Brushes with Madness
 

Planet,

Today I was reminded of how often I live in a cocoon. I overheard some coworkers talking about a recent murder that happened in town, they then mentioned a past incident regarding a student and suspicious circumstances.

It turns out that a student committed suicide eight months ago by jumping off of a parking garage in town. Some months after his death, multiple witnesses came forward implicating him in the death of a professor, including bludgeoning and immolation, in a parking garage no less, eight years earlier. These witnesses claimed they were afraid to come forward for fear of reprisal.

It turns out that the now deceased student was a student of mine a few summers ago. He came off as a bit irascible, but it's difficult to conceptualize occupying a shared space with an alleged murderer for six hours a week.

Needless to say, spooky.

Any similar events from you all?

When I was a grad student teaching Freshman Comp. one of my students killed his girlfriend. The police pulled me out of class and interviewed me and tole me to be on the lookout for him. He turned himself in the next day. Guy was a good writer.

Jovan could have been the next John Grisham, I tells ya

I look forward to Hamas' threads.

It's usually a vocabulary lesson.

:)

One of my wife's good friends went to prom with one of the boys that allegedly murdered that journalist in Columbia, MO. She's became a good friend of mine as well, and swears he would have never done it. She's a little naive though I tend to doubt her judgement. Sweet girl none the less.

There are a lot of people in the CoMo area who are highly suspect of that case.

When I was a child, my stepmom was walking us by Penn Valley park when a shooting happened. I remember her jumping on me and my brother and hearing shrieks close by. Person was shot dead right by us. That's all I recall. Probably needed gun control so the guy wouldn't have died.

In a fit of jealous rage a guy I grew up with drug his estranged wife out of the convenience store she was working in and capped her right in the parking lot, then offed himself in his car a few minutes later.

I killed Paul Allen with an axe. In the face.

I saw Shawn Marion shoot a jumpshot in person.

This girl swears that the one she dated is innocent and the other was totally responsible, but I haven't gleaned enough info to make a decision. Honestly though I haven't researched it enough to decide either way.

Man, what an experience

One time I tailgated with this dude named Barry. We chatted a lot on the internet.

ROFL and he wanted to kick your ass right?

Went to school and graduated with 2 murders. Hung out with them until high school.

Worked and supervised a girl who just went to court for murder, found not guilty of killing an infant.

Worked with a guy who robbed several banks, became homeless and raped a girl or two.

One of the teachers I was an aide for is currently in prison waiting for trial for apparently doing inappropriate things with high school girls.

A cousin of my wife is doing life in prison for rape and murder. Been locked up since the early 80's. Met him at a funeral, they let him out for an hour to attend, it was his grandfather. Weird. Dude shows up in shackles and an orange jumper. Pays respects and has to leave. Creepy bastard too...

I used to hang out with a guy in a group of mutual friends. He got into a fight one night and got embarrassed over a girl. He went home and got a boye knife, came back and stabbed the ****er 3 dozen times and killed him.

He's in leavenworth for murder. They tried to claim self defense and intimidation, the only problem was he went home to get the knife. I think they got him for premeditation too, but not sure. Skyler was his name and it happened in Manhattan.

You are the only constant in all of these unrelated stories. You should think hard about that.

My mom used to work with a serial rapist. They would be the only two in the office at around 6 am and she would literally lock herself in the office with him.

Oddly enough, he was always scared of her.

My friends mom also got raped by the cops.

My cousin is in Leavenworth for 1st degree murder

Did you witness it? If not, you're killing the spirit of the thread.

Sorry. Bring down the banhammer.

was this the one who committed suicide at the university ave garage?

Freshman Comp., really?

JK :D

Where to start.

I grew up living across the street from the house where;

Bold and Brassy: Oklahoma's Own Black Widow is the true story of a 1908 murder that scandalized the nation. When Lawrence Matthews was found dead in his barn, it was assumed that mules had kicked him to death--until rumors started to spread about his widow Lorena Matthews and the Chicksaw hired hand, Jim Chapman, who spent a great deal of time alone with the boss' wife. Lorena was declared an unfit mother and ordered to give up her children to a guardian; instead, she took them and fled to Canada to reunite with her lover. At the time, the case was luridly sensational, and Lorena Matthews' life after the trial is itself a surprise. Black-and-white photographs illustrate this fascinating and extensively researched true crime account.

I played in the barn and house a lot as a child and never knew of any of it until a book was written about it when I was 30.

