20 Years Later: Will There Be Justice for Amy?

by Stacy Dittrich

You may remember her or you may not, but in the age of media-frenzied cases like Caylee Anthony and JonBenet Ramsey, there is one name not to be forgotten—Amy Mihaljevic.

On October 27, 1989, 10-year old Amy Renee Mihaljevic (pictured left) spent a typical day in her fifth-grade class before walking the short distance to her home in Bay Village, Ohio, an upscale Cleveland suburb on Lake Erie. (Bay Village was also the home of Dr. Sam Sheppard, a doctor accused of killing his wife in the 1950’s. His sentence was later overturned—a case that spawned the movie, “The Fugitive,” with Harrison Ford).

Each day, Amy found herself alone for an hour after school; both her parents worked, and her older brother Jason’s school didn’t let out until an hour after hers. At the beginning of that week, Amy received a phone call from a stranger (sketch artist depiction of suspect, right). He claimed he worked with Amy’s mother, Margaret, and that she had just received a big promotion. The man told Amy it would make her mother really happy if he picked her up so the two of them could buy her mother a gift. Of course, the man told Amy it was “their” secret and would be a surprise for Margaret. Amy was excited at the notion of surprising her mother and even broke her promise to the stranger that she wouldn’t tell anyone. Like most 10-year-olds, Amy couldn’t help but confide the plans to friends.

On October 27th, Amy hurried home and dropped off some of her things before joining a group of friends walking to the nearest ice cream shop. Amy had arranged to meet the stranger there.

When Jason Mihaljevic got home and found his sister gone, he immediately called Margaret. Feeling somewhat panicky, Margaret began to gather up her things and start for home when the phone in her office rang. It was Amy. Breathing a sigh of relief, Margaret asked her where she was. Amy claimed she was at choir practice before hanging up. That was the last time she would ever hear her daughter’s voice.

To this day, it has never been determined where Amy made the phone call from.

Margaret, who still felt unsettled by the situation, started for home. By evening, the Mihaljevics contacted the police to report Amy missing, launching an unprecedented search. The abduction of Amy Mihaljevic was one of the first child abductions featured by John Walsh in his first year as host of America’s Most Wanted.

Sadly, on February 8, 1990, a jogger discovered the remains of Amy Mihaljevic in a cornfield in rural Ashland County—less than 50 miles from Bay Village. Based on the autopsy report, Amy died horribly. Her skull was fractured; she'd been stabbed in the neck repeatedly and sexually assaulted. The coroner determined it could have taken as long as 30 minutes for Amy to die. Her killer has never been found.

In 1992, Margaret Mihaljevic made an emotional appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show, speaking about the search for her daughter’s murderer. The toll was too much for Margaret. She and her husband divorced shortly after Amy’s body was discovered, and she spent the next several years slowing drinking herself to death. Margaret Mihaljevic died of alcoholism in Las Vegas in 2001.

In 2005, Cleveland reporter James Renner launched a massive investigation into Amy’s murder—turning up many questionable suspects. Renner’s book, “Amy: My Search for Her Killer,” gives an inside view of his findings. He also maintains a fascinating blog on the Amy Mihaljevic case, and updates it almost weekly with new information.

In 2007, the Bay Village police department reopened the case based on newly discovered information. Several other girls in the area had received phone calls similar to Amy’s in the month before her abduction. Authorities hope that in their vast sea of suspects, the one responsible will emerge. Authorities seem confident that the killer is still alive and living in the Bay Village or Ashland area. It is utterly frightening to think that a man capable of murdering an innocent young girl in such a violent and vicious manner is still among society.

Regardless, last month marks the 20-year anniversary of the discovery of Amy Mihaljevic’s body. New billboards (pictured right) are now being erected all over the state of Ohio in hopes they will bring forth new information.

Let’s not forget that even though it was two decades ago, Amy Mihaljevic and her surviving family members deserve some justice.

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Break Out the Party Hats and Champagne; We're Celebrating!

Time flies, the saying goes, especially when having fun. Obviously, we’re having a blast at Women in Crime Ink. So much so that an important event nearly slipped past us!

What’s the big deal about March 10, 2010? It's our second anniversary.

In all honesty, we've been so busy, it hardly seems like two years, at least not until one peruses the links trailing seemingly to infinity in our right hand column, subjects we’ve covered over the past twenty-four months. Our contributors have weighed in on sensational cases making headlines, from Casey Anthony’s psychological peculiarities to Manson follower Susan Atkins’ deathbed bid for freedom. In our posts, we’ve covered mobsters and mayhem, human traffickers and bank robbers, poison, passion, and Marge Simpson’s provocative Playboy spread.

Our unique perspective on the world of crime hasn’t gone unnoticed. On June 2, 2009, the esteemed Wall Street Journal featured WCI on its pages, lauding it as “a blog worth reading.” WSJ 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.”

When we began the blog in 2008, we christened it “a well of thoughts on crime and media issues from women criminal justice professionals and authors.” We still have a solid core of the founders among us. In addition, other great contributors have signed on, women we’re proud to have in our ranks.

