Sentencing Phase Of Scott Peterson Trial Continues

Scott Peterson: Guilty, Or The Unluckiest Cheater In History?

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True Crime

Tatyana Remley was a glamorous would-be-heiress until she attempted to hire a hitman to murder her husband of 12 years, Mark Remley. Now, the beautiful but dangerous woman will spend the next three years and eight months behind bars.
When Tatyana was a young girl, her parents moved the family to Valley Center, California, a small town in San Diego County. Tatyana was in the fourth grade, but her parents didn’t enroll her in school, and for the next 10 years, allegedly kept their daughter from experiencing the world outside her home.
Her own mother, Vera, admitted to Tatyana’s troubled upbringing during a custody battle in 2009 between Tatyana and her first husband, Kenneth Woolcott.
“My husband … wanted to do home school, whatever, once we came to California,” Vera said during the battle, according to documents <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/09/14/tatyana-remley-was-molested-as-child-only-had-4th-grade-education-docs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reviewed</a> by the New York Post. “We had a lot of difficulties with [Tatyana’s father].”
“If I could go back, I would undo everything, and see to it that she be in school … I’m very sorry, because I believe in school,” Vera added.
In his own deposition, Woolcott, a successful lawyer and businessman, claimed that Tatyana “was kept isolated/captive on rural property in Valley Center, without school, social activities and interaction with her community” and that the religious views of her parents included “the rejection of traditional medicine and medical care professionals.”
“She also was denied access to childhood friends out of the parents’ fear any such friends would lead to discovery of her captivity,” Woolcott added. “Essentially, Tatyana was captive for about 10 years (9 – 20 years old) with little, if any, contact with the outside world, education, social interaction or structure.”
Woolcott also said he helped get Tatyana her GED so she could work, but she refused to get a job.
Woolcott was 43 when he married Tatyana, who was only 23 at the time. Tatyana gave birth to a son, but the couple divorced 11 months after their wedding. The custody battle lasted nearly a decade before a judge determined Woolcott was more fit to care for the couple’s son, the Post reported.
During that decade, Tatyana gave birth to a daughter and had several failed engagements. Her former friends <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/09/08/sex-crazed-tatyana-remley-targeted-rich-men-at-polo-club-sources/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> the Post that Tatyana sought out “rich men” who could give her a life of luxury.
She met Mark Remley in a Starbucks in March 2011 and began working together on what would become an epic failure: Valitar.
<div id="attachment_682491" style="width: 877px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-682491" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-682491" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/web15994851_1855734504711368_4143216704218845957_o-867x576.webp" alt="Mark Remley and Tatyana Remley. Credit: Facebook/Tatyana Remley" width="867" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/web15994851_1855734504711368_4143216704218845957_o-867x576.webp 867w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/web15994851_1855734504711368_4143216704218845957_o-300x199.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/web15994851_1855734504711368_4143216704218845957_o-768x510.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/web15994851_1855734504711368_4143216704218845957_o.webp 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 867px) 100vw, 867px" />Mark Remley and Tatyana Remley. Credit: Facebook/Tatyana Remley</div>
Tatyana described Valitar as “Cirque du Soleil with horses,” to a reporter in 2012, The San Diego Union-Tribune <a href="https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-horse-opera-decline-fall-valitar-2013jan19-story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> at the time. The show was to rival Cavalia, which included horses and acrobatics and was created by a founder of Cirque du Soleil, according to Erik Martonovich, a former Cavalia cast member hired to direct Valitar.
“They had no clue what they were doing — about anything,” he told the Union-Tribune about the Remleys. “They weren’t horse people and they weren’t show people.”
Ads for the show featured Tatyana prominently, but she had little riding experience and wasn’t really part of the actual show.
“She didn’t do any of the stunts,” Roza Tabasa, the hospitality manager for the show who saw some of its performances, told the outlet. “But in the end, when the whole cast lined up and everybody is applauding, this blonde lady comes down the center, the other cast members part for her — and there’s silence. People are thinking, ‘Who’s she? Oh, it’s the lady in the poster.’”
<div id="attachment_682493" style="width: 787px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-682493" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-682493" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/download-777x576.webp" alt="Credit: Howard Lipin, The San Diego Union-Tribune" width="777" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/download-777x576.webp 777w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/download-300x223.webp 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/download-768x570.webp 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/download.webp 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 777px) 100vw, 777px" />Credit: Howard Lipin, The San Diego Union-Tribune</div>
The Remleys seemed to throw money around haphazardly, spending lavishly on salaries and equipment but then refusing to spend $1,500 to save a horse’s life. On another occasion, Tatyana reportedly went on a shopping spree at a tack shop and purchased items the show already had.
Weeks before the show’s opening performance, the Remleys stopped sending checks to vendors and employees, the Union-Tribune reported. Martonovich was fired after a horse broke its leg during practice, but he believes other factors led to his firing.
“I’m pretty sure at that point, it was about Tatyana. She didn’t want me around because I didn’t want her,” he told the outlet.
After Martonovich was fired, about 18 of the 25 performers quit, and the show could no longer use acts that Martonovich and his production company owned. Former Cavalia performer Sylvia Zerbini was hired to completely rewrite the show – in two months.
When Valitar opened, reviews found it underwhelming when compared to Cavalia. The first weekend failed to sell out seats, and only ran for five days before filing for bankruptcy.
Mark and Tatyana, however, reconciled their marriage and remained together for another decade, continuing their passion for money, horses, drugs, and orgies, the Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/09/13/inside-the-twisted-marriage-of-tatyana-remley-equestrian-accused-of-murder-plot/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. The couple separated and reconciled multiple times during that period, NBC San Diego <a href="https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/north-county-woman-behind-failed-horse-themed-show-sentenced-in-murder-for-hire-attempt/3391158/">reported</a>.
The final separation came in early 2023, when Tatyana filed for divorce and accused Mark of abuse, including claims that he pointed a gun at her head and chased her with a knife. She also claimed that he watched as one of his friends raped her. Mark has denied all accusations.
Tatyana also demanded $15,000 a month in spousal support to keep up her lavish lifestyle, the Daily Mail <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12917783/equestrian-Tatyana-Remley-sentenced-hitman-husband-mark-remley.html">reported</a>.
In the summer of 2023, Mark learned that Tatyana had offered a mutual friend $2 million to murder him, the Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/09/06/tatyana-remley-said-she-was-raped-by-pal-of-husband-she-tried-to-kill/">reported</a>. He told police and undercover detectives conducted a sting operation to catch her in the act. She was arrested on August 2 and charged with trying to hire a hitman to kill her husband.
In late December, Tatyana pleaded guilty to solicitation to commit murder and was sentenced to three years and eight months in prison, NBC reported.

