User blog:UnderAPineapple/Hurricane Pineapple 10: Seven Deadly Sins

The 7 Deadly Sins are what many people believe to be the cause of the worst types of horror imaginable, and for good reason. Lust, Wrath, Sloth, Envy, Greed, Gluttony, and Pride are what cause some of the most heinous crimes to occur, and this blog will do nothing to disprove of that statement. Today we will be discussing seven cases of criminal activity that were each brought on by one of these sins, and I believe all of them will send a chill down your spine. Without furthur ado, let’s brace for Hurricane Season.

Hurricane Pineapple Intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3DwJMhWdkY

Lust
Sexual desire from both men and women can lead to many urges that people can’t seem to control. I personally cannot find a case where lust was more of a motive than the case of Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris, two convicted serial killers who kidnapped, tortured, raped, and murdered at least five teenage girls over the span of five months.

Lawrence and Ray were known as a “match made in hell” according to prosecutors and it is clear why. The two of them met at California Men’s Colony a prison facility in San Luis Obipso, California in 1977. Lawrence was in jail for attempted murder and developed a fascination with violence. He was so violent in fact, that many inmates refused to be in the same cell as him, in fear of getting murdered by the hands of the 37-year old federal prisoner. By 1977, Lawrence met 29-year old Roy Norris, who was a former Navy soldier who was discharged due to developing psychological problems. Roy was in jail after being convicted of the rape of a women he abducted in Redondo Beach, California. It is then when the two exchanged “casual” conversation.

Roy was shy and he was very weak as preferred to the much stronger Lawrence, and having the latter by his side would prevent Roy from getting attacked by the other inmates. Lawrence and Roy both shared an interest in not only younger girls, but in sexual violence and misogyny. Roy told Lawrence that his biggest sexual fantasy was seeing scared young girls pleading for their life, and he expressed a desire to go on a serial raping rampage. Lawrence told Ray that he’d prefer to kill them as a way to eliminate anyone telling authorities. In October 1978, Lawrence was released from jail due to “good behavior”, and three months later, Roy was released after serving his sentence of eighteen months for rape. In order to be seen as trusted, Lawrence became a “model citizen”, and he donated over $10,000 to the Salvation Army.

In February 1979, the two met again and rekindled their plan to assault young girls. Lawrence bought a van in which Roy wanted to use the bag as a “torture chamber”. Roy put several polaroid cameras on the ends of the vans so he could take pictures of the women suffering. The vehicle was windowless on the sides and had a large passenger-side sliding door to make it easier to throw the women into the back of the van. This 1977 GMC Cargo Van would be referred to as “Murder Mac”.

On June 24, 1979, the two men found their first victim. Lawrence & Roy kidnapped 16-year old Lucinda Lynn Schafer in Redondo Beach, California after an unsuccessful attempt to entice her with marijuana. Roy dragged her into the van and duct taped her mouth shut so nobody would hear her screaming for help. They went to an abandoned fire road that they found months earlier, and after arriving Roy proceeded to rape her repeatedly. Lucinda asked Roy if she could pray before he killed her, believing that was what was going to happen. Roy did not give Lucinda that chance, and immediately strangled her. However, he vomited within 45 seconds of trying to kill her, and Lawrence finished the job.

In less than a month, another victim came along, and it was 18-year old Andrea Hall. Andrea accepted a ride home from Lawrence believing that he was the only one in the car. A couple minutes into the ride, Lawrence offered Andrea a soft drink, and when she accepted, Roy attacked her. After subduing Andrea, Roy and Lawrence went to the San Gabriel Mountains, Andrea was raped three times (once by Roy and twice by Lawrence). Lawrence forced Andrea to perform oral sex on him before demanding her to give him as much reasons as to why she should live. However, soon after, Lawrence shoved an ice pick into her eardrum, and then strangled her to death. He and Roy threw her body off a cliff, and it was later discovered Lawrence had pictures of Andrea being raped on his polaroid camera.

