True Crime - General Discussion - *Sleuthing Spoilers*

Sorry @Bet2Win, I realized I forgot to actually create the general discussion thread. I moved this post from the Rules page.

Bet2Win wrote:This is a cross-over between tv reality dating show contestant and true crime....this is in my neck of the woods.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-oc-surgeon-serial-rapist-20180918-story.html

I have seen the headlines on Google news but didn't read the whole story yet.

I don't generally follow true crime but one of my friends got me to listen to a couple of podcasts and now I've added to my list. For those who have never listened to a podcast, there are many ways to find them. I have an iPhone and mostly use the Podcast app that's on it but there's also Stitcher, TuneIn Radio, Apple, and many other places to find and listen to them. The ones I listen to are free and haven't run across any that have a charge. I listen when I'm walking, driving, and crafts or cross-stitching.

Someone Knows Something, CBC (Canada): It's about missing people and season 1 was about a 4 yr old boy who went missing when fishing with his family in 1972. I'm about to start season 3.

Missing and Murdered, CBC (Canada): It highlights missing and murdered Indigenous women, a big problem in Canada and the U.S. I found it eye-opening. I'm just starting season 2, Finding Cleo.

Dirty John (LA Times): This was fascinating and will be a limited series starring Connie Britton coming in November on Bravo. It's about a successful interior designer who meets a man that seems to fit everything she's looking for. Her family doesn't trust him for good reason but it doesn't stop her from marrying him.

Dr Death (Wondery): This is about a neurosurgeon in Dallas who on his way to ending up in jail, who caused deaths, paralysis, and pain for many victims. What's as bad or worse is that the medical system didn't protect the patients along the way. This is especially horrifying to me because I live in Plano, one of the places he operated in but this could happen to anyone.

Court Junkie: I'm just starting this one. Unlike the other ones, it's not a whole season devoted to one person. It highlights injustices in the judicial system.

For True Crime podcasts, I LOVE True Crime Garage. They pick a new case every week. Very thorough, interesting, and the two guys have great chemistry. Highly recommend! If you download the Stitcher app (free), they are all available dating back to when they started. Newer epis are available on iTunes. They cover both high profile and obscure cases. Missing people, unsolved, solved, serial killers, the whole gamut.  Check it out!

My book club just read an interesting book about an ax murder that occurred in our area in 1980. The accused was a female friend of the victim. There was a movie with Barbara Hershey that changed up some things but the most info is in the book, Evidence of Love, by John Bloom and Jim Atkinson. 

I wasn’t here back then so had no clue that it had happened but know some who lived here then and even worked with the victim's husband. Even without the local interest, it’s unusual for a woman to be accused of such a horrible crime. The authors had a lot of access to many of those involved so there’s a lot of detail that you wouldn’t normally get. 

If you read this, then this is a really good watch because they talk to the younger defense lawyer plus the victim's brother & sister-in-law. The film was put in backwards and all the writing is reversed so you just have to ignore it.  link

@albean99 Thanks for sharing. Wow, that's quite the story. I googled it, and found this link which appears to be a short story. I read a few paragraphs and saved the link. Hockey is on.

These pieces have been drawn from the book Evidence of Love, which will be published by Texas Monthly

This is absolutely horrible. Reading the whole article I'm surprised I didn't read anything about this in the news over the last 12 months.

Wow. In the seventies we were warned "don't drink the water." https://t.co/sooWquCsrO

— David (@ahzoov) June 10, 2019

https://twitter.com/ahzoov

And this! It's happening more and more frequent.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/canadian-man-shot-in-sint-maarten-has-died-global-affairs-1.4457958

Geesh another one!

BARBARA CORCORAN
BROTHER DIED IN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC HOTEL ...
Mysterious Tourist Death Total Rises
https://www.tmz.com/2019/06/12/barbara-corcoran-brother-dead-dominican-republic-hotel-heart-attack-mysterious/

Ok, this has to be a case of some sort of sick killer out there. I hope Melissa recovers quickly. Thanks to Buckeye_Fan for posting.

