True Crime Analysis, Breakthroughs, Insights & Discussions Hosted by Bestselling Author Nick van der Leek

Tag: Oscar Pistorius

Bloody Valentine – More Questions than Answers

Valentine’s Day 2020 is the 7th anniversary of the shooting of Reeva Stenkamp. Officially, Reeva wasn’t murdered, and Oscar Pistorius isn’t guilty of murdering Reeva, but murdering an unarmed, anonymous, invisible “intruder.”

Seven years after Reeva’s death, investigative photojournalist and true crime author Nick van der Leek revisits some of the most uncomfortable questions that still haunt South Africa’s most famous criminal.

What happened to the Netcare 911 Call?

Did Reeva have Oscar’s phone inside the locked cubicle?

If so, what was on his phone?

Why did his phone disappear from the crime scene…?

Visit the TCRS channel on Patreon for onoing coverage, including discussions with experts, cutting edge reananimation of the crime scene and recreations simulation what may have really played out 7 years ago upstairs in Oscar’s home inside the Silverwoods Estate.

Subscribe here.

How the Narcissism Pendulum Swings

One thing I hope to achieve at TCRS and through those brave enough to navigate the entire TWO FACE series on Chris Watts, is to mythbust the seething swamps of misconception around the notion of narcissism.
Thus far I’ve engaged in the narcissism debate only so far as to dismiss it as typically irrelevant to true crime in general, and also mostly [though not entirely] irrelevant to the Chris Watts case.
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There are a few exceptional true crime cases where narcissism is a significant feature, and where the word actually deserves to be bandied about. These are few and far between. A classic recent example, however, is Oscar Pistorius. I could spend a lot of time writing about that but I’ll try to convey what I’m getting at about his extraordinary narcissism simply by showing you a few pictures.

If you want to accuse a criminal [or any person] of being a narcissist, you might want to use Oscar Pistorius as your measuring pole.
At a glance we can see Oscar the athlete, Oscar the model, Oscar the marksman, Oscar the cover boy, Oscar on Larry King etc. Oscar appears frequently in front of the camera – in commercials, in documentaries about him, in interviews, in A-list gatherings, in celebrity shows, in magazine features. As a brand ambassador for Nike, Oscar did a lot of his PR on social media, including Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. All of this includes self-inflation. The man as an icon, the man a machine, the man as a superhero, and in one instance, the man as I am the bullet in the chamber…
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At the time he shot his model girlfriend to death this was the branding that appeared on Oscar’s official web page.
At the time he shot his model girlfriend to death, Oscar’s face was festooned on billboards marketing the Academy Awards for a local television network [Every night is ‘Oscar’ night].

During Oscar’s criminal trial the prosecution repeatedly noted Oscar’s self-absorbed personality. That even in phone messages read out in court, the prosecutor taunted him, telling him: Your life is all about you...It’s always about you.
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Okay so lots more to say on this topic but let’s get back to the topic at hand. How does narcissism apply to the Watts case? The short answer is that it doesn’t, and that the narcissist label used is a misnomer. It’s wrong. The longer answer is that there is an aspect of narcissism worth looking at, but it doesn’t involve Chris Watts [besides perhaps his weight loss in the final months].
There’s a lot more to be said about the other aspect of narcissism which is a particular idiosyncrasy in this case – it’s in the unusually extreme use or even addiction, to social media.
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If you’re one of those folks talking the narcissism talk about the Watts case, and if you’re on Facebook, and if you’ve ever taken a selfie, then you’re a narcissist.

Is Facebook Really a Playground for Narcissists? – Psychology Today

Facebook addiction linked to narcissism and other psychological factors, study finds – PsyPost

Is Your Facebook Obsession Feeding a Personality Disorder? – Reader’s Digest

If you’re on Facebook a lot, then you’re a lot of narcissist. You be the judge for a change.

The narcissism debate becomes useful not so much when directed at criminals [unless it’s the Prime True Crime Narcissus himself, Oscar Pistorius], but when we reflect on it in a more general sense.
The extraordinary social media preoccupation in the Watts case, and the catastrophe that took place because of, or in spite of that fake Facebook fairy tale, presents us less with a question than with a warning. We’re cautioned by this cautionary tale, or we ought to be. We’re warned about how selectively [and deceitfully] we project our own fairy tales on social media can come back to haunt us.
Part of modern narcissism is the inability to admit mistakes, and to be highly reactionary and resentful when we do make mistakes, and these are pointed out [especially to an audience].
But what happens when we come clean about our own narcissism?
The YouTube video below is a good example. It’s a simple clip of an Irish rock star talking to Dr Phil, openly and honestly, about her mother. What you’ll intuitively pick up when watching the clip is a strange thing that happens with narcissism: we all need some.
We need a certain amount of narcissism to be healthy and happy. And it starts with our parents. If our parents give us that sense of being valued and loved for who we are then the chances are we’ll develop a healthy and balanced narcissism. If they don’t, then we must find our narcissism somewhere else, and that often leads to imbalances and overcompensation.
In Oscar’s case, his father rejected him as a child [remember his son had lost both legs], and his mother, who doted on him, died prematurely due to a botched medical diagnosis when he was a young teenager.
So Oscar’s narcissism is partly an attempt to seek the love he desperately needed from his parents in the theater of the real world, and the arena of the athletics track, and from there on social media. Narcissism for an addict is like crack cocaine, once you get a shot, is one shot ever enough? This is so because in the world of the wounded child, the hole can never be filled because even as an adult, the wounded child remains.
It’s like a bucket with a hole in it. No amount poured in will ever keep the bucket [the sense of self] filled. So something must be found to keep the self-worth fountain flowing. Social media is a handy tool for that.
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Because one’s narcissism can be quantified in social media, now one can measure one’s self worth. Not only that, one can have one’s self-worth measured vis-a-vis the measurement and social power of others.
In the case of Sinead ‘O Conner, we see an almost Van Gogh-like troubled artist syndrome. Van Gogh was rejected by his parents, and his siblings [excluding his brother Theo], this lead him to over-perform and overcompensate. In the same way Sinead ‘O Conner must find her mother’s love somewhere besides from her mother – on a stage, in front of a shouting audience [I’ve attended one of her shows in person, and went backstage to meet her].
Is this narcissism by the unloved malignant or healthy? If parents don’t endow their brood with healthy narcissism, they must generate it themselves, somewhere else. Who is to say whether this is healthy or not? Do you really have the authority to prognosticate on the narcissism of someone else? In the end, your attitude to someone else’s narcissism is relative to your own narcissism. What that means in the scheme of things is a subjective soup full of sound fury, signifying nothing.

Read my magazine article on Oscar Pistorius at this link.

The Case that got me Started on True Crime

Like the Chris Watts case, when I found out Oscar Pistorius had shot someone to death – four times – through a closed [locked] door, I thought it was an open and shut case. I paid attention to the headlines, but I wouldn’t say I dropped everything to focus on the case. At that stage I was a professional freelance photojournalist [full-time]. Most of my work involved writing for magazines and occasionally doing shoots for corporates like Mercedes Benz and the Square Kilometer Array.

The day after the murder I wrote this post on Facebook.

Early on there was pushback. “Don’t speculate if you weren’t there.” “It’s not our place to judge.” “Leave it to the lawyers.” “Only God and Oscar know what really happened.”

On the first day Oscar appeared there was pandemonium in court. It was a media circus, and although they didn’t know it then, Oscar himself was the ringmaster.

09:37 – As soon as Oscar Pistorius starts to enter court, photographers start shooting. Magistrate protests. – @karynmaughan@AlexCrawfordSky tweets that Pistorius is wearing a dark blue suit.

09:48 – Nel: Pistorius shot an unarmed innocent woman…she was unarmed and inside a toilet. Pistorius sobs, his head in his hands – @karynmaughan

09:53 – Nel: “The deceased arrived between 5 and 6pm [with an] overnight bag and cosmetic bag. The deceased was shot three times while [in] the toilet.”

09:55 – Pistorius breaks down in tears in court, Sky News reports. 

10:25 – Roux suggests that Pistorius broke toilet door to get to Reeva, to help not harm her.

10:26 – Pistorius breaks down uncontrollably now as his defence suggests he did not know it was Reeva behind [the] bathroom door, tweets @AlexCrawfordSky.

10:27 – Roux: We say it can never, ever be a schedule six. It’s not even a murder.

10:33 – Pistorius blows into his hankie. He’s been crying throughout the hearing. He looks exhausted, says @karynmaughan.

12:15 – Nair: I have received written and oral argument. Nel is relying on objective facts…

12:16 – Pistorius wipes his eyes with a tissue, seems to be trying hard not to sob audibly. His brother leans forward as if to touch him but too far – @Simmoa

12:22 – Pistorius looks up straight to the magistrate as he reads his judgment on the seriousness of the offence, says @AldrinSampear.

12:26 – Nair: At this point in time, I cannot rule out premeditation. For the purposes of bail – we go Schedule 6.

