When I titled this commentaryWise Words from Criminal Minds—I did not actually mean criminal minds, but rather, quotes from the TV show Criminal Minds.
The fictional series follows a group of criminal profilers who work for the FBI as members of its Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU). They use behavioural analysis and profiling to help investigate crimes and find the suspect—known as the unsub [unknown subject].
The show features one or more quotes at the start of most episodes and sometimes at the end. The quotes are often from historical figures.
Below are just some examples.
“The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary. Men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.” —Joseph Conrad, a Polish writer working in England regarded as one of the greatest novelists in the English language.
“Evil is always unspectacular, and always human, and shares our bed, and eats at our table.” —Wystan Hugh Auden, (Anglo-American) poet known for his vast poetic work in many forms on many themes.
Better to be violent if there’s violence in our hearts than to put on the cloak of non-violence to cover impotence.” —Gandhi
“I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.” — Gandhi.
“The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children.” —Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German Lutheran pastor, theologian, a participant in the German resistance movement against Nazism and founding member of the Confessing Church. (The Nazi regime executed him on 9 April 1945.)
“We can easily forgive a child who’s afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” —Plato.
“In order to learn the important lessons in life, one must each day surmount a fear.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century.
“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.” —Eleanor Roosevelt
“Nothing is easier than denouncing the evildoer. Nothing more difficult than understanding him.” —Dostoyevsky, Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. (Numerous literary critics regard him as one of the greatest novelists in all of world literature, as many of his works are considered highly influential masterpieces.)
“He who does not punish evil commands it to be done.” —Leonardo da Vinci
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” —Edmund Burke, Irish statesman and author
“I’m not afraid of death. It’s the stake one puts up in order to play the game of life.” —Jean Giraudoux, French novelist, essayist, diplomat and playwright
“There is no present or future; only the past, happening over and over again now.” —Eugene O’Neill, American playwright and Nobel Laureate in Literature.
“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.” —Albert Einstein
“Your memory is a monster; it summons with a will of its own. You think you have a memory, but it has you.” —John Irving, an American novelist and Academy Award-winning screenwriter (The Cider House Rules, based on his novel of the same name)
This is a call to all you budding cyber criminals out there.
Please do your homework!!
When I see some of you creating scams using terms like ‘Irelanders’ rather the Irish, it makes me wonder about your mental capacity. Even a kindergarten kid knows that is wrong.
When you call me,calling yourself Mary O’Brien from Eircom, then at least do the research. Eircom no longer is in the market, they are called Eir now. If you want to pretend to be Irish then please try to get rid of the Indian accent.
Instagram Lotto, really? Does instagram really not have an official email address? Do they really have to use a Gmail account.
Come on people do the research or if you are too stupid then just try another line of work.
This is probably my most personal blog. I will not mention the names of the people involved, but I don’t think knowing the names is actually relevant.
On June 13.1991 the partially covered body of 18 year old Jessica R was found near a dump in Bergen op Zoom, in the province of Noord Brabant in the south of the Netherlands. The young girl had been murdered on the 12th of June.
At that stage I had never heard of any of the people in relation to this story. The name Peter R de Vries did ring a bell because of the kidnap case of Freddy Heineken, but that was about it.
The following day on June 14,1991 I was actually at my mother’s wedding.
She married my stepfather that day.
Fast forward to 1996 . Peter R de Vries covers the case of Jessica on his TV show. A reconstruction is shown, and also some witnesses are interviewed. One witness says she knows who killed Jessica. She describes a man, and jokingly I tell me wife that this sound like a person we both know.
A few weeks later we get a call from the Noord Brabant Police force, they wanted to have a chat with us. The following day, 2 investigators call to our apartment. Obviously we knew it was serious, the 2 cops had to drive close to 2 hours to get to us. They advised us they arrested a man ,who was very near and dear to us, in relation to the Jessica R case. The irony is, it was the man I jokingly had referred to while watching the Peter R de Vries show. The cops asked us about the man, what kind of man he was. We both said he wouldn’t harm a fly leave alone brutally murder a girl.
After a few weeks he was released because the DNA proved it wasn’t him. However this ordeal had a major impact on his life, and a few years later he died of a heart attack, he was still a young man when he died.
The witness who had identified him as a suspect in the show, was an ex girlfriend of him, who had a grudge to bear.
I sent Peter R de Vries an email afterwards and told him the Jessica R case had claimed a second victim, our friend who was also a member of the family. I told Peter that his researchers messed up and believed the words of a vindictive ex girlfriend.
To be honest I didn’t think anything would come from my email. However to my surprise, during a business trip in Munich, I received a call from Peter. We had a good and frank chat about the case which lasted for about 30 minutes or so.
A few weeks later he also wrote an apology to the family in Panorama magazine, a Dutch current affair magazine.
Apparently there had been several suspects in the case, including the Father and Brother of Jessica R.
The killer was eventually caught in 2003 and was sentenced in 2004.
My connection with Peter R de Vries did not stop there. In 2005 one of my cousins was murdered, and although the Police know who is responsible for the murder, they have no evidence and no arrest has been made as of yet.
In May 2008 I emailed Peter and asked him if he could have a look at the case. He contacted me a few weeks later and told me he would look into the murder of my cousin.
Alas there was not much he could do because of some judicial and legal technicalities. But he did do as much as he could and as far as I am aware his team kept an eye on the case until quite recently.
Peter R de Vries, 64, was shot on Tuesday, July 6, after leaving a TV studio in Amsterdam. Three men were arrested, but police say one is no longer a suspect.
Peter R de Vries died of his injuries July 15.
Rust in Vrede Peter.
Rest in Peace.
My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.
I have always been intrigued by serial killers. I am just interested to know what makes them tick.
Today is the birthday of one of the most notorious serial killers, Jeffrey Dahmer. He would have been 61 one today. However he was killed on the morning of November 28, 1994, Dahmer was on cleaning duty, which he’d begun three weeks earlier, in the prison’s gym bathrooms with two other inmates, Jesse Anderson and Christopher Scarver. The three were left alone for 20 minutes; when guards returned they found the bludgeoned bodies of Dahmer and Anderson, who’d been beaten by Scarver. Dahmer was pronounced dead an hour later; Anderson also ended up dying from the attack. I suppose there is some poetic justice to both men being killed by another murderer.
Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer , also known as the Milwaukee Cannibal or the Milwaukee Monster, was a convicted American serial killer and sex offender who committed the murder and dismemberment of 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991. Many of his later murders involved necrophilia, cannibalism, and the permanent preservation of body parts—typically all or part of the skeleton.
