Images of one of the murderers featured in Schonborn's next book. … [Read more...]
Did The Unicorn Killer found Earth Day?
The Unicorn Killer, a character in a book I'm writing, often shows up in media stories. This is especially true just before the annual celebration of Earth Day. The big day is always April 22, just as it was back in 1970 when Senator Gaylord Nelson and others helped get it off the ground. Usually the story headlines look like this: "Earth Day Cofounder Killed, Composted Girlfriend" “Earth Day Started by Convicted Killer who Mummified his GF’s Body.” The Unicorn Killer. I’ve spent time … [Read more...]
Post-Charlottesville: Violent/Nonviolent cops in the face of bullying?
No bullying allowed? With the tragic killing in Charlottesville, VA and the subsequent debates about police behavior pre and post Charlottesville bullying, it seems time to mention Policing Society. I wrote the book during a sabbatical in England where I compared the Greater Manchester Police Department with the Oakland Police Department. I chose Manchester and Oakland for my tale of two cities because they were remarkably similar cities with historically different policing philosophies. … [Read more...]
Crime Museum: Down but not out with addition of OJ’s Bronco..
Just had a wonderful trip to Tennessee, but missed the Crime Museum there. I saw the Grand Ole Opry the Country Music Hall of Fame, and the Jack Daniels Distillery—all in the Nashville area. Alas, I didn't make it across the state to Alcatraz East in Pigeon Forge where the renamed Crime Museum relocated recently. Crime Museum The founder of the museum, attorney John Morgan , formerly operated it as the National Museum of Crime and Punishment in Washington, DC. He figured DC was where laws … [Read more...]
Heroes on the Front Lines in the Classroom–Violence in Taft & Newtown
Less than a month after a disturbed 20 year-old gunman killed 20 children and six adults in Newtown, Connecticut, authorities hailed California science teacher Ryan Heber and campus supervisor Kim Fields as heroes for talking a 16-year-old shooter into putting down his shotgun. The school personnel thus averted further carnage at Taft High School 30 miles southwest of Bakersfield, California where the shooter with a hit list had opened fire and critically wounded a student he … [Read more...]