"Lets just go buck wild!!!" -- Alleged Interstate Shooter Slade Woodson

Police in Virginia have arrested 19-year-old Slade Woodson of Afton, VA in connection with a series of random shootings that recently took place along I-64 in Waynesboro. Random bullets fired by one, possibly two shooter(s) struck six vehicles on the Interstate Wednesday night and Thursday morning, injuring two.

After seeing an AMC Gremlin in security camera images from a shooting incident at a credit union in Waynesboro, an acquaintance of the teen's told police that she'd seen Woodson in a similar car. The acquaintance, Janet Tice, also had bullets fired into her residence early Thursday morning.

Police later found the same Gremlin beside a state road and took it into evidence.

Woodson was taken into custody around 5 this morning. When police arrived at Yonder Hill Farm, a horse farm where Woodson lives, another man inside Woodson's residence exchanged gunfire with the authorities. He was wounded in the shootout and taken to the University of Virginia Medical Center.

Woodson has been charged with the shootings into the Tice home and at the credit union, and is considered a suspect in the I-64 incidents.

Slade Woodson could be found on the social networking site MySpace.com under the following address:

www.myspace.com/lostbogger.

The profile asked readers, "Who wants a good 'ol country boy???"

Woodson had numerous photos of himself and various vehicles in his MySpace photo album, but none of them showed an AMC Gremlin.

Woodson posted the following on the profile's main page: "The names Slade... anyone who wants to go mud boggin, lemme know..i work too much but...im just a poor country boy tryin to survive... Lets go racin state." As to who he might want to meet: "A girl who doesnt bullshit around like all the other girls ive talked to... One who cares for me as much as i care for her... And aint scared to get a lil dirty... GIT-R-DON."

Woodson's profile stated that he attended Western Albemarle High in Crozet, VA. Other records found online seemed to indicate that Woodson was a successful track athlete at Western, once placing first in a pole vault competition.

If he did indeed fire the shots that rattled Waynesboro-area residents, no one knows what Woodson's motive may have been.

Perhaps the person who fired at the cars on the Interstate simply felt it was time to finally do as Woodson's headline suggested, and "just go buck wild."

Sources:

• WDBJ Ch. 7: "Suspect arrested in I-64 shootings."
• The Richmond Times-Dispatch: "Police arrest 1, shoot 1 during sniper probe."

NOTE: Please let me know if the link to Mr. Woodson's MySpace goes dead or the page is made private. I have a copy and will post it if need be.

The Governor's Other Hooker?

"With Second Girl Allegations, Spitzer Gets Closer to 'GOD'."

The link above takes you to a post I wrote for Radar Magazine's "Fresh Intelligence" about the newest Madam/escort linked to former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. A quote from the post:

Though he's saying it isn't so, former NY Gov. Eliot Spitzer has been identified by several media outlets—beginning with the New York Post—as a former client of strong-jawed Manhattan Madam Kristen "Billie" Davis. Davis allegedly ran escort services under the names Wicked Models, Maison de L'Amour, and New York Body Miracle...

I managed to make pdfs of Davis's MySpace. They're private now but Google recently captured both her blog and profile (links go to versions that should load more easily than typical pdfs -- use the horizontal slider at PDFmenot.com to enlarge the pages and click the left/right radio buttons to look at the whole thing). The pdfs were made from the cached pages.

"Recommend" that post if you like it.

GUEST POST: More About CrimeJunkies.com

The webmaster/creator of CrimeJunkies.com prefers to remain anonymous. This person is a former Court TV producer whom I first 'met' (via phone, hence the quotes) when she was working for a popular legal talk show on that network. Our guest blogger has, in her own words, "covered all the major crime news and high-profile trials in the past few years including Natalee Holloway, Scott Peterson, Michael Jackson and Andrea Yates." Now, a bit more about CrimeJunkies.com...

I never thought I would call myself a "Crime Junkie." Growing up, I was involved in music, arts and sports and never could have imagined that I would become a crime news addict.

But, whenever the words "breaking news" are said by a reporter, I suddenly become a detective and a lawyer and want to search for the truth. I am glued to the TV for the mysterious "whodunits." I create a laundry list of questions and want the answers.

Are there any suspects? Did cops find a murder weapon? Did the victim have any enemies?

I was lucky enough to make my hobby into a career. And now, I am proud to announce that I am continuing my contribution to our community with the launch of my new website, "www.crimejunkies.com."

"Crime Junkies" will take a daily look at the most fascinating crime and legal news, along with interviews from the people involved in present and past cases. When a high-profile case is before a judge, expect Crime Junkies to be blogging from the courtroom. A features section will allow those in search of justice to speak out. For instance, the website has an exclusive blog from the woman involved in the controversial "rape ban" case.

It is only in its infancy now but keep checking back for new updates and improvements. I look forward to receiving your input. I also want to thank Steve Huff for his incredible support and applaud him on his excellent work.

Please visit: www.crimejunkies.com

Dan Cooper's Parachute

He said his name was Dan Cooper. Someone mistakenly reported the name as "D.B. Cooper" later and it stuck. But the name he gave was Dan. He said he had a bomb, and to the flight crew on the Northwest Orient flight from Portland to Seattle, it looked like he was telling the truth. Dan Cooper wanted $200,000 and a parachute or he'd set off the bomb.

