The Tragedy of Sid and Nancy

               On the morning of October 12, 1978, employees at the Chelsea Hotel in Manhattan were called up to room 100. The initial reports called in by other guests at 7:30 AM about the room were in concern: a woman could be heard moaning presumably in pain from the room. At 10 AM, the inhabitant of the room called down for help himself (“Sid And Nancy: A Punk Rock Murder Mystery”). The occupant was ex-bassist of the broken up Sex Pistols, Sid Vicious. Upon investigating the call, workers find 20-year old Nancy Spungen dead from a single stab wound to the abdomen in the bathroom, clothed only in her underwear, and Vicious wandering the hall in an apparent drug induced haze. At the time, he was wailing that he had killed Spungen (“Sid Vicious And Nancy Spungen: Their Turbulent And Tragic Love Story”).

               Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen came from different, yet somehow similar, backgrounds. Vicious was born to a single mother, Anne Beverly, who struggled with substance abuse just as her son would later in life (“Sid Vicious And Nancy Spungen: Their Turbulent And Tragic Love Story”). He spent time in Ibiza, Kent, and London throughout his childhood and was used by his mother to smuggle marijuana between Spain and England. At 16, Vicious was kicked out by his mother (Maloney). Vicious played the drums for Souixsie, the Banshees, and Flowers of Romance before joining the Sex Pistols as their bassist in 1977, despite not knowing how to play the bass. By the mid-1970s, Sid Vicious was a fixture of the punk scene in Londo (“Sid Vicious And Nancy Spungen: Their Turbulent And Tragic Love Story”).

               Spungen was born in Philadelphia, PA, and reportedly suffered some form of brain trauma at birth. She is said to have been incredibly intelligent, but also a violent child. In one noted instance, she allegedly attempted to kill a babysitter with a pair of scissors (Maloney). Some sources report that she graduated high school at 16-years old (Shelton), while others report that she was expelled from school and diagnosed with schizophrenia at 15-years old (Maloney). Regardless, she is known to have attended the University of Colorado for a time, before either dropping out (Shelton) or being expelled after being arrested. She was arrested for possession of stolen property and either dealing to or buying marijuana from an undercover police officer (“Sid And Nancy: A Punk Rock Murder Mystery”)(Shelton). At the age of 17, Nancy Spungen ran away from home and to New York City, where she found work as a sex worker (“Sid Vicious And Nancy Spungen: Their Turbulent And Tragic Love Story”)(“Sid And Nancy: A Punk Rock Murder Mystery”). She found her way to London in early 1977 and became a well-known groupie, though she was unliked by many other groupies of the time. She was known to have been loud and obnoxious, only tolerated by the musicians because of her ability to obtain drugs for them. She met Vicious after her initial attempt at gaining Sex Pistols front man Johnny Rotten’s attention and being spurned. She turned her eyes to Vicious, and their lives were set from there(“Sid Vicious And Nancy Spungen: Their Turbulent And Tragic Love Story”).

               The two quickly became inseparable. Where Sid went, Nancy followed, and if Nancy was there, Sid was never far behind. Compared to Nancy, who was more experienced in both sex and drugs and was known for her loud behavior, Sid was shy. He seemed interested in what she knew about the world, while she was looking for the kind of affection he offered her. They moved into a loft in West London together, where they could fall further and further into their substance abuse. Their relationship was a frustration to the rest of the band and their management. Spungen’s behavior and personality was grating to the other members of the band, to the extent that they banned her from their US tour in 1978. The band’s management even admitted to trying to have her “kidnapped” and sent back to New York City at one point, which was impossible to do thanks to the inseparable nature of the couple. During the tour in 1978, Vicious’s behavior was even more erratic than before, likely in retaliation for Spungen’s banning from the tour. He went as far as breaking his bass over a fan’s head during this time, and the band broke up during the tour. After the band broke up, Vicious went on a spree that ended with an overdose that landed him in a hospital in Queens, New York City. Spungen reunited with him after his discharge and the two moved to Paris, France, to take part in a mockumentary on the Sex Pistols, The Great Rock ‘N’ Roll Swindle. Spungen’s presence turned out to be detrimental to the production, as the two rarely left their room, Spungen faking a suicide attempt on one of the rare occasions Vicious did go to set (“Sid Vicious And Nancy Spungen: Their Turbulent And Tragic Love Story”).

               Eventually, this turbulent and dependent relationship was likely destined to end in tragedy. The end began in August of 1978, when the couple moved into Manhattan’s Chelsea Hotel. From room 100, Spungen acted as Vicious new manager and the two lived in the world they had made for themselves. Just two short months later on October 11, 1978, they would host a party. Vicious reportedly took Tuinal, a known powerful barbiturate mix, in a high dose. The 30 or so pills caused Vicious to spend most of the party in a drug-induced stupor, nearly comatose while various people filtered through the party. By the morning, his life would be over as he knew it (“Sid Vicious And Nancy Spungen: Their Turbulent And Tragic Love Story”).

               On the morning of October 12, 1978, Sid Vicious found the woman he loved dead on their bathroom floor. When police arrived, Vicious was in a stupor still from the Tuinal he took the night before and confessed to killing Spungen, but later redacted this statement. He gave multiple stories about what happened that night. He said they had fought that night and, while he had stabbed her, he hadn’t meant to kill her. Later, he claimed she actually fell on his knife before finally saying he couldn’t remember the night at all. The knife used to kill Spungen was found to be identical the the “007” flip knife Vicious owned, bought down on 42^nd street (Shelton). Vicious was released on bail the same day and attempted suicide, using broken shards of a lightbulb (“Sid Vicious And Nancy Spungen: Their Turbulent And Tragic Love Story”)(Shelton). He was taken in to Bellevue hospital for observation after his attempt, where he attempted to jump out one of the hospital windows. According to witnesses, he was saying, “I want to be with my Nancy” (Shelton).

               In the months leading up to Sid Vicious’s deaths, he did interviews and partied. During one such interview he talked about Spungen’s death and how he felt it was meant to happen. According to Vicious, Spungen had spoken about how she would die before 21 many times. In the same interview, Vicious talked about wanting to be “under the ground,” a statement that likely gives insight into his mental state at the time. In December of 1978, Vicious got in a fight with Todd Smith, the brother of Patti Smith, and ended up spending 55 days in Riker’s prison for detox (Shelton).  In February of 1979, Vicious was released from Riker’s and decided to throw a celebration. It was meant to be a celebration of his freedom, but in the end it was more of a going away party. Vicious sent his mother to get the heroin he wanted for his celebration, and on February 2, 1979, Sid Vicious was found dead from a heroin overdose (“Sid Vicious And Nancy Spungen: Their Turbulent And Tragic Love Story”).

               Anne Beverly claimed that she found a letter from Vicious after his death, stating, “We had a death pact, and I have to keep my half of the bargain. Please bury me by my baby. Goodbye.” Debbie Spungen, Nancy’s mother, also received a letter from Vicious after her daughter’s death that spoke of a death pact between the two. According to the letter, the two had planned to due in each other’s arms, Vicious promising Spungen he would kill himself if anything ever happened to her (Maloney). Beverly claimed that Spungen’s death was actually suicide, and Vicious’s death was the completion of their pact, and she isn’t the only one who feels this was part of the story. Howie Pyro, Vicious’s friend and the guitarist for D Generation, has also spoken about the death pact. He believes that Spungen stabbed herself, though not necessarily in a suicide attempt. As she had faked a suicide attempt before for Vicious’s attention, he has stated he believes she stabbed herself in an attempt to get his attention again. Unfortunately, if this is the case, Vicious was far too drugged to have come to her aid (“Sid And Nancy: A Punk Rock Murder Mystery”).

               There are more theories about what actually happened that night. The obvious one is that Vicious did kill Spungen, though whether by accident or on purpose is up for debate. Other theories state that Spungen was a victim of a robbery gone wrong, possibly from drug dealers. A friend noted that large amounts of money were missing from room 100 after the party that fateful night, but this has never been confirmed by investigators. Phil Strongman proposes in his book, Pretty Vacant: A History of Punk, that Rockets Redglare was the killer (Shelton). Strongman isn’t the only person who believes this, despite the fact that Redglare insisted until the day he died in 2001 that he was not involved in Spungen’s death. Redglare sometimes worked as Vicious’s bodyguard and was known to have gotten the couple drugs on occasion. The theory goes that he was at the party that night and Spungen asked him to get more drugs and he found the couple unconscious when he returned. At the time, Vicious had a lot of money coming in from royalties related to a cover of Frank Sinatra’s My Way he had released, which could have been tempting to take when the couple were both out cold. Those who believe Redglare was involved believe he had decided to take some of this money and gotten into a fight with Spungen when she woke up during the burglary, resulting in her death. Redglare blamed another dealer, known only as “Michael,” who was never followed up on, and maintained his innocence from both the murder and the burglary until his death (“Sid And Nancy: A Punk Rock Murder Mystery”). Those who believe Vicious wasn’t the killer point to his physical state at the time, wandering in a drug-induced stupor. They believe he couldn’t have possibly killed Nancy Spungen (“Sid Vicious And Nancy Spungen: Their Turbulent And Tragic Love Story”).

