Heaven Spelled Backwards

by Donna Pendergast

Nevaeh (heaven spelled backwards) Buchanan was only 5-years-old when she disappeared, three days after her graduation from pre-school. Allegedly last seen riding her scooter in the parking lot of the Charlotte Arms Apartments in Monroe, Michigan, Nevaeh was reported to have been last seen by a young neighbor around 6:30 pm on May 24th. Whether or not that was the last time that she was seen by family or friends remains to be seen.

Into Thin Air

Nevaeh's mother, Jennifer Buchanan, has had her ups and downs in life. Arrested on a charge of First Degree Home Invasion she was found guilty of breaking into homes to support a drug habit in 2006. Nevaeh's grandmother, Sherry Buchanan, was granted custody of Nevaeh while her daughter was incarcerated. After Jennifer was released from jail she lived with her mother and her daughter in the run down apartment at Charlotte Arms

Jennifer Buchanan has told police that she spent the afternoon hours watching television at the apartment along with Nevaeh. She told police that Nevaeh left the apartment around 6:30 pm to go a friend's apartment in the same building. According to Jennifer's statement to police, a few minutes after Nevaeh left the apartment, another child who lived in the building knocked on the door to tell her than Nevaeh was out riding her scooter in the street which Jennifer interpreted as being the parking lot of the apartment building. When Jennifer got down to the parking lot, she was unable to find Nevaeh but found her scooter abandoned by the side of the building.

Jennifer claims to have searched the surrounding area for 45 minutes finding no trace of Nevaeh. She eventually informed the apartment manager that Nevaeh was missing. After an unsuccessful canvass of the apartment building, the police were called around 8:30 pm.

A Disturbing Revelation

A task force from the Monroe County Sheriff's Department, the Michigan State Police , and the FBI was formed to search for Nevaeh and an Amber Alert was issued. As the police investigation progressed, it was learned that Jennifer Buchanan had befriended and had exposed her daughter to to convicted sex offenders, George Kennedy 39 y/o and Roy Smith 48 y/o. George Kennedy was convicted of raping a 15-year-old girl behind a gas station in 2002. Roy Smith, a friend of Kennedy's, was convicted in the sexual assault of a woman who claimed that he raped her twice in his car in 1991. Jennifer Buchanan has stated that she knew about Kennedy's past, but that she had confronted him about it and he had been "honest with her about it". She also told police that she knew that Smith attended classes with Kennedy so she figured that he had been convicted of the same sort of offense. Buchanan has also stated in a television interview that Kennedy had become a sort of "father figure" to Nevaeh. Both Kennedy and Smith, whose parole conditions forbid contact with children or anyone who has children, are now both in jail on possible parole violations.

A search warrant issued early on in the investigation stated that a friend of Nevaeh's claimed that he had seen a man stab Nevaeh in the woods near the apartment building. The boy's mother has subsequently discounted that information, stating that the boy saw nothing. The blood from a knife recovered from Kennedy's hotel room was tested and determined not to match Nevaeh's DNA. The police have not released further information about that blood, including whether or not the blood was human blood.

A Horrifying Discovery

On June 4, a father and son who were out fishing stumbled across a ghastly discovery. They noticed what appeared to be quick drying cement over a disturbed area of ground down a steep embankment a few feet away from the River Raisin in Monroe County. After kicking away a piece of cement they observed human flesh and contacted police authorities. On Tuesday, the body was confirmed as being young Nevaeh's. She had been buried in a shallow grave with a quick drying cement poured on top of her small body.

An initial investigation by the medical examiner has determined that there is no evidence of outward trauma to Nevaeh's body, discounting the earlier information in the search warrant that she was stabbed. Authorities have indicated that it may be several weeks before the cause of death can be determined or ruled on.

So Many Unanswered Questions

While focusing on Kennedy and Smith, the police investigation has apparently not ruled out Nevaeh's mother as a person of interest either. She has been questioned multiple times, and last week gave permission for the police to search her apartment. Jennifer Buchanan has publicly stated that she has no involvement in the girl's disappearance, and walked off the Nancy Grace show the other night while under intense grilling from the host.

While many questions remain unanswered, one thing remains clear, heaven spelled backwards spells Hell.


Statements made in this post are my own and are not intended to reflect the views, opinion or position of the Michigan Attorney General or the Michigan Department of Attorney General.

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Passion Pulls the Trigger

by Susan Murphy-Milano

On July 4, 1995, Pam Munson welcomed her second child into the world. Her 2 year-old son, Zak, was with Grandma Linda Fitze waiting for his mommy and daddy to bring his new baby sister home from the hospital. However, instead of celebrating the birth of the new baby, Pam was greeted by a horrifying crime scene 2 days later. Her mother's body lay lifeless in a pool of blood near the dining room table. She was shot once in the shoulder, and again in the head, at close range with a 38-caliber revolver. Pam's little boy, Zak, was hiding in the closet after discovering Grandma with half her head blown off.

Within a few months of the murder, Pam Munson contacted me by phone looking for support and answers to questions that haunted her from the day she found her mother's body. "Does it ever stop? You know the pictures in my head and the nightmares." We spoke for an hour, but I doubt I was much comfort other than we were members of the same "Private Murder Club."