So on this day, as we turn two, we’d like to reintroduce ourselves to all our readers. Once again, here are the voices of Women in Crime Ink:

Deborah Blum is a Pulitzer-prize winning science writer, a journalism professor at the University of Wisconsin, and the author of six books, the most recent, The Poisoner's Handbook, exploring Jazz Age New York City's murderous history. Kirkus calls it: “Caviar for true crime fans and science buffs alike.” From the cover: "a pair of forensic scientists began their trailblazing chemical detective work, fighting to end an era when untraceable poisons offered an easy path to the perfect crime."

Pat Brown is a renowned Criminal Profiler and 24/7 news fixture, with appearances on The Today Show, The CBS Early Show, HLN’s Nancy Grace and Issues with JaneVelez-Mitchell, Larry King and Joy Behar, FOX, MSNBC Prime News, Dr. Phil and others. The Discovery Channel, Court TV, and National Geographic feature Pat in documentaries and series. Pat is the author of Killing for Sport:Inside the Minds of Serial Killer. Her second book, The Profiler: My Life Hunting Serial Killers and Psychopaths debuts May 18, 2010.

Andrea Campbell writes books about forensic science and law. She holds a criminal justice degree and is a forensic artist whose work includes sculpturally recreating victims’ facial features from skulls. She is Editor of Arkansas Identification News (an IAI group) and an American College of Forensic Examiners International Diplomat and Fellow.

Kathryn Casey is the author of six true crime books. Ann Rule calls Casey "one of the best in the genre." Her latest, Shattered, debuts in July. Singularity, the first in her Sarah Armstrong mystery series, was picked as one of the top crime novel debuts of 2009 by Booklist magazine. The third in the series, The Killing Storm, will be out in November. Casey has appeared on Oprah, Montel, Nancy Grace, truTV, Investigation Discovery, E! and A&E.

Lisa R. Cohen is an Emmy award-winning television news magazine producer with over 20 years in network news, including ABC News PrimeTime Live and CBS News “60 Minutes.” She is also the author of After Etan: The Missing Child Case That Held America Captive. Cohen is an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, and was a Princeton University Ferris Professor of Journalism.

Diane Dimond has reported for Court TV, EXTRA, and Hard Copy, and has hosted MSNBC’s “Missing Persons,” NPR’s “All Things Considered,” and co-hosted a show with Geraldo Rivera. The award-winning journalist and author of Be Careful Who You Love: Inside the Michael Jackson Case also writes for The Huffington Post and appears regularly on Entertainment Tonight.

Stacy Dittrich is an award winning former police officer, and media consultant. A co-host of Justice Interrupted, she's appeared on Fox, The O’Reilly Factor, CNN, Geraldo at Large, The Nancy Grace Show, Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell, and E! True Hollywood in Crime. The author of the CeeCee Gallagher detective series, Stacy's first true crime book is Murder Behind the Badge: True Stories of Cops Who Kill.

Diane Fanning is the Edgar-nominated author of ten true-crime books and four mystery novels. Diane has appeared on 48 Hours, 20/20, Forensic Files, and radio stations from coast to coast. She is currently under contract for three books—two true crime titles and one mystery novel. Her bestselling book on the Casey Anthony case, Mommy's Little Girl, was released in fall 2009.

Laura James is an attorney, true-crime author, and crime historian living in Detroit, Michigan. The former reporter is the woman behind CLEWS, a literary blog devoted to the true-crime genre. Laura’s first book came out in May 2009: The Love Pirate and the Bandit's Son: Murder, Sin, and Scandal in the Shadow of Jesse James.

Vanessa Leggett has written essays for Newsweek and Texas Monthly, editorials for the Houston Chronicle, and articles for the Justice Department, which jailed her for protecting sources on a murder case. A former English and Criminology instructor at the University of Houston-Downtown, Vanessa writes and lectures. Her book on the case that landed her in jail is awaiting publication.

Susan Murphy-Milano is a nonfiction author and violence expert--a defender of victims' rights. Susan has appeared on Oprah, 20/20, American Justice, and CNN. Susan's third book,” Time’s Up: A Guide On How To Leave and Survive Abusive Relationships” will be released in April, 2010. Susan is also a co-host of the weekly television and interactive Internet crime show: Crime Wire. When there is no place for families to find answers and seek justice, “The Crime Wire Team is there.”

Cassie Nelson is Women in Crime Ink's representative from the younger generation. A high school senior, Cassie interned for WCI contributor Robin Sax last summer, and she's stayed on interning at WCI. Her posts have explored everything from dancing in underwear and Octomom to Jaycee Dugard's rescue. Cassie plans to attend law school after receiving her undergraduate degree. In her free time, she trains daily with a kick-boxing coach.

Donna Pendergast is a career prosecutor specializing in homicides. She has tried 100 murder cases, boasts a 98% conviction rate, and put away the most prolific serial killer in U. S. history. Donna has appeared on 60 Minutes, The Montel Williams Show, Dateline NBC, True Hollywood Story, Cold Case Files, and other television and radio venues, featuring her serial and sexual homicide cases.

