Tangential Crime Blotter: Sherry Black, Warren Jeffs, Robert Ben Rhoades

March 19th, 2011

As far as I can tell, there’s been no real news in the Sherry Black murder case since it was featured on the America’s Most Wanted website in January. But in poking around, there is some news on some tangents of the story, and tangents of the tangents.

I recently received a couple of comments on a previous post on the Sherry Black murder, including one claiming to be from Warren Jeffs, accused felon and President of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I know this may come as a shock to some, but people aren’t always who they claim to be on the Internet. (I will now wait a moment for the incredulous outrage to die down.) As far as I can tell, Mr. Jeffs is currently held in lieu of bail at the Reagan County Jail in Big Lake, Texas awaiting trial. The possibility that he might be allowed Internet privileges while under heavy manners, and that he would use such privileges to post random, badly capitalized blog comments, seems…remote. Plus, the ip address of the poster (72.250.219.218) points to Ogden, Utah, not Big Lake, Texas.

Incidentally, Jeffs still seems reveared by the FLDS faithful, with thousands of letters and many visitors (up to the max of ten a day).

Strangely enough, Jeffs isn’t the only famous (or infamous) prisoner currently awaiting trail at Big Lake. Accused serial killer Robert Ben Rhoades, who has been convicted of torturing, killing and raping women, and who has been accused of as many as 50 serial killings, is also held there. For comparison’s sake, 50 victims would put him up in Henry Lee Lucas territory, and more than John Wayne Gacy or Ted Bundy.

Here’s some background on Rhodes, evidently written by someone who bought a pallet of true crime adjectives at Sam’s and wanted to use them up before the expiration date. There’s even a Utah angle here as well, since charges against Rhoades for the murder of Candace Walsh were dropped in 2006, mainly so Rhoades could be tried in Texas, where he would be subject to the death penalty.

As shown in the Deseret News, he even looks like a serial killer.

He surely must be happy with everything he’s got

March 19th, 2011

Rereading this post made me go poking around the Internet, where I came across this vintage video of Simon & Garfunkel performing “Richard Corey” live in 1966:

Two- (and three- and four-) part harmony is sadly underutilized in music today…

Million Dollar Idea

March 17th, 2011

Charlie Sheen.

Lindsay Lohan.

On Broadway.

In Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?.

Charge $500 a ticket and it will still sell out a three month run.

Get on it, Broadway producers! There’s gold in them thar freaks!

Random Japanese Earthquake/Tsunami Updates for Thursday, March 17

March 17th, 2011

A few random notes on the Sendai earthquake and tsunami:

  • Confirmed death toll is 5,962, with 9,522 people still missing.
  • Why Japan is more resilient than Haiti when faced with similar crises.
  • Nuclear scientists to the media: Stop being alarmist scaremongers.
  • A few firsthand reports from Slashdot Japan.
  • Five inspiring survival stories.
  • Top-down view of the tsunami engulfing a fishing port:

    Scenes of post-apocalyptic devastation:

    At lot of the videos I’ve put up are from Russia Today. Either they’re very good at getting high-quality source videos, or very good at ignoring copyrights…

    New Lame Excuse Books Catalog Available

    March 16th, 2011

    I just sent out a new Lame Excuse Books catalog filled with interesting science fiction, fantasy, and horror first editions. Once again there’s lots of great stuff, including new books from Joe R. Lansdale, Jay Lake, Henry Kuttner, Charles Stross, Neal Stephenson, a Tim Powers Charnel House book, a signed Roger Zelazny limited edition, a desirable Jack Vance first, and numerous small press books from Subterranean, Haffner, PS Publishing, and Night Shade, among others. Let me know if you’d like me to email you a copy.

    The Lame Excuse Books homepage can be found here.

    Japan Tsunami/Earthquake Update for March 16, 2011

    March 16th, 2011

    A few tidbits of news on the Sendai earthquake/tsunami aftermath in Japan:

  • Confirmed death toll is 4277. Missing toll is 8194.
  • Current estimates are that half a million Japanese are now homeless.
  • A better source for updates on japan’s nuclear reactors: the IAEA. As opposed to sensationalist MSM headlines like this one from CNN: “Japan’s ticking nuclear timebomb”.
  • Serious damage was sustained by the ports of Hachinohe, Hitachi, Hitachinaka, Ishinomaki, Kamaishi, Kashima, Ofunato, Onahama, Sendai-Shiogama and Soma.
  • How the Apple store in Japan helped out in the emergency.
  • Another gallery of aftermath photos.

    I’m not seeing too many new videos worth putting up. You’ve probably seen a lot of this video before, but here’s one long, continuous aerial take of the tsunami coming in:

    More volcano erruption footage:

    To end on an encouraging note, here’s a video of two dogs who survived the earthquake and tsunami:

    This and all previous posts on the Sendai earthquake and tsunami can be found here.

    Japan Earthquake/Tsunami Update for Tuesday, March 15

    March 15th, 2011

    Some news on the Sendai earthquake and tsunami:

  • Confirmed death toll above above 3,400, but estimates still above 10,000.
  • Supermarket shelves in Tokyo are bare
  • I can’t even pretend to keep up with all the contradictory twists and turns of the nuclear plant saga, but the latest news I saw was things were looking up. Slightly. Maybe.
  • Gilbert Gottfried fired from his gig as the voice of the AFLAC duck for telling jokes about Japan on Twitter. The jokes, while indeed in somewhat poor taste, are pretty mild for a comedian that appeared in The Aristocrats, and probably compared to the inevitable forthcoming South Park episode.
  • More aftermath pictures from the Sendair earthquake and tsunami.

    Tsunami coming in to Iwaki City:

    More tsunami wave footage:

    Rooftop tsunami footage:

    Sendai tsunami footage:

    The tsunami in Minamisanriku:

    Still more tsunami footage:

    The aftermath in Rikuzentakata:

    Shinmoedake volcano eruption in SW Japan:

    This and all previous posts on the Sendai earthquake and tsunami can be found here.

    Howard Waldrop and I Review Battle: Los Angeles

    March 14th, 2011

    Over at Locus Online.

    Short description: Better than Skyline, but no great shakes in the SF department…

    Japan Tsunami/Earthquake: More Before and After Pictures

    March 13th, 2011

    From ABC Australia.

    Japan Earthquake/Tsunami Update for Sunday, March 13

    March 13th, 2011

    A few more quick updates on the aftermath of the Sendai earthquake/tsunami:

  • Current estimates for the death toll is that it will top 10,000 in Miyagi prefecture (which includes Sendai) alone.
  • The magnitude of the earthquake has been shifted upward to a 9.0.
  • The quake appears to have moved Japan’s coast by about eight feet.
  • It also shifted the position of Earth’s axis about 4-7 inches.
  • Conflicting reports as to whether the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor has melted down, has partially melted down, will meltdown, won’t meltdown.
  • One 60-year old man was found on the roof of his floating house ten miles out to sea.
  • Finally, expressing the lightning-quick reflexes they’ve long been known for, the State Department issued a travel warning for Japan.
  • More dramatic footage of the tsunami coming in. There’s one building that the water goes up against, and then through, and then, in a matter of about 10 seconds since the wave hit, the building is gone.

    Includes some of the above, and a lot more besides, off Japanese TV:

    Before and After aerial footage:

    Helicopter rescue footage:

    The tsunami even caught the Japanese Air Force unaware, which a number of (I think) F-16s picked up and carried into buildings or soaked with mud:

    Interesting video from 2010 explaining Japanese preparation for earthquakes and tsunamis: