REAL STORIES

Woman Tells of Incest with Mass Murder Suspect Father
	The daughter of a murder suspect charged with killing nine of his children cried on the witness stand as she admitted an incestuous relationship with her father, but refused to give details that could incriminate him. Pressed by the prosecution in Fresno, California, Kiani Wesson, Marcus Wesson’s 27-year-old daughter and the mother of two of his murdered children, reluctantly went over her diary. Haggard and with her voice breaking, she confirmed on her second day on the stand that she had written passages describing the relationship she, her sisters and female cousins had with Marcus Wesson. More ... newslink
				April 20, 2005	text link

			Satanist band members jailed for ritual killings
	Two members of an Italian heavy metal band called the Beasts of Satan were today sentenced to jail for their role in three ritual murders. Andrea Volpe and Pietro Guerrieri had confessed to roles in the 1998 killings of Chiara Marino, 19, and 16-year-old Fabio Tollis in woods outside Milan. More ... newslink
				February 22, 2005	text link

			Kids had been dead a week
	Nathshay Ward lived in the same apartment with her dead children more than a week before their bodies were found Friday. Autopsies showed Christopher Ward, 8; Latrica Ward, 9; and Shanieka Ward, 11, may have been dead a week to 10 days, said Huntsville police Sgt. Ed Cain, supervisor of the department's Major Crimes Unit. More ... newslink
				February 8, 2005	text link

			Baby found alive; woman arrested
	(CNN) -- Authorities late Friday said a Kansas woman who had a miscarriage earlier this year confessed to strangling a pregnant Missouri woman in her home and then cutting the baby from her womb -- a crime the local sheriff described as the most gruesome he had ever seen. More ... newslink
				December 18, 2004	text link

			Baby dies after arms severed
	PLANO - Police arrested a woman after she told authorities that she severed her 11-month-old daughter's arms Monday at her Plano apartment, police said. More ... newslink
				November 22, 2004	text link

			Denver man sentenced to life in shooting deaths
	DENVER, Colorado (AP) -- A Colorado man who admitted binding six people with duct tape and shooting them in the head while a 3-year-old girl watched has been sentenced to life in prison. Edward Herrera, 52, pleaded guilty to murder and attempted murder earlier this month and was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences plus 48 years on Friday. More ... newslink
				October 31, 2004	text link

			Officials: Father raped, killed girl
	Her mouth and arms bound with duct tape, 3-year-old Riley Fox was sexually assaulted, then dumped alive into a secluded creek and left to drown, Will County authorities said Wednesday. Her attacker was her 27-year-old father, Kevin Fox, who was arrested earlier in the day after allegedly giving a videotaped statement implicating himself, officials said during a news conference. He is expected to be formally charged today with assaulting and murdering his youngest child. More ... newslink
				October 28, 2004	text link

			A Deal With The Devil?
	Coral Eugene Watts may be the most prolific serial killer in U.S. history. He’s already admitted to killing more than a dozen women, but authorities believe the actual number may be closer to 100. Watts is scheduled to be released from prison in less than two years, after serving just 24 years of a 60-year sentence. How can that be? More ... newslink
				October 17, 2004	text link

			Arrests over cousin eaten at wedding
	FOUR members of a family have been arrested and charged with murder for allegedly killing and eating a relative during a wedding reception - and serving his flesh to unwitting party guests, police in the Philippines said today. At the July 17 wedding of his daughter, Eladio Baule got angry with his cousin Benjie Ganay who tripped and accidentally touched the bride's bottom, said Senior Police Inspector Perla Bacuel, at Narra town in Palawan province, southwest of Manila. A few hours later, Baule, his son Gerald, another cousin Junnie Buyot and a nephew, Sabtuari Pique, allegedly confronted Ganay, then drove him to a secluded place where they stabbed him to death, Bacuel said. More ... newslink
				August 10, 2004	text link

			The Xbox murders 6 in Fla. were slain over game
	A stolen Xbox video-game system triggered a brutal Florida massacre that killed six people, including an upper Manhattan man who was "in the wrong place at the wrong time," cops and friends said yesterday. Police say hulking ex-con Troy Victorino sicced three bat-wielding pals in Ninja-style black outfits on the houseful of friends whom he blamed for stealing the game console and his clothes. One of the innocent victims was ex-New Yorker Roberto (Tito) Gonzalez, 28, who was staying at the house only because he had to drive to a house-painting job with a friend the next morning. More ... newslink
				August 10, 2004	text link

