Further Summary/Plan/Update

Since my last post I haven't done much. Next week I plan on looking into each of the three cases, 1984 McDonald's Masacre, 1991 Luby's Cafeteria Masacre, and this summers Batman Shooting. I predict that all three of these unsubs will have some type of mental illness or something that happened in there life that triggered them to become violent and kill so many people.

Research Update

I have started researching three different cases that I would like to further investigate. I plan on doing a case study from three different decades, the 1980's, 1990's and 2000's, to see if there is a change from then till now in triggers and what causes an unsub to act out. Also in my research, I learned that a direct cause in closing down mental institutions throughout the 1960s-1970s was a spike in the violent crime rate.

My plan for this Semester

For this semester, I plan on trying to figure out what is going on in the unsub's head and what causes them to commit a murder. I will be conducting three case studies, focusing on the unsub and any sociological and psychological problems or disorders that may contribute to them acting out. When watching shows about crime their is usually a disorder or problem that caused them to commit a crime whether it is something like their spouse died or they have something psychological going on that has developed from something that happened to them as a child.

My Focus This Semester

For first marking period I mainly focused on murder/homicide, because I find it interesting.
For this marking period I will  be focusing further on the crime rate related to murder
throughout the past fifty years. I also would like to do archival research to better understand
what is going through an unsub's head.

Murdered for her bike.

This week, I'm sure you all heard of the Autumn Pasquale Murder. A boy, Justin Robinson, invited Autumn to his house to see her bike. The boy and his older brother then stole the bike and killed her. While the Police were still trying to identify the killer, Justin had a passing interest in the case. He attended a candle light vigil, liked a facebook page dedicated to Autumn and wrote on Autumn's older brother's timeline. After investigating the police identified Justin and his older brother as the killers.  I found it interesting that Justin went to the candle vigil and was so involved in the case on facebook. Facebook is what led the police to identify Justin and hi brother of the murder.  Days before Autumn disappeared Justin was talking to her on facebook asking to see her bike. I don't understand why someone would kill someone over a bike. But i do see that he was involved in the case after the murder, whether it was to try and show interest or whether he felt remorse. What do you think????

Deviant Behavior: Willingly Being Whipped

One of the deviant behaviors that I watched, that really stood out to me, was the whipping of women in Ethiopia.  These women would willingly be whipped by the stickman, in order for their cousin or brother to become a man. The women would taught the stickman and encourage him to whip them.  Which may seem unusual to us, because in our culture being whipped or hurt by a man, would usually put that man in jail and have him accused of a crime.  The scars from this whipping can be to the Ethiopian women as both a reminder of strength and is something to show pride in which is a positive sanction, or it can be a reminder of their brother’s failure and is something that brings shame which is a negative sanction.  The more scars the women have, shows the more strength and is a symbol of beauty.  This is very different from our culture and what is socially acceptable.  Here in the US if a woman has scars, she may try to hide them or fix them with plastic surgery, because it isn’t acceptable.  Having an even skin tone and perfect skin is what is socially acceptable here in the US.  So these women in Ethiopia, willingly be whipped and have these permanent scars to us maybe taboo, but in their culture it is what makes them beautiful and shows their strength. Because of ethnocentrism, watching this, to me, was worse than watching the other two deviant behaviors, because in the US those behaviors are things we may see when we walk through the mall or are at a baseball game, but being whipped, I see as a punishment, not something you do willingly and would give you strength and pride. 

Can't Find Killer

Michael Jones

I found an article today on NJ.com that shocked me. Michael Jones, youth coach of the New York Red Bulls was brutally slashed to death on October 7th and later died that day in the hospital. Before the police could identify the suspected Killer, he fled the country and went to his hometown in Mexico. Police tracked down the flight and went to Mexico to search for him, but they didn't have any luck. Supposedly he left a note in his apartment to his family, apologizing for the slaying. After hearing this I was grossed out by the fact that he was able to admit that he killed someone to his family, yet he fled from his actions. I understand the circumstances that he is in, but in a situation like this, you can't run away from it. Because in the end, they are going to find him and he is going to be accused of not only man slaughter, but also fleeing.

