLmNVWF0FXpsY7UdJ17_dP8ETqBxLtd9M_KYdFuNY_-OBp4CB7B380-DBFL8bcw8m6T_gD2dcGnWxbxdFlfMl41N4bf1Bti4lmlPAISKAWKsG3vnOVmaIKkVQcRtZM6qapKcx77k7t2rDQhsYCkDrB3jH_kicoej0WEjwZwfxlajuBVx8M0/s320/Amy%20Curtain%202.webp" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Someone has gotten away with murder for more than three decades. If any of these items bring back a memory, please call the FBI at <b>202-324-3000</b>. </span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Please check out the following FBI video for more information about the case:</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ycp4i5ljiw">(22) Seeking Information in Amy Mihaljevic Murder - YouTube</a></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1072125047008275922.post-32280635407376181012023-08-24T14:40:00.007-07:002023-08-28T07:24:03.034-07:00"...In the prime of his predatory years"<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXH8lifCydyBTN-3z8RMtbqZZoeQcE9lPEDQ4pYXbAUjMyDRgrT3bgPojMvwnNUjjgjU7HZE3nMINO7iGnW-4KAuGWX722LNjBuT-B-Z0fhiHdXtcFOVZieQPK1V9IkcRyg9d8sdnHrfiKPshaql23j07l-c3mEDhBkG4P0YD3Xc7D_m1qY_gcRZmgAIQ/s576/Kristin%20pic%204.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="364" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXH8lifCydyBTN-3z8RMtbqZZoeQcE9lPEDQ4pYXbAUjMyDRgrT3bgPojMvwnNUjjgjU7HZE3nMINO7iGnW-4KAuGWX722LNjBuT-B-Z0fhiHdXtcFOVZieQPK1V9IkcRyg9d8sdnHrfiKPshaql23j07l-c3mEDhBkG4P0YD3Xc7D_m1qY_gcRZmgAIQ/w253-h400/Kristin%20pic%204.jpg" width="253" /></a></div><b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">The Murder of Kristin Lodge-Miller</span></b><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">By Robert A. Waters</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The Crime</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">At 6:00, on the morning of July 15, 1993, </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Kristin Ann
Lodge-Miller,</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> 26, headed out for a jog in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She
had no idea she would never come home.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The (Raleigh) </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">News and Observer</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> reported that Kristin
“slipped on an old T-shirt and a pair of orange and pink jogging shorts,
grabbed her keychain with a small can of mace, and headed out the door for her
morning run.” The tree-lined running trail on Estes Drive near her home seemed especially
peaceful. After a three-mile run, she planned to drive to her job as a speech
therapist for children and elderly stroke victims.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Kristin, a stunningly beautiful mid-western girl, had earned
her undergraduate degree in speech-language pathology, and later obtained her
master’s degree in the same field.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">She
and her husband, Erik, moved to Chapel Hill when he was accepted into the
graduate business school at the University of North Carolina.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">As the sun rose, citizens of the college town began milling
about. On the sidewalk that runs parallel to Estes Boulevard (<i>pictured</i>), Kristin passed
walkers and other joggers.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b> </b>She</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><b> </b>must have felt safe. Who would attack
someone with so many people around?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitkmFrYwqqYliiK-EgKKuxQxkJYLfgz0p90fvZixJNX9iINX-l4N-1p_CHHlRhb7KFTH92i-404UtYcjcg5309oUfHs-W9LHTCOfQKm4a9pjljwQmw1w7MvnbKDXlVKO-g68C_9bzbwhat0VucPmLQj1EMhbs6uo0FQcs9RB6AgVfj66Z1yJrrWGheOjM/s960/Kristin%20jogging%20trail.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="478" data-original-width="960" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitkmFrYwqqYliiK-EgKKuxQxkJYLfgz0p90fvZixJNX9iINX-l4N-1p_CHHlRhb7KFTH92i-404UtYcjcg5309oUfHs-W9LHTCOfQKm4a9pjljwQmw1w7MvnbKDXlVKO-g68C_9bzbwhat0VucPmLQj1EMhbs6uo0FQcs9RB6AgVfj66Z1yJrrWGheOjM/w400-h199/Kristin%20jogging%20trail.png" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">From a stand of trees beside the walkway, a teenaged boy jumped
Kristin. He attempted to drag her into some bushes, but she fought back.
