Susan test
Rather laconic than loquacious
2008.08.28 01:02 Rather laconic than loquacious
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2009.08.16 08:33 yone ISTJ
"The Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is an introspective self-report questionnaire indicating differing psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions." Here you will find a collection of ISTJs who have nothing to say and just silently upvote and downvote comments from the lovers of ISTJs who come here desperately seeking some insight into their partners only to find that every question they have can be answered by telling them to be honest or straight forwards
2007.08.06 07:16 spez Politics
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2024.05.14 00:56 Taydo02 Does anyone else believe that Penelope’s character and personality was inspired by Susan Test?
 | submitted by Taydo02 to supermariologan_ [link] [comments] |
2024.05.13 14:47 BigNorthyFaps opinions on this?
 | vegetables and fruits work in both contexts submitted by BigNorthyFaps to mildlyinfuriating [link] [comments] |
2024.05.13 02:19 MaterialTangelo9856 Karma Is the Guy on the Chiefs: An Appreciation Post for the Campiest Couple Since Hiddleswift 👑
 | Come one, come all. It’s happening again. In just a few months, our girl has found the truest love she’s ever known in the form of Twavvy, I mean, Travis Kelce, tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs. He acts like such a fangirl, going to her shows and making her friendship bracelets with his number on them, how could she not love him? She spent every weekend last fall at his games, watching him do the big manly stuff, how could the pheromones not make her heart start pumping? She became the WAG she always has dreamed of being for him, and soon she’ll roll up on stage and declare they’re engaged because she’s having his baaaaaaaabyyyyy… submitted by MaterialTangelo9856 to GaylorSwift [link] [comments] Well, no she won’t… but you should see your faces. Yes, you're definitely invited to the wedding. I generally like to avoid extensive man-discourse when doing my Gayloring, because we have enough male power-centered culture in the real world that I prefer it doesn’t take up space in my online life. And I had big plans to spend the evening trying to work on a long analysis of the narrative of the Eras Tour Part ✌️. But everyone in the Paris Night 4 megathread freaking out over the Travis Kelce stunt made me realize that we are desperately in need of a group reframing over how we think about Tayvis, for our own sanity more than anything else. So I wanted to put together this post showing how I came to make peace with the idea of Tayvis, despite my misgivings. Because if you’re not choosing to be entertained by all this, you’re missing out on an opportunity to appreciate Taylor’s campiest relationship since Hiddleswift, in real time, as it unfolds. Twavvy wuvs u. Y u no wuv him back? How I Came to Root for Travis KelceI didn’t begin to appreciate Tayvis for what it is until January of this year. The day after The New York Times published a stunning essay about Taylor’s queer flagging, emphasizing – among many ideas – the idea of “dropping hairpins” as a subtle queer flag. The next day, Travis Kelce strode off a plane wearing a red “found objects” hoodie, that features, among many things, hairpins.The \"M\" is made of hairpins. Now, it could mean that he was fucking with the writer and, by extension, with us. But in the midst of intense backlash about that article I was more inclined to take it as a subtle confirmation that he was in on the joke, and that the hoodie itself was a dropped hairpin about the nature of their relationship. Namely, it was an indication that the relationship we were seeing publicly, Tayvis, was artificial, no matter the true nature of their relationship in private (we really don’t know if their relationship is real or not, and most likely never will). I then started looking more closely at the way Travis had been framed to the public, and came across repeated references to cinnamon rolls. Taylor baked them for him in September, and in December, strategically placed stories about those cinnamon rolls began to emerge in the press. She also featured cinnamon rolls in her first #ForaFortnightChallenge. I slowly became convinced that Travis was the cinnamon roll hero of Taylor’s performative Love Story. He exists in supposed sweetness in order to help her fulfill her journey as the Heroin(e). And if he’s helping Taylor, well, that’s good enough for me. Yes, “Vivaaaa Las Vegas” gave me the most intense ick of my life. Yes, those sunglasses and outfits he wears make him look like 2024’s version of Miami Vice. And yes, I would much rather have prince charming to swoon over than the guy on the football team who looks like he probably would have bullied me in high school. But Taylor knows this. She is openly mocking the relationship and the people who believe in it through her music and public performance. This is most noticeable musically in the song “So High School,” which lampoons all the wattpad fanfic (see u/-periwinkle’s genius post about the song). This is reinforced by the song’s Eras Tour choreography, which openly lampoons her behavior at Chiefs’ games throughout the fall and winter. I screengrabbed this from Twitter the other day, but lost OP. If someone knows, will they comment below? I'd like to update this and give them credit. ETA: The above pic is from @Alexis_Hughess on Twitter. All of this, held together, led me to the (relatively late) conclusion that… Tayvis Is Looking Camp Right In the EyeWhen writing this up, I wanted to turn back to Susan Sontag’s famous essay, “Notes on ‘Camp,’” published in 1964. She writes that “the essence of Camp is its love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration,” meaning that the aesthetic value of camp comes from its playful sense of heightened extreme. It’s about crafting something that tries so hard to be what it is that it overexaggerates itself into ridiculous proportions.i feeeeeel so high schooooooool Sontag continues: “Camp is a vision of the world in terms of style -- but a particular kind of style. It is the love of the exaggerated, the "off," of things-being-what-they-are-not.” And then she describes one way to think about Camp when it comes to singular things: “It's not a lamp, but a ‘lamp’; not a woman, but a ‘woman.’” Sontag writes (I might add: It’s not a relationship, but a “relationship.”) “To perceive Camp in objects and persons is to understand Being-as-Playing-a-Role. It is the farthest extension, in sensibility, of the metaphor of life as theater.” Is this not the very thing that Taylor is currently spinning for her fan base, in the most extra, ridiculous way? Is Tayvis not a romance novel spun into reality for the benefit of her audience? Is not the artifice of the relationship its artistic point? So I think that when it comes to Tayvis, to shitpost about it is to queer it, because the shitposts emphasize the relationship’s campiness.“The whole point of Camp is to dethrone the serious,” Sontag says. “Camp is playful, anti-serious. More precisely, Camp involves a new, more complex relation to "the serious." One can be serious about the frivolous, frivolous about the serious…” It is deeply unserious that the entire media establishment and much of America ferociously gobbles up this relationship as if it is the greatest love story of all time. Recognizing how deeply unserious the performance of the relationship is, calling it camp, is to both receive the performance art as intended and also subvert our heteronormative culture. I also didn't make this. But... hilarious. It’s also important to note that camp is inextricably linked to queer culture. Its American expression has its roots in ballrooms, one of the sites where queer expressions of identity crystallized into a defining subculture. At best, camp is a political performance (I diverge from Sontag’s opinion here; she might say that camp is inherently depoliticized), designed to undermine and mock normativity. If Tayvis is taken to its fullest potential, wouldn’t it be exactly that? “Karma Is the Guy on the Chiefs”Ok, real talk time. I think what makes Tayvis so frustrating for many of us – including me – is the way that the relationship validates’ paternity testing Taylor’s art and reifies a culture that is dangerous to queer people. So it’s very, very hard when everyone around you wants to talk about Taylor through the lens of a dude, instead of appreciating art for what it is. I know that these conversations always leave me feeling the same way I did when I was closeted, having to hide a piece of myself or censor my sparkle to keep those around me comfortably ignorant. These horrible feelings are the price of engaging with Taylor’s art and image right now, and I’m often of the opinion that they’re not wholly necessary for her strategy to work.(If the lurkers from Taylor’s team are reading this, I sincerely hope that, after celebrating the victory of having a Gaylor openly praising Tayvis, you will pass the above paragraph up the chain, because this sort of culture does genuinely hurt people like me.) But I wanted to make this post mostly to share that even though I hate everything this relationship represents, I’ve made peace with the idea of Tayvis. Why? The answer can be found in her consistent twisting of a line, “Karma is the guy on the Chiefs.” Every time she says it, she’s reminding us that there can be no Karma without Tayvis. The relationship has made her the biggest star on the planet, and she has to be that big in order to supernova our fake, heteronormative culture into oblivion. She cannot enter Oz to reveal the man behind the curtain without having spent time in sepia-toned Kansas. In short, ❤️ + 💛 = 🧡. \"Chiefs Colors\" When Taylor rolled up on stage tonight wearing “Chiefs colors” she was responding to and validating us, as she has done all weekend*.* We’ve been joking for days that the Hetlors are going to call any outfits in those colors “Chiefs colors” even if they are not. So what does our campy overlord do? She walks onstage for her 1989 set seemingly wearing red and yellow. The crowd goes wild, thinking she’s representing her precious Twavvy. But what do those colors actually turn out to be once we get high quality photos? Yellow and Orange. It’s “Chiefs colors” not Chiefs colors. It’s camp. I know that this framing can’t fix the culture that the relationship normalizes. But, goddammit, I know the truth and I want you all to too. Tayvis – at least the idea of it – is queer. And, it’s a prerequisite for Karma. It’s coming back around. So who are we to fight the alchemy? 😈✨🎪 |
2024.05.12 23:17 Pure-Energy-9120 Deep Blue Sea's original ending is better than the theatrical ending where she gets killed off.
I think the theatrical ending in Deep Blue Sea ruined the movie. In the theatrical ending, Susan gets eaten by the shark, Preacher climbed up the tower and blew up the shark with the harpoon and the explosives (Even though Preacher didn't know what the plan was and was trying to recover from the bite wound on his leg). And then Carter and Preacher just act like Susan doesn't exist anymore. There's no way Carter would've just carried on like she never existed. He would've been utterly gutted by her death as they grew close throughout the film. The original ending where she lived, killed the shark and escaped Aquatica on a raft with Carter and Preacher is a much better ending and they should've stuck with that ending. But no, test audiences hated Susan and were like, "She's to blame! Kill her!". Yes, a woman who tried so hard to do the right thing, acknowledged that it backfired on her, and made things right by stopping her own creation from killing more people, was deemed as evil and deserving of death by the test audiences. They did a one-day re-shoot of the ending in response to the test audiences reaction to Susan surviving. I say one-day because they didn't have enough time to go back and re-shoot all of Susan's other scenes, which would include changing her personality to make her more villainous, or give her a more sinister motive. They instead just took the easy way out by just cutting half her scenes to make you feel less sympathetic toward her so her death would feel less tragic and more deserved. But by doing so, it made her such a bland and uninteresting character opposed to what she was supposed to be. Plus, she was the main character and it was her story in a way. She was the only character with a story arc as well. The test audiences ruined her character and the story by killing her off. I'm so glad Thomas Jane (who plays Carter) and director Renny Harlin are both supporting the original ending petition. I really wish Warner Bros would release the original ending by now. It shouldn't remain unreleased because of people not liking Susan.
submitted by Pure-Energy-9120 to TrueUnpopularOpinion [link] [comments]
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2024.05.12 04:47 BeefScooter94 I tried to rank every single named character by how much they sang and (almost) every single word they sang.
Btw pilot not included OKAY LETS GO (long ass read, this took me 2 days lmao)
HAS NOT SANG: Katie Killjoy, Tom Trench, KeeKee, Fat Nuggets, Razzle, Dazzle, Egg Bois, Lilith
Susan: You mean like human flesh? By "Die, " do you mean use my teeth to rip flesh apart?
Mimzy: It's me! Yes it's me! I know you were all waiting for me, I'm here, what a gas, took awhile but I'm present at last, it's me, it's me, Mimzyyyyyyy!
Zestial: We can't act without more intelligence What weighs on your soul, old friend? I implore you to share the load, If it was thou who slew the angel, Why not let your strength be known?
Sir Pentious: Who could forgive a dirtbag like me? I don't deserve your amnesty Sorry I'm so sorry! It'll take time to cover, My vast multitude of sins, But sorry is where it begins, It starts with sorry
Valentino: Overlords hanging by a thread, with a bit of bravado, maybe tomorrow, we'll be atop the heap, While the rest of Hell's pissing! Fled with his tail between his legs! Nature abhors a power vacuum, it leaves room for you and me, the future of hell belongs to the vees!
Cherri Bomb: We can do this, we can build it, Best hotel that you've ever seen, twice the bedrooms, we can fill it fulfill your destiny! We can do this, we'll be better, though redemption may take a while, wayward sinners, clear their ledger and then tomorrow it will be a fuckin happy day in hell!
Lute: What are we even talking about? Some crack-whore who fucked up already? He blew his shot like the cocks in his mouth, this discussion is senseless and petty! There's no question to be posed, he's unholy case closed, did you forget that hell is forever! Guess the cat's outta the bag! Ha! She should know
Sera: Of course it's just temporary, Im sorry you can't stay It's not as simple as you think, Not everything is spelled in ink I'm sure you wish it could be so, But there's a lot that you don't know Adam.. I thought, since I'm older, It's my load to shoulder You have to listen, it was such a hard decision, I wanted to save you, the anguish it takes to, Do what was required Emily..
Niffty: I was stuck, thank you sir! We can do this, we can build it, Best hotel that you've ever seen, Twice the bedrooms, we can fill it Fulfill your destiny To build a hotel I think we need some brick and lumber It's as easy as can be! We can do this, We'll be better, Though redemption may take a while, Wayward sinners dear they're ledger And then tomorrow it will be a fuckin happy day in hell!
St Peter: Dearly beloved, it is my pleasure to say unto thee, Welcome to Heaven, oh-oh, Where the virtuous reside 24/7, oh-oh, People are happy that they died, 'Cause here we got no worries, got no burglaries, no strife, It's the perfect afterlife, Welcome to Heaven, 😩, Check out our sick décor, the spirits leaven, oh!, Please keep your brimstone off the floor, We've got the best and brightest, the politest of the lot, And everyone is h😩t! 'Cause every single day in Heaven is a happy day, Welcome to Heaven, yeah
Rosie: Oh, don't be put off by their snarlin', That's enthusiasm, darlin'! Don't worry, honey, That's their thing, Keep singing, We're super duper grateful To have you folks aboard They're dancing along, They're singing her song She's bound to pass the test as Princess of Hell, Like her Daddy, she is madly power-fell! I concur! Stick with her, we'll be on the winning side! For the first time in our lives, We know that we are ready for this, We'll show Heaven a fight they won't forget! It's time to take a stand We cannot take it anymore, The time has come to go to war, Prepare to fight, we're ready for... THIS!
Velvette: You've got it twisted, I'm not the one who needs a new attitude, Maybe you missed it, but I'm that #Bitch, And I will do nothing less than what I please, woo! I'm the backbone of the Vees, Mad that I acted respectless?, Well, it's 'cause no one could respect this, Sorry to the group attendin', Since when are overlords too scared to fight?, You're long past trendin', Sorry, bae, but I ain't swipin' right, You lost your relevance Ugh, no wonder I'm so respectless, I could eat you lot for breakfast Oops! Did I strike a nerve? 'Cause when I brought out the angel's head, Couldn't help but observe, That your wrinkled face was turning red, And why are you avoidin' war?, That's what the guns you sell are for, Thanks to my being respectless, One thing I'm starting to suspect is, You know why this angel's headless, Do you have a disclosure?
Emily: Gosh, I'm so pleased to show some outsiders around, After you see our realm, you'll never wanna go back down 'Cause every single day in Heaven is a happy day Welcome to Heaven, yeah But she was right, Sera, She showed us a soul can improve, He saw the light, Sera, Checked all the boxes that you said would, Prove a person deserves a second chance, Now we turn our backs, no second glance? Wait! What are you saying? Let me get this straight, You go down there and kill those poor souls? Sera, tell me that you didn't know No! To think that I admired you, well, I don't need your condescension, I'm not a child to protect, Was talk of virtue just pretension? Was I too naive to expect you to heed the morals you're purveying? If Hell is forever, then Heaven must be a lie, If angels can do whatever, and remain in the sky, The rules are shades of gray when you don't do as you say, When you make the wretched suffer just to kill them again
Vaggie: Charlie, hold on It's just a meeting This could be bad Okay, but just don't sing to them Is she- Ugh, no... Can we just kill him, shoot him and spill his blood Works for us When I saw your face, You made me feel like a stranger in a brand new place, And it felt so good to be understood, But there's so much I wished that I could say, So I, I'll be your armor, Do whatever it takes, I'll make the mistakes, I'll spend my life being your partner And I will try to make your dreams come true Whatever we go through, I know I... I'll be your armour Whatever it takes I'll make the mistakes, whatever it takes Careful, Charlie, keep a cool head We should go Adam, no, please You've already done so much, So many lives you've changed, So many souls you've touched, And in the end, if it's only me you've saved There's something that I've been dying to say, More than anything, more than anything, Need you to know I love you more than anything More than anything We can do this, We can build it, Best hotel that you've ever seen! Twice the bedrooms, we can fill it It starts with you, you know it's true, fulfill your destiny! New coat of paint! With a little sorcery! We can do this, We'll be better, Though redemption may take a while, Wayward sinners, clear their ledger We're gonna do this, you and me, and then tomorrow it will be a fuckin happy day in hell!
Vox: Welcome home, I'm gonna make you wish that you'd stayed gone, Say hello to a new status quo, Everyone knows that there's a brand-new dawn, Turn the TV on! Top of the hour, and we're discussing a certain has-been, Who has been spotted cavorting around town, After a seven-year absence, Did anybody miss him? Did anybody notice? More on tonight's program, So, the radio demon is back in town, Why is he hanging around? What does that mean for your family? Well handily, I've got good news, He's a loser, a fossil and I don't mean to sound hostile, But the demon is a coward! You can take that as gospel Pulling my viewers? Impossible! I'm visual, he's barely audible, Stop givin' him the time of day, Don't listen to a word he'd say, I hope he had a nice vacay, But he should've stayed away, While he hid in radio, We pivoted to videoNow his medium is gettin' bloody rare, Hell's been better since he split, Where's he been? Who gives a shit! What a dated voice! Come on! Ignore his chirping! Oh please! Hold on! You old-timey prick, I'll show you suffering, Uh oh, the TV is buffering! I'll destroy you, you little– FUUUUHUHUCKKKKAH! After the battle, masterless cattle, overlords hanging by a thread, with a bit of bravado, maybe tomorrow, we'll be atop the heap Alastor's missing, fled with his tail between his legs, nature abhors a power vacuum, it leaves room for you an me, the future of hell belongs to the vees
Husk: So things look bad, and your back's against the wall, Your whole existence seems fuckin' hopeless, You're feelin' filthy as a dive bar bathroom stall, Can't face the world sober and dopeless, You've lost your way, you think your life is wrecked, Well, let me just say you're correct You're a loser, baby, A loser, goddamn baby, You're a fucked up little whiny bitch Your a loser, just like me your a screws loose boozer, an only one-star reviews-er your a power bottom, at rock bottom, but you got company There was a time I thought that no one could relate, To the gruesome ways in which I'm damaged, But lettin' walls down, it can sometimes set you straight!, We're all livin' in the same shit sandwich haha! and you think that makes you unique? get outta here man, We're both losers, baby, We're losers, it's okay to be a baby, that's fine by me You're a loser, Just like me, I got an appetite for gamblin' Go ahead baby, sing that song, come on! I sold my soul to save my power, Now I'm on that demon's leash, I'm trapped and it gets worse with every hour A loser, but just maybe if we, Eat shit together, things will end up differently, It's time to lose your self-loathin', Excuse yourself, let hope in, baby, Play your card, be who you are, A loser, just like me We can do this, we can build it Best hotel that you've ever seen, Twice the bedrooms, we can fill it, With more sinners than you can dream fulfill your destiny! New lights across the marquee, with a little sorcery! We can do this, We'll be better, Though redemption may take a while, Wayward sinners dear they're ledger And then tomorrow it will be a fuckin happy day in hell!
Carmilla: You better show some respect!, Check your behavior, no one speaks to Zestial that way! Did you expect us, to sit back and take your insolent, brazen display? You and the vees are inane and uninformed, smug wannabees you don't heed when you've been warned this meeting's over I always thought, That I would keep blood off my face, But when that thing attacked, I had to act, To cross that line and keep them safe, But if anyone knew, Then all of Hell would rise to war And who's to say who'd survive the fray? I might lose the ones that I was killing for, So I, I'll be your keeper, Do whatever it takes, I'll make the mistakes, I'll keep you safe and keep this secret And I don't know what we might face, But I know I can't replace you so, I'll do anything to save you, Whatever we go through, I know I... I'll be your keeper, I'll be your armor, Whatever it takes, I'll make the mistakes, I'll make the mistakes, Whatever it takes I see you're driven by your detestation, Your every step is stoked with animus, You need a different type of motivation, Or there's no way that you can handle this, I know you're thirstin' for vengeance, Vaggie, You're out for blood, But you'll only stand a chance if you're out for love, Out for love, love, Think of who you care about, protect 'em and be Out for love, love, You're gonna fight without gloves, long as you're out for love, Fuel yourself with the fear of losin', That somebody who's your reason to live, Harnеss your heart, and you can't help choosin', To fight with all you can give, I know you'rе thirstin' for vengeance, Vaggie, You're out for blood, But you'll only stand a chance if you're out for love, Out for love, love, Think of who you care about, protect 'em and be, Out for love, love, You're gonna fight without gloves, And when that push comes to shove, Yeah, you just might rise above, long as you're out for love
Angel: That bitch is halfway down the street Oh, she's dancin' Can we just kill him, shoot him, and spill his blood works for us I'm not above a love to cash in, Another lover underneath those flashin' lights, Another one of those ruthless nights, Yeah, yeah, yeah, I shoulda guessed that this would happen, I shoulda known it when I looked in your red-hot eyes, Spewin' all your red-hot lies, Yeah, yeah, yeah, What's the worst part of this hell? I can only blame myself, 'Cause I know you're poison, you're feedin' me poison, Addicted to this feelin', I can't help but swallow up your poison, I made my choice, and every night, I'm livin' like there's no tomorrow, Oh-oh, oh-oh, Any way you want me, baby, that's the way you got me, I'll be yours, My story's gonna end with me dead from your poison, I got so good at bein' untrue, I got so good at tellin' you what you wanna hear, I disassociate, disappear, Yeah, yeah, yeah, So far beyond difficult to resist another gulp, Yeah, I know it's poison, you're feedin' me poison, I'm chokin' from the taste and I can't help but swallow up your poison, I made my choice, and every night, I'm wasted like there's no tomorrow, Oh-oh, oh-oh, Any way you want me, baby, that's the way you got me, I'll be yours, My story's gonna end with me dead from your poison, Poison, I'm drownin' in poison, I'm fillin' up my glass, but it's always hollow, Full of poison, I'm sick of the poison, Wish I had something to live for tomorrow We can do this, we can build it, Best hotel that you've ever seen, Twice the bedrooms, we can fill it You know it's true fulfill your destiny! Start with foundation It's as easy as can be! We can do this, we'll be better, though redemption may take a while, wayward sinners clear they're ledger and then tomorrow it will be a fuckin happy day in hell!
Adam: Let me stop you right there, Save us all precious time, If what you're suggesting Is letting them climb, Up the ladder, Oh, they'd rather cross the Pearly Gates? Sorry, sweetie, But there's no defyin' their fates! 'Cause Hell is forever, Whether you like it or not, Had their chance to behave better, Now they boil in the pot, 'Cause the rules are black and white, There's no use in tryin' to fight it, They're burnin' for their lives, Until we kill 'em again! Just try to chillax, babe, You're wasting your breath, Did I hear you imply, That they don't deserve death? Are they Winners? Are they Sinners? 'Cause it's cut and dry, Fair is fair, an eye for an eye! And when all's said and done, There's the question of fun, And for those of us with Divine Ordainment, Extermination is entertainment! Bow-now-now-nownow Guitar solo, fuck yeah! Oh, da-ah-ah now-now-n-now-n-now-n-now-n-nownownow, Hell is forever, Whether you like it or not, Had their chance to behave better, Now they boil in the pot, 'Cause the rules are black and white, There's no use in tryin' to fight it, They're burnin' for their lives, Until we kill 'em again! Fuckin' Hell's forever, And it's meant to suck a lot, So give up your dumb endeavor 'Cause you don't have a shot!, Long as I've got your attention, I guess I should probably mention, That we made the determination, To move up the next Extermination! Can't wait a whole year, To slaughter those little cunts, I know it's just been a week, But we'll be back in six months! There's no question to be posed, he's unholy cased closed, did you forget that hell is forever? A man only lives once, we'll see you in 1 month, gotta say I can't wait to come down and exterminate you! Shit.. Whoops! Wh-what's the big deal? Don't you act all high and mighty, did you ever think your little "girlfriend" might be a liar? What's the fuss? Why hid the fact that your an angel just like us?
Lucifer: Haha, Looks like you could use some help, From the big boss of Hell himself, Check out daddy's glowing reviews on Yelp (Five stars! Flawless! Greater than great!) Oh, with the punch of a pentagram, I wap-bam-boom, alakazam, Usually, I charge a sacrificial lamb, But you get the family rate ("thanks dad!"), Who needs a busboy, now that you've got the chef? (wow), Michelin-tasting menu, free à la carte, I'll rig the game for you because I'm the ref, Champagne fountains, caviar mountains, that's just a start! Uh, what? Hold on, now Others say, that in your needy hour, There's no substitute for pure angelic power! Who just happens to also be your blood! What a bunch of losers your song, I started this! Oh, you tacky piece of- You didn't know that when I tried this all before, My dreams were too hard to defend, And in the end, I won't lose it all again, Now you're the only thing worth fighting for, More than anything, more than anything, I'll shelter and adore you more than anything I've been dyin' to find out who you are Looks like the apple doesn't fall far! I've missed that smile All that I'm hopin', now that my eyes are open, Is that we can start again, not be pulled apart again, 'Cause in the end, you are part of who I am, I'll support your dream, whatever lies in store More than anything More than anything, I'm grateful you're my daughter more than anything, More than anything Come on little lady, why the frown? In the last ten-thousand years, You're the first one to change this town, You can do this, now I know it, For your story has just begun, You can't quit now, hell, you owe it, There's still damage to be undone, You've changed my mind, you've touched their hearts, From the good and souls gone bad The stage is wrecked, the crowd is gone, But by God, Charlie! The show, it must go on, We can do this, we can build it, Best hotel that you've ever seen, Twice the bedrooms, we can fill it, With more sinners than you can dream, It starts with you, You know it's true, Fulfill your destiny Good thing we're in Hell, Check out this little magic number Remedial creation for me, It's as easy as can be! We can do this, we'll be better, though redemption may take a while, wayward sinners, clear their ledger oh, this guy... And then tomorrow it will be a fuckin happy day in hell!
Alastor: Salutations! Good to be back on the air, Yes, I know it's been a while, Since someone with style treated hell to a broadcast, Sinners, rejoice! Instead of a clout-chasin' mediocre video podcast Is Vox insecure? Pursuing allure? Flitting between this fad and that, is nothin' working? Every day, he's got a new format Is Vox as strong as he purports, Or is it based on his support? He'd be powerless without the other Vees And here's the sugar on the cream, He asked me to join his team I said no, and now he's pissy, that's the tea Uh oh, the TV is buffering! I'm afraid you've lost your signal Let's begin, I'm gonna make you wish that I'd stayed gone, Tune on in when I'm done, Your status quo will know its race is run, Oh, this will be fun Who's been here since day one? Who's been faithful as a nun? Who makes you chuckle with an old-timey pun? Your executive producer? I'm your guy, your day-to-day, Your chum, your steadfast hotelier, Remember when I fixed that clog today? I'm truly honored that we've built such a bond, You're like the child that I wish that I had, I care for you, just like a daughter I spawned, It's a little funny, you could almost call me dad They say, when you're looking for assistance, It's smart to pick the path of least resistance Sadly, there are times a birth parent is a dud, They say the family you choose is better Can you butt out of my song? I'm singing it, I'll finish it! And feast on all the angels you can eat! She's bound to pass the test as Princess of Hell, Like her Daddy, she is madly power-fell! She's filled with potential that I could guide Stick with her, you'll be in the winning side! For the first time in our lives, We know that we are ready for this It's time to take a stand We cannot take it anymore, The time has come to go to war, Prepare to fight, we're ready for... THIS! This place reeks of death, there's a chill in the air, And I barely escaped being killed by a hair, "Great Alastor, altruist, died for his friends" Sorry to disappoint, that is not where this ends, I'm hungry for freedom like never before, The constraints of my deal surely have a backdoor, Once I figure out how to unclip my wings, Guess who will be pulling all the strings? And we're doing it with a smile And then tomorrow it will be a fuckin happy day in hell!
Charlie I can do this, somehow I know it, I'll get Heaven behind my plans There's just no way I could blow it, Not this once-in-a-lifetime chance To change their minds and touch their hearts, Or whatever angels have Cheer up, Vaggie, This could be swell, Something tells me that today will be a happy day in Hell There's a warm, fuzzy feeling that wafts through the air, Every street so revealing, it's hard not to stare, It's a realm so appealing, it beats anywhere, If you don't mind the smell, It's a happy day in Hell, Hi, mister! Hello! Ah, excuse me! If I can show them the dream I've dreamed, That any soul can change, Those angels' minds are hard to change, Then they will know everyone can be redeemed, From the evil to the strange, They're bloodthirsty and deranged! I can hear all their stories, the lost and displaced, And I know that they're more of an acquired taste, But if I open the door and I give them a place, At my Hazbin Hotel, It'll be a happy day in Hell, From the porn studio, where the cinephiles go, To watch award-winning demon bukkake shows, To the Cannibal Town, where they don't wear a frown, 'Cause holy shit, oh my gosh, why?! And I don't give a crow that his brains got in my eye! 'Cause I know I can spare them from Heaven's genocide, I can do this, I just know it, I'll get Heaven behind my plans, There's just no way I could blow it, Not this once-in-a-lifetime chance to change their minds Uh, no thank you, I'm just gonna, Fulfill my destiny! I can already tell Today is gonna be a fuckin' happy day in Hell I know Hell's population is out of control, It's a bad situation, It's taking a toll, If we rehab these Sinners And cleanse all their souls, At my Hazbin Hotel, Wait, I'm getting ahead of myself! Right! Extermination! I know you guys fly down Just to kill once a year, And it must be annoying To schlep all the way here, If they join you in Heaven That trip disappears! You can wave that chore farewell G A S P It'll be a happy day in he- Oh.. ..'Kay Well, uh Okay, but Well, actually, if you take a look- Ugh where the Hell did you people come from? What? Um, wait, didn't you- Ugh, shit! It starts with sorry, That's your foot in the door, one simple sorry, Spoken straight from your core, The path to forgiveness is a twisting trail of hearts, But sorry is where it starts That's an option you could choose But who hasn't been in his shoes? It starts with sorry Dig down deeper and say one sincere sorry And your journey's underway, It'll take time to cover your vast multitude of sins, But sorry is where it begins, It starts with sorry thanks dad! That's true! Oh, you! awwww When I was young, I didn't really know you at all, I always felt so small, But I heard your stories and I was enthralled, The tales about your lofty dreams, I listened breathlessly, Imagining it could be me, So in the end, it's the view I had of you, That showed me dreams can be worth fighting for, More than anything, more than anything, I need to save my people more than anything I've been waiting, wanting the same thing Took you a while All that I'm hopin', now that my eyes are open, Is that we can start again, not be pulled apart again, 'Cause in the end, you are part of who I am And who could ask for more? More than anything More than anything I'm grateful you're my father more than anything, More than anything It's not fair, Sera No! Don't you care, Sera? That just because someone is dead, it doesn't Mean they can't resolve to change their ways, Turn the page, escape infernal blaze You didn't know? That's what the fuck I've been saying! If Hell is forever, then Heaven must be a lie If angels can do whatever, and remain in the sky, The rules are shades of gray when you don't do as you say, When you make the wretched suffer just to kill them again, I was told not to trust in angels No! Don't you see? We've come so close, Look at them fighting, they're at each other's throats Have you ever wanted something that was so clear in your mind that you could taste it? Eh, sort of, It's a feeling like a rumbling in your gut that you could finally be faced with, A billion needy faces, I guess what I mean to say is, for the first time in my life, I might have to be ready for this, Ready to be the one who's leading from the front, Gotta come into my own, Gotta come into my throne, Gotta take charge and defend my only home, And although I kinda feel unsteady, Now I need to be ready for this, Have you ever felt like you're willing to die to save the people of your city? That's a start! 'Cause right now we need a leader, And it seems to me that destiny has picked me, To be that, if you'll permit me, so who's with me? Wouldn't it be super to see more of Hell? Join up now if you like travel, Come on boys, hop in the saddle!, Lotta sights to see en route to my hotel, Not to mention the camaraderie, Yes siree, you'll form life-changing friendships, With the folks along the way Okay.. Well, that's a little violent, can we tone it down? Eh, they just seem a little murdery right now We're super-duper grateful, To have you folks aboard Oh, lord For the first time in my life, Maybe I can be ready for this, I can be the marshal leading the parade, I can come into my own, and I think I've always known, My destiny could never be postponed, When Adam brings the battle here, I must appear like I'm ready for this For the first time in our lives, we know that we are ready for this! It is time to lend a hand! Against the angels, and their deadly threat! We cannot take it anymore, The time has come to go to war, Prepare to fight, We're ready for this! I really hope that I'm ready for this There's something that I've been dying to say, More than anything, more than anything, Need you to know I love you more than anything,.More than anything He did it for us, the ultimate sacrifice, He gave me his trust, and look how we pay the price, This bloodshed could have been avoided, If I convinced Heaven to work together, I took a hotel and I destroyed it, I know I could have done better, Better, instead of letting you down So long as I've got all of you with me! No time for crying, we got a lot of work to do and, We gotta try and make the best of what's in ruins With a little sorcery! We'll make a difference, wait and see We can do this We'll be better Though it may take a while We're gonna do this, you and me, And then tomorrow it will be a fuckin' happy day in Hell!
Hey shit your still here?
submitted by BeefScooter94 to hazbin [link] [comments]
HAS NOT SANG: Katie Killjoy, Tom Trench, KeeKee, Fat Nuggets, Razzle, Dazzle, Egg Bois, Lilith
Susan: You mean like human flesh? By "Die, " do you mean use my teeth to rip flesh apart?
Mimzy: It's me! Yes it's me! I know you were all waiting for me, I'm here, what a gas, took awhile but I'm present at last, it's me, it's me, Mimzyyyyyyy!
Zestial: We can't act without more intelligence What weighs on your soul, old friend? I implore you to share the load, If it was thou who slew the angel, Why not let your strength be known?
Sir Pentious: Who could forgive a dirtbag like me? I don't deserve your amnesty Sorry I'm so sorry! It'll take time to cover, My vast multitude of sins, But sorry is where it begins, It starts with sorry
Valentino: Overlords hanging by a thread, with a bit of bravado, maybe tomorrow, we'll be atop the heap, While the rest of Hell's pissing! Fled with his tail between his legs! Nature abhors a power vacuum, it leaves room for you and me, the future of hell belongs to the vees!
Cherri Bomb: We can do this, we can build it, Best hotel that you've ever seen, twice the bedrooms, we can fill it fulfill your destiny! We can do this, we'll be better, though redemption may take a while, wayward sinners, clear their ledger and then tomorrow it will be a fuckin happy day in hell!
Lute: What are we even talking about? Some crack-whore who fucked up already? He blew his shot like the cocks in his mouth, this discussion is senseless and petty! There's no question to be posed, he's unholy case closed, did you forget that hell is forever! Guess the cat's outta the bag! Ha! She should know
Sera: Of course it's just temporary, Im sorry you can't stay It's not as simple as you think, Not everything is spelled in ink I'm sure you wish it could be so, But there's a lot that you don't know Adam.. I thought, since I'm older, It's my load to shoulder You have to listen, it was such a hard decision, I wanted to save you, the anguish it takes to, Do what was required Emily..
Niffty: I was stuck, thank you sir! We can do this, we can build it, Best hotel that you've ever seen, Twice the bedrooms, we can fill it Fulfill your destiny To build a hotel I think we need some brick and lumber It's as easy as can be! We can do this, We'll be better, Though redemption may take a while, Wayward sinners dear they're ledger And then tomorrow it will be a fuckin happy day in hell!
St Peter: Dearly beloved, it is my pleasure to say unto thee, Welcome to Heaven, oh-oh, Where the virtuous reside 24/7, oh-oh, People are happy that they died, 'Cause here we got no worries, got no burglaries, no strife, It's the perfect afterlife, Welcome to Heaven, 😩, Check out our sick décor, the spirits leaven, oh!, Please keep your brimstone off the floor, We've got the best and brightest, the politest of the lot, And everyone is h😩t! 'Cause every single day in Heaven is a happy day, Welcome to Heaven, yeah
Rosie: Oh, don't be put off by their snarlin', That's enthusiasm, darlin'! Don't worry, honey, That's their thing, Keep singing, We're super duper grateful To have you folks aboard They're dancing along, They're singing her song She's bound to pass the test as Princess of Hell, Like her Daddy, she is madly power-fell! I concur! Stick with her, we'll be on the winning side! For the first time in our lives, We know that we are ready for this, We'll show Heaven a fight they won't forget! It's time to take a stand We cannot take it anymore, The time has come to go to war, Prepare to fight, we're ready for... THIS!
Velvette: You've got it twisted, I'm not the one who needs a new attitude, Maybe you missed it, but I'm that #Bitch, And I will do nothing less than what I please, woo! I'm the backbone of the Vees, Mad that I acted respectless?, Well, it's 'cause no one could respect this, Sorry to the group attendin', Since when are overlords too scared to fight?, You're long past trendin', Sorry, bae, but I ain't swipin' right, You lost your relevance Ugh, no wonder I'm so respectless, I could eat you lot for breakfast Oops! Did I strike a nerve? 'Cause when I brought out the angel's head, Couldn't help but observe, That your wrinkled face was turning red, And why are you avoidin' war?, That's what the guns you sell are for, Thanks to my being respectless, One thing I'm starting to suspect is, You know why this angel's headless, Do you have a disclosure?
Emily: Gosh, I'm so pleased to show some outsiders around, After you see our realm, you'll never wanna go back down 'Cause every single day in Heaven is a happy day Welcome to Heaven, yeah But she was right, Sera, She showed us a soul can improve, He saw the light, Sera, Checked all the boxes that you said would, Prove a person deserves a second chance, Now we turn our backs, no second glance? Wait! What are you saying? Let me get this straight, You go down there and kill those poor souls? Sera, tell me that you didn't know No! To think that I admired you, well, I don't need your condescension, I'm not a child to protect, Was talk of virtue just pretension? Was I too naive to expect you to heed the morals you're purveying? If Hell is forever, then Heaven must be a lie, If angels can do whatever, and remain in the sky, The rules are shades of gray when you don't do as you say, When you make the wretched suffer just to kill them again
Vaggie: Charlie, hold on It's just a meeting This could be bad Okay, but just don't sing to them Is she- Ugh, no... Can we just kill him, shoot him and spill his blood Works for us When I saw your face, You made me feel like a stranger in a brand new place, And it felt so good to be understood, But there's so much I wished that I could say, So I, I'll be your armor, Do whatever it takes, I'll make the mistakes, I'll spend my life being your partner And I will try to make your dreams come true Whatever we go through, I know I... I'll be your armour Whatever it takes I'll make the mistakes, whatever it takes Careful, Charlie, keep a cool head We should go Adam, no, please You've already done so much, So many lives you've changed, So many souls you've touched, And in the end, if it's only me you've saved There's something that I've been dying to say, More than anything, more than anything, Need you to know I love you more than anything More than anything We can do this, We can build it, Best hotel that you've ever seen! Twice the bedrooms, we can fill it It starts with you, you know it's true, fulfill your destiny! New coat of paint! With a little sorcery! We can do this, We'll be better, Though redemption may take a while, Wayward sinners, clear their ledger We're gonna do this, you and me, and then tomorrow it will be a fuckin happy day in hell!
Vox: Welcome home, I'm gonna make you wish that you'd stayed gone, Say hello to a new status quo, Everyone knows that there's a brand-new dawn, Turn the TV on! Top of the hour, and we're discussing a certain has-been, Who has been spotted cavorting around town, After a seven-year absence, Did anybody miss him? Did anybody notice? More on tonight's program, So, the radio demon is back in town, Why is he hanging around? What does that mean for your family? Well handily, I've got good news, He's a loser, a fossil and I don't mean to sound hostile, But the demon is a coward! You can take that as gospel Pulling my viewers? Impossible! I'm visual, he's barely audible, Stop givin' him the time of day, Don't listen to a word he'd say, I hope he had a nice vacay, But he should've stayed away, While he hid in radio, We pivoted to videoNow his medium is gettin' bloody rare, Hell's been better since he split, Where's he been? Who gives a shit! What a dated voice! Come on! Ignore his chirping! Oh please! Hold on! You old-timey prick, I'll show you suffering, Uh oh, the TV is buffering! I'll destroy you, you little– FUUUUHUHUCKKKKAH! After the battle, masterless cattle, overlords hanging by a thread, with a bit of bravado, maybe tomorrow, we'll be atop the heap Alastor's missing, fled with his tail between his legs, nature abhors a power vacuum, it leaves room for you an me, the future of hell belongs to the vees
Husk: So things look bad, and your back's against the wall, Your whole existence seems fuckin' hopeless, You're feelin' filthy as a dive bar bathroom stall, Can't face the world sober and dopeless, You've lost your way, you think your life is wrecked, Well, let me just say you're correct You're a loser, baby, A loser, goddamn baby, You're a fucked up little whiny bitch Your a loser, just like me your a screws loose boozer, an only one-star reviews-er your a power bottom, at rock bottom, but you got company There was a time I thought that no one could relate, To the gruesome ways in which I'm damaged, But lettin' walls down, it can sometimes set you straight!, We're all livin' in the same shit sandwich haha! and you think that makes you unique? get outta here man, We're both losers, baby, We're losers, it's okay to be a baby, that's fine by me You're a loser, Just like me, I got an appetite for gamblin' Go ahead baby, sing that song, come on! I sold my soul to save my power, Now I'm on that demon's leash, I'm trapped and it gets worse with every hour A loser, but just maybe if we, Eat shit together, things will end up differently, It's time to lose your self-loathin', Excuse yourself, let hope in, baby, Play your card, be who you are, A loser, just like me We can do this, we can build it Best hotel that you've ever seen, Twice the bedrooms, we can fill it, With more sinners than you can dream fulfill your destiny! New lights across the marquee, with a little sorcery! We can do this, We'll be better, Though redemption may take a while, Wayward sinners dear they're ledger And then tomorrow it will be a fuckin happy day in hell!
