As I type this, I’m trying to pop my ears to rid myself of it. It never works, but it’s a response to the noise I have developed over years.

Can you hear what I hear?

I’d say I’m one of the lucky ones. Tuning it out is second nature. Some cannot do that. Even worse, some experience dizzy spells and headaches because of it. The most it has effected me is keeping me awake at night. I found that to be especially true while living on a small island. With no background noise (cars, people etc), the hum became more noticeable. The first two weeks living there trying to sleep was almost impossible.

And it appears the hum is a modern phenomenon. Early hum attributed reports date back to the 1940’s and 50’s. In London and Southampton, over 2000 people are said to have reported hearing the hum over this period of 2 decades.

David Deming, a hum sufferer and scientist from the USA, investigated the hum in 2004. In his paper, titled: “The Hum: An Anomalous Sound Heard Around the World” he cites not just the early hum reports from London above, but also gathers reports and data from around the globe. It’s a fascinating study but one which ends in frustration. Spoiler alert, David does not pinpoint the source of the hum.

Destination Unknown

While it appears the Hum was originally noticed in the UK, it wasn’t long until other areas of the globe started to report it too. In Taos, New Mexico in 1992, Catanya Saltzman, a trained dancer, wrote a letter to the local newspaper complaining about the sound. The hum was so bad for her, it effected her inner ear balance and career.

Interestingly, the letter met with a small minority of the community agreeing with her. An investigation into the Taos Hum was launched in 1993. This one gets a little sprinkling of conspiracy here. A newsweek article from 1993 claims that “Rep. Bill Richardson, a member of the House intelligence committee, told a packed Taos town meeting that the Hum is defence related and asked the Pentagon to shut it down.”

John Deutch, Under Secretary of Defence at the time responded, “My staff has concluded there is no program, classified or not, which would cause this hum.”

The Windsor Hum tells a similar story. In 2010 the Canadian city of Windsor started getting reports of complaints from residents. Again the same thing. A low rumbling noise heard by a large minority of residents.

Remarkably similar stories have come as far a field as Bondi in Australia, Bristol in the UK and even Hawaii. But the best one has to be from Auckland, New Zealand. Here, Dr Tom Moir investigated the mystery sound and he even managed to record it. You can listen to the sound at around the 1.30 minute mark of this news report.

Research into The Hum

While David Deming’s and others research failed to find a source for the hum, it has been built upon. Dr Glen MacPherson, a science teacher, took up the baton.

He created the website, thehum.info in 2012, Since then it has gathered information from sufferers around the globe. The site includes an interactive map of those effected by the hum that you can click on and see their locations. You can also submit your own data through a survey asking questions and a tone generator to match the noise you hear.

Possible causes of The Hum

Natural phenomena such as volcanoes, meteors, waterfalls and ocean waves have all been discounted by researchers. It has been reasoned that because only a small percentage of the globe hear the hum, it cannot be an acoustic sound.

Others have attributed the hum to urban noise from air conditioning units, ventilation fans, diesel engines or even water pumps. As someone who still heard the hum while living on a remote island, I’m not convinced.

David Deming thought it could have been caused by radio signals used to communicate with submarines. These need really low frequencies and can evoke an auditory response in humans. It would also call back to the Taos Hum and the since denied defence related excuse.

But, no, it’s probably not that either. Why? Dr MacPherson built a box to shield out such radio frequencies and stepped inside. Instead of the hum disappearing, it did the opposite and became louder.

So if it’s not an external source, is it coming from inside of us? Does there seem to be a small percentage of humans that all have this internally generated sound? Personally, I think that this is the likeliest explanation.

The Hum, for now at least, continues to be a truly global mystery.

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On April 22nd, 1974, Stanley went to work at the Hi-Fi Store. As he did most other days. Unfortunately for Stanley, today wouldn’t be like most other days. It would be his final day.

The Hi-Fi Murders – Robbery

Dale Selby Pierre, William Andrews, Keith Roberts and three unidentified men arrived at the Hi-Fi shop in two vehicles. It was almost closing time when they arrived. Keith Roberts and an unidentified man remained with the getaway vehicles while the rest swarmed into the store.

Hostage taking began immediately.

