Tag Archives: murders

James “Whitey” Bulger Arrested After 16 Years, Thanks To Girlfriend’s Salon Habit

Kate Torgovnick/Kate-Book.comJune 23, 2011 //

Jack Nicholson was spine-tingling nasty as mobster Frank Costello in Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed.” The character was, of course, based on a real life dude—James “Whitey” Bulger, the mobster turned informant turned fugitive who has been on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted List for the past 16 years. Yesterday, Bulger was finally arrested, along with his longtime girlfriend Catherine Greig. They are currently being held in a California jail and both will have their first appearance in court today. Bulger is charged with 19 murders, while Greig will most likely face charges of harboring a fugitive.

So, how was Bulger found after so many years on the lam? Because of Greig’s beauty parlor habit. Keep reading »

“Ugly Betty” Actor Michael Brea Killed Mom With Samurai Sword

Jessica WakemanNovember 23, 2010 //

Sad, disturbing news in New York City last night: actor Michael Brea, 31, who had small roles on “Ugly Betty” and in “Step Up 3D,” was arrested after killing his mother with a samurai sword. Police said Brea hacked up and decapitated his 55-year-old mom, Yannick Brea, in the middle of the night while screaming Bible passages. Police had been called earlier in the evening to the apartment for a domestic disturbance, but they left soon after, according to The New York Post. Keep reading »

Joran Van Der Sloot’s Tattoo Reads “No Worries”

Kate Torgovnick/Kate-Book.comJune 16, 2010 //

Earlier this week, a photo surfaced of Joran van der Sloot, sans shirt, being examined by a prison doctor. And folks couldn’t help but notice that he had a tattoo across his chest. The tattoo is in Thai and it reads, “No worries.” Oh, the irony—since van der Sloot has confessed to murder, let it slip that he knows where Natalee Holloway’s body is buried, and is being held in a jail in Peru where he is supposedly fearing for his life. Oh, and today his lawyer quit. Maximo Altez said that after receiving death threats, he is done with the case. “I’m an older person. This isn’t for me,” he said. Hopefully, this will make you think before getting any tattoo involving words like “happiness,” “money,” or “love.” You are only tempting fate. [Gawker, NY Post] Keep reading »

The Joran Van Der Sloot Plot Thickens

Lauren GoldJune 14, 2010 //

As Joran van der Sloot sits in prison in Peru, awaiting trial for the murder of Stephany Flores Ramirez, more and more nasty information keeps coming out about the 22-year-old Dutch man who is still the main suspect in the 2005 disappearance of Natalee Holloway. The details of the whole extortion plot have come to light. Apparently, van der Sloot contacted the lawyer of Beth Holloway, Natalee’s mom, and said that for a price of $250,000 he would give the details of Natalee’s death and the location of her body. Holloway agreed—but called the FBI to have them record the exchange first. After a portion of the money had traded hands, van der Sloot said that Natalee had been trying to stop him from leaving her when they got in a physical struggle. During the fight, Natalee hit her head on a rock and died. Van der Sloot said he took her body to his father’s house, where he buried her in the basement. However, it was soon discovered that the house wasn’t even built in 2005 and that van der Sloot was lying. The FBI opted not to charge van der Sloot with extortion then. Using the Holloways’ money, he traveled to Peru, where two weeks later, he killed Flores. Keep reading »

Reality TV Producer Held For Questioning In Wife’s Murder

Kate Torgovnick/Kate-Book.comApril 9, 2010 //

And, sadly, we have yet another link between a reality TV show and a murder. Bruce Beresford-Redman is a well-known producer who’s worked on shows like “Pimp My Ride” and “Survivor,” and is currently working on “Sarah Palin’s Alaska.” He and his wife, Mónica, went on vacation to Cancun, Mexico, this week with their two children. On Tuesday, Bruce called the police to say that Mónica had gone out shopping the day before and had never come back. Yesterday, her body turned up in the sewer of the resort where they were staying, the Moon Palace. While Bruce has not been charged with anything and is not an official suspect, he has been held in Mexico for questioning as a “person of interest.” Keep reading »

Quotable: Megan Hauserman Was Worried Ryan Jenkins Might Come After Her

Kate Torgovnick/Kate-Book.comFebruary 17, 2010 //

“I was terrified he was going to come looking for me. I never left my apartment. I try not to think too much about all this. But it’s hard not to. This was such close call. Jasmine and I could have been interchangeable.”