Carmilla: You better show some respect!, Check your behavior, no one speaks to Zestial that way! Did you expect us, to sit back and take your insolent, brazen display? You and the vees are inane and uninformed, smug wannabees you don't heed when you've been warned this meeting's over I always thought, That I would keep blood off my face, But when that thing attacked, I had to act, To cross that line and keep them safe, But if anyone knew, Then all of Hell would rise to war And who's to say who'd survive the fray? I might lose the ones that I was killing for, So I, I'll be your keeper, Do whatever it takes, I'll make the mistakes, I'll keep you safe and keep this secret And I don't know what we might face, But I know I can't replace you so, I'll do anything to save you, Whatever we go through, I know I... I'll be your keeper, I'll be your armor, Whatever it takes, I'll make the mistakes, I'll make the mistakes, Whatever it takes I see you're driven by your detestation, Your every step is stoked with animus, You need a different type of motivation, Or there's no way that you can handle this, I know you're thirstin' for vengeance, Vaggie, You're out for blood, But you'll only stand a chance if you're out for love, Out for love, love, Think of who you care about, protect 'em and be Out for love, love, You're gonna fight without gloves, long as you're out for love, Fuel yourself with the fear of losin', That somebody who's your reason to live, Harnеss your heart, and you can't help choosin', To fight with all you can give, I know you'rе thirstin' for vengeance, Vaggie, You're out for blood, But you'll only stand a chance if you're out for love, Out for love, love, Think of who you care about, protect 'em and be, Out for love, love, You're gonna fight without gloves, And when that push comes to shove, Yeah, you just might rise above, long as you're out for love
Angel: That bitch is halfway down the street Oh, she's dancin' Can we just kill him, shoot him, and spill his blood works for us I'm not above a love to cash in, Another lover underneath those flashin' lights, Another one of those ruthless nights, Yeah, yeah, yeah, I shoulda guessed that this would happen, I shoulda known it when I looked in your red-hot eyes, Spewin' all your red-hot lies, Yeah, yeah, yeah, What's the worst part of this hell? I can only blame myself, 'Cause I know you're poison, you're feedin' me poison, Addicted to this feelin', I can't help but swallow up your poison, I made my choice, and every night, I'm livin' like there's no tomorrow, Oh-oh, oh-oh, Any way you want me, baby, that's the way you got me, I'll be yours, My story's gonna end with me dead from your poison, I got so good at bein' untrue, I got so good at tellin' you what you wanna hear, I disassociate, disappear, Yeah, yeah, yeah, So far beyond difficult to resist another gulp, Yeah, I know it's poison, you're feedin' me poison, I'm chokin' from the taste and I can't help but swallow up your poison, I made my choice, and every night, I'm wasted like there's no tomorrow, Oh-oh, oh-oh, Any way you want me, baby, that's the way you got me, I'll be yours, My story's gonna end with me dead from your poison, Poison, I'm drownin' in poison, I'm fillin' up my glass, but it's always hollow, Full of poison, I'm sick of the poison, Wish I had something to live for tomorrow We can do this, we can build it, Best hotel that you've ever seen, Twice the bedrooms, we can fill it You know it's true fulfill your destiny! Start with foundation It's as easy as can be! We can do this, we'll be better, though redemption may take a while, wayward sinners clear they're ledger and then tomorrow it will be a fuckin happy day in hell!
Adam: Let me stop you right there, Save us all precious time, If what you're suggesting Is letting them climb, Up the ladder, Oh, they'd rather cross the Pearly Gates? Sorry, sweetie, But there's no defyin' their fates! 'Cause Hell is forever, Whether you like it or not, Had their chance to behave better, Now they boil in the pot, 'Cause the rules are black and white, There's no use in tryin' to fight it, They're burnin' for their lives, Until we kill 'em again! Just try to chillax, babe, You're wasting your breath, Did I hear you imply, That they don't deserve death? Are they Winners? Are they Sinners? 'Cause it's cut and dry, Fair is fair, an eye for an eye! And when all's said and done, There's the question of fun, And for those of us with Divine Ordainment, Extermination is entertainment! Bow-now-now-nownow Guitar solo, fuck yeah! Oh, da-ah-ah now-now-n-now-n-now-n-now-n-nownownow, Hell is forever, Whether you like it or not, Had their chance to behave better, Now they boil in the pot, 'Cause the rules are black and white, There's no use in tryin' to fight it, They're burnin' for their lives, Until we kill 'em again! Fuckin' Hell's forever, And it's meant to suck a lot, So give up your dumb endeavor 'Cause you don't have a shot!, Long as I've got your attention, I guess I should probably mention, That we made the determination, To move up the next Extermination! Can't wait a whole year, To slaughter those little cunts, I know it's just been a week, But we'll be back in six months! There's no question to be posed, he's unholy cased closed, did you forget that hell is forever? A man only lives once, we'll see you in 1 month, gotta say I can't wait to come down and exterminate you! Shit.. Whoops! Wh-what's the big deal? Don't you act all high and mighty, did you ever think your little "girlfriend" might be a liar? What's the fuss? Why hid the fact that your an angel just like us?
Lucifer: Haha, Looks like you could use some help, From the big boss of Hell himself, Check out daddy's glowing reviews on Yelp (Five stars! Flawless! Greater than great!) Oh, with the punch of a pentagram, I wap-bam-boom, alakazam, Usually, I charge a sacrificial lamb, But you get the family rate ("thanks dad!"), Who needs a busboy, now that you've got the chef? (wow), Michelin-tasting menu, free à la carte, I'll rig the game for you because I'm the ref, Champagne fountains, caviar mountains, that's just a start! Uh, what? Hold on, now Others say, that in your needy hour, There's no substitute for pure angelic power! Who just happens to also be your blood! What a bunch of losers your song, I started this! Oh, you tacky piece of- You didn't know that when I tried this all before, My dreams were too hard to defend, And in the end, I won't lose it all again, Now you're the only thing worth fighting for, More than anything, more than anything, I'll shelter and adore you more than anything I've been dyin' to find out who you are Looks like the apple doesn't fall far! I've missed that smile All that I'm hopin', now that my eyes are open, Is that we can start again, not be pulled apart again, 'Cause in the end, you are part of who I am, I'll support your dream, whatever lies in store More than anything More than anything, I'm grateful you're my daughter more than anything, More than anything Come on little lady, why the frown? In the last ten-thousand years, You're the first one to change this town, You can do this, now I know it, For your story has just begun, You can't quit now, hell, you owe it, There's still damage to be undone, You've changed my mind, you've touched their hearts, From the good and souls gone bad The stage is wrecked, the crowd is gone, But by God, Charlie! The show, it must go on, We can do this, we can build it, Best hotel that you've ever seen, Twice the bedrooms, we can fill it, With more sinners than you can dream, It starts with you, You know it's true, Fulfill your destiny Good thing we're in Hell, Check out this little magic number Remedial creation for me, It's as easy as can be! We can do this, we'll be better, though redemption may take a while, wayward sinners, clear their ledger oh, this guy... And then tomorrow it will be a fuckin happy day in hell!
Alastor: Salutations! Good to be back on the air, Yes, I know it's been a while, Since someone with style treated hell to a broadcast, Sinners, rejoice! Instead of a clout-chasin' mediocre video podcast Is Vox insecure? Pursuing allure? Flitting between this fad and that, is nothin' working? Every day, he's got a new format Is Vox as strong as he purports, Or is it based on his support? He'd be powerless without the other Vees And here's the sugar on the cream, He asked me to join his team I said no, and now he's pissy, that's the tea Uh oh, the TV is buffering! I'm afraid you've lost your signal Let's begin, I'm gonna make you wish that I'd stayed gone, Tune on in when I'm done, Your status quo will know its race is run, Oh, this will be fun Who's been here since day one? Who's been faithful as a nun? Who makes you chuckle with an old-timey pun? Your executive producer? I'm your guy, your day-to-day, Your chum, your steadfast hotelier, Remember when I fixed that clog today? I'm truly honored that we've built such a bond, You're like the child that I wish that I had, I care for you, just like a daughter I spawned, It's a little funny, you could almost call me dad They say, when you're looking for assistance, It's smart to pick the path of least resistance Sadly, there are times a birth parent is a dud, They say the family you choose is better Can you butt out of my song? I'm singing it, I'll finish it! And feast on all the angels you can eat! She's bound to pass the test as Princess of Hell, Like her Daddy, she is madly power-fell! She's filled with potential that I could guide Stick with her, you'll be in the winning side! For the first time in our lives, We know that we are ready for this It's time to take a stand We cannot take it anymore, The time has come to go to war, Prepare to fight, we're ready for... THIS! This place reeks of death, there's a chill in the air, And I barely escaped being killed by a hair, "Great Alastor, altruist, died for his friends" Sorry to disappoint, that is not where this ends, I'm hungry for freedom like never before, The constraints of my deal surely have a backdoor, Once I figure out how to unclip my wings, Guess who will be pulling all the strings? And we're doing it with a smile And then tomorrow it will be a fuckin happy day in hell!
Charlie I can do this, somehow I know it, I'll get Heaven behind my plans There's just no way I could blow it, Not this once-in-a-lifetime chance To change their minds and touch their hearts, Or whatever angels have Cheer up, Vaggie, This could be swell, Something tells me that today will be a happy day in Hell There's a warm, fuzzy feeling that wafts through the air, Every street so revealing, it's hard not to stare, It's a realm so appealing, it beats anywhere, If you don't mind the smell, It's a happy day in Hell, Hi, mister! Hello! Ah, excuse me! If I can show them the dream I've dreamed, That any soul can change, Those angels' minds are hard to change, Then they will know everyone can be redeemed, From the evil to the strange, They're bloodthirsty and deranged! I can hear all their stories, the lost and displaced, And I know that they're more of an acquired taste, But if I open the door and I give them a place, At my Hazbin Hotel, It'll be a happy day in Hell, From the porn studio, where the cinephiles go, To watch award-winning demon bukkake shows, To the Cannibal Town, where they don't wear a frown, 'Cause holy shit, oh my gosh, why?! And I don't give a crow that his brains got in my eye! 'Cause I know I can spare them from Heaven's genocide, I can do this, I just know it, I'll get Heaven behind my plans, There's just no way I could blow it, Not this once-in-a-lifetime chance to change their minds Uh, no thank you, I'm just gonna, Fulfill my destiny! I can already tell Today is gonna be a fuckin' happy day in Hell I know Hell's population is out of control, It's a bad situation, It's taking a toll, If we rehab these Sinners And cleanse all their souls, At my Hazbin Hotel, Wait, I'm getting ahead of myself! Right! Extermination! I know you guys fly down Just to kill once a year, And it must be annoying To schlep all the way here, If they join you in Heaven That trip disappears! You can wave that chore farewell G A S P It'll be a happy day in he- Oh.. ..'Kay Well, uh Okay, but Well, actually, if you take a look- Ugh where the Hell did you people come from? What? Um, wait, didn't you- Ugh, shit! It starts with sorry, That's your foot in the door, one simple sorry, Spoken straight from your core, The path to forgiveness is a twisting trail of hearts, But sorry is where it starts That's an option you could choose But who hasn't been in his shoes? It starts with sorry Dig down deeper and say one sincere sorry And your journey's underway, It'll take time to cover your vast multitude of sins, But sorry is where it begins, It starts with sorry thanks dad! That's true! Oh, you! awwww When I was young, I didn't really know you at all, I always felt so small, But I heard your stories and I was enthralled, The tales about your lofty dreams, I listened breathlessly, Imagining it could be me, So in the end, it's the view I had of you, That showed me dreams can be worth fighting for, More than anything, more than anything, I need to save my people more than anything I've been waiting, wanting the same thing Took you a while All that I'm hopin', now that my eyes are open, Is that we can start again, not be pulled apart again, 'Cause in the end, you are part of who I am And who could ask for more? More than anything More than anything I'm grateful you're my father more than anything, More than anything It's not fair, Sera No! Don't you care, Sera? That just because someone is dead, it doesn't Mean they can't resolve to change their ways, Turn the page, escape infernal blaze You didn't know? That's what the fuck I've been saying! If Hell is forever, then Heaven must be a lie If angels can do whatever, and remain in the sky, The rules are shades of gray when you don't do as you say, When you make the wretched suffer just to kill them again, I was told not to trust in angels No! Don't you see? We've come so close, Look at them fighting, they're at each other's throats Have you ever wanted something that was so clear in your mind that you could taste it? Eh, sort of, It's a feeling like a rumbling in your gut that you could finally be faced with, A billion needy faces, I guess what I mean to say is, for the first time in my life, I might have to be ready for this, Ready to be the one who's leading from the front, Gotta come into my own, Gotta come into my throne, Gotta take charge and defend my only home, And although I kinda feel unsteady, Now I need to be ready for this, Have you ever felt like you're willing to die to save the people of your city? That's a start! 'Cause right now we need a leader, And it seems to me that destiny has picked me, To be that, if you'll permit me, so who's with me? Wouldn't it be super to see more of Hell? Join up now if you like travel, Come on boys, hop in the saddle!, Lotta sights to see en route to my hotel, Not to mention the camaraderie, Yes siree, you'll form life-changing friendships, With the folks along the way Okay.. Well, that's a little violent, can we tone it down? Eh, they just seem a little murdery right now We're super-duper grateful, To have you folks aboard Oh, lord For the first time in my life, Maybe I can be ready for this, I can be the marshal leading the parade, I can come into my own, and I think I've always known, My destiny could never be postponed, When Adam brings the battle here, I must appear like I'm ready for this For the first time in our lives, we know that we are ready for this! It is time to lend a hand! Against the angels, and their deadly threat! We cannot take it anymore, The time has come to go to war, Prepare to fight, We're ready for this! I really hope that I'm ready for this There's something that I've been dying to say, More than anything, more than anything, Need you to know I love you more than anything,.More than anything He did it for us, the ultimate sacrifice, He gave me his trust, and look how we pay the price, This bloodshed could have been avoided, If I convinced Heaven to work together, I took a hotel and I destroyed it, I know I could have done better, Better, instead of letting you down So long as I've got all of you with me! No time for crying, we got a lot of work to do and, We gotta try and make the best of what's in ruins With a little sorcery! We'll make a difference, wait and see We can do this We'll be better Though it may take a while We're gonna do this, you and me, And then tomorrow it will be a fuckin' happy day in Hell!
Hey shit your still here?
2024.05.11 21:13 SanderSo47 Directors at the Box Office: Wes Craven
 | https://preview.redd.it/5jhcjegtjuzc1.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=71a26f361e87730152e07e12f1bc76322db0b023 submitted by SanderSo47 to boxoffice [link] [comments] Here's a new edition of "Directors at the Box Office", which seeks to explore the directors' trajectory at the box office and analyze their hits and bombs. I already talked about a few, and as I promised, it's Wes Craven's turn. Craven earned a master's degree in philosophy and writing from Johns Hopkins University. He subsequently bought a 16mm film camera and began making short movies. His friend Steve Chapin informed him of a messenger position at a New York City film production co, where his brother, future folk-rock star Harry Chapin worked. He started in the industry as a sound editor, before transitioning as a porn director. He said he made "many hardcore X-rated films" under pseudonyms. And then he transitioned into directing for the big screen. From a box office perspective, how reliable was he to deliver a box office hit? That's the point of this post. To analyze his career. It should be noted that as he started his career in the 1970s, some of the domestic grosses here will be adjusted by inflation. The table with his highest grossing films, however, will be left in its unadjusted form, as the worldwide grosses are more difficult to adjust.The Last House on the Left (1972)"Mari, seventeen, is dying. Even for her, the worst is yet to come."His directorial debut. The film stars Sandra Peabody, Lucy Grantham, David Hess, Fred J. Lincoln, Jeramie Rain, and Marc Sheffler. The plot follows Mari Collingwood, a teenager who is abducted, raped, and tortured by a family of violent fugitives led by Krug Stillo on her seventeenth birthday. When her parents discover what happened to her, they seek vengeance against the family, who have taken shelter at their home. Craven, who had no money at the time, was put on the job of synchronizing dailies for Sean S. Cunningham's Together. They became friends, and Hallmark Releasing gave them $90,000 to make another film. Craven considered a hardcore film, but decided to tone it down a bit. The idea for this film came from Ingmar Bergman's The Virgin Spring, and Craven wanted to make a film in which the violence would be shown in detail onscreen, as he felt that many popular films of the era, such as Westerns, glamorized violence and the "vigilante hero", and gave the public a misleading representation of death in the wake of the Vietnam War. The film attracted negative media attention for its heavy graphic content, and there were calls for some theaters to drop the film. But you know, bad buzz is still buzz and that translated to a pretty good run in theaters, earning up to $3 million in its initial run. Even to this day, the film is polarizing due to its violence and themes. But Craven just made his name well known.
The Hills Have Eyes (1977)"A nice American family. They didn't want to kill. But they didn't want to die."His second film. The film stars Susan Lanier, Michael Berryman and Dee Wallace. The film follows the Carters, a suburban family targeted by a family of cannibal savages after becoming stranded in the Nevada desert. Craven wanted to make a non-horror, but he found that his investors only wanted films with graphic content. At the New York Public Library, Craven checked the library's forensics department, and learned of the legend of Sawney Bean - the alleged head of a 48-person Scottish clan responsible for the murder and cannibalization of more than one thousand people. He drew influences from this, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Grapes of Wrath. Craven also had to cut a lot of scenes to avoid getting an X rating. The film once again drew negative attention for its violence. But it made over $25 million at the box office, which was an even bigger success than House. It subsequently earned a cult following.
Deadly Blessing (1981)"Pray you're not blessed."His third film. It stars Ernest Borgnine, Maren Jensen, Susan Buckner, and Sharon Stone, and tells the story of a strange figure committing murder in a contemporary community that is not far from another community that believes in ancient evil and curses. It received negative reviews, but it was another box office success for Craven.
Swamp Thing (1982)"Science transformed him into a monster. Love changed him even more!"His fourth film. Based on the DC Comics character created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson, it stars Louis Jourdan and Adrienne Barbeau. It tells the story of scientist Alec Holland who is transformed into the monster known as Swamp Thing through laboratory sabotage orchestrated by the evil Anton Arcane. Later, he helps a woman named Alice Cable and battles the man responsible for it all, the ruthless Arcane. The film made $2.5 million domestically, despite mixed reviews.
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)"If Nancy doesn't wake up screaming, she won't wake up at all."His fifth film. It stars Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Johnny Depp, and Robert Englund. The film's plot concerns a group of teenagers who are targeted by Freddy Krueger, an undead child killer who can murder people through their dreams, as retribution against their parents who burned him alive. The film was inspired by several newspaper articles printed in the Los Angeles Times in the 1970s about Hmong refugees, who, after fleeing to the United States because of war and genocide in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, suffered disturbing nightmares and refused to sleep. Some of the men died in their sleep soon after. This, along with the song "Dream Weaver" by Gary Wright, motivated Craven to craft a horror film focused on people dying through their sleep. The film's villain, Freddy Krueger, is drawn from Craven's early life. One night, a young Craven saw an elderly man walking on the sidepath outside the window of his home. The man stopped to glance at a startled Craven and walked off. This served as the inspiration for Krueger. Initially, Fred Krueger was intended to be a child molester, but Craven eventually characterized him as a child murderer to avoid being accused of exploiting a spate of highly publicized child molestation cases that occurred in California around the time of the film's production. He settled on the name Freddy Krueger, which was based on a childhood bully of his. The process of writing the film went smoothly, the real problem was finding a studio. Craven sent it to most studios, and all rejected it. The first studio to show interest was Disney, but Craven declined their offer as they wanted a more toned-down kid-friendly PG-13 flick. When Paramount and Universal also turned it down, Craven decided to go to the independent studio New Line Cinema. The studio only distributed films, but they agreed in financing the film. As they lacked the financial resources for the production, New Line had to turn to external financiers. Despite opening in just 165 theaters, the film earned $1.2 million in its opening weekend, making it clear that it would be an immediate box office success. It eventually closed with $25 million domestically, and $57 million worldwide. It received critical acclaim, and has been referred as one of the best and most influential slashers ever made. Freddy Krueger would soon be hailed as one of the most emblematic figures of horror, and Craven quickly earned a reputation as a horror legend. But most importantly, it was the beginning of New Line Cinema as a studio, which is why it's referred as "the house that Freddy built." The film would later spawn a franchise, although Craven wouldn't direct any of the "sequels." Why the quotation marks? We'll get to that later on.
The Hills Have Eyes Part II (1985)"So you think you're lucky to be alive."His sixth film. The sequel to The Hills Have Eyes, it stars Tamara Stafford, Kevin Spirtas, John Bloom, Michael Berryman, Penny Johnson, Janus Blythe, John Laughlin, Willard E. Pugh, Peter Frechette and Robert Houston. It follows a group of bikers who become stranded in the desert and find themselves fighting off a family of inbred cannibals who live off the land. The film was shot on a very low budget, and it simply ended prematurely because they ran out of funds. There are no box office numbers available, but it received awful reviews. Deadly Friend (1986)"There's no one alive who'll play with the girl next door."His seventh film. Based on the novel Friend by Diana Henstell, it stars Matthew Laborteaux, Kristy Swanson, Michael Sharrett, Anne Twomey, Richard Marcus, and Anne Ramsey. Its plot follows a teenage computer prodigy who implants a robot's processor into the brain of his teenage neighbor after she is pronounced brain dead; the experiment proves successful, but she swiftly begins a killing spree in their neighborhood. Craven wanted to make a PG-rated science fiction film, with a similar tone to Starman, hoping to prove that he could make something that wasn't horror-themed. An unfinished version of the film was screened to a test audience of Craven's fanbase, and it was poorly received for its lack of violence and gore like his previous films. So WB decided to rewrite the film, adding more scenes with tons of gore. This made the final film appear tonally jumbled, and it went from easy PG to struggling to not get an X rating. The film was poorly received for its story and inconsistent tone. It also marked a huge flop at the box office, not even hitting $10 million. Craven lost interest in the film after WB inserted their own version, and he has since disowned the film.
The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988)"Don't bury me, I'm not dead!"His eighth film. It stars Bill Pullman, and is loosely based on the life of ethnobotanist Wade Davis, recounting his experiences in Haiti investigating the story of Clairvius Narcisse, who was allegedly poisoned, buried alive, and revived with a herbal brew which produced what was called a zombie. The film received mixed reactions, but it was a much needed box office success for Craven.
Shocker (1989)"No more Mr. Nice Guy."His ninth film. It stars Michael Murphy, Peter Berg, Cami Cooper, and Mitch Pileggi, and follows a serial killer who uses electricity to come back from the dead and carry out his vengeance on the football player who turned him in to the police. Another mixed bag for Craven, but it was still profitable.
The People Under the Stairs (1991)"In every neighborhood, there's one house that adults whisper about and children cross the street to avoid."His tenth film. It stars Brandon Adams, Everett McGill, Wendy Robie, and A. J. Langer. The plot follows a young boy and two adult robbers who become trapped in a house belonging to a neighborhood's crooked landlords after breaking in to steal their collection of gold coins as the boy learns a dark secret about them and what also lurks in their house. After a slate of mixed performers, the film received Craven's best reviews since Elm Street. To the surprise of Universal, it was also a box office success.
Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)"This time, the terror doesn't stop at the screen."His 11th film. The installment in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, it stars Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp, Miko Hughes and John Saxon. The film is not part of the same continuity as previous films, and it portrays Freddy Krueger as a fictional movie villain who invades the real world and haunts the cast and crew involved in the making of the films about him. While Craven co-wrote the franchise's third installment, Dream Warriors, he wasn't that involved with the rest of the franchise. He wanted to make a deliberately more cerebral film than recent entries to the franchise, as he considered them as being cartoonish, and not faithful to his original themes. Specifically, he wanted Freddy to resemble his original vision: far darker and less comical. To reinforce this, the character's make-up and outfit were enhanced, with one of the most prominent differences being that he now wears a long blue/black trenchcoat. In addition, the signature glove was redesigned for a more organic look, with the fingers resembling bones and having muscle textures in between. The film received high praise, and was considered as the best film in the franchise since the original (it was Englund's favorite). But the franchise has been bleeding interest at the box office, and New Nightmare unfortunately had to suffer. It was profitable, but it became the lowest grossing film in the franchise.
Vampire in Brooklyn (1995)"A comic tale of horror and seduction."His 12th film. It stars Eddie Murphy, Angela Bassett, Allen Payne, Kadeem Hardison, John Witherspoon, Zakes Mokae, and Joanna Cassidy. It follows a Caribbean vampire who seduces a Brooklyn police officer who has no idea that she is half-vampire. The film had awful reviews, and despite the presence of a huge star like Eddie Murphy, it disappointed at the box office. Craven really needed a hit.
Scream (1996)"Someone has taken their love of scary movies one step too far."His 13th film. It stars David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Matthew Lillard, Rose McGowan, Skeet Ulrich and Drew Barrymore. Set in the fictional town of Woodsboro, California, Scream's plot follows high school student Sidney Prescott and her friends, who, on the anniversary of her mother's murder, become the targets of a costumed serial killer known as Ghostface. As he was trying to make it in the industry, Kevin Williamson watched a Turning Point documentary about serial killer Danny Rolling which he said left him unsettled. Williamson later noticed an open window, armed himself with a knife, and called his friend for support. The pair began discussing horror characters that had resonated with them such as Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees. This experience prompted Williamson to start developing a concept wherein a girl is haunted by a caller. He started writing a film titled Scary Movie, and even left an outline for possible sequels. The concept was part of an era where there was debate over the influence of cinematic violence on audience, with Williamson coming up with a brilliant line "movies don't create psychos, movies make psychos more creative." It was inspired by many 1980s slashers, even though the genre was on decline by that point. His characters were intentionally designed to be knowledgeable about these horror films and their typical elements, with the intention of creating a unique killer who was not only aware of horror film clichés but also exploited them for his own advantage. While Williamson struggled with his previous films, this script was part of a bidding war with the studios, to the point that Oliver Stone himself wanted to direct it. Miramax (through Dimension Films) bought the script, and Williamson made some rewrites to scale back the violence. Bob Weinstein also wanted to change the name, as he believed the audiences would think the film is a comedy. The studio considered Danny Boyle, Tom McLoughlin, Sam Raimi, Robert Rodriguez, George A. Romero, Quentin Tarantino, and Anthony Waller as prime candidates to direct the film, but they all preferred to view the film as a comedy. Wes Craven was considered, but the studio believed he couldn't direct a satire. Craven also wasn't planning on directing it, as he wanted to focus on more mainstream films to salvage his career. Craven's assistant Julie Plec (who would collaborate with Williamson on The Vampire Diaries) convinced him in helming the project. By signing, Craven decided to get back some of the gore that was missing in the previous drafts. A huge contrast to the horror films of the era was that the film had established actors as the leads, as Craven and Williamson wanted to prove that no character was safe. Drew Barrymore had already starred in a few recognizable names, Neve Campbell was on the hit show Party of Five, Rose McGowan was known for Encino Man and The Doom Generation, David Arquette, Matthew Lillard and Skeet Ulrich were recognizable supporting characters, and Courteney Cox obviously was known for Friends. Vince Vaughn and Natasha Lyonne were the preferred choices for Billy and Tatum, but external problems caused them to drop out. After viewing the dailies raw footage, the Weinsteins criticized the quality of Craven's work as "workmanlike at best", believing it lacked tension and had an inconsistent tone. The Weinsteins also disliked the mask design, and said Barrymore lacked sex appeal because of the pageboy hairstyle she had chosen. While filming the final fight, Campbell's stuntwoman accidentally stabbed Ulrich with an umbrella tip, missing the protective vest he was wearing and hitting the site of an open heart surgery Ulrich had as a child. During post-production, Harvey Weinstein decided to name the film as Scream based on the Michael and Janet Jackson song. In a surprising move, the Weinsteins decided to release the film during the holiday season as counter-programming, offering teenagers an alternative to more traditional holiday fare. The decision was unpopular with the cast and crew, with Williamson expecting the film to fail. The film opened with $6.4 million and finishing in fourth place, leading analysts to consider the film as a bomb. But the film just kept growing. Buoyed by positive word of mouth, the Weinsteins increased marketing and the film managed to increase in its second and third weekends. It closed with $103 million domestically and $173 million worldwide, becoming the highest grossing slasher film ever and Craven's highest grossing film ever. The film received critical acclaim for its characters and writing, and has since been deemed as one of the most influential horror films of all time. It rekindled interest in horror, resurrected Craven's career and launched the careers of Williamson and the cast.
Scream 2 (1997)"Someone has taken their love of sequels one step too far."His 14th film. The sequel to Scream, it stars David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jamie Kennedy, Laurie Metcalf, Jerry O'Connell, Elise Neal, Timothy Olyphant, Jada Pinkett, and Liev Schreiber. The film takes place two years after the first film and again follows the character of Sidney Prescott, along with other survivors of the Woodsboro massacre, at the fictional Windsor College in Ohio where they are targeted by a copycat killer using the guise of Ghostface. As Williamson already had plans for sequels, the idea was for Sidney to attend college while being stalked by a copycat Ghostface killer. As filming began, Williamson's script had four killers: Derek, Hallie, Cotton Weary, and Nancy Loomis. But after Williamson transferred his script to the production, it was leaked onto the Internet in full, revealing the identity of the killers and a large amount of the involved plot. This resulted in the production continuing to film with only a partial script while Williamson conducted extensive rewrites, changing much of the film's finale, the identities of the film's killers and drastically altering the roles of other characters such as Randy Meeks and Joel. With a short deadline, Williamson couldn't fully compromise on the final script, forcing Craven to fill in the gaps himself. So the film was one of the very first cases where the Internet leaked major aspects of a film. As the Weinsteins wanted the film ready for December, it was able to capitalize on the audience's word of mouth to the original. It opened with $32 million in its first weekend, almost five times as big as the original, and the biggest December debut. It didn't hold as great as the original due to the competition, such as Titanic, but it still made $172.3 million worldwide, almost matching the original's gross. It also received very positive reviews, and so a profitable franchise was already underway.
Music of the Heart (1999)"She gave them a gift they could never imagine. They gave the system a fight it would never forget."His 15th film. The film stars Meryl Streep, Aidan Quinn, Angela Bassett, Gloria Estefan, Jane Leeves, Kieran Culkin and Jay O. Sanders. The film is a dramatization of the true story of Roberta Guaspari, who co-founded the Opus 118 Harlem School of Music and fought for music education funding in New York City public schools. After seeing the documentary Small Wonders, Craven was inspired to make a full-length film about Guaspari. Madonna was originally signed to play the role of Guaspari, but left the project before filming began, citing "creative differences" with Craven. When she left, Madonna had already studied for many months to play the violin. Streep learned to play Bach's Concerto for 2 Violins for the film. The project marked a huge departure for Craven; it was his first and only film to be rated PG, and his only one to not be horror or thriller. It received generally positive reviews, but it bombed at the box office. It received 2 Oscar nominations for Best Actress and Best Original Song, the only Craven film to get any noms.
Scream 3 (2000)"The most terrifying scream is always the last."His 16th film. The third installment in the Scream franchise, it stars David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox Arquette, Parker Posey, Patrick Dempsey, Scott Foley, Lance Henriksen, Matt Keeslar, Jenny McCarthy, Emily Mortimer, Deon Richmond, and Patrick Warburton. The film's story takes place one year after the previous film's events and follows Sidney Prescott, who has gone into self-imposed isolation following the events of the previous two films but is drawn to Hollywood after a new Ghostface begins killing the cast of the film within a film Stab 3. The plans for a sequel were already underway since Williamson sold the script, although Williamson still didn't write a script yet. When the Weinsteins approached him to write the film, Williamson was already busy with many projects (including his directorial debut), and was unavailable to perform his duties. He only made a 20-page outline wherein Ghostface would return just as production on a fictional film Stab 3 would be filmed. His plan was to show the killers were part of a Stab fan club (this idea would later be adapted into his show, The Following). With Williamson not available, Ehren Kruger was tasked in writing. Shortly before production began on the film, the Columbine High School massacre took place, and many parties began looking for reasoning behind the shooters' actions and there came an increased scrutiny on the role of the media in society, including video games and film, and the influence it could have on an audience. With production of Scream 3 not yet underway, there were considerations about whether the film should be made at that time, aware of the potential for negative attention but the studio decided to press forward, albeit with changes. The Weinsteins demanded to scale back on the gore and emphasize its satiric humor, as well as moving the setting to Hollywood. At one point in the production, the studio went as far as demanding that the film feature no blood or on-screen violence at all, a drastic departure for the series, but Craven directly intervened. One of the aspects changed was that the killer would be revealed to be Stu Macher, having survived the original film. The Weinsteins changed it after Columbine, as they didn't want to associate violence and murder with a high school setting. The film opened with $34.7 million, a franchise record and the biggest February debut ever. But it had weak legs, although it still made a very profitable $161.8 million worldwide. While the previous films were well-received, this film received negative reviews, who lambasted the film for becoming the very own thing it satirizes.
Cursed (2005)"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."His 17th film. It stars Christina Ricci, Joshua Jackson, Jesse Eisenberg, Judy Greer, Scott Baio, Milo Ventimiglia, Shannon Elizabeth and Mýa, and follows two orphaned siblings attacked by a werewolf loose in Los Angeles. Kevin Williamson started working on a script that followed the exploits of a New York City serial killer who discovers that his lethal tendencies are due to his lycanthrope nature. When one of his projects was scrapped, Craven decided to direct, teaming them up again for another Scream reunion. But it wasn't planned like that. Craven was making a film, Pulse, when Bob Weinstein abruptly pulled the movie from the schedule ten days before shooting and cut through all the slow lanes, wanting Craven to get to Cursed as soon as possible. Craven was reportedly not pleased so Weinstein doubled his pay in order for him to direct the film. The director deemed the script too tonally similar to his film Vampire in Brooklyn, but felt pressured by the studio, leading him to ultimately sign on. The film started filming in January 2003, hoping to get the film released in August. In June, they only had six days left for filming. Suddenly, Dimension Films decided to put the movie on hold because top executives at the company weren't happy with the film's ending or how the special effects were progressing, specifically the look of the film's lead lupine. Rick Baker was preparing the final transformation effects when production stopped and asked Weinstein to let his team finish the work in order for it to be ready for the reshoot, but he refused. Patrick Lussier was brought in for massive rewrites, and the film didn't return to production until November. Baker was fired, and the prosthetic make-up was replaced with CGI. Skeet Ulrich filmed his scene as one of the leads, but chose to drop out following the reshoots as he disliked the new direction. It was also heavily edited to get the R rating down to PG-13. The budget was originally $35 million, yet some reports suggest it ballooned all the way to $100 million, making it one of the most expensive horror films ever. With that budget, it was clear it was not going to be a box office success. It flopped with just $29 million worldwide, and was panned by critics. Craven himself dislikes the final product, and a director's cut was never an option because his original ending was never filmed.
Red Eye (2005)"Fear takes flight."His 18th film. It stars Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy, and Brian Cox. The story follows a hotel manager ensnared in an assassination plot by a terrorist while aboard a red-eye flight to Miami. The film received Craven's best reviews in years, and was a box office success, earning almost $100 million. While he is fine with people loving it, Cillian Murphy is not really fond of the film, "I love Rachel McAdams and we had fun making it but I don’t think it's a good movie. It’s a good B movie."
My Soul to Take (2010)"Only one has the power to save their souls."His 19th film. It stars Max Thieriot, Denzel Whitaker, Raul Esparza, and Shareeka Epps. It follows Adam "Bug" Hellerman, who is one of seven teenagers chosen to die following the anniversary of a serial killer's death. This was Craven's first film in almost two decades where he would be directing, producing and writing. But that didn't pan out to a success: it was a critical and commercial dud.
Scream 4 (2011)"New decade. New rules."His 20th and final film. The fourth installment in the Scream franchise, it stars David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere, Anthony Anderson, Alison Brie, Adam Brody, Rory Culkin, Marielle Jaffe, Erik Knudsen, Mary McDonnell, Marley Shelton, Nico Tortorella, and Roger L. Jackson. The film takes place on the fifteenth anniversary of the original Woodsboro murders from Scream and involves Sidney Prescott returning to the town after ten years, where Ghostface once again begins killing students from Woodsboro High. In 2010, Williamson and Craven confirmed their plans for a new film. Craven said that endless sequels, the modern spew of remakes, film studios, and directors are the butts of parodies in the film. The main characters have to figure out where the horror genre is in current days to figure out the modern events happening to and around them. This was the first film in the franchise to use CGI, with the knife's blade added in post-production. Even though the franchise was profitable, it seemed like its glory days were long behind it by the time it hit theaters. The film disappointed in its opening weekend with just $18 million, and closed with a weak $97 million worlwide, far less than the previous films. It also received mixed reviews, particularly for its writing and new characters. It was the last film directed by Craven before his death in 2015.
MOVIES (FROM HIGHEST GROSSING TO LEAST GROSSING)
The VerdictQuite inconsistent, but a very iconic figure in the horror genre. You know you made it big when your creations include Elm Street and Scream. Craven often struggled with difficult productions (you can blame the Weinsteins for that), but he still managed to make competent and scary films, even if some are better than others. Some even see critical re-appraisal as time passes; even Scream 3 and Scream 4 have their fans. We don't know what he would've done with the franchise after the fourth film, but he made it clear he was exhausted by having to film without finished scripts. Rest in Peace to a horror legend.Hope you liked this edition. You can find this and more in the wiki for this section. The next director will be Clint Eastwood. I think I'll have to make two posts, given that he directed 42 films. I asked you to choose who else should be in the run and the comment with the most upvotes would be chosen. Well, we'll later talk about... Ang Lee. A legendary Asian director. This is the schedule for the following four:
And that theme is: controversial directors. I'm talking directors who have attained a polarizing response to their films (like Zack Snyder), or the directors themselves are also controversial figures in real life (like Oliver Stone). Basically, a director that has as many fans as haters. |
2024.05.10 22:50 Urgon_Cobol The Molehill
I wrote this memoir over 3 years ago, after weeks of insomnia and nightmares. I wrote in english, my second language, so my wife won't read it, as she doesn't speak or read english at all. I apologize for any grammar or spelling mishaps.
The Molehill
The death of the Kid affected us all. I don’t even remember his name, none of us did. The same happened to the Firestarter and to the Forgotten Girl. I think we chose to forget their names, hoping it will keep us somewhat isolated from the whole thing. It didn’t. We all changed. It split our time at the Molehill into two periods: Before the Kids’ Death and After the Kids’ Death. And some of those who came AKD were affected, changed too. But it did much worse things to us, to me and my classmates. It took me17 years to write it all down, hoping I could put the past to rest.
It all began in late February or early March, 1999, some weeks BKD. We were in sixth grade at the Molehill. The Kid and the Firestarter were in fifth. This was the year of the reform, and the last year I talked to the Forgotten Girl.
The Molehill is our own name for the school. Formally it was “Special School and Educational Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired”. In other words it was a boarding school for any handicapped kid that had any eyesight problem, at least back in 1990s. We’ve got bullies, problem kids, kids that needed more specialized help due to their mental problems and deficiencies, as long as they had any sight problem, so other schools would not have to deal with them. The Molehill had preschool, primary school, high school, and middle school too, after the reform, and AKD. Most of us started at preschool. Me, three of the four Kamils, Raphael Noodle. Not the Kid, nor the Firestarter. And not the Forgotten Girl. She joined us, if one can call it “joining” at the first grade. Lucas the White, Kamil Chive and Susan came at the beginning of the 3rdgrade. And me? I’m the fatso, the nerd, the weakling. And I can’t recall any of their faces. Especially the Kid. We all did our best to forget him.
I still remember the day it all began, even though I don’t remember the exact date. It was cold as hell, and we all, the three classes and the teachers, were on the road trip to the Majdanek Concentration Camp, which is situated on the outskirts of Lublin, where I was born and raised, and where Molehill is. The Nazis built it back when they had their big tour around the Europe. They used it to imprison and murder mostlyJewish peoplefrom the region, but there were also some Ukrainians, Roma, Belarusians and Russians. Those prisoners worked the camp fields to grow beats, if I remember the tour lecture correctly, and when they couldn’t work anymore, they were murdered in gas chambers or shot, and their bodies burned in crematorium. The ashes were used as fertilizer for the fields.
My grandfather, when he was barely more than teenager, and bakers’ apprentice, often passed by the camp on his round delivering bread, buns and other pastries riding a horse cart. Few times he had thrown loafs of bread to the prisoners over the fence, but one day Nazi guards spotted him doing that and wanted to shoot him dead on the spot. My grandfather pissed himself, when they pointed their guns at him. They didn’t do it only because they had no idea, what to do with a horse and a cart full of bread. After that he never did anything like that again, and changed his route to be as far from the fence, as possible. He told this story to my father, who told me.
