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Most recently published stories in Criminal.
The unsolved Parma school teacher murders
On Thursday, February 17, 1921, three school-aged children uncovered a grisly site. While walking to school in Parma, Ohio, they came across two bundles of clothing near the road. The curious children approached the bundles for a closer look. What they saw probably haunted them forever. They had just stumbled upon two dead bodies.
By Marc Hoover5 years ago in Criminal
The prison service and the social harm perspective
According to Justice and Prisons (2011a), prisons are fundamental in the criminal justice system as they ensure that offenders face justice and are sanctioned for unlawful activity. The primary aim of prisons is providing prisoners with assistance and rehabilitation opportunities in a humane way. There are International standards which state that reformation and social rehabilitation should take place humanely and without torture to prevent social harm occurring within the system. Justice and Prisons (2011b), identifies the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment as a few of many standards which prisons must adhere to. They also express that women, children and those with mental health needs require a more personal approach than the one size fits all belief (Justice and Prisons, 2011b).
By Janine S White5 years ago in Criminal
How a hashtag is harming human trafficking victims
I am not writing about conspiracy theorists. I am not interested in delving into the topic of what people chose to believe about reality because other writers are already analyzing this phenomenon with more eloquence and analysis invested.
By Shanali Inchaustegui5 years ago in Criminal
“A drunk driver is very dangerous. So is a drunk backseat driver if he's persuasive”
I have another secret to tell… have I told you guys that I have a thing for bartenders! Ok maybe that wasn’t the biggest secret I have told, LOL… If you have been following my stories, you have probably realized that I love drinking and duh, of course bartenders are my friends. Bartenders are amazing, but they can fuck you up if you love them too much.
By Insatiable-ness5 years ago in Criminal
Murdered in Delphi, Indiana
Over three years have passed since best friends Liberty "Libby" German and Abigail "Abby" Williams were murdered. The girls were enjoying themselves and hanging around an old bridge. It's what youngsters do. They love to explore and spend time with friends. Unfortunately, some unknown evil monster abducted and murdered the two teenage girls. I regularly check on the status of this case. Like many others familiar with this case, I want to see justice for these two beautiful girls. Their killer doesn't deserve to be enjoying his life.
By Marc Hoover5 years ago in Criminal
A Disturbing History of Serial Killers You Didn't Know About
Robert Hansen's Background: Robert Hansen was born on February 15th, 1939 in Estherville, Iowa. Also known as the "Baker Butcher," Hansen abducted, raped, and murdered at least 17 women in Anchorage, Alaska.
By Matthew Easter5 years ago in Criminal
This Is Not a Love Story
She said that she was going somewhere cold and green and never coming back. None of us believed it. They all said things like that, and they all came home eventually, some in taxis and some in caskets. Not her, though. Lana came back with her head held high, and you could just see the skin sucked to the bones of her cheeks, the withering look in her eyes. She was still too proud to give into our defeated arms (we had been waiting weeks for her return, afraid she’d run the rented Ford off the road, into the river just as Ryan had).
