Kidnapping, Murder, and Mayhem

American Murder Houses: A Coast-to-Coast Tour of the Most Notorious Houses of Homicide
by Steve Lehto
Berkley Books, New York, NY

Conrad Aiken was one of those famous poets who wrote such obtuse verse that he won a Pulitzer Prize. He was friends with all the major writers of the early Twentieth century, including T. S. Eliot. What I never knew was that Aiken’s father murdered his mother, then committed suicide in their Savannah, Georgia home. American Murder Houses, by Steve Lehto, recounts the tragic story that left Aiken an orphan.

Lehto describes 29 murder cases, some famous and some not so much. The cases sweep across America, from Florida to California. “Included here,” the author writes, “are the addresses and many other details of the houses.”

Still standing is the Villisca, Iowa home where an axe murderer slaughtered eight people, then vanished in the night. Despite one of the most intense manhunts ever conducted in the mid-west, the killer was never found. The home, believe it or not, is open to visitors, for a nominal fee. In fact, you can even spend the night there, but remember—it has no electricity or running water.

Many of the homes are private, but still visible from the road. There’s the small Pasadena, Texas cottage once lived in by the “Candyman,” serial murderer Dean Corll—absolutely horrific things went on in that house. There’s the “Wonderland” murder home, where porn star John Holmes helped several cohorts murder four people in a dispute over drugs. And there’s the Miami Beach home where Gianni Versace was gunned down by a psychopath named Andrew Cunanan.

What happens to a home after a gruesome murder or series of murders? Many, like Joel Rifkin’s mother’s home in East Meadow, New York, end up going back on the market. His mother traveled often, and while she was away, Rifkin would bring prostitutes to the residence where he murdered them. He was arrested after two cops stopped him for having no license plate on his truck. They smelled a foul odor and found a dead woman in the back. Rifkin quickly confessed to 17 killings. After he went to prison, Rifkin’s mother lived in the home until she died. Then the home was listed for sale, where it was described as a “handyman’s special.” The couple who bought it stated that they didn’t care about its history. Lehto writes that one of the new owners said: “A house is a house. People die all the time in houses. We’re bringing all positive vibes.”

I highly recommend this intriguing book to the readers of my blog.

“Officials argued while a murderer fled…”
by Robert A. Waters

Seventeen-year-old Mary Imelda Coyle desired nothing more than to be a nun. Deeply religious, she attended several Catholic services each week. Despite the attentions of male classmates, Mary followed her own path.

She lived with her mother and older sister on a shabby houseboat in New Rochelle, New York. Her father, a drunkard of the worst sort, had deserted the family, although he made sporadic and unwanted visits.

On the evening of October 11, 1938, Mary walked over the nine-foot-plank that connected the houseboat to land, and started toward St. Gabriel’s Catholic Church. “She left home at eight o’clock,” Mrs. Coyle later told police. When Mary hadn’t returned by midnight, Mrs. Coyle began searching for her. She found a neighbor who had a telephone, and began calling churches and friends of the girl.

Finally, when she was unable to determine the whereabouts of her daughter, Mrs. Coyle’s neighbor drove her to the New Rochelle Police Department. A skeptical desk sergeant rolled his eyes when told that Mary had no boyfriends, didn’t go to parties, didn’t speak with strangers, and had no reason to run away. In fact, all of that was true.

At 8:30 on the morning of October 12, Mary’s body was found a mile from her home, just over the city line in Larchmont. The site was near the path that led to Mary’s houseboat home. Her blood-soaked coat was found underneath a tree a few hundred yards away in New Rochelle. According to news reports, this ignited a firestorm between the two police agencies, each claiming that the other was responsible for investigating the case. Finally, the Westchester County District Attorney called a conference of all police agencies in the county and attempted to nice-talk them into working together on the case. To help smooth the way, the county put up a $5,000 reward and loaned five of its best detectives to New Rochelle and Larchmont.

Still the friction existed. When Mary’s beret and stepins were found in Larchmont, local police insisted that the girl must have been killed in New Rochelle because there was no blood underneath the items. Therefore, according to the Larchmont police chief, New Rochelle should take the lead.

In-fighting between the two agencies continued throughout the investigation.

An autopsy confirmed that Mary had been “criminally assaulted.” She had died when the killer drove a “metal wedge two inches into the girl’s skull.” The Burlingame Times and Daily News Leader reported that “despite the brutality of the slaying the perpetrator arranged the body with extreme care. He placed it in a spot where passersby would be sure to see it the next morning. The coat, dress, and underclothes were carefully smoothed out.”

Investigators questioned 200 “sexual delinquents.” They checked “thousands” of automobiles for bloodstains. Detectives visited all laundry establishments in the area searching for someone who may have cleaned bloody clothes. Nine men wanted for various crimes in other states were rounded up. None, however, emerged as suspects in Mary’s murder.

Gossip swirled around the case. An inebriated ship’s captain informed New Rochelle bar patrons that Mary had been the victim of a love triangle. The captain stated that a wealthy lover became angry when Mary chose a pauper for her sweetheart and killed her in a blind rage. Investigators jumped on the lead, but it quickly fizzled. In truth, Mary had no lovers.

Within a few months, the case went cold.

Ten years after the unsolved murder, the Syracuse Post Standard summed up the case. “Many who have studied the Mary Coyle case,” the editors wrote, “believe that Mary was stopped only a short distance from her home by a man she knew who induced her to get into his car. Eventually, so the theorists say, they drove east along Palmer Ave., for more than a mile, lined with wild brush and scrub without a single habitation. Somewhere along Palmer Ave., so the prevailing theory runs, Mary was criminally attacked and then killed. The slayer, acting coolly, deliberately wrapped Mary’s battered head in her own coat and loaded her body into his car.

“After taking the girl’s body to the Larchmont lot, the murderer drove south to the Boston Post Road, where he threw away her torn stepins, beret and rosary (never found.) Then, [thoroughly] familiar with the lay of the land, he swung on the heavily traveled present Post Road, turning into the quieter Old Boston Post Road and dropped the coat at Lispenard Ave. It was but coincidence—or so it is conjectured—that he left the coat only a few hundred yards from Mary’s home.”

Mary’s wayward father died in 1946, eight years after her murder. Her mother and sister soon moved away, disappearing into oblivion.

In 1948, the Post Standard reported that “the houseboat still stands, empty and silent, a crumbling monument to a girl who had no real chance in life and to officials who argued while a murderer fled.”

Michael Tanzi should die for his crimes…
by Robert A. Waters

An innocent victim of random violence, 49-year-old Janet Acosta worked as a supervisor in the make-up department of The Miami Herald. She was a native of Jacksonville.

The following summary describes the brutal murder of Acosta. It was published by the Florida Commission on Capital Cases.

“Michael Tanzi was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Janet Acosta.

“During her lunch hour on April 25, 2000, Janet Acosta was seated inside her van with the window rolled down, reading a book at the Japanese Gardens in Miami, Florida. At the same time, Tanzi was stranded in Miami with no means of returning to his home in Key West. Tanzi approached Acosta’s van, asking her for a cigarette and the time. When Acosta was distracted, Tanzi punched her repeatedly in the face and gained entry into the van. Holding her wrist and threatening her with a razor blade, he drove the van to Homestead, Florida.

“When they reached Homestead, Tanzi stopped at a gas station where he bound and gagged Acosta with materials found in her van. He took 53 dollars in cash, purchased cigarettes and a soda, and took Acosta’s bank card. He also forced Acosta to perform oral sex but stopped her from continuing because her teeth were loose from the earlier beating. Tanzi continued driving on to Tavernier in the Florida Keys.

