Cabin 28: The Keddie Murders Movie

First things first: HAPPY 4th OF JULY, Y'ALL!

Okay, now that's out of the way.

This blog receives a ton of hits from people searching for information about the Keddie Murders. Lately that's been because there was a claim that the movie The Strangers was partly inspired by the massacre in Cabin 28, but I think that was a load of bullshit cooked up by some viral marketing idiot.

You can click this link to read the blog entries I've written about Keddie, but my stronger recommendation is for you to visit KeddieMurdersMovie.com and watch Josh Hancock's documentary about this chilling unsolved crime. He's posted it in 6 parts on this page.

I've embedded part 1 above to encourage reader interest, because part 1 hooked me right away, and I know a good deal of the story. This post will be short for now because I'm going back to watch the rest of it.

I'm already wondering why Hancock's documentary hasn't seen wider distribution -- part 1 was professionally-rendered and compelling. The documentarian's art is in letting the subject speak for itself. It's clear to me just 7 minutes in that Josh Hancock knows how to do that.

I will update this post after I finish watching Cabin 28: The Keddie Murders.

UPDATE

Josh Hancock's documentary is stripped-down, straightforward, and it hits home. Make no mistake -- if your interest in true crime documentaries or anything else true crime-related is more towards the macabre, gory end of the spectrum, you will be disappointed by Cabin 28: The Keddie Murders. Actually, if you're that sort of true crime fan (you should see some of the disgusting search strings that somehow bring people here), you can just get the hell off my blog right now.

I digress.

Anyone who appreciates a respectful, measured approach to telling such a terrifying story, a human approach, will be impressed by this documentary. I certainly was.

I truly hope more attention comes to Mr. Hancock's work, as he managed to use minimal resources to create a full, living portrait of the people and the place impacted by this unsolved family murder. Bare-bones as it is, Cabin 28: The Keddie Murders still manages to leave the kind of lasting impression true-crime centric shows with massive budgets (48 Hours, Dateline) strive to make. Those shows go for broke with sonorous voice-overs, graphics and editing. Hancock's cleverness is in his minimalist approach: simple, understated music and well-framed shots of key people in natural light. Sometimes, that's all you need. The story then tells itself.

If the Keddie case is one of those unsolved mysteries that plagues you, this account will leave you truly unsettled, haunted, and perhaps a bit sad. Peaceful pine forests and remote, quiet mountain retreats will never look the same again.

One more plug for the site:

KeddieMurdersMovie.com.

See also:

http://www.youtube.com/user/keddiemurdersmovie.

The Megan Touma Murder: Look, it ain't the REAL Zodiac

People are free to talk about whatever they want on a message board, but let me make it clear that I reject one idea out-of-hand: the person who killed Spc. Megan Touma sometime around June 17, 2008 in Fayetteville, NC was not the actual Zodiac Killer.

I'm not going to try and make anyone feel good about themselves on that score. I'm amazed I even feel the need to write this, but I do. To suggest that the real Zodiac killed Touma and then wrote the letter is patently ludicrous, as far as I'm concerned. If I'm somehow proved wrong, believe me -- I'll admit it in this space and apologize. If Zodiac is still alive -- a big if -- he is in his late 60s or 70s. As a killer like Gary Michael Hilton proved, age doesn't bar people from being active serial killers, but in general, it doesn't help. Even psychopaths become settled, less violent over time. If Zodiac went on killing after 1969, he only got better at it, and learned one lesson -- not to call any attention to himself, any more. At least not in a way that might lead to his capture.

But yes, there are a few people making that very argument in comments and on some message boards, and as open-minded as I can be about various theories regarding a wide range of mysteries, I'm not that open-minded. So don't bother at this blog, because I'll either shoot you down or delete your comment if I'm really annoyed.

A poster using the nick "TheForeigner" on the message board associated with the best Zodiac resource on the Web, ZodiacKiller.com, noticed a fascinating and chilling coincidence. Tom Voigt, the site's webmaster, posted the image created by "TheForeigner" to make note this coincidence. I took my cue from him and created the image you see on the left in Photoshop. I used the image the Zodiac imitator drew on the letter he sent to the Fayetteville Observer, claiming credit for Touma's murder and calling it a "master piece," and laid it over the cross-in-circle design of the Cross Creek Mall. The motel in which Spc. Touma was murdered is marked by a smaller version of the same symbol.

The investigation into Touma's death -- officially a homicide -- is ongoing. Police have yet to publicly name a suspect, but they have been interested in another Fort Bragg soldier who may have been the father of Touma's child -- the Dental specialist was 7 months pregnant when she was murdered. The soldier in question was said to be at a Special Forces school studying psychological operations. As I noted here, that's one good reason alone to suspect him in Touma's murder. That the deaths of pregnant women usually come at the hands of the men they live with only adds to logical reasons to question this unnamed man and either arrest him or eliminate him as a suspect.

Here are a few of my ideas as to what may have happened, in order of most logical to most unlikley:

• Megan Lynn Touma's baby-daddy, whoever he was, was terrified of the financial burden that might be placed on him by the impending birth. He planned the scenario well in advance, right down to the location. The Zodiac-like letter is nothing but a ruse designed to confuse the investigation.
  
• A real serial killer did it. He spotted the young, pregnant woman staying by herself and knew he had -- in his book -- an excellent target. He did some planning in advance, used a ruse to enter Megan Touma's room, and then created his awful "master piece." In this scenario the killer may be basically telling the truth in the letter to the Fayetteville paper -- he has killed many times before, and he envies and wants to imitate the fact that the Zodiac was never caught. If this is what actually happened, the killer will write to another media outlet soon. He may even go further towards imitating Zodiac and include code of some sort. This killer's code, unlike Zodiac's, may be relatively simple and easy to solve -- that, or it will be utterly senseless and never solved, because there will be no solution.
  
• A woman who knew Touma was the killer. The Fayetteville Observer has reported that the Zodiac symbol found in the death room was drawn on the mirror with lipstick. The female killer may not have realized that Touma was only 7 months along and was intent on taking the baby. A variation on that scenario: Touma was killed out of jealousy.
• The real Zodiac having committed the murder is easily the most outlandish choice. He would be older, possibly elderly now, and have no logical reason for re-announcing his presence. It is more logical to think he came out of 'retirement' to kill Christian camp counselors Lindsay Cutshall and Jason Allen in Sonoma County, CA in 2004. Cutshall and Allen were in Zodiac's old stomping grounds and in a situation that seemed to trigger him in the past -- a young couple alone in an isolated spot. I don't actually think the Zodiac Killer committed that double murder, either, but it would be more logical than thinking he's alive and well in North Carolina and killing pregnant young Army Specialists.

Of course there are other possibilities, but the ones above seem most prevalent in discussions on the Web.

I have no reason to think this, no tip to go on, but I feel some new developments in the Touma investigation will be announced tomorrow. I don't know if they will be major, but I do feel strongly that the investigation into this case is intense and relentless. No matter what or who he is, Megan Touma's killer is dangerous.

Bad Headline of the Day: Fox News Implies the Real Zodiac is Back

Previously, on The True Crime Weblog:

"Zodiac's Ghost: Letter citing infamous serial killer as inspiration claims kill in N.C."

I guess I'm off hiatus, now. It's a little like being Michael Corleone -- every time I think I'm out and ready to do something else, some psycho does something that pulls me back in.

So here ya go. Dumbest damned headline of the day, courtesy of the fabulous folks at Fox News:

Zodiac Ties Probed in Slain Pregnant Soldier Case

What do you think when you read that? I think -- if I look at it as if I were someone with very little knowledge of this story -- "oh, has the real Zodiac come back?"