As with so many of these cases we watch or read about, during the trial of the Linda Fitze murder, the defense called the crime one of passion. But, Pam remembers how her father threatened her mother throughout their marriage, and especially six months prior to her murder--while they were separated. "It was not a crime of passion, it was premeditated, cold-blooded, murder. He killed her because he did not want my mother to get any of his money," recalled Pam.

In 1997, Russell Marvin Munson stood trial for his wife's murder. The defense played the "crime of passion" card. A key part of the prosecuting attorney's case for life without parole was the detailed journal the Texas mother kept that chronicled the abuse during her marriage to Munson; but it was not admissable in court. The judge allowed the graphic crime scene photos-- a victory for the prosecution in which to build their case.

The eight day trial led to the jury's decision to find the 59-year old guilty of murder. Munson was sentenced to 20 years in prison. At the time, the trial brought some closure, but the scope of any murder is difficult for anyone to comprehend. Especially when "your own father pulls the trigger and shows no remorse."

In 1999, Munson filed with the appellate court asking for a new trial citing four issues to consider that were either not allowed, or improperly carried out, by the trial judge. The most revolting issue cited in the filing--and common among abusers, is to shift the blame. In this document Munson accused the decendent of "prior sexual abuse."

A few weeks ago, on my facebook page, Pam re-connected with me. "You probably don't remember me, but I contacted you in 1995, a few months after my mom was killed. The following week we spoke on the phone. "It doesn't go away, even after all these years, the depression, anger, and the feeling that we are incomplete as if we are the owners of our fathers actions. It is felt every day of my life."

The topic of children forced to continue with a "normal" productive life after living with years of abuse, resulting in murder, is not a subject covered by the media. We often forget about the kids left behind. On June 10, 2009 at 3:00PM Central time, on The Susan Murphy Milano show, Pam Munson and I will discuss the topic of children whose fathers have killed their mothers. It is an important subject: as the lives of the children witnessing violence and terror in their homes, if they survive, live the remainder of their days on earth often in darkness and without hope.

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The "Best" Spousal Murder Stories

by Laura James

Books about spousal murder, when done well, can make for the most insightful psychological reading around. That's why we love to read them. That's why we love to study these cases. That's why spousal murders have been one of the most perennially popular themes in literature, fiction and non-. When we crack open the bedroom door on a marriage that went to hell, we often wonder, do we see anything recognizable?

The greatest strength and appeal of well-written books in this theme lie in the psychological analysis of the principals. Sometimes this is done by the author, who comes right out with her conclusions about the causes of matrimonial disasters. Sometimes the facts speak for themselves, and perfect reporting with nary a hint of error or fictionalizing can speak powerfully to the character of the husbands and wives who end up at one another's throats. By the time we're done with the best of these books, we can fathom the endings.

The best five books about a spousal murder that I have ever read -- the most insightful, the most revealing of the nature of a couple -- strictly non-fiction, true crime, of course -- are these five books.

A Crime of Passion by Stanley Loomis - L'Affaire Praslin, a spousal murder story of great human drama involving French royalty, played out in the weeks immediately prior to the bloodbath of 1848. Searing in its perceptions of the husband and wife -- a Duke and Duchess, murderer and murderee -- it is a terrific book published forty years ago that deserves to be better known and loved today. It's a true spine-tingler.

Until the 12th of Never by Bella Stumbo - The murder of Dan and Linda Broderick by Betty Broderick. It’s impossible to finish this without having a strong opinion on the case.

Dead by Sunset by Ann Rule - The murder of Cheryl Cunningham by Brad Cunningham. Said Kirkus: “This book is better plotted than the murder itself.”

She Wanted It All by Kathryn Casey - The murder of Steve Beard by Celeste Beard and Tracey Tarlton. An even better title might have been She Couldn’t Wait.

Gone Forever by Diane Fanning - The murder of Susan McFarland by Richard McFarland told in chilling detail through the victim's diary and the murderer's confession.

I'd love to hear your suggestions along these lines... or the reason you find yourself drawn to macabre stories of marriages that ended in bloody tragedies.

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She Drank Martinis, Drove 115 MPH and Allegedly Killed This Smiling Mother of Four

Hunt for Justice

by Cynthia Hunt

This isn’t one of my flashier posts about chasing a serial killer or another high profile crime that I have covered. It is about an alleged killer—a woman who investigators say got wasted at a martini bar, jumped behind the wheel of her car, and drove it 100 mph into the back of an innocent mother’s vehicle. (Cheryl Guberman, pictured left, died in the accident)

If you think you are mad now, wait until you hear what Pamela Pugh allegedly said after the crash.

Officers Say Pugh Made Up a Big Lie

Constables on the scene say Pugh told them an elaborate story of how another car cut her off, caused her to hit the toll road’s concrete barrier, and then fled the scene. Deputies could not see Guberman’s truck which had actually plunged into the dark woods 44 feet below and down the road from where Pugh stopped.

Two hours later the husband and son of 44-year-old Cheryl Guberman found her dead in her wrecked vehicle. That night, Cheryl was simply driving on the Hardy Toll Road, the road that many Houstonians take to the airport, to pick up one of her sons. Cheryl was a mom of four.