On September 3, 1979, Roy and Lawrence found Jackie Gilliam and Jacqueline Lamp, two teenage girls who were hitchhiking and accepted a ride from the two men. Roy offered marijuana to which both of the girls accepted, but Lawrence soon was driving the “wrong way”, which caused the girls to get angry. Roy began to attack Jacqueline until she fell unconscious and then attacked Jackie. During this attack, Jacqueline woke up and tried to flee the vehicle, to which Roy decided to twist her arm. Lawrence punched Jackie in the face, which subdued her before binding and gagging the girls. For two days, the girls were held hostage. Jackie was repeatedly raped by Lawrence, who videotaped one of the instances. Lawrence also forced Jacqueline to pose for pornographic images with him (Jacqueline was 13). On September 5, Jackie was stabbed with an ice pick, and strangled similarly to Andrea Hall. Before killing Jacqueline, Lawrence stated, “You wanted to stay a virgin, now you can die a virgin” before bludgeoning her to death.

The final victim, Shirley Ledford accepted a ride from Lawrence. After Shirley refused Roy’s ever-so-gentlemanly offer of marijuana, Roy attacked her and proceeded to draw a knife, and almost stabbed her to death. Shirley survived, and afterwards, Lawrence pulled out a video camera, and recording himself raping the 16-year old girl, who was crying throughout the video. Whilst Lawrence raped her repeatedly, Roy was in the van watching and allegedly masturbating to the sounds of the suffering girl. Roy exited the van later on to strangled Shirley with piano wire, ending the girl’s misery. It was revealed in a confession by Lawrence that after enduring two hours of sodomy and rape, Shirley begged him and Roy to kill her.

The downfall of Lawrence and Roy began on November 20, 1979 when Roy was arrested for the rape of another woman. Whilst in custody, police found a bracelet that belonged to Shirley Ledford, one of his victims and they searched his apartment for belongings. They found polaroid pictures of both Andrea Hall and Jackie Gillam, his second and third victims respectively. On November 30, Roy confessed to murdering five women and pointed Lawrence as his accomplice. Lawrence was soon arrested and he too, confessed in a separate interrogation room.

Roy was given a plea deal: plead guilty and testify against Lawrence, and he would not be eligible for the death penalty. In 1981, the trial of Lawrence Bittaker began and the audio and video recordings of the rape of Shirley Ledford were shown, which caused several members of the jury to receive counseling after the trial. With this being the most damning evidence, Lawrence was found GUILTY of five murders, and he was sentenced to death. Roy Norris was sentenced to life in prison. As of right now, Lawrence remains on California’s Death Row, and he is 77 years old. Roy is 69 years old, and he was denied parole in 2010. Due to the high amount of appeals and California’s governor, Jerry Brown being strongly against the death penalty, it is likely Lawrence will die of old age.

Wrath
If the case of Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris wasn’t terrifying, then this case will certainly trump your expectations. Robert Berdella was a serial killer from 1984-1987 known as the “Kansas City Butcher”; he was known to dissect his victims after murder and throw them into trash bags. Robert was openly gay for over ten years and ran a shop entitled “Bob’s Bizarre Bazaar”. The 35-year old store owner was just an everyday man who was very helpful and was open to meeting new people, but it’s clear his intentions were anything but.

On July 5, 1984, Robert invited his friend, Jerry Howell into his house promising to take him to a dancing competition. During this encounter, Jerry was fed alcohol and drugs before falling asleep. At this time, Robert injected him with tranquilizer, and then tied him to his bed. Within the span of 28 hours, Jerry was tortured and raped with foreign objects such as knives and cucumbers “courtesy” of Robert, repeatedly asking why he was being tortured. Robert sodomized Jerry with a butchers knife multiple times and caught most of the footage on video. It is believed Jerry choked on his own vomit, which caused him to die. Robert attempted to revive him, but to no avail. After suspending his body over a large pot, Robert began to dissect the lifeless body of 19-year old Jerry Howell. And this was perhaps the least brutal of Robert’s killings.

