In A Lonely Place

As you all know, I from time to time like to engage in a variety of allusions to the world of literature and film as an aid to our investigations. Not only do I intend these forays into the Arts to be entertainment for us but also instructive.

My latest bit of advice from the world of film concerns In A Lonely Place with Humphrey Bogart. Its of interest for many reasons, not the least of which is that its one of the few movies that are a zillion times better than the book. I won't give away too much so as to not spoil your fun, but in the best-selling novel the main character was a heel, he only pretended to be a script writer in Hollywood and he was guilty as hell of the murder.

In the movie, he is actually a scriptwriter and he may have some character defects but is by no means a heel. At least he is not a heel by Hollywood's standards. And what on earth you ask does this movie have to do with sleuths devoted to a homicide case?

Well, half the internet seems all agog about the disappearance of Kyron Horman in Oregon and the fact that the father is divorcing the step-mother who was the last to see Kyron alive. So I thought that seeing a film of what a homicide investigation can do to a relationship would be a good idea. Therapeutic, uplifting, instructional and a pretty darn good movie too. For film buffs, the lead actress had to sign a contract that she would not use her feminine wiles on the Director during the shooting of the movie. They were in the process of a marriage breakup at the time, but he felt his wife was the best actress for the part.

What about the JonBenet Ramsey case? Sure. There the marriage grew even stronger, but don't think a homicide investigation is not an ordeal. Seeing the police dedicated to going in the wrong direction is bad enough. Seeing them dedicated to going only in the wrong direction and in no other direction at all must have been a terrible ordeal for the Ramseys to have endured.

There beats a constant tattoo.

Amongst the public there now beats a constant tattoo. In the search for Kyron Horman in Oregon there seems to have developed a massive internet following but common sense is lagging well behind. There are even accusations being made of photographs having been photoshopped and other such absurdities. The public now seems to always want to focus on the parents due to a few notable incidents that have taken place in the past. It never seems to occur to the public that parents, even those of blended families, can be loving and supportive parents who are devastated by their child being in danger.

Yes, police are indeed focusing on the step-mother and her pickup truck. Its an investigation. It proceeds along several broad fronts. Questions concerning the whereabouts of the step mother are best asked now rather than ten years from now. Polygraphs are best administered now rather than decades from now. That does not mean that there is the slightest reason to believe that the step mother has lied or that the police have any concern about having been misled.

The photographs of the missing Kyron were taken in front of his science fair display at the school that morning. Innocent males in the background should not become the subject of internet speculation. Instantly these armchair sleuths seem to think things such as photoshopped or lurking pedophile. It never seems to occur to the sleuths that the photo might be that of a parent whose kid is in the school and also has a display at the science fair. It never seems to occur to the sleuths that the sheriff has already questioned such parents and identified all persons in those photos.

The local community has been wonderfully supportive of search efforts. All the SAR volunteers felt well fed and well housed during their deployment. Local community resources were made available with unstinting generosity, yet the internet community seems to be suspicious and accusatory without reason and without let-up.

The sheriff's spokesman has persistently said there will be no comments as to specific leads and that the public should draw no conclusions whatsoever about the focus on polygraphs or the step-mother's vehicle. Yet rumors seem to persist and the internet community can not let go of their Inside Job orientation. Well, all avenues are being explored. All avenues.

The vagaries of cell phone signals are already known to the authorities. The vast number of tips and sightings are being prioritized and acted upon. The investigation is proceeding in a multitude of directions and despite polygraphs and questionaires, there is not the slightest reason to consider the family members to be anything other than loving and supportive and fully helpful in the investigation. Try telling this to armchair sleuths though! Every man in a photograph is a lurking pedophile to the internet sleuths. Every photograph has been doctored according to the internet sleuths. Those internet sleuths seem to have instantaneous solutions developed by not just jumping to conclusions but jumping to the most outrageous and extreme conclusions imaginable.

Frankly, its not funny at all.

I think the fictitiously named Throckmorton P. Turdblossom is indeed suggestive of the quality of this very trite and unfunny item: Victoria's Secret Introduces JonBenet Line For Little Girls by: Throckmorton P. Turdblossom.

Just in case anyone misses the "spoof" in spooftimes, let me be perfectly clear: John Ramsey has not authorized any such JonBenet line of lingerie and Victoria Secret does not have any intention of marketing any such item as JonBenet Lingerie. Whether you are of the opinion that Patsy Ramsey died of ovarian cancer or died of a broken heart, the fact remains that she is dead and therefore did not make any of the statements attributed to her by this so-called spoof.

Aftershocks ...

Not just earthquakes have aftershocks. Entire communities are affected by crime. Increased police patrols in affected areas tend to mean a decrease in police patrols in other areas and those other areas are often the places where the patrols are sorely needed. A recent homicide in an upscale area of Ventura County alarmed the populace and greatly affected the utilization of police resources. Oh sure, there may be a boom in the sales of locks and burglar alarms after a homicide but the cost of crime is often very high on both a personal basis as well as a community basis. Southern California real estate has been beset by major problems that are totally unrelated to crime, but it should be remembered that crime does indeed have a financial impact on us.