               After Sid Vicious’s death, the investigation into Nancy Spungen’s death was dropped by investigators as they believed he was the killer. To this day, many in the punk scene believe he was set up and that someone else, perhaps even an officer, was holding the knife the night Spungen died (Shelton). At the time of his death, Sid Vicious was 22-years old, and Nancy Spungen was only 20 at the time she died. Spungen’s family did not give Anne Beverly permission to spread her son’s ashes on Spungen’s grace, but some claim she did so anyway. Others claim she dropped his urn in a Heathrow terminal, where his ashes were sent into the air vents and throughout the terminal (Maloney).

               Officially, the story of Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen is a tragedy with a mysterious end. It is likely that we will never have answers as to what really happened that night in room 100. Those who were there either won’t talk, can’t remember, or are no longer able to talk. Sid and Nancy will always be remembered as one of great couples of the punk scene in the 1970s. They will always be remembered in romanticized songs and movies, viewed as an almost Romeo & Juliet style romance. Perhaps they even saw themselves as such. What will always be remembered is their whirlwind romance and the haunting words, “I want to be with my Nancy.”

“Sid Vicious And Nancy Spungen: Their Turbulent And Tragic Love Story”. Biography, 2020, https://www.biography.com/news/sid-vicious-nancy-spungen-love-murder.

Shelton, Jacob. “Did Sid Vicious Kill Nancy Spungen? Everything We Know…”. Groovy History, 2020, https://groovyhistory.com/did-sid-vicious-kill-nancy-spungen-sex-pistols.

Maloney, Alison. “How Death Pact Of Sid And Nancy Led To Overdoses, Suicide & Murder In Hotel Room”. The US Sun, 2021, https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/tv/2537924/sid-vicious-nancy-spungen-sex-pistols-murder/.

“Sid And Nancy: A Punk Rock Murder Mystery”. Crime+Investigation UK, https://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/article/sid-and-nancy-a-punk-rock-murder-mystery.

The Deaths of the Yuba County Five

               It started as a trip to a collegiate basketball game. The five men, often referred to as “boys” by family and friends, were set to play their own basketball game for the recreation center they frequented. The group was excited for the upcoming game they would play in, which was part of the reason their families were alarmed when they had not arrived home the morning after the collegiate game. On February 24, 1978, the story of the Yuba Country Five began, and the nightmare of their families did as well (Rossen).

               The basketball game, which was at California State University, Chico, ended at approximately 10 PM that night. Jack Madruga, 30, had driven the group in his 1969 turquoise and white Mercury Montego, a car which would be forever associated with this case (Gorney). Madruga was an army veteran, having served in Vietnam, and was particularly close to William “Bill” Sterling, 28. The youngest of the group was Jackie Guett, 24, and the oldest was Theodore “Ted” Weiher, 32, who were as close as Sterling and Madruga.  The final member of the group was Gary Mathias, 25, who had also served in the army, but was discharged after drug issues while stationed in Germany and diagnosed with schizophrenia. Mathias left his medication, which he took regularly, behind that night, leading to the belief that he had planned on being home in time to take the next dose. The last time we are sure the five were seen was at a Behr’s Market, where they stopped for junk food on the way home from the game. From there, they drove east, despite that their homes were south of the store (Rossen).

               It was their parents that raised the alarm when they didn’t arrive home by the next morning. While Mathias was known to occasionally stay out late with friends, the other four were home-bodies with fairly regular schedules (Gorney). They were, for lack of a better word, predictable. The four not being home by morning was extremely unusual for them. Despite the families alerting authorities to the missing men, the abandoned car was not found until February 28^th. The car still had gas in the tank, and most of the junk food had been eaten except half of a candy bar. The keys were not in the car and a window was left rolled down. Authorities theorized that the car had gotten stuck in the snow and for some reason, the five men who should have been able to get the car out chose to abandon it. According to Madruga’s mother, the Mercury Montego was Madruga’s prized possession and he wouldn’t have driven it somewhere it could have been damaged. The rolled down window also struck her as odd, both leading her to believe that the five had been forced to drive up the mountain (Rossen).

               After news broke of the disappearance, a witness came forward. Joseph Schons, 55, had been on the mountain the night the five men disappeared. According to his story, he had been driving up the mountain to see if the conditions were okay to bring his wife and child up at a later time when his car got stuck in a snowdrift. While trying to free his car, he suffered a minor heart attack (Rossen).  Schons claimed that, while resting in his car after his heart attack, he heard a whistling outside. When he left the car, he spotted five men and what appeared to be a woman with a baby in car headlights, and he heard them talking. He called to them for help only for the headlights to turn off and the talking to stop (Gorney). Schons also claimed to have seen two cars, one of which was a pickup truck, and the group get into one of the cars and drive away (Rae).  Early the next morning, Schons felt well enough to attempt to get help and left his car, heading for a lodge nearby. Along the way, he spotted the Mercury Montego, but at the time thought nothing of it. The car was 70 miles from the basketball game the group had attended. It was on the road that Schons reported he saw it on that the car was found, also called in by a park ranger (Rossen). The car was in the Plumas State Forest, just past Elke Retreat and sitting at elevation 4, 500 feet. Another witness, a woman who owned a store about an hour from the abandoned car, reported seeing five men in a red pickup truck. Two of the men stayed in the truck while two more bought food and one more made a phone call from a phone booth. This is not confirmed to have been the Yuba County Five (“The Haunting Case Of The Mathias Group (Yuba County Five) — Strangeoutdoors.Com”).

               In early June of 1978, motorcyclists came upon an abandoned forest service trailer 19 miles from the abandoned car with a broken window and an unusual, and thoroughly disgusting, scent permeating the area. Authorities were immediately called and inside, Weiher’s remains were found. Weiher had been draped in sheets, eight in total, in a manner that seemed almost ritualistic (Rae). His leather boots were missing from his body, his feet badly frost bitten, and he was emaciated. He had lost approximately 80 to 100 pounds, nearly halving his weight at the time he disappeared (Gorney). It was estimated, based on the growth of his beard and other factors in his autopsy, that he had been living in the trailer for eight to 13 weeks before his death (Rossen). What was unusual was that the trailer was filled with C-rations, only 36 of which were eaten, and freeze-dried meals (“The Haunting Case Of The Mathias Group (Yuba County Five) — Strangeoutdoors.Com”). The opened C-rations, which were military rations, had been opened with an Army P38 can opener, which only Mathias and Madruga would have known how to use from their time in the army. Weiher’s nickel ring, which his name engraved, his gold necklace, his wallet, and a Waltham watch missing crystals were all found on a table in the trailer. The watch was unfamiliar to the families (Gorney).  To add to the unusual discovery, there was a propane tank that could have been turned on and would have heated the trailer, as well as matches and plenty of material to start a fire to keep warm. Yet, none of these items had been used (Rossen).

               A day later, Madruga’s and Sterling’s remains were found 11 miles from the car (Gorney), on the opposite side of the road from the trailer containing Weiher’s remains and approximately 4.5 miles from the trailer. Authorities believed that their bodies had simply given up on them as the remaining members of the group continued on. The keys to the Mercury Montego were found on Madruga (Rossen). Madruga was found near a stream, having been dragged about 10 feet by animals that were scavenging his remains, lying face up and with his watch wrapped in his right hand. Sterling was not far, in a wooded area, scattered across a 50 foot area. All that was left of his remains were his bones (Gorney).

               Huett’s remains were found two days later, unfortunately by his father, Jack. Jack Huett found his son’s spine, and soon other bones were found in the area. His levi’s were found, along with his ripple-soled “Get Theres” shoes. The next day, his skull was found approximately 100 yards downhill from where the rest of his remains had been found by an assistant sheriff. The Huett family dentist was able to identify Huett through his dental records (Gorney). Mathias body has never been found, though his shoes were found in the trailer with Weiher’s body, leading to the belief that he may have taken the shoes, which would have been better for the terrain (Rae).

               Northwest of the trailer by a quarter mile, three wool blankets from the forest service were found along with a two-cell flashlight. The flashlight was turned off and rusted, but how long it had been there was unable to be determined (Gorney). Schons had claimed to have seen flashlights outside his car while he was still waiting for help to come, though this story is questionable due to his condition at the time (Rae).  Several more tips have been called in in the years since the five disappeared, but none have panned out beyond Schons’ statement. The families even turned to psychics, who predicted things such as the five had been kidnapped and were being held in either Nevada or Arizona, or that they had been murdered. According to the psychic, the five had been killed in a red house, possibly stained wood or brick, that was two stories and in Oroville, numbered either 4723 or 4753. This home was searched for, but it was found to not exist at all (Rae). Weiher’s sister-in-law has her own theory: the five saw something, whether they knew it or not, at the basketball game that night that prompted someone to follow them, or chase them, into the mountains (Rossen).