Technology Tells On Pamela

Officers, who didn’t know about the real victim, did know one thing. They say Pugh stunk like booze and could not balance. The experienced defendant refused to take a breath test or to submit to field sobriety tests so officers arrested her and took her in for a good ‘ole blood test. (Pamela Pugh, pictured below)

Technology is a great thing.

Pugh’s blood alcohol content showed she was 0.19—more than double the state’s legal limit.

Technology disproved Pugh’s story in another big way.

Car Computer Proves Pugh Drove 115 MPH

The computer on Pugh’s Chrysler Sebring shows she was driving 115 mph five seconds before the crash and 100 mph one-tenth of a second before impact. The computer also shows that Pugh slammed into Guberman without ever hitting her brakes.

Pugh, who was at first charged with DWI, now faces charges of intoxication manslaughter thanks to all that technology.

Technology could have …and should have…saved Cheryl Guberman’s life.

Can We Charge The Texas Senate with Intoxication Manslaughter Too?

Two weeks before Cheryl was killed, the Texas House passed a bill requiring people convicted of drunk driving to have an ignition interlock device installed on their car. The Texas Senate never even held one hearing. I’m sure the Senators were busy with more important matters like talking to lobbyists.

It probably won’t surprise you that Pugh was convicted of drunk driving in 2007.

It’s no secret that convicted drunk drivers continue to drink and continue to drive. I’ve done the story. Other reporters continue to do the story. Studies prove it. Graves illustrate it. The devastated families left behind can tell you about it.

Jury Sentences Texas Drunk to 75 Years in Prison for Ninth DWI

Just outside of Houston, TX in Brazoria County, a jury just sent Keith Peltier to prison for 75 years. It was his ninth DWI conviction. Peltier’s attorney Jon Jaworski says the sentence is too severe and that his client was not drunk but in diabetic shock.

Really Jon?

You expected a jury of fine Texans to believe that one? Even if you are right, your client should have been locked up years ago. It shouldn’t take nine DWI convictions to get these liquored-up killing machines off the road.

As for Pugh, she has now hired defense attorney Troy McKinney, a man the Houston Chronicle says is known for successfully defending DWI cases.

My heart breaks for all the Guberman children. One of Cheryl’s sons graduated from high school the same week his mother was killed.

Technology could save the lives of other moms like Cheryl if the Texas legislature would simply do its job and use it. Perhaps the Senators can make time in their busy calendars to schedule a hearing and listen to Cheryl's husband of 23 years or her four children…especially the son who helped his dad find his mom’s body.

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Blocking Access to DNA Testing

by Diane Fanning

In Louisiana, Kenneth Reed sits in prison convicted of rape. He continues to claim his innocence and file appeals. A simple DNA test could confirm his guilt or throw his 1991 conviction into doubt. The prosecutor is blocking that testing as hard as he can even though though the state of Louisiana is one of forty-six states to give that right to inmates.

For the past three years, an Illinois state attorney has been obstructing DNA testing for Johnnie Lee Savory (right), convicted of a double homicide in 1977 when he was 14 years old, insisting that the jury didn't need DNA to convict. A ridiculous statement considering the fact that there have been 175 exonerations by DNA.

State after state, the story continues--prosecutors balking at the tests that could actually confirm the guilt of the inmate or point to possible innocence. Certainly, all claims of innocence are not valid just as DNA testing is not always the whole answer to every case. But even if it doesn't tell the whole story, it is a vital piece of the puzzle.

Hearing all these prosecutors battle against the revelation of all the facts and truth in a case makes you wonder if they understand the meaning of justice, have any concept of their mission, or remember they are representing us in the courtroom, not themselves. Too many of them have prioritized winning over truth and justice, making a mockery of the law they are sworn to uphold.

Fortunately, not all of the people’s representatives in the court of law have lost sight of the meaning behind their calling. One sterling example of a prosecutor with a clear vision of his mission is Craig Watkins (right) in Dallas County, Texas.

Watkins took office in January 2007 inheriting a staff that possessed a win-at-any-costs mentality embedded in the office culture by legendary Dallas County prosecutor Henry Wade. Wade actually bragged about obtaining convictions on innocent people--he said it proved his tremendous skill as a prosecutor.

In July 2007, Watkins established the Conviction Integrity Unit charged with the oversight of four hundred post-conviction reviews where DNA could provide answers. He staffed it with one assistant district attorney, one investigator and one legal assistant who work in conjunction with the Innocence Project of Texas. It is the first division of its kind in the United States.

Since its inception, the unit has called for testing in forty cases of claimed innocence. As a result, nineteen men were determined to be wrongfully convicted and ten innocent men have been set free from Texas prisons. Barry Scheck of the Innocence Project said: "Sometimes district attorneys are reluctant to admit that a mistake was made. What he proved is if the district attorney's office is not afraid to admit that a mistake was made and correct it, then juries will reward them for it. By doing justice, you establish credibility."

It's not all one-sided in Dallas County as a single viewing of Dallas DNA on the Investigation Discovery channel demonstrates. Many men requesting the genetic testing to clear their names are informed that, to the contrary, it confirmed their guilt. I imagine most of those inmates were just gambling that the science would fail and a mistake in the lab would set them free. A few had probably lied so long, they'd forgotten the truth. Either way, the jury verdict was confirmed as just and true.