12:27 – Pistorius reacts with more tears then leaves court for another break, tweets @BBCAndrewH.

12:31 – David Smith tweets: “Pistorius family grouped in small circle, weeping, arms around each other. Cameras clicking and filming from every angle.”

12:32 – Pistorius family and friends hold an impromptu prayer meeting after Nair ruling, says Karyn Maughan.

13:48 Pistorius: I fail to understand how I could be charged with murder let alone premeditated murder as I did not intend to kill my girlfriend.

13:50 – Pistorius is leaning forward and sobbing. His brother Carl has his hand on his shoulder, tweets Barry Bateman.

13:51 – Oscar Pistorius: I deny that I committed murder in the strongest point. Even though I don’t have to, I want to deal with these allegations.

13:54 – “Reeva had bought me a present for Valentine’s Day. We were deeply in love.” Oscar sobs.

13:55 – Karyn Maughan tweets “Nair interrupts court: my compassion as a human being doesn’t allow me to continue this.”

13:56 – Magistrate urges Pistorius to compose himself and listen. Says he will give him a few minutes.

13:56 “Nair is going to give him 2 minutes to speak to his family, to regain his composure“, tweets Barry Bateman.
13:57 – Barry Bateman tweets: “Nair tells Oscar he needs to concentrate. We adjourn for a few minutes. Nair asks no photos be taken.”

14:49 – Nel: I will call investigating officer Hilton Botha to reply to Oscar Pistorius statement.

14:55 – [Pistorius] stands, staring straight ahead, eyes narrowed as magistrate gathers his papers. Nair waits for him to leave so cameras can’t [photograph] him.

15:11 – Media behaving like a mob outside court, swarming to get comment. Crushed – @MandyWiener

I remember well tweets coming through exclaiming, as if the Earth was shaking, that “Oscar is crying”, which would result in the entire show shutting down and the court decamping while Oscar – like a deity – recovered himself. The same shitshow would later repeat itself during the criminal trial, a trial Oscar said he didn’t understand why there was even a need for because it was all an accident.

Following the first day of the bail hearing, the prosecutor’s star witness, Detective Hilton Botha, was shortly booted out of the trial. His crime was he’d shot at the tires of a taxi, and since there were several people inside, he faced multiple charges of attempted murder.

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It sounded bad, a lot worse than it really was [just like Oscar’s sobbing and retching in court], but the defense won their gambit and Botha’s testimony had been thrown out.

Score:

Prosecution: 0

Defense: 1

Some of the best, and most incisive writing by far on this case was an interview by Vanity Fair with the former lead investigator. The bad press Botha received meant he lost his job and was effectively run out of town.

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How did I start writing about this particular trial? It didn’t start by focusing on the crime or the criminal, but the victim, and I guess it started for me on Facebook. Since I was a photographer, and since Reeva Steenkamp was a model [sometimes featuring in magazines like FHM and Heat], we were friends on Facebook.

It started by looking on her wall to see her final post [ironically, it was a post to thank another photographer for his work].

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Later I would return, and read more about what she said was going on in her life. Reeva’s penultimate post was about gender violence and standing up and speaking out against crime.

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As time went by, I waited for Reeva’s story to be told. Each day the headlines featured wall to wall coverage of Oscar, and it was always about Oscar. But I wanted to know about Reeva. Who was she? What was her story? What happened to her?

As I became more curious, I began to go further and further into Reeva’s timeline on Facebook. This curiosity had no agenda. I didn’t intend to write or cover anything, I was simply interested in who the person that had been shot dead had once been. The best answers to my questions, I soon found, were coming from her.

As my knowledge and insight expanded, the media managed to maintain a protracted silence about Reeva.

I guess that’s when my journalistic instincts, and my thirst for justice, kicked in.

My coverage of the Oscar trial started off as a magazine article, and started off not focusing on the man everyone was reporting on breathlessly, but rather the woman he shot.  It was about Reeva. And ironically, that magazine article never saw the light of day.

There’s a narrative around that article. It ended up being 12 000 words which I thought could be cut up and printed in 4 parts. I had early interest in South Africa’s largest tabloid magazine, and they assured me they wanted to use the piece, and then they started to drag their feet and make excuses. They said the hype had passed, and suggested holding the article over until Reeva’s birthday in August. When her birthday came they passed on the article. They did, however, cover many of the aspects mentioned in the article bit by bit [including a cancer scare, a portentous picture Reeva painted as a child, and a prior incident she’d experienced with her mother when criminals broke into her home. The tabloid told me they covered this independently after I sent them the research.

While the article on Reeva was in magazine limbo for months, I went on with other work but I started to pay more attention to Oscar. I wasn’t really interested in him so much as a person, I simply wasn’t starstruck by him at all, and as a sportsman myself, I didn’t think his claim to fame [a double amputee competing against able-bodied athletes] was particularly authentic.

So when I wrote about Oscar for the first time in early March 2013 [two weeks after the murder], it was for a financial magazine, and it had to do with Oscar’s spectacular failure to deliver as a brand ambassador. Early on I recognized him not as a hero but as a performer. An actor. A showman. And a failed one at that.

I believe I was also one of the first to recognize Oscar’s emotional behavior in court [and later on television] as a sly attempt and a ploy to influence the outcome. In court, his tone of voice was often high-pitched when he testified, in keeping with his ridiculous claim that the victim [Reeva] had never screamed, and that what five different neighbors heard wasn’t her screaming in terror, but him screaming in terror [because he’d mistaken her for a burglar].

If it was a ploy, it worked. Oscar’s play for sympathy initially got him off the murder charge. The female judge, who had something of a disability herself, found Oscar guilty of culpable homicide [manslaughter] and sentenced him to five years in jail [effectively 10 months].

It was at this moment, when the first trial was complete, that I realized my sense of mission in true crime. In true crime there is seldom an open-and-shut case, and this is especially rare in high-profile true crime. The Chris Watts case is a very rare exception of a case that was wrapped up in super quick time, and a nice bow tied around it.

In true crime, I’ve learnt, things are seldom what they seem – not only the criminals themselves, but the crime scene, the appearance of things including and especially in the media, and the way things are spun in court [by both counsels].

In the end my magazine article on Reeva Steenkamp was recycled from 12 000 words down to just 2000, and published in Marie Claire magazine.

As crazy as this sounds, about a year after writing the original 12 000 word piece, I sent an email to another bestselling author [I won’t say his name]. That email was dated April 14th, 2014, and I still have it. I sent this author, who I’d heard was writing a book on the Oscar trial, all my research and was ready to tip my hat and head off in the sunset back to the world of freelance photojournalism.

In June, I mentioned somewhere on social media that this author [I mentioned his name] was using my work and I was quickly contacted by him by email, rebuked and admonished. I sheepishly apologized, letting him know the offending message was viewed – ultimately – only 38 times.

And then I had a change of heart.

I met with a fellow writer – of crime fiction as it turned out – and told him as a sidenote about the fate of my article on Reeva Steenkamp. He suggested I publish it on Amazon. It wasn’t a route I wanted to go. “So you’re just going to shelve it, put it in a drawer and leave it.” That was what I intended to do. Meanwhile the criminal trial finally got going and the silence on Reeva – from her friends, from the fashion and magazine industry, from journalists and photographers, and even from her on family – continued.

And then I thought, fuck it, I don’t want to be part of that silence. When I published Reeva in her own Words on Amazon on June 6, 2014, I fully expected it to disappear into a digital drawer. But then it didn’t. Instead it sold each day, and for 200 straight days afterwards.

The success of the book along with the message that was going out prompted me to publish other research I’d accumulated but, for various reasons, had been turned down by a slew of newspapers. It didn’t take a lot of work to simply package these articles [written, polished and edited] into a single document. That was published the very next day, and Recidivist Acts too was an immediate success.

The journalist in me recognized that the readership was getting something from me that they weren’t getting anywhere else. I’d simply never considered writing for Amazon the way I wrote for magazine editors.

And so, after the first two “books” were published [neither of which were intended as books, but rather started life as failed print media pitches and submissions], I decided to write what I really had to say about the case. I studied law in my university days, and I’d been keeping an eye on the legal proceedings between ongoing journalism jobs. I published Resurrection before the verdict of the trial came out. Many found this pre-empting vulgar and offensive. It was “too early” they complained, for a book to be out. Meanwhile, others quietly bought it and read it.

I was so effected by Reeva’s story [and still am] that I elected to put her face on every cover, and use the letters R and S [for Reeva Steenkamp] in every title I used.

Resurrection was my first attempt to decipher motive in true crime. Motive was completely missing in the media narrative at that point, and ironically, from the trial narrative as well. The prosecution simply never fielded one, and the judge – rightly – remarked on this. Technically a motive isn’t necessary, it doesn’t have to be proved in a criminal case, just intent. But this was probably the biggest failure of the otherwise savvy prosecutor. If it was a premeditated murder, at least offer an idea why you think it happened.

Since no one was having that conversation, I was.