               The Yuba County Five are remembered by their families. Ted Weiher, who had an intellectual disability, was known to have worked as a janitor and at a snack bar for a period of time before his family urged him to quit due to worry about the stress. Jackie Huett, while not diagnosed with any disabilities, was frequently described as being “slow” by those around him. Bill Sterling was known to be a generous person, often volunteering at mental institutions doing things such as reading to patients. He was known to be a man of his faith, often bringing the Bible with him to the institutions. Just like Weiher, Sterling was known to be intellectually disabled. Jack Madruga was known to be a good friend, and was the only one of the five who could drive. He was also known to be disabled. Gary Mathias was doing well after struggling for a few years with his schizophrenia and had been working for his step-father, Bob, part-time as a gardener at his landscaping business. The five were all part of the Gate Way Project, a project in Yuba County for people with disabilities, and played basketball for the Special Olympics together. On the night they disappeared, none of them were dressed for the weather, which was likely part of their unfortunate fate (Rae).

Rossen, Jake. “‘Bizarre As Hell’: The Disappearance Of The Yuba County Five”. Mentalfloss.Com, 2018, https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/532063/bizarre-hell-disappearance-yuba-county-five.

Gorney, Cynthia. “5 ‘Boys’ Who Never Come Back”. 5 ‘Boys’ Who Never Come Back, 1978, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1978/07/06/5-boys-who-never-come-back/f8b30b11-baeb-4351-89f3-26456a76a4fb/. Accessed 4 Apr 2021.

Rae, Kendall. The Bizarre Disappearance Of The Yuba County 5. Youtube.Com, 2019.

“The Haunting Case Of The Mathias Group (Yuba County Five) — Strangeoutdoors.Com”. Strangeoutdoors.Com, 2017, https://www.strangeoutdoors.com/mysterious-stories-blog/2017/12/7/mathias-group-from-yuba-city.

The Lake Bodom Murders

          In the 2016 film, “Lake Bodom”, a group of teenagers set out to recreate a gruesome unsolved murder by camping in the site it occurred and recreating the night as it was known. While the movie is fiction, the crime they were recreating is unfortunately very, very real (Grey). The murders, known as both the Lake Bodom murders and the Bodominjärvi Murders (“Lake Bodom Murders”), were horrific and remain unsolved.

          The murders occurred on June 5, 1960, at Lake Bodom, near Espoo, Finland. The group of four was composed of two 15-year olds, Maila Björklund and Anja Mäki, and two 18-year olds, Nils Gustafsson and Seppo Boisman. Reportedly, the two young men were dating the two 15-year old girls. What started as a normal camping trip became a nightmare by early morning hours, as three of the four campers were murdered somewhere between four AM and six AM. The single survivor was Gustafsson, who was found unconscious lying on top of the tent with a concussion and fractured jaw (Grey). The bodies were found by Risto Siren at 11 AM, who raised the alarm on the situation. Investigators arrived around noon (“Lake Bodom Murders”).

          The tent was torn from the attack, the three teenage victims bludgeoned and stabbed to death inside. The attack likely occurred from the outside of the tent, explaining the damage done to it. The killer likely never entered the tent at all (“Lake Bodom Murders”). Several objects were taken from the scene, including the murder weapons and the keys to the teenagers’ motorcycles, though the motorcycles were still at the scene (Grey). Among the missing items was also the wallets of the victims and their clothes (“Lake Bodom Murders”). While one murder weapon has been identified as likely being a knife, the weapon that caused the bludgeoning damage is unidentified and neither weapon was ever found. Unfortunately, the initial investigation was botched during efforts to retrieve the missing objects, many of which were never retrieved (Grey).

          The investigators that handled the case were not on the scene until six hours later, and the scene was never cordoned off as it should have been. Soldiers were called in to help search for the missing items, helping to find the clothing missing from the victims as well as Gustafsson’s missing shoes some ways away from the scene. While this was helpful in finding some of the missing items, it lead to contamination of the evidence (Grey).

          An unidentified blond man was seen leaving the scene of the murders by birdwatchers that morning, but who this man was has never been officially identified (Grey). A local fisherman also reported seeing a blond man near the scene, but due to the description being so vague, neither account was followed up on (“Lake Bodom Murders”). There have been other suspects, however. A man who ran a kiosk for camping, who reportedly hated campers and was known to throw rocks at campers and break peoples’ tents, Karl (also named as Valdemar (Eckmeier)) Gyllström, was one of the first suspects. Some of the witnesses identified him as the blond man seen that morning, and Gyllström had reportedly confessed to the murders on several occasions over the years in varying states of inebriation (Grey). According to a neighbor to whom he had confessed, he disposed of the murder weapons by throwing them into a well, which he had filled not long after the murder. Police did investigate the well (“Lake Bodom Murders”). Gyllström was never linked to the crime with evidence and investigators have stated they felt he was an unstable individual and that his confessions couldn’t be taken seriously (Grey). His wife gave an alibi for the night of the murders, but redacted her story on her death bed (“Lake Bodom Murders”). Gyllström died in 1969, drowning in Lake Bodom in what many felt was a suicide due to guilt for the murders (Grey). Officially, Gyllström was never charged and never named officially as a suspect.

          Hans Assmann, a former Nazi and rumored to have once been a KGB agent (Grey), though there is no evidence to prove this (Eckmeier), is another suspect that many point to. Assmann lived near the lake and, on the morning of June 6^th, was at a hospital in Helsinki covered in red-strained clothing and with dirty nails. Doctors at the hospital identified the red stained as blood, and later one of the doctors, Dr. Jorma Palo, would write books about Assmann possibly being the killer (Grey). At the hospital, Assmann was reportedly acting suspiciously, aggressively, and anxiously, and even tried to use a fake name (Eckmeier). Assmann was found by one detective to possibly be connected to the murder of Kyllikki Saari in 1953. Despite these things, investigators never seriously investigated Assmann, reportedly because he had an alibi for that night. Some believe his political connections are actually why he was never investigated (Grey). Assman is also suspected in other murders, including a young girl who was run over and two girls who were out camping just like the Lake Bodom victims (Eckmeier).

          Over 40 years after the horrific murders occurred, investigators arrested survivor, Nils Gustafsson. It was a shocking turn of events. New evidence, including DNA and bloodstain analysis, reportedly pointed to Gustafsson, as well as a witness who apparently came forward after 40 painful years of silence (Grey). This witness, however came forward for a television interview, but would not speak with police and the account was not taken as being 100% reliable (“Lake Bodom Murders”). Gustafsson’s trial commenced in August of 2005, where a life sentence was on the table. The prosecution argued that his target that night had been his girlfriend, Maila Björkland, and that the other two victims were murdered to get rid of any witnesses. His injuries that night, according to the prosecution, were due to a fight with Boisman that night and that some had been self-inflicted to deflect suspicion. The story argued by the prosecution also included a half-mile long hike to hide Gustafsson’s shoes as well as the clothing of the victims. This, the defense argued, made no sense when the severity of Gustafsson’s injuries were taken into account. He was too injured to commit the murders, or hike so far (Grey). Unfortunately for Gustafsson, he was initially sentenced, but a year later was acquitted of the charges brought against him (“Lake Bodom Murders”) and received pay from the government for the time he spent in prison during the trial and the emotional damage he sustained during the proceedings (Grey).

          As of now, the case has remained open and unsolved since Gustafsson’s acquittal in 2005 (“Lake Bodom Murders”). Most likely, this case that still divides residents of Finland to this day, will forever remain unsolved.

Grey, Orrin. “Lake Bodom Murders: 60 Years Later, Finland’S Infamous Killings Remain A Mystery”. Https://The-Line-Up.Com, 2020, https://the-line-up.com/lake-bodom-murders.

“Lake Bodom Murders”. Unsolved Crimes, https://solvedandunsolvedcrimes.wordpress.com/2019/08/11/lake-bodom-murders-1960/.

Eckmeier, Allison. “True Crime: Lake Bodom Murders”. Medium, 2017, https://medium.com/@allisoneckmeier/true-crime-lake-bodom-murders-c9070a197de9.

Los Feliz Murder Mansion

               For over 50 years, the mansion at Glendower Place in Los Feliz, Los Angeles, California, has been left almost entirely untouched. Since the events of December 6, 1959, the home has gained a reputation well known among true crime enthusiasts and paranormal investigation groups across the country. The fact that the mansion remained essentially untouched for decades, with the exception of the new owners moving some items into the home, has spurred public imagination. Many claim the mansion is haunted, while others are obsessed with the things left in the home presumed to belong to the previous owners. The home was bought in 1960 by the Enriquez family, Emily and Julian, who’s son, Rudy, inherited the home in 1994 after his mother’s death. Rudy Enriquez died in 2015 and the mansion was  emptied of the long term contents and sold twice in 2016, in March for  $2.75 million and in July for $2.3 million on probate (“Los Feliz Murder Mansion”).