Photo credit: Erik Martonovich

The Twisted World Of Tatyana Remley: Money, Horses, And Murder-For-Hire

Horse

San Diego

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/celebrities" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ian Ziering</a> played the swashbuckling hero in six “Sharknado” romps.
The “90210” alum saved the day in the seriously silly saga. But he showed some real-world bravery recently during an encounter with a local mini bike gang.
It’s hardly the first time an actor took his heroism to the streets, but Ziering’s actions drew praise from his fellow “90210” stars and those who suggest action heroes can’t bring some Hollywood swagger to their private lives.
Ziering, driving in Los Angeles with his 12-year-old daughter on New Year’s Eve, was <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/01/03/entertainment/ian-ziering-throws-first-punch-in-biker-fight-in-new-video/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">boxed in by an aggressive driver</a> near Hollywood Blvd. Several members of a local mini bike gang surrounded stepped in front of the actor’s car to make sure he couldn’t drive away.
Ziering says he got out of his car to assess any damage, and, according to reports, threw the first punch at the bikers to clear space for him to drive away safely. The ensuing street brawl was captured <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXFNjyFsElQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on video</a> with Ziering managing to escape. He was later seen comforting his frightened daughter.
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Another on-screen action star, Benedict Cumberbatch, similarly <a href="https://deadline.com/2018/06/sherlock-holmes-star-benedict-cumberbatch-has-a-real-life-battle-against-evil-doers-1202402451/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">did the right thing</a> during a 2018 altercation. The man known to millions as Doctor Strange saw a cyclist get clubbed by a gang of thugs from his seat in an Uber. Cumberbatch and his wife told the driver to stop the car while he got out to help the injured man.
The actor grabbed one of the muggers before the crook and his fellow thugs ran off.
Crisis averted, and Cumberbatch didn’t need a script to know how to save the day. The Uber driver helped, too, but he credited the British star for doing most of the heavy lifting.
<div id="attachment_675755" style="width: 779px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-675755" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-675755" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/GettyImages-975074496-769x576.jpg" alt="LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 15: Benedict Cumberbatch and wife Sophie Hunter arrive at Westminster Abbey ahead of Professor Stephen Hawking's memorial service on June 15, 2018 in London, England. The world renowned physicist and author of A Brief History of Time, died early in the morning of 14 March 2018, at the age of 76. Professor Hawking's ashes will be laid to rest close to Sir Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin in the nave of Westminster Abbey. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)" width="769" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/GettyImages-975074496-769x576.jpg 769w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/GettyImages-975074496-300x225.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/GettyImages-975074496-768x575.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/GettyImages-975074496.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 769px) 100vw, 769px" />Dan Kitwood/Getty Images</div>
“Benedict was courageous, brave and selfless. If he hadn’t stepped in, the cyclist could have been seriously injured. Here was Sherlock Holmes fighting off four attackers just round the corner from Baker Street.”
Cumberbatch later <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/benedict-cumberbatch-on-foolhardy-decision-to-step-in-and-help-deliveroo-driver-11508227" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called his actions “foolhardy”</a> and played down any talk of his heroism.
Actor Dev Patel is relatively new on the scene, and he’s hardly stereotyped as an action hero. He tends to play more cerebral figures, with his role in “The Green Knight” being an exception.
<div id="attachment_675753" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-675753" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-675753" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/GettyImages-1752357857-864x576.jpg" alt="NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 19: Dev Patel attends &quot;To Kill A Tiger&quot; New York premiere at Metrograph on October 19, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/GettyImages-1752357857-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/GettyImages-1752357857-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/GettyImages-1752357857-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/GettyImages-1752357857.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Arturo Holmes/Getty Images</div>
Still, the “Slumdog Millionaire” star <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-62407444">summoned his inner action hero</a> in 2022 to stop a knife fight in South Australia from getting ugly. A verbal confrontation between a man and a woman got ugly, and the man suffered a stab wound as the matter intensified. Patel and some friends intervened, making sure the situation didn’t get significantly worse and staying with the injured man until help could arrive.
Star of the &#8220;Machete&#8221; franchise, Danny Trejo, survived his troubled youth and time spent behind bars to become a go-to character actor in action movies.
In 2019, <a href="https://abc7.com/danny-trejo-saves-baby-rescues-child-sylmar-car-accident/5451006/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trejo spotted an overturned car</a> in the Sylmar suburb of Los Angeles. He and a bystander noticed a special-needs child trapped in the vehicle and got to work. The actor struggled to unbuckle the child’s safety belt, but the bystander approached the car from a different angle and unlatched the belt.
Trejo reached in, grabbed the child and safely removed him from the car. All the while he reassured the frightened lad that help was on the way.
&#8220;He was panicked. I said OK, we have to use our superpowers. So he screamed &#8216;superpowers&#8217; and we started yelling &#8216;superpowers,&#8221; I said do this, with the muscles. He said &#8216;muscles.'&#8221;
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Helping others is an <a href="https://csunshinetoday.csun.edu/community/actor-danny-trejo-from-san-quentin-to-a-life-helping-others/">off-screen passion</a>, he told CSUN Today.
“My whole life is dedicated to helping other people. That’s how I get through the day.”
Sean Penn’s verbal activism may infuriate some, but he’s still the star you want around in times of trouble.
Following Hurricane Katrina, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2005/sep/07/hurricanekatrina.usa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Penn personally rescued several people</a> stranded by the flooded waters. He shared cash with the grateful residents and even took some to a local hospital. The star did get some negative blowback from the mission, though, since he had a personal photographer on the scene to capture his heroism.
<div id="attachment_675727" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-675727" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-675727" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/GettyImages-1455629536-864x576.jpg" alt="BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 10: 80th Annual GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS -- Pictured: Sean Penn speaks onstage at the 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 10, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California. -- (Photo by Rich Polk/NBC via Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/GettyImages-1455629536-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/GettyImages-1455629536-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/GettyImages-1455629536-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/GettyImages-1455629536.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Rich Polk/NBC via Getty Images</div>
The “Mystic River” star later rallied, along with his daughter Dylan, to <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2010/02/26/sean-penn-lifesaving-hero-in-haiti/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rescue a woman and child</a> trapped under rubble following the 2010 Haitian earthquake which <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-fg-sean-penn-haiti-20160110-story.html">killed more than 300,000 people.</a>
The actor had relocated to Haiti following the natural disaster and created a relief organization to aid the embattled nation. 
A witness to the rescue said Penn pulled the injured duo free from the wreckage and drove them to a nearby hospital camp. He followed through on his heroism, staying with them until doctors treated them for their injuries.
Tom Cruise plays the ultimate action hero in the “Top Gun” and “Mission: Impossible” franchises. He takes the role seriously, putting himself at risk time and time again to help strangers.
He saved the day <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2006/08/15/help-me-tom-cruise/">three times in 1996 alone</a>. He helped a hit-and-run victim get to the hospital and even picked up her emergency room tab.
Later that year, he and then-wife Nicole Kidman helped rescue passengers of a fiery boat, sending their skiff over to bring them aboard their vessel.
He capped 1996 spotting two boys being crushed against barricades set up during the British premiere of his film “Mission: Impossible.” The actor rushed in, getting the boys to safety and earning praise from one of the lad’s parents.
<div id="attachment_675725" style="width: 912px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-675725" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-675725" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/GettyImages-1484768301-902x576.jpg" alt="Married actors Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise promoting their film, Stanley Kubrick's 'Eyes Wide Shut' at the Venice International Film Festival, Lido, 3 September 1999. (Phot by Leonardo Cendamo/Getty Images)" width="902" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/GettyImages-1484768301-902x576.jpg 902w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/GettyImages-1484768301-300x192.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/GettyImages-1484768301-768x491.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/01/GettyImages-1484768301.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 902px) 100vw, 902px" />Leonardo Cendamo/Getty Images</div>
Two years later, he <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1998-10-02-9810020077-story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spotted a jewelry theft in progress</a> while in London to shoot “Eyes Wide Shut.” The actor chased the thugs away, sparing the victim in the process. This time, he had his personal bodyguards with him to help in his efforts.
Actors often stumble when bereft of a script or direction. A few, however, proved that years of on-screen heroism gave them the courage to do the right thing away from a Hollywood set.

