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Post by Killer Goldfish on Mar 19, 2021 16:57:26 GMT -5
This showed up at my house unexpectedly, wrapped in Christmas paper. I may have asked this before, but do you have a 'favorite' serial killer? That is, one you find more intriguing than most?
Coral Watts. Not just because he was in my neighborhood, but because so very many things about the guy just don't add up. Way beyond other Metro Detroit SKs, many of whom are intriguing in their own right... |
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Post by Killer Goldfish on Mar 20, 2021 15:36:56 GMT -5
This showed up at my house unexpectedly, wrapped in Christmas paper. Well this mystery was just solved. It was in fact my Christmas present from my brother. It just didn't get here in the mail until the 2nd week in March... |
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Post by Dr. Kobb on Mar 20, 2021 22:58:57 GMT -5
Good Lord! That's ridiculous.
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Post by Dr. Kobb on Mar 20, 2021 23:04:01 GMT -5
I may have asked this before, but do you have a 'favorite' serial killer? That is, one you find more intriguing than most?
Coral Watts. Not just because he was in my neighborhood, but because so very many things about the guy just don't add up. Way beyond other Metro Detroit SKs, many of whom are intriguing in their own right...
I see what you mean. They have the guy at 80ish women from `74 to `82. That's pretty prolific. Are you thinking law enforcement used the guy's notoriety to just close some of their local cold-case files? What was it that didn't add up for you. I'm assuming you've read everything there is about Watts, given your love for the true crime genre.
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Post by Killer Goldfish on Mar 22, 2021 19:53:07 GMT -5
Coral Watts. Not just because he was in my neighborhood, but because so very many things about the guy just don't add up. Way beyond other Metro Detroit SKs, many of whom are intriguing in their own right...
I see what you mean. They have the guy at 80ish women from `74 to `82. That's pretty prolific. Are you thinking law enforcement used the guy's notoriety to just close some of their local cold-case files? What was it that didn't add up for you. I'm assuming you've read everything there is about Watts, given your love for the true crime genre.
Well, the guy's IQ tested at 64 but he landed 2 college scholarships and after college he worked as a bus mechanic. That's the one that bothers me the most. He was diagnosed schizophrenic but somehow they couldn't prove anything against him in Michigan even though those guys are super shitty at covering their tracks. Then he moved to Ann Arbor and killed 3 more and was chased out of there by police attention. A guy watched him kill Helen Dutcher, reported him and spent the next 25 years trying to get the police interested in that fact. A Texas prosecutor gave him immunity for a bunch of his Michigan crimes which suggests somebody somewhere was building a prosecution case against him for something, but somehow he got classified in Texas as a nonviolent offender after killing someone in front of an eyewitness. NOTHING adds up. |
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Post by Dr. Kobb on Mar 22, 2021 23:06:47 GMT -5
I see what you mean. They have the guy at 80ish women from `74 to `82. That's pretty prolific. Are you thinking law enforcement used the guy's notoriety to just close some of their local cold-case files? What was it that didn't add up for you. I'm assuming you've read everything there is about Watts, given your love for the true crime genre.
Well, the guy's IQ tested at 64 but he landed 2 college scholarships and after college he worked as a bus mechanic. That's the one that bothers me the most. He was diagnosed schizophrenic but somehow they couldn't prove anything against him in Michigan even though those guys are super shitty at covering their tracks. Then he moved to Ann Arbor and killed 3 more and was chased out of there by police attention. A guy watched him kill Helen Dutcher, reported him and spent the next 25 years trying to get the police interested in that fact. A Texas prosecutor gave him immunity for a bunch of his Michigan crimes which suggests somebody somewhere was building a prosecution case against him for something, but somehow he got classified in Texas as a nonviolent offender after killing someone in front of an eyewitness. NOTHING adds up.
Wait. The fact he tested low, picked up two college scholarships, and then settled for bus mechanic is what bothers you the most? Sounds like the LEAST of the guy's problems.
That's messed up that the one guy TOLD police he saw Watts kill someone, and they didn't lift a finger. I bet he was rearing for his own life after that non-action on their part.* It almost sounds from those particulars you mentioned that he had someone up relatively high in some pecking order pulling strings for him to get away with such a staggering number of murders.
*That'd make a good movie plot. Person sees someone kill someone in cold blood. Person tells police. They do nothing, but killer finds out about the snitch. Now he/she's gotta worry about the killer going after person to silence them. Probably been dozens of movies with that general theme over the years. Thrillers aren't really my thing.
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Post by Deeky on Mar 23, 2021 12:25:44 GMT -5
I don't think a DA in one state can grant someone immunity in another state. They've no jurisdiction.
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Post by Deeky on Mar 23, 2021 12:26:59 GMT -5
That'd make a good movie plot. Person sees someone kill someone in cold blood. Person tells police. They do nothing, but killer finds out about the snitch. Now he/she's gotta worry about the killer going after person to silence them. Probably been dozens of movies with that general theme over the years. Thrillers aren't really my thing. It's definitely the plot of Fright Night. 😆 |
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Post by Deeky on Mar 23, 2021 13:04:29 GMT -5
And Rear Window, no?
