Location: 1122 King Road, Moscow, ID

Timeline (developing):

• Saturday, Nov. 12, 9:00 – 10:00 pm: Ethan and Xana are at a nearby fraternity party.  Ethan belongs to the fraternity.

• Saturday, approximately 10:00 p.m. to Sunday, 1:40 a.m: Kaylee and Madison are at The Corner Club at 202 N. Main Street , Moscow (source: Moscow PD).

• Sunday, 1:00 a.m: Victims’ housemates Bethany Funke and Dylan Mortensen, who had been out, return home.  At some point later in the evening, they go to their own rooms (Moscow PD, Daily Mail)

• 1:40 a.m: Kaylee and Madison leave the club  and are filmed at a local food truck (Moscow PD)

  • Male seen lingering nearby in the video has been identified by police, is cooperating, and is not considered a suspect at this time (Moscow PD)

• 1:40 a.m: Kaylee and Madison get a ride home from a “private individual” (as per Moscow PD press conference of 11/20).

  • As per Kaylee’s sister Alivia, this was  “an Uber driver” whom she has  since located (source: Inside Edition interview)

• 1:45 a.m.: Kaylee and Madison arrive home.  Ethan and Xana have arrived home by this time or earlier.  By this time all four victims are in the house.

• 2:36 – 2:52 a.m: Kaylee and Madison make 7 calls to “Jack.”

  • Jack has been identified as Jack DeCouer, Kaylee’s longtime boyfriend, as per NY Times.

  • DeCouer does not answer, reportedly sleeping through these calls (NY Times)

  • Kaylee’s family is currently standing by Jack as a non-suspect

• 3:00 – 4:00 a.m:  As per Coroner interview, killings occur.  Killings occur on second and third floors (as per PD press conference, 11/20)

  • All four were killed in their beds, while likely asleep (as per Coroner interview and Moscow PD)

  • Xana had defensive wounds, as per her father; others may have had defensive wounds,  as per PD press conference, 11/20)

• Sunday a.m: Surviving housemates “summoned friends to the residence” because they believed that one of the victims had “passed out” (Moscow PD press release, 11/20)

  • The “summoned friends” were members of a nearby fraternity house (as per Mark Fuhrman, Fox News tv interview, 11/21)

• 11:58 a.m: Call to 911 of an “unconscious person” is made (Moscow PD press release).  One of the housemates’ phones was used to make the call.  However, unconfirmed if the call was actually made by one of the housemates.

  • “Multiple people” spoke to the 911 operator from the residence on the call.  (Moscow PD press release; PD press conference, 11/20)

  • As per PD spokesman, there  were “others” at the house besides the roommates (press conference, 11/20)

  • As per Moscow PD, all in the house when police arrived are not considered suspects at this time

  • Front door operates off of a key code at front door.  There is a sliding rear door.  There is also a sliding door off of one of the bedroom’s balconies.  No signs of forced entry at any of these. Doors were sometimes left open.

  • As per Coroner and Medical Examiner: All four victims stabbed to death by a large, military style knife. Police were canvassing for recent knife purchases. No sexual assault (PD press conference, 11/20).

Investigative Gaps:

1.      Who else arrived at the house Sunday morning?

2.      Are the phones encrypted?  Has full access been gained to all relevant phones?

3.      Social media access gained?

4.      Laptop/desktop dumps?

5.      Email dump?  University email dump?

6.      Cell phone tower dumps/geofencing

7.      Did the home have wifi?  Pull the logs to see if anyone other than the residents had been on the WiFI overnight.

8.      All physical evidence processed?

9.      Have students living nearby or connected to the victims been observed for cut hands?  Or wearing gloves to hide a cut?  In most violent stabbings the perp will sustain cuts or at least bruising to the hands.  This would be a telltale sign for a suspect.

10.   Did Kaylee have a “stalker”?  (As per Mark Fuhrman, retrieved here)

11.   Kaylee Goncalves is from Rathdrum, Idaho; Madison Mogen is from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.  These locations are listed as approximately 14 miles apart.  Are there any possible leads back in this area?  Were there any phones that hit a cell tower near their home and near the homicide scene in the same day?

12.   Garbage covers done of the home and nearby areas to find a knife or bloody clothes?

13.   Canvass for all video in area.  The home is in a dead end with only one outlet for vehicles.  Any house along the road may have captured a car.

14.   Canvass of any/all traffic cameras and/or plate readers active in the area

15.   Pulsing of criminal informants for any rumors

16.   Development of new informants

17.   Review of any similar killings on record?

18.   Why kill all people who were up at 01:45 and leave the others?  Perp may have been with all 4 and wanted to kill the target and any witnesses.

19.   If there is a DNA profile or prints recovered it is important to remember that it needs to be matched to something.  If the print or DNA is not on file in a criminal database, it goes nowhere.

20.   Is there anything missing from the home? A jacket, a towel, personal item, etc?

PHOTO BY ROBBIE GILES – TRANSFERRED FROM EN.WIKIPEDIA TO COMMONS., CC BY-SA 2.5, HTTPS://COMMONS.WIKIMEDIA.ORG/W/INDEX.PHP?CURID=34099608

The Ops Desk

One might expect an occupation or protest to last a few days or weeks. That was not the case with these determined people. The occupation started with a few dozen people, but quickly grew to over 400. Schools were established, food and water supplies were obtained. A Coast Guard blockade was not completely successful and the protesters were able to sustain themselves. They created and newsletter and radio broadcast to get their message out. Negotiations with the Nixon Administration did not resolve the demands of the occupiers. The protest continued for months and then years. It was still going in 1971, although their numbers had diminished.