When I wrote Revelations, I wanted to discuss another issue that had been left out of the court narrative. The timeline of events. The method of the murder. Incredibly, neither counsel had provided the court with a timeline [at that point], and the prosecution was nitpicking on evidence rather than providing a scenario for how the murder actually played out. While the attempt to return several times to key parts of testimony to catch the accused off-balance made sense, they also had the undesired effect of confusing the timeline [and, as it turned out, the judge].

In October I contacted the bestselling author I mentioned earlier and gave him instructions that he no longer had permission to use any of my research. He said this would be possible but problematic, and asked if I also wanted my name removed from his list of acknowledgements. I said I did.

[The author later published a book which amounted to apologia, a bogus sympathy narrative on Oscar written with the approval, and input – it seemed – of Oscar’s family. The author’s way of addressing what Oscar was thinking – his motive – was a cop out, something unknown and unknowable. Ironically that book today has fewer reviews than the research – published as a book – that I’d given to him. Currently my books on the case are also ranked far higher on Amazon than his book].

The South African media, with rare exceptions, mostly ignored my coverage. In one instance, I was invited on a radio show not to have a serious discussion on my research, but as a comedic ploy, where a top detective was invited to poke holes into my amateur research for the amusement of the morning show radio audience. The comedy aspect didn’t quite play out as planned, for the host.

Ironically, we [the celebrity detective and I] ended up agreeing on a vital aspect of the case – that Reeva was shot either while she was on her phone or about to make a call. I brought up this aspect and when the host asked Piet Byleveld to comment, he said it made sense. What I didn’t say is that it’s also possible Reeva had Oscar’s phone in the cubicle that Valentine’s Day morning when she was shot, and that’s the reason he started bashing down the door with the bat, and then reverted to shooting through the door.

Then I started sitting in on the trial in person, rather than watching it on television. I sat in as an accredited journalist, and reported on the sentencing trial, the appeal and the verdict of the SCA. That’s yours truly [see below] in the red and blue beanie, participating in the media scrum.

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I also traveled to meet Reeva’s parents in person, and communicated a few times with her cousin [who also testified at trial].

At one stage, after the Supreme Court of Appeal sent the case back to the judge for a review of sentence, I had a brief meeting with the prosecutor, and we were going to have a witness I’d found and interviewed, testify in aggravation. The prosecutor contacted the witness, warned her of being targeted in the press, and she subsequently decided not to testify.

Oscar was subsequently sentenced to six years in jail, a sentence the new prosecutor described in November 2017 as shockingly light. These were the same words the original prosecutor used after the initial sentence of five years was handed down in November 2014.

As the trial dragged on, media interest waned. Finally, when the original fuck up was finally overturned and the Oscar was found guilty of murder [and sentenced to the minimum of 15 years], the media coverage was gone.

I was there on the final court day and no one else was. Not the family of the killer, not the family of the victim. Not even the lawyers. Instead of the large legal teams, a skeletal crew representing them attended. The biggest, most high-profile case in the country’s history ended not with a bang, not with a celebration for the triumph of justice, but a whimper.

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I learned valuable lessons during the Oscar trial. I learned how justice isn’t a given even in “open and shut” cases. I learned how dumb and biased the media can be. I saw the powerful impact of PR to set up a bogus narrative while drowning out the victim, and rendering her completely invisible. I realized just how clueless vast swathes of the public can be. Even with bumper to bumper coverage, most people watching the case remained ignorant or misinformed, which makes them easy to manipulate. And they were. Many, like the judge, fell for the performance and lost sight of the obvious, let alone the letter of the law.

I learned how important motive, a timeline, and relationship dynamics are, even – and especially – when no one is talking about these, including the lawyers arguing the case.

Most important, through Reeva, I learned to see beyond the cardboard cutouts, and to see these people as people. People as flesh and blood, admirable at times, beautiful sometimes, but also fallible. People not so different, after all, from you and I.

Through Reeva I saw the way to truly understand true crime is through the interiority of the people involved, and 14 books later, I’ve taken on the mantle of true crime full time. Today I write books for a living.  Instead of magazine articles, I write mostly about high-profile cases,  but sometimes I depart into other areas, like mountain climbing, art, travel, my late mother, or even fiction.

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#amwriting and conjuring.

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Since I started writing books five years ago, in mid-2014, I’ve had some success. DOUBT, covering the Madeleine McCann case, went up to #2 on Britain’s competitive true crime bestseller charts in 2017, during the ten year anniversary period of her disappearance.

I’ve also had some of my books reviewed [negatively of course] by the “exonerated” defendants themselves. The international media have paid more attention to my work [you know what they say about a prophet in his own hometown] especially of the JonBenet Ramsey case. Given the massive coverage this colossus of a case garnered in America and worldwide, it was a real test whether I could add anything to that narrative. I think I did.

But it all started with her, with Reeva Steenkamp. To be honest, I still don’t feel her story has been done justice.

Crime News – December 2018

December 31st, 2018

1. Bodycam video of the interior of the Conoco Gas Station at Frederick Travel Center.

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September 22nd bodycam video:

https://youtu.be/UI2q3Uf0-o0

How relevant are “burner phones”to the Watts case?

https://youtu.be/ebrtC12WBIw

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2. Missing mom moved to Colorado for love of man now accused of her murder, cousin says – Foxnews.com

The cousin, JoDee Garretson, says Berreth met 31-year-old cattle rancher Patrick Frazee online in early 2016, and moved from Warden, Washington, a few months later to be closer to him. They were ultimately engaged and while they lived in separate homes about 15 miles apart, they shared custody of a 1-year-old daughter, Kaylee.

According to police, Berreth’s employer got a text from her phone on Nov. 25, saying she wouldn’t be at work that week. Frazee also said she texted him that day, but the contents of that text have not been released.

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3. REVEALED: The dark secrets of Khashoggi’s killing – News24

The book also says that the head of the hit squad, Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, told Khashoggi when he entered the consulate that he would not be harmed if he cooperated with them.

He asked Khashoggi to send a message [from his cell phone] to his son Salah’s phone in Riyadh, informing him that he was safe in Istanbul and not to worry if he could not be contacted for a while. Khashoggi refused to do so, and in the recording, cited in the book, can be heard saying: “Will you kill me? Will you suffocate me?”

According to the book, Khashoggi maintained his composure when he realised that he would not get out of the consulate alive, after he heard Mutreb ordering five members of the hit squad to attack the writer by suffocating him with a nylon bag. The recordings indicate that Khashoggi’s last sentence was: “Do not cover my mouth. I have asthma, you will suffocate me.”

Khashoggi resisted his killers for five minutes, according to the book.

Afterwards, Khashoggi’s body was cut up by Tubaigy using a forensic saw. The book purports that the members of the hit squad, who remained present at the scene, were disturbed and nauseated by the dismemberment.

4. California’s largest utility provider could face murder charges for wildfires, AG says – CNN


December 30th, 2018

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1. CrimeRocket was started on October 10th, 82 days ago, or 2 months and 20 days. Today it passed 1 million page impressions. Thank you to all justice seekers for supporting this site. See you all on the other side.

2. 2018 was the year Facebook and Twitter grew up – CNN

3. Court filing in Russian troll farm case references nude selfie – CNN

Could the manner in which he collected a nude selfie really threaten the national security of the United States,” Concord’s lawyers ask in the filing.

Concord’s filing Thursday comes amid a drawn-out fight where the Russian company seeks to access what the Justice Department says is “sensitive” evidence in the case, which could reveal national security and American investigative secrets to powerful foreigners.

Is a nude selfie “sensitive evidence”?


December 29th, 2018

1. Trial Analyst Andell Brown Discusses the Many Opportunities for Chris Watts to be Truthful

2. Day Before He Was Arrested in Case of Missing Fiancée, What Colorado Dad Told a Client – People

“He’s very conscientious about his work,” Cline tells PEOPLE of Frazee, a farrier who, at least twice a year, arrived to trim and care for the hooves of the donkeys that roam free in the historic former gold mining camp near the base of Pike’s Peak. “He had the health and the well-being of the donkeys’ interest at heart,” Cline says.

Given the circumstances — Kelsey Berreth, Frazee’s 29-year-old fiancée and mother to their 1-year-old daughter, who by then had been missing for 28 days — “I think that’s the last thing I would have been doing at that time, calling my customers and giving a new cell,” Cline says.

3. Boston Marathon bomber asks to overturn conviction, toss death sentence – The Hill

4. Oscar Pistorius: Feeding souls with Bible readings and vegetable garden – TimesLive

PICTURE: Oscar Pistorius let out for memorial of beloved grandfather – TimesLive

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5. Willem Dafoe: The Art of Painting the Light – backstage

Of filming and living in France, particularly in Auvers-sur-Oise, the commune outside of Paris where van Gogh died after suffering a gunshot to the chest, Dafoe says the experience was “incredible. You’re approximating his perspective; you can see some of the landscapes from his paintings and then you can visit them so they’re alive…. You feel his spirit.”