Dahmer was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on May 21, 1960, to Lionel and Joyce Dahmer. He was described as an energetic and happy child until the age of 4 when surgery to correct a double hernia seemed to effect a change in the boy. Noticeably subdued, he became increasingly withdrawn following the birth of his younger brother and the family’s frequent moves. By his early teens, he was disengaged, tense and largely friendless. I just want to make a note here, that none of this should have been an excuse for him to kill a great number of people. Unlike some other serial killers, Dahmer was never abused and his parents gave him a secure life. In September 1977 his parents decided to get a divorce, strangely enough that is also the time when my parents decided to divorce.
Dahmer committed his first murder in 1978, three weeks after his graduation. At the time he was living alone in the family home in Bath. On June 18,[Dahmer picked up a hitchhiker named Steven Mark Hicks, who was almost 19.
Like most serial killers Dahmer was caught because he made a mistake. Dahmer’s killing spree ended when he was arrested on July 22, 1991. The body parts found in Dahmer’s refrigerator and Polaroid photographs of his victims became inextricably associated with his notorious killing spree.
Two Milwaukee police officers were led to Dahmer when they picked up Tracy Edwards, a 32-year-old African American man who was wandering the streets with handcuffs dangling from his wrist. They decided to investigate the man’s claims that a “weird dude” had drugged and restrained him. They arrived at Dahmer’s apartment, where he calmly offered to get the keys for the handcuffs.
Edwards claimed that the knife Dahmer had threatened him with was in the bedroom. When the officer went in to corroborate the story, he noticed Polaroid photographs of dismembered bodies lying around. Dahmer was subdued by the officers.
When Dahmer’s apartment was fully searched, a house of horrors was revealed. In addition to photo albums full of pictures of body parts, the apartment was littered with human remains: Several heads were in the refrigerator and freezer; two skulls were on top of the computer; and a 57-gallon drum containing several bodies decomposing in chemicals was found in a corner of the bedroom. There was also evidence to suggest that Dahmer had been eating some of his victims. There is a story that one day Dahmer’s Father had visited him and he had seen a box in the room which he was curious about, Before he could open it, Jeffrey told his father that he wouldn’t like the contents of the box that it was filled with pornography, the father decided not to open the box, It was found out that that box contained a human head.
Dahmer claims that his compulsions toward necrophilia and murder began around the age of 14, but it appears that the breakdown of his parents’ marriage and their acrimonious divorce a few years later may have been the catalyst for turning these thoughts into actions. I don’t buy that though, many parents divorce, like mine at the same time as his, but not every child from divorced parents becomes a serial killer.
One thing I am really interested in is his time in Germany. His father insisted that he join the Army. Dahmer enlisted in late December 1978 and was posted to Germany shortly thereafter. Did he kill men in Germany?
Dahmer’s trial began in January 1992. Given that the majority of Dahmer’s victims were African American, there were considerable racial tensions, so strict security precautions were taken, including an eight-foot barrier of bulletproof glass that separated him from the gallery. The inclusion of only one African American on the jury provoked further unrest, but was ultimately contained and short-lived. Lionel Dahmer and his second wife attended the trial throughout.
Dahmer initially pleaded not guilty to all charges, despite having confessed to the killings during police interrogation. He eventually changed his plea to guilty by virtue of insanity. His defense then offered the gruesome details of his behavior, as proof that only someone insane could commit such terrible acts.
The jury chose to believe the prosecution’s assertion that Dahmer was fully aware that his acts were evil and chose to commit them anyway. On February 15, 1992, they returned after approximately 10 hours’ deliberation to find him guilty, but sane, on all counts. He was sentenced to 15 consecutive life terms in prison, with a 16th term tacked on in May.
Dahmer reportedly adjusted well to prison life, although he was initially kept apart from the general population. He eventually convinced authorities to allow him to integrate more fully with other inmates. He found religion in the form of books and photos sent to him by his father, and he was granted permission by the Columbia Correctional Institution to be baptized by a local pastor.
Dahmer has been linked to 17 murders between 1978 and 1991.
Most of Dahmer’s victims were killed by strangulation after being drugged with sedatives, although his first victim was killed by a combination of bludgeoning and strangulation and his second victim was battered to death, with one further victim killed in 1990, Ernest Miller, dying of a combination of shock and blood loss due to his carotid artery being cut. Four of Dahmer’s victims killed in 1991 had holes bored into their skulls through which Dahmer injected hydrochloric acid or, later, boiling water, into the frontal lobes in an attempt to induce a permanent, submissive, non-resistant state. This proved fatal although on each occasion, this was not Dahmer’s intention.
Jeffrey Dahmer didn’t look like a monster although he behaved like one. He looked like an ordinary man, someone you would not notice in a crowd. In fact he looked a small bit like me I suppose that makes it so scary, anyone you meet could be a serial killer.
The Republic of Ireland remained neutral throughout WWII. However Northern Ireland,which was and still is, part of the UK did not stay neutral.
On January 26 1942 the first US troops arrived in Belfast.
It must have given the people of Northern Ireland mixed feelings, On one hand they must have had the realization that they were dragged into the war, on the other hand they must have felt a sense of relief and security, with the US troops there to protect them.
Unfortunately that sense of security would have disappeared soon, on the night of 7–8 April 1941 Belfast experienced the first part of the Belfast blitz. The attack was relatively small and it’s purpose was probably only to see how good Belfast’s defenses were.
About a week later the city was hit again this time killing about 900 and injuring approximately 1500.
Then again it was war and something like this was to be expected. However what wasn’t expected was the evil within the US troops that were send to Northern Ireland.
Most of the soldiers were good men, and most of them were heroes for they had left the relatively safety and comfort of their own land, but had decided that they would give that up in the fight for freedom and against tyranny.
But the army is a reflection of the wider society meaning there were good but also ban men and some were just pure evil, as was Private William Harrison.
He was stationed at Cluntoe Airfield in Ardboe, Co Tyrone, and, up until then, relations between the soldiers and local were pleasant and harmonious.
By 1943, over 3,500 American troops were stationed there and the local economy was booming because of it.
Serving with the 2nd Combat Crew Replacement Centre Group, United States Air Force, Private William Harrison had got to know the Wylie family from Killycolpy near Stewartstown, County Tyrone, and became friendly with them.
On 25th September 1944, on a visit to the Wylie’s home, Harrison who had been drinking wanted to repay money he had borrowed from Mr Wylie. but he was out fishing.Harrison then decided to accompany the 7 year old daughter, Patricia, to the local shop.
Unfortunately they never made it to the shop. Harrison took the little girl to a nearby field where he sexually assaulted and strangled her.