Robert Sheldon would be the second casualty of Robert Berdella’s, as the latter saw him as an “inconvenience” and a “waste of space”. Robert S. was asking to move into the 36-year old’s house for a while and paid rent weekly. On April 12, 1985, Robert B. drugged Robert S. after finding the latter completely drunk on his living room floor. Robert B. stated, “I decided to express some of the anger and frustration that I had towards other people on Robert”, but then said he had no animosity towards Robert S. Robert B. put Drain-O, a form of drain cleaner into Robert S.’s left eye, and shoved piano wire underneath Robert S.’s fingernails. He also violently shoved a pipe into his ears causing him to become deaf. On April 15, a worker was coming to perform some work on Robert’s roof, and Robert Berdella realized Robert Sheldon would become a burden. Before the worker came in, Robert B. suffocated Robert S. and dissected the body, which was the same thing he did to Jerry Howell almost one year before.

On June 23, 1985, Mark Wallace was hiding in Robert’s tool shed after a thunderstorm was present in Kansas City, Missouri. Robert invited Mark into the household after citing Mark’s state of depression, and asked to drug him. Mark accepted, believing it would “calm him down”. Mark spent 20 hours in Robert’s second floor bedroom being tortured with electric shocks to his nipples. Robert inserted needles into Mark’s body due to curiosity, but Mark died due to the large amount of drugs in his system.

20-year old James Ferris asked to stay at Robert’s house for a short period of time, to which Robert accepted. The two met at a bar on September 26, 1985, and Robert decided to kidnap James and “intentionally torture” him. Robert wrote in his journal that he felt remorse for Jerry, Robert S., and Mark, but decided to keep James captive and torture him for as long as possible; James was going to die slowly and painfully. Similar to his other victims, Robert drugged James and then tied him onto his own bed. 7,700-volt electric shocks were sent to James’ testicles for over five minutes at a time, and Robert inserted needles to James’ neck and genitals. Robert continued to sexually assault James until James could, “no longer sit up for more than 10-15 seconds”. James died after 27 hours of torture.

Todd Stoops was the fifth victim of Robert Berdella. Todd was a male prostitute and was a friend of Robert’s for over two years. Robert expressed extreme sexual attraction to Todd, however, Todd was straight. This is believed to have enraged Robert, which might have led to Robert wanting to kidnap and torture him. Todd was help captive for over two weeks in Robert’s home where he would raped and tortured on a daily basis at the hands of Robert. Robert would have Todd pose for various polaroid photos before he shocked him in the eyes, nipples, shoulders, and the genital region. Robert wanted to blind Todd to see if “blind people could cry”. He injected Drain-O into his eyes which eventually did blind him, all of which was caught on camera with Todd screaming and pleading for his life to be spared. When Todd asked for a sandwhich on one occasion, Robert said, “No.”, to which Todd burst into tears. Robert anally penetrated Todd with his first, rupturing Todd’s anal cavity, and caused Todd to be so weak, he couldn’t eat anything without throwing it back up. Todd died from a combination of a fever and blood loss, both of which were a result of the repeated amount of rapes that were performed by Robert.

The final victim of Robert Berdella was 20-year old Larry Pearson in April 1987. Robert befriended Larry after he went to Robert’s shop and voiced his interest in “wizardry”. Larry informed Robert, a gay man, that he would frequently rob gay men to see how they would react. This infuriated Robert to the point where he decided to kidnap and torture Larry, and eventually kill him. Although Larry said he was joking, the damage had already been done. Despite this, Larry was by far the most cooperative, which is perhaps what made Robert angrier. Robert kept Larry alive for six weeks, repeatedly being sodomized with objects such as carrots, cucumbers, and chef’s knives, being pictured in various states of discomfort, hours of rape, and numerous electrical shocks to the genital region. After six weeks, Larry bit Robert’s penis in an attempt to get him to stop torturing him. This required Robert to go to the hospital, and Larry to remain in captivity until Robert was let go. Robert returned from the hospital, and killed Larry in an act of “revenge”.