Cooper got the ransom, got the parachutes, and on November 24, 1971 he jumped from the rear stairs of the 727 he'd hijacked, into the freezing night and into history.

Authorities think Cooper was killed that night. They say he was an inexperienced criminal who overreached, bit off more than he could chew. The conditions for the parachute jump were terrible, the terrain below was wild and unforgiving. Even a paratrooper would have been intimidated by the conditions surrounding Cooper's jump.

Others are not so sure. After all, nearly $6000 of the ransom money was recovered in 1980. It was found by a kid playing on the banks of the Columbia River. Did Cooper bury the loot? If he did, what happened to the rest of it? The FBI recorded the serial numbers on the bills. They've never been put into circulation.

There may be a new clue. From the AP and FBI Agent Larry Carr: "Children playing outside their home near Amboy found the chute's fabric sticking up from the ground in an area where their father had been grading a road [...] They pulled it out as far as they could, then cut the parachute's ropes with scissors."

Agent Carr checked the site where the parachute was found against a map made during the early days of the investigation into Cooper's crime. It was easily within Cooper's likely "landing zone."

No one can say that the buried parachute was Cooper's. Not yet. But if it is, so many questions arise: did he bury it, or was the area where it was found wild in 1971? If it was wild, the parachute could have simply been buried by time, already invisible by the time developers started building in the area. The parachute could even mark the site of Cooper's demise. But if he buried it, that means he got away. He may have even buried the $5800 found in 1980.

All of this again prompts a version question that has kept people interested in this case for 36 years -- if Dan "D.B." Cooper did make it safely to the ground with his money in hand, what happened after that?

Consider it an open thread from here on out. Please keep the discussion on-topic and civil. Also, please remember I reserve the right to delete comments for any reason.

John List Dead at 82

Family annihilator John Emil List died on Friday. List was serving a life sentence for his crimes in the New Jersey State Prison. He'd been moved to a medical facility in Trenton, NJ shortly before his death at the age of 82.

John List spent Nov. 9, 1971 murdering his family. He started with his elderly mother and infirm wife, then shot each one of his 3 children as they came home from school. List, a staunch Lutheran and methodical accountant, wrote a letter confessing all to his pastor. Then he vanished. List managed to stay on the run for 18 years. He was only captured after his crimes were featured on America's Most Wanted. List began serving his sentence in 1990.

It's only happenstance, but it seems strange that the welcome news of List's passing comes today, when there are reports of yet another family murder committed by another father who worked with money, this time in Iowa City, IA. The suspect in this case, Steven F. Sueppel (who may himself be dead at this point), was facing decades in prison on charges of bank fraud and money laundering.

Here are links to more info about List and his haunting crimes:

• John List on Wikipedia
• CrimeLibrary article referencing List
• Excerpts from the sentencing hearing for list in 1990, from the New York Times.

Shooter on the loose in Iowa City

The University of Iowa in Iowa City has put out the following text message for students and faculty on campus:

An active shooter is reported to be in the Iowa City Area. He is a white male in his mid 40s driving a 1998 Tan Toyota Sienna Minivan, Iowa License plate 501-BLO. If you see it call 911 from a safe location to report shooter sighting...

KGAN, a CBS affiliate in Iowa City, has relayed a report from KCCI Television in Des Moines, IA, that the man being sought is named Steve Sueppel.

Sueppel, age 42, lived with his 41-year-old wife Sheryl and their children at 629 Barrington Road in Iowa City. According to the Des Moines Register, police were called to the Sueppel residence before 7 a.m. this morning. The Cedar Rapids Gazette has reported that an adult woman -- most likely Sheryl Sueppel -- and 4 children were found dead inside the home.

At one time Sueppel was vice-president and controller of the Hills Bank & Trust. Authorities say Sueppel was accused of moving money around for his own use. The Des Moines Register published the following about Sueppel's legal troubles:

Police have not confirmed whether the suspect is the same Steven Francis Sueppel indicted Feb. 12 on charges of embezzling and laundering almost $560,000 from Hills Bank & Trust [...] Sueppel had pleaded not guilty and a trial was set for April 21...

However the Iowa City Press Citizen published slightly different info about the charges against Sueppel in February:

The court has alleged that during a seven-year period, Sueppel embezzled $599,040 from Hills Bank. He also allegedly laundered a total of $13,500 from Aug. 23, 2007, to Sept. 17, 2007, according to the indictment...

Search warrants related to the money-laundering charges alleged that Sueppel "told bank officials he used most of the $219,000 he took over a three-year period to purchase cocaine."

Sueppel was slated to go to trial on April 21. A conviction would have brought 30 years in prison and millions of dollars in fines.

In an interview with MSNBC, an Iowa City investigator said that Suppel was a potential danger to the community because he wasn't "in his right mind."

Several of the Iowa City papers quoted in this entry have also published reports that a van on Interstate 80 matching the description of the suspect's vehicle crashed and was in flames. The fire is hindering confirmation as to whether Sueppel was inside the vehicle or not.

This entry will be updated and revised.

NOTE 1: I've begun a thread at the message board associated with the brand new true crime site, CrimeJunkies.com. Check it out -- register your own screen name there and start posting, if you like.

NOTE 2: The only man with the same name found on MySpace so far is a 26-year-old Californian. Please don't try posting a link to the guy's page in the comments. It will be deleted. Every time a case like this hits the news, someone mistakenly fingers a guy with an identical name. I won't let that happen here if I can help it.