Robin Sax is a former prosecutor in Los Angeles, where she specialized in sex crimes against children for fifteen years. An author and legal analyst, she appears on Larry King Live, HNL Prime News and The Today Show. A co-founder of Justice Interrupted, a top-ranked radio show highlighting cases that haven't received media attention, Robin is a the author of "SaxFacts," a weekly digest/blog.

Katherine Scardino is a defense attorney who has handled 39 capital murder cases. She received the first Not Guilty verdict in 25 years for the State of Texas in a death penalty case, and recently received another acquittal in a capital trial. Katherine has appeared on Court TV, TODAY, Bill O’Reilly, MSNBC, and American Justice. She has several capital murder cases pending.

Cathy Scott's work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, New York Post, San Diego Union-Tribune, and Las Vegas Sun. Known for her true crime books The Killing of Tupac Shakur and The Murder of Biggie Smalls, Cathy taught journalism at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her most recent appearances include Investigation Discovery and VH1. Her next book is about Barbara Kogan, charged with the two-decades-old murder of her husband.

Donna Weaver is an investigator for The Pat Brown Criminal Profiling Agency. She began her education and training after the disappearance and murder of her husband in 1983. Donna is an area director for the Bahamas and Caribbean Region for The Doe Network - International Center for Unidentified and Missing Persons.

Janet Braunstein was a professional journalist and editor for more than 20 years at The Associated Press, newspapers, magazines, internet sites and Agence France-Press. She won multiple awards covering automotive electronics and safety technology. She updated and edited Every Bite a Delight, a collection of advertising slogans. Her interest in the local arts scene includes listening to, editing and encouraging original storytelling, poetry, lyrics and music.

As we concluded our very first post, we say again: Welcome to Women in Crime Ink, your source for the real story behind crime and media issues.

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Time's Up

by Diane Fanning

When I was in my first marriage, I did not see my husband as an abuser. I did not see myself as a victim. I was fooling myself. Although he did not hit me, he sometimes left bruises on my arms from holding them too tightly and, on occasion, he shoved me. But for the most part, the mistreatment I experienced was mental and emotional.

I was afraid of him, intimidated by him, cowed into an overwhelming sense of worthlessness. Toward the end, I was actually crossing the street to avoid people I knew, because I had allowed him to convince me that others only spoke to me out of pity. And I didn’t think I was a victim. I’d seen pictures of abuse victims—battered, bleeding, or dead—and that wasn’t me.

I was wrong. Without realizing it, I risked my life and that of my daughter. After a dramatic departure in the middle of an ice storm, I was safe, but it could have turned out so differently. I was lucky. Many women are not. Oftentimes, the first serious incident of domestic violence is a homicide.

I’ve written books about some of these cases and have learned through my research that the most dangerous time of any woman’s life is from the moment she makes the decision to leave to up to two years after she acts upon it. If you are planning on leaving your spouse or know a woman who is, you must have TIME’S UP by Susan Murphy-Milano.

Susan explains abuse simply and clearly in the beginning of the book so thoroughly it left me shaking and in tears, even decades after my escape from that bad relationship.  I was stunned to read so much about my experience and know I was not alone.  Then she takes the reader through everything she needs to do in preparation for departure, including precautions, tips and forms to make the planning and implementation part of a process rather than a helter-skelter act of desperation.

It is all at your fingertips in the pages of this book. If you are a sophisticated, educated, aware woman, you will find things you didn’t know to help yourself and others. If you are a stay-at-home mom who has been controlled since a teenager and doesn't know the first thing about leading an independent life, you’ll find all the details you need to escort you through the risk-filled and often baffling transition ahead.

In addition to the book itself, there is a video on YouTube.com that demonstrates one of the necessary steps: a women presenting a sample Evidentiary Abuse Affidavit. (see video below)

By writing this book, Susan Murphy-Milano has given a great gift to all women and children. I am in awe of the magnificent job she has done, the life experiences she has overcome, and the compassion and common sense that fill every chapter.

I cannot emphasize how important this book is to all the women in your life. Even if you are in a good, stable relationship, buy this book and keep it handy. One day, when you least expect it, someone close to you will need it. It can save a life—many lives.

TIME'S UP by Susan Murphy-Milano: the best companion an abused woman can have.

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Don't Free the West Memphis Three

by Pat Brown

On October 23, 2009, nine-year-old Elizabeth Olten told her Mommy goodbye and skipped over to her little friend's house. She didn't come home. This young child, sugar and spice and everything nice, encountered the exact opposite late that afternoon. She went trustingly into the woods with her friend's older sister, fifteen-year-old Alyssa Bustamente (left), to explore, to play, to enjoy the special feeling of being given attention by an older girl. Only this teenager morphed into the nightmare her mother always told her wasn't real.

In the next moments, the last moments of Elizabeth's short life, she saw a monster come for her, cruel and nasty words spewing from her mouth. The monster hit her, shoved her to the ground, and there as the evil loomed over her, Elizabeth (below right) terrified, her eyes blurring with tears, wanted her Mommy. Mommy! Mommy! She felt hands clawing her throat, clamping down around her neck, and she couldn't breathe, couldn't breathe ... no ... no .... Mommy ... stop, Alyssa, stop ... no ... the fear screamed through her little body. The hands left her throat and as she gasped for air, she felt a pain shoot through her left wrist, and then her right. Through the tears coursing down her cheeks, she saw blood coming out of her arms, her blood, and the monster was laughing.