In January 1971, two oil tankers collided in the entrance to the San Francisco Bay. The oldest lighthouse on the west coast was on Alcatraz and had been off since the occupation began. Apparently the lack of an Alcatraz light or fog horn played no part in the collision, but it was enough to push the federal government into forcibly ending the occupation. President Nixon gave the go ahead to develop a removal plan.

On June 10, 1971, US Marshals, FBI agents, and police SWAT teams swarmed the island and removed five women, four children, and six unarmed Indian men. The occupation was over. Alcatraz would remain unoccupied for two years. It was eventually given to the National Parks Service and turned in to the popular prison museum that remains there today. Although controversial and forcibly ended, the Occupation is hailed by many as a success for having attained international attention for the situation of native peoples in the United States.

Christopher Flanagan

As many know Charles Manson was a cult leader in California in the 1960’s. His cult, unoriginally known as “The Manson Family” were plied with drugs, taught about an upcoming race war, and were responsible for 9 murders. Manson himself never actually killed anyone, and he never ordered anyone killed. His ideology was considered to be a part of the conspiracy to commit murder. He was eventually charged with and convicted of seven of the nine murders that his followers committed.

The prosecution charged Manson along with the followers who actually committed the murders. Several witnesses acknowledged that Manson was aware of the murders and preached that killing people would incite the inevitable race war. He told his followers that the Manson Family would not only survive the race war, but essentially rule whatever was left over at its conclusion. This incentive to his brainwashed followers was enough to convince juries that Manson was guilty. The fact that he carved an “X” on his forehead before the trial started probably didn’t assuage jurors that he would be a productive member of society if acquitted. Towards the end of the trial Manson attempted to stab the presiding judge with a sharpened pencil, but was restrained. Manson’s lawyers requested a mistrial due to the fact that President Nixon weighed in on the case against Manson, but this request was denied.

After his convictions, Manson was sentenced to death, but his punishment was later changed to life imprisonment as California ruled the death penalty unconstitutional in 1972. In the early 1980’s he was allowed to give interviews to the media. Growing up it seemed like this guy was on TV more than Ronald Reagan. Despite being visibly insane and completely incoherent, newsmen lined up to hear his take on life. He had fashioned the X on his forehead into a swastika and continued to preach his bizarre ideology. It didn’t dissuade the interview parade. He was even allowed to record an acoustic pop record produced by Henry Rollins.

In 2017 Manson fell ill from gastrointestinal bleeding. He was diagnosed with colon cancer. He died in a prison hospital on November 19, 2017. The media would have to find another story to promote.

Christopher Flanagan

Other than the whole Communist thing, Jones initially was having a positive effect on the community. He was a strong advocate for desegregation and ending racism. He adopted several children from poor communities. But then things started getting weird. He had affairs with members of the church and claimed he had healing powers. He started using drugs and became paranoid about nuclear war.

By 1974 decided to move the People’s Temple to the self-created community of Jonestown, Guyana to avoid the imminent nuclear war and the many questions he was getting about the controlling nature of his church on its members. Things didn’t get more normal down there.

By 1978, rumors about the strange goings-on in Jonestown caused California Congressman Leo Ryan to take a fact-finding trip to Jonestown. Several of the cult members secretly told Ryan that they wanted to leave, and that Jones was unhinged. He attempted to take some of these people with him, but Jones would not accept any dissenters. He secretly arranged to have the Congressman’s group executed. He partially succeeded, killing the Congressman and many of his entourage, but some escaped and were able to fly out of Guyana.

Jones now knew that the gig was up. He initially tried to arrange for his congregation to flee to the Soviet Union, but that was a non-started after he learned that everyone in the Soviet Union was looking to flee to Guyana. On November 18, 1977, decided instead that everyone should commit “revolutionary suicide”. He demanded, and in some cases, forced the members of his church to drink Flavor Aid mixed with cyanide. By the end of the day 909 people were dead. There were about 85 people who survived by various means. Jones left a will that requested all of his assets be given to the people of the Soviet Union.

The FBI soon launched an extensive investigation. Working with authorities in Guyana, agents interviewed survivors of the horrific incident, while fingerprint and forensic experts identified the many victims and Jones himself. Agents across the nation also searched out and talked with members of the Peoples Temple in the U.S. for further insights. The FBI was able to bring a criminal case against Larry Layton. Layton was involved in the murder of Congressman Ryan and had not been present at the mass suicide. Layton, the only member of the Peoples Temple tried in the U.S. for criminal acts at Jonestown, was ultimately extradited, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison.

PHOTO BY BY NANCY WONG - OWN WORK

Christopher Flanagan

Sorry, not the U2 version of Vertigo.  The Alfred Hitchcock, Vertigo. A highly regarded film if you have some free time this weekend.  This 1958 psychological thriller is often considered Hitchcock’s greatest work, and it’s a great detective story. 

The movie features James Stewart (more on him later) and Kim Novak.  Stewart’s character is San Francisco Detective John “Scottie” Ferguson.   After a traumatic incident involving a line of duty death, Ferguson develops a crippling fear of heights.  He decides to retire and is later asked by a friend, Gavin Elster, to do some PI work.   This involves following Elster’s wife, Madeleine Elster (Kim Novak).   Madeleine is having some apparent psychological issues and Elster wants to find out if there is more to her story. 

What ensues is some deeply disturbing mental anguish.  In Stewart’s portrayal of Ferguson, he embodies mental trauma that may affect cops after a critical incident or just a long career of policing.  Ferguson tries to ignore his mental disabilities and of course, tragedy ensues.  He is a broken man in many ways throughout the film.  Perhaps that is a takeaway that most people don’t get from the film, but cops may.  There is a lesson here, get help if you need it before things get out of control.   