               In the years leading up to the murder-suicide that the mansion has become known for, the Perelson’s were in financial difficulty. Dr. Harold Perelson, cardiologist, had been in a long term legal battle with ex-business partner, Edward Shustack, who allegedly stole the device Perelson had been working on after offering to make it market-ready. Shustack had, reportedly, offered to partner with Perelson on a device he was working on that would allow syringes to be injected from small glass capsules, which would allow for safer injections and lower chances of contamination. The two were partnered for 11 years before Shustack allegedly betrayed Perelson and potentially cost him thousands of dollars, all of which Perelson had put into inventing the device.  Perelson sought $100,000 in damages, the equivalent of $1 million today, and sunk even more money into the two year long legal battle (Mahon). In the end, Perelson was rewarded less than half of what he sought, a measly $23, 956. On top of this painful blow to Perelson, two years before the murder-suicide his children were in a car accident when then-16-year old Judye Perelson was driving. He sued the other driver, but only received enough money in compensation to cover the children’s medical expenses. Reportedly, Judye wrote an aunt expressing that her parents were in a bind financially (Glick Kudler).

               While Perelson’s motivations are officially unknown, these financial woes may be part of why he took the actions he did on December 6, 1959. At approximately 4:30 AM, he got up and took a ball-peen hammer to his wife, Lillian’s, head (Glick Kudler). While the blow didn’t kill her, it made an inch-wide hole in her skull (Mahon). As she lay in bed, drowning in her own blood, Perelson went after 18-year old Judye in her bedroom. He struck her, but had missed and she woke up. It’s reported that she asked him not to kill her, to which he responded with “lay still” and “keep quiet”. Luckily for Judye, her younger siblings, Debby and Joel, woke up and distracted her father, allowing her time to escape. While he was telling his younger children that they were just having a nightmare, Judye managed to get outside and to a neighbor’s house. As the neighbors called an ambulance and the police, Perelson took Nembutal and 31 pills that could have been tranquilizers or possibly codeine and lay down with his wife. By the time the ambulance had arrived, the two were dead (Glick Kudler)

               The Perelson children were sent to live with an aunt on the east coast after the awful events, and the house was put on the market. It is known that the Enriquez bought it in 1960, but there are rumors that the house was rented for a time after the murder-suicide. The rumor states that another family lived in the home for a short while before fleeing the house on the anniversary of the events, claiming the tree and presents in the home were actually their’s and not the Perelson’s. This rumor also claims that the Perelson’s were Jewish, and therefor would not have celebrated Christmas (Glick Kudler). While it is known that Perelson was the child of Jewish immigrants, whether or not he and his family practiced the religion is debated.

               Why did Dr. Harold Perelson choose his actions that night? Perhaps it was the financial pressures he was reportedly under. Other proposed theories pointed to his mental health – he was known to have had multiple coronaries, which the family publicly said were stress related. Now it’s known that these coronaries were caused by suicide attempts using powerful drugs, and that Lillian Perelson had talked about having her husband committed for a time (Mahon). Whether or not this is related to what happened that night, it is proof that Perelson had a history of suicidal thoughts. It doesn’t point to the murder-suicide he committed that night in 1959, however. We will never truly know what his motivations were that night, but we are left to wonder. Perhaps he tried to give some form of an answer, as Dante’s Divine Comedy was found open on his bedside table when paramedics arrived, opened to the excerpt:

               “Midway upon the journey of life, I found myself within a forest dark, for the straightforward pathway had been lost…” (Mahon)

“Los Feliz Murder Mansion”. Atlas Obscura, https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/los-feliz-murder-mansion.

Glick Kudler, Adrian. “The Real Story Behind LA’s Most Famous And Mysterious Murder House”. Curbed LA, 2015, https://la.curbed.com/2015/9/21/9920706/los-feliz-murder-house.

 Mahon, Chris. “Los Feliz Murder House: The Dream Home That Turned Into A Nightmare”. https://The-Line-Up.Com, 2019, https://the-line-up.com/los-feliz-murder-house.

The Lawson Family Murders

               In 1911, Charles Lawson married his wife, Fannie, and the two had eight children together. Their third child, William, died in 1920 at six from illness (Blanco). Six of their seven remaining children died in the horrific murders that became a spectacle in 1929. In later 1929, at Christmas time, Charles Lawson, 43, took his family for a studio photo, an unusual thing for people of their standing to do. Taking a family studio photo was akin to taking a sudden trip to someplace like Disney in modern times – it was expensive, and generally not done by people in the working class. He bought his family new clothes specifically for the occasion (Sutton). At the time, it was unknown as to why he was getting something so expensive done.

               The morning of December 25, 1929, Marie Lawson, 17, woke up early to make her family a Christmas cake. The cake would never be eaten and for years after that Christmas morning, it would be on display and protected under a glass cover after tourists stole raisins from the top of the cake (Sutton). The oldest son, Arthur, 16, was not home, as he had been allowed by Charles to walk to Walnut Cove with a friend to buy ammunition for a rabbit hunt, a popular past time (Spear).  While Arthur was away and Marie was making the infamous cake, the middle daughters, Carrie, 12, and Maybell, 7,  headed out to the home of their Aunt and Uncle, but the two would never arrive (Sutton).

               Charles Lawson was waiting outside by the tobacco barn, a 12-gauge shotgun in hand, and as his daughters passed by he shot them both. To ensure the two were dead, he bludgeoned them before hiding their remains in the barn. From there, he headed to the porch where his wife, Fannie, 37, was sitting. He shot her as well before heading inside where Marie had screamed and his two youngest sons, Raymond, 2, and James, 4, tried to hide. He shot Marie just as he shot his wife and other two daughters before hunting down his sons, bludgeoning them to death as well as their infant daughter, Mary Lou, who was only four months old. An autopsy would later reveal that Mary Lou’s cause of death a skull fracture. Charles maneuvered the bodies, laying them with rocks under their heads and arms across their chests (Sutton).

Following the murders, Charles took the family dogs, Sam and Queen, and retreated into the woods nearby the farm, where he reportedly washed the blood from his hands in a stream (Spear). While people had discovered the murders and were flocking to the scene, Charles was in the wood, pacing around a tree for what could have been hours. A gunshot was heard from the forest by those at the home, and soon after Charles body was found by the tree he had been pacing around (Sutton). In his pocket they found two letters, one saying, “Trouble can cause…” and the other, “Nobody to blame,” written on receipts from a tobacco auction. These letters gave no answers as to why Charles would massacre his family the way he did, leaving 16-year old Arthur alone. Some believe Charles allowed Arthur to leave because Arthur was likely the only one who could have stopped the massacre from continuing (Spear).

At the time, rabbit hunting was a popular past time, which would explain why the sound of gunshot wouldn’t necessarily be alarming in the area. The weather conditions were bitterly cold, the ground covered with deep snow (Spear). Winter is generally harder for people, especially when it is a particularly cold winter. Could the level of cold and snow around at the time have contributed to the actions Charles Lawson took those days? Nearly 100 years later, we likely will never truly know, but speculations abound. In the months leading up to the massacre, Charles was reportedly exhibiting erratic behavior. He had been to his doctor, Dr. C.J Helsabeck, for insomnia as well as severe headaches. Dr. Helsabeck would be in charge of the death inquiries, along with the brother to Sheriff John Taylor, Dr. Spottswood Taylor, who was home for the season from his internship at John Hopkins in Baltimore. The two removed Charles’ brain, which was noted as being smaller and having an underdeveloped central region. Dr. Taylor took the brain, which was preserved in formaldehyde, back to Baltimore for further examination. The current location of the brain, if it is still around somewhere, is unknown (Spear). Charles had also sustained a head injury while digging a ditch several months before he killed his family, which some claim changed him. Despite this, the examinations done on his brain showed no abnormalities (History).

Another speculation, though uncorroborated, is that Charles was a witness to something major. Organized crime has been suggested (Blanco), and it is known that at least one well known member of an organization visited the home after the murders occurred (Spear). This theory claims that Charles didn’t commit the murders or die by suicide. Instead, Charles was framed for the murders and set up after he was killed as well (Blanco).

In the 1990s, decades after Arthur Lawson unfortunately died in a car accident in 1945, the possible motivation behind the murders was finally revealed. Stella Lawson Boles, cousin of the Lawson children, published a book about the murders. She claimed that her mother and other Lawson women had been heard at the funeral discussing something that Fannie had come to them with concerns of before that Christmas – she was concerned that Charles and Marie may have been engaging in an incestuous relationship (Sutton). Not only had there been discussions among the Lawson women at the time, but Jettie Lawson, who died in 1928, had spoken about the possibility before her death. This points to the possibility that Fannie suspected an incestuous relationship long before the massacre (Blanco).  Furthermore, Marie’s friend, Ella May Johnson, came forward with a claim that Marie was pregnant at the time. She claimed that Marie confided in her that she was pregnant with her father’s child (Sutton). According to Ella May, Charles and Fannie knew that Marie was pregnant with Charles’ child at the time (Blanco). A neighbor, Sam Hill, also came forward with supposed knowledge of incest, though he claimed that Charles had forced himself upon his daughter, and threatened Marie, after she became pregnant, that “there would be some killing done” should anyone find out (Sutton). Despite these claims, however, there are no records showing a pregnancy in her autopsy (Spear).