The monster with the knife came at her face, and she felt the burning, searing ripping of her throat ... and the knife came down again and the choking this time was from the blood filling up her airway .. and she knew ... she knew she wouldn't see her Mommy again ... she knew ... she knew the worst thing in the world had happened to her. She felt the dark rush over her, and she screamed silently in her head one last time.

Alyssa Bustamente confessed to killing the little girl. She wanted to know "what it would be like to kill someone." This is the same girl who thought it was funny to watch her little brothers shock themselves on an electric fence. She hated the world; she wrote that her hobbies were "cutting" and "killing people."

Now, let's back up to to an early May, 1993, evening in West Memphis, Arkansas, when three eight-year-old boys rode their bicycles into a wooded area known as Robin Hood Hills. They zigzagged through the terrain, daring each other to do a better trick, to jump a ditch, to beat each other to the far tree. They would have played on happily until one of them remembered it was time to go home -- if they hadn't encountered three other boys, teenagers, in their play space. At first, they thought it was cool; big guys, like older brothers, all dressed in rebel black, grins on their faces, yeah, swaggering, a bottle of whiskey in one of their hands, yeah, we are hanging with the men now, we are member of their club. The older boys joked with them, told them they had something neat to share with them. The little kids got off their bikes, let them fall to the ground, and eagerly went over to the trio. They were shown something, all right.

Each boy was grabbed, thrown to the ground. At first, confused, they thought maybe this was a game, like a wrestling game, until fists hit them in the face, repeatedly, and their clothes were pulled off. Shoelaces were stripped out of their shoes and used to hog-tie them. Pants dropped to the ground from the older boys' waists, and then the unimaginable happened, things that they had heard of, whispered and giggled about on the playground, repulsive things that were now happening to them. Pain, humiliation, terror rained down on the little boys, the brutality increasing by the minute until the knife came out and screams came from one of the boys as he was stabbed and mutilated. The other two lay in their agonizing contorted positions, frozen in horror as their watch their friend dying -- and then their heads were bashed in. They were still alive when they were dragged into the stream. Water filled their lungs and, if they were conscious at all at that moment, they would have felt themselves choking as they sunk into the their muddy, watery grave.

Chris Byers, Steve Branch, and Michael Moore (all above left) would never ride their bicycles again.

Jessie Misskelley, 17, (right) confessed to the crime in detail. Three times. He had a temper and got in fights. He had a record for shoplifting and vandalism. He was a bit slow and a follower.

Jason Baldwin, 16, had a record for vandalism and shoplifting. He was Damien's best friend.

Damien Echols, 18, had a history of psychological problems for which he had been institutionalized. He is reported to have stomped a dog to death, attacked patients in the mental hospital sucking blood out of their wounds, starting fires at school, threatened to kill his teachers and parents, claimed he was a supernatural being, said he liked to drink blood because it gave him special power, and read Anton LeVay's Satanic Bible. Damien exhibits psychopathic behaviors. He bragged about committing the crime

Circumstantial evidence supported the involvement of the teens in the crime.

The three had no alibis.

Then who did it?

The defense needed a new suspect and a new motive. They brought in criminal profiler Brent Turvey. He provide one. His analysis concluded that the boys were killed at dawn, not dusk (giving the three teens alibis), that they were abducted, killed elsewhere, and the bodies driven back to that location (eliminating teens without trucks), and that there were bite marks that did not match the West Memphis Three (nor anyone else for that matter, because those blurry autopsy photos were not teeth impressions). The focus of the attack was to punish little victim Chris Byers (locking in his father, Mark Byers, as the killer). Recognizing the attack on the three boys required more than one person, Turvey allows the killer to have a more passive helper, his wife Melissa. She would be responsible for the "bite marks" on Steve Branch's face, the result of a female style of Battered Child Syndrome.

Okay. So let me get this straight. It is not believable that a violent psychopath like Damien Echols (left) got together with his deviant buddies and decided to follow some young kids into the woods and get a sick thrill out of attacking and torturing them, but THIS scenario makes sense?

The Byers leave their other son at home (and tell him to tell the cops he was with them when they went looking for his brother). They go out to find Chris and when they see him with his friends, they are already mad that he disobeyed them and didn't come home on time. They decide to lure all the boys away to some hideout and strip them naked and tie them up with their shoelaces. Then they leave them there while they go help search the park with the other parents. Sometime in between helping search the woods, Mark Byers and his wife sneak back the hideout, beat the crap out of the kids, and stab them as well. While Mark Byers is busy hacking off his son’s genitals, Mom is too busy biting up the Branch kid to be all that concerned. After Chris is dead, they jump in the truck with his body and his bleeding, dying little friends. They rush to the park to dump the bodies, hoping no one happens upon them while they are doing it, go home to their other son, meet with the concerned parents, talk with the police, go out on the search all night, and keep up this pretense for the duration of the trial.

This scenario lasted for years, with the Free the West Memphis Three side standing firm that Byers was the killer and had his teeth pulled in 1997 so he couldn't be matched to any tooth impression evidence. I am not sure when this theory went downhill, but maybe they were counting on those "teeth" to match something.

