THIS DAY IN CRIME HISTORY: MAY 31, 1964

On this date in 1964, Charles Schimd, the "Pied Piper of Tucson," murdered fifteen year old Alleen Rowe. The 23 year old Schmid--so self-conscious about his small stature that he would put crushed beer cans and rags in his boots to make himself look taller--managed to convince several local teenagers to help him set up Alleen to be killed, and then dispose of her body. His motive: he wanted to see what it felt like to kill someone. Schmid went on to murder two more teenage girls when they threatened to expose him.

Charles Schmid was arrested in November 1965. He was convicted and sentenced to death. His sentence was eventually commuted to life in prison, thanks to our ever-compassionate justice system. In 1975, his death sentence was carried out anyway, compliments of some never-compassionate inmates in the Arizona State Prison yard. They shanked the little psycho (a few dozen times) and left him in a pool of his own blood. Schmid's family refused to claim his remains. He was buried in the prison cemetery.

Schmid was the inspiration for the short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates. If you've never read it, the full text is posted on her website here. Great story.

truTV Crime Library - Charles Schmid, The Pied Piper of Tucson

Wikipedia - Charles Schmid

GO AHEAD, MAKE MY (BIRTH)DAY

Happy 80th birthday to one of my favorite actors, Clint Eastwood. Here are a few trailers from some of my favorite Eastwood movies.

Dirty Harry:



Kelly's Heroes:



High Plains Drifter:

FRIDAY MOVIE QUOTES

"My motherfucker is so cool, when he goes to bed, sheep count him."

-Pinky (Ricky Jay), Heist (2001)

THIS DAY IN CRIME HISTORY: MAY 26, 1977

On this date in 1977, police in New York City arrested George "The Human Fly" Willig on the 110th floor of the World Trade Center.  His crime? He climbed the South Tower from the outside.  He accomplished this feat, which took him 3 1/2 hours, using clamps he had fashioned to fit into the channel that ran the entire height of the tower for window-washing equipment.

The City, sensing they had a new folk hero on their hands, decided against a hefty fine for Willig.  Instead, he was fined $1.10 -- one cent for every floor floor of the tower.

Further reading:

New York Press - "WTC Climber George Willig Would Do It All Again"

Gothamist - George Willig's 1977 WTC Climb

Wikipedia - George Willig

BABE OF THE WEEK

This week's babe is Czech-born model Veronica Varekova, who has appeared in Sports Illustrated's swimsuit edition eight times.


Veronica is one Czech that could make me rethink my "cash only" policy.

THIS DAY IN CRIME HISTORY: MAY 25, 1979

On this date in 1979, six year old Etan Patz disappeared while walking from his home in Manhattan to the school bus.  The school never alerted Etan's parents to his absence, and his disappearance wasn't noticed until mid afternoon.  An extensive search and investigation followed his disappeared, but Etan was never found.  Several years later, a drifter named Jose Antonio Ramos would become a suspect in the boy's disappearance.  Ramos had dated a woman that used to watch Etan for his parents.
Prosecutors were never able to make a case against him, but Etan's parents successfully sued Ramos in civil court. Years later, he wound up in prison in Pennsylvania on a conviction for child sex abuse.  Ramos is scheduled to be released in November 2012.

Further reading:

truTV - All about the disappearance of Etan Patz

New York Magazine - What Happened to Etan Patz

Wikipedia - Etan Patz

Nation Center for Missing and Exploited Children

FINALE NIGHT IN TV LAND

Nothing's ever simple. The gods of TV programming are forcing me to chose between the season finale of Chuck...


and the series finale of 24.


As anxious as I am to see Chuck tonight, he's just going to have to wait until tomorrow. Since this is Jack Bauer's last night on series TV, he gets first dibs on my attention.

From what I could gather from Mary Lynn Rajskub's tweets, the last couple of hours promise to be off the wall for her character, Chloe. I'm kind of hoping the writers let Jack survive the series relatively intact. The poor guy deserve s a break. He certainly hasn't caught many on the personal front in the last eight years. But this being 24, anything's possible.