The film develops into a murder mystery and Ferguson is more along for the ride than solving the case.  Essentially, his PTSD is blinding him and he is not analyzing facts as he may have before his disability caused him to retire.  The relationship between Ferguson and Madeleine is intense and heart wrenching.  In many ways it is a sad, and ultimately tragic, romance between damaged people. 

The film contains Hitchcock’s typically genius plot twists and emotional drama.  The camera work is innovative for its time, and film locations around San Francisco merge perfectly with the plot.  As in some of our other recommendations, the city is an integral part of the movie.  The 1950’s feel comes through strongly in the background and the dialogue.  Ferguson’s ride is a classic 1956 DeSoto Firedome Hardtop and Madeleine cruises in a 1958 Jaguar Mark VIII.  You could watch the movie just to check out the classic cars.   

James Stewart is a fantastic actor and a truly great American, but to us, he comes off a little flat as a hardened, battle-scarred detective.  Definitely some good acting, but you are not getting the gritty tough guy that you may expect from cop portrayals of the 1970’s and later.  A little more Dragnet than Dirty Harry.    

Vertigo is often considered one of the greatest movies of all time.   It is available to rent on most streaming service for $4 or $5, or you could buy a hard copy on Amazon for $14.99.  I couldn’t find it on TV or a free stream, although it has been on Netflix in the past. 

We also wanted to take a minute to talk about James Stewart.  Although maybe not a perfect fit for this character, Stewart is clearly one of film’s most talented actors.  He was also a great American.  By 1941, Stewart was a well-established actor.   When World War 2 was on America’s horizon, Stewart was the first major Hollywood start to enlist in the Army.  He leveraged his flying experience to get a front-line position in the Army Air Corp as a bomber pilot in the skies over Europe.  He rose to the rank of Major and won the Distinguished Flying Cross.   After the war he continued to serve in the reserves until his 60th birthday and rose to the rank of General.  He was quoted as saying, “What’s wrong with wanting to fight for your country? Why are people reluctant to use the word patriotism?”  His postwar movie contracts contained a clause that prevented studios from capitalizing on his military and war records.

He never seemed to take his fame too seriously.  He often returned to his hometown of Indiana PA, where his father owned a hardware store.  He was occasionally found working behind the counter, and his Oscar for best actor was proudly displayed in the store.  On May 23, 1985, President Ronald Reagan awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  James Stewart was a truly exemplary citizen of our country.

Christopher Flanagan

Yet, turmoil and divisions across Northern Ireland still remain the rule not the exception: More than 100 ‘peace walls’ that separate Catholics from Protestants remain throughout Northern Ireland; With over 1,000 schools in Northern Ireland only 70 are ‘integrated’ meaning both Catholics and Protestants attend.

Both Christian communities could not be further apart from a civil point of view. When it comes to violence the enmeshed sectarianism that came to define the statelet still permeates in many ways.

Since the passage of the Good Friday Agreement, that brought a détente between Loyalist – those loyal to the United Kingdom – and Irish Republican – those who seek a United Ireland – paramilitaries, there has been a considerable cessation of large scale bombing campaigns and other forms of violence. However, intimidatory and retaliatory small-scale attacks remain ubiquitous and have only intensified following Brexit – the catalyst that unleashed a melange of renewed irredentism on the Irish Republican side and feelings of exclusion from the Loyalist side.

Even before Brexit, deep rooted sectarian strife presented itself in several ways: Figures compiled by Detail Data based in Belfast found that from 2006-15 that had been over 20 murders, 1,100 shootings and bombings, 787 so-called punishment attacks, and cases involving over 3,000 people being forcibly removed from their homes.

Following Brexit these divisions came to the fore once again.

Britain’s exit from the European Union (EU) presented a dilemma for Northern Ireland: having voted to remain inside the trading bloc, the six county state was compelled to leave in some way, shape or form given its status as a member of the United Kingdom. When both nations were part of the same trading arrangement, the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland existed in name only with unfettered access for goods and people between both jurisdictions firmly intact. With one side seceding from this Union, the volatile issue of a border gained renewed relevance.

“Any infrastructure would be a legitimate target for attack and armed actions against those infrastructures and against the people who are manning them,” a spokesperson for ‘the New IRA’ warned in 2019 when the possibility of a ‘no deal Brexit’ – whereby the entire United Kingdom would leave the EU single market and customs union – seemed imminent. The New IRA is part of the so-called Irish republican dissident movement. Having accepted the Belfast Agreement in 1998, the paramilitary Provisional IRA through their political wing Sinn Féin accepted the devolved settlement that remains to this day with Stormont overseeing governance within the six counties. Certain sections of the IRA, the dissidents, refused to accept this arrangement and have made their virulent opposition known through jingoistic statements and actions.

The cause they are committed to – a United Ireland by force – has gained momentum since jitters about a border on the island of Ireland resurfaced following Brexit.

Between April 2019 and March 2020 there have been just over 20 bombings or attempted detonations and 40 shootings in Northern Ireland. The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has seized over 700 rounds of ammunition along with 30 firearms.

In the same year as the threat of violence at border checks was released, the New IRA dissident faction were involved in the killing of journalist Lyra McKee while covering a riot in the predominantly Catholic Creggan estate in County Derry. There had been a series of police raids in the locality beforehand leading to a melee between security forces and the paramilitaries, with a fusillade of bullets pervading the area thereafter. It is believed that McKee, originally from Belfast but living in Derry at the time, was shot by accident. The savage killing caused uproar with several vigils held throughout Ireland calling for justice for the befallen 29-year-old journalist.