“In Tavernier, Tanzi stopped at approximately 5:15 p.m. to withdraw money from Acosta’s account using her personal identification number. Soon thereafter, he stopped again at a hardware store to purchase duct tape and razor blades. At approximately 6:30 p.m., they arrived at Sugarloaf Key. It was there that Tanzi decided he would have to eliminate Acosta as she was impeding his progress and leaving her alive would result in his swift capture. He drove to an isolated area in Cudjoe Key, told her he was going to kill her, and began to strangle her. He stopped to place duct tape over her mouth, nose, and eyes in an attempt to quiet her and then strangled her until she expired. Tanzi then left Acosta’s body in a wooded area.

“Tanzi then drove to Key West, where he used Acosta’s ATM card, smoked marijuana, and visited friends. He had planned to purchase more drugs with her money and to alter the appearance of the van, but the police found Acosta’s van after her friends had reported her missing. When the police approached Tanzi about the van, he had receipts in his pocket documenting his use of Acosta’s ATM card and told the police that he ‘knew what this was about.’ He waived his rights and began confessing to the assault, abduction, robbery, sexual battery, and murder of Janet Acosta.

“He repeated his confession in great detail on audio and videotape. He also showed the police where he had left Acosta’s body and where he had disposed of the duct tape and rope.”

In addition to the murder of Acosta, Tanzi confessed to killing Caroline Holder in Brockton, Massachusetts. In 1999, he strangled and stabbed Holder as she worked in a laundromat. Another random murder. Now Martin Holder, Caroline’s husband, waits impatiently for Florida to execute his wife’s killer. “In the past,” he said, “I didn’t think that taking a life for another life was justifiable. But if something happens to you personally, you kind of look at it differently. Now I think it is justifiable.”

Florida Governor Rick Scott has said he wants to execute the “worst of the worst” killers on Florida's Death Row.

Michael Tanzi fits that category.

Officials at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta were…RIGHT
by Robert A. Waters

Past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. That saying was never truer than in the case of then-fifteen-year-old Anthony Stokes.

According to the Atlanta Daily Post, “the troubled teen had a thick juvenile rap sheet after frequent run-ins with authorities.”

He also suffered from dilated cardiomyopathy—because of this, the left ventricle of the heart failed to pump enough blood to permanently sustain life. Without a heart transplant, Stokes would likely die within twelve months.

In 2013, after reviewing Stokes’ medical records, school records, and criminal history, officials at the Children’s Healthcare Hospital of Atlanta denied him the transplant. The Huffington Post reported that “Stokes’ family says the teenager is being denied access to the transplant list [because of] his performance in school and previous run-ins with the law.” Stokes’ mother, Melencia Hamilton, told reporters that a hospital spokesperson told her “they don’t have any evidence that he would take his medicine or that he would go to his follow-ups.” In other words, the teenager would likely be “non-compliant.”

Then came the predictable outcry from those who didn’t care that there were 4,000 better candidates on the waiting list. “They’ve given [Stokes] a death sentence,” said Christine Young Brown, president of the Newton Rockdale County Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Fanning the flames of outrage, Stokes’ mother and so-called civil rights groups began a national campaign to gain sympathy for the troubled youth.

It worked.

Hospital administrators quickly did a back-flip. Stokes was placed at the top of the list and got his new heart.

So it came as no surprise on April 1, 2015 (no—this was not an April Fool’s joke) when Dunwoody, Georgia cops announced that Stokes had been killed in a car crash. Not just any car crash. He was fleeing cops in a stolen car when he hit another vehicle, side-swiped a pedestrian, and rammed head-on into a highway sign. Investigators stated that they believed Stokes was running because he allegedly kicked in the door of an elderly woman, fired a gunshot at her, and attempted to rob her home.

We’ll probably never know who got bumped from the top of the waiting list for a new heart. But some more deserving soul may have died because Stokes received the gift of life.

Second chances are often precious.

Someone, however, never got that second chance.

Victim stops violent armed career criminal
by Robert A. Waters

In my hometown of Ocala, Florida, Jeffrey Tyrone Smith lived for cocaine. Like many addicts, he robbed and stole to support his habit. He had a long list of arrests, including convictions for cocaine possession, credit card fraud, burglary, domestic battery, grand theft, larceny, and violation of probation. On April 6, 2015, he was free on bond while facing a charge of false imprisonment.

That afternoon, Smith met with two Gainesville men, allegedly to sell them a truck. The vehicle was non-existent, of course. Smith planned to rob them, as he’d done six days earlier with another victim.

After so many arrests and convictions, Smith thought he’d finally figured out how to make crime pay without getting caught.

Craigslist.

He would respond to advertisements of people who wanted to purchase a vehicle, robbing them when they met. His first Craigslist robbery had been a roaring success—he netted $1,800.

Then Smith made the mistake of attempting to duplicate his crime.

What he didn’t know was that one of his would-be Gainesville victims came armed. According to the Ocala Post, “The victim with the gun stated that his friend then exited the vehicle and walked toward the backyard with Smith [to look at the truck he claimed to have for sale].

“The victim stated that all of a sudden he heard his friend yell, ‘Son of a b***h.’ He said that is when he saw his friend bending over in pain, like he had been punched in the stomach.

“At this point, the victim did not know that his friend had been stabbed.

“The victim told deputies that Smith then turned and ran toward him, at which time he drew his gun and fired a single shot, striking Smith.

“According to the victim, Smith fell to the ground, but continued to try and get up to come at him. The victim said he told Smith to stay down.”

Smith eventually fled the scene, but was quickly captured.

Both Smith and the stabbing victim were hospitalized. After Smith is released, he will be held without bond and charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, and two counts of robbery with a weapon. If convicted, it will likely be many years before Smith is released from prison.

The Marion County Sheriff’s Office will not charge the shooter with any crime.

Cliff and Christine Walker

Proven falsehoods…

by Robert A. Waters

(1) “There are no perfect crimes”

If there are no perfect crimes, why do one-third of all American murders go unsolved, even in this era of DNA, surveillance videos, computers, criminal databases, and other technological marvels? Why are at least 200,000 unknown killers wandering around the country? Yet, at least once a week on true crime TV, some detective or crime writer will repeat the provably false cliché that “there are no perfect crimes.” If a killer is never caught, he or she committed a perfect crime.

Here is just one example. (NOTE: I’m using a case from the 1950s because there is always a chance that a more modern case could be solved.) On December 19, 1959, the Walker family was murdered inside their rural home near Osprey, Florida. Cliff, 25, Christine, 24, Jimmie 3, and Debra, 1, were savagely executed. All were shot except Debra, who was drowned in the bath tub. Christine was also raped. No one was ever charged with the killings. In 2013, officials exhumed the bodies of “In Cold Blood” killers Richard Hickock and Perry Smith to obtain DNA. After attempting to match it to a sample from Christine Walker, investigators found it didn’t match.

(2) “Polygraphs will tell whether you’re lying or not”

Polygraphs are notoriously unreliable, which is why they’re not allowed in American courts. The frightening thing is that some cops think the contraptions are accurate. Examples of people beating the polygraph could fill an encyclopedia. Charles Cullen, the “Angel of Death,” passed a so-called lie detector test after his first murder—39 slayings later, he was arrested and confessed. After the fourth Green River killing, Gary Ridgway passed a polygraph—48 murders later, he was captured and confessed. CIA spy Aldrich Ames passed several polygraphs. Because of his ability to beat the exams, at least eleven CIA operatives were caught and executed by the Soviet Union.