THIS DAY IN CRIME HISTORY: MAY 23, 1934

She was an honor student with a talent for creative writing. He was an ex-con and habitual criminal with a preference for Fords and Browning Automatic Rifles. On this date in 1934, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were ambushed and gunned down by a posse led by (semi)retired Texas Ranger Frank Hamer.


Further reading:

Crime Library: BONNIE & CLYDE: ROMEO AND JULIET IN A GETAWAY CAR

Wikipedia - Bonnie and Clyde

The Bonnie and Clyde Festival in Gibsland, LA

"The Story of Bonnie and Clyde," a poem by Bonnie Parker

Frank Hamer at the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame

BEAUTIFUL DANGEROUS

A friend at work has gotten me hooked on the latest CD from Slash (of Guns'n Roses fame). Slash jams on guitar, and various vocalists sit on on the different songs. One of my favorites from the CD is the tune "Beautiful Dangerous", which you can hear on the Youtube vidoe below.



The vocalist on "Beautiful Dangerous" is Fergie from the group Black Eyed Peas. I'm not really a fan of that group, but Fergie is a different story.

THIS DAY IN CRIME HISTORY: MAY 21, 1924

On this date in 1924, two spoiled sociopaths committed what they thought would be the perfect crime; all to prove their status as Nietzschean supermen. Nathan Leopold, 19, and Richard Loeb, 18, kidnapped and murdered 14 year old Bobby Franks. They might have gotten away with it, had their perfect crime been just a little more... perfect. But perfection is hard to achieve, especially when you do things like:

-Hide the body where it will be quickly found

-Drop your (very unique) glasses at the body dump location

-Build your alibi around going for a drive in a car that could be shown to be in the shop

It didn't take long for the alibi to break down and for both men to confess. So much for supermen, Nietzschean or otherwise.

Famed trial attorney Clarence Darrow was brought in to defend the indefensible. He couldn't get his clients acquitted, but he did manage to head off a death sentence. Both men were sentenced to life in prison.

Loeb died in prison in 1936, the victim of a razor attack by another inmate. Leopold was paroled in 1958. He moved to Puerto Rico, where worked in a hospital. He died in 1971, at the age of 66.

Further reading:

truTV - Leopold & Loeb

Famous Trials - Illinois v. Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb

FRIDAY MOVIE QUOTE

"Time to nut up or shut up!"

-Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), Zombieland (2009)

WTF?: OLYMPIC EDITION

My hat is off to the London Organizing Committee.  In their preparations for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, these people from the great nation that gave the world James Bond and the Beatles have really outdone themselves in the mascot department.  Wenlock and Mandeville (pictured above) are probably (if you'll pardon my français) the most douchetastic mascots in the history of mascotery.  These guys (or gals, or... whatever) make the smurfs look cool.  And that ain't easy.

THE GOOD GUYS

Looks like I have a new drug to add to my TV addictions. The Good Guys stars Colin Hanks (Tom's son) and Bradley Whitford as mismatched partners assigned to investigate low-level property crimes for the Dallas PD. Whitford's character is a veteran detective who has developed what you might call a lackadaisical attitude about the job. Hanks is a young, by-the-book hard charger who yearns to work big cases, but is stuck babysitting Whitford after pissing off his superiors too many times. Apparently, it's not a good career move to correct your captain's grammar... in front of the Chief ("But there's no such thing as a statue of limitations").

The Good Guys was created by Matt Nix, who also created Burn Notice - another one of my TV addictions. If the premiere is any indication, this one's a keeper. Whitford and Hanks were awesome, the humor was nonstop, and the soundtrack included some good rock'n roll tunes (including AC/DC's "Thunderstruck"). It even had a kickass muscle car, the Pontiac Trans Am in the photo above.

If you're still not convinced, check out the promo.

BABE OF THE WEEK

I'm a little late with this week's babe, but I think she was worth the wait.


Courtney Friel is an anchor for Fox News. If I had to hear that an asteroid was about to hit the Earth, I'd rather hear it from Courtney than from any other news anchor.


You can learn all about Courtney Friel at her official website.

THIS DAY IN CRIME HISTORY: MAY 18, 1927

On this date in 1927, Bath, MI became the scene of the largest school mass-murder in U.S. history. The massacre began when school board member Andrew Kehoe became upset over an increase in the school tax that he blamed for his financial ruination.