Robert kidnapped a seventh man named Christopher Bryson, but Robert began to like Christopher. This resulted in him trusting Christopher, and offering him cigarettes and watching movies with him. Robert had to go to work one day, and whilst Christopher was being held captive at home, he managed to escape from the top window wearing nothing but a dog collar, and notify authorities. Police arrested Robert on charges of sexual assault against Christopher, but after a search of his house, they found images of men being tortured. All of the men being identified as missing, and after searching in his backyard, they found a body part pertaining to Larry Pearson. Dental records that a skull inside of Robert’s closet was, in fact, Larry Pearson, and Robert was charged with first-degree murder. Robert pleaded guilty to the murder of Larry Pearson, and due to his plea, he avoided the death penalty. Robert was sentenced to life in prison, where he died on October 8, 1992 at the age of 43 of a heart attack. That day, he was complaining that prison officials were not giving him his prescribed heart medication.

Sloth
John Sutton was a lawyer for an attorney’s office in Coral Gables, Florida. He and his wife, Susan Sutton were residing in one of the wealthiest places in the state of Florida with his son, Christopher Sutton and his girlfriend, Juliette on the night of August 22, 2004. John had just won a $1,000,000 deal with his law partner, Teddy Montoto, and everything seemed to be going as planned. Except what happened on that Sunday night, was anything but ordinary.

Christopher and Juliette left to see a movie later on that night, and Teddy went back home, leaving just John & Susan. That night, a man broke into the house pulled out a pistol and shot nine shots into the bedroom of John & Susan. John was shot in the eye and in the head, along with one shot that missed him and broke the headboard of the master bedroom. Susan was shot at six times, and the gunman left the house. It seemed to be a robbery-gone-wrong, but there were no valuables stolen. John was in the hospital with the doctors trying to save his life, but Susan, was already dead. It was now a search as to who would’ve wanted to kill the 57-year old couple.

The number one target at that time was Teddy Montoto, as it was revealed that the 37-year old lawyer was having an affair with Susan, a woman 20 years his senior. Teddy took a polygraph provided by a police detective, but he failed. This was before the revelation of the sexual affair that he had with Susan, so the polygraph was thrown out. There was eventually no evidence that pointed to Teddy as the perpetrator, as the gun was not found until later on.

Investigators then began looking into 24-year old Christopher Sutton, the adopted son of John & Susan Sutton, and made a shocking discovery. Christopher was a troubled kid, who would often burst into fits of rage when he did not get what he wanted. Being given many gifts such as expensive vacations and a lovely house meant that Christopher felt like he could do anything he wanted. However, Christopher voiced his hatred for Susan multiple times and stated to his girlfriend, “We’d be so much better off, if my parents weren’t around” the night of August 22.

In 1998, Christopher went to a boot camp in Samoa called “Paradise Cove” for troubled teens. During that event, he was forced to do hard manual labor, sit in isolation for a long period of time, and sometimes be physically disciplined by the staff members of “Paradise Cove”. Christopher was hoping to leave after six months, but John decided to keep him there, until June 1999. This angered Christopher, who blamed John and Susan for his stay at the boot camp. When 19-year old Christopher returned, he seemed to have changed. John saw him as a “decent guy” who “grew up following this”. However, many family members warned John to not stay with Christopher. Christopher stayed with John and Susan, along with his girlfriend Juliette. Despite this, Christopher became very greedy.

Christopher was not willing to take “No” for an answer, and he felt like he could have anything he wanted from John & Susan because of what they did to him in 1998. He repeatedly threatened Susan multiple times when car payments were not due, and a few weeks before Susan’s murder, it was revealed that Christopher wanted money from Susan, and she declined to give him any. Police interrogated Christopher and saw that on the night of August 22, he and his girlfriend were at a movie. When the ticket stubs were proven to be true, Detective Rosanna Cardero asked to look at his phone records. During the night, Christopher was repeatedly calling 21-year old Garrett Kobb, a man who was currently on bail for a weapons charge by the time Susan was murdered. Homicide Detective Larry Bellevue interviewed Garrett and the story Garrett provided matched exactly what the crime scene looked like. Garrett was charged with second-degree murder shortly after.

