601 posts tagged with murder.
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🏛️ Senatus vs. Populusque Romanus ✊🏼
After a series of foreign wars, a dysfunctional republic finds itself wracked by economic inequality, with property and wealth increasingly monopolized by greedy elites. A leading politician, newly elected on a platform of redistribution, social welfare, and political reform, bypasses Senate obstruction with a legislative loophole -- only to find his ambitious agenda blocked by a former ally on behalf of special interests. The leader: Tiberius Gracchus, tribune of the plebs. The year: 133 BC. What happened next would shatter longstanding norms, introduce political violence to the Roman forum, and lay the groundwork for the bloody collapse of the Republic, more than a generation before the birth of Julius Caesar and the rise of the Empire. [So much more inside] [more inside]
A Tournament of Introductions to the Middle Ages
"Exploring the Middle Ages through Chess" is a short video by Elizabeth Wickersham at Middle Ages for Educators, a project hosted at Princeton University. One source for the video is Alfonso X's 13th Century Book of Games, available in translation [PDF] and digital reproduction. But the video is just one of 16 open access videos you can vote on through Dec. 29. Which of this year's brief introductory lessons on the Middle Ages should advance to the next round on the way to a $1000 prize? [more inside]
A brazen, targeted attack
A health insurance executive assassinated This morning in New York an unknown person shot dead Brian Thompson, the CEO of health insurance company UnitedHealthcare. Early reports describe the killer waiting for the victim, then leaving the scene, pursued by a growing manhunt. [more inside]
The border as we know it is a modern invention
And yet in certain respects the area is deadly. Starting with the Clinton administration, the federal government has enforced a policy known as Prevention Through Deterrence, which aims to force crossers into more dangerous terrain. The result has been what the anthropologist Jason De León calls “a killing machine that simultaneously uses and hides behind the viciousness of the Sonoran Desert.” Since 1994, Border Patrol has documented the deaths of over ten thousand border crossers, most often from dehydration, exhaustion, or cold: humanitarian groups estimate that the number is many times higher. from Death in Nogales [NYRB; ungated]
Who Gets to Kill in Self-Defense?
Who Gets to Kill in Self-Defense? (NYT, Sept 4, 2024, ungated gift link)
"We make this allowance when we acquit men like George Zimmerman and Kyle Rittenhouse, neither of whom for a single second were dragged by the hair through a hallway or had their children threatened with an ax. We do so because throughout the history of our legal system, we have been inclined — in many cases, overly inclined — to make exceptions for men’s violence while giving very little thought to what might drive women to the same act." [more inside]
“I shake the system and change it and evolve people"
Arash Missaghi seemed immune from consequence. His voluminous court records show no convictions, no jail time and no successful lawsuits against him in Canada, while providing few – if any – indications why criminal charges against him were withdrawn on multiple occasions.
from Businessman killed in Toronto triple shooting defrauded hundreds of victims, netted at least $100-million, records show [CW: suicide, murder, fraud] [more inside]
In 1964, the Klan killed three young activists and shocked the nation
In 1964, the Klan killed three young activists and shocked the nation. A Mississippi town still grapples with that violent civil rights history. An oral history By Susan Levine, Photography by Michael S. Williamson for The Washington Post. Trigger warning for violence and racism. Long. Intense. Note: this is about the town of Philadelphia, Mississippi.
... will shock you
a webcomic by max graves. tumblr softboy cancelled for involvement in "heavenly creatures" style murder. darkly hilarious exploration of internet fame, isolation, transness and trauma. goes deep into various kinds of internet damage. really can't recommend this enough. [more inside]
Russia Without Navalny
Alexei Navalny is dead at 47, say Russian prison authorities. The crusading pro-democracy activist was a constant thorn in the side of Vladimir Putin, financing documentaries exposing Kremlin corruption and rallying support as a popular opposition leader; a documentary on his own life won an Oscar and global acclaim last year. Long persecuted by the state, he was poisoned by the notorious nerve agent Novichok in 2020 and returned the following year to face imprisonment under an increasingly authoritarian regime. While the collective West condemns the unsubtle murder of a political prisoner, liberal Russians are left without any clear successor -- though Navalny himself even in death endeavored to tell supporters "You're not allowed to give up."