Learning to paint, which in several scenes from the film he had to do in real time, similarly rooted Dafoe in van Gogh’s body. “It was very important to give me the physical experience to be able to relate to some of the things he was talking about. I can relate as someone who’s interested in art, some I can relate to as a human being. But once I started painting, it was more complete.”


December 28th, 2018

1.New CU Study Finds Cancer Risk Is Higher For Those Living Near Oil And Gas Wells – Longmont Observer

2. Patrick Frazee Appears In Court For Custody Hearing – CBS

Note the custody hearing was scheduled last week, so clearly the hearing itself does not play into the motive for the murder, although that doesn’t mean custody wasn’t a contentious issue.

The Berreths were forced to come face-to-face with their daughter’s fiance and accused killer Patrick Frazee, less than a week after he was charged with murder – Daily Mail

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3. Amanda Knox Suffers Horrific Christmas Death Tragedy -RadarOnline

Knox, 31, says she and new fiancé Christopher Robinson are “utterly heartbroken” over the accident.

“He was the smartest, funniest, sweetest, cuddliest, most talkative and wonderful cat. We feel so lucky to have had him our lives.”

Words and sentiments Knox failed to come close to expressing after her friend, Meredith Kercher, was murdered in her home, in the room next to hers, in Perugia, Italy.

4. Police have video of Kevin Spacey groping a busboy, complaint says – CNN

5. How Trump’s secret trip to Iraq became not-so-secret – CNN

Former Secret Service Agent Jonathan Wackrow, who has helped coordinate conflict zone trips for multiple protectees…says the spotting of Air Force One and Twitter chatter is not a security breach, but is concerning and a lesson to be learned.

“In the age of social media, this highlights a new vulnerability that the Secret Service and military have to be super mindful of in the future,” Wackrow says. “You’re charting new territory with the inclusion of social media from a threat perspective and from an awareness perspective, and future planning is going to address that.”


December 27th, 2018

1. From a happy pregnancy announcement to a shallow grave: The full timeline of the Chris Watts murder case – Business Insider Australia

June 14: Chris Watts enters coworker Nichol Kessinger’s contact information into his phone. Kessinger would later become his mistress.

The way the media has written this suggests Watts had one phone, and by entering her details into his phone in June, Kessinger became his mistress after this date. This is how myths and misconceptions are created by the MSM.

June 27: Shanann Watts takes Bella, right, and Celeste, left, to North Carolina for a five-week vacation, while her husband stays at home and works.

July 4: Kessinger told police she went to Chris Watts’ house for the first time on the Fourth of July to “set up his diet and weight loss/exercise goals.” “He invited her to his home, he cooked lunch, they ate and she left,” according to police documents.

July 7: The first phone call is logged between Chris Watts and Kessinger.

That too is a misleading misinterpretation.

July 14: Chris Watts and Kessinger go on a date to [the Shelby American Collection in Boulder]. That afternoon, Shanann Watts makes four unanswered calls to her husband.
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2. JonBenet’s tricycle: Murdered six-year-old’s abandoned toy reveals new truths in famous case – news.com.au

This is how the media “investigates” a 22 year old crime on its anniversary:

The child pageant queen’s cute pink tricycle, complete with streamers on the handlebars, was dumped beside the house. Soon enough, Novick had taken ownership of the dead girl’s trike, along with a packet of popcorn and an oversized candy cane which had decorated the front lawn, but became a grim symbol of the tragedy as cameras filmed every minute of the investigation from outside the Ramsey home.

Novick, previously a member of local Charles Manson-themed band Scramblehead, was no stranger to controversy. He wanted to explore the meaning behind the trike.

He took it to psychics to see whether they could read anything from it. He left it on the footpath to see how passers-by would react (many began riding it).

He realised everyone had some kind of link to JonBenet. “One woman who rode it, her dad was one of the movers,” he told news.com.au. “Another one told me she lived two doors down, and grew up with the media attention.

“There will always be theories. I’m as interested in how we treat it, the media.”

The above story is actually an amalgam of a story from Forbes, posted in March 2018, and another from October 2016, in other words, none of it is new.

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From the archives:

Shock claim Burke Ramsey killed JonBenet – but with different weapon – NZ Herald


December 26th, 2018

1.

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2. Evidence in Case of Missing Colorado Mother Found 800 Miles Away in Idaho – Time

3. Willem Dafoe (‘At Eternity’s Gate’): ‘I worked very hard’ to get into Vincent van Gogh’s mindset [Complete Interview Transcript] – goldderby.com

4. Life’s one big party! Newly-engaged Amanda Knox parties with her beau and friends before the holidays as her interviews for Vice show air – Amanda Knox


December 25th, 2018

1. Holiday Season Murders: Laci Peterson, JonBenét Ramsey and Other Disturbing Crimes – People

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2. Cell phone of missing Colorado mom Kelsey Berreth may have been found as court docs show her fiance Patrick Frazee plans to fight murder charge – Daily Mail

Sheila Frazee, the mother of the suspect, was briefly detained by authorities but not placed under arrest. The divorced mother-of-four, who is a registered nurse, lives with her youngest son at the ranch, which she outright owns according to public records. She also owns two additional properties in the area.

Her son meanwhile attends to the ranch and also breeds dogs.  

That same source said that Frazee’s arrest came after authorities obtained new information about Berreth that has lead them to believe she is no longer alive. Frazee was arrested after cell records and data provided new details regarding Berreth’s disappearance, according to officials.

The solicitation charge was also addressed at a news conference on Friday, with officials saying that Frazee asked someone to commit some sort of crime but refusing to elaborate beyond that at this time.  On Friday, Frazee appeared at Teller County court via video conference where the judge read him his charges – first-degree murder as well as solicitation of murder. The audience at court was unable to see the screen.

None of his relatives were present during the hearing. He will be held without bond pending his next court appearance on December 31. As for where the body may be, police told residents of Woodland Park that they should expect an increase in police activity around the area in the coming days.  Agents are also at Berreth’s home looking for evidence.  

New documents released in case against Kelsey Berreth’s fiancé – 9news

Monday’s court documents include a request from Frazee’s public defenders asking that investigators turn over emails and text messages they’ve recovered.

Woodland Park Police Chief Miles De Young said the two had exchanged custody of their 1-year-old daughter on Thanksgiving. Frazee does not have a prior criminal history in Colorado, according to CBI records. He is slated to appear in court again on Dec. 31.

De Young said it is an “absolute possibility” there could be more arrests in Berreth’s disappearance.


December 24th, 2018

1. Chris Watts: Police Scanner Audio

https://youtu.be/X13gHNZHUcE

Christopher Watts’ two lives leading to murder – Daily Camera

2. Patrick Frazee spotted at waste management facility, police return to his property – krdo.com

…eyewitnesses exclusively told KRDO they saw Frazee at a waste management facility, dropping off a load on Monday.

Employees at the company in Teller County also tell us they saw Frazee at the facility dropping off trash from a long trailer with two other men. Witnesses say Frazee remained in a white pickup truck as the two other men, who drove in two separate cars, unloaded the trailer.

The trash was later collected by police and it’s been reported a few of the items were taken away by police for further investigation. Photos capture Woodland Park police cars on the property. They were not able to give us any further information regarding the investigation or could not tell us what exactly was found.

Family: Kelsey Berreth moved to Colorado to be closer to Frazee – koaa.com

No sign of law enforcement at Berreth or Frazee home one day after murder arrest – krdo.com

3. Egypt Bans Teen Who Climbed and Took Photos Atop the Great Pyramid of Giza – hyperallergic.com

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4. Danish photographer and model take nude photo on top of Giza pyramids -stepfeed.com

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Video link in BIO.

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December 23rd, 2018
1. Selfie of Shan’ann Watts, with her mother-in-law in the pool behind her

What do we know about CO 528-ZJV?

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Why Colorado Crimes So Often Go National – Westword

Colorado is a bucolic wonderland filled with spectacular scenery and gorgeous people whose lives are like travel brochures made real.

It’s the kind of place where nothing bad should ever happen — and when it does, the impact is amplified to a shattering degree.

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2. Kelsey Berreth case: Idaho police find possible evidence linked to missing mom investigation – Denver Post

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3. IDENTIFYING JAMESON: Hickory’s peculiar connection to the JonBenét Ramsey murder investigation – Hickory Record

Jameson, who is now in her 60s, described herself in her pre-cybersleuth days as a housewife who homeschooled her kid and baked bread all day. I imagine in 1997 when Jameson first heard of what happened to JonBenét, she put herself in the Ramseys’ shoes. She saw herself and her husband in John and Patsy and she saw her own child or children in JonBenét and Burke.

The article appears to indicate that Jameson has inherited detective Lou Smit’s case files.

