Five years later, we remember and honor the people who died needlessly.
I don’t remember where I was or what I was doing when I first learned of the Pulse nightclub shooting. I’ve since deleted the social media accounts I was using at the time, so I can’t even go into my archives for a reference.
However, I do remember the dread that washed over me, combined with the overwhelming indifference to the event as a whole. Living in America means living in fear of another mass shooting, and this one was no different.
At least, not at first.
I eventually learned that Pulse was a gay nightclub. That gave me pause. In May 2016, I graduated…
A six-year-old disappeared from her small Arkansas town in 1995. To this day, her whereabouts remain a mystery.
It is often said that the longer a child is missing, the less likely investigators will be to find them alive or at all. While rare cases, such as that of Jaycee Dugard, have proven that it is not impossible; it is improbable.
Still, Morgan Nick’s mother Colleen refuses to give up and wants her daughter to know that she and their community have never stopped looking for her.
The Victim
Morgan Chauntel Nick was born on September 12, 1988, in Ozark, Arkansas. Morgan’s mother has repeatedly described her as a shy girl with a big heart.
“She loved cats and apples…
A 13-year-old girl was stabbed 114 times and an entire Florida community grieves her loss.
Choosing a photo to match a story as gruesome as this one proved challenging, even for someone like me, who’s read, watched, and listened to hundreds of true crime tales over the years. Unlike my other stories, though, this one is fresh, hardly a month old, and the wound is raw for the people who knew and loved Tristyn Bailey.
While her suspected murderer is behind bars, there are more twists and turns to this story than an old country road with no cell service, and they just keep on coming.
Let’s get into it.
The Victim
Because this crime happened so…
“I didn’t smile once that day.”
For as long as I can remember, I’ve known my father to be a fan of three principal things: the Beatles, the Three Stooges, and Philadelphia sports. Over the years, numerous t-shirts, books, and various other bits of memorabilia have served as gifts for birthdays, Father’s Day, anniversaries, and more.
I’ve always known that John Lennon was his favorite Beatle, but it never connected that 1) he was alive when Lennon was killed and 2) he would’ve been distraught over the singer’s murder.
Back in December, my dad was listening to seasonal music on the radio and “Happy XMas (the…
Whether Matthew’s sexuality motivated his murderers is still hotly contested over twenty years later.
Why is it that people have to die before change happens in the United States? Why is the government never ahead of the curve?
I could sit here and list all the people that have been unjustly murdered because the “greatest country on Earth” couldn’t protect them, but I will not do that. Instead, I’m going to share the story of Matthew Shepard, a young gay man whose sexual orientation made him a target for monsters.
The Victim
Matthew Wayne Shepard was born on December 1, 1976, in Casper, Wyoming to Judy and Dennis Shepard. Matthew had one younger brother, Logan, who…
“She’s unhappy here, and she wants to leave.”
Narrator: Good evening and welcome back to Friday Night Crimes. Tonight’s case has a supernatural twist; the ghost of Sophia Eberlein supposedly haunts the Harvey Public Library in Harvey, North Dakota.
Why the library? Was she a bookworm, or a librarian herself? That would be fitting, and even a little poetic, wouldn’t it?
Sadly, that’s not the case.
It’s because they built the library on the same plot of land where Sophia was murdered by her second husband.
Let’s get into it.
The Timeline: 1928–1931
1928: Sophie’s first husband, Hugo, passed away. By this point, their two children, Lillian and Alice, were adults. Sophie herself was an immigrant.
…
Guillén’s homicide brought sexual harassment within the U.S. military back into the limelight.
One year ago today, Private Vanessa Guillén vanished from the Fort Hood Army base in Fort Hood, Texas. She left behind her keys, ID card, bank card, and barracks key, and was last seen in the parking lot outside of the armory. At the time of her disappearance, witnesses saw her wearing a black t-shirt and purple leggings.
Vanessa was missing for 69 days.
Investigators eventually found Vanessa’s dismembered remains buried in several shallow graves along the Leon River on June 30, 2020. The river is located 20-30 miles from Fort Hood.
Fellow soldier Aaron David Robinson immediately fled Fort Hood when he learned that Vanessa’s…
Somebody has to know something.
USA
Victim name(s): Lobelia (perp’s mother), Annette (wife), Brenton, Geoffrey, William Bradford Bishop III (children)
Perpetrator name: William Bradford Bishop
Crime type: Murder, arson, fleeing arrest
Location of murders: Bethesda, Maryland
Location of dump: Columbia, North Carolina
Date: March 1, 1976
Victim Name: Rachel Cooke
Crime type: Abduction/probable homicide
Location: Georgetown, Texas
Date of disappearance: January 10, 2002
[Copied from Feb. 2021 Newsroom]
Victim name: Yolanda Bindics
Crime type: Abduction, murder
Location: Jamestown, New York
Date: August 10, 2004
Victim name: Adrienne Salinas
Crime type: Abduction, murder
Location of abduction: Tempe, Arizona
Location of remains: Apache Junction, Arizona
Date: June 14–15…
Adolph Coors III: Colorado-born, bred, abducted, and murdered.
Narrator: Good evening and welcome back to Friday Night Crimes. Every U.S. state has at least one notable person that once called it home. For Colorado, that individual is Adolph Coors III, heir to the Coors Brewing fortune. Coors III was abducted and ultimately murdered in 1960.
Let’s get into it.
The Timeline: 1915–1960 & 1961–2009
January 12, 1915: Adolph Coors III was born in Golden, Colorado to Alice May and Adolph Coors Jr.
October 25, 1928: Joseph Corbett Jr. was born in Seattle, Washington.
circa 1937: Coors III graduated from Cornell University, following in his father’s footsteps.
November 1940: Coors III married Mary Urquhart…
Certain crimes will never be solved.
Narrator: Good evening and welcome back to Friday Night Crimes. The unsolved murder of Patricia Webb is one of the most perplexing cases I’ve ever read. It involves the mafia, being a police informant, and a sex shop, all in rural Nebraska.
Let’s get into it.
The Timeline: 1949–1974
July 2, 1949: Patricia Carol Webb was born in Burnwell, West Virginia. When she was four years old, her mother died and her paternal uncle then adopted her, raising her as his own with his wife Joan.
Her biological father, Robert Webb’s brother, was out of the picture. (I could not find any specifics…