KIIS FM’s iHeartRadio Jingle Ball 2023 Presented By Capital One – Arrivals

When Actors Display Real-World Bravery Without A Script

actors

Hollywood

Violent Crime

Kathleen Folbigg’s life began with tragedy.
At just 18-months-old, Kathleen’s father murdered her mother and was arrested the next day.
Kathleen became a ward of the state and placed into foster care. At the age of three, she was placed in the Bidura House, an orphanage in New South Wales, Australia. After just two months in the orphanage, she was placed into permanent foster care, where she remained until she was a young adult.
She dropped out of school at the age of 15, and five years later married Craig Folbigg, a 25-year-old steel worker, <a href="https://www.marieclaire.com.au/latest-news/is-this-our-worst-serial-killer-or-is-she-innocent/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to Marie Claire</a>.
Kathleen became pregnant in 1988 and gave birth to the couple’s first child, Caleb, on February 1, 1989. Caleb was diagnosed with laryngomalacia, a condition where the soft cartilage of the upper larynx collapses inward when a child breathes in. This causes airway obstruction but is something children grow out of. Caleb’s breathing was noisy due to the condition, but he was otherwise healthy.
On February 20, just 19 days after Caleb was born, he died in his sleep in a room next to Kathleen and Craig’s. His death was blamed on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), a condition most knew little about in the late 80s and 90s.
Still grieving, Kathleen became pregnant again later that year, giving birth to son Patrick on June 3, 1990. Craig decided to stay home for three months after Patrick was born in order to help Kathleen care for the baby. On October 18, Craig woke up to hear his wife screaming as she stood by Patrick’s bed.
Patrick wasn’t breathing, so Craig tried to revive him using CPR. The couple called an ambulance and Patrick was rushed to the hospital, where he was saved. He began to improve at the hospital, but suddenly had a seizure and was diagnosed with epilepsy and cortical blindness. On February 13, 1991, tragedy again struck the Folbigg household when Patrick died as the result of seizures. Kathleen called Craig to tell him that Patrick had died, <a href="https://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/nsw/NSWCCA/2007/128.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> telling her husband “It’s happened again!”
Craig and Kathleen moved to Thornton, New South Wales, to start over, and more than a year after Patrick’s death, baby Sarah was born on October 14, 1992. When she was just 10 months old, Craig was awakened once again by his wife’s screams as she stood with their infant child. Just 20 minutes earlier, Craig had awoken to notice Kathleen and the baby weren’t in the room they all shared. He fell back asleep, unconcerned, only to be woken again by Kathleen’s screams.
Craig saw Sarah laid out in her bed and picked her up. She was warm but not breathing, so Craig attempted CPR, to no avail. Emergency responders also failed to resuscitate the child.
Three deaths. Three tragedies, which put stress on the Folbiggs’ marriage. They separated and reconciled multiple times, according to Marie Claire, but came back together for a final time in 1996.
The couple moved to Singleton, New South Wales, that year, and welcomed baby girl Laura on August 7, 1997. Laura was the longest surviving child of Craig and Kathleen, dying at 19 months old on February 27, 1999.
The relationship deteriorated in 1999 once again and the couple separated for good. During this time, Craig found one of Kathleen’s journals in a bedside drawer and began to doubt the children’s deaths were natural. He turned the diary over to the police, who were also suspicious that four children in the same family could all die of natural causes.
Kathleen was arrested in 2001, and charged with the murder of her four babies. Without any direct evidence to prove she murdered her children, prosecutors relied on juror’s disbelief that the four children could all die of natural causes, as well as cherry-picked passages from Kathleen’s diary.
<div id="attachment_669227" style="width: 394px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-669227" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-669227" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/GettyImages-539496107-384x576.jpg" alt="(AUSTRALIA OUT) Kathleen Folbigg leaving Maitland Court after being refused bail, 22 March 2004. SHD Picture by ANITA JONES (Photo by Fairfax Media via Getty Images via Getty Images)" width="384" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/GettyImages-539496107-384x576.jpg 384w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/GettyImages-539496107-200x300.jpg 200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/GettyImages-539496107.jpg 683w" sizes="(max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px" />SHD Picture by ANITA JONES. Photo by Fairfax Media via Getty Images</div>
For instance, when Patrick, the second child, was born, Kathleen wrote in her diary: “I had mixed feelings this day, wether [sic] or not I was going to cope as a mother or wether [sic] I was going to get stressed out like I did last time.”
And when Kathleen became pregnant with Laura, she worried that it: “wasn’t just a determination on my behalf to get it right and not be defeated by me total inadequate feelings about myself. To prove that there is nothing wrong with me, if other women can do it so can I.”
Three of the deaths were attributed to natural causes – Caleb and Sarah to SIDS, and Patrick to asphyxia from a seizure – but a coroner said that Laura was too old to die from SIDS at 19 months old.
The defense countered that Laura’s death could be attributed to myocarditis, which is caused by inflammation of the heart muscle. Defense attorneys also produced diary entries that showed Kathleen loved and cared for her babies, and argued that the prosecution’s diary entries could be explained by grief. Emergency responders testified that Kathleen appeared genuinely distraught each time one of her children died.
In April 2003, Kathleen was convicted of murdering her four children and sentenced to 40 years in prison, with the possibility of parole after 30 years. After an appeal in 2005, her sentence was reduced to 30 years in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years.
<div id="attachment_669223" style="width: 865px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-669223" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-669223" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/GettyImages-539525707-855x576.jpg" alt="(AUSTRALIA OUT) Craig Folbigg leaves Darlinghurst Court with his fiance Helen, Sydney, 20 May 2003. SMH Picture by PETER MORRIS (Photo by Fairfax Media via Getty Images/Fairfax Media via Getty Images via Getty Images)" width="855" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/GettyImages-539525707-855x576.jpg 855w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/GettyImages-539525707-300x202.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/GettyImages-539525707-768x518.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/GettyImages-539525707.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 855px) 100vw, 855px" />Fairfax Media via Getty Images</div>
In 2011, Australian legal academic Emma Cunliffe published the book “Murder Medicine and Motherhood,” alleging that Kathleen had been wrongly convicted and that the medical evidence used to convict her was misleading. Cunliffe also argued that Kathleen’s diary entries were unfairly used against her. 
In 2013, a team of lawyers looked into Kathleen’s case. Stephen Cordner, a forensic pathologist at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, also wrote <a href="https://www.folbigginquiry.justice.nsw.gov.au/Documents/Exhibit%20C%20-%20Report%20of%20Stephen%20Cordner%20undated%20and%20report%20of%20Michael%20Pollanen%20dated%201%20June%202015.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a 121-page report</a> detailing how each child likely died of natural causes. He argued that Sarah’s death was a textbook example of SIDS, Patrick died of a seizure, Caleb’s death was due to his laryngomalacia, and Laura’s death was caused by myocarditis.
In 2015, Kathleen’s legal team petitioned the attorney general’s office to take another look at her case. It wasn’t until 2018 that New South Wales Attorney-General Mark Speakman announced his office would look into Kathleen’s convictions.
Dr. Carola Garcia de Vinuesa, an immunologist, examined Kathleen’s DNA as well as that of her deceased children, finding a genetic mutation that could cause heart issues leading to death. But <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/kathleen-folbigg-inquiry-evidence-reinforces-her-guilt-former-chief-judge-concludes-20190722-p529oe.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a report</a> released in 2019 included a statement from former chief judge of the District Court Reginald Blanch, who said he found no reason to doubt Kathleen’s convictions.
Kathleen again appealed, but that appeal was rejected in 2021. In 2022, Speakman announced a second inquiry into Kathleen’s convictions. This inquiry led to Kathleen being released from prison in June 2023 and her convictions being overturned in December, CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/14/australia/australia-folbigg-murder-convictions-quashed-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. In addition to her convictions being overturned, Kathleen’s lawyers have called for “substantial” compensation for her time spent behind bars.
“The time this has taken in seeing today’s result has cost many people a lot,” Kathleen said after her convictions were overturned. “I hoped and prayed that one day I would be able to stand here with my name cleared.”
<div id="attachment_669233" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-669233" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-669233 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/1Screenshot-2023-12-18-at-8.07.58-AM-copy-1024x472.jpg" alt="Screenshot from 9 News Australia. Kathleen Folbigg acquitted of manslaughter and murder of her four children | 9 News Australia." width="1024" height="472" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/1Screenshot-2023-12-18-at-8.07.58-AM-copy-1024x472.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/1Screenshot-2023-12-18-at-8.07.58-AM-copy-300x138.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/1Screenshot-2023-12-18-at-8.07.58-AM-copy-768x354.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/1Screenshot-2023-12-18-at-8.07.58-AM-copy-1536x708.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/1Screenshot-2023-12-18-at-8.07.58-AM-copy.jpg 1588w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Screenshot from 9 News Australia.</div>
CEO of the Australian Academy of Science Anna-Maria Arabia <a href="https://7news.com.au/news/court-justice/kathleen-folbiggs-ex-husband-craig-folbigg-has-no-doubt-children-were-murdered--c-10887684" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Australia’s 7News after Kathleen was released that “this case has shown is that there is no mechanism for us to consider new and emerging evidence as it comes to light and what that means for other cases,” and called for reform.
Not everyone believes Kathleen is truly innocent, even with medical evidence. Her ex-husband Craig, who spent decades believing his wife murdered his children, has been unable to accept the evidence, with his lawyer Danny Eid saying in June that “Craig has no doubt that his children were murdered.” Eid added that “the numbness for him continues.”
Craig remarried in 2004, the year after Kathleen was convicted. Together he and his wife Helen have a son, Connor, but <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/craig-folbiggs-joy-in-new-life-wife-and-baby-20060820-gdo7qv.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> The Sydney Morning Herald in 2006 that he still thinks of his deceased children.
&#8220;Not a day passes when I don&#8217;t think of my four other little angels,&#8221; he told the outlet. &#8220;I see their faces always. They are with me everywhere I go and I will love them forever.”

2Screenshot 2023-12-18 at 8.06.25 AM copy

The Tragedy Of Kathleen Folbigg, Wrongly Named ‘Australia’s Worst Female Serial Killer’

Australia

Mother

Prison

The African migrant who raped and murdered the British girl for which authorities falsely blamed Amanda Knox in 2007 was released from prison in 2021, remained in the country, and was rearrested this month for allegedly beating another woman.
Rudy Guede, a migrant from the Ivory Coast, was given a 30-year sentence for murder in 2008, but Italian authorities quickly reduced the sentence to 16 years, then let him out even earlier than that in November 2021.
Now, he&#8217;s been rearrested over allegations of beating up another woman, according to the <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/12/06/news/meredith-kercher-killer-rudy-guede-re-arrested-on-assault-allegations/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York Post</a>, citing Italian media.
The Italian prime minister’s office did not return a request for comment asking Guede&#8217;s immigration status and whether he could have been deported after his assorted run-ins with the law.
But the “trial of the century” that gripped the media for years beginning in 2007 looks very different since it has become clear that European governments have let in hordes of migrants and then covered up their crime sprees — and punished Westerners who called attention to the problem.
In retrospect, the Knox case reads like Italian authorities concealing a brutal rape by a migrant by inventing an absurd tale about a seductress from Seattle — even if they had to imprison an innocent American for four years to do it. It worked: Everyone remembers the case, but most don’t even remember that an African migrant was the true culprit.
The reality is that Guede broke into a house, sadistically raped British college student Meredith Kercher, defecated in her bathroom, and darted out into the night to go dancing at a nightclub.
Police had his fingerprints and were well familiar with him; he had broken into a law office not long before using methods identical to the home break-in. Days before the murder, a kindergarten teacher found him breaking into the school and in possession of a knife like that used to stab Kercher, but the police inexplicably dropped the case. If they hadn’t, the murder likely wouldn’t have occurred.
But they did, and it did. And that soft approach was different from the tact reserved for Westerners. They arrested Knox, beat her, and wrote up a false confession in a language she did not understand, she wrote in her memoir, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Waiting-Be-Heard-Amanda-Knox-ebook/dp/B00AHCPXKS/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Waiting To Be Heard</a>.
The crime scene was covered in Guede’s fingerprints and DNA, from the semen staining the room to the feces smeared in the bathroom and the unflushed toilet. Eventually, Italian police could not avoid arresting him — tracking him down in Germany, where he fled. He admitted to German police that he was at the scene but claimed he didn&#8217;t kill Kercher, and that he had fled because he was black and thought police would frame him.
To any logical person, that would have solved the case. But that’s not what happened, and it wasn’t the black person who was being framed.
Italian prosecutor Giuliano Mignini worked with the migrant to turn the story into one in which Knox and her boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, inexplicably worked with the migrant to rape their friend. The prosecutor called Guede &#8220;this poor Rudy&#8221; and said Knox and Raffael had accused him of &#8220;being the only one&#8221; to attack Kercher.
Fueled by leaks from prosecutors, the media saturated the world with a case that they covered as a sexualized &#8220;Foxy Knoxy,&#8221; an American sociopath, who ruthlessly stabbed to death and raped her roommate. She had two accomplices, they acknowledged, but those less colorful figures were secondary and essentially anonymous in the narrative.
Knox and Sollecito did not even know Guede, but prosecutors used another migrant, Hekuran Kokomani, to provide false testimony that they did. His testimony was absurd, including claiming he knew Knox through her uncle (who was never in Italy), that she brandished a knife at him which he fought off by throwing olives at her, and that he recognized her because of the gap in her front teeth (which, when he saw her teeth in court he remarked, &#8220;oh, she doesn&#8217;t have it anymore.&#8221;)
A homeless heroin addict named Antonio Curatolo came forward at the last minute to become what the media called the &#8220;super witness.&#8221; He offered testimony that was just what the prosecution needed — and it turned out the same prosecutor had used the same criminal vagrant for the same role in two prior unrelated trials.
Prosecutors selected a knife from a drawer in Sollecito&#8217;s home and declared it the murder weapon through “intuition,” without ever checking Guede&#8217;s apartment. The knife was the wrong size to have stabbed Kercher, but they claimed it did anyway, and that it contained her DNA. The DNA test was flawed but they withheld that evidence from Knox. (After her conviction, it was revealed that the test was wrong. Knox wrote, &#8220;Now I know that these mistakes weren&#8217;t missteps. [They were] giant, intentionally misleading leaps, to come up with results designed to confirm our guilt.”)
Knox’s DNA was not found anywhere at the crime scene itself, but prosecutors turned that lack of evidence into the accusation that she tampered with it — an absurd claim since Guede’s DNA was everywhere, and it would have been impossible for Knox to clean up her own DNA but selectively leave his.
Based entirely on his imagination, prosecutor Giliano Mignini told the jury that Knox had personally stabbed Kercher to death, and that she was not just a participant in, but the ringleader of, the rape. &#8220;For Amanda, the moment had come to take revenge on that simpering girl&#8230; it was an unstoppable game of violence and sex,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Let&#8217;s try to imagine&#8211;she insulted her. Perhaps she said, you were a little saint. Now we&#8217;ll show you. Now you have no choice but to have sex.&#8221;
Due to the overwhelming evidence, Guede was quickly convicted of murder and sentenced to 30 years, but his sentence was reduced to 16 years. Prosecutors sought life in prison for the Westerners, and Knox was convicted in 2009 and sentenced to 25 years. She was acquitted on appeal in 2011, but prosecutors would not relent — not only retrying her for murder, but also charging her with slander for exposing the police’s scheme. In 2014, she was found guilty and given 28.5 years, significantly more than Guede. The Supreme Court finally found that she did not kill Kercher. The appeal of the slander charge is still ongoing.
Guede has never formally taken responsibility for the rape, though he allegedly told three fellow inmates that he and a friend showed up at Kercher’s apartment uninvited and gang-raped her before going to a nightclub and dancing.
Scientific experts testified at trial for the defense that the police’s purported DNA evidence on the knife was egregiously flawed, but prosecutors convinced a jury that while the defense’s witnesses had a motive to lie, the government had no such motive.
In the 15 years since, one motive has become clear.
The affair seems like an early exercise by the government and media to conceal the effect of mass immigration from third-world countries. As Europeans have noticed those effects, their countries have tried to hide it, even if it means imprisoning Westerners who speak out.
In 2016, <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3397826/American-murdered-Florence-took-kinky-sex-game-strangled-autopsy-finds-police-arrest-drug-dealer-seen-outside-apartment.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an illegal African migrant</a> in Italy, Cheik Tidiane Diaw, strangled to death an American woman named Ashley Olsen. Authorities initially falsely tried to blame a consensual &#8220;kinky sex game.&#8221;
In 2022, the situation in Italy got so bad that the nation elected conservative Giorgia Meloni as prime minister, with Meloni supporting a naval blockade to stop African migrants from flooding Italy&#8217;s shores.
In Ireland, a migrant stabbed children last month, and when the citizenry <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/riots-break-out-in-ireland-after-children-stabbed-outside-school" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rebelled</a>, Ireland authorities blamed the &#8220;far right&#8221; for the safety crisis. Legislators there have proposed a law that would make it illegal to possess any material that could &#8220;incite hatred,&#8221; such as memes questioning the effects of mass migration.
But Knox may stand as one of history’s earliest, and most tragic, victims of the migrant rape coverup — not dissimilar to the prosecution of the father of Loudoun County’s rape victim simply because his family&#8217;s personal tragedy <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/loudoun-county-schools-tried-to-conceal-sexual-assault-against-daughter-in-bathroom-father-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posed a narrative inconvenience</a> to the leftist agenda.
Contrary to the contemporaneous portrayal by the media and prosecutors, what happened in Italy in 2008 was never a co-ed sex scandal, and it was never a close case. It was obvious, from its earliest days, that it was a depraved rape and murder by a criminal African migrant.
The idea that it was more plausible that a 20-year-old from Seattle orchestrated the scheme was always absurd — a defamation by Italian authorities that served a purpose.
&#8220;It was just the start of the many invented stories and giant leaps the prosecution would make to &#8216;prove&#8217; I was involved in the murder,&#8221; Knox wrote in her <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Waiting-Be-Heard-Amanda-Knox-ebook/dp/B00AHCPXKS/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">memoir</a>.

