Yogurt Shop Murders

Happy True Crime Thursday! 

Today's case is the unsolved yogurt shop murders that occurred in Austin, Texas.

Lets go to the evening of December 6, 1991. It's on this evening that 15 year old Sarah Harbison and 13 year old Amy Ayers were hanging out at the Northcross Mall in Austin, Texas. It was a cold night and the two girls were hanging out waiting to meet up with Sarah's sister Jennifer and her friend/co-worker Eliza Thomas. Jennifer and Eliza, both 17, were working a late shift at "I Can't Believe It's Yogurt!" at the Hillside strip mall just a few blocks from where Sarah and Amy were. Around 10:00 P.M. Sarah and Amy made their way to the yogurt shop to help the girls close up shop. After the store was set to close at 11:00 P.M the four of them had plans to go to a slumber party together. 

A little bit before midnight Officer Troy Gay with the Austin Police Department noticed smoke coming from the strip mall, he reported the fire and soon firefighters were on the scene. Once the flames were extinguished they would come across a horrific sight. 

Firefighters discovered the nude bodies of all four girls. They were bound and gagged with their own clothing. Their legs were wide open, and an ice cream scoop was placed between one of their legs. Sarah, Jennifer and Eliza were found clustered together in the far back of the shop, Eliza and Sarah were stacked on top of each other while Jennifer lay close by. Amy on the other hand was found towards the middle of the back room. 

The bodies were burned almost to the point of beyond recognition. The killer or killers torched the place by lighting napkins and other flammables from around the shop doused in lighter fluid before fleeing the scene. After the autopsies were performed it was discovered that all of them were shot in the back of the head execution style, and at least two of them had been raped. Police released a statement to the media that two guns had been used to commit the murders, leaving them to speculate that there may have been at least two perpetrators, it was also determined that around $540 was missing from the shop. 

Lead detective John Jones and his partner Mike Huckabay had their work cut out for them. You see there were a couple issues with the investigation. The firemen who had responded to the scene did their job perfectly, they put out the fire...meaning they also washed away potential forensic evidence. Also during the early 90's the department was lacking forensic expertise. They only had one fingerprint unit and the city's homicide squad consisted of only one homicide investigator on shift the night of the murders. Despite this the two men were determined to solve the murders and had a list of suspects, 342 suspects that is. The phones at the police station were ringing off the hook with tips, they also had dozens of false confessions.  Despite their best efforts the case went unsolved, years went by with no arrests made and by 1999 the case had been passed on to new detectives. 

It was then that four suspects were taken into custody for the murders, Forrest Welborn, Michael Scott, Robert Springsteen and Maurice Pierce, all of them in their 20's. These men were not new to police, they actually had been questioned just 8 days after the murders, but were released due to lack of evidence. Michael confessed to the killings and he wasn't the only one, Robert also confessed to killing the girls and to raping one of them. This was it, police had their killers...or so they thought? 

It was thought that the 4 men had planned to rob the shop, Forrest was the lookout while Michael, Robert and Maurice committed the robbery. But something went south and during the robbery the girls were murdered. Charges against Maurice were dropped due to lack of evidence, this was tough for police and the families of the girls because it seemed as though he was the mastermind behind the crimes. As for Forrest, police also tried to indict him, twice, but they also lacked any evidence linking him to the crimes so his charges were also dropped. 

Michael and Robert on the other hand were both tried and found guilty of capitol murder, Michael was sentenced to 99 years in prison while Robert received the death penalty. But wait! There's more. Not long after the trials there was serious concern that there was no physical evidence linking them to the crime, and both men stated that their confessions had actually been coerced. And there was evidence of that. One of the detectives on the case was transferred after he allegedly extorted confessions in another case, and a photo was presented showing another member of the police department pointing a gun at Michael's head during his interrogation. 

15 years after the shop killings the convictions of Michael and Robert were overturned due to their constitutional rights being violated. It was found that they had used their confessions against each other in trial, but their lawyers were never given the opportunity to cross examine the accuser. It was determined that their Sixth Amendment right had been violated. 

In 2008, DNA testing was done on the little evidence that had been collected from the crime scene, the results didn't match Michael or Robert, or the other men suspected. District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg said that even though she was convinced that the 2 men were responsible for the murders, they wouldn't be re-prosecuted until the unknown male DNA was connected to someone. Authorities had the theory that a 5th man must have been involved that night, but there was never a mention of a 5th participant until the DNA results came in. 

Another theory by lawyers, family members, investigators, and armchair detectives that have studied the case is that the killers are actually 2 unidentified customers who were in the yogurt shop at closing time. Police had apparently interviewed 52 customers who had been to the shop the day of the murders, but two men who witnesses placed at the shop at closing time have never been found.  Three customers who left the shop just before closing time said on their way out they noticed two men sitting in a booth not looking like they were leaving any time soon. At least one of the customers then saw Jennifer lock the front door and put up the closed sign so no more customers would enter why they closed up shop. 

The witnesses described the persons like so "One has lighter hair, maybe like a dirty blond, and is about 5 foot 6...in his late 20's, early 30's. The other is described as a bigger man. Bother were wearing bigger coats...one had a green coat...army-fatigue kind of looking jacket, the other had a black jacket." 

To this day the men have never been identified. 

What was the motive behind this case? Was it meant to be a robbery and it went sideways? Or was it a much more malicious plan due to the severity of the crimes and taking the money was a cover up? 

These girls deserve justice and I think the only way they are going to get it is if the DNA match is found. 

Resources: 

The 1991 Yogurt Shop Murders ~ True Crime Diva

The Unsolved Austin Yogurt Shop Murders – The True Crime Files

End of the world Part 2!

 Happy True Crime Thursday! 

Get ready to hop aboard the crazy train as we venture into part 2 of the case against Lori Vallow Daybell. If you haven't read part 1 I highly suggest you go back and do so, otherwise this is going to be quite confusing for you. 

Ok, in part 1 I left off at Lori being arrested and placed on 5 million dollars bail after she failed to present her missing children. What I'm going to do is present a bit of a timeline of the events that occurred, some of them will be a bit of a refresher while others are new and just as crazy as the rest. 