Who is Jameson? – Reddit

ACandyRose on the History of Webbsleuths

JonBenet Ramsey and the Rise of an Internet Subculture – Westword

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December 22nd, 2018

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1. For the past week or so, the mainstream media has been saturated with talk about Watts receiving love letters in jail. That’s all the media can talk about, and all that is being talked about. It’s ultra lame tabloid-style coverage of the Watts case. Here’s another:

He’s locked up for life after murdering his wife and children. So why do women send him love letters? – Washington Post

2. Murder suspect Patrick Frazee to get new attorney – krdo.com

Patrick Frazee arrested for murder after Kelsey Berreth’s disappearance – krdo.com

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3. Gatwick drone chaos: Man and woman arrested – CNN

Gatwick drone drama shows how even unarmed UAVs can cause economic chaos and risk to life – The Conversation

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December 21st, 2018

1. Chris Watts Is A ‘Narcissist’ Who ‘Thought He Could Get Away With It …– In Touch Weekly

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Shan’ann Watts Slammed Chris’s ‘Evil’ Parents for Putting Girls in Danger Before Murder – CafeMom

“You should call your dad and tell him you did not appreciate your mom putting your daughter at risk today, nor do you like that she teased our girls,” Shan’ann reportedly wrote in texts to Chris. “You should also say you don’t appreciate her saying they have to learn they can’t always get what they want! They are 2 and 4!”

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Infidelity…. Should you be able to sue the person who had an affair with your significant other? – blog.law.info

…we’ve decided as a society that certain behaviors are not OK.  As a result, we’ve decided that there are certain standards by which people are obligated to act.  We expect people to act according to “that degree of care that an ordinarily prudent person can be reasonably expected to exercise under similar circumstance.”  If someone acts “unreasonably” in those situations, then they can be sued for the harm caused to a third person as a result.  For instance:  

If you are injured by a driver who failed to exercise reasonable care when driving on the freeway, you can sue them because all drivers have a duty to act reasonably to prevent harm to other drivers. Doctors are supposed to perform their duties as any other reasonable doctor would in a similar situation, or else face liability for medical malpractice. Store owners must put up a sign when a floor is wet, because society considers that to be the reasonable way to act to prevent someone from slipping and falling.  Homeowners must warn guests in their home of any sort of danger that may be posed by an ongoing remodeling job of the kitchen.   If someone punches you, you can sue them for injuries for intentionally hurting you! …but in most states you can’t sue an affair-partner for interfering with the most important relationship of your life?

2. Missing Colorado woman likely died at home, fiance charged with murder – abc7

A mother vanished on Thanksgiving. Now her fiance is facing murder charges. – Washington Post

Missing Colorado Mom’s Fiance Charged With Her Murder – CNN

Police PLEAD with fiance of missing Colorado mom to sit down and answer their questions 23 days after she vanished – Daily Mail

Kelsey Berreth’s Fiance Is a ‘Gentle Soul’ Who Would Never Hurt Anyone, Friend Says – CNN

3. Madeleine McCann search will not stop until it ‘reaches conclusion’ – The Mirror

In the Chris Watts case, the “missing persons” were found a few days after they “disappeared”. In the Madeleine McCann case, the “missing person” search has been going on for eleven years, and this story involves another pledge to never stop searching.

£12 million has already been spent on the search for Madeleine, making it the most expensive individual missing person’s case in history.


December 20th, 2018

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1. Home Where Chris Watts Slaughtered His Family On Auction Block – RadarOnline

Jailbird Chris Watts Pigging Out On Brownies, Donuts & Cookies Behind Bars – RadarOnline

Killer Chris WattsOpens a New Window. is stuffing his face with brownies, donuts and other junk foods at his Wisconsin prison — but the monster murderer has yet to make a single phone calRadarOnline.com can exclusively report.

Maybe he’s trying to transform himself from Sexy Hunk to Joe Ordinary, in an effort to be overlooked by libidinous prison-mates.

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According to his December 14 commissary list, the jailbird, 36, will soon trade in his buff physique for a dad-bod: He ordered a six-pack of fudge brownies, three boxes of holiday cookies, powdered donuts, and three iced buns.

He also bought deodorant, shampoo, body lotion and even pens and envelopes to mail letters out — amid reports he’s receiving a massive amount of love letters from female fans.

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FROM CHRIS WATTS TO THE RHODEN FAMILY MASSACRE: 10 SHOCKING FAMILY CRIMES OF 2018 – Oxygen

He spoke about how Watts’ wife Shan’ann texted him over and over trying to save their marriage, how she bought relationship books for him, one of which was found in the trash. Instead, he shopped for jewelry and vacation spots for his new girlfriend.

Prosecutor Michael Rourke said Watts killed his family not out of rage, but in a calculated manner.

“Why did this have to happen? [Watts]’ motive was simple, your honor,” Rourke said. “He had a desire for a fresh start.”

Was the motive really that simple?

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2. Former sheriff sues Netflix over ‘Making A Murderer’ – news.com.au

Colborn contends the series was edited to make viewers think he and others planted evidence to frame Avery.

“His reputation and that of Manitowoc County, itself, has been severely and unjustly defamed,” Colborn’s lawyer, Michael Griesbach, said in a press release (per Variety). “He is filing this lawsuit to set the record straight and to restore his good name.”

Representatives for Netflix had no comment when reached by Fox News.

Colborn contends that the filmmakers distorted the events and left out key facts in order to make the argument that he framed Avery and Dassey for the murder.

Both Dassey and Avery remain behind bars as the debate over their guilt or innocence continues to be debated.

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Steven Avery’s Attorney Calls Ex-Cop’s Lawsuit ‘Early Christmas Present’ – Rolling Stone

3. FROM THE ARCHIVES: Scott Peterson Talks About The Disappearance Of His Wife Laci – CBS Sacramento


December 19th, 2018

1. Dr. Phil reckons Chris Watts broke the bones of his daughters when he forced their bodies through the thief hatches and into the tanks. But the autopsy doesn’t show any broken bones…

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2. Sixteen Years Later, Family Of Scott Peterson Claims New Evidence Proves Innocence CBS Sacramento

3. San Diego Sheriff Affirms Suicide as Cause of Rebecca Zahau’s Death – timesofsandiego


December 18th, 2018

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1. Chris Watts guilty plea was a surprise to prosecutors: ‘Out of the blue’ – CrimeOnline

A spokesperson for the Weld County District Attorney’s office said that prosecutors there were just as surprised by Chris Watts’s seemingly sudden decision to plead guilty to murdering his pregnant wife and two children as the curious public that has been gripped by the tragic family killing.

CrimeOnline contacted the Weld County District Attorney’s office for confirmation of a report related to the Watts murder case and to follow up on a fulfilled Colorado Open Records Request. Part of CrimeOnline’s original request asked for any documentation related to any recorded discussions preceding Watts’s decision to plead guilty to murdering his pregnant wife Shanann and two daughters, 4-year-old Bella and 3-year-old Celeste.

But a spokesperson for the District Attorney’s office said that Watts’ defense lawyer approached the District Attorney “out of the blue” to announce that Watts had decided to plead guilty on the condition that the death penalty be taken off the table. The spokesperson indicated that Watts’ decision was very unexpected, and said that prosecutors don’t know why Watts appeared to have a sudden change of heart.

‘The most hated woman in America’: Killer Chris Watts’ mistress ‘is in witness protection hundreds of miles from home and will be given a new name and identity’ – Daily Mail

‘I don’t even know if they were like filing for divorce. I don’t know if they were putting the house up. I don’t even know. I don’t even know anymore what is real and what is not.’

‘I can’t do this alone’: Texts show an increasingly distraught Shanann Watts worried about having a third baby as killer husband turns cold on her – CrimeOnline

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TWO FACE RAPE OF CASSANDRA, the 4th book in the ongoing series, has been published.

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2. At Eternity’s Gate: Willem Dafoe redefines, raises the bar in portraying Vincent van Gogh – Stuff.co.nz

China’s art copy capital struggles to change its reputation – scmp

Vincent van Gogh’s swirling dreamscape vision of the night sky, the iconic The Starry Night is estimated to be worth more than US$100 million.

Ma Chunyan, a 32-year-old artist in Dafen, can produce in one day a 1,000 yuan (US$145) reproduction of the masterpiece from an image on her mobile phone.

Ma is one of 8,000 painters creating copies of Western art in Dafen for a market which has never returned since the global financial crisis in 2008 when foreign demand for art reproductions fell.

The declining overseas orders have spurred the local government to embark on a plan to transform Dafen into a producer of original works instead.

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3. Michael Flynn sentencing postponed after judge issues blistering rebuke – CNN


December 17th, 2018

1. Wife & Child Killer Chris Watts’ Mistress Placed In Witness Protection – RadarOnline

Nichol Kessinger ‘plans to start fresh with a new name,’ a source claims.

“She has received several threats, public shaming and could be considered one of the ‘most hated women’ in America,” a source close to the investigation told Radar. “She plans to start fresh with a new name, new town and ultimately a new identity.”