Rudy Guede and Amanda Knox

New Arrest Highlights How Italy Concealed Migrant Rape By Framing Amanda Knox

Crime

Italy

Migrants

On January 15, 1947, a mother was taking her 3-year-old daughter for a walk in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Leimert Park, which at the time was mostly undeveloped.
In one of the vacant lots, just feet from the sidewalk, the mother saw what she initially believed to be a mannequin, <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/black-dahlia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to the FBI</a>. Upon closer inspection, however, it was discovered that it was the body of a woman who had been completely severed at the waist. She had been drained of blood and her skin was a sickly white color.
“I glanced to my right, and saw this very dead, white body,” the woman said in a 1997 interview, <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-01-06-mn-15889-story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to the Los Angeles Times</a>. “My goodness &#8230; it was so white. It didn’t &#8230; look like anything more than perhaps an artificial model. It was so white and separated in the middle. I noticed the dark hair and this white, white form.”
Her face was slashed from the corners of her mouth to her ears, with additional cuts on her thigh and breasts that had sliced away part of her flesh. Her lower body was about a foot away from her upper body, with her legs spread and her intestines tucked beneath her buttocks. Her arms were bent at the elbows and positioned above her head. Police found a heel print near the body and a sack containing watery blood not far away.
Fingerprints identified the murdered woman as 22-year-old Elizabeth Short, who had been arrested in 1943 for underage drinking. An autopsy revealed that Elizabeth had ligature marks on her ankles, wrists, and neck, along with superficial cuts on her arms and part of her chest. The technique used to cut the body in half, known as a hemicorporectomy, suggested her killer had medical training.
Her official cause of death was hemorrhaging from the cuts on her face and shock from her head being beaten.
Elizabeth was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 29, 1924, the middle child of five sisters. Her father built miniature golf courses until the 1929 stock market crash when he lost most of his savings. A year later, his car was found abandoned at the Charlestown Bridge, suggesting he had jumped into the Charles River to commit suicide.
<div id="attachment_651647" style="width: 409px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-651647" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-651647 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-514872462-399x576.jpg" alt="Head shot of aspiring actress Elizabeth Short, a murder victim nicknamed the Black Dahlia" width="399" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-514872462-399x576.jpg 399w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-514872462-208x300.jpg 208w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-514872462.jpg 709w" sizes="(max-width: 399px) 100vw, 399px" />Head shot of aspiring actress Elizabeth Short, a murder victim nicknamed the Black Dahlia. Getty Images.</div>
Elizabeth had breathing problems as a child, so her mother moved the family to Miami, Florida, following her father’s disappearance. In 1942 – 12 years after he was believed to have committed suicide – Elizabeth’s father wrote her a letter apologizing for running away and telling her he had started a new life in California. Later that same year, Elizabeth moved to Vallejo, California, to live with her father. After moving around in California and briefly back to Florida following her underage drinking arrest, Elizabeth moved to Los Angeles to visit an acquaintance who was in the military. She would spend the last six months of her life in southern California.
While it has been commonly reported that Elizabeth was an aspiring actress, there is no record of her having any acting jobs or credits.
On January 9, 1947 – a week before her body was discovered – Elizabeth had returned to her home in Los Angeles after visiting a married man in San Diego she had been dating. The man had dropped Elizabeth off at the Biltmore Hotel. Some reports indicated that staff at the hotel had seen Elizabeth using the telephone in the lobby, but a 1997 Los Angeles Times <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-01-06-mn-15889-story.html">article</a> questions the claims, finding no evidence that she was seen at the hotel in “heated news accounts of the day, which reported on every conceivable contact anyone had with Short in the so-called ‘missing week’ before her death.”
The media sensationalized the case, reporting various unverified claims that Elizabeth was a prostitute or pregnant or even a lesbian. Some claimed that the black tailored suit Elizabeth had been last seen wearing was “a tight skirt and a sheer blouse.”
The Los Angeles Examiner, whose reporter beat police to the scene and later said he was the one to close Elizabeth’s eyes, went so far as to trick Elizabeth’s mother by saying Elizabeth had won a beauty contest. The ruse was to get information about Elizabeth for their story, and only after they received all they could, revealed that Elizabeth had been found murdered. The paper also paid for Elizabeth’s mother to fly to L.A. to help police with the investigation, but when she arrived, the paper kept the woman from the police and reporters.
Elizabeth was dubbed the “Black Dahlia,” with reporters claiming credit for the name. It reportedly came from her alleged penchant for wearing sheer black clothes and the 1946 movie “The Blue Dahlia.” It is also rumored to have been a nickname she received while frequenting a Long Beach drugstore.
Six days after Elizabeth’s body was found, the editor of the L.A. Examiner received a call from a man claiming to be her killer. The man said he planned on turning himself in but wanted the police to chase him a bit longer. He also told the editor that he would be sending some “souvenirs” of Elizabeth’s soon. Three days later, on January 24, a manila envelope addressed to the Examiner and other papers were discovered, with words comprising letters cut out of newspaper articles. Inside the envelope were Elizabeth’s birth certificate, business cards, photographs, pieces of paper with various names written on it, and an address book that belonged to a man named Mark Hansen. 
<div id="attachment_651655" style="width: 756px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-651655" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-651655" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-56717192-746x576.jpg" alt="Evidence concerning the murder of American aspiring actress and murder victim Elizabeth Short (1924 - 1947), known as the 'Black Dahlia,' is strown across a table at the Los Angeles District Attorney's office, Los Angeles, California, 1947. On the table is a black address book, a newspaper clipping about the death of Short's supposed fiance and American Amy Major Matthew M. Gordon Jr., Short's birth certificate, a business card, a threatening letter assembled from newspaper lettering, a baggage check from a Greyhound bus depot, a Western Union telegram, and several photographs of Short. (Photo by INTERNATIONAL NEWS PHOTO/Getty Images)" width="746" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-56717192-746x576.jpg 746w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-56717192-300x232.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-56717192-768x593.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-56717192.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 746px) 100vw, 746px" />Evidence concerning the murder of American aspiring actress and murder victim Elizabeth Short (1924 &#8211; 1947), known as the &#8216;Black Dahlia.&#8217; (Photo by INTERNATIONAL NEWS PHOTO/Getty Images)</div>
No fingerprints were lifted from the envelope or items, since it had been cleaned with gasoline. Elizabeth’s body had been cleaned in the same way, leading police to believe the items had been sent by her killer. On the same day the envelope arrived, a black handbag and shoe were found two miles from the crime scene, both of which had also been cleaned with gasoline.
On January 26, another letter arrived, with a handwritten note saying the alleged killer would turn himself in on a specific date and time. Police waited, but no one appeared. On the day the man was supposed to turn himself in, the Examiner received another letter, purportedly from the killer, saying he changed his mind and that his killing of Elizabeth was “justified,” but offered no additional details.
<div id="attachment_651649" style="width: 748px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-651649" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-651649" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-514957958-738x576.jpg" alt="Robert &quot;Red&quot; Manley identifies Elizabeth Short's purse in the Black Dahlia murder case. The mutilated body of Elizabeth Short, whose nickname was the Black Dahlia for her black wardrobe and dahlias in her hair, was found in a vacant lot in downtown Los Angeles. Manley, a salesman and acquaintance of Short, was one of the last people to be seen with her before her murder." width="738" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-514957958-738x576.jpg 738w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-514957958-300x234.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-514957958-768x599.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-514957958.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 738px) 100vw, 738px" />Robert &#8220;Red&#8221; Manley identifies Elizabeth Short&#8217;s purse in the Black Dahlia murder case. Getty Images.</div>
Police looked into Mark Hansen, whose address book was sent to the Examiner along with Elizabeth’s identification. Hansen owned a nightclub and theater and Elizabeth had briefly stayed with him at one point along with her friends. Hansen was cleared of suspicion, however, along with many other men were potential suspects.
The man with whom Elizabeth was having an affair prior to her death was also cleared, as was an acquaintance who was listed in Hansen’s address book. Another man, a bellhop who was an associate of Hansen, was long believed by some to be responsible for Elizabeth’s murder. The bellhop was actually in San Francisco when Elizabeth had been killed.
Two months after the envelope with items belonging to Elizabeth was received, on March 14, a pile of men’s clothing was found in Venice, California. Inside a shoe, a note was found that said: &#8220;To whom it may concern: I have waited for the police to capture me for the Black Dahlia killing, but have not. I am too much of a coward to turn myself in, so this is the best way out for me. I couldn&#8217;t help myself for that, or this. Sorry, Mary.&#8221;
The clothing did not provide any evidence pointing to an owner or the writer of the alleged suicide note.
Numerous other people have confessed or claimed a family member was Elizabeth’s killer, but those claims  were dismissed by police as false. Some people were even charged with obstruction of justice.
George Hodel, who was never charged with Elizabeth’s murder, remains one of the most longstanding suspects. In 2003, the Los Angeles Times <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-apr-13-me-lopez13-story.html">reported</a> on notes from the 1949 grand jury report on how the LAPD handled various murders, including Elizabeth’s. The notes revealed that investigators had wiretapped Hodel’s home and recorded a conversation between him and another person in which he said: &#8220;Supposin&#8217; I did kill the Black Dahlia. They couldn&#8217;t prove it now. They can&#8217;t talk to my secretary because she&#8217;s dead. They thought there was something fishy. Anyway, now they may have figured it out. Killed her. Maybe I did kill my secretary.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_651643" style="width: 250px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-651643" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-651643 size-medium" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-142011752-240x300.jpg" alt="Dr. George Hill Hodel. 38, party involved in alleged incest case and Black Dahlia story. (Photo By: NY Daily News via Getty Images)" width="240" height="300" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-142011752-240x300.jpg 240w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-142011752-461x576.jpg 461w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-142011752-768x960.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/11/GettyImages-142011752.jpg 819w" sizes="(max-width: 240px) 100vw, 240px" />Dr. George Hill Hodel. 38, party involved in alleged incest case and Black Dahlia story. (Photo By: NY Daily News via Getty Images)</div>
Hodel had also been suspected of killing his secretary Ruth Spaulding, but he was never charged. Hodel’s son, LAPD homicide detective Steve Hodel, also accused his father of being Elizabeth’s murderer, after George died in 1999. Steve wrote a book about his theory, which was dismissed by the LAPD detective in charge of Elizabeth’s case in the ’90s. The detective said the books included some intriguing facts but only linked to Elizabeth through unsubstantiated theories.
Steve has also tried to link his father to the Zodiac killings and other unsolved cases.
Around 750 investigators worked on the case initially, and many places were searched but no additional evidence was found. The case remains unsolved.