No idea what they might say to the man they believe ruined their lives
Now that Ian has been exonerated, he needs to reacclimate to life in the world. He had to get a driver’s license and learn how to use a smartphone. He needs to get comfortable around people again. These towns were small enough already. For decades the Schweitzers were the area’s greatest villains; now they run into people and those people are nice. At the market and at restaurants, they congratulate Ian and ask if they can give him a hug. It’s weird. He can’t help but think: Where were those people for the past 30 years? from The Neighbors Who Destroyed Their Lives [The Atlantic; ungated] [CW: rape, murder]
Terror on Repeat: Devastation caused by AR-15 shootings
Terror on Repeat: A rare look at the devastation caused by AR-15 shootings
[Caution: disturbing photos with lots of blood; no bodies; Washington Post share link]
"...drawing on an extensive review of photographs, videos and police investigative files from 11 mass killings between 2012 and 2023, The Washington Post is publishing the most comprehensive account to date of the repeating pattern of destruction wrought by the AR-15 — a weapon that was originally designed for military combat but has in recent years become one of the best-selling firearms on the U.S. market." [more inside]
[Caution: disturbing photos with lots of blood; no bodies; Washington Post share link]
"...drawing on an extensive review of photographs, videos and police investigative files from 11 mass killings between 2012 and 2023, The Washington Post is publishing the most comprehensive account to date of the repeating pattern of destruction wrought by the AR-15 — a weapon that was originally designed for military combat but has in recent years become one of the best-selling firearms on the U.S. market." [more inside]
Murder near the Carmelite Friary
The interactive Medieval Murder Maps give unique insight into violence, and justice in late medieval London, York, and Oxford.
A Family Drama Rife With Vendettas and Grudges, Accusations and Rumors
With his combative style and a business model centered on grabbing revenue that would otherwise go to big drugmakers, Sherman had accumulated his share of enemies in the pharma industry. In an interview for Prescription Games, a 2001 book by Jeffrey Robinson, Sherman had said he wondered why a big drug company didn’t “just hire someone to knock me off.” He’d continued: “Perhaps I’m surprised that hasn’t happened.” from Murder, Money and the Battle for a Pharmaceutical Empire [Bloomberg; ungated]
Gilgo Beach Long Island Serial Killer Arrested
In December 2010, the first of eleven murder victims were recovered from Jones Beach Island, Long Island. Many of the victims had been women engaged in sex work in the New York City area. Four victims who had disappeared between 2007 and 2010 were found within a 500 meter stretch of Gilgo Beach; all had been bound and three were wrapped in burlap sacks. Late last week, Rex Heuermann of nearby Massapequa Park, NY was indicted and arrested for the murder of three of the "Gilgo Four". [more inside]
“Can you find the wolves in this picture?”
Killers of the Flower Moon directed by Martin Scorsese [Official Teaser Trailer ] [YouTube] Based on David Grann’s broadly lauded best-selling book, Killers of the Flower Moon is set in 1920s Oklahoma and depicts the serial murder of members of the oil-wealthy Osage Nation, a string of brutal crimes that came to be known as the Reign of Terror. Directed by Martin Scorsese and Screenplay by Eric Roth and Scorsese, the film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons, Tantoo Cardinal, Cara Jade Myers, JaNae Collins, and Jillian Dion.