There are those out there who are not moved by the thought of an innocent person in jail. They tend to think that those people probably committed another crime and just got away with it--so what difference does it make to keep them behind bars. This cynical attitude overlooks one very important problem--a complication that leaves all of us less safe, by exposing us to the predation of more rapists, killers and molesters.

Every time an innocent person is wrongfully convicted, there is a guilty person--perhaps a very violent person--who walks free able to re-offend. Brandon Garrett, a professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, analyzed 225 cases of DNA exoneration. In 98 of those cases, the new information led straight to the actual perpetrator allowing law enforcement to get the guilty man off of the streets.

Conviction at any cost is simply not in our best interests, even if we never end up in a courtroom on either side of the aisle. Self-preservation alone should prod all of us into demanding that prosecutors in our jurisdiction care more about justice than they do about winning. I don't expect perfection from the state's attorneys--they are human, there will be mistakes.

But I do expect prosecutors to care about these errors, to be willing to admit to them and to do everything possible to restore justice to wrongfully convicted inmates.

After all, as citizens, it is in their best interests, too.

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Where is Jennifer Kesse?

by Stacy Dittrich

Jennifer Kesse (pictured left) had her future in the palm of her hands. Smart, beautiful, and surrounded by an extraordinary circle of family and friends, she was known for her infectious smile. The morning of January 24, 2006 began like any other day. She had just spent a glorious weekend in St. Croix with her boyfriend and small group of friends before flying home alone to Orlando, Florida. Going through her usual routine, Jennifer got herself ready for work. Over the prior weekend, Jennifer’s younger brother, Logan, had stayed at her condo with a group of friends—one who inadvertently left his cell phone. On this particular Tuesday morning, Jennifer set out in search of a roadside mailbox in an attempt to mail the cell phone back. There was never a morning that went by that Jennifer didn’t phone her boyfriend or family before she left for work. On this morning, no phone call was ever made.

Jennifer Kesse never arrived at work that day, nor has she been seen since.

Jennifer’s family quickly convinced police this wasn’t a typical missing person’s case. By noon on January 24th an exhaustive search by police, family, and friends began in an attempt to find Jennifer. Her condo was as it should be, no signs of struggle or robbery, but signs of Jennifer and her morning routine were everywhere; wet towels from her recent shower, and work clothes laid out on her bed.

At noon on January 26, 2006—just two days after Jennifer disappeared, her family’s worst fears were realized. Police located Jennifer’s Chevy Malibu parked in an apartment complex just one mile from her home. To further matters, surveillance video shows a male suspect parking the vehicle and quickly walking away from it. Jennifer was still nowhere to be found. Clearly, Jennifer Kesse was an endangered missing person and police worked around the clock to identify the suspect. I had the privilege of interviewing Jennifer’s father, Drew, last night on Justice Interrupted Radio. When asked about the identity or whereabouts of the subject, he simply stated, “He is as missing as Jennifer is.” Drew went on to describe how police used every tactic known to law enforcement to draw the suspect out, but it appears the suspect has evidently vanished. Three separate law enforcement agencies processed Jennifer’s vehicle extensively and had recovered some viable evidence, but it’s as if the suspect doesn’t exist, yet he remains at large.

The family refuses to give up hope. Launching a national media blitz, Jennifer’s case has drawn the attention of Good Morning America, Greta Van Susteren on Fox, numerous other television and radio shows, and specifically, now remains on the America’s Most Wanted web site. 48 Hours aired Jennifer’s story July 1, 2008.

On April 3, 2008, specific photographs of Jennifer’s four-leaf clover tattoo (pictured below), and the purse she was carrying when she was abducted were released by the Orlando Police Department in attempt to bring more attention to the case. Her purse has never been located, and it was determined she never mailed the cell phone, which hasn’t been recovered as well. Regardless, police are adamant they are not dealing with a robbery since various items of value were still inside her vehicle. The case remains highly active within the Orlando Police Department.

Drew Kesse continues to search for his daughter, his strength epitomizing a parent’s love for his child and those children missing everywhere. Just recently, he was named president of the Florida Missing Children’s Day Foundation, and was a driving force behind Florida’s Senate Bill 502—“The Jennifer Kesse and Tiffany Sessions Missing Persons Act”—a new bill to enhance Florida’s missing person’s laws. On Monday, September 14, 2009 Drew will lead a ceremony in remembrance of Florida’s missing persons to be held in the Capitol Courtyard. Everyone is encouraged to attend.

On the impressive web site dedicated to finding Jennifer, flyers of Jennifer and of the suspect (pictured left) are available for download. The family encourages everyone—no matter what state they reside, to distribute the flyers throughout their community.

For the Kesse family, each day is a struggle, but they continue to survive, hoping their efforts will eventually bring Jennifer home.

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Women in Crime Ink in the Wall Street Journal!