Black Dahlia Evidence

Unsolved: The Black Dahlia, L.A.’s Most Infamous Murder

Los Angeles

As Halloween approaches, local media outlets across the country will warn parents to check their kids’ Halloween candy for potential dangers. In recent years, federal and state authorities <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2022/10/26/rainbow-fentanyl-halloween-scare/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">issued warnings</a> about candy-shaped rainbow fentanyl. Another “danger” has been people swapping out regular candy for THC-laced gummies that mimic famous candy brands.
The danger of some maniac child-hater giving out poisoned candy, however, is a myth. There simply is no evidence that anything like this occurs at Halloween.
Debunking the THC-laced gummies is the easy part. These small bags of gummies cost $15 and up each, so it is unlikely anyone would give them out to be cruel. Joel Best, a sociology professor at the University of Delaware who has studied the tainted Halloween candy myth since 1983, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/27/us/halloween-candy-thc-marijuana.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> The New York Times in 2021 that the THC-laced gummies claim “spreads primarily among people who have no idea what this stuff costs.”
There are two decades-old examples of dangerous candy. In 1959, California dentist Dr. William Shyne handed out <a href="https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1959/11/04/80559444.pdf?pdf_redirect=true&amp;ip=0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">candy-coated laxative pills</a> to children trick-or-treating. Thirty children were sickened by the laxative-laced candy, with some 450 pills handed out. Shyne was charged with outrage of public decency and unlawful dispensing of drugs.
Following this, some 80 reports of sharp objects being inserted into Halloween candy emerged, but the vast majority turned out to be hoaxes, including a claim by two Pennsylvania teenagers in 2015 that they had found needles in their Halloween candy. They quickly recanted their claims and faced no charges, Philadelphia magazine <a href="https://www.phillymag.com/news/2015/11/06/kennett-square-needles-candy-hoax/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> at the time.
“Law enforcement is always in a difficult situation in these potential hoax cases, which seem to occur every year,” Larry Hogan, who was the district attorney of Chester County at the time, said in a statement. “The public has to be notified immediately as a matter of safety. However, as anybody who has raised kids knows, it sometimes takes some work and time to get the full truth behind an initial story. In this case, law enforcement and the media did a sound job of balancing the need for safety with pursuing the ultimate truth. At this point, we are simply glad that we can assure the parents and children of Chester County that Halloween remains a safe and fun event.”
The first teenager, an 11-year-old, put needles from her mom’s sewing kit into her candy after an adult showed her a picture of spiked candy while telling her to be safe. The other teen, a 12-year-old, saw a news report of the first hoax and decided to create his own. That same year, a 37-year-old man in New Jersey was arrested after posting a photo on social media claiming to have found needles in Halloween candy. The man, Robert Ledrew, placed the needles in the candy himself after seeing a news report about the two teens’ claims.
“I can’t find any evidence of any child being killed or seriously hurt by a contaminated treat picked up in the course of trick-or-treating,” Best, the University of Delaware sociology professor, told the Times.
A 5-year-old boy died in 1970 after eating heroin, which the police originally said had been in his Halloween candy. Allegedly, heroin had been sprinkled on the candy. In reality, the heroin had been found in his uncle’s home, the Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1970/11/10/archives/boy-5-who-died-of-heroin-may-have-taken-a-capsule.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> at the time. A medical examination found that the amount of heroin found in the boy’s body was way more than a sprinkle, and was the amount typically found in a capsule.
The idea that strangers are putting poisons and sharp objects into candy falls flat when one considers that criminals tend to want to see the destruction they cause. Giving things to random kids in the neighborhood wouldn’t really qualify, and it would be very easy to connect such a crime to a particular house.
There is one confirmed incident of poisoned Halloween candy that led to a death, but there is more to that story than stranger danger. In 1974, 8-year-old Timothy O’Bryan died after eating potassium cyanide-laced Pixy Stix found in his Halloween candy. The boy had been out trick-or-treating with his father, Ronald, and his sister, as well as a neighbor and his two children.
The group came to a house where no one answered the door, so the children ran ahead. Ronald caught up with the group and said he had been given five Pixy Stix by the occupant of the house that hadn’t initially answered. He gave one Pixy Stix to each of the four children in the group, and gave the fifth to a boy he knew from church.
That night, before going to bed, young Timothy asked to eat some of the candy from Halloween. Ronald provided him with another Pixy Stix. When Timothy struggled to get the powdered candy out of the straw, Ronald helped him loosen the powder. Upon consuming it, Timothy said it tasted bitter, so Ronald gave him some Kool-Aid to wash it down.
Timothy then said his stomach hurt and ran to the bathroom to throw up. The young boy started having convulsions. Ronald would later say that he held Timothy while the boy was vomiting and that the child collapsed in his arms. Timothy died on the way to the hospital, less than one hour after he consumed his last Pixy Stix.
None of the other children who had been given a Pixy Stix by Ronald consumed their candy, and their parents were able to retrieve them. Authorities found that the candies had all been opened and the top two inches of powder was replaced with cyanide powder before the straws had been stapled shut.
A pathologist who tested the candy found that Timothy consumed enough cyanide to kill two adults.
Ronald told police that he couldn’t remember which house provided the Pixy Stix. This made police suspicious, since the group had only gone to homes on two streets due to rain. None of the homes on these streets had given out Pixy Stix. After walking the neighborhood with police, Ronald pointed to the house that hadn’t answered and said the man had simply opened the door and given him the candy without fully revealing himself. Ronald said he only saw the man’s arm.
Police investigated the owner of the home and found that he was an air traffic controller who didn’t get home until 11:00 p.m. on Halloween night. More than 200 people were able to confirm he had been at work that night and couldn’t have given out the candy.
Police later learned that Ronald was more than $100,000 in debt at the time (more than $620,000 in 2023 dollars), and had held 21 jobs in the past 10 years. He was about to be fired again, his car was about to be repossessed, he had defaulted on multiple bank loans, and was about to lose his house.
In the months before Timothy died, Ronald had taken out $10,000 insurance policies on each of his children. One month before the death, Ronald took out an additional $20,000 in insurance on each child. The morning after Timothy died, Ronald called to ask about collecting the insurance money.
Ronald had also gone to a chemical supply store to buy cyanide before Halloween, but left when he learned the minimum amount he could buy was 5 pounds.
Ronald was arrested and charged with Timothy’s murder and the attempted murders of the four other children. Timothy’s mother said she had no idea about the insurance policies and was never considered a suspect.
At trial, a chemist testified that Ronald had asked him about cyanide and how much would be fatal in the year before Timothy’s death. A chemical supply salesman also testified that Ronald had asked him how to purchase cyanide. Those who knew Ronald testified that in the months before Timothy died, Ronald had shown an interest in cyanide.
Ronald’s wife testified that Timothy had not chosen to eat a Pixy Stix that night, but that Ronald had forced him to choose the candy.
Ronald was convicted and sentenced to death. He was killed by lethal injection on March 31, 1984. In the decades since, he has been referred to as “The Candy Man” or “The Man Who Killed Halloween.”
Yet he was not a stranger handing out Halloween candy – he was a man in debt who sought to kill his children for the insurance money and gave out the candy to other children to make it look like it had come from a stranger.
Despite numerous warnings about the dangers of Halloween candy, there simply is no evidence that a stranger in the neighborhood is preparing to harm children by going to great lengths to tamper with candy.