Spraying her assailant with mace, she broke away and fled. Her attacker, who
later told cops Kristin made him angry by fighting back, chased her. As he
closed the gap, he pulled a .32-caliber handgun from his pocket and fired six
shots. Three bullets pierced her back. Staggering, Kristin dropped to the
ground. Her assailant then ran up to her, placed the gun to the back of her
head and pulled the trigger.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">According to</span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> The</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Chapel Hill Herald</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">, “Police
found four spent shell casings on the road—two located within three feet of her
body…A fifth spent shell was found about 11 feet away and a sixth forty-five
feet away, indicating that the assailant fired the gun while chasing her, then
shot her at close range as she fell, police said.” They located Kristin’s mace
cannister near her body. It was half-empty, with sticky residue still on it.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The crime happened so fast onlookers couldn’t help. Numerous
calls from horrified witnesses crackled into the 9-1-1 system and within a
couple of minutes, cops and paramedics arrived. EMTs raced Kristin to a nearby
hospital where she was officially pronounced dead.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Observers provided investigators a detailed description of the
shooter. In less than an hour, cops arrested 18-year-old </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Anthony Georg
Simpson</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">. The killer was riding his bicycle through the heart of the city,
seemingly without a care in the world.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">In November of 1992, the teen had moved with his mother, Karen, into
a new condominium. Coventry, on Weaver Dairy Road in Chapel Hill, North
Carolina, was high-end, owned by Ethan Horton, a cousin of Karen. Horton, who had
been a football star at the University of North Carolina, now played for the
Los Angeles Raiders.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">News and Observer</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> reported that in his home state
of Virginia, Simpson “had been suspended from school 23 times for insubordination,
fistfights, and disrespect. He appeared in juvenile court three times and was
labeled ‘beyond parental control.’”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Daily Tar Hill</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> reported that he had served time in
two Virginia facilities. “When [Simpson] was 14,” the article read, “he spent
about three months in the Norfolk Detention Home for smacking an enemy
classmate on the head with a shovel during a home economics project. In early
1992, Simpson served nine months in the Beaumont Learning Center for shooting
into a moving car during a drug deal.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">In Chapel Hill, his crimes continued. Less than a month before
murdering Kristin, police arrested Simpson for stealing a Honda. Instead of
jail time, a judge released Simpson and ordered him to perform a few hours of community
service.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Just like that—voila—he was back on the streets. A
below-average student, he dropped out of summer school. The few acquaintances
he made in school described him as a loner and wannabe gangster. He bragged
about raping women and being a hitman. (Police later investigated those claims
and said they never happened.) At some point, violent fantasies had become
hardwired into Simpson’s psyche. Kristin’s murder was just a step up the ladder
of rage.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Once caught, the teenager quickly confessed. Police were
surprised he didn’t come from the “poor side of the tracks.” In fact, his
mother was an officer in the United States Air Force. However, his father was
long-gone and Simpson spent lots of time alone since his mother’s job took her
away from home at times.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Four witnesses identified Simpson as the shooter. </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Chapel
Hill Herald</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> reported “Simpson led police to an abandoned shed off Estes
Road where he tossed the gun. [Cops] made the case stronger when [they] matched
Simpson’s fingerprints with fingerprints on the six-shot ammunition clip found
in the weapon used to kill the jogger.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Trial</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">“The sign Thursday at an impromptu memorial for slain jogger
Kristin Lodge-Miller asked ‘Where is the justice?’’’ So wrote the editors of
the </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">News and Observer</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> after Anthony Georg Simpson’s trial ended with a
verdict of second-degree murder. Citizens of Chapel Hill were outraged to learn
Simpson could be eligible for parole after only ten years. Prosecutors had
asked the jury to find him guilty of first-degree murder—he would have had to
serve twenty years before being considered for parole if he had been convicted
of the higher charge.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">For weeks, newspapers had a hard time finding room to print
the deluge of letters to the editors that complained about the verdict. One
letter protested Simpson's sentence because he was “in the
prime of his predatory years.” Women’s groups, rape crisis organizations, even
high school students held vigils lamenting the decision. And letters from
ordinary citizens kept coming. Even years later, an occasional letter arrived
at some local newspaper denouncing the verdict.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Kristin’s murder had struck a chord.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">One juror spoke anonymously to the press. He stated three
jurors refused to vote for first-degree murder, thereby causing the group to go
with the lesser charge. The three stated they were not convinced that Simpson’s
intent was to rape Kristin. They also considered the fact that the victim pepper-sprayed
her attacker. That, in the killer’s own words, angered him. The </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">News and
Observer</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> wrote that “apparently, jurors agreed with the argument that
Simpson became enraged after Lodge-Miller attempted to spray him with Mace when
he approached during her early morning jog last July.” That, some of the jury
seemed to believe, mitigated his crime.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">In hindsight, citizens need not have worried about Simpson
cheating the system and being released early. He seemed unable to comply with
prison rules. Throughout his imprisonment, Simpson has racked up an amazing 47 infractions.