There have also been numerous innocent people who failed the polygraph. One example is Bill Wegerle, who flunked two polygraphs in connection with the murder of his wife, Vicki. It was later proven that Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer, had committed the murder.

Polygraphs are a scam of the worst sort because they can mean the difference between life and death, or freedom and prison.

Grady Alvah York

James Wesley "Jimmy" Dye

“We really were not cannibals…”
by Robert A. Waters

On October 4, 1946, an Associated Press article reported that “three Japanese militarists were condemned Friday to die on the gallows for cannibalism—a crime so heinous it is covered by no rule of war. The 3—a general, a navy captain and a major—listened unblinking as a U. S. military commission ordered them to die for eating the roasted livers of 2 U. S. airmen downed on Chichi Jima late in the war.”

The three were Japanese Major Sueo Matoba, Captain Shizuo Yoshii, and Brigadier General Yoshio Tachibana.

Their victims were U. S. Navy Aviation Gunner’s Mate 3^rd Class Grady Alvah York of Jacksonville, Florida, and Radioman 3^rd Class James Wesley “Jimmy” Dye of Mount Ephraim, New Jersey.

Early on the cold, gusty morning of February 18, 1945, a crew consisting of York, Dye, and Ensign Bob King, the pilot, flew their Avenger from the aircraft carrier USS Bennington for a dive bombing mission on Chichi Jima, a tiny once-uninhabited speck in the Bonin Islands. By now, the Japanese were reeling from Allied advances in the Pacific, including recent raids on Tokyo. Their once-proud military machine had been beaten down, ship by ship, island by island. Yet they refused to surrender, many fighting to the death, others committing suicide when all hope was lost.

On Chichi Jima, the Japanese had established airfields, radio stations, and strong anti-aircraft placements. One American pilot spoke of the difficulty of getting out alive after flying a bombing mission there: “Chichi Jima was a mean place. They had very good gunners there. When you hit Chichi, you were hitting a valley between two mountains.”

As Ensign King’s Avenger neared its target, anti-aircraft fire tore through the left wing, ripping off the tip. Because of the damage, King temporarily lost control. Thinking they were going to crash, he ordered his two crew members to bail out. York and Dye successfully deployed their parachutes and landed in shallow water near Chichi Jima where they were soon apprehended by Japanese troops. Meanwhile, King struggled mightily with the plane and was eventually able to control it enough to fly it back to the USS Bennington and land.

The fates of York and Dye now lay with their captors.

After interrogating the Americans, Japanese Brigadier General Yoshio Tachibana ordered them to be taken to the island rifle range. There the two hapless soldiers were tied to trees and used for bayonet practice. When it was done, Captain Masao Yamashita (who had supervised the bayonet practice) beheaded York. Dye was also beheaded, on orders from Japanese Navy Captain Shizuo Yoshii.

But the cruelty did not stop with the deaths of the soldiers. The Japanese officers, impressed by the stoic demeanor of the enemy soldiers as they were being tortured and killed, ordered their bodies cut up and their livers cooked. Then, to inculcate the “warrior spirit” of their victims into their own bodies, thirteen officers consumed the livers and some of their flesh at saki parties.

After the war, the remains of York and Dye were exhumed and re-buried Hawaii. The story of their deaths and cannibalization horrified American war crimes investigators. The officers involved were tried, even though cannibalization of the enemy was not technically a war crime. The officers were found guilty and scheduled to be hanged. In all, the American military executed thirteen Japanese officers for cannibalism. (At least a dozen U. S. airmen were eaten or partially consumed by the Japanese.)

At his trial, Major Sueo Matoba attempted to explain the reasons U. S. soldiers were cannibalized.

“These incidents occurred when Japan was meeting defeat after defeat,” he said. “The Iwo Jima situation was desperate and air raids (on Chichi) were increasing in velocity. The personnel became excited, agitated and seething with uncontrollable rage. We were hungry. We tried every eatable animal and plant, like rats, mice, dogs and lizards. I hardly know what happened after that. We really were not cannibals.”

When Japanese Lt. Gen. Yoshio Tachibana dropped from the gallows on a fine fall morning in 1946, his death was nothing compared to that endured by his victims, gunner Grady York and Radioman Jimmy Dye. In fact, Tachibana had a Buddhist priest administer his last rites before dying. York and Dye had only howling Japanese warriors to administer theirs.

NOTE: Much of the information for this story came from Flyboys: A True Story of Courage by James Bradley.

Quotes from the Boston Bombing Trial
Compiled by Robert A. Waters

The first phase of the horror trial has wrapped up and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was convicted of 30 counts, including 17 that could result in execution. As the death penalty phase proceeds, here are some memorable quotes from the trial.

“We don’t deny that Jahar [Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s Americanized name] fully participated in the events, but if not for Tamerlan, it would not have happened.” Judy Clarke, lead defense attorney.

“That day, they felt they were soldiers. They were the mujahedeen, and they were bringing their battle to Boston.” Aloke Chakravarty, United States prosecutor.

“Tamerlan built the bombs, Tamerlan murdered officer Collier, Tamerlan led and Dzhokhar followed.” Judy Clarke.

“The defendant brought terrorism into the backyards and main streets. The defendant thought that his values were more important than the people around him.” Aloke Chakravarty.

“[Dzhokhar Tsarnaev] chose a day when there would be civilians on the sidewalks, and he targeted those civilians: men, women and children.” Aloke Chakravarty.

“I guess we were just unlucky that day.” Bill Richard, father of eight-year-old Martin Richard.

“There should be no doubt in your mind that the defendant and his brother are equally guilty.” William Weinreb.

“Tamerlan Tsarnaev didn't turn his brother into a murderer. To shred the bodies of women and children with a homemade type of bomb, you have to be different from other people. If you are capable of such hate, such callousness that you can murder and maim twenty people and then drive to Whole Foods and buy some milk, can you really blame it on your brother?” William Weinreb.

“The judgment is entirely yours.” U.S. District Judge George O’Toole’s instructions to the jurors.

Missing for 32 years…
by Robert A. Waters

Does Tania Murrell lie in a long-forgotten grave, her bones slowly decaying like the investigation into her kidnapping?

Or is she alive, having been raised by a family of strangers?

On January 20, 1983, at around 11:10 A.M., while walking home from Grovenor Elementary School in Edmonton, Canada, Tania vanished. Bundled inside a heavy coat, the cute blonde-haired six-year-old fought below-zero weather as she trudged along. Her school was less than two blocks from the home she shared with her mother, father, and younger brother. That day, her aunt, Vera Stortz, waited for Tania to arrive.

When she didn’t appear, Vera phoned Vivian Murrell, Tania’s mother. Soon Vivian and her husband Jack left their places of work and began scouring the area for Tania. The online newspaper Canada.com recently summed up the search: “Police and volunteers canvassed the area around the home, at 10426-145th St., by foot and car. More than 1,900 square blocks, including ravines and alleys, were searched within the next few days. At the time, it was the largest door-to-door search ever mounted in Edmonton.” Despite extensive efforts by police and the public, Tania was never found.

Today, more than three decades later, after their lives were shattered, Vera and Jack are dead. Her younger brother, John, is dead. Many of the original detectives are dead or retired. And one of the most baffling cases in modern Canadian history is still a blank page lying on the desk of cold case investigators.

So what happened to Tania Murrell?