A quote from the article:

A symbol similar to one often left by the nefarious Zodiac killer of the 1960s was scrawled in lipstick on a mirror in the North Carolina hotel room where Army Spc. Megan Touma was found June 21, police said.

A letter sent to a local newspaper and published last week also contained the symbol, a circle with a cross through it...

The rest of the article is pretty straightforward and gives us 'the case so far.' The worst thing is the headline, because it is misleading. At the moment, it is much easier to be skeptical of the letter sent to the Fayetteville Observer than anything else. Cleverly written as the letter was -- the writer managed to ape the Zodiac Killer's tone and attitude pretty well in just a couple of paragraphs -- it beggars common sense to think a true, anonymous, serial-killing inheritor to the California killer from the late 60s has made himself known. The only "tie" I can see at the moment between the real deal and the writer of the letter in NC is the current unknown criminal's co-opting of Zodiac's symbol and his writing style.

About the case so far -- one of Megan Touma's fellow soldiers is under investigation. The soldier may have once been stationed with Touma in Bamberg, Germany and is now at the Fort Bragg-based U.S. Army Special Operations Command. NBC 17 in Raleigh, NC reports that the suspect was studying -- wait for it -- psychological operations (this won't be news to anyone who followed comments on the previous post about this case -- neither will the fact that NBC 17's website loads slower than your teenager's pimped-out social networking profile).

I don't have a source to support this contention, but I am fairly sure that anyone learning U.S. Military psy ops studies killers like the Zodiac, BTK Strangler, and Son of Sam (David Berkowitz) at some point. Why? Because these letter-writing, taunting serials were individuals who used their acts and their communications with the police, press and public at large to commit a kind of domestic terrorism.

Dennis Rader (BTK) killed 10 people -- that we know of. That's bad enough, but he also became, for 3 decades, the boogeyman of Wichita, Kansas. Parents used BTK to caution their kids. Rader was a nebbishy, anal-retentive minor public official, but as BTK he cast a long, terrifying shadow.

David Berkowitz managed to terrify everyone in New York City and capture the attention of the nation one hot summer in the 1970s. Berkowitz was a lowly, withdrawn postal worker living in a shabby little apartment. But he was a monster in the mind of anyone reading newspapers or watching the nightly news broadcast.

And the real Zodiac Killer? We don't know who he was, even today. Some people claim they've solved the case, others have their pet theories, sure -- including me. But Zodiac remains a cipher. He was probably like Rader and Berkowitz -- a small man in a small, nothing job. A nowhere man. But he had big plans. And when he put them into action, he cast a far more terrifying and monstrous shadow over the public than he ever truly cast standing on the street corner late at night, smiling as the sirens wailed in the distance.

Killers such as these performed psychological operations on the public. The men themselves were small, nobodies. Their homicidal creations, promoted to everyone through strange, mad letters, codes, threats, warnings -- they intimidated thousands, even millions.

Isn't that a key goal of offensive psy ops? I'm pretty sure it is. There are positive uses for psychological operations, of course -- positive in the sense that they do not involve attempting to scare others. But if you have an enemy you're trying to rattle before the bombs start to drop, you need to know how to push peoples' buttons.

At the moment, it makes much more sense to me to suspect someone being trained in psychological operations of even thinking to write a fake "Zodiac is my hero" letter to the press than it does to think some blank-faced, prolific serial killer has finally announced himself to the public.

If the latter ends up being the case, it'll be a hell of a story, and probably have me parked at this blog posting updates daily. But I'm doubtful. The explanation for the tragedy of this pregnant young soldier's murder is likely to be much more prosaic, in the end.

Zodiac's Ghost: Letter citing infamous serial killer as inspiration claims kill in N.C.

UPDATES AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST.

If there was ever a good reason to break my hiatus from updating this blog, this is it.

From FayObserver.com:

"'I'm killer' of Spc. Touma."

A quote from the article -- bold emphasis has been added:

A person claiming to be the killer of the pregnant soldier found dead in a motel has written an anonymous letter calling the murder a "master piece" and threatening to kill again.

On Friday, sources requesting anonymity told The Fayetteville Observer that a symbol used in the letter is identical to one found written in lipstick on a mirror in the Fairfield Inn room where Spc. Megan Lynn Touma’s body was discovered June 21...

The Observer apparently received the letter Wednesday. It was dated June 17 (the symbols beside the date on the letter -- @))* -- seen if you click the image above to enlarge it, are the symbols over the numbers 2008 on a typewriter or computer keyboard) and postmarked June 24. You can read the full text of the letter by clicking on the screen capture, but I'll make it easier by quoting -- formatting, spelling and punctuation mistakes have been left intact:

To whom it may concern. The following is to inform that I am responsible for the dead body that was found on Saturday, June 21 @ 1130 in room 143 at Fairfield INN by Marriott off Skibo RD. It was a master piece. I confess, that I have killed many times before in several states, but now I will start using my role-model's signature. There will be many more to come.

Fayetteville law enforcement are very incompetent. I basically, sat there and watch while investigaters were on site.

The writer signed off with the mysterious, 60s-era serial killer's chosen symbol -- a circle quartered by a cross. The Zodiac sign has been interpreted in many ways. Zodiacologists all know that one likely source was the Zodiac brand watch, which was sold in the 60s and 70s. Other possible inspirations were a scaled back representation of a typical chart showing the 12 houses of the Zodiac -- Scorpio, Sagittarius, etc -- or the cross-hairs seen through a rifle scope.

Lt. David Sportsman of the Fayetteville PD said that investigators think the letter is "valuable evidence." He also said that it might be an attempt to misdirect not only the investigation into the death of Megan Touma, but the publics' perception of the investigation.

Clearly trying to forestall any public outcry about a serial killer in their midst, Sportsman said "There is absolutely no reason to believe" that other killings related to the confessional letter have actually occurred.

Specialist Touma's death has not been officially declared a homicide. Her cause of death won't be clear until an autopsy is completed. According to the search warrant application filed by investigators, Touma was in "an advanced state of decomposition" when she was found. A clear cause of death may not be easily established.

According to the Observer, 23-year-old Megan Lynn Touma arrived in Fayetteville on June 12. She had been re-assigned to Fort Bragg, having previously been stationed at the U.S. Army Dental Clinic in Bamberg, Germany as a dental specialist. Touma didn't show up for formation with the 19th Replacement Company on June 16. She was found on the 21st, and a "Do not disturb" sign had been on the door to the room she rented since at least June 17 -- the date on the letter from the Zodiac admirer.

At first the Fayetteville paper honored a police request to not publish the letter. The authorities felt that it might cause a panic. Then the Observer received a tip that connected the letter to a "symbol at the death scene." Observer Executive Editor Brian Tolley said, "We wanted to be responsible stewards of the information, to weigh our obligation to inform the public with the possibility of the damage we could do [...] In the end, we just wanted to do what we believe was the right thing."

What about the letter-writer's claims?

I believe he is telling the truth about being an admirer of the Zodiac Killer. If you visit Tom Voigt's comprehensive ZodiacKiller.com, you can find good copies of every letter the Zodiac wrote to the press in his years-long campaign of terror. Though the still-unknown San Francisco-area serial killer killed 5 and injured 2 between 1968 and '69, he was sending letters to the press as late as 1974. The Zodiac was a publicity-seeking and savvy killer. His campaign of letter-writing and sending cryptic codes to newspapers showed a bent towards domestic terrorism, a tendency fully expressed in later years by The Unabomber and Wichita's BTK Strangler, Dennis Rader.