These included such offenses as sexual crimes, drug infractions, fighting,
possession of a weapon, disobeying orders, assault on an officer, assaulting
staff with a weapon, and countless other violations. Because of this, Simpson
has not been seriously considered for release.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">After the verdict, Erik Miller wrote a letter to the people of
Chapel Hill. In the note, he stated, “Our loss has been total and final. We
know we cannot have Kristin back, and neither can this society. Kristin Ann
Lodge-Miller was one of the few people who I can truly say positively affected
society. She certainly had a positive effect on myself and my family. Her
beauty was far beyond the physical and it is, indeed, a severe blow to all now
that she is gone.”</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Random crimes always frighten people. They shatter what
people perceive as order in the universe. Such cases always generate more
publicity than most other crimes. This case was a prime example.</span> </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1072125047008275922.post-9325253211590536552023-08-08T11:58:00.012-07:002023-08-09T05:33:14.729-07:00The Octogenarian Murders<p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3QsJFbsswultnWBjr_HcAkxes0k5VrXjxsMK4UV95ri5wczhBkbNrMq5CnZjZYCMPjgTdKe-WmKy3aRtT3B4i-XgsrcWVCCkna8UGQEQ3WUc6cWcf1ijUbMVqUHUwRVXeNYuP5NQAXhVAVHltQtuC-zeewPWRGR_r8iTXHVuN-7yTNMi5yn44WNIBppQ/s1472/Delaware%20Co%20Cths.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="927" data-original-width="1472" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3QsJFbsswultnWBjr_HcAkxes0k5VrXjxsMK4UV95ri5wczhBkbNrMq5CnZjZYCMPjgTdKe-WmKy3aRtT3B4i-XgsrcWVCCkna8UGQEQ3WUc6cWcf1ijUbMVqUHUwRVXeNYuP5NQAXhVAVHltQtuC-zeewPWRGR_r8iTXHVuN-7yTNMi5yn44WNIBppQ/w400-h253/Delaware%20Co%20Cths.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /></span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Did a Fourteen-Year-Old Boy Get Away with Two Cold-Blooded Slayings?</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">By Robert A. Waters</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The Murders</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">On October 20, 1941, in Media, Pennsylvania, two elderly women
suffered a brutal attack that would ultimately kill them.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">In late afternoon, </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Elizabeth Watson</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">, 83, and her
sister, </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Belle Geary,</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> 80, walked toward home after dining at a local
restaurant. Elizabeth had long been widowed and Belle never married. As they made
their way through a secluded alley toward their residence, the sisters realized
someone was following them. Suddenly, the stalker blitzed the women. Using a
rock, he beat Elizabeth to the ground, then pummeled Belle. As the
octogenarians lay bleeding, the assailant flung the stone at Belle’s head,
knocking her cold. Then he fled. He took nothing.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Someone heard screams and called police.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Elizabeth suffered a skull fracture while Belle’s lacerated face
and head bled profusely. An ambulance crew raced them to Chester Hospital. Three
days later, Elizabeth died. Belle lingered for nearly four months before she
passed away. The coroner said her death was a direct result of the assault.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Investigators quickly identified a suspect, 14-year-old </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">John
“Jackie” Leeds.</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> On the day of the murder, he had escaped from Glen Mills
Reformatory, a nearby reform school for juvenile delinquents. Another inmate,
who had also escaped that day, ratted him out to authorities. The </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Republican
and Herald </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">quoted District Attorney William B. McClenachen: “Leeds has made
a complete confession and admitted the murder of Mrs. Watson and severely
beating her sister. He told us he did the job by himself.” In fact, he wrote out
one confession, and signed two others written by officers. In addition, the other
teenager who fled the reformatory at the same time as Leeds told detectives his
friend had bragged about killing Elizabeth and showed off a “roll of bills.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The next day, investigators took Leeds from the jail intending
to participate in a reenactment of the crime. However, before he could lead
them to the crime scene, cops ended the walk-through after local media
descended en masse.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Prosecutors thought they had a slam dunk case and held Jackie
Leeds without bond on a first-degree murder charge. In fact, the District
Attorney was so confident in his case he went on vacation.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">But the local justice system had never reckoned with a mom
like Margaret Leeds Braden. Immediately after her son’s arrest, she spoke with
reporters. Sobbing, she said, “He didn’t do it. I know he didn’t do it.” And with
those words hanging in the air, she hired E. Leroy van Roden, one of the finest
attorneys in Pennsylvania.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Before leaving, McClenachen released one of Jackie Leeds’
confessions to reporters. It read: “I was broke and hungry and I saw one of [the
sisters] carrying a pocketbook. I grabbed at it and the ladies resisted. One of
them hit at me with her cane. I got mad and hit her with my fist. Then I picked
up a rock and beat the one lady (i.e., Elizabeth Watson) over the head until
she fell down. Then I threw the rock at the other one and hit her in the head.
Then I kept on beating them. It was horrible the way I beat them. They were
both unconscious. I got frightened and ran away.” </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">His mother responded: “If they got a confession from Johnny,
they beat it out of him. They beat him at Glen Mills although he is just a boy.
After he left Glen Mills, he walked all the way to the home of my brother, a
few blocks from ours, and slept in my brother’s car. We found him there…He still had on the uniform that he had on when he left school. There was not a
scratch on him except the black and blue spots from the beating school
attendants gave him that caused him to leave.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRr6LuaKhSr8DhFaWlK5E4lPdNUu-4FqYHiDiGOAVUvPCf83yBFrOpa07wJptisPQgK4d29cF6Z92SL_SxB-s0odbY8Ceo-OpOTG4ZADhrpaBBfF7MQ20u7D2OACH36lZrTzsQFWyszY3ptWfv2gbsiSe4aFO8Gk1H474lSS41RAKFsW5W5RS3IS19KJg/s1229/Octo%20Murders%20-%20Pic.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1229" data-original-width="819" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRr6LuaKhSr8DhFaWlK5E4lPdNUu-4FqYHiDiGOAVUvPCf83yBFrOpa07wJptisPQgK4d29cF6Z92SL_SxB-s0odbY8Ceo-OpOTG4ZADhrpaBBfF7MQ20u7D2OACH36lZrTzsQFWyszY3ptWfv2gbsiSe4aFO8Gk1H474lSS41RAKFsW5W5RS3IS19KJg/w266-h400/Octo%20Murders%20-%20Pic.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">A persistent truant, Leeds had been examined by psychiatrists at
Allentown State Hospital, referred to in the media as an “insane asylum.” Over
the years, he had been arrested numerous times for truancy, loitering, theft, and
trespassing. Try as she might, John’s mother could not control his rebellious
behavior. As a last resort, on the recommendation of psychiatrists at Allentown
State, she admitted Jackie to Glen Mills Reformatory. The </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Philadelphia
Inquirer</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> reported that “Mrs. Braden sent her intelligent but wayward son
[to Glen Mills] in an effort to rehabilitate him.” She later said she thought
it was a “school.”</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The Trials</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">On January 19, 1942, just three months after the crimes, Leeds
stood trial for the murder of Elizabeth Watson. The prosecution relied heavily
on his written confessions, as well the testimony of Charles Mitchell, the boy
who escaped the same day John did. Mitchell told the court he saw John at Broad
Street Railroad Station in Philadelphia and John had flashed a wad of cash.
