True Crime Tuesday: The Bear Brook Murders

Please read the “TCT Disclaimer” under the True Crime tab at the top of the page before reading any true crime posts.

A surprise affect of my true crime interest is that some days my appreciation and deep love for my husband is amplified as if the volume has been turned up to eleven.

That’s not to say that there are other days where I am numb to it. Quite the opposite. I’m always fully aware of the cosmic luck that brought my husband to me. Contrasted against the background of my shitty ex and the shady AF choices I’ve made in my life, (that I’m truly surprised didn’t totally fuck me,) he doesn’t really need to do much to be wonderful. But he does anyway.

Every one thought we were crazy when we met. Getting involved, being long distance, trying to navigate an immigration system, starting over from scratch once he moved to Canada and blending our family. But it was truly one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. I followed my heart completely on that one, because from a rational point of view, yeah we were taking big, unknown risks and it could have gone totally sideways.

But here were are. Seven years later.

And some days, when the volume is up to eleven, it feels like my heart is going to burst out of my chest and be carried away by a million butterflies because I know, truly and honestly, from the bottom of my bottom, that my husband would never kill me and stuff my body in a 55-gallon drum.

how i met your mother series GIF

Continue reading →

True Crime Tuesday: Bobby Joe Long

Please read the “TCT Disclaimer” under the True Crime tab at the top of the page before reading any true crime posts.

We had a 3-day weekend in Canada to celebrate Queen Victoria’s birthday. That badass bitch is long dead and I don’t even know how old she’d be at this point, but honestly, most people just use it as an excuse to drink and watch fireworks. It’s commonly referred to as “May 2-4,” (as in, a case of beer) and I’m not complaining about an extra day off.

I’m not really a beer and fireworks kind of girl, so my holiday looked like any other day off, but with scrambling for groceries because everything is going to be closed, to make things interesting. You’d think people were expecting the end of the world with how busy Costco gets the day before a stat holiday.

Another little bonus this weekend: my husband and I had the house to ourselves for the first time in a long time. We capitalized on this by showering with the door open, walking around without pants on and ordering a bunch of food that we didn’t need to share with anyone else… except for the dog.

Believe Me: The Abduction of Lisa McVey (2018)

On Sunday afternoon, after I’d finished my book, and changed out of my leggings into a new pair of leggings, I turned on Lifetime and indulged in made-for-TV-movie goodness. I happened to find one titled, Believe Me: The Abduction of Lisa McVey.

It said based on a true story. It said serial killer. I was 100% sold.

So, speaking of badass bitches…. dude. For real. Lisa McVey is a true warrior queen and I’m so glad I watched this movie about her ordeal at the hands of serial killer, Bobby Joe Long. She was abducted and raped for a 26-hour-period when she was 17-years-old.

Having suffered long-term abuse throughout her life, mostly at the hands of her grandmother’s boyfriend, McVey says she tapped in the “survivor skills” she’d cultivated earlier in life in order to overcome her captor, not physically, “but psychologically.” McVey said: “It worked. I’m still here.”

Lisa McVey is the only survivor of this serial killer who hunted in the Tampa Bay area, abducting, raping and murdering at least 10 women in 1984. And that’s not even counting the 50 women he raped between 1980 and 1983. The details Lisa provided to the police are directly responsible for Long’s arrest.

I did a little research while I was watching the movie. One of my questions was why is this movie on now? Could there be a reason to shed light on McVey’s story this weekend? The answer is that Bobby Joe Long is scheduled to be executed by the state of Florida this coming Thursday, May 23rd.

Continue reading →

True Crime Tuesday: Bruce McArthur, Serial Killer – Part Two

Please read the “TCT Disclaimer” under the True Crime tab at the top of the page before reading any true crime posts.

It’s Part Two, Bitches!!!

We’re talking about Bruce McArthur, the Toronto Serial Killer making headlines right now. If you haven’t read Part One of this story, I suggest you do so to learn about who McArthur is, where he comes from and what his history was before he was arrested for being a fucking serial killer. Because it’s interesting and disturbing. Exactly what you want from your true crime, right?!

Animated GIF

You can find that post here.

Before we jump back into this crazy ass story of horror and death, let’s do a small recap of where we left off last time.

It’s 2017 and Toronto’s gay village is becoming increasingly concerned about missing members of their community.

Continue reading →

True Crime Tuesday: Bruce McArthur, Serial Killer – Part One

Please read the “TCT Disclaimer” under the True Crime tab at the top of the page before reading any true crime posts.

One of the hottest stories in true crime right now – if such stories can be “hot” – is alleged serial killer Bruce McArthur.

If you haven’t heard of this serial killer yet, you must be living under a rock with zero access to the internet. (At this point, I’m pretty sure a rock could be wired for Wi-Fi, though.) Even if you aren’t interested in true crime, this is one of the biggest serial killer cases to hit the news in a long time so you’ve probably heard something about it.

What makes it even more interesting is that this whole thing is unfolding in Toronto, Canada.

That’s right. Canada. Land of maple syrup and apologies.

Canada, my home, where the most often laid charge falls under the legal category of mischief. As in, “Hey guy, you’re kinda of being a dick there, eh? Why don’t you knock it off, buddy?”