• July 11, 2019- Charles Vallow is shot and killed by Lori's older brother Alex, who claims that it was self defense. The police close the case. Now let's talk a little bit more about Alex. This wasn't his first run in with one of Lori's husbands that was violent. He had an altercation in 2007 with Lori's 3rd husband Joseph Ryan, Alex attacked him with a taser and threatened his life. Alex was sentenced to 90 days in jail and 5 years of probation. While he was behind bars he was asking friends on the outside to send him pictures of Joseph, his license plate number, his address saying that he would be passing it along to those in jail with him. (Little side bar here, not much has been released, but in 2018 Joseph died of an apparent heart attack and as of right now a report states the FBI is looking into the death of Lori's ex-husband. Lori told a family member that she planned to received his life insurance money and would be splitting it with Tylee) So back to Alex, it has been said by many that he took protecting Lori as a job. So how far would he be willing to go for her? 
• August 10, 2019- is the last time that Kay and Larry (J.J's Grandparents, Charles's sister and brother in law) spoke with J.J
• August 30, 2019- This right here breaks my heart. You see J.J was on the Autism spectrum and had some special needs. When Charles was still alive and married to Lori they got him a dog named Bailey as a service animal. J.J loved Bailey and Bailey helped him with a lot of his needs. Well, on this day she returns Bailey to the original trainer after she originally tried to sell her for $2,500. She told the trainer that a tragedy had happened and they were moving to Idaho. That poor little boy was heartbroken that his mom got rid of his best friend. When Charles was still alive Lori had told him that she was done with J.J and that she couldn't deal with the additional care that he required. 
• September 2019- Lori and the kids up and move to Rexburg, Idaho...why? Well it's where Doomsday prepper Chad Daybell lived....with his wife Tammy. 
• September 8, 2019- Is the last time Tylee is seen, she was at Yellowstone National Park with her mom Lori, her brother J.J and her uncle Alex.
• September 23, 2019- Is the last time J.J was seen, at his new school Kennedy Elementary. The next day Lori tells the school that after only a month of attending she decided to pull him from school and that he was going to be homeschooled instead.
• October 1, 2019- Lori rents a storage locker in Rexburg, she is seen unloading belongings out of her car. On October 2nd she is caught on surveillance cameras loading more into the locker, she is with a man. This time it shows them taking out a tire and a removable car seat. Originally it was thought to be her brother Alex in the video, but it's believed that it might have been Chad Daybell that was helping her unload.  
• Also on October 2nd something else suspicious happens. Now to go back just a little Lori had convinced her niece Melani to join the doomsday preppers group. When Melani did she told her husband Brandon Boudreaux that she wanted a divorce. Well, on October 2nd in Gilbert, Arizona Brandon became the target of luckily a failed drive by shooting. This is the important part, it was attempted by someone driving a green Jeep Cherokee. This jeep was still registered to Charles Vallow (who had been dead for 3 months at this time) the person who had regularly drove that jeep was Tylee, but at this point she had been missing for over a month. So if you are familiar with Jeeps you know that there is a spare tire located in the back, if the tire is in place your are not able to open up that back window. In that shooting the tire could have been removed from the Jeep. Was it the singular tire that was placed in the storage unit along with the Jeeps backseat? And guess who still lived in Arizona at the time...Alex, and that is who Brandon believes was driving. Guess who also had a very large insurance policy...Brandon. Seems to be a trend here. Luckily for Brandon he was able to walk away. 
• October 3, 2019- Surveillance cameras yet again show Lori coming back to the unit, this time with who we believe to be her brother Alex, he takes the tire and seat out of the unit and puts it into Lori's car. Through the month of October Alex is seen coming to the storage unit multiple times unloading more items, by himself and also with Chad Daybell. Later on bikes, clothing, toys, blankets, photo albums and other belongings of the children were found in this unit.
• October 9, 2019- Tammy Daybell calls the police because while in her garage a masked assailant attempted to shoot her with what she believes was a paintball gun. She had yelled out for Chad and when she did the man ran away. It was ruled a prank.
• October 19, 2019- Just 10 days after the shooting incident Tammy Daybell is found dead in her home. Her death was ruled "Natural Causes." Chad turned down an autopsy and her funeral and burial were completed within 5 days. 
• October 31/November 1,  2019- According to a private investigator hired by Brandon Boudreaux Alex and Melani are seen packing up their stuff in Chandler, Arizona before they made the drive to Rexburg, Idaho. They arrive November 4th and along the way they are seen discarding children's items on the curb. 
• November 5, 2019- Lori and Chad get married in Hawaii 
• November 26- The welfare check on the children is conducted by Rexburg Police Department, they discover that Tylee and J.J are gone. Lori gave police details as to where the children were, in which they proved to be false. By the next day Lori and Chad had packed up what they could  and end up in Kauai. 
• November 29, 2019- Alex himself is caught up in a whirlwind romance and on this day gets married to a fellow doomsday prepper by the name of Zulema Pastenes. Lori loved Zulema and stated that Zulema had the ability to control the elements with her mystic powers.
• November 30, 2019- Just one day after Alex, freshly single Melani gets married in Las Vegas to a man named Ian Pawlowski. I mean I guess if the world is going to end for these people then why wait to get married.
• December 11, 2019- The police have Tammy Daybell's body exhumed to investigate her death further. To this day no details have been released. 
• December 12, 2019- A 911 call comes in. The caller is Zulema's son saying that he found Alex collapsed and unresponsive on the bathroom floor. They attempted to revive him, but were unsuccessful. His death was also ruled as natural causes. Here we go again with another death in this story. 
• December 2019 to January 2020- Rexburg police hold a press conference announcing the investigation into Tylee and J.J's disappearances. Hawaii Police locate Lori and Chad and present Lori with a court order to produce her children within 5 days. She doesn't. 
• February 10, 2020- According to CBS News reports, Tylee's cell phone is found amongst Lori's belongings in Hawaii. Confirming Colby's suspicions that it wasn't Tylee who had been texting him. 
• February 20, 2020- Lori is arrested in Kauai and charged with 2 felony counts of desertion and nonsupport of dependent children. 
• February 24, 2020- In child custody court documents Brandon said that Ian told law enforcement that Melani had conspired with Alex to kill Brandon. Brandon also states in these papers that police are investigating her role in the disappearance of the children. 
• By March she is extradited from Hawaii to Idaho where her bail is lowered from 5 million to 1 million dollars, but still no bail bond company will assist her. 