After allegedly revealing to Mitchell that he’d killed an old “broad,” John supposedly
gave his friend one dollar.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The defense tackled the written confessions first. John took
the stand and said he did indeed write the confessions, but only because
interrogating detectives threatened to arrest his mother if he didn’t confess.
He said they told him his mother was already in custody and could be given life
in prison or even the death penalty. John, who did not look like a “hardened”
criminal, made a good impression on the jurors. Cops, suddenly placed on the
defensive, denied they’d coerced the teenager.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The second strategy for the defense was to show that John was
nowhere near the location where the octogenarians were attacked. The <i>Republican
and Herald</i> reported John’s mother “denied that he was in the Media area at
the time. She contended that he had walked 20 miles from the reformatory to the
home of her brother in Germantown.” Her brother, a respected businessman, told
the court he found John sleeping in his car the following morning. In addition,
John Dickinson, a truck driver, testified he gave Leeds a ride from Westtown,
16 miles from Media, to Philadelphia the night of the slayings.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">On January 26, the jury acquitted Leeds.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The decision stunned Judge Albert Dutton McDade. The </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Delaware
County Daily Times</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> reported that Dutton “denounced the verdict from the
bench and told the jurors they were guilty of a ‘miscarriage of justice.’” He said
he’d heard that Leeds had molested a nurse at Glen Mills Reformatory and was a
danger to the community.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">On the same day he was found not guilty of Elizabeth Watson’s
murder, Miss Belle Geary died. The coroner told reporters her death was a direct
result of the beating.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">In June, 1942, the court committed John to Fairview State
Hospital where he was diagnosed as “mentally ill with criminal tendencies.” The
hospital released him a few months later.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Immediately after leaving the hospital, prosecutors ordered
Leeds to stand trial for the murder of Belle Geary. This time, the
prosecution’s case was even weaker than before. Charles Mitchell, the reformatory
inmate who claimed Leeds confessed to him, could not testify since he was
fighting with the United States Marines in the South Pacific.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">And this time, the defense’s case was stronger than at
the first trial. The lawyers had located additional witnesses who claimed to
have seen Leeds in Philadelphia at the time of the attack.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Once again, the “bad boy” was acquitted.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">His mother celebrated with her son, telling the press, “I told
you so.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Aftermath</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">John “Jackie” Leeds had accomplished something few people
have. He’d been acquitted of two murders in separate trials. Now all he had to
do was live a clean life. Alas, he seemed to not be able to do that.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">After his acquittal, Leeds joined the United States Army.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">On December 4, 1945, Mrs. Anna E. Reiker had just returned to
her home in Germantown. Her husband was overseas in the military. The <i>Delaware
County Daily Times</i> reported “John J. (Jackie) Leeds, now in Army uniform,
who was acquitted of a charge of murdering the aged Geary sisters in Media four
years ago, was arrested in Germantown Monday on charges of attacking a
soldier’s wife.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The victim told investigators that before she removed her
coat, she heard a knock on the door. “As I opened the door,” she said, “a man
in uniform grabbed me by the neck and threw me to the floor. I struggled and he
broke my glasses and I started to scream.” She told investigators the stranger punched her in the face several times, then attempted
to pull her to him and kiss her.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Fortunately for Mrs. Reiker, her two sisters were visiting and
ran to her aid. When he saw them, Leeds fled as one of her sisters called police.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">As responding officers spoke to Mrs. Reiker, Leeds arrived back at the house. He
said he wanted to “apologize” to his victim. Cops, noticing Mrs. Reiker's bruised and battered face, quickly arrested Leeds and
charged him “with aggravated assault and battery and attempt to ravish.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">On December 12, 1945, Leeds went on trial. Although he was
acquitted of “attempt to ravish,” the jury convicted him of “aggravated assault
and battery.” The judge sentenced Leeds to three years in prison.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">On November 26, 1947, the </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Philadelphia Times-Tribune</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">
reported the following: “John (Jackie) Leeds, twenty-two, who as a teenager was
acquitted in the slayings of two Media sisters, was sentenced to fifteen to
thirty years in prison after pleading guilty to burglary charges. Burglaries of a private house, two churches and a parked car netted
$4.35 in cash and a chalice. A lunacy commission which examined the youth said