Patricia’s semi-naked body, partially covered with hay, was later found in a field half a mile from her home.
At an inquest into the murder a US Major vowed that this vile crime would not go unpunished. During the court martial in Cookstown that November, Private Harrison admitted choking the youngster, but said he didn’t know why.
He was sentenced to death and was hanged on April 7,1945 in Shepton Mallet prison in Somerset.
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On 17 July 2014 all 298 passengers of flight MH17 were killed . Nine years on and still no one is brought to justice. The contrary is true, some of those responsible. and this includes those who are complacent and are vetoing part of the investigation, and of course the war in Ukraine.
Each passing day where justice isn’t served we are betraying the 298 victims.
Each time we are watering down this crime by calling it an accident or a crash, we are betraying the victims.
I know people will become emotional about this, but we can not forget until justice is served.
Passengers
No NAME NATIONALITY GENDER
1 ALDER/JOHNMR UNITED KINGDOM M
2 ALLEN/CHRISTOPHERMR NETHERLANDS M
3 ALLEN/IANMSTR NETHERLANDS M
4 ALLEN/JOHNMR UNITED KINGDOM M
5 ALLEN/JULIANMR NETHERLANDS M
6 ANDERSON/STEPHEN LESLIE MR UNITED KINGDOM M
7 ANGHEL/ANDRE MR CANADA M
8 ANTHONYSAMY/MABEL MS MALAYSIA F
9 AVNON/ITHAMARMR NETHERLANDS M
10 AYLEY/ROBERTMR UNITED KINGDOM M
11 BAAY/JOYCEMRS NETHERLANDS F
12 BAKER/THERESA MRS AUSTRALIA F
13 BAKER/WAYNE MR AUSTRALIA M
14 BAKKER/WILLEMMR NETHERLANDS M
15 BATS/ROWENMR NETHERLANDS M
16 BELL/EMMA MISS AUSTRALIA F
17 BINDA/NATASHJA MRS NETHERLANDS F
18 BINTAMBI/MUHAMMAD AFRUZ MR MALAYSIA M
19 BINTAMBI/MUHAMMAD AFZAL MR MALAYSIA M
20 BINTITAMBI/MARSHA AZMEENA MS MALAYSIA F
21 BORGSTEEDE/HELEN MS NETHERLANDS F
22 BRAS/CATHARINAMRS NETHERLANDS F
23 BROGHAMMER/WILHELMINALOUISEMRS GERMAN F
24 BROUWER/THERESE MRS NETHERLANDS F
25 BROUWERS/ELISABETHMRS NETHERLANDS F
26 CAMFFERMAN/ANTON MR NETHERLANDS M
27 CHARDOME/BENOITMR BELGIUM M
28 CLANCY/CAROLMRS AUSTRALIA F
29 CLANCY/MICHAELMR AUSTRALIA M
30 CROLLA/REGISMR NETHERLANDS M
31 CUIJPERS/EDITHMRS NETHERLANDS F
32 DALSTRA/AUKEMR NETHERLANDS M
33 DALZIEL/CAMERON MR UNITED KINGDOM M
34 DANG/MINHCHAUMRS NETHERLANDS F
35 DANG/QUOCDUYMR NETHERLANDS M
36 DAVISON/FRANCESCAMRS AUSTRALIA F
37 DAVISON/LIAMMR AUSTRALIA M
38 DEBORST/ELSEMIEKMRS NETHERLANDS F
39 DEBRUIN/BARBARAMARIAMRS NETHERLANDS F
40 DEHAAN/JOHANNAMRS NETHERLANDS F
41 DEJONG/ANNETJEMRS NETHERLANDS F
42 DEKUIJER/PIM WILHELM MR NETHERLANDS M
43 DELEEUW/SASKIA MRS NETHERLANDS F
44 DERDEN/LILIANEMS AUSTRALIA F
45 DERIDDER/ESTHERMRS NETHERLANDS F
46 DEROO/JOOPALBERTMR NETHERLANDS M
47 DESADELEER/CHRISTIENE MRS NETHERLANDS F
48 DESCHUTTER/MARIAADRIANAMRS NETHERLANDS F
49 DEVOS/MAARTEN MR NETHERLANDS M
50 DEVRIES/AAFKEMRS NETHERLANDS F
51 DEWA/SHALIZA ZAINI MS MALAYSIA F
52 DEWAAL/ESTHER MRS NETHERLANDS F
53 DJODIKROMO/DONNY TOEKIRAN MR NETHERLANDS M
54 DYCZYNSKI/FATIMA MISS GERMAN F
55 ENGELS/LISANNE LAURA MISS NETHERLANDS F
56 ERNST/TAMARA MS NETHERLANDS F
57 ESSERS/EMMAMRS NETHERLANDS F
58 ESSERS/PETERMR NETHERLANDS M
59 ESSERS/VALENTIJNMR NETHERLANDS M
60 FAN/SHUN PO MR NETHERLANDS M
61 FOO/MING LEE MR MALAYSIA M
62 FREDRIKSZ/BRYCEMR NETHERLANDS M
63 GAZALEE/ARIZA BINTI MS MALAYSIA F
64 GIANOTTEN/ANGELIQUEMRS NETHERLANDS F
65 GOES/KAELAMAYAJAY MSTR MALAYSIA M
66 GOES/PAUL MR NETHERLANDS M
67 GRIPPELING/MARCO MR NETHERLANDS M
68 GROOTSCHOLTEN/WILHELMUS MR NETHERLANDS M
69 GUARD/JILLHELENMRS AUSTRALIA F
70 GUARD/ROGERWATSONDR AUSTRALIA M
71 GUNAWAN/DARRYL MR PHILIPPINES M
72 GUNAWAN/HADIONO MR INDONESIA M
73 GUNAWAN/IRENE MRS PHILIPPINES F
74 GUNAWAN/SHERRYL MS PHILIPPINES F
75 HAKSE/ANNEMIEKEMRS NETHERLANDS F
76 HALLY/DAVY JOSEPH GERARDUS MA NETHERLANDS M
77 HALLY/MEGAN NETHERLANDS F
78 HASTINI/YULI MRS INDONESIA F
79 HEEMSKERK/GEERTRUIDA MRS NETHERLANDS F
80 HEERKENS/LIDWINAMRS NETHERLANDS F
81 HEMELRIJK/ROBINMR NETHERLANDS M
82 HENDRY/MR INDONESIA M
83 HIJMANS/SUSAN MRS NETHERLANDS F
84 HOARE/ANDREWMR UNITED KINGDOM M
85 HOARE/FRISOMR NETHERLANDS M
86 HOARE/JASPERMR NETHERLANDS M
87 HOONAKKER/KATHARINAMRS NETHERLANDS F
88 HORDER/HOWARD MR AUSTRALIA M
