True Crime thread

[Silver Surfer]

Any background you can share?

Not quite as compelling as a serial killer, but I think he may have signed my yearbook.... my graduating class was only about 60 kids. I also think we played on the baseball team together.

https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna16446018

My last interaction with him was having him deceive my grandmother in Michigan into giving him my phone number in Texas so he could ask for a donation to the private high school we attended.

 

[Praxit]

..you guys remember the McDonalds massacre in San Diego 1984? 22 dead with dozens injured. Crazy dude, went in with shotgun, ordered some food. Turned around and went Rambo.

I was in HS when it occurred. The Irony and sad part, the kicker on our football team happened to be there, that moment. Was shot 3 times, survived. Eventually, came back to school.

Season was still going. He showed up at the coaches weight room. We all stood there, jaw open, teary eyed. Unforgettable moment. To top it off, someone asked him to lift his shirt.

Bone thin, scars everywhere. He just smiled...

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

..you guys remember the McDonalds massacre in San Diego 1984? 22 dead with dozens injured. Crazy dude, went in with shotgun, ordered some food. Turned around and went Rambo.

I was in HS when it occurred. The Irony and sad part, the kicker on our football team happened to be there, that moment. Was shot 3 times, survived. Eventually, came back to school.

Season was still going. He showed up at the coaches weight room. We all stood there, jaw open, teary eyed. Unforgettable moment. To top it off, someone asked him to lift his shirt.

Bone thin, scars everywhere. He just smiled...

Remember it very well, was stationed at Coronado at the time.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

..you guys remember the McDonalds massacre in San Diego 1984? 22 dead with dozens injured. Crazy dude, went in with shotgun, ordered some food. Turned around and went Rambo.

I was in HS when it occurred. The Irony and sad part, the kicker on our football team happened to be there, that moment. Was shot 3 times, survived. Eventually, came back to school.

Season was still going. He showed up at the coaches weight room. We all stood there, jaw open, teary eyed. Unforgettable moment. To top it off, someone asked him to lift his shirt.

Bone thin, scars everywhere. He just smiled...

I read a book on it.

The guy left his wife and kids at home– They thought he was just going over to get something to eat.

I believe they could see the McD's from the upstairs windows of their home.

He was obviously unbalanced and was violent with his wife & daughters.

Maybe the "grand-daddy" of the modern mass-shooting era.

It was 18 years between Charles Whitman's mass shootings from the U of Texas clock tower and this event.

 

[Praxit]

I read a book on it.

The guy left his wife and kids at home– They thought he was just going over to get something to eat.

I believe they could see the McD's from the upstairs windows of their home.

He was obviously unbalanced and was violent with his wife & daughters.

Maybe the "grand-daddy" of the modern mass-shooting era.

It was 18 years between Charles Whitman's mass shootings from the U of Texas clock tower and this event.

..wow, didnt know there was a book. Thanks for sharing that tidbit.

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

..you guys remember the McDonalds massacre in San Diego 1984? 22 dead with dozens injured. Crazy dude, went in with shotgun, ordered some food. Turned around and went Rambo.

I was in HS when it occurred. The Irony and sad part, the kicker on our football team happened to be there, that moment. Was shot 3 times, survived. Eventually, came back to school.

Season was still going. He showed up at the coaches weight room. We all stood there, jaw open, teary eyed. Unforgettable moment. To top it off, someone asked him to lift his shirt.

Bone thin, scars everywhere. He just smiled...

Even though it was several years later it reminds me of the guy that stole the tank and rampaged through the streets of San Diego. Good thing there were no munitions in the tank.

 

[Praxit]

Even though it was several years later it reminds me of the guy that stole the tank and rampaged through the streets of San Diego. Good thing there were no munitions in the tank.

..hahah.. yes sir, I remember that. It was the weirdest of events.

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

..hahah.. yes sir, I remember that. It was the weirdest of events.

Surprised there were no fatalities.

 

[Praxit]

Surprised there were no fatalities.

....he was steamrolling the streets, left n right. I was like a kid, "where is he going now?"... ..