Pointing handguns at the stunned employees of Stanley Walker and Sherry Michelle Ansley (18 years old) the gang bound and gagged them in the basement. And began ransacking the store.

As they did so they were disturbed by a 16 year old boy. Cortney Naisbitt had popped in to thank Stanley for allowing him to park in the Hi-Fi stores car park while he ran an errand. Quickly he joined the others, bound and gagged.

While robbing the store the attackers were disturbed twice more. Once by Stanley Walkers father Orren. Orren wondered why his son had not returned home and went to the store to look for him. The same happened to Cortney Naisbitt’s mother Carol.

The hostage count had grown to five.

The Hi-Fi Murders – Descent Into Madness

Pierre and Andrews conspired to try to kill their hostages using drain cleaner. Wrapped in a brown paper bag, they told the hostages it was vodka laced with sleeping pills. Orren Walker refused to administer the drink for them and was bound, gagged and thrown into the corner face down.

Pierre and Andrews then sat the victims up and started to force them to drink. No sooner had the liquid touched their tongues, burns and blisters formed around their mouths. Not satisfied that their victims were taking in enough drain cleaner, they attempted to duct tape their mouths shut while they were full of drain cleaning fluid.

Tiring of their screams and how long it was taking them to die, Pierre shot Carol and Cortney Naisbitt in the backs of their heads. Carol died immediately, Cortney somehow survived.

Next he turned his attention to the Walkers. Firing at Orren first, he missed. Stanley was not as lucky. The bullet that struck him was fatal. Turning back to Orren, the next shot grazed the top of his head.

Not yet satisfied with his trail of destruction, Pierre forced Ansley to undress at gunpoint then took her to the corner. Where he raped her repeatedly. Finished with her, he dragged her back to the others, still naked, and shot her in the back of the head.

At the trial, Orren Walker testified that the last words of Sherry Michelle Ansley, 18 years old, were “I am too young to die”.

The Hi-Fi Murders – Torture of Orren Walker

Pierre and Andrews then focused their murderous rage on Orren Walker. Pierre wrapped a wire around his throat and tried to strangle him. When this didn’t work, he got creative. Grabbing a pen, he inserted it into Orrens ear and stomped down on it. It went through his ear drum and came to rest poking out of his throat.

Finally done, Pierre, Andrews, Roberts and their unnamed accomplices (that have never been brought to justice) left. The victims would not be discovered for another three hours.

The Hi-Fi Murders – Brought to Justice

Within hours of the crime being reported, the police had an anonymous tip. An Air Force employee called the Ogden Police and said that William Andrews had told him a few months before:

“One of these days I’m going to rob that Hi-Fi shop, and if anyone gets in the way, I’m going to kill them.”

A few hours later, two teenage boys found the victims wallets and purses in a dumpster near Hill Air Force Base, where Pierre and Andrews were stationed.

The next part is quite clever. A crowd of had gathered around the dumpster as the detectives searched. Believing the killers to be in the crowd, the detectives made a big show of each piece of evidence pulled out. As the crowd stood silently watching, the only two animated were Pierre and Andrews. Both of whom paced and shouted.

Because of the above, a search warrant was issued for their barracks. Police found a rental contract for a storage place. There they found all the stolen Hi-Fi property, plus the half empty bottle of drain cleaner.

The Hi-Fi Murders – Trial and Convictions

At trial it was revealed that Pierre and Andrews had every intention of killing anyone who stood in the way of robbing the Hi-Fi store. They had mistakenly thought drain cleaner would kill someone quickly after watching a scene from the movie Magnum Force.

William Andrews – The brains behind the operation.

Just 19 at the time of the crime, he was convicted of 3 counts of first degree murder and two counts of aggravated robbery. He was executed by lethal injection at the age of 37 on the 30th of July, 1992.

Dale Selby Pierre – The Enforcer

Pierre was just 21. He too was convicted of 3 counts of first degree murder and two counts of aggravated robbery. At the age of 34 he was put to death by lethal injection. The date was August 28th, 1987.

Keith Roberts – The Getaway Driver

19 at the time he was acquitted of the murders. Sentenced to 5 years to life in prison for two counts of aggravated robbery, he was paroled on May the 12th, 1987. He had been inside for 12 years. Took his own life on August the 8th, 1992, just after the execution of William Andrews.