Next, the summer of 1988 I played coed softball with a quiet redhead;

On June 8, 1988 the nude bodies of Mark and Delores Stepp were discovered in the bedroom of their home. They had been viciously murdered; stabbed a total of 27 times, plus Mark Stepp had been shot as well.

The normally peaceful town of Stillwater, Oklahoma was shocked. Some feared drug-crazed addicts, or a Satanic ritual killing while others thought it was related to the Stepps' secret involvement in nudist activities.

The Stepps were regarded as a model American family, but following the police investigation, two likely suspects emerge -- Francine Stepp, the couple's daughter, and her best friend, Cindy Wynn.

Why would a teenager who "had everything" brutally murder her own parents?

I now live a few miles from the Clutter house;

Its' a small world but I would hate to have to mow it.

I guess I drive people crazy. I've had plenty of crazy ex's too.

The ten-story monstrosity.

My ex-wife.

*shudder*

I went to Junior High with two kids who murdered a young mother and took her car, robbing her of less than a dollar in change. Still, I didn't really know them, I just knew of them or walked past them in the halls.

I made a fake ID once.

a shocking amount of suicides at/near parking structures. ****ed up either way.

I think it has to do with the fact that the person who paints the yellow lines owns a smart car. After parking between those line I want to kill myself.

Just sayin

I refinished all of the wood floors in the house that the Clutters were murdered.


Does "In Cold Blood" ring a bell?

A good friend of mine in high school parents died in a murder/suicide. Dad shot Mom and then himself. Luckily her and her sister and brother were not at home when it happened. I was @ their house for a movie night two weeks prior.

I once left a very nice overcoat in the Westport Flea Market. I called the next night and they said they had it, but when I went to pick it up, nobody could find it.

A week later Bob Berdella, Kansas City's notorious serial killer, was arrested. He was the guy who would kidnap young gay men, hold them prisoner in his house, inject them with all kinds of weird shit, write down the details of his "experiments" on them in his journal, and eventually kill them. They caught him when one of his victims escaped.

At the time he had a shop in the Westport Flea Market called Bob's Bizzare Bazaar.

I always wondered if that SOB stole my overcoat.

I'd made a thread about it when it happened. But one of my really good friends dad killed her mom with an axe and then drove to new mexico and offed himself. the mother was cheating on the father, they were separated at the time.

Anything creepy about the place, other than just knowing what happened there?

Nope.


Looked like every other old house I have worked in.


EXCEPT the driveway to the house. It has a row of trees on each side of a 1/4-1/2 mile dirt road. I worked on the house late December/Early January so the trees had no leafs.

That was about the only creepy thing.

Remember the lab scientist that was alledgedly responsible for the anthrax mailings in 2001?

My mother went to several microbiology conferences with the guy. Said he was a totally nice dude.

I met Dennis Rader

One of the investigators in that case taught my CCL class.

Did the owners talk about it?

My childhood friend went to church at christ lutheran where he was president at and I went to church with him a few times. Have no real interesting stories though.

I guess this is a second-hand brush, but a former neighbor of mine was good friends with one of Gacy's last victims and was one of the last people to see him before he was abducted. I don't remember the name or any specifics - heard the story over 20 years ago.

That's all I got.

The owner said she had a bunch of offers from people to buy the house, but she refuses to sell it because she wants to keep the history.

She nearly burned the house down by throwing a lit cig into the trash. It smoked the entire upstairs out.

The construction company wanted to rip out all of the old floor and replace it (to get a bigger payday). She refused and that's why I got the call.

They refinished perfectly.

Interesting. I don't think I'd want to sleep there. My mom died in my grandmother's house when I was a kid, and I never spent another night there.

I still sleep on a straw bed when I visit my grandmother. True story.

My grandmother died in my parents' house. It used to be my room before the upstairs was refinished. Now, whenever our girls visit they sleep in that room. Doesn't personally bother me, but I understand why it would bother others. My aunt won't even go down that hallway.

Kinda weak but I bought my first home in an estate sale, family was selling home of old parents who were deceased. Got a great price. Home had cigarette smell but I just painted over it. Anyway my neighbor asked me a few moths later if I knew what happened. Said they were both suffering lung cancer, and nearing the end the dude decided to shoot the wife (out of mercy) and then aced himself in the house.


Still though, I DID get a great deal on it.

I could have banged one of Kansas City's most notorious skanks

Was she a tanners waitress by chance?

Had a friend co-worker get murdered and he talked about it was going to happen. He was a witness to a crime and was suppose to testify in court, cops were suppose to protect him. I know he was fixing to leave town. I remember he told us not to hang out with him & watch keep a look out if being followed. He said any one he knew was could be a target.