he was not insane but had a ‘psychic illness.’”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">At this point, John Leeds disappeared from history.</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1072125047008275922.post-71437266789018924642023-07-30T15:45:00.008-07:002023-08-02T07:36:27.580-07:00Missouri Killer was Never Caught<p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4EOwvurbrsHJ1LC1AdfTYf8VpY-D8tSt8_xs5hVPKa2WEvEgKIETjSX35elv_dmyn3ohJXSSakj5Ajl4SPOZmgOBTXlTmO3EktEMqhO3xRQ3dQS8CUTxll8i7lL0Ts6kfLVKbDFNx51PorZYARsTxzkykziCOkvAMBgAv2MoDe9SmrKQlFDfKOgncuL0/s1184/Miser%20Photo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1184" data-original-width="690" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4EOwvurbrsHJ1LC1AdfTYf8VpY-D8tSt8_xs5hVPKa2WEvEgKIETjSX35elv_dmyn3ohJXSSakj5Ajl4SPOZmgOBTXlTmO3EktEMqhO3xRQ3dQS8CUTxll8i7lL0Ts6kfLVKbDFNx51PorZYARsTxzkykziCOkvAMBgAv2MoDe9SmrKQlFDfKOgncuL0/w233-h400/Miser%20Photo.jpg" width="233" /></a></b></div><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Death
of a Miser</span></b><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">By
Robert A. Waters<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jack
Pyle lived a small life in a small community. He never rated an article in the
local newspapers—until neighbors found him shot to death in his hoarded-up
cabin. Even then, media of the day found it hard to peg him into a neat little basket.
There wasn’t even a picture of him in the stories about his slaying. But I
think what drew me to him was his fiddle. The one he made.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">In
1908, Jack Pyle, 56, lived in Holt County, Missouri. A widower, his only living
relatives were a brother and a daughter who resided in Kansas. Pyle rented a
“shack” and five acres from Emmit Haer, about three miles outside the village
of Craig. The</span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Corning Mirror</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> reported that he “raised chickens and pigs
and worked by day for nearby neighbors.” Living within yards of the Missouri
River, Pyle often sold fish to augment his income.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12pt;">The</span></i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <i>Mirror</i> stated that
“on Saturday morning, August 23, at 11:30 o’clock, Jack Pyle was found dead on
his kitchen floor in the Lake Shore district. On Monday and Tues. the 17<sup>th</sup>
and 18<sup>th</sup> he had been helping Jim Allan make hay. He took supper at
Mr. Allan’s Tuesday evening. This was the last seen of him.” Allan had paid
Pyle $60.00 for his services.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Pyle,
described variously as a “recluse,” a “miser,” or a “hermit,” lived in a small,
cluttered cabin. For years, rumors circulated in town that he had a stash of
gold coins secreted in his home. He was said to be irritable at times, and somewhat “daffy.”
But he was a good worker, so neighbors put up with his quirky habits.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
</span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">St. Joseph Press</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> reported the obvious. “Robbery is believed to have been
the motive for the killing,” the headline read. On Tuesday, after working with
Allan, Pyle visited Haer. He spoke to his landlord about wanting to purchase a
small farm. Pyle showed Haer his earnings and said he planned to use the cash
as a down-payment.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">He
hadn’t been seen since leaving the Haer farm and, after a week, neighbors went
to Pyle’s home to check on him.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Investigators
told reporters the victim had been sitting in a chair eating supper when someone
fired a shotgun through the window, hitting him in the temple. The killer then entered
the residence, stole Pyle’s small wad of cash, and placed a “rust-colored and
cobweb-choked shotgun” across his body. If this was intended to make Pyle’s
death look like a suicide, it failed. Dust and spider-webs blocked the inside
of the barrel and the coroner, who was in charge of the case, proved the gun
had not been fired in months.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Pyle’s
cabin sat alone in a remote area of Haer’s property, making the victim an easy
target for robbers. The place had been ransacked, and news reports speculated the
killer may have been searching for the fabled gold. Whether the alleged stash
was found, or even existed, is still a mystery.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">As
investigators searched for his killer, the community laid Pyle to rest in Mt.
Hope Cemetery in Corning. Suspicion fell on a farmhand who worked for Emmit
Haer. The worker was known to have a shotgun and disappeared the day of the
murder.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">He
was never found.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Five
months after his interment, </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Leader</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> reported “an exhumation and
examination of the body was made a few days ago by Doctors J. M. Davis and
Edgar Miller of this place…Only the skull was exhumed and examined, all the
necessities of the inquiry being answered by it.” </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Unfortunately, there were actually
</span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">few </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">answers, the main one being that the shooter had stood outside Pyle’s
window. (Of course, that had already been determined by investigators.) “The
load [from the shotgun shell] ranged downward at a rather sharp pitch,” editors
wrote, “tearing an oblique hole in the floor of the skull and into the pharynx.