It’s hard to comprehend the monstrosity of it all when you’re reading it in history book or watching a show on Discovery Channel. But when you visit such a place, when you see it with your own eyes, it affects you sometimes. And sometimes it doesn’t. For some people it’s still a joke or a fiction. Or a boring road trip to a boring place.
As I mentioned, it was cold as hell, there were three classes, the 5th, the 6th, and the 7th. And few teachers. Classes in Molehill are small, usually less than 10 kids. It takes much more effort to teach kids with poor eyesight, or no sight at all, or those that are also mentally deficient. What a nice term, “mentally deficient”, it can cover so many things, and yet not explain any to outsiders. There was Mathew in our class for a time, he was mentally deficient, he had an IQ of rotten turnip, was very aggressive, and our class teacher, an old bitch who panicked and left the class one time in 2ndgrade when Duckman sneezed his glass eye out, didn’t know how to handle such “mentally deficient” student, so she taped him to the chair one day. After that he left Molehill for some place better suited for him. There was Michael, he was slow too, but not that slow. He became a gardener for the city. There was also Adrian, who had some neurological problems that caused surgeons to cut into his brain. Our math teacher once had shown us that because of this Adrian can’t walk and count aloud at the same time.
I’m wandering off the topic. I’m sorry. AKD we never talked about it, and even writing this down after so many years is hard. But it needs to be written down, just for the record, if nothing else. And there are so many related memories that I’m uncovering like some archaeologist of my own mind. Long forgotten fossils of some good times, and some bad times. Mostly bad times. You don’t know, how much even tiniest things affected you, until you examine them. For example after Duckman sneezed his glass eye out and our teacher ran out of the class, I decided to never replace my dead eye with glass one.
The Duckman was one of the four Kamils, he was our blind classmate. The other one, KB, was almost as nerdy as I, but he had better looks and better personality. And better sight. KW was in the 7thgrade, he was dormitory roommate of Chive, Lucas the White, The Kid and The Firestarter. He also was blind. Raphael Noodle was the kid who bullied me, but after the reform, when instead of 7thgrade we all went to the middle school, he moved to different one, where he snapped and beat up some kid so bad, he ended up in juvie. Lucas did whatever Raphael did, so until Raphael left us, we didn’t talked much. Chive was friends with Lucas, but he did nothing. No one talked to me, except for Duckman. No one wanted to hang out with a blind kid, nor with the almost blind one, so we became friends. And I was always his guide on trips. Susan didn’t like me, but she didn’t dislike me either, as the only girl in the class she was by herself for the most time. I don’t count The Forgotten Girl, because she wasn’t really part of our class, but she and I shared a connection from the summer of 1993, where we both were on the same camp for two weeks. As for Michael and Adrian, everyone avoided them due to their unpredictable natures.
So, again, it was a cold day. Overcast, and it was gently snowing. We drove to the Majdanek area on the bus, then had to walk few hundred meters to reach the concentration camp. Anyone could enter the site, but the guided tour with visits to the barracks, museum and crematorium were paid. Because back then both the school and most of kids’ parents didn’t have much money, we were going to look around only, check the monument, the mausoleum and see the buildings from the outside. Fortunately for us there was a tour in progress, so we joined them and pretended to be the part of the group. This way we were able to visit the crematorium building. First was the room where prisoners under supervision of guards stripped the bodies. The guide explained that if a prisoner was killed after arrival, one of the Nazis removed all jewelry that person had, carefully checking the clothing. Then he checked the mouth for golden teeth or crowns, which he subsequently removed with a pair of pliers. Clothes were washed and packed. After this short lecture we entered the furnace room.
The room was dark and gloomy. I don’t remember much, but the atmosphere of that place. It gave me the creeps, like no other place ever before. Back then I didn’t know, why, but now I’m glad we didn’t go to the other buildings. There was a row of brick ovens, reinforced with iron or steel bars between each one and on the corners. The doors were open, and they still held both ashes and metal stretchers that were used to put bodies inside. There was another furnace, a black metal drum, that was fueled with Diesel fuel. Late addition, if I remember correctly. We spent there only few minutes. I felt relieved once we left the building. That’s when the guide discovered we weren’t part of his tour.
We went to look at the mausoleum. It’s a big bowl under a bigger roof. It holds the ashes and remains of the inmates, these were recovered after the camp was liberated and taken over by the Soviets. While walking toward it, we ate our lunches. I’ve got spam between two pieces of bread, with not enough butter. Each of those, who were staying in dormitories, got a tangerine, pack of biscuits and a carton of juice. I ate my dry spam sandwiches before we reached the mausoleum. Our whole group spread around it, some looked inside at the mound of ashes and bones. I did my best to describe it to the Duckman, but didn’t want to linger there. The place was almost as bad as crematorium.
And that’s when The Dead Kid did, what he did, and Firestarter played his part too. But we didn’t know that, not yet.
Raphael Noodle saw it, and he told the teachers. Completely out of character for him, but I think the atmosphere of the place got to him as bad as to me. Me and Lucas the White were nearest, so we both looked into the bowl. There, on the side of the mound were laying a tangerine peel and foil biscuit wrapper. Raphael pointed at The Dead Kid, and said:
“He threw them in, I saw.”.
One of the teachers looked into the bowl, and simply asked TDK:
“Did you?”
“Yes”, he said. “And so what?”
“We’ll talk back in the school, you and me, and the principal.” She looked around. “We can’t let anyone see this.”
“We can get it out” said Lucas. Quickly we organized into three groups. Lucas, Raphael and Chive were at the bowl. Me, Duckman and KW formed a shield for them. Rest of the kids clustered around us. Lucas was skinny and tall for his age, so he went over the bowl edge, Chive and Raphael held his legs, while he grabbed the peel and the wrapper. He told me later that he had to wipe the ashes against the side of the bowl, because he didn’t want to touch them at all, and he held his breath the whole time. I was expecting Raphael to make a prank by loosening his grip, but he didn’t. Again, out of character. After that we moved away quickly. Someone laughed. Much later Lucas told me, who and why. Chive told him, and he learned it the day he became a hero.
We returned to the school without any further incident, I went home, and we all forgot about this incident. Until March 24th, 1999. The day The Dead Kid died. Or was it 25th? It was at night after all, night of the first quarter moon. I learned about the events of that night much later. But there were other things that happened AKD, and I’ll tell this story the way I experienced it.
From that day until Easter school was closed. Chive, KW and Lucas the White were under investigation by the police. The Firestarter was not at school for that week because he got sick when he visited his parents for the weekend. The police provided the school with a counselor to help us deal with the death of the Kid, but I think her purpose was to learn more about the Kid, and to find out if anyone of us knows, who might’ve killed him. But they found nothing. No forensic evidences, no traces on KW, Chive, nor Lucas, not counting the blood and ash, of course. Eventually they wrote it down as suicide. Yeah, suicide with particular cruelty. But that I found out later.
By the end of April we all were acting as if nothing happened. Some of us got psychological help, new counselor replaced the police spy, a PTSD specialist. For few years Lucas and Chive couldn’t sleep. KW fared much better, as he saw nothing, a perk of being blind. But he heard it. He heard it all. No one noticed however that the Firestarter was slowly and quietly going nuts.
That April, May and June we barely did any learning, but the teachers didn’t push us. The teachers who were on call that night at the dormitory wing, went on a leave, some until September, some for over a year, and one forever, she retired from teaching. So there were some substitutes just after Easter in the dorm wing. In early June Firestarter started his first fire, outside the cafeteria. He collected some dry branches and leaves from the school grounds, and made quite a bonfire. Fire department had to put it out, because there were no rains for two weeks, and everything was dry. They even had to spray water on the roof of the cafeteria and on nearby trees. Quite a show for us, kids. No one knew, who started the fire, and why. Even Firestarter didn’t know.
June 25thwas the end of the school year, it was also the last time I talked to the Forgotten Girl. She had cerebral palsy, and because of that she had limited motor function from her waist down. In short she was on wheelchair. Fortunately for her and her mom she wasn’t mentally deficient. Far from it. I’ll always remember her as that shy, timid girl, who spoke with soft, quiet voice. I remember her long, brown hair, slightly rounded cheeks and narrow, pointy chin. I don’t remember much more, with my sight faces are hard to remember. I recognize people by their voices, body shape, clothing and hair. Things that others can see from far. Forgotten Girl was skinny, despite being confined to the wheelchair. None of my classmates remembers her, because none of them really knew her. We spent a summer camp for blind and visually impaired, in the resort hotel named “Blackbird”. It was a three-sided pyramid of concrete in the mountains. There I learned how to move about with white cane, not my idea. There I spent time talking with the Forgotten Girl. We were too young to have really deep or meaningful conversations, but we shared something. Even at that age we both understood, at some level, that we will never be normal, and will never have normal lives. And we could either do our best, or just stop trying and die of despair. That’s why I learned the art of white cane, even though I never used it since. And that’s why she kept herself in shape later and decided to quit our school after sixth grade. She didn’t return for the middle school, nor for the high school. She was home-schooled anyway, but after that year she asked her mom to find a school where she could be in class, even on a wheelchair.
The graduation of 6thgrade took place at gym, because it was the year of the reform, and we were going to be the first year that would go to the middle school. For most of us it meant staying right where we were. After the ceremony I sat on the bench in the corridor that joined the school wing with the dormitory wing (where also were the preschool, cafeteria and administration). She rolled up to me on her hand-powered wheelchair. She had a white blouse, dark blue skirt, white tights and black shoes. She also put on her finger-less gloves. She had painted nails. She stopped in front of me and just asked:
“Are you holding on, Paul?”
I knew she didn’t ask about the graduation.
“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I? I didn’t know him much. You should ask Chives or Lucas.”
“I don’t care about them. I care about you.”
That was a surprise. I didn’t know she even remembered me. I felt guilty, because I didn’t.
“I’m fine. Really. I just have this absurd thought that he died because of tangerine peel.”
“Tell me” she said, so I told her. Then she told me she was not returning to our school because there was no entrance ramp and no elevator between first and second floor, and she really wanted to be in the class, to have real friends, or at least other people her age around.
“So this is the goodbye” I said.
“Paul, we can keep in touch, you know?”
“Like we did since that summer. It won’t happen, not with my parents. And I’m not very good at keeping in touch. Besides you will be moving to another city. And no one can read my handwriting, even I.”
That’s true. I developed good memory because I was unable to read my own notes. So I memorized them instead. She grabbed my hand in between hers.
“Promise me you won’t forget me.”
“I won’t”, but I did anyway, at least for some time. She released my hand and turned toward the school wing. Her mom was coming, with my dad and Duckmans’ dad too, to help with the wheelchair.
“And Paul?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re right about the tangerine peel. And you should trust your hunches more.” Parents reached us. She rolled down to the exit, turned towards the door, and looked at me.
“Good bye, Paul.”
“Good bye” I said. And that was that. I forgot her almost completely. I even forgot her name. I might ask Duckman, he has good memory for names, but I think I like to remember her as the Forgotten Girl. So those few memories of her that I have be like a dream from long time ago.
Next school year started almost normally. New school books, few new classes, few new classmates. But it was AKD. Some of us were regular visitors at counselors’ office. My mother got into her head that soon I will be blind, so she forced me to take course in Braille reading and writing. Look, Ma’, 22 years later and I’m still going without Braille! I learned it in six months, even reading with my fingertips, and six months later I forgot almost everything. Nothing really happened until November, when Chive became a school hero.
The reform caused Molehill to get more money to buy some specialized equipment, like electric Braille typewriters, book magnifiers (a CRT monitor on a stand with movable table underneath, there were some lights and camera in the monitor base, it could magnify anything on the table twenty or more times), some exercise equipment for kids that needed their motor skills and balance improved, and even a giant wooden table with hidden speakers inside for acoustic stimulation of whole body. That one I tried once, with some low frequency sounds. It was quite pleasant and relaxing experience. Anyway they needed place for that equipment, so they moved some administrative functions around, knocked a wall down and made a room for it in the dorm wing. The walls were covered with white plastic panels with wood grain texture. And my Braille teacher, who also did all the rehab work with the kids, hung some dry mistletoe and other plants on the walls. She got them from her house, just to add some more color and texture to the white walls.
One afternoon in late November, it was after classes, Chive and Firestarter were there, doing their homework, or something. Usually the kids that stayed for the week in dorms did their homework either in their rooms or in classrooms after classes. But that day Chive and Firestarter were in the most expensive room in the entire building. Next day Chive told us, what happened and how he became a hero.
“So he finished his homework first. He pulled out a lighter and started playing with it. I asked him “What the hell are you doing?!”, and he just went to that dry mistletoe and flowers thing that hung on the far wall by the window, and said “Check this out.”, and he just flicked his lighter. Just like that. And it went in flames in a second. Just “whoosh” and half of the wall was in flames. I ran toward it, yelling for help. I pushed him aside, grabbed the whole thing with my left hand and went to the nearest window. Opened it and threw it out. I wasn’t thinking, I just did it. Then Mrs. Aldona burst into the room and asked why I was yelling for help. I just told her that he ignited the mistletoe, and I pointed it with my left hand. I was still holding the window with the right one, you know. And then I saw my hand was burned.” He showed us his burned hand, wrapped in gauze and bandage.
Chive was embarrassed by the whole “hero” thing. He said he did what anyone would do. The room was saved, part of the wall had paneling to be replaced and ceiling painted over, but that\s that. The equipment inside was worth a hundred thousand zlotys, or more. Back then it was a serious amount of money.
That night Chive asked Firestarter about that fire. He was asked by teachers and principal too, but he told them he didn’t know why he did what he did. But he told Chive. He told him that ever since The Kid died he can’t stop thinking about fire and ashes. He told him that he started that fire by the cafeteria, and that he started a fire near his home, burning down someones’ meadow. Lighter helped him, a tiny flame to hold in a hand, but that day he just couldn’t control himself, he wanted that mistletoe burning. He told Chive about the road trip, that when we were moving away form mausoleum, after Lucas got that tangerine peel and wrapper out of the ash mound, The Dead Kid spat into the bowl, and that’s why Firestarter laughed. He also told Chive that he was finished in Molehill, the principal told him so, and called his parents. By the end of the week Firestarter was expelled from school.
Three months later he got into his fathers’ car, with a five-liter canister of gasoline. He locked himself in, poured the gasoline all around and over himself and played with his lighter. Suicide with particular cruelty.
Nothing important happened for some time. Then, in March 2001 Evelyn, the girl who joined us at the beginning of middle school, died from undiagnosed diabetes. One day she just collapsed in cafeteria. She was taken to the Children's’ Hospital in Lublin, but she died there after 3 days. She was buried on Majdanek cemetery. We all went to her funeral. Her death really hit me because I had a crush on her.
The middle school time ended with The Test. In theory better scores on it would open doors to better schools, including elite high schools. In practice the test was too easy, at least from my perspective. And we cheated as soon as the observer from Board of Education left the gym to check on Duckman, who took his tests separate from us, so his mechanical Braille typewriter won’t distract us. Nowadays I think the cheating was stupid, but there was pressure on us to perform, as someone heard from somewhere that the budget for schools in the following years will be based on test results. That turned out to be a lie. So the observer left the gym, one of the teachers stood at the door listening for her return, the other two went between our desks and gave us hints. From time to time someone would ask someone else for an answer. I was asked twice by one of the classmates that joined us at the beginning of middle school, I don’t remember his name. Twice I gave him the right answer. I didn’t need to cheat, but I didn’t mind helping others. Besides, the whole scoring system was pointless, pardon the pun, as elite high schools ignored the test results, and checked the grades instead, some even did their own testing.
Most of us stayed at Molehill anyway. Lucas the White had a chance to go to the high school with “arts” profile. That guy had a talent to paint and draw. Unfortunately he decided to stay with what he knew. Chive stayed too, as did KB and Duckman. Duckman had his troubles by then. He could get to elite high school, but that would probably kill him. I stayed in Molehill too, I was sure I couldn’t do normal high school, and elite one would be even harder. I was lazy too, so sue me. Some of us went to trade school for the blind and visually impaired, on Racing street. We got few new students, Eve the Bitch, Vicky, Marlene of thousand wet dreams, and Stan.
Me and Stan didn’t get along very much, at first. It changed when I snapped. I was the fat one, the nerd, the weakling. But one day, when we watched some movie with substitute teacher, Stan provoked me to a fight I knew I’d loose. Which, of course, I did.
I was sitting at desk in front row, Stan was sitting on top of his behind me. And he was kicking back of my chair with his feet. After few minutes of this I turned my head and said:
“Stop it!”
He did, for five seconds. I turned my head again and just glared as hard as one can, when being near-sighted, and with one eye dead and shrunken in the socket. He just kicked my chair again, this time harder. And I snapped. I just had enough of him, of the school, of my parents, of everything and everyone that pissed me off for the past few years. I just stood up, my chair crashing to the floor, and I attacked him. 5 seconds later I was bent over, Stan holding my right hand, arm bent at my back and substitute yelling at us both. I lost the fight, but for the first time in my life I won respect of the class. Or at least of those who cared about such things.
Few weeks later Stan asked me if I’ll be coming to the school dance. These were organized almost every week on Fridays. I didn’t attend them because I can’t really dance, and no girl would even ask me to one. Especially after Eve the Bitch started telling things about me, that’s what I thought at first. I told that to Stan, but he convinced me that I should come anyway.
I did, and boy, what an evening it was. Turned out there was at least one girl, who didn’t mind my bulk, beige shirt, even my awkwardness in social situations. Her name was Carolyn, she was from the third grade of high school, but her grade was under old system, from before reform, so she was a bit over a year older than me. She was my height, with triangular face, long, dark hair, small breasts and nice butt. After few dances some fast, one or two slow and almost intimate, she asked me to go to her dorm room, while her roommates were dancing with their boyfriends. So we sneaked out from the gym that was the dance hall, past the teacher that was keeping an eye on us, into the dorm wing, two flights of stairs up to the Girls’ Floor and into her room, at the far end of the corridor, by the second staircase that was added, when they did the rehab room. We kept lights off, so no one from the gym would see them. I was nervous, my heart pounding, my hands and forehead sweating like crazy. This was it, my first sexual experience with a female, whose name didn’t end with .jpg. I was ready, I was expecting something special. What I got was 10 seconds of awkward silence. And then Lucas the White started laughing and taunting us from the corridor. I don’t remember, what he said, but it made me really, really angry. I unlocked the door, opened it, saw Lucas and Chive. Chive was at least embarrassed, tugging White’s sleeve and saying:
“Let’s go, Lucas. Don’t be an asshole. Let’s go back.”
I grabbed my left wrist with right hand, and used my forearm like a ram. I hit Lucas\s throat, he shielded it with his hands, but I pushed him back towards the opposite wall. I kept one step away and just let most of my considerable mass push at his hands and throat. For him it was like bench pressing 80 kilograms of angry, horny and fat teenager. Lucas saw something in my eye, and he didn’t like it. He wheezed:
“I’m sorry, Paul. I’m sorry. I can’t breathe. I’m sorry.”
Chive tugged at my sleeve this time.
“Let him go, Paul. I’ll take him away. He’s sorry. Let him go.”
After few more seconds I let him go. I just stepped back, dropping my hands. They left us in a hurry. I went back to the room. I couldn’t see her face, but I heard it in her voice.
“I think you should leave too, Paul.”
“I understand.” And I did, she was afraid of me. “Thank you, Eve, you bitch” I thought.
“I’m sorry” Carolyn said.
I just nodded and left the room. I heard voices from the main staircase. A teacher caught Chive and Lucas, and she was coming up with them. I went to the second staircase. I went down to the Boys’ Floor. I exited there and went towards the main staircase, knowing the teacher won’t be there. I went by the room where the Kid died, and I felt it. Felt it bad. My spine turned into icicle, heart pounded, not with desire or adrenaline, but in pure fear. I reached the staircase, and it subsided. But I knew it won’t leave me. I went down, replaced my school sneakers with boots, got my jacket and I left for home.
That night I barely slept, haunted by nightmares full of blood and gore. It was first of many sleepless nights. As for Carolyn, we never talked about that evening, we never again got together or anything. Neither she, nor Chive or Lucas talked about that evening to anyone. And I avoided school dances and parties until the Half-Way Party, that was in the middle of second high school grade. Because high school was shortened to three grades from four, the half-way point was at the end of first term of second grade, instead of summer between second and third grade. Our class teacher asked us one day, if we want to have a party to celebrate it, and we said “yes”. That night we had The Talk.
I got a bottle of vodka for the party. Not for me, I don’t drink strong alcohols. I wanted to talk to Lucas and Chive, because ever since the Carolyn incident things were awkward between us, and it nagged at me. After two or three hours of the party, after the meal that was prepared for us and anyone we invited from other classes, I grabbed Lucas and Chive, and got them to the corridor that connected school wing with dorm wing. There were the big closets where we kept jackets and boots when in school. I also grabbed a bottle of Fanta from the conference room that was converted to a dinning room for us. I pulled the bottle of “Bitter Gastric” (that’s its name, really) and showed it to them.
“Let’s go somewhere and talk” I said.
“Our room” said Lucas.
“No!” I said sharply. “Anywhere but there.”
They stared at me and then Chive suggested:
“Maybe Mrs. Cobs’ classroom?”
We went to the school wing, onto second floor and toward far end. That classroom was next to the Chemistry/physics classroom, which was always locked. Mrs. Cob taught “Religion”. It might seem weird but here religion is in schools. It’s of course catholic religion and no one bothers to ask students their opinion on the matter. We kept lights off, there was plenty of light from the streetlamps and reflected from the snow. We pulled two chairs to the teachers’ desk and sat around it, I took the teachers’ chair. I placed both bottles on the desk, turned towards Lucas and said:
“I’m sorry for choking you, back then.”
“I deserved it, Paul” he said. “I was an asshole.”
“That you were” I nodded.
Lucas opened the vodka, took a swig and passed it to me. I took one too and passed it to Chive. Lucas opened the soda and drank a bit, then I drank a bit more. Last was Chive, again. He asked:
“Did you and Carolyn… Did you do it?”
“Nope” I sighed, “She was scared of me. Eve the Bitch probably talked with her. She is avoiding me.” I took another swig. Alcohol was starting to get to me.
“So what’s with Eve and you?” asked Chive.
“It was at the end of September, first grade. Duckman was in hospital, after his breakdown, and you were sick too. I was passing between Eve and a desk, and I accidentally rubbed against her. She yelled that I was harassing her sexually, again.”
“Were you?”
“No, Lucas! And I told her that I’d rather harass KB than her. And ever since Eve is pissed at me and tells every girl in school that I’m a perv. That’s why all the girls, even those that never talked with me, are avoiding me.”
We all took a swig of “Bitter Gastric”, and then few swigs of Fanta.
“Well” Lucas said, “Vicky doesn’t think you’re a perv. And on one occasion she told Eve to shut the fuck up. Marlene thinks you are, but that’s because you are staring at her whenever she runs.”
“I can’t not stare at her when she runs. It’s like trying to hold a sneeze. One could get blind trying.”
We all laughed at that. Marlene was tall, athletic girl, a blonde with almost white skin, and the most perfect pair of boobies any of us have ever seen. And she loved to run, which had almost hypnotic effect on every male who could see it. And on few females too.
I had another hunch. This was the moment to ask the big question. They would tell me. I also knew that this was my only chance. I took another swig, for the courage, and asked:
“What happened that night, when the Kid died?”
Lucas looked at me.
“You really wanna know?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“When I left Carolyn, I went to your floor by the second staircase. When I was passing by the door to your room, I suddenly felt so scared, so terrified, I still have nightmares. That’s why. I just need to know.”
Lucas took a big swig. Half of glass worth of vodka. Chive said:
“I saw nothing. I hid my head under the pillow and tried not to hear it either. So it’s Lucas’ tale. He saw it all.”
“You won’t believe me, Paul, but this is the honest truth.”
Chive got up, went toward the back of the classroom, he knelt by the bookcase with cabinets, where Mrs. Cob kept all the heavy, Braille books, maps and other stuff. He pushed his hand between it and the wall. There was small space hidden by the radiator and window sill. He pulled a small backpack from there. And from the backpack he pulled another bottle, this one unmarked.
“Holy water, from home” he said and laughed nervously. “We will need it.”
We all took a swig, emptying my bottle and then Lucas began.
“I don’t know, what woke us. I think it was his wheezing. The room was so cold that for a moment I thought the windows were open. But no. The Kid was just hanging in the air above his bed. Levitating, you know. He was belly down, and something was falling from his mouth. That’s when Kamil dived under the pillow, and KW asked, what’s going on and why it’s so cold. Then I saw a small mound of the stuff on the bed. It was ash. Like those ashes at the camp. Then something threw him against the ceiling. He was stuck there for a few seconds, then flew across the room, and hit the wall above KWs’ bed, legs first. They broke, like twigs. Then we started screaming, and he flew again, this time hitting wall above his bed, face first. Then he hit his bed, still puking ash, but his face was all bloody and messed up. Then he flew toward the closet, but his neck caught on one of the arms of the ceiling lamp, and he fell to the ground with the lamp. Then it all stopped and teachers came in. And we were still screaming.”
We opened the second bottle, turned out that Holy Water means a nice moonshine. Lucas continued.
“Teachers had flashlights, you know, to check on us at night. They saw the Kid on the floor, covered in blood and ash, one of them just fainted, the other looked at us and told us to stop screaming. Someone called for the ambulance and they came in, checked him out, and then the police came and they arrested us.”
“At first they thought that we killed him, but there was no evidence on us. And we told them what happened. KW and Chive only heard it, and that’s what they said. They didn’t believe us. After that they thought it was some kind of disorder that forces you to eat stuff that’s inedible.”
“Pica” I said.
“Yes, that. But we told them he never did anything line that and he hadn’t left the school ever since that road trip to Majdanek. And none of us would give him ash. Why would we? Finally they closed the case.”
“My parents have a friend in police” added Chive. “They asked him about this, when we were released. Few days later he told them that some ash disappeared from the mound at the mausoleum that night. They thought some occult or neonazi nuts did it. But the ash from our room matched the mound. And the Kid was full of it. Stomach, guts, lungs.”
“Your parents told you that?”
“No, Paul. I was eavesdropping on their conversation. That scared me more than that night.”
We drank some more. I felt seriously drunk. And I had another hunch. I told them, and we did it. We took another bottle of Chibes’ family moonshine from the stash, we went to their room, and we burned it down to the bare concrete. I still don’t know how the entire building didn’t caught on fire.Someone noticed the fire and used extinguisher on the door, containing it inside, until fire brigade came and put it out from the outside.No one discovered it was us. We just poured the alcohol all over the floor and furniture, dropped a burning match, locked the door and went back to the party, where we promptly fell asleep by the wall, completely wasted. They had to carry us out, when fire alarm was tripped.
When I visited that room after it was renovated, I felt nothing, absolutely nothing. Even the most epic hangover ever and the wrath of my mother were worth it.I don’t know, why I felt what I felt near that room and at the Majdanek concentration camp. I think, however, that when the Kid died, something of him stayed behind. His pain and suffering was imprinted on the room. And why he died? I believe he was too disrespectful to the dead at the camp. We didn’t want to visit that place, and for most of us it was a boring field trip. And when he did what he did, we were more concerned with not getting caught, than with the respect for the dead. Especially considering how many of them were murdered at that place.
I still have those hunches and really bad dreams. I think I’m just sensitive to this stuff.And there were few more times when I felt something, and sometimes I tried to act. Neither Lucas, Chive, KW, nor any of their roommates felt anything particular in that room. It was just me. And maybe the Forgotten Girlwould have felt something there, too.I think she also had hunches.
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The Molehill
The death of the Kid affected us all. I don’t even remember his name, none of us did. The same happened to the Firestarter and to the Forgotten Girl. I think we chose to forget their names, hoping it will keep us somewhat isolated from the whole thing. It didn’t. We all changed. It split our time at the Molehill into two periods: Before the Kids’ Death and After the Kids’ Death. And some of those who came AKD were affected, changed too. But it did much worse things to us, to me and my classmates. It took me17 years to write it all down, hoping I could put the past to rest.
It all began in late February or early March, 1999, some weeks BKD. We were in sixth grade at the Molehill. The Kid and the Firestarter were in fifth. This was the year of the reform, and the last year I talked to the Forgotten Girl.
The Molehill is our own name for the school. Formally it was “Special School and Educational Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired”. In other words it was a boarding school for any handicapped kid that had any eyesight problem, at least back in 1990s. We’ve got bullies, problem kids, kids that needed more specialized help due to their mental problems and deficiencies, as long as they had any sight problem, so other schools would not have to deal with them. The Molehill had preschool, primary school, high school, and middle school too, after the reform, and AKD. Most of us started at preschool. Me, three of the four Kamils, Raphael Noodle. Not the Kid, nor the Firestarter. And not the Forgotten Girl. She joined us, if one can call it “joining” at the first grade. Lucas the White, Kamil Chive and Susan came at the beginning of the 3rdgrade. And me? I’m the fatso, the nerd, the weakling. And I can’t recall any of their faces. Especially the Kid. We all did our best to forget him.
I still remember the day it all began, even though I don’t remember the exact date. It was cold as hell, and we all, the three classes and the teachers, were on the road trip to the Majdanek Concentration Camp, which is situated on the outskirts of Lublin, where I was born and raised, and where Molehill is. The Nazis built it back when they had their big tour around the Europe. They used it to imprison and murder mostlyJewish peoplefrom the region, but there were also some Ukrainians, Roma, Belarusians and Russians. Those prisoners worked the camp fields to grow beats, if I remember the tour lecture correctly, and when they couldn’t work anymore, they were murdered in gas chambers or shot, and their bodies burned in crematorium. The ashes were used as fertilizer for the fields.
My grandfather, when he was barely more than teenager, and bakers’ apprentice, often passed by the camp on his round delivering bread, buns and other pastries riding a horse cart. Few times he had thrown loafs of bread to the prisoners over the fence, but one day Nazi guards spotted him doing that and wanted to shoot him dead on the spot. My grandfather pissed himself, when they pointed their guns at him. They didn’t do it only because they had no idea, what to do with a horse and a cart full of bread. After that he never did anything like that again, and changed his route to be as far from the fence, as possible. He told this story to my father, who told me.
It’s hard to comprehend the monstrosity of it all when you’re reading it in history book or watching a show on Discovery Channel. But when you visit such a place, when you see it with your own eyes, it affects you sometimes. And sometimes it doesn’t. For some people it’s still a joke or a fiction. Or a boring road trip to a boring place.
As I mentioned, it was cold as hell, there were three classes, the 5th, the 6th, and the 7th. And few teachers. Classes in Molehill are small, usually less than 10 kids. It takes much more effort to teach kids with poor eyesight, or no sight at all, or those that are also mentally deficient. What a nice term, “mentally deficient”, it can cover so many things, and yet not explain any to outsiders. There was Mathew in our class for a time, he was mentally deficient, he had an IQ of rotten turnip, was very aggressive, and our class teacher, an old bitch who panicked and left the class one time in 2ndgrade when Duckman sneezed his glass eye out, didn’t know how to handle such “mentally deficient” student, so she taped him to the chair one day. After that he left Molehill for some place better suited for him. There was Michael, he was slow too, but not that slow. He became a gardener for the city. There was also Adrian, who had some neurological problems that caused surgeons to cut into his brain. Our math teacher once had shown us that because of this Adrian can’t walk and count aloud at the same time.
I’m wandering off the topic. I’m sorry. AKD we never talked about it, and even writing this down after so many years is hard. But it needs to be written down, just for the record, if nothing else. And there are so many related memories that I’m uncovering like some archaeologist of my own mind. Long forgotten fossils of some good times, and some bad times. Mostly bad times. You don’t know, how much even tiniest things affected you, until you examine them. For example after Duckman sneezed his glass eye out and our teacher ran out of the class, I decided to never replace my dead eye with glass one.
The Duckman was one of the four Kamils, he was our blind classmate. The other one, KB, was almost as nerdy as I, but he had better looks and better personality. And better sight. KW was in the 7thgrade, he was dormitory roommate of Chive, Lucas the White, The Kid and The Firestarter. He also was blind. Raphael Noodle was the kid who bullied me, but after the reform, when instead of 7thgrade we all went to the middle school, he moved to different one, where he snapped and beat up some kid so bad, he ended up in juvie. Lucas did whatever Raphael did, so until Raphael left us, we didn’t talked much. Chive was friends with Lucas, but he did nothing. No one talked to me, except for Duckman. No one wanted to hang out with a blind kid, nor with the almost blind one, so we became friends. And I was always his guide on trips. Susan didn’t like me, but she didn’t dislike me either, as the only girl in the class she was by herself for the most time. I don’t count The Forgotten Girl, because she wasn’t really part of our class, but she and I shared a connection from the summer of 1993, where we both were on the same camp for two weeks. As for Michael and Adrian, everyone avoided them due to their unpredictable natures.
So, again, it was a cold day. Overcast, and it was gently snowing. We drove to the Majdanek area on the bus, then had to walk few hundred meters to reach the concentration camp. Anyone could enter the site, but the guided tour with visits to the barracks, museum and crematorium were paid. Because back then both the school and most of kids’ parents didn’t have much money, we were going to look around only, check the monument, the mausoleum and see the buildings from the outside. Fortunately for us there was a tour in progress, so we joined them and pretended to be the part of the group. This way we were able to visit the crematorium building. First was the room where prisoners under supervision of guards stripped the bodies. The guide explained that if a prisoner was killed after arrival, one of the Nazis removed all jewelry that person had, carefully checking the clothing. Then he checked the mouth for golden teeth or crowns, which he subsequently removed with a pair of pliers. Clothes were washed and packed. After this short lecture we entered the furnace room.
The room was dark and gloomy. I don’t remember much, but the atmosphere of that place. It gave me the creeps, like no other place ever before. Back then I didn’t know, why, but now I’m glad we didn’t go to the other buildings. There was a row of brick ovens, reinforced with iron or steel bars between each one and on the corners. The doors were open, and they still held both ashes and metal stretchers that were used to put bodies inside. There was another furnace, a black metal drum, that was fueled with Diesel fuel. Late addition, if I remember correctly. We spent there only few minutes. I felt relieved once we left the building. That’s when the guide discovered we weren’t part of his tour.
We went to look at the mausoleum. It’s a big bowl under a bigger roof. It holds the ashes and remains of the inmates, these were recovered after the camp was liberated and taken over by the Soviets. While walking toward it, we ate our lunches. I’ve got spam between two pieces of bread, with not enough butter. Each of those, who were staying in dormitories, got a tangerine, pack of biscuits and a carton of juice. I ate my dry spam sandwiches before we reached the mausoleum. Our whole group spread around it, some looked inside at the mound of ashes and bones. I did my best to describe it to the Duckman, but didn’t want to linger there. The place was almost as bad as crematorium.
And that’s when The Dead Kid did, what he did, and Firestarter played his part too. But we didn’t know that, not yet.
Raphael Noodle saw it, and he told the teachers. Completely out of character for him, but I think the atmosphere of the place got to him as bad as to me. Me and Lucas the White were nearest, so we both looked into the bowl. There, on the side of the mound were laying a tangerine peel and foil biscuit wrapper. Raphael pointed at The Dead Kid, and said:
“He threw them in, I saw.”.
One of the teachers looked into the bowl, and simply asked TDK:
“Did you?”
“Yes”, he said. “And so what?”
“We’ll talk back in the school, you and me, and the principal.” She looked around. “We can’t let anyone see this.”
“We can get it out” said Lucas. Quickly we organized into three groups. Lucas, Raphael and Chive were at the bowl. Me, Duckman and KW formed a shield for them. Rest of the kids clustered around us. Lucas was skinny and tall for his age, so he went over the bowl edge, Chive and Raphael held his legs, while he grabbed the peel and the wrapper. He told me later that he had to wipe the ashes against the side of the bowl, because he didn’t want to touch them at all, and he held his breath the whole time. I was expecting Raphael to make a prank by loosening his grip, but he didn’t. Again, out of character. After that we moved away quickly. Someone laughed. Much later Lucas told me, who and why. Chive told him, and he learned it the day he became a hero.
We returned to the school without any further incident, I went home, and we all forgot about this incident. Until March 24th, 1999. The day The Dead Kid died. Or was it 25th? It was at night after all, night of the first quarter moon. I learned about the events of that night much later. But there were other things that happened AKD, and I’ll tell this story the way I experienced it.
From that day until Easter school was closed. Chive, KW and Lucas the White were under investigation by the police. The Firestarter was not at school for that week because he got sick when he visited his parents for the weekend. The police provided the school with a counselor to help us deal with the death of the Kid, but I think her purpose was to learn more about the Kid, and to find out if anyone of us knows, who might’ve killed him. But they found nothing. No forensic evidences, no traces on KW, Chive, nor Lucas, not counting the blood and ash, of course. Eventually they wrote it down as suicide. Yeah, suicide with particular cruelty. But that I found out later.
By the end of April we all were acting as if nothing happened. Some of us got psychological help, new counselor replaced the police spy, a PTSD specialist. For few years Lucas and Chive couldn’t sleep. KW fared much better, as he saw nothing, a perk of being blind. But he heard it. He heard it all. No one noticed however that the Firestarter was slowly and quietly going nuts.
That April, May and June we barely did any learning, but the teachers didn’t push us. The teachers who were on call that night at the dormitory wing, went on a leave, some until September, some for over a year, and one forever, she retired from teaching. So there were some substitutes just after Easter in the dorm wing. In early June Firestarter started his first fire, outside the cafeteria. He collected some dry branches and leaves from the school grounds, and made quite a bonfire. Fire department had to put it out, because there were no rains for two weeks, and everything was dry. They even had to spray water on the roof of the cafeteria and on nearby trees. Quite a show for us, kids. No one knew, who started the fire, and why. Even Firestarter didn’t know.
June 25thwas the end of the school year, it was also the last time I talked to the Forgotten Girl. She had cerebral palsy, and because of that she had limited motor function from her waist down. In short she was on wheelchair. Fortunately for her and her mom she wasn’t mentally deficient. Far from it. I’ll always remember her as that shy, timid girl, who spoke with soft, quiet voice. I remember her long, brown hair, slightly rounded cheeks and narrow, pointy chin. I don’t remember much more, with my sight faces are hard to remember. I recognize people by their voices, body shape, clothing and hair. Things that others can see from far. Forgotten Girl was skinny, despite being confined to the wheelchair. None of my classmates remembers her, because none of them really knew her. We spent a summer camp for blind and visually impaired, in the resort hotel named “Blackbird”. It was a three-sided pyramid of concrete in the mountains. There I learned how to move about with white cane, not my idea. There I spent time talking with the Forgotten Girl. We were too young to have really deep or meaningful conversations, but we shared something. Even at that age we both understood, at some level, that we will never be normal, and will never have normal lives. And we could either do our best, or just stop trying and die of despair. That’s why I learned the art of white cane, even though I never used it since. And that’s why she kept herself in shape later and decided to quit our school after sixth grade. She didn’t return for the middle school, nor for the high school. She was home-schooled anyway, but after that year she asked her mom to find a school where she could be in class, even on a wheelchair.
The graduation of 6thgrade took place at gym, because it was the year of the reform, and we were going to be the first year that would go to the middle school. For most of us it meant staying right where we were. After the ceremony I sat on the bench in the corridor that joined the school wing with the dormitory wing (where also were the preschool, cafeteria and administration). She rolled up to me on her hand-powered wheelchair. She had a white blouse, dark blue skirt, white tights and black shoes. She also put on her finger-less gloves. She had painted nails. She stopped in front of me and just asked:
“Are you holding on, Paul?”
I knew she didn’t ask about the graduation.
“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I? I didn’t know him much. You should ask Chives or Lucas.”
“I don’t care about them. I care about you.”
That was a surprise. I didn’t know she even remembered me. I felt guilty, because I didn’t.
“I’m fine. Really. I just have this absurd thought that he died because of tangerine peel.”
“Tell me” she said, so I told her. Then she told me she was not returning to our school because there was no entrance ramp and no elevator between first and second floor, and she really wanted to be in the class, to have real friends, or at least other people her age around.
“So this is the goodbye” I said.
“Paul, we can keep in touch, you know?”
“Like we did since that summer. It won’t happen, not with my parents. And I’m not very good at keeping in touch. Besides you will be moving to another city. And no one can read my handwriting, even I.”
That’s true. I developed good memory because I was unable to read my own notes. So I memorized them instead. She grabbed my hand in between hers.
“Promise me you won’t forget me.”
“I won’t”, but I did anyway, at least for some time. She released my hand and turned toward the school wing. Her mom was coming, with my dad and Duckmans’ dad too, to help with the wheelchair.
“And Paul?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re right about the tangerine peel. And you should trust your hunches more.” Parents reached us. She rolled down to the exit, turned towards the door, and looked at me.
“Good bye, Paul.”
“Good bye” I said. And that was that. I forgot her almost completely. I even forgot her name. I might ask Duckman, he has good memory for names, but I think I like to remember her as the Forgotten Girl. So those few memories of her that I have be like a dream from long time ago.
Next school year started almost normally. New school books, few new classes, few new classmates. But it was AKD. Some of us were regular visitors at counselors’ office. My mother got into her head that soon I will be blind, so she forced me to take course in Braille reading and writing. Look, Ma’, 22 years later and I’m still going without Braille! I learned it in six months, even reading with my fingertips, and six months later I forgot almost everything. Nothing really happened until November, when Chive became a school hero.
