As I've done from time to time, I'm starting another tutorial series. This one's for everyone, but specifically for crime writers and students of criminology, crim justice, and forensics. For writers, it's intended to help them incorporate fingerprint ID tactics in their novels. And, as they - and the teachers of students like you - know, it's a good way to introduce a topic is via a story. ID tactics So I'm starting off this series with a story. It's about how the FBI … [Read more...]
CRIME INVESTIGATION Tutorial—How True Crime Websleuths Do It – I
This is an introductory tutorial about true crime Websleuths, an online forum that allows all of us to play detective. In prior tutorials, I've tried to help both crime writers and criminal justice students understand how, say, the FBI goes about investigations. This blog shows you the basics of how to participate in true crime Websleuths. Later blogs will get into how the popular site has evolved and some of the hiccups it's experienced. The … [Read more...]
A Dark Triad Test to identify Psychopaths.
As you may know from a previous blog, I've been working on a book about the crimes and havoc committed by some people I knew with the Dark Triad personalities of psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism. Here's a Dark Triad test that's available on line. I can't attest to its reliability or validity (two key aspects of any psych test). However, look at the 36 item questionnaire and let me know what you think. If you go ahead and take it, you do so at you own risk. You might find … [Read more...]
Bullying Celebs Who Abuse Their Social Media Power
I've blogged a bit here and there regarding celebs and their ability to escape justice. So, it's fitting to highlight the way some engage in injustice as a "celebrity bully." But you ask, who needs another blog about a celebrity bully or a celeb who was bullied as a kid? Well, if the bullying's about disinformation, we all need such a blog. The problem of misinformation has been growing exponentially of late. So, nobody's free from it. Disinformation seems everywhere — in our homes, even in … [Read more...]
Popular Culture and True Crime – Tutorial III – Why women are such true crime fans.
As part of our series on Popular Culture and True Crime, our final tutorial looks at why women seem such devoted true crime fans. Tutorials I and II dealt with the fascination with serial killer trading cards and murderabilia (the collection of mementos), respectively. While I've written about crime all my life, I wouldn't call myself a true crime fan. In fact, I'm new to podcasts and true crime radio and I rarely have time for true crime stories on TV. Writing's pretty time … [Read more...]
Popular Culture and True Crime – Tutorial II – Murderabilia.
In a recent blog (go here), I discussed the furor created by the creation of serial killer trading cards* back in 1992. A similar controversy has erupted over the growing practice of collecting artifacts and even bits of hair from those involved in serial killings. The controversy surrounding Murderabilia. It's an odd world where people collect and own bits of a stranger or infamous person, even if it's as innocent as a lock of … [Read more...]
Popular Culture and True Crime – Tutorial I – Serial Killer trading cards?
About the same time that Michael Aamodt, a professor at Radford University in Virginia, started cataloguing serial killers, trading cards popped up. Aamodt's Serial Killer Data Base, compiled with the help of students, is academic, respectable. See here for a prior blog re Aamodt's Radford work. Serial killer Trading cards are not respectable, at least they weren't back in 1992. They are still bought and sold on Amazon, Etsy, and Ebay. Aamodt's catalogue has over five thousand entries … [Read more...]