As for the three unidentified assailants, we will never know.

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In the movie, saying Candyman’s name three times into a bathroom mirror summons the killer, who rather predictably, murders you. It’s not the greatest of movies, but it had a whole generation egging each other on to shout Candyman into their bathroom mirrors. Usually while their friends turned off the lights and locked them alone inside the bathroom, scared stiff.

The movie is based on a short story by Clive Barker called The Forbidden. Set in a high rise block of flats in the 70’s, the book details a supernatural killer terrorising the residents by entering through their bathroom mirrors.

What if I was to tell you that their actually is a grain of truth in all of this. That there was a real life Candyman. Or maybe even several. All located at the same place and same time.

Let me explain.

The Real Life Candyman

Built in the middle part of the last century, the Grace Abbott Homes high rises in Chicago were home to a melting pot of people. All of whom were not doing so well. You had drug addicts, those down on their luck, the mentally unwell and career criminals to name a few.

The ABLA housing projects as it was known wasn’t exactly a good place to live.

On April 22nd, 1987 at 8.45pm Ruthie Mae McCoy called the police in a panic. She told the operator that an intruder had “throwed the cabinet down”. She was fearful that this intruder was out to get her and wanted police to intervene.

The operator, not able to really make any sense of Ruthie’s call, logged it as a disturbance with a neighbour and had a car attend the scene.

Between 9.02pm and 9.04pm, two other neighbours called the police, both reporting hearing gunshots at 1109. Ruthie’s apartment number.

Police arrived at 9.10pm. They knocked on Ruthie’s door and called her phone. No answer. So what did they do? They left. Yes really. It wasn’t until two days later that the door was broken down and Ruthie Mae McCoy was found dead. She had been shot 4 times. Also, her bathroom cabinet was missing, revealing a large crawlspace behind. This was how the real life Candyman entered apartments in this high rise.

Design Flaw

When the ABLA projects had been designed and built they did a strange thing. All of the pipe runs were connected through a crawl space behind the bathrooms walls. These were accessed by removing the bathroom cabinets. Making it really easy for repairs.

But it also made it really easy for people to break in. Especially once the less scrupulous residents found out about this “one weird trick”.

In fact, it had become such a problem with the ABLA high rise units that residents would barricade their own bathrooms from the outside before going to bed at night.

Not great if you have a small bladder.

I can only imagine the fear as you hear someone shuffling through the walls at night. It must have been awful to endure.

Of course, it also led to the real life Candyman. It had to really. A bunch of desperate people all locked in together with an easy way to break into your surrounding apartments? What else was going to happen? It’s no wonder the myth of the Candyman arose this way.

But who killed Ruthie Mae McCoy?

Apartment 1108

The apartment next to Ruthie Mae McCoy’s. Fellow residents Edward Turner and John Hondras had been there that day, hanging out. A friend allegedly showed them how easy it was to break into the apartment next door, using the bathroom cabinet as access.

Tim Brown, the main witness during the trial against Turner and Hondras in 1990 told the court that he had seen them break into apartment 1109 and then heard several gunshots.

Turner and Hondras then left through the front door of 1109 carrying a TV and rocking chair before disappearing with their ill gotten gains.

A few hours later, they allegedly returned to clear up the spent shell casings from the apartment.

Turners girlfriend testified that later that night, he had bragged to her about shooting someone. Hondras girlfriend admitted that they had come to her apartment and left with a rocking chair and tv there for safe keeping.

Slam dunk case, right?

Sadly not.

Edward Turner testified in his own defence. He stated that he was in 1108 when he heard gunshots and ran down to the lobby. 30 minutes later, John Hondras came down alone.

Going back to 1108, they saw a TV sitting outside 1109 and a third man carrying a rocking chair out of Ruthie Mae’s apartment. Turner took a look in and saw a dead body in the bedroom.

At this point the third man left the rocking chair and went away. Leaving the TV and rocking chair with Turner and Hondras.

Neither denied trying to stash the stolen items with others. But they sure denied killing Ruthie.

With no physical evidence to tie them to the crime, they were acquitted and found not guilty.

To this day, the real life Candyman has never been caught. Thankfully, the ABLA projects have all been torn down.