During all of this some other things were brought up. Tylee's aunt said one day she was speaking with Lori before the kids went missing. And Lori told her that things were going to get scary and that she had thought about loading the kids into the car and having it go off the side of a cliff. She then tried to back peddle after seeing the horror on her face saying you know I'm kidding, I would never hurt my kids. Who jokes about something like that? One sick individual if you ask me. Well even more bizarre was that Lori had also told some other friends that J.J had died, 2 years ago. Lori and Tylee were known to butt heads often. Tylee was a very strong willed independent girl who was very protective over her little brother J.J. 

Emails were discovered that showed an email sent from Charles' account when he was still alive. Charles had discovered that someone sent an email to Chad Daybell posing as him, in this email it was an invitation to stay at their home to write a book. Lori refused to explain why she sent it. 

It seems that Lori is a pathological liar that has zero empathy if you ask me. That she wanted a new life and would take out anyone that stood in her way of that or that she saw as a threat. In a March 24th report, official court documents noted that Lori and Chad had reportedly became convinced that Tylee and J.J had been possessed and had become zombies...that's right, zombies. 

Now you guys I wish that I could tell you that this story has a happy ending for the children. Following this case I hoped for nothing more. Hoped that Tylee had just taken J.J away from all this craziness and they ran away. Sadly on June 9th, 2020 human remains were found on Chad Daybell's property in Idaho and within a couple days it was confirmed that the remains were of the children. Chad is arrested and charged on 2 felony counts "Destruction, Alternation or Concealment of Evidence." J.J had been wrapped in plastic and bound with duct tape. Tylee was dismembered and burned. It seriously hurts my heart to write those words, these poor children. They were buried in what was known to the Daybell family as the pet cemetery, where they had buried animals before. 

So here's what we know about the approximate time of death for Tylee. Alex actually had a townhouse in the same complex as his sister and records show on September 9th there was suspicious activity. It shows his phone was located at his apartment, however at 2:45 a.m. he is over at Lori's and then back to his apartment at 4:37 a.m. By 9:21 a.m. it shows he was located at Chad Daybell's property until about 11:30 a.m. And then he was at a Dell Taco in Rexburg until 12:02 p.m. then back to his apartment. 

This next part made me sick to my stomach, below is a text between Chad and his wife Tammy that morning. 

Chad to Tammy at 11:53 a.m.- Well, I've had an interesting morning! I felt I should burn all of the limb debris by the fire pit before it got too soaked by the coming storms. While I did so, I spotted a big raccoon along the fence. I hurried and got my gun, and he was still walking along. I got close enough that one shot did the trick. He is now in our pet cemetery. Fun times! 

Chad to Tammy at 11:56 a.m.- Gonna shower now and then go write for awhile at BYU. Love you! 

The fact that it was most likely Tylee he was burning is so beyond disturbing. 

Now what about J.J? 

Lori had a friend by the name of Melanie Gibb, she stated that she saw J.J was the night of September 22nd. Lori told her that J.J had become a zombie, she claimed he loved Satan and because he had an increase in his vocabulary and was sitting still while watching tv it had become obvious that he was one. Lori also told her that Chad taught her that once a person becomes a zombie that death of the physical body is the way in which the original spirit can be released. 

On the night of 22nd, Melanie and her boyfriend David Warwick were over at Loris, they were going to do a podcast together. J.J started acting up and that was when Alex took J.J over to his apartment, when he returned later that night Alex was seen carrying J.J who appeared to be sleeping with his head on Alex's shoulder. Warwick specifically remembers this because he thought it was a tender moment. Fast forward to the next morning between 8-9 in the morning, Warwick asked Lori where J.J was. Her reply was that J.J had been acting like a zombie, crawling on and on top of the cabinets and when he was doing this he knocked over a picture of Jesus so Alex came and took J.J. 

The FBI analyzed Alex's phone yet again and found that on the morning of September 23, Alex was at Chad's property between 9:55 a.m. and 10:12 a.m., near the pond. 

Chad was there when law enforcement executed their search warrant, he was continuously watching from his vehicle in the driveway or while sitting in his daughters driveway across the street. When J.Js remains were found he was seen leaving the daughters home, but he was arrested about a mile away. 

Both Lori and Chad are currently sitting in prison awaiting there trials and you better believe I will be following that closely and will post an update here! There are so many bits and pieces and to me they are all obviously connected in someway so I will be curious with what they present during the trials. Stay tuned for an update!

Resources- 

Dr. Phil's Podcast- A Mothers Secret 

Morbid Podcast

End of the World Part 1

Happy True Crime Thursday! 

And Happy New Year! 

I think it's safe to say we were all happy to say goodbye to 2020 and hello to hopefully a better 2021.

The case I'm talking about was a big one for 2020, but the trial will actually begin this month. That being said those I speak of have not been found guilty of any crimes and the cases are still ongoing at the moment. This is a case that involves murder, life insurance policies, doomsday prepping, the end of the world coming, zombies and missing children.  This is the case against Lori Vallow Daybell. 

One of the challenges when writing about Lori is trying to figure out a good starting point. So this is where I decided to begin. Lets talk about Lori's 4th husband Charles Vallow. Lori and Charles got married in 2006, she came into the marriage with her daughter Tylee (from a previous marriage,) Charles himself had 2 sons from his previous marriage. In 2012, Charles adopted his sister Kay's grandchild J.J, they loved him, but thought he would have a better life with Charles and Lori. For many years they appeared to be a happy adventurous family. They were apart of the Mormon church of Latter Day Saints. They lived in Hawaii for a bit before ending up in Phoenix, Arizona for Charles' business. Lori decided to go to a Doomsday Prepper convention and this is where she met Chad Daybell and where this all pretty much begins. Seemed harmless at first, Lori wanted to be on his Podcast about the end of the world and how to prepare. Well just a few months after Lori and Chad met Charles filed for divorce. Why you might ask? 