89 HORDER/SUSAN MRS AUSTRALIA F
90 HORNIKX/ASTRID MRS NETHERLANDS F
91 HUIJBERS/PIETER JAN WILLEM NETHERLANDS M
92 HUIZEN/ARNOUD MR NETHERLANDS M
93 HUIZEN/YELENA/CLARICE MSTR INDONESIA F
94 HUNTJENS/MARIAMRS NETHERLANDS F
95 IOPPA/OLGA MRS GERMAN F
96 JANSSEN/CORNELIA MRS NETHERLANDS F
97 JESURUN/KEVIN MR NETHERLANDS M
98 JHINKOE/RISHI MR NETHERLANDS M
99 JIEE/TAMBI BIN MR MALAYSIA M
100 JRETNAM/SUBASHNI MRS MALAYSIA F
101 KAMSMA/MATTHEUSMR NETHERLANDS M
102 KAMSMA/QIUMSTR NETHERLANDS M
103 KAPPEN/YVONNE MRS NETHERLANDS F
104 KARDIA/VICKILINE KURNIATI MRS INDONESIA F
105 KARNAILSINGH/KARAMJITSINGHMR MALAYSIA M
106 KEIJZER/KARLIJNMRS NETHERLANDS F
107 KOOIJMANS/BARRYMR NETHERLANDS M
108 KOOIJMANS/ISAMISS NETHERLANDS F
109 KOOIJMANS/MIRAMRS NETHERLANDS F
110 KOTTE/OSCAR MR NETHERLANDS M
111 KOTTE/REMCO MR NETHERLANDS M
112 KROON/HENDRIKROKUSMR NETHERLANDS M
113 LAHAYE/JOHANNESMR NETHERLANDS M
114 LAHENDA/GERDA LELIANA MS INDONESIA F
115 LAMBREGTS/HUBERTUS MR NETHERLANDS M
116 LANGE/JOSEPH MR NETHERLANDS M
117 LAUSCHET/GABRIELEMS GERMAN F
118 LEE/JIANHANBENJAMIN MSTR MALAYSIA M
119 LEE/KIAH YEEN MS MALAYSIA F
120 LEE/MONA CHENG SIM MRS AUSTRALIA F
121 LEE/WHY KEONG MR AUSTRALIA M
122 LIEW/YAU CHEE MR MALAYSIA M
123 LOH/YANHWA MRS NETHERLANDS F
124 MAAS/HENRICUSMR NETHERLANDS M
125 MAHADY/EDELMRS AUSTRALIA F
126 MAHLER/EMIEL MR NETHERLANDS M
127 MARCKELBACH/LISA MRS NETHERLANDS F
128 MARTENS/ELIZABETHMRS NETHERLANDS F
129 MARTENS/SANDRAMRS NETHERLANDS F
130 MASLIN/EVIE COCO ANNE MISS AUSTRALIA F
131 MASLIN/MO ROBERT ANDERSON MR AUSTRALIA M
132 MASLIN/OTIS SAMUEL FREDERICK MSTR AUSTRALIA M
133 MASTENBROEK/TINA PAULINE MRS NETHERLANDS F
134 MAYNE/RICHARDMR UNITED KINGDOM M
135 MDSALIM/MOHDALIBIN MR MALAYSIA M
136 MEIJER/INGRID MRS NETHERLANDS F
137 MEIJER/SASCHAMRS NETHERLANDS F
138 MENKE/GERARDUS MR NETHERLANDS M
139 MENKE/MARY MRS NEW ZEALAND F
140 MEULEMAN/HANNAH SOPHIA NETHERLANDS F
141 MISRAN/ANELENE ROSTIJEM MS NETHERLANDS F
142 MOORS/AUGUSTINUSMR NETHERLANDS M
143 MULA/MELINGANAK MALAYSIA M
144 NELISSEN/JOHANNAMRS NETHERLANDS F
145 NG/LYETIELISABETH MS MALAYSIA F
146 NG/QINGZHENGMR MALAYSIA M
147 NG/SHIING MRS MALAYSIA F
148 NGUYEN/NGOCMINHMRS NETHERLANDS F
149 NIEBURG/TIMMR NETHERLANDS M
150 NIEVEEN/DAFNEMRS NETHERLANDS F
151 NIEWOLD/TALLANDERFRANCISCUS MR NETHERLANDS M
152 NOOR/RAHIMMAH MRS MALAYSIA F
153 NOREILDE/JANMR BELGIUM M
154 NOREILDE/STEVENMR BELGIUM M
155 NORRIS/NICOLL CHARLES ANDERSON MR AUSTRALIA M
156 NUESINK/JOLETTEMRS NETHERLANDS F
157 OBRIEN/JACKSAMUEL MR AUSTRALIA M
158 OEHLERS/DAISYMRS NETHERLANDS F
159 ORESHKIN/VICTORMR AUSTRALIA M
160 OTTOCHIAN/JULIANMSTR NETHERLANDS M
161 OTTOCHIAN/SERGIOMR NETHERLANDS M
162 PALM/LUBBERTAMRS NETHERLANDS F
163 PANDUWINATA/MIGUEL G MSTR NETHERLANDS M
164 PANDUWINATA/SHAKA T MR NETHERLANDS M
165 PARLAN/HASNI HARDI BIN MR MALAYSIA M
166 PAULISSEN/JOHNNY MR NETHERLANDS M
167 PAULISSEN/MARTIN MR NETHERLANDS M
168 PAULISSEN/SRI MISS NETHERLANDS F
169 PIJNENBURG/SJORS ADRIANUS MR NETHERLANDS M
170 PLOEG/ALEXMR NETHERLANDS M
171 PLOEG/ROBERTMR NETHERLANDS M
172 POCOCK/BENJAMINMR UNITED KINGDOM M
173 PUNJABI/KAUSHALYA JAIRAMDAS DATIN MALAYSIA F
174 RAAP/HIELKJE MS NETHERLANDS F
175 RENKERS/JEROENMR NETHERLANDS M
176 RENKERS/TIMMR NETHERLANDS M
177 RISAH/DAISY MRS NETHERLANDS F
178 RIZK/ALBERT MR AUSTRALIA M
179 RIZK/MAREE MRS AUSTRALIA F
180 RUIJTER/CATHARINAMRS NETHERLANDS F
181 RYDER/ARJEN MR AUSTRALIA M
182 RYDER/YVONNE MRS AUSTRALIA F
183 SCHANSMAN/QUINNMR NETHERLANDS M
184 SCHILDER/CORNELIS MR NETHERLANDS M
185 SCHUYESMANS/RIK MR BELGIUM M
186 SIDELIK/HELENAMS AUSTRALIA F
187 SITIAMIRAH/BINTIPARAWIRA MRS MALAYSIA F
188 SIVAGNANAM/MATTHEW EZEKIAL MASTER MALAYSIA M
189 SIVAGNANAM/PAUL RAJASINGAM MR MALAYSIA M
190 SLOK/GARYMR NETHERLANDS M
191 SMALLENBURG/CARLIJN MRS NETHERLANDS F
192 SMALLENBURG/CHARLES MR NETHERLANDS M
193 SMALLENBURG/WERTHER MSTR NETHERLANDS M
194 SMOLDERS/MARIA MRS NETHERLANDS F
195 SOETJIPTO/JANE M ADI MRS INDONESIA F
196 SOUREN/PETERMR NETHERLANDS M
197 SPECKEN/REINMARMR NETHERLANDS M
198 STUIVER/CORNELIA MRS NETHERLANDS F
199 SUJANA/WAYANMR INDONESIA M
200 SUPARTINI/MRS INDONESIA F
201 SWEENEY/LIAMMR UNITED KINGDOM M