In 2016, there were 611 homicides in the entire country.

The whole thing.

For comparison, there were 627 homicides just in the state of Ohio that same year.

Further, serial killers in Canada are like unicorns. Rare, seemingly mythical but coming equipped with something that could stab you.

unicorn GIF

Not to say we haven’t had any. Most prolific, I would say, was Robert Pickton, the pig farmer. He even inspired an episode of Criminal Minds. Most famous is probably Paul Bernardo, the Scarborough Rapist, and the case to which I credit with my fascination with true crime.

[Dream sequence begins] I was 5 years old when he started raping and killing young girls, basically in my backyard. When my dad’s work put out ribbons in remembrance of the victims, it was the first time I asked what was going on, and the first time my parents had to explain to me that sometimes people kill other people. When I found out one of the victims shared my name, that is likely the precise moment my brain warped. [End dream sequence.]

Continue reading →

True Crime Tuesday: The Weepy-Voiced Killer

Please read the “TCT Disclaimer” under the True Crime tab at the top of the page before reading any true crime posts.

It’s my favourite day of the week! That’s a lie. My favourite day of the week is Saturday. But “True Crime Saturday” doesn’t have the same ring to it.

So, True Crime Tuesday it is! And it’s my second favourite day of the week! Okay, no, I’m lying again. My second favourite day is Friday.

You know what? Forget about favourites.

It’s Tuesday. Fact.

honest elizabeth warren GIF by Women's History Month

Listen, I started a detox diet yesterday and I’m fucking miserable. I have a little under 2 hours before I get to eat my lunch of salad and half a chicken breast. And even the thought of that makes me miserable because it’s so goddamn boring. There’s really no guarantee that I’ll finish writing this post before I eat the keyboard.

Let’s see how I’m doing at the end of this.

This is not a killer I am familiar with, but I was immediately intrigued because he decidedly has the most ridiculous serial killer nickname ever. I needed to learn more. And so here we are. Presenting: The Weepy-Voiced Killer (seriously who came up with that?)

Continue reading →

True Crime Tuesday: Killer Quotes

Please read the “TCT Disclaimer” under the True Crime tab at the top of the page before reading any true crime posts.

This week’s True Crime Tuesday is going to be a little bit different. I’m right in the middle of INTO THE BLACK NOWHERE by Meg Gardiner and it’s, let’s say, inspiring me. The novel is heavily influenced by my favourite serial killer (“favourite” in a most interesting way, not “favourite” in a fangirl way), Ted Bundy. I am NOT one of those people who think he’s handsome and charming. Gross. No.

But he was smart, kind of really lucky a number of times, but overall a fucking sick psycho who confessed to thirty murders and pulled off not one, but two prison breaks? It doesn’t get much more stunningly notorious than that.

Queen Gardiner opens the novel with one of Bundy’s most famous quotes:

“We serial killers are your sons, we are your husbands, we are everywhere. And there will be more of your children dead tomorrow.”

Here’s a couple from him:

“Murder is not about lust and it’s not about violence. It’s about possession. When you feel the last breath of life coming out of the woman, you look into her eyes. At the point, it’s being God.”
“I don’t wanna die, I’m not gonna lie to you I admit that and I’m not asking for clemency, I’m not asking for forgiveness, I’m not asking for sympathy. I know they’re gonna kill me sooner or later. You don’t need to worry about that but there’s a lot of crimes I can solve if the state can just see fit to make me live two or three years longer, I mean look, I know I’m not like other people, I know I can’t feel sympathy for other people but I’m still human.”
“I deserve, certainly, the most extreme punishment society has and society deserves to be protected from me and from others like me, that’s for sure.”

For this week’s post, let’s see what other serial killers have had to say…

Continue reading →

True Crime Tuesday: The Michigan Murderer

Please read the “TCT Disclaimer” under the True Crime tab at the top of the page before reading any true crime posts.

“Ken, two kids just came in with some story about a body out in a field somewhere. Want to go down and see what it’s all about?”

Last time for True Crime Tuesday, I talked about the Robison Family Murders, an unsolved case from the 60s. Lots of theories and suspects have been floated around about who killed Richard Robison, his wife and four children. One of the names suggested was John Norman Collins because of a connected between him and one of the eldest Robison sons.

There’s absolutely nothing to suggest Collins had anything do to with the Robison murders, but honestly, how crazy is it that you would know a serial killer from school and then also be fucking murdered?

THE ODDS! Definitely not in your favour.

After writing about both cases, it’s clear to me that Collins wasn’t involved in the Robison murders because his pathology as a serial killer is very specific and very “strangling young women.” Like, not original at all but also not “I’m going into the words to shoot a family.”

Collins is the original Co-Ed Killer, not Bundy, but he never got the same amount of attention as some of the other big name serial killers from around that same star-studded time. And my star-studded, I mean fucking psychos. Collins was also known as the Michigan Murderer and the Ypsilanti Ripper.

I’m going to avoid the Ypsilanti name because I don’t have a fucking clue how to pronounce it.

So, grab a drink or a joint or a snack, snuggle in and prepare to take a long journey through a savage serial killer’s crime spree. This is an intense one and probably comes across best if you read it like Keith Morrison is narrating.

Continue reading →