The Fayetteville Zodiac admirer's letter reveals his inspiration in some subtle ways. While Zodiac did use the word "masterpiece" in one letter without splitting it in two, that kind of mistake would have been classic Zodiac. An example of that sort of mistake from the Zodiac: he wrote the word "Christmas" as "Christmass" -- possibly just an error, possibly his way of revealing that he understood the origins of the word.

Zodiac may have been a bit of an Anglophile -- a lover of all things British. He quoted from the Gilbert & Sullivan operetta The Mikado in his letters, and his letter-writing mirrored the first publicity-seeking thrill killer, London's Jack the Ripper. Zodiac misspelled numerous words in every message, but his use of grammar was as precise as an over-achieving British schoolboy's. The Fayetteville Z-fan's letter is too short to analyze his use of grammar with any degree of accuracy (and I'm not the world's greatest grammarian), but the overall tone is clearly reminiscent of the killer the letter-writer claims to admire. Even the date on the letter, "17 June" is a British construction. Americans typically write "June 17" or "6/17".

The person who wrote the letter to the Observer knew his role-model's style, too.

From the Zodiac's letter to the San Francisco Chronicle, dated October 13, 1969: "The S. F. Police could have caught me last night if they had searched the park properly instead of holding road races with their motor cicles (sic) seeing who could make the most noise."

Fayetteville, 2008: "Fayetteville law enforcement are very incompetent. I basically, sat there and watch while investigaters were on site."

Zodiac to the San Francisco Examiner on July 31, 1969: "I am the killer of the 2 teenagers last Christmass (sic) at Lake Herman & the girl last 4th of July. To prove this I shall state some facts which only I & the police know..."

Fayetteville, NC, 2008: "The following is to inform that I am responsible for the dead body that was found on Saturday, June 21 @ 1130 in room 143 at Fairfield INN by Marriott off Skibo RD."

The letter smacks of someone who has read the Zodiac's letters over and over and made it a point to digest both the attitude and the style of the California killer.

It is peculiar that the letter appears to have been composed on a typewriter (I'm not so convinced that you can't get a typewriter-like product from a word processor and a printer, but I'll save that argument for later). The killer may be trying to evade forensic detection by doing so, but typewriters are pretty rare nowadays, and perhaps even easier to trace than they were 30 or 40 years ago.

Also strange, and potentially chilling -- the letter-writer's claim that he has"killed many times before in several states." On true crime message boards, people are already posting links to stories of other unsolved murders that might fit this killer's m. o.

I'm not ready to buy into that claim. Here, the Fayetteville police may be correct -- claims of many other murders in other states may be a lie intended to obfuscate the investigation into Spc. Touma's death. Nationwide attention to this mysterious death in Fayetteville, NC could distract the public from potential clues to solving this crime right there in Fayetteville. The letter-writer could by trying to imply that he's already moved on, isn't even in that city anymore.

Chris, a fellow crime blogger and a poster on the message board associated with ZodiacKiller.com, made a succinct point about this in a thread discussing the Fayetteville letter. Chris wrote: "There is always the possibility that this is just an attempt at a cover-up. The fact that this woman was pregnant when she was killed raises that likelihood. Also, she was killed in a hotel room, indicating that she very likely knew her killer. This could just be a distraction from the obvious suspect --the would-be father of the child Touma was carrying."

Chris may be right. After all, when you hear hoofbeats, you don't typically think a herd of zebras is on its way to trample you. You hear hoofbeats, you think horses. Killers like the Zodiac are zebras. Panicky, psychopathic baby-daddies are, sadly, a dime a dozen -- horses -- when it comes to dead, pregnant women.

This post may be updated and revised.

Extra link: WRAL's copy of the inventory of items seized in the search of Megan Touma's motel room.

UPDATE 1.

Fayetteville police say they have a suspect. The NBC affiliate in Raleigh, NC reports that the Touma murder is being treated as a homicide, and police have begun analyzing evidence taken from an unnamed suspect's residence.

Having someone under investigation may indicate that the letter was indeed a "red herring," as suggested by fellow crime blogger Chris in a quote above.

You can read the article about the search of a suspect's home on NBC 17's website here, but be warned: the site is so heavily loaded with ads, flash videos and pop-ups it might as well be some teenager's overly-pimped MySpace profile. Click at your peril, if you have a slow connection.

UPDATE 2.

As "PoorPaula" noted in the comments on this entry, someone using the name "Anibal" left an interesting comment on a post at Bonnie's Blog of Crime about the Touma murder. This is most of "Anibal's" comment, dated June 28 and time-stamped 4:46 a.m.:

This is regarding the murder of SPC Megan Lynn Touma….her boyfreind name was Sgt Edgar Patino..He is station in Fort Brag. He is aslo marry to Heileen Patino. He was also station he in Bamberg, Germany. I spoke to her the day before she left and she told me that was his baby and she was seven months pregnant. He was a buddy of mind. We were both assigned to 54th Egineer Batallion...

Keep in mind that Patino has not been mentioned in any other reports about this crime. As far as anyone knows right now, neither he nor anyone associated with him is a suspect or person of interest in the murder of Megan Lynn Touma. [Edited to add: "nursebeeme," a trusted long-time reader of this blog, has indicated that Patino's full name is actually Edgar Patino Lopez. The same tipster confirmed that Patino was at one time stationed in Bamberg, Germany.]

UPDATE 3.

I've gotten to where I think bloggers shouldn't talk about what they see in their web statistics unless the blogger feels threatened and wants to make that public. But I did feel that it was worth it in this instance to note that this blog post has received several hits from servers owned by various Fayetteville-area publications since Edgar Patino Lopez's name was added in update 2. That makes me believe that he may indeed be the person of interest in this case.

But at the moment that's only a guess.

ETA: Nurse pointed out a new comment on Bonnie's Blog of Crime -- reporter Greg Barnes from the Fayetteville Observer asking Anibal to speak with him about Sgt. Patino. I can think of a lot of reasons why Barnes would want to talk about Patino, but right now, it's pretty obvious what the main reason might be.

From Huff's Crime Blog: Neil Entwistle... Pimpin'

Michele R. McPhee's book about the Entwistle case, Heartless: The True Story of Neil Entwistle and the Cold Blooded Murder of his Wife and Child, hit bookstores on June 3, 2008. I haven't read the book yet, but I picked it up tonight and plan to read it over the next few weeks. In this blog entry I am reproducing much of pages 120-123 of Ms. McPhee's book. Mainly because I wrote most of what you will read on those pages.

Yes, Ms. McPhee did reference Huff's Crime Blog as the source, and the passage she quoted is in italics. In fact, I signed a release sometime last Autumn for Ms. McPhee to use a quote from my blog. After I signed the release I heard nothing more from the author, so I almost convinced myself that she'd decided to use other sources.

I almost never grouse about such things, but you know, a free copy of something where such a nice little chunk of my writing was quoted would have been polite. Still, the book was only $6.99, so I guess I can't complain that much.

As usual, the following is basically reproduced as is from the first posting in Huff's Crime Blog 2 years ago. A few links were dead, so those were simply removed. If you have Ms. McPhee's book, you will see that she quoted the following entry beginning at "Neil Entwistle, the 27-year-old Briton" and ending with "the facade of 'the happy family.'"

*****

Neil Entwistle... Pimpin'

February 12, 2006

By Steve Huff

I don’t intend the title of this blog entry to be funny, either. Reader Mike made a comment on a previous entry about Neil Entwistle, the 27-year-old Briton now accused of murdering his wife Rachel and their infant daughter Lillian on January 20, 2006, in Hopkinton, MA. Mike left, as readers of this blog have thankfully done numerous times lately, a very interesting link.

