fact or fiction
Is it fact or merely fiction? Fact or Fiction explores the myths and beliefs we hold about copycat killers, eyewitnesses testimony, what makes a murderer and more.
Wild Bill: Gunned down with aces and eights
Just about every poker player on the planet knows that a pair of black aces and eights are “dead man’s hand” and that the reason harks back to when Wild Bill Hickok was shot in the back of the head while holding them in a game of five-card stud in Deadwood, South Dakota.
By Steve Harrison6 years ago in Criminal
Reason First: Serial Killer Joe Ball the ‘Gator King’
When a Texas Ranger named Lee Miller investigated the disappearance of Hazel “Schatzie” Brown, the downfall of serial killer Joe Ball became set into motion. Ball had run a bar after being a bootlegger during Prohibition. He gained fame for his penchant to hold alligators in a tank and to throw live cats and dogs into the pool for the thrills of the patrons in the late 1930’s Texas.
By Skyler Saunders6 years ago in Criminal
Reason First: Serial Killer Belle Gunness
If there is one overarching theme to these killer stories it’s insurance money. Not to blame the money as the motive to murder people, instead the money was just a conceptual scapegoat to go along with the treacherous deeds of these shady figures. Belle Gunness of La Porte, Indiana was one such figure.
By Skyler Saunders6 years ago in Criminal
Reason First: Death and Potions- The Serial Killer Herman Billick
Herman Billick received a life sentence despite there being no evidence that he held arsenic amongst his possessions. This came about after the judge commuted the death sentence after several stays. The root of all of this? Billick befriended a man named Martin Vzral, a milk tycoon, who prided himself as a successful businessman. Meanwhile, Bellick roamed about as a ne’er-do-well and a schemer. He offered love potions and even claimed to be a “Cardreader and Seer” according to cards that he had printed.
By Skyler Saunders6 years ago in Criminal
Crimes of Memory
It is thought-provoking to think that certain words or the phrasing of words can help distort our memories. Any information that we thought we clearly knew could probably be manipulated. I can kind of see how the exposure to misinformation can actually create an altered version of the original memory creating a false memory. Unfortunately, these false memories can actually turn us into victims and make us create memories that are not completely real, partially true, or even to the points that the information we know is completely false. It is proof that you just cannot base your pieces of evidence on finding your "so-be criminal" solely on eyewitnesses.
By Samantha Garcia6 years ago in Criminal
Reason First: Salute Chuck Foster- The James Huberty Murders
A former welder, undertaker, and security guard devoted his time to destruction. He had it in his mind to mow down as many people as he could. His name was James Huberty. In a San Diego, California McDonald’s restaurant, Huberty opened fire and killed 21 people and wounded another 20 others.
By Skyler Saunders6 years ago in Criminal
My Chance.
The environment around you can determine your interest. I am a proud believer in this; I feel my parents have shaped my interests. I’m a big classic rock fan; The Beatles, Three Dog Night, and Bob Dylan were always playing in my house. Our vacations were mostly educational; historical Boston, Massachusetts, Colonial Virginia, even at Disney we took a tour about Walt Disney. They molded us into history buffs, into cultured people. Every time I see a late-night show where they quiz the public on basic history about our country, I am impressed with how much my mother and father taught me.
By Elizabeth Rose6 years ago in Criminal
Loggers
When Ernesto Gálvez declared, with an air of erudition and a sense of pride, that “in Guatemala, we should’ve done what the Argentines did with the Indians,” he didn’t know he was calling for his own death, and that in an unrelated chain of events, his bloodline would soon come to an end due to an astonishing, far-reaching combination of natural disasters, drinking, and erectile dysfunction.
By Angel David Lindes6 years ago in Criminal
Reason First: Was Lawrencia Bembenek the ‘Proto-Karen’?- The Christine Schultz Murder
The way that Lawrencia “Bambi” Bembenek’s life twisted and turned warranted books, movies, and television specials. Accused of murdering her ex-husband’s wife on Thursday May 28, 1981 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the jury found her guilty and the judge sentenced her to life in prison. She would serve ten years of that sentence. Why? Because she broke out and escaped to Canada.
By Skyler Saunders6 years ago in Criminal
