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Most recently published stories in Criminal.

Down Cemetery Road and Slow Horses
I binged Down Cemetery Road -- all eight episodes -- on Apple TV last week. It's being billed (on Screen Rant) as "the perfect replacement" for Slow Horses, now in between its fifth and six seasons, also on Apple TV. Both are adaptations of Mike Herron's novels, and both sport a spiffy amalgam of snappy dialogue and spy-on-spy lethal mischief. But Down Cemetery Road doesn't have a theme-song co-written and performed by Mick Jagger (the best theme for a spy series since "Secret Agent Man"), a lead character who flaunts his flatulence in every episode, and quite the speed of narrative of Slow Horses.
By Paul Levinsonabout a month ago in Criminal
The Missing Murder Weapon! Nick Reiner Hires Prominent Lawyer
By nightfall, the fog had rolled into Brentwood. Standing outside Rob Reiner’s home for the second night in a row, the scene felt different. Quieter. Darker. The media presence had thinned, but the weight of what happened here hadn’t lifted. People still walked their dogs past the gates. Neighbors slowed down. Some stopped. Everyone seemed to be processing the same unthinkable reality.
By Lawrence Leaseabout a month ago in Criminal
The Lost Boys of Yuba County: A Midnight Journey into the Unknown
In the late hours of February 24, 1978, five young men from Yuba City, California, climbed into a turquoise and white Mercury Montego. They had just finished watching a basketball game and were headed home, excited about a tournament they were supposed to play in the very next day. They never arrived.
By The Insight Ledger about a month ago in Criminal
The Lead Masks of Vintém Hill: A Deadly Pursuit of the Unknown
In the annals of true crime and the paranormal, few stories are as hauntingly bizarre as the events that unfolded on a rainy afternoon in 1966 on a remote Brazilian hillside. It is a story that begins with a simple bus ride and ends with two bodies, homemade lead masks, and a cryptic note that sounds more like an occult ritual than a suicide pact. The Lead Masks Case (or Mistério das Máscaras de Chumbo) isn't just a cold case; it is a chilling reminder that sometimes, the search for "higher knowledge" can lead to a very dark, very permanent destination. 1. The Discovery: A Sight Out of a Nightmare On August 20, 1966, a young boy flying a kite on Vintém Hill in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, stumbled upon a scene that would haunt him for life. Lying side-by-side on a bed of dry leaves were two men, dressed impeccably in formal suits and waterproof raincoats. There were no signs of a struggle. No blood. No marks of violence. But what stopped the police in their tracks were the accessories. Both men were wearing homemade lead masks over their eyes—the kind used to protect against radiation. Beside them lay an empty water bottle, two wet towels, and a small notebook containing a set of instructions that felt like a riddle from a horror movie: "16:30 be at the agreed place. 18:30 swallow capsules, after effect protect metals wait for signal mask." 2. The Protagonists: Who Were They? The men were identified as Manoel Pereira da Cruz and Miguel José Viana. They weren't vagrants or criminals; they were electronic technicians from Campos dos Goytacazes, family men who were well-respected in their community. To their neighbors, they were "tech geeks" of the 1960s. But behind closed doors, they shared a dangerous obsession: Spiritualism and UFOs. They weren't just fixing radios; they were trying to build devices to communicate with extraterrestrials or spirits from another dimension. 3. The Final Journey: A Timeline of Shadows To understand the mystery, we have to look at their final 48 hours. On August 17, they told their families they were going to Sao Paulo to buy materials for work. They left with a significant amount of cash—money that was never found on their bodies. The Departure: They boarded a bus and arrived in Niterói. The Purchase: They bought the waterproof coats and a bottle of water. Witnesses noted that Miguel seemed extremely nervous, constantly checking his watch. The Ascent: They headed toward Vintém Hill, a place known at the time for reported UFO sightings. The rain began to fall. Most people would seek shelter. Manoel and Miguel, however, climbed higher into the mud and the dark. 4. The Autopsy of Silence The mystery deepened when the medical examiner took over. Despite the "capsules" mentioned in the note, the toxicology report came back inconclusive. Why? Because by the time the bodies were found, their internal organs had decomposed too much to detect subtle toxins. The police were left with a vacuum of evidence. Did they die of a heart attack induced by a "psychological trigger"? Did they take a lethal dose of LSD or some other psychedelic that went wrong? Or was it something even more sinister—a "scientific" experiment that actually worked, leaving their physical shells behind? 5. The "Spiritual Science" Theory The most compelling theory involves a secret society of "Scientific Spiritualists." In the 1960s, there was a fringe movement that believed human beings could transcend the physical plane by using high-frequency radio waves and certain chemicals. The lead masks were likely intended to protect their eyes from the "blinding light" of the beings they expected to meet. The "signal" they were waiting for could have been a flash in the sky or a telepathic command. But what if the "capsules" weren't meant to kill them? What if they were told the pills would help them "vibrate" at a higher frequency, but in reality, they were just poison given to them by a third party who wanted their money? 