The reform caused Molehill to get more money to buy some specialized equipment, like electric Braille typewriters, book magnifiers (a CRT monitor on a stand with movable table underneath, there were some lights and camera in the monitor base, it could magnify anything on the table twenty or more times), some exercise equipment for kids that needed their motor skills and balance improved, and even a giant wooden table with hidden speakers inside for acoustic stimulation of whole body. That one I tried once, with some low frequency sounds. It was quite pleasant and relaxing experience. Anyway they needed place for that equipment, so they moved some administrative functions around, knocked a wall down and made a room for it in the dorm wing. The walls were covered with white plastic panels with wood grain texture. And my Braille teacher, who also did all the rehab work with the kids, hung some dry mistletoe and other plants on the walls. She got them from her house, just to add some more color and texture to the white walls.
One afternoon in late November, it was after classes, Chive and Firestarter were there, doing their homework, or something. Usually the kids that stayed for the week in dorms did their homework either in their rooms or in classrooms after classes. But that day Chive and Firestarter were in the most expensive room in the entire building. Next day Chive told us, what happened and how he became a hero.
“So he finished his homework first. He pulled out a lighter and started playing with it. I asked him “What the hell are you doing?!”, and he just went to that dry mistletoe and flowers thing that hung on the far wall by the window, and said “Check this out.”, and he just flicked his lighter. Just like that. And it went in flames in a second. Just “whoosh” and half of the wall was in flames. I ran toward it, yelling for help. I pushed him aside, grabbed the whole thing with my left hand and went to the nearest window. Opened it and threw it out. I wasn’t thinking, I just did it. Then Mrs. Aldona burst into the room and asked why I was yelling for help. I just told her that he ignited the mistletoe, and I pointed it with my left hand. I was still holding the window with the right one, you know. And then I saw my hand was burned.” He showed us his burned hand, wrapped in gauze and bandage.
Chive was embarrassed by the whole “hero” thing. He said he did what anyone would do. The room was saved, part of the wall had paneling to be replaced and ceiling painted over, but that\s that. The equipment inside was worth a hundred thousand zlotys, or more. Back then it was a serious amount of money.
That night Chive asked Firestarter about that fire. He was asked by teachers and principal too, but he told them he didn’t know why he did what he did. But he told Chive. He told him that ever since The Kid died he can’t stop thinking about fire and ashes. He told him that he started that fire by the cafeteria, and that he started a fire near his home, burning down someones’ meadow. Lighter helped him, a tiny flame to hold in a hand, but that day he just couldn’t control himself, he wanted that mistletoe burning. He told Chive about the road trip, that when we were moving away form mausoleum, after Lucas got that tangerine peel and wrapper out of the ash mound, The Dead Kid spat into the bowl, and that’s why Firestarter laughed. He also told Chive that he was finished in Molehill, the principal told him so, and called his parents. By the end of the week Firestarter was expelled from school.
Three months later he got into his fathers’ car, with a five-liter canister of gasoline. He locked himself in, poured the gasoline all around and over himself and played with his lighter. Suicide with particular cruelty.
Nothing important happened for some time. Then, in March 2001 Evelyn, the girl who joined us at the beginning of middle school, died from undiagnosed diabetes. One day she just collapsed in cafeteria. She was taken to the Children's’ Hospital in Lublin, but she died there after 3 days. She was buried on Majdanek cemetery. We all went to her funeral. Her death really hit me because I had a crush on her.
The middle school time ended with The Test. In theory better scores on it would open doors to better schools, including elite high schools. In practice the test was too easy, at least from my perspective. And we cheated as soon as the observer from Board of Education left the gym to check on Duckman, who took his tests separate from us, so his mechanical Braille typewriter won’t distract us. Nowadays I think the cheating was stupid, but there was pressure on us to perform, as someone heard from somewhere that the budget for schools in the following years will be based on test results. That turned out to be a lie. So the observer left the gym, one of the teachers stood at the door listening for her return, the other two went between our desks and gave us hints. From time to time someone would ask someone else for an answer. I was asked twice by one of the classmates that joined us at the beginning of middle school, I don’t remember his name. Twice I gave him the right answer. I didn’t need to cheat, but I didn’t mind helping others. Besides, the whole scoring system was pointless, pardon the pun, as elite high schools ignored the test results, and checked the grades instead, some even did their own testing.
Most of us stayed at Molehill anyway. Lucas the White had a chance to go to the high school with “arts” profile. That guy had a talent to paint and draw. Unfortunately he decided to stay with what he knew. Chive stayed too, as did KB and Duckman. Duckman had his troubles by then. He could get to elite high school, but that would probably kill him. I stayed in Molehill too, I was sure I couldn’t do normal high school, and elite one would be even harder. I was lazy too, so sue me. Some of us went to trade school for the blind and visually impaired, on Racing street. We got few new students, Eve the Bitch, Vicky, Marlene of thousand wet dreams, and Stan.
Me and Stan didn’t get along very much, at first. It changed when I snapped. I was the fat one, the nerd, the weakling. But one day, when we watched some movie with substitute teacher, Stan provoked me to a fight I knew I’d loose. Which, of course, I did.
I was sitting at desk in front row, Stan was sitting on top of his behind me. And he was kicking back of my chair with his feet. After few minutes of this I turned my head and said:
“Stop it!”
He did, for five seconds. I turned my head again and just glared as hard as one can, when being near-sighted, and with one eye dead and shrunken in the socket. He just kicked my chair again, this time harder. And I snapped. I just had enough of him, of the school, of my parents, of everything and everyone that pissed me off for the past few years. I just stood up, my chair crashing to the floor, and I attacked him. 5 seconds later I was bent over, Stan holding my right hand, arm bent at my back and substitute yelling at us both. I lost the fight, but for the first time in my life I won respect of the class. Or at least of those who cared about such things.
Few weeks later Stan asked me if I’ll be coming to the school dance. These were organized almost every week on Fridays. I didn’t attend them because I can’t really dance, and no girl would even ask me to one. Especially after Eve the Bitch started telling things about me, that’s what I thought at first. I told that to Stan, but he convinced me that I should come anyway.
I did, and boy, what an evening it was. Turned out there was at least one girl, who didn’t mind my bulk, beige shirt, even my awkwardness in social situations. Her name was Carolyn, she was from the third grade of high school, but her grade was under old system, from before reform, so she was a bit over a year older than me. She was my height, with triangular face, long, dark hair, small breasts and nice butt. After few dances some fast, one or two slow and almost intimate, she asked me to go to her dorm room, while her roommates were dancing with their boyfriends. So we sneaked out from the gym that was the dance hall, past the teacher that was keeping an eye on us, into the dorm wing, two flights of stairs up to the Girls’ Floor and into her room, at the far end of the corridor, by the second staircase that was added, when they did the rehab room. We kept lights off, so no one from the gym would see them. I was nervous, my heart pounding, my hands and forehead sweating like crazy. This was it, my first sexual experience with a female, whose name didn’t end with .jpg. I was ready, I was expecting something special. What I got was 10 seconds of awkward silence. And then Lucas the White started laughing and taunting us from the corridor. I don’t remember, what he said, but it made me really, really angry. I unlocked the door, opened it, saw Lucas and Chive. Chive was at least embarrassed, tugging White’s sleeve and saying:
“Let’s go, Lucas. Don’t be an asshole. Let’s go back.”
I grabbed my left wrist with right hand, and used my forearm like a ram. I hit Lucas\s throat, he shielded it with his hands, but I pushed him back towards the opposite wall. I kept one step away and just let most of my considerable mass push at his hands and throat. For him it was like bench pressing 80 kilograms of angry, horny and fat teenager. Lucas saw something in my eye, and he didn’t like it. He wheezed:
“I’m sorry, Paul. I’m sorry. I can’t breathe. I’m sorry.”
Chive tugged at my sleeve this time.
“Let him go, Paul. I’ll take him away. He’s sorry. Let him go.”
After few more seconds I let him go. I just stepped back, dropping my hands. They left us in a hurry. I went back to the room. I couldn’t see her face, but I heard it in her voice.
“I think you should leave too, Paul.”
“I understand.” And I did, she was afraid of me. “Thank you, Eve, you bitch” I thought.
“I’m sorry” Carolyn said.
I just nodded and left the room. I heard voices from the main staircase. A teacher caught Chive and Lucas, and she was coming up with them. I went to the second staircase. I went down to the Boys’ Floor. I exited there and went towards the main staircase, knowing the teacher won’t be there. I went by the room where the Kid died, and I felt it. Felt it bad. My spine turned into icicle, heart pounded, not with desire or adrenaline, but in pure fear. I reached the staircase, and it subsided. But I knew it won’t leave me. I went down, replaced my school sneakers with boots, got my jacket and I left for home.
That night I barely slept, haunted by nightmares full of blood and gore. It was first of many sleepless nights. As for Carolyn, we never talked about that evening, we never again got together or anything. Neither she, nor Chive or Lucas talked about that evening to anyone. And I avoided school dances and parties until the Half-Way Party, that was in the middle of second high school grade. Because high school was shortened to three grades from four, the half-way point was at the end of first term of second grade, instead of summer between second and third grade. Our class teacher asked us one day, if we want to have a party to celebrate it, and we said “yes”. That night we had The Talk.
I got a bottle of vodka for the party. Not for me, I don’t drink strong alcohols. I wanted to talk to Lucas and Chive, because ever since the Carolyn incident things were awkward between us, and it nagged at me. After two or three hours of the party, after the meal that was prepared for us and anyone we invited from other classes, I grabbed Lucas and Chive, and got them to the corridor that connected school wing with dorm wing. There were the big closets where we kept jackets and boots when in school. I also grabbed a bottle of Fanta from the conference room that was converted to a dinning room for us. I pulled the bottle of “Bitter Gastric” (that’s its name, really) and showed it to them.
“Let’s go somewhere and talk” I said.
“Our room” said Lucas.
“No!” I said sharply. “Anywhere but there.”
They stared at me and then Chive suggested:
“Maybe Mrs. Cobs’ classroom?”
We went to the school wing, onto second floor and toward far end. That classroom was next to the Chemistry/physics classroom, which was always locked. Mrs. Cob taught “Religion”. It might seem weird but here religion is in schools. It’s of course catholic religion and no one bothers to ask students their opinion on the matter. We kept lights off, there was plenty of light from the streetlamps and reflected from the snow. We pulled two chairs to the teachers’ desk and sat around it, I took the teachers’ chair. I placed both bottles on the desk, turned towards Lucas and said:
“I’m sorry for choking you, back then.”
“I deserved it, Paul” he said. “I was an asshole.”
“That you were” I nodded.
Lucas opened the vodka, took a swig and passed it to me. I took one too and passed it to Chive. Lucas opened the soda and drank a bit, then I drank a bit more. Last was Chive, again. He asked:
“Did you and Carolyn… Did you do it?”
“Nope” I sighed, “She was scared of me. Eve the Bitch probably talked with her. She is avoiding me.” I took another swig. Alcohol was starting to get to me.
“So what’s with Eve and you?” asked Chive.
“It was at the end of September, first grade. Duckman was in hospital, after his breakdown, and you were sick too. I was passing between Eve and a desk, and I accidentally rubbed against her. She yelled that I was harassing her sexually, again.”
“Were you?”
“No, Lucas! And I told her that I’d rather harass KB than her. And ever since Eve is pissed at me and tells every girl in school that I’m a perv. That’s why all the girls, even those that never talked with me, are avoiding me.”
We all took a swig of “Bitter Gastric”, and then few swigs of Fanta.
“Well” Lucas said, “Vicky doesn’t think you’re a perv. And on one occasion she told Eve to shut the fuck up. Marlene thinks you are, but that’s because you are staring at her whenever she runs.”
“I can’t not stare at her when she runs. It’s like trying to hold a sneeze. One could get blind trying.”
We all laughed at that. Marlene was tall, athletic girl, a blonde with almost white skin, and the most perfect pair of boobies any of us have ever seen. And she loved to run, which had almost hypnotic effect on every male who could see it. And on few females too.
I had another hunch. This was the moment to ask the big question. They would tell me. I also knew that this was my only chance. I took another swig, for the courage, and asked:
“What happened that night, when the Kid died?”
Lucas looked at me.
“You really wanna know?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“When I left Carolyn, I went to your floor by the second staircase. When I was passing by the door to your room, I suddenly felt so scared, so terrified, I still have nightmares. That’s why. I just need to know.”
Lucas took a big swig. Half of glass worth of vodka. Chive said:
“I saw nothing. I hid my head under the pillow and tried not to hear it either. So it’s Lucas’ tale. He saw it all.”
“You won’t believe me, Paul, but this is the honest truth.”
Chive got up, went toward the back of the classroom, he knelt by the bookcase with cabinets, where Mrs. Cob kept all the heavy, Braille books, maps and other stuff. He pushed his hand between it and the wall. There was small space hidden by the radiator and window sill. He pulled a small backpack from there. And from the backpack he pulled another bottle, this one unmarked.
“Holy water, from home” he said and laughed nervously. “We will need it.”
We all took a swig, emptying my bottle and then Lucas began.
“I don’t know, what woke us. I think it was his wheezing. The room was so cold that for a moment I thought the windows were open. But no. The Kid was just hanging in the air above his bed. Levitating, you know. He was belly down, and something was falling from his mouth. That’s when Kamil dived under the pillow, and KW asked, what’s going on and why it’s so cold. Then I saw a small mound of the stuff on the bed. It was ash. Like those ashes at the camp. Then something threw him against the ceiling. He was stuck there for a few seconds, then flew across the room, and hit the wall above KWs’ bed, legs first. They broke, like twigs. Then we started screaming, and he flew again, this time hitting wall above his bed, face first. Then he hit his bed, still puking ash, but his face was all bloody and messed up. Then he flew toward the closet, but his neck caught on one of the arms of the ceiling lamp, and he fell to the ground with the lamp. Then it all stopped and teachers came in. And we were still screaming.”
We opened the second bottle, turned out that Holy Water means a nice moonshine. Lucas continued.
“Teachers had flashlights, you know, to check on us at night. They saw the Kid on the floor, covered in blood and ash, one of them just fainted, the other looked at us and told us to stop screaming. Someone called for the ambulance and they came in, checked him out, and then the police came and they arrested us.”
“At first they thought that we killed him, but there was no evidence on us. And we told them what happened. KW and Chive only heard it, and that’s what they said. They didn’t believe us. After that they thought it was some kind of disorder that forces you to eat stuff that’s inedible.”
“Pica” I said.
“Yes, that. But we told them he never did anything line that and he hadn’t left the school ever since that road trip to Majdanek. And none of us would give him ash. Why would we? Finally they closed the case.”
“My parents have a friend in police” added Chive. “They asked him about this, when we were released. Few days later he told them that some ash disappeared from the mound at the mausoleum that night. They thought some occult or neonazi nuts did it. But the ash from our room matched the mound. And the Kid was full of it. Stomach, guts, lungs.”
“Your parents told you that?”
“No, Paul. I was eavesdropping on their conversation. That scared me more than that night.”
We drank some more. I felt seriously drunk. And I had another hunch. I told them, and we did it. We took another bottle of Chibes’ family moonshine from the stash, we went to their room, and we burned it down to the bare concrete. I still don’t know how the entire building didn’t caught on fire.Someone noticed the fire and used extinguisher on the door, containing it inside, until fire brigade came and put it out from the outside.No one discovered it was us. We just poured the alcohol all over the floor and furniture, dropped a burning match, locked the door and went back to the party, where we promptly fell asleep by the wall, completely wasted. They had to carry us out, when fire alarm was tripped.
When I visited that room after it was renovated, I felt nothing, absolutely nothing. Even the most epic hangover ever and the wrath of my mother were worth it.I don’t know, why I felt what I felt near that room and at the Majdanek concentration camp. I think, however, that when the Kid died, something of him stayed behind. His pain and suffering was imprinted on the room. And why he died? I believe he was too disrespectful to the dead at the camp. We didn’t want to visit that place, and for most of us it was a boring field trip. And when he did what he did, we were more concerned with not getting caught, than with the respect for the dead. Especially considering how many of them were murdered at that place.
I still have those hunches and really bad dreams. I think I’m just sensitive to this stuff.And there were few more times when I felt something, and sometimes I tried to act. Neither Lucas, Chive, KW, nor any of their roommates felt anything particular in that room. It was just me. And maybe the Forgotten Girlwould have felt something there, too.I think she also had hunches.
2024.05.10 16:26 AntimimeticA The May batch of the Gaddis Centenary journal issue is now live
Hi everyone, the email announcement of this month's Gaddis Centenary publications just came.
Below are this month's articles, with descriptions and links. There is apparently one more batch to come after this.
Elliot Yates – “Gaddis at Textron: From Fruits of Diversification to Financialization”
Elliot Yates examines Gaddis’s first corporate writing assignment, with the company Textron, which seems to coincide directly with his first conception of the plot for J R. Textron was one of the first US corporations to explicitly pursue conglomerate “diversification” through buying up seemingly unrelated businesses, and Yates shows how this not only helped generate the plot of J R, but functions as a key to understanding its formal design.
David Ting – “Indeterminacy as Invention: How William Gaddis Met Physicists, Cybernetics, and Mephistopheles on the Way to Agapē Agape”
David Ting excavates the archived compositional history of Agapē Agape to test what we can learn from the marginal annotations in Gaddis’s working library, focusing on his copy of Susan Stebbing’s Philosophy and the Physicists. Ting finds Gaddis testing his own ideas against those of Stebbing and her sources, while making outward connections between this technical material and his literary reading in Plato and Faust. Illuminating the novel’s chronological evolution, Ting also provides us a case study in tracking how authors use their reading as a “means of invention.”
Kate Michelson Goldkamp – “Juvenilia in the William Gaddis Papers”
Kate Michelson Goldkamp surveys the Juvenilia preserved in Gaddis’s archive, finding, among other things, early prefigurations of his “delight[] in the macabre” in some illustrated mini-stories, hints of the boy JR's worldview in studies of US geography, and doodles that prefigure some of the published fiction’s hand-drawn illustrations.
Alan Bigelow – “Gaddis’s Broken Doorknob”
Further memories from yet another student of William Gaddis during the time when WG taught at Bard.
Scott Zieher – “Reflections on and Appreciation of A Pile Fabric Primer”
Scott Zieher offers some creative non-fiction in praise of perhaps Gaddis’s least-lauded publication: the lavishly illustrated and sample-provisioned “masterwork of printed ephemera” A Pile Fabric Primer. How did this mysterious document come to be, and what does it tell us about the creative writer's working conditions?
Lalita Kashoba Mohan – “Why We Shouldn’t Abandon Postmodern Approaches to William Gaddis: J R, American Antihero Traditions, and His Indian Inheritors”
After noting how J R was a reflection of postmodern society and antiheroic traditions in America in the 1970s, Lalita Kashoba Mohan signals a similar postmodern turn in her homeland, India, and other countries "whose economic development is now following America’s earlier path."
Cole Fishman – “William Gaddis as Philosopher: Kierkegaard, Style, and the Spirit of Hegel”
Cole Fishman argues that Gaddis should be recognized for his contributions to philosophy, no matter what the "disciplinary gatekeepers" think.
Francine Fabiana Ozaki – “Originality, Authenticity, Translation, Forgery: Why Translators and Translation Theorists Should Read The Recognitions”
Translator Francine Ozaki reads The Recognitions through the overarching debates of twentieth-century translation theory, finding the conflict between Wyatt’s and Otto’s handling of Forgery, Originality, and Authenticity illuminating the concerns of today's professional translators. Questions of credit, treachery, allegiance, payment, and dependency are so fully addressed in the novel that translators and translation theorists should be reading it to help make sense of their own artistic and professional roles.
submitted by AntimimeticA to Gaddis [link] [comments]
Below are this month's articles, with descriptions and links. There is apparently one more batch to come after this.
Elliot Yates – “Gaddis at Textron: From Fruits of Diversification to Financialization”
Elliot Yates examines Gaddis’s first corporate writing assignment, with the company Textron, which seems to coincide directly with his first conception of the plot for J R. Textron was one of the first US corporations to explicitly pursue conglomerate “diversification” through buying up seemingly unrelated businesses, and Yates shows how this not only helped generate the plot of J R, but functions as a key to understanding its formal design.
David Ting – “Indeterminacy as Invention: How William Gaddis Met Physicists, Cybernetics, and Mephistopheles on the Way to Agapē Agape”
David Ting excavates the archived compositional history of Agapē Agape to test what we can learn from the marginal annotations in Gaddis’s working library, focusing on his copy of Susan Stebbing’s Philosophy and the Physicists. Ting finds Gaddis testing his own ideas against those of Stebbing and her sources, while making outward connections between this technical material and his literary reading in Plato and Faust. Illuminating the novel’s chronological evolution, Ting also provides us a case study in tracking how authors use their reading as a “means of invention.”
Kate Michelson Goldkamp – “Juvenilia in the William Gaddis Papers”
Kate Michelson Goldkamp surveys the Juvenilia preserved in Gaddis’s archive, finding, among other things, early prefigurations of his “delight[] in the macabre” in some illustrated mini-stories, hints of the boy JR's worldview in studies of US geography, and doodles that prefigure some of the published fiction’s hand-drawn illustrations.
Alan Bigelow – “Gaddis’s Broken Doorknob”
Further memories from yet another student of William Gaddis during the time when WG taught at Bard.
Scott Zieher – “Reflections on and Appreciation of A Pile Fabric Primer”
Scott Zieher offers some creative non-fiction in praise of perhaps Gaddis’s least-lauded publication: the lavishly illustrated and sample-provisioned “masterwork of printed ephemera” A Pile Fabric Primer. How did this mysterious document come to be, and what does it tell us about the creative writer's working conditions?
Lalita Kashoba Mohan – “Why We Shouldn’t Abandon Postmodern Approaches to William Gaddis: J R, American Antihero Traditions, and His Indian Inheritors”
After noting how J R was a reflection of postmodern society and antiheroic traditions in America in the 1970s, Lalita Kashoba Mohan signals a similar postmodern turn in her homeland, India, and other countries "whose economic development is now following America’s earlier path."
Cole Fishman – “William Gaddis as Philosopher: Kierkegaard, Style, and the Spirit of Hegel”
Cole Fishman argues that Gaddis should be recognized for his contributions to philosophy, no matter what the "disciplinary gatekeepers" think.
Francine Fabiana Ozaki – “Originality, Authenticity, Translation, Forgery: Why Translators and Translation Theorists Should Read The Recognitions”
Translator Francine Ozaki reads The Recognitions through the overarching debates of twentieth-century translation theory, finding the conflict between Wyatt’s and Otto’s handling of Forgery, Originality, and Authenticity illuminating the concerns of today's professional translators. Questions of credit, treachery, allegiance, payment, and dependency are so fully addressed in the novel that translators and translation theorists should be reading it to help make sense of their own artistic and professional roles.
2024.05.10 14:47 Poppeppercaramel Ballad of badguy : Sir Based the brave
 | This is the tales of the infamous magic Knight. Once is regarded as one of the most righteous and pure hearted individual who fight for justice and vanquished forces of evil left and right. A noble knight in shining armor beloved and adored by all, true heroic figure. submitted by Poppeppercaramel to wizardposting [link] [comments] But now, Sir Based is nothing but a tainted symbol of cruel and uncaring unchecked capitalism where human life and righteousness is worth less than a few gold coins. Where horrid exploitation of fellow men and women is seen as norm. A staunch sigil of Chivalry industrial complex that send countless soldiers and squires to face their doom in the pointless crusade, to be slaughtered and dehumanised on unforgiving dunes of Levantine and other middle Eastern caliphate. Just for the higher entourage and echelon of Knights, military generals and Chaplains to fatten and enriched themselves on the spoils of war paid by blood and tear of their subordinates covered by a facade of holy war. Many thinks Sir based is a cruel hearted bastard since the beginning but that's not what happened. He only walks down the darker side because of an incident. An incident that cause Sir based his heart and mind. A story of a blade, a knight and his journey to the great waste. Many years ago, there's was a great war when a lunatic King from nation faraway has gone coo coo for coco puffs and for some unfathomable reason. Declared war against the world. That tyrant waging the great senseless war against his neighbouring kingdoms and countries, causing untold loss and suffering. After the alliance is formed and coalition is dead set to dethrone the mad monarch, 18 years of bloodshed and battles. The coalition gain the ground inches by inches against the strange preter natural strength of the tyrant's army that fight with unmatched ferocity. It's like the whole army is infected with rabies or something. But with the pure determination of the coalition army and overwhelming amount of soldier consisted of nation and fiefdom that has been ravaged by the unhinged monarch's force. They finally break into the grand city, barged into the throne room and have a final showdown with the mad king. But what they saw is not what they expected at all, they expected morbidly obese manchild that has been pampered all his life and order with ignorance but what they seen is rabid, enraged and really beefed up howling madman that make werewolf look like a chihuahua. His oversized false body builder muscle and shaking body is nothing when compared to his angry face that look like crude caricature of a supervillain. After the fight with that crazed tyrant, after that mad king single handedly crushed 15 seasoned warriors with super natural brute force but lost to 50 more that swarmed him, one of them is Sir based who successfully disarmed the cruel king from his trusty sword. After the coalition army beheaded him and cremated his body. They have a bigger problem in hand, they found the source of the evil and strange might of the vile monarch's force. The sword that mad king use is one of the most accursed artifact of doom that give user untold strength at the cost of corruption in their mind and body. The shiny pale grey blade adorned with golden lion shaped hilt and fiery red ruby, the legendary Pride Edge. This blade though being lost forever find it's way into the hand of King and corrupted him into rabid despot. The Coalition know that this is serious matters since this thing is one of the artifact sought after by many many evil sorcerer, necromancer and other unsavory mages. If they know Pride Edge is here then Coalition going fight 50 lich Kings and evil witches bun rush at this kingdom to take Pride edge for themselves. Within that night, the Coalition higher council decided that this thing need to be destroyed as fast as possible to prevent future tragedy and to denied any evil wizard from using it to causing more suffering to the world. And since they have ridiculously low imagination, they decided that this blade need to be cast into the pit of molten magma inside the great waste. Probably because these knight watched too much Halfling adventure when they were kids. The great waste a vast moorland and barren volcanic landscape full of monsters and many horror that called those accursed place a home. They decided that to safest and fastest route to magma pit is located inside the Indigo valley. Probably the only place where you don't need to wading through 200 rabid dragons, incomprehensible eldritch abomination and Vampire army that like to spam mosquito swarm(no one like mosquito anyway). But the true challenge is deliver the blade, Pride edge is famous for it's corruption ability. It can turned a holy Paladin into raving mad frenzied berserker devoided of reason and attacking anything that breath just by holding it for mere minute. And there's no time to create a golem to hold the blade, the howling sound from faraway is already a sign that the news already reaches werewolves pack. If werewolf know, the world will know. Those mangy mutt just can't shut the hell up. Any delay of this quest means there's even more chance that the evil sorcerer army will mad dash on their way into this city. And Sir Based is the most Qualified individual, he has pure heart that can resisted the temptation for long time, he also a magic knight who know how to use protective spell to neutralised the corruption property of this evil sword. The head of coalition order Sir based to journey into Great waste and indigo valley as fast as possible and before the dawn, Sir based is hopped on his trusty steed and breezing to the great Badland. The Indigo Valley is home of many hostile forces. It's the main den of spider queen Fenza and she lord over several Pigmen clans with iron fist, in the swamp part of the Valley is home of blight Hydra infamous for their acidic glob and also the location of Kobold publishing building where they churning out "Knight bad, Dragon good" magazine every Saturday morning. Luckily Sir based don't have to hassle with them since those Kobolds probably too occupied with their overtime editorial job to care about his quest. As fast as the wind(because being a magic knight, Sir based empowered his horse with wind magic), Sir based finally reached the border to great waste and he realised that he need Visa to enter. While Sir based is busy with paper work and entry permit, unbeknownst to him an Arachne who is one of Spider queen Fenza's daughter is watching and she recognised the Pride Edge. That half spider woman quickly mad dash her way back home and gathering the Porcine-archinid army for the accursed blade. Due some spider politics, if she bring the blade back to her mom. She'll be the crown princess and inherit the cobweb throne after her mother bite the dust. Well you know how much offspring spider made you know what she means, the competition in great waste is rough. Immediately after getting entry permit, Sir based is riding his horse at mach speed heading to the Indigo valley. But as he expected, this adventure is not a real adventure without adversary and obstacles. The pigmen clan is coming, the merciless cloven hooves and half squeal half roar sound echoes through the valley. The beast folks closed in from surrounding sallow half dead tall grass and under the windy gloomy weather. Their dark pink skin and ugly snout popped up everywhere ready for battle. "We demand the cursed blade, Pride Edge. Give it to us and we'll let you go. We can do this easy way or fun way" Proclaimed the Swine chieftain as he holding his battle axe and wearing ridiculous horned helmet. Too bad Sir Based is not a coward and fight his way out of the encirclement, he dash out of sticky situation with grace. But deep down he know he is in big trouble, the Arachne know he's here which means more and more bad piggies will shows up. He cannot afford to get exhausted or else he'll not have enough Mana to sustain his protective charm and the Corruption of the blade will win. After several hour of charging into the Valley, he see a Volcanic spot that look like small orange puddle. His destination is there. He also see the hundreds of Pigmen troops awaiting him, with half spider woman barking order at them. She look desperate like someone who didn't study and now in the final test room with emptied head. Sir based come up with a plan and summon a scarecrow, dress it up like himself and put it on his horse. He use the scarecrow to lure the piggies army away from the Volcanic spot. It's worked and now tide of Pigmen is now rushing at his horse with scarecrow. Sir based then crawling through the high grass, using the chaos that unfolded as his distraction and then getting near the magma pit but he stumbled on a trap, a sticky spider web like trap. And a bell ring. "Ayo, Hey, come back here you stupid pigs. The real tin can clown is here" the spider woman scream and order the confused pigmen under her rule to attack real sir based. Too bad Sir based is skilled enough to get himself out of the trap and fend off the Arachne while blocking and strinking back at another pigman with sword. He quickly reach the edge of Volcanic pool, where bright red and orange magma swirling like a lava lamp, where the blade will finally be destroyed. Without wasting any time, The Knight throwing the blasted sword into the volcanic pool as the spider woman scream her heart out, her chance to finally be someone other than total failure in her mother eyes is forever ruined. The Vile weapon sending a seething smoke out immediately when it's metal touched the magma's extreme heat. The blade rattled violently as it's malevolent magic is being undone. The super natural dark cloud forming above the pit of molten stone and the pale weird moon with a hint of green shining bright on the cursed artifact. Signifies that the evil of the item is being cleanse from the land. The blade can no longer take a heat and shattered into thousand of metallic pieces before being melted away. Unfortunately, one of the blade fragment darts out of the magma pool from sheer explosive strength. Nick into Sir based's arm and cause a small wound. "Mine!!!" The spider woman jumped and dashing to the spot where fragment of evil artifact is landed but sir based quickly grab it and throw it back into the pit of lava. He couldn't risk fragments of this evil item being in the wrong hand. "Awww, Come on!!! Can't I have anything good happened in my life for freaking once!!!, can't have shit in the great waste apparently." she screamed in pure frustration as she look like she trying to claw her face off. Sir based is ready to fight her and the Swine horde. "yo boss, can I have an OT payment now? you promised us that if we go to work in Saturday night you'll . . . " "Nobody get extra payments OK? We failed, we didn't get the sword for my mom so I can't afford to pay anyone extras. Just, just go back to your pen or something, my sisters gonna mock me until the day I died and I need a therapy." "Dang it, we should go joined Charlotte's force instead of stuck here with you" "that's your problem I guess, the jig is up. Everyone go home, I'm freaking hate knight but I'm too tired and too sad to care now so, go back to wherever you came from I guess. Now how am I going to pay for my college." as spider woman nagging her way out of the volcanic spot with her pig folks army in sheer disappointment. Let's say that she just pulled off the most pathetic rage quit you'll ever heard in villain story ever. Sir based is confused with the situation but he glad that he don't have to fight 500 pigmen forces to get out of great waste. His mission is completed so no beef with that nervous wreck of a spider girl. But as he slowly headed back home on his horse, through gloomy yellowish brown grassland and slightly muddy soil. He feels something awakening inside of him, something that give him a thrilled sensation that he never felt before, it come from a slight gash on his arm that the cursed blade's fragment caused. This adventure changed the noble knight forever, the evil power seeping into his body and soul. His empathy dried up and his malice grows. Sir based letting out his strange cackle as a bad omen. His wicked smile reaching ears to ears as nefarious plots started to taking over his mind. 5 years later As Sir based walking through the city narrow, seeking new recruits for the next crusade against the Levantine. He saw 3 late teenagers loitering and chatting about their issue. A blond boy with tanned skin who is desperate for money, he want to make his mother proud and given his family some comforts. A brunette girl with pale skin in salt miner overall uniform, she want to go on adventure and proven to the world that her life can be more than slow, sluggish miner in dark and cold cavern. Seeking grand adventure. A brown skinned boy in tattered clothes, poor and starving. He seeking a bright future that this crumbling cityscape cannot provided to him. He refused to die poor here. A perfect candidate for Chivalry industrial complex. "Hello kids, how are you do day" "Whoa, a knight, wait a minute. Is that Sir Based? Sir based the brave from the legend" "that's corrected my boy, now the crusade is near and I need some assistance. Would you kids want to join?" "that's rad, do we gonna be a knight in shining armor? We gonna be glorious fighter? When I'm going back to salt mine I'll finally prove to my dad that I can be more than a miner" "that's absolutely right young lass, who like salt anyway. Come with me and I'll show you what's life is all about. Soldiery is not limited to men afterall." "and we'll be there in the light, with bright future, I'll finally be somebody. Pulling my family out of that slum and we'll have a good life." "it's up to your performance afterall, this is free market economy. All of you have a chance to be a great knight like me. Just that you given it all. I give you a chance to joining my crusade." "Now kids, what's your name may I asked" "my name is Jeffrey, that's Susan and the last guy in Benjamin. You can called him just Ben" "what a lovely bunch of folks, I'm assured you that we'll go to the great crusade, fighting for justice everywhere, where all of you became a true heroes. Into the foreign land that you can see what you will never seen before. You have no ideas what's in store for you kids" "Jeffrey, you'll have a wholesome life and make your mother proud. With the wealth and comforts for the rest of your life" "Susan, you'll have a glorious existence. With your name recognised by everyone and beloved by all. You'll stand proudly and walks home to prove your parents you are more than just another human. Life will be fast, fanciful and fun." "And Ben, you'll have a long fruitful life with sparkling bright future awaits you. A long road for sure but it's worth it. Just given it all OK?" The dramatic irony is recruiter always lied and they'll get the exact opposite of what they're promised. As 3 unsuspecting teenagers accepted the offer of their life. They followed the tainted knight into the main street giddy and gleefully for their unbelievable stroke of luck. As local wizard boy see their shadow in the wall. He only see a shadow of an amputee who lost everything, a weeping snail that can no longer go home and a shadow of boy with no head. A prophecy that will soon become a harsh reality. "Hi diddle dee dee, a soldier life for me" The catchy tunes echo through the busy street, like a knight role playing as pied piper leading the street rats to their final fate. To have their dream crushed on the dune of Levantine where war crime and curses awaits them. The end. |
2024.05.09 22:11 SophiaPerez Test Bank for Essentials of Pediatric Nursing 4th Edition Kyle
 | submitted by SophiaPerez to yourdoconline [link] [comments] |
2024.05.08 15:16 zaddar1 i don’t think you can be a good poet without a sense of injury
the problem gets solved
slowly because you allow it to get solved
but even patience
needs hurrying along
sometimes
new heights of catholic bizarreness with a touch of paedophilia
i’ve seen a lot of things on the web, in its class this has to be the most extreme, rather amusing in its way
years ago in auckland , new zealand, i remember reading about this murder, no idea that he was a well known poet or the backstory
hai zi’s sonnet night moon
i don’t think you can be a good poet without a sense of injury
my rewrite:
the setting sun
striking through the trees
from a blood red lamp
everything is illuminated
in this ambiguous light
of suffering, joy, life and death
schooling cretinizes
starting with the teachers
there is nothing to be learned
not even process
all history teaches
poetry and politics don’t mix
ed. i was reading about li bai siding with the losing side in the an lushan rebellion, it was only his reputation that saved him from being executed
intersex
growing breasts
growing genitals
today’s obsession
lacks nuances
of being
.
intersex
growing breasts
growing genitals
today’s obsession
lacks nuance
about
being
the dead sea scrolls
so much fuss
about a lot of bad writing
intelligence is like everything else in having "opportunity cost", abilities in one area necessarily imply deficits in another
that is, in even high IQ’s you are also measuring disability
IQ only measures one type of intelligence and in fact i don’t think intelligence can be reduced to a score
i couldn’t even do an intelligence test now, my brain rebels at that sort of computation
in twenty years we are going to be nothing but a society shredded by the weight of side-effects from drugs; medical, psychiatric and otherwise
“ Use of amphetamines and atomoxetine had a higher risk for angle closure glaucoma, while use of methylphenidate was associated with a higher risk for open angle glaucoma
Given the prevalence of ADHD medication use (medically and recreationally), our current data on their associated risk of glaucoma have profound public health implications ”
good fiction ties itself to the way reality works even if its "magical realism"
poor quality fiction is utterly decoupled in this respect, egregious examples have to be propaganda and "dramas"
"it was unstoppable, like herpes on a lithuanian prostitute"
a finnish saying, apparently the trope for a woman from an ex-soviet country is a prostitute
if you look at their history you can see why they don’t like the russians
ninja
asian fantasy
the individual victorious against
coercive group think
death
is beyond
remedy
thinking
rearranges priorities
slowly
philosophers are crazy
mind games
word games
the vagaries of definition
simple cogency is not looked for
rather deemed inadequate
not finding what they are looking for
they waste their lives uselessly
waves of the sea lapping on the shore
has more meaning
creeps
make jokes
about
dead
mothers
saying something about nothing
the problem is
they interpenetrate
up on the hill
working on the water tank
voices carried in the wind
in the distance
two women on horses
ed. its really just to capture that hearing something and not understanding the source, then a bit later seeing where the voices come from
its very minimal which i think is "zen"
.
up on the hill
working on the water tank
voices carried in the wind
in the distance
two women on horseback
"decoherence" and "emergence" are relatively new concepts in physics and and basically on one side you have things being very simple and on the other you have the complexity and uncertainty of the real world and in between you have a mixing of things up so the simplicity is lost/decohered and replaced by opacity/emergence as to what is happening
i was looking at some quotes from emily dickinson’s letters to susan gilbert (her one time lover and sister-in-law) and they are conventional in the main, but one poem sticks out as indicating she really had a different head on her shoulders
show me eternity and i will show you
memory —
both in one package lain
and lifted back again —
be sue — while i am emily —
be next — what you have ever been —
infinity
love
separated
doesn’t last
we don’t take the lesson
look further and farther appears
when
it wasn’t there before
.
look further and further appears
when
it wasn’t there before
mRNA vaccines can alter our DNA
dr. julian fidge
i must use my keyboard a lot because i wear out letters, but rather than replacing the keyboard (microsoft) i now overwrite them with pink nail polish using relatively thick strokes taking up the whole pad and sometimes even over the edges
robots of flesh
humans
perhaps something else intervenes
it does
charlatans
take two
the deceiver
and deceived
one at least has the benefit of honest gain
the other broken shards of a dream
who is who ?
ed. giacomo casanova who was a hustler of timeless stature said : to deceive a fool is to revenge intelligence and in my view he is right because the nature of the injury to the victim is non-repairable so the focus has to be not being fooled rather than some falsely benign view of the universe where wrongs are supposedly righted today’s cultural glorification of victimhood is itself a form of con artistry giving permission to that endemic dissembling, now so normal, especially in gen X, you can’t talk to a young person without being awash in highly skilled manipulation and targeted deceit
carlo rovelli gives a much better explanation of nagarjuna than the usual religious obfuscation (translators usually try to fit him to every paradigm going) “ what is useful in nagarjuna is the idea that its better to think of the world not as entities or substance or matter that has its own properties, but only through the interdependence of things
everything is empty in the sense of not having an intrinsic reality, this emptiness is the foundation of everything — but that’s a view which is itself empty in a sense ”
i would put it a bit differently, that there is always some context that can’t be escaped and this is the background for existence, that non-existence is a type of existence as well as existence being a type of non-existence
gen Z, missionaries for their churches of one, not even a quorum to be formed to schism
synthesizing nonsense to make more nonsense
i have long since ceased to think the world is sane
submitted by zaddar1 to zen_mystical [link] [comments]
slowly because you allow it to get solved
but even patience
needs hurrying along
sometimes
i’ve seen a lot of things on the web, in its class this has to be the most extreme, rather amusing in its way
i don’t think you can be a good poet without a sense of injury
my rewrite:
the setting sun
striking through the trees
from a blood red lamp
everything is illuminated
in this ambiguous light
of suffering, joy, life and death
starting with the teachers
there is nothing to be learned
not even process
poetry and politics don’t mix
ed. i was reading about li bai siding with the losing side in the an lushan rebellion, it was only his reputation that saved him from being executed
growing breasts
growing genitals
today’s obsession
lacks nuances
of being
.
intersex
growing breasts
growing genitals
today’s obsession
lacks nuance
about
being
so much fuss
about a lot of bad writing
that is, in even high IQ’s you are also measuring disability
i couldn’t even do an intelligence test now, my brain rebels at that sort of computation
“ Use of amphetamines and atomoxetine had a higher risk for angle closure glaucoma, while use of methylphenidate was associated with a higher risk for open angle glaucoma
Given the prevalence of ADHD medication use (medically and recreationally), our current data on their associated risk of glaucoma have profound public health implications ”
poor quality fiction is utterly decoupled in this respect, egregious examples have to be propaganda and "dramas"
a finnish saying, apparently the trope for a woman from an ex-soviet country is a prostitute
if you look at their history you can see why they don’t like the russians
asian fantasy
the individual victorious against
coercive group think
death
is beyond
remedy
rearranges priorities
slowly
mind games
word games
the vagaries of definition
simple cogency is not looked for
rather deemed inadequate
not finding what they are looking for
they waste their lives uselessly
waves of the sea lapping on the shore
has more meaning
make jokes
about
dead
mothers
the problem is
they interpenetrate
working on the water tank
voices carried in the wind
in the distance
two women on horses
ed. its really just to capture that hearing something and not understanding the source, then a bit later seeing where the voices come from
its very minimal which i think is "zen"
.
up on the hill
working on the water tank
voices carried in the wind
in the distance
two women on horseback
show me eternity and i will show you
memory —
both in one package lain
and lifted back again —
be sue — while i am emily —
be next — what you have ever been —
infinity
separated
doesn’t last
we don’t take the lesson
when
it wasn’t there before
.
look further and further appears
when
it wasn’t there before
dr. julian fidge
humans
perhaps something else intervenes
it does
take two
the deceiver
and deceived
one at least has the benefit of honest gain
the other broken shards of a dream
who is who ?
ed. giacomo casanova who was a hustler of timeless stature said : to deceive a fool is to revenge intelligence and in my view he is right because the nature of the injury to the victim is non-repairable so the focus has to be not being fooled rather than some falsely benign view of the universe where wrongs are supposedly righted today’s cultural glorification of victimhood is itself a form of con artistry giving permission to that endemic dissembling, now so normal, especially in gen X, you can’t talk to a young person without being awash in highly skilled manipulation and targeted deceit
everything is empty in the sense of not having an intrinsic reality, this emptiness is the foundation of everything — but that’s a view which is itself empty in a sense ”
i would put it a bit differently, that there is always some context that can’t be escaped and this is the background for existence, that non-existence is a type of existence as well as existence being a type of non-existence
synthesizing nonsense to make more nonsense
i have long since ceased to think the world is sane
2024.05.06 17:13 Witty-Permission8283 [Acne] 5 years of acne after BC, what can I do?