Let me tell you...Lori had been telling people that she was having visions, that she was the 2nd coming of Christ, that only 144,000 were going to heaven and she was one of them and that the world was ending July 22, 2020. Charles confided in his sister Kay that Lori had threatened to kill him if he stood in the way of her mission. On one occasion she was speaking with her friend April saying that Charles was actually already dead and that a demon was in his body. Then she changed it so that he was alive, but would be dead soon.  Charles told loved ones that when Lori threatened to murder him she said she would have angels dispose of his body. Lori started to accuse Charles of being abusive. Those that knew him said no way that was possible, he wasn't that kind of person. If anyone tried to challenge what Lori was saying she would become combative. Despite her erratic behavior the kids remained in her care. 

February 2019 Charles filed officially for divorce and Lori skipped town for 58 days and left her children with others, she also withdrew $35,000 from the family bank account. Many believe that she was spending time with some of her like minded doomsday prepper friends, that many have referred to as a "cult" and Chad being the leader. . 

The day of July 11th, 2019 Lori dropped J.J off at school and came back home with daughter Tylee, at this point Lori and Charles were separated, but still married. Lori's brother Alex was also at the home. Charles comes over and according to Alex, Lori and Tylee a fight breaks out between Charles and Lori. Alex steps in and it became a physical fight between the 2 of them, to the point where Alex gets a gun and shoots Charles twice in the chest. Now I want you guys to click on the link below and listen to the 911 call placed by Alex. 

911 call recording of Alex Cox reporting the death of Charles Vallow, husband of Lori Vallow - YouTube

How chilling is it that he is that calm after shooting someone? That he wasn't wanting to do CPR. At first Alex said he was alone and that Lori and Tylee werent there, but then according to Tylee and Lori they were there when it all happened. According to them Charles had picked up a baseball bat and took a swing and hit Alex with it, Alex ran to another room and grabbed a gun and shot Charles. When police arrived they noted a small cut on Alex's head. They ruled it a case of self defense, but police definitely saw holes in the story. As for Lori... how was she coping? Well witnesses stated that she was making small talk and giggling with officers when they were on scene. Neighbors said that later that same day they heard loud music coming from her backyard, Lori was having a friggin pool party! She also told Charles' sons that their father had died through text! Of course they called her to try to find out what happened and it took her hours before she got back to them, but she wasn't upfront with how he died and she didn't act at all upset. Looks like Lori's prediction of Charles dying soon came true after all...oh also I should mention that days after Charles' death she checks on her late husbands insurance policy, his million dollar insurance policy. Its then that she learns that Charles had changed the beneficiary to his sister Kay. Lori was livid. 

Lets fast forward to about 2 months later, Lori packed up the kids and moved to Rexburg, Idaho. Why Idaho? Well that was where Chad Daybell lived. Lori was in absolute awe of Chad. He did missionary work for the Mormon church. He told many that he had the ability to have one foot on earth and the other in Heaven, that he had near death experiences that caused him to become enlightened. He also worked for a cemetery when he was younger and he says that is when he discovered that he could communicate with spirts. She beamed when she spoke about Chad to others, he was a prophet who held humanity's salvation in the worlds collapse. Did I forget to mention that Chad was married with 5 kids at the time she made this move to be closer to him? Him and his wife Tammy were college sweetheart's.

Chad and Tammy 

On October 19, 2019, Chad Daybell would wake up to find that his wife Tammy had died in her sleep. Chad recalled that she looked like she had gone peacefully with the look on her face. A funeral and burial were completed in less than 5 days. Her death was ruled natural causes. Let me just say this...Tammy had no pre existing conditions for one...and for two no autopsy was preformed. In the state of Idaho it is up to the family if they would like one to happen, Chad said no and the rest of the family went with it. I'm sorry but if my spouse up and died like that I would personally want to know what happened. That just might be me though. 

So the poor grieving Chad did what any new widow would do, in an article he stated that it just must have been her time to go and he was moving into the second half of his life. Tammy had a total of $430,000 in life insurance money, records show that Chad had made significant increases to at least one of those policies before she died. Oh wait...it gets better. Less than a month after Tammy died, Chad got remarried...to Lori in Hawaii. 

So what did the kids think about all this?

Well by end of November J.J's grandparents had grown worried about him. They hadn't spoke with him since August and that was very unusual. They actually weren't even told about the move, they found out because they had received a notification on Charles' email that a package had been delivered to an address in Idaho. They were actually concerned about the children even before they had made that move. The last time that they had facetimed J.J he was acting weird. He was acting like he was being coached or that what he was saying was scripted. He was looking all around, wasn't his normal happy self and the conversation was quick. Tylee's older brother Colby (from another one of Lori's marriages) would text with Tylee often, he said that Tylee's text in late September and on didn't seem like they were from her. Being a teenage girl she would always use emoji's, these texts...no emoji's. They were always short and when he tried to say he was worried and to call him she would always make up an excuse as to why she didn't call. When it had been months of Lori not returning the texts or calls of J.J's grandparents it heightened their concerns, they reached out to the Rexburg police department and asked them to do a welfare check. 

So police did just that, they went to the home and Chad and Lori were there, but no children. Lori told police that they were in Arizona visiting a friend, she gave them all the information about who they were staying with. Well of course police followed up on this and found that the story wasn't true, no sign the kids had even been in Arizona. So they go back to the home with a search warrant, what do they find? They find that Lori and Chad have left and taken some of their belongings with them. They find out that nobody had physically seen 17 year old Tylee and 7 year old J.J since September. Where were they and where were Lori and Chad? 

On December 1st, Lori and Chad boarded an American Airlines flight to Hawaii. Camera's show they were alone, no Tylee and no J.J. They were found because police were able to ping their cell phones. Once found they still refused to answer any questions. It didn't seem to be a random trip, but rather a planned one. 

By December 20th, the police put out a press release asking for the publics help in finding the missing children, also making it known that Lori was not helpful in the search and that she wasn't cooperating. By the 30th they stating that they had strong information that made them believe that Lori knew the whereabouts of her children. Colby tried calling his mother and asking where the kids were and she would tell him "Don't worry about it." 

On January 25th, 2020 Hawaiian police served Lori a notice stating she was to present her children within the next 5 days or she was to be arrested. 5 days came and went and no children. She was officially arrested on February 20th on numerous charges. She was sent back to Idaho and her bail was set at 5 million dollars. 

For now I'll leave you with this...if you thought part 1 was crazy part 2 will leave you speechless. See you next week for part 2! . 