Buckeye_Fan wrote:Melissa Rycroft was in the Dominican Republic and got sick.  I guess she should be glad she didn't die like some others.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/news/2019/06/19/melissa-rycroft-falls-ill-after-trip-dominican-republic/1497468001/

Moved from Updated Contestant's thread.

Jolena wrote:My neighbors were jut there in March and both got so sick and said they spent most of the vacation sick in bed. I told them that I heard from many different people that the food was horrible and maybe they had a touch of food poisening. but with all this news coming out and the deaths , maybe it was the liquor .  Thank God they made it back home alive.

yana_bach wrote:That‘s crazy, I had no idea! We went on our honeymoon there six years ago, even to one of the resorts where one of the deaths occurred. Scary stuff!

Some of the articles I read did not mention food, but more so drinks from the mini bar. But it's difficult to determine because most people will eat food drink and drink from the mini bar in their room.

Today I read a story about a Canadian couple celebrating their 60th in April. He passed away while there from a "heart attack", but now they are investigating that it wasn't a heart attack.

There was another article of a couple, both found dead in their room!

The FBI are now involved.

This is horrendous.


FBI assisting Dominican Republic authorities by looking at minibar toxicology samples of US tourists who died
https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/19/us/dominican-republic-fbi-toxicology/index.html

Family unsettled after Canadian's sudden death in Dominican Republic
https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/family-unsettled-after-canadian-s-sudden-death-in-dominican-republic-1.4474656

I just heard about this case on the Crime Junkies Podcast (my new favorite) and while they covered 3 young women, this one really hit home with me because she was abducted from a Target parking lot. We all shop at big box stores at some point and this was in full daylight.
It was really sad and scary but it also makes you think about being more aware of your surroundings. What's unique about this case is that Target has excellent cameras inside and out so you can see how the police were able to figure out who the guy was using the video and asking the public for help.

If you watch it you'll see how he stalked in the store without her noticing and also how quickly he was able to get her in the car and driving away (they do a reenactment of this part). I'm sure she didn't think she had options and it was so fast but maybe we (or our loved ones) can either avoid this altogether or come up with a plan in the hopefully unlikely chance any of us are in a similar situation. I always remember a really old Oprah show where they said 1. never let them take you to another location - no matter what you have to do and 2. Pay attention to your gut instincts and don't worry about being polite. ***I hope this isn't blocked for those not in the US.

Kelsey Smith - Gone in an instant.

I’m about halfway through this podcast, Direct Appeal - Melanie McGuire, and find it very interesting. I don’t remember hearing about it before.

https://www.nj.com/middlesex/2019/05/new-true-crime-podcast-takes-deep-dive-into-suitcase-killer-melanie-mcguires-case.html

albean99 wrote:I just heard about this case on the Crime Junkies Podcast (my new favorite) and while they covered 3 young women, this one really hit home with me because she was abducted from a Target parking lot. We all shop at big box stores at some point and this was in full daylight.
It was really sad and scary but it also makes you think about being more aware of your surroundings. What's unique about this case is that Target has excellent cameras inside and out so you can see how the police were able to figure out who the guy was using the video and asking the public for help.

If you watch it you'll see how he stalked in the store without her noticing and also how quickly he was able to get her in the car and driving away (they do a reenactment of this part). I'm sure she didn't think she had options and it was so fast but maybe we (or our loved ones) can either avoid this altogether or come up with a plan in the hopefully unlikely chance any of us are in a similar situation. I always remember a really old Oprah show where they said 1. never let them take you to another location - no matter what you have to do and 2. Pay attention to your gut instincts and don't worry about being polite. ***I hope this isn't blocked for those not in the US.

Kelsey Smith - Gone in an instant.

It's not blocked, I'm in Australia and can see it.