			A nude model, five bodies and the Mormon assassination plot attempt
	This may be the year of the celebrity trial - Michael Jackson the King of Pop on child molestation charges, the basketball star Kobe Bryant accused of rape, the legendary record producer Phil Spector indicted for murder - but the kookiest, darkest, most grimly compelling court case in America may well be one that is receiving almost no media attention at all. This week, a jury in Martinez, a small town outside San Francisco, will retire to consider the bizarre, brutally violent cult surrounding one Glenn Taylor Helzer, a lapsed Mormon accused of bludgeoning and dismembering five people in an elaborate extortion racket intended to hasten the second coming of Jesus Christ. More ... newslink
				June 15, 2004	text link

			South African Man Kills Designer for Criticizing Home
	JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A South African man told a court how he hacked to death his interior designer because she criticized his decor, local newspapers reported on Tuesday. Jose da Silva, 37, pleaded guilty to murdering 47-year-old Beatrice Harrowyn in 2001 after inviting her to his new house in a classy suburb north of Johannesburg. More ... newslink
				June 15, 2004	text link

			'Devil' man killed wife and two sons over her smoking
	A hotelier who became obsessed with the devil murdered his wife and two of their children because she would not give up smoking, a court heard yesterday. John Jarvis, 42, had persuaded his wife, Patricia, to sign a pre-nuptial agreement limiting her to six cigarettes a day. More ... newslink
				May 25, 2004	text link

			Nurse Who Claimed 40 Deaths Is Charged
	EASTON, Pa. (AP) - A nurse who claims to have killed as many as 40 patients over 16 years was charged Monday in the death of a 78-year-old patient in Pennsylvania. Charles Cullen was charged with criminal homicide in the 1998 death of a retired steel worker who died from an overdose of heart medication three days after being admitted to Easton Hospital for treatment of seizures. More ... newslink
				March 31, 2004	text link

			Eagle Scout accused of killing man to baffle authorities
	OSHKOSH, Wis. - Gary Hirte, a high school scholar, star athlete and Eagle Scout whose name seemed to be in the local paper all the time, is accused of committing murder - not for money, or revenge, but just to see if he could get away with it. More ... newslink
				February 26, 2004	text link

			Munster Woman Charged With Decapitating Her 81-Year-Old Mother
	A woman told police she used a pitchfork and two knives to kill and decapitate her 81-year-old mother, a court document filed Monday said. Margaret Church, 54, said that on Feb. 13, she dragged her bedridden mother, Margaret Jansky, out of bed and onto the floor face up, a probable cause affidavit said . More ... newslink
				February 25, 2004	text link

			The Mind Of A Serial Killer
	For twenty years, the Green River Killer terrorized the Northwest, leaving a trail of women’s bodies and very few clues. He was on the loose until late 2001. But two months ago, Gary Ridgway pled guilty to killing 48 women. The plea was part of a controversial deal -- the killer's life in exchange for the truth. More ... newslink
				February 11, 2004	text link

			The Missing Women of Vancouver
	After investigators spent 18 months excavating his Port Coquitlam farm, Robert William Pickton faces 22 murder charges in Vancouver's missing women case. More ... newslink
				January 27, 2004	text link

			Woman Gets 25 Years for Infants' Murders
	MONTICELLO, N.Y. -- A woman convicted of killing three of her newborn children in the 1980s was sentenced to 25 years to life Tuesday, less than a year after their mummified remains were found in a storage shed in Arizona. More ... newslink
				January 27, 2004	text link

			Girl, 6, found dead in motel
	'Severely broken': Detectives believe case involved 'some type of ritual to get rid of demons.' A 6-year-old girl found dead in an Atlanta motel was the victim of an apparent ritual, police said. More ... newslink
				January 20, 2004	text link

			Oklahoma Woman Held for Slicing Fetus from Mother
	OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - A 37-year-old woman pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges of shooting dead a pregnant woman and then slicing the fetus out of the mother's womb. . More ... newslink
				December 30, 2003	text link