Catching a Killer

 Happy True Crime Thursday!

The case I chose for today....man it sent me through a roller coaster of emotions. The woman I’m about to talk about is the definition of a survivor and her instincts helped save her life in the end. This is the kidnapping of Lisa McVey. 

17 year old Lisa went through a rough upbringing, all of her childhood she was abused and was in and out of foster care for 5 years. Eventually she went and lived with her grandmother. Here she sadly was sexually abused by her grandmothers boyfriend, for 3 years. He would put a gun to her head every time he molested her. Lisa had a job at a Krispy Kreme donut shop that she would ride her bike to. On November 3, 1984 Lisa had had enough, she wrote out a suicide note and had plans to kill herself. But she said God had other plans for her.

The night of the 3rd Lisa hopped on her bike and was heading home from work when she was hit off her bike, blindfolded and abducted. The assailant brought her to an apartment where he brutally sexually assaulted her. McVey went into survival mode right from the start and knew she needed to gather as much information as she could. She remained mentally alert through the entire brutal ordeal. For 26 hours she was held captive. During this time Lisa used mental manipulation and reverse psychology to outsmart her abducter. Saying things like “Listen, it’s unfortunate how we met, but I can be your girlfriend. I could take care of you, and no one ever had to know.” She spoke to him in ways that would seduce him into letting her go. Later she stated “I had to take all of the abuse I had incurred as a child and just reach down one more time, into the pit of my stomach, and tap into those survivor skills to overcome him psychologically.” And her techniques worked, he let her go.

Once she was freed she went to the local police department, this is where she had trouble convincing the authorities of the events that took place. Even her own family doesn’t believe her. It wasn’t until a veteran detective heard the details of her story and knew she was telling the truth. Her memory was amazing. She was able to estimate the amount of time she spent in the abducters car, able to establish a radius for the apartment she was kept in, the amount of stairs there were leading up to the apartment, she was able to estimate when the abducter used an ATM by recalling the television show music she heard playing faintly in the background and she was able to provide details of the make and model of the vehicle that she was able to just see under her blindfold. She told them that she had touched his face at one point and was able to provide a description. And just in case she didn’t make it she had placed fingerprints all over his bathroom.

With these details police were able to locate and arrest one Bobby Joe Long on November 10th. 

Amazing right?!

Well there’s more....Lisa didn’t just save herself, but probably saved countless others because Bobby Long was a serial killer that police had been looking for. After his arrest he confessed to 10 murders!

Robert Joseph Long was born on October 14, 1953 to his parents Louella and Joe in Kenova, West Virgina. His parents split when he was young and he spent most of his childhood in Florida with his mom. Now this might not come as a surprise to you, but Long developed a hatred for women, beginning with his mother. His mom worked at a bar and would often wear  racy clothing to work and would bring different men home with her....the thing is that Bobby shared a bed with his mom until he was about 13. Yikes. Long was also injured in a couple accidents in his early years. 

Bobby met his wife Cynthia at age 13 and in 1974 the 2 got married and soon after had 2 children. Around this time he was hit by a vehicle while riding his motorcycle and was hospitalized for weeks. Cynthia later claimed that Bobby was different after this and he became short tempered and was physically violent towards her. He also developed a strangely overt, compulsive and often dangerous sex drive (Later he was labeled a sexual sadist.) His wife divorced him in 1980. 

Bobby moved in with a female friend named Sharon Richards, she later accused him of battery and rape. In Fall 1983 Bobby was charged with sending an inappropriate letter and photographs to a 12 year old girl. He spent a short time in jail and was put on probation. 

Long started scouting for victims by looking for “For Sale” signs on houses and looking through the classifieds. Which would lead to an opportunity where he could enter an unsuspecting woman’s home and force himself on her. He committed more than 50 rapes.  

It was in spring of 1984 that he killed for the 1st time, after sexually assaulting his victim wasn’t fulfilling enough. He killed 8 before Lisa and 2 after her, below are their names, ages and when they were killed. 

• Artiss Ann Wick, 20 – killed on March 27, 1984
• Ngeun Thi Long, 19 – killed on May 13, 1984
• Michelle Denise Simms, 22 – killed on May 27, 1984
• Elizabeth Loudenback, 22 – killed on June 8, 1984
• Vicky Marie Elliott, 21 – killed on September 7, 1984
• Chanel Devoun Williams, 18 – killed on October 7, 1984
• Karen Beth Dinsfriend, 28 – killed on October 14, 1984
• Kimberly Kyle Hopps, 22 – killed on October 31, 1984
• Virginia Lee Johnson, 18 – killed on November 6, 1984
• Kim Marie Swann, 21 – killed on November 11, 1984

In the end it was red carpet fibers from Bobby’s car they connected them all. While he confessed to committing 10 murders he alluded to the possibility of others during police interviews. 

He was given several life in prison sentences along with the death penalty. In May of 2019, Bobby Joe Long went bye bye by lethal injection, and sitting there to witness his departure was Lisa.  

Lisa today is a Hillsborough County Sheriffs Deputy, she works as a school resource officer not far from where it all happened.  Amazing right?! 

Resources:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.biography.com/.amp/crime-figure/bobby-joe-long

https://murderpedia.org/male.L/l/long-bobby-joe.htm

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.fox13news.com/news/escaping-a-serial-killer-im-a-survivor.amp

 

Murder in Greenwich

 Happy True Crime Thursday! 

This weeks case is that of a young woman who was murdered, found close to home and was possibibly killed by the hands of a Kennedy family member? 

On the night of October 30, 1975, 15 year old Martha Moxley went out for a night of pulling pranks with friends on what’s known as mischief night in Greenwich, Connecticut. She didn't make it back inside her home that evening. She was found early the next afternoon, her body was discovered in her own backyard.  

She had been stabbed and bludgeoned to death, her jeans and underwear were pulled down around her knees. Even with the way she was found there was no evidence of sexual assault. The murder weapon was a golf club, the head of the club was found just 50 feet away from the portion of her drive way where they believe she was approached. It’s believed that a portion of the shaft of the golf club was used as a weapon later to stab her. Her estimated time of death was between 9:45-10:00pm. 