It's ****ed up.

He was a good guy that had turned his life around from hanging out with the bad crowd. He found God and piece in his life and was a remarkable person. He was a big guy with a big heart. R.I.P. Big Al. miss you buddy.



Today sucks.

I had a friend in high school who was one of those successful, popular, volunteering, leadership types. He got into a good college and one night took mushrooms and freaked out and slit his throat and jumped off the balcony. From what I heard, it was solely due to the crazy trip, he never displayed any indications that he would do something like that had he been sober.

I'm sorry to hear that, Dude.

Be careful. Prescription drugs, especially as we age, can have just as serious side-effects, if not moreso.

Guy I was in the USMC with killed a female Marine because he was involved in a love triangle with her. Dumped her body literally in a dumpster. She was probably the homeliest girl I've ever seen in my life. Shows you how desperate military guys are on base when 49 men are chasing one lady.

That's awful

I killed my bottle of whiskey tonight.

When I was in high school my best friend had a twin sister, and the three of us used to hang out together all the time. During our junior year his sister went on a shopping trip by herself to a neighboring town. She was never seen again.

Her body was found months later in a dump in another city. It turns out she was one of the 41 victims of Gerald Stano, one of the most prolific mass murderers ever.

Years later, I was sitting in a small pub in Port Orange, Florida when a not very attractive women sat down next to me and first tried to get me to buy her a drink, then asked to borrow twenty dollars. The answer to each request was no. She eventually got up and left, but after that I would every now and then see her hanging around the bar.

I would eventually see her face again on the "picture tube". Her name was Aileen Wuornos, the female mass murderer who offed seven men here in the state of Florida. They made a movie called "Monster" about her starring Charlize Theron.

Why couldn't it have been Charlize who sit down and asked for me to buy her a drink that night... :)

Wow.

Holy Shit Balls Batman!

Am just glad you are here to tell that story man.

Man mickey2345 reminded me of my second wife telling me that she grew up in a house down the street or practically next door to the BTK killer that was caught in Park City a few years back. Freaky.

/thread

I was trying to think of something good for this thread than I read this post. Nothing could come close to that, jesus.

JFC.

Went to high school with the girl who got abducted at Target a few years back

Was in Jr. High with an attractive young girl... She and her little brother evidently blew their dad's head off with a shotgun and claimed that he was abusive to them. They ended up getting off of murder charges but still did time in juvenile detention until 18.

That is missed up. Maybe he deserved it if they were being abused that bad but that is still missed up situation.

I guess I should have expected it, but god damn this thread is morbid.

Last summer my buddy's half-brother beat and left-for-dead his girlfriend on the side of the road in Florida. Someone found her in the morning and she was in a coma for weeks, but she awoke with her memory intact. Douchebag had come back here to IL and when the cops came knocking he tried to say she went to Florida by herself and he wasn't even there. I can't say I thought he'd be capable of that, but he was certainly a guy I didn't trust. He was the epitome of white trash. A few years ago, he and/or his previous girlfriend were suspected of shaking their baby who had developmental issues.

A couple years ago another friend snapped at a house party and stabbed a couple people. In his defense the guys had threatened him and he had been drinking, but ultimately he initiated the attack. After cutting two people (who survived), a few other guys worked my him over, his face was unrecognizable.

We live just down the street from them, walk past there to and fro school. My son was in school with her younger brother. The father would have been my son's football coach from what I understand.

Something was going on at their house today as a matter of fact, bunch of TV cameras and reporters.

I think we have a clear winner here.

Went to high school with and knew personally, Ben Appleby, the guy that murdered Ali Kemp back in the early 2000s. He was a bit of a wildcard even back then.

I know someone that met the Unabomber.

This.

My first apartment. 235\month utilities paid. This was in the early 90's, but that was cheap even then, which gives you an idea of the neighbors I had. A lot of Section 8, and a lot of crazy people. There was a guy, Steve, who lived on the bottom floor. Other neighbors said he was a schizo, but he seemed like a really nice person to me, very quiet. I even had a beer with him in his apartment once. Long and short, I come home one day and there is an ambulance leaving the parking lot. The only other sane person in the complex besides me said that Steve had not taken his meds because his sister was out of town and not there to make sure he did. Dude stabbed himself 28 times in the chest with a serrated steak knife. From what I understand, he lived, but I never saw him again after that.

...excitable boy, they all said.

growning up where i did everyone was ****ing crazy.

no good place to start with the stories

Jesus.....

wow, makes you think...