Charles brother, Marion Lawson, opened the house as a tourist attraction shortly after the murders, claiming the money was going to Arthur to pay the mortgage on the farm. The cake Marie made that Christmas was put on display, a macabre reminder of what should have been a normal Christmas morning. After the raisin decorations on the cake began to be taken by tourists, the cake was protected with a glass cover (Blanco). The rooms were left as they were when the murders occurred – bloody and dirty – for the authenticity (Spear).

The family was buried in a mass grave, dug by family and friends, in seven caskets, despite there being eight victims. The youngest victim, four-month old Mary Lou, was buried in her mother’s casket, wrapped up in her mother’s arms (Spear).  

History, Unmasked. “Bloody Christmas Of 1929: The Lawson Family Massacre”. Unmasked History Magazine, 2019, https://unmaskedhistory.com/2019/12/22/bloody-christmas-of-1929-the-lawson-family-massacre/.

Sutton, Candace. “Lawson Family Christmas Day Massacre Photo Tells Secret Behind Slaughter”. Newscomau, 2016, https://www.news.com.au/news/secret-behind-photo-in-lawson-family-christmas-day-massacre-when-seven-people-died/news-story/080cd6dcee54a210d70098ca45dc3851.

Blanco, Juan. “Charles Davis Lawson | Murderpedia, The Encyclopedia Of Murderers”. Murderpedia.Org, https://murderpedia.org/male.L/l/lawson-charles-davis.htm.

Spear, Susie. “Lawson Family Murders: A Look Back After 90 Years”. Greensboro, 2019, https://greensboro.com/rockingham_now/lawson-family-murders-a-look-back-after-90-years/article_16aeaae1-5ded-57e8-bde0-35e0d3e69466.html. Accessed 22 Feb 2021.

The Seguin Murders

                On the morning of April 29, 1992, the body of Mary Ann “Polly” Seguin, 34, was found in the Sudbury River, in Southborough, MA. She had been bludgeoned to death by what was later determined to be an ax (Croteau). Her body had been wrapped in towels and linens before being left in the river (Globe). Her husband, Kenneth, 35, was found staggering around about a mile from where she was found by two fishermen, his wrists, ankles, and neck slashed in a manner that suggested a suicide attempt (“Divers Find Bodies Of Children Of Suspected Wife-Killer”).  Their two children, Danny, 7, and Amy, 5 were missing and it took no time at all for a search to begin (Croteau). The question was, what had happened to the Seguin family?

                Kenneth Seguin, a software marketing executive, was held at the Bridgewater State Hospital, the corrections psychiatric hospital, under suspicion of his wife’s murder. During the days following the discovery of her remains, his lawyer, Thomas Giblin, was his main go between with investigators and press. According to Giblin, Seguin was suffering memory lapses, severely depressed, and not in a state of mind to help search for his missing children. At the time, they claimed Seguin had no knowledge as to his children’s whereabouts or safety (Globe).

                Unfortunately, the town of Hopkinton, MA, where the family lived and had moved into a new $220,000 house just the weekend before the murders, got the answer to their questions on May 2, 1992. At 8 AM that day, divers recovered the remains of the two children from Beaver Pond in Franklin, MA (“Divers Find Bodies Of Children Of Suspected Wife-Killer”). It was determined that the children had been drugged with sleeping pills before having their throats, and in the case of Amy, her wrists, slashed and being hidden in Beaver Pond by their killer. The killer had used leaves, sticks, and other debris from the area to try and hide the remains of the two young children (Croteau).

                At the time that Seguin was eventually questioned, he made the claim that two men had broken into the house, attacked him and Mary Ann, and drugged the children. At first it would seem that the autopsies of the children agreed, as they had sleeping pills in their systems (Croteau). The truth eventually came to light. On April 28, 1992, Seguin took his children for a drive, during which he gave them the sleeping pills found in their systems. Once they fell asleep, he slit Danny’s throat and Amy’s throat and wrists. He hid their bodies in Beaver Pond before returning home, where he slept next to his wife for approximately two to three hours before taking an ax and killing her with one swift blow to the head. He disposed of her body in the Sudbury River before attempting suicide himself (“Executive Gets Life Term In Killing Of His Family (Published 1993)”).  

                Seguin’s lawyers argued that an insanity defense at trial. According to them he was under immense pressure at the time of the murders due to the death of his father-in-law, his failure to have the family’s dream home built in a timely manner, and pressure from work, that caused him to develop a delusion. He believed that the only way he could save his family was by killing them and himself, and reuniting in heaven once they were all dead. Assistant District Attorney David Meier disagreed, claiming the act was premeditated. Seguin had left an unusual, evasive but coherent, voicemail on his wife’s answering machine while he was taking the children away. He cleaned up after the crime, flipping the bloody mattress over (Croteau), and lying to the police with his continually inconsistent answers to questions (“Executive Gets Life Term In Killing Of His Family (Published 1993)”). He had also made anonymous calls to the children’s schools to inform them that the kids would not be attending the day they died (Croteau).

                To the surprise of everyone, the jury found him guilty on three counts of second-degree murder. Many felt that the verdict would either be first-degree murder or not guilty by reason of insanity, but the jurors felt that while he was mentally impaired at the time of the murders, he understood the actions he was taking were wrong. He was sentenced to life in prison with no hope for parole for 30 years (“Executive Gets Life Term In Killing Of His Family (Published 1993)”).

                Since the time of the murders and his conviction, Seguin has applied for parole on multiple occasions. Each time he has been denied. During his parole hearings, he has made several claims. He had planned suicide after killing his wife and children. Mary Ann had said she was going to leave him. He was depressed and having financial problems. Each claim fell on deaf ears, as the board decided his attempts to cover up the murders proved the act was premeditated (Croteau). It has been almost 30 years since the horrific murders happened, and it seems he will remain in prison for his crimes, regardless of what his state of mind was at the time. The facts remain, no matter what he claims: a 7-year-old and a 5-year-old died at the hands of someone who was meant to protect them, and a 34-year old died at the hands of someone who was supposed to love her.

“Divers Find Bodies Of Children Of Suspected Wife-Killer”. UPI, 1992, https://www.upi.com/Archives/1992/05/02/Divers-find-bodies-of-children-of-suspected-wife-killer/6780704779200/.

Globe, Boston. “MAN CHARGED WITH KILLING WIFE; 2 KIDS MISSING”. Orlandosentinel.Com, 1992, https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1992-05-03-9205030259-story.html.

“Executive Gets Life Term In Killing Of His Family (Published 1993)”. Nytimes.Com, 1993, https://www.nytimes.com/1993/02/07/us/executive-gets-life-term-in-killing-of-his-family.html.

Croteau, Scott. “Kenneth Seguin Denied Parole In Brutal Killings Of His Wife, 2 Children”. Masslive, 2017, https://www.masslive.com/news/2017/08/kenneth_seguin_denied_parole_i.html.

Lizzie Borden Took An “Axe”

            If you grew up in the United States, or at least in Massachusetts, you’ve probably heard the old rhyme. Even if you don’t know the story of Lizzie Borden, at some point in time, probably on the school yard or in a classroom, you’ve most likely joined in.

Lizzie Borden took an axe,
And gave her mother forty whacks,
When she saw what she had done,
She gave her father forty-one

            The rhyme may change a bit, depending on who you’ve heard it from, but the overall theme is still there, though the facts aren’t quite right.

            The murders occurred on August 4, 1892, in Fall River, MA. Andrew and Abby Borden, the wealthy parents of the now infamous Lizzie Borden, were found separately in their home. Andrew had been attacked so viciously that his face appeared to have nearly been split in half. Abby was found upstairs, dead from a similar attack, and later determined to have been murdered first (History.com Editors 2010). Lizzie raised the alarm, calling for the family maid, Bridget “Maggie” Sullivan, whom had just finished washing the outside windows and laid down. Lizzie had found her father, beaten nearly beyond recognition, on their living room couch. Authorities were quickly alerted, and approximately a half an hour after they arrived and began to investigate, Abby Borden was found. Abby, Lizzie’s step-mother, was found upstairs by a neighbor who had come to comfort Lizzie. Her body was cold, which lead to the belief that she had been killed first, since Andrew was still warm (Linder). We know now, more than a century later, that the rooms in the house had different microclimates that could have explained this. The room Abby was in was several degrees different in temperature from the room Andrew was murdered in, and could have caused Abby’s blood to coagulate faster. The initial estimate of the time window was made based more on the blood coagulation than anything else, and we now know that instead of one-to-two hours, the time window could have been as small as 15-20 minutes (Lizzie Borden: The Curious Life And Death Of…).

            It was reported at the time that, while the murder was gruesome, there was no signs of a struggle in the room where Andrew was found. Supposedly a man who worked for Andrew Borden, referred to as a “Portuguese laborer” at the time, was seen visiting the residence the morning of the murder to get his pay. It was believed that Andrew had told the man he couldn’t pay him at the time and to return another time, leading to the murder. Newspapers reported that medical evidence suggested a tall man had attacked Abby Borden from behind, placing suspicion in the man who visited that morning (Linder).