Christopher was nowhere to be seen, and he spent two weeks on the run before being arrested in September 2004. Christopher denied any involvement in his mother’s murder and the shooting of John Sutton, but his attorneys would have to prove it in court. Garrett was a key witness, considering he was the one who confessed to killing Susan. In order for him take the stand, prosecutors had to remove the death penalty from this case. Garrett would instead receive 30 years in prison for the murders. In 2010, the trial began, six years after the murder of Susan Sutton, and Garrett pled guilty to second-degree murder. He is eligible for release in 2035.

Christopher pled not guilty to the murders, but with numerous witnesses, including Garrett, Christopher’s girlfriend, Juliette, and his own father John Sutton (who made a full recovery), the case did not look good for the now 30-year old. In the end, the jury found Christopher Sutton GUILTY of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, and continues to serve his sentence at the age of 37.

Envy
College is one of the most exciting places to go to. You can not only find the career path that’s right for you, but you can meet new faces and possibly find your future love interest. However, one man’s desire for something he couldn’t get, meant to him, that the only option, was death.

22-year old Elliot Rodger was a student at UCSB (University of California Santa Barbara), and he seemed to have had it all. He was the father of a famous director, Peter Rodger, one of the directors and producers for The Hunger Games, he was very intelligent and he had a YouTube channel where he talked about his life. Despite this, Elliot was obsessed with something he was not able to have: women.

Elliot was a virgin, and claimed to have had trouble with forming social bonds with both men and women. He was jealous of seeing many college couples kissing in the hallways and on the beach, and would often tell his audience on YouTube about how “disgusting” he believed the men were and how “undeserving” they were to have “someone as beautiful as those women”. To say that Elliot had a large ego would be an understatement, as he believed he was the “supreme gentleman”, citing his looks, his clothes, and his BMW 328i Coupe as good enough reasons to win the hearts of “hot blonde girls everywhere”. Although no medical diagnosis was made, it was believed Elliot had Asperger’s Syndrome. He was bullied on a daily basis by his peers in school for being “eccentric and different” and would often cry in the school bathrooms during lunchtime.

In 2013, Elliot was involved with a violent altercation with a few college students in which he attempted to push several girls off a ten-foot ledge after one of the girls mocked him. The men at the party he was attending dragged him to another part of the party and proceeded to beat him up. Elliot stated that “July 20 was the day that I have decided my fate”, and began making plans to cause an attack that would shock the country.

In the evening of May 23, 2014, Elliot stabbed three men: two of his roommates, Weihan Wang, and Cheng Hang, and a friend of Weihan & Cheng’s, George Chen, all of whom died. At 9:17pm, he uploaded a video to YouTube called, “Retribution”, and at 9:18pm, he released an Email to 34 people (including his parents and former schoolteachers) called, “My Twisted World”. Peter Rodger, Elliot’s father, began rushing to Isla Vista to try and save his son, however, it was too late. He went into a sorority house and shot three of the women who lived there, killing two of them (Katherine Cooper and Veronika Weiss). After shooting more people, and running over a man with a BMW, Elliot opened fire near a local Deli, and shot 20-year old Christopher Michaels-Martinez in the chest, killing him instantly.

Elliot was shot at by police, and was eventually shot in the leg by one of the police officers. His BMW crashed near an intersection, and Elliot shot himself in the head, committing suicide. Overall, 7 people were killed including Elliot, and 14 others were injured. 6 college students lost their lives because somebody was angry and wanted revenge against the women he loved so much, but never got.

Greed
It’s bad enough to kill an innocent person, but you must be a special kind of evil to kill your own child, in exchange for money.