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Post by Killer Goldfish on Mar 23, 2021 19:14:07 GMT -5
I don't think a DA in one state can grant someone immunity in another state. They've no jurisdiction. That's what I would have thought too! But when he was about to be released as a nonviolent offender they put out the call in Michigan on every news station: Texas gave him immunity for all the Michigan crimes we know about so puh-LEEZE can you tell us about something you know he did so we can keep a serial killer in prison? And Joe Foy from Ferndale called the State Atty's office and said listen, you idiots, I WATCHED HIM MURDER SOMEONE WITH MY OWN EYES. NOW ARE YOU FINALLY GOING TO LISTEN TO ME? And they did. That's the VHS tape I mentioned to you Kobbers. My mom taped his trial on TruTV. And then they somehow, WITHOUT televising it, pulled off a much more incredible feat by convicting him of his very first murder -- Gloria Steele in Kalamazoo -- just a couple of months before he croaked. That is astounding because when her family found her they were so shaken up they cleaned up the whole apt and moved her body before anyone thought to call the police. God knows how they pulled it off. |
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Post by Killer Goldfish on Apr 1, 2021 11:34:22 GMT -5
This one was excellent. And this one is starting out just as great:
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Post by Dr. Kobb on Apr 2, 2021 11:43:21 GMT -5
I don't understand the cover of the second book. Is it by Michael Crichton, or just based on previous works of his, or what?
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Post by Deeky on Apr 2, 2021 12:37:43 GMT -5
I don't understand the cover of the second book. Is it by Michael Crichton, or just based on previous works of his, or what? I was thinking the same thing. |
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Post by Killer Goldfish on Apr 2, 2021 14:45:52 GMT -5
I don't understand the cover of the second book. Is it by Michael Crichton, or just based on previous works of his, or what? It's by Wilson but it's a direct sequel to Crichton's book, The Andromeda Strain. The author mentions him in the acknowledgements as the scientist who wrote up the whole real-life incident for a "stunned" public. Wilson is doing a good job of capturing the feel of the original book. |
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Post by Killer Goldfish on Apr 2, 2021 14:47:07 GMT -5
Also now reading
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Post by Dr. Kobb on Apr 3, 2021 10:10:00 GMT -5
I don't understand the cover of the second book. Is it by Michael Crichton, or just based on previous works of his, or what? It's by Wilson but it's a direct sequel to Crichton's book, The Andromeda Strain. The author mentions him in the acknowledgements as the scientist who wrote up the whole real-life incident for a "stunned" public. Wilson is doing a good job of capturing the feel of the original book.
You know, I had actually forgotten that Crichton wrote the original.
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Post by Killer Goldfish on Apr 3, 2021 21:03:32 GMT -5
Well, the guy's IQ tested at 64 but he landed 2 college scholarships and after college he worked as a bus mechanic. That's the one that bothers me the most. He was diagnosed schizophrenic but somehow they couldn't prove anything against him in Michigan even though those guys are super shitty at covering their tracks. Then he moved to Ann Arbor and killed 3 more and was chased out of there by police attention. A guy watched him kill Helen Dutcher, reported him and spent the next 25 years trying to get the police interested in that fact. A Texas prosecutor gave him immunity for a bunch of his Michigan crimes which suggests somebody somewhere was building a prosecution case against him for something, but somehow he got classified in Texas as a nonviolent offender after killing someone in front of an eyewitness. NOTHING adds up.
Wait. The fact he tested low, picked up two college scholarships, and then settled for bus mechanic is what bothers you the most? Sounds like the LEAST of the guy's problems.
That's messed up that the one guy TOLD police he saw Watts kill someone, and they didn't lift a finger. I bet he was rearing for his own life after that non-action on their part.* It almost sounds from those particulars you mentioned that he had someone up relatively high in some pecking order pulling strings for him to get away with such a staggering number of murders.
*That'd make a good movie plot. Person sees someone kill someone in cold blood. Person tells police. They do nothing, but killer finds out about the snitch. Now he/she's gotta worry about the killer going after person to silence them. Probably been dozens of movies with that general theme over the years. Thrillers aren't really my thing.
No, the sheer fact that he tested as mentally retarded, got 2 college scholarships anyway, and was intelligent enough to work as a bus mechanic -- the preponderance of evidence indicates that he was.perfectly intelligent. So maybe lousy at taking tests, but then how TF did he land those scholarships? Remember that Special Ed as we know it now didn't exist in his day, so...? |
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Post by Dr. Kobb on Jul 1, 2021 10:40:27 GMT -5
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Post by Killer Goldfish on Jul 26, 2021 16:39:11 GMT -5
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Post by Killer Goldfish on Jul 26, 2021 16:39:51 GMT -5
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