Brad’s Blog Babble
With in every ones life there are always new adventures … this is one for me. I have viewed the strength that blogging can have and that many times items placed on a blog become factual rather than something to further study or investigate. Since I hope the discussions occurring in this column will be both interesting and challenging I would like to request that if you know of an article that will support your statements please share it with us. The other thing you may see is that I don’t always hold the same belief throughout our discussions … this is only to develop conversation and not frustrate the readers. All forensic topics are fair game, but I am going to try and reach for discussions not routinely found in David’s columns.
Over the past couple of months there has been a movie and radio/ television shows discussing the Zodiac killer from the San Francisco Bay area. My questions to you are … 1) Is the Zodiac killer still alive? 2) What would be your psychological profile of this individual?
May 8th, 2007 at 11:01 pm
Wouldn’t it be something if it was a member of the media - like a reporter or an insider? I have yet to see the movie. It’s on my list!
May 24th, 2007 at 10:52 pm
Of course I always wonder about the media.
However, that brings up the question why do certain crimes catch the eye of the press and the public? Why is Jack the Ripper always a good read??
If you go to the 1880s Billy the Kid, the James Gang, and the Daltons were the press. I believe that part of it has to be location, location, location. I always have found Harry Tracy to be interesting, not because he stole a train, stole a steamship, had a stage play created about him while he was on the run, but because he was part of the Pacific Northwest history. Although he was part of the Wild Bunch,or Hole in the Wall Gang, he never got the press that Butch Cassidy and Harry Longbaugh did. And yes there was even a film about Tracy’s life… and it didn’t get the play of Paul Newman and Robert Redford’s movie. These individuals lived in a different time and had different hardships. These were the thugs and gang members of our great grandparents and yet they are still around today.
Some of you may say it is because of the unsolved aspects that Jack the Ripper always gets the press. Well we still don’t know who killed Pat Garrett or Belle Starr.
Every country has their criminals, but why are some given their 15 minutes of recognition and then buried while others continue to make “good” press according to the media?
June 23rd, 2007 at 9:20 pm
The Zodiac killer was never caught.
There are seven or eight Zodiac killer movies out there. But also, I think they are about to release the 4th movie about Hannibal Lecter from Silence of the Lambs. You also got CSI, Law & Order and a ton of other detective stories. I think people are just interested in the bizarre, and they like detective stories where you have to use clues to solve a puzzle.
July 9th, 2007 at 8:37 pm
This past couple of weeks I have spent my time in the hills of Idaho and Montana. I visited several of the old “Ghost towns” and gold fields. Each still having their own unique flavor. In Nevada City MT. you could sit on the poarch of the local hotel and watch the old steam engine hookup for a trip to Virginia City. It so high in the hills there is no cell phones, computers, and a single land phone to the main office. Yep no phone or TV and and if the wind was right all the smells of yester years. One of the nights the train made a trip close to midnight in rememberance of a robbery the “Hole in the Wall” gang did … they held up a Great Northern Train in 1901.
This brings back the unsolved mystery about Butch Cassidy … did he make it out of South America and die in Spokane, Washington. We have the problem that the Spokane Butch was cremated, but with modern techniques do you think we could put the question to rest. There are several books written on the subject, but none are conclusive … any ideas.
November 26th, 2007 at 6:50 pm
It appears that some of the outlaws are a little too old for some of you to consider. What about JFK? Who do you think actually killed him?? And what are your forensic justifications?
December 31st, 2007 at 7:59 pm
The last couple of days I have ran into more and more conspiracy theories circling around Jesse James. Was he a member of the Knights of the Golden Circle? Was it the real Jesse James in the gravesite? Who was Jesse James? What can DNA prove???
The history of old west individuals can be quite frustrating. Much of history is by word of mouth or if written you can find several books either produced by being based on what other authors have written or those produced for shock and money value. What factor can DNA really provide in solving historical concerns?