The broken club led investigators to a prominent local family, the Skakel family. They lived across the street from the Moxleys. They discovered that Michael Skakel (15)  and Thomas Skakel (17) both had been with Martha that night. Michael told police that at 9:30 he went with his other brothers, John and Rush Jr. to give their cousin a ride home. Thomas told them that he went inside his home at 9:30 to work on a report for school after briefly flirting with Martha. He saw her walk towards her house, 150 yards away from his own.  Was one of them lying to police? Oh and the Skakel boys were the nephews of someone we all know as Robert F. Kennedy. 

Michael and Thomas Skakel

There was one other person that was on the radar of police. 24 year Kenneth Littleton, he was a live-in tutor for the Skakel children who had been hired just a short time before the murder. He told police that he heard noises outside the house sometime between 9:30-10:00pm. Before he went outside he stated that he went to check on the 7 Skakel children, according to him the 4 oldest boys (John, Rush Jr., Thomas and Michael) were not at home. He said he didn’t see Thomas until 10:25 when he came in and joined him to watch a tv show, the other boys came home within half an hour. 

I should also mention that Martha had a boyfriend, Peter Ziluca. He had last seen Martha earlier in the day on the 30th, the 2 of them discussed their Halloween plans. While home that night his mom asked if he would like to borrow the car to see Martha, he had smoked pot earlier and didn’t have a license so he thought better to stay at home. He was cleared by police after given a polygraph. Several others were given polygraphs as well.

Kenneth Littleton, the tutor had been dismissed by the Skakels after 6 months. According to police he did fail his polygraph when questioned about the murder. There wasn’t any evidence to make an arrest and as you guys know a polygraph cannot be used in court. The more they spoke with other staff and family members they pretty much were able to say that he had been accounted for the whole evening. 

Thomas Skakel was given 2 polygraphs, the 1st was inconclusive and the 2nd he passed. Then all of a sudden months after being cooperative with authorities the Skakel family refused to answer anymore questions. 

Without anything further to go on Martha’s case went quiet for years. 16 years to be exact. 

William Kennedy Smith was arrested in 1991 on sexual assault charges. What does this have to do with Martha you might ask? There was a claim that William might have been at the Skakel house the night of her murder. The tip was unfounded and he was acquitted of his charges. This claim was originally told to journalist Dominick Dunne, even though it was a false claims his interest in Martha’s case peaked. The police also made the decision to reopen her case.

In 91’ they brought in Dr. Henry Lee, a forensic pathologist, hoping he would be able to bring something new to the case using the technology that wasn’t available in 1975. Among the items examined were clothes that were found discarded after Martha’s murder in the Skakel’s garbage. He was able to find some hairs and fibers. Some of the hair microscopically was similar to Martha’s while others were not. He determined that the hair belonged to a Caucasian male. Road block was that he didn’t have a hair sample from any suspects for a match. Dr. Lee also studied the crime scene photos “The blood smear on her body indicates somebody tried to use force. It suggests a sexually motivated homicide."

No matter what the Skakel boys (now men) were always the ones to come back to. In November of 1995 Leonard Levitt reported in Newsday that Thomas and Michael had made some startling admissions to police. “Both Thomas and Michael told the investigators that they had lied to the police about their accounts the night of the murder. Thomas said to them that after 9:30 he went inside his house then came out and spent another 20 minutes with Martha. Claiming that he and Martha engaged in a sexual act.”  Meaning he would have left her around 9:50ish. Remember her estimated time of death is between 9:45-10:00pm.

For Michael he said after he got home he went straight to bed, but that was not all he did that night. Around midnight, Michael said he was drunk and wanted to see Martha. He went out, climbed a tree outside Martha's window, threw stones at the window and then masturbated in a tree. While climbing down, he said he heard voices right around where the crime scene took place, and ran home. Even though this places him at the scene of the crime, it doesn’t place him there at the time she was murdered. For that time frame is alibi is pretty air tight. 

So if you’re like me in reading about this case you’re probably thinking man this Thomas guy is the one. 

Well new information came forth implicating someone for the murder of Martha, this someone was Michael Skakel. 4 years after her murder Michael was sent to the Elan School for troubled teens in Maine. Several of his classmates had heard him confess to the killing. Based on the new information a 42 year old Michael was charged with murder. Prosecutors argued that the motive was sibling rivalry over Martha’s affections. Also even though it wasn’t able to be used in court here are some writings from Martha’s diary a month before her murder.

In a passage from September 12, 1975, “Dear Diary, Today was nothing extra special at school. Peter was being his usual self ... Me, Jackie, Michael, Tom, Hope, Maureen & Andra went driving in Tom's car. I drove a little then & I was practically sitting on Tom's lap 'cause I was only steering. He kept putting his hand on my knee ... I drove some more & Margie & I kept yelling out the sunroof & then we went to Friendly's & Michael treated me & he got me a double but I only wanted a single so I threw the top scoop out the window. The I was driving again & Tom put his arm around me. He kept doing stuff like that. Jesus if Peter ever found out I would be dead! I think Jackie really likes Michael & I think maybe he likes her (maybe because he was drunk, but I don't know).”

On September 15, 1975, Moxley recalled hanging out in an RV on the Skakel property with Jackie and Michael. She wrote that Michael told her he “doesn’t like Jackie but he leads her on so much I can’t believe it!”

A few days later, Moxley journaled about a confrontation she had with Michael about her interactions with Tommy:

“Michael was so totally out of it that he was being a real asshole in his actions & words. He kept telling me that I was leading Tom on when I don't like him (except as a friend). I said, well how about you and Jackie? You keep telling me that you don't like her & you're all over her. He doesn't understand that he can be nice to her without hanging all over her. Michael jumps to conclusions. I can't be friends w/ Tom, just because I talk to him, it doesn't mean I like him. I really have to stop going over there."

Michael Skakel was convicted and sentenced 20 years to life. The family appealed the conviction and in May 2018 the conviction was overturned. He maintains his innocence to this day. 

So really there was never any hard evidence to that could really lock down a killer. What do you guys think?

Resources:

https://unsolved.com/gallery/martha-moxley/

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.oxygen.com/murder-and-justice-the-case-of-martha-moxley/crime-time/martha-moxley-diary-skakel-family%3famp

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.eonline.com/amp/news/1050434/the-unrelenting-martha-moxley-murder-saga-old-money-cold-justice-the-kennedy-connection-and-endless-twists

Mystery in the Mountains

 Happy True Crime Thursday! 