Now, they needed a new suspect. In 2007, one hair was found entwined in one of the knots and it was stated that it was "not inconsistent with" the hair of Terry Hobbs, victim Stevie Branch's stepfather. Another hair found nearby was supposedly "not inconsistent" with that of his good friend, David Jacoby, who he hung out with Since hair could have ended up there through secondary transfer and the one that was "not inconsistent" with David Jacoby was found two weeks later by a searcher (the hair was consistent with 7% of the population), it's not any evidence that can convict. But this hair and the new theory that Hobbs and his buddy killed the boys is what the defense hopes will get an appeal.

I hope they don't get it. The deaths of these three boys were not the result of domestic child abuse gone out of control. I have never seen a case where a parent becomes angry, decides to assault and kill the child AND take out a couple of friends as well, especially stripping them, hogtying them. Then leaving them close by where the bodies can be found along with any evidence? Unless the stepdads, one or the other did not have vehicles, those bodies should have been dumped some thirty miles away in a ravine or in three shallow graves.

Here is what I believe happened:

The crimes were committed by more than one person.

The offenders lived nearby the crime scene.

The boys were targeted because they were easy to access and control.

The boys were probably followed and conned or lured into the woods.

The boys were overpowered by larger assailants and the crime was committed at the scene, most likely in the water during the waning daylight hours.

The crime was planned but not in the sense that it would necessarily end with homicide. Like wilding, crimes involving groups of young teens often end extremely violently.
Nothing but a knife or two was brought with the offenders nor was anything but the weapons taken away. This shows lack of maturity or criminal experience.
The offenders did not attempt to get rid of the evidence. The water was a lucky break.

The crime was violent and was a show of power. Essentially, it was a thrill crime.

Now, who would be likely to live near the scene, not have a vehicle, have a posse big enough to handle three boys and be recognizable to the boys so they could lure them without them running away? Since the boys were dead by dusk (rigor mortis evidence and livor evidence and no evidence of the bindings being on a live body for any period of time), who was unaccounted for at that time? The crime was planned (even if just minutes before, when the boys were spotted going into the woods) but no materials were brought; a sign of a fairly inexperienced killer/killers or a sign of youth. The sexual aspects of the crime encompass power and control as do the actual murders. Who does this sound like to you? How about that cold-blooded psychopath who wanted to kill people and drink blood and be God, who knew the boys, lived near the boys and had his homeys with him?

Damien Echols is an evil, soulless creature. His two buddies aren't worth much either. They aren't being discriminated against because they wore black or were a bit weird. They are in prison because, like Alyssa Bustamente, sometimes teens kill.

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Images of War

by Lisa Cohen

Last week's announcement that Delaware pediatrician Dr. Earl Bradley was charged with 471 separate counts of child molestation shocked the public. It seemed to throw even Delaware's Attorney General Beau Biden for a loop. He told reporters this might be the worst case of abuse the state had ever seen. So far, Biden's office has identified more than 100 victims from 13 hours of videotape Bradley allegedly shot -- victims ranging in age from 14 years down to 18 months. Eighteen-month-old babies.

Biden knows he's got to be careful not to say more than he can. But this father of two young children was pretty clear. "The reality is that as a prosecutor, the rules prohibit me from telling you exactly how I feel -- and I'm feeling a great deal today."

Almost two dozen prosecutors and other staffers are being tapped to track this case, as well as resources borrowed from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, working together in the seaside town of Lewes, as well as Wilmington, and a crime lab in Dover. Delaware State Police detectives are going door-to-door in Lewes, asking parents of Bradley's patients the painful questions that might determine whether their children are yet more victims to add to the long list.

Biden (right) said the search is also aimed at uncovering how this "physician could lurk in our midst for as long as he did." And how he could have recorded his heinous acts?

I can't look into his mind, nor, frankly, would I want to if I could. But clearly, if Bradley is guilty of such monstrosity slash stupidity, he is not alone. Child porn is everywhere, exploding on the internet. Julian Sher, author of "One Child at a Time: the Global Fight to Rescue Children from On-line Predators," says that via computers, porn thrives in an environment of the 3As: anonymity, access, and acceptance. Bradley might have recorded himself for his own private pleasure ... or to blackmail his victims into silence -- at least, the ones who were old enough to talk (!!??). He might have intended to share -- or already has shared -- his recordings across the globe.

According to Michelle K. Collins, Director of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's Exploited Child Unit, writing in an issue of "The Police Chief," general trends in recent years point to that third option. Offenders are self-reporting more and more that they collect and trade these images to enhance their stature amongst their online "peers." It's a community that supports and justifies each others' actions. Not to mention the money there is to be made.

NCMEC estimates they review some 250,000 images a week depicting abused children online, available at the click of mouse. In many cases, it's not the pseudo-pubescent, pigtailed adults posing in schoolgirl uniforms, but actual acts of extreme violence perpetrated on younger and younger children. NCMEC's Collins cites data showing 58% of child victims seen were prepubescent, with some 6% of them infants. Often they are faceless, the better to hide their identities and to minimize their humanity.

