Getting Away with Murder - Part 1

by Stacy Dittrich

Is it really that easy? Any prudent person would formulate the opinion that committing an act of murder—and getting away with it—is a fairly simple task. A little skill, minimal thought, and a final resting place is all you need these days. Or, so it seems. Now that the elections are over, we are once again barraged with the latest crime stories in the news—those that are new, and those we have been subjected to over the last five years. Every day a new piece of evidence emerges that may, or may not, solve one of the grisly murders that we have been talking about daily in coffee shops and beauty salons everywhere.

Today and Monday, I will cover those cases that refuse to go away, those that have earned their rightful places in the Crime Hall of Fame. Solved, unsolved, body, or no body, guilty, or not guilty, these cases continuously permeate an air of mystery or suspicion at the slightest mention of their names. At the mere hint of the stories taking a back seat, crime bloggers and media worldwide drive these cases to the forefront once again.

I’ll begin with the most recent:

1. Caylee Anthony—Missing since June, 2008, No Body Found.

Perhaps one of the most high-profile cases in recent history, the case of missing 2-year-old Caylee Anthony continues to draw our attention. The circus-like atmosphere that has attached itself to the missing Orlando toddler’s mother, Casey Anthony (pictured right with Caylee), has undoubtedly clouded the true focus of the case—finding Caylee and bringing her killer to justice.

Her daughter last seen sometime in mid-June, Casey Anthony waited almost a month before reporting Caylee missing. In fact, she didn’t report it all; it was her mother Cindy Anthony that called 911 to report her granddaughter missing after they found Casey’s car, a white Pontiac that, in Cindy’s own words “smell[ed] like a dead body was in the damn car!” Cindy Anthony, a former nurse, and her husband, George, a former police officer, quickly dismissed the obvious when they realized the horror of what most likely had transpired: their own daughter murdered their granddaughter. Both familiar to the stomach-churning odor of a decomposing body, they later brushed off the smell as "rotting pizza."

Regardless, Casey Anthony wouldn’t talk. She insisted her daughter had been taken by a nanny whose existence the police quickly disproved. After finding chloroform in Casey’s trunk—coupled with computer searches on obtaining the deadly chemical—police were convinced that little Caylee was deceased. Add to that the physical evidence of decomposition in the trunk and one would think it is a clear-cut case of murder. Unfortunately, there is no body, and the prosecutors are dotting their i’s and crossing their t’s to make sure they can put forth the best case possible against Casey Anthony.

Her attorney, Jose Baez, continues to maintain “we’ll all be sorry” when the real truth comes out. Of course, neither he nor his client has bothered to expose that truth during the investigation. It seems that they would rather wait until Casey is facing the death penalty to say, “I told ya so!” Public displays of affection shown between Baez and Casey has reared its ugly head as well.

Then comes along the colorful, gun-totin’, cowboy-hat-wearing, bounty hunter, Leonard Padilla. Padilla, at first, believed in Casey’s innocence, enough to post her bond before realizing what a fool he looked like. Apparently, he didn’t mind because he subsequently launched a search frenzy, which included divers from the controversial Blackwater USA and thousands of people walking through the dense woods in search of little Caylee. Undaunted by the fact he and his people could potentially taint or alter much-needed evidence, Padilla (proudly posing left) has become a thorn in the side of law enforcement. He even pushed out the well-respected Tim Miller of Texas EquuSearch by telling Tim, “Imagine the money we could make if we’re photographed holding little Caylee’s skull?” Ugh.

Yes, he’s searching, but he's doing more harm than good, and it is past time for him to go home and bury his cowboy hat in the desert sand while squatting over a cactus.

Merge all of this with the numerous protesters in front of the Anthony home—with George and Cindy parading around town with their “Find Caylee” t-shirts—and the stone-cold monster, Casey Anthony, sitting in jail painting her nails, along with the book and movie deals, and it would appear this melee isn’t going away any time soon.