            It didn’t take long for suspicion to fall on Lizzie Borden, who was 33-years old at the time. Only two days after the murders, a clerk at the local drug store S.R. Smith’s, Eli Bence, came forward with information: Lizzie had been at the shop the day before the killings looking to buy prussic acid, also known as cyanide. Lizzie claimed to have little knowledge of her step-mother’s whereabouts after 9 AM, at which time she claimed Abby went upstairs to fix the pillows. She also gave the investigators a story about looking for lead sinkers for a fishing trip in the barn in the backyard during the short period of time Andrew Borden was murdered in. This was considered unlikely, however, as the barn was dusty inside and there were no signs that anyone had been inside recently. It didn’t take long for the intruder theory to be brought into question and for a “leading physician” to speak out. He claimed that the hacking action the Borden’s were subjected to was a sign of a woman who was acting without consciousness (Linder).

At the same time, the Boston Herald began to report on the murder. While the family insisted that Lizzie had a good relationship with Abby, the Herald reported that they frequently fought and hadn’t been speaking for some time. Strangely, while the Herald seemed to be pointing suspicion her way, the writers there seemed to also feel that she was above reproach as she had no history of being unkind in a deliberate manner. Despite this, Lizzie seemed the most likely suspect. Bridget Sullivan was outside washing the windows and her sister, Emma Borden, was not even at the home at the time of the murder. On August 9^th, Lizzie, Bridget, and a house guest, John Morse, were questioned in front of the local magistrate Josiah Blaisdell by District Attorney Hosea Knowlton (Linder). Morse had a seemingly strong alibi – he was visiting relatives fairly far from the Borden residence and left early that morning, traveling on a horse car with six priests. The driver of the car was questioned, but couldn’t remember Morse despite remembering the priests. Morse’s relatives confirmed, however, that he was visiting them at the time (Lizzie Borden: The Curious Life And Death Of…). Lizzie did so poorly on examination that, two days later after the inquest ended, she was arrested by Police Chief Hilliard. She was taken from Fall River to Taunton, approximately eight miles north of her home town. While she plead “not guilty,” after her preliminary hearing on August 22^nd Judge Blaisdell found it likely that she was guilty and she was ordered to appear in front of a grand jury.  (Linder). It is worth noting that Lizzie was under the influence of a double dose of morphine during the inquest, which could explain why she had conflicting answers during her four-hour examination (Lizzie Borden: The Curious Life And Death Of…).

The trial was a spectacle. It convened in November and initially the jury was reluctant to bring an indictment, but were reconvened when new testimony was to be given. Family friend Alice Russel, who had stayed with the Borden sisters in the days following the murders, testified that she had seen Lizzie burning a blue dress, which Lizzie claimed was due to the dress being covered in paint. Bridget had testified earlier that Lizzie had worn a blue dress the morning the deaths occurred, and these testimonies combined resulted in an indictment being brought down upon Lizzie Borden. The trial began on June 5, 1893, Lizzie represented by a team of lawyers including Andrew Jennings and George Robinson, who was once the governor of Massachusetts. Representing the state was District Attorney Knowlton and Thomas Moody, who undoubtedly had a case ahead of them proving a woman was capable of such a crime in the Victorian Era (Linder).

The trial began with a show: Moody exposed the skulls of Andrew and Abby Borden accidentally while giving his opening speech, which reportedly caused Lizzie to go “into a feint” which is illustrated in one of the most famous images from the trial (Linder). A hatchet found in the basement, with the handle broken off, was presented as the possible murder weapon by the prosecution. The defense argued that without a handle, the hatchet could not be used as a weapon, and the handle was never found. The hatcher was also sent to Harvard University for analysis, along with a hair on it, but nothing came of it. The hair was from a cow, and when the remaining wood on the hatchet was soaked for blood evidence none was found. One of the judges, as it was a three-judge affair, found Lizzie’s testimony from her inquest was inadmissible, as her attorney wasn’t present at the time she was questioned. Despite this set back, the prosecution was sure they could still win with the testimony from Alice Russel on seeing Lizzie burn the dress. That is, until the defense put Emma Borden on the stand, where she testified that she had told Lizzie to burn an old raggedy dress (Lizzie Borden: The Curious Life And Death Of…).

             In total, the trial lasted three weeks. The famous rhyme came to life during those three weeks, and largely framed the case for the public despite the falsities in it. The morning of the final day, Lizzie wept, along with some men in the crowd and possibly even the judges, as she was found not guilty. While the upper class of Fall River seemed relieved that she was acquitted, the working class felt that she had gotten away with murder. Indeed, over a century later most people still believe she got away with the crime (Lizzie Borden: The Curious Life And Death Of…). The question remains: what really happened to Abby and Andrew Borden?

            Andrew was known to be a shrewd businessman and was not over well-liked. One speculation is that one of his business contacts could be responsible. Others who feel that Lizzie truly is the murderer have theories of her motives: money, freedom, and hatred. Andrew was a traditional Victorian man and had a great amount of control over Lizzie and Emma, who were both unmarried. He had no known will, meaning Abby would get his fortune should he die before her, and it was known that Lizzie and Emma both wanted to live a more lavish life that they did have the money for. They likely feared Abby getting all of his money if he were to die. After the trial was over, the sisters moved to a house in an area they had desired for some time and lived the lavish life they had wanted (Lizzie Borden: The Curious Life And Death Of…).

            There have been other speculations as well, over the years. In recent years people became aware of an unusual thing: on the morning of the murders, the front door was locked from the inside. The door had three locks on it, and usually two of the three locks were left unlocked for Andrew to come home for his morning nap, but on the day of the murders the door was locked. Bridget testified that she remembered hearing Lizzie laughing at her from the stairs as she struggled with the locks, and she was seen leaving the house that night with an unidentified bundle. She was never questioned on this and what the bundle was is unknown. Some believe Bridget may have been involved in the murder, but this is not provable (Lizzie Borden: The Curious Life And Death Of…).

Over a hundred years later, we likely will never know if Lizzie really did commit the murders, or if it was an intruder. What remains is the rhyme we’ve all come to know, and the spectacle left behind still revisited on a regular basis.

History.com Editors. “Lizzie Borden’s Parents Found Dead”. HISTORY, 2010, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/borden-parents-found-dead.

Linder, Douglas. “Lizzie Borden”. Famous-Trials.Com, https://famous-trials.com/lizzieborden.

“Lizzie Borden: The Curious Life And Death Of…”. Smithsonian Channel, 2020.

The Disappearance of Timmothy Pitzen

            On May 11, 2011, 6-year old Timmothy Pitzen was picked up early from school by his mother, Amy Fry-Pitzen (Helling). Timmothy is described as having been a happy and energetic child, who loved to play. At the time of these events, his parents, Amy and Jim Pitzen, were going through a rough patch, but Jim was blindsided by what occurred. Jim dropped his son off that morning, reminding the young boy he loved him and to be good. Timmothy had been at school less than an hour when Amy showed up and signed him out under the pretense that there was a family emergency (Sparling, and Motsinger). Less than a week later, on May 14, 2011, Amy was found dead in the Rockford Inn motel by an employee. It was determined that Amy had died by suicide, her wrists and neck having reportedly self-inflicted slashing wounds on them. The note Amy left claimed that Timmothy was safe and with people who would take care of him, but that no one would ever be able to find him. In the 10 years since his disappearance, there has been little found out about Timmoty Pitzen’s whereabouts and his family still holds out hope (Helling).

            We have some information available on what Amy and Timmothy were doing during the three days before Amy’s body was found. After picking Timmothy up from school, the two enjoyed some time at the Brookfield Park Zoo, Key Lime Cove resort, and Kalahari resort. The Kalahari resort, located in Wisconsin Wells, was the last place the two were seen together. Amy, who was 43 at the time of her death and Timmothy’s disappearance, is known to have purchased a pen, paper, and envelopes at a Family Dollar in Winnebago, Illinois the day she died. At 11:15 PM, Amy checked in to the Rockford Inn she would be found in, without young Timmothy. A phone call Amy made on May 13^th narrows down the last known location of Timmothy. He was with her the I-88 and I-39 corridors northwest of the Dixon/Rock Falls/Sterling area, approximately 5 miles northwest of Sterling, Illinois near Route 40 (NBC Chicago).

            Amy’s car, a 2004 Ford Expedition SUV, was found abandoned in a parking lot by investigators on the day she was found. Concerningly, the car was dirty and had what was either long grass or weeds stuck underneath it. There was also a large, alarming blood stain that matched Timmothy, but family members seem to believe this is actually from a nosebleed Timmothy had suffered before his disappearance. It is worth noting that the knife used in Amy’s death only had her blood on it. The clothing she was seen wearing in security footage, Timmothy’s Spider-Man backpack, her cellphone, and her I-Pass are all missing, not being present in the hotel room or her car. Her I-Pass records were checked and showed two trips to the area Timmothy’s disappeared, once on February 18, 2011 and again on March 20, 2011, neither of which family members could explain (NBC Chicago).