202 TAMBI/MUHAMMAD AFIF BIN MR MALAYSIA M
203 TAMTELAHITU/CHARLESELIZADAVIDMR NETHERLANDS M
204 TAN/SIEW POH MDM MALAYSIA F
205 TEOH/ELAINE MISS MALAYSIA F
206 THEISTIASIH/YODRICUNDA MRS INDONESIA F
207 THOMAS/GLENNRAYMONDMR UNITED KINGDOM M
208 TIERNAN/MARY MS AUSTRALIA F
209 TIMMERS/GERARDUSMR NETHERLANDS M
210 TOL/CORNELIA MRS NETHERLANDS F
211 TOURNIER/HENDRIKJANMR NETHERLANDS M
212 TRUGG/LIV MISS NETHERLANDS F
213 TRUGG/REMCO MR NETHERLANDS M
214 TRUGG/TESS MISS NETHERLANDS F
215 UIJTERLINDE/THAMSANQA MR NETHERLANDS M
216 VANDEKRAATS/LORENZOMR NETHERLANDS M
217 VANDEKRAATS/ROBERTJANMR NETHERLANDS M
218 VANDEMORTEL/JEROENMR NETHERLANDS M
219 VANDEMORTEL/MILIAMISS NETHERLANDS F
220 VANDENHENDE/JOHANNES RUDOLFUS MR NETHERLANDS M
221 VANDENHENDE/MARGAUX LARISSA MSTR NETHERLANDS F
222 VANDENHENDE/MARNIX REDUAN MR NETHERLANDS M
223 VANDENHENDE/PIERS ADNAN MR NETHERLANDS M
224VANDENSCHOOR/CHRISTINA ANNA ELISA MS NETHERLANDS F
225 VANDERGRAAFF/LAURENSMR NETHERLANDS M
226 VANDERLEIJ/JENNIFERMRS NETHERLANDS F
227 VANDERLINDE/MARKMR NETHERLANDS M
228 VANDERLINDE/MERELMRS NETHERLANDS F
229 VANDERLINDE/ROBERTMR NETHERLANDS M
230 VANDERMEER/BENTE MISS NETHERLANDS F
231 VANDERMEER/FLEUR MISS NETHERLANDS F
232 VANDERMEER/SOPHIE MRS NETHERLANDS F
233 VANDERPOEL/ERICUS MR NETHERLANDS M
234 VANDERSANDE/PAULUS MR NETHERLANDS M
235 VANDERSANDE/STEVEN MR NETHERLANDS M
236 VANDERSANDE/TESSA MRS NETHERLANDS F
237 VANDERSAR/INGE MRS NETHERLANDS F
238 VANDERSTEEN/JANMR NETHERLANDS M
239 VANDERWEIDE/FRANK MR NETHERLANDS M
240 VANDOORN/APRILMRS NETHERLANDS F
241 VANDOORN/CAROLINEMRS NETHERLANDS F
242 VANDUIJN/GIJSBERT MR NETHERLANDS M
243 VANELDIJK/PETRONELLAMRS NETHERLANDS F
244 VANGEENE/RENE MR NETHERLANDS M
245 VANHEIJNINGEN/ERIK PETER MR NETHERLANDS M
246 VANHEIJNINGEN/ZEGER LEONARD MR NETHERLANDS M
247 VANKEULEN/ALLARDMR NETHERLANDS M
248 VANKEULEN/JEROENMR NETHERLANDS M
249 VANKEULEN/ROBERTMR NETHERLANDS M
250 VANLANGEVELD/PETRAMRS NETHERLANDS F
251 VANLUIK/KLAAS WILLEM MR NETHERLANDS M
252 VANMENS/LUCIEPAULAMARIAMS NETHERLANDS F
253VANMUIJLWIJK/ADINDA LARASATI PUTRI MS NETHERLANDS F
254 VANMUIJLWIJK/EMILE MR NETHERLANDS M
255 VANNIELEN/STEFAN F W MR NETHERLANDS M
256 VANTONGEREN/JACQUELINE MRS NETHERLANDS F
257 VANVELDHUIZEN/ANTHONIUS MR NETHERLANDS M
258 VANVELDHUIZEN/PIJKE MSTR NETHERLANDS M
259 VANVELDHUIZEN/QUINT MSTR NETHERLANDS M
260 VANVREESWIJK/HUUBMR NETHERLANDS M
261 VANWIGGEN/WINNEKEMRS NETHERLANDS F
262 VANZIJTVELD/FREDERIQUEMRS NETHERLANDS F
263 VANZIJTVELD/ROBERTJANMR NETHERLANDS M
264 VERHAEGH/KIM ELISA PETRONELLA NETHERLANDS F
265 VERMEULEN/MARIEMRS NETHERLANDS F
266 VLEESENBEEK/ERIKMR NETHERLANDS M
267 VOORHAM/CORNELIAMRS NETHERLANDS F
268 VORSSELMAN/WOUTER MR NETHERLANDS M
269 VRANCKX/ELINE MRS NETHERLANDS F
270 WAGEMANS/HENDRIK MR NETHERLANDS M
271 WALS/AMELMRS NETHERLANDS F
272 WALS/BRETTMR NETHERLANDS M
273 WALS/JEROENMR NETHERLANDS M
274 WALS/JINTEMRS NETHERLANDS F
275 WALS/SOLENNMISS NETHERLANDS F
276 WELS/LEONARDUS MR NETHERLANDS M
277 WELS/SEM MSTR NETHERLANDS M
278 WESTERVELD/INEKEMRS NETHERLANDS F
279 WIARTINI/KETUT MRS INDONESIA F
280 WITTEVEEN/MARITMRS NETHERLANDS F
281 WITTEVEEN/WILLEMMR NETHERLANDS M
282 YURIANI/NINIK MRS INDONESIA F
283 ZANTKUIJL/DESIREEMRS NETHERLANDS F
Crew
No RANK NAME NATIONALITY GENDER
1 Captain WAN AMRAN BIN WAN HUSSIN Malaysia M
2 Captain CHOO JIN LEONG, EUGENE Malaysia M
3 First Officer AHMAD HAKIMI BIN HANAPI Malaysia M
4 First Officer MUHAMAD FIRDAUS BIN ABDUL RAHIM Malaysia M
5 In-flight Supervisor MOHD GHAFAR BIN ABU BAKAR Malaysia M
6 Chief Stewardess DORA SHAHILA BINTI KASSIM Malaysia F
7 Chief Stewardess AZRINA BINTI YAKOB Malaysia F
8 Leading Stewardess LEE HUI PIN Malaysia F
9 Leading Stewardess MASTURA BINTI MUSTAFA Malaysia F
10 Flight Stewardess CHONG YEE PHENG Malaysia F
11 Flight Steward SHAIKH MOHD NOOR BIN MAHMOOD Malaysia M
12 Flight Steward SANJID SINGH SANDHU Malaysia M
13 Flight Stewardess HAMFAZLIN SHAM BINTI MOHAMEDARIFIN Malaysia F
14 Flight Stewardess NUR SHAZANA BINTI MOHAMED SALLEH Malaysia F
15 Flight Stewardess ANGELINE PREMILA RAJANDARAN Malaysia F
298 a number that we always will remember
298 lives that have been lost
298 of friends and family members.