Boy in skeleton costume holding bowl full of candies

The Myth Of The Tainted Halloween Candy

Fentanyl

Halloween

Marijuana

Candace Owens’ DailyWire+ docuseries “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/convicting-a-murderer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Convicting a Murderer</a>” released its finale on Thursday, the most shocking episode in the 10-part true crime series. 
Viewers of “Convicting a Murderer” have <a href="https://twitter.com/GarrettHensonKS/status/1716819718940889166" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expressed</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/SaltyMom10/status/1715380929806389488" target="_blank" rel="noopener">astonishment</a> at how far filmmakers of Netflix’s “Making a Murderer” went to portray convicted murderer Steven Avery as an innocent victim of corrupt law enforcement in the murder of Teresa Halbach. 
The Netflix series sparked a worldwide fascination in the case, attracting around 19 million viewers, but “Convicting a Murderer” pulls back the curtain on what viewers missed in “Making a Murderer.” The 10-episode series contains evidence omitted from the Netflix series and exclusive interviews with subjects not included in “Making a Murderer.”
Shortly after the release of Owens’ docuseries, Avery <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/is-steven-avery-directing-supporters-to-tank-candace-owens-convicting-a-murderer-review-score" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appeared to be directing</a> his supporters to tank the Rotten Tomatoes’ audience review score of “Convicting a Murderer.” Avery’s apparent move from behind bars, however, didn’t stop the docuseries from hitting the #1 spot on Rotten Tomatoes’ “Best Documentary TV Shows” shortly after its debut, where it sat above FX’s “Welcome to Wrexham” and Apple TV’s “The Super Models” for over a week. And despite Avery supporters writing bad reviews for “Convicting a Murderer,” the DailyWire+ series continues to boast an impressive Rotten Tomatoes audience score of <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/convicting_a_murderer/s01?fbclid=IwAR0fto9KzgL8uQJRxDW-QmYLBw46alCEUrKrW1PEhYNVmI7jTT1OLSj6Y7Y" target="_blank" rel="noopener">77%</a>. 
Here’s what “Convicting a Murderer” has unveiled so far:
<h3>Episode 1: “An Unraveling Narrative”</h3>
Owens comes out swinging right from the start in “Convicting a Murderer.” In the first episode, she compares the Avery case and his subsequent support to how the Black Lives Matter movement exploded after the death of Michael Brown in 2014. 
“Did white people just kinda want their Michael Brown moment?” she asks in the documentary. “Was this maybe the beginning of white lives matter?” 
In episode one, police reports from Avery’s younger years unveil a significantly more alarming criminal history than previously disclosed, and the intentions of the “Making a Murderer” filmmakers begin to come to light. 
“So, when you look a little closer at Steven Avery’s history, you see a very different side to the man that we’ve seen portrayed in ‘Making a Murderer,’” Owens says in the episode. 
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1-an-unraveling-narrative-new" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH “AN UNRAVELING NARRATIVE”</a>
<h3>Episode 2: “Sharing Wives”</h3>
The second episode reveals shocking evidence left out of “Making a Murderer,” such as Avery’s past animal cruelty, alleged abduction attempt, and accusations of a violent sexual history. Avery’s letters to his ex-wife while he was in prison from 1985 to 2003 are also revealed in the episode. 
“When I saw these letters, my jaw just hit the floor,” Owens says. 
The episode also goes into detail about some of Avery’s family relationships that were left out in “Making a Murderer,” such as his estranged children, alleged violence toward his sister, and alleged abuse of his daughter.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2-sharing-wives-new" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH “SHARING WIVES”</a>
<h3>Episode 3: “Avery’s Niece” </h3>
*Warning: This episode contains graphic details* 
In this episode, some of Avery’s relatives come forward with horrific new allegations, such as an alleged illicit relationship with his underage niece. Avery is also accused of a pattern of violence against his fiancee. The accusations against Avery for having an inappropriate relationship with his minor niece were not disclosed in “Making a Murderer,” as “Convicting a Murderer” gives viewers a deeper look into allegations made against Avery by his own family members, and Steven’s brother Earl is asked if he thinks Steven is guilty. 
The episode details a past encounter between Avery and Teresa Halbach that was left out of “Making a Murderer.” “Convicting a Murderer” also reveals some strange purchases Avery made in the weeks leading up to Halbach’s murder. 
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-3-avery-s-niece-new" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH “AVERY’S NIECE”</a>
<h3>Episode 4: “Shifting Timelines”</h3>
In this episode, viewers will hear 15-second audio from a dispatch call that sheds light on the Steven Avery case. “Shifting Timelines” also highlights some of the disturbing behavior Avery showcased before murdering 25-year-old photographer Teresa Halbach. 
“If the filmmakers were honestly trying to tell a complete story of what happened that day, why would they omit so many different things?” Owens asks in the episode. 
The episode details important facts from the case that were omitted from “Making a Murderer,” such as a revealing answering machine message from Halbach, a strange decision made by Avery before he placed a call, and important context on a call between a police officer and dispatch that “Making a Murderer” filmmakers left out.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-4-shifting-timelines" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH “SHIFTING TIMELINES”</a>
<h3>Episode 5: “Manitowoc’s Involvement”</h3>
In episode 5, Owens looks into allegations that Manitowoc County Sheriff Deputy Andy Colborn and investigator James Lenk planted evidence on Avery after he sued the county for $36 million. The episode shows that while the filmmakers of “Making a Murderer” asked a lot of questions about Manitowoc’s involvement in the investigation of Teresa Halbach’s murder, they didn’t tell the full story. 
“I don’t think anyone can argue with the fact that ‘Making a Murderer’ left us with a lot of questions and very few answers,” Owens says in the episode. “And actually I think that’s one of the reasons it was so successful. Because it didn’t just end when the final credits rolled. People wanted to find the answers to those questions.” 
“Manitowoc’s Involvement” answers key questions, such as why Manitowoc County officers were involved in investigating the Avery case, whether Colborn and Lenk had a reason to hold a grudge against Avery, and how the infamous RAV4 key was found on the final search of Avery’s home.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-5-manitowoc-s-involvement" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH “MANITOWOC’S INVOLVEMENT”</a>
<h3>Episode 6: “The Key &amp; the License Plate Call”</h3>
Episode 6 features more details surrounding the key to Teresa Halbach’s vehicle being found by Manitowoc County law enforcement officers that many people allege was planted in Avery’s bedroom by police. In the episode, Owens also looks into editing choices made by the filmmakers of the hit Netflix docuseries “Making a Murderer.” 
“After ‘Making a Murderer,’ the filmmakers were questioned about some of their editing choices by several news outlets,” Owens says in the episode. “They responded typically the same way: That those questioning them simply misunderstood their intentions or thought that they knew more than they really did. But that still doesn’t explain why they omitted some of the most important evidence.”
In episode 6, viewers will find answers to key questions raised by “Making a Murderer,” such as how the RAV4 key was found in Avery’s trailer and why Halbach’s DNA wasn’t found on the RAV4 key. 
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/convicting-a-murderer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH “THE KEY &amp; THE LICENSE PLATE CALL”</a>
<h3>Episode 7: “The Vial of Blood”</h3>
The seventh installment of “Convicting a Murderer” features key pieces from Dassey’s confession to interrogators, including describing the murder of Teresa Halbach and his uncle’s actions after they killed her. Episode 7 also delves into one of the biggest bombshells in “Making a Murderer”: the blood vial. 
“It is so important to stress that prior to this date of February 27th, the police did not have Brendan Dassey on their radar at all. … Now they’re talking to him and he’s saying things about a golf cart, he’s talking about a bonfire that he had with his uncle Steven. He’s talking about seeing Teresa Halbach’s toes and belly and forehead in the fire,” Owens says. “I mean, this was a major breakthrough in the case.”
Episode 7 also reveals more information about a bullet found in Avery’s garage that had Halbach’s DNA on it and how “Making a Murderer” filmmakers edited court testimony on the discussion of the bullet. Viewers will discover the importance of Dassey’s confession in the case’s timeline and why there was a hole in the top of a vial containing Avery’s blood, which his supporters point to as proof that blood was planted to frame him for Halbach’s murder. 
The revelations in the episode are devastating for those defending Avery, according to Owens. 
“For Steven Avery supporters, it really, at this point, is a faith and not a science,” she says.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-7-the-vial-of-blood" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH “THE VIAL OF BLOOD”</a>
<h3>Episode 8: “Bones”</h3>
This episode shows that the filmmakers of the Netflix series “Making a Murderer” left out a key detail of the investigation — that a cadaver dog used by investigators found Halbach’s jean rivets in Avery’s burn pit.
“It’s worth reminding that Brendan Dassey had confessed to burning Teresa Halbach’s clothing, but you don’t see anything about her clothing or the jean rivets in ‘Making a Murderer,’” Owens says. “And it’s not the only detail that they left out.”
The episode also dives into how Avery changed his story about the burn pit multiple times when being questioned by police. The convicted murderer initially told investigators that he didn’t have a fire on October 31, 2005,  the day Halbach went missing. He later changed his story and admitted he did have a fire on the 31st but added that his nephew Brendan Dassey was with him. 
“Why didn’t Steven tell investigators about Brendan being with him that night originally?” Owens asks in the episode. “Because Brendan should have been his alibi. Wouldn’t Steven want them to go talk to Brendan so he could confirm everything that Steven said happened that night? If nothing happened, that is, why not say that right away?” 
The episode then goes into detail about the bone and tooth fragments found in Avery’s burn pit and a nearby burn barrel.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-8-bones" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH “BONES”</a>
<h3>Episode 9: “Manipulating Brendan”</h3>
In episode 9, viewers are shown how Dassey was compelled by his own family to make critical decisions that prioritized Avery’s interests over his own. The episode also goes into detail about Dassey’s disturbing confession about why he joined his uncle in the rape and murder of Teresa Halbach. 
“I don’t think I’ll ever forget him describing his uncle wanting him to ‘get some’ and him admitting that he did this,” Owens says. “What was the motive of a 16- year-old kid? It was motive that he wanted to know what it felt like.”
“Manipulating Brendan” also sheds light on how the filmmakers of Netflix’s “Making a Murderer” skipped over important details of Dassey telling family members that Avery allegedly abused him.
“I think it’s very apparent in ‘Making a Murderer’ why they made the decision to leave out some things. And I think it’s because those things couldn’t have been explained away,” says Owens. 
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-9-manipulating-brendan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH “MANIPULATING BRENDAN”</a>
<h3>Season Finale Sneak Peek</h3>
Episode 10, titled “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-10-the-real-villain-teaser">The Real Villain</a>,” rounds out the series, uncovering questionable guidelines and editing practices that create catastrophic repercussions in the personal lives of those depicted in “Making a Murderer.” Plus, viewers will see how those responsible for the collateral damage of the series have evaded responsibility by muddying the waters between journalism and storytelling.
“I think what these documentary makers participated in was death by a thousand edits … small little edits that led people in a certain direction that wasn’t honest and it wasn&#8217;t truthful, in my opinion,” Owens says. 
Watch the first nine episodes of “Convicting a Murderer” and tune in for the series finale on Thursday by becoming a <a href="https://get.dailywire.com/candace/convicting-a-murderer?utm_campaign=convicting&amp;utm_medium=paid&amp;utm_source=googlesearch&amp;utm_content=sitelink_subscriptions&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjw-eKpBhAbEiwAqFL0mr1hqs_MUOE6WYCbE5jbJfUKhh3-Fg-8n7wDi_SHcz1TVpJn--kUNRoCrdwQAvD_BwE">DailyWire+ member</a>.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Justice Is Here | Convicting a Murderer | Series Finale Teaser" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9MlYXhZppjQ?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Candace Owens, ‘Convicting a Murderer’