The brutal killing gave renewed impetus on British and Irish negotiators to ensure large scale violence would not be repeated.

Shortly after McKee’s murder, Irish prime minister, or Taoiseach as he’s known in Ireland, Leo Varadkar and British premier Boris Johnson reached an agreement in Liverpool to solve the ensuing impasse regarding the future status of Northern Ireland. Both leaders agreed that the six counties would remain in the EU’s single market for goods and leave the customs union, with mainland Britain leaving the EU’s trading institutions entirely. This prevented the need for a border on the island of Ireland, but a border in the Irish Sea would have to be implemented instead, with regulatory checks in northern Irish ports on behalf of Brussels the inevitable result, dubbed the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Quickly, Irish Unionists began framing this agreement as a de facto Irish Sea Border separating them from their mainland brethren.

The so called sea border unleashed a new wave of political instability that had already pervaded in Northern Ireland for years.

As part of the Belfast Agreement, both communities – Catholic/Nationalist and Protestant/Unionist – would be represented in Stormont with a First and Deputy First Minister at the helm. In February this year, the Democratic Unionist Party’s (DUP) First Minister Paul Givan resigned due to frustrations regarding the implementation of border checks in northern Irish ports. This was the sixth time the devolved assembly collapsed since its inception 24 years ago.

Following the last assembly election held earlier this year, where Sinn Féin emerged as the largest party, the DUP has refused to share the ministerial role with the Irish republican party until their demands on the protocol are met.

For now political paralysis remains, with elections due to be held later this month unless a government is formed.

While the protocol may have averted the possibility of Irish Nationalist violence, the threat of Loyalist violence has reared its ugly head once more.

“Boris Johnson has shafted the loyalist people of Northern Ireland,” the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) warned following reports of the agreement.

Leading Loyalist activist Robert Girvan menacingly warned of bombs going off outside the realm of the United Kingdom in Ireland, “I was talking to someone who said we’ll see how hard the border is if bombs start going off in Limerick.”

Loyalist groups have been responsible for a series of intimidatory acts in recent months. Just last year, a Catholic family were forced out of their home in the predominantly Protestant east Belfast after loyalist groups the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) warned them they were no longer welcome. The family, which included a one year old child, had originally lived in the predominantly Catholic west Belfast but moved after being offered housing by the Housing Executive – a body set up to provide social housing in Northern Ireland.

While Irish Republican paramilitaries experienced a schism following the 98 agreement, Loyalist paramilitaries have remained a bit more cohesive and less divided. Having endorsed the Belfast Agreement and expunging of their weaponry thereafter, the Loyalist Communities Council (LCC), which consists of all major loyalist paramilitary groups such as the UVF and the Red Hand Commando, sent a letter to Downing Street last year to announce their withdrawal of support for the agreement, essentially ending the agreed ceasefire.

Since then the spectre of violence and intercommunal tensions from those in loyalist communities has sprung to the fore.

The perception of an apartheid state, whereby Catholics were treated differently than Protestants, fuelled Catholic resentment to the six county statelet resulting in the original troubles. However, this perception was turned on it’s head when in May last year the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) refused to prosecute Sinn Féin politicians who attended a mass gathering for the funeral of deceased IRA paramilitary Bobby Storey at a time when such gatherings were not permitted due to pandemic restrictions. This, on top of existing anxieties surrounding post Brexit trading arrangements, sparked a wave of sectarian rioting in Belfast, the likes of which have not been seen since 1969.

The violence took place in predominantly loyalist/Protestant areas such as the Shankhill road in west Belfast and Carrickfergus located in County Antrim. Buses and cars were set alight with children as young as 12 participating adding fuel to speculation that the riots may have been coordinated. The loyalist rioters also made their way to the peace wall separating Catholics from Protestants in west Belfast in an attempt to intimidate those on the other side.

The PSNI described the rioting as ‘the worst Northern Ireland had seen in years.’

Irish Defence Analyst Declan Power says that while threats to the peace remain a problem, the likelihood of the type of large-scale violence seen in the past is unlikely.

“The biggest fear is the whipping up of loyalist youth into a frenzy to create trouble on the streets as there is always the possibility of unintended consequences,” he says.

“I don’t see a repeat of the past being likely… at this  point in time.”

Power, who has served in the Irish Defence Forces, mentions that the failure of the devolved Northern Ireland assembly to remain up and running adds to the growing resentment: “I do see political tensions rising due to frustration at the lack of a sitting government and perhaps the calls for border polls and the recent announcement regarding the shift in demographics.”

In March this year, Ireland’s minister for foreign affairs Simon Coveney was rushed out of an event in Belfast after a credible bomb threat had been made. A loyalist paramilitary had hijacked a van and placed what turned out to be a fake bombing device inside and ordered the driver to head to the speaking engagement in the Crumlin Road area of Belfast.

The UVF has publicly stated that Irish politicians and government buildings are legitimate targets until the Northern Ireland Protocol is removed from the statute books.

During the Siege of Derry in 1689, a siege permanently imbued in the psyche of Irish loyalists, the rallying cry of those who refused to open the gates of Derry to the Catholic Jacobites was “no surrender” with the battle cry remaining potent in loyalist marching bands and circles today.

In a similar vein, the Irish phrase Tiocfaidh ár lá, in English meaning ‘our day will come’, has been the rallying cry of Irish Republicans since the troubles in the 1970s.