That is exactly what Judy Buenoano did. Judy married 37-year old James Goodyear, an Air Force sergeant and Vietnam War veteran. The two on the outside seemed like a very happy couple, however, it proved to be anything but happy. Judy had a love for money and would be willing to do anything to receive it, and since James was a Vietnam veteran, the amount of money in terms of life insurance would benefit Judy greatly. James was a very healthy man, he was honorably discharged from the Vietnam War, and was not the person you’d expect to die of natural causes. Judy began giving James dose of arsenic, enough to make sure the poisoning would go unnoticed. On September 15, 1971, James succumbed to the arsenic poisoning, but initially police believed the cause of death was “natural causes”. The reality was, the amount of arsenic in his system was ripping James apart, and if he were to live a few months longer, he would’ve been paralyzed. Judy waited until September 20 to take the $85,000 life insurance policy from James. This would not be the end of Judy’s killing spree. In 1978, Judy’s boyfriend of five years, Bobby Joe Morris was found dead of arsenic poisoning, however, the blame was not pointed onto Judy. Judy was never convicted of this murder, but it is most likely that she was the perpetrator in his death.

Speaking of paralyzed, let’s talk about Judy’s next confirmed victim: 19-year old Michael Buenoano. Michael was also a member of the military. In 1979, Michael went to see his mother Judy, and she decided that she wanted to kill him as well for the money. Michael’s life insurance added up to $120,000 since he was a member of the US Military, which only fueled Judy’s dangerous fire. Judy gave Michael doses of arsenic similar to how she game James does of arsenic. However, Michael did not die from the poisoning. He managed to survive, but he became crippled. On May 13, 1980, Judy decided to take Michael on a canoeing trip, to which Michael was hesitant to go on since he was crippled. When the two were in the middle of the lake, Judy capsized the canoe and began swimming back to land. Michael having his leg braces on him, made it impossible for him to swim, and he drowned. Before Michael’s death, Judy already took out the $120,000 life insurance policy from him. At least two men died at the hands of Judy by 1980.

Judy found love again in the form of John Gentry, who became her fiancé in 1983. Judy announced to John that she was “pregnant”, despite being sterilized in 1978. John hopped into his car to grab some champagne and within seconds, the car exploded. Despite the serious injuries John sustained, he survived the explosion. Dynamite residue revealed that a bomb had been planted. Homicide detective Ted Chamberlain was assigned to the case, and evidence was pinned against Judy. In reality, Judy had planted an explosive hours before John went into his car. Judy’s motive? A $500,000 life insurance policy that was to be entirely for her if John had died. John remembered that Judy gave him vitamins that were making him very sick right before the plan to kill him via the car bombing. John provided police with several of the vitamin capsules Judy had given him. Analysis revealed that they contained paraformaldehyde, a Class 3 poison with no known medical uses. Newscaster Sue Straughn was once a client at Judy's nail salon. When she saw the news about the car bombing while at said salon, Judy was working on Sue's nails. The entire salon became quiet as the news reported about the bombing, but Judy didn't stop working, and remained absolutely calm.

Police eventually dug up the bodies of James Goodyear, Bobby Joe Morris and Michael Buenoano; all of whom had arsenic in their system at the time of death. James’ cause of death was no longer natural causes, but was instead homicide. Judy was arrested and charged with the murder of James Goodyear and pleaded not guilty to his murder and to Michael’s murder. Despite this, evidence was stacked against her, and the jury convicted her on first-degree murder charges and on charges of grand theft. Judy maintained her innocence until she died on March 30, 1998 when she was executed in Florida’s electric chair. She was 54 years old.

Gluttony
Whether it be for sexual gratification or for gluttony, this is one of the most absurd cases that I have ever observed.

Armin Meiwes was a repair technician in Rotenburg, Germany who is a prime example of why the Internet is a dangerous place to visit. In 2001, 40-year old Armin posted an ad on the Deep Web site, The Cannibal Café. He was looking for a “well-built 18 to 30-year old to be slaughtered and then consumed.” Many other people responded to the advertisement and were willing to “participate”, but backed out when they realized that Armin was being serious. The advertisement caught the attention of 43-year old Bernd Brandes, an engineer from Berlin, who wanted to meet up with Armin and discuss “business”.

