I'm Baaaaack... 3 Big Cases I Missed

 I had a death in the family and that precipitated the damnedest thing I've ever encountered; an inability to write, especially about something as serious as crime. I managed breezy, brief posts in a personal blog (mostly posting YouTube videos), some pop culture stuff in a blog to which I contribute that sort of thing - though my posts there diminished considerably as well - and Twitter (which I don't use for anything but wisecracks, anyway). But when I confronted the idea of delving into stories of murder and mayhem, I was utterly stumped.

It was terrible. I mean, I earn part of my living this way. 

But - I was still doing many of the things I normally do. I was monitoring the news, tracking certain stories closely, doing my own research online - all the normal stuff. I just couldn't make myself put two words together about it. I've had other slumps in crime-blogging in the past, but they were all intentional, to some degree. This was not.

Anyway, I'm back now, and here's 3 big cases I missed out on covering as they broke, but followed anyway: 

The Billings Murders - This happened while my wife and I were on a family vacation in Florida, about 90 miles from where the Billingses lived with their many adopted, special needs children. Since the crime occurred on July 9, it has been revealed to be one of the most complex and intriguing tragedies in recent crime history. At least 8 people, maybe more, conspired to rob Byrd and Melanie Billings, training for a month prior to the robbery and double homicide and wearing ninja-style outfits when they committed the assault on the couples' large, supposedly secure home west of Pensacola, FL. Police believe the primary motive here was robbery, but there have been suggestions of contract murder, and the arrest of a local, Rolls Royce-driving realtor, Pamela Wiggins, certainly made me scratch my head and wonder about her involvement. If the murdered couple were indeed killed for money, could she have been the one who provided it? Or was she an unwitting accomplice? Many news stories and some of the legal papers released since July 9 have focused on the man who allegedly masterminded the break-in, Leonard Patrick Gonzalez Jr. He also seems perfectly capable of planning the crime. But could he have funded it? What brought that kind of criminal commitment out in the other men allegedly involved? Think about it. They were day laborers, worked menial jobs. Either the money they assumed to be in the Billings home (and they didn't even take the safe that had the real payday inside) was to be their payday, or they had some other incentive. Or Gonzalez did, at least. I'll be watching along with everyone else to see what comes out in the wash.

Patrick Burris, the Carolina Spree Killer - He was a blank-eyed wraith, moving from town to town, leaving death in his wake. Patrick Burris, a 41-year-old ex-con with a long, long criminal history started killing people in and around Gaffney, South Carolina in late June and early July. When Burris himself was finally killed by cops in North Carolina, he'd taken 5 innocent lives. I really don't have much to say about this, except good riddance.

Joseph Henry Burgess - This is one some readers may have missed as well. Joseph Henry Burgess, a Vietnam-era draft dodger who became a suspected killer in Canada some 37 years ago, was killed in a shootout with police in rural New Mexico on July 16. At the time he was known only as the "Cookie Bandit", a handle earned from his habit of breaking into mountain cabins and stealing food. Burgess, however, may have been a hyper-religious serial killer motivated by an insane take on the biblical view of sexuality. Police have linked him to the June, 1972 murders of Leif Carlsson and Ann Durrant while the couple were camping on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. They seem to strongly believe he committed an almost identical murder in 2004 - the double homicide in August that year of Lindsay Cutshall and Jason Allen. Cutshall and Allen were shot in the head as they slept on a remote beach in Jenner, California. I believe they may link Burgess to a remarkable, 3-decade long series of crimes stretching from Canada down to the American Southwest. He may have been crazy, but he was clearly crazy like a fox to stay free for so long, and he had no qualms about killing - Burgess killed Sandoval County NM Sgt. Joe Harris during the shootout that killed him.

*****

Of course I know that list doesn't come close to covering the interesting crime stories that hit the news in the time since I last posted a blog entry here, but as anyone who has followed my blogging for a while knows, I never try to cover every single story; it'd be impossible to do so. I invite links and comments below on other stories that you'd like to either see me touch on or at least track as a follow-up. Just remember: I'm only one guy, and I do have my own interests - particularly unsolved crimes and serial murder.

I told myself some time ago that I'd try to mostly keep personal stuff out of this blog, and I've basically succeeded. I'm not talking about personal biases; this IS a blog, dammit, and biases are what you sometimes get from bloggers - don't like it, go read newspapers and keep telling yourself the fairy tale they're unbiased, too. 

BUT - it was a tough time and the way it affected my writing here in particular made it just that much worse.

What I'm saying is this: I'm grateful for your readership and your concern. Thank you.