Conviction: Solving the Moxley Murder

October 30th , "Mishchief Eve" the night before Halloween, often proved fruitful for teenagers looking for the usual neighborhood vandalism and drug induced activities. However,for the Moxley family in Greenwich, Conneticut, 1975 would prove to be an evening that was sorrowfully, life changing.

Martha Moxley had been neighbor's and friends with the Skakel family, and was in their company on that fateful evening. Martha never returned from their company, and was found the following day beaten to death on her own property with a golf club. The beating was so violent that the gold club had broken in 3 pieces, one of which was used to stab Martha in the neck.

For 25 years case evidence has been either lost or mis handled, largely to gross negligence rather than the often used cover up theory. The police and residents of Greenwich just couldn't fathom the Skakel's being involved in such a violent and horrendous murder, even though the murder weapon was traced back to the skakel's and both Tommy and Michael Skakel had ever changing stories for their wear abouts. How could a Kennedy cousin commit such an act?



Reporter Leonard Levitt set out to prove just that. In 1982 The Stamford Advocate and Greenwich Time newspaper had asked Levitt to look into what was turning out to be, a cold case. Through his research and interviews with neighbors, family members and various police authorities Levitt discovered how the police had mishandeld the entire investigation, and how the Skakels were getting away with murder.

In 2002 Michael Skakel was convicted of Moxley's murder, after 20 years of hard work by Levitt and Police Detective Frank Garr. Both had faced political and peer pressure during their work on this case, often being shut out soley because of the Kennedy connection. This book was a great read , letting the reader look into the disturbed life and mind of Michael Skakel, and how much money and affluence can attempt to buy. Everything except true personal freedom.

His Boys Can Swim!

While exploring the world of blogging I came across a hillarious, tongue in cheek, blog called: His Boys Can Swim! Which chronicles "Tarzan" & "Jane"'s new adventures in pregnancy & soon to be parenthood(http://www.hisboyscanswim.com). What I love about this blog is that pretty much anything goes, and Jane can let loose her pregnant thoughts & feelings, which is great to relate too, especially knowing I'm not the only one who can be pregger-saur-us rex to her unsuspecting husband :-)

It's also a great site for daddies to be, even if you've already had a child, seeing how each pregnancy as each child, is different. "Tarzan" offers the dad's point of view, and "Jane" offers the mom to be's point of view. It's also a favorite blog of mine because Jane is due around the same time as me, so it's always fun to contrast & compare pregger notes :-)

One of my favorite postings is "It’s a boy! My boys knew this was their last shot. Good job guys." by Tarzan(http://www.hisboyscanswim.com/1354/its-a-boy-my-boys-knew-this-was-their-last-shot-good-job-guys#more-1354). I really almost peed myself when he compared a cousin to the brother of Napoleon Dynamite, because we all have a relative like that.Atleast I do.

And if you're into entering contests and winning free stuff, they just launched "the 1st Official His Boys
Can Swim Pregnancy Blog Contest!
Over $1,594 In Prizes!
31 Prizes, 31 Winners! "

So Check it out!

Epidemic

Bury me softly in this womb
I give this part of me for you
Sand rains down and here I sit
Holding rare flowers
In a tomb...in bloom

Down in a hole and I dont know if I can be saved
See my heart I decorate it like a grave
You dont understand who they
Thought I was supposed to be
Look at me now a man
Who wont let himself be

Down in a hole, feelin so small
Down in a hole, losin my soul
Id like to fly,
But my wings have been so denied

Down in a hole and theyve put all
The stones in their place
Ive eaten the sun so my tongue
Has been burned of the taste
I have been guilty
Of kicking myself in the teeth
I will speak no more
Of my feelings beneath

Down in a hole, feelin so small
Down in a hole, losin my soul
Id like to fly but my
Wings have been so denied

Bury me softly in this womb
Oh I want to be inside of you
I give this part of me for you
Oh I want to be inside of you
Sand rains down and here I sit
Holding rare flowers (oh I want to be inside of you)
In a tomb...in bloom
Oh I want to be inside...