The most prevalent theory is that she was abducted, raped, and murdered by a pedophile. A second theory is that someone who wanted a child kidnapped Tania, brainwashed her into thinking her parents didn’t want her, and raised her as their own.

When a child goes missing, parents are always scrutinized. In Tania’s case, both parents were at work, so they had alibis that removed them from suspicion. However, their hard-partying ways and suspected drug use raised the eyebrows of investigators. Because of this, detectives closely examined their associates. At least one friend was developed as a suspect, but was never charged.

Police also checked out “perverts” who lived in the area. Tania’s parents were amazed at the number of molesters, rapists, and weirdos who lived close by. Yet no one emerged as a person of interest.

One witness claimed to have seen a woman dragging an unwilling child along the sidewalk at about the time Tania vanished. Because of this, the theory developed that a woman who couldn’t have a child may have snatched the girl. Tania’s sister, Elysia, born after Tania disappeared, thinks she is still alive. “I believe she is around and alive,” Elysia said. “I figure they changed her name and she was young enough that she would forget and believe whatever they told her.”

A school-mate recently informed police that she thought Tania was headed to a nearby convenience store instead of home. The store would have taken Tania in the opposite direction from her house. This would have changed the dynamics of the investigation had it been known earlier.

After more than three decades, the question remains: where is Tania Murrell?

St. Peter’s Hospital, Brooklyn, NY

Kidnapped two-and-a-half hours after birth…
by Robert A. Waters

Lisa Rose Chionchio entered this world on January 2, 1959, at St. Peter’s Hospital in Brooklyn, New York. Nurses dutifully fingerprinted the child and took photos of her. Immediately after birth, her parents, Frances, a teacher, and Frank, a lawyer, cuddled their newborn, then allowed hospital staff to take her to the nursery.

Two-and-a-half hours later, Lisa Rose vanished.

A frustrating nine-day search ended when an anonymous phone call sent police cars screaming to a tenement two blocks from the hospital. There they burst through the door of a one-room apartment and found 43-year-old Jean Iavarone rocking an infant. At first, Iavarone denied she’d kidnapped the child, but fingerprints, blood tests, and a distinctive birthmark positively identified Lisa Rose.

All of New York had been following the case, and people cheered in the streets when they heard the good news of the girl’s return. After Lisa Rose was examined at St. Peter’s Hospital, her happy parents took her home. She was in good health, having been well cared for.

Who would kidnap an infant from the nursery of a hospital?

Even though Jean Iavarone had never been arrested, she had a troubled past. By the time she abducted Lisa Rose, everyone in her life had left her, died, or been forcibly taken from her. All of her eight living children had been placed in orphans’ homes or foster care. She’d been married twice—her first husband divorced her; her second husband died.

An Associated Press story reported that “the motive for the kidnaping, police said, was Mrs. Iavarone’s desire to pressure a boyfriend, Joseph Pizzimenti, into marriage by having him believe he was the father.” She also believed the courts would return four of her children if she was married to a reputable husband. (All her children had been removed from her “because she was considered incapable of caring for them.”)

This troubled, lonely woman’s obsession caused heartbreak and havoc for an entire city, and especially the Chianchio family. But surprisingly, Frances and Frank forgave the kidnapper. Reluctant to press charges, they stated that they were grateful Iavarone kept their daughter safe. The couple even invited her into their home to see Lisa Rose.

Iavarano was tried and convicted. Sentenced to one-to-three years in prison, the judge recommended psychiatric treatment.

And there Jean Iavarone disappeared into the fog of history.

NOTE: Many thanks to Sue Z Smith for permission to use her photograph of the hospital that played such a large part in the disappearance of Lisa Rose. Check out her great blog, The Ninth House.

Iraq veteran James Vester

Be safe out there…
by Robert A. Waters

Craigslist murders have become so prevalent that some police agencies are opening “safe havens” for online transactions. A recent study revealed that at least 86 murders have been “linked to the popular classifieds website.” Listed below are a few Craigslist crimes that have made the news recently.

James Vester survived a year in Iraq, but died in an Indianapolis parking lot. The National Guardsman had answered a Craigslist ad to buy an Apple iPad when two assailants robbed and murdered him. Tyshaune and Tyron Kincade were accused of the crime. Tyshaune was recently convicted—his brother awaits trial in June. Vester had served in the military for 12 years. He planned to buy the iPad as a Christmas present for his parents.

In Missouri, Michael Gordon has been charged with murdering Taylor Clark, a college student who had listed his 2007 Nissan 350ZX for sale on Craigslist. Gordon arranged to take a test drive and met Clark in a public parking lot at the MTC Truck Driver Training School in Hazelwood, Mo. Later that day, when friends reported Clark missing, investigators had only to check Craigslist to find that Gordon had inquired about the car. Police discovered the victim’s body in a patch of woods behind MTC. Clark had been shot once in the head. Gordon worked at the school and police allege that he committed the crime on his lunch break.

In February, police allege that three men murdered James Jones after he met them to purchase an iPhone. Jordan Baker, Jonathan Myles, and Kaylnn Ruthenberg have been charged with numerous counts, including murder, aggravated assault, armed robbery, and violation of the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act. When Jones, a student at Clark Atlanta University, answered a Craigslist ad, the three allegedly robbed him of his Nike shoes. As he attempted to drive away, police say Ruthenberg shot Jones. The victim then crashed his car, and Ruthenberg shot him in the head. The three had attempted the same crime earlier, according to cops, but the intended victim became spooked by the men and fled.

In 2010, Oregon resident Korena Roberts pleaded guilty to killing Heather Snively, and was sentenced to life in prison. Roberts admitted she contacted the pregnant Snively on Craigslist, and the expectant mother met Roberts hoping to purchase baby clothes. After beating Snively to death, Roberts used a straight razor to cut her seven-month-old child from her womb. The child never took a breath, however, and Roberts’ boyfriend found her and the dead infant in their home. For several years, Roberts had been obsessed with having a baby, feigning pregnancy and purchasing baby items.

Ralph Geiger, 56, David Pauley, 51, and Timothy Kern, 47 answered Craigslist ads, then disappeared. Police later discovered the men had been murdered by an ex-con and his teenage accomplice. Richard Beasley placed the bogus ads seeking farmhands to work on a non-existent ranch he owned. When the victims arrived in Akron, Ohio to begin their new jobs, Beasley and Brogan Rafferty, 17, drove them to a rural area and shot them dead. Beasley then sold their belongings. The scheme worked perfectly until they attempted to rob a South Carolinian named Scott Davis. After being shot, Davis escaped and led police to the killers. Beasley received the death penalty, while Rafferty got life in prison without parole.

NOTE: I’ve used Craigslist to sell a few items. While no amount of protection is foolproof, I always bring along a partner and meet the buyer in a crowded store parking lot. I also carry a handgun (thanks to Florida’s concealed carry laws) and a cellphone. If the buyer looks or acts suspicious, I’m outa there.

Survives after ship is sunk…
by Robert A. Waters

At 4:30 on the afternoon of November 2, 1942, a German torpedo struck the Dutch merchant ship SSZaandam. Carrying U. S. Navy armed guards, as well as a Dutch crew, the ship didn’t sink immediately. A second torpedo, however, doomed the vessel. Seaman Second Class Basil Dominic Izzi of Massachusetts was one of the few survivors.

In 83 Days: The Survival of Seaman Izzi, Mark Murphy writes: “The ship, loaded with ammunition, food supplies, and equipment for overseas work, put out from an East Coast port in July, 1942. She stopped in Recife [Brazil] for water and food, and set out for Africa.”