Violent Crime Rates

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation the violent crime rate in the U.S. decreased in 2011. Murder went down -1.9 % overall and rape, robbery and aggregated assault fell -4.0 % since 2010. But they also said that their was an increase in murder in the Midwest (6 %) and in cities with a population less than 10,000 (18.0 %). Reading this was actually surprising, because I feel that we here a lot about violent crimes on the news on the web and on TV. I'm glad that the crime rate seems to be decreasing, but I'm wondering why murders increased in cities in the Midwest and in cities with a population less than 10,000.

Click here for the link to the article

 After reading this article...

Is this a good thing or bad thing?? and Why do you think that although the crime rate is decreasing overall, that their is an increase in murder in the Midwest??

Missing or Running Away???

 In New Jersey on Sunday, as most of you had probably heard about, 16 year-old Kara Alongi, Tweeted for someone to call 9-11, because she thought there was someone in her. Someone did and when the police got there the door was open and her cell phone was on the floor. At first everyone thought that someone had came into the house and kidnapped her. But, on Tuesday she called the police and they found her at a service area on the Turnpike.

                

Here take a look at the article I read.



http://www.northjersey.com/news/Missing_NJ_teen_who_sent_fake_tweet_found_safe_.html

After reading this article and a couple others, it angered me that she would pretend that she was kidnapped and that they still haven't figured out what she was doing for the two days she was missing. And although this turned out not to be a violent crime, I still wanted to post about this.How do you feel about this case???



Connecticut Man Shot and Kills a Burglar, Who Turns Out To Be His Son

Early this morning a man in Connecticut shot and killed a burglar
wearing a ski mask, who was trying to break into his sisters house next store.
At first I felt that although killing the person wasn't the right thing to do,
it was self defense and their fore okay. But after hearing that it turned out
to be his fifteen year old son who was breaking into his sisters house, I was almost numb. I understand that his first instinct was to shoot the burglar and protect his sister, but when he took off the mask and realized it was his son,
he must have been in shock and so upset.I honestly don't know how to feel for
the father. Its such a tragedy. He thought he was protecting someone he loved, but at the same time killing someone who he  loved.

 

Click here for link to the Video.

      

After watching this video, What was your reaction and how do you feel????

Slow-cooking a Body?

On Wednesday I found an article on NBC's website about a man who allegedly slow-cooked his wife's body. After reading this article I was really grossed out, What about you? Not only did David kill his wife but he also cooked her dead body for four days and then just threw it out. Although he didn't intentionally kill his wife, i feel that what he did after with the body was worse. I can't imagine what was going on in his head. I guess he was just in such a panic, when he found her dead the only thing he could think of was to get rid of her body, and being a chef, slow-cooking it was the only way he could think of.

 

Heres a youtube video by Newsy about the case...





 

After watching this video how do you feel about the case??

Pathmark Shooting

Did you here about the Pathmark shooting that happened this week?  Ex marine, Terence Tyler, after only working in the Old Bridge Pathmark for about two weeks, left during his break, came back with a handgun and started shooting at the Pathmark, Killing two employes. After shooting the people he turned the gun on himself.

After hearing about this, I felt sorry for the employes who had to go through this tramatic event and also for the family of the two employes who were killed.But i also felt for the Tyler, who after being let out for of the marines for signs of depression, killed two people and himself. To be able to kill yourself like that he must have really been in pain and very depressed. He also must have had sicological problems from the marines to be able to shoot two inoccent people at a pathmark.

What is a Violent Crime?

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's website "a violent crime is composed of four offences: murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. Violent crimes are defined in the UCR Program as those offenses which involve force or threat of force."

I chose this topic because i have an interest for criminology and love watch shows like Law and Order, Cold Case, and Criminal Minds. Do you watch any of these shows? I love the suspense and how they can take little peices of evidence like a hair or fingerprint on a peice of paper and create a whole ackground of a person.

  

My main focus of my blog will be on murder and nonnegligent manslaughter. I am fascinated on figuring out what was going on in the life of the killer and why they decide to kill.