Kehoe began by killing his wife and detonating fire bombs in his farm buildings. While firefighters worked to put out the fires on Kehoe's property, Kehoe went to the Bath Consolidated School, where he detonated bombs he had previously planted in the school.

Kehoe left the scene after the explosion, but returned a short while later. He saw the school superintendent standing outside the school watching rescue and recovery efforts, and called to him. As the superintendent approached the car, Kehoe detonated a bomb inside the car. The blast killed Kehoe, the superintendent, two local men, and an 8 year old boy who had managed to escape the school bombing.

The Bath School Disaster resulted in 45 dead and 58 injured. In 1975, a park dedicated to the victims was built on the former site of the school.

Further reading:

truTV - Hell Comes to Bath

The Bath School Disaster

Wikipedia - Bath School Disaster

BEHIND THE POWER CURVE

I just realized that I hadn't posted the Babe of the Week yet. That'll have to wait until evening. But in the meantime, we'll just have to make do with a picture of Miss USA 2010, Rima Fakih. The Miss USA pageant doesn't have a talent competition, but if they did, from what I hear, Rima can dance.

THIS DAY IN CRIME HISTORY: MAY 17, 1974

On this date in 1974, six members of the Symbionese Liberation Army were cornered by police in a house in Los Angeles. The police announced their presence via bullhorn. An older man and a small child walked out of the house. The man told police that no one else was inside. After several attempts to communicate with the remaining occupants, police fired tear gas into the building. SLA members responded with automatic gunfire. In the ensuing battle, the building caught fire. All six SLA members, the group's leader, Donald "Cinque" Defreeze, Nancy Ling Perry, Angela Atwood, Willie Wolfe, Patricia Soltysik and Camilla Hall, were killed in the shootout.



Further reading:

Crime Library - HEARST, SOLIAH AND THE S.L.A.

CNN.com - Patty Hearst Profile

R.I.P., RONNIE JAMES DIO

Sad news from the entertainment world; one of the great vioces in rock and roll, and one of my all-time favorite musicians, has passed.

Dio's tenure with Black Sabbath produced some of their best work (Sorry, Ozzy). But his solo stuff was just as good. "Heaven and Hell" (with Black Sabbath) and "Holy Diver" (with his own band) were two of the greatest metal albums ever produced.

Here's a video of Dio performing "Rainbow in the Dark", from the album "Holy Diver".

THIS DAY IN CRIME HISTORY: MAY 15, 1981

On this date in 1981, Donna Payant became the first female corrections officer in New York State to be killed in the line of duty. Payant, 31, was assigned to the Greenhaven Correctional Facility in Dutchess County, NY.

At the end of her scheduled shift, Payant had turned up missing. An exhaustive search was conducted of the prison and the surrounding grounds, but there was no sign of her. Officials expanded their search to a local landfill where trash from the prison had been dumped earlier in the day. They found her mutilated body buried in the trash.

Police and prison officials began an investigation into the murder of Officer Payant. Bite marks had been left, and the medical examiner thought that the pattern looked familiar. As it turns out, he had seen the same pattern on a previous case he had worked: one of the victims of rapist and serial killer Lemuel Smith. Smith was an inmate at Greenhaven CF when Officer Payant was murdered.

Once the case was built, Smith was tried for murdering Officer Payant. He was represented by C. Vernon Mason (of Tawana Brawley fame/infamy) and William "Black Rage" Kuntsler. In spite of such big-name legal representation , Smith was convicted of 1st degree murder and given the mandatory death sentence. In 1984, his death sentence was overturned as unconstitutional.

Lemuel Smith is currently incarcerated at Five Points Correctional Facility in central New York. He is eligible for parole in 2029, when he is 87 years old.

Further reading:

Crime Library - Murder Within the Walls

The Officer Down Memorial Page - Corrections Officer Donna A. Payant

Find-a-Grave - Donna Payant

FRIDAY MOVIE QUOTE

"Locksley, I'm going to cut your heart out with a spoon!"