Certainly one of the first things I did upon seeing www.srpublications.co.uk linked to Entwistle was check the registration (whois) info on the domain.

Next thing I did was look it up via The Wayback Machine.

But Mike took a closer look. Specifically at the record made of the website on May 31, 2003. You should know before you click that link that there is a nude photo of a young woman on the page, so consider yourself warned.

What is more interesting in reference to Neil Entwistle, listed as the registrant of srpublications.co.uk beginning in September of 2002, is the text accompanying the nude photo:

- FREE UK SEX - FREE UK SEX - FREE UK SEX - FREE UK SEX -

We are setting up a Discrete UK Sex Contacts network. To get the service up and running we are offering completely free membership to all who are interested. In addition, once the service has a large number of subscribers, you will be eligable for a generous discount on any fees…

It appears he set up a separate e-mail address for this pursuit — freeContactInfo@srpublications.co.uk. The main page for all archived versions of the site shows that some of the dates have asterisks (*) beside them — that denotes a change made in the site. It appears that the site was changed again on December 5, 2003, and I can only guess that at that time the “Discrete Sex Contacts” advertisement was removed. At that time, it seems as if Entwistle must have decided to focus on marketing “The Big Penis Manual,” as it is then referred to as their “flagship product.”

This May, 2003 version of Entwistle’s srpublications.co.uk page is perhaps only significant in how it might relate to the portion of this story that has apparently been most startling to anyone following developments lately… that aside from being in a financial crisis, Neil Entwistle supposedly stated prior to his arrest that there were perhaps sexual issues in his relationship with Rachel.

To me, it seemed that we were perhaps seeing the first hints of the real problem, if Entwistle did kill his wife and child. A pathological narcissist, a psychopath, would be quite accomplished at masking his less savory behaviors by his twenties, if he was of above-average intelligence. But the pressures of supporting a family combined with a lack of gratification physically would quickly produce cracks in that mask. As would moving to a new country, far from the usual support systems.

And I also feel that the slant of these websites tells something about the self Neil was perhaps keeping secret from many people all along. I was struck by the constant appeal to the most base needs… it indicated to me that the person behind the site felt that was the quickest way to earn easy money because perhaps such things, particularly the porn, might be appealing to them, as well.

The reason the story of Neil Entwistle allegedly murdering his wife and child has gripped so many people is because it speaks again to the difference between appearances and truth. Rachel’s “Knight” was really a porn webmaster who even tried to get a service for swingers off the ground… perhaps even an escort service, though it is hard to tell from the “discrete” blurb quoted above. It doesn’t mean Neil was one (a swinger), himself, but it does show where his head was a good deal of the time.

I wonder how well a lovely wife and beautiful baby girl ever truly fit into the picture such a man had of his life… if they ever did, at all. It would have been mighty hard to hook swingers up for free if you spent the rest of your time fashioning the facade of "the happy family."

UPDATE, 2/13/06, 12:46 a.m.

It is official — readers of Huff's Crime Blog kick ass. Mike got his props earlier in this blog entry, now kc made a great find by combing through Neil Entwistle’s srpublications eBay offers. I’ve added this to my list of known or likely Entwistle sites found here. Here is the entry just added to that list:

• www.moneyhound.biz. Whois info.
  

  Registrant:
  Mark Smith
  10 Heslington Rd
  York
  YO10 5DD
  GB
  phone: +44.19051111111 (fake number, I’d guess.)

  Domain Registration Date: Fri Jun 13 13:20:53 GMT 2003
  Domain Expiration Date: Mon Jun 12 23:59:59 GMT 2006
  Domain Last Updated Date: Tue Aug 09 16:28:48 GMT 2005

I’m honored that some pretty sharp cybersleuths see fit to post such things on blog entries here. Finds like these only help us to dig deeper into the story and try to grasp at least a little of that which may always elude us — why these terrible things happen, what paths people take to such ends.

UPDATE, 2/13/06, 2:15 p.m.

Huff's Crime Blog reader Charlie picked apart the new find by kc noted above, and in doing so he spotted a link that might as well be titled, "Neil Entwistle, Spam King." That’s right — as in, e-mail spam, that crap you delete daily. This site was linked from www.moneyhound.biz.

Using 50megs.com, a free site-hosting service, Entwistle mounted another version of srpublications sometime in 2003. This man, whose in-laws, it was reported today, thought he was some sort of "secret agent" stated baldly what this particular page was about:

I can show you how to Make REAL Money with Paid to read e-mail programs! Not pennies per month but DOLLARS per day! You will learn, absolutely FREE , how to mulitply your paid to read e-mail earnings so that you will get a paycheck EVERY month from ALL of your paid to read programs.

Imagine - the 1st of the month rolls around and you get 10 checks from 10 different paid to read e-mail programs - ALL of them in excess of $50! Some of them over $100! My friend - THAT would be worth reading a few e-mails. You could even get 15 or 20 checks - it all depends on how much you want to work setting up your own, personal Multiplying E-mail Business.

If you decide to spend just a little time today - then within a month you can be getting a check from 2 or 3 different "paid to read" companies. However - if you decide RIGHT NOW to spend several days getting your Multiplying E-mail Business set up - THEN you could be getting as many as 20 checks EVERY MONTH!

Pop quiz: what kind of marketing scheme is this?

It's simple: when I help you set up and build YOUR Multiplying E-mail Business - it helps me to further build MY Multiplying E-mail Business….it's that simple. As you prosper - so do I. People helping people - that's what it's all about isn't it?

Is it a pyramid scheme, multi-level-marketing, or just plain stupid? In the Boston Herald article linked above (hat tip to fellow crimeblogger K. at oncrime.com), it was reported that Entwistle’s business card was a folded piece of paper held together with tape.

Sounds more all the time like the mask he wore was never really that well-constructed, after all. He wasn’t a secret agent, he was a lousy spam-king and wannabe pimp for U.K. swingers.

The robotic comment on the Entwistle familys’ home page, www.rachelandneil.org, "from the happy family," has bothered me since I first saw the web page. Precisely because it seemed to be just that — robotic. What was written was what the avaricious and adolescent mind behind the boyish good looks felt others wanted to see, not understanding how false it would ring. That taped-up paper business card seems now to symbolize his entire life, right up to the moment the tape came unstuck on January 20, 2006.

LAST UPDATE ON THIS ENTRY, 2/14/06

My latest article at Court TV’s crimelibrary.com is about this aspect of the Entwistle case and how it may relate somewhat to Neil’s activities as portrayed in the recently-released affidavit for searching the Entwistle home in Hopkinton. Please click through and take a look!

From Huff's Crime Blog: Neil Entwistle... Running Cons?

The following was first posted in Huff's Crime Blog on January 24, 2006. I am basically reproducing the post as it has appeared for the last 2.5 years, correcting links that are dead or outdated and only the most glaring spelling or grammar issues. In these entries written when this story was first breaking there will be factual errors, and incorrect speculation: deal with it.

As I re-post entries here, I take them offline at Huff's Crime Blog. Google may think one blog is a spam blog if it catches what look like duplicate posts.

For daily coverage of the murder trial of Neil Entwistle, see:

EntwistleMurderTrial.com.

*****

Neil Entwistle... Running Cons?

January 24, 2006

By Steve Huff

In this entry I wrote yesterday about the deaths on or around January 21, 2006 of Rachel Entwistle and her infant daughter Lillian Rose, in Hopkinton, MA, I related that Neil Entwistle, age 27, is a person-of-interest to authorities.