Armin and Bernd got down to business on March 9, 2001. The two met and Armin reminded Bernd that he was “free to leave at any time. I am not wanting you to do anything against your will”. The two of them had sex and then they proceeded with videotaping the last four hours of Bernd’s life. Bernd took drugs to apparently “numb the pain” he would certainly endure, before Armin began to slowly cut Bernd’s penis off of his body. After the member was cut off, the two attempted to eat it together. Both of them failed at eating the penis because it was “raw and chewy”. Armin proceeded to fry the penis into a pan, and topped it with salt, pepper, white wine, and garlic. He also topped it all off with some of Bernd’s fat that he later cut off. The penis now was overcooked and Armin decided to feed it to his dog. Armin placed Bernd into a bath and checked on the dying man every fifteen minutes. After Bernd got out of the bath, Armin dragged him upstairs and stabbed him in the throat, ending his misery. Armin proceeded to cut pieces of Bernd’s flesh off, and store it in the refrigerator. For the next ten months, Armin ate parts of Bernd, both raw and cooked before he was arrested in 2002.

In January 2004, Armin was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to eight years in prison. However, prosecutors managed to appeal Armin’s sentence and instead charged him with murder. In an interview with a psychologist, Armin expressed his cannibalistic desires and admitted that he had planned to look for another male to consumer, but was stopped before he could kill anyone else. That same psychologist stated that Armin had a high risk of re-offending and had sexual and culinary fantasies of consuming young men. Armin was convicted of murder on May 10, 2006, and was sentenced to life in prison. At the age of 55, Armin remains behind bars. He has now become a vegetarian, and has plans on releasing a book to encourage people to “not make the same mistake that I did.”

Pride
Pride is, in my opinion and in others opinions, the deadliest sin. This man went on a killing spree that lasted 8 years before finally being stopped. The kill count could range from up to 7 to 130 boys and girls. The man I am talking about, is Rodney Alcala.

Rodney Alcala is one of the first murderers I ever heard about, and he was one of the reasons I got interested in criminal justice. Rodney was a serial rapist and murderer who got away with murder for several years due to his manipulation skills, charming personality, and his ability to hide his urges from people he knew were suspecting him. Rodney is known as the “Dating Game Killer” because in 1978, he appeared on the television show The Dating Game, as “Bachelor #1”. By 1978, he murdered at least two children, however, due to the amount of pictures of missing boys and missing girls, the kill count is expected to be much higher. Rodney was described by host, Jim Lange as a “successful photographer who got his start when his father found him in the darkroom at the age of 13, fully developed”; I often find myself agreeing with this statement, if you know what I mean.

The crime spree of Rodney Alcala began when he was 25 after he abducted 8-year old Tali Shapiro into his apartment where he violently raped her and beat her with an iron bar. Rodney fled the scene when the Los Angeles Police Department rescued Tali, and he fled to New York under the alias, “John Berger”. Rodney’s first known murder was confirmed to be Cornelia Crilley, a 23-year old flight attendant from Manhattan, New York, whose murder was solved in 2011, more than 40 years after the murder took place. Rodney was added to the “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” list in 1971, to which he was found and arrested shortly later. Tali’s family moved to Mexico, and her mother refused to allow her to testify at the rape trial. Because Tali was not allowed to testify, prosecutors were unable to convict him. With no witness, there was no evidence at that point, and DNA evidence was rare during the 1970’s. Rodney pled guilty to a lesser assault and spent 2.5 years in prison. In October 1974, Rodney lured a 13-year old girl named Julie who hoped he would give her a “ride to school”. Instead, Rodney sexually assaulted her. He served two more years in prison before being released in 1976. The next year, Rodney killed his second confirmed victim, 23-year old Ellen Hover, who was the goddaughter of famous singer and entertainer, Dean Martin.

Rodney worked as a member of the Los Angeles Times newspaper, and during this time, he was able to convince young boys and girls to pose for photos for him to put in his self-described “portfolio”. Workers found out about the pictures Rodney was taking, and saw that many of the underage girls were nude. Rodney said that many mothers wanted him to take pictures of their children. The boys and girls in the pictures are believed by me, and many others, to be unidentified victims, as many of the boys and girls were never discovered and were reported missing soon after.