I have acne I'd like to not have and my doctors are incredibly unhelpful.
Tl/Dr: hormonal birth control for over a decade. Then an explosion of acne and redness that won't go away. It's been 5 years and I still don't know the cause or how to treat it.
I started on hormonal BC (the pill) at age 15 and remained on varying forms of hormonal BC until age 28. Throughout that time I had a breakout here or there but never more than one at a time and usually they came and went quickly.
At age 28 I was on the IUD and losing my mind so I decided to stop hormonal birth control altogether. I went to the doc, had it removed and went on my merry way. It took a couple of months and then the breakouts started. Full face, painful and deep. With the breakouts came this red pigmentation that never goes away.
I tried waiting it out to see if it was some form of androgen rebound from the BC. It's now been 5 years and the acne is just as bad. It usually sticks to the middle of my face (forehead, nose, chin) but is branching out to the temples and jaw line. Definitely getting worse, not better.
A year ago I was put on spiranolactone, an antibiotic, and a topical. My skin is too sensitive for any tretinoin. Even cutting it with moisturizer and using it only 2x/week leads to itchy red angry skin. The combo seemed to work for a while but when the doc tried to wean me off of everything (the end goal) it came back with a vengeance.
I don't want to be on birth control or an antibiotic forever. It's already fucked it up this bad, I just don't want it. Not the way they talk about it. "Oh it's great it worked for Susan and so and so and look at their skin!" I'm more along the lines of "look at these clinical studies, etc." But they don't have them. When I ask to be tested to confirm the cause they say, and I quote, "we don't do that here." Wtf?
Are there tests that could help identify what the actual problem is - hormonal imbalance, fungal issue, whatever? What about the redness that won't go away, even when the meds I was on were working? Has anyone else dealt with this?
For what it's worth, I eat clean, drink water, exercise regularly, and rinse my face after my workouts.
submitted by Witty-Permission8283 to SkincareAddiction [link] [comments]
Tl/Dr: hormonal birth control for over a decade. Then an explosion of acne and redness that won't go away. It's been 5 years and I still don't know the cause or how to treat it.
I started on hormonal BC (the pill) at age 15 and remained on varying forms of hormonal BC until age 28. Throughout that time I had a breakout here or there but never more than one at a time and usually they came and went quickly.
At age 28 I was on the IUD and losing my mind so I decided to stop hormonal birth control altogether. I went to the doc, had it removed and went on my merry way. It took a couple of months and then the breakouts started. Full face, painful and deep. With the breakouts came this red pigmentation that never goes away.
I tried waiting it out to see if it was some form of androgen rebound from the BC. It's now been 5 years and the acne is just as bad. It usually sticks to the middle of my face (forehead, nose, chin) but is branching out to the temples and jaw line. Definitely getting worse, not better.
A year ago I was put on spiranolactone, an antibiotic, and a topical. My skin is too sensitive for any tretinoin. Even cutting it with moisturizer and using it only 2x/week leads to itchy red angry skin. The combo seemed to work for a while but when the doc tried to wean me off of everything (the end goal) it came back with a vengeance.
I don't want to be on birth control or an antibiotic forever. It's already fucked it up this bad, I just don't want it. Not the way they talk about it. "Oh it's great it worked for Susan and so and so and look at their skin!" I'm more along the lines of "look at these clinical studies, etc." But they don't have them. When I ask to be tested to confirm the cause they say, and I quote, "we don't do that here." Wtf?
Are there tests that could help identify what the actual problem is - hormonal imbalance, fungal issue, whatever? What about the redness that won't go away, even when the meds I was on were working? Has anyone else dealt with this?
For what it's worth, I eat clean, drink water, exercise regularly, and rinse my face after my workouts.
2024.05.06 15:33 Leather_Focus_6535 The 113 inmates executed by Virginia in the post Furman era and their crimes (warning, graphic content, please read at your own risk) [part 1, cases 1-58]
This is the list that I wrote for the 113 inmates executed by the state of Virginia, from the 1976 Gregg national reinstatement of the death penalty to the state abolishing it in 2021. For the sake of clarification, the dates given here are an approximate timeframe of the offender's earliest known criminal activities to their executions. Many of the crimes surveyed here are also extremely horrific, and the gory details are discussed in my descriptions. Please read at your own risk.
Unfortunately, as with Missouri, the list exceeds the maximum 40,000 character count Reddit allows for submissions, and thus I had to split it into two separate posts. Here is the link to part 2 of this list.
The 113 executed offenders:
1. Frank Coppola (~1960s-1982, electric chair): Coppola, his wife, and two other accomplices hatched a plan to rob Payton Wetchell, a 55 year old car dealer, at his home. One of the accomplices posed as a delivery girl, and lured Payton's wife, 51 year old Muriel, out by ringing the doorbell. The group then forced themselves inside at gunpoint and tried extorting from her valuables though beatings. Mariel’s head was slammed against the door numerous times, and she ended up dying from suffocating on her vomit and a brain hemorrhage. When Peyton arrived at the scene, he was beaten as well. Although he survived, the treatment for the fractures required Peyton to have a steel plate grafted on his forehead, and he took his own life about a decade after the incident. The Coppolas and their accomplices made off with $3,000 and 3 rings. Coppola was a career burglar, and lost his job as a policeman for failing to report inmate abuse. His execution caused some controversy, as a witnesses described Coppola's legs catching fire during the electrocution.
2. Linwood Briley (~1971-1984, electric chair): In 1971, at the age of 16, Briley killed his neighbor, 57 year old Orline Christian, in a sniper attack from his bedroom window while she was laying clothesline. He escaped prosecution by convincing authorities that it was an accident. 8 years later, Briley went on a rape and robbery spree with two of his brothers (including James) and another accomplice. They murdered anywhere between ~12-21 males and females in their attacks. Their means of killings were very diverse and circumstantial, and completely indiscriminate on who they killed. The eldest known victim was 76 year old Mary Gowen, whom they raped and shot to death, while their youngest was 5 year old Harvey Barton, who was shot dead after the gang gang-raped and murdered his pregnant mother, 23 year old Judy. Some like, 17 year old Christopher Philips had his head crushed with a concrete block, a few others like 62 year old Mary Wilfong were beaten to death with baseball bats, and 59 year old Charles Garner was fatally stabbed with scissors and a fork. Almost all the victims were murdered in their homes, but some were attacked at their jobs. While on death row, Briley and James escaped with 4 other inmates, but were recaptured after a 3 week long manhunt.
3. James Briley (~1970s-1985, electric chair): He was one of Linwood Briley's brothers, and he assisted in him in the robbery, rapes, and murders of at least 12 to 21 people. As previously mentioned, Briley and Linwood broke out of prison on death row with several other inmates, and were all recaptured within weeks after their escape.
4. Morris Mason (~1960s-1985, electric chair): Mason broke into the homes of two elderly women, 86 year old Ursula Stevenson and 71 year old Margaret Hand. In both attacks, the victims were raped, beaten with an ax handle, bound and nailed to chairs, and burned alive when he set their houses on fire. He also attacked a pair of sisters, who were 12 and 13 years old, in their home. The 13 year old grabbed a gun from their father’s closet for protection, but Mason wrestled the gun away, and shot her instead. She survived with crippling injuries. Mason then kidnapped the 12 year old, took her to a nearby forest, and sodomized her. He covered the girl with leaves, lit them on fire, but she survived with only minor burns to her hair and shirt. Mason was also responsible for several burglaries during his crime spree, and was convicted several previous times for arson attacks. Authorities believe that Mason was committing acts of arson since his childhood. His execution sparked some controversy, due to him allegedly having a cognitive disability.
5. Michael Smith (~1970s-1986, electric chair): Smith kidnapped 35 year old Audrey Weiler while she was walking from a beach. He dragged her into a forest and raped her. During the sexual assault, Smith stabbed Weiler and drowned her in a nearby river. At the time of the attack, Smith was a sex offender with a rape conviction, and had reoffended against Weiler only months after his release from prison.
6. Richard Whitley (1980-1987, electric chair): Whitley went to the home of his occasional employer, 63 year old Phoebe Parsons, to vent about his broken marriage. As they were conversing, he stabbed Parsons to death. During the attack, he sodomized Parsons with an umbrella, and engaged in sex acts with her body. He then sacked the home of any valuables, stole her car, and fled to Florida.
7. Earl Clanton Jr. (~1971-1988, electric chair): At the age of 17, Clanton killed an unidentified woman in circumstances largely undisclosed beyond it being a robbery. Although Clanton was given a 26-28 year sentence, he was paroled 8 years later. A year after his release, he strangled a neighbor, 38 year old Wilhemina Smith, during a robbery of her home. He also had a malicious wounding conviction when he badly injured a teenage boy with brass knuckles, and his mother had made complaints of him stealing money from her. However, Clanton claimed that she faked her complaints in retaliation for him refusing a sexual relationship with her. Clanton also took part in the mass prison escape orchestrated by the Briley brothers, but was recaptured with them.
8. Alton Waye (1977-1989, electric chair): Waye invaded the home of 61 year old Lavergne Marshall, and stabbed her 42 times. He then raped Marshall and poured bleach on her body.
9. Richard Boggs (1984-1990, electric chair): After Boggs killed an unidentified man in a hit and run accident, he rushed to the home of his neighbor, 87 year old Treeby Shaw. When she offered him tea, Boggs hit her in the head with a steel object, and stabbed her to death with a butcher knife. He stole some silver from the home, which was discovered by investigating police officers in his car. On an unrelated side note, Boggs' older brother was shot dead by police during a car chase some years after his execution.
10. Wilbert Evans (~1964-1990, electric chair): While incarcerated for a robbery in North Carolina, Evans was transferred to Virginia to testify at a murder trial. While being transported in a prison van, he decided to take the opportunity to escape, and seized a gun from one of his escorts, 47 year old William Truesdale. Truesdale was shot dead during the struggle and Evans used the gun to destroy his handcuffs. Although he managed to jump out of the van, Evans was cornered by police officers only a few blocks away, and was recaptured followed a bungled suicide attempt. Evans had an extensive criminal history, and was convicted of robbing a gas station at the age of 18. During his time on death row, he protected staff members held hostage from being raped and abused by the Briley brothers during their attempted escape. His execution caused some controversy, as blood was observed coming out of his blood, nose, and eyes during the fatal shocks.
11. Buddy Justus (1978-1990, electric chair): Justus abducted and raped 3 women, 32 year old Rosemary Jackson, 21 year old Stephanie Hawkins, and 21 year old Ida Moses, and shot them to death. He was charged with a 4th murder, as Moses was pregnant and her unborn child also died in the attack. In two of his known murders, Justus was assisted by an 18 year old man that he befriend after he picked him up hitchhiking. He also received several life and death sentences in the states of Georgia and Florida.
12. Albert Clozza (1983-1991, electric chair): Clozza snatched 13 year old Patricia Bolton while she was walking home from a bookmobile. He dragged the girl into a forest and sodomized her with a twig. She was also severely beaten in the attack, and the corner's report mentioned that Bolton was "asphyxiated by her own blood."
13. Derrick Peterson (1982-1991, electric chair): During a holdup of a grocery store, Peterson shot and killed the manger, 45 year old Howard Kauffman. He then ran off with thousands of dollars worth in checks and cash.
14. Roger Coleman (~1977-1992, electric chair): Coleman tricked his sister-in-law, 19 year old Wanda McCoy, into letting him inside her house. He then raped and stabbed her, and she was nearly decapitated in the attack. A long standing sex offender, Coleman was convicted of raping a woman in her home a few years prior to McCoy's murder, and had exposed himself to two other women just before the killing. Unfortunately for him, one of the women happened to be an artist, and she drew a sketch that enabled the police to identify him for the murder. Despite his past offenses, Coleman had a strong following for his innocence among the anti death penalty crowd. A notion that was debunked following a 2006 DNA test that concluded his guilt.
15. Edward Fitzgerald Sr. (1980-1992, electric chair): Out of fear of her being a police informant, Fitzgerald abducted his drug dealer, 22 year old Patricia Cubbage. He raped and stabbed her 184 times, and reportedly carved a "tick-tack-toe design" into Cubbage's back.
16. Willie Jones (1983-1992, electric chair): Jones tricked the parents of an acquaintance, 78 year old Myra and 80 year old Graham, into letting him inside their house by pretending to be an undercover cop searching for missing children. He shot and killed Graham, tied up and gagged Myra, locked her in a closet, and stole their entire life savings (which amounted to $30,000). To destroy any evidence of his crime, Jones set the house on fire. Myra, who was still tied up and trapped in her closet, was burned alive. Jones was also one of the inmates that escaped from death row with the Briley brothers, but was recaptured weeks after the breakout
17. Timothy Bunch (1982-1992, electric chair): Bunch, a then active service Marine, was dating Su Cha Thomas, a 40 year old South Korean immigrant. Believing that Thomas was too much like his “slut” ex wife, Bunch decided that he wanted to rob and kill her. He tricked Thomas into letting him inside her home with the promise of a date. She was shot in the head and Bunch hung the body to a closet doorknob with a scarf. Bunch then ransacked the home, and stole a watch, diamond ring, and a pearl necklace. According to investigators, he confided in them that he had an orgasm while robbing and murdering Thomas. After the killing, Bunch was deployed to Japan, but extradited back to Virginia to face trial for Thomas’ murder.
18. Charles Stamper (1978-1993, electric chair): While robbing a restaurant that he worked at, Stamper shot and killed three of his co workers, 43 year old Agnes Hicks, 35 year old Franklin Cooley, and 20 year old Steven. He stole a total of $4,000 in the robbery. On death row, Stamper was attacked by fellow death row inmate Lem Tuggle for allegedly being a snitch. The assault left him permanently paralyzed, which made his execution somewhat controversial.
19. Syvasky Poyner (~1970s-1993, electric chair): Poyner shot and killed 5 females, 72 year old Louise Paulett, 45 year old Joyce Baldwin, 44 year old Carolyn Hedrick, 43 year old Chestine Brooks, and 17 year old Vicki Ripple during a two week long robbery spree. He directed his attacks towards beauty parlors, supermarkets, ice cream shops, and motels. A life long career criminal, Poyner had several auto theft, forgery, and burglary convictions, and his earliest date back to when he was 14 years old.
20. Andrew Chabrol (1991-1993, electric chair): Chabrol, a Navy serviceman, made unwanted advances on a fellow married sailor, 27 year old Melissa Harrington, and refused to back down despite repeated rejections. Harrington filed sexual harassment charges, and Chabrol was dismissed from service following an investigation. Angered by the loss of his career and her rebuffing his advances, Chabrol kidnapped Harrington from her home with the help of a friend, and tied her to his bed. He then raped and strangled her to death. The case attracted outcry years later when it was discovered that Chabrol and Harrington’s remains were buried in close proximity to each other in the Arlington cemetery.
21. Joe Wise (1983-1993, electric chair): Wise abducted 45 year old William Ricketson during a robbery. He beat and shot his captive in the eye and chest, dumped him in a water hole used for an abandoned power plant's lavatory, and drove off with his truck. Although Ricketson survived the shooting, he drowned in the hole.
22. David Pruett (~1975-1993, electric chair): In 1975, Pruett fatally stabbed his co worker, 22 year old Debra McInnis, while robbing a restaurant they worked at together. As the investigators weren't able to solve the McInnis murder, Pruett remained a free man. 11 years later, he tied up his friend's wife, 35 year old Wilma Harvey, in the couple's home while her husband was out of town. He raped Harvey, stabbed her 29 times and slit her throat, ransacked the house for any valuables, and stole an undisclosed amount of money. Pruett was also tried and sentenced for an unrelated rape incident alongside Harvey and McInnis' murders.
23. Johnny Watkins Jr. (1983-1994, electric chair): Watkins gunned down two store clerks, 41 year old Carl Buchanan and 22 year old Betty Barker, during a week long robbery spree. In the robberies that killed Buchanan and Barker, Watkins stole a combined total of $125. His brother Ronald was also executed for an unrelated robbery murder [for more details, please see section 49 on Ronald Watkins].
24. Timothy Spencer (~1980s-1994, electric chair): Spencer broke into the residences of at least 5 women and girls, 44 year old Susan Tucker, 35 year old Debbie Davis, 32 year old Susan Hellams, 32 year old Carolyn Hamm, and Diane Cho, a 15 year old South Korean immigrant, and raped them. All the verified victims were strangled to death with ligatures and ratchets. Another man was falsey convicted of Hamm's murder, but was cleared of guilt in a 1989 DNA test. The falsely accused man was one of the first inmates to be exonerated using DNA testing, while paradoxically Spencer was the first serial killer to be convicted with DNA evidence. Spencer also had a history of burglaries before his killing sprees.
25. Dana Edmonds (1983-1995, lethal injection): During a robbery of a grocery store, Edmonds tied up a grocer, 62 year old John Elliott. He bashed Elliot's head with a brick, stabbed his neck, and took $40 from the register.
26. Willie Turner (~1970s-1995, lethal injection): In 1978, Turner shot and killed W. J. Smith, a 54 year old jeweler, during a jewelry store robbery. A few years prior to Smith's murder, Turner had killed an unidentified inmate in largely undisclosed circumstances while serving time for a malicious wounding conviction, but was let out on parole. While on death row, Turner took part in the Briley brothers led breakout, and made several escape attempts on his own. In one incident, Turner pretended to have smuggled a gun in his cell, and used the hoax to make threats against the prison staff.
27. Dennis Stockton (~1950s-1995, lethal injection): 18 year old Kenneth Arnder allegedly crossed a dealer during a drug deal. The dealer retaliated by paying Stockton $2,000 to kill him. Stockton lured Arnder in his car with the promise of driving him to safety, and shot the youth in the eyes. He cut the hands off his body to prevent identification and dumped it in a remote North Carolinan forest. Stockton had a long criminal history since he was a teenager, which included several convictions of arson, safecracking, drug dealing, and weapons possession charges. Police also found dismembered body parts kept in a jar in his home, but Stockton claimed that it was simply a gift given to him by a biker gang, and he only kept the remains to show off at parties.
28. Mickey Davidson (1990-1995, lethal injection): Davidson’s wife, 36 year old wife Doris, made a decision to leave him for her ex husband. In a jealous rage, he beat her and her two daughters, 14 year old Mamie and 13 year old Tammy Clutterback, to death with a crowbar.
29. Herman Barnes (1984-1995, lethal injection): Barnes held up a grocery store at gunpoint, and shot and killed the owner, 72 year old Clyde Jenkins. Mohammad Afifi, a 42 year old Palestinian immigrant that worked as the store’s clerk, was also gunned down when he came to his boss’s aid.
30. Walter Correll Jr. (1985-1996, lethal injection): Correll and two accomplices ambushed, carjacked, and kidnapped 24 year old Charles Bousman Jr. after they motioned him to stop on a remote highway. After they stole his rings and watch, they beat and stabbed Bousman to death, dumped his body in a nearby forest, and drove off with his car. His execution was a source of contention, as Correll's supporters and attorneys assert that he was an intellectually disabled man set up by his accomplices for lesser sentences.
31. Richard Townes Jr. (~1970s-1996, lethal injection): Townes shot a clerk, 32 year old Virginia Goebel, in the head while robbing a grocery store, and stole $183 from the register. He had a long history of violent robberies, and had shot and wounded a taxi driver after holding him hostage for 6 hours several years before Goebel's murder.
32. Joseph Savino III (~1980s-1996, lethal injection): After he was released on parole from an armed robbery conviction, Savino beat his boyfriend, 64 year old Thomas McWaters, to death with a hammer in their home. According to Savino, McWaters was pressuring him for sex, and threatened to have his parole revoked if it was withheld.
33. Ronald Bennett (1985-1996, lethal injection): Bennett broke into the home of Anne Vaden, a 28 year real estate agent. After he tied Vaden up, Bennett beat, strangled, and stabbed her to death. One of Vaden's rings was stolen in the robbery, and he gave it to his wife. The murder was left cold for a year, but was solved when Bennett's wife drunkenly confessed her husband's deeds to a friend while showing off the ring.
34. Gregory Beaver (~1980s-1996, lethal injection): After Beaver escaped from a Maryland rehab center, he went on a rampage that involved stealing a car and storming a restaurant his stepfather owned to rob and assault him. While speeding away from the scene with a hitchhiker he picked up, Beaver was pulled over by Leo Whitt, a 49 year old state trooper. In the scuffle that broke out, Beaver shot and killed Whitt. The hitchhiker then tricked Beaver into stopping at a nearby restaurant, and he used the payphone to call the police on him. Beaver previously had 10 unspecified felony convictions, which was why he was placed by his family in the Maryland rehab center.
35. Larry Stout (1987-1996, lethal injection): Stout assaulted a dry cleaning store with a knife, slashed the throat of the owner, 40 year old Jacqueline Kooshian, and stole $1,200.
36. Lem Tuggle Jr. (~1971-1996, lethal injection): In 1971, Tuggle raped and fatally strangled 16 year old Shirley Brickey, and was given a 20 year sentence for it. He was released from prison after serving 10 years. Two years after his release, Tuggle lured 52 year old Jessie Havens from a dance hall, and then raped and shot her to death. On death row, he participated in the mass escape orchestrated by the Briley brothers, and paralyzed the above mentioned Charles Stamper for allegedly being an informant.
37. Ronald Hoke (1985-1996, lethal injection): Hoke forced his way inside the home of 56 year old Virginia Stell, a woman he met at a bar. He raped and stabbed her to death with a knife taken from the kitchen, and stole some medication from Stell's purse.
38. Michael George (1979-1997, lethal injection): In 1979, George lured 9 year old Larry Perry from his grandparents' home, and shot the boy dead after raping him. As the body was never found and the prosecution couldn't disprove his claims of it being an accidental killing, George was able to secure an involuntary manslaughter plea deal from the courts, and was released within two years for good behavior. After his release, he molested several teenage boys, and expressed fantasies about them being sexually tortured by "evil creatures" in the forest in his written works of fiction. In 1990, George made his fantasies a reality when he ambushed and abducted 15 year old Alexander Sztanko while the boy was ridding a motorbike. He shackled Sztanko to a tree, sodomized him with a stun gun, sliced pieces of his skin with a machete, shot him in the head, and stole his motorbike. Other teenage boys in the area also reported being assaulted in the same manner as Sztanko by a “Rambo like” camouflaged assailant. Although it is strongly believed that George was responsible for the attacks, he wasn't convicted of them.
39. Coleman Gray (1985-1997, lethal injection): Gray kidnapped 49 year old Richard McClelland while robbing a store he managed. He forced McClelland to collect over $12,000 in cash, drove his captive to a remote dirt road, and shot him six times in the head.
40. Roy Smith (1988-1997, lethal injection): Smith got into a violent argument with his wife in their home, and the neighbors called the police on him. He fired on the responding officers, and killed John Conner, a 38 year old sergeant. The remaining officers managed to subdue him after a brief standoff and physical struggle.
41. Joseph O'Dell III (~1958-1997, lethal injection): O'Dell was condemned for the abduction, rape, and strangulation murder of 44 year old Helen Schartner. She was last seen leaving from a night club, and her body was found near a beach. His execution was controversial, as O'Dell had a massive support base who believed in his innocence. The circuit court's decision to burn the DNA evidence relating to the Schartner case in 2000 sparked further outcry from them. Despite this, O'Dell was a long time felon with over 17 convictions dating back to the 1950s, and a woman claimed to have escaped a kidnapping attempt from him.
42. Carlton Pope (~1982-1997, lethal injection): Pope shot and killed 24 year old Cynthia Gray and wounded her sister while robbing them at a pool. He had a malicious wounding conviction when he shot a friend in the toe, and was paroled months before Gray's murder for that sentence.
43. Mario Murphy (1992-1997, lethal injection): 37 year old James Radcliff's wife hired Murphy to kill him in order to collect a life insurance policy. She, her boyfriend, Murphy, and 3 other conspirators pounced on Radcliff while he was sleeping in his bed, and they stabbed and beat him to death with a metal pipe. Due to all the other conspirators accepting plea deals, Murphy was the only one sentenced to death for the murder, which he perceived was because of Mexican nationality. His death sentence and execution also caused a minor diplomatic dispute with Mexico.
44. Dawud Mu'Min (1973-1997, lethal injection): At the age of 19 in 1973, Mu'Min shot and killed Charles Shupe, a 43 year old taxi driver, while robbing his taxi. He was given a 48 year sentence for the murder. 15 years later, Mu'Min was assigned to a inmate labor program. While working on a road, he pretended to be on a lunch break, and took the opportunity to sneak away from his escorts and supervisors. Mu'Min broke into a shopping center, raped Gladys Nopwasky, a 42 year old retailer, and stabbed her 16 times with a screwdriver. After he stole $4 from her purse, Mu'Min returned back to the work program.
45. Michael Satcher (1990-1997, lethal injection): Satcher ambushed 23 year old Anne Borghesani while she was biking near a highway. He raped, beat, and stabbed her 16 times with an axl. Another young woman was also assaulted by Satcher in a similar fashion, but she survived the attack. Both of their purses were stolen and disposed of in the same bush.
46. Thomas Beavers Jr. (1990-1997, lethal injection): Beavers broke into the home of 61 year old Marguerite Lowery, and raped and suffocated her to death with a pillow. He sacked the house, stole her jewelry, and drove off with Lowery's car. The killing went unsolved until a year later when Beavers was arrested for sexually assaulting a neighbor in circumstances nearly identical to Lowery's murder. A police search while investigating the neighbor incident found Lowery's stolen jewelry in his house.
47. Tony Mackall (1986-1998, lethal injection): While holding up a gas station at gunpoint, Mackall shot the cashier, 31 year old Mary Dahn, and took $515 from the register.
48. Douglas Buchanan Jr. (1987-1998, lethal injection): Enraged that his father, 43 year old Douglas, married a much younger woman, 31 year old Geraldine, shortly after his mother's passing, Buchanan shot him to death in their home. He also gunned down and stabbed Geraldine and her two sons, 13 year old Joel and 10 year old Donnie.
49. Ronald Watkins (1988-1998, lethal injection): While robbing a store that he formerly work at, Watkins stabbed the store owner, 29 year old William McCauley, 7 time in his back and slit his throat. McCauley's body was discovered by his father, who stopped by to check on his son after he failed to return home on time. As a sidenote, Watkins was the younger brother of the above mentioned Johnny Watkins Jr..
50. Ángel Breard (1992-1998, lethal injection): Breard stabbed his neighbor, 29 year old Ruth Dickie, to death during a botched rape in her home. He also made another unsuccessful attempt at sexually assaulting a second neighbor half a year later, which enabled investigators to tie him to Dickie's murder. His death sentence and execution sparked outrage in his native Paraguay.
51. Dennis Eaton (1989-1998, lethal injection): Eaton and his girlfriend, 24 year old Judy McDonald, carjacked 68 year old Ripley Marston Sr. and 26 year old Walter Custer Jr., and shot them both dead. While speeding away from the murder scene, the couple were pulled over by a state trooper, 48 year old Jerry Hines, and gunned him down as well. In the following police chase, Eaton ended up crashing his car into a telephone pole, and injured McDonald in the process. As they were corned, Eaton finished off McDonald by shooting her in the head, and made an attempt to commit suicide before he was subdued.
52. Danny King (~1980s(?)-1998, lethal injection): King and his then wife duped Carolyn Rogers, a 55 year old real estate agent, into letting them inside a vacant house by posing as clients. They jumped Rogers as she was giving them a tour of the house. She was choked with King's bare hands and stabbed to death in the assault. The couple then stole rings and checks from her purse. Both King and his ex wife blamed each other for the murder, but King was the one that was convicted of it by the courts. King also had a long history of robbery and car thefts, and was released from prison 10 days before the murder.
53. Lance Chandler Jr. (~1987-1998, lethal injection): Chandler shot and killed a clerk, 33 year old William Dix, during a convenience store robbery. He had a criminal record dating back to the age of 14, and had previous arrests for armed robbery, assaulting officers, and public intoxication.
54. Johnile DuBois (~1990s-1998, lethal injection): During a convenience store robbery, DuBois and 3 teenage accomplices tried forcing the clerk, 39 year old Philip Council, to open the register for them. When they thought he was acting too slow, the DuBois and the other robbers beat Council and shot him to death. DuBois had a history of thefts, illicit firearms possessions, assault, and probation violations.
55. Kenneth Stewart Jr. (1991-1998, lethal injection): Stewart separated from his wife, 35 year old Cynthia, after their marriage disintegrated. He was forbidden by the courts from being in contact with their son, 5 month old Jonathan, without Cynthia's consent. To overcome the custody barriers, Stewart tried to reconcile with Cynthia. When she refused, he shot her and Jonathan dead in her home.
56. Dwayne Wright (1989-1998, lethal injection): Wright went on a weeklong crime spree in Maryland and Virginia. In his Maryland attacks, he shot and killed 31 year old Odell Thomas and 24 year old Reginald Turman, and stole Turman's car and a total of $400. He then drove to Virginia, and held Saba Tekle, a 34 year old Ethiopian refugee, at gunpoint in her apartment. Wright forced Tekle to undress, shot her dead when she resisted his attempts at sexual assault, and swapped Truman’s car for hers.
57. Ronald Fitzgerald (1993-1998, lethal injection): Fitzgerald shot and killed 39 year old Coy White in his home in order to get his hands on the man’s 13 year old daughter. He abducted and raped the girl after forcing her to steal money from her father’s pockets, and left her locked in the trunk of his car. After abandoning White’s daughter, Fitzgerald flagged down a taxi driver, Hugh Morrison (age unknown), and shot him dead. Fitzgerald used Morrison’s stolen taxi to kidnap an 18 year old woman and her two children, and drove them to a motel. He raped the 18 year old in the motel room while her two children were watching tv. The family were spared and released, and Fitzgerald forced a couple to drive him to a courthouse with the intentions of committing suicide there. However, the attempt failed with his gun jamming, and he was captured by the police.
58. Kenneth Wilson (1993-1998, lethal injection): Wilson forcibly entered the home of his cousin's girlfriend, 31 year old Jacqueline Stephen, with a knife. He bound Stephen to a bed, and tied her 12 year old daughter and her daughter's 14 year old friend to the bed's posts. Wilson then made an attempt to rape Stephen, and cut her and the girls' throats. Stephen died at the scene, while both of the girls survived their injuries.
submitted by Leather_Focus_6535 to TrueCrimeDiscussion [link] [comments]
Unfortunately, as with Missouri, the list exceeds the maximum 40,000 character count Reddit allows for submissions, and thus I had to split it into two separate posts. Here is the link to part 2 of this list.
The 113 executed offenders:
1. Frank Coppola (~1960s-1982, electric chair): Coppola, his wife, and two other accomplices hatched a plan to rob Payton Wetchell, a 55 year old car dealer, at his home. One of the accomplices posed as a delivery girl, and lured Payton's wife, 51 year old Muriel, out by ringing the doorbell. The group then forced themselves inside at gunpoint and tried extorting from her valuables though beatings. Mariel’s head was slammed against the door numerous times, and she ended up dying from suffocating on her vomit and a brain hemorrhage. When Peyton arrived at the scene, he was beaten as well. Although he survived, the treatment for the fractures required Peyton to have a steel plate grafted on his forehead, and he took his own life about a decade after the incident. The Coppolas and their accomplices made off with $3,000 and 3 rings. Coppola was a career burglar, and lost his job as a policeman for failing to report inmate abuse. His execution caused some controversy, as a witnesses described Coppola's legs catching fire during the electrocution.
2. Linwood Briley (~1971-1984, electric chair): In 1971, at the age of 16, Briley killed his neighbor, 57 year old Orline Christian, in a sniper attack from his bedroom window while she was laying clothesline. He escaped prosecution by convincing authorities that it was an accident. 8 years later, Briley went on a rape and robbery spree with two of his brothers (including James) and another accomplice. They murdered anywhere between ~12-21 males and females in their attacks. Their means of killings were very diverse and circumstantial, and completely indiscriminate on who they killed. The eldest known victim was 76 year old Mary Gowen, whom they raped and shot to death, while their youngest was 5 year old Harvey Barton, who was shot dead after the gang gang-raped and murdered his pregnant mother, 23 year old Judy. Some like, 17 year old Christopher Philips had his head crushed with a concrete block, a few others like 62 year old Mary Wilfong were beaten to death with baseball bats, and 59 year old Charles Garner was fatally stabbed with scissors and a fork. Almost all the victims were murdered in their homes, but some were attacked at their jobs. While on death row, Briley and James escaped with 4 other inmates, but were recaptured after a 3 week long manhunt.
3. James Briley (~1970s-1985, electric chair): He was one of Linwood Briley's brothers, and he assisted in him in the robbery, rapes, and murders of at least 12 to 21 people. As previously mentioned, Briley and Linwood broke out of prison on death row with several other inmates, and were all recaptured within weeks after their escape.
4. Morris Mason (~1960s-1985, electric chair): Mason broke into the homes of two elderly women, 86 year old Ursula Stevenson and 71 year old Margaret Hand. In both attacks, the victims were raped, beaten with an ax handle, bound and nailed to chairs, and burned alive when he set their houses on fire. He also attacked a pair of sisters, who were 12 and 13 years old, in their home. The 13 year old grabbed a gun from their father’s closet for protection, but Mason wrestled the gun away, and shot her instead. She survived with crippling injuries. Mason then kidnapped the 12 year old, took her to a nearby forest, and sodomized her. He covered the girl with leaves, lit them on fire, but she survived with only minor burns to her hair and shirt. Mason was also responsible for several burglaries during his crime spree, and was convicted several previous times for arson attacks. Authorities believe that Mason was committing acts of arson since his childhood. His execution sparked some controversy, due to him allegedly having a cognitive disability.
5. Michael Smith (~1970s-1986, electric chair): Smith kidnapped 35 year old Audrey Weiler while she was walking from a beach. He dragged her into a forest and raped her. During the sexual assault, Smith stabbed Weiler and drowned her in a nearby river. At the time of the attack, Smith was a sex offender with a rape conviction, and had reoffended against Weiler only months after his release from prison.
6. Richard Whitley (1980-1987, electric chair): Whitley went to the home of his occasional employer, 63 year old Phoebe Parsons, to vent about his broken marriage. As they were conversing, he stabbed Parsons to death. During the attack, he sodomized Parsons with an umbrella, and engaged in sex acts with her body. He then sacked the home of any valuables, stole her car, and fled to Florida.
7. Earl Clanton Jr. (~1971-1988, electric chair): At the age of 17, Clanton killed an unidentified woman in circumstances largely undisclosed beyond it being a robbery. Although Clanton was given a 26-28 year sentence, he was paroled 8 years later. A year after his release, he strangled a neighbor, 38 year old Wilhemina Smith, during a robbery of her home. He also had a malicious wounding conviction when he badly injured a teenage boy with brass knuckles, and his mother had made complaints of him stealing money from her. However, Clanton claimed that she faked her complaints in retaliation for him refusing a sexual relationship with her. Clanton also took part in the mass prison escape orchestrated by the Briley brothers, but was recaptured with them.
8. Alton Waye (1977-1989, electric chair): Waye invaded the home of 61 year old Lavergne Marshall, and stabbed her 42 times. He then raped Marshall and poured bleach on her body.
9. Richard Boggs (1984-1990, electric chair): After Boggs killed an unidentified man in a hit and run accident, he rushed to the home of his neighbor, 87 year old Treeby Shaw. When she offered him tea, Boggs hit her in the head with a steel object, and stabbed her to death with a butcher knife. He stole some silver from the home, which was discovered by investigating police officers in his car. On an unrelated side note, Boggs' older brother was shot dead by police during a car chase some years after his execution.
10. Wilbert Evans (~1964-1990, electric chair): While incarcerated for a robbery in North Carolina, Evans was transferred to Virginia to testify at a murder trial. While being transported in a prison van, he decided to take the opportunity to escape, and seized a gun from one of his escorts, 47 year old William Truesdale. Truesdale was shot dead during the struggle and Evans used the gun to destroy his handcuffs. Although he managed to jump out of the van, Evans was cornered by police officers only a few blocks away, and was recaptured followed a bungled suicide attempt. Evans had an extensive criminal history, and was convicted of robbing a gas station at the age of 18. During his time on death row, he protected staff members held hostage from being raped and abused by the Briley brothers during their attempted escape. His execution caused some controversy, as blood was observed coming out of his blood, nose, and eyes during the fatal shocks.
11. Buddy Justus (1978-1990, electric chair): Justus abducted and raped 3 women, 32 year old Rosemary Jackson, 21 year old Stephanie Hawkins, and 21 year old Ida Moses, and shot them to death. He was charged with a 4th murder, as Moses was pregnant and her unborn child also died in the attack. In two of his known murders, Justus was assisted by an 18 year old man that he befriend after he picked him up hitchhiking. He also received several life and death sentences in the states of Georgia and Florida.
12. Albert Clozza (1983-1991, electric chair): Clozza snatched 13 year old Patricia Bolton while she was walking home from a bookmobile. He dragged the girl into a forest and sodomized her with a twig. She was also severely beaten in the attack, and the corner's report mentioned that Bolton was "asphyxiated by her own blood."
13. Derrick Peterson (1982-1991, electric chair): During a holdup of a grocery store, Peterson shot and killed the manger, 45 year old Howard Kauffman. He then ran off with thousands of dollars worth in checks and cash.
14. Roger Coleman (~1977-1992, electric chair): Coleman tricked his sister-in-law, 19 year old Wanda McCoy, into letting him inside her house. He then raped and stabbed her, and she was nearly decapitated in the attack. A long standing sex offender, Coleman was convicted of raping a woman in her home a few years prior to McCoy's murder, and had exposed himself to two other women just before the killing. Unfortunately for him, one of the women happened to be an artist, and she drew a sketch that enabled the police to identify him for the murder. Despite his past offenses, Coleman had a strong following for his innocence among the anti death penalty crowd. A notion that was debunked following a 2006 DNA test that concluded his guilt.
15. Edward Fitzgerald Sr. (1980-1992, electric chair): Out of fear of her being a police informant, Fitzgerald abducted his drug dealer, 22 year old Patricia Cubbage. He raped and stabbed her 184 times, and reportedly carved a "tick-tack-toe design" into Cubbage's back.
16. Willie Jones (1983-1992, electric chair): Jones tricked the parents of an acquaintance, 78 year old Myra and 80 year old Graham, into letting him inside their house by pretending to be an undercover cop searching for missing children. He shot and killed Graham, tied up and gagged Myra, locked her in a closet, and stole their entire life savings (which amounted to $30,000). To destroy any evidence of his crime, Jones set the house on fire. Myra, who was still tied up and trapped in her closet, was burned alive. Jones was also one of the inmates that escaped from death row with the Briley brothers, but was recaptured weeks after the breakout
17. Timothy Bunch (1982-1992, electric chair): Bunch, a then active service Marine, was dating Su Cha Thomas, a 40 year old South Korean immigrant. Believing that Thomas was too much like his “slut” ex wife, Bunch decided that he wanted to rob and kill her. He tricked Thomas into letting him inside her home with the promise of a date. She was shot in the head and Bunch hung the body to a closet doorknob with a scarf. Bunch then ransacked the home, and stole a watch, diamond ring, and a pearl necklace. According to investigators, he confided in them that he had an orgasm while robbing and murdering Thomas. After the killing, Bunch was deployed to Japan, but extradited back to Virginia to face trial for Thomas’ murder.