—Megan Hauserman, speaking for the first time about Ryan Jenkins, who went on the lam and committed suicide a week after killing his wife Jasmine Fiore and stuffing her body in a suitcase. Megan fell for Jenkins on the VH1′s “Megan Wants a Millionaire.” A few days after she sent him packing, he met Fiore. Keep reading »

Playboy Model Paula Sladweski Found Burned In Dumpster

Kate Torgovnick/Kate-Book.comJanuary 8, 2010 //

This is a very, very sad story. On Sunday, firefighters in Miami were called to put out a fire in a dumpster. When the flames were extinguished, they realized that what had been set on fire was a human body. Using dental records, they identified the body only yesterday as that of Paula Sladewski, a former Playboy model who’d been reported missing on Monday. The big question is, of course, how she got there. Keep reading »

Susan Atkins Of The Manson Family Dies In Jail

Kate Torgovnick/Kate-Book.comSeptember 25, 2009 //

Finally, a person-of-note’s death that doesn’t make us teary. Charles Manson follower Susan Atkins, who was denied parole earlier this month, has died in jail from brain cancer. Atkins was a teen runaway when she met Manson and became a key member of his cult. One night in August 1969, Manson sent her and several other followers to a house in Los Angeles and commanded them to “do something witchy.” That they did. They killed four people, including Sharon Tate, a 26-year-old actress and the wife of director Roman Polanski who was 8 and 1/2 months pregnant at the time. Atkins gave a chilling confession to killing Tate in her trail. “I was stoned, man, stoned on acid,” she said. “She kept begging and pleading and begging and pleading and I got sick of listening to it, so I stabbed her. [I feel] no guilt for what I’ve done. It was right then and I still believe it was right. How can it not be right when it’s done with love?” Though Atkins claimed to have found God in jail and to be seeking redemption for her actions, none of the victims’ families bought it, nor did a parole board. [NY Times] Keep reading »

A Morbid History Lesson On On-Campus Murders

Amelia McDonell-ParrySeptember 16, 2009 //

A Yale professor’s words this week were chilling after Annie Le‘s body was found in the wall of a campus lab: “There is a murderer among us.” Since access to the building is limited to Yale staff and students, it looks like someone in the community is the killer. The cops have already arrested and released one “person of interest” in the case—Raymond Clark III, who some say had an unrequited crush on Le. The police stress that they are still casting a wide net and looking at many different scenarios. [NY Times]

Luckily, murders on college campuses are very rare. Still, when they happen, they become front-page news. Here’s a brief, morbid history, which includes proof of why you shouldn’t enroll at Eastern or Western Michigan University. Keep reading »

Did Phillip Garrido Murder 10 Prostitutes?

Amelia McDonell-ParrySeptember 1, 2009 //

While it’s wonderful that Jaycee Lee Dugard was found alive, after spending 18 years of her life as a prisoner of Phillip and Nancy Garrido, many are starting to question why on earth she wasn’t found sooner. Law enforcement missed multiple opportunities to find Dugard. In 2006, an anonymous caller phoned police and said that Garrido was “psychotic” and that they had heard children’s voices in the backyard — where Dugard was being held — yet police never even searched his property. And then in 2008, the police did a sweep of registered sex offenders in Garrido’s area, yet they only visited his home but never searched it.

There may have been a third opportunity as well. Police are now searching for forensic evidence which links Phillip Garrido to the deaths of 10 prostitutes in the mid-to-late-90s. Several of the bodies were found near an industrial park where Garrido worked at the time. For the sake of argument, let’s say Garrido is responsible for these killings. Had Garrido been caught, Dugard likely would have been rescued 10 years ago. But unfortunately, when prostitutes are victims of violent crimes, their cases are not treated as high priority. How else to explain why the search for a serial killer has gone unsolved for so long? Keep reading »

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