Aug. 14, 2012 Vol. 1 Issue 1 Mass Murder the American Way Th e Unsolved Murders of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls Th e Century 16 theater in Aurora CO While conspiracy theories abound, the murders of two of Th e mass murder in Aurora, Colorado was as senseless and as inevitable rap’s biggest stars go unsolved. as any of the mass murders that preceded it. In the United States it is only by Cathy Scott a matter of time and place when the next gunman with a semi-automatic weapon murders innocent people in cold blood. BTK: Th e Serial Update: On July 30, 2012, Colorado prosecutors formally charged James. E. Holmes with 142 criminal counts, including 24 counts of fi rst-degree Killer Next Door murder, 116 counts of attempted murder, one count of felony possession of explosives devices, and one count for use of assault weapons during the shooting at the Century 16 theater. On the murder and attempted murder counts, Holmes was charged twice for each of the 12 murder victims and for the 58 persons wounded. One count was for “showing deliberation” and the other was for “showing extreme indiff erence to human life.” by J. Patrick O’Connor Th e Great Ponzi Dennis Rader Charles Ponzi, a poor immigrant from Lugo, Over a 17-year span that ended in Italy, pulled off an amazing investment scam 1991, Dennis Rader, who dubbed in 1920 that defrauded U.S. investors of $20 himself “BTK,” murdered 10 million ($240 million in today’s money). people. Fourteen years later, in an In the process, he perfected the infamous attempt for lasting notoriety, the “Ponzi Scheme” that was taken to new psychopath who became the presi- heights by the likes of Bernie Madoff , Tom dent of his Lutheran congregation, Petters and Allen Stanford. led Wichita police to his front door. by Mark Pulham by Denise Noe Mary Garden Table of Contents Oliver Gaspirtz Erin Geyer Mass Murder David A. Gibb Anthony Gonzalez the American Way Dennis N. Griffi n Randor Guy Charles Hustmyre John F. Kelly David Kirschner, PhD. Barbara Kussow Doris Lane by J. Patrick O’Connor Page 3 Jason Lapeyre Ronald J. Lawrence Th e Great Ponzi Aug. 14, 2012 Vol. 1 Issue 1 David Lohr Lora Lusher Publisher Lona Manning Joe O’Connor Hal Mansfi eld [email protected] Peter Manso David Margolick Editor Jessica Mason J. Patrick O’Connor Allan May [email protected] Paula Moore John Morris Richard Muti Tim Newark by Mark Pulham Page 5 Authors Denise Noe Lt. John Nores Jr. Th e Unsolved Murders of J. J. Maloney J. Patrick O'Connor Tupac Shakur and Biggie John O'Dowd H. P. Albarelli Jr. Smalls Jane Alexander Robert Phillips Betty Alt Liz Porter Scott Th omas Anderson Mark Pulham Mel Ayton Joe Purshouse Joan Bannan Patrick Quinn Dane Batty Randy Radic Scott Bartz Michael Richardson Bonnie Bobit Ryan Ross Gary Boynton Eponymous Rox John Lee Brook Anneli Rufus Patrick Campbell Laura Schultz, MFT by Cathy Scott Page 7 Amanda Carlos Cathy Scott James Ottavio Castagnera Fred Shrum, III BTK: Th e Serial Killer Ronnie Smith J. D. Chandler Next Door Ron Chepesiuk James A. Swan, Ph.D. Denise M. Clark John Tait Kendall Coff ey Marilyn Z. Tomlins Peter Davidson Claudette Walker Anthony Davis Robert Walsh Scott M. Deitche Phillip K. Wearne Michael Esslinger Sandra Wells Steven Gerard Farrell Evan Whitton Don Fulsom Peter L. Winkler Mark S. Gado Daniel B. Young by Denise Noe Page 9 2 Mass Murder the American Way Th e Century 16 theater in Aurora CO Th e mass murder in Aurora, Colorado was as senseless and as inevitable as any of the mass murders that pre- ceded it. In the United States it is only a matter of time and place when the next gunman with a semi-automatic weapon murders innocent people in cold blood. Update: On July 30, 2012, Colorado prosecutors formally charged James. E. Holmes with 142 criminal counts, including 24 counts of fi rst-degree murder, 116 counts of attempted murder, one count of felony possession of ex- plosives devices, and one count for use of assault weapons during the shooting at the Century 16 theater. On the murder and attempted murder counts, Holmes was charged twice for each of the 12 murder victims and for the 58 persons wounded. One count was for “showing deliberation” and the other was for “showing extreme indiff er- ence to human life.” Th e count pertaining to the explosives devices stemmed from the booby-trapping of his apartment. by J. Patrick O’Connor The midnight premiere of the a throat