Australian soldier charged with murder
An Australian soldier has been charged with murder over the 2012 shooting of an unarmed man in Afghanistan, in a case that may have precedent for other Western allies. The Office of the Special Investigator has said that ‘40 or 50’ other offences are being investigated. [more inside]
The Internet Wants To Get Murdered By Clue's Sexy New Cast
Earlier this week, Hasbro released a new version of Clue, its classic, 75-year-old murder mystery board game. While the game is still played the same, the characters and artwork have been changed to better connect with players in 2023. And it seems the artists at Hasbro succeeded because the internet is now very horny for the new cast of potential murderers. [more inside]
A 1934 mystery’s pages were printed out of order. The world is obsessed.
Only four people have ever solved the puzzle contained in the pages of Cain’s Jawbone. TikTok helped turn the obscure, 100-page British novel into a craze. (archive.today link)
Colonel Mustardle in the Yardle with a Petardle
In the latest proof of new legal requirements that all internet puzzle games must now end in "rdle," distinguished readers, I give you Murdle, a daily homicide-based logic / elimination puzzle game. A bit of fun for when you still want to kill somebody some time after the crosswordle and the sudokurdle, but before watching Jeopardle. [more inside]
Murder and Disappear the Body
Every mass shooting in the US since 2014
That's a Lot of Dead People and Crime
Let Me Say This With As Much Sensitivity As I Can: Wow, That’s a Lot of Dead People and Crime. Ben Mathis-Lilley at Slate on the long, strange history of disgraced South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh's family.
The Historian and the Murderer
Historian Dominique Kirchner Reill: "[M]y job in the almost 80 questions that followed was not to disabuse the court of ideas of adulterous encounters but instead to explain what this strange profession of 'historian' was, and what role it played in bringing Klinger into that Astoria park on the day he died."
There Has Been Anöther Murder
Every Single Scandinavian Crime Drama [SLYT, humor]
Time of the Signs
It appears that cipher Z340 of the cryptograms sent by the so-called Zodiac Killer in 1969 has finally been solved.
Brereton Report into war crimes by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan
The Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force (IGADF) has released the Brereton Report, which includes evidence that Australian soldiers committed war crimes in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016. [more inside]
Neo-nazi party is a criminal organization
After 5,5 years, the landmark trial of Golden Dawn ended with seven former MPs of the neo-Nazi party being convicted as leaders of a criminal organisation (1) (2). All other former MPs were convicted as participants in the organisation.
In the final act of a marathon five-year, politically charged trial, the three-judge panel ordered a total of 39 people, including 13 former lawmakers, jailed, rejecting appeals for suspended sentences.
It ruled 12 others, including five former lawmakers, would remain free pending their appeals.
Thursday's decision came after two weeks of summations by defense lawyers following the prosecutor's recommendation that all former Golden Dawn lawmakers be allowed to remain free pending appeal. (1) (2) (3) [more inside]
"no, working with the WRONG people is how you get caught"
Four gripping, provocative, sometimes uncomfortable scifi/fantasy stories about violence and sacrifice in defense of communities and ideals. Three by Margaret Killjoy (previously) and one by Elizabeth Crowe. [more inside]
But when I go to sleep at night / Don’t you call my name.
Originally, murder ballads focused exclusively on homicide—and often that of women. We dig into the history of the subgenre, and the women who reclaimed it. The History of Murder Ballads and the Women Who Flipped the Script
the bezzle
With few exceptions, the only rich people America prosecutes anymore are those who victimize their fellow elites. Pharma frat boy Martin Shkreli, to pick just one example, wasn’t prosecuted for hiking the price of a drug used to treat HIV from $13.50 to $750 per pill. He went to prison for scamming investors in a hedge fund scheme years before. Meanwhile, in 2016, the CEO [Don Blankenship] whose company [Massey Energy] experienced the deadliest mining disaster since 1970 served less than one year in prison and paid a fine of 1.4 percent of his salary and stock bonuses the previous year. Why? Because overseeing a company that ignores warnings and causes the deaths of workers, even 29 of them, is a misdemeanor.The Golden Age Of White Collar Crime [more inside]
The strange death of a Sherlock Holmes fanatic
“I don’t think we’ll ever know for sure what really happened. Unlike in detective stories, we have to live without answers.” [more inside]
Where there is a fête, there is murder.
