Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Criminal.
Envoy
A Short Story He waited in anticipation. He checked the time on his watch. It was nearing eight o' clock and getting late. This place was empty and abandoned, just the way he'd needed it to be. The idea of even fathoming such a task brought out nervous ticks: lighting and blowing cigarette smoke in the cool, night breeze, checking his cellular phone every ten minutes to see if his wife would message him concerning his whereabouts.
By Rob C. Johnson5 years ago in Criminal
My Journey Down the Rabbit Hole
This is my story and the events that led me to collide with this historically huge case. All these events detail are facts in the public domain. The only personal information is my own. And that is in the public domain, by way of my blog on this case, ConjuringJustice.com. I am telling the path that led me to who I am today. I always referred to this part of my life is the "lost time", or "a past life". But when I became aware of what I wanted my life to represent, even at nearly 40, I used my experience in that "past life" to help someone whom I did not care for particularly. He was not a favorite person of mine. He was part of the time I did not wish to ever revisit, but we all have a past. I learned through this portion of my journey, that all these times, events, are just simple stones in the mosaic of life. We may not see what the design will be, but each piece is integral to your life's journey. Even those things, we are ashamed of or regret, can be made into an incredible design that becomes the legacy we have carefully crafted of our life events. It represents growth. It cannot be overlooked that things we have gone through, could help others understand how to navigate these same issues we already conquered. Follow me through the my short-lived walk on the wild side. Maybe you can envision why I am on this path.
By Jimmie Lee Staley5 years ago in Criminal
The Trial of the Century: The Murder Which Rocked Chicago.
Pictured above is a 27-year old Nathan Leopold, a man who formed half of the duo that killed a teenage boy. Born in the winter of 1904, Nathan was dubbed a child prodigy the moment his first words passed his lips at just four months old. As he got older, he became fluent in five languages and by the time he was nineteen, he graduated from the University of Chicago with Phi Beta Kappa honours — the pinnacle of academic honours in the United States. On top of that, he achieved recognition in the field of ornithology.
By Peter Spering5 years ago in Criminal
The Devil’s Marble Grave Marker
Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley is an intense and thrilling detective novel following the main character Easy Rawlins on his mission to find a girl named Daphne Monet in late 1940’s Los Angeles. Throughout the novel Easy has his home, his one beloved possession, broken into several times, is beaten by the police, has friends brutally murdered, and in the end still manages to find the girl in the blue dress he was set forth to locate from the beginning of the novel. However, through all of the emotional ups and downs Walter Mosely exposes his readers to, one might be inclined to overlook the most important part of the story: the title. It is of common assumption that the noted devil in the blue dress from the novels title is the character introduced wearing a blue dress and the one whom Easy says, “That girl is the devil man” (Mosley 148), however, when considering her actions throughout the story and her reason behind those actions, one might need to consider that Daphne is not the true “devil” in the story at all. A true evil character is one who lies and deceives friends for selfish gain and to only further themselves in life and also is one who will kill to cover up what they do not wish others to discover about them. There is only one character who embodies all of these elements true to the nature of a devil and this character is the one who is described as having “a knot over his right eye that always looked red and raw” (Mosley 8), much like the horn of the devil barely hidden beneath his tattered skin. His lies, manipulation, and merciless killings validate that Walter Mosley’s “devil in a blue dress” is none other than the gracious friend and seemingly innocent bar owner, Joppy Shag.
By Alyssa Anderson 5 years ago in Criminal
Not Quite Nellie
I had never been so nervous making dinner before. Two weeks I had planned what I was going to say: writing drafts, compiling charts, and asking literally everyone I knew to make sure what I was going to say was fair. I was very well prepared, but my hands couldn't stop shaking all the same.
By Guenneth Speldrong5 years ago in Criminal
The abduction of Dorothy Forstein
Every year, people disappear. Although most of them return home, many others never do. What happens to these missing people? Did aliens abduct them? Although I don’t subscribe to alien abductions, it makes for good television. When people vanish, they have either walked away from their lives or someone else killed and disposed of them.
By Marc Hoover5 years ago in Criminal
Jeffrey Dahmer, frequently saving his victims' skulls or genitals
Jeffrey Dahmer: Who Was He? Between 1978 and 1991, Jeffrey Dahmer was an American serial murderer who murdered 17 men. Dahmer stalked men, usually African Americans, at gay clubs, malls, and bus stops for more than 13 years, luring them home with promises of money or sex and then strangling them to death with booze mixed with narcotics. He would then perform sex activities on the bodies before dismembering and disposing of them, frequently saving their skulls or genitals as keepsakes. He regularly photographed his victims at various phases of the murder procedure so that he could recall and relive the event later.
By Victoria Velkova5 years ago in Criminal