protector, a bullet-proof Batman Begins in 2005 and was fol- Batman sequel, Th e Dark Knight vest and leggings, a groin protec- lowed by Th e Dark Knight in 2008. Rises, had been playing for about tor, a gas mask, black gloves, and As USA Today reported on July 23, 20 minutes to a sold-out house at a long black coat, the man said, “I “Some fans already considered the the Century 16 movie complex in am the Joker.” Some in the audience trilogy cursed because of Heath Aurora, Colo., on July 20, 2012. At thought the fi gure in black was part Ledger’s death by accidental over- 12:38 a.m. a commado fi gure casu- of the premier’s promotion – that it dose. Ledger, who played Th e Joker ally entered through an emergency was all just some sort of stunt. in Th e Dark Knight, died months exit door to the audience’s right and before its premiere.” took up his position at the front of Th e Dark Knight Rises was the fi nal the theater. Dressed head-to-toe in fi lm in director Christopher Nolan’s Th e erstwhile Joker then hurled a combat gear that included a helmet, Batman trilogy that launched with smoke canister into the middle of 3 the 11th row of the theater, striking in neuroscience from the Uni- a woman there. He then fi red a sin- versity of California at Riverside. Th e booby-trapping of Holmes’s gle blast from a .12-guage, pump- Holmes soon told police he may apartment was extremely devious. action Remington shotgun into the have booby-trapped his car and Shortly aft er midnight the night of ceiling. As the smoke canister fell his nearby apartment with various the shootings, electronic music be- to the ground, it began spinning explosives. Th e car was not booby gan blaring in an endless loop from and then exploded, spewing gas trapped, but the apartment was. a sound system in his apartment. into the air and causing panic to Kaitlyn Fonzi, a 20-year-old woman grip the stunned audience. Another Inside the theater, 10 people were who lived directly below Holmes’s smoke canister was soon released. dead, including a 6-year-old girl. apartment, was preparing to go to As people stood in the middle rows Two other victims would soon die bed. She went upstairs to investi- to get away from the noxious gases, at the hospital. Fift y-eight others gate the racket, knocking loudly on the man began rapidly spraying sustained gunshot wounds of vari- Holmes’s door, causing it to rattle the front rows of the theater with ous severities. Several days aft er the as though it were unlocked. Fonzi, bullets fi red from an AR-15 assault shootings, 22 of those remained in a biology student, told police she rifl e equipped with a 100-round various area hospitals – 10 of them considered entering the apartment barrel magazine capable of fi ring in critical condition. By July 30, 10 but decided not to because she 50 rounds a minute. Th is caused victims still remained in hospitals, heard no other sounds on the other most of the audience to huddle on four of them in critical condition. side of the door except the boom- the fl oor, some using their bodies ing beat of the music. She said the as human shields to protect loved Th e mass murder at the theater oddness of that put her off . ones. Th e gunman then walked up was the worst in the country since the stairs and began fi ring into the a lone gunman at Virginia Tech Th e door had been left unlocked. audience in the middle portion of in Blacksburg, Va., murdered 32 Had she opened it she would have the theater. As the shooter climbed people in 2007, using two semi- most likely triggered a massive higher into the theater, some of the automatic pistols. explosion that would have added people in the front rows attempted signifi cantly to the mass murder to exit the theater up the opposite Booby-Trapped tally. Instead she went back down corridor. Th e gunman responded to her apartment and called the by unleashing a hail of bullets that When police offi cers arrived at non-emergency line at the police prevented them from getting to the Holmes’s apartment building at 2 department to report the irritat- exit and that forced them to retreat a.m. they peered in a window to ing noise. Th e music shut itself off back down toward the front of the Holmes’s third-story apartment to about 1 a.m. An hour later, Fonzi theater. When the semi-automatic see a wired maze of booby-trapped and the rest of the residents of the rifl e jammed aft er numerous explosive devices.