An Almanac of Infamy

While the true crime community is celebrating, and rightfully so, the capture of the Golden State Killer, it looks like there is still a lot of work to do when it comes to clearing unsolved murders. The OC Register provided a breakdown of reported vs cleared homicides and surprisingly, given all the breakthroughs in technology, we've actually gotten worse at clearing cases. Hopefully, despite the grim statistics, the following cases and the victims involved will receive some justice. Navy veteran James Weaver was brutally murdered while babysitting his 9-month-old grandson. 33 years later, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office is hoping that some new DNA submissions will lead to a break in the case. In April of last year, Alberto "Beto" Ruiz Jr. was murdered in what Greeley, CO police believe was a case of road rage. They and his family are hoping that someone will eventually come forward, if not the killer, then at least a witness who can identify the suspect'

Joseph James DeAngelo, better known as the Golden State Killer, was arraigned today and it was pretty standard fare. He was charged on two counts of murder for the deaths of Brian and Katie Maggiore and appointed a public defender and that was that.

On this day in 1997, Andrew Cunanan began his killing spree when he beat Jeffrey Trail to death with a claw hammer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Of course, Cunanan is most well-known for the murder of renowned fashion designer Gianni Versace. Jeffrey Trail was a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and a veteran of the Gulf War. In 1993, he gave an anonymous interview with the CBS show 48 Hours about serving in the military as a gay man at a time when that was forbidden. He left the military in 1996 with the hopes of being able to live his life the way he wanted to. Unfortunately, he met Andrew Cunanan. While the two were friends, some speculate that the two were also romantically involved at some point before Trail's murder. Related Reading: What Really Happened When Andrew Cunanan Murdered Jeff Trail and David Madson Versace: Watch Jeff Trail’s Real-Life Interview About Being Gay in the Military One Good Man

“One day soon, you’ll hear a car pull up to your curb, an engine cut out. You’ll hear footsteps coming up your front walk. Like they did for Edward Wayne Edwards, twenty-nine years after he killed Timothy Hack and Kelly Drew, in Sullivan, Wisconsin. Like they did for Kenneth Lee Hicks, thirty years after he killed Lori Billingsley, in Aloha, Oregon. The doorbell rings. No side gates are left open. You’re long past leaping over a fence. Take one of your hyper, gulping breaths. Clench your teeth. Inch timidly toward the insistent bell. This is how it ends for you. “You’ll be silent forever, and I’ll be gone in the dark,” you threatened a victim once. Open the door. Show us your face. Walk into the light.” ― Michelle McNamara, I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer

Of course, the biggest news right now in the true crime universe is the capture of the Golden State Killer. To be honest, it was this event that finally got me to pull the trigger on writing this blog. And I would be remiss in mentioning the perpetrator without mentioning the woman who named him, Michelle McNamara. I'm sure you true crime devotees already know that, before McNamara began researching the case, the unknown perp was referred to as the Original Night Stalker, the East Area Rapist, or collectively as EARONS. Michelle's dedication to the case and her creation of the name "Golden State Killer" played a huge part in the monster's capture. I've heard amazing things about her book, I'll Be Gone In The Dark, and it's on my to-read list, for sure. I have a feeling that, even though we now know his real name, Joseph James DeAngelo, he'll always be known and referred to as the Golden State Killer. And that we'll discover that he's link

It's 2018. And here I am starting a blog like it's 2008. It's not like I haven't thought about blogging before, but now that I'm no longer tied to a job that had me staring at spreadsheets for 12 hours a day, I actually have time to write. So here I am. Adding another blog to the already crowded blogosphere. And a true crime blog to boot. Like there aren't hundreds, ok, thousands, of those. But you know what they say. "Do what you love." So I'm doing this. Writing about a topic that I've already devoted a gazillion hours to through podcasts, tv shows, and books. I might as well contribute to the conversation, right? Hopefully, if your reading this, you'll want to contribute to the conversation too. I hope this blog leads to some lively discussions, not just of infamous past crimes, but also those that are ongoing and need to be brought into the spotlight in order to bring justice to victims. As true crime obsessives, I hope we can put our