How the loyalists and republicans of today interpret and practice these slogans will come to define the stability of a statelet that has existed for 100 years.

Theo McDonald

Holmes purchased a large home near his pharmacy, later dubbed “The Murder Castle”. He began his killings by murdering his girlfriend and her family. He soon moved on to his business associate and his family members. Domestic servants, new girlfriends, and other acquaintances soon followed. His penchant for insurance scams continued and eventually forced him to flee Chicago and move to Fort Worth, Texas and then to Philadelphia.

In Philadelphia he combined his penchant for murder with his insurance scams. He took out a policy on a business associate and together they plotted to fake the man’s death to collect. Holmes didn’t tell his victim that it would be more convincing if he actually died. He was found drugged and burnt to death in a basement pharmacy lab. He then went on to murder the man’s three children. Philadelphia police detective Frank Geyer was on the case, and soon came up with probable cause to search a house that Holmes had rented in Canada. There police found the bodies of the 3 murdered children. This discovery led him to the “Murder Castle” in Chicago where more victims were found.

On November 17, 1894, Holmes was arrested in Boston. He was initially held on a horse theft charge from his days in Texas as Geyer and other detectives worked the multiple murder cases. Holmes eventually admitted to 27 homicides, but the true number is unknown. The press had a field day with the case, and Holmes played up his crimes as much as possible in a sick desire for fame. Many of his statements were discredited but Detective Geyer’s great investigative work was enough for a conviction and death sentence. Detective Frank Geyer was also made famous by the case and went on to write a book detailing the investigation. It is still in print: Holmes-Pitezel case: a history of the greatest crime of the century and of the search for the missing Pitezel children is available on Amazon. The book Devil in the White City by Frank Larson also details the crimes of H.H. Holmes.

Christopher Flanagan

Cortina came into conflict with an influential group of lawyers and judges of Brownsville, whom he accused of taking land from Mexican Texans, who were unfamiliar with the American legal system. Cortina’s own skirmishes with the law steadily intensified, and he was indicted twice on charges of cattle theft. However, he was not arrested due to his already considerable popularity among the poorer Mexicans, who considered this attempt to be nothing but another demonstration of legal harassment by the American system. Cortina gathered, trained, and armed a private army, and on many occasions, he used this force to resist the eviction of Mexicans from their lands. Cortina became a popular leader among the local Mexican population, many of whom considered him a hero against the abuse of power by the new American government.

In July 1859 Cortina saw Brownsville Town Marshall, Robert Shears, brutalizing an older Mexican man. The Marshall and Cortina exchanged words, and then gunfire. Shears was shot in the shoulder and Cortina fled. In September of 1859, Cortina and his private army actually took and held the entire city of Brownsville for three days before fleeing back to Mexico. In response, the Governor of Texas authorized Captain William G. Tobin to raise a company of 100 Texas Rangers to quell the lawlessness in Brownsville. On November 16, a group of these Rangers spotted a band of Cortina’s men about a mile from Palo Alto. The Rangers pursued and overtook them. In the vicious fight that lasted about thirty minutes, Ranger Privates Thomas Grier, William McKay and Nicholas R. Milett were killed, and four others badly wounded. Ranger Private John Fox surrendered to the Cortina’s men and was executed. The day after the Palo Alto fight the Rangers rode to the scene where they found the stripped and mutilated bodies of the dead rangers. The men were buried on the battlefield.

The fighting would continue on and off for the next few years, with Cortina fighting for Mexican-American rights and the government trying to quell the violence. By the end of 1861 Juan Nepomuceno Cortina had stopped his incursions and remained in Mexico. The American legal system never adjudicated Cortina’s actions. He later took a position in the Mexican Army, but eventually again turned against the government and was arrested for an attempted coup. He was placed under house arrest for the remainder of his life.

Christopher Flanagan

The State Police took over the investigation from the 8-man Kennett Square Police Department and solicited the help of local police departments and Philadelphia homicide detectives. After 5 days of investigation, the detectives got their man. Ancel Hamm of Kennett Square was arrested and charged with the murders of Patrolmen Posey and Davis. Hamm had been arrested by Patrolman Davis on numerous occasions and many believed Hamm had a vendetta against him. On September 21, 1972, the two officers had arrested Hamm for a suspended license and resisting arrest. Hamm was a member of the notorious Johnson Gang. This gang had terrorized Southeast PA for years. They were a larceny and burglary crew that was known for intimidating witness and are believed to be responsible for some half dozen homicides.

The detectives determined that on the night of November 15, Hamm hid in the darkness 100 yards north of the police station. When he saw the officers, Hamm fired the two deadly shots from his .308 rifle. In a highly-publicized trial held in Dauphin County, District Attorney William H. Lamb prosecuted Hamm using largely circumstantial evidence. Hamm has filed numerous appeals to his two consecutive life sentences, but to date, has been unsuccessful.

Christopher Flanagan

Kevin Janson Neal was always a bit off. He had mental illness and anger management issues his entire life. By 2017 he was in his 40s and appeared to be deteriorating quickly. Police were called to his home on several occasions regarding reported gunshots. In January 2017, he was arrested for stabbing his neighbor and robbing her of a cell phone. She was probably trying to call the police on him and he retaliated by stealing the phone. As a result of this case he was ordered to turn over his guns. Neal produced a single pistol and advised the court that he had no other guns.