Down in a hole, feelin so small
Down in a hole, losin my soul
Down in a hole, feelin so small
Down in a hole, outta control
Id like to fly but my
Wings have been so denied

~"Down In A Hole"~ Alice In Chains

I learned of yet another classmate lost to addiction the other day. And as I red the obituary in the paper I can remember sitting next to him on the bus in elementary school. I can also remember what I was doing the day he died. As I was spending the day with my son and husband that sunday, Steve's little boy lost his own. The obituary can sugar coat it all it wants to, but heroin took Steve's life. As it did Kara's last year. Alcoholism & drunk driving took my good friend Adam's life June 26,2001, weeks after we sat next to eachother at graduation.

It just makes me incredibly sad and breaks my heart. What the hell happens to people that leads them to make those choices? I've had ample opportunities through high school and college to partake in various substances, and to be honest they scared the shit out of me, and I refused to take them. At what point does sticking a needle in your arm seem like a good fucking idea?!?! And to think that Steve's little boy is going to grow up without a daddy, and to have to live with the fact that his father died because of heroin, and to think of my little boy who is around the same age, I would never ever think of putting myself in the position where he would be without a mommy.

I'm not trying to judge these people, even though it would be easy too. When this happens to people you know, it's not as easy to write them off as a piece of crap low life. Some people are, but not all. I also was reading about one of my favorite bands, Alice In Chains, the lead singer Layne Staley died of an overdose of a speedball (heroin&cocaine) and was not found for over 2 weeks. When the police broke down the door, with his mother behind them, his 6'1" frame only had 82 pounds on it, surrounded by cocaine & crack pipes. The lead singer of one of the most popular bands at the time, had secluded himself to such an extent that it was not unusual for friends not to hear from him for weeks on end, and was often reported to hang out weekly at a local bar, not to drink, but to hang out in the corner and nod off. It's just amazingly sad how drugs can destroy a person like that, and it feels that much more desperate when it hits home. I geuss you never realize how bad things are until its too late.

Portrait Of A Killer

Synopsis From www.patriciacornwell.com:

"In Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper, Case Closed, Cornwell combines the rigorous discipline of twenty-first century police investigation with forensic techniques undreamed of during the late Victorian era to solve one of the most infamous and difficult serial murder cases in history. Drawing on unparalleled access to original Ripper evidence, documents, and records, as well as archival, academic, and law-enforcement resources, FBI profilers, and top forensic scientists, Cornwell reveals that Jack the Ripper was none other than a respected painter of his day, an artist now collected by some of the world’s finest museums: Walter Richard Sickert.

It has been said of Cornwell that no one depicts the human capability for evil better than she. Adding layer after layer of circumstantial evidence to the physical evidence discovered by modern forensic science and expert minds, Cornwell shows that Sickert, who died peacefully in his bed in 1942, at the age of 81, was not only one of Great Britain’s greatest painters but also a serial killer, a damaged diabolical man driven by megalomania and hate. She exposes Sickert as the author of the infamous Ripper letters that were written to the Metropolitan Police and the press. Her detailed analysis of his paintings shows that his art continually depicted his horrific mutilation of his victims, and her examination of this man’s birth defects, the consequent genital surgical interventions, and their effects on his upbringing present a casebook example of how a psychopathic killer is created.

With her knowledge of criminal investigation and her consummate skills as a bestselling writer, Patricia Cornwell has produced a book that is as compelling as it is authentic and pays due respect to the people whose early deaths spawned one of the twentieth century's least attractive entertainment industries. Portrait of a Killer is also a subtle tribute to the men and women who conduct modern forensic investigations and the technology they use. “When it’s all said and done,” says Cornwell, “the point of all this is to take what we know and apply it to the living.” (from Q&A) "







Normally I would write the review, but I found the synopsis to be pretty accurate. The only thing I did not care for in the book, which might not necessarily be a bad thing, I just found it to be confusing, was how much detail was put into the background of the book. Cornwell was extremely thourough, and the detail just shows that she really did her homework, but some of the detail I found to be in excess, and was kind of confusing where I had to go back and re read some paragraphs to try and understand what exactly was going on. But overall was a very well researched and written book.

