Tech Note

NOTE: SOME ENTRIES ARE NOT AT THIS LOCATION YET. OTHERS HAVE BEEN MOVED, BUT I ELECTED TO TURN OFF COMMENTS, AS I HAVE LITTLE TIME TO MODERATE AT THE MOMENT. AGAIN, YOUR PATIENCE IS GREATLY APPRECIATED.

To anyone who freaks out when their favorite site changes, I apologize. You can't freak out half as bad as I did a while ago when I was afraid I'd deleted CrimeBlog.US.

I haven't.

However, you will be re-directed here for now. On the right side of the page is a Google site search box, and it works very well. Put in a term relevant to your reason for visiting and if the entry is here, it will find it.

This blog is hosted by Blogger.com and was originally a blogspot address, but Google has recently made it extremely easy to acquire your own domain name, so you are indeed reading Steve Huff's True Crime Weblog, at TrueCrimeWeblog.com.

I'm going to improve the commenting system shortly, so you may want to hold off for the moment with making any comments, as when I upgrade, your previous comment may be lost.

Missing from Virginia: Samantha Bittler

UPDATE(S) AT BOTTOM OF ENTRY.

The last login for her MySpace page was October 4, 2007, but Samantha Bittler has been missing since September 30. The login was likely from investigators in Virginia attempting to find some online trace of Samantha. From www.myspace.com/sjbittler:

Hey! My name is Samantha Jeane Bittler, I'm 18 years old, and i live in the smallest town EVER. I graduated from Liberty High School in 2006...thank god. and i have NO desire to go back! lol . Hopefully i'll be able to make it out there, without my dad doing and paying for everything...lol. My dad is like my best friend EVER, and has been there for me through it ALL. No matter how many times ive screwed up and pissed him off, he still tells me he loves me every morning, and every night! he's the greatest dad anyone could EVER have, and i'm so thankful that he's MY DADDY! I'm in the Army National Guard, and i love what i do...I have the greatest friends ever and would do anything for them...I don't know what i would do without them! They are always there for me no matter what. I can always count on them and trust them for anything. I love them so much, and i am so lucky to have them!My dad, my friends, and a little self determination, are the only reasons i've made it as far as i have...They complete me! =)

Samantha was last seen on a Sunday night at a relative's home in Botetourt County, VA, about 25 miles from her "smallest town EVER," Bedford, VA.

Samantha's boss called the woman's family when Samantha didn't show for her shift that Monday. The young woman had never gone AWOL from the Valley View Applebee's before.

Her mother Cathy Bittler spoke to Lynchburg ABC affiliate WSET-TV the following Thursday. She said, "[Samantha is] a very gentle person, she's a very gentle soul, she's very easy to get along with. If anybody knows anything or has any contact with her, just let her know that she needs to call home. She's got everybody worried!"

Bittler said she'd gone "a couple of days" without talking to Samantha in the past, but her daughter had "never, never gone and not spoke" to friends or family for four or five days.

Comments left by friends on Samantha's MySpace page beginning October 2nd seemed to confirm Cathy Bittler's statements. On October 4th a friend with the screen name "Lil E" wrote, "[Babe] please come back we havent talked since you left and we need to catch up please come home or at least call and say you're okay! love you lil bit."

Samantha's mother told the Lynchburg station that the family has done their best to get in touch with everyone they could think of, everyone with whom Samantha might have associated, to no avail. Cathy Bittler said, "It's just a mystery [. . .] a very, very strange thing. And strange behavior for her!"

Some things she'd written on her MySpace profile did indicate that certain friends and family meant the world to Samantha. She addressed a cousin on that page, writing:

You are the best cousin that anyone could ever ask for. You have always been there for me no matter what. You are the one person that i can turn to for ANYTHING, and the one person that i can tell ANYTHING and know that nobody else will find out. You have kept my deepest secrets to yourself for years now, and i love you so much.I am so glad that i am able to tell you things, and i can trust you to NEVER tell anyone else.

Some people concerned about Samantha Bittler's safety have taken the case to the Web. The response from other surfers was rude in one instance found on a MySpace message board, but there was additional information about Samantha to be gleaned from the posts left by the concerned person.

Using the screen name "Mama Wendi," she said that Samantha was her next door neighbor, and Samantha's family was "frantic." "Mama Wendi" also wrote that Samantha's cell phone was "her life," and Samantha would never leave it off, not answer, not respond to calls. "Mama Wendi" also stated that police in "six counties" were on the lookout for Samantha Bittler.