18. Charles Stamper (1978-1993, electric chair): While robbing a restaurant that he worked at, Stamper shot and killed three of his co workers, 43 year old Agnes Hicks, 35 year old Franklin Cooley, and 20 year old Steven. He stole a total of $4,000 in the robbery. On death row, Stamper was attacked by fellow death row inmate Lem Tuggle for allegedly being a snitch. The assault left him permanently paralyzed, which made his execution somewhat controversial.
19. Syvasky Poyner (~1970s-1993, electric chair): Poyner shot and killed 5 females, 72 year old Louise Paulett, 45 year old Joyce Baldwin, 44 year old Carolyn Hedrick, 43 year old Chestine Brooks, and 17 year old Vicki Ripple during a two week long robbery spree. He directed his attacks towards beauty parlors, supermarkets, ice cream shops, and motels. A life long career criminal, Poyner had several auto theft, forgery, and burglary convictions, and his earliest date back to when he was 14 years old.
20. Andrew Chabrol (1991-1993, electric chair): Chabrol, a Navy serviceman, made unwanted advances on a fellow married sailor, 27 year old Melissa Harrington, and refused to back down despite repeated rejections. Harrington filed sexual harassment charges, and Chabrol was dismissed from service following an investigation. Angered by the loss of his career and her rebuffing his advances, Chabrol kidnapped Harrington from her home with the help of a friend, and tied her to his bed. He then raped and strangled her to death. The case attracted outcry years later when it was discovered that Chabrol and Harrington’s remains were buried in close proximity to each other in the Arlington cemetery.
21. Joe Wise (1983-1993, electric chair): Wise abducted 45 year old William Ricketson during a robbery. He beat and shot his captive in the eye and chest, dumped him in a water hole used for an abandoned power plant's lavatory, and drove off with his truck. Although Ricketson survived the shooting, he drowned in the hole.
22. David Pruett (~1975-1993, electric chair): In 1975, Pruett fatally stabbed his co worker, 22 year old Debra McInnis, while robbing a restaurant they worked at together. As the investigators weren't able to solve the McInnis murder, Pruett remained a free man. 11 years later, he tied up his friend's wife, 35 year old Wilma Harvey, in the couple's home while her husband was out of town. He raped Harvey, stabbed her 29 times and slit her throat, ransacked the house for any valuables, and stole an undisclosed amount of money. Pruett was also tried and sentenced for an unrelated rape incident alongside Harvey and McInnis' murders.
23. Johnny Watkins Jr. (1983-1994, electric chair): Watkins gunned down two store clerks, 41 year old Carl Buchanan and 22 year old Betty Barker, during a week long robbery spree. In the robberies that killed Buchanan and Barker, Watkins stole a combined total of $125. His brother Ronald was also executed for an unrelated robbery murder [for more details, please see section 49 on Ronald Watkins].
24. Timothy Spencer (~1980s-1994, electric chair): Spencer broke into the residences of at least 5 women and girls, 44 year old Susan Tucker, 35 year old Debbie Davis, 32 year old Susan Hellams, 32 year old Carolyn Hamm, and Diane Cho, a 15 year old South Korean immigrant, and raped them. All the verified victims were strangled to death with ligatures and ratchets. Another man was falsey convicted of Hamm's murder, but was cleared of guilt in a 1989 DNA test. The falsely accused man was one of the first inmates to be exonerated using DNA testing, while paradoxically Spencer was the first serial killer to be convicted with DNA evidence. Spencer also had a history of burglaries before his killing sprees.
25. Dana Edmonds (1983-1995, lethal injection): During a robbery of a grocery store, Edmonds tied up a grocer, 62 year old John Elliott. He bashed Elliot's head with a brick, stabbed his neck, and took $40 from the register.
26. Willie Turner (~1970s-1995, lethal injection): In 1978, Turner shot and killed W. J. Smith, a 54 year old jeweler, during a jewelry store robbery. A few years prior to Smith's murder, Turner had killed an unidentified inmate in largely undisclosed circumstances while serving time for a malicious wounding conviction, but was let out on parole. While on death row, Turner took part in the Briley brothers led breakout, and made several escape attempts on his own. In one incident, Turner pretended to have smuggled a gun in his cell, and used the hoax to make threats against the prison staff.
27. Dennis Stockton (~1950s-1995, lethal injection): 18 year old Kenneth Arnder allegedly crossed a dealer during a drug deal. The dealer retaliated by paying Stockton $2,000 to kill him. Stockton lured Arnder in his car with the promise of driving him to safety, and shot the youth in the eyes. He cut the hands off his body to prevent identification and dumped it in a remote North Carolinan forest. Stockton had a long criminal history since he was a teenager, which included several convictions of arson, safecracking, drug dealing, and weapons possession charges. Police also found dismembered body parts kept in a jar in his home, but Stockton claimed that it was simply a gift given to him by a biker gang, and he only kept the remains to show off at parties.
28. Mickey Davidson (1990-1995, lethal injection): Davidson’s wife, 36 year old wife Doris, made a decision to leave him for her ex husband. In a jealous rage, he beat her and her two daughters, 14 year old Mamie and 13 year old Tammy Clutterback, to death with a crowbar.
29. Herman Barnes (1984-1995, lethal injection): Barnes held up a grocery store at gunpoint, and shot and killed the owner, 72 year old Clyde Jenkins. Mohammad Afifi, a 42 year old Palestinian immigrant that worked as the store’s clerk, was also gunned down when he came to his boss’s aid.
30. Walter Correll Jr. (1985-1996, lethal injection): Correll and two accomplices ambushed, carjacked, and kidnapped 24 year old Charles Bousman Jr. after they motioned him to stop on a remote highway. After they stole his rings and watch, they beat and stabbed Bousman to death, dumped his body in a nearby forest, and drove off with his car. His execution was a source of contention, as Correll's supporters and attorneys assert that he was an intellectually disabled man set up by his accomplices for lesser sentences.
31. Richard Townes Jr. (~1970s-1996, lethal injection): Townes shot a clerk, 32 year old Virginia Goebel, in the head while robbing a grocery store, and stole $183 from the register. He had a long history of violent robberies, and had shot and wounded a taxi driver after holding him hostage for 6 hours several years before Goebel's murder.
32. Joseph Savino III (~1980s-1996, lethal injection): After he was released on parole from an armed robbery conviction, Savino beat his boyfriend, 64 year old Thomas McWaters, to death with a hammer in their home. According to Savino, McWaters was pressuring him for sex, and threatened to have his parole revoked if it was withheld.
33. Ronald Bennett (1985-1996, lethal injection): Bennett broke into the home of Anne Vaden, a 28 year real estate agent. After he tied Vaden up, Bennett beat, strangled, and stabbed her to death. One of Vaden's rings was stolen in the robbery, and he gave it to his wife. The murder was left cold for a year, but was solved when Bennett's wife drunkenly confessed her husband's deeds to a friend while showing off the ring.
34. Gregory Beaver (~1980s-1996, lethal injection): After Beaver escaped from a Maryland rehab center, he went on a rampage that involved stealing a car and storming a restaurant his stepfather owned to rob and assault him. While speeding away from the scene with a hitchhiker he picked up, Beaver was pulled over by Leo Whitt, a 49 year old state trooper. In the scuffle that broke out, Beaver shot and killed Whitt. The hitchhiker then tricked Beaver into stopping at a nearby restaurant, and he used the payphone to call the police on him. Beaver previously had 10 unspecified felony convictions, which was why he was placed by his family in the Maryland rehab center.
35. Larry Stout (1987-1996, lethal injection): Stout assaulted a dry cleaning store with a knife, slashed the throat of the owner, 40 year old Jacqueline Kooshian, and stole $1,200.
36. Lem Tuggle Jr. (~1971-1996, lethal injection): In 1971, Tuggle raped and fatally strangled 16 year old Shirley Brickey, and was given a 20 year sentence for it. He was released from prison after serving 10 years. Two years after his release, Tuggle lured 52 year old Jessie Havens from a dance hall, and then raped and shot her to death. On death row, he participated in the mass escape orchestrated by the Briley brothers, and paralyzed the above mentioned Charles Stamper for allegedly being an informant.
37. Ronald Hoke (1985-1996, lethal injection): Hoke forced his way inside the home of 56 year old Virginia Stell, a woman he met at a bar. He raped and stabbed her to death with a knife taken from the kitchen, and stole some medication from Stell's purse.
38. Michael George (1979-1997, lethal injection): In 1979, George lured 9 year old Larry Perry from his grandparents' home, and shot the boy dead after raping him. As the body was never found and the prosecution couldn't disprove his claims of it being an accidental killing, George was able to secure an involuntary manslaughter plea deal from the courts, and was released within two years for good behavior. After his release, he molested several teenage boys, and expressed fantasies about them being sexually tortured by "evil creatures" in the forest in his written works of fiction. In 1990, George made his fantasies a reality when he ambushed and abducted 15 year old Alexander Sztanko while the boy was ridding a motorbike. He shackled Sztanko to a tree, sodomized him with a stun gun, sliced pieces of his skin with a machete, shot him in the head, and stole his motorbike. Other teenage boys in the area also reported being assaulted in the same manner as Sztanko by a “Rambo like” camouflaged assailant. Although it is strongly believed that George was responsible for the attacks, he wasn't convicted of them.
39. Coleman Gray (1985-1997, lethal injection): Gray kidnapped 49 year old Richard McClelland while robbing a store he managed. He forced McClelland to collect over $12,000 in cash, drove his captive to a remote dirt road, and shot him six times in the head.
40. Roy Smith (1988-1997, lethal injection): Smith got into a violent argument with his wife in their home, and the neighbors called the police on him. He fired on the responding officers, and killed John Conner, a 38 year old sergeant. The remaining officers managed to subdue him after a brief standoff and physical struggle.
41. Joseph O'Dell III (~1958-1997, lethal injection): O'Dell was condemned for the abduction, rape, and strangulation murder of 44 year old Helen Schartner. She was last seen leaving from a night club, and her body was found near a beach. His execution was controversial, as O'Dell had a massive support base who believed in his innocence. The circuit court's decision to burn the DNA evidence relating to the Schartner case in 2000 sparked further outcry from them. Despite this, O'Dell was a long time felon with over 17 convictions dating back to the 1950s, and a woman claimed to have escaped a kidnapping attempt from him.
42. Carlton Pope (~1982-1997, lethal injection): Pope shot and killed 24 year old Cynthia Gray and wounded her sister while robbing them at a pool. He had a malicious wounding conviction when he shot a friend in the toe, and was paroled months before Gray's murder for that sentence.
43. Mario Murphy (1992-1997, lethal injection): 37 year old James Radcliff's wife hired Murphy to kill him in order to collect a life insurance policy. She, her boyfriend, Murphy, and 3 other conspirators pounced on Radcliff while he was sleeping in his bed, and they stabbed and beat him to death with a metal pipe. Due to all the other conspirators accepting plea deals, Murphy was the only one sentenced to death for the murder, which he perceived was because of Mexican nationality. His death sentence and execution also caused a minor diplomatic dispute with Mexico.
44. Dawud Mu'Min (1973-1997, lethal injection): At the age of 19 in 1973, Mu'Min shot and killed Charles Shupe, a 43 year old taxi driver, while robbing his taxi. He was given a 48 year sentence for the murder. 15 years later, Mu'Min was assigned to a inmate labor program. While working on a road, he pretended to be on a lunch break, and took the opportunity to sneak away from his escorts and supervisors. Mu'Min broke into a shopping center, raped Gladys Nopwasky, a 42 year old retailer, and stabbed her 16 times with a screwdriver. After he stole $4 from her purse, Mu'Min returned back to the work program.
45. Michael Satcher (1990-1997, lethal injection): Satcher ambushed 23 year old Anne Borghesani while she was biking near a highway. He raped, beat, and stabbed her 16 times with an axl. Another young woman was also assaulted by Satcher in a similar fashion, but she survived the attack. Both of their purses were stolen and disposed of in the same bush.
46. Thomas Beavers Jr. (1990-1997, lethal injection): Beavers broke into the home of 61 year old Marguerite Lowery, and raped and suffocated her to death with a pillow. He sacked the house, stole her jewelry, and drove off with Lowery's car. The killing went unsolved until a year later when Beavers was arrested for sexually assaulting a neighbor in circumstances nearly identical to Lowery's murder. A police search while investigating the neighbor incident found Lowery's stolen jewelry in his house.
47. Tony Mackall (1986-1998, lethal injection): While holding up a gas station at gunpoint, Mackall shot the cashier, 31 year old Mary Dahn, and took $515 from the register.
48. Douglas Buchanan Jr. (1987-1998, lethal injection): Enraged that his father, 43 year old Douglas, married a much younger woman, 31 year old Geraldine, shortly after his mother's passing, Buchanan shot him to death in their home. He also gunned down and stabbed Geraldine and her two sons, 13 year old Joel and 10 year old Donnie.
49. Ronald Watkins (1988-1998, lethal injection): While robbing a store that he formerly work at, Watkins stabbed the store owner, 29 year old William McCauley, 7 time in his back and slit his throat. McCauley's body was discovered by his father, who stopped by to check on his son after he failed to return home on time. As a sidenote, Watkins was the younger brother of the above mentioned Johnny Watkins Jr..
50. Ángel Breard (1992-1998, lethal injection): Breard stabbed his neighbor, 29 year old Ruth Dickie, to death during a botched rape in her home. He also made another unsuccessful attempt at sexually assaulting a second neighbor half a year later, which enabled investigators to tie him to Dickie's murder. His death sentence and execution sparked outrage in his native Paraguay.
51. Dennis Eaton (1989-1998, lethal injection): Eaton and his girlfriend, 24 year old Judy McDonald, carjacked 68 year old Ripley Marston Sr. and 26 year old Walter Custer Jr., and shot them both dead. While speeding away from the murder scene, the couple were pulled over by a state trooper, 48 year old Jerry Hines, and gunned him down as well. In the following police chase, Eaton ended up crashing his car into a telephone pole, and injured McDonald in the process. As they were corned, Eaton finished off McDonald by shooting her in the head, and made an attempt to commit suicide before he was subdued.
52. Danny King (~1980s(?)-1998, lethal injection): King and his then wife duped Carolyn Rogers, a 55 year old real estate agent, into letting them inside a vacant house by posing as clients. They jumped Rogers as she was giving them a tour of the house. She was choked with King's bare hands and stabbed to death in the assault. The couple then stole rings and checks from her purse. Both King and his ex wife blamed each other for the murder, but King was the one that was convicted of it by the courts. King also had a long history of robbery and car thefts, and was released from prison 10 days before the murder.
53. Lance Chandler Jr. (~1987-1998, lethal injection): Chandler shot and killed a clerk, 33 year old William Dix, during a convenience store robbery. He had a criminal record dating back to the age of 14, and had previous arrests for armed robbery, assaulting officers, and public intoxication.
54. Johnile DuBois (~1990s-1998, lethal injection): During a convenience store robbery, DuBois and 3 teenage accomplices tried forcing the clerk, 39 year old Philip Council, to open the register for them. When they thought he was acting too slow, the DuBois and the other robbers beat Council and shot him to death. DuBois had a history of thefts, illicit firearms possessions, assault, and probation violations.
55. Kenneth Stewart Jr. (1991-1998, lethal injection): Stewart separated from his wife, 35 year old Cynthia, after their marriage disintegrated. He was forbidden by the courts from being in contact with their son, 5 month old Jonathan, without Cynthia's consent. To overcome the custody barriers, Stewart tried to reconcile with Cynthia. When she refused, he shot her and Jonathan dead in her home.
56. Dwayne Wright (1989-1998, lethal injection): Wright went on a weeklong crime spree in Maryland and Virginia. In his Maryland attacks, he shot and killed 31 year old Odell Thomas and 24 year old Reginald Turman, and stole Turman's car and a total of $400. He then drove to Virginia, and held Saba Tekle, a 34 year old Ethiopian refugee, at gunpoint in her apartment. Wright forced Tekle to undress, shot her dead when she resisted his attempts at sexual assault, and swapped Truman’s car for hers.
57. Ronald Fitzgerald (1993-1998, lethal injection): Fitzgerald shot and killed 39 year old Coy White in his home in order to get his hands on the man’s 13 year old daughter. He abducted and raped the girl after forcing her to steal money from her father’s pockets, and left her locked in the trunk of his car. After abandoning White’s daughter, Fitzgerald flagged down a taxi driver, Hugh Morrison (age unknown), and shot him dead. Fitzgerald used Morrison’s stolen taxi to kidnap an 18 year old woman and her two children, and drove them to a motel. He raped the 18 year old in the motel room while her two children were watching tv. The family were spared and released, and Fitzgerald forced a couple to drive him to a courthouse with the intentions of committing suicide there. However, the attempt failed with his gun jamming, and he was captured by the police.
58. Kenneth Wilson (1993-1998, lethal injection): Wilson forcibly entered the home of his cousin's girlfriend, 31 year old Jacqueline Stephen, with a knife. He bound Stephen to a bed, and tied her 12 year old daughter and her daughter's 14 year old friend to the bed's posts. Wilson then made an attempt to rape Stephen, and cut her and the girls' throats. Stephen died at the scene, while both of the girls survived their injuries.
2024.05.05 19:55 Asleep_Help5804 [D] Problem Framing/Model Selection for Marketing Analytics
Hello
We are in the process of selecting, training and using an AI model to determine the best sequence of marketing actions for the next few weeks to maximize INCREMENTAL sales for each customer segment for a B2B consumable product (i.e. one that needs to be purchased on a periodic basis). Many of our customers are likely to buy our products even without promotions - however, we have seen that weekly sales increase significantly when we have promotions
Historically, we have executed campaigns that include emails, virtual meetings and in-person meetings.
We have the following data for each week for the past 2 years
Our initial assumption is that promotions during any 4 week period has an impact on INCREMENTAL sales over the next 4 weeks. So campaigns in February have a significant impact in March but not much in April or May.
In general we have only one type of connect in any specific week (so either in-person, or phone or email). Therefore, in any 4 week period we have 3x3x3x3 = 81 combinations. (There are some combinations that are extremely unlikely such as in-person meetings every week for 4 weeks - so that actual number of combinations is probably slightly less than 81).
We are considering a 2 step process
Bob proposes Option A: Use regression. As per Bob, there is very limited temporal relationship between sales in different time periods so a linear regression model should be sufficient. He wants to try out linear regression, random forest and XGBoost. He thinks this approach can be tested quite quickly (~8 weeks) and should give decent results.
Susan proposes Option B: As per Susan, we should use a time series method since sales for any segment for a given 4 week period should have some temporal relationship with prior 4 week periods. She wants to try smoothing techniques, ARIMA as well as deep learning methods such as vanilla RNN, LSTM and GRU. She is asking for about 12-14 weeks but says that this is a more robust method and is likely to show higher performance.
We have some time pressures to show some results and don't have resources to try both in parallel.
Any advice regarding how I should choose between the 2 options?
submitted by Asleep_Help5804 to MachineLearning [link] [comments]
We are in the process of selecting, training and using an AI model to determine the best sequence of marketing actions for the next few weeks to maximize INCREMENTAL sales for each customer segment for a B2B consumable product (i.e. one that needs to be purchased on a periodic basis). Many of our customers are likely to buy our products even without promotions - however, we have seen that weekly sales increase significantly when we have promotions
Historically, we have executed campaigns that include emails, virtual meetings and in-person meetings.
We have the following data for each week for the past 2 years
- Total Sales (this is the target variable) for each segment
- Campaign type
Our initial assumption is that promotions during any 4 week period has an impact on INCREMENTAL sales over the next 4 weeks. So campaigns in February have a significant impact in March but not much in April or May.
In general we have only one type of connect in any specific week (so either in-person, or phone or email). Therefore, in any 4 week period we have 3x3x3x3 = 81 combinations. (There are some combinations that are extremely unlikely such as in-person meetings every week for 4 weeks - so that actual number of combinations is probably slightly less than 81).
We are considering a 2 step process
- For each segment and for each of the 81 combinations predict sales for the next 4 weeks. Subtract Predicted Sales from the Actual Sales for current 4 week period to find INCREMENTAL sales for next 4 weeks
- Select the combination with the highest INCREMENTAL sales
Bob proposes Option A: Use regression. As per Bob, there is very limited temporal relationship between sales in different time periods so a linear regression model should be sufficient. He wants to try out linear regression, random forest and XGBoost. He thinks this approach can be tested quite quickly (~8 weeks) and should give decent results.
Susan proposes Option B: As per Susan, we should use a time series method since sales for any segment for a given 4 week period should have some temporal relationship with prior 4 week periods. She wants to try smoothing techniques, ARIMA as well as deep learning methods such as vanilla RNN, LSTM and GRU. She is asking for about 12-14 weeks but says that this is a more robust method and is likely to show higher performance.
We have some time pressures to show some results and don't have resources to try both in parallel.
Any advice regarding how I should choose between the 2 options?
2024.05.05 01:38 nanylop Test Bank for Physical Rehabilitation 7th Edition Susan B. O’Sullivan
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2024.05.04 16:11 SophiaPerez Test bank for maternity and pediatric nursing 3th edition
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2024.05.04 04:44 Leather_Focus_6535 The currently 98 offenders executed by the state of Missouri since the 1970s and their crimes (warning, graphic content, please read at your own risk) [part 1, cases 50 to 98]
Despite the typo in the title, this is the second part of my list for Missouri's execution roster. As stated in the first part, character count limitations forced me to split it into two separate posts. For the link to part 1, please click here.
The currently executed 98 offenders, cases 50 to 98:
50. Samuel Smith (1979-2001, lethal injection): In 1979, Smith bound and strangled a physician, 28 year old Zachary Moraitis, to death while robbing his apartment. He was charged and convicted for second degree murder, and given a 12 year sentence for it. 8 years later, a group of inmates, which included 24 year old Marlin May, attacked another inmate. Smith intervened, got into a knife fight with May, and stabbed him to death.
51. Jerome Mallett (~1985-2001, lethal injection): Mallett shot and killed James Froemsdorf, a 35 year old state trooper that pulled him over for speeding, with his own handgun when he tried to arrest him. He fled the scene with a handcuff stuck on his left wrist, which was still on him when Mallett was captured two days later. As a child, Mallett suffered an injury that deformed his right hand, which enabled to slip it out of the cuffs during the botched arrest. At the time of Froemsdorf's murder, Mallett was wanted for robbery and parole violations.
52. Michael Roberts (1994-2001, lethal injection): Roberts tricked his neighbor, 56 year old Mary Taylor, into letting him hang out at her house with the intentions of pulling a robbery. They watched television together for several hours until Taylor decided to hush out of the door. He then pounced on her with a hammer he snuck inside, and inflicted 19 blows to her head. Roberts also poured boiling water on Taylor's face, choked her with a telephone cord, and stabbed her with her own butcher knife. A total of $200 and other undisclosed valuables were stolen and most of it was spent on cocaine.
53. Stephen Johns (1982-2001, lethal injection): During a gas station robbery, Johns and his accomplices shot and killed the clerk, 17 year old Donald Voepel, and took $248 from the register.
54. James Johnson (1991-2002, lethal injection): Johnson got into an argument with his wife and daughter in their home and tried to evict them both at gunpoint. The police were called, and Johnson shot and killed the responding officer, 27 year old Leslie Roark. He drove to the home of another police officer, and fired on his family while they were having a Christmas party. The officer's wife, 38 year old Pam Jones, died in the shooting. Johnson then attacked other policemen in their homes, and fatally shot 54 year old Sheriff Charles Smith in one assault, wounded an officer in another, and gunned down a deputy sheriff, 42 year old Sandra Wilson, when she tried to respond to his rampage. He took a female hostage in a standoff with police, but Johnson released her and surrendered after a day of negotiations.
55. Michael Owsley (1993-2002, lethal injection): Owsley and his accomplice double crossed their dealers, 18 year old Elvin Iverson and Ellen Cole (age unknown), during a drug deal and tied them up at gunpoint. The pair beat and strangled their captives in the hope of extorting money from them. Iverson was shot point blank in the head while Cole managed to escape their captors.
56. Jeffrey Tokar (~1983-2002, lethal injection): Tokar and his girlfriend drove into a remote countryside in search of empty houses and farms to rob. The couple picked a farm house owned by 35 year old Johnny Douglass as their target. While they were burglarizing the property, Douglass returned home from an errand with his 8 year old son and 4 year old daughter. The family ran into the couple when they went inside, and Tokar held them at gunpoint. Despite Douglass' daughter pleading for her father's life and Douglass' own pleas, Tokar shot him dead. He had a long history of burglaries, and was released from prison after serving 3 years for burglary just months before the murder. His other previous convictions include DUI and assault.
57. Paul Kreutzer (1992-2002, lethal injection): Kreutzer bound and raped 36 year old Louise Hemphill in her own home. Hemphill was stabbed in the neck, beaten with a baseball bat, and strangled to death with a belt. Her purse, along with other incriminating items such as duct tape, bloodied gloves, and a bb gun, was discovered in Kreutzer's possession.
58. Daniel Basile (1992-2002, lethal injection): Basile was hired to kill 28 year old Elizabeth DeCaro by her husband, who wanted to collect a life insurance policy. He carried out the murder by shooting Elizabeth dead in her kitchen.
59. William Jones Jr. (1986-2002, lethal injection): Jones was dating a much older man, 49 year old Stanley Albert. He shot and killed Albert "execution style" in his apartment, wrapped him in a blanket, and dumped his body in a forest. Although Jones claimed that he acted to protect himself from a sexual assault, prosecutors postulated that the murder was motived by his desire to steal Albert's car (which he was captured speeding in).
60. Kenneth Kenley (~1984-2003, lethal injection): In the last of a day long string of robberies, Kenley stormed a tavern and shot a customer, 27 year old Ronnie Felts, dead. He kidnapped the tavern's owner, but she managed to escape from him in the parking lot. Kenley also abducted a woman during a convenience store robbery earlier that day, and sexually assaulted and shot her. She managed to jump out of his car window and survived her injuries. He was released from a 4 year prison sentence for theft just months before his rampage.
61. John Smith (1997-2003, lethal injection): Smith stabbed his ex girlfriend, 22 year old Brandie Kearnes, and her stepfather, 51 year old Wayne Hoewing, to death in their home. Kearnes wrote Smith's name in her own blood as she was dying from her injuries.
62. Stanley Hall (1987-2005, lethal injection): Hall carjacked 44 year old Barbara Wood to use her car in a planned drive by shooting and tossed her into the Mississippi river from a bridge in front of responding police officers. Years before, Hall shot and wounded a 4 year old girl while trying to kill a man he had been chasing, and had been on parole for that crime at the time of Wood's abduction and murder.
63. Donald Jones (1993-2005, lethal injection): Jones walked inside the home of his grandmother, 68 year old Dorothy Knuckles, to beg for money. They got into an argument over his cocaine addiction and alcoholism, and he stabbed her to death with a butcher knife from the kitchen. He then stole an undisclosed amount of money, a VCR set, and her car. Jones used both the money he gained from renting the car and selling the VCR set and the money he stole from Knuckles for cocaine.
64. Vernon Brown (~1973-2005, lethal injection): Brown raped, strangled, and fatally stabbed 19 year old Synetta Ford in her apartment. A year later, he enticed 9 year old Janet Perkins into his home. He then sexually abused and strangled her to death with rope. Brown forced his 11 year old, 9 year old, and 7 year old stepsons to help him dispose of Perkins' body. A lifelong sexual predator, he had a prior conviction of assaulting a 12 year old girl and molested his stepsons. Authorities also suspected that he was involved with the murders of 9 year old Kimberly Campbell and a still unidentified Jane Doe, but he was never charged for them.
65. Timothy Johnston (1989-2005, lethal injection): Johnston beat his wife, 27 year old Nancy, with a chair and kicked her to death in front of her 11 year old stepson (from a previous relationship) over his suspicions of her infidelity. According to the stepson, Johnston physically abused her several times in their marriage. He was part of a biker gang and also had charges of burglary and assault pending at the time of the killing. As a side note, Nancy's stepson was living with the couple, as his biological mother went missing and his biological father committed suicide in the boy's presence a year before the murder.
66. Marlin Gray (1991-2005, lethal injection): Gray and 3 accomplices kidnapped two sisters, 20 year old Julie and 19 year old Robin Kerry, in front of their 19 year old cousin. The sisters were gang raped together and thrown off a bridge. Their cousin was also tossed off the bridge, but he survived his injuries.
67. Dennis Skillicorn (1979-2009, lethal injection): In 1979, Skillicorn and some accomplices shot and killed 81 year old Wendell Howell in his home and stole his television set. He was given a relatively lenient sentence of 35 years for agreeing to testify against the other shooters and was paroled in 1992. A few years after his release, Skillicorn recruited another felon, Allen Nicklasson, and a teenage boy they befriended, and went on another robbery spree. In the process, they fatally shot 31 year old Paul Hines, 47 year old Richard Drummond, 47 year old Joseph Babcock, Joesph's 38 year old wife Charlene, and possibly an unidentified woman in Mexico. The gang found themselves stranded on roads and highways several times due to poor driving, and Drummond and the Babcocks were both abducted and murdered when they tried to help them out.
68. Martin Link (~1982-2011, lethal injection): A chronic sexual predator, Link abducted 11 year old Elissa Self-Braun while she was walking home from school. Self-Braun was raped and strangled to death with a cord. He had several previous convictions of sexual assaults against young girls and grown women between the ages of 13-71, and was caught in a prostitution sting operation. Many of Link's victims testified in the murder trial and partially secured his death sentence.
69. Joseph Franklin (~1977-2013, lethal injection): In a rampage that spanned across several states, Franklin shot 15 to 20 victims between the ages of 13-45 in mostly sniper attacks, and firebombed a synagogue. Most of his victims were killed, but a few such as pornographer Larry Flynt (36 years old at the time of the shooting) and and Civil Rights attorney Vernon Jordan (45 years old at the time of the shooting) survived their injuries. Franklin was a white supremacist, and mostly targeted Blacks, Jews, civil rights activists, and interracial couples.
70. Allen Nicklasson (~1980s-2013, lethal injection): Nicklasson assisted the above mentioned Dennis Skillicorn in the robbery murders of Paul Hines, Richard Drummond, Joseph and Charlene Babcock. He had a history of petty crimes starting as a child, but my sources were scant on the details.
71. Herbert Smulls (~1994-2014, lethal injection): While robbing a jewelry store with an accomplice, Smulls shot and killed the owner, 57 year old Stephen Honickman, and stole some jewelry. He had 11 previous convictions of robbery and theft, and was tied to another robbery committed in similar circumstances.
72. Michael Taylor (1989-2014, lethal injection): Taylor and Roderick Nunley kidnapped 15 year old Ann Harrison while she was waiting for a school bus. They dragged her inside their car and drove Harrison to the home owned by Nunley's mother. She was gang-raped by the pair in the house's garage and stabbed to death.
73. Jeffrey Ferguson (1988-2014, lethal injection): Ferguson and an accomplice snatched 17 year old Kelli Hall from a service station she worked at. She was taken to a barn, where she was raped and strangled to death. Hall's body was dumped on the property. Ferguson had an assault conviction that pertained to an incident of him shooting and injuring a friend in a dispute over a woman. That same woman also claimed that Ferguson sexually assaulted and physically abused her numerous times while they lived together.
74. William Rousan (1993-2014, lethal injection): Rousan, his teenage son, and his brother attacked a farm owned by a married couple, 67 year old Charles and 62 year old Grace Lewis. Under his orders, Rousan's son shot and killed both of the Lewis'. The Rousans stole the couple's truck, a VCR set, two cows, jewelry, and a saddle in the robbery.
75. John Winfield (1996-2014, lethal injection): Winfield was enraged that his ex girlfriend started dating another man and confronted her about it at her apartment. Two friends of her, 23 year old Shawnee Murphy and 20 year old Arthea Sanders, were also present with them. In a fit of anger, Winfield shot all three of the women multiple times each. Murphy and Sanders died at the scene, while the ex girlfriend survived with severe facial disfigurements and was permanently blinded.
76. John Middleton (~1990s-2014, lethal injection): Middleton was a meth dealer whose operations had been increasingly compromised by police raids. In an attempt to root out the potential informants, he armed himself with an SKS rifle, and shot and killed three of his associates, 39 year old Randy Hamilton, 29 year old Alfred Pinegar, and 21 year old Stacey Hodge. He disposed of the bodies with the help of his girlfriend. A rival meth dealer had also accused Middleton of raping and beating his girlfriend to death with a baseball bat, but he wasn't prosecuted for that crime.
77. Michael Worthington (1995-2014, lethal injection): Worthington cut through the window screen of a neighboring condo, and sexually assaulted the tenant, 24 year old Melinda Griffin. He strangled her to death with a cord and his bare hands when she tried to fight back. Griffin's car, jewelry, and credit cards were stolen by Worthington, and he used the card to buy drugs.
78. Earl Ringo Jr. (1998-2014, lethal injection): Ringo and his accomplice ambushed a delivery driver, 45 year old Dennis Poyser, and a manager trainee, 22 year old JoAnna Baysinger, as they were walking into a Ruby Tuesday restaurant. He shot and killed Poyser upon entry, and forced Baysinger to pull out $1,400 from the restaurant's safe. Despite her compliance, Ringo shot Baysinger in the head.
79. Leon Taylor (~1975-2014, lethal injection): In 1975, Taylor and some accomplices fatally stabbed 62 year old Jesse Howartzer while burglarizing his apartment. He was given a second degree murder conviction and was released sometime before the 1990s. In 1994, Taylor and his half siblings forced a gas station attendant, 53 year old Robert Newton, to pull out $400 from the register and shot him dead. Newton's 8 year old stepdaughter was also present to keep him company, and Taylor moved to kill her as well. The girl's life was only spared when his gun jammed. After the robbery, he expressed his regrets of not "choking the little bitch" to his siblings.
80. Paul Goodwin (1998-2014, lethal injection): Goodwin was removed from a boarding home, and he blamed his neighbor, 63 year old Joan Crotts, for it. His habit of harassment towards her intensified, and he repeatedly shouted vulgarities and threats on her front porch, tossed beer bottles and eggs at her lawn and house, and fed her dog chicken bones. It escalated to the breaking point when Crotts invited Goodwin inside her home in an attempt to have the issue peacefully resolved. Goodwin instead forced Crotts to perform oral sex on him and bludgeoned her to death with a hammer. His execution was controversial, as Goodwin allegedly had a cognitive disability.
81. Walter Storey (1990-2015, lethal injection): Storey climbed up the balcony of his apartment complex, and entered a neighboring flat. He stabbed the tenant, 36 year old Jill Frey, 12 times with his kitchen knife and broke 6 of her ribs in a beating. Frey's pocketbook, keys, and car were stolen in the robbery.
82. Cecil Clayton (1996-2015, lethal injection): Clayton got into an altercation with his estranged girlfriend at a store, and shoved her a number of times. The employees notified the police, and a few officers were sent to the scene. They spoke with Clayton and he agreed to return to his home while the police escorted the shaken girlfriend back to hers. In the following night, Clayton tried to break into her house, and she called the police. One of the dispatched officers, 29 year old Christopher Castetter, was shot dead in the ensuring confrontation.
83. Andre Cole (1998-2015, lethal injection): Cole broke a window and entered the home of his ex wife to confront her about debts relating to child support payments for their two children. His ex wife's boyfriend, 38 year old Anthony Curtis, tried to usher him out the door, but was stabbed to death for his troubles. Cole also attacked his ex wife, but she survived her injuries.
84. Richard Strong (~1999-2015, lethal injection): Strong fatally stabbed his girlfriend, 23 year old Eva Washington and her 2 year old daughter, Zandrea Thomas, in their apartment. Both of the bodies were mutilated almost beyond recognition. He had assaulted Washington numerous times in their relationship. Many of the episodes were taken to the courts. One choking incident required him to be in anger management classes and Washington pushed a restraining order that she later withdrew in another.
85. David Zink (~1980s-2015): Zink kidnapped 19 year old Amanda Morton after ramming her car with his own on the freeway. He bound Morton to a cemetery tree and raped her. She was beaten to death, and her body was found with over 100 blunt trauma related injuries. Zink had just been released after serving 20 out of a 33 year sentence for sexual assault at the time of the abduction and murder.
86. Roderick Nunley (1989-2015, lethal injection): As mentioned under Michael Taylor's section, Nunley partook in the abduction, rape, and murder of Ann Harrison.
87. Earl Forrest II (2002-2015, lethal injection): Forrest was in the home of 51 year old Harriet Smith trying to negotiate a deal involving her buying him a lawn mower and a trailer in exchange for a source of meth. An argument broke out, and Forrest fatally shot Smith and her housemate, 41 year old Michael Wells. He stole $25,000 worth of meth and fled to his home. A squad of responding police officers confronted him there and Forrest opened fire on them. Sharon Barnes, a 48 year old deputy, was killed, and Sheriff Bob Wofford and Forrest's girlfriend Angela Gamblin were wounded by him in the exchange.
88. Mark Christeson (1998-2017, lethal injection): Christeson and his cousin abducted 37 year old Susan Brouk, and her two children, 12 year old Adrian and 9 year old Kyle, from their home at gunpoint. The pair raped Susan, slashed her throat, and drowned her and her children together in a pond. Several items such as the family's shotguns, television set, VCR, car stereo, video game controller, and checkbooks were stolen from the home, and sold for money to sustain themselves as fugitives.
89. Russell Bucklew (1996-2019, lethal injection): Bucklew was infuriated that his ex girlfriend, Stephanie Ray, broke off their relationship and started dating 27 year old Michael Sanders. He began by beating Ray in her trailer, cut her jaw with a knife, and threatened to kill her if she stepped foot in Sanders' trailer. The attack had the opposite effect of its' objective, and instead terrified Ray to the point of moving in with Sanders for protection. Weeks later, Bucklew "borrowed" his brothers' handcuffs and guns, and stormed Sanders' trailer. He shot and killed Sanders, shot at his 6 year old son, and kidnapped Ray. Bucklew bound her with the handcuffs, dragged her into his car, and raped her. She was rescued by police officers, who wounded and subduded Bucklew in a shootout. However, Bucklew briefly escaped, and attacked Ray's mother and her boyfriend with a hammer before he was recaptured. His execution was contested, as Bucklew allegedly had a medical condition that would've made the lethal injection "inhumane."
90. Walter Barton (1991-2020, lethal injection): Barton was condemned for the fatal attack on his landlady, 81 year old Gladys Kuehler in her trailer. She was raped and stabbed over 50 times. A page from Kuehler's checkbook was taken, which was used to transfer $50 to Barton's account. Blood found on his clothes were also linked to Kuehler by a DNA test. Kuehler and Barton were reportedly close and many accounts report that he assisted her in walking and did chores around her home. However, she had him evicted due to falling far behind on rent days before the murder. Barton, his attorneys, and supporters in Missouri’s Innocence Project pushed that the blood on his clothes was from posthumous contact with Kuehler’s body while allegedly discovering it. From such concerns, his execution was a source of controversy.
91. Ernest Johnson (~1990s-2020, lethal injection): Johnson held a retail store at gunpoint. In retaliation for the employees destroying the safe key, Johnson shot 3 employees, 58 year old Fred Jones, 57 year old Mable Scruggs, and 46 year old Mary Bratcher. When the victims survived the initial shootings, he beat and stabbed them to death with a hammer and a screwdriver. He had previous convictions of robbery and burglary, and was released from prison a year before the murders. His execution was contested, as Johnson had brain surgery to remove a tumor in 2014. According to his attorneys, the operation rendered him cognitively disabled, and therefore was ineligible for execution.
92. Carman Deck (1996-2022, lethal injection): Deck, his sister, and their mother's boyfriend invaded the home of a couple, 69 year old James and 67 year old Zelma Long. They shot and killed the Longs, and stole jewelry, checks, and a total of $200 from the house.
93. Kevin Johnson Jr. (~2000s-2022, lethal injection): Johnson was heavily involved with robberies and other crimes as a teenager, and spent much of his time in and out of prison. In 2005, local law enforcement suspected Johnson of violating the terms of his probation, and raided his family home. His 12 year old brother died of a seizure during the search, and Johnson and the family blamed the officers involved. He hunted down one of the officers, 43 year old William McEntee, and shot and killed him while he was on patrol.
94. Scott/Amber McLaughlin (~1992-2023, lethal injection): McLaughlin abducted their girlfriend, 45 year old Beverly Guenther, from her office as she was getting off from a shift. They raped and stabbed Guenther to death, and dumped her body in a neighborhood. Guenther’s family recounted that McLaughlin was extremely abusive during their relationship, and harassed Guenther when she left them. The harassment included several incidents of burglarizing Guenther’s home. McLaughlin was also a registered sex offender with a conviction of molesting a 14 year old girl. They received national attention for being the first known transsexual to be executed in the United States. Biologically male during their offenses and transitioned to female on death row.
95. Leonard Taylor (2004-2023, lethal injection): Taylor shot and killed his girlfriend, 28 year old Angela Rowe, and her 3 children, 10 year old Alexus, 6 year old AcQreya, and 5 year old Tyrese, in their home. He had several unrelated sexual offenses against a former stepdaughter and other unidentified women, and was involved with drug trafficking. Despite his history and the other damning evidence against him (including testimony of his brother mentioning that he confided about committing the murder and traces of Angela's blood being found on his glasses), Taylor was popular among Missouri Innocence Project organizations for his daughter's alleged claims of him calling her 2,000 miles away from the crime scene.