Apart from one at 1322 – 24 West Taylor Street. There are talks of it being incorporated into plans for a new National Public Housing Museum.

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Oakville Blobs – 7th August 1994

On Sunday the 7th of August 1994 a deluge started. But this rain was unlike any other the residents had ever seen. A gelatinous blob rained down over a 20 square mile area.

Police Officer David Lacey, on patrol at 3 am described it as “mushy”. Rather than clearing his windscreen, it smeared across it. He immediately thought that something was wrong.

In the following days, people reportedly became sick. A flu-like illness enveloped the community. One resident reported that both her and her mother became ill because of it. She even stated that the Oakville blobs had killed her kitten.

Still. No explanation could be given for where this rain came from. Or, more crucially, what it contained.

Theories for the Oakville Blobs

A sample taken of the substance was at first reported to contain white blood cells. Human white blood cells. However, upon further investigation by the Washington States Hazardous Spill Response Unit, this was found to be untrue.

Speculation then turned to how the Oakville blobs came to rain down upon them.

The military had been performing bombing exercises around 50 miles (80 km) away in the ocean. It was theorised that vaporised jellyfish could have been the cause of the “jell-o” like substance that had rained down upon them.

Not many believed this theory. It did become popular enough for there to be talk of a Jellyfish festival. The local bar even created a new cocktail in its honour, called predictably, the Jellyfish.

Another theory was that the rain was waste from a passing aircraft, although this was quickly rebuffed by the FAA.

Even now, nearly 30 years later there has been no satisfactory explanation for what fell from the sky that night. The Washington Department of Health claims to have no record of any samples taken.

Could it have been vaporised jellyfish? Or something more sinister? An attempt at wide scale administering of a virus by the nearby Military as theorised by some maybe. It wouldn’t be the first time the United States has tested chemical weapons out on it’s own citizens.

It seems we may never know. It’s an enduring mystery. One that was covered in a fascinating episode of Unsolved Mysteries. You can watch the segment below.

Unsolved Mysteries – The Oakville Blobs

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He resurfaced on October the 3rd in Baltimore. Delirious, he was at first mistook for a drunk. Joseph W. Walker, the man who found Poe lying in the gutter, described him as semi-conscious and dressed in shabby second hand clothes.

Patiently, he pried out of Poe his identity and the name of a friend who could help him.

Dr J.E. Snodgrass. A magazine editor with medical training. A letter was penned and dispatched to the good doctor. The Doctor duly arrived and started to treat Poe. Poe, despite the help, never regained consciousness again. He died on October the 7th. Just four days after being found. His death has remained a mystery ever since.

Strange Death of Edgar Allan Poe – Theories

Edgar Allan Poe is known for his dark poems and stories. The Raven and the Tell Tale Heart are two that always stood out to me in their beauty and horror. Poe’s death could so easily have been written by him.

It is thought that Poe’s death certificate listed the cause of death as swelling of the brain. But we cannot know for sure. Primarily because it has been lost. Over the years, speculation has grown as to what actually killed one of the greatest story tellers of all time.

Cooping

Cooping is a form of voter fraud used during the 19th century. A group would kidnap an unlucky chap and force them to vote multiple times for their candidate. Also at the time it was a common practise to give voters alcohol after they voted.

Poe was indeed found in the gutter outside of Gunner’s Hall, a polling station, on election day. He also very famously could not handle his alcohol. In fact, he supported the temperance movement after struggling with alcohol all his life. Could this combination have proven a deadly cocktail? Had Poe just been in the wrong place at the wrong time and found himself an unwilling pawn in a voting fraud scheme? It would certainly explain his shabby clothes as the fraud gang would dress you in different outfits before sending you back in to vote.

Brain Tumour

After his death, Poe was buried in an unmarked grave. Realising that this would never do for such a prolific and well loved author, a statue was commissioned to stand with his grave. This necessitated digging up his coffin and moving it. This action came nearly three decades after Poe’s death. As you can imagine, little was left of his coffin or body.

A strange feature was noted by the workers though. Inside his skull, a lump rolled around. At the time it was speculated that even after being dead for so long, his brain had yet to rot away.