The rude replies to her posts were sadly typical, the kind of obtuse nonsense found on millions of message boards all over the Internet. "Mama Wendi" was admittedly ignoring a well-known web convention and using all caps in every post she made. This is typically considered "shouting" online. Still, no one answering the woman's messages cared much about a missing adult from Virginia. Many replies to "Mama Wendi" went something like this: "To MAMA WENDI: Turn off the Caps Lock and understand....he's not trying to be a dumbass or an idiot, but the General Discussion forum probably isn't the best place to post something like this, as it breaks the forum rules and will most likely be deleted before long anyways and all your angst will be wasted. I hope that you find her, and I hope that all turns out for the best."

"Mama Bear," the author of that response, was probably unaware of how hollow her final sentence sounded after admonishing "Mama Wendi" about the caps lock.

Unless a message board is specifically devoted to crime discussion or even missing people, it is best to not bother. And even with those boards, you're rolling the dice.

Botetourt County Sheriff's Investigators believe that Samantha Bittler's cell phone has been turned off. There has been no activity on her bank account.

Samantha's 1999 Chevy Cavalier is also missing. It bears a Virginia license plate, #KAB-1747. The black Cavalier has some distinctive stickers on it, such as a "support our troops" yellow ribbon.

Anyone who may information related to the whereabouts of Samantha Bittler should call the Botetourt County Sheriff's Office at (540) 473-7930.

Extra link: A Google Maps route traveling between the three locations mentioned in the entry.

Source: WSET.com.

Updates may be posted below.

UPDATE, 10/09/07

An unconfirmed report indicates that Samantha Bittler may have been in a car wreck. The report received by TrueCrimeWeblog.com stated that Samantha may have veered off Rt. 460 in Thaxton, VA, gone down an embankment, and remained there, undiscovered, since her disappearance.

Further info will be posted as an update when it becomes available.

Paige Birgfeld Update

(This entry was authored by Eyes for Lies, NOT Steve Huff. Click the link to address the author of this post. And get your fact straight the next time you make a pissy post to a message board.)

Three months ago Paige Birgfeld disappeared and it didn't take long for her secrets to come to the surface. Now, it is her secret life that may unravel the mystery to her disappearance and perhaps as horrible as it may be, her death -- though no body has been found to date.

Birgfeld had tumultuous relationships, and two failed marriages. She intertwined herself with danger when she secretly ran an escort service, and the night she was last seen, she was tempting fate again by rekindling a volatile relationship with her first husband.

While many people commented that Birgfeld was not a caring mother, I think it would be more poignant to say that Birgfeld didn't think through her choices in life. Birgfeld was a woman who was driven by desire. She was a woman who was driven by her emotions, and threw logic and reasoning out the door. When the reality of her choices came to mind, Birgfeld would push them away and deny them so she could continue to moved forward in the world she wanted to create. In many respects, Birgfeld wanted to live in a fantasy.

She didn't realize that her fantasy life might cost her everything.

Colorado authorities were quick in naming three persons-of-interest not long after Birgfeld's disappearance. The first two people were her ex-husbands, and shortly thereafter came a man with little mention: Lester Ralph Jones. It was not immediately known how Jones was connected to Birgfeld, but speculators were quick to guess he was a client of Birgfeld -- and it appears that assumption was correct.

Apparently, Jones knew Birgfeld intimately, but Birgfeld did not know Jones's past nearly as well. For if she did, I suspect she wouldn't have had such a desire to be with him. Jones has a history that includes a slew of domestic disputes as well as second-degree kidnapping charges for which he was sentenced to serve five years.

This week, police have now named Lester Ralph Jones as a formal suspect, and media reports are now saying that both of Birgfeld's ex-husbands are no longer persons-of-interest -- that they have been cleared (source).

While Rob Dixon didn't make any media statements from what I could find, I did see Ron (Howard) Beigler, Birgfeld's first husband speak on ABC's Family Secrets series back in July (click on the videos on the right to see a snippet of the show).

This interview with Beigler was quite interesting because he spoke about Birgfeld's secret life. He was quite adamant that Birgfeld didn't sleep with any of her clients. He believed she merely sold topless massages. Obviously, Birgfeld knew if she wanted Beigler in her life again, she had to clean up her act when she told him about it -- or else he wouldn't have approved. I suspect Birgfeld lied to Beigler.

It was also during this interview that John Quinones and Beigler talked about him being a the last person to see Birgfeld. The pressure was clearly on Beigler yet his response and reaction during the interview made me confident he was being honest when he said, "I'm not the least bit worried about them coming after me for this." I believed Beigler then that he was not involved in Birgfeld's disappearance.

