Anyone Encounter a Notorious Criminal in Everyday Life? (offender, murdering, FBI)
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Two...One high ranking Chicago Outfit member. I caddied for him. He was a guest of a member. He was decent, not particularly friendly but neither was he a jerk and I wouldn't have remembered him if his name hadn't come up in the papers a few times.
Another guy I worked with was locally infamous for killing his wife. It turned out he had a violent criminal past that we never knew about at work. He certainly didn't stand out at all.
Afterwards everyone said "I knew there was something off about him." Baloney. They only said that to make themselves feel better/confirm their biases. It was truly traumatic for those that worked closely with him.
The most noteworthy criminal with whom I crossed paths, was not known at all to the police, at the time. This was Ted Bundy, later convicted as a serial-killer of women, who I met in Eugene in May of 1972 and again in July of 1973. The first time, he approached me at the University of Oregon, as he was interested in the kayak I had on my car. We talked for a long time, he telling me he had paddled them in Seattle.
I read the Ann Rule book about Bundy, "The Stranger Beside Me" and she said that she was contacted by many women they he had attempted to abduct over the years. They all remembered the good looking man that drove a VW. It stands to reason that this was a full time hobby for him - locating his victims and plotting to abduct them. Many of them got away or the opportunities just weren't right at the time, for him to get them. Yes, he approached many women over the years, that's for sure. Just curious, was he really as good looking and charming as everyone said he was? I've seen photos of him and he looks different in all of them, for some reason.
I was sort of criminal adjacent. I was working with the father of Jesse Rugge during the Nicholas Markowitz kidnapping/murder. The dad was the greenhouse manager of the dept I worked for at the time and is/was a very quiet, nice man. A bit flighty but nice. It was shocking when the kidnapping/murder was discovered since the boy stayed at his house (while we were working together) and then Markowitz was moved to a motel a few blocks from where I lived. Creepy.
I too had a feeling about someone. He never did anything that I know of but he had dated a friend and then showed up at my house the next day wanting in and tried to kiss me. He was grabby and I had a hard time getting him to leave. We didn't have any police or sheriff in our town and would have taken 45 minutes to get there should he have done anything. There was SOMETHING about his eyes. Always listen to your inner voice.
My mother in law was asked out by the real Donnie Brasco (quite awhile ago but after the movie came out). THAT would have been an interesting date! I kinda think she should have gone!
I was so impressed by a young man whom I was training that I took him to the home of my best friend and mentor, who was equally impressed. One day this young man arrived at work with a large bandage covering his neck on one side. When I asked him about the wound he said that he had been jumped by some gangbangers. As he perspired, the tape loosened and the bandage fell away, revealing a small, deep hole.
A few weeks later his picture was in the news, as he was arrested on multiple charges, including rape. He and his older cousin would follow women who were travelling alone late at night. They would bump into the victim's vehicle, and then assault her when she pulled over. One would-be victim defended herself with a screwdriver, stabbing one of her assailants in the neck.
Their crime spree also included using a red light on their vehicle to pull over cars and rob the occupants. They were immediately arrested when they tried to rob two undercover police officers in Van Nuys, CA.
These crimes occurred about five years after the conclusion of the Bianchi/Buono trial, and I wondered how much this pair of cousins was influenced by the Hillside Strangler case (and subsequent films).
I worked at a high end country club in high school. One of the member's son (mid-late 30's) was a frequent guest. He was "off" but good looking, athletic and rich (drove a new Porsche 911). He was even married to a model at the time.
He was a convicted rapist who preferred to torment his victims. In one case he raped a woman and then broke both her arms and whipped her with an electrical cord. He went on to kidnap a 6 year old, luckily a traffic stop found the girl crying in the front seat before anything really bad happened. He finally landed back in prison for a local murder.
Former wealthy playboy and repeated sex offender David Michael Miller was convicted
on Wednesday of one in a series of attacks against South Florida women that he has been charged with or linked to by authorities.