-Sheriff of Nottingham (Alan Rickman), Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)

DANICA MCKELLAR APPEARING IN MAXIM

And I'm doing my damnedest to hide my disappointment. You can see the rest of her pictorial here.

THIS DAY IN CRIME HISTORY: MAY 13, 1977

On this date in 1977, mob boss Michael "Mickey" Spillane (no relation to the guy who created fictional P.I. Mike Hammer) was shot and killed outside his apartment in Queens, NY.  Spillane, who headed the Westies gang, had moved to Queens from Hell's Kitchen out of fear for his safety.  The previous year, his three top lieutenants had been taken out on orders from Genovese crime family boss Fat Tony Salerno.  Salerno coveted control of construction contracts for the Jacob Javits Civic Center, which was being built in Spillane's territory.  Spillane's killing was rumored to have been carried out by Gambino crime family associates Roy DeMeo and Danny Grillo.  After Spillane's demise, mobster Jimmy Coonan took over as head of the Westies.  Coonan had previously challenged Spillane for control of the group.  After he took control, Coonan formed an alliance with the Gambino family, in a deal brokered by the newly-"made" Roy DeMeo.  Coincidence?  Um... probably not.

Further reading:

The Westies, by T.J. English

The Serial Killer Calender - Roy DeMeo

Wikipedia - Mickey Spillane (gangster)

FRONTIER JUSTICE

Here's an interesting bit of history I ran across in my research:

In the 1860s, before it became a state, Montana, like many territories in the western U.S., was home to "vigilance committees" who meted out their own brand of justice. Since a formal infrastructure for keeping the peace had not been established in most of the territory, these committees enjoyed a fair amount of popular support.

The Virginia City vigilance committee employed a unique system for warning their targets. The malefactor would find the numbers 3-7-77 chalked on his door. At that point, the villain had two choices: get out of town, or be the guest of honor at a necktie party. But what did these numbers represent? Were they the dimensions of a grave (3 feet wide, seven feet deep, 77 inches long)? Did the numbers represent the time left to get out of town (3 hours, 7 minutes, and 77 seconds)? Or did the numbers originate with the masonic lodge to which many committee members belonged? Thanks to the committee's code of silence, the significance of the numbers remains a mystery.

While the vigilance committees have disappeared, their legacy lives on in Montana. In 1956, the Chief of the Montana Highway Patrol redesigned the agency's patch. As a tribute to Montana's "first people’s police force”, he included the numbers 3-7-77 on the patch, which Highway Patrol Officers wear to this day.


Further reading:

Association of Montana Troopers - 3-7-77

Montana Vigilantes and the Origins of the 3-7-77

Wikipedia - 3-7-77

BABE OF THE WEEK

This week's babe is model Brooklyn Decker, who was ranked #2 on Maxim's Hot 100 list.

IRON MAN 2

Iron Man 2 opened in theaters yesterday. According to Box Office Mojo, box office numbers were good, but not exceptional compared to previous big-budget action movies. Reviews have been mixed, but generally good, with review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes certifying it as 74% fresh, as of 9:30 this morning.

As for me, I'm definitely going to see it. I loved the first one; I saw it twice in theaters when it was released in 2008. The trailer blew me away (the AC/DC score didn't hurt). The movie also features some impressive eye candy, including the lovely Leslie Bibb, pictured below.



As much as I want to see it tonight, I'll probably wait a while. I'm not big on premiere weekend crowds. All good things to those who wait, right?

THIS DAY IN CRIME HISTORY: MAY 7, 1827

On this date in 1827, farmhand Jesse Strang murdered John Whipple at the Cherry Hill estate in Albany, NY. He was put up to the crime by Whipple's wife Elsie, with whom Strang was having an affair. Elsie even provided Strang with the gun he used, which she stole from her soon-to-be-late husband.

To add insult to (fatal) injury, John Whipple--wise to his wife's affair and fearing an attempt on his life--actually loaded the murder weapon with the bullet that would kill him.

After the shooting, Strang ran to a local store in an attempt to establish an alibi. The police saw through his alibi and arrested him for the murder. He promptly ratted out Elsie, who was then arrested as well. Strang was eventually convicted of murder and sentenced to death. He was executed in the last public hanging in Albany's history. Elsie Whipple was found not guilty and released.