‘Convicting A Murderer’ Finale Released. Catch Up On Candace Owens’ True Crime Series.

Candace Owens

Convicting a Murderer

DailyWire+

Steven Avery

Brendan Dassey’s chilling calls from prison that shed light on his troubling relationship with his uncle, convicted murderer Steven Avery, are revealed by Candace Owens in episode 9 of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/convicting-a-murderer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Convicting a Murderer</a>.” 
In the episode, titled “Manipulating Brendan,” viewers are shown how Dassey was compelled by his own family to make critical decisions that prioritized Avery’s interests over his own. The episode also goes into detail about Dassey’s disturbing confession about why he joined his uncle in the rape and murder of Teresa Halbach. 
“I don’t think I’ll ever forget him describing his uncle wanting him to ‘get some’ and him admitting that he did this,” Owens says. “What was the motive of a 16- year-old kid? It was motive that he wanted to know what it felt like.”
“Manipulating Brendan,” which was released on DailyWire+ on Thursday, is the second-to-last episode in the series. Episode 9 also sheds light on how the filmmakers of Netflix’s “Making a Murderer” skipped over important details of Dassey telling family members that Avery allegedly abused him. 
“I think it’s very apparent in ‘Making a Murderer’ why they made the decision to leave out some things. And I think it’s because those things couldn’t have been explained away,” says Owens. 
“Convicting a Murderer” pulls back the curtain on what viewers missed in “Making a Murderer.” The 10-episode series contains exclusive interviews with subjects not included in the Netflix show, including law enforcement officers, family members, and fans-turned-investigators whose lives have been profoundly impacted by the case.
The Daily Wire series <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/candace-owens-convicting-a-murderer-jumps-to-1-spot-on-rotten-tomatoes-list">hit the #1 spot</a> on Rotten Tomatoes’ “Best Documentary TV Shows” list last month, where it sat above FX’s “Welcome to Wrexham” and Apple TV’s “The Super Models” for over a week. 
<h3>Coming Up</h3>
The series finale premieres next Thursday only on DailyWire+. Episode 10, titled “The Real Villain,” uncovers the lack of ethical guidelines and questionable editing practices that create catastrophic repercussions in the personal lives of those depicted in “Making a Murderer.” Plus, viewers will see how those responsible for the collateral damage of the series have evaded responsibility by muddying the waters between journalism and storytelling.
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If you missed the first nine episodes of “Convicting a Murderer,” you can still catch up <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/convicting-a-murderer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a> and <a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus-v2?utm_campaign=dwplus&amp;utm_medium=paid&amp;utm_source=googlesearch&amp;utm_content=na_subscriptions&amp;mid=g&amp;cid=dailywire&amp;xid=0&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwysipBhBXEiwApJOcu_lKrrNjskZdfkWuWq-mPFp_P5-V9uCjPUgBOqNAzLJjEk7AABB-pBoCvZEQAvD_BwE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">become a member</a> to follow the rest of the series. The series finale will premiere on October 26 on DailyWire+.

‘Convicting A Murderer’ Recap: Candace Owens Reveals Brendan Dassey’s Chilling Confession, Prison Calls In Episode 9 

Episode 8 of Candace Owens&#8217; “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/convicting-a-murderer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Convicting a Murderer</a>” revealed that a cadaver dog found powerful evidence pointing to Steven Avery’s guilt in the murder of Teresa Halbach. 
The episode, titled “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-8-bones" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bones</a>,” shows that the filmmakers of the Netflix series “Making a Murderer” left out that a cadaver dog used by investigators found Halbach’s jean rivets in Avery’s burn pit — a key piece of evidence used by the prosecution. 
“It’s worth reminding that Brendan Dassey had confessed to burning Teresa Halbach’s clothing, but you don’t see anything about her clothing or the jean rivets in ‘Making a Murderer,’” Owens says. “And it’s not the only detail that they left out.”
The episode, which was released on DailyWire+ on Thursday, also dives into how Avery changed his story about the burn pit multiple times when being questioned by police. The convicted murderer initially told investigators that he didn’t have a fire on October 31, 2005,  the day Halbach went missing. He later changed his story and admitted he did have a fire on the 31st but added that his nephew Brendan Dassey was with him. 
“Why didn’t Steven tell investigators about Brendan being with him that night originally?” Owens asks in the episode. “Because Brendan should have been his alibi. Wouldn’t Steven want them to go talk to Brendan so he could confirm everything that Steven said happened that night? If nothing happened, that is, why not say that right away?” 
The episode then goes into detail about the bone and tooth fragments found in Avery’s burn pit and a nearby burn barrel. 
“Convicting a Murderer” pulls back the curtain on what viewers missed in “Making a Murderer.” The 10-episode series contains exclusive interviews with subjects not included in the Netflix show, including law enforcement officers, family members, and fans-turned-investigators whose lives have been profoundly impacted by the case.
The Daily Wire series <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/candace-owens-convicting-a-murderer-jumps-to-1-spot-on-rotten-tomatoes-list">hit the #1 spot</a> on Rotten Tomatoes’ “Best Documentary TV Shows” list last month, where it sat above FX’s “Welcome to Wrexham” and Apple TV’s “The Super Models” for over a week. 
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Coming Up
Episode 9, the second-to-last episode in the series, will be released on DailyWire+ next Thursday. The episode, “Manipulating Brendan,” reveals chilling prison calls from Brendan Dassey that shed light on his troubling relationship with Steven Avery, providing a deeper understanding of his involvement in the murder. 
“I don’t think I’ll ever forget him describing his uncle wanting him to ‘get some’ and him admitting that he did this. What was the motive of a 16-year-old kid? It was motive that he wanted to know what it felt like,” Owens says.
If you missed the first seven episodes of “Convicting a Murderer,” you can still catch up here and become a member to follow the rest of the series. The last two episodes will debut next Thursday and on October 26 on DailyWire+.