According to Scott Hadly, Ventura County Star, Ventura, California two properties owned by murder victims Brock and Davina Husted have gone into foreclosure.

The Faria Beach home failed to garner any bids at a trustee's sale. Another home the couple owned in the Ventura Keys is scheduled for auction on June 22. The couple had purchased the Faria Beach property for about $2.1 million in 2005.

The Husteds were stabbed to death in their beach house on May 20, 2009, while their two young children were home. This spring, a security guard was charged with the murder of the Husteds and the death of couple's unborn child.

More information at: http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews/articleid/4212743 and at The Ventura Star.

myob shapiro style

Great article from Jeffrey Scott Shapiro about JonBenet; my sentiments, exactly - -

Leave JonBenet Alone
Posted in FOXnews Forum
By Jeffrey Scott Shapiro

Recently, FoxNews.com reported that John Mark Karr, a cleared suspect in the JonBenet Ramsey murder case and reputed pedophile, was the subject of a new national law enforcement investigation because he’s trying to “create a cult of JonBenet Ramsey lookalikes.”

Tragically, Karr’s sick obsession with JonBenet Ramsey is part of a larger epidemic that started over a decade ago when her murder was highly publicized by the national media...

Sadly, there’s more to it than that, and I realize that now.

JonBenet was a real person. She was a little girl who lived and loved like the rest of us. She laughed and she cried. She went to school and she played when she got home. She was a real human being.

Millions of Americans however, have turned her into an icon, a symbol, and even a sick, sexualized object of obsession. She has been immortalized within a cult much like the Kennedy assassination, Sharon Tate murder and the deaths of Jim Morrison and John Lennon, but in a perverse way.

Just think for one moment how it would feel if your six-year old daughter or sister was brutally tortured, sexually assaulted and murdered – and was then talked about, obsessed over and even sexualized. It’s almost incomprehensible to imagine the pain, heartbreak and outrage the Ramsey family must continue to feel...

Other than that however, JonBenet’s family deserves peace and privacy. It’s time to leave JonBenet – and her family alone..."[read more]

Jeffrey Scott Shapiro is an investigative journalist and former Washington, D.C. prosecutor who has researched and reported the JonBenet Ramsey case for 13 years.

how much is enough?

The public is frequently left to statements from experts like Dr. Henry Lee in the most tragic of cases; the loss of children like JonBenet or 12 year old Nicolas Parisot. These homicides share a very few similarities with a remarkable difference in that if one is to accept Dr. Lee's statements as absolute conclusions, there is apparently no more forensic evidence to further learn what happened to Nicolas. Since I have never heard even a whisper of the same tone from Dr. Lee - - no more forensic evidence - - in the investigation of JonBenet's murder, I have to wonder how much more evidence is sitting untouched scientifically in an evidence room somewhere that would help solve this case - -

Henry Lee: Evidence in Parisot case taken as far as science will allow
Published in the Wilton Villager
By KARA O'CONNOR

"WILTON -- Scientifically, nothing more can be done with forensic evidence in the Nicholas Parisot homicide, according to Wilton Police....

Lee has assisted in more than 6,000 investigative cases, including the O.J. Simpson case, review of the JFK assassination and the death of JonBenet Ramsey, according to his website, www.drhenrylee.com.

"We know that Dr. Lee, the FBI and the state have all thoroughly looked over every bit of evidence we have," said Wakeman. "And Dr. Lee has concurred, along with the other labs, that there isn't anything more we can do with this forensic evidence."

Last June, Nichols Parisot's parents, Wilton residents Rick Parisot and Katherine Throckmorton, of 274 Nod Hill Road, filed a civil suit against Glenn and Barbara Knight, formerly of Wilton, and their 12-year-old son, claiming the "willful and malicious conduct" of the 12-year-old caused the death of Nicholas Parisot..." [read more]

lacy and mcguire

Former Boulder District Attorney Mary Lacy, a long time advocate of justice in the murder of JonBenet Ramsey, has crossed to the other side of the courtroom with her well respected colleague Pete McGuire--

Ex-Boulder DA Lacy Now A Defense Lawyer
Published in the Daily Camera
By Vanessa Miller

After working together for more than 20 years as prosecutors in the Boulder County District Attorney's Office, former District Attorney Mary Lacy and her top prosecutor Pete Maguire are back together -- this time to defend the accused.

The pair decided to combine their attorney skills and experience in April last year, just a few months after term-limited Lacy left the office and incoming District Attorney Stan Garnett hired someone else to replace Maguire. Under the "Lacy & Maguire Law Firm" name, Maguire almost immediately started defending accused criminals and taking personal injury and administrative-type cases as well.[...read more]