To be written about in the famed Wall Street Journal proved to be quite a coup for a crime blog still in its infancy—just a little over one-year-old. On Tuesday June 2, 2009 the WSJ listed Women in Crime Ink as one of the six blogs listed in their famed “Blog Watch.” Needless to say, WCI contributors were exploding each other’s phones with the news, and definitely with excitement. WCI contributor Laura James’s own blog, Clews, was also one of the blogs featured. Editor Becky Bright wrote:

“Women in Crime Ink is hosted by a cast of female journalists, lawyers, authors and others with a passion for true crime. It has amassed an extensive archive of essays and commentary from women’s perspectives about crime and the court system.”

She even quoted WCI’s Diane Fanning from one of her recent posts regarding WCI’s general discussions of the psychology of crime and crime trends:

“Who am I to judge those who are taken in by these manipulators?...When I see a spouse certain of their loved one’s innocence, I won’t automatically suspect their involvement.”

Whatever the circumstance, the crime, the victim, or the story, the ladies here at Women in Crime Ink will undoubtedly continue making an impact throughout the halls of crime. Congratulations!

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Your Dog Won't Get You Out of Jury Duty (unfortunately)

by Laura James

About 15 or so years ago, many states in the United States moved from voter registration to driver's licenses to choose jury pools. This decision has had terrible consequences for the criminal and civil courts. The worst: the quality of the average jury has plummeted.

It was an understantable move. In the interests of increasing racial diversity in jury pools, driver's licenses were seen as a way to broaden the pool.

But in doing so, they picked up every felon who isn't eligible to vote -- and every citizen (and non-citizen) who cares so little about current affairs that they don't bother to register. People who lack enough interest in government to cast a ballot get to cast ballots in murder cases. Go figure.

If you ever find yourself puzzled over some high-profile verdict, if you ever find yourself wondering about the quality of the average jury today, well, here may lie part of the answer.

It's very, very unfortunate. Yet the decision will probably never be reversed.

On the other hand, the excuses for getting out of jury duty may have gotten more creative since the switch. This gem recently emerged from the courts of Montana. It's an affidavit completed by someone chosen for jury duty who didn't want to serve -- and the resulting court order by a teed-off judge, and it's making the legal rounds of lawyers these days via email.

In it, a fellow declares: "Apparently you morons didn't understand me the first time. I CANNOT take time off from work. I'm not putting my familys well being at stake to participate in this crap. I don't believe in our "justice" system and I don't want to have a goddam thing to do with it. Jury duty is a complete waste of time. I would rather count the wrinkles on my dogs balls than sit on a jury. Get it through your thick skulls. Leave me the f**k alone."

And the resulting court order read as follows:

CITATION FOR CONTEMPT
THE FREEDOM AND LIBERTY THAT MR SLYE ENJOYS DEPENDS UPON THE VOLUNTARY SERVICE OF JURY DUTY, THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT ERIC SLYE BE AND REMAIN IN THE COUNTY JAIL FOR 20 DAYS OR UNTIL HE RECANTS HIS CONTEMPTUOUS CONDUCT IN OPEN COURT. MR. SLYE'S FAMILY MAY VISIT HIM ON WEEKENDS BUT HIS DOG SHALL STAY AT HOME UNMOLESTED BY THE DEFENDANT.

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A Stroll Down The Crime Aisle

by Diane Dimond

Scene: Book Expo, New York City, May 30, 2009 – Inside the mammoth Javitz Center

Players: Tens of thousands of publishers, book dealers, authors and fans

What I’ll remember most: I finally got to meet Mary Jo Buttafuoco, the ultimate crime survivor! (Pictured right, photo courtesy of WCI Contributor Stacy Dittrich)

Back in 1992, I was just one in the horde of reporters to descend on a sleepy waterfront neighborhood in Massapequa, New York. We came, like moths to a flame, because the sensational news story of that time revolved around a cad of a married man, his teenage Lolita, and his long suffering wife who had simply opened the front door of her home one day and was shot in the head.

As we were introduced Mary Jo said, “I remember you. You were with Hard Copy!”

I immediately ‘fessed up. “Yes. I was one of those reporters camping out in your front yard back then. I apologize.” And I braced myself for criticism. After all we had further and completely disrupted her life at the worst possible time in her life – as she came home from the hospital (weighing just 89 pounds) to recover from what could have been life-ending injuries inflicted by her cheating husband’s 17-year-old lover, Amy Fisher.

But Mary Jo Buttafuoco was sweet as could be. She waved off any awkwardness and smiled brightly as she signed my copy of her soon to be released book, “GETTING IT THROUGH MY THICK SKULL - Why I Stayed, What I Learned, And What Millions Of People Involved With Sociopaths Need To Know.” We spoke briefly about how wonderful her life is now, with a new man, upcoming wedding and their blended family of children. We spoke about the “train wreck” that her shooter, Amy Fisher’s, life had become, but Mary Jo didn’t dwell on it. She didn't have much to say about her sociopathic ex-husband Joey either.

After all she’d been through I got a lump in my throat at her graciousness and near complete recovery. Only the slightest droop in an eyelid and on one side of her mouth gives a hint at how grievously she was wounded.