Now, she is living in another state for her own safety, the source explained… 

Death penalty: How likely is it to be imposed with a new Colorado governor? – Coloradoan

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2. Russians sought to recruit ‘assets’ through social media, Senate told – CNN


December 15th, 2018

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1. Chris Watts Killed His Family. Then The Love Letters Started Rolling In. – Huffington Post

CO-WORKER TOLD COPS ABOUT ‘UNUSUAL’ COMMUNICATION HE HAD WITH CHRIS WATTS THE DAY BEFORE HE DUMPED FAMILY’S BODIES – Oxygen

Watts’ arrangements with Kodi Roberts on Friday to go to CERVI 319 first thing Monday prove the premeditation went as far back as two full days.

Fullscreen capture 20181216 192847Colorado gas prices plummet, and some local stations have it for less than $2 per gallon – Greeley Tribune

Before this week, there was no point in 2018 when average prices in Colorado were lower than they were at the same time period in 2017, 2016 or 2015. The drop was abrupt. As recently as a month ago, motorists were paying an average of $2.77 per gallon in the Centennial State.

“We had the largest week-to-week drop of any state,” AAA Colorado spokesman Skyler McKinley said. “So there is some stabilization going on.”

The reasons behind Colorado’s pricey year are complicated. Gas prices are affected by “thousands if not hundreds of thousands of micro economies,” McKinley said, especially since the state gets gas from West Coast sources, refineries in states to the north and from the Gulf Coast.

Local gas taxes aren’t to blame. As of July, Colorado applied 22 cents of taxes and fees to each gallon of gas sold in the state, the 11th lowest rate in the nation, according to the nonprofit Tax Foundation.

2. Is Scott Peterson Innocent? Part Two – Psychology Today

3. How Van Gogh’s Tumultuous Friendship with Gauguin Drove Him to Cut Off His Ear – Biography.com

The intense and turbulent friendship between the Post-Impressionist masters Paul Gauguin and Vincent van Gogh lasted only 63 days and ended in one of the most bizarre acts in the history of art—van Gogh brutally slicing off his own ear.

That’s the official version of why the world’s most famous artist cut off his own ear, and almost bled to death afterwards.  I believe Gauguin – who was a keen fencer –  cut off Vincent’s ear, and Vincent took it on the chin. He had to because Gauguin was the more successful artist, and had a business arrangement with his brother Theo. And coincidentally, so did Vincent, so he couldn’t fuck that up by blaming Gauguin, so he reverted to type, he blamed himself.

So add credence to this theory, Gauguin bugged out of Arles so quickly after Vincent’s “mishap”, he left behind his fencing equipment.  He wrote to Vincent later asking him if he’d courier his swords back to him. This was Vincent’s response:

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Read the full New Yorker article about Van Gogh’s Ear, here.

My book The Murder of Vincent van Gogh rubbishes the popular mainstream contentions that 1) Vincent cut off his ear, 2) went mad and 3) committed suicide. It also provides an in-depth revisionist history of the great artist. The Murder of Vincent van Gogh describes how and why Gauguin injured Vincent [it was an attempted murder in fact], what drove him to the asylum at St Remy [it wasn’t madness, but he was a very troubled man, you would be too in a similar situation] and finally, that Vincent wasn’t shot by accident but deliberately murdered.

The identity of the murderer and the motive, as well as the location of the crime, is sketched in true crime terms for the first time ever.


December 14th, 2018

1. BREAKING: Frankie Rzucek arrested in October 2015 for assaulting a two-year-old child

2. 2 from O.J. Simpson defense team helping ex-USU linebacker charged with rapes – Deseret News

3. His worst nightmare: Trump’s life under a legal microscope – CNN

4. Woman arrested after racist tirade in NYC subway – CNN


December 13th, 2018

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1. ‘That was me freaking out’: New audio of Nichol Kessinger police interview details late night of phone calls, FaceTime with Chris Watts hours after Shanann, daughters went missing [EXCLUSIVE] – CrimeOnline

New evidence released in Chris Watts case – CNN

Video shows the moment Chris Watts realized he had been caught in a lie after murdering his wife and 2 young daughters – Insider

2. Maddie McCann latest: ‘Maybe tomorrow we will find her’ Mum’s heartbreaking speech – Express

3. Trump inaugural committee under criminal investigation, source says – CNN

4. How Sandy Hook changed the response to mass shootings – CNN


December 12th, 2018

1. FBI accuse Watts’ ‘gay lover’ of lying and being a prostitute

Chris Watts’ coworker Anthony Brown talks about Nichol Kessinger’s “nice body”… [AUDIO]

https://youtu.be/SZt2CWP0ZXY

Shan’ann’s brother Frankie Rzucek calls Golightly

SHAN’ANN’S FRIEND TO CHRIS WATTS: LOOK FOR YOUR FAMILY ‘UNLESS YOU WANT POLICE TO BUST DOWN YOUR DAMN DOOR DOWN’ – OXYGEN

2. Alleged Russian spy Maria Butina pleads guilty to engaging in conspiracy against US – CNN

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3. Texas Hockey foul…


December 11th, 2018

1.‘I don’t know if I’m straight’: How Chris Watts invited gay escort to his home and introduced him to daughters while they were having sexual relationship – Daily Mail

In Nichol Kessinger’s first interview with police, she said she wasn’t in love with killer dad Chris Watts: ‘It’s a horrible situation’ [EXCLUSIVE] – CrimeOnline

‘I CAN’T DO THIS ALONE WITH 3 KIDS:’ WITH MARRIAGE IN TATTERS, PREGNANT SHANANN WATTS CONSIDERED NOT HAVING BABY – OXYGEN

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#ChrisWatts Notice anything strange?

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2. Rebecca Zahau Death Review Concluded, Official Cause Remains Suicide: Sheriff – NBCSanDiego

At Friday’s news conference, Gore told reporters he knows some observers are skeptical of his department’s conclusions. But he defended his homicide team, calling them “as good as any in the state or the county.”

“They’ve got 100 years of experience,” he said. “We have no reason not to follow the facts, follow the evidence, and follow the interviews where they lead us.”

Greer, the Zahau family attorney, told reporters that the sheriff’s department had barred him from the news conference. Speaking outside the department’s conference room, he claimed it is “impossible” that fair, thorough review of the evidence could again conclude that Zahau killed herself.

“That tells me there’s something corrupt in the (Sheriff’s) process,” Greer said. “I don’t know if we’ll ever know that (that corruption) is, but it’s not a logical conclusion. There’s something here that is motivating (the Sheriff’s department) to do the wrong thing.”

Before the news conference, Greer told NBC 7 that it’s possible that Sheriff Gore and other department executives were influenced by Jonah Shacknai’s wealth.

Gore responded with a measured but forceful denial. “I never took any money from Jonah Shacknai in my election or re-election campaigns. That’s just not the way we operate,” he said. “And to be quite honest, I take personal offense at that, at impugning the reputation of this department, one of the best in the country.”

3. Time magazine names Jamal Khashoggi and persecuted journalists ‘person of the year’ – Guardian

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Like all human gifts, courage comes to us at varying levels and at varying moments,” Time magazine’s editor-in-chief, Edward Felsenthal, wrote in an essay about the selection.

“This year we are recognizing four journalists and one news organization who have paid a terrible price to seize the challenge of this moment…

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December 10th, 2018

1.Why is Kessinger’s first Google Search for “Shanann Watts” becoming a Shifting Goalpost?

Harrowing photos and written report detail the painstaking process of retrieving Chris Watts’ two daughters from enormous oil drums three days after their father murdered them and dumped their bodies – Daily Mail

Chris Watts’ Mistress Tells Police of Sexual Encounter – NBCBoston

2.  ‘I can’t breathe.’ Jamal Khashoggi’s last words disclosed in transcript, source says – CNN

Despite his desperate pleas, the last discernible words the transcript records for Khashoggi are:

“I can’t breathe.”

The transcript notes more noises, and several more voices.

One of those voices is identified on the transcript by Turkish authorities as belonging to Dr. Salah Muhammad al-Tubaiqi, the head of forensic medicine at Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry, the source says.

Aside from Khashoggi and Mutreb, he is the only other voice identified by name on the transcript. As the transcript continues, it is clear Khashoggi is not yet dead.

The transcript notes the noises that can be heard on the tape, almost in the manner that subtitles describe moments in movies where there is no dialogue.

“Scream.”

“Scream.”

“Gasping.”

Then, the transcript notes other descriptions.

“Saw.”

“Cutting.”

Tubaiqi is noted giving some advice to other people in the room, apparently to help them deal with the appalling task.

“Put your earphones in, or listen to music like me.”

During the scene, the transcript notes at least three phone calls placed by Mutreb.

The transcript does not specify the moment Khashoggi dies.


December 9th, 2018

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1. Download link for SECOND MAJOR TRANCHE OF DISCOVERY DOCUMENTS

‘I don’t want to have this baby’: newly released texts reveal Shanann Watts’ anxiety over growing family – kdvr

The moment Chris Watts confessed to murdering his pregnant wife: Part 2 – Yahoo

Chris Watts led double life before murdering his family, court docs show: Part 3 – Yahoo

In a shocking statement, Chris Watts describes how he killed his wife: Part 4 – Yahoo

Nichol Kessinger Private Texts with Charlotte Nelson

2. Cold cases are getting colder: Why we must have an ending to the story – Telegraph


December 8th, 2018

1. Final release of evidence in Chris Watts case still doesn’t answer ‘why’ – 9News

Investigators working on the disappearance of a pregnant Frederick woman and her two young daughters amassed a staggering amount of evidence – thousands of pages of documentshundreds of hours of video footage, dozens of recorded interviews.