Of the forty or fifty shot taken from the wound a large proportion were in the
pharynx, the remainder in the skull.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">After
the exhumation, the case died.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Pyle
probably never saw the shooter. The murderer did seem to have some cunning
about him. Placing Pyle’s own shotgun on his body didn’t convince investigators
that Pyle had committed suicide, but it showed a bit of creativity in the
killer’s makeup.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Speaking
of creativity, Jack Pyle seemed to have an artistic streak. Among his
possessions, authorities found a hand-made violin. The box and the arm of the
violin had been made of driftwood found along the banks of the river. Pyle had cut
it into shape, then scraped and polished the wood to perfection. Finally, he added
keys and strings to it. A local musician played the violin and told reporters it
was worth at least $100 (an equivalent of $3,100 in today’s world). Homemade
violins are often found, the musician stated, but few meet the quality of
Pyle’s.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLzFUgE5Dslkbuxmx7BsUZbTVcmzcWjZj4e0cOFplFfEWAGJb3xuCSVdUM5n5vWLZR7y_AneWMZSZ0x329m1ubORVXQsEojUShK7F66btkvY77WTr494HQ1TsUA-vrn-XLrICxMhZ1yuqwGp9ta8TloP2giXkXwlLR50Vm9jbTTWJ4bdOWjcMKf-pE1f4/s1500/Jack%20Pyle%20fiddle.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1224" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLzFUgE5Dslkbuxmx7BsUZbTVcmzcWjZj4e0cOFplFfEWAGJb3xuCSVdUM5n5vWLZR7y_AneWMZSZ0x329m1ubORVXQsEojUShK7F66btkvY77WTr494HQ1TsUA-vrn-XLrICxMhZ1yuqwGp9ta8TloP2giXkXwlLR50Vm9jbTTWJ4bdOWjcMKf-pE1f4/s320/Jack%20Pyle%20fiddle.jpg" width="261" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">When
I read about the violin, I wondered if the lonely laborer enjoyed attending local hoedowns.
Did he take pleasure in hearing musicians play the fiddle while people danced and enjoyed
themselves? Did he flirt with local women at these dances? Was he a musician himself? I'd like to know more about Jack Pyle's life.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">It's been 115
years since the "hermit" died.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">If
any of my readers have additional information, shoot me a message.</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1072125047008275922.post-75707880195980637092023-07-27T05:28:00.003-07:002023-07-27T05:31:51.475-07:00New book review of A Wilderness of Destruction by Zack C. Waters<p><br /></p><div class="article-main" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #050505; font-family: Lato, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1rem; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="https://i0.wp.com/emergingcivilwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/book-reviews-header.webp?ssl=1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #378e97; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease 0s;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter wp-image-220374 size-full" data-attachment-id="220374" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="book-reviews-header" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/emergingcivilwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/book-reviews-header.webp?fit=845%2C56&ssl=1" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/emergingcivilwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/book-reviews-header.webp?fit=300%2C20&ssl=1" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/emergingcivilwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/book-reviews-header.webp?fit=845%2C56&ssl=1" data-orig-size="845,56" data-permalink="https://emergingcivilwar.com/2023/05/09/book-review-of-age-boy-soldiers-and-military-power-in-the-civil-war-era/book-reviews-header-2/" decoding="async" height="56" sizes="(max-width: 845px) 100vw, 845px" src="https://i0.wp.com/emergingcivilwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/book-reviews-header.webp?resize=845%2C56&ssl=1" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/emergingcivilwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/book-reviews-header.webp?w=845&ssl=1 845w, https://i0.wp.com/emergingcivilwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/book-reviews-header.webp?resize=300%2C20&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/emergingcivilwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/book-reviews-header.webp?resize=768%2C51&ssl=1 768w" style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px auto 25px; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="845" /></a><a href="https://i0.wp.com/emergingcivilwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Waters.jpg?ssl=1" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #378e97; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease 0s;"><img alt="" class="aligncenter wp-image-221340" data-attachment-id="221340" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-caption="" data-image-description="" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Waters" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/emergingcivilwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Waters.jpg?fit=667%2C1000&ssl=1" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/emergingcivilwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Waters.jpg?fit=200%2C300&ssl=1" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/emergingcivilwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Waters.jpg?fit=667%2C1000&ssl=1" data-orig-size="667,1000" data-permalink="https://emergingcivilwar.com/2023/07/25/book-review-a-wilderness-of-destruction-confederate-guerrillas-in-east-and-south-florida-1861-1865/waters/" decoding="async" height="600" loading="lazy" sizes="(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px" src="https://i0.wp.com/emergingcivilwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Waters.jpg?resize=400%2C600&ssl=1" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/emergingcivilwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Waters.jpg?w=667&ssl=1 667w, https://i0.wp.com/emergingcivilwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Waters.jpg?resize=200%2C300&ssl=1 200w" style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; display: block; height: auto; margin: 0px auto 25px; max-width: 100%; vertical-align: middle;" width="400" /></a><em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><b>A Wilderness of Destruction: Confederate Guerrillas in East and South Florida, 1861-1865</b>. </em>By Zack C. Waters. Macon: Mercer University Press, 2023. Hardcover, 259 pp. $39.00.