96. Michael Tisius (2000-2023, lethal injection): In an attempt to break a friend out of a rural jail, Tisus shot and killed two guards, 33 year old Leon Egley and 36 year old Jason Acton. However, he was driven away by police reinforcements, and forced to flee the jail emptyhanded with his accomplice, the friend's girlfriend. They were captured in Kansas when their car broke down. Tisus was previously held in the targeted jail for an unspecified misdemeanor, and became acquainted with his friend while they were cellmates.
97.Johnny Johnson (2004-2023, lethal injection): Johnson was sleeping over at a friend's house where 6 year old Cassandra Williamson was also staying with her father. In the middle of the night, Johnson lured Williamson into an abandoned factory, and raped her. When she tried to fight back, he crushed her skull with a brick. At the time of the murder, Johnson was a transient with a criminal history, but I couldn't find any specifics regarding his past convictions. Johnson's execution was a source of controversy, as he was previously diagnosed with schizophrenia.
98.Brian Dorsey (~2006-2024, lethal injection): Dorsey was on the run from a drug related debt to his dealers and retreated to his cousin, 25 year old Sarah Bonnie, and her husband, 28 year old Benjamin, for sanctuary. In their home, he shot the couple dead in front of their 4 year old daughter and performed acts of necrophila on Sarah's body.
submitted by Leather_Focus_6535 to TrueCrimeDiscussion [link] [comments]
The currently executed 98 offenders, cases 50 to 98:
50. Samuel Smith (1979-2001, lethal injection): In 1979, Smith bound and strangled a physician, 28 year old Zachary Moraitis, to death while robbing his apartment. He was charged and convicted for second degree murder, and given a 12 year sentence for it. 8 years later, a group of inmates, which included 24 year old Marlin May, attacked another inmate. Smith intervened, got into a knife fight with May, and stabbed him to death.
51. Jerome Mallett (~1985-2001, lethal injection): Mallett shot and killed James Froemsdorf, a 35 year old state trooper that pulled him over for speeding, with his own handgun when he tried to arrest him. He fled the scene with a handcuff stuck on his left wrist, which was still on him when Mallett was captured two days later. As a child, Mallett suffered an injury that deformed his right hand, which enabled to slip it out of the cuffs during the botched arrest. At the time of Froemsdorf's murder, Mallett was wanted for robbery and parole violations.
52. Michael Roberts (1994-2001, lethal injection): Roberts tricked his neighbor, 56 year old Mary Taylor, into letting him hang out at her house with the intentions of pulling a robbery. They watched television together for several hours until Taylor decided to hush out of the door. He then pounced on her with a hammer he snuck inside, and inflicted 19 blows to her head. Roberts also poured boiling water on Taylor's face, choked her with a telephone cord, and stabbed her with her own butcher knife. A total of $200 and other undisclosed valuables were stolen and most of it was spent on cocaine.
53. Stephen Johns (1982-2001, lethal injection): During a gas station robbery, Johns and his accomplices shot and killed the clerk, 17 year old Donald Voepel, and took $248 from the register.
54. James Johnson (1991-2002, lethal injection): Johnson got into an argument with his wife and daughter in their home and tried to evict them both at gunpoint. The police were called, and Johnson shot and killed the responding officer, 27 year old Leslie Roark. He drove to the home of another police officer, and fired on his family while they were having a Christmas party. The officer's wife, 38 year old Pam Jones, died in the shooting. Johnson then attacked other policemen in their homes, and fatally shot 54 year old Sheriff Charles Smith in one assault, wounded an officer in another, and gunned down a deputy sheriff, 42 year old Sandra Wilson, when she tried to respond to his rampage. He took a female hostage in a standoff with police, but Johnson released her and surrendered after a day of negotiations.
55. Michael Owsley (1993-2002, lethal injection): Owsley and his accomplice double crossed their dealers, 18 year old Elvin Iverson and Ellen Cole (age unknown), during a drug deal and tied them up at gunpoint. The pair beat and strangled their captives in the hope of extorting money from them. Iverson was shot point blank in the head while Cole managed to escape their captors.
56. Jeffrey Tokar (~1983-2002, lethal injection): Tokar and his girlfriend drove into a remote countryside in search of empty houses and farms to rob. The couple picked a farm house owned by 35 year old Johnny Douglass as their target. While they were burglarizing the property, Douglass returned home from an errand with his 8 year old son and 4 year old daughter. The family ran into the couple when they went inside, and Tokar held them at gunpoint. Despite Douglass' daughter pleading for her father's life and Douglass' own pleas, Tokar shot him dead. He had a long history of burglaries, and was released from prison after serving 3 years for burglary just months before the murder. His other previous convictions include DUI and assault.
57. Paul Kreutzer (1992-2002, lethal injection): Kreutzer bound and raped 36 year old Louise Hemphill in her own home. Hemphill was stabbed in the neck, beaten with a baseball bat, and strangled to death with a belt. Her purse, along with other incriminating items such as duct tape, bloodied gloves, and a bb gun, was discovered in Kreutzer's possession.
58. Daniel Basile (1992-2002, lethal injection): Basile was hired to kill 28 year old Elizabeth DeCaro by her husband, who wanted to collect a life insurance policy. He carried out the murder by shooting Elizabeth dead in her kitchen.
59. William Jones Jr. (1986-2002, lethal injection): Jones was dating a much older man, 49 year old Stanley Albert. He shot and killed Albert "execution style" in his apartment, wrapped him in a blanket, and dumped his body in a forest. Although Jones claimed that he acted to protect himself from a sexual assault, prosecutors postulated that the murder was motived by his desire to steal Albert's car (which he was captured speeding in).
60. Kenneth Kenley (~1984-2003, lethal injection): In the last of a day long string of robberies, Kenley stormed a tavern and shot a customer, 27 year old Ronnie Felts, dead. He kidnapped the tavern's owner, but she managed to escape from him in the parking lot. Kenley also abducted a woman during a convenience store robbery earlier that day, and sexually assaulted and shot her. She managed to jump out of his car window and survived her injuries. He was released from a 4 year prison sentence for theft just months before his rampage.
61. John Smith (1997-2003, lethal injection): Smith stabbed his ex girlfriend, 22 year old Brandie Kearnes, and her stepfather, 51 year old Wayne Hoewing, to death in their home. Kearnes wrote Smith's name in her own blood as she was dying from her injuries.
62. Stanley Hall (1987-2005, lethal injection): Hall carjacked 44 year old Barbara Wood to use her car in a planned drive by shooting and tossed her into the Mississippi river from a bridge in front of responding police officers. Years before, Hall shot and wounded a 4 year old girl while trying to kill a man he had been chasing, and had been on parole for that crime at the time of Wood's abduction and murder.
63. Donald Jones (1993-2005, lethal injection): Jones walked inside the home of his grandmother, 68 year old Dorothy Knuckles, to beg for money. They got into an argument over his cocaine addiction and alcoholism, and he stabbed her to death with a butcher knife from the kitchen. He then stole an undisclosed amount of money, a VCR set, and her car. Jones used both the money he gained from renting the car and selling the VCR set and the money he stole from Knuckles for cocaine.
64. Vernon Brown (~1973-2005, lethal injection): Brown raped, strangled, and fatally stabbed 19 year old Synetta Ford in her apartment. A year later, he enticed 9 year old Janet Perkins into his home. He then sexually abused and strangled her to death with rope. Brown forced his 11 year old, 9 year old, and 7 year old stepsons to help him dispose of Perkins' body. A lifelong sexual predator, he had a prior conviction of assaulting a 12 year old girl and molested his stepsons. Authorities also suspected that he was involved with the murders of 9 year old Kimberly Campbell and a still unidentified Jane Doe, but he was never charged for them.
65. Timothy Johnston (1989-2005, lethal injection): Johnston beat his wife, 27 year old Nancy, with a chair and kicked her to death in front of her 11 year old stepson (from a previous relationship) over his suspicions of her infidelity. According to the stepson, Johnston physically abused her several times in their marriage. He was part of a biker gang and also had charges of burglary and assault pending at the time of the killing. As a side note, Nancy's stepson was living with the couple, as his biological mother went missing and his biological father committed suicide in the boy's presence a year before the murder.
66. Marlin Gray (1991-2005, lethal injection): Gray and 3 accomplices kidnapped two sisters, 20 year old Julie and 19 year old Robin Kerry, in front of their 19 year old cousin. The sisters were gang raped together and thrown off a bridge. Their cousin was also tossed off the bridge, but he survived his injuries.
67. Dennis Skillicorn (1979-2009, lethal injection): In 1979, Skillicorn and some accomplices shot and killed 81 year old Wendell Howell in his home and stole his television set. He was given a relatively lenient sentence of 35 years for agreeing to testify against the other shooters and was paroled in 1992. A few years after his release, Skillicorn recruited another felon, Allen Nicklasson, and a teenage boy they befriended, and went on another robbery spree. In the process, they fatally shot 31 year old Paul Hines, 47 year old Richard Drummond, 47 year old Joseph Babcock, Joesph's 38 year old wife Charlene, and possibly an unidentified woman in Mexico. The gang found themselves stranded on roads and highways several times due to poor driving, and Drummond and the Babcocks were both abducted and murdered when they tried to help them out.
68. Martin Link (~1982-2011, lethal injection): A chronic sexual predator, Link abducted 11 year old Elissa Self-Braun while she was walking home from school. Self-Braun was raped and strangled to death with a cord. He had several previous convictions of sexual assaults against young girls and grown women between the ages of 13-71, and was caught in a prostitution sting operation. Many of Link's victims testified in the murder trial and partially secured his death sentence.
69. Joseph Franklin (~1977-2013, lethal injection): In a rampage that spanned across several states, Franklin shot 15 to 20 victims between the ages of 13-45 in mostly sniper attacks, and firebombed a synagogue. Most of his victims were killed, but a few such as pornographer Larry Flynt (36 years old at the time of the shooting) and and Civil Rights attorney Vernon Jordan (45 years old at the time of the shooting) survived their injuries. Franklin was a white supremacist, and mostly targeted Blacks, Jews, civil rights activists, and interracial couples.
70. Allen Nicklasson (~1980s-2013, lethal injection): Nicklasson assisted the above mentioned Dennis Skillicorn in the robbery murders of Paul Hines, Richard Drummond, Joseph and Charlene Babcock. He had a history of petty crimes starting as a child, but my sources were scant on the details.
71. Herbert Smulls (~1994-2014, lethal injection): While robbing a jewelry store with an accomplice, Smulls shot and killed the owner, 57 year old Stephen Honickman, and stole some jewelry. He had 11 previous convictions of robbery and theft, and was tied to another robbery committed in similar circumstances.
72. Michael Taylor (1989-2014, lethal injection): Taylor and Roderick Nunley kidnapped 15 year old Ann Harrison while she was waiting for a school bus. They dragged her inside their car and drove Harrison to the home owned by Nunley's mother. She was gang-raped by the pair in the house's garage and stabbed to death.
73. Jeffrey Ferguson (1988-2014, lethal injection): Ferguson and an accomplice snatched 17 year old Kelli Hall from a service station she worked at. She was taken to a barn, where she was raped and strangled to death. Hall's body was dumped on the property. Ferguson had an assault conviction that pertained to an incident of him shooting and injuring a friend in a dispute over a woman. That same woman also claimed that Ferguson sexually assaulted and physically abused her numerous times while they lived together.
74. William Rousan (1993-2014, lethal injection): Rousan, his teenage son, and his brother attacked a farm owned by a married couple, 67 year old Charles and 62 year old Grace Lewis. Under his orders, Rousan's son shot and killed both of the Lewis'. The Rousans stole the couple's truck, a VCR set, two cows, jewelry, and a saddle in the robbery.
75. John Winfield (1996-2014, lethal injection): Winfield was enraged that his ex girlfriend started dating another man and confronted her about it at her apartment. Two friends of her, 23 year old Shawnee Murphy and 20 year old Arthea Sanders, were also present with them. In a fit of anger, Winfield shot all three of the women multiple times each. Murphy and Sanders died at the scene, while the ex girlfriend survived with severe facial disfigurements and was permanently blinded.
76. John Middleton (~1990s-2014, lethal injection): Middleton was a meth dealer whose operations had been increasingly compromised by police raids. In an attempt to root out the potential informants, he armed himself with an SKS rifle, and shot and killed three of his associates, 39 year old Randy Hamilton, 29 year old Alfred Pinegar, and 21 year old Stacey Hodge. He disposed of the bodies with the help of his girlfriend. A rival meth dealer had also accused Middleton of raping and beating his girlfriend to death with a baseball bat, but he wasn't prosecuted for that crime.
77. Michael Worthington (1995-2014, lethal injection): Worthington cut through the window screen of a neighboring condo, and sexually assaulted the tenant, 24 year old Melinda Griffin. He strangled her to death with a cord and his bare hands when she tried to fight back. Griffin's car, jewelry, and credit cards were stolen by Worthington, and he used the card to buy drugs.
78. Earl Ringo Jr. (1998-2014, lethal injection): Ringo and his accomplice ambushed a delivery driver, 45 year old Dennis Poyser, and a manager trainee, 22 year old JoAnna Baysinger, as they were walking into a Ruby Tuesday restaurant. He shot and killed Poyser upon entry, and forced Baysinger to pull out $1,400 from the restaurant's safe. Despite her compliance, Ringo shot Baysinger in the head.
79. Leon Taylor (~1975-2014, lethal injection): In 1975, Taylor and some accomplices fatally stabbed 62 year old Jesse Howartzer while burglarizing his apartment. He was given a second degree murder conviction and was released sometime before the 1990s. In 1994, Taylor and his half siblings forced a gas station attendant, 53 year old Robert Newton, to pull out $400 from the register and shot him dead. Newton's 8 year old stepdaughter was also present to keep him company, and Taylor moved to kill her as well. The girl's life was only spared when his gun jammed. After the robbery, he expressed his regrets of not "choking the little bitch" to his siblings.
80. Paul Goodwin (1998-2014, lethal injection): Goodwin was removed from a boarding home, and he blamed his neighbor, 63 year old Joan Crotts, for it. His habit of harassment towards her intensified, and he repeatedly shouted vulgarities and threats on her front porch, tossed beer bottles and eggs at her lawn and house, and fed her dog chicken bones. It escalated to the breaking point when Crotts invited Goodwin inside her home in an attempt to have the issue peacefully resolved. Goodwin instead forced Crotts to perform oral sex on him and bludgeoned her to death with a hammer. His execution was controversial, as Goodwin allegedly had a cognitive disability.
81. Walter Storey (1990-2015, lethal injection): Storey climbed up the balcony of his apartment complex, and entered a neighboring flat. He stabbed the tenant, 36 year old Jill Frey, 12 times with his kitchen knife and broke 6 of her ribs in a beating. Frey's pocketbook, keys, and car were stolen in the robbery.
82. Cecil Clayton (1996-2015, lethal injection): Clayton got into an altercation with his estranged girlfriend at a store, and shoved her a number of times. The employees notified the police, and a few officers were sent to the scene. They spoke with Clayton and he agreed to return to his home while the police escorted the shaken girlfriend back to hers. In the following night, Clayton tried to break into her house, and she called the police. One of the dispatched officers, 29 year old Christopher Castetter, was shot dead in the ensuring confrontation.
83. Andre Cole (1998-2015, lethal injection): Cole broke a window and entered the home of his ex wife to confront her about debts relating to child support payments for their two children. His ex wife's boyfriend, 38 year old Anthony Curtis, tried to usher him out the door, but was stabbed to death for his troubles. Cole also attacked his ex wife, but she survived her injuries.
84. Richard Strong (~1999-2015, lethal injection): Strong fatally stabbed his girlfriend, 23 year old Eva Washington and her 2 year old daughter, Zandrea Thomas, in their apartment. Both of the bodies were mutilated almost beyond recognition. He had assaulted Washington numerous times in their relationship. Many of the episodes were taken to the courts. One choking incident required him to be in anger management classes and Washington pushed a restraining order that she later withdrew in another.
85. David Zink (~1980s-2015): Zink kidnapped 19 year old Amanda Morton after ramming her car with his own on the freeway. He bound Morton to a cemetery tree and raped her. She was beaten to death, and her body was found with over 100 blunt trauma related injuries. Zink had just been released after serving 20 out of a 33 year sentence for sexual assault at the time of the abduction and murder.
86. Roderick Nunley (1989-2015, lethal injection): As mentioned under Michael Taylor's section, Nunley partook in the abduction, rape, and murder of Ann Harrison.
87. Earl Forrest II (2002-2015, lethal injection): Forrest was in the home of 51 year old Harriet Smith trying to negotiate a deal involving her buying him a lawn mower and a trailer in exchange for a source of meth. An argument broke out, and Forrest fatally shot Smith and her housemate, 41 year old Michael Wells. He stole $25,000 worth of meth and fled to his home. A squad of responding police officers confronted him there and Forrest opened fire on them. Sharon Barnes, a 48 year old deputy, was killed, and Sheriff Bob Wofford and Forrest's girlfriend Angela Gamblin were wounded by him in the exchange.
88. Mark Christeson (1998-2017, lethal injection): Christeson and his cousin abducted 37 year old Susan Brouk, and her two children, 12 year old Adrian and 9 year old Kyle, from their home at gunpoint. The pair raped Susan, slashed her throat, and drowned her and her children together in a pond. Several items such as the family's shotguns, television set, VCR, car stereo, video game controller, and checkbooks were stolen from the home, and sold for money to sustain themselves as fugitives.
89. Russell Bucklew (1996-2019, lethal injection): Bucklew was infuriated that his ex girlfriend, Stephanie Ray, broke off their relationship and started dating 27 year old Michael Sanders. He began by beating Ray in her trailer, cut her jaw with a knife, and threatened to kill her if she stepped foot in Sanders' trailer. The attack had the opposite effect of its' objective, and instead terrified Ray to the point of moving in with Sanders for protection. Weeks later, Bucklew "borrowed" his brothers' handcuffs and guns, and stormed Sanders' trailer. He shot and killed Sanders, shot at his 6 year old son, and kidnapped Ray. Bucklew bound her with the handcuffs, dragged her into his car, and raped her. She was rescued by police officers, who wounded and subduded Bucklew in a shootout. However, Bucklew briefly escaped, and attacked Ray's mother and her boyfriend with a hammer before he was recaptured. His execution was contested, as Bucklew allegedly had a medical condition that would've made the lethal injection "inhumane."
90. Walter Barton (1991-2020, lethal injection): Barton was condemned for the fatal attack on his landlady, 81 year old Gladys Kuehler in her trailer. She was raped and stabbed over 50 times. A page from Kuehler's checkbook was taken, which was used to transfer $50 to Barton's account. Blood found on his clothes were also linked to Kuehler by a DNA test. Kuehler and Barton were reportedly close and many accounts report that he assisted her in walking and did chores around her home. However, she had him evicted due to falling far behind on rent days before the murder. Barton, his attorneys, and supporters in Missouri’s Innocence Project pushed that the blood on his clothes was from posthumous contact with Kuehler’s body while allegedly discovering it. From such concerns, his execution was a source of controversy.
91. Ernest Johnson (~1990s-2020, lethal injection): Johnson held a retail store at gunpoint. In retaliation for the employees destroying the safe key, Johnson shot 3 employees, 58 year old Fred Jones, 57 year old Mable Scruggs, and 46 year old Mary Bratcher. When the victims survived the initial shootings, he beat and stabbed them to death with a hammer and a screwdriver. He had previous convictions of robbery and burglary, and was released from prison a year before the murders. His execution was contested, as Johnson had brain surgery to remove a tumor in 2014. According to his attorneys, the operation rendered him cognitively disabled, and therefore was ineligible for execution.
92. Carman Deck (1996-2022, lethal injection): Deck, his sister, and their mother's boyfriend invaded the home of a couple, 69 year old James and 67 year old Zelma Long. They shot and killed the Longs, and stole jewelry, checks, and a total of $200 from the house.
93. Kevin Johnson Jr. (~2000s-2022, lethal injection): Johnson was heavily involved with robberies and other crimes as a teenager, and spent much of his time in and out of prison. In 2005, local law enforcement suspected Johnson of violating the terms of his probation, and raided his family home. His 12 year old brother died of a seizure during the search, and Johnson and the family blamed the officers involved. He hunted down one of the officers, 43 year old William McEntee, and shot and killed him while he was on patrol.
94. Scott/Amber McLaughlin (~1992-2023, lethal injection): McLaughlin abducted their girlfriend, 45 year old Beverly Guenther, from her office as she was getting off from a shift. They raped and stabbed Guenther to death, and dumped her body in a neighborhood. Guenther’s family recounted that McLaughlin was extremely abusive during their relationship, and harassed Guenther when she left them. The harassment included several incidents of burglarizing Guenther’s home. McLaughlin was also a registered sex offender with a conviction of molesting a 14 year old girl. They received national attention for being the first known transsexual to be executed in the United States. Biologically male during their offenses and transitioned to female on death row.
95. Leonard Taylor (2004-2023, lethal injection): Taylor shot and killed his girlfriend, 28 year old Angela Rowe, and her 3 children, 10 year old Alexus, 6 year old AcQreya, and 5 year old Tyrese, in their home. He had several unrelated sexual offenses against a former stepdaughter and other unidentified women, and was involved with drug trafficking. Despite his history and the other damning evidence against him (including testimony of his brother mentioning that he confided about committing the murder and traces of Angela's blood being found on his glasses), Taylor was popular among Missouri Innocence Project organizations for his daughter's alleged claims of him calling her 2,000 miles away from the crime scene.
96. Michael Tisius (2000-2023, lethal injection): In an attempt to break a friend out of a rural jail, Tisus shot and killed two guards, 33 year old Leon Egley and 36 year old Jason Acton. However, he was driven away by police reinforcements, and forced to flee the jail emptyhanded with his accomplice, the friend's girlfriend. They were captured in Kansas when their car broke down. Tisus was previously held in the targeted jail for an unspecified misdemeanor, and became acquainted with his friend while they were cellmates.
97.Johnny Johnson (2004-2023, lethal injection): Johnson was sleeping over at a friend's house where 6 year old Cassandra Williamson was also staying with her father. In the middle of the night, Johnson lured Williamson into an abandoned factory, and raped her. When she tried to fight back, he crushed her skull with a brick. At the time of the murder, Johnson was a transient with a criminal history, but I couldn't find any specifics regarding his past convictions. Johnson's execution was a source of controversy, as he was previously diagnosed with schizophrenia.
98.Brian Dorsey (~2006-2024, lethal injection): Dorsey was on the run from a drug related debt to his dealers and retreated to his cousin, 25 year old Sarah Bonnie, and her husband, 28 year old Benjamin, for sanctuary. In their home, he shot the couple dead in front of their 4 year old daughter and performed acts of necrophila on Sarah's body.
2024.05.04 04:44 Leather_Focus_6535 The currently 98 offenders executed by the state of Missouri since the 1970s and their crimes (warning, graphic content, please read at your own risk) [part 1, cases 1 to 49]
Here is my list for Missouri's post Furman execution roster that I wrote for my personal death penalty project. I'll probably release Florida next, and I'm currently working on completing my list for Texas.
As always, the dates given are a time frame of the offender's earliest known criminal activities to their execution. Many of cases described here are extremely depraved in nature, so please read at your own risk. Missouri has also scheduled David Hosier for execution on June 11, and is filling death warrants for Christopher Collings and Marcellus Williams. If these future executions are carried out as planned, then I might update this post with their information.
Due to it exceeding the character count limitations that reddit allows for submissions, I had to divide this list into two separate posts. For the link to part 2, please click here.
The currently executed 98 offenders, cases 1 to 49:
1. George Mercer (~1960s-1989, lethal injection): Mercer was the president of the Missing Links MC motorcycle gang, a title he inherited after his predecessor was killed in a bar fight. Under his leadership, the gang involved itself heavily with organized crime, and had a well earned reputation for extreme violence. The gang harassed and assaulted what they deemed to be "political undesirables" such as left leaning hippies and prohibitionists, and terrorized those aligned with rival motorcycle gangs. They were also predatory towards teenage girls and young women. In one incident, Mercer beat a Vietnam veteran unconscious when the man tried to stop him from sexually harassing underaged girls at a concert, and gang-raped a kidnapped 17 year old girl with some associates in another. One of his followers lured Karen Keeton, a 22 year old tavern waitress, to Mercer's home as a "birthday present" for him. Mercer raped Keeton in his bedroom, and manually strangled her to death. Mercer and his gang members were also speculated to be involved in the murder of 15 year old David Eyman by some webslueths due to his ties with them, but credible evidence is currently lacking.
2. Gerald Smith (1983-1990, lethal injection): Smith beat his girlfriend, 22 year old Karen Roberts, to death with a metal pipe out of fear of her having a venereal disease. While awaiting execution, he stabbed a few death row inmate, 35 year old Robert Baker, with the help of another death row inmate, Frank Guinan. Baker was originally sentenced to death when he shot and killed a detective in a robbery.
3. Winford Stokes (~1969-1990, lethal injection): In 1969, Stokes and his accomplices shot and killed 60 year old Ignatius DiManuele while robbing his tavern. The trio were arrested weeks after the murder. During the trial, they made an escape attempt, but were all recaptured. Stokes was released from prison in 1977, and assaulted a 71 year old man with a claw hammer during a burglary a month later. He fatally shot 73 year old Marie Montgomery and stole her watch in one home invasion, and strangled and stabbed 33 year old Pamela Benda to death in another. Stokes seized Benda's jewelry after rummaging through her drawers.
4. Leonard Laws (1980-1990, lethal injection): Laws and his girlfriend's brothers (one of which was George Gilmore) decided to that the easiest way to earn money for their families was to rob and murder the elderly. He acted as a lookout while the Gilmore murdered and robbed the victims. They were responsible for a total of 5 killings.
5. George Gilmore (1980-1990, lethal injection): Gilmore, his brother, and their sister's boyfriend, the above mentioned Leonard Laws, targeted the elderly in a string of robberies. Their victims, 83 year old Elizabeth Roderique, 83 year old Mary Watters, 65 year old Woodrow Elliott, 83 year old Clarence Williams, and his 81 year old wife Lottie, were shot, stabbed, or strangled to death. After the gang sacked everything of value, they lit the homes on fire. The trio were also suspected in the strangulation murder of 75 year old Edna Winter, but the prosecution weren't able to convict them of it in court.
6. Maurice Byrd (1980-1991, lethal injection): Byrd stormed the Pope’s Cafeteria, a restaurant in a Des Peres mall, and shot 4 employees dead. He stole a total of $9,000 in the robbery. The victims include the manager, 51 year old James Woods, and cooks, 68 year old Edna Ince, and 51 year old Carolyn Turner, and 37 year old Judy Cazaco.
7. Ricky Grubbs (1984-1991, lethal injection): Grubbs and his brother tied 46 year old Jerry Thornton up with neck ties, and stabbed him to death in his trailer. The brothers stole an undisclosed amount of money and food stamps, and burned down the trailer to destroy any evidence of their crime.
8. Martsay Bolder (1973-1993, lethal injection): In 1973, a then teenage Bolder shot and killed 69 year old Louis Donovan in a robbery, and given a life sentence for it. While incarcerated, Bolder feuded with a fellow inmate, 24 year old Theron King. He stabbed King to death for allegedly yelling sexual obscenities at him, and received a death sentence for the killing. King was serving a life sentence for robbery at the time of his murder.
9. Walter Blair Jr. (~1979-1993, lethal injection): Blair allegedly shot and killed 16 year old Sandy Shannon in a robbery, but he wasn't convicted due to the apparent witnesses refusing to testify at the trail. After Blair was cleared of Shannon's murder, he was hired to kill 21 year old Katherine Allen by a man she accused of rape. Blair kidnapped Allen from her apartment, robbed her boyfriend, and shot her to death. His case received notoriety due to the number of his family members that were also convicted for unrelated high profile crimes. One of Blair’s brothers, Terry, was a serial killer that raped and murdered a minimum of 7 sex workers. Another brother, Clifford, abducted and sodomized a woman during a robbery. His sister Warnetta and her husband killed a man together in a robbery and murdered her boyfriend for trying to cut off her drug supply. One of her sons, Nolla IV, later murdered her husband as well. Two more of Warnetta’s, sons, Diamond and William had several robbery convictions. Last but not least, Blair’s mother Janice shot her children's stepfather to death during an argument.
10. Frederick Lashley (1981-1993, lethal injection): Lashley fatally stabbed his foster mother, 55 year old Janie Tracy, during an ambush in their home and stole $15 from her. Tracey had been raising Lashley since he was 2 years old, and had several infirmities, including heart diseases, diabetes and a neuromuscular disorder, at the time of her death.
11. Frank Guinan (~1964-1993, lethal injection): While serving a 40 year sentence for armed robbery, Guinan and another inmate, Richard Zeitvogel, stabbed a fellow prisoner, 30 year old John McBroom (who was incarcerated for drug dealing), to death. Gunian received the death penalty for Pugh's murder. On death row, Gunian assisted the previously mentioned Gerald Smith in the killing of Robert Baker. Guinan had a troubled youth, and was involved with several burglaries and a high speed car chase with police. He had also gotten into several fights with other inmates, and badly injured his cellmate, 38 year old Thomas Pugh (who was also serving a prison sentence for robbery), in one of his incidents.
12. Emmitt Foster (1983-1995, lethal injection): Foster and his accomplice forced themselves into the house that their acquaintance, 26 year old Travis Walker, shared with his girlfriend at gunpoint. The pair shot the couple, killing Walker and injuring his girlfriend. She survived by playing dead. They then sacked the home of any valuables and left. After Foster and his accomplice departed from the scene, Walker's girlfriend wrote down the attackers' names and ran out of the home for help.
13. Larry Griffin (1980-1995, lethal injection): According to prosecutors, Griffin shot and killed 19 year old Quinton Moss while was dealing drugs in a drive by shooting. As Moss was allegedly involved in the murder of Griffin's brother, the investigators believed that it was a revenge killing. His death sentence and execution was controversial, as Griffin's supporters and attorneys alleged that police misconduct occurred during the investigation. However, a posthumous review of his case in 2005 concluded Griffin's guilt.
14. Robert Murray (1985-1995, lethal injection): Murray and his brother held up two men, 27 year old Jeffrey Jackson and 26 year old Craig Stewart, and two women at gunpoint in an apartment. The brothers tied all four of them up, and raped both of the women. They extorted an undisclosed amount of money from their hostages with beatings and shot Stewart and Jackson in the head. The female captives on the other hand managed to jump out of windows to safety.
15. Robert Sidebottom (1985-1995, lethal injection): Sidebottom was upset by how little inheritance that his grandmother, 74 year old May, gave him and decided to grab more money by force in the form of collecting a life insurance policy from her. He broke into May's home and beat her unconscious with chair. As she was incapacitated from the beating, Sidebottom set the house on fire. Although the firefighters were able to put out the flames before she was seriously harmed by them, May died of the injuries she received in the assault.
16. Anthony LaRette (1976-1995, lethal injection): LaRette raped and murdered a minimum of 16 women between the ages of 18-60, but he might have been responsible for a total of 31 murders. All of his known victims were killed in stabbing attacks in their own homes and apartments. While awaiting trial, LaRette was also convicted of conspiring to murder a county jail guard with his father.
17. Robert O'Neal (1979-1995, lethal injection): O'Neal and an accomplice broke into a house that was owned by a prominent doctor, and encountered Ralph Sharick, the homeowner's 78 year old father in law. The pair bound Sharick, locked him in a closet, and shot him to death. They stole several musical instruments and guns in the robbery. O'Neal was captured a few days later and given a life sentence for the murder. During his time in prison, he joined the Aryan Brotherhood, and fatally stabbed a black inmate, 33 year old Arthur Dade, on the behalf on the local leadership. The motives for Dade's killing vary greatly on the source. Some claimed that he was murdered out of racism, while others asserted that it was over a drug trafficking related dispute.
18. Jeffrey Sloan (1985-1996, lethal injection): Sloan entered the bedroom of his parents, 41 year old Paul and 38 year old Judith, and shot them to death while they were in bed. He turned his attention towards his brothers, 18 year old Timothy and 9 year old Jason, and shot them dead in their rooms as well.
19. Doyle Williams (~1967-1996, lethal injection): In 1980, Williams and his partner shot and stabbed A. H. Domann, a 68 year old physician, while breaking into his office, and stole several prescription drugs. His partner's roommate, 28 year old Kerry Bummett, found the stolen drugs baring Domann's name, and the pair abducted her to eliminate a loose end. She was bound with handcuffs that Williams borrowed from a friend in the police force, taken to the Missouri river, and pistol whipped. Bummett jumped into the river in an attempt to escape, but ended up drowning in the process. William had several previous convictions for stealing cars and boats.
20. Emmett Nave (~1958-1996, lethal injection): In 1983, Nave shot his landlady, 53 year old Geneva Roling, dead after he knocked on her door. He then abducted his wife and forced her to drive him to a hospital. On arrival, Nave took 6 nurses hostage, and forced them to inject Demoral and Valium into his body. The kidnapped nurses were then taken to a house and raped. Most of them managed to escape, but Nave forced the remaining captive to administer more Demoral and Valium into him. Nave went unconscious from an overdose and was hospitalized after he was apprehended. He had a criminal record dating back to 1958, and many of his previous arrests include armed robbery, burglary, sexual assault, soliciting prostitutes, and joyriding.
21. Thomas Battle (~1979-1996, lethal injection): Battle and his brother-in-law's brother invaded the home of 80 year old Birdie Johnson and raped her. She was beaten and stabbed to death with a butcher knife. A year before Johnson's murder, Battle was fined for filing a false police report.
22. Richard Oxford (~1968-1996, lethal injection): Oxford and his cellmate escaped from the Conner Correctional Center in 1986, and kidnapped a married couple, 63 year old Harold and 57 year old Melba Wample, from their farm. The Wamples were missing for two months until the discovery of their bodies in a motel parking lot. Both of them had been bound and shot in the head. At the time of his escape and the murders, Oxford was serving a 85 year sentence for a rape and robbery spree, and had several previous convictions of burglary and theft that started when he was 11 years old.
23. Richard Zeitvogel (~1974-1996, lethal injection): While serving a combined total of 20 years in prison for rape and armed robbery, Zeitvogel assisted the above mentioned Guinan in killing John McBroom. He was given a life sentence for his part in the murder. A few years later, he fatally strangled his cellmate, 24 year old Gary Dew (who was also convicted of armed robbery), in their cell and was given the death penalty for it. Allegedly, Guinan and Zeitvogel were in a sexual relationship, and prosecutors believed that he murdered Dew to be placed on death row in a bid to be reunited with him.
24. Eric Schneider (1985-1997, lethal injection): Schneider and two accomplices broke into a home that two school teachers, 53 year old Richard Schwendemann and 55 year old Ronald Thompson, shared together. The homeowners were both bound with rope, wire, chains, and Christmas lights. Schwendemann was choked with a dog leash tied around his neck and shot twice in the head. Thompson suffered from 17 stab wounds in his neck, back, side, and head. A total of $1,800 in cash was stolen from their safe and car.
25. Ralph Feltrop (1987-1997, lethal injection): Feltrop got into an argument with his girlfriend, 27 year old Barbara Roam, in their home and stabbed her to death. He then cut off her head, hands, and legs from her body, and a foot from her one of her already dismembered legs, and tossed them into several garbage bags. In an attempt to dispose of Roam's remains, Feltrop dumped them into nearby ponds.
26. Donald Reese (1986-1997, lethal injection): Reese fatally shot four men, 38 year old Christopher Griffith, 54 year old James Watson, 57 year old John Burford, and Burford's 64 year old brother-in-law Donald Vanderlinden, at a shooting range. He took a total of $1,200 and all the victims' wallets from the scene.
27. Andrew Six (1984-1997, lethal injection): In Iowa, Six beat 41 year old Sarah Link, her 20 year son Justin Hook, and Hook's 19 year old fiance Tina Lade, to death with an unknown blunt instrument in their trailer. A few years later, Six and his uncle stormed a trailer that a pregnant 17 year old girl lived in with her family to rape her. They bound the target and her parents, and sexually assaulted her. The pair then abducted Kathy Allen, the target's cognitively disabled 13 year old sister, and slit their mother's throat in a failed attempt to kill her as they left. Allen was taken to Missouri, where she was repeatedly raped. Her throat was slit and and she was dumped in a ditch. Although Six was captured and sentenced to death for Allen's murder, the triple killings of Link, Hook, and Lade went unsolved until a DNA test in 2014, some 30 years after the murders and 16 years after Six's execution.
28. Samuel McDonald Jr. (~1960s-1997, lethal injection): McDonald held up 46 year old Robert Jordan at gunpoint while he was shopping with his 11 year old daughter. When Jordan pulled out his wallet, McDonald realized that he was a police officer, and shot him. Although he killed Jordan in the shooting, McDonald was wounded by his return fire. McDonald was captured after he was taken to the hospital by a friend. According a blogger that allegedly corresponded with McDonald on death row, he had killed an elderly woman and an infant in a village sweep during the Vietnam War, and lived as a petty criminal with several robbery convictions after his discharge from service.
29. Alan Bannister (~1980s-1997, lethal injection): Bannister accepted an offer for $4,000 by a man to kill 43 year old Darrell Ruetsman. The client wanted Ruetsman dead for running off with his wife. With the help of a piece of paper with Ruetsman's address, Bannister tracked his target to his trailer and shot him dead at his front door. At the time of the murder, Bannister was on parole for rape and armed robbery convictions.
30. Reginald Powell (1986-1998, lethal injection): Powell and his friends beat and stabbed two brothers, 39 year old Freddie and 29 year old Lee Miller, to death during a party. A total of $3 and a pack of cigarettes was stolen in the attack. Earlier that day, the Miller brothers had both refused to buy Powell and his friends (who were then below drinking age) alcohol for them. Powell had a conviction for receiving stolen property at the time of the murders.
31. Milton Griffin-El (1986-1998, lethal injection): Griffin-El went to an apartment to burglarize it. He tied up the residents, 22 year old Jerome Redden and his 19 year old girlfriend Loretta Trotter, and assaulted them in front of their 4 month old son. Trotter was fatally stabbed and Redden was bludgeoned to death with a wrench. Several electronics, including a stereo set and a television set, was stolen in the robbery.
32. Glennon Sweet (~1976-1998, lethal injection): In 1987, Sweet was pulled over by Russell Harper, a 45 year old officer, for speeding. Sweet opened fire on the officers as he climbed out of his truck, and killed Harper. He had several felonies and misdemeanors on his record, which included several charges of disturbing the peace, public intoxication, assault, drug possession, and theft.
33. Kelvin Malone (~1979-1999, lethal injection): Malone kidnapped at least 4 men and women, 62 year old William Parr, 55 year old Myrtle Benham, 51 year old Minnie White, and 39 year old James Rankin, in several robberies across California and Missouri. Most of his victims were shot in the head, but Benham was raped and beaten to death with a pipe. Belongings such as cars and credit cards were taken in the attacks. He was given a death sentence in both states, but chose to be incarcerated in California's San Quentin. Marlone was deported to Missouri when governor Mel Carnahan signed his death warrant. Beyond his murders, he was involved in several non fatal robbery abductions and robbed a judge at gunpoint in the man's own home.
34. James Rodden Jr. (1983-1999, lethal injection): Rodden got into a fight with his ex girlfriend on the phone, and threatened to have sex with Terry Trunnel, a 23 year old women he picked up from a bar, in an apparent attempt to make her jealous. After shouting more threats at his ex girlfriend, Rodden stabbed Trunnel and his roommate, 40 year old Joseph Arnold, to death. He then tried to burn their bodies in an attempt to destroy them.
35. Roy Roberts (~1970s-1999, lethal injection): In 1983, while serving an 18 year sentence for robbery, Roberts allegedly assisted in the stabbing death of Tom Jackson, a 62 year old correctional officer during a prison riot. His death sentence and execution was controversial due to wildly contradicting accounts from eyewitness testimonies. Some of the witnesses claimed to have seen him partaking in Jackson's murder, while others swore that they encountered Roberts in a different prison wing at the time of the murder. Roberts had other previous convictions such as theft and witness tampering at the time of the murder.
36. Roy Ramsey Jr. (1986-1999, lethal injection): Ramsay, his brother, and his brother's girlfriend held a couple, 65 year old Garrett and 63 year old Betty Ledford, at gunpoint after they opened their front door for them. The trio stole a combined total of $7,500 in cash, jewelry, silver coins, and guns, and shot both of the Ledfords dead. Ramsay had several previous robbery convictions, and sodomized a man during one of those incidents.
37. Ralph Davis (1986-1999, lethal injection): Davis shot his estranged wife, 35 year old Susan, to death in their car. Despite the fact that her body was never found, traces of Susan's blood and bone fragments were discovered in the vehicle. Furthermore, shotgun pellets were also recovered from the seats, and they matched to Davis' shotgun. He had a history of domestic abuse before the murder, and Susan's friends reported that Davis threatened to kill her when she filed for divorce.
38. Jessie Wise (1971-1999): In 1971, Wise ambushed 39 year old Ralph Gianino, and beat him to death with a pipe wrench. He then stole $26 from Gianino's wallet, and took his car on a joyride with the body still in the backseat. After Wise's capture, he was given a life sentence, but was paroled in 1983. A few years after his release, Wise went to the apartment of 49 year old Geraldine McDonald to discuss a job relating to washing her car. They got into an argument over money, and he beat her to death with a pipe wrench. Wise stole McDonald's credit cards, jewelry, and undisclosed amount of money. Some of the stolen jewelry was bartered for cocaine and the rest was given to his wife.