Earlier, at that very same table I’d stopped by to see my friend, TV journalist Jane Velez Mitchell (pictured right with me, photo courtesy of Diane Cohen). She signed a copy of her new book, “I Want” for me. It is also about surviving what life deals you. My courageous friend lays bare her once crippling addiction to alcohol and other bad habits and holds out her hand to help others walk a path to recovery. On air for her nightly HLN Network show, “Issues” she may seem like a tough, aggressive person. Off air she is a darling with a soft side who spends much of her time on causes like animal rights and the environment. I appear on her program once in a while as a guest commentator and I appreciate the fact that Jane allows her guests to actually finish a sentence and put the subject-at-hand into perspective.

Then, while sitting in the Justice Interrupted booth with my friends Stacy Dittrich and Susan Murphy Milano (Robin Sax had taken a quick break to go shopping on 5^th Avenue!) I ran into author Julie Spira (below) whose book “The Perils of Cyber-Dating: Confessions of a Hopeful Romantic Looking for Love Online,” outlines the do’s and don’ts of internet dating from a safety standpoint. She knows of what she speaks! This veteran of the digital-age-date lays out her first hand experiences with many of the losers who troll the internet superhighway just looking for vulnerable women. As smart as she is Julie was duped into loving and marrying a criminal liar she met on the net. He wasn’t really an architect. He wasn’t really self sufficient. And he really took her for a ride that, in the end, cost her about 100 thousand dollars as well as her dignity. If you’re considering internet dating do yourself a favor and read this book FIRST.

Three women, three very different and inspirational stories of survival in this world where criminals often seem to have the upper hand.

I experienced lots more at Book Expo. Wandering the never ending aisles hung with huge signs over head - Simon and Schuster, Harper Collins, Penguin, Prometheus – I stocked up on brand new give-away books. Naturally, I went for those with a crime and justice angle. Although not new this season I was riveted by two books at the Good Books booth by Howard Zehr. “Transcending: Reflections of Crime Victims” and “Doing Life: Reflections of Men and women Serving Life Sentences.” Both books are exactly what their titles imply. And they both offer stunning, haunting photographic portraits of the subjects – those who’ve miraculously survived violent crimes only to feel victimized in a different way by the court system that doesn’t really account for their participation and those men and women who are serving the rest of their lives in prison with no possibility of ever being released.

I saw my old pal Mark Klass and we were both delighted when Dr. Ruth walked by and stopped to chat with Mark. (We giggled later at how Mark was able to stay seated while he spoke with her and at the same time look right into her eyes - Yes! She's that short!) I think I spotted singer Paul Simon wandering around but I was too shy to run after him to see if it was really him. There were women wearing skimpy hot pink bathing suits touting the “perfect diet” books and Tibetan-looking monks strolling the aisles in saffron colored robes. The Justice Interrupted ladies were approached by the Tyra Banks producers who were enthusiastic about booking them for her show. Hero Pilot Sully Sullenberg charmed folks in the Borders Books Booth.

As Stacy Dittrich (pictured below with me in the Justice Interrupted booth), Susan Murphy Milano and I left for the day Susan and I marveled at the quality and number of books in the booths around us. We wondered how much longer books as we know them will exist. Will the internet, the kindle and devices we can’t even imagine replace these lovely companions one day? Will libraries become museums in the future? Maybe.

But for now I’ve got a bag full of books to keep me company! And, I got to shake hands with Mary Jo Buttafuoco, a woman I’d done so many stories about but never met.

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Pat Brown & Diane Fanning on E!'S 'Fatal Beauty: 15 Most Notorious Women'

Women in Crime Ink's own Pat Brown and Diane Fanning appear on E!'s Countdown: Fatal Beauty: 15 Most Notorious Women on Sunday, May 31 at 9 pm Eastern / 8 pm Central.

No, Pat and Diane didn't make E!'s list of notorious women—they appear on the show talking about some of those who did.

It's a countdown of ordinary women whose notorious crimes have made them pseudo-celebrities. E! investigates the remarkable and tumultuous lives of women who made headlines around the globe, some by committing unthinkable crimes & acts of violence and others whose decisions left us wondering why.

Over the course of two hours it reveals their shocking stories and explores the desperate circumstances that drove them to such extremes. Plus, it’ll look at the ways these sad and horrific events could have been prevented. The show provides a new perspective and keen insight into who these women really are with the help of medical experts, psychologists, law enforcement, and even the very women at the center of these high-profile cases.

Among the fifteen notorious women included in the countdown are these familiar names: Casey Anthony (above right), Karla Homolka, Aileen Wournos, Susan Smith, Carolyn Warmus, Mary Winkler and Karla Faye Tucker left)

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Every Day You Wait . . . Is One Day Longer

by Todd Matthews, Guest Contributor

If you have a missing loved one, not knowing what you can do about it is a huge challenge. Dealing with the situation on the usual day-to-day basis is overwhelming in itself. But not knowing what you can do to make sure all paths are being followed is another issue.

One thing you can do is to make sure your missing persons data is being properly reviewed.

Of course, the information contained in the missing person's NCIC case file is considered for law enforcement only. But rather than the usual phone call to the detective in charge of your missing loved one, maybe you can do some fact checking.

Normally the call consists of asking if there's any new info in regards to the investigation of the missing person. (More often than not, nothing has changed.) But since you may not have any idea of what is listed in the NCIC report, this might be a good time to do some fact checking. Ask the detective to confirm physical characteristics, height, weight, etc.