            According to Jim Pitzen, Amy had a history of suicidal tendencies; she was on medication for depression and had survived a suicide attempt in the past. Right before Amy seemingly whisked Timmothy away to an unknown location, she and Jim had a fight about Amy going on a cruise with a friend and leaving them behind. Due to her history of mental health issues and three previous divorces, some speculate that Amy’s behavior may have stemmed from a fear that she would lose custody of Timmothy if she and Jim were to divorce (Sparling, and Motsinger).

            Investigators discovered a secret email account Amy Fry-Pitzen, separate from the account she and her husband, Jim Pitzen, both had access to. The account was mostly spam emails, and unfortunately deleted emails could not be retrieved from the account as Yahoo apparently didn’t keep those kinds of records. In 2014, a woman came forward from Rocktown, Illinois claiming to have seen a young man that looked like the age-progressed image released by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. The image was made to show what Timmothy would look like at 9-years old, but it is not known who the boy that was seen was (NBC Chicago).

            Shockingly, Amy’s cellphone was turned in to investigators in 2013. The woman who turned it in had apparently found it on the side of the road in 2011 and kept it on a shelf until her brother needed a new phone. A family member recognized one of the names on the list when the phone was turned on, but unfortunately nothing seems to have come from this discovery. Another tip came in in 2015, again relating to the age-progressed photos, that a boy in Florida looked like the photos. The boy reportedly didn’t attend school and the family moved into the Florida neighborhood around Timmothy’s disappearance and had license plates from the Midwest. In the end, however, the boy was not Timmothy Pitzen (Sparling, and Motsinger).

            A young man, estimated at the time to be 14-years old, briefly brought hope to those following the case after her appeared wandering the streets in Newport, Kentucky and told police he was Timmothy Pitzen. The young man claimed he had escaped his kidnappers, who were in Ohio (Sparling, and Motsinger). The young man was identified through DNA as, not Timmothy Pitzen, but instead as Brian Rini, 24, not 14. On October 31, 2019, Rini was found competent to stand trial for the deception after his mental stability was called into question. He is known to have an extensive criminal history going back to age 13 and wouldn’t let police take his fingerprints or DNA when he first appeared (Sewell).

            It has been nearly an entire decade since the Pitzen family last saw Timmothy, who would be 16-years old now. The family has gone far too long without answers and many are holding out hope that someday, Timmothy may find his way home. For now, the answer still remains: where is Timmothy Pitzen, and what happened during those days he was alone with his mother?

 Helling, Steve. “HLN Special Examines Case Of Timmothy Pitzen, Missing Boy Whose Mom Wrote Taunting Suicide Note”. PEOPLE.Com, 2020, https://people.com/crime/timmothy-pitzen-hln-special-examines-case-missing-boy/. Accessed 9 Jan 2021.

NBC Chicago. “Timmothy Pitzen Case: What We Know So Far”. NBC Chicago, 2019, https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/national-international/everything-we-know-about-the-timmothy-pitzen-case/81170/. Accessed 9 Jan 2021.

Sparling, Hannah, and Carol Motsinger. Cincinnati.Com, 2019, https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2019/04/04/timmothy-pitzen-bizarre-backstory-his-disappearance/3364096002/. Accessed 9 Jan 2020.

Sewell, Dan. “Plea Agreement Reached For Ohio Man Who Claimed To Be Missing Timmothy Pitzen From Aurora”. Chicagotribune.Com, 2020, https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/aurora-beacon-news/ct-timmothy-pitzen-case-aurora-20200107-ruyfc3xs5vd47bgdh67bi7exd4-story.html. Accessed 7 Jan 2021.

The Death of JonBenét Ramsey

            JonBenét Ramsey was 6-years old at the time of her unexpected death on December 26, 1996. She was the daughter of John and Patsy Ramsey, and younger sister of Burke Ramsey. John ran the computer systems company Access Graphics, which was later absorbed by Lockheed Martin. Patsy was a previous beauty queen, which was why she so excitedly got JonBenét involved in the child beauty pageant world (Mack, 2020). JonBenét was well known, thanks to her mother, and her death caused a media frenzy.  

            That morning, the Ramsey’s woke up to get ready for the day and Patsy found an unusually long ransom note on the staircase. The note was nearly three pages long and full of superfluous language that is unusual for a ransom note. According to the note, the group who kidnapped JonBenét was a “small foreign faction.” The note claimed she was in their possession and safe, but that they would require the Ramsey’s to follow their instructions in order for JonBenét to live to see 1997. The kidnappers asked for $118,000, $100,000 in $100 bills and $18,000 in $20 bills. They were instructed to put the money in a brown paper bag and wait for a phone call between eight and 10 AM the next day, and to rest well as the delivery would apparently be exhausting. The letter writer claimed that, should they not follow their instructions to a T, JonBenét would be immediately executed and the family would never get her remains for a proper burial. The men reportedly watching her apparently did not like John Ramsey, as warned by the letter writer. They were instructed not to interact with the police or to tell anyone what was happening, including stray dogs and bank authorities. If anyone was contacted or the money was marked in some way, JonBenét would die. The writer signed off the letter, S.B.C.T (CNN 2006).

            Despite what the letter said, Patsy Ramsey immediately called both the police and family friends to assist in the search for her younger daughter. By six that morning the police had arrived; reportedly they found no evidence of forced entry upon their arrival. Mistakes were made, however, in preserving he crime scene. While JonBenét’s room was closed off, the rest of the house was open for friends and family to go through, resulting in the crime scene being contaminated. By one that afternoon, the family was understandably getting agitated and an officer suggested that John Ramsey search the house with a family friend to look for any possible evidence. The two immediately headed to search the basement, where they made the brutal discovery of JonBenét’s dead body. She was found with duct tape over her mouth and white cord wrapped around her neck and wrists in a makeshift garret with part of a paintbrush, and some reports say she was found with a white blanket over her torso (Crime Museum 2020).  John brought her body upstairs, where he removed the duct tape from her mouth and, according to some, covered her body with the white blanket against the officers’ orders. This contaminated her remains, compromising any evidence that may have come her. For many, this was seen as extremely suspicious and fueled rumors that JonBenét was being abused by her parents (Mack 2020).

            JonBenét’s cause of death was determined to be asphyxiation from strangulation and a small fracture was present on her skull. While it is believed that she was likely sexually assaulted before or after her death, no seminal evidence was found but her genitals had been wiped clean. There was, however, drops of blood found on her underwear. She had pineapple in her stomach that must have been eaten that night, and while Patsy and John didn’t remember giving her any, a bowl was found in the kitchen with pineapple and Burke’s fingerprints on it. It is worth noting here that, while fingerprints can tell us someone was there, we cannot attach a timetable to fingerprint evidence the way we can other pieces of evidence, so the time that Burke got the pineapple can’t be determined. The Ramsey’s maintain that Burke was asleep in his room the entire night (Crime Museum 2020).         

            The case gained national attention. The family quickly came under suspicion, and their behavior unfortunately fueled much of the suspicion. The initial interviews with the immediate family members of JonBenét were delayed, allowing time for a story to be developed should they have been involved in the crime.  Many believed, and some still do, that the ransom note was staged, partially due to the unusual length of the note. It was determined that the stationary used belonged to Patsy, as did the pen used to write it. Handwriting samples were taken from each family member, but the results remain murky. While some believe that Patsy Ramsey had to have been the writer, others believe the handwriting analysis was inconclusive or entirely exonerated her. The note drew more suspicion to the family when it was learned that the amount asked was the exact amount that he received in a bonus that year. The family was fairly reluctant to work with the police during the investigation, later stating that they were hesitant to work with police out of fear that they would be framed just to have the case solved (Crime Museum 2020). The paint brush used in the makeshift garret was from Patsy’s art kit. Some theorize that Patsy, either from jealousy over JonBenét’s success in beauty pageants or anger over the fact that she was a chronic bed wetter, may have lost her cool and smashed her head into a hard surface. Burke was enough older and bigger than his younger sister and would have been able to overpower her, and if he had accidentally killed his sister, it would explain the somewhat unusual behavior of his parents (Mack 2020). The Ramsey’s refused to submit to more interviews in January of 1998 unless they could view the evidence police had collected (Research 2020). In 1999, a Colorado grand jury voted to indict the Ramsey’s on child endangerment and obstruction of a murder investigation charges, but the case was never prosecuted. The prosecutor felt the evidence in the case did not sufficiently meet the reasonable doubt standard and chose not to go through with the case (Crime Museum 2020). Patsy Ramsey died of ovarian cancer in 2006, never knowing who killed her daughter (Research 2020). CBS aired a special in 2016, The Case of JonBenét Ramsey, which led many to believe that Burke was the one that killed his sister. He brought a $750 million defamation suit against CBS that was settled out of court in 2019 (Crime Museum 2020).