298 souls eternally loved
298 ambitions and dreams cut short
298 innocent moments in time
298 families that need our support
298 victims of 1 brutal crime
298 new stars in the sky
298 reasons to pray
298 tears to cry
298 respects to pay
Bonnie Parker and Clyde Champion Barrow, aka Bonnie & Clyde are often portrayed as some sort of Robin Hood style heroes, , in fact they were ruthless criminals with very little regard for their victims.
They were two young Texans whose early 1930s crime spree forever earned them infamy in US and world history. Their names have become synonymous with an image of Depression-era chic.
They were violent criminals who were active in the Mid- and Southwest between 1932 and 1934. The FBI,then called the Bureau of Investigation, began to investigate “Bonnie and Clyde” and their fellow gang members after Barrow stole an automobile in December 1932.
The public was fascinated by the couple and their gang, partially because it was a rarity a woman was involved in crime leave alone a murderous crime spree. A fact that is often forgotten is that Bonnie Parker was actually a married woman. when she met and teamed up with Clyde, her husband Roy Glen Thornton who she married when she was 16. He was sent to prison in March 1933 for a number of offences and was killed in 1937 in prison.
Bonnie and Clyde loved posing for he camera, I suppose in 2018 terms we could call them ‘Selfie junkies’ and if social media would have been around in the 1930s I am certain the pair would have been willing participants in sharing their criminal exploits via the various social media platforms.
They were seen as some sort of folk heroes however public opinion turned against Bonnie and Clyde after reports of the murder of two motorcycle cops on Easter Sunday, 1934.
On April 1, 1934, Bonnie and Clyde encountered two young highway patrolmen near Grapevine, Texas. Before the officers could draw their guns, they were shot. On April 6, 1934, a constable at Miami, Oklahoma fell mortally wounded by Bonnie and Clyde, who also abducted a police chief, whom they wounded.
A week later on April 13, 1934, an FBI agent, through investigation in the area of Ruston, Louisiana, received information which definitely placed Bonnie and Clyde in a remote section southwest of that community. The home of the Methvins was not far away, and the agent learned of visits there by Bonnie and Clyde. Special agents in Texas had learned that Clyde and his companion had been traveling from Texas to Louisiana, sometimes accompanied by Henry Methvin.
The FBI and local law enforcement authorities in Louisiana and Texas focused on arresting Bonnie and Clyde, whom they strongly believed to be in the vicinity. It was learned that Bonnie and Clyde, with some of the Methvins, had staged a party at Black Lake, Louisiana on the night of May 21, 1934 and were due to return to the area two days later.
At approximately 9:15 a.m. on May 23, the posse, concealed in the bushes and almost ready to concede defeat, Bonnie and Clyde appeared in an automobile and when they attempted to drive away, the officers opened fire. Bonnie and Clyde were killed instantly.
The Barrow Gang is thought to have been responsible for the deaths of 13 people, including nine police officers.
While the couple wanted to be buried next to each other Bonnie’s mother, who had disapproved of her relationship with Clyde, had her daughter buried in a separate Dallas cemetery. Clyde was buried next to his brother Marvin underneath a gravestone with his hand-picked epitaph: “Gone but not forgotten.”
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I know all these W’s in the title would nearly make you dizzy , unfortunately there are more to come.
What happens if you are arrested and brought to jail and it is claimed you were there before and you know you weren’t but there is an eye witness placing you there.
This happened to Will West in 1903
Will West arrived at the United States Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas in 1903. After seeing his mug shots, the prison clerk took one look at the photos and insisted she had seen him before. Mr. West explained he had never been to Leavenworth, and that she was mistaken.
The clerk, convinced that she was correct, collected Mr. West’s Bertillon measurements (the identification method used to identify prisoners up until this case) and dug through the archives of inmates.
Eerily, she pulled out a file that undoubtedly was the face of the man standing in front of her. However, he was telling the truth. Mr. West had never been to Leavenworth, and was naturally perturbed. How had his photo ended up in the files of the penitentiary? To be fair even Will West thought it was his picture He told the clerk“That’s my picture, but I don’t know where you got it because I’ve never been here before!” As it turned out, there was another inmate with the exact measurements as Mr. West who was already there serving a life sentence. If that wasn’t strange enough, his doppelgänger was named William West.
The two men were not related in any way, and law enforcement quickly realized that a more reliable method of identification was necessary. The case of Will and William West changed the face of forensics. Fingerprinting soon became the standard method for identifying criminals.
Because of these two men, you never have to worry about going to prison simply for sharing the same face and physical characteristics of another known criminal. Luckily for us all, our unique fingerprints will never allow for another case of mistaken identity.
I don’t actually know what either of the men were charged with but that doesn’t make this story less intriguing.