By Rachel Elsey5 years ago in Criminal
A Still Small Voice & A Gunshot
On Wednesday November 14th I was babysitting for a friend in East Nashville, and as I was getting into my car to drive home a man opened the passenger door, got inside, and held me hostage in my car for about an hour. I remember the first thought I had in my mind was “I must have forgotten something in the house and my friend Janna is running out to to stop me from leaving,” until I realized quickly that the person sitting in my passenger seat was a man dressed in black clothing with a gun pointed at my body. (Just a quick side note I’m with family in Colorado now writing this out now. I’ve been anxious to write about it because writing is how I process things. I’ve always journaled and written to process my thoughts, so I guess that’s exactly what this is because I can’t quite put this all into words any other way. Bear with me in case I overshare :)) The man took my phone out of my hands and told me to drive with both hands on the wheel. I pulled out of the neighborhood as he told me to go to the nearest ATM. I wasn’t familiar with the area so he pulled up a GPS on his phone and started telling me where to turn. Unlocking my phone, he asked me for my Apple ID password and (of course) I couldn’t remember it. (You’d think that with a gun pointed at you you’d remember every password you’ve ever had but yeah…nope.) After telling him I couldn’t remember it, the man got very angry. The next thing I know, he put the gun to my head saying “maybe with force, you’ll remember it. If you don’t do what I say I will pull this trigger, I’ve killed before so ending your life would be easy for me”. I was in complete shock. I started praying but the only thing that was repeating over and over and over and over again in my head was “Jesus, help me.” At this point, it was about 3:30pm - we were right in the middle of downtown and traffic was getting heavy. As we pulled up to the West End area, there was a Wells Fargo on the right where he told me to pull in. He pulled his ski mask over his face and got low in the car with the silver gun at my stomach. There were 2 police cars parked in the parking lot of the gas station a few hundred feet away, and this must have spooked him because as I pulled up to the ATM he told me not to stop and to keep driving through it and back onto the main road. At that point he kept saying over and over that he was “on a mission” and needed $900 by 4pm and if I didn’t have it in time, he’d shoot me. He was angry again and threatened to hit me if I didn’t hurry up so I kept driving. As we stopped beside other cars he told me to pretend I was on my phone so nobody would get suspicious. We were at a red light when he put the gun down and started looking through my car and my laptop for valuables. All I could think about was that if I ran in that moment, I wouldn’t get out in time before he reached for his gun. He started asking personal questions like “how old are you? Are you a student? Do you have a boyfriend? Do you do drugs?” Every now and then he’d ask me “Are you ok?…Ok, good”. We drove for a few more blocks and pulled into the drive through ATM of the First Tennessee bank on 30th and West End. Something in me told me to pull up far enough from the machine so that I could step out of my car completely just to reach it. I did, I opened the door but only half of my body was out of the car. He gripped my hoodie with one hand reaching over the seat, and the other hand was holding the gun at my side. I started pressing buttons on the ATM terrified out of my mind praying for wisdom. Praying for a still small voice. Scenarios of things that could happen if I got back into my car started running through my head. What felt like the shortest but longest few seconds standing at the ATM made the man angry so he told me to get back into the car and continue driving. I did. I didn’t take the money out, and somehow as we were driving away I convinced him to let me turn around and try again. It was almost 4pm and the gun was pointed at my head again as I pulled into the bank for the second time. This time there WAS a still small voice telling me to park even further so that when I pulled up I could open the door and get my entire body out of the car to reach for the machine. I don’t know what happened then. I really don’t. I wish I could explain every little thought in my brain exactly how it happened but I can’t. It’s like for a second I was not in control of my body. I pulled away and he pulled the trigger. I couldn’t hear anything except a loud ringing in my brain, I smelled a fired gun and my body felt absolutely nothing except for the man’s hand still gripped on my hoodie for what felt like the longest few seconds ever. I started taking the hoodie off, but I felt him let go and I ran around the building inside the bank. There was nobody in the bank except for a few female tellers behind the desk. I ran to the back of the bank asking for a phone to call my brother Ruslan. Long story short, after some blood and my first time in an ambulance and getting needles in my body, I got to the hospital. This next part is for all my fellow Grey’s Anatomy fans:
By Elina Tafoya5 years ago in Criminal
A Disturbing History of Serial Killers You Probably Didn't Know About
Hamilton Howard "Albert" Fish was born May 19th, 1870 to a very different family. For starters, Fish's father was 43 years older than his mother. Before we go any further, I'd like to discuss some behavioral psychology talking points to keep in mind while you read this. In behavioral psychology there is a theory called "conditioning" where it is believed that when someone observes something and it becomes acceptable in their mind. So Fish observing his father have a relationship with a woman that he was 43 years superior to, became an acceptable thing in his life. The other thing that made Fish's family stick out amongst the rest, was the fact that almost every single one of them was diagnosed with some sort of mental health disorder. His mother for starters, had constant hallucinations. One of his brothers was confined to a mental hospital for going completely insane. Fish's sister was diagnosed with a mental affliction, and his uncle was diagnosed with mania.
By Matthew Easter5 years ago in Criminal
