True Crime Tuesday: The Bear Brook Murders

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 I’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.

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True Crime Tuesday: Bobby Joe Long

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 time looks 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…. girl. 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 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 a serial killer who hunted in the Tampa Bay area, abducting, raping and murdering at least 10 women in 1984. The details she 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.

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

I know Greyson is floating around here and has been waiting for this so I’m writing it up just for her (but also for all of you that are interested.)

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 damn serial killer. Because it’s fucking interesting and disturbing. Exactly what you want from your true crime, right?!

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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.

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

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 WiFi.) 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.

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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 dead girls shared my name, that is likely the precise moment my brain warped.

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True Crime Tuesday: The Weepy-Voiced Killer

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.

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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 still 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 has decidedly 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?)

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True Crime Tuesday: Killer Quotes

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.

Charming, kind of handsome, smart but a fucking sick psycho serial killer who confessed to 30 murders and pulled off a 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.”

“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…

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True Crime Tuesday: The Michigan Murderer

“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 True Crime Tuesday, I talked about the still unsolved Robison Family Murders.

One of the theories (however unlikely, and if you read this post you’ll see why) batted around has been that the family fell victim to John Norman Collins, aka the Ypsilanti Ripper, the Michigan Murderer, and the Co-Ed Killer.

Oh shit, I just love those classically cheesy serial killer nicknames.

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John Norman Collins beat and strangled seven women to death between 1967 and 1969. Grab a drink, snuggle in and let’s take a longggggggg journey through a savage serial killer’s spree. This is an intense one and probably comes across best if you read it like Keith Morrison is narrating it.

When I first started to learn about John Norman Collins, I was struck by how much he reminded me of Ted Bundy – good looking, “all-American”; a fun, kind and motivated fraternity brother. A normal guy, who aspired to be a school teacher and gave no outward indication of his darker side; a darker side directed towards young university girls.

Collins happened before Bundy. He’s the original co-ed nightmare.

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