Donation
I am passionate about my site and I know you all like reading my blogs. I have been doing this at no cost and will continue to do so. All I ask is for a voluntary donation of $2, however if you are not in a position to do so I can fully understand, maybe next time then. Thank you.
To donate click on the credit/debit card icon of the card you will use. If you want to donate more then $2 just add a higher number in the box left from the PayPal link. Many thanks.
This is a very personal blog for me.Not because I was personally involved in it, because I wasn’t, but because it really touched me emotionally. Although I am don’t suffer from depression myself that is really what the song is about,depression and the effects it has especially on teenagers and young adolescents.
I first heard the song on the radio and fell in love with it, but that made the song not unique because I have fallen in love with thousands of songs.It was only after I saw the video of it , it had a profound impact on me, it really gave me the goosebumps.
The music video for “Runaway Train” featured photographs and names of missing children in the style of a public service announcement. At the end of the video, lead singer Dave Pirner appeared and said, “If you’ve seen one of these kids, or you are one of them, please call this number” before a missing children telephone helpline number appeared.
Below is the video but alas without the message at the end, for some reason it is impossible to find a version with the message, but even without that you will appreciate what the video is telling you.
A few days after I had seen the video I saw news footage saying that one of the children in the video had been found because of it. Those goosebumps were back and a few teardrops to complement them.
Finally a music video with real value. I have listened to the song many of time afterwards. not realizing the story didn’t end there.
Earlier this week I looked up the story behind the missing children again, because cynical me doesn’t always take heed to all news reports. Since this was going back for more than 2 decades I just wanted to re-assure the more mature me that the finding of this 1 missing child just wasn’t an urban myth.
Turned out it wasn’t just 1 child, in total 26 children were re-united with their families after being featured in the video.(and whiles I am writing this the goosebumps are back)
Unfortunately not all of them were found alive.
Polly Klaas
Polly Klaas was a 12-year-old girl who went missing in October 1993, a few months after the song had peaked on the charts. The case made national news, drawing more attention to the issue of missing and exploited children.
It was later learned the Klaas was abducted and murdered. by Richard Allen Davis. On October 1, 1993, Polly Klaas and two friends were having a slumber party. Late in the evening, Richard Allen Davis entered their bedroom, carrying a knife. He tied both friends up, pulled pillowcases over their heads and told them to count to 1,000. He then kidnapped the scared Klaas. Davis was caught and arrested and admitted to strangling Polly.After a long, tumultuous trial, Davis was convicted on June 18, 1996 of first-degree murder and four special circumstances (robbery, burglary, kidnapping and a lewd act on a child) in Klaas’ death.A San Jose Superior Court jury returned a verdict of death. At his formal sentencing by a judge, Davis provoked national outrage by taunting his victim’s family, extending both middle fingers at a courtroom camera and later saying that Klaas’ last words just before he killed her were that her father molested her.
Curtis Huntzinger
Below is some of the timeline of his case.
Early May, 1990 — 14-year-old Curtis Huntzinger reportedly tells his parents he has been molested by family acquaintance Stephen Hash, then 35, for whom Curtis was working.
May 11, 1990 — Curtis reportedly recants the allegations when asked about them by then-Blue Lake Police Chief Donald Trumble.
May 18, 1990 — Curtis, an Arcata High School freshman, is last seen at his sister’s Blue Lake home and is reported missing the next day. It is initially believed by authorities that Curtis, who had some trouble in school and a recent brush with the law, ran away from home. Trumble said at the time he was confident Curtis was not a victim of foul play.
April 1999 — Thomas Michael Fox, who was serving life in prison for the killing of 11-year old Danny Williams of Eureka, reportedly confesses to having killed Huntzinger. As a part of the confession, Fox reportedly admitted to shooting Huntzinger and fingered the accomplices who he said helped him bury the boy.
April 24, 1999 — During a confrontation with Huntzinger’s mom, Nancy, family acquaintance Stephen Daniel Hash reportedly admits to killing Curtis Huntzinger, even taking Nancy Huntzinger to her son’s burial site. Hash, however, refuses to talk to law enforcement about the case.
Over the ensuing weeks, police investigators search Hash’s property, even removing the floor boards of his house and sending its carpets to the Department of Justice Crime Lab for testing. The area where Hash claimed to have buried Huntzinger is scoured by dozens of members of the California Conservation Corps, police and the Huntzinger family. Several bones, including a vertebrae, are found, and believed to be those of Curtis Huntzinger. “This could be over in a few weeks,” then Blue Lake Police Chief Floyd Stokes said. The bones are later determined to be animal remains, and the case goes dormant.
Dec. 3, 2008 — Hash is arrested on suspicion of voluntary manslaughter by District Attorney’s Office investigators after reportedly giving a “complete confession” and showing them where Huntzinger was buried.
Dec. 9, 2008 — Investigators find a body believed to be Huntzinger’s located off old State Route 299 between Blue Lake and Korbel in the location Hash had led them to. The body is sent to the Humboldt County Coroner for an autopsy. where it is confirmed that the remains are those of Curtis.
Thomas Dean Gibson
The last image in all three U.S. versions of the song is Thomas Dean Gibson, who disappeared from Glendale, Oregon, in 1991 at the age of 2. He is still missing as of 2014, and age-progressed photos of him at age 19 and age 21 were released in 2009 and 2012, respectively, by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.His father, Larry Gibson, a former deputy sheriff, was convicted of second degree manslaughter for accidentally shooting his son to death when he shot at a stray cat in his front yard even though no remains were ever found. He steadfastly denies killing his son and has worked on finding him since being released from prison in 1996.
The version shown in Australia showed a number of young backpacking tourists whose families were looking for them. Several of them turned out to be victims of Ivan Milat, the Backpacker Murderer.
Dinah McNicol & Vicky Hamilton
The UK version of the video featured Vicky Hamilton and Dinah McNicol, who each went missing in 1991. Their remains were found in 2007 at a house in Margate. Peter Tobin has since been convicted of both murders.
Also featured in the UK version was Mark Bartley, a runaway who went missing in 1992. He was recognised in the video by a man who knew Bartley was staying in the tenant’s house below them, but was unaware of his missing status. By the time the police arrived, Bartley and the man he was living with were gone. It is unknown what happened to him after this.
Although Soul Asylum had been formed in 1983 the album Grave Dancers Union which includes Runaway Train, was there only successful album.
Released in 1992. The album spent 76 weeks on the Billboard music charts and was certified triple-platinum in 1993, establishing Soul Asylum as one of the most successful rock groups of the first half of the 1990s.