6. The Third Man: Fraud or Fear? Evidence suggests Manoel and Miguel weren't acting alone. A friend of theirs, another technician, was later arrested in connection with a similar "spiritual experiment" that resulted in a death. He admitted that the group was trying to contact "Mars." Could a "guru" or a mastermind have convinced these two men that they needed to die to "travel"? The missing money suggests a robbery, but the ritualistic setup suggests a cult-like devotion. 7. The Legacy: Why It Still Haunts Us The Lead Masks Case remains unsolved because it sits at the intersection of the mundane and the macabre. The Suits: Why wear formal business attire to a muddy hill in the rain? Perhaps they believed they were meeting "important" guests from another world. The Masks: They were crudely cut from a lead sheet, likely by the men themselves. This shows preparation, intent, and a terrifying level of belief. The Note: The phrasing "after effect protect metals" is the most puzzling. Does it refer to the lead masks? Or did they believe their very bodies would become magnetic? Conclusion: The Silence of Vintém Hill Decades later, the hill is quiet, but the questions remain. Were Manoel and Miguel victims of their own delusions, or did they actually encounter something that science cannot explain? The lead masks didn't protect them from death. Instead, those masks became symbols of the ultimate human tragedy: the desire to see what is "beyond" at the cost of everything we have here. In the end, the note said to "wait for the signal." Perhaps they are still waiting.
By Amanullahabout a month ago in Criminal
Vanished into Thin Air: The Chilling Enigma of the Jamison Family
The wilderness of the Sans Bois Mountains in Oklahoma is a place of rugged beauty and isolation. But in October 2009, it became the stage for one of the most baffling and unsettling disappearances in American history. When Bobby Jamison, his wife Sherilynn, and their 6-year-old daughter Madyson vanished, they left behind a trail of evidence so bizarre that it continues to haunt investigators and amateur sleuths alike. This isn't just a story of a family getting lost; it is a dark puzzle involving strange behavior, alleged witchcraft, and a mystery that even the discovery of their remains could not solve. 1. The Day the World Stopped On October 8, 2009, the Jamison family set out on a short trip. They were looking to buy a 40-acre plot of land near Red Oak, Oklahoma. They weren't planning a long vacation; they were supposed to be back shortly. A few days later, hunters found their abandoned pickup truck on a remote dirt road. What they found inside was the first sign that something was terribly wrong: The Family Dog: Maisie, the family's small dog, was still inside the truck, malnourished but alive. The Cash: Under the seat, police found an envelope containing $32,000 in cash. Personal Belongings: Their cell phones, GPS, wallets, and jackets were all left behind. In the world of disappearances, people usually take their money and phones if they are running away. If they are kidnapped, the kidnappers usually take the money. Here, the money was untouched, but the humans were gone. 2. The Surveillance Footage: A Descent into Madness The most disturbing piece of evidence came from the Jamison’s own home security system. Police recovered footage of the family packing their truck on the day they left. The video shows Bobby and Sherilynn moving in a "trance-like" state. They walked back and forth from the house to the truck over 20 times, sometimes without carrying anything at all. They didn't speak to each other. Their movements were robotic, vacant, and deeply unsettling. It looked less like a family going on a trip and more like people under a spell or a severe psychological breakdown. 3. The "Ghostly" Diary and Witchcraft As investigators dug deeper into the family's life, things got even weirder. Sherilynn Jamison’s mother claimed the family believed their house was haunted. Bobby had reportedly asked a local priest about "special bullets" to kill spirits he believed were living on their roof. In the truck, police found a 11-page "hate letter" written by Sherilynn to Bobby. It was a rambling, angry manifesto. Even more chilling were reports that Sherilynn possessed a "Witch’s Bible" and had left strange markings around the property to ward off evil spirits. Was the family running from demons, or were the "demons" inside their own minds? 