You guys know by now I love a good mystery, so today I’m bringing you not only a decades old mystery, but one that comes with a bunch of conspiracy theories as well. It's not technically true crime per say, but its a good one none the less. 

Buckle up because this one is quite the ride.

It all begins in January of 1959, 9 students from the Urals Polytechnic Institute in Sverdlovsk plus one other began their 3 week journey hiking into the Ural Mountains. All ten individuals were experienced hikers. They were set to return from their trip on February 12th. 

February 12th came and went without the group returning, no one was to concerned by this due to the treacherous terrain that they had to go through, they were probably just taking their time. But by February 20th the families started to grow concerned, so a search party was sent out the next day. A few days after that rescuers came across the groups tent...but what they discovered wasn't what they had expected. 

The tent was found with the entrance facing South and the North part of the tent was covered with snow that appeared to come from blowing wind and not from an avalanche. The tent had been cut from the inside out while the door to the tent was still closed, belongings were all still inside. They followed some footprints that lead downhill, now these footprints weren't shoe prints these were the prints of either bare feet or socks. Down this hill they found the remnants of a small fire under a tree that had the branches broken off of it. This was where the first body was found. 

The body was identified as Yuri Doroshenko, he was found with dried blood on his face, minor cuts and bruises, burns to his head and foot, and a gray foam on his cheeks which indicated a pulmonary edema. They marked his cause of death as hypothermia. Just near his body they found another, the body of Yuri Krivonischenko, he was missing the tip of his nose, had similar cuts and bruises, a chunk of his knuckle was missing (they later found it in his mouth) as well as burns to his hands. His death was also marked as hypothermia. 

The leader of the group (That the pass would later be named after) Igor Dyatlov was found up the slope back towards the tent. He had blood on his lips, a missing tooth and minor cuts and bruises. He was wearing a watch that had stopped at 5:31am. His cause of death was put down as hypothermia. Next was Zinaida Kolmogorova, she was found nearest to the tent. She was face down, had a bruise from an unknown object that caused blunt force trauma, along with minor cuts and bruises. As you probably guessed it her cause of death was also hypothermia. 

On March 5th, the body of Rustem Slobodin was found on the hill, he was found wearing one boot and had similar minor cuts and bruises as the others. He had a fractured skull, but this was not marked as the cause of death. Hypothermia was. It wasn't until the snow began to melt in the area about 2 months later that the last 4 hikers were found. They were found in a 6ft ravine. Aleksander Kolevator and Semyon Zolotaryov were found embracing, most likely to preserve body heat. Kolevator had a broken nose and was missing his eyes along with the soft tissue around them. Died of hypothermia. Zolotaryov was found with a pen and paper in his hand, but no message was written down, he died from a crushed chest. Nikolay Thibeaux-Brignolle died due to a blunt impact to his skull. One investigator compared the force required to make this kind of damage to that of an impact of a severe car crash. Lyudmila Dubinina had her tongue and eyes missing, she had blood in her stomach and had died due to a crushing injury to her chest. No one could explain what had caused this trauma, there was nothing in the area that was found.

It was later discovered that both Aleksander Kolevator and Lyudmila Dubinina had signs of radiation on their clothing.We will get more into this later on.

If you were keeping count that leaves one person missing, Yuri Yudin. He had actually left the trip early on January 28th. He had a sciatica flare up, while bummed to have not completed the journey this choice to leave looks like it ended up saving his life. Due to journals and recordings it is believed that the hikers died on the night of February 1st/ early morning of February 2nd.  

So right now you might be sitting here thinking...ok while upsetting this seems like nothing but a terrible tragedy caused by the elements. But think about these things...Why was their tent cut from the inside? Why did they leave behind their warm belongings and the comfort of the tent to flee to certain death in the wind and snow? What was up with the blunt force traumas no one can explain? What about the radioactivity found on 2 of the hikers clothing? 

In May of 1959 the investigation was closed, a couple weeks after the last 4 bodies were found. They didn't go back after the snow had melted to find more clues and no radiation testing at the sight was done. They closed the case stating the students were killed by "an elemental force that tourists were not able to overcome." The case was archived as "classified." In the 1990's when the files became accessible, parts of them were missing. 

So with all of these unanswered questions of course there is going to be speculation of what happened. Let's get to the conspiracies shall we? 

Some state that near the campsite was a Soviet nuclear testing sight where they conducted R-7 intercontinental missile launches. Because of the radiation that was found on the clothing there is some speculation that maybe the hikers drank melted contaminated snow. A 12 year old who attended 5 of the hikers funerals claimed that the bodies had a "deep brown tan."  

On the night of February 1st orange spheres were sighted in the sky. There were reports that nearby about 3 kilometers away a 30 mile wide crater was found, it had turned the rock to a red type glass which is caused by high heat. The landing would have created a bright light and a shockwave. This would have been disorienting and scary to the hikers. Was this a meteor or possibly one of those missiles? 

Others believe that the orange spheres might have been a little thing known as Aliens. 

In 1959 the world was in the midst of the Cold War, between the Soviet Union and the United States. A group of authors believe the KGB, the CIA and Soviet counterintelligence were involved in the fatalites. According to their theory the hikers were KGB officers whose mission was disguised as a hiking trip, this mission was designed to derail an operation. The authors also hypothesize that one of the hikers could have actually been a traitor who planned to use the expedition to leak secret information to foreign intelligence. Seems a bit out there right? Well lets go back to those pieces of clothing that were radioactive. 2 of the hikers (Georgy Krivonischenko and Rustem Slobodin) were employed where weapon-grade plutonium was produced during that time. This would explain the contamination, and possibly lay the groundwork for a potential intelligence related operation that resulted in the death of these 9 people and a cover up orchestrated by the KGB. 

One somewhat out there scientific possibility is that a weather phenomenon known as a Karman Vortex Street occured. This is when wind flows around an object, in this case it was the mountain and due to the large scale the winds actually generate a low frequency sound wave that has been blamed for causing physiological and psychological symptoms in humans. Some state that because of the high winds that night and the infrasound waves the hikers probably experienced severe panic caused them to flee the safety of their tent 

There is one theory that the hikers ate some lovely mushrooms they found on the journey, possibly because they were hungry or maybe they were looking for spiritual enlightenment. Regardless they started tripping and this would explain the franticness and bizarre aspects of the scene. 