Your guide to not getting murdered in a quaint English village: a list of people (e.g. the vicar, the impoverished aristocrat, the local historian who's just found something very interesting) and places (e.g. the village fête, local basements, and anywhere with a vat) to avoid if you find yourself in an English Murder Village and want to make it out alive! [more inside]
Ivar's and the Serial Killer
We were having lunch because I wanted information about Ivar Haglund, the kooky restaurateur behind the seafood empire that bears his name....Ivar's life was once closely intertwined with Linda "the Starvation Doctor" Hazzard, who killed at least 18 people in the Seattle area a century ago. Hazzard's first known kill in Washington was Daisy Haglund, Ivar's mother.
By Lester Black for The Stranger
Hysteria High: How Demons Destroyed a Florida School
A riot had broken out at the Miami Aerospace Academy, a private military school in Little Havana, where screaming students were said to be “possessed by spirits.” This was no trick-or-treat prank. One teenager was unconscious; others injured. Kids had smashed windows and ripped doors from their hinges. Police and firefighters who raced to the scene found hundreds of hysterical high schoolers fleeing the building as if it were ablaze. The Devil, it seemed, was to blame.
A Lutheran Plague: Murdering to Die in the Eighteenth Century
Suicide-murders, with suicidal people killing so that they themselves will be executed, fill the annals of early modern European history. So why didn’t the murdering misérables just kill themselves? At the time, a common religious belief held that “if you took your life, you had absolutely no chance of going to heaven,” says Jeffrey Watt, a history professor at the University of Mississippi. But if you killed someone else, you could repent before the execution and have your sins pardoned, he adds, shedding light on the murderous intent. Essentially, you’d have a better shot at getting past the pearly gates if you killed someone else rather than yourself. And children were the preferred victims because they were more easily dispatched, and because folks believed that their young, innocent souls were more likely to make it to heaven, Watt explains.
The Men Protecting Saudi Arabia
Khashoggi’s Murder Should Have Made Saudi Arabia A Pariah. 7 Men Made Sure That Didn’t Happen. Meet the key figures behind the scenes, from a journalist-turned-lobbyist to an evangelical writer, in the effort to preserve the kingdom’s image after the killing.
“Black people are never afforded the same kind of empathy...”
Amber Guyger was hugged by her victim’s brother and a judge, igniting a debate about forgiveness and race [The Washington Post] “The first hug was stunning enough — a young man embracing his brother’s killer for nearly a minute in the middle of the courtroom, just after telling the woman: “I forgive you.” “I love you as a person and I don’t wish anything bad on you,” 18-year-old Brandt Jean assured Amber Guyger, the former Dallas police officer convicted Tuesday for shooting Botham Jean as he ate ice cream in his own home. Guyger said she aimed to kill out of fear after entering the wrong apartment by mistake; jurors said it was murder. Then came another unlikely embrace — from the judge in the case that sparked renewed protests Wednesday as Guyger received a 10-year-sentence that some called a “slap in the face.” With the emotional trial wrapped up, Judge Tammy Kemp walked over in her black robe to give Guyger a Bible. Then, she wrapped her arms around Guyger and murmured to her. Together, they prayed. The two extraordinary moments would polarize, just like the case that led up to them, raising fresh questions about race in a white officer’s fatal shooting of a black man.” [more inside]
The Underground Men
When an aspiring tech entrepreneur met a self-styled crypto guru online his search for funding would end up underneath a suburban Maryland home. How 4chan-fuelled paranoia and a homemade nuclear bunker lead to tragedy. (CW: graphic description of death by fire). [more inside]
Beyond Cyntoia Brown- Criminalized Survivors
These women survived abuse and assault. Now they’re behind bars. Should they be? The case of Cyntoia Brown has sparked a national reassessment of the ways the criminal justice system deals with survivors of abuse...Female, trans, and gender-nonconforming survivors of gender violence who have harmed or killed their abusers are often swept into the penal system with their history of abuse largely ignored. There is no agency that collects official data on the number of survivors incarcerated for defending themselves and no national statistics that track the rate of this criminalization. But according to a 2016 study published by the Vera Institute of Justice, 86 percent of women in jail are survivors of sexual violence, and 77 percent are survivors of intimate partner violence.
