Latest Stories

Most recently published stories in Criminal.

Dear Lori Lightfoot...
With all due respect, and I only use the term because you are an elected mayor.. What is wrong with you? Her name is Ella French. You should know the name of every officer in your department. You definitely should know the name of an officer slain in the line of duty.
By Justice for All4 years ago in Criminal
John And The Hole: Why You Probably Didn't Get It Or Like It
In order to understand and appreciate Pascual Sisto's 2021 indie-thriller, John And The Hole, you need to be able to understand, and perhaps remember, what it feels like to be an adolescent. This is no "scary movie"- this is a horrifying movie: This is a film about the undefined void between childhood and adulthood; The misunderstood and often misrepresented time that breeds countless stories of shocked and disgruntled parents who can't conceive of why their perfect little teenager is hitting rock bottom.
By Bonnie Joy Sludikoff4 years ago in Criminal
The Ferryman
The first time I found a body, it seemed a fluke. In among the rushes. So tragically discarded. I lifted the body of a young girl, bloated and forgotten.
By Theis Orion4 years ago in Criminal
See You Soon
“Do you think you’re ready to tell me about that day?” my therapist asks. We’d been meeting for a couple of months, and I still hadn’t been able to talk about the thing that got me into this chair in the first place. He’s been locked up for one year today, and I felt waking up this morning that today should be commemorated.
By Mikayla Plett4 years ago in Criminal
Devil's Head Penn
The thick smell of body odor and urine overpowered the hot crowded transport bus to Laforge Prison. The only source of moving air was from a tiny fan in the front of the bus but it pointed at the driver. John looked at the windows hopefully, but then quickly realized they were all locked. He leaned on the back gate and wiped his sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. Behind the gate were four prisoners in straight jackets with Hannibal Lector like masks. He made eye contact with one, the prisoner licked the sweat from his lip and stared back. John straightened up and looked forward. The other prisoners handcuffed to the bus seats and were staring out the window. They knew this was the last trip they would ever make.
By HH4 years ago in Criminal
The Kyra Daniels Cases: D.U.I. and D.O.A
My head feels like it’s splitting open. My ears are ringing. My body is injured, though I cannot say how badly. The paramedics are just trying to reassure me that I’m going to be okay. Car accidents happen every day. Some are good, and some are bad. I guess I got lucky.
By B.D. Reid4 years ago in Criminal
Instinct
Why didn’t I listen to my instincts? I knew something was off the second I headed to my car. It wasn’t fully dark yet. The sun was just closing down to make way for the moon’s evening shift.
By Yolanda Olivia Anderson4 years ago in Criminal
Hazey Days
What a time to be alive. Right? I am supremely skeptical when I hear that much excitement. Those words send Q-tip’s dope, classic song “Breathe and Stop” flashing in my psyche. If you're thinking; “great not another story about race!” “I’m so tired of being bombarded and beat across the head by savagery” News flash, so am I. So, let’s talk about another ditch lives are thrown into.
By Grizzly Gentleman4 years ago in Criminal
What did the Shooting Victim Say Before Going to the Hospital?
With the steam rising off the street in the August heat, little cones marked the shell casings on the street in the Hilltop section of Wilmington, Delaware. The victim, Blane Koss, was still breathing and stable when paramedics loaded him into the ambulance.
By Skyler Saunders4 years ago in Criminal
A Brush with Criminal Law and Privilege
The year was 2010 and I'd long felt like I'd lost everything. High school had become enough of a conspiracy, that I couldn't even trust my friends. Everyone was talking behind everyone's back. Milli was my best friend at the time, but I couldn't tell where his motives really lay.
By The Passionate Autistic4 years ago in Criminal
Movie Review: 'Ted Bundy American Boogeyman'
In my nearly 20 years of writing about the movies I have seen some disreputable filmmakers and Daniel Farrands, the director of such non-classics as The Haunting of Sharon Tate and The Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson, is among the most disreputable of them all. Targeting some of the most well known true crime stories in American history, Farrands doesn’t seek to shine a light on the gravest of evil, he seeks to exploit it as if it were just another horror story.
By Sean Patrick4 years ago in Criminal
A Pear Tree on a Summer Day
"Authorities have arrested a man in connection with the stolen Jean-Pierre Archambault painting, A Pear Tree on a Summer Day. The painting, a 19th Century impressionism work valued at over three-quarters of a million dollars, was stolen from the Louvre back in the late-70s, in the biggest art heist France had ever seen.
By Laura4 years ago in Criminal