On November 13, 2017, Neal snapped. He killed his wife and hid her body in their home. Neal then loaded up several ghost guns that he had made and proceeded to his neighbor’s home. He opened fire, killing the two residents and stealing their pickup truck. He began ramming vehicles and randomly firing at passersby. Teachers at a nearby elementary school heard the gunfire and went into lockdown procedures. Neal rammed through the gate of the school and attempted to enter. Failing to gain access due to the lockdown, Neal began randomly firing through windows, injuring several students. He then stole another truck and continued on his mobile shooting rampage.

An Officer from the Corning Police Department, several miles away was responding to assist local sheriffs and spotted Neal. He rammed the truck with his patrol car. A wild shootout immediately ensued. Additional officers arrived on scene. Neal, apparently seeing no way out, shot himself in the head. He had killed 5 people and injured 18 more in his deranged rage. The heroic actions of the officers and the quick thinking of the school staff undoubtedly saved numerous lives.

Christopher Flanagan

How do the oddsmakers seem to know what the exact point-spread should be, almost every time?

If you have ever done this, Untold: Operation Flagrant Foul on Netflix may have an answer for you.

Flagrant Foul is a single-episode documentary (1 hr, 17 mins) that details the sordid story of Tim Donaghy, a top NBA referee in the early 2000’s who ends up federally prosecuted on wire fraud and gambling charges.

It’s the fascinating story of a nice Catholic school boy whose whole life was basketball, who achieved his dream of becoming a well-paid NBA referee… and who managed, as he puts it, to totally “(blank) his life up.”

The story is told through interviews with the principal players, including Donaghy and his childhood buddies/co-conspirators (who are right from central casting). Suffice to say there are mob connections (in a gambling story? No!), legal wrangles, and a good amount of intrigue.

There’s also plenty of footage of old NBA games. And cast in this light, let’s just say the competition looks decidely different…. (It seems the gripes of some very big NBA names were quite justified).

The story has a descending quality, as the curtain starts to come down on the scheme’s architects. Ultimately, after Donaghy is collared, the question of how far his culpability extends remains open.

Which leads to the story’s most compelling twist, involving Donaghy’s own allegations and the FBI investigation. What results is finger-pointing between the lawyers, the perps, and the lead FBI agent — somebody here is lying. (Suffice to say, having worked plenty of undercover operations: I believe the agent, who is a highly experienced investigator).

And the implications of what Donaghy contends — and what the FBI was onto — may shake your faith in professional sports. I know it did mine.

Untold: Operation Flagrant Foul is well-worth the hour. Watch it with someone else, so you can debate what the truth is. But as to ever getting the whole story? I wouldn’t bet on it. (Sorry — couldn’t resist).

Have a nice weekend! And we’ll see you Monday morning.

PS: Oh! And one of our previous Weekend Buff recommendations — which we pointed out was very hard to find — just went live on Amazon Prime (see here).

Maybe Bezos is a secret subscriber…?

Nah.

Paul Mauro

Having less than 5,000 inmates is a noble goal for NYC.  It is a worthy challenge for states like California and Pennsylvania to see fewer of its citizens in prison.  It should be an objective, not a mandate.  Progressives do not understand decarceration.  Decarceration is a societal objective, not a crime reduction policy. In a city of 8 million people wouldn’t it be great to only have 5,000 people who were not a danger to other citizens.  If we worked together and crime continued to go down, if we were able to stop individuals from committing crimes with good policy and societal pushes, if we were able to get a handle on recidivism, then we could celebrate the lack of a jail population.  To announce that no matter what happens now or in the future New York City will only be able to house 5,000 prisoners has the potential for societal suicide.

Progressives regularly deny the effectiveness of policing.  They do not, however, provide any good data on what does reduce crime.  They say it’s a variety of factors, a lack of vague welfare practices, underserving a particular community, or racism.  If you can’t identify what causes crime, how can you claim that you can operate the largest city in the nation with a jail population smaller that the passenger capacity of a Staten Island Ferry.  This salient point does not deter their ideology.  They claim, based on a few very shaky, partisan studies, that decarceration reduces crime.  They have decided on an arbitrary number, and we will have to deal with the consequences.

We would be much better served to do the hard work necessary to reach a reasonable goal.  Develop small scale innovative programs to reduce recidivism.  See what initiatives work using hard statistics. Grow success stories and scrap failures.  Spend more money on each prisoner to improve their job outlook if that shows positive results.  Create a better legal system for ordered mental health care.  Ask that all government agencies be stakeholders in this endeavor.  It is not just the responsibility of the police to correct deep seated societal problems.

As a society we should all strive to keep people out of jail.  It is a challenge worthy of our great American society.   It takes work, innovation, and analysis.  It is not a simple fix that can be accomplished safely with the stroke of a politician’s pen.  To think otherwise is a fatuous and ignorant stance that will only lead to violence and pain.

Christopher Flanagan

The perps who conducted the shootings were able to escape the scenes of their crimes in a waiting vehicle. As police responded to these incidents a greater tragedy was unfolding in the Bataclan Theatre. In the famous theatre, an American heavy metal band was performing to an audience of about 1500 people. Three Muslim French citizens entered the venue and immediately opened fire. Chaos and tragedy ensued. Hundreds fell to the gunfire. French Police were on the scene in minutes. Two members of a French anti-crime unit arrived first and entered the building. They immediately engaged one of the perps, shooting him and causing him to detonate his suicide vest. A hail of gunfire from the other two perps drove the officers from the building. The two remaining perps took hostages to a back room and barricaded themselves.

