Tag Archives: Murder

Mar 18 2013

Adam Lanza plotted Newtown, Conn.’s Sandy Hook massacre for years

Lupica: Morbid find suggests murder-obsessed gunman Adam Lanza plotted Newtown, Conn.’s Sandy Hook massacre for years – NY Daily News.

When the Sandy Hook shooting first happened I predicted that Adam Lanza’s mother Nancy, would hold the key to the tragedy.

At a recent International Association of Police Chiefs and Colonels in New Orleans, Danny Stebbins, a colonel from the Connecticut State Police shared some startling facts about the Sandy Hook shooting.

From an article written by Joe Kemp/New York Daily News dated Monday, March 18, Adam Lanza might have been trying to top all other mass murderers (records).

Black paper over a classroom’s window spared an entire classroom of children, and caused Adam Lanza to bypass the room entirely.

But it’s Colonel Stebbins comments from the recent conference that’s really frightening … law enforcement reportedly found a 7-foot-long, 4-foot-wide spreadsheet with names, body counts and weapons from previous mass murders.

Adam Lanza was on a quest for notoriety. His mother, who was the first victim on his quest, was making straw purchases of guns for him all along and ignored the fact that he was getting more and more fixated on them.

You should read the article in its entirety by clicking the link.

Oct 6 2012

My Reasons for Watching “After The First 48” – Reality Show #3

I guess it was just a natural transition – that A&E would start airing the devastation that all those “First 48” murders cause. In my “I should have been a TV Critic” mentality – I emailed them right after the premiere of the second season that I hope they would be doing just that. It actually took them several more years before my suggestion would come to fruition.

After The First 48 follows some of the most powerful cases of The First 48 through the criminal justice system. Through interviews with detectives, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and the families of victims, viewers witness the dramatic and emotional inside story: from the investigation, to the murder trial, to the verdict and beyond.

The killers might be the “stars” on The First 48, but on After the First 48, the families have their opportunity to deliver justice and the audience gets a lesson in how the justice system works in various parts of the country. What’s really satisfying is witnessing the “closure” the families get after being victimized by killers for some of the most ridiculous reasons in the world.

What’s really dissatisfying is having to witness the families go through the trial after the killer has done a complete 180 from the ending of The First 48 to the beginning of After the First 48.

Take the case of a “blackout” murder of a family on Lester Street in Memphis, TN. Four adults and five children were viciously shot, stabbed and bludgeoned. Only three survived, all children. It was one of these children, who had a butcher knife lodged in his skull, that summoned the courage and told the police it was “junior” (Jessie Dotson) who attacked him and killed his family.

After the First 48 – Lester Street was a 2-hour episode steeped in controversy. Jessie Dotson, the brother of the murder victim and the uncle of the child who eventually led police to him, confessed to Lt. Toney Armstrong in the original First 48 Lester Street episode.

Jessie Dotson cried in his mother’s arms and asked her to forgive him for killing  her son (his brother) and some of her grandchildren. This episode boggled your mind. It was impossible for you to step into the shoes of any of those people because this was an absolutely horrible, vicious crime for stupid, senseless reasons.

Killing adults, killing your brother, but killing kids because they witness you killing your brother – chasing them around the house and sticking them with butcher knives or beating them with pieces of wood – I’m sorry but in my book you are going to prison and you are not getting out – ever.

And that’s what happened. Jessie Dotson was sentenced to six life sentences plus an additional 120 years in prison.

He received death sentences for the six people he murdered: his brother, Cecil, 30, and the “witnesses:” Marissa Williams, 27, Shindri Roberson, 22, Hollis Seals, 33; plus Cecil’s children, Cemario, 4, and Cecil II, 2.

He received 120 years for beating and stabbing three children who survived.

Memphis city leaders claimed the show, which received unprecedented access into the inner workings of the Memphis Police Department, shed a positive light on the homicide team but a negative light on the city, and the contract was cut short.

Jessie Dotson murdered his brother, the witnesses and two of his brother’s children on Lester Street in Memphis, TN.

Lady Justice and her scales are tested once again.

Sep 21 2012

My Reasons for Watching “The First 48” – Reality Show #2

More times than not, I have said I should be a TV critic. The First 48 was a winner in my book from the first episode. I haven’t missed an episode since it began. I own both “Best of … ” DVDs and it’s part of my Thursday night ritual along with popcorn and cuddling up with my chiweenie Buddy.

According to Wikipedia, “as of the August, 2011, end of its 11th season, A&E has aired 180 episodes of the series. By season 6, The First 48 had become the highest rated non-fiction justice series on American television, and had gained considerable critical acclaim along with controversy. The season 8 premiere on January 1, 2009, garnered a domestic audience of 2.3 million viewers making it the series’ most watched episode, thus far.”

The First 48 is a “reality show” in the truest sense of the word. I don’t watch The Bachelor (ick) or The Bachelorette (ick x 2) or Survivor (I will confess to playing the office pool).

From A&E’s website, it describes The First 48 like this: The biggest enemy for any homicide detective is not the suspect…it’s the clock. In fact, if they don’t find a lead in the first 48 hours, their chances of catching the killer are cut in half. The First 48 tracks real homicide detectives as they struggle to solve murder cases across the country. Gripping, authentic and dramatic, viewers are brought along for the ride as the detectives hunt for killers to bring to justice.

The First 48 has featured or plans to feature detective units in 23 US cities.

One of the most exciting season premieres of The First 48 featured Kansas City, Missouri. This two-hour premiere featured a serial killer case in the Prospect Avenue corridor. Terry Blair was eventually found guilty in the deaths of six women in 2008.

The case began with 911 cell phone calls to police on Sept. 3 and 4, 2004. The caller told police he killed two women whose bodies had just been found. He continued to call police and told them where to find three more bodies and had details only the killer would know.

For the whole story on Terry Blair, go here: http://murderpedia.org/male.B/b/blair-terry.htm

Dion Graham is the “voice” of The First 48 on A&E

Dion Graham has narrated The First 48 from the very beginning. In all the episodes I’ve seen, I may have heard one that was not narrated by him and it was a slightly different format.