All of it was used to build a sweeping case against Chris Watts, the 33-year-old man who ultimately pled guilty to killing his wife and kids in a deal brokered by his attorneys to spare him the possibility of facing the death penalty.

But even as much information as it provides, it does not answer the biggest question of all: Why did Watts decide to strangle Shanann Watts, his wife of six years, and smother the couple’s little girls, Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3?

‘Bad thoughts were going through my head’: Watts neighbor’s police interview details suspicion, ‘eerie’ feeling – Greeley Tribune

When Watts family neighbor and Shanann Watts’ friend Nickole Atkinson was looking through the Watts home with Frederick police Aug. 13, she said she tried not to touch anything.

It had been hours since Atkinson had sent several unanswered texts to Shanann, since Atkinson had called Shanann’s husband, Christopher Watts, since Atkinson had gone to the doctor to beg them to tell her whether Shanann made it to her scheduled appointment.

Jesus, it’s December and they can’t even get the facts straight that Atkinson was Shan’ann’s friend not her neighbor. Clueless media!

So when she walked into the Watts home with Christopher and police at the very beginning of a missing persons-come murder case, Atkinson said she had an eerie feeling. That’s why she tried not to touch anything.

“Because at that point, bad thoughts were going through my head,” Atkinson told investigators in a newly released audio recording.

“They’re silly little things, but why would he strip the bed before he went to work if Shanann was still sleeping in the bed (as Watts told friends, family and investigators),” Atkinson said.

 Download Track

It turns out, Atkinson’s eerie feeling was correct. The family wasn’t on a play date; they had been murdered by Watts. Shanann was never around to make the kids beds Aug. 13. And the master bed? Investigators would later find a fitted sheet matching that bedding near the tank battery north of Roggen where Watts had dumped his families’ bodies.

There was more. Atkinson watched a neighbor’s camera footage from early that morning. It was 5:18 a.m., and Watts had backed his truck up into the garage and loaded something into the bed.

“That’s when my mind went bad — really bad,” Atkinson said. “What would he be loading up at 5:18 in the morning? And Shanann yells at him (when he uses the garage) because the garage wakes up the (girls) and the girls’ bedroom is right above the garage.”

In one exchange, Shanann tells her friend Watts wasn’t wearing his wedding ring, and he had changed his phone’s background photo to sand dunes. Unknown to both Shanann and Atkinson was this: Watts had spent time at the sand dunes with his mistress while Shanann was in North Carolina with the girls.

Shanann told Atkinson she would tell Watts to find a place when they got back from North Carolina, and she told him she was going to put the house on the market and takes the kids out of school to save money.

In a series of texts about a week before she would be murdered, Shanann laid out her thoughts on Watts’ posture toward the relationship.

“He’s obviously not in it. He’s not fighting. He’s not in love. He’s checked out.”

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Shirtless Chris Watts seen in evidence photos taken just moments before his arrest for murdering his whole family – revealing the giant Metallica tattoo across his back- Daily Mail

Christopher Watts’ girlfriend didn’t see any “red flags” that foreshadowed the future murders – Daily Camera

2. Killer day in court: Rohde hit by triple whammy of setbacks – TimesLive

Susan Rohde’s estate pays R2.9m to defend husband who killed her – TimesLive

Susan Rohde’s estate has paid R2.9m to her husband, Jason, to fund a defence that failed when he was convicted of murdering her.

This was revealed on Wednesday by the administrator of Susan Rohde’s estate, David Anderson, who was giving evidence during Rohde’s sentencing proceedings in the High Court in Cape Town. Rohde is the estate’s beneficiary.

Anderson told Rohde’s advocate, Graham van der Spuy, that there was only R80,000 in cash still available for distribution, and that he would be unable to finalise the estate until Rohde’s criminal proceedings were concluded.

He said Susan’s mother, Diane Holmes, had offered to loan the estate R500,000 so that it could continue to fund the education and maintenance of the couple’s three daughters.

Prosecutor Louis van Niekerk handed Judge Gayaat Salie-Hlophe confirmation from Stellenbosch University that the Rohdes’ twins, Alexandra and Josie, who have just written their matric exams, had been accepted to study there in 2019.

Anderson said annual expenses for the twins and the Rohdes’ eldest daughter, Katie, were expected to amount to about R250,000 a year.

He told the court that a Liberty Life insurance policy on Susan’s life, which named Rohde as the beneficiary, was expected to pay out R2.6m. When this amount reached the estate the financial pressure it was facing would ease.

Anderson was the first prosecution witness to testify in aggravation of sentence for Rohde, who was convicted on November 8 of murdering Susan at Spier, in Stellenbosch, in July 2016.

Proceedings were delayed when power cuts hit the high court at 10am. The court sitting resumed after 12.30pm. Rohde arrived in court in handcuffs after spending the last four weeks in Pollsmoor prison.

Anderson was followed into the witness box by Dr Naeemah Abrahams of the Medical Research Council. Abrahams is a global expert on femicide, which she described as the killing of women by their intimate partners.


December 7th, 2018

1. Chris Watts Was ‘Cold as Ice’ Before Triple Murders — and What Wife’s Mom Told Her Before She Died – People

Sandra said the estrangement seemed to have been going on for a “few weeks, maybe a month.” Chris acted “just cold as ice,” she said, not replying, not responding.

“I just said, ‘Give him space,’ you know,” Sandra recalled. “But little did we know.”

In the end it wasn’t the best advice, was it?

‘I’M NOT GOING TO BLAME THE KIDS,’ CHRIS WATTS TELLS COPS BEFORE APPEARING TO BLAME KIDS – OXYGEN

“I’m not going to blame the kids for a disconnection or anything, but yeah, we focus on the kids like, all the time,” he told an investigator. “And like, as our relationship got longer and longer, I could feel that disconnect.”

Chris then went on to say that he and Shanann didn’t have deep conversations anymore.

Chris Watts transferred to new facility in Wisconsin – kare11.com

Leading a double life: While appearing as a family man, Chris Watts wrote love letters to another woman before murdering wife, 2 daughters – ABC

2. Jason Rohde’s daughters do not want to lose their father as well, social worker tells court – News24


December 6th, 2018

1. In the video below, Shan’ann Watts’ pants are in the laundry. Watts picks them up and shows them to the K9 officer. Thank you to Sylvester for providing this link.

CNN begins using the proper spelling for Shan’ann Watts. People magazine have been using it for some time now.

How Shan’ann Watts’ Best Friend Helped Stop Chris Watts From Getting Away With Murder – CNN

‘YOU HEAT ME UP:’ CHRIS WATTS FILLED LETTERS TO MISTRESS WITH SAPPY SONG LYRICS – OXYGEN

Ronnie Watts Talks About Shan’ann…

2. Rohde to spend Christmas in Pollsmoor after losing fresh bail bid – News24

Rohde’s tears amid ‘vulnerable’ daughter’s testimony drama – IOL

OVERVIEW: Rohde denied bail, heads back to prison – News24


December 5th, 2018

1. “Chris Watts seemed like a genuine guy” – CNN

Chris Watts’ Mistress Nichol Kessinger 2nd interview (FULL VIDEO)

2. WATCH LIVE: Jason Rohde sentencing

3. Saudi crown prince ‘ordered, monitored’ killing of Khashoggi – CNN

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December 4th, 2018

1. Chris Watts transferred from Colorado to an out of state prison, sources say – Denver Channel

Why is there so much secrecy regarding this case?

Four sources confirm to Denver7’s Jace Larson that Chris Watts was transferred from the Denver Reception and Diagnostic Center, where a new prison inmate goes after conviction, to an undisclosed facility out of state. The Colorado Department of Corrections inmate locator shows Watt’s location as the Denver Reception and Diagnostic Center, but this is no longer the case.

New Bodycam Video Released.

Police respond to First B&E Call [Daytime, August 17]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOiu90ZGV20

Link to Police response to Second B&E Call [Night, September 21]

Chris Watts Watching Neighbors Security Camera Footage

https://youtu.be/ofqD_NkVPnY

2. Judge grants Maricopa County Attorney’s request to seal documents on prosecutor’s conduct – AZ Central

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What is the state Bar investigating?

Earlier this month, the State Bar’s probable cause committee ordered the Bar attorneys to prepare a formal complaint against Martinez. He is alleged to have given false testimony to the Bar and alleged to have revealed the identity of a juror in the second Jodi Arias murder trial, which Martinez prosecuted in 2015.

Dishonesty is a cardinal sin in the legal profession, and if an attorney or a law enforcement officer is found to be untruthful, it casts doubt on all of his or her cases. And jury identities are protected by law. The media is barred from photographing or identifying jurors without their permission.  