In the middle of the Atlantic, disaster struck. Izzi recalled: “It was a clear day and the sun was shining bright. About 4:15 we were in my cabin playing cards, four of the fellows besides myself. Our radio man walked in and told us our position, where we were and everything. He just walked out and as soon as he walked out our first torpedo [fired by German submarine U-174] struck us. We got up and ran out to the door, we were trying to get to the guns but the shortest way was blocked by the wreckage from the torpedo from topside, so we had to go back inside the ship and through the lounge up on the next deck [as] the easiest way we could get to the guns. When we were getting there we saw the ship’s crew was letting the rafts get underway. Well, after the first torpedo the ship didn’t stop right away, it kept on going for a few hundred yards, and when the rafts did hit the water they just drifted off...”

Soon a second torpedo hit, and the boat sank quickly. Izzi jumped from the stern, found some debris to cling to, and swam away from the ship.

It would be 83 long days before he was picked up.

After two days of floating in the ocean, Izzi was nearly delirious when he came upon a life raft. Inside were Ensign James Maddox, a U. S. sailor named George Beezley, and two Dutch sailors, Cornelius van der Slot and Nicko Hoogendam. As Maddox pulled Izzi into the raft, he exclaimed: “Where have you been hiding?” Maddox, an ordained minister and a professor at Purdue University, would help the survivors by guiding them spiritually.

The rations in the raft lasted for 19 days. After that, they survived on fish, birds, and rainwater. Two days after their rations ran out, a thunderstorm descended on them and they used a canvas trough to catch the water. In order to catch sharks, they dangled their feet over the edge and improvised a lasso to corral the curious creatures. That day, they caught a four-footer that provided meat for several days.

A few days later, Izzi turned 20 and the rafters celebrated with an extra portion of food. But the ordeal was beginning to take its toll. By the 40th day, their clothing had rotted off, and Beezley lost his hearing and began going blind. On the 66th day he died. Maddox performed the rites as they tossed Beezley overboard.

On the 77th day, Maddox died. The survivors buried him at sea while saying the prayers he had taught them. (Izzi saved his wedding rings and later returned them to his widow.)

Van der Slot, Hoogendam, and Izzi drifted for six more days before a PC boat rescued them. By that time, they were mere skeletons. They were taken to Brazil, then the United States Naval Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland. Later, Izzi became a spokesperson for Navy, touring the country to improve morale. After his tour of duty was over, Izzi returned to his hometown of Barre, Massachusetts. There he lived in relative anonymity until 1977.

I have only the highest admiration for those who fought in previous wars so that we might live in peace. Freedom from the tyranny of totalitarianism was bought with the blood and valor of millions.

Wanders for 24 years…
by Robert A. Waters

On March 12, 1943, World War II showed no signs of ending. The headline in TheOgden Standard Examinerscreamed: “Reds Take Vyazma, Nazis Kharkov; British Destroy 21 Rommel Tanks; Yankees Bomb Jap Bases at Kiska.” It would be two more long years before the conflict bled to a stop.

Underneath that huge headline, a smaller one, almost an afterthought, read: “Officers Seek Man’s Identity.” Then came the poignant story of a forgotten soldier from what seemed at the time to be a distant memory—the “war to end all wars.”

The United Press story read: “Colorado officers today were taking fingerprints to establish definitely the identity of a wandering ‘hermit’ believed to be Donald Matheson of Beaver, Utah in the hope of clearing up a 20 year-old mystery. The hermit, who said his name was Donald Matheson, 51, was taken into custody yesterday by Trinidad, Colo., police because they feared he might die of exposure.

“He had a long flowing beard and hair, was shabbily dressed, and officers discovered he had been living in the open—sleeping wherever he could find a rude shelter, in crevices, abandoned shacks and under bridges.

“Utah relatives reported [that] the Donald Matheson from Beaver was drafted into the army in 1918, and was later reported wounded in action. This was the last heard of him until the Trinidad man said he was the long-missing Matheson.

“During the years since her son disappeared, Mrs. Caroline Matheson, mother of the missing soldier, died. His sister, Mrs. Jean Hickman said scars reported on the Trinidad hermit’s face corresponded with scars her brother carried when he entered the army. A cousin, Scott M. Matheson, assistant U. S. district attorney, was helping the attempts to clear the mystery.” Relatives informed Sheriff Marty that they believed Donald Matheson had been killed in World War I.

The hermit, as newspapers called him, had recently wandered into the Aguilar district, living on handouts from concerned residents.

County Judge William T. Eckhart interviewed Matheson, who said he had served in the U. S. Army until 1919. After being honorably discharged, he told lawmen that he had wandered the Arizona and California deserts for years before coming to Colorado. Judge Eckhart asked Matheson why he didn’t go home after the war, and he replied, “I had nothing to go home for.”

Eckhart contacted Beaver County authorities and learned that the Matheson family had moved away many years before.

Matheson seemed surprised when told that the U. S. was fighting yet another world war. He informed Eckhart that he never fought on the front lines in France but had been stationed at St. Nazaire.

After his uncle retrieved his military records, Donald Matheson was transferred to the veterans’ hospital in Fort Lyons, Colorado.

By the time World War II ended, Donald Matheson and his sad story had faded into the annals of history.

NOTE: If anyone has additional information about Donald Matheson, I’ll be glad to publish it. Too much is unknown about his story.

ALERT FOR MISSING NINE-YEAR-OLD GIRL
Tuesday, May 26, 2015

BENBROOK TEXAS— Police in Benbrook issued an alert Monday afternoon for a nine-year-old girl who was last seen on Friday.

The parents of Caitlyn Williams told investigators that she left home on her bicycle around 3:30 Friday afternoon to spend the weekend with a friend just a few blocks away. She had been expected to return on Sunday.

Police were summoned on Monday after the Benbrook Elementary School student did not come home. The FBI has joined the investigation of her disappearance.

“The investigators are talking with the parents, they’re talking with relatives, they’re talking with friends, they’ve been out canvassing neighbors, fliers have been printed up,” said police spokesman Officer Sandy Eubanks. “We hope that maybe there’s some information out there that someone has that they don’t know that’s important that the investigators may turn up.”

Caitlyn was last seen wearing a yellow T-shirt with a “Benbrook Field Day” logo, blue jeans, and pink-and-black tennis shoes. She was riding a pink, purple and white bicycle in the neighborhood near her home in the 1100 block of Wade Hampton Street, about a mile north of Benbrook Lake.

Caitlyn is described as white, and four feet, four inches tall. She weighs 95 pounds and has brown, wavy hair to the middle of her back.

If you have any information about Caitlyn Williams, contact Benbrook police at 817-249-1610 or call 911.

(This article was published by WFAA.COM)

Dynamite-shotgun slayer pays a gruesome price…
by Robert A. Waters

On the evening of February 9, 1937, in Iowa City, Iowa, a thunderous explosion rocked the home of Walter and Mabel Rhodes. Walter, crouching behind a basement partition, escaped unharmed. Mabel wasn’t so lucky—her head was blown almost completely off. Walter had succeeded with his plan to get rid of his wife, but would go to the gallows because of it.

Walter H. “Dusty” Rhodes had a problem as old as the institution of marriage: an attractive girlfriend and a wife he loathed. He decided to eliminate the unwanted spouse, and came up with a unique plan.