Entwistle is British. He is likely driving a BMW. He appears to be rather tall and nice-looking, boyish. He and Rachel met while she was doing a year of college in Great Britain. They were married in 2003, and had little Lillian in 2005. Lillian Rose was 9 months old when she was murdered. A single bullet entered the abdomens of both mother and child, and apparently was the cause of death. They were found in a bed in the home the Entwistles were renting at 6 Cubs Path in Hopkinton.

I posed the idea that perhaps Neil Entwistle was the same Neil Entwistle listed as the registrant for a scam website, millionmaker.co.uk. If he was, perhaps that website, if it were indeed the scam some on the internet perceived it to be, would ultimately figure into the "back-story" of how Rachel and Lillian Entwistle ended up dead in a nicely-appointed home in a Boston suburb.

Some readers have done sleuthing of their own and added some fuel to this fire.

First, a reader who wished to remain anonymous pointed me towards Embedded New Technologies Limited.

There isn't much there, really, except this:

Neil Entwistle
119 Swan Drive
Droitwich
Worcs
United Kingdom
WR9 8WE

The same information for a Neil Entwistle as can be found here. The link takes you to registrant info for www.rachelandneil.org, the Entwistle family site. What was "Embedded New Technologies," and what was Entwistle doing with it? Hard to say, as the name could mean anything. Also hard to say because it would appear that the "Embedded New Technologies" pages were created in July of 2005. Yet not long after that, the Entwistles appeared to move to Massachusetts.

More information from a reader who posted the following in the comments for my last entry about the Entwistles. A poster using "BJ" for a screen name wrote the following:

The same "Millionaire" software is listed on transactions for ebay user "srpublications" located in Worcester, UK. The last dozen or so entries are negatives saying it is a scam...

Here is an example of what "srpublications" was selling on eBay -- "The MILLIONAIRE MONEY MAKER Quick Setup."

Recall, from millionmaker.co.uk:

With MillionMaker you can be sure your investment will pay off, and best of all, there's no waiting years for your return on investment (ROI). We will show you, step-by step, how to successfully promote your adult internet business and generate at least $6000 per month, within the first six months...

Sounds familiar to me.

The eBay feedback for srpublications was, to say the least, interesting. Beginning in early January of this year, 2006, the feedback from buyers was uniformly negative.

• "Relisted Studio MX 8 as "unsold" when in fact ALL 20 copies were sold. WARNING!!"


• However, there were negative notes being struck back in August of 2005, as well: "was sent 2 illegal copys NOT originals as stated + the serial is obsolete as wel(l)..." The seller responded, "Buyer should have asked if unsure. We have changed advert to be less misleading." Note the usually British usage of the word "advert." Rachel Entwistle was an American.


• The feedback that caused "BJ" and yours truly to raise our eyebrows was left on January 8th of this year:
  
  
  
  1. "Rachel Entwistle is a thieving Liar do not buy here!!"
  
  
  2. "Rachel Entwistle lives in Worcester 4 gods sake!Where's my goods?"
     

One idea gleaned from this is that perhaps it was Rachel Entwistle who was deceiving people, scamming, and somehow she was tracked down. However, that stretches the limits of my credulity, personally. Rachel was a teacher, and for the last 9 months, a stay-at-home mother. Neil, however, was an I.T. man, who is supposedly even now not actually "on the run," but perhaps simply traveling to various 'job interviews.'

I keep thinking of Christian Longo. One of the best non-fiction books I've read in the last year was by Michael Finkel, True Story. It was Finkel's story of getting to know Longo after the man was arrested while masquerading as... Michael Finkel. Longo was an affable charmer with a knack for salesmanship and scamming people. Before he murdered his wife and three children, he had a long pattern of dishonesty, ranging from tills not balancing in stores where he worked to the theft of large pieces of construction equipment. Longo would say all the right things, go back to church, and just do it again. Finkel's book is a fascinating peek inside the author's head as well as Longo's, as for a year or so the two forge an odd sort of friendship via the phone and the occasional jailhouse interview. Longo almost had Finkel charmed into believing there was no way such a man could be cold-blooded enough to kill his family. Until Finkel sat through Christian Longo's trial.

Maybe Rachel Entwistle had no idea her name was being used to sell scam software for srpublications.

Perhaps she found out, and that was the beginning of this story.

*****(I've been asked why I still blog when I am now being paid to write, and am in a good position to eventually perhaps even sell a book. Readers like the anonymous person who sent me the "Embedded New Technologies" page and "BJ," as well as a great number of people making comments on blog entries lately are why I keep doing this. Thank you.)

UPDATE, 5:15 p.m.

It is with little to no surprise that I report that CBS 4 in Boston, MA is now relating the news that Neil Entwistle may no longer be in the U.S. From the article:

Flight manifests are now being looked at to see if her husband flew out to England. CBS4 reached out to officials at Scotland Yard, who say they are unaware of any ongoing search.Neil has been out of town since Friday. His wife and daughter were found Sunday...

Some might say that if Neil Entwistle was the killer of his wife and child -- and he is only a person of interest at the moment -- then his getting out of the country is a shame for a number of reasons. One of them the fact that should he flee to any location in the European Union, it is highly unlikely that he will be brought back unless Massachusetts is a non-death penalty state. I do not, off the top of my head, know whether or not that state has the ultimate sanction. If it does have the death penalty, I certainly don't know the last time someone was executed there. And the truth of the matter is, if Neil Entwistle did indeed murder his baby daughter and wife in cold blood, no small number of Americans would be glad to see such a criminal on death row.

UPDATE, 6:36 p.m.

A sharp-eyed reader named Diane spotted the following.

A Neil Entwistle registered the domain millionmaker.co.uk on May 14, 2004. Here is the address information given at the time:

Registrant:
Neil Entwistle Registrant type:
UK Entity

Registrant's address:
10 Heslington Rd
York
YO10 5DD
GB

Registrant's agent:
No agent listed.

Relevant dates:
Registered on: 14-May-2004
Renewal date: 14-May-2006
Last updated: 19-Dec-2005

There was also a millionmaker.net. Here is the whois info for that domain:

domain: millionmaker.net
created: 27-Oct-2004
last-changed: 27-Oct-2005
registration-expiration: 27-Oct-2006 (...)registrant-firstname: Mark
registrant-lastname: Smith
registrant-organization: MillionMaker
registrant-street1: 10 Heslington Road
registrant-pcode: YO10 5DD
registrant-city: York
registrant-ccode: GB

There could be more than one logical explanation for this. Perhaps MillionMaker was indeed a business with more than one employee, and Mr. Smith took care of the second domain registration.

That, or Neil Entwistle had a rather lazy approach to using an alias.

Here are a couple of other domains registered to someone who listed their address as 10 Heslington Road in York. The following could be of no significance whatsoever, but at the moment, who knows?

• On October 28, 2004, 'Mark Smith' created the domain deephotsex.com.


• October 4, 2004 saw Mr. Smith creating the domain thebigpenismanual.com.
  

As I was making this update, the same reader sent a note letting me know the following -- Rachel and Lillian Entwistle were murdered with two bullets, not one, and Neil Entwistle has been located. From Boston.com:

Neil Entwistle, a 27-year-old British citizen, has spoken to police but Middlesex County District Attorney Martha Coakley would not reveal his whereabouts late Tuesday. She would only say he is outside the U.S.The bodies of Rachel Entwistle, 27, and her 9-month-old daughter, Lillian, were found in a bed in their home on Sunday evening. Neil Entwistle remained a "person of interest" in the homicide investigation Tuesday, Coakley said. He has not been called a suspect. There have been no arrests...