And my favorite is that their deaths were caused by the Russian Yeti. An American explorer by the name of Mike Libecki followed the trail of evidence and found proof that the hikers were not alone. A photograph. It was a photograph taken by one of the hikers a day before they died that suggests that they encountered a Yeti. For those unfamiliar it has been said that Yeti- like beasts inhabit the wilds of Siberia and the Ural Mountains to the West. Mike stated "When I found out one of the students was missing a tongue immediately I knew this was not caused by an avalanche," "Something ripped out the tongue of this women." 

In 2019, the case was reopened, 60 years later. The conclusion of the new investigation was that the causes of death were due to an avalanche that began as the group slept, they left their tents in order to seek shelter and unfortunately were overcome by the elements. Yet there wasn't proof that an avalanche occurred that night. The bodies were found within 10 days of their deaths and covered only with a very shallow layer of snow. 

Still no explanation for the severe trauma, radiation and bizarre scene in which they were found.

 So case closed or still an unsolved mystery? 

Below are some photos that were taken during the search and rescue mission. 

The Groups Tent

The Footprints Found

If you want to truly go down the rabbit hole check out this website. 

https://dyatlovpass.com/page.php?language_id=1&id=12786&flp=1#beginning 

Lust Killings

Happy True Crime Thursday Ya’ll!! 

I am back after a bit of a break, for those that don’t know I had a beautiful baby boy on June 22nd and I've been spending all my time with him and enjoying every second! But I have missed working on my passion so here I am ready with my list of stories I’d like to cover. 

Please let me know if there is one in particular you want to know more about and I would be more than happy to research it!

To kick things off I’m going to start with a case that occurred in my home state of Oregon. I’m covering the case of the Lust Killer who stalked woman from 1968-1969.

Jerome Brudos was born in South Dakota on January 31, 1939 and was the youngest of two boys. Growing up his family moved a few times, ending up in California and Oregon. His mother was extremely overbearing and the two of them had a strained relationship. 

When Brudos was five years old he found a pair of high heels in a pile of trash and from that point on his fascination with women’s shoes grew. His strange obsession with shoes became a fetish and he started to break into homes to steal shoes and women’s underwear. In his teenage years he started to get violent, he would knock girls down, choke them until they were unconscious and then take the shoes.

When he was 17 he was sent to the Oregon State Hospital Psychiatric Ward, he confessed to holding a girl at knife point in a hole that he dug with the intention of enslaving her for sex. He was released after 9 months, which was a huge mistake because it was clear that he had developed the desire to act out his violent fantasies. These violent fantasies developed from the deep hatred he had for his mother according to hospital records. 

When he finished high school he became an electrician and at the age of 22 he got married, moved to Salem, OR and eventually had 2 children. During this time he continued to explore his fetishes, sneaking into other people’s homes to take women’s underwear. His mother eventually came to live with them in their small suburban home. 

The relationship with his wife began to crumble. She went along with his strange fantasies in the bedroom, but the final straw was when he approached her dressed in women’s underwear. Rejected by her he retreated to his workshop which was off limits to the rest of the family. She even eventually discovered pictures of naked women and an odd mold of a breast. Despite all of this the 2 of them remained married. 

So let’s talk about when things really started to escalate with Brudos. Between 1968 and 1969 women started to disappear. In January of 1968, a 19 year old door to door encyclopedia salesperson named Linda Slawson knocked on the wrong door. Brudos’ door. He killed her, then cut off her left foot to use as a model for his stolen shoes collection.

 In November of 1968, 23 year old Jan Whitney’s car broke down while she was driving home from college. Brudos pulled up, strangled her in her car, had sex with her body and then brought her back to his shop where he continued to violate her body for several days as it hung from hooks on his ceiling. Before he got rid of her body he cut her right breast off in order to make paperweights with them.

Karen Sprinkler, age 19, disappeared on March 27, 1969 from a department store garage, she was supposed to meet her mom for lunch. Brudos forced her into his car at gunpoint, brought her back to his workshop where he raped her and forced her to wear various women’s underwear and pose for pictures. He killed her by hanging her from the hook on his ceiling, like the others he removed her breasts and disposed of her body. 

In April of 1969, 22 year old Linda Salee was kidnapped from a shopping mall. Brudos brought her to his home, raped her and then strangled her to death. Then disposed of her body. A few weeks later her body was discovered in the Long Tom River, her body had been weighted down by a car part. Investigators on the case noted the unusual knot on the nylon rope used to tie the auto part to the body. While continuing the search of the river they found Karen Sprinklers remains, also tied to a car part with the same unusual knot.  

Police started to interview students at Oregon State University about the murders. Some of the female students stated that they had received calls from a strange man saying he was a Vietnam veteran looking for a date. One of these students actually said yes and went out on a date with this mystery caller, a heavier set man with light hair and freckles. During this date the man made a reference to the dead women found in the river...and spoke about taking the date away and strangling her. Police told this woman that if the man were to call her again that she set up a meeting at her dorm room. Well a few days later the man called and agreed to the meet up, the man was Jerome Brudos. When he came to the door room he was met by police. 

After a lengthy interrogation, Brudos ended up confessing to all 4 murders and 2 attempted abductions and several assaults. He was only tried and convicted for 3 of the murders as Slawson’s body was never found. He didn’t take any photos of her and didn’t keep his trophy from her body. After pleading guilty, he received 3 consecutive life sentences and served his time at Oregon State Penitentiary. He died March 28th, 2006 as the longest incarcerated inmate in the history of the Oregon Department of Corrections. 

If his name sounds familiar you may have seen his story on Mind Hunter on Netflix. If you haven’t watched it I recommend it, they also have several other serial killers they reference. 

It’s good to be back and I can’t wait to share more cases with you guys! 

References;

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.yahoo.com/amphtml/lifestyle/9-chilling-facts-jerry-brudos-075322819.html

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.biography.com/.amp/crime-figure/jerome-brudos

https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/jerome-brudos