A part-time quarry worker, Rhodes had repeatedly lied to his mistress, also named Mabel—Mabel Skriver. He told her that divorce proceedings were under way, and that as soon as he was legally free, he would marry her. Skriver fell for his lies, and for six months the couple met in secluded spots where their passion could be temporarily sated. But soon enough, the second Mabel began to press her paramour for a wedding date. Since he had never even filed for divorce, Rhodes was in a pickle. It was then that he concocted his diabolical plan to have his wife kill herself.

In his job, Rhodes worked with explosives. So one night he replaced the gunpowder in a shotgun shell with dynamite and chambered the shell into his antique gun. The clever Rhodes knew the gun would detonate like a pipe bomb when the trigger was pulled.

The next day, he took Mabel out shooting. But his plan fell apart when she insisted that he shoot first. Rhodes and Mabel got into a heated argument, and went home without either of them firing a shot.

Soon, the second Mabel issued an ultimatum to Rhodes. Get a divorce or we’re done.

On the evening of February 9, Rhodes asked his wife to come into the basement. He stated that the firing pin of the shotgun didn’t work, and asked Mabel to try it. She aimed it at the ceiling and pulled the trigger, causing a massive explosion.

When the sheriff arrived, he immediately became suspicious. The blast was like nothing he’d ever seen. Most of Mabel’s head was gone, her right hand was missing, and her left hand and left shoulder were badly mangled. The sheriff’s misgivings arose further when he found no pellets in the wall (Rhodes had removed them from the shotgun shell to pack in more dynamite). But even more worrisome was the shotgun breach which had passed clean through the basement ceiling, the first story floor, and had become embedded in the first-floor ceiling.

The sheriff sent the shotgun and its components to several firearms experts. All agreed that dynamite had caused the death of Mrs. Rhodes.

Soon the sheriff interviewed the second Mabel, and learned of the sordid lies that Rhodes had fed her. Investigators also discovered that the suspect had recently taken out a double indemnity life insurance policy on his wife.

Under pressure from investigators, he quickly confessed. Rhodes was convicted of murder and sentenced to hang.

On May 7, 1940, Rhodes went cringing to the gallows at the Fort Madison penitentiary. According to Dick Haws’ book, Iowa and the Death Penalty, “the eight-foot drop ruptured an artery in Dusty’s neck. A river of blood saturated his white pants and shirt and dripped onto the sawdust beneath. Three of the hundred-plus witnesses collapsed. Rhodes was pronounced dead after 12 minutes.”

Before dying, Rhodes handed reporters a 500 word treatise that, among other things, blasted the death penalty as immoral. Not one word of his statement mentioned the immorality of blowing his innocent wife to bits.

Celebs who OD’ed…

by Robert A. Waters

After learning that Victoria Seigel, the daughter of jet-setters David and Jackie Seigel, died of a suspected drug overdose, I decided to check out other celebrities whose lives were cut short by dope. There are hundreds, if not thousands, so I listed a few that interested me.

Len Bias had fame and fortune in his headlights. The 22-year-old University of Maryland star forward had just been selected as the second pick in the 1986 National Basketball Association draft. Two days later, he met with the Boston Celtics and later discussed a 1.6 million dollar deal with Reebok. But after partying all night with friends, Bias suddenly had a seizure and collapsed. He died before EMTs could get him to the hospital. The medical examiner reported that his death was due to heart arrhythmia caused by cocaine use. It was reported that this may have been the first time Bias used cocaine.

At the age of 33, John Belushi overdosed on a “speedball,” (a mixture of cocaine and heroin). Belushi is best-known for his skits on Saturday Night Live and as one of the Blues Brothers. In fact, SNL terminated him several times because of his constant drug use. On March 5, 1982, Catherine Evelyn Smith gave him the shot that ended his life. She was convicted of manslaughter and served fifteen months in prison. Although his remains have since been moved to an anonymous grave, a stone at the site of his first burial reads: “I may be gone but Rock and Roll lives on.” Listen to the Blues Brothers version of the iconic song, “Sweet Home Chicago.”

Ken Caminiti also OD’ed on a speedball. A third baseman, Caminiti had his most productive years with the San Diego Padres, winning the 1996 Most Valuable Player Award. He later admitted that he took steroids during his best years. Throughout his life, Caminiti struggled with substance abuse. On October 10, 2004, he collapsed and died in a friend’s New York apartment. The cause of death was listed as “acute intoxication due to the combined effects of cocaine and opiates.” Contributing factors were coronary artery disease and hypertrophy, an enlarged heart. At age 41, Caminiti was dead, his body worn out by constant drug use.

Whitney Houston sold nearly 200 million records in her lifetime. She also starred in several successful films and became one of the wealthiest women on the planet. But on February 11, 2012, at age 48, Houston was found dead in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills. By that time, her life had spiraled out of control. With husband Bobby Brown, who allegedly abused her, domestic bliss was not to be had. By 2012, drug abuse had tarnished Houston’s public image, causing many no-shows and sub-par performances. After her death, the medical examiner pronounced that Houston had died of drowning brought about by the “effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use.” In addition to cocaine, many other drugs were found in her system. The last song Houston sang in public was, “Jesus Loves Me.”

Janis Joplin. So, where do you start with Joplin? We know where it ended—in a Los Angeles hotel room when, after shooting up with heroin, she puked her guts out and then keeled over dead. Turns out her dealer had mixed the dope wrong, making it too strong. Joplin and several of his other lesser-known customers died that night. But that can happen when you turn to dope. Pearl, as she was sometimes called, epitomized the hippie culture of rebellion, which usually meant drug use. On October 4, 1970, at the Landmark Hotel, Joplin died as she lived—hard and loose and fast—becoming a death-long member of the infamous 27 Club.

After his death from “acute multiple drug intoxication,” the medical examiner reported that actor River Phoenix, 23,had cocaine, morphine, and several other drugs in his system. He rarely used illegal drugs, his family said, and released the following statement: “His friends, co-workers and the rest of our family know that River was not a regular drug user. He lived at home in Florida with us and was almost never a part of the ‘club scene’ in Los Angeles. He had just arrived in L.A. from the pristine beauty and quietness of Utah where he was filming for six weeks. We feel that the excitement and energy of the Halloween nightclub and party scene were way beyond his usual experience and control. How many other beautiful young souls, who remain anonymous to us, have died by using drugs recreationally? [My italics.] It is my prayer that River’s leaving in this way will focus the attention of the world on how painfully the spirits of his generation are being worn down.” His ashes were scattered near his home in Micanopy, Florida.

Should NY reconsider the death penalty?
by Robert A. Waters

In 2004, the New York Court of Appeals effectively abolished the state’s death penalty. Capital punishment had long been a mere formality since the last execution in the Empire State occurred in 1963. Now we learn that two brutal killers have escaped from Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora and are on the run.

Richard Matt, 48, and David Sweat, 34, allegedly sawed through the back of their cells and climbed through a labyrinth of tunnels to freedom. They left a calling card, a smiley face with a note that read: “Have a nice day.”

The lockup, known as “Little Siberia” due to its remote location near the Canadian border, is a maximum security prison. So Matt and Sweat should have been no threat to anyone except other inmates. Their escape, perhaps aided by a Trojan Horse inside the prison, surprised many.

Back in 2002, Sweat’s crime stunned New Yorkers.