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1rem; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">Reviewed by Patrick Kelly-Fischer</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1rem; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">Zack C. Waters’ latest work, <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">A Wilderness of Destruction: Confederate Guerrillas in East and South Florida, 1861-1865</em>, is a detailed addition to the relatively narrow body of work that has addressed Civil War Florida.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1rem; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">While the book’s main focus is around the state’s guerrilla war, particularly outside the Panhandle, Waters frames that discussion within an argument that Florida was more significant to the war than is traditionally recognized. He highlights the importance of blockade runners utilizing Florida’s many small ports and rivers, the thousands of Union troops tied down by relatively small Confederate forces, and the critical role the state played in supplying cattle and salt to the Armies of Tennessee and Northern Virginia, especially after mid-1863.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1rem; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">Structured chronologically, the book begins several days before the state had even seceded, when a company of militia received orders to seize military stores from the federal arsenal in Chattahoochee. It continues through the removal of most Confederate troops to reinforce the armies in Tennessee and Virginia, and the resulting focus by state authorities on irregular warfare with the few means still at their disposal.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1rem; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">Waters’ work continues the narrative through to mid-1865. While civil authority had largely broken down even in Confederate-held territory by the end of the war, fighting continued into late April of 1865. As late as that spring, standing Union orders were that no detachment under 1,000 men was to venture outside of occupied St. Augustine for fear of guerrilla attacks.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1rem; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">The book contains plenty of that kind of typical guerrilla warfare: ambushing small Federal patrols, or individual soldiers who strayed outside of the lines, and the resulting reprisals by Union troops. Waters provides a close-up, granular look at the more brutal realities of partisan warfare: night raids, hit lists of civilians, homes destroyed, and families torn apart.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1rem; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">All of this is framed within the context of the wider war in Florida, allowing Waters to delve into everything from the smallest ambush to guerrilla participation in the full-scale Battle of Olustee, and everything in between.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1rem; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">Waters carefully highlights the complicated dynamics of this kind of irregular warfare, as regular soldiers on both sides received support from partisan units, militia and home guards, and armed bands of deserters. He also weaves in the complicated dynamics of race in a state that was, as of the 1860 census, just barely majority White.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1rem; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">The importance of the blockade to the war effort in Florida, the number of small ports, and the narrow navigable rivers through the interior of the state mean that there’s plenty for naval enthusiasts to enjoy here.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1rem; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">In order to go into this level of depth on a relatively understudied topic, Waters has had to dig deep in his research efforts. Traditional sources like the <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Official Records</em> are layered on top of the work other Florida Civil War scholars have published and woven together with much more obscure primary source documents and unpublished manuscripts.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1rem; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">With a couple of small exceptions, Waters largely avoids the trap of overstating the importance of an understudied theater. He convincingly makes the case that Florida mattered without trying to sell the reader on the idea that these events singularly defined the course of the war, or that they were as significant to the outcome as better-known theaters.</p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 1rem; margin-bottom: 1rem; margin-top: 0px;">In short, Waters has succeeded in writing a book that, while an in-depth study of a niche subject in a relatively obscure theater of the war, is also highly readable and a valuable resource.</p></div><p><a href="https://emergingcivilwar.com/2023/07/25/book-review-a-wilderness-of-destruction-confederate-guerrillas-in-east-and-south-florida-1861-1865/">Review of Zack Waters' book A Wilderness of Destruction</a><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1072125047008275922.post-6212031603528081442023-07-20T11:52:00.002-07:002023-07-24T05:22:19.538-07:00Murder at the QuikTrip<p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNR5j6e37ALfIdJzTp5nBY1KaXJg5gMzFsuVuHG-Z9b_JFwQ_GngAplf513aJNUYptP96HaodGZK-33i6F_hknRsbfOYITirpW5_GXMr6-5IdD6C5UBZnjXIbVVasGXH6LpdUkgu9rDKQg8WOOTJH-FwXKB4ixvMI2YtPt6xNs3z3UrgehRfnmXzGQBF4/s889/QuikTrip%20-%20Store%20pic.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="889" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNR5j6e37ALfIdJzTp5nBY1KaXJg5gMzFsuVuHG-Z9b_JFwQ_GngAplf513aJNUYptP96HaodGZK-33i6F_hknRsbfOYITirpW5_GXMr6-5IdD6C5UBZnjXIbVVasGXH6LpdUkgu9rDKQg8WOOTJH-FwXKB4ixvMI2YtPt6xNs3z3UrgehRfnmXzGQBF4/w400-h268/QuikTrip%20-%20Store%20pic.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: medium;">Oklahoma
Executes Brutal Killers of Store Manager</span></b><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: medium;">By Robert A.
