As I've noted in prior blogs, there's all manner of fraud abroad in the land.* True crime fans and writers might want to bone up on car repair fraud. Most of us lucky enough to own vehicles have experienced such fraud. Thus many readers can relate to it. And car repair fraud sometimes has a "wow" factor that writers strive for. Car repair fraud can even be elegant in its simplicity as the video below shows. A trend in writing true-crime stories is to make criminals so clever and resourceful … [Read more...]
The Psychopath and The Hare.
The Psychopath and the Hare lip is my way to addressing what's become an interesting debate among moviegoers. Even comic book aficionados have gotten into the act. And so may you and I as so many of us are at home without sports, political rallies, and other live TV as a distraction. We've got time to watch movies like Joker. The debate is whether Joaquin Phoenix, who won an Oscar for Best Actor, portrays the Joker as a psychopath or not? The Psychopath and The Hare … [Read more...]
Crime – Myths about the Evil Genius Killer – Tutorial for Tru-Crime Fans & Writers
Fans of true-crime books and crime writers are often drawn to evil genius killer stories. And so are everyday people since these stories both horrify and fascinate us frequently. Evil genius killer tutorial. As a service to my fans and fellow true-crime writers, I'm providing another tutorial. This one deals with the myth and facts about one such killer, Ira Einhorn. Hopefully, you readers will find it interesting. And you writers will find it useful. Many of our feelings and much of … [Read more...]
Plea bargains, Prisons, Parole — an after-your-arrest Tutorial with Boston Strangler tie in.
Am close to finishing my latest book, Privileged Killers, where I take plea bargains and parole board decisions to task. These are two phenomena that've dictated court and corrections culture for years. Hopefully this tutorial will help writers, criminology students, true-crime fans, and others understand these topics. Plea bargains are a win-win often. Suspects get to plead guilty to doing something less serious than what they've done in all likelihood. The joke is it's like copping to … [Read more...]
Beauty Queen Killers – Known and Unknown – Crime Tutorial
Maybe you're an author writing about JonBenet Ramsey, a little "beauty queen" whose murder is still unsolved. Or you're writing about grown-up queens who've been murdered, like the ones featured in podcasts and 24/7 crime shows. Well, here's a tutorial that might help you flesh out some details in an article or book you're writing. It's about a few of the deets about both a known killer and an unknown one. Known and Unknown Beauty Queen Killers There are a few books about the known "Beauty … [Read more...]
Crime – Serial Killer – Tutorial – Intro, Definitions, Myths.
Writers, esp those writing true-crime books, are often drawn to serial killer stories. And so are everyday people since these stories both horrify and fascinate us frequently. As a service to my fellow writers, I'm providing another tutorial. This one deals with the facts and the myths of serial killers. Hopefully, writers will find them useful for their writing. And other readers may just find them interesting. Some facts. Serial killings account for very few of all murders committed in … [Read more...]
CRIME FRAUD Tutorial—Imposters Anna & Maddie —“Skilled” Criminals
Today's blog is one among my series on "skilled" criminals —fences, imposters, forgers, and art thieves. There's also a related series on "unskilled"criminals. The hope in this blog is to fire up writers, provide info to criminology students and true-crime fans, and to, well, have some fun. Recent Russian immigrant to the U.S. Anna Sorokin created the fictitious identity of Anna Delvey, pretending to be a wealthy German heiress. On May 10, 2019, a court sentenced her to 4 to 12 years in … [Read more...]