If only Ralph Lester Jones would speak publicly. I would like to see what he has to say. I'd like to listen to his words, and watch him as he says them. From what the media reports, it looks like the police are closing in on Jones.

Imagine if your biggest secret is what defines you in your last moments. Is that how you would like to be remembered? Surely Birgfeld never thought this would happen, or she wouldn't have acted like she did. Making choices based on desire and emotions without weighing in the logical outcome of our decisions can have devastating consequences.

A Murder Missed: The Arrest of Judy Gough

(SCROLL DOWN FOR UPDATES.)

Nearly 3 decades ago, a woman named Judy Gough may have killed someone at 4705 Clark St. in Boise, Idaho. At least that's what the police in Boise think. They've been at the small red-brick ranch home for days now, gathering evidence.

Gough was arrested near her current residence in Nampa on Friday. She was taken to Boise over the weekend.

The 61-year-old Gough faces charges of first-degree murder and felony use of a firearm.
Cops in Boise are playing their cards close to the vest about this case, but here is what they've said so far:

-- Law enforcement only learned of the murder this year. It allegedly occurred in 1980.

-- Therefore this investigation is new, not an old case that went cold.

-- Police haven't revealed how they heard of the murder, much less why a homicide went unreported for at least 27 years.

Boise Police Department spokesperson Lynn Hightower made the following statement to the press about this investigation: "There is a story here, but detectives are doing their best to piece it all together. We're still in that process now."

Judy Gough may have been part owner of a showhorse at one point in recent years. A newspaper article from the Idaho Statesman in 2000 indicated that a woman with the same name from the same city (Nampa, by then) ran an animal grooming business. A Thomas Gough was listed as the owner of 4705 Clark as recently as 2006. Other databases show that in 2004 a 40-year-old woman named Gough was listed at the same residence -- she had the same name as a well-known anti-abortion activist from Boise.

How could a murder go unknown for 27 years? Was the victim listed as missing? And if Judy Gough lived an otherwise normal life, how did she end up holding a firearm on someone in 1980? How did she become an accused killer?

Tips and background info on this case can be sent via this contact form. Please place the name of the case in the message subject line. Also be aware that CrimeBlog.US always seeks to deliver new developments, breaking news whenever possible. Many weblogs traffic in repeating or regurgitating news already made public by the traditional media. While this blog couldn't exist without the traditional media, we still do original reporting when resources are available.

This entry will be updated below.

UPDATE 1, 3:56 p.m. ET, 10/01/07

(Please see this blog entry at StevenHuff.net for information that may explain things if updates or new entries to this blog are slow in coming this week.)

The Idaho Press-Tribune is reporting that human bones have been found at 4705 Clark St. in Boise, the former residence of alleged killer Judy Gough. Officials specifically referenced small bones from a human hand and foot. Other "fragments" were found, but they have not yet been determined to be of human origin.

The investigation at the address appears to be complete, at this time. One of the items that was reportedly removed from the home was rather ominous in light of human remains having been discovered -- a large and functional electric table saw of some sort, covered in black plastic when investigators removed it from the residence.

The name of the alleged murder victim still hasn't been released.

UPDATE 2, 9:45 p.m. ET

Thanks to "rockymtnmom" in the comments below this entry we have more info from the Idaho Statesman about this crime.

And the story is suburban gothic to its very core.

Judy Gough allegedly drugged and murdered her first husband, Lloyd Ford, in 1980. She is accused of shooting Ford with a deer rifle. Her daughter, who is now 40, witnessed the crime. She was 12 at the time.

The Boise PD taped a phone conversation last Thursday between Gough and her daughter in which Gough both admitted to the crime and said she would kill herself if the police were told. Gough was arrested the following day.

A commentator who later asked for their comment to be removed wrote the following about Judy Gough's current husband Tom Gough in a post below this blog entry:

[. . .] In fact, Tom and Judy have been married for 27 years, so maybe this happened right before they met. [. . .] Tom, her husband, is in total shock and does not believe she could have done the murder. She is a vet assistant and, I think, does breed horses. [Her] husband came home, and found Judy's car in the middle of the driveway with things scattered around, like she had been going to get in the car but was stopped. Apparently Tom is a pilot, and had just come home from flying his plane . . .

There is much more of a story here. Indeed, it may be just as a police spokesperson from Boise said, one of the more unique tales of murder you will ever encounter.

As for anyone who might judge the daughter -- until you've been in those shoes, don't. She was only 12 at the time. I was the same age in 1980. I have no idea how I would have processed such a thing. Very few people do.

Sources:

• The AP;


• The Idaho Press-Tribune;


• The Tri-City Herald (WA).