Miller, 45, sat emotionless as a Palm Beach County Circuit jury found him guilty of attempted second-degree murder in a 1997 attack on a 22-year-old woman at her West Boca Raton apartment complex. He faces up to 30 years in prison at his April 7 sentencing.
Jurors took about four hours Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning to convict Miller of the Jan. 7 attack of Tamara Parks, now 24.
The verdict caused a commotion in the courtroom when a female supporter of Miller turned around and snapped at a sobbing Parks to "shut up."Parks declined to comment on the case or the courtroom incident.
She had testified that Miller attempted to strangle her with a necktie after she left the laundry room of her apartment complex. During the struggle, the tie snapped, and she was able to run to a nearby apartment for help, she said.
Without any physical evidence linking Miller to the Town Harbor Apartments assault, the case against him hinged on Parks' identification of him as her attacker. She picked Miller in a photo lineup and a physical lineup two years after the incident.
Paul Auerbach, Miller's attorney, argued that Miller had nothing to do with the attack and questioned the positive identifications that came after such a delay.
Miller previously was convicted of two sexual assaults -- a 1979 attack in Illinois and a 1984 attack at a Deerfield Beach apartment complex. He also was arrested in 1989 in an apparent abduction attempt of a 6-year-old girl from her Delray Beach home. He ended up pleading guilty to a weapons charge in that case, serving three years of a nine-year prison sentence.
Might not recognize the name but he was one of the ring leaders of the September 11 attacks. She was either standing in front or behind him in line at the airport in Maine where they traveled to Boston. Of course, from Boston Atta and his associates took over a flight to NY and crashed it into one of the towers.
She said there was such a terrible vib from this man, a feeling of evil and she was scared just to be near him. She wanted to say something to the airport personnel but what possible response would there be to a reported feeling someone has about a passenger.
When he was identified after the attack and his picture was on the news she contacted the FBI. Was interviewed for a long time and has subsequently had feelings of guilt no matter how misplaced they might be.
They are misplaced. 9/11 had a lot of near misses. If you look at the original plan, they were like two hours off when it all ended.
Location: In a permanent state of limbo, it seems...
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Like several others, I've unfortunately had more than a few incidents, but I'll just list one below. It's unusual in that I met/saw both the victim & killer, weeks before the murder.
I lived in the same upscale CO apt complex where this murder happened, of a young girl, who'd gotten her mngr fired for sexual harassment. 1-2 wks later, he shot her twice in the walkway leading to the large garage bldg, then chased her into the garage, where she sadly died. I had a full view of the entire glassed-in walkway, just feet from my balcony.
I crossed paths with the young woman in the bldg several times in 2-3 wks. She was very happy & vivacious & memorable because of that. In fact, when we met, she asked if I'd just moved in & I said yes. She then told me her apt # & said if I ever needed anything to just ask, then asked me my apt #. I often wondered afterwards if her openness & friendliness, which she showed everyone, was what her sad sack of a boss tried to twist into interest, rather than a genuine friendliness. It's one of the qualities that has gotten me into some scary situations in the past & still does from time to time... men (not all, just the desperate, creepy sort) distorting a smile & kind word as some sort of invitation. Why would it be???
Further, I came across the slimy guy at the local market twice, both times within the week he murdered her. My SO & I were food shopping & since the store was so large & the Denver area has a lot of people in it, there's no reason to notice this man in a crowd, except that there was a shakingly unsettling vibe about him. He was a short, balding, fat, unattractive man with frizzy, red hair. Why did I notice him? Well, I have similar characteristics to the woman he killed... blonde, tall, thin, often in a suit, so he noticed me. People in the bldg called me Emily a few times... her name... not that our faces looked so much alike, but I think as we had similarly outgoing personalities & a resemblance. She even walked quickly like me.