Do they have dental info listed? If not, do you have the dental info that you need to get to them for inclusion into the file? This is an extremely valuable piece of information! Have here been any DNA family reference samples taken? Mitochondrial and nuclear? Can you confirm the DNA has been included in the CODIS, the national DNA database?

Dates are important as well. There is no database in existence that is immune to human error. Why not double-check the dates involved such as date last seen and date of birth?. For example, numbers such as Social Security numbers are easy to mix up. Are there any birthmarks, tattoos, or other distinguishing characteristics that weren't noted? Do you have a photo that might be of value?

A simple-fact check review can't hurt anything, and might change everything. You are not asking for investigative information. You are asking to verify the very data you helped to provide. During the course of this conversation, it is a good time to ask your law enforcement contact to register as a NamUs user.

Now is the time when you yourself can get the ball rolling by entering your own loved one into NamUs. By doing this, a great deal of conversation in regards to your loved one's case begins.

I have seen simple human errors resolved in this manner. Some are minor and do not make an immediate difference, but they still affect the future. Some errors are fairly important and can have an immediate impact on resolution or on how the case is processed internally.

Once your loved one's case is in NamUs, you can work to help make sure all the gaps are filled with accurate information. The only thing worse that a lack of data is inaccurate data. Consider the tiniest details.

More resources:
http://missingpiecesshow.homestead.com/MissingPiecesEpisode74Archive.html

Todd Matthews' calling to be a voice for missing and unidentified persons began when he solved the identity of the "Tent Girl," Barbara Hackman-Taylor, after a ten-year journey that ended in 1998. He is also Media Director for the Doe Network, a consultant to Emmy-award winning producer Dick Wolf ("Law & Order"), and on the Advisory Panel for the U. S. Department of Justice NamUS (National Missing and Unidentified Persons System) database project. Todd also hosts a weekly radio show that publicizes unidentified and missing persons cases. A documentary featuring our guest contributor's work was recently broadcast on the BBC. A second documentary about his life is in post-production.

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TV Crime Drama—the 'CSI Effect' Again and Again

by Andrea Campbell

I’ve been talking about the differences between TV crime drama and reality for about five years now. I’ve even given programs about the subject for mystery and crime novel writers with a presentation I call "The CSI Effect: 7 Key Differences between TV Crime Drama and Reality."

The live program is fun because I bring along personal protection equipment and have an audience member “suit up” while I’m talking. And of course it is a Tyvek HAZMAT type outfit; and then we compare it to what the chicks on the CSI shows are wearing.

This week I got a press release that some researchers at the Mayo Clinic who compared CSI and CSI: Miami to actual U. S. homicide data. No surprise, they discovered clear differences. Timothy Lineberry, M.D., a psychiatrist at Mayo Clinic, says, “We make a lot of our decisions as a society based on information that we have, and television has been used to provide public health messages.”

Those two particular shows, CSI and CSI: Miami, were used because of their enormous viewing audience, somewhere around 43 million viewers every year. Mainly the Mayo Clinic investigators used the Center for Disease Control’s National Violent Death Reporting System to compare data with the television portrayals. They discovered the biggest discrepancies involved relationships, alcohol, and race where characterizations of perpetrators and victims were concerned.

Apparently, actual statistics say that drugs and alcohol affect both victim and offender at the time of the crime in reality—and that was one of the differences from what the TV shows portray. The other main difference they found was regarding what race was more likely to be involved and on the television shows primarily they used Caucasians who did not know their attackers. In real life, however, whites are not the majority of offenders and, often, real victims know or were intimately involved with their attackers in the past.

"If we believe that there is a lack of association with alcohol, that strangers are more likely to attack, and that homicide doesn’t represent particular groups of people, it’s difficult to create public health interventions that the general public supports. We make a lot of our decisions as a society based on information that we have, and television has been used to provide public health messages." — Dr. Lineberry

I have a Web site blog called The CSI Effect, which I gave up writing about for lack of interest. I’ve written about these differences and have been trying to sell a book proposal on another Web site (for about four years now), not only about these very specific topics, but about the ramifications of how these misconceptions are perpetrated on the public and how they enter into real life—in the courtroom.

For example, years ago when people did not know as much about forensics they were little concerned about what types of evidence were brought into court and how they were collected. One could say that in the “old days,” the prosecutors took advantage of that notion at every turn. Obviously, we know now that the landscape has changed. Juries are more inclined to ask about a lack of evidence but, they also are more misinformed in many instances and take an unrealistic stance—such as expecting DNA evidence for car thefts—when that was never being done.

So the game has been upped. And in my last two articles, we’ve been talking about the recent denigrating reports from the National Academy of Sciences on behalf of Congress about forensic science and how the researchers found the industry lacking. It's not good, we know.

But the TV producers do do those things; take more than poetic license with drama: portray white, rich, good-looking victims—because they need the show to sell to advertisers and if we saw the real low level of most crime, we’d change the channel—not sexy or appealing enough.