At the 1994 ceremony, this won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song, which went to its writer, Dave Pirner. Dave didn’t attend the ceremony, as he didn’t like the idea of proclaiming one song superior to another. When he won, Meat Loaf accepted the award on his behalf.
The band is still touring. They may not be considered as the best band ever, and musically this might be the case. But I believe they deserve a lot more credit for what they achieved with that 1 song which has changed the lives of so many.
Donation
I am passionate about my site and I know you all like reading my blogs. I have been doing this at no cost and will continue to do so. All I ask is for a voluntary donation of $2, however if you are not in a position to do so I can fully understand, maybe next time then. Thank you.
To donate click on the credit/debit card icon of the card you will use. If you want to donate more then $2 just add a higher number in the box left from the PayPal link. Many thanks.
With Stephen King’s “It” taking cinemas by storm it is time to have a look at the real Clown Killer. John Wayne Gacy.
Although Pennywise is a total fictional character(well at least I hope so) there are similarities between him and John Wayne Gacy.
John Wayne Gacy was convicted of the torture, rape, and murder of 33 males between 1972 until his arrest in 1978. He was dubbed the “Killer Clown” because he entertained children at parties and hospitals as “Pogo the Clown.” On May 10, 1994, Gacy was executed by lethal injection.
Stephen King’s It was published in 1986, not long after the Gacy case and prosecution would have played out all over the media. King says his direct inspiration was the idea writing a story about a troll under a bridge, but he had also said he wanted to play on a childhood fear of clowns. That fear was probably driven into overdrive when moms told their kids in the ’80s to behave, or a killer clown like Gacy might get them, as a cautionary tale.
Notorious serial killer John Wayne Gacy was born on March 17, 1942, in Chicago, Illinois. The son of Danish and Polish parents, Gacy and his siblings grew up with a drunken father who would beat the children with a razor strap if they were perceived to have misbehaved; his father physically assaulted Gacy’s mother as well. Gacy’s sister Karen would later say that the siblings learned to toughen up against the beatings, and that Gacy would not cry.
The boy suffered further alienation at school, unable to play with other children due to a congenital heart condition that was looked upon by his father as another failing. Gacy later realized he was attracted to men, and experienced great turmoil over his sexuality
Gacy worked as a fast-food chain manager during the 1960s and became a self-made building contractor and Democratic precinct captain in the Chicago suburbs in the 1970s. Well-liked in his community and a clown performer at children’s parties, Gacy also organized cultural gatherings. He was married and divorced twice and had biological children and stepchildren.
Yet Gacy had a dark side: he was convicted in 1968 and given a 10-year prison term for the sexual assault of two teen boys. He was released on parole in the summer of 1970, but was arrested again the following year after another teen accused Gacy of sexual assault. The charges were dropped when the boy didn’t appear during the trial. By the middle of the decade, two more young males accused Gacy of rape, and he would be questioned by police about the disappearances of others.
It was later discovered that he had committed his first known killing in 1972, taking the life of Timothy McCoy after luring the teen to his home.
On December 11, 1978, 15-year-old Robert Piest went missing. It was reported to police that the boy was last seen by his mother at the store he worked at as he headed out to meet Gacy to discuss a potential job.
On December 21, a police search of Gacy’s house in Norwood Park Township, Illinois, uncovered evidence of his involvement in numerous horrific acts, including murder. It would later be determined that Gacy had killed 33 boys and young men, the majority of whom had been buried under the house and garage, while others would be recovered from the nearby Des Plaines River.
Gacy lured his victims with the promise of construction work, and then captured, sexually assaulted and eventually strangled most of them with rope. When he killed, he sometimes dressed as his alter ego “Pogo the Clown.”
Gacy’s trial began on February 6, 1980, with a prosecution team headed by William Kunkle. With Gacy having confessed to the crimes, the arguments were focused on whether he could be declared insane and thus remitted to a state mental facility. Gacy had told police that the murders had been committed by an alternate personality, while mental health professionals testified for both sides about Gacy’s mental state.
Ultimately found guilty of committing 33 murders after a short jury deliberation, Gacy became known as one of the most vicious serial killers in U.S. history. He was sentenced to serve 12 death sentences and 21 natural life sentences. He was imprisoned at the Menard Correctional Center for almost a decade and a half, appealing the sentence and offering contradictory statements on the murders in interviews. Though he had confessed, Gacy later denied being guilty of the charges and had a 900 number set up with a 12-minute recorded statement of his innocence. He took up visual art as well, and his paintings were shown to the public via an exhibition at a Chicago gallery.
As both anti–death penalty forces and those in favor of the execution made their opinions known, John Wayne Gacy died by lethal injection on May 10, 1994, at the Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill, Illinois.
There have been lingering concerns that Gacy may have been responsible for the deaths of others whose bodies have yet to be found, and the Cook County sheriff’s office has pushed to search a Chicago apartment building where Gacy once worked as a maintenance employee.
Cook County authorities are also using DNA evidence to try to identify six of Gacy’s victims, who remain unidentified. On August 1, 2017, one of those men, “Victim No. 24,” was identified as 16-year-old James “Jimmie” Byron Haakenson. Haakenson had left home in St. Paul, Minnesota, and traveled to Chicago to begin life in the city.
On August 5, 1976, he called his mother to let her know he had arrived, however, police believe Gacy killed him shortly thereafter. In 1979, Haakenson’s mother had contacted authorities to find out if her son was one of Gacy’s victims, however, she didn’t have dental records and the department lacked sufficient resources to identify him as a victim. Haakenson’s mother died in the early 2000s, but other family members provided DNA samples in 2017, and authorities made an immediate match to “Victim No. 24.”
Through his membership in a local Moose Club, Gacy became aware of a “Jolly Joker” clown club whose members—dressed as clowns—would regularly perform at fundraising events and parades in addition to voluntarily entertaining hospitalized children. By late 1975, Gacy had joined the Jolly Jokers and created his own performance characters: “Pogo the Clown” and “Patches the Clown”.
Gacy designed his own costumes and taught himself how to apply clown makeup, although some professional clowns noted the sharp corners Gacy painted at the edges of his mouth are contrary to the rounded borders that professional clowns normally employ, so as not to scare children.Gacy is known to have performed as Pogo or Patches at numerous local parties, Democratic party functions,
(Gacy with First Lady Rosalynn Carter in 1978, six years after the killings began. A pin indicating special Secret Service clearance is visible on his jacket)
charitable events, and at children’s hospitals. He is also known to have arrived, dressed in his clowning garb, at a favorite drinking venue named “The Good Luck Lounge” on several occasions with the explanation he had just performed as Pogo and was stopping for a social drink before heading home.
History of Sorts 
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