Matthew Pearl, an author picked up on this many years later. After discussions with a pathologist, he concluded that while brains do in fact rot rather quickly, brain tumours calcify into hard lumps. Could this be the reason for Poe’s dishevelled and confused last few days on earth?

Alcohol and a Fight

As mentioned above, Poe struggled with alcohol his entire adult life. Drinking was a demon he tried to shake many times. Couple this with his genetic ability to get drunk really quickly and you have a powder keg. His friends believe that this is what happened to him when he disappeared the last week of his life. He met a woman and slipped into a drinking stupor. Add to this the 1867 article from Elizabeth Oakes Smith, writing in Beadles Monthly, she wrote that Poe was cruelly beaten to a pulp on the instigation of a woman who he had apparently offended.

It might be that the mystery of Poe’s death is that there is no mystery. He got drunk, offended someone and was beaten for it. A tale as old as time and one that is still repeated every single day across most of the world.

Other theories have ranged from carbon monoxide poisoning, murder and rabies. But in all honesty they have all been largely dismissed so I won’t cover them here.

It seems to me that the author of the first detective story will never really have the case of his own death solved.

Maybe it’s better that way.

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She used to be joined in this activity by her mother, Patty Doel. Until her mother felt she was being stalked by a motorist. Tara laughs off the suggestion, ignoring her mothers insistence to carry mace. After all, what could happen in broad daylight, cycling on the roads around their home?

Disappearance

Tara never returns. Her mother Patty, along with her step-father John Doel, check the route Tara cycles. She cannot be found. They inform the police.

A thorough check of the area finds parts of her Walkman and a cassette tape scattered on the road. Several witnesses remember seeing a light coloured pickup truck with a camper shell following closely behind. No-one saw her being kidnapped.

The Photograph

8 long agonising months pass. Despite the FBI becoming involved, silence. No leads, no sightings.

Then in July of 1989, a photo is shown on A Current Affair. Maury Povich hosts as the show shines a light onto stories that were overlooked or ignored by the large news networks.

The picture shows a woman and a young boy, bound and gagged in the back of a white van. It was found in a parking lot in Florida, well over 1000 miles away.

Patty and John Doel are convinced the woman is Tara Calico. Patty notes that a visible scar on the woman’s leg is identical to Tara’s. Additionally, a copy of Calico’s favourite book, My Sweet Audrina can be seen next to her. The FBI are less sure. Their analysis comes back inconclusive. A second analysis by Scotland Yard concludes that it is Calico.

The boy is also identified by his parents. Michael Henley also disappeared in New Mexico, just before Tara in April, 1988.

The lady who found the polaroid picture said it was near where a white, windowless Toyota van had been parked when she arrived. She stated that the van was driven by a 30 something year old man with a moustache.

Despite national attention, the man or the van has never been identified.

Ongoing Case

Over the years, the FBI has released pictures showing what Tara would look like now. There has even been a reward of $20,000 offered. So far nothing has surfaced. Patty Doel, Tara’s mother, died in 2006. She had relocated to Florida with her husband after a number of strokes. She never gave up hope of seeing Tara again. Near the end of her life, unable to speak or move properly, she would see a girl riding a bike, point at her and write down “Tara”. John would have to reassure her and say “No, that’s not Tara”. It must have been heart-breaking for the pair of them.

Tara Calico Kidnapping – Another Possibility

In 2008, the Sheriff of Valencia County reported that he had received a tip off about the case. He stated that two teenage boys had struck Calico with their car. She had died from her injuries and they had buried her.

He also stated that he knew the names of the boys but without a body, there was nothing he could do. John Doel, Tara’s step-father stated that the Sheriff should not have made these comments unless he was willing to arrest the accused and that strong circumstantial evidence should be enough to prosecute them.

Neither Tara nor Michael have ever been found.

Sources:

Tara Leigh Calico (fbi.gov)

Tara Calico Polaroid (people.com)

Mystery of Tara Calico (abqjournal.com)

Disappearance of Tara Calico (wikipedia.org)

Header Image (pixabay.com)

The post Bound in a van, the Tara Calico kidnapping appeared first on That I Didn't Know.

Discovery of Mass Graves

It’s a bitterly cold morning in December, 2010. A police officer and his dog are running through training routines on the beach near the Ocean Parkway in Long Island.