The Baby Thief

In what has been long regarded as an act of goodness, one of bringing families together, american adoption has the roots of greed, lies and anguish. Georgia Tann of Memphis, Tennessee has long been regarded as the founder of the modern day adoption process. Before Tann's dominance in the Tennessee social work system, adoption was virtually unheard of, and certainly not something a family would admit to have participated in. In Barbara Bisantz Raymond's book "The Baby Thief: The Untold Story of Georgia Tann, the Baby Seller Who Corrupted Adoption", Raymond exposes the dark beginning's of adoption at the hands of Georgia Tann and the corrupt "legal" system of Tennessee that supported Tann during her more than twenty five year reign as the number one baby thief in the country.


(Photo from babythief.com of Billy Hale & his Mother Mollie, one of Tann's victims)


Seeing unwed single mothers as "cows" who were nothing more than breeding machienes to produce a money making product, children. Finding these women through spies she employed in hospitals,maternity homes or free lance "runners" who would go through out the area to find these women. Tann would often have her employees lie to the mothers saying that the babies were stillborn, have the women sign away the babies while still under anesthesia (anesthesia was routinely used during child birth at the time), or resort to the actual theft of children.


Tann had no emotional attachment to her work, or those involved, using the children that were stolen as commodities, often giving babies to judges, doctors, lawyers, etc as a way to blackmail them if they tried to dispute her intentions. Tann grossed over a million dollars during the depression, charging ludacris amounts for her services to her clients, and through blackmail, ensured that she would not face prosicution. During Tann's operation, Tennessee had the highest infant mortality rate than any other state in the country. Tann ignored legislation that was supposed to ensure that infants were not prematurely removed from the birth mother, and even took in premature infants that did not weigh the five pounds that was necessary for hospital discharge. Although Tann only admitted to four infant deaths, there are believed to be as many as five thousand that have died through abuse and neglect, buried either in the back yard of the children's "home" or in unmarked graves near by.


Contrary to today's adoption legislation, there was no regulation of whom was allowed to adopt these children, often placed into homes that were just as abusive as the Tann orphanage. Children were often adopted out to pedophiles,treated as slaves, forced to work as farm hands or maids, even though there were more fourtunate ones who did receive loving homes, it was hit or miss. One of the more publicized results of a Tann adoption can we seen in the movie "Mommy Dearest", as Joan Crawford was a reported client. It would not be until fifty years after Georgia Tann's death in September of 1950, that legislation would be put into action to unseal the birth records of her victims, and give rights to future adoptee's to know their roots.


(Picture from babythief.com, Georgia Tann home, the center of her buisness)


Raymond does an excellent job of uncovering a controversy in America's adoption system, that without her research, may not have allowed for the current legislation giving rights to adopted children. Giving vivid description to Tann's baby snatching techniques, can strike a very real fear into any parents heart. It was truly appauling how the "legal" system allowed such a blatent abuse of humanity, to operate.

True Notebooks

In an attempt to make the graveyard shift less painful I've taken to reading, my favorite subject being true crime stories, ironic I know.I believe the last book I picked up was "Angela's Ashes" by Frank McCourt a few months ago, but I'm not sure if that even counts because I read that back in high school, and prior to my second reading of "Angela's Ashes" was the first installment of the "Harry Potter" series, that being said I was only able to make it through the first book as I don't have a large attention span for fantasy.


The first installment of my new "hobby" is a memoir by author Mark Salzman titled "True Notebooks". Salzman was a free lance writer whom had been previously nominated for a pulitzer prize, and through a friend was introduced to the world of juvenile hall. This juvenile detention facility was located in Los Angeles, the world capitol of juvenile gangs & violence. As a naive outsider, Salzman was predictibly intimidated and unprepared for what he was about to encounter. Invited to "shadow" in his friend's free writing program at the facility, his initial goal was to be able to finish his own novel, but Salzman ended up participating in his own free writing class in that same facility.