			Crash into inlaws' home kills man, 2 kids
	ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. - A man drove his car into his in-laws' house in a fiery Christmas Day crash, killing himself and his two children minutes before he was supposed to turn them over to his estranged wife, according to media reports. More ... newslink
				December 26, 2003	text link

			Greed drove two siblings to kill mother, police say
	Grandpa's money -- a $250,000 nest egg -- was apparently the motive for a ne'er-do-well son charged with killing his mother, burying her in his back yard and spinning fanciful lies of his mother being on the run from the IRS. More ... newslink
				December 25, 2003	text link

			Woman convicted of killing three babies in 1980s; remains found in shed
	MONTICELLO, N.Y. (AP) — A woman was convicted Tuesday of killing three of her infant children during the 1980s, a case brought after mummified remains were found in a storage shed in Arizona this year. More ... newslink
				December 17, 2003	text link

			Woman Jailed for 'Curry Murder'
	LONDON (Reuters) - A British woman described by police as "every man's nightmare" was jailed for life Monday for murdering her second husband on his birthday -- probably by poisoning his curry. More ... newslink
				December 16, 2003	text link

			Boy who killed girl: 'I did her a favor' Teenager denies video game inspired him to slay friend
	Though an alleged teen killer claims a popular violent video game had nothing to do with his murdering a young girl, the victim's father and others are convinced Grand Theft Auto III inspired the boy to bludgeon and stab his friend to death. More ... newslink
				December 12, 2003	text link

			Man had 'blueprint' for escort's murder Attorneys debate whether notes show lack of sanity
	A West Allis man wrote a detailed "blueprint" for the murder and dismemberment of an escort, according to court records and testimony in his homicide trial. More ... newslink
				December 12, 2003	text link

			Boy, 11, Sentenced In Murder Of 3-Year-Old Tot Slain With Baseball Bat
	NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. -- An 11-year-old Woodbridge boy was sentenced Friday to up to 18 years in the custody of the state juvenile justice system after pleading guilty to murder and kidnapping in the death of a 3-year-old in March. More ... news link
				December 12, 2003	text link

			Cannibal Confesses in Shocking Trial
	A German confessed on Wednesday to killing and eating a willing victim in a case that could make legal history, telling a shocked courtroom the experience was "like taking communion" in a religious service. More ... news link
				December 3, 2003	text link

			Infanticide case has national spotlight
	News media came from everywhere Monday to cover Ronald Shanabarger's twisted tale of revenge and infanticide. The horror story - a man who told police he plotted for more than two years to father a baby, wait for his wife to bond with the child and then kill the baby because she did not come home from a vacation when his father died before they were married. More ... news link
					I was reading through the news the other day when I came across a horrific story of a child left in a car by accident. It was the type of story that makes every parent stop, shudder, and draw their little one close for a hug. But it also got me thinking about what these stories tell us about ourselves. While the events of the story itself were tragic beyond belief, this sadness was only compounded by the bereaved mother's desperate plea for understanding for the father - who may now be facing manslaughter charges for what looks like being a devastating moment of absent mindedness. The BBC reported her words as follows: "This could have happened to anyone. I want to shout to the entire world how much my companion loved his daughter. He is an exemplary father," said the mother, who is eight months pregnant. This desperate appeal for understanding seems aimed squarely at averting an imminent outcry of judgement. And I must admit when first reading this story, I immediately thought about the accusations and judgement this poor man must be facing. But then I stopped and thought about it - I'm not judging him. Nobody I know who has read the piece is judging him. And I rarely hear anyone - especially a fellow parent - respond to a similar story with anything but total compassion, heart-wrenching empathy, and a tacit admission that we could all be in a similar position for just the slightest lapse in judgement/concentration.Judgement isn't a particularly helpful parenting trait at the best of times - but in cases like these it just seems pointless. I've written before about the need to increase our risk tolerance when it comes to children, and to overcome our fears, but the fact is that to be a parent we are inherently commiting ourselves to a deep, binding and unconditional love. A love that leaves us open to terrible loss. It's this very same love that should help us extend compassion, empathy, understanding and support to parents who have lost a child. Whatever the circumstances. Top Stories on Parenting, Risk Management and Family Safety Why I Vow to Put My Child in Danger (Just Not Too Much) Gun Shy: Firearms in the Home Why I Killed Baby Ava Would You Let Your Child Try Beekeeping?

of sight when she reached the tree.

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