threat to public safety

When JonBenet was murdered in 1996, community officials appeared to downplay the potential of a killer on the loose in Boulder, so as not to 'alarm the public'. Not so in the case of 19 year-old Vanessa Pham, where the authorities have been straight-up with the public about the potential that in June 2010 an unknown murder - even a serial killer - took this lovely girls life. And Vanessa's killer, like the one that tortured and murdered JonBenet, is still on the loose - -

Police: Vanessa Pham's Unknown Killer a 'Threat' to Public Safety
Published in the Falls Church News-Press
By Natalie Bedell


A cousin of the 19-year-old Falls Church woman murdered last month described herself Monday as a “wreck” who’s been playing detective from her Norwalk, Conn. home while the stabbing of her relative, Vanessa Pham, goes unsolved by Fairfax County police.

Theories ranging from a slaying by a member of nearby homeless communities to the plotted jealous rage of a female acquaintance are being mulled by friends and a local private investigator. But Fairfax County Officer Don Gotthardt said Tuesday police are now convinced the killer is an unknown person, having already eliminated any potential suspects from Pham’s inner circle.

“I don’t want to scare the public, but we believe this is a whodunit,” he added.

Monday marked the one-month anniversary of her death, a reminder too her murderer is still on the loose...

“I don’t want this to be a JonBenét Ramsey-type case, where no one ever knows what happened,” [Vanessa's cousin Tracy To] she said. “That would make me a very angry and bitter person for the rest of my life. I need to have closure.” [read more]

cultural constant

When children are stolen from their beds while a family sleeps, then viciously murdered like little Judith Ann Roberts or JonBenet Ramsey, the public outrage, media coverage and accusations aplenty hasn't changed - -

Museum exhibit to explore history, impact of crime in Miami

Published in the Miami Herald
BY LUISA YANEZ

"...Another high-profile criminal case featured in the exhibit is the still-unsolved 1954 killing of 6-year-old Judith Ann Roberts.

It began with an intruder breaking into the home of the little girl's grandparents in what is now ,. Her kidnapper took her from a living room bed, where she slept with her sister during a family vacation from Baltimore.

By sunrise, her body was found on a desolate road in Coconut Grove. She had been beaten, strangled and sexually abused.

Judith Ann's murder was the first Miami child slaying to receive intense media attention -- an earlier version of the infamous JonBenet Ramsey case. In the next few months, everyone from the little girl's father, to homeless men, to the little girl's grandfather were blamed.

The lead detective, Irving Whitman, who lives in Miami-Dade, is expected to attend Thursday's exhibit opening. ``I've never forgotten this case,'' said Whitman, who is 88 and still hopes the murder will be solved one day."[...read more]