Why would Entwistle be out of the country if he was job hunting? Perhaps "Mark Smith" knows.

FINAL UPDATE, 12:41 a.m. 1/25/06

Thanks to Kathy for pointing this out.

"mrtheteacher" became a member at eBay in June of 2005.

"mrtheteacher" made only one purchase, and received three identical feedback notes. It would seem the screen name was created for the sole purpose of buying the item.

From an eBayer to whom you have already been introduced, "srpublications."

Kathy states it best in her e-mail pointing this out to me:

I'm not done looking checking out all the feedback names, but it looks to me like he was buying from himself on Ebay in order to raise his feedback as a reputable seller--so that it would be easier for him to screw people out of their hard-earned money.Yep, Steve, this one not only smells rotten, it IS indeed rotten...

[Editor's note: "mrtheteacher" has transactions on his account since this was originally written -- most recent was in March of 2008 -- I have removed direct links, as I now feel fairly sure it wasn't a dummy account created by Entwistle to boost his feedback.]

In fairness, I can't say I know the above to be true. But it makes plenty of tragic sense. The charming sociopath, the Christian Longo, Scott Peterson, Michael Peterson, is the most stealthy and well-concealed. How could such a great guy be so dishonest? How could he perhaps even be violent? He seemed to treat his wife and child(ren) so well.

In front of others they do, because they are playing a role, 24/7, and sometimes even these kinds of men don't realize they're acting. Until the pressure mounts, usually from the collapsing house of cards they've made from lies to resemble a life, and they drop the mask for the ones who trust them most. After that, there are just more lies, and they are already quite good at that.

EntwistleMurderTrial.com, Part II

Jury selection is underway in Massachusetts in the murder trial of Briton Neil Entwistle, age 29. I've already mentioned EntwistleMurderTrial.com in a previous entry, but today is the first day both Wendy Murphy and I have provided any commentary. Here's a quote from Ms. Murphy's contribution:

The jurors are being asked, as a group, questions that will generally unveil whether they have already formed an opinion - and that's all that really matters. And it makes sense -- nobody wants a jury full of people who have never heard of the case -- such a jury would be comprised of idiots. The thing that matters is -- assuming jurors have heard of the case, are they capable of keeping an open mind and holding the prosecution to its burden, etc.

Weinstein is surely going to use all this stuff to bolster his claim on appeal that the judge should have changed the venue -- and he will no doubt argue that he was at a disadvantage in terms of persuading the judge to move the venue in part because he wasn't allowed to ask the jurors the very questions that might have proved why the venue had to be changed...

To read the rest of Ms. Murphy's comment as well as what I had to say, go here.

Tomorrow I will re-post another 2006 entry about the Entwistle case from Huff's Crime Blog.

Matthew Gretz Confesses to Murdering Kira Simonian

Matthew Gretz pleaded guilty today to 2nd degree murder. He killed his wife, artist and grad student Kira Simonian. In court on Monday, Gretz said, "I stabbed and intentionally killed my wife."

Gretz beat his wife and then stabbed her several times in her neck and chest.

He faces up to 25 years in prison.

I first wrote about Kira Simonian's murder almost a year ago: "The Murder of Kira Simonian." I didn't say it outright, but I believed he was good for it, and of course, got grief for that -- but that comes with the territory.

Finding out my intuition was correct isn't usually a good thing, though. It wasn't here, because based on some comments received when I first wrote about Kira's murder, some of Matt's friends are no doubt shocked beyond words at his confessing to his wife's murder. It seems like Gretz had nothing in his past that predicted homicidal behavior. His plea doesn't really explain what happened, either, and I admit I'm curious. But at least he came clean, in the end.

Thanks to Eyes for Lies for the tip.

EntwistleMurderTrial.com

The Metrowest Daily News, based in Framingham, MA, has created a website about the upcoming murder trial of Neil Entwistle:

http://www.entwistlemurdertrial.com/

If you click "Bios" at the top of the page once you get to that site, you'll see my mug in the "Experts" section, alongside Framingham defense attorney John LaChance and a very familiar face to anyone who follows true crime stories via cable news, former prosecutor Wendy Murphy.

In this blog, I recently re-posted the first entry I ever wrote about the case: "From Huff's Crime Blog: Rachel, Neil and Lillian."

The Entwistle case was interesting in that it seemed like I spotted the story for what it was before anyone else did. I remember having to convince my editor at the Crime Library that it would be worth it to do a story about the murders. I was asked why this case was any different from any other "domestic homicide."

I wasn't quite sure at the time, but I knew that the murders of Rachel and Lillian were definitely not an everyday tragedy. In part, this story was different because it reached across the Atlantic and drew the interest of the British press. When Neil Entwistle was huddled in his parents' Worksop home in the UK, I received an early-morning phone call from journalist Ross Slater, who was then on the scene. I had the odd experience of being bleary-eyed and barely awake in Roswell, GA as Slater recounted what had just happened just after lunchtime there in England.

I ended up writing only two articles about the case for the Crime Library (that I can recall), but they were fairly thorough and not just re-writes of my blog posts:

"Neil Entwistle Taken to Embassy for Questioning."
"Neil Entwistle No Stranger to Sex and the Web."

In the end, my blog posts tracking Entwistle's strange machinations online as he attempted to make money for nothing were probably some of the most intense work I've ever done as a blogger, and representative of some of the best instances I can recall where I felt I was working hand-in-hand with blog readers to figure things out. I can't help but wonder how much of the accused murderer's online life will end up being used in the trial.

For Entwistle, I am certain some online evidence will be crucial to the prosecution. He seemed to essentially have put himself on the horns of a great dilemma for a man who considered appearances much more important than substance; none of his online endeavors were real, and he was too computer-savvy, really -- he'd also used the Web to try and meet new women around the time his wife and daughter were murdered. He was in a position to be immensely embarrassed if his wife found out what he was up to -- at the very least.

As for recent developments in this case -- Entwistle's attempts to have the murder charges dismissed and get a change of venue for his trial were unsuccessful. His attorneys pointed to the high-profile nature of the case as a reason for the change of venue. Hell, if that were enough grounds, they could try the guy in England and still not get a fair shake.

Stick around for further Entwistle coverage and be sure to check EntwistleMurderTrial.com as well. At the least, this will be interesting.

Unsolved: The Keddie Murders

NOTE: In the coming weeks I will be re-visiting some crime stories I've covered on this and other blogs in the past. I will sometimes re-post old entries from old sites with updates, and will write new posts as well. This post is, in a loose way, part of that effort. When I first referenced the horrific Keddie Murders some 3 years ago, it was really just in passing; the murders of the Groene family in May, 2005 by serial killer Joseph Edward Duncan III (see the best resource on the Web relevant to Duncan and his crimes here) resembled the Keddie Murders in many respects. There was ultimately a huge difference between the two crimes -- Duncan was arrested and admitted to what he did. The Keddie Murders remain unsolved.

I decided to write a post about that horrific night in Cabin 28 because this blog has recently seen a spate of search referrals about the Keddie case. I imagine this is due to the fact that a movie titled The Strangers premieres on May 30. It stars Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman and according to Wikipedia, may be based in part on the Keddie Murders. I doubt the movie was actually inspired by any one crime. The 'inspired by real events' tag is usually more of a marketing gimmick than anything else. Still -- any new attention to this unsolved case is a good thing. You're about to see why.

*****

Cabin 28 is gone now. It's probably better that way.