On July 2, 1979, police discovered the body of 12-year old Robin Samsoe in Huntington Beach, California, who was missing for almost two weeks. Robin planned to attend her ballet class when she disappeared on June 20. Robin was attending her ballet class with a couple of her friends, who told authorities about a “strange and curly-haired man” who approached them and asked to take their pictures. When the detectives drew a sketch of the man, Rodney’s parole officer said that it looked exactly like 36-year old Rodney Alcala. Rodney’s mother was asked by police to have her house searched. Police found a receipt for a locker that was bought in Seattle, Washington. Soon after, the locker was found, and it contained Robin Samsoe’s earrings that were worn the day she disappeared. This was enough evidence to arrest Rodney, and in 1980, he was convicted of Robin’s murder. Rodney was sentenced to die in the gas chamber and would’ve been executed in 1989, but six years after the trial, the California Supreme Court overturned the verdict since the jury was informed ahead of time of Rodney’s prior sexual offences. The incident did not change anything though; Rodney was re-sentenced to death, this time with no execution date set. An appeals panel nullified the second conviction, because it was alleged that that park ranger who discovered Robin’s body, was “hypnotized” by the prosecution. Whilst preparing a third trial, Rodney’s semen was found on two murder victims in Los Angeles, California, and four new murder victims were discovered to be killed by Rodney due to DNA evidence. 18-year old Jill Barcomb, 27-year old Georgia Wixted, 31-year old Charlotte Lamb, and 21-year old Jill Parenteau.

Rodney’s third trial began in March 2010. In a surprising turn of events, Rodney opted to act as his own attorney. For five long hours, he asked himself questions and called himself, “Mr. Alcala”. During this period of time, Rodney played the song, “Alice’s Restaurant” by Arlo Guthrie, in which the hero tells a therapist about his homicidal tendencies. After 2 days, Rodney was again convicted, and once again, sentenced to death for the murder of Robin Samsoe. He remains on California’s Death Row at the age of 74, and he is still trying to appeal.

Hurricane Pineapple - My Thoughts
First off, the information I got for the cases of Christopher Sutton & Rodney Alcala, comes strictly from 48 Hours Mystery. I am not gonna sit here and state that I did heavy research for those cases (I wanted to for Christopher, but 48 Hours was the only place I could look, as no other legitimate crime source covered this case, from what I know). As for Rodney Alcala's case, I watched a documentary on New Year's Eve 2013, and I was infatuated with the case.

Aside from those two cases, I put two weeks (Wow Pineapple, you're pathetic) into finding information about the remaining cases, so I really hope it pays off. Before I get to the sneak peak for next week's episode, I would like to ask you what you thought was the creepiest case out of these 7 stories. My personal opinion is that the "Gluttony" case freaked me out the most. Whilst I did not see the video of Armin & Bernd (nor do I recommend you to watch it), I had to endure several interviews of that psychopath describing IN DETAIL about how he cannibalized someone. Also, why'd he feed the penis to the dog?! Kids in Africa could've eaten tha.. (I need help). I just wanted Gordon Ramsay to burst into the home of Armin Meiwes during the murder and just be like, "It's fucking raw! Don't you know how to cook, you fucking donkey?!"

That's gonna be it for today's episode. Once again, thanks for viewing. I advise you, if you are a fan of these blogs, to get your close friends to read these, because I want that "View Blog, Press Button" poll to be shot up like an American School.

Sneak Peak for Episode 11

 * In the past month, some of America's most powerful men have been under heavy fire, and we're going to investigate 8 of them.
 * Are any of them, in fact, innocent, of what they're being accused of?
 * Where does the Court of Public Opinion play into this?
 * Join us on December 1, 2017 when we discuss the growing case of...

Did you view Episode 10? If so, click here! Okay!

Which case shocked you the most? Lawrence Bittaker & Roy Norris (Lust) Robert Berdella (Wrath) Christopher Sutton (Sloth) Elliot Rodger (Envy) Judy Buenoano (Greed) Armin Meiwes (Gluttony) Rodney Alcala (Pride)