Moments later officers from a French tactical RAID (Research, Assistance, Intervention, Deterrence) team arrived on scene. They entered the building and split up. One group began evacuating survivors while the other approached the perps. After initially attempting to negotiate with the hostage takers, it was determined that decisive action must be taken. Armed with ballistic shields and long guns, the officers made entry into the room. They quickly dispatched the two gunman. The hostages were all unharmed in the daring raid.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks. The perps killed 130 people, including 90 at the Bataclan theatre. Another 416 people were injured, approximately 100 critically. All perps involved were arrested or killed as the French government declared a three month state of emergency and raids occurred around the country. A swift and strong response by the French Police undoubtedly saved countless lives.

Photo By jxandreani, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=44992718

The Bluebelle was skippered by Julian Harvey and his wife, Mary Dene Harvey, did the cooking and cleaning. On November 12, 1961, the ship began its journey back to Fort Lauderdale. It never made it. Julian Harvey was picked up the next day by a passing ship. He was floating in a small lifeboat. He stated that the Bluebelle had hit a squall and was severely damaged, caught fire, and sunk. He had been unable to rescue anyone from belowdecks. His story aroused immediate suspicion but there was nothing to refute it.

Three days later 11-year-old Terry Jo Duperrault was found floating on a small raft. She had survived with no food, water, or shade for almost 4 days. She was semi-conscious, non-verbal and had to be immediately hospitalized. With their suspicions somewhat confirmed, US Coast Guard investigators called Harvey back in for more questioning. They hoped to break him in the box. When he was informed of the girl’s survival Harvey seemed shocked. He quickly requested a break from the interview. Hours later his body was found, he had committed suicide.

When Terry Jo was able to speak, she told a horrible story. Harvey had killed all on board. The young girl had been sleeping in her cabin when she was jolted awake by a loud noise. She scrambled above deck and observed Harvey with a rifle and saw the bodies of her family members. Harvey damaged the boat and it started to sink. He had not killed her, probably assuming she would not survive the sinking.

Investigators found that Harvey was deeply in debt and had recently taken a life insurance policy out on his wife. They further found that he had run his over-insured last ship aground on a reef in order to collect on the policy. Looking further back, it appeared that his second wife had also drowned after the car he was driving drove into a river. She was also well insured.

Terry Jo Duperrault survived her ordeal and went to live with her aunt. She changed her name due to the media attention and remained very averse to speaking of the incident and dealing with the mental trauma. In 2010 she finally broke her silence and released a book about the murders and their aftermath called Alone: Orphaned on the Ocean.

The truth was far from that. Dorothea was not Hispanic, she was not helping, and she was not what she appeared to be. Dorothea was a lifelong criminal and a serial killer. She had been arrested numerous times over her life for check fraud, running a brothel, criminal impersonation, and grand larcenies, including stealing from her tenants. On November 11, 1988 her true nature came to light.

Police came to 1421 F Street to investigate a missing persons case. Alvaro “Bert” Montoya, was a developmentally disabled man with schizophrenia, who had been reported missing by his social worker. The cops noticed some recently disturbed soil on the property and obtained a search warrant to search the area. They did not find Alvaro, they found body of tenant Leona Carpenter, 78. They did not initially suspect the diminutive old lady who ran the boarding house. Puente was allowed to leave and took full advantage of the opportunity. She took off for Los Angeles. Police were now realizing what they had on their hands. Seven bodies were buried on the property and they discovered Puente’s past history. A tip led them to LA and they arrested Puente.

She was eventually charged with nine homicides and convicted of three of them. There were almost certainly more. She was sentenced to life in prison. For the rest of her life, she maintained her innocence, insisting that all of her boarders had died of “natural causes”. She couldn’t explain how the victims government checks kept finding their way into her accounts after they had died.

Photo By http://www.crimelibrary.com/graphics/photos/notorious_murders/women/puente/16-2-Dorothea-Puente-in-cou.jpg, 

The commander of the prison was Captain Henry Wirz. Wirz had a difficult job. The camp was overcrowded and the Confederacy had severe food shortages throughout the country. That did not excuse the poor management and lack or resources that the Union prisoners experienced. In addition, several Union soldiers described cruelty and torture committed by Wirz himself. The prison held the thousands of prisoners on a barren field. Barracks were planned but never built, and the men were forced to live in shelters constructed from scrap wood and blankets. A stream flowed through the compound and provided water for the Union soldiers, but this became a cesspool of disease and human waste. Erosion caused by the prisoners turned the stream into a fetid swamp. Nothing was done to correct these conditions. Poet Walt Whitman saw some of the prison survivors and wrote, “There are deeds, crimes that may be forgiven, but this is not among them.”

Wirz was charged with conspiracy to injure the health and lives of Union soldiers and murder. His trial began in August 1865. He was found guilty and sentenced to die on November 10 1865. Just before he was hanged, Wirz reportedly said to the officer in charge, “I know what orders are, Major. I am being hanged for obeying them.” Captain Wirz was one of the few people convicted and executed for crimes committed during the Civil War. Many see him as a scapegoat for larger failures of the Confederacy and just a lack of available supplies. Many citizens and soldiers in the Confederate States were themselves starving. It is estimated that as many as 750,000 Americans died during the Civil War. A brutal figure in a brutal war. The savagery of the conflict should give pause to those who promote violence against, or dehumanize others, in our current political and cultural disagreements.

It was suspected that the bomb was intended for Captain Ira McDowell, Officer Schmitz next door neighbor. McDowell was known as a strict enforcer of the law and had driven many of the gamblers and bootleggers from the district he commanded. The bomber(s) were never identified and a motive was never confirmed. Also of note, the City of Chicago never paid Schmitz’s family his death benefit, claiming that the incident didn’t happen on duty and a motive could not be proven. The incident did show the lawlessness of the era, particularly in Chicago. The dynamic of good cops, bad cops, and a lot of money being thrown around was ripping the city apart in the Prohibition Era.