It boggles the mind.

There are combatants fighting the perpetrators, who, even if they appear in the videos, are largely faceless and elusive themselves. In the Delaware case, the perp is presumably a known entity. But even now, after two months with the damning video in hand, investigators are still looking to identify victims. Biden's office has appealed to parents to come forward with any clues, as they work to amass the strongest possible case against Earl Bradley.

On a nationwide level, NCMEC's Child Victim Identification Program (CVIP) marshals the talents of a dozen federal law enforcement agents who, among others, spend their days perusing the most egregious video and photos with two major goals. They're looking for clear-cut evidence for prosecutors, and in many cases they're looking to identify locations -- what hotel room or basement in what city -- to literally track down and rescue tiny victims.

As a former television news producer who's spent years in edit rooms watching the same five second clips over and over during an interminable edit, I can't imagine a more discomfiting activity than watching such horrific content repeatedly. But the work has yielded results. NCMEC reports more than 900 cases where the CVIP team has aided in a rescue, simply by scrutinizing the smallest of details.

For example, "MINNEA...," the partial revelation on a school uniform draped over a chair in the background, gave away the city and helped liberate six prepubescent girls in Minneapolis. The video producer in that case was convicted of over two dozen counts of making, possessing and distributing pornography. The team looks for details of a room, the specific make of camera used, anything to narrow the search.

CVIP isn't the only one with vigilant eyes out there. Paul Gillespie (left), a veteran Toronto police detective, spent months analyzing web images for clues in the distinctive wallpaper or the soda cans at one young victim's crime scene. Finally, the distinctive logo on a piece of jewelry sent cops to find her, not abducted by strangers, but held captive and tortured by her own father, who passed images of her abuse around online for his friends to enjoy.

Gillespie eventually turned to Bill Gates (below right). "Your technology helped create this mess," he wrote the Microsoft founder in a 2003 email. "Help us clean it up." Gates responded with millions of dollars and some creative minds to build CETS, (Child Exploitation Tracking System). The tracking system took clues from different web images and synthesized them. Its first case was an immediate success -- a four-year-old girl whose abuse was being viewed by a 1,200-strong ring of paying online customers.

Beyond using the images as part of the investigation, there's also the important effort to purge them from sight. Victims describe the proliferation as an eternal, endless sense of being abused over and over again. But rounding up all the copies is a tough task, especially if material is altered in any way -- cropped, re-sized, re-colored -- because then the image can't be searched for online in any uniform way. Most of what appears on the Internet has been changed from its original form. But in December, Microsoft introduced, and then donated to NCMEC, something called PhotoDNA.

Developed along with Dartmouth professor Hany Farid, the new technology manages to identify a photograph's innate signature, its "DNA," regardless of modification. An offending image can then be submitted to online service providers, who in turn can delete all versions from their sites. One added plus: PhotoDNA may be helpful in tracking down "invisible" copies of the illegal photos, which could lead authorities to offenders.

It's a David v. Goliath effort, but it offers some hope amidst the bleakest visions of mankind. It's a world view that is no doubt burned into the minds of these helpless children, subjected to the very worst, often by those very adults -- parents, priests, a family doctor -- who were supposed to keep them safe.

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Why I Write True Crime

by Kathryn Casey

Over the past couple of decades, the prestige of true crime writing has taken a hit. When In Cold Blood was first published in 1966, Truman Capote was lauded as a visionary who'd pioneered a new type of book, one that told a true story by exploring the human condition through the events surrounding one tragic murder case. Of course, Capote's book is still considered a classic, but something has happened. The prevailing sentiment has shifted. There are those who now look askance at true crime and at those who write it.

Especially since I've started writing fiction, I've had people question why I continue to write true crime. Some charge that I'm making money off the misery of others, even insinuating that I somehow bear a portion of the blame for the tragedies I write about. Yes, I make money, that's true. I sincerely wouldn't be able to afford to write true crime books if I didn't. I work hard and like most folks, I have bills to pay and a family to help support. As for true crime writers being somehow responsible for the crimes, I'm sure you understand that's flat out ridiculous.

When I hear those criticisms, I admit that I sometimes get a bit tongue-tied trying to explain why I write true crime. So I was particularly pleased when a reader sent me a recent e-mail. Her name is Meredith Appel, and she contacted me about my first book, The Rapist's Wife, now published under the title: Evil Beside Her. The book explores the case of Linda Bergstrom, a Houston woman who married a shy factory worker with a terrible secret. That's Linda's photo on the right. Lower left is her now ex-husband, James, holding their daughter, Ashley. What you'll note is what a great guy James appears to be in the photo. He's not. James Bergstrom is a very dangerous man.

The reason I'm sharing Meredith's e-mail is that she explains better than I can why I continue to write true crime. On one level, I hope the books are interesting to read, full of personalities and drama, true stories that take readers inside sensational crimes. But on another level, I know they can do so much good.