Waters<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">“How sad that
to Billy Don Alverson, a life is only worth a new pair of Nikes.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Chester
Cadieux III, president and CEO of QuikTrip Corporation.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: medium;">On January 7, 2011, CBS News reported that the "Oklahoma Department of Corrections says 39-year-old Billy Don Alverson was pronounced dead at 6:10 p.m. Thursday after receiving a lethal dose of drugs while strapped to a hospital gurney. Alverson was among four men convicted in the February 1995 killing of 30-year-old Richard Yost, who was the night manager of a convenience store in Tulsa. His body was found bound and beaten on the blood-soaked floor of the store's cooler."</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: medium;">The brutality of the crime and indifference shown by the killers certainly made death the only just punishment.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: medium;">Yost, married with two children, managed the night shift of the QuikTrip convenience store on 251 North Garnett Road. Yost clocked in at 11:00 p.m. on February 25, 1995. He replaced clerk Michael Wilson, who left the store.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: medium;">At around 4:00 a.m., Wilson returned to the store with three other men: Billy Don Alverson, Darwin D. Brown, and Richard Harjo, 17. They chatted for a few minutes until Yost left the counter area and began cleaning the windows of the coolers. (It's likely Yost felt uncomfortable around the men and attempted to move away from them.)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: medium;">Within seconds, all four men surrounded the manager. According to court documents, the "defendants attacked [Yost] and dragged him to the back room. One of the defendants, Billy Alverson, came back out and picked up some items that were knocked from the shelves and kept watch for customers. A few moments later, Alverson and Harjo walked out the front of the store. While they were going out, Yost was yelling and screaming for help, possibly thinking that a customer had entered the store."</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: medium;">The men duct-taped Yost's legs and placed handcuffs on his wrists.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: medium;">The court wrote that "Alverson and Harjo re-entered the store with Harjo carrying a black aluminum baseball bat. He carried the bat to where Yost had been taken. The surveillance camera picked up the sounds of the bat striking Yost. Circumstantial evidence showed that the baseball bat struck the handcuffs on Yost's wrists which Yost was holding above his head to ward off the blows. As the blows were being struck, Wilson walked from the back room, checked his hands, put on a QuikTrip jacket, got behind the counter and tried to move the safe. While Wilson was behind the counter, several customers came in. Wilson greeted them with a friendly greeting, sold them merchandise, then said, 'Thank you, come again,' or 'have a nice day.'"</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: medium;">In between serving customers, Wilson continued working to remove the safe. He also took all the cash from the register and pulled money out of the currency change machine. He and his cohorts eventually located the store's dolly and used it to roll the safe to Wilson's car where they placed it in the back seat. Before leaving the store, Wilson extracted the surveillance video and took it with him. The safe contained $30,000 in cash. When the killers got home, they pried it open and retrieved the money.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: medium;">The court wrote that "Yost's body was discovered by Larry Wiseman, a customer, at about 6:00 a.m. Yost was laying on the floor in a pool of blood, milk and beer."</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: medium;">Yost had been struck more than 50 times with the bat. His arms and hands were bruised and broken, showing he'd attempted to resist the attack. The medical examiner found a pin from the handcuffs embedded in Yost's head.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium;">While speaking with customers who had been at the store that night, detectives learned that Wilson was working the counter between 4:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Investigators placed his home under surveillance. When he and the other suspects got into Wilson's car, cops pounced, arresting them. Detectives discovered large sums of cash on all the suspects except Wilson. When arrested, each suspect wore a brand-new pair of expensive Nike sneakers.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium;">Wilson quickly confessed to being the mastermind behind the robbery and murder. He told interrogators the four had planned the crime for two weeks before carrying it out. While searching Alverson's home, cops found the drop safe, the dolly, QuikTrip glass cleaner, money tubes and the store surveillance tape. In Wilson's home, investigators discovered the blood-stained baseball bat, a bloody QuikTrip jacket with Yost's name on it, Wilson's Nike jacket matching the one seen in the surveillance video, and part of the cuff that had broken off the handcuffs. This trove of incriminating evidence proved beyond doubt that the four men had committed the murder.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium;">Wilson, Alverson, and Brown were convicted and sentenced to death. Since Harjo was only 17 at the time of the murder, he beat the system, receiving only a sentence of life in prison without parole.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium;">Sixteen years after the cold-blooded murder, Alverson went to that eternal sleep with a needle in his arm. Darwin Brown was executed in 2009, and Michael Wilson's appeals ran out in 2014.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Years later, during some of Alverson's numerous appeals, Angela Houser-Yost wrote that her husband's murder devastated her and her family. She stated that her sons were eight-years-old and two-years-old at the time he was killed. "Anxiety plays a major role in my life now," she said. "I can also sense when the anniversary of Richard's death is without looking at a calendar. I start shutting down inside and avoid talking with family and friends." </span> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX0W8FDFEWQnTqFKp-MVXf7pIiOJANMXAmEjwLMRh9bg5opcDlP3dis3MuN1u7kE0HTHxteNt0z8nOLTnuRLdrxsCtHve8IfBlqCxk0VF9if2oy5Eaq04qoNa4Tek9S0qdyeBKbXsHK9vDb1aidT6s0vqkQ-hDwwhGimIvDUrtofl8xl845J-9PoLcH4g/s240/QuikTrip%20-%20Richard%20Yost%20Pic.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="185" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX0W8FDFEWQnTqFKp-MVXf7pIiOJANMXAmEjwLMRh9bg5opcDlP3dis3MuN1u7kE0HTHxteNt0z8nOLTnuRLdrxsCtHve8IfBlqCxk0VF9if2oy5Eaq04qoNa4Tek9S0qdyeBKbXsHK9vDb1aidT6s0vqkQ-hDwwhGimIvDUrtofl8xl845J-9PoLcH4g/w308-h400/QuikTrip%20-%20Richard%20Yost%20Pic.jpg" width="308" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Richard Yost</b></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0