The dog darts away, having sniffed something. Following behind, a gruesome discovery is soon made. A burlap sack, almost rotten through. Inside is the skeletal remains of a person.

Searching the immediate area, police are shocked to find 3 more bodies. Richard Dormer, the Suffolk County Police Commissioner sums it up best:

Four bodies found in the same location pretty much speaks for itself. It’s more than a coincidence. We could have a serial killer.

All four bodies are identified. Each of them are 20 something year old escorts who advertised their services on Craigslist. It is believed they had been strangled elsewhere before being brought to this stretch of beach.

Four months later, in March and April 2011, four more bodies are discovered nearby. The search is expanded. Five days later, a partial set of remains and the skull of another victim is found. Ten bodies overall.

Suffolk Police offer a reward of $25,000 for information leading to the arrest of the killer. The largest reward they have ever issued.

The Long Island Serial Killer

The later bodies are identified as four females, one male and a female toddler. In addition to these bodies, police are investigating 6 other cases. They are not officially linked but could be related.

The police build a profile of the killer. The New York Times states that he is:

Most likely a white male in his mid 20’s to mid 40’s who is very familiar with the South Shore of Long Island and has access to burlap sacks, which he uses to hold the bodies for disposal.

Newsday speculates that serial killer Joel Rifkin could be responsible for the earlier murders. He denies this in an interview from prison.

Suspects

James Burke: Former Suffolk County Police Chief. Jailed in 2016 for 46 months for beating a man over a theft. Shannan Gilberts families lawyer claimed he was known to like having rough sex with prostitutes. Burke allegedly blocked an FBI probe into the murders during his time as police chief.

John Bittrolff: A married carpenter who lived in Suffolk County. In 2014, Bittrolff was convicted of murdering two prostitutes and suspected of murdering a third. The case related back to killings in the early 90’s. According to Suffolk County prosecutor Robert Biancavilla, the cases had many similarities to the later killings. He also thought it likely that Bittrolff was responsible for more killings. Bittrolff lived just three miles from where some of the bodies were found. The DA doesn’t believe the cases are related.

There have been several other suspects, but the links are tenuous at best or the police quickly discounted them. I feel it would be wrong to name them here.

Who is the Long Island Serial Killer?

Simply put, nobody knows. He or she could be still at large. They could be dead or incarcerated for another crime. Maybe they just moved areas and have continued to kill. Or they simply stopped killing once the bodies started to be discovered. They could restart again when they feel the attention has died down.

Sources:

Long Island Serial Killer (wikipedia.org)

Shannan Gilbert and others (gilgonews.com)

Cops confirm new remains human (newyork.cbslocal.com)

Shannon Gilbert death (inews.co.uk)

Nursery owner found dead at 48 (patch.com)

Image Header (pixabay.com)

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Mac signed to No Limit Records in the late 90’s. Featuring on artists work such as Master P’s Ghetto D, he paid his dues. In 1998 Mac released his first album with No Limit, entitled Shell Shocked. It reached #11 on the Billboard 200 and sold almost half a million copies.

His second album followed in 1999. World War III was not as successful as Shell Shocked, but still sold a very respectable 150,000 copies.

Next up, a tour. A way to get him out to the wider public and cement him as an up and coming star of the rap world. Unfortunately for Mac, this is where his world came crashing down.

February 20th, 2000. Mercedes Nightclub, Louisiana

Mac was booked to play at the Mercedes Nightclub in Slidell. A small venue about 30 miles from New Orleans. A fight broke out and Baron Victor, Jr was hit by a bullet. It passed through his arm and into his heart. He was killed instantly.

Mac ducked, pulling his legally held gun out for protection as he and his entourage left immediately. Arriving home, Mac was met by several police officers, all with guns drawn. Get down on the ground, get on the ground they screamed at him. Mac did as he was told and was promptly arrested for murder.

Mac wasn’t worried. He went and answered questions, had his hands scanned for gun powder residue. The police had already taken his legally held guns from the house to examine. He thought he would be home in time for dinner.