With Meredith's permission, here are a few paragraphs from her e-mail:

Ms. Casey,

...I'd written to you once before... when I was reading Evil Beside Her in college. I wanted to let you know more about that... I majored in criminal justice at a small private college, Saint Martin's University, in Washington State. The criminal justice department is expanding to include new types of courses that explore different angles on criminology, and every other semester a course in victimology is offered. The class turned out to be more of a psychology class than anything and even more than that the class was centered on victim impact. More than learning victim statistics, we listened to speakers who had personally survived a crime or were family members of someone who had been victimized.

What we learned is that it is important to take measures to protect ourselves, but at the same time we can't be expected to be responsible for identifying who is capable of committing crimes. In other words, although there are warning signs that are worth paying attention to, the only thing that ultimately determines who is murdered or raped is which person gets in the car with the murderer or rapist, which is something that no person can exactly predict beforehand, since it all depends on the psychology of the perpetrator. I say all that to say this... our teacher used Evil Beside Her as required reading for our class as an example of the impact that a perpetrator's choices have on those around him/her.

Domestic violence was a big section of our studies, and the main reason we read your book was to attempt to gain an understanding of the complexity behind the answer to "Why doesn't she just leave?" The James Bergstrom case and the way you portrayed it was a wonderful example for our class to learn what it feels like for a person to be right in the middle of a situation and to learn that things just aren't as simple as they may look to the objective person on the outside.


As Meredith so eloquently explains, we can learn a lot from an in-depth look behind the headlines, one that answers all the questions, including the all-important "why?" Not all true crime books are good true crime books, but the quality ones dissect the facts from all sides, explaining not only what happened, but what that particular set of personalities and circumstances says about all of us, who we are, where our society is going, what we believe.

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Forensics Expert Susan Vondrake Stops By

by Andrea Campbell

Today I would like to introduce Susan Vondrake, director of the Research and Development Laboratory with the Illinois State Police. A Renaissance woman in the field of forensic science, Vondrake is also a new fiction writer whose first book will debut shortly.

Q.: What is your book with Oak Tree Press about? Is it finished?

A.: Yes, the book is completed and the first of a series. I plan to publish under S. Connell Vondrake. The book is a completely fictional work not based on any actual case or agency. The book, No Evidence of a Crime, is set in Washington, D. C., and begins with two detectives investigating the murder of a young woman, a murder which appears on the surface to be straightforward, but subtle discrepancies with the evidence start to become apparent. The murder weapon is identified as a Glock handgun, but an eyewitness places the shooter too far from the victim.  

Toxicology finds a high level of alcohol and cocaine in victim’s system, but not in the fetus she is carrying, and DNA links the victim to a gang member -- but she had no apparent gang connections. The detectives ask a forensic scientist to help retest the samples. The new test results soon lead the detectives to realize forensic evidence is being altered.

In No Evidence of a Crime, the clues point to one direction, but there are inconsistencies. The detectives try to force the pieces to fit into the puzzle. When they actually figure out the truth, everything fits together. The same is true in real life. If a control is outside the expected result, or a latent print matches the top of a print on a print card but not the bottom of the print, or a shoe print matches but is the wrong size, all of these things are telling you something. Things like this will gnaw at a good forensic scientist until they figure out what the evidence is telling them, and when they do, they grow as a forensic scientist and the field of forensics grows.

Q.: How did the book come about?

A.: In my current job, I have to drive to different labs around Illinois. I can be in the car six, seven, eight hours in a day. Rather than listening to the radio, I would make up stories in my mind as entertainment for me. A few years ago, I started to put these stories down on paper. Oak Tree Press has been wonderful. In January, I turned the first of three books over to them, and they were very quick in saying they wanted to publish it. I don’t have an agent, just me.

Q.: Can you tell us something about your background, and give us a few words about your crime lab?

A.: I was a forensic toxicologist for ten years with the Illinois State Police (ISP). I then trained people in forensic toxicology for eight years, also with the ISP. In 2003, I became the Director of Training, overseeing training in all areas of forensics, including Latent Prints, DNA, Firearms, Toxicology, Questioned Documents, and Drug and Trace Chemistry. In January of 2009, I was appointed the Director of Research and Development, in addition to continuing my training duties, overseeing the Statewide Training Program.

The Illinois State Police is a very large system, second only to the FBI in size within the US. We have approximately 350 forensic scientists and about 500 total staff. Both the Statewide Training Program and the Research and Development Laboratory have statewide responsibilities within ISP’s Forensic Sciences Command.

Q.: Last year, Congress completed an investigation and report on the state of forensic science; since there is no standardization for all forensic disciplines, do you think the needs of criminal justice are being met?

A.: Let me start by saying, I do believe the needs of the criminal justice system have been met. Throughout my career, I have watched the forensic science community work hard to address most of the issues delineated in the National Academy of Sciences's report, with limited resources and funding. Whether it is through laboratory accreditation, training workshops at technical meetings or individual certification, the forensic community has striven to better themselves as forensic examiners. The IAI certification program of latent print examiners is an excellent example of the spirit of that dedication.  It is a challenging test which is one way of demonstrating the competency of a latent print examiner. 

However, I will also add, I have read the NAS report from cover to cover, recognize the issues it articulates, and believe these issues should not be taken lightly or brushed aside. Our challenges are the new technologies always being developed, which allow us to give better and better answers but cause us to be constantly learning, changing and adapting past practice. How we incorporate these new technologies into our laboratories is paramount to our success as a vital service to the citizens we serve. It is also what drives agencies to submit more and more evidence to take advantage of better techniques and greater sensitivity of results.