4. The Discovery: Four Years of Silence For four years, the mountains kept their secret. Then, in November 2013, hunters discovered the skeletal remains of two adults and a child, just three miles from where the truck had been abandoned. They were lying face down, side-by-side. Because of the extreme decomposition and damage from forest animals, the medical examiner could not determine the cause of death. There were no bullet holes (though Sherilynn’s father later claimed there was a hole in Bobby’s skull, which was never officially confirmed). The forest had reclaimed them, leaving the "why" and "how" buried in the dirt. 5. The Theories: What Really Happened? A. The Drug Connection The Sans Bois Mountains are notorious for illegal "meth labs." One theory suggests the Jamisons stumbled upon a drug operation. This would explain the abandoned truck—perhaps they were forced out at gunpoint. However, it doesn't explain why the $32,000 cash wasn't stolen. Drug dealers rarely leave that much money behind. B. Murder-Suicide Given the erratic behavior in the video and the "hate letter," many believe Bobby or Sherilynn snapped. Did one parent kill the other and the child before taking their own life? The "side-by-side" position of the bodies makes this theory difficult to prove, as a suicide usually leaves a messier trail. C. The "White Supremacist" Encounter Before the trip, Bobby had reported a man to the police, claiming he was a dangerous white supremacist who had threatened his family. Some believe this man followed them into the mountains to seek revenge. D. Psychological Breakdown The family was under immense stress. They were struggling with health issues, financial weirdness (where did the $32,000 come from?), and deep-seated paranoia. Some experts believe they suffered a "folie à deux"—a shared delusion—that led them to wander into the woods to escape imaginary threats, eventually dying of hypothermia. 6. The Mystery of the $32,000 Perhaps the biggest question remains: Where did the money come from? The Jamisons were on disability and weren't known to have that kind of cash. Some suspect it was related to a drug deal, while others think it was their life savings they were using to "disappear" from society. The fact that it stayed in the truck while they died just three miles away is the ultimate irony of this case. 7. A Child’s Forgotten Face The most heartbreaking part of the story is Madyson Jamison. In the photos found on her parents' phones from that day, she looks unhappy. In one specific photo, she is standing on the mountain, looking at the camera with an expression that some describe as "terrified." It was the last photo ever taken of her. Conclusion: The Mountain Never Tells The Jamison Family Case is a haunting cocktail of the supernatural, the criminal, and the psychological. It reminds us that the human mind is a fragile thing, and when it breaks in the middle of a vast, indifferent wilderness, the results are catastrophic. Whether they were running from cults, drugs, ghosts, or themselves, the Jamisons took the truth to their forest grave. All that remains is a dusty truck, a malnourished dog, and a pile of cash that couldn't save them.
By Amanullahabout a month ago in Criminal
Naveed Akram Charged With 15 Counts of Murder Over Bondi Shooting. AI-Generated.
The Bondi Beach community and the wider world are still reeling from the tragic events of the recent shooting, as authorities confirm that Naveed Akram has been charged with 15 counts of murder. The attack, which targeted members of the Jewish community during Hanukkah celebrations, has sent shockwaves across Australia and reignited discussions about public safety, antisemitism, and community resilience.
By Fiaz Ahmed about a month ago in Criminal
Belgium’s Narco Paradox: How Europe’s Political Heart Became a Criminal Crossroads
On January 9, 2023, just after 6:30 p.m., gunmen opened fire on a garage door in a quiet Belgian neighborhood. Authorities initially described it as a routine settling of scores between drug traffickers—tragic, but familiar in the world of organized crime. Then came the detail that changed everything. Behind that garage door was an 11-year-old girl. She was killed instantly.
By Lawrence Leaseabout a month ago in Criminal
Glimmerstone Bloom
Silas tasted the rust in his mouth, a familiar metallic tang of fear and stale coffee. Vargas’s voice, thick as crude oil, still scraped at his ear, a promise of broken bones if the job wasn’t done by dawn. The kid, Lily, her breath rattling like loose change in her chest, was enough to make any man do mad things. This mad thing, it was called Glimmerstone. A garden of it, supposedly, hidden deep in the guts of the old Sinclair chemical plant, the one that’d been abandoned for twenty years, left to fester like a sore.
By HAADIabout a month ago in Criminal
Young Woman Murdered Whilst Trying To Repay A Good Deed
On Thanksgiving Day in 1986, 21 year old bank clerk Nancy Ann Hyer, was traveling by train to New York City when she became lost and visibly distressed on the verge of tears.
By Matesanzabout a month ago in Criminal
The Karen Silkwood Mystery: The True Story Behind Silkwood (1983)
In 1983, director Mike Nichols released Silkwood, a political drama rooted in one of the most disturbing real-life stories of 1970s America. Starring Meryl Streep, Kurt Russell, and Cher, the film dramatizes the final months of Karen Silkwood — a nuclear plant worker whose death remains officially ruled an accident, but widely questioned.
By Movies of the 80sabout a month ago in Criminal
Is a UK Serial Killer Hiding in Plain Sight?
As a true crime writer, I find myself subscribed to a plethora of crime reports and news outlets. It was through these that I started noticing a chilling connection: several women had been found dead in local waterways across the UK.
By Sam H Arnoldabout a month ago in Criminal
THE BLUEPRINT FOR BLACK UNITY
By Leavie Scott Safety Coordinator Chapter 1: A Vision Born From Fire I didn’t create Soul on Fire because everything in my life was perfect.
By Organic Products about a month ago in Criminal