The Interview

The police interviewed him without a lawyer present. They asked him about his music and his one of his stage names “the camouflage assassin”. Then the police brought up that several members of the audience had seen him with a gun in his hand at the shooting. Mac, knowing that carrying a conceal weapon is illegal in Louisiana, made a mistake, and denied it.

He was arrested and left in jail for a month before he was even charged. Mac asked for bail, but was denied.

A Chance of Freedom

Just after Mac’s arrest, Thomas Williams admitted to police that he had something to get off his chest. He was working security at the club that night when someone had thrown a beer bottle at him. Panicking, he pulled out his gun and fired one shot.

He claimed that he, not Mac, had been responsible for the death of Barron Victor Jr.

Mac thought he was going to go home. 20 years later, he is still incarcerated for a crime he insists he didn’t commit.

Trial By Lyrics

“Murder, Murder, Kill, Kill” said Bruce Dearing, the prosecutor in his opening remarks. “Pull the trigger, put a bullet in your head”, these are the lyrics the defendant raps about when he performs.

He went on to tell the all white jury “You don’t have to be a genius to figure out that one plus one equals two”.

A number of witnesses were produced by the prosecution. Most described the shooter as looking nothing like mac. Some have since recanted their statements and stated they were threatened with jail if they didn’t identify Mac as the shooter.

As for Thomas Williams, the man who had come forward to claim responsibility for the shooting, Dearing had no interest in him. He characterised him as a career criminal who was unreliable.

The state had no murder weapon. Mac’s gun was clean. No forensic evidence linked him to the crime. And Mac had no criminal record. He himself said he only wanted to be a musician. He kept his nose clean and worked hard at his craft.

Mac’s defence offered no witnesses and relied upon the video tape confession of Williams. He argued for a mis-trial based on the fact the prosecution were using Mac lyrics as evidence, effectively arguing that if Mac rapped about it, he must be guilty. As the defence pointed out, it would be absurd for a musician to gun down a fan at his own concert. Especially a concert attended by his own mother.

The jury went out to deliberate. The verdict? Guilty of manslaughter.

Sentencing and Jail

No criminal history. No murder weapon. Unreliable witness statements. Song lyrics used as justification.

The judge sentenced Mac to 30 years behind bars. A sentence it looks like he will serve in full. He has refused to accept parole because that would require him to admit guilt.

Years later, the foreman of the jury admitted the lyrics in Mac’s songs had helped him to make up his mind. He created a character of Mac in his mind. Ignoring that all artists have a stage persona, he took that into real life and decided that Mac was a “gangsta”. He let the prosecutor create a narrative and then he ran with it.

Mac was 24 when he entered prison. He is currently 43 and will most likely be in his mid 50’s when he completes his sentence. His conviction is built on a trial by lyrics. Nothing more, nothing less.

Sources:

Rap on trial (bostonreview.net)

My dream was being used against me in court (npr.org)

Mac (wikipedia.org)

Image Header (pixabay.com)

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At some point, Kissie escapes from the garden. Sandy, being a typical three year old takes chase, with Donna trailing behind.

Donna runs back to the house, alone, shouting that “Sandy is away with a bad man”. Donna will never see him again.

The police conduct a through search and investigation. Witnesses report seeing Sandy leave with a well dressed man in his early forties, driving away in a light blue car. According to them, Sandy looked happy and went with him willingly.

In 2013, the police release a picture of Sandy, as he would look now.

False Leads

Due to the above picture, the police are directed to people who have a undeniable resemblance to the aged picture of Sandy. In fact, one lives just a few miles away from Irvine, where the disappearance took place. But nothing comes of it.

In 2014, it is speculated that Sandy is a victim of the World’s End Killer, Angus Sinclair. Sinclair at this time is already in jail, serving a life sentence for multiple murders. Sandy’s sister Donna pushes for the police to investigate Sinclair’s alleged involvement but is met with resistance. It is the police’s opinion that because all of Sinclair’s known victims are women, it would be highly unlikely that he is involved.

Over the years there have been witnesses come forward but nothing has panned out. Sandy’s family keep the case in the media as best they can, they will never give up hope of an answer.

Sources:

Sandy Davidson (scotland.police.uk)

Glimmer of hope for missing toddler’s family (sundaypost.com)

Did World’s End Killer strike in Irvine? (irvinetimes.com)

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Don’t get me wrong here. This is not the story of the Mary Celeste. It wasn’t as if everyone had suddenly vanished midway through their day.