Wikipedia: Murder at Cherry Hill

Historic Cherry Hill

Facebook: I am related to Jesse Strang

LIVE AT DEAD GUYS IN SUITS

My guest post at Dead Guys In Suits has gone live, so feel free to head on over and check it out.  It's a crime history post about a particularly twisted 19th century killer.  Thanks to Patrick Downey, Mayor of Gangster City, for the opportunity to display my talents (or lack thereof) on his blog.

FRIDAY MOVIE QUOTE

"They say that the best weapon is the one you never have to fire. I respectfully disagree. I prefer the weapon you only have to fire once. That's how Dad did it, that's how America does it, and it's worked out pretty well so far."

-Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.), Iron Man (2008)

WE INTERRUPT THIS BLOG...

We interrupt this blog for a couple of important announcements from the Nobody Move! creative staff:

Tomorrow, I will be special guest blogger (OK, maybe not that special, but I will be a guest) at Dead Guys In Suits. DGIS is the blog of author and crime historian Pat Downey. I'll be doing a crime history post. Note that I'll be doing a crime history post here at Nobody Move! as well, but they'll be two different posts about two unrelated events. I'll post a link to the DGIS post when it goes live. In the meantime, feel free to head on over and check out what Pat has going on there. He blogs about historical true crime, with an emphasis on New York City. Nobody knows more about early 20th century Big Apple bad guys than Pat.

Also, Sunday is Mother's Day. So for those of you who still haven't bought a card/flowers/a present for you mom (or, in the case of many of the guys out there, the mother of your children), you might want to get on your horse and get to it. You don't want to be one of those clowns rushing to the florist on Sunday morning in a blind panic. That's no fun. Trust me.

OK, enough with the announcements. We now return to our regularly scheduled blogging. And one of my favorite Judas Priest tunes:

HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO

Cinco de Mayo gives me a great excuse to post a picture of Mexican model (and former Nobody Move! babe of the Week) Paulina Flores. Not that I needed an excuse.

IT'S ALL GOOD

Hearing Boston's "More Than a Feeling" on a warm, sunny spring day is like a double shot of Zoloft with a Prozac chaser. It's like someone set my Penfield Mood Organ* to "Extra Happy". It's funny how seemingly little things can change your whole outlook. My Cinco de Mayo lunch from Hot Harry's didn't hurt.

*OK, all you smart people. Who knows what a Penfield Mood Organ is, and what book it appeared in? And step away from that search engine, no cheating.

THIS DAY IN CRIME HISTORY: MAY 4, 1932

On this date in 1932, "Scarface" Al Capone started his prison sentence for tax evasion.  Big Al learned the hard way that there are some lines you shouldn't cross.  Lie, cheat, steal, bribe, bootleg, murder--knock yourself out, dude.  But you'd damn well better PAY YOUR TAXES!

Capone was released from prison in November 1939 after 7 1/2 years behind bars.  The repeal of Prohibition put a hurting on his business.  Syphilis put a hurting on his brain.  He died of cardiac arrest in 1947.

Lessons learned from Big Al:

1.  Pay your taxes
2.  Diversify your business
3.  Wear a Jimmy hat

Further reading:

Al Capone at Crime Library

Al Capone at Chicago Historical Society

Al Capone on Wikipedia

BABE OF THE WEEK

This week's babe is actress Deanna Russo, who's appeared in White Collar, Gossip Girl, and the 2008 version of Knight Rider. Deanna also has her own website.

DRAWING A BLANK

Due to military obligations, I haven't blogged since Friday. Well, Thursday, actually, since last Friday's movie quote post was written in advance.  I feel like I should blog something, but I got nothin'. Maybe I'll come up with something later tonight. At the very least, there'll be a Babe of the Week post.

In the meantime, check out this article about the life and death of a fine young American who was laid to rest last Saturday at the Massachusetts National Cemetery. I had the privilege of standing in formation at a graveside service for Sgt. Robert J. Barrett, who died last month in Afghanistan. He was 20 years old, and he left behind a 2 year old daughter.