According to Wikipedia, the cabin was razed in 2006. Another source indicates the cabin was destroyed in 2004. Either way, it was torn down to keep away the weirdos, the ghost hunters, and the teens testing each others' bravery.

Cabin 28 in the Keddie Resort in Plumas County, CA was destroyed to try and make way for some new memories. Anything, perhaps, to finally put the old horrors to rest.

*****

Built in 1910, the idyllic Keddie Resort offered a lodge surrounded by 33 cabins. There were hiking trails winding through the pines and great trout-fishing in the mountain streams. Customers came from miles away to dine in the restaurant at the lodge.

In the late 60s, you could buy a "Feather River Canyon Holiday [and] Keddie All-Expense Week-End (sic)" for $32 per person. The junket included "a buffet dinner and overnight accomodations at Keddie Resort."

Crime was almost unknown. Sure, in 1955 Richard Moffett and Earl Jones had an auto accident near Keddie, and the wreckage revealed that the men had stolen kitchenware from the Resort restaurant. But their injuries from the accident were probably as good a punishment as any.

Then one night in April, 1981, 15-year-old John Sharp and 17-year-old Dana Wingate hitchhiked to Keddie and Cabin 28 from nearby Quincy. John and his mom Glenna had been living in the cabin for months.

Police believe that the horrors that took place on the night of April 11 began right around the time John and Dana entered the cabin.

No one seems to know for sure if the killers entered with the boys or if they were already there. Either way, the next 10 hours or so were an orgy of violence and bloodshed.

The killers bound Glenna Sharp, John, and Dana with wire and duct tape. Tina Sharp, age 13, entered after the horrors began. She too was restrained.

The killers used knives. They used a hammer. Speaking to the San Francisco Chronicle in 2001, Plumas County Sheriff's Patrol Commander Rod DeCrona said that the victims were stabbed "so violently they bent one knife totally double from the force." DeCrona continued, "They stabbed and pounded on everything in sight -- the walls, the people, the furniture. Everything."

DeCrona said that there was "blood sprayed absolutely everywhere."

Sheila Sharp had stayed with a friend that night in a nearby cabin. She came home the next morning to discover that her home had been turned into an abbatoir. She was only 14.

But nothing in the Keddie case has ever been straightforward.

For example, Tina Sharp wasn't among the dead. She was missing.

And Tina's younger brothers -- Ricky and Greg -- were unharmed. They'd slept throughout the night in another room in the cabin, along with another boy who was there for a sleepover.

Neighbors in nearby cabins didn't hear anything that night.

At least 8 investigators were on the case in the weeks just after the massacre. Speaking to a Sacramento paper in 1984, then-Plumas Sheriff Steve Wright stated that his office had put in at least 4,000 man-hours of investigation.

They couldn't find a motive. For 3 years, they couldn't find Tina.

Just over 3 years after the murders, someone was hunting for bottles near Feather Falls, some 50 miles from Keddie, when they discovered bones.

A state lab analyzed the bones, and in June of 1984, authorities made the announcement: they'd found what was left of Tina Sharp.

*****

There have been at least two websites devoted to this nightmarish unsolved crime. One was published in conjunction with a 2005 documentary about the murders, Cabin 28: The Keddie Murders. That site has been offline for a while, and is difficult to access via the Wayback Machine. The other site is Cabin28.com.

A look at information published by Cabin28.com gives a rough sketch of some other events in the case.

Some time after April 14, 1981, police questioned two men in connection with the murders, Martin "Marty" Smartt and John "Bo" Boubede. According to the website, the Plumas County Sheriff's Dept. searched Smartt's cabin and a nearby "outbuilding." A jacket, "believed to belong to Tina [Sharp]" was found beneath the house. There may have been blood on the jacket.

[EDIT: A commenter signing off only as "Smartt" posted the following on May 28: "Please edit your blog to indicate that Marty Smartt was questioned by PCSD, the California State Police, and the FBI and was found to have no involvement with these murders and was subsequently released."]

Apparently, the investigation never went anywhere after that. John Boubede may have been dead since 1982, and Marty Smartt since 2002.

The same website states that Tina Sharp did not receive any kind of memorial or headstone until 2002.

The owner of AsylumEclectica.com took a trip to Cabin 28 in 2001. "Comtesse" made photos and wrote a short narrative. Quote:

So, we drove up Highway 70, through the beautiful Feather River Canyon, up to Keddie Resort. A short drive down Keddie Resort Road and we were in the midst of a large number of cabins, most in disrepair and featuring 'Condemned' signs on the front door. We were a bit disappointed - and surprised - to find that cabin #28 is actually located right in the middle of a group of cabins, several of which seemed to be occupied. I was expecting it to be tucked away in some dark, deep secret place where we could snoop in peace, but that was not to be. I also couldn't help but wonder how such savagery could be inflicted on several people for several hours right in the middle of this inhabited area and nobody outside heard a thing? Pretty strange...

The photos at Asylum Eclectica hold no hint of the aura of menace that must have hung over Cabin 28 in the two-plus decades following the murders there. They simply show a boarded-up, dilapidated structure that looks like nothing more than a shed, really.

Based on some discussions on a message board related to Cabin28.com, it appears as though the conflating of the mystery of Cabin 28 with The Strangers has caused some to believe that the two are one and the same, and that the story of the murders of Glenna Sharp, John Sharp, Dana Wingate, and Tina Sharp are all part of some "viral" fiction. They are not. The Keddie Murders were real, and there are newspaper articles about the murders going back to 1981, if you know where to find them. The massacre in Cabin 28 left a stain on that part of Plumas County that has pained residents ever since. While many in Plumas County would surely love for the Keddie Resort to one day be equated with something other than this bloody crime, I can't imagine they or any surviving Sharp relatives would be anything but furious to think that some folks now believe this tragedy is nothing but a marketing tool.

But you know, the Keddie Murders may remain a mystery. That's the sad fact about many long-unsolved crimes; they simply stay unsolved. In my own mental encyclopedia of unsolved mysteries, the Keddie Murders are closely related to the Groene murders in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho -- which were, of course, solved -- the murders of the Bennetts in Aurora, CO in 1984, and more recently, the murder of the Short family in Virginia in 2002. The last family murder also involved an abducted child who was only found later, miles away.

The sheer enormity of these tragedies connects them. But I sometimes think they are also connected by virtue of being examples of what happens when humans unleash their most monstrous selves. Because Joseph Edward Duncan III had a blog, we know that he was giving himself over to his psychopathic demons in the weeks before he killed the Groenes, Mark McKenzie, and took away Shasta and Dylan Groene to brutalize them for weeks on end. He was giving up and letting his mask of sanity crack and fall away.

Duncan is in prison, trying to keep the needle out of his arm. The world is now safe from him. The thing that scares people about the other crimes, the ones that haven't been solved, is the idea that the killers who committed them gave free rein to their demons -- and then put the mask on again. Such things can spook you in a spiritual way, really. That's why I find myself automatically linking such crimes, even when there is absolutely no reason to think the same killer did them all. That particular breed of serial murder is actually pretty rare.

Different hands wield the knives and the hammers. But even in my most secular, agnostic moments, I still wonder if the same sort of inhuman, timeless evil is present behind the eyes of the monsters shedding the blood.

Selected sources:

• Sacramento Bee;
  
• San Francisco Chronicle;
  
• Oakland Tribune.
  

Family of five found dead in San Clemente, CA

Five dead bodies were found in a home in a gated community in San Clemente, CA on Sunday. A spokesperson for the local sheriff's dept. indicated that the deaths were likely the result of "foul play."