The Dark History Behind "Where The Crawdads Sing"
Ethylene glycol poisoning is extremely slow and lethal
Thirteen mystery writers discuss their favorite murders from their own works. Content advisory: Brief descriptions of deaths, ranging from amusing to icky to horrible. Also, spoilers galore. [more inside]
Searching for Keith
A detective’s quest reveals how one idealistic fisheries observer may have collided with criminals and desperate migrants—and paid for it with his life. (cw: human trafficking, murder, rape) [more inside]
Strong stories that don’t resort to the same old clichés.
"There is indeed a healthy audience for thrillers without violence towards women." The Staunch book prize is "For A Thriller In Which No Woman Is Beaten, Stalked, Sexually Exploited, Raped Or Murdered." It was launched in 2018 by Bridget Lawless (IMDB, Twitter, Amazon). [more inside]
Pregnant woman shot, charged with murder of unborn, shooter goes free
Marshae Jones of Birmingham was five months pregnant when she was shot, by another woman, in a dispute about the baby's father. Ebony Jemison shot Jones in the abdomen. The mother survived the shooting, but it resulted in a miscarriage. A grand jury didn't return an indictment, and Jemison was not charged. Police then determined that Ms. Jones started the fight, and was therefore responsible for the death of her unborn child. [more inside]
‘Is the city in conspiracy with the mob?’”
“Ninety-eight years ago, one of the worst episodes of violence sparked by racism in America erupted in the heart of one of the most prosperous Black communities in the nation.“ Black Wall Street and the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, Explained (Teen Vogue) A Long-Lost Manuscript Contains a Searing Eyewitness Account of the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 (Smithsonian previously) “This was about Blacks becoming too economically powerful and showing that wealth in a way that anyone would by creating buildings and constructing churches and having property. There was a whistle that blew and then the mass invasion and the destruction of Greenwood began.” (PBS, video and transcript)
Joe Exotic: A Dark Journey Into the World of a Man Gone Wild
“The Tiger King: that’s how [Joe] has marketed himself and lived his life...But here’s the thing with kings—they start to believe they’re above the law.” He called himself the Tiger King and plastered his face on highway billboards in Texas and Oklahoma. He bred big cats, bears, baboons, and more. He lived, with a parade of partners, on the grounds of his private zoo. He threatened a rival with murder—repeatedly, on YouTube—and tried to hire a hit man to do the deed.
"Not so tough without your camera."
Fearing for His Life: Ramsey Orta filmed the killing of Eric Garner. The video traveled far, but it wouldn't get justice for his dead friend. Instead, the NYPD would exact their revenge through targeted harassment and eventually imprisonment — Orta's punishment for daring to show the world police brutality.
“Cash, chemicals, drugs and gold.”
Paul Calder Le Roux, the "digital El Chapo," possible creator of popular encryption program TrueCrypt, and international criminal mastermind, has been testifying for the prosecution and working on behalf of the USA since his arrest and extradition in 2012. A Drug Kingpin Ran His Empire from a Laptop, Then Snitched on His Own Assassins [more inside]
WWF Funds Guards Who Have Tortured And Killed People
Does not include Bergerac solving murders on Jersey
Based on questionable maths, Vulture list where you are most likely to be murdered in rural TV Britain. "We went with the bare basics of math for this: The smaller the village or county, the higher the chance is of being murdered. Read along, and maybe don’t plan on moving to Cambridgeshire anytime soon." But how realistic is this? The BBC investigates (previously), though looking internationally, don't buy a house in Cabot Cove (or Abbot Cove, whatever). (Post title: Charlie Hungerford did it)