So television will continue to push the entertainment envelope away from reality. Reality sucks. Ask any detective. If he has the time to talk to you. Now that we’ve ferreted out these discrepancies yet again—it’s getting real old for me as a topic—let’s support science, give the labs the manpower and funds they need, educate the juries better, and kick some criminal ass.

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The Beginning of an Investigative Theory

by Pat Brown

Today I was on CNN HLN Prime News commenting on a horrific case, a double murder straight from a Hollywood movie. Davina and Brock Husted, a well-heeled California couple living on the beach in a three-million-plus Ventura home, were stabbed to death in front of their nine-year-old son. Sleeping just down the hall was their eleven-year-old daughter. Davina, a woman who gave her time to charity work, was four months pregnant. Her husband, Brock Husted, owned a wrought iron company in Santa Barbara and all who knew him said he was a quiet and unassuming man.

Yet at 10:30 PM last Wednesday night, a man climbed up the beach side steps to the back of this home in a gated community, and entered an open patio door. He passed by the young son watching television and then suddenly he was stabbing Davina to death. Brock ran to her aid and ended up dead beside her. The killer left the home, leaving the children unharmed. The horrified boy woke his sister and the two ran to the neighbors to get help.

What in the world was this double homicide all about? What, asked Mike Gelanos, the host of tonight's show, was the motive of this killer? Captain Bruce Norris of the Ventura County Sheriff's Department tried to answer the question, see-sawing between the possibility of the murder being a random homicide or the murder being committed by someone who targeted the couple. I chimed in with Norris's this-or-that scenario, pointing out how, at this point in time, the homicide could be simply bad luck or it could be a hit.

Eh? I bet some people wonder how a police detective and a criminal profiler couldn't analyze the crime more astutely and narrow down the possibilities a lot more, gee, even a speck more! Would not a random killing and a murder for hire or for profit be at opposite ends of the spectrum? Are these crime analysts so incompetent that they need to leave a such huge margin for error ?

No, this is actually not the problem. The Captain and I are truly doing the right thing; recognizing that there may be more than one avenue of investigation and not making the mistake of cutting off one theory simply because another seems more plausible at this point in time. Secondly, with so little evidence yet available, it makes sense to consider all the possibilities.

So, I ask all of you to join me to brainstorm at this early point in the investigation! What theories can you come up with that might be plausible?

Here is what we know of the killer: he came up the back steps from the beach late in the evening. He was wearing a motorcycle helmet (but no one heard a motorcycle). He was wearing a dark jumpsuit. He was dark-complected. He came through the patio door, passed the boy, made contact with Davina Husted and started stabbing her. Brock ran in and got stabbed to death as well. The killer left the knife at the scene and disappeared.

Theory One: Mentally ill man sees the light on and, like a moth drawn to a flame, climbs the hill towards the home. He is off his meds and has some delusion about the adults living in the house; maybe they are aliens or some kind of evil beings and he must kill them. He is on a mission and, once he completes it, leaves the scene. The children were not part of his delusion, so he ignores them. He has a motorcycle helmet on either because he drives a motorcycle or because he found the helmet and thinks it is part of his astronaut's suit.

Theory Two: The couple is targeted by someone who wants one of them or both of them dead. Maybe Davina is pregnant with another man's child and was going to leave her husband, forcing the man to deal with her and the baby; he didn't like this and ordered a hit on her. Maybe Brock was involved in something squirrelly and someone wanted him out of the way. Maybe a relative named in their will wanted their home and their money.

I am sure someone will post, "How horrible you are to think such things about the Husteds! They are nothing but a wonderful, sweet family and you are suggesting awful things about them!" No, I am not. I am taking you through an investigator's ruminations and a profiler's difficult questions. We do not know the Husteds. They may be the perfect family, the kind of people we all wished lived next door. They may be the most innocent people in the world. This is not the point. When one analyzes a crime, one must consider all the motives, all the possibilities, and then eliminate them.

So, why would anyone even consider that the Husteds could have been targeted? Well, let's think again about that killer. Why would someone choose the Husteds? Why would that person climb those steps to a lit house (which means someone is at home), stab these people to death, and steal nothing? Why would that person leave the kids alive? Why was the murderer dressed in a jumpsuit and motorcycle helmet? Why did he leave the murder weapon?

If the killer isn't one of those people our mental health system now leaves on street because "mentally ill and psychotic people should have the right to live where they want," then the killer had a specific reason for choosing his victims.

The motorcycle helmet could have shielded his face and protected the killer from injury in the assault. The jumpsuit could have protected his clothing from blood. When he fled the scene, he could have removed this outer layer and his helmet and ditched them somewhere. He could then walk away in clean clothes and not become a suspect. He may have left the knife (some cheap, unidentifiable knife from Walmart) at the scene so he would not be caught with it. If he was hired to take out the Husteds, the appearance of the murder being "a crazy man with knife attack" would theoretically send law enforcement down the wrong path, searching for a nut who committed a random attack.

These are just two theories. The police have already been searching campsites in the area and questioning vagrants and homeless people. They are looking for evidence that might support the nutcase theory. I am sure they are also asking the Husted's relatives, friends, and co-workers about their habits, activities, and relationships. They are looking for a motive for Theory Number Two.

These aren't the only possible theories. Can anyone come up with a reasonable Theory Number Three and Four?

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