‘Convicting A Murderer’ Ep. 8 Recap: Candace Owens Reveals Key Piece Of Evidence Was Found In Steven Avery’s Burn Pit But Left Out Of ‘Making A Murderer’

Samantha had just become a doula when she was messaged on Instagram by her first client, a 24-year-old woman saying she thought she was going into labor.
The woman, Kaitlyn Braun, told Samantha that her contractions were 10 minutes apart, and then 8 minutes, the doula <a href="https://www.cosmopolitan.com/lifestyle/a44866427/kaitlyn-braun-doula-pregnancy-accused-fraud-harassment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Cosmopolitan in September. Doulas, women who don’t usually have formal obstetric training who are hired to guide and support pregnant women through labor, don’t typically arrive so early during labor. But because Braun had said she learned about her pregnancy late in the process and that the child was conceived out of a sexual assault, Samantha asked if Braun wanted her to come over and begin helping.
“I really want to say yes because these are intense, but I feel bad because I’m sure you’re probably busy,” Braun reportedly told Samantha.
Samantha, feeling that the young woman was too afraid to ask for help, immediately drove to Braun’s home. Samantha told Cosmopolitan that she had no reason to doubt Braun, who is overweight, was pregnant. Braun lived in a two-bedroom apartment with her mother, had a car seat in the living room, a sleeper seat in her bedroom, baby clothes, and a breast pump – all things a struggling woman would have if she were going to give birth.
Just hours after Samantha arrived at the apartment, Braun says something is leaking out of her body. Samantha tells Braun that her water is probably breaking. For the next two days, Braun labors at home with Samantha by her side, the rookie doula taking few breaks and caring for Braun’s every need.
At the end of the second day, Samantha wanted Braun to go to the hospital, but her mother resisted. Eventually, Samantha called the hospital for advice, fearing Braun was at risk of a serious infection, and was told to bring Braun in immediately, so she did. Samantha drove Braun herself, something doulas aren’t supposed to do, believing Braun couldn’t afford a taxi. Once in Samantha’s car, Braun began wailing, telling the doula to just leave and forget about her.
Samantha pulled over and called her mentor, who then spoke to Braun and convinced her to go to the hospital. Once there, however, Braun refused to get out of the car, and Samantha said she threatened to get a staffer – something she never wanted to do as a doula but felt she had been given no choice.
Braun then questioned whether her water had actually broken, or if what was leaking out of her was liquid trapped behind a mucus plug. If that were the case, Braun wasn’t at risk of infection, so Samantha did what the young woman wanted and drove her home. Braun then asked if Samantha would meet her at the hospital when she actually goes into labor.
Days later, Braun called and again said she was having contractions, so Samantha went through the entire process again of driving Braun to the hospital and persuading her to get out of the car. An ob-gyn performed an ultrasound but quickly stopped. She told Braun that there was no pregnancy and the only thing in her uterus was an IUD.
The doctor offered to call Braun a social worker or psychiatrist, but Braun demanded to go home, telling Samantha on the ride that she was “so confused.”
At this point, Samantha didn’t know whether Braun had faked everything or had a hysterical pregnancy, but she treated her like a woman who had believed she was pregnant but was not – and who felt as though she had lost a child.
Except, Braun was lying, and she continued to twist and expand on her original pregnancy story to many more doulas. The names of the doulas in these stories were changed by Cosmo to protect their identities.
During her next con, Braun was a queer sexual assault survivor shunned by her family, in labor at 32 weeks delivering a stillborn. Two doulas, referred to as Rachel and Nora, offered Braun support over the phone. Rachel said she could hear car sounds as Braun allegedly rode to the hospital during the ordeal, and heartbeat monitor sounds once she was there.
Braun continued to go through the stillbirth for the two doulas, who said that about 45 minutes after the alleged birth, Braun said she had to have an emergency dilation and curettage (D&amp;C), a procedure that removes tissue from inside the uterus. Braun told the women she would need a hysterectomy because she wouldn’t stop bleeding. The two doulas counseled her through the immense loss of losing a child and then her uterus.
In the days following the alleged stillbirth, Braun told the women she was being transferred to a new hospital, and then another hospital, because the bleeding wouldn’t stop. She then tells the women she was diagnosed with a clotting disorder and late-stage pelvic cancer. The doulas say they are no longer the professionals Braun needs, but continue to offer her support as she weighs her options before deciding to stop treatment, which would mean she would die in three months.
These two doulas told Cosmo they were sexual assault survivors, so they understood when Braun said she didn’t want them to call the police about a male doctor who allegedly violated her while trying to stop her from bleeding.
While being transferred to yet another hospital, Braun told the women over the phone that the male doctor was in the ambulance with her, gave his name, and then enacted an alleged rape before she hung up the phone. Rachel looked up the man’s name and found that he was a real doctor at the hospital. At the next hospital, Braun said the doctor raped her again but was caught by a nurse and the police were now involved. She told the women what the doctor did to her in graphic detail and said he seemed to enjoy the fact that he was ripping out her stitches.
The person Rachel was dating at the time reached out to reporters about the doctor’s arrest, but they could find no record of any police report. At that point, the doulas began to question Braun’s story.
Braun then said she was pushing out chunks of a tumor and even sent a photo of a piece of a tumor, which Nora reverse-image searched and found it was from a Wikipedia article. They then found the images Braun had sent of her stillborn child, which they found on the first page of Google’s search results. Rachel then called the hospital where Braun was allegedly staying, but they had no record of her as a patient. The women then called the police to conduct a welfare check.
A couple hours later, the police called back to say they found Braun in her living room and that she was fine.
Braun would go on to con dozens of other doulas, at one point peeing in front of one to say her water broke, and faking voices of friends to con another. Doulas began posting their stories online and helping others who had been contacted by Braun to realize they were being duped.
In March, Braun was charged with 32 counts of fraud, sexual assault, false pretenses, indecent acts, and criminal harassment in relation to at least six of the doulas she conned, the Daily Mail <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11876173/Social-worker-24-charged-sexual-assault-hiring-doulas-help-fake-pregnancies.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Some of the doulas reported they were traumatized by their experience with Braun, with one alleged victim, Amy Perry, telling CTV News she helped Braun for free.
“The moans, the sounds she made were really realistic, even through the last stage of labor – through transition – she would even go as far as to vomit, which is the normal thing,” Perry told the outlet. “We really felt that there was an individual who was alone in the world going through something really horrible and we were just willing to put the scope of our practice aside and help her.”
In May, 17 victims pressed charges against Braun, CTV News <a href="https://kitchener.ctvnews.ca/17-victims-pressing-charges-against-woman-accused-of-defrauding-harassing-ont-doulas-police-1.6394763" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>, bringing the total number of offenses to 52. Braun is in jail awaiting trial.
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Pregnant woman touching abdomen

When ‘Believing Women’ Goes Wrong: Canadian Woman Conned Dozens Of Doulas By Faking Crisis Pregnancies

When 'Believing Women' Goes Wrong: Canadian Woman Conned Dozens Of Doulas By Faking Crisis Pregnancies

Canada

MeToo

Pregnancy

Women

Candace Owens examines the details of the disturbing rape and murder confession from Steven Avery’s nephew Brendan Dassey in episode 7 of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/convicting-a-murderer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Convicting a Murderer</a>.” 
The episode, titled “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-7-the-vial-of-blood" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Vial of Blood</a>,” features key pieces from Dassey’s confession to interrogators, including describing the murder of Teresa Halbach and his uncle’s actions after they killed her. Episode 7 also delves into one of the biggest bombshells in “Making a Murderer”: the blood vial. 
“It is so important to stress that prior to this date of February 27th, the police did not have Brendan Dassey on their radar at all. … Now they’re talking to him and he’s saying things about a golf cart, he’s talking about a bonfire that he had with his uncle Steven. He’s talking about seeing Teresa Halbach’s toes and belly and forehead in the fire,” Owens says. “I mean, this was a major breakthrough in the case.”
Episode 7, released on DailyWire+ on Thursday, also reveals more information about a bullet found in Avery’s garage that had Halbach’s DNA on it and how “Making a Murderer” filmmakers edited court testimony on the discussion of the bullet. Viewers will discover the importance of Dassey’s confession in the case’s timeline and why there was a hole in the top of a vial containing Avery’s blood, which his supporters point to as proof that blood was planted to frame him for Halbach’s murder. 
The revelations in the episode are devastating for those defending Avery, according to Owens. 
“For Steven Avery supporters, it really, at this point, is a faith and not a science,” she says. 
“Convicting a Murderer” pulls back the curtain on what viewers missed in “Making a Murderer.” The 10-episode series contains exclusive interviews with subjects not included in the Netflix show, including law enforcement officers, family members, and fans-turned-investigators whose lives have been profoundly impacted by the case.
The Daily Wire series <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/candace-owens-convicting-a-murderer-jumps-to-1-spot-on-rotten-tomatoes-list" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hit the #1 spot</a> on Rotten Tomatoes’ “Best Documentary TV Shows” list last month, where it sat above FX’s “Welcome to Wrexham” and Apple TV’s “The Super Models” for over a week. 
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<h3>Coming Up</h3>
Next Thursday, episode 8 of “Convicting a Murderer” will be released on DailyWire+. In the episode titled “Bones,” Owens will reveal an important item that was found in Avery’s burn pit, and how the murderer’s story changed over time. 
“When Steven Avery was first questioned on November 5th and 6th by the Marinette County investigators, one of the questions he was asked was, ‘When was the last time you burned anything?’ At that point he didn’t seem to recall having a fire on Monday night, October 31st,&#8221; says Owens. &#8220;A few days later they asked him the exact same question and his memory still hadn’t improved.”
If you missed the first seven episodes of “Convicting a Murderer,” you can still catch up <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/convicting-a-murderer" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a> and <a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus?utm_campaign=dwplus&amp;utm_medium=paid&amp;utm_source=googlesearch&amp;utm_content=na_subscriptions&amp;mid=g&amp;cid=dailywire&amp;xid=0&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjw4P6oBhBsEiwAKYVkq8Lv0vVZz0LLV-1m8fjJ37f-f02sIVv_O06NEazzVTW-1rWfbFIZchoCdAUQAvD_BwE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">become a member</a> to follow the rest of the series. The remaining three episodes will debut weekly on DailyWire+ every Thursday.

‘Convicting A Murderer’ Recap: Candace Owens Examines Brendan Dassey’s Disturbing Confession In Episode 7 

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