            Some theorize that the killer was an intruder, who’s footsteps were disguised by the rugs in the house. A boot print that could not be linked to any of the family members was found next to her bed, leading to the belief that she was likely taken from her bed. When the basement was searched and investigated, a broke window was found that is thought to have been an entry point for an intruder. On top of that, the blood drops in her underwear belong to an unknown male, not the men in her family (Crime Museum 2020). Gary Oliva was arrested in Boulder, Colorado on drug charges in 2000.  Oliva was a known sexual predator, but DNA cleared him of the Ramsey murder. He continued to terrorize Boulder after his release until he was arrested again on two counts of exploitation of a minor, specifically child pornography. In 2006, school teacher John Karr confessed to the murder while in Thailand. While his confession was vivid and horrific, it became quickly clear that it was nothing more than fantasy concocted based on what information available to the public. Karr was not the killer, though he was a pedophile obsessed with JonBenét (Mack 2020). He claimed that her death was an accident, caused after he drugged. His claims were discarded when it was learned that there were no signs of drugs in her system at the time of her death and his DNA was found not to match the DNA from her underwear, which was added to CODIS in 2003 (Crime Museum 2020). The Santa that worked the Ramsey party the night before the murder has also been suggested by some, but was never formally accused of the murder. He claimed to have a special relationship with JonBenét, referring to her as his “special friend.” He had a tube of gold glitter that she gave him as a gift, which is presumed to have been mixed into his ashes when he passed away in 2002 (Mack 2020).

            In 2006, a new district attorney, Mary Lacy, was appointed to the case. DA Lacy made a public apology to the Ramsey’s in 2008 when she was profiling the DNA evidence. The case was officially reopened in 2010, with a focus on DNA evidence this time. The DNA evidence was sent to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation with hopes that newer, stronger methods would yield better results in 2016 (Crime Museum 2020). As of now, no new evidence has been made public. JonBenét’s death still remains a mystery, and the noise surrounding her murder has only made it harder for investigators to figure out what happened. The trial by media the family had to endure convinced many that they must have been at fault, while the evidence points towards the actions of an intruder in the household on the night of her murder. As it stands, only the evidence that may someday come from the DNA sent to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation may finally give the family and the public the answers being looked for since 1996.

Crime Museum. 2020. Jonbenét Ramsey – Crime Museum. [online] Available at: <https://www.crimemuseum.org/crime-library/cold-cases/jonbenet-ramsey/&gt; [Accessed 24 December 2020].

Research, C., 2020. Jonbenet Ramsey Murder Fast Facts. [online] CNN. Available at: <https://www.cnn.com/2013/08/29/us/jonbenet-ramsey-murder-fast-facts/index.html&gt; [Accessed 26 December 2020].

Mack, E., 2020. Jonbenét Ramsey’S Death Is Still An Unsolved Mystery. [online] Rare. Available at: <https://rare.us/people/jonbenet-ramsey/&gt; [Accessed 26 December 2020].

“CNN.Com – Text Of 1996 Jonbenet Ransom Note – Aug 17, 2006”. Cnn.Com, 2006, https://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/08/16/ramsey.ransom.note/.

The Allenstown Four

In Allenstown, New Hampshire, in 1985, a group of young boys found a 55-gallon metal drum near the local mobile home park, and rolled it around while playing. About 100 yards from where they found it, the drum broke open and the boys left it where it was (Landman 2018). Sometime later on November 10, 1985, a hunter came across the drum in Bear Brook State Park. Upon opening the drum, he found a horrific scene: two bodies, wrapped in plastic and decomposing in the drum. It was a horrific discovery that seemed to get worse as the years went on (Sweeney 2019).

            The bodies recovered from the drum were of an adult woman and a young girl, both determined to have died from blunt force trauma. The woman had wavy brown hair and extensive dental work, including both fillings and dental extractions. The girl was estimated to be between the ages of 5 and 11 years old. She was found with earrings and showed signs of having had pneumonia. The girl also had a gap in her teeth. It was determined that the two died between 1977 and 1985, but the exact year could not be pin pointed. After 18 months waiting for someone to identify the two victims, they were laid to rest in May of 1987. This seemed like it might be the end of the story, as no one had come forward and there seemed to be no leads. However, that changed 15 years later in the year 2000 when another 55-gallon drum was found (Sweeney 2019).

            A detective was examining the original crime scene in 2000, as the case was officially still open, and found the second barrel (Sweeney 2019). This drum had the remains of two young girls, one between one and three years old, and the other between two and four years old. The two were too badly decomposed for a cause of death to be determined (Landman 2018). Through DNA analysis it was determined that the woman was likely the mother of the oldest girl and the youngest girl, but the middle girl was not related to them. Investigators turned to the Bear Brooke Gardens Mobile Home Park near where the bodies were recovered, hoping leads would pop up. What they found was that 476 people had been through the 115-lot park during the years they believed the murders took place, and most of the residents were ex-convicts from the nearby New Hampshire State Prison or transient (Sweeney 2019). Any case with this many people involved becomes increasingly more difficult to solve.

            The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children released new facial reconstructions of the victims in hope that someone would come forward with their identities (Sweeney 2019). Tests were performed on tissue that was able to be extracted from the victims, looking for signs of the environment they had been living in at the time of their deaths. Three of the four victims, the mother and her children, showed signs of living in the area around Allenstown, NH for approximately three months before their deaths, while the fourth victim, the middle girl, showed signs of living further north (Landman 2018) (Sweeney 2019). This was further confirmed in 2015, when Senior Assistant Attorney General Ben Agati stated that it was believed they lived in the Allenstown area sometime before their deaths. That same year new sketches were made by forensic artists that better represented what they believed the victims looked like in life (Sweeney 2019).

            Laura Jenson connected the mysterious case to the disappearance of her mother in 1981, Denise Beaudin, in 2016. Her mother had been dating a man who went by Gordon Jenson. Jenson was abandoned in the mobile home park as a child but Gordon Jenson after her mother went missing (Boston 25 News 2019). Investigators reported a suspect, who went by Robert “Bob” Evans while in Allenstown, NH, and had once gone by the alias Gordon Jenson, in 2017. Evans/Jenson died in jail in 2010, after being sentenced for the murder of his wife at the time, chemist Eunsoon Jun. At the time, Evans/Jenson’s actual name was not known, but the renewed interest in the murders of the Allenstown Four eventually lead to his DNA being tested. Surprisingly, this led to the fourth victim being at least partially identified: Evans/Jenson was her biological father. Outside of the DNA, circumstantial evidence also connected him to the Allenstown area. As Robert Evans, he had worked as an electrician at the local mill at the time of the murders, for a man who owned property near where the drums were discovered. The drums could also have been sourced from that mill (Sweeney 2019).

 It was August of 2017 that investigators were able to release his real name: Terrance “Terry” Rasmussen (Sweeney 2019). Rasmussen is known to have used at least three aliases – Robert Evans, Gordon Jenson, and Curtis Mayo Kimball (Boston 25 News 2019). It is believed that Rasmussen killed at least six people – Beaudin, who is officially still missing, Jun, and the Allenstown Four.  Rasmussen is known to have had a disturbing pattern, and may have been a true serial killer. Rasmussen would pose as a single father to attract women, particularly women with children. He would start dating the women he would find, molest their children, then possibly murder them (Landman 2018).

There was a major break in the case in 2019. On June 6^th, investigators announced that three of the four victims had been successfully identified. The woman and her daughters were identified as Marlyse Elizabeth Honeychurch and her daughters, Marie Elizabeth Vaughn and Sarah Lynn McWaters. The family was last seen alive at family Thanksgiving in 1978, in La Puenta, CA. At the time, Honeychurch had been reportedly dating Rasmussen and he had joined her and her children for the trip. That night Honeychurch got into an argument with her mother, and after leaving with Rasmussen and her children, none of them were seen again (Sweeney 2019).

The true identity of Rasmussen’s daughter, the fourth victim, remains unknown. Her mother has not been found, and some speculate that she may be another of Rasmussen’s victims. If you or anyone you know believes you may know who this poor child was, or perhaps know who her mother may have been, please reach out to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST or email the state cold case unit, coldcaseunit@dos.nh.gov (Sweeney 2019). Any credible information could help investigators finally have a name for the poor little girl likely murdered by her own father.

Landman, Hugh. “Mysterious Facts And Theories About The Allenstown Four.” Ranker. N.p., 2018. Web. 28 Nov. 2020 . <https://www.ranker.com/list/facts-and-theories-about-the-allenstown-four/hugh-landman&gt;.

Staff, Boston. “Allenstown, NH Murder Victims Identified After Nearly 40 Years.” WFXT. N.p., 2019. Web. 27 Nov. 2020 . <https://www.boston25news.com/news/allenstown-nh-murder-victims-identified-after-nearly-40-years/955952833/&gt;.

Sweeney, Gary. “Allenstown Four: The Decades-Long Mystery Of The Bear Brook Murders.” https://the-line-up.com. N.p., 2019. Web. 27 Nov. 2020 . <https://the-line-up.com/bear-brook-murders-allenstown-four&gt;.