At about 3:35 a.m., on July 4, Broome County Sheriff’s Deputy Kevin Tarsia spotted a suspicious automobile near Grange Hall Park in the Town of Kirkwood, New York. Three career criminals, including Sweat, had just burglarized a nearby gun store, walking out with dozens of weapons. As Tarsia got out of his cruiser, Sweat ambushed him. Deputy Tarsia, hit by a barrage of gunfire, fell to the ground. One of Sweat’s accomplices, Jeffrey A. Nabinger, Jr., then pumped two rounds into his head. Finally, the killers jumped into their car and drove over Tarsia. In all, the deputy was struck with fifteen rounds and run over.

Investigators quickly zeroed in on known trouble-maker Sweat. Several years earlier, he’d been sentenced to two-to-four years in prison for burglary—he served only 19 months before being released. He rarely worked, living by theft and dealing drugs. He had a few girlfriends, and a child, but no stable home-life.

Investigators arrested Sweat, Nabinger, and the third accomplice. All three quickly confessed and were sentenced to life in prison.

Richard Matt has spent most of his adult life in prison, including ten years in a Mexican jail for murder. NBC News described the heinous crime that got him locked up in Little Siberia: “The victim was a food broker named William Rickerson who had hired and then fired Matt. On Dec. 4, 1997, according to the trial testimony of an accomplice, Matt beat Rickerson with a knife sharpener, bound him with duct tape, tossed him in the trunk of a car, and then drove around for 27 hours looking for a place to kill and bury him. At one stop on the drive, Matt opened the trunk, broke four of Rickerson’s fingers, hit him in the chest with a steering wheel locking device, then shut the trunk and kept driving. The accomplice testified that Matt had him turn down a cul-de-sac, stop the car and open the trunk again. He said Matt told him: ‘You know, I’ve had enough of this.’ He said Matt reached in and twisted Rickerson’s head. ‘I heard a pop,’ the accomplice testified, and the businessman ‘just dropped back in the trunk.’ Matt cut off the arms and legs with a hacksaw, authorities said. A fisherman discovered the torso in the Niagara River.”

Eight days after Matt and Sweat escaped, New York State Police arrested Joyce Mitchell, an industrial training supervisor. Accused of being an accomplice and providing tools to the inmates, Judge Mark Rogers set her bail at $110,000.

As of this writing, lawmen across America and Canada are desperately searching for the escapees. Broome County Sheriff David Harder said,“I think the fear here is who are they going to kill next.”

Phillip Tarsia, Kevin’s father, told reporters: “They said they couldn’t give them the death penalty. That’s what they told us so they gave [Sweat and Matt] life without parole. We had to go along with it. They’re the ones who made the decision. We followed them but we weren’t happy with it.”

Atrocities on Chichi Jima Revisited

by Robert A. Waters

I recently published a blog entitled, Atrocities on Chichi Jima. The story describes a nightmarish tale of torture, murder, and cannibalism. During the waning days of World War II, American flyers Grady York and James “Jimmie” Dye were captured by the Japanese after bailing out of their disabled bomber. On the island of Chichi Jima, thirteen Japanese officers cannibalized the flesh and livers of the downed airmen. Other captured airmen also suffered similar barbaric treatment.

Jennifer Gilmer, whose father, Frederic T. Suss [pictured], prosecuted the Japanese officers, alerted me to the fact that this was his very first trial out of law school. Jennifer sent me transcripts of his closing argument. Suss’s words are so powerful that the following excerpts will be quoted verbatim.

Closing Argument for the Prosecution Delivered by Frederic T. Suss, Lieutenant USNR

“Gentlemen, we are assembled here in the name of justice. We are here to proclaim that justice is not the prerogative of one nation or of one people but is the sacred and inviolable right of every individual, however obscure or exalted or in whatever remote corner of the world in which he may be found. Upon this principle we have builded a nation. Although that nation has grown to be a formidable power, her people have never lost sight of the fact that she owes her very existence to the defiance of the tyranny of power.

“We are not a nation of moralists but we have observed that government may learn from religion. Christianity has taught us of the dignity of men and the sacredness of the individual. This spirit is found in our laws and proclaimed in our courts. This is what we demand for our people and this is what America extends to others.

“We do not seek revenge, for revenge is not justice. We do not repeat the mistakes of the fallen enemy. We do not punish the innocent…

“In accordance with these traditions the accused have been given a fair and just trial, the like of which has never been seen in their native land. They have been allowed six defense counsels of their own choosing. Our officers have been sent on costly journeys to seek out evidence for their defense. Witnesses have been brought here at the expense of the government to testify in their behalf. We have extended to them the protection of our laws and indeed we have gone beyond the limits of the law to expand for them the rights of cross-examination.

“And to whom have we extended such fair and impartial treatment? To the people who have torn and mutilated the living bodies of our defenseless brothers in the most primitive and barbaric fashion. What more terrible indictment can there be than to accord these inhuman savages a fair and a just trial? There is a more terrible indictment. It is the procession of witnesses who have come before this court. The officers and men who have served with and under the accused. Their voices surpass the language barrier and still ring clearly and accusingly in this courtroom. Voices long hushed by cruel power and now crying out for justice. How shall a man face the indictment of those with whom he has faced death together?”

Later in the argument, Suss addresses the cannibalization of the American airmen.

“Defense counsel has contended that this commission cannot decide what is an honorable burial. That is precisely what this commission is designed to decide. What man of genius or what great mathematical mind is needed to decide that it is a dishonor and a shameless travesty on a dead body to remove 16 pounds of its flesh for cannibalism.

“What honest surgeon can ever again without remorse of conscience apply his scalpel to a human body, living or dead when he is haunted by the spectacle of having publicly removed the liver of a dead man to turn it over to cannibals? Does defense counsel seriously contend that this is honorable burial? We think not. Which of us would consider his son honorably buried if his body was savagely bayonetted before interment? The question of honorable burial, gentlemen, is no great philosophical problem…

“These atrocities were not committed in the heat of battle by irresponsible subordinates but they were deliberately planned by these officers here charged.”

After his opening arguments, Suss delivers a damning indictment of each defendant. In the end, thirteen Japanese officers were convicted and hung for their crimes against humanity.

The obituary of Frederic Suss is available here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/29/AR2007012901907.html

Florida’s most prolific serial killer
by Robert A. Waters

Edgar J. Watson got his violent nature from his father. Nicknamed “Ring-Eye” Lige because of a circular scar around one eye that he got in a knife-fight, Lige would fight anybody at the drop of a hat. Bloody Ed’s mother fled her loutish husband, taking her son from South Carolina to Lake City, Florida.

Soon Ed grew restless and moved to Arkansas. There he hooked up with the outlaw, Belle Starr. They had a falling-out, however, and Starr ended up on the wrong end of a bullet. Watson was suspected of being her killer, but by then, he’d high-tailed it back to Florida where he began racking up an impressive string of murders.

In the early 1900’s, he bought Chatham Bend Key, one of the Ten Thousand Islands in the Everglades. According to Florida’s Past by James M. Burnett, “It was not long before [Watkins] had his fertile little island lush with cane crops, produce, and the valuable buttonwood, cords of which he shipped to Key West. His cane syrup was a popular product and he shipped tons of it in his 70-foot schooner to Fort Myers and to dealers such as Bryan and Snow in Tampa.”

Despite his financial success, Bloody Ed couldn’t keep from killing people. In Arcadia, he knifed Quinn Bass to death, but since no one could positively identify him, he escaped a charge of murder. While visiting relatives in Lake City, he had a dispute with Sam Toland, and ended up shooting him. Bloody Ed was somehow acquitted of Toland’s murder, but was given an ultimatum by the local sheriff: head back to the Ten Thousand Islands and never come back to Lake City.