Authorities came to 31 Campanilla to do a welfare check after a relative of the family living there became concerned and called the Orange County Sheriff's Dept.

The Orange County Register reported that the dead were "an elderly woman, a man and woman ages 40-50, and two women in their early 20s, all related." The paper related another report from a local TV station: "KCAL-TV news reported that the home was occupied by a doctor and his wife, their twin daughters and a grandmother."

31 Campanilla was the San Clemente address for accident reconstruction specialist Dr. Manas Ucar. Ucar's expertise was in vehicle fires, explosions, and seat belts.

At one time Dr. Ucar was a professor at Syracuse University in Syracuse, NY. Several newspaper articles about Dr. Ucar were published in the Syracuse Post-Standard in the 70s and 80s. Interesting in light of this story was a small announcement published in that paper in October, 1986. It told of twin daughters being born on September 6 that year to Mr. and Mrs. Manas Ucar of 734 Westscott St.

Those daughters would have been 22 this fall.

A True Crime Weblog tipster sent an e-mail pointing out that a Manas Ucar once copyrighted an original screenplay. In fact, someone with that name copyrighted several screenplays in 1996 and 1997. Some of the titles: Master Play; Light of the Morning Sun; The Adventures of Dr. Inspector Dimmier--Viva Casablanca!; Viva Casablanca! The Adventures of Dr. Michael Mirage; and Kill Me Last.

Police in San Clemente have not said if the deaths were murder-suicide or a mass homicide. They have indicated, however, that " there is no threat to the community."

UPDATE

Via the OC Register:

Sheriff’s Lt. Erin Giudice declined to give the exact street address for the house, but neighbors said it was 31 Campanilla. That house is owned by Manas Ucar, property record show. Ucar is listed as a consulting engineer and an expert witness for accident investigations, according to ca-experts.com – an online California database of expert witnesses.

Property records also list a Margaret or Margrit Ucar at the address.

[...]

The family that owned the house, the Ucars, had twin daughters in their early 20s, said Roxie Weaver, a neighbor.

[...]

Grace and Margaux Ucar were 2004 graduates of San Clemente High School, according to a yearbook Weaver showed to KDOC. A Grace and Margo Ucar studied human biology at UC San Diego, where they were due to graduate this year, according to a list posted on the university’s Web site.

The twins’ mother had a jewelry store at the atrium in Fashion Island, Weaver said. She said the family had lived in the gated neighborhood for 17 or 18 years and were "very private..."

Readers have filled the comments with further info, but some of that info was simply clipped from this blog entry.

From Huff's Crime Blog: Rachel, Neil and Lillian

Briton Neil Entwistle, age 29, will soon be on trial for the January 20, 2006 murders of his wife Rachel and their baby girl, Lillian. I'll be commenting regularly on the trial for a Boston-area publication (actually, the news outlet in question is in Framingham). More on that later this week.

I've decided to re-post some of the original Huff's Crime Blog entries about the case here. Some links will be broken. Where ever possible, I have used the Wayback Machine to reproduce those links.

I also wrote about the case for Court TV's (now TruTV) CrimeLibrary.com.

"Rachel, Neil and Lillian" was first published on January 23, 2006. The original can be read here. I wince a little now when I read some of the things I wrote 2 years ago, so I've done some minimal editing. Please note that the entry you are about to read was originally written when very little was known about the Entwistles. It wasn't even public knowledge at the time that Neil Entwistle was from the UK. He was in the wind and could have even been dead.

*****

The Boston Herald reported the following on January 23, 2006:

Police are looking for the husband as a "person of interest" in the murders of his wife and infant daughter, according to Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley.

Rachel Entwistle, 27, and her daughter, 9-month-old Lillian, were found dead in their rental home at 6 Cubs Path Sunday at 6:30 p.m. after police responded for a well-being check.

Relatives went to the home Saturday for a planned dinner party but no one answered the door. On Sunday, relatives called police (…)

…[A]s the bodies were being moved, police discovered the wounds from what is believed to be a single small-caliber bullet that passed through both the mother and daughter's torsos, according to Coakley (…)

Coakley said Rachael's husband, Neil, also 27, has been traveling since Friday. She said police have some leads as to where he may be.

Relatives had last spoken to Rachel on Thursday.

The family had lived in the house for just 10 days on a short-term lease.

Coakley said Neil Entwistle was an unemployed computer worker who had moved to Hopkinton looking for work with a local tech company. He had several interviews planned.

Neighbors said they had not yet met the couple, who had been married since 2003…

In photos, the Entwistles are a handsome, approachable pair. Both of them, Neil and Rachel, have winning smiles, and Lillian is cherubic.

The Entwistles had a family webpage, the address is here — http://www.rachelandneil.org/. Lillian Entwistle's page can be found here — Lillian Rose Entwistle.

I found the story of Rachel and Lillian being found murdered in their newly-rented home, when it was only a couple of hours old, in terms of public awareness. Even as I write this, there could have been developments in the story.

It would appear that one or both the Entwistles were British nationals, or at the least lived in the UK. From the page about their wedding day, in 2003:

Wedding in America:

Priscilla and Joseph Matterazzo request the honour of your presence at the marriage of

Rachel Elizabeth Souza and Neil Entwistle

On Sunday August tenth two-thousand and three at five o’clock in the evening, Second Parish Church of Plymouth, Manomet, Massachusetts.

Reception to follow the ceremony at Plimoth Plantation, Gainsborough Hall.

England Reeption:

Novemeber 1st, 2003…

Photos of Neil and Rachel can be found on this page — Mediterranean Cruise, Christmas, 2004. There you will find photos of the couple looking happy and rested. Rachel is petite and slightly round, Neil appears to be tall and fit. Neither of them seem to have a worry in the world.

The following quote from the Entwistle's homepage emphasized my own impression that one or both of them were British:

The three of us are doing well and are looking forward to the coming holiday season. The Baptism was wonderful and Lilly looked perfect. She even managed to recite the Lord’s Prayer with us.

Lillian is now crawling with confidence. She's enjoying three meals a day of her Mummy's homecooked food and is already eating a variety of finger foods.

Enjoy the newest photos from Lillian’s Baptism and the build up to Christmas. Be in touch….we love hearing from you! Love, the happy family…

Neil Entwistle’s computer acumen shows in the webpages if you visit that site — they are all elegantly designed and easy to navigate. In the Firefox web browser, if you right-click while on the page and select "page info," you will see that the page was either created or last edited on Christmas Eve, 2005.

The Entwistles had a guestbook for their tastefully-rendered webpages. There are notes there like the following, from "Mum and Dad" Entwistle:

Hello darlings, the wedding was elegant. Neil you were the perfect gentleman. Rachel you were stunning. We are very proud of you both. We love you from mum and dad…

The first question is always, 'how could such a thing happen?'

Even though Neil Entwistle is a "person of interest," that in and of itself does not mean he actually murdered his wife and child — it could simply mean they were found dead on the scene and he was nowhere around — and the police are interested in making sure he is still alive and not in danger himself.

This story is still developing, and will be updated as needed on the bottom of this blog entry…

UPDATE, 11:07 p.m., 1/23/06

A reader pointed out new comments found in the guestbook at rachelandneil.org. These comments have obviously been made since the news of Rachel and Lillian Entwistle's deaths came out:

NEIL, YOU COWARD, EITHER OFF YOURSELF OR TURN YOUR [Sorry Ass] IN AND FACE UP TO WHAT YOU'VE DONE. WHY BRING A LIFE INTO THIS WORLD JUST TO TAKE IT AWAY? WHY, "DADDY?"

I found the comment striking because it showed me that perhaps one