Released in 1992 and directed by the notoriously quirky Abel Ferraro, Bad Lieutenant is like a trip through a doomed man’s id. The title character, inhabited — truly, inhabited — by Harvey Keitel, is a lieutenant of detectives in an unnamed unit who appears to have a citywide mandate. What he really has, however, is a voracious appetite for drugs, booze, sex, and gambling. The man is six months of overtime for any vice squad.

This is, in my opinion, Keitel’s most compelling performance. Watching the movie, it’s hard to imagine anyone else in the role (likely the truest test of great acting). The actor’s stupefied wreck of a face is like a topographic map of every day of this cop’s career, and Keitel shuffles through the streets of crummy 90’s New York like he’s going to the gallows. Which in a way he is.

The kernel of the story is based on a a true incident from the the time, in which a nun was raped and a church robbed in Spanish Harlem. Former NYPD detective Bo Deitl investigated the actual case, and in fact he appears here in a supporting role. While the movie seems to take place in an NYPD in which lieutenants are completely unsupervised, its undeniable slice-of-life realism is likely due to Deitl’s presence on-set.

The other compelling character in the film is New York City. Like similar movies — Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Panic In Needle Park, etc. — a great metropolis collapsing in on itself is more than setting here. It’s a menacing presence over everyone’s shoulder. No one is immune. Not the cops, the church, the workaday New Yorkers… nobody. (And for those of a certain age, the scene at the Limelight — aka the Slimelight — will induce a few painful flashbacks).

Isn’t it wonderful that today’s New York is heading in the same direction? (Um, no, it’s not).

Sure, it’s Scorcese-adjacent, and you might find it a tad unsettling at times — but you won’t look away. And in the end, there is a measure of redemption here, which the lieutenant seems to have been reaching for all along.

It’s an experience. Catch it now on Amazon Prime, free with commercials. Then maybe take a shower.

Meantime: Have a great weekend! (Because next week promises to be… interesting).

Christopher Flanagan

However, a suicide in Odessa, Missouri in January of 2000, revealed a shocking twist in the case. Former Police Officer Jerry Cassaday shot himself in the head after battling drugs and alcohol for some time. What was in his suicide note came as quite a surprise to investigators in Michigan. He admitted to the murder of Bruce Miller and directly implicated Bruce’s wife, Sharee Miller, in the case. It turned out that Cassaday had met Sharee Miller while she was on vacation in Reno, Nevada. They began a torrid affair. The two sent each other emails and instant messages during their relationship. Investigators found that Sharee had, over months, made Bruce Miller seem like the definition of an evil, abusive husband. She claimed that he was in the mafia, had hit her, and had caused the death of her unborn child with Cassaday amongst other accusations. Sharee even forged an email allegedly from Bruce Miller to Cassaday claiming that he had intentionally killed the unborn child. Now it was time to act. Sharee and Cassaday hatched a plan over their internet chats. Sharee carefully led Cassaday to the decision to kill and how to carry out the act.

After the homicide, Cassaday and Sharee Miller’s relationship fell apart. Cassaday, who was not too stable to begin with, increasingly turned to drugs and alcohol. Pangs of guilt tortured his mind daily. The end of the relationship with Sharee exacerbated his mental anguish. He decided to check out and admit his guilt. A suitcase was found near his body with details of the crime and multiple printed emails between him and Sharee.

Detectives were able to recover more of the messages between Sharee Miller and Jerry Cassaday. They put together the lies and the manipulation that led to her husband’s death. In 2001 Sharee Miller was sentenced to life in prison for her crimes. This was considered the first time that internet communications were the main evidence of guilt in a homicide trial. Without those emails and other internet based communications, there would be very little evidence against Sharee. Gathering electronic evidence now is a routine step conducted by detectives. In 2000 it was groundbreaking.

Chikatilo started his deranged life of crime with sexual assaults of his students in the early 1970s. His murders started with a female victim in December 1978. Chikatilo lured a 9-year-old girl named Yelena Zakotnova to an old, dilapidated hut which he had secretly purchased. He attempted to rape her but when the girl struggled, he choked her and stabbed her three times in the abdomen. He then strangled her into unconsciousness before throwing her body into the nearby Grushevka River.

His murders continued regularly through the 1980’s. Police responded with a task force to attempt to identify the gruesome killer. In 1984 he was arrested on a petty theft charge and suspected of being the serial killer, but due to an error in analyzing his blood type, he was discounted as the perp responsible for the murders.

It was not until 1990 that the police were able to stop the terrible killings. On November 6, 1990 Chikatilo killed and mutilated a 22-year-old woman, Svetlana Korostik, in woodland area in Donleskhoz, a suburb of Rostov-on-Don. Plainclothes police officer, Igor Rybakov, spotted Chikatilo washing his hands and face in a well shortly after the killing. Rybakov stopped Chikatilo due to his behavior and the formal clothing he was wearing. He questioned him about a cut on his hand and what appeared to be blood on his cheek. He then frisked Chikatilo, but did not find any weapons. The officer filed a report on the stop, which was entered into a database. Investigators saw the report after Korostik’s body was found seven days later. They set up a surveillance on Chikatilo and observed him engaging numerous women and children in conversation. They grabbed him before he could strike again. He later confessed to his crimes and was sentenced to death. He was executed in a most Soviet manner. He was taken to a soundproofed room in Novocherkassk prison and dispatched with a single gunshot behind the right ear.

photo By Rostov Police Department - Rostov Police Department photographic records., https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2454134