So, the 1st time in the market, I felt a prickly feeling all over my body & felt someone watching me for 5-min. I felt fear & didn't know why, which was odd. At one point, I slowly turned & he was about 6' away, sweating profusely, eyes bugged out & staring at me. He must have thought I was she. Something about this sweating, dirty looking, unshaven beast chilled me to the bone & I turned around quickly to avoid his gaze & ducked into an aisle to find the SO.
The 2nd time, I was alone & he followed me around the store, so I just took what I had in my cart to the checkout & left early. I got the feeling he was very disturbed & I didn't know what he wanted, but it was enough to make me leave early. But, as I've lived my whole life in inner-city 'hoods, it takes a lot to make me fearful. I'm not tough, I've just learned to put on my unapproachable vibe, if I feel in danger. What I recall now is both times, he had an empty shopping cart. He was all over the store, but not shopping, probably just looking to run into her, as he also lived nearby.
BTW, I said nothing to the SO, but after the murder, he said he saw him in the market before & he gave him a chill... just something he felt for no apparent reason.
Lastly, the article stuns me in leaving out so many details. After he killed her, he went to his apt complex a few streets over, set his apt on fire, was reported to have grenades & many firearms & there was a 5-hr standoff after the police evacuated the bldg. It was on local TV for hours because several of his neighbors caught in adjoining apts were trapped inside closets (at the suggestion of the police with bullhorns) waiting to be rescued. I don't recall if he were a suspect at that time... I think initially, they thought it was 2 separate incidents, as I don't believe there were witnesses & there were no cameras in the garage or walkway. He ended up killing himself in his apt after the SWAT team threw canisters through his windows.
Very sad at what he did to that poor girl & her family. They put their 20-yr old daughter in an upscale bldg in CO so she could live near her brand new job, thinking she'd be safe, as she was from a smaller community in Iowa & a dejected, demented creep changed many lives for the worse.
Here's one article. BTW, I didn't choose it to focus on him, just as it lists more details than many other articles & there are many.
I read the Ann Rule book about Bundy, "The Stranger Beside Me" and she said that she was contacted by many women they he had attempted to abduct over the years. They all remembered the good looking man that drove a VW. It stands to reason that this was a full time hobby for him - locating his victims and plotting to abduct them. Many of them got away or the opportunities just weren't right at the time, for him to get them. Yes, he approached many women over the years, that's for sure. Just curious, was he really as good looking and charming as everyone said he was? I've seen photos of him and he looks different in all of them, for some reason.
That's interesting, the idea that he might have regarded assaulting and murdering women as a hobby. They say that predators often have several misses, for each time they are successful at catching their prey. So he might have gone through the preliminaries numerous times with women, who he couldn't maneuver into a situation where he could attack them.
I wonder how often we casually pass by people who have done terrible crimes. If only we could have known about them, what we did later. I think that more crimes are committed and go unsolved, than the police would like us to know. I've heard that less than half of sexual assaults are reported.
Bundy did pass as a pleasant guy and seemed like someone you might have known for years, in the easy way he talked to you. But my woman friend wasn't pleased by him though and may have had a more critical insight about his intentions.
I never could get away with less than the whole truth about anything with her and it had to be revealed immediately. A couple of times, good-looking women tried flirting with me, in front of her. I think they were doing it, just to taunt her. I was afraid she was going to take off their heads and later, I thought she might take off mine. She was exceptionally athletic and strong, as well as aggressive when someone crossed her. We worked-out together in the weight-room and on the running trail. Bundy might have met his match, with her.
T. Cullen Davis in Fort Worth. He was a client at a company I worked for. It was very odd when he came into the office to see someone so infamous profiled on Domminick Dunne's Power, Privilege and Justice, American Justice and Behind Mansion Walls. I guess in Texas back then the good ol'boy system worked, especially if you were filthy rich.Not sure many people today could get off on murder charges and attempting to kill a judge even if they were rich. He was a slight man. Very charming and polite. He would always bring the lady that handled his account candy. I don't think she ever ate it...
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