In the meantime, the remains of a beautiful, innocent, 2-year-old little girl are out there somewhere, and her mother stays silent as she sits in jail.

2. Stacy Peterson—Missing, October 28, 2007, No Body Found.

Women in Crime Ink’s Susan Murphy-Milano refuses to mention his name, and as much as I hate to give Drew Peterson any attention at all, his missing wife certainly deserves it. Former Bolingbrook, Illinois police sergeant Drew Peterson is not only a suspect in the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy (pictured right with Drew), but he is also suspected in the recently determined homicide of his third wife, Kathleen Savio. He has yet to be charged with either.

Stacy Peterson was last seen October, 28, 2007, and was reported missing by her sister when she failed to show up to a scheduled meeting. Drew reportedly told the family that Stacy had left him for another man and he found her car at the airport—claims Stacy’s family deems utterly preposterous. She left behind two small children that she completely adored.

Nonetheless, new evidence surfaced that Drew’s third wife, Kathleen, had not died accidentally and the focus intensified on the arrogant, publicity-seeking, former police officer. Not that he was worried. Hiring a publicist and accompanied by his shady lawyer, Joel Brodsky—a man with his own history of domestic problems—Drew hit the media circuit, hamming it up and posing for the cameras, insisting that his wife was still alive.

With a significant lack of evidence in Stacy’s disappearance, authorities focused on the homicide of Kathleen Savio. At this time, the grand jury is still hearing testimony and deciding if there is enough evidence to indict Drew for murder. However, while they wait for the grand jury, the authorities are holding a gun charge over his head that most likely won’t amount to much. A new book out on Drew claims he failed a polygraph test that related to his missing wife. Like everything else, Drew dismisses the test as inaccurate.

Drew continues to push the envelope and mock law enforcement. Just recently, he met with a divorce attorney to file against his wife for “abandonment,” in an attempt to sell off their assets and move from the neighborhood.

3. Madeleine McCann—Missing, May 3, 2007, No Body Found

Three-year-old Madeleine McCann (pictured below) disappeared from her family’s apartment at the resort of Praia da Luz, in the Algarve region of Portugal. The British family was vacationing there when Kate and Gerry McCann went to dinner with another couple, leaving Madeleine and her 2-year-old twin siblings alone in the apartment. The restaurant was only 130 yards away from the apartment.

At approximately 10 p.m., Kate McCann allegedly checked on the children and found Madeleine gone, and a window to the apartment open. What followed was an international frenzy of theories, finger-pointing, and searches in hopes of finding the little girl alive.

Kate and Gerry McCann immediately fell under an umbrella of suspicion. Both doctors, the theory they had given Madeleine too much medicine to make her sleep causing an accidental death began to circulate. The McCanns, who vowed to not leave the country until their daughter was found, fled months later after an intense focus on them by investigators.

The Portuguese police compiled an impressive list of suspects and theories relating to Madeleine’s disappearance, all of which were disproved and unfounded. In July 2008, the McCanns were officially cleared as suspects in their daughter’s disappearance, raising eyebrows of other law enforcement investigators worldwide.

If there were ever a case where I believed there was a minuscule (and I mean microscopic!) chance that the missing were actually alive—this would be the one. An international investigation such as this can bring forth many possibilities. It’s doubtful, but it wouldn’t be surprising.

Why haven’t these bodies been found? And, why haven’t some of the suspects been charged? It’s a touchy subject. A lack of evidence in some of the cases prohibits the prosecutors from launching a tirade of charges against the most likely suspect. Or, as in the case of Natalee Holloway, the evidence is there but politics play a far bigger role than an American teenager’s death. That said, it appears that most of the suspects in these high-profile cases will undoubtedly get away with murder.

On Monday, November 24th, in Part 2 of this story, I will touch on the cases of Natalee Holloway, Rilya Wilson, O.J. Simpson, and JonBenét Ramsey. Please leave your thoughts and comments on each of these stories. I’m curious to see who believes in innocence, guilt, and whether any of these bodies will be found.

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