 

[SlammedZero]

Watched a decent documentary on HBO Max called The Murders at Starved Rock. It was about a 1960s slaying of 3 women found in a state park in Illinois. The documentary covers the person accused of the murders, how he backtracked on his confession, and if he was the one responsible. I walked away from the documentary torn on if the accused person actually did it or not.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Watched a decent documentary on HBO Max called The Murders at Starved Rock. It was about a 1960s slaying of 3 women found in a state park in Illinois. The documentary covers the person accused of the murders, how he backtracked on his confession, and if he was the one responsible. I walked away from the documentary torn on if the accused person actually did it or not.

Wow!

I have not heard of that case.

A quick review of the case on Wiki sounds like it's an interesting one, with a legit question on if the guy that was found guilty was really guilty. Certainly the confession could have been coerced. When it comes to ghastly murders it seems that (naturally) the authorities feel the pressure to solve it and that could lead to some questionable tactics being used– We've seen that in the West Memphis 3 case along with one guy convicted of committing at least one of the "Texas Killing Fields" murders, who subsequently died in prison but the overwhelming evidence is that he did not do it.

In this case it's unusual for women this age to become part of a "group murder".

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Watched a decent documentary on HBO Max called The Murders at Starved Rock. It was about a 1960s slaying of 3 women found in a state park in Illinois. The documentary covers the person accused of the murders, how he backtracked on his confession, and if he was the one responsible. I walked away from the documentary torn on if the accused person actually did it or not.

An article I found that takes the opposite view of the accused...

https://www.americanhauntingsink.com/the-starved-rock-murders

 

[SlammedZero]

An article I found that takes the opposite view of the accused...

https://www.americanhauntingsink.com/the-starved-rock-murders

Wow, the documentary that I watched failed to make any mention of the death bed confession. Interesting.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Wow, the documentary that I watched failed to make any mention of the death bed confession. Interesting.

I do not have access to that documentary (yet) so I'll have to keep my eyes out for it.

It's a tough case to judge.

The person who was found guilty... Could be. Or maybe it was someone else.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

One of the earlier serial killers who most haven't heard of was also a cop!

Gerard John Schaefer, Jr. was born in 1946, and took at crack at both teaching and becoming a Catholic Priest!

He became a deputy sheriff in the early 70's and began combining his knowledge of police work (and not getting caught) with his lust to pick up, torture and kill hitchhiking females in the state of Florida.

His story is weird, sad and strangely interesting...

He was confirmed to have killed 4 with links based on his jailhouse writing, stuff found at his home and woman that came up missing that knew him could have murdered close to 20... Including an 8 & 9 year-old, with his killing spree starting as early as 1966.

When you read or hear his story, there's a lot of similarities to Ted Bundy, who Schaefer came in contact with while both were in the Florida prison system.

Schaefer was killed in prison by another inmate (weird story here too) in 1996.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerard_John_Schaefer

 

[MichaelWinicki]

The story of the missing 8 & 9 year-olds referenced in the post above...

 

[DBOY3141]

Watched a decent documentary on HBO Max called The Murders at Starved Rock. It was about a 1960s slaying of 3 women found in a state park in Illinois. The documentary covers the person accused of the murders, how he backtracked on his confession, and if he was the one responsible. I walked away from the documentary torn on if the accused person actually did it or not.

watched that as well...very good series

 

[Jammer]

Not quite as compelling as a serial killer, but I think he may have signed my yearbook.... my graduating class was only about 60 kids. I also think we played on the baseball team together.

https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna16446018

My last interaction with him was having him deceive my grandmother in Michigan into giving him my phone number in Texas so he could ask for a donation to the private high school we attended.

I remember seeing that episode multiple times.

 

[Crazed Liotta Eyes]

I do not have access to that documentary (yet) so I'll have to keep my eyes out for it.

It's a tough case to judge.

The person who was found guilty... Could be. Or maybe it was someone else.

These documentaries really highlight the power of these shows. You go back and forth on the guilt / innocence question based on what you're seeing. I absolutely do. Makes you wonder how it must be to be on the jury on one of these cases. It seems easy after the fact but I'm sure it's not in real time.

 

[SlammedZero]

Anybody here watched Evil Genius on Netflix? Interesting story!