In fact quite the opposite. Everywhere was blood and signs of a massive struggle. The ship had been set alight in multiple places, but the fire didn’t take hold.

The only person found alive was a Russian sailor, Andrej Lapin. Discovered floating in a rubber dinghy near the ship. According to reports, he seemed completely unconcerned about his predicament. In his possession was a large sum of money, six cans of peaches, two suitcases, his passport and a duvet.

To try to understand the story, we need to start at the beginning.

London to Rostock

The Bärbel was a small coastal transport ship plying it’s trade around the North Sea. It had been delivered brand new to Captain Heinrich Telkmann in 1989.

On August the 15th 1993, Captain Telkmann was sailing his ship laden with rapeseed from London to Rostock in Northern Germany. An experienced sailor, he called his wife that day, making small talk. He never alluded to any difficulties with the crew or the journey itself.

Three days later the ship was found by two fishing vessels around 85 nautical miles west of Esbjerg, a city in Denmark. It had drifted hopelessly off course with nobody aboard to guide it.

Murder Scenes

They also discovered the aforementioned Andrej Lapin, afloat in his dinghy with piles of cash.

Both were taken to Esberg on the morning of August 19th. It must be stated here that Lapin was taken in the rescue helicopter against his will.

Originally, Lapin stated that a fire had broken out aboard the ship. He had jumped into one life raft while the other members of the crew climbed into the other. Eventually they had drifted apart and been separated.

During a search and subsequent investigation of the ship, police found evidence of a huge fight. As well as attempts to set the boat on fire, evidence of blood, hair, skin and a piece of torn scalp was discovered. It was a scene straight from a horror movie. To quote the forensic technicians who boarded the ship:

Here we met a sight that I will never forget. There was lots of blood. For Lapin had used the ship’s crane to hoist the corpses up from the bottom of the ship. When the bodies were tied in the legs, the blood ran out of them.

Several places on the ship bore traces of fierce fighting. The captain’s cabin was cluttered and smashed. On the floor was the ship’s empty cash register. Attempts were made to ignite the ship with diesel oil in several places. There were splashes of blood on the walls and floors. Many hairs and skin remnants were found. A piece of torn scalp the technicians also found.

Børge Baagø Hansen and the forensic team

Lapin was charged with the murder of the five men. He pleaded not guilty.

Reconstruction and story changes

During the interrogation, Lapin changed his story. According to him, two crew members had attacked the Captain and two other crew members with axes, managing to kill them all. Lapin had to kill these two axe wielding maniacs to preserve his own life.

Realising that nobody would believe his story, he formulated a plan. He dumped the bodies into the sea, set fire to the ship and jumped into a life raft. He also claimed that the large sum of money he was found with (around 50,000 US dollars), was his from a previous business deal.

In court, Lapin came across as cold and emotionless. He arrived well dressed and answered everything asked of him politely and to the point.

Crucially for him, the investigation aboard the ship had reinforced that he was at least partially telling the truth. Blood and other evidence showed that each man had died where Lapin stated they did.

The only body ever found was that of the Captain. And as Lapin had never stated that he killed the Captain, it could not be used against him. If any of the other bodies had been found, it might have been possible to show what really happened. As Lapin had inexplicably weighted down their bodies before dropping them overboard, they were unlikely to ever return to the surface.

After months of court hearings and deliberation, his role in the killings could not be decided. The jury acquitted him.

He left the court a free man. He also got to keep the money he had been found with in the dinghy.

Sometime later, the Bärbel was refitted and put back into service by the widow of Captain Telkmann. Who should apply for a job aboard the ship? Yep, you guessed it. None other than Adrej Lapin!

He didn’t get the job.

In 2009 a team from Danish Radio tracked Andrej Lupin down. He was working as a middle manager…..at a sea rescue station.

Sources:

Sailor in empty ship charged with murder (independent.co.uk)

Mass murder accused may be extradited (hearaldscotland.com)

Barbel Murders North Sea (shipnostalgia.com)

The real axe ship (jenshenrikjensen.com)

Bloody Danish crime story (ekstrabladet.dk)

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