Martinez gained national attention and devout fandom from those trials, the first of which was live-streamed in 2013. Arias was convicted of the 2008 murder of her sometime boyfriend, Travis Alexander. But two different juries failed to reach a unanimous verdict on whether to sentence her to death.

3. Mueller may be poised to lift the lid of his investigation – CNN

America may get its most intimate look yet inside Robert Mueller’s secretive Russia investigation in the next four days, with a series of disclosures that have the potential to be greatly damaging for President Donald Trump.

Court filings focusing on Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, on Tuesday and his ex-campaign chairman Paul Manafort on Friday could offer tantalizing new details of Mueller’s deep dive into the 2016 campaign.

If the special counsel lives up to his reputation, his filings will feature surprising revelations and rich texture to color the picture he has already painted in indictments and witness testimony of a culture of endemic dishonesty in Trump’s orbit about multiple, so far unexplainable, ties with Russians.

He may also begin to add context and answers to some of the intriguing clues he has dropped in a probe that has so far seen three people sentenced, one convicted at trial and seven guilty pleas and has charged 36 people and entities with a total of 192 criminal counts.

With each twist of the investigation, a fascinating trove is building of hints and implied connections, odd coincidences and apparent shady links between key players that is crying out for explanation.



December 3rd, 2018

1. Girlfriend of Christopher Watts talked with officers about fear of publicity, finding a job – Times-Call

How the Chris Watts Lawsuit Treats Confessed Killer Like O.J. Simpson – Westword

Frederick’s Chris Watts became infamous nationwide thanks to sweeping coverage of his arrest and subsequent conviction for killing his pregnant wife, Shanann Watts, and their two daughters, three-year-old Celeste and four-year-old Bella.

But a civil suit filed by Shanann’s parents, Sandra and Frank Rzucek, and brother, Frank Jr., on behalf of her estate seeks to ensure that his name recognition doesn’t turn into cash. The document is accessible below, and its language echoes that of a complaint that the family of another murder victim aimed at arguably the most notorious alleged American killer of the past century.

“It has a lot of similarities to the suit Ron Goldman’s family brought against O.J. Simpson,” notes Tom Grant, a partner in Greeley’s Grant & Hoffman Law Firm, which represents the Rzuceks. “That’s its intent — to make sure Chris Watts is never able to profit from his evil acts.”

I can’t imagine Watts is the type to write books, or have books written about himself. He’s not an actor or a showman to the extent OJ was and is, but that’s not to say he’s not been putting on some kind of act for God knows how long.

Chilling moment a calm and care-free Chris Watts picks up a BREAKFAST roll just after dumping his daughters’ bodies in an oil tank and burying his wife in a shallow grave – Daily Mail

Typical mainstream media. Can’t provide a location or any particularly useful data.

Watts gave mistress cards, love letters in weeks leading up to murders – Greeley Tribune

At the above link, scroll down to the extended version of Watts’ arrest video and processing into jail cell.

2. The astounding Putin-MBS high five – CNN

Reporters have been tweeting out jokes about what the two men must have saying. “You would be happy too if you just got away with murder,” wrote Aaron Blake of The Washington Post, as he offered his caption.

3. Vincent Van Gogh, young and old – Apollo Magazine

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December 2nd, 2018

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1. Beneath appearance of perfect family, Christopher Watts lied and cheated even as his wife attempted to save their marriage – Denver Post

As concerned messages and calls about his missing wife lit up his phone and the bodies of his daughters sank in Weld County oil tanks less than 100 feet from his truck, Christopher Watts planned his new life as a bachelor.

He called his daughters’ preschool to unenroll them. He exchanged text messages with a real estate agent about selling the family’s large Frederick home, the house that made them seem like any other suburban family. Minutes after speaking with his mother-in-law, who was wondering about Shanann Watts’ well-being, he searched online for coupons to Aspen resorts, phone records released by investigators show.

He looked up the lyrics to a Metallica song, the chorus of which includes: “Pounding out aggression/Turns into obsession/Cannot kill the battery/Cannot kill the family.”

Hours had passed without anyone hearing from Shanann.

“What the heck is going on with you guys that she would totally shut out everything?” a friend texted. “It’s not like her.”

Watts tried to allay everyone’s fears. He asked them not to call police.

In the days before he murdered his wife and 2 kids, Chris Watts was Googling the price of an Audi and ‘marrying your mistress’ – Insider

Cellphone data obtained in the investigation into Colorado murderer Chris Watts show he was looking up ways to marry his mistress and the lyrics to love songs in the days before he killed his pregnant wife and their two kids in August.

The data was included in a batch of nearly 2,000 documents obtained by the Daily Mail in a Freedom of Information Act request this week.

The cellphone data showed Watts striking up a romantic relationship with a woman he met at work, Nichol Kessinger. He entered her phone number into his phone on June 14, and they started dating while his wife, Shanann Watts, and daughters, Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3, were away for most of the summer visiting family in North Carolina.

Chris Watts’ phone data showed that he had his first phone call with Kessinger on July 7, and a week later they visited a Mustang museum together. Four days later, Kessinger started sending him seminude photos of herself, according to the data obtained by the Mail.

That same day, a worried Shanann Watts sent a slew of texts to her husband saying she had realized “what’s missing in our relationship!” and accusing him of not reciprocating her feelings and effort. The following morning, Chris Watts made several Google searches between 8:41 a.m. and 12:07 p.m., including, “When to say I love you,” “When to say I love you for the first time in a new relationship,” “What do you feel when someone tells you they love you,” and, “How does it feel when someone says I love you.”

During an interview with The Denver Post earlier this month, Kessinger said that she started dating Watts at the end of June and that he told her he was in the final stages of his divorce. She said she didn’t know that he was expecting his third child with his wife.

On July 28, investigators wrote in documents that Watts and Kessinger traveled together to spend a night at the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve. Two days later, Watts started looking up “love letters” and lyrics to love songs.

The next day, Watts flew to North Carolina for the final week of his family’s vacation.

On August 4, while Watts was away, Kessinger spent two hours looking for wedding dresses on Google.

On August 8, a day after the family returned from North Carolina, Watts searched Google for topics related to “marrying your mistress.” Meanwhile, Shanann Watts had started confiding in her friends that her husband had become distant and they were having issues.

In the five final days of her life, Shanann Watts Googled couples counselors in her area and bought relationship self-help books online, according to the documents.

Read more: Text messages and phone records show pregnant Colorado woman murdered by her husband told friends before her death that he had ‘changed’ and didn’t want another baby

Meanwhile, on August 9, four days before he killed his wife and kids, Chris Watts looked up the price of an Audi Q7. That day, his wife left for a quick business trip to Arizona. The following day, he spent the morning arranging a babysitter to look after his girls so he could attend a Colorado Rockies game the next day. In reality, he went out on a date with Kessinger.

2. A Masterpiece Stolen From Auction House Walls – Mutual Art


December 1st, 2018

1. BREAKING: Crime Scene Footage CERVI 319 #TCRS

BREAKING: First Crime Scene Footage INSIDE #2825 Saratoga Trail [UPDATED] #TCRS

Audio, video recordings reveal first contact with Christopher Watts, investigative process – Greeley Tribune

‘Heartless Monster’ Chris Watts Googled: ‘When to Say I Love You When Starting a New Relationship’ – People

Weeks before he killed his wife and two daughters amidst an affair he was having with a co-worker, Chris Watts typed into Google, “When to say I love you for the first time in a new relationship.”

On that same day of July 25, less than three weeks before the Aug. 13 murders, Watts Googled, “What do you feel when someone tells you they love you” and “How does it feel when someone says I love you.”

During this period, Shanann desperately tried to salvage the couple’s crumbling marriage, prosecutors have said, citing pleading text messages and self-help books she got for her husband, including one he threw in the garbage.

Chris Watts: Last photos of pregnant wife and daughters before dad murdered them – The Mirror

How Chris Watts’ family’s ‘decomposing’ bodies were found revealed in harrowing new report – The Mirror

2.. Madeleine McCann’s parents fail in bid to revive Leveson inquiry – Guardian

Four individuals brought the legal challenge to this decision, with the support of the campaign group Hacked Off. The four were phone-hacking victim and former Crimewatch presenter Jacqui Hames, the Bristol schoolteacher Christopher Jefferies, who was wrongly accused of murder, and Gerry and Kate McCann – the parents of missing child Madeleine McCann.

At a hearing earlier this month, the four argued that in November 2012 the former prime minister David Cameron made a “clear and unambiguous commitment” that the second part of the inquiry would go ahead. Their lawyers said that commitment, made at a meeting with Jefferies, Mrs McCann and Hames, meant they had a “legitimate expectation” it would proceed.

But Lord Justice Davis said Cameron made “no such promise” in the meeting and that it was unacceptable that the case was based on a covert recording of the discussion, despite participants having agreed that what was said in the meeting would remain confidential.

The judge said he had a great deal of sympathy for the claimants but that sympathy could not override the law and the legal case failed “at almost every level”.

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