I see the NAS review as similar to going to the doctor’s office for a physical, just to see how your body’s holding up; maybe there have been a few aches and pains that caused some concern. If you went to a doctor, and the doctor said you need to eat better and exercise more because you may be on the road to a heart attack, most people would not reply, “No, I’m not.” They would assess what they could do better and how they might improve, maybe eat an apple instead of a candy bar or walk a little more at the mall. The same is true in forensics when reviewing the NAS report. Each individual, their agencies and the community as a whole should assess how they are doing and what they can do better.  If I were a latent prints examiner but had not taken the IAI certification test, that might be an apple I would be chewing on, now.

Q.: How would you suggest that young people interested in a forensic science career proceed?

A.: When I started in 1985, few knew what forensic science was. Now, we can easily have 700 people apply for a forensic scientist position each year so, the interest in the field is there. As long as you have a strong science background, you can become a forensic scientist. If you are interviewing for the job, show your interest in the field (this is not reciting episodes of CSI). Forensic work can be tedious and meticulous. Most scientists are capable of becoming a forensic scientist but, to become a great forensic scientist you need the ability to never give up until all the questions in a case are answered.

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Today's Isolated Kids: Tomorrow's Killers?

by Diane Dimond

Every human being needs to feel connected – attached – to other human beings around them. It’s an innate craving we all have and cannot fight. The hunger for attachment begins with infants who bond with their mother’s soothing voices, tender caresses and nurturing care. It’s through this kind of attention the child comes to know the feelings of being safe and protected. The quality of the early bonds children form with adults in their world will affect every relationship they’ll have for the rest of their lives.

Sadly, some children never get the love they need to grow into healthy, empathetic, trusting people. As they grow, they form their own protective shield to keep out the rest of the world. They have no trust in others, and their behavior often turns self-destructive and even criminal.

What ails this unfortunate group now has a name: Reactive Attachment Disorder. It’s a fairly new addition to the American Psychiatric Association’s book that lists every recognized psychiatric disorder known to man – The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

The professionals say RAD, as it’s called, this isn’t just a trendy diagnosis du jour. They’ve discovered that young children who fail to form meaningful bonds, those who display early aggression and anti-social behaviors, often grow up to be sociopaths and turn to lives of crime.

In other words, RAD kids are the potential criminals of tomorrow. If we would only dedicate time and money to serve the needs of these children today we might all be spared their wrath, their potentially deadly deeds, in the future.

“If you see a serial killer, chances are very strong they were a RAD kid,” says Jay Pullen, Executive Director of The Attachment Healing Center in Albuquerque. He mentions convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh as likely being a RAD sufferer. I mention serial killer and cannibal, Jeffery Dahmer.

Pullen says it’s fairly easy to diagnose RAD children, as they often display a wide range of similar behaviors: setting fires, making violent threats, smearing feces, killing animals or stealing food as a way to combat their early memories of being left hungry. All these behaviors are designed to repel other people so the children can more comfortably retreat into their solitary shell.

Director Pullen is quick to say RAD is not a life-time curse, that there are successful ways to treat these kids. All it takes is time, money and the determination to help.

States from New Mexico to Missouri, from California to New York, are desperately searching for ways to lessen the plight of neglected children. The motivation is perfectly captured in this quote from former Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz of Minnesota’s Supreme Court: “The difference between that poor child and a felon is about eight years.”

There may be no other time in history when so many children are separated, ignored or neglected by the very people who are supposed to love them the most. According to the Children’s Defense Fund, record numbers of kids are shuffled between foster homes these days or are reported to be victims of emotional and sexual abuse. If a parent is depressed or angry or addicted, it’s likely their children aren’t getting the nurturing they need.

You may think you’re not affected by Reactive Attachment Disorder, but Pullen says nothing could be further from the truth. Your tax dollars go to deal with RAD kids once they enter the justice or adoption system. When you see graffiti on the side of a building, a neighbor’s home damaged by an arson fire, or when your child’s classroom is repeatedly disrupted by the disordered child, Reactive Attachment Disorder does affect you and yours.

Pioneering in-house treatments have been devised to help willing parents learn the most effective way to deal with these self-sabotaging children. One mother of a RAD child had to learn to ignore her daughter’s chilling notes. One the girl taped to the foot of her bed read: “I’m going to slash your throat with a butcher knife.” Instead of reacting negatively to that as she tucked in the child, the mother learned to say instead, “Yes, I see that. Now, hop into bed; we have to get you off to school in the morning.” That kind of statement acknowledges the youngster’s message but reinforces trust by presenting the idea that parent and child are part of a team.

The experts on RAD say it all comes down to neurologically re-wiring these kids to break their bad behavior cycles. In cases where parents are at the crux of the problem, RAD therapists recommend removing the children to a more nurturing environment. Foster and adoptive parents are often these kids' best hope.

We ignore these troubled children at our own peril. If we don’t help them assimilate now they could come back to grab our attention in much more serious and dangerous ways.

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