Watson did just that.

But he could never control his temper. While attending an auction in Key West, Watson got into an argument with local resident Adolphus Santini. The hot-headed Bloody Ed attacked Santini, slitting his throat. He likely would have killed his hapless victim, but bystanders pulled Watson off. Santini survived, but Bloody Ed was forced to pay him $900 (a fortune at the time) to drop the charges of attempted murder.

Not long after, Watson found two men “squatting” on one of his islands. They refused to move, and quickly ended up dead. While there was little evidence, local residents figured Watson was the killer. But since there were no lawmen to investigate (the nearest sheriff lived 90 miles away), Bloody Ed walked yet again.

But those crimes were just incidental to Bloody Ed’s real murderous spree that had been going on for years. In Florida’s Past, Burnett writes: “…A young black boy fled [Chatham Bend Key] in terror, racing over river, swamp, and sawgrass, to reach a group of farmers, clamdiggers, and herdsmen near Chokoloskee. The frightened boy bore witness to a gruesome murder by Watson…” The boy guided the men to the grave of a woman named Hannah Smith. At more than six feet tall and three hundred pounds, she was harder to bury than most of Watson’s victims, and he inadvertently left a leg sticking out of the ground.

This was the final straw for the citizens of the Ten Thousand Islands. They disinterred the remains and soon headed for Ted Smallwood’s Store in Chololoskee, where Watson bought supplies. The crowd had heard that Watson was on his way.

Once he arrived, a shotgun in his boat, the mob was waiting. Witnesses stated that, when Watson advanced toward the men with his gun pointed at them, they opened up. Thirty-three bullets later, Chololoskee’s bad man lay dead. It turned out that Watson had tried to fire his weapon, but the powder in his shotgun shell had been wet and wouldn’t detonate. (Smallwood’s wife had sold him the shells, and rumors circulated that she had intentionally tampered with them.)

But the story didn’t end there. Within hours, a hurricane hit the islands, tearing up the landscape. When searchers returned to Chatham Bend Key, Burnett writes that they unearthed “about 50 skeletons” on properties owned by Watson.

Investigators soon learned that he would travel to Tampa or Tarpon Springs and hire workers to help load his produce. He made sure these men had few, if any, relatives who would come looking for them. When these down-and-outers became insistent that he pay them, he would dispatch them and bury their bodies on one of his islands. In other cases, it is thought that he dumped many in the Gulf of Mexico.

The actual number of souls murdered by the diabolical madman will never be known.

The county sheriff finally arrived and held an inquest into Watson’s death. No charges were ever filed against those who gunned down the killer.

Edgar Watson’s remains were interred at Rabbit Key, and the secrets of Florida’s most prolific serial killer were buried with him.

http://wlrn.org/post/grisly-timeline-floridas-lindbergh-kidnapping-case

Many thanks to Luis Hernandez of WLRN in Miami for his review of The Kidnapping and Murder of Little Skeegie Cash: J. Edgar Hoover and Florida's Lindbergh Case. Luis also interviewed my brother and co-author Zack C. Waters.

Below is the transcript of the review. It also contains a portion of the interview and a timeline of the 1938 case.

A Grisly Timeline: Florida’s Lindbergh Kidnapping Case
by Luis Hernandez
WLRN.com
June 9, 2015

In the early 20th century, kidnappings were a scourge on the nation.

The Charles Lindbergh baby kidnapping of 1932 epitomized a time of widespread fear—the taking of the famous aviator’s son resulted in the FBI’s involvement, and later the Federal Kidnapping Act, granting the Bureau jurisdiction in these cases.

Many of the children taken in the 30’s were from wealthy families. Ransom demands ranged from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Many times the children were never returned and instead found dead. No one imagined the kidnapping of a 5-year-old boy in Princeton, Fla., would garner national attention.

There were three ransom notes found with specific directions on where to drop off $10,000 for the safe return of Skeegie Cash.

It happened in the late evening of May 28, 1938. James “Skeegie” Cash was taken from his bed on the second floor of his parents’ home.

Within a few hours, dozens of the town’s residents had gathered around the father, Bailey, as he read aloud a ransom note. Before dawn, local law enforcement and the FBI were on the scene.

There would be three ransom notes discovered in all. Bailey Cash would have to make two attempts at dropping off the ransom. Eventually, thousands of people and dozens of agencies searched the Everglades for the boy.

It took only a couple days before newspapers across the country were once again pasting on their front pages headlines of another kidnapping. The nation was enthralled, especially when FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover himself flew down to Miami to oversee the search for the boy and the kidnapper.

As the days passed, hopes of finding Skeegie dwindled. Family members tried to stay positive. The FBI was leaning hard on numerous suspects, but nothing panned out. Hoover was under pressure to keep his heroic image alive and strong in the news.

The unsung hero was Dade County Sheriff D.C. Coleman. With all the attention on Hoover and the bureau, Coleman started trailing a local everyone knew as the preacher’s son, Franklin McCall. After a couple of conversations and some detective work, Coleman was convinced McCall did it. He eventually picked up McCall and without incident drove the suspect to FBI headquarters in Miami.

With pressure from Hoover and other interrogators, McCall eventually cracked and confessed and led investigators to the boy’s body. A coroner’s inquest was held shortly after the funeral. The jury came back within fifteen minutes confirming that the boy had died at the hands of the man in custody.

Many people across Florida wanted a quick trial and a rapid trip to the electric chair. On February 20, 1939, McCall was one of three prisoners listed for execution, but a last-minute call came in postponing the execution for one last appeal.

The U.S. Circuit and Supreme Court justices refused the appeal, and Franklin McCall was executed on Feb. 24.

McCall became the first state resident to die under the Florida Lindbergh Law. These were popular in numerous states as a deterrent to child kidnappings.

Even though Hoover got all the credit in the nation’s eyes for solving the case, locally, many people knew their man Sheriff Coleman had found the kidnapper. The story never stuck in the national consciousness the way other kidnappings did. That may be due to the fact that the year after the kidnapping, bombs dropped in Europe and World War II had begun.

The story has been turned into a book: The Kidnapping and Murder of Little Skeegie Cash: J. Edgar Hoover and Florida's Lindbergh Case.

Zack Waters says his brother was the one who found the story in a 1958 True Detective magazine. Waters says the case was unique for a number of reasons, one of them being that J. Edgar Hoover got involved himself. The FBI director came to Miami because he thought it would be an easy case to solve and he needed the publicity. Congress was debating just how much funding the bureau should get and Hoover wanted a case to prove that the money was warranted.

Another reason this case was unique was the fact that the Cash family was not wealthy. Many kidnappers in other cases were asking for tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars. For Skeegie, McCall asked for $10,000. Skeegie’s kidnapping burned the fear into American parents that anyone could become victim to this crime.

Robert A. Waters’ Review of American Murder Houses

Who Murdered Mary Imelda Coyle?

Fifteen Years on Death Row is Too Long

Second Chances

Alleged Craigslist Robber Shot

Two Popular Statements that Are Just Outright Lies

Atrocities on Chichi Jima

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What Happened to Tania Murrell?

Lisa Rose Comes Home

Craigslist Murders

World War II Seaman Drifts for 83 Days

World War I Vet Never Returns Home

Caitlin Williams Missing

The Wife who Murdered Herself

Death by Dope

New York Killers Escape

Frederic T. Suss, Prosecutor of Japanese War Criminals

“Bloody” Ed Watson

WLRN Reviews The Kidnapping and Murder of Little Skeegie Cash