39. Bruce Kilgore (1979-1999, lethal injection): One of Kilgore's friends was fired from a restaurant after a coworker, 54 year old Marilyn Wilkins, reported him stealing food. Kilgore, the friend, and his friend then conspired a revenge scheme against Wilkins together. They accosted Wilkins in the restaurant's parking lot and dragged her into their car. During the abduction, Kilgore and his accomplices snatched her rings, slit her throat, and sold two of the stolen rings to a pawn shop. Kilgore had several robbery convictions prior to Wilkins' murder.
40. Robert Walls (1984-1999, lethal injection): Walls and two accomplices forced themselves inside the home of 88 year old Fred Hampton. They attacked Hampton, and broke several of his ribs and fractured his skull in a beating. Hampton was then stuffed alive in a freezer, and he succumbed to a combination of suffocation, hypothermia, and his injuries. The trio stole $100 and Hampton's car in the robbery. Walls had several robbery convictions prior to the murder.
41. David Leisure (~1980s-1999, lethal injection): Leisure, a Syrian immigrant, operated as an enforcer for the Leisure gang, a criminal syndicate under the rule of his cousins. During a gang war over the control of a labor union, he assassinated 75 year old James Michael Sr., a rival crime boss, with a car bomb.
42. James Hampton (~1950s-2000, lethal injection): Hampton abducted 58 year old Frances Keaton and her fiance Allen Mulholland in their own home. He bound them both and demanded $30,000 at gunpoint. After he detected the presence of arriving police officers with a police scanner, Hampton dragged Keaton to his car, and left Mulholland tied up alone in the house. Not wanting to be encumbered with a hostage while on the run, he beat Keaton to death with a hammer, buried her body, and burned her belongings. Hampton fled to New Jersey, and shot and killed 48 year old Christine Schurman during a botched kidnapping. He had spent most of his life in and out of prison for various crimes such as robbery, assault, and drug trafficking, and was first arrested at the age of 11.
43. Bert Hunter (~1963-2000, lethal injection): In 1968, Hunter shot and killed 64 year old John Lyle while robbing his tavern. He was given a life sentence for the murder, but was able to leave prison on parole in the 70s. After his release, Hunter partnered up with another ex convict, Tomas Ervin, for several robbery schemes. They invaded the home that 75 year old Mildred Hodges shared with her 49 year old son Richard. Hunter and Ervin bound the mother and son with duct tape, and ransacked the house for money. Despite their captives' desperate pleas for their lives, the pair suffocated them both with plastic bags. The pair then stole the Hodges' car and burned it in a motel parking lot. Hunter had several burglary arrests as a teenager.
44. Gary Roll (1992-2000, lethal injection): Roll and two other robbers tricked 47 year old Sherry Scheper into letting them inside her home by posing as police officers. They forced Sherry and her 17 year old son Randy to lie on the ground at gunpoint. After he shot Randy in the head, Roll beat Sherry to death with the butt of his gun. The trio also encountered Sherry's older son, 22 year old Curtis, and they fatally stabbed him during a scuffle. A total of $215 and some bags of marijuana were stolen in the robbery.
45. George Harris (~1982-2000, lethal injection): Harris entrusted his illegal submachine guns that he won in a crabs game to a friend for safe keeping. The friend then tasked his younger brothers with hiding the firearms, which they hid in the home of 20 year old Stanley Willoughby without telling him. When Harris returned to retrieve his guns, the friend redirected him to Willoughby's house. However, Willoughby had no clue of what Harris was talking about when he asked for his guns back. It quickly turned into a heated argument, and Harris shot and killed Willoughby out of anger. Years before he murdered Willoughby, Harris was arrested and convicted for armed robbery. He was also captured weeks after the killing while committing another armed robbery.
46. James Chambers (~1971-2000, lethal injection): Chambers struck 33 year old Jerry Oestricker in the head with his pistol and shot and killed him during a bar fight. He also had previous convictions of fraud, burglary, and attempted murder. The attempted murder conviction was for an incident involving him shooting a man in another bar fight.
47. Stanley Lingar (1985-2001, lethal injection): After Lingar lured 16 year old Thomas Allen into his jeep, he tried to force him to masturbate at gunpoint. When Allen was too terrified to obey, Lingar shot him. Allen survived the initial shooting, but he was finished off by a beating with a tire iron and Lingar running him over with the jeep. His execution was a source of minor controversy, as Lingar claimed that he was condemned solely for his sexuality.
48. Tomas Ervin (~1967-2001, lethal injection): In 1967, Ervin stabbed Robert Berry, a 36 year old cab driver, to death in a robbery, and was given a life sentence. After he was paroled in the 80s, he linked up with the above mentioned Bert Hunter, and assisted him in the robbery murders of Mildred and Richard Hodges.
49. Mose Young Jr. (1975-2001, lethal injection): Young fatally shot 3 pawn shop employees, 80 year old Sol Marks, 33 year old James Scneider, and 22 year old Kent Bicknese, after they refused to buy stolen jewelry from him. A fourth employee, who was also Mark's grandson, was injured in the shooting. He had a long criminal history, which included convictions for drug possession and first degree assault.
submitted by Leather_Focus_6535 to TrueCrimeDiscussion [link] [comments]
As always, the dates given are a time frame of the offender's earliest known criminal activities to their execution. Many of cases described here are extremely depraved in nature, so please read at your own risk. Missouri has also scheduled David Hosier for execution on June 11, and is filling death warrants for Christopher Collings and Marcellus Williams. If these future executions are carried out as planned, then I might update this post with their information.
Due to it exceeding the character count limitations that reddit allows for submissions, I had to divide this list into two separate posts. For the link to part 2, please click here.
The currently executed 98 offenders, cases 1 to 49:
1. George Mercer (~1960s-1989, lethal injection): Mercer was the president of the Missing Links MC motorcycle gang, a title he inherited after his predecessor was killed in a bar fight. Under his leadership, the gang involved itself heavily with organized crime, and had a well earned reputation for extreme violence. The gang harassed and assaulted what they deemed to be "political undesirables" such as left leaning hippies and prohibitionists, and terrorized those aligned with rival motorcycle gangs. They were also predatory towards teenage girls and young women. In one incident, Mercer beat a Vietnam veteran unconscious when the man tried to stop him from sexually harassing underaged girls at a concert, and gang-raped a kidnapped 17 year old girl with some associates in another. One of his followers lured Karen Keeton, a 22 year old tavern waitress, to Mercer's home as a "birthday present" for him. Mercer raped Keeton in his bedroom, and manually strangled her to death. Mercer and his gang members were also speculated to be involved in the murder of 15 year old David Eyman by some webslueths due to his ties with them, but credible evidence is currently lacking.
2. Gerald Smith (1983-1990, lethal injection): Smith beat his girlfriend, 22 year old Karen Roberts, to death with a metal pipe out of fear of her having a venereal disease. While awaiting execution, he stabbed a few death row inmate, 35 year old Robert Baker, with the help of another death row inmate, Frank Guinan. Baker was originally sentenced to death when he shot and killed a detective in a robbery.
3. Winford Stokes (~1969-1990, lethal injection): In 1969, Stokes and his accomplices shot and killed 60 year old Ignatius DiManuele while robbing his tavern. The trio were arrested weeks after the murder. During the trial, they made an escape attempt, but were all recaptured. Stokes was released from prison in 1977, and assaulted a 71 year old man with a claw hammer during a burglary a month later. He fatally shot 73 year old Marie Montgomery and stole her watch in one home invasion, and strangled and stabbed 33 year old Pamela Benda to death in another. Stokes seized Benda's jewelry after rummaging through her drawers.
4. Leonard Laws (1980-1990, lethal injection): Laws and his girlfriend's brothers (one of which was George Gilmore) decided to that the easiest way to earn money for their families was to rob and murder the elderly. He acted as a lookout while the Gilmore murdered and robbed the victims. They were responsible for a total of 5 killings.
5. George Gilmore (1980-1990, lethal injection): Gilmore, his brother, and their sister's boyfriend, the above mentioned Leonard Laws, targeted the elderly in a string of robberies. Their victims, 83 year old Elizabeth Roderique, 83 year old Mary Watters, 65 year old Woodrow Elliott, 83 year old Clarence Williams, and his 81 year old wife Lottie, were shot, stabbed, or strangled to death. After the gang sacked everything of value, they lit the homes on fire. The trio were also suspected in the strangulation murder of 75 year old Edna Winter, but the prosecution weren't able to convict them of it in court.
6. Maurice Byrd (1980-1991, lethal injection): Byrd stormed the Pope’s Cafeteria, a restaurant in a Des Peres mall, and shot 4 employees dead. He stole a total of $9,000 in the robbery. The victims include the manager, 51 year old James Woods, and cooks, 68 year old Edna Ince, and 51 year old Carolyn Turner, and 37 year old Judy Cazaco.
7. Ricky Grubbs (1984-1991, lethal injection): Grubbs and his brother tied 46 year old Jerry Thornton up with neck ties, and stabbed him to death in his trailer. The brothers stole an undisclosed amount of money and food stamps, and burned down the trailer to destroy any evidence of their crime.
8. Martsay Bolder (1973-1993, lethal injection): In 1973, a then teenage Bolder shot and killed 69 year old Louis Donovan in a robbery, and given a life sentence for it. While incarcerated, Bolder feuded with a fellow inmate, 24 year old Theron King. He stabbed King to death for allegedly yelling sexual obscenities at him, and received a death sentence for the killing. King was serving a life sentence for robbery at the time of his murder.
9. Walter Blair Jr. (~1979-1993, lethal injection): Blair allegedly shot and killed 16 year old Sandy Shannon in a robbery, but he wasn't convicted due to the apparent witnesses refusing to testify at the trail. After Blair was cleared of Shannon's murder, he was hired to kill 21 year old Katherine Allen by a man she accused of rape. Blair kidnapped Allen from her apartment, robbed her boyfriend, and shot her to death. His case received notoriety due to the number of his family members that were also convicted for unrelated high profile crimes. One of Blair’s brothers, Terry, was a serial killer that raped and murdered a minimum of 7 sex workers. Another brother, Clifford, abducted and sodomized a woman during a robbery. His sister Warnetta and her husband killed a man together in a robbery and murdered her boyfriend for trying to cut off her drug supply. One of her sons, Nolla IV, later murdered her husband as well. Two more of Warnetta’s, sons, Diamond and William had several robbery convictions. Last but not least, Blair’s mother Janice shot her children's stepfather to death during an argument.
10. Frederick Lashley (1981-1993, lethal injection): Lashley fatally stabbed his foster mother, 55 year old Janie Tracy, during an ambush in their home and stole $15 from her. Tracey had been raising Lashley since he was 2 years old, and had several infirmities, including heart diseases, diabetes and a neuromuscular disorder, at the time of her death.
11. Frank Guinan (~1964-1993, lethal injection): While serving a 40 year sentence for armed robbery, Guinan and another inmate, Richard Zeitvogel, stabbed a fellow prisoner, 30 year old John McBroom (who was incarcerated for drug dealing), to death. Gunian received the death penalty for Pugh's murder. On death row, Gunian assisted the previously mentioned Gerald Smith in the killing of Robert Baker. Guinan had a troubled youth, and was involved with several burglaries and a high speed car chase with police. He had also gotten into several fights with other inmates, and badly injured his cellmate, 38 year old Thomas Pugh (who was also serving a prison sentence for robbery), in one of his incidents.
12. Emmitt Foster (1983-1995, lethal injection): Foster and his accomplice forced themselves into the house that their acquaintance, 26 year old Travis Walker, shared with his girlfriend at gunpoint. The pair shot the couple, killing Walker and injuring his girlfriend. She survived by playing dead. They then sacked the home of any valuables and left. After Foster and his accomplice departed from the scene, Walker's girlfriend wrote down the attackers' names and ran out of the home for help.
13. Larry Griffin (1980-1995, lethal injection): According to prosecutors, Griffin shot and killed 19 year old Quinton Moss while was dealing drugs in a drive by shooting. As Moss was allegedly involved in the murder of Griffin's brother, the investigators believed that it was a revenge killing. His death sentence and execution was controversial, as Griffin's supporters and attorneys alleged that police misconduct occurred during the investigation. However, a posthumous review of his case in 2005 concluded Griffin's guilt.
14. Robert Murray (1985-1995, lethal injection): Murray and his brother held up two men, 27 year old Jeffrey Jackson and 26 year old Craig Stewart, and two women at gunpoint in an apartment. The brothers tied all four of them up, and raped both of the women. They extorted an undisclosed amount of money from their hostages with beatings and shot Stewart and Jackson in the head. The female captives on the other hand managed to jump out of windows to safety.
15. Robert Sidebottom (1985-1995, lethal injection): Sidebottom was upset by how little inheritance that his grandmother, 74 year old May, gave him and decided to grab more money by force in the form of collecting a life insurance policy from her. He broke into May's home and beat her unconscious with chair. As she was incapacitated from the beating, Sidebottom set the house on fire. Although the firefighters were able to put out the flames before she was seriously harmed by them, May died of the injuries she received in the assault.
16. Anthony LaRette (1976-1995, lethal injection): LaRette raped and murdered a minimum of 16 women between the ages of 18-60, but he might have been responsible for a total of 31 murders. All of his known victims were killed in stabbing attacks in their own homes and apartments. While awaiting trial, LaRette was also convicted of conspiring to murder a county jail guard with his father.
17. Robert O'Neal (1979-1995, lethal injection): O'Neal and an accomplice broke into a house that was owned by a prominent doctor, and encountered Ralph Sharick, the homeowner's 78 year old father in law. The pair bound Sharick, locked him in a closet, and shot him to death. They stole several musical instruments and guns in the robbery. O'Neal was captured a few days later and given a life sentence for the murder. During his time in prison, he joined the Aryan Brotherhood, and fatally stabbed a black inmate, 33 year old Arthur Dade, on the behalf on the local leadership. The motives for Dade's killing vary greatly on the source. Some claimed that he was murdered out of racism, while others asserted that it was over a drug trafficking related dispute.
18. Jeffrey Sloan (1985-1996, lethal injection): Sloan entered the bedroom of his parents, 41 year old Paul and 38 year old Judith, and shot them to death while they were in bed. He turned his attention towards his brothers, 18 year old Timothy and 9 year old Jason, and shot them dead in their rooms as well.
19. Doyle Williams (~1967-1996, lethal injection): In 1980, Williams and his partner shot and stabbed A. H. Domann, a 68 year old physician, while breaking into his office, and stole several prescription drugs. His partner's roommate, 28 year old Kerry Bummett, found the stolen drugs baring Domann's name, and the pair abducted her to eliminate a loose end. She was bound with handcuffs that Williams borrowed from a friend in the police force, taken to the Missouri river, and pistol whipped. Bummett jumped into the river in an attempt to escape, but ended up drowning in the process. William had several previous convictions for stealing cars and boats.
20. Emmett Nave (~1958-1996, lethal injection): In 1983, Nave shot his landlady, 53 year old Geneva Roling, dead after he knocked on her door. He then abducted his wife and forced her to drive him to a hospital. On arrival, Nave took 6 nurses hostage, and forced them to inject Demoral and Valium into his body. The kidnapped nurses were then taken to a house and raped. Most of them managed to escape, but Nave forced the remaining captive to administer more Demoral and Valium into him. Nave went unconscious from an overdose and was hospitalized after he was apprehended. He had a criminal record dating back to 1958, and many of his previous arrests include armed robbery, burglary, sexual assault, soliciting prostitutes, and joyriding.
21. Thomas Battle (~1979-1996, lethal injection): Battle and his brother-in-law's brother invaded the home of 80 year old Birdie Johnson and raped her. She was beaten and stabbed to death with a butcher knife. A year before Johnson's murder, Battle was fined for filing a false police report.
22. Richard Oxford (~1968-1996, lethal injection): Oxford and his cellmate escaped from the Conner Correctional Center in 1986, and kidnapped a married couple, 63 year old Harold and 57 year old Melba Wample, from their farm. The Wamples were missing for two months until the discovery of their bodies in a motel parking lot. Both of them had been bound and shot in the head. At the time of his escape and the murders, Oxford was serving a 85 year sentence for a rape and robbery spree, and had several previous convictions of burglary and theft that started when he was 11 years old.
23. Richard Zeitvogel (~1974-1996, lethal injection): While serving a combined total of 20 years in prison for rape and armed robbery, Zeitvogel assisted the above mentioned Guinan in killing John McBroom. He was given a life sentence for his part in the murder. A few years later, he fatally strangled his cellmate, 24 year old Gary Dew (who was also convicted of armed robbery), in their cell and was given the death penalty for it. Allegedly, Guinan and Zeitvogel were in a sexual relationship, and prosecutors believed that he murdered Dew to be placed on death row in a bid to be reunited with him.
24. Eric Schneider (1985-1997, lethal injection): Schneider and two accomplices broke into a home that two school teachers, 53 year old Richard Schwendemann and 55 year old Ronald Thompson, shared together. The homeowners were both bound with rope, wire, chains, and Christmas lights. Schwendemann was choked with a dog leash tied around his neck and shot twice in the head. Thompson suffered from 17 stab wounds in his neck, back, side, and head. A total of $1,800 in cash was stolen from their safe and car.
25. Ralph Feltrop (1987-1997, lethal injection): Feltrop got into an argument with his girlfriend, 27 year old Barbara Roam, in their home and stabbed her to death. He then cut off her head, hands, and legs from her body, and a foot from her one of her already dismembered legs, and tossed them into several garbage bags. In an attempt to dispose of Roam's remains, Feltrop dumped them into nearby ponds.
26. Donald Reese (1986-1997, lethal injection): Reese fatally shot four men, 38 year old Christopher Griffith, 54 year old James Watson, 57 year old John Burford, and Burford's 64 year old brother-in-law Donald Vanderlinden, at a shooting range. He took a total of $1,200 and all the victims' wallets from the scene.
27. Andrew Six (1984-1997, lethal injection): In Iowa, Six beat 41 year old Sarah Link, her 20 year son Justin Hook, and Hook's 19 year old fiance Tina Lade, to death with an unknown blunt instrument in their trailer. A few years later, Six and his uncle stormed a trailer that a pregnant 17 year old girl lived in with her family to rape her. They bound the target and her parents, and sexually assaulted her. The pair then abducted Kathy Allen, the target's cognitively disabled 13 year old sister, and slit their mother's throat in a failed attempt to kill her as they left. Allen was taken to Missouri, where she was repeatedly raped. Her throat was slit and and she was dumped in a ditch. Although Six was captured and sentenced to death for Allen's murder, the triple killings of Link, Hook, and Lade went unsolved until a DNA test in 2014, some 30 years after the murders and 16 years after Six's execution.
28. Samuel McDonald Jr. (~1960s-1997, lethal injection): McDonald held up 46 year old Robert Jordan at gunpoint while he was shopping with his 11 year old daughter. When Jordan pulled out his wallet, McDonald realized that he was a police officer, and shot him. Although he killed Jordan in the shooting, McDonald was wounded by his return fire. McDonald was captured after he was taken to the hospital by a friend. According a blogger that allegedly corresponded with McDonald on death row, he had killed an elderly woman and an infant in a village sweep during the Vietnam War, and lived as a petty criminal with several robbery convictions after his discharge from service.
29. Alan Bannister (~1980s-1997, lethal injection): Bannister accepted an offer for $4,000 by a man to kill 43 year old Darrell Ruetsman. The client wanted Ruetsman dead for running off with his wife. With the help of a piece of paper with Ruetsman's address, Bannister tracked his target to his trailer and shot him dead at his front door. At the time of the murder, Bannister was on parole for rape and armed robbery convictions.
30. Reginald Powell (1986-1998, lethal injection): Powell and his friends beat and stabbed two brothers, 39 year old Freddie and 29 year old Lee Miller, to death during a party. A total of $3 and a pack of cigarettes was stolen in the attack. Earlier that day, the Miller brothers had both refused to buy Powell and his friends (who were then below drinking age) alcohol for them. Powell had a conviction for receiving stolen property at the time of the murders.
31. Milton Griffin-El (1986-1998, lethal injection): Griffin-El went to an apartment to burglarize it. He tied up the residents, 22 year old Jerome Redden and his 19 year old girlfriend Loretta Trotter, and assaulted them in front of their 4 month old son. Trotter was fatally stabbed and Redden was bludgeoned to death with a wrench. Several electronics, including a stereo set and a television set, was stolen in the robbery.
32. Glennon Sweet (~1976-1998, lethal injection): In 1987, Sweet was pulled over by Russell Harper, a 45 year old officer, for speeding. Sweet opened fire on the officers as he climbed out of his truck, and killed Harper. He had several felonies and misdemeanors on his record, which included several charges of disturbing the peace, public intoxication, assault, drug possession, and theft.
33. Kelvin Malone (~1979-1999, lethal injection): Malone kidnapped at least 4 men and women, 62 year old William Parr, 55 year old Myrtle Benham, 51 year old Minnie White, and 39 year old James Rankin, in several robberies across California and Missouri. Most of his victims were shot in the head, but Benham was raped and beaten to death with a pipe. Belongings such as cars and credit cards were taken in the attacks. He was given a death sentence in both states, but chose to be incarcerated in California's San Quentin. Marlone was deported to Missouri when governor Mel Carnahan signed his death warrant. Beyond his murders, he was involved in several non fatal robbery abductions and robbed a judge at gunpoint in the man's own home.
34. James Rodden Jr. (1983-1999, lethal injection): Rodden got into a fight with his ex girlfriend on the phone, and threatened to have sex with Terry Trunnel, a 23 year old women he picked up from a bar, in an apparent attempt to make her jealous. After shouting more threats at his ex girlfriend, Rodden stabbed Trunnel and his roommate, 40 year old Joseph Arnold, to death. He then tried to burn their bodies in an attempt to destroy them.
35. Roy Roberts (~1970s-1999, lethal injection): In 1983, while serving an 18 year sentence for robbery, Roberts allegedly assisted in the stabbing death of Tom Jackson, a 62 year old correctional officer during a prison riot. His death sentence and execution was controversial due to wildly contradicting accounts from eyewitness testimonies. Some of the witnesses claimed to have seen him partaking in Jackson's murder, while others swore that they encountered Roberts in a different prison wing at the time of the murder. Roberts had other previous convictions such as theft and witness tampering at the time of the murder.
36. Roy Ramsey Jr. (1986-1999, lethal injection): Ramsay, his brother, and his brother's girlfriend held a couple, 65 year old Garrett and 63 year old Betty Ledford, at gunpoint after they opened their front door for them. The trio stole a combined total of $7,500 in cash, jewelry, silver coins, and guns, and shot both of the Ledfords dead. Ramsay had several previous robbery convictions, and sodomized a man during one of those incidents.
37. Ralph Davis (1986-1999, lethal injection): Davis shot his estranged wife, 35 year old Susan, to death in their car. Despite the fact that her body was never found, traces of Susan's blood and bone fragments were discovered in the vehicle. Furthermore, shotgun pellets were also recovered from the seats, and they matched to Davis' shotgun. He had a history of domestic abuse before the murder, and Susan's friends reported that Davis threatened to kill her when she filed for divorce.
38. Jessie Wise (1971-1999): In 1971, Wise ambushed 39 year old Ralph Gianino, and beat him to death with a pipe wrench. He then stole $26 from Gianino's wallet, and took his car on a joyride with the body still in the backseat. After Wise's capture, he was given a life sentence, but was paroled in 1983. A few years after his release, Wise went to the apartment of 49 year old Geraldine McDonald to discuss a job relating to washing her car. They got into an argument over money, and he beat her to death with a pipe wrench. Wise stole McDonald's credit cards, jewelry, and undisclosed amount of money. Some of the stolen jewelry was bartered for cocaine and the rest was given to his wife.
39. Bruce Kilgore (1979-1999, lethal injection): One of Kilgore's friends was fired from a restaurant after a coworker, 54 year old Marilyn Wilkins, reported him stealing food. Kilgore, the friend, and his friend then conspired a revenge scheme against Wilkins together. They accosted Wilkins in the restaurant's parking lot and dragged her into their car. During the abduction, Kilgore and his accomplices snatched her rings, slit her throat, and sold two of the stolen rings to a pawn shop. Kilgore had several robbery convictions prior to Wilkins' murder.
40. Robert Walls (1984-1999, lethal injection): Walls and two accomplices forced themselves inside the home of 88 year old Fred Hampton. They attacked Hampton, and broke several of his ribs and fractured his skull in a beating. Hampton was then stuffed alive in a freezer, and he succumbed to a combination of suffocation, hypothermia, and his injuries. The trio stole $100 and Hampton's car in the robbery. Walls had several robbery convictions prior to the murder.
41. David Leisure (~1980s-1999, lethal injection): Leisure, a Syrian immigrant, operated as an enforcer for the Leisure gang, a criminal syndicate under the rule of his cousins. During a gang war over the control of a labor union, he assassinated 75 year old James Michael Sr., a rival crime boss, with a car bomb.
42. James Hampton (~1950s-2000, lethal injection): Hampton abducted 58 year old Frances Keaton and her fiance Allen Mulholland in their own home. He bound them both and demanded $30,000 at gunpoint. After he detected the presence of arriving police officers with a police scanner, Hampton dragged Keaton to his car, and left Mulholland tied up alone in the house. Not wanting to be encumbered with a hostage while on the run, he beat Keaton to death with a hammer, buried her body, and burned her belongings. Hampton fled to New Jersey, and shot and killed 48 year old Christine Schurman during a botched kidnapping. He had spent most of his life in and out of prison for various crimes such as robbery, assault, and drug trafficking, and was first arrested at the age of 11.
43. Bert Hunter (~1963-2000, lethal injection): In 1968, Hunter shot and killed 64 year old John Lyle while robbing his tavern. He was given a life sentence for the murder, but was able to leave prison on parole in the 70s. After his release, Hunter partnered up with another ex convict, Tomas Ervin, for several robbery schemes. They invaded the home that 75 year old Mildred Hodges shared with her 49 year old son Richard. Hunter and Ervin bound the mother and son with duct tape, and ransacked the house for money. Despite their captives' desperate pleas for their lives, the pair suffocated them both with plastic bags. The pair then stole the Hodges' car and burned it in a motel parking lot. Hunter had several burglary arrests as a teenager.
44. Gary Roll (1992-2000, lethal injection): Roll and two other robbers tricked 47 year old Sherry Scheper into letting them inside her home by posing as police officers. They forced Sherry and her 17 year old son Randy to lie on the ground at gunpoint. After he shot Randy in the head, Roll beat Sherry to death with the butt of his gun. The trio also encountered Sherry's older son, 22 year old Curtis, and they fatally stabbed him during a scuffle. A total of $215 and some bags of marijuana were stolen in the robbery.
45. George Harris (~1982-2000, lethal injection): Harris entrusted his illegal submachine guns that he won in a crabs game to a friend for safe keeping. The friend then tasked his younger brothers with hiding the firearms, which they hid in the home of 20 year old Stanley Willoughby without telling him. When Harris returned to retrieve his guns, the friend redirected him to Willoughby's house. However, Willoughby had no clue of what Harris was talking about when he asked for his guns back. It quickly turned into a heated argument, and Harris shot and killed Willoughby out of anger. Years before he murdered Willoughby, Harris was arrested and convicted for armed robbery. He was also captured weeks after the killing while committing another armed robbery.
46. James Chambers (~1971-2000, lethal injection): Chambers struck 33 year old Jerry Oestricker in the head with his pistol and shot and killed him during a bar fight. He also had previous convictions of fraud, burglary, and attempted murder. The attempted murder conviction was for an incident involving him shooting a man in another bar fight.
47. Stanley Lingar (1985-2001, lethal injection): After Lingar lured 16 year old Thomas Allen into his jeep, he tried to force him to masturbate at gunpoint. When Allen was too terrified to obey, Lingar shot him. Allen survived the initial shooting, but he was finished off by a beating with a tire iron and Lingar running him over with the jeep. His execution was a source of minor controversy, as Lingar claimed that he was condemned solely for his sexuality.
48. Tomas Ervin (~1967-2001, lethal injection): In 1967, Ervin stabbed Robert Berry, a 36 year old cab driver, to death in a robbery, and was given a life sentence. After he was paroled in the 80s, he linked up with the above mentioned Bert Hunter, and assisted him in the robbery murders of Mildred and Richard Hodges.
49. Mose Young Jr. (1975-2001, lethal injection): Young fatally shot 3 pawn shop employees, 80 year old Sol Marks, 33 year old James Scneider, and 22 year old Kent Bicknese, after they refused to buy stolen jewelry from him. A fourth employee, who was also Mark's grandson, was injured in the shooting. He had a long criminal history, which included convictions for drug possession and first degree assault.
2024.05.03 16:27 leafygreens Cultural Appropriation? That one allegedly uses heritage “to promote herself”
 | Taz does a comprehensive overview of madam’s extensive history of perceived cultural appropriation, and how it was apparently used to stalk and snare this one. She explains how madam shifts the goal post to which ever way the wind is blowing, appearing to relentlessly seek self-promotion. submitted by leafygreens to SaintMeghanMarkle [link] [comments] The video, which has 66k views and 10k likes, is a good preventive measure before madam foists herself upon the next unwitting nation, likely making a claim for being their de-facto Queen. As we all know, madam claimed 43% Nigerian heritage, which is coincidentally the same exact percentage used by author Georgina Lawton in her piece “A Place in the World”: I’ve got the test results back… I’m Nigerian… Forty-three percent, actually…”Lawton’s piece was published on lithub.com on February 24, 2021. BEFORE madam’s DNA test claims on the flop cast (aired October 2022), in which madam dodges further inquiry into details of her alleged heritage: I’m going to dig deeper into all this.To my knowledge, madam has never been pushed for further evidence of this claim or if she did ever bother to “dig deeper”. Taz’s video claims:
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2024.05.03 15:09 como365 Anti-abortion groups say more aggressive approach necessary to stop Missouri amendment
 | Wednesday’s Midwest March for Life at the Missouri Capitol had a different tone this year. It was about fighting. submitted by como365 to missouri [link] [comments] Nearly two years ago, the crowd celebrated Missouri becoming the first state to ban abortion after Roe V. Wade was overturned. But on Wednesday, a new worry loomed over the annual event: Abortion could soon be enshrined in the Missouri Constitution. “If God doesn’t intervene in this process,” Paul Shipman, with the Christian radio program Bott Radio Network, said at a rally on the statehouse steps Wednesday, “it just kind of shows you the direction where the nation is going and the direction where the state of Missouri is going.” After recent losses in states like Kansas and Ohio, anti-abortion activists say they must take a more aggressive approach in Missouri, using a low-budget grassroots strategy to convince Missourians not to sign the initiative petition that would put a constitutional right to an abortion in the hands of voters. They enlisted elected officials to publicly decry the ballot measure. They set up a hotline to report the location of signature gatherers so volunteers could show up and hand out “Decline to Sign” materials. And they stoked unsubstantiated fears about the initiative petition process, such as the notion that it could result in widespread identity theft. And with a Sunday deadline to turn in signatures for proposed initiative petitions, their message and strategy is transforming from “decline to sign” to “withdraw your signature,” with fliers distributed Wednesday hoping to reach those “who regret signing – or who mistakenly signed.” After signatures are turned in, anti-abortion advocates plan to pour over them to make sure anyone who opts out isn’t counted. Anti-abortion organizers interviewed by The Independent, both in Missouri and nationally, say the biggest lesson they learned from a series of defeats across the country over the last two years is that they have to engage their supporters earlier in the process. Missouri could be the first test of the new strategy, even as abortion-rights supporters are raising millions more to get the issue on the November ballot. “It is the work that is being done on the ground in Missouri that has not happened in any other state across the entire nation,” said Brian Westbrook, CEO of St. Louis-based Coalition Life. “It doesn’t require tens of millions of dollars to get that ground game. That groundwork is already happening.” Missourians for Constitutional Freedom, the campaign behind the abortion-rights initiative petition, has until Sunday to turn in more than 171,000 signatures from 8% of registered voters across six of Missouri’s eight congressional districts. Mallory Schwarz, executive director of Abortion Action Missouri, which is a leader in the abortion initiative petition coalition, said she remains confident the campaign will hit its signature goal. She didn’t share where their numbers currently stand ahead of the deadline, but Schwarz said the tactics from the anti-abortion side boost her confidence that abortion is a winning issue. “If they were confident that people were aligned with them,” she said, “they wouldn’t resort to tactics like blatant lies, disinformation and harassment.” Anti-abortion groups interviewed by The Independent are focused on communicating three main points to voters: They believe the constitutional amendment goes farther than Roe; they say the amendment would harm health and safety protections for mothers; and they argue it will eliminate parental consent laws. Abortion-rights groups have said these claims have no merit whatsoever. The decision to move forward with an amendment including viability limit, often considered to be around 24 weeks, rather than no ban at all was considered a compromise position rather than an extreme one. Susan Klein, executive director with Missouri Right to Life, said her organization has teams across the state who will file requests under the state’s open records laws to obtain copies of all the signatures obtained by Missourians for Constitutional Freedom. They plan to make sure any names she says were scratched out by people who regretted signing are not counted. Missouri’s messaging is consistent with the strategy being deployed in six other states with abortion measures heading for the ballot, said Kelsey Pritchard, state public affairs director at Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. Jamie Morris, executive director of the Missouri Catholic Conference, said the results in other elections made it clear that anti-abortion groups needed a new strategy. The Catholic dioceses in Missouri are helping spread the movement’s message and encouraging parishioners not to sign the abortion-rights petition. “Our track record has not been good,” he said. “From the pro-life side, we’ve always kind of been used to making one particular argument. And obviously, that was not resonating in some of the other states.” Morris said the movement isn’t changing its position, but rather it is rethinking its messaging to focus increasingly on mothers as well as the “unborn child.” “We’ve done a good job of trying to limit the supply of abortions in the state, but what can we do to limit the demand?” Morris said. In neighboring Kansas in 2022, the Catholic church donated hundreds of thousands of dollars in a failed attempt to pass an amendment that would remove the right to abortion from that state’s constitution. So far, the Missouri Catholic Conference has been one of the main donors to Missouri Stands with Women, the only campaign focused solely on actively opposing the abortion initiative petition, contributing $5,001. Morris said Missouri’s dioceses so far have not fundraised on this issue, but if the measure lands on the ballot, he imagines there will be more serious conversations about financial contributions. On a recent Saturday in late April, Republican state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman stood outside her hometown library in Arnold and asked constituents not to sign the abortion-rights initiative. Connie Doty, 74, a longtime Arnold resident and an escort with Abortion Action Missouri, was volunteering to collect signatures that day. Doty said library staff eventually asked her and the other volunteers to stay on the sidewalk. When Doty stepped into the parking lot at one point to let someone take a picture of the ballot initiative, she says Coleman followed her and told the person in the vehicle not to sign it. A short time later, after Doty refused to leave for stepping off the sidewalk, she said three police vehicles showed up. They told everyone to “be nice and be safe,” Doty recalls, then left. Doty said she was not phased, thanks to her decade of experience as an abortion clinic escort encountering protesters who try to stop women from getting abortions. But she said she was alarmed to see her own state senator among the two anti-abortion protesters who showed up. “Considering that Sen. Coleman was doing this to her constituents,” Doty said, “I found pretty deplorable.” Doty said despite the interruption, they collected 143 signatures in a couple hours. “They’re very much afraid that the issue will get on the ballot,” Doty said. “And if it gets on the ballot, people will pass it.” Coleman could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Kellie Copeland executive director of Pro-Choice Ohio, said anti-abortion advocates used similar tactics during their 2023 campaign, including instances where police were called on signature collectors. “Everything about that frankly shows they know that they don’t have the will of the people,” Copeland said. “Why else would they do that?” Sam Lee doesn’t want to talk about November. The longtime Missouri anti-abortion lobbyist has his sights set on May 5. He said other states where anti-abortion groups have taken the approach of only trying to beat abortion measures at the ballot box have lost. That’s why in Missouri, efforts began much earlier. “The Decline to Sign (strategy) overall has just been more aggressive in Missouri by a variety of groups,” Lee said. “Not just one group or even one church. It is THE strategy.” Lee said Missouri’s approach has been much more grassroots, spread through social media, sermons and at dining tables. “Tell your family member not to sign,” he said. “Tell your neighbor not to sign.” When Lee is asked by some what he’s afraid of, he said it’s simple: “I just don’t think this should be on the ballot. I think it’s wrong. Why should you give people an opportunity to vote for something that is bad?” Missouri Stands with Women, of which Lee is president, has been distributing messaging, including through paid Facebook ads, encouraging people not to sign. One in particular depicts a man portrayed in a mugshot offering a pen in his hand. The word “felonies” is in quotes beside the drawing. “It’s a pretty clever ad, actually,” Lee said. “Is there a guarantee these signatures cannot be duplicated and used for identity theft? Is it a real issue or not? Well I don’t know. It’s been raised elsewhere.” JoDonn Chaney, a spokesman for the Missouri Secretary of State’s office, said he’s not aware of any threat of identity theft during the signature gathering process at this point. He said the office’s larger focus is ensuring people know and understand what they’re signing. Lee said his campaign is leaning into a 2005 California law that prohibits the sale or transfer of voter data collected through initiative petitions to other countries after concerns were raised when an initiative petition campaign outsourced signature verification to a firm in India. So far, Chaney said, the office has received “a handful” of applications to withdraw signatures from the abortion initiative petition. According to records obtained by The Independent through Missouri’s Sunshine Law, the Secretary of State’s office has received about 140 requests for signature withdrawals from the abortion ballot initiative. Most did not provide an explanation for why they changed their mind, but one Columbia resident wrote: “I let a very pushy person with a petition make me feel like I needed to sign. Immediately after, all the reasons not to sign flooded my head. Someone needs to speak for the unborn.” On Wednesday morning, the crowd of at least several hundred people gathered on the front lawn of the Capitol, including many high school students, were encouraged to stall signature gatherers if they encounter them on a sidewalk or at their door in a final push to defeat the measure before it gets to a vote. Michael Merchant, 31, based in St. Louis and with Students for Life, said it would be easier if the threshold to pass a constitutional amendment was more than a simple majority. Legislation seeking to increase the threshold for amendments to pass through the initiative petition process has cleared the House and Senate, but dysfunction in the Senate has put its chances at risk. “As much as I like to be optimistic, I’m not 100% confident that we can get 50% (in opposition),” Merchant said. “The main thing we would have to do is convince people that it’s an extreme thing.” Merchant said he may be able to sway more people who are on the fence by pointing out to them how few limits on abortion would exist under the amendment. Advocates of abortion rights have said limits on abortion access often harm those who are most in need of the procedure, including those with medically-complicated pregnancies. Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, who attended Wednesday’s rally, said he believes his party can defeat an abortion ballot measure whether a higher threshold for passing citizen-led ballot measures is ultimately passed or not. “I’m not a political consultant,” Ashcroft said, holding an anti-abortion sign at Wednesday’s march. “I just want to make sure that people know what this amendment will actually do. That it’s abortion from conception until the very last second that the last toenail leaves the birth canal.” |
2024.05.02 23:49 QuickTimeVelocity Ever dreamt of getting an IQ test?
Recently had a dream of doing so at some facility that looked like a fantastically idealized version of my local community college.
The processes I cannot recall in exact detail (as my attention was adrift as ever to the distracting environment), but for the summaries of my intelligences, they scored my IQ at 166 (around the score of when I was tested at 8 y/o), with most above average, only mathematical reasoning coming in comparatively mediocre.
Among the testers' offhand accolades was my broad scope of recognition of the artistic value of works regardless of the medium of the pieces, as well as strong observational skills that can be linked to this trait. Attention however was one thing I was less sufficient in, as from what the testers wrote.
After finishing the test, I was allowed to browse the interior of the campus for some time before leaving, observing that there were some intriguing electronics in cabinets and for whatever reason a stove that sat on something like a lazy Susan, allowing it to turn itself to the sides at least 45 degrees.
Not all these devices I could immediately identify the use of, but one item I particularly recognized as an electronic I thought up, crudely illustrated, designed and wrote up the details of when I was 19. It was a live video broadcast receiver that could effectively save and/or convert live streams into various physical mediums (useless it may sound in writing, but fun to make for my entertainment then).
Beyond this, no more of the environments nor items I could directly correlate to something of which I've seen nor somewhere I've been. If you too have ever had a dream like this, you're welcome to link or write your experience in the comments below.
submitted by QuickTimeVelocity to Dreams [link] [comments]
The processes I cannot recall in exact detail (as my attention was adrift as ever to the distracting environment), but for the summaries of my intelligences, they scored my IQ at 166 (around the score of when I was tested at 8 y/o), with most above average, only mathematical reasoning coming in comparatively mediocre.
Among the testers' offhand accolades was my broad scope of recognition of the artistic value of works regardless of the medium of the pieces, as well as strong observational skills that can be linked to this trait. Attention however was one thing I was less sufficient in, as from what the testers wrote.
After finishing the test, I was allowed to browse the interior of the campus for some time before leaving, observing that there were some intriguing electronics in cabinets and for whatever reason a stove that sat on something like a lazy Susan, allowing it to turn itself to the sides at least 45 degrees.
Not all these devices I could immediately identify the use of, but one item I particularly recognized as an electronic I thought up, crudely illustrated, designed and wrote up the details of when I was 19. It was a live video broadcast receiver that could effectively save and/or convert live streams into various physical mediums (useless it may sound in writing, but fun to make for my entertainment then).
Beyond this, no more of the environments nor items I could directly correlate to something of which I've seen nor somewhere I've been. If you too have ever had a dream like this, you're welcome to link or write your experience in the comments below.