Written entirely on the authors memory, this memoir gives the reader insight to the mind of what many consider, a "throw away" member of society. The writing samples included are actual samples written by inmates, and are surpisingly well constructed and thought out. The memoir is a good example of the inner struggle the author was expieriencing, having to seperate the boys he "knew" from the crimes they've committed.


This book also raises the question, are these juveniles led to a life of crime and gangs because of "nature vs nurture" or are they genuinely just born "bad". I believe its a combination, most of the time, of the nature vs nature, even though I think it's rare, for someone to actually be inately "bad" from birth, but it could happen. The writing of the inmates reveals a life devoid of a father figure, or if he's present he's abusive or in one case the boy's parent's were killed in a car accident. Also being in the hub of gang land, these juveniles describe having to walk through gang territory in order to get home from school, these kids were involuntarily immeresed into gang activity. If a juvenile has no one to call "family" of their own, they're going to find the next closest thing, a gang. I'm not excusing the deeds of these young criminals, but just explaining the nature of the beast.


There are parts in the memoir where these young criminals come to realize the wrong in their actions, and show remorse for their crimes. In one instance a teenager got on his knees in front of the whole unit, to beg forgiveness to his victims brother (whom was also incarcerated). To "watch" the transformation in these boys is very rewarding to the reader, and I found this book to be a facinating look into the heart of America's delinquient youth.

My Blood Boils!!!

Excerpt from CNN.com:


"New evidence in the case of slain Florida toddler Caylee Anthony shows that her body was placed in a laundry-hamper bag and then secured in a plastic garbage bag before it was left behind in the woods.

Documents the state attorney's office in Orlando released Wednesday also show the girl's mouth was covered with silver duct tape that had been adorned with a heart-shaped sticker. Duct tape also was attached to her head.

A utility worker found the 3-year-old's body last December in woods near where she lived with her mother and grandparents. Her mother, 22-year-old Casey Anthony, has been charged with killing her.

The toddler was reported missing to authorities in July, almost a month after she was last seen. Her third birthday passed while she was missing."


I really can't stand it. It makes my blood boil. Unfourtuneatly from the very beginning this story first broke last summer, I along with most people, had a gut feeling that this poor little girl was killed by her mother. Even if you completely disregard the facts of Casey Anthony's "parenting skills", she waited a month before reporting to the authorities that her 2 1/2 year old was missing. I panic after my kid is quiet after 5 minutes! What kind of person drugs their child so they can go clubbing? Or researches "neck breaking" or "chloroform".


In my opinion, Casey Anthony had plenty of motive to kill her innocent child. First of all Caylee was an unplanned and reportedly unwanted pregnancy, that Casey was "forced" to continue with. Second of all she had no job, and seemingly no direction in life and leached off her parents. Caylee would have added to the already existing emotional and economic stress placed within the Anthony home. From all the reports it sounds like little Caylee was just "in the way" of Casey living the life that she wanted.


It makes me sick to think about what poor Caylee went through. It's reported that the body was double bagged, first in a laundry bag, then a black garbage bag. With the body was a winnie the pooh blanket and some kind of horse toy. And the sickest part was that on top of the duct tape that covered the baby's mouth was the reminence of a heart shaped sticker. WHO DOES THAT!! Not a random killer, a random killer would finish the act and dispose of the body without taking care of personal details like that. That is something that someone who would not only be close to the victim, but have access to those materials would do. Traditionally when victims are killed by people close to them, particularly family members, it is not unusual for the killer to almost "take care" of the victim (i.e. clean up the body, add personal affects, etc).


The thing that bothers me the most, why would she tape Caylee's mouth if she were already dead? A dead body doesn't cry or scream. Fucking think about it. That child suffered. I hope Casey gets the fucking chair!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!