Murder
It’s a Cook Book!
I came across an “unusual” story today:
Police burst into Jose Luis Calva’s Mexico City apartment last week and found fried human flesh on a dining table set with cutlery. They found more flesh in the refrigerator and an unfinished book by Calvo called “Cannibal Instincts.” – [Yahoo/Reuters]
Looks like he was getting ready to have a meal…
The mutilated body of Alejandra Galeana, 32, was in the bedroom closet.
Calva told prosecutors he killed Galeana after an argument, then cut an arm and a leg off of her body so that he could dispense of it in parts.
“He denies having tasted her flesh,” Mexico City’s chief homicide prosecutor Gustavo Salas told reporters. “According to him, he thought it was better to cook the meat so he could feed it to the dogs.” – [Yahoo/Reuters]
Never “tasted her flesh”? Is that like “I did not inhale.”? Or “I did not have sexual relations with that woman.”? (Sorry Bill…) In my experience, I find it much easier to write how-tos when I’m actually engaged in the process that the how-to is supposed to be describing. Which is what it looks like he’s doing. At least from where I’m standing.
Not to mention, I generally wouldn’t set the tables for my dogs. They usually eat from a bowl on the floor. Unless they are stealing my steak. Then they come to the table, and pull it to the floor. Where feasting would commence. No flatware involved. But what do I know. I generally never have to worry about how to dispose of my bodies…
I guess the one thing that puzzles me is why he’d admit to the murder, but get squeamish about admitting to having the poor woman for dinner. Some people need help…
Suspect says he killed, not ate, his girlfriend – [Yahoo/Reuters]
Death by Mad Stinkfoot…
It is a rather disturbing thought that it is actually possible to get stabbed to death on account of telling someone their feet possess a, shall we say, “malodorous” quality…
William Antonio Serrano, 20, was charged with murder.
“Serrano and the victim, who are roommates, got into an argument in which the victim told Serrano his feet had a foul odor,” police said in a statement. “At that time, Serrano retrieved a knife and stabbed the victim numerous times.” – [Yahoo/AFP]
Given the actions of this guy immediately after the incident, I have no doubt in my mind that this is a textbook example of amygdala hijacking. However amygdala hijacking is only part of the problem. It usually occurs as a response to something else. And some of these “other” things are downright stupid.
Ya know, people today are entirely too quick to anger, often over trivial matters. Or even absolutely weightless words. What happened the old “sticks and stones” adage? How can someone become mad because they were told their feet stink?
If it’s true, well, I would think that a considerate human being would apologize and try to do something to remedy the problem. If it’s false well, then, why get your tighty whiteys in a twist about it? Let alone get so mad that you stab another human being a few times over it?
Our social values are totally jubar. It seems like everyone has a right to thier own opinion, except where it disagrees/offends with someone else. Then it auto-magically turns into insensitive blasphemy. I will never understand.
Death. On account of stinky feet. Unbelievable.
Roommate killed over ‘stinky feet’ – [Yahoo/AFP]
Why we need better psych profiling for law enforcement.
I have mentioned on a couple of occasions that I believe that our Justice system here in America needs a serious revamp. I have no illusions about the complexity, inherent problems and near impossibility of creating a perfectly just, adequate and equitable legal system in any country. But here in the US, we have so many resources available that there are some things that we have no excuse for not implementing some basics that would seriously help balance out some of the flaws in the justice system and law enforcement, as it stands today. Articles like the ff, where an off-duty Wisconsin Law Enforcement Officer wigged out and went on a jealous killing spree, only cement my opinion:
An off-duty sheriff’s deputy went on a shooting rampage early Sunday at a home where seven young people had gathered for pizza and movies, killing six and critically injuring the other before authorities fatally shot him, officials said. – [Yahoo/AP]
I know police officers are people too, but shouldn’t there be checks and balances? A requirement for a Specific kind of person for these positions? Even the possible motive for the killings makes no sense:
The circumstances of the shooting were hazy Sunday and it wasn’t immediately clear what the gunman’s motive was, but the mother of a 14-year-old victim said the suspect may have been a jealous boyfriend. – [Yahoo/AP]
A jealous boyfriend? Really? He went on a shooting spree out of jealousy? Even though this motive is entirely speculation at this point, it still begs the question, how did someone like this make it into the force? I know many progressive law enforcement offices use psychological profiling in their hiring process, and I don’t know if the Wisconsin Sheriffs dept. is one of them, but I really think it should be a standard practice, not just in progressive law enforcement establishments, but across the board.
I think that along with periodic evaluations and a statistical analysis of officer behaviour in reference to their psych evals over time and as a whole, could help nip these kinds of problems in the bud. In fact any force that is intended to exercise any level of control over the general populace needs to have this kind of testing done. Maybe I’m beating a dead horse into glue. But come on. Isn’t it worth the lives that would be saved, and the prevention of unfair police brutality to implement something like this universally?
Off-duty Wis. deputy sheriff kills 6 – [Yahoo/AP]
The often hidden psychological effects of war…
I just read a very sad story about the brutal assault of an civilian Iraqi family in their own home.
A military jury on Friday found a soldier guilty of rape and murder in the slayings of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and her family.
Jurors deliberated much of Friday evening before convicting Army Pfc. Jesse Spielman, 22, of conspiracy to commit rape, rape, housebreaking with intent to commit rape and four counts of felony murder.
Military prosecutors did not say Spielman took part in the rape or murders, but alleged he went to the house knowing what the others intended to do and served as a lookout. Spielman had pleaded guilty on Monday to lesser charges of conspiracy to obstructing justice, arson, wrongfully touching a corpse and drinking.
Spielman’s sister, Paige Gerlach, screamed: “I hate the government. You people put him (in Iraq) and now, this happened.” [Yahoo/AP]
It is hard to know exactly what was going on in this soldiers head while all of this was going on, but we know for sure that at the end of the incident, an Iraqi girl had been raped, and her family murdered in cold blood. The most important point about this incident is not that the brutality and heartlessness of the crime is unusual, but rather the opposite. The ability to kill without hesitation is a requirement in order to be a good soldier. In times of war this is a necessary ability. In a theater where your combatants are just as likely to be women and children, as men, you learn to kill each with the same level of efficiency. The problem however, lies in the other less salient side effects that occur as a result of this kind of conditioning.
What happens when you reach the point where you can look at someone, a race, or a demographic, and no longer see a human being? Just a soft target? Well, in war, it makes you a better soldier. But once you learn to kill people without guilt, what else might you be capable of? And will you have to moral fiber to discern the right from the wrong and act on it? We may never know the reasons Pfc. Spielman went along with all of this. But I can understand Paige Gerlachs’ hatred of the government. She and her family will be forever emotionally scarred by this incident.
But the sad fact is, though the government may have put them in Iraq and trained them to kill Iraqi men, women and children without guilt, it was not the government who made them murder that family. They were not ordered to do so. The did this of their own free will. And I’m sure they are not the only ones to have committed such war crimes. But the actions of few such out-of-control soldiers, if any, will ever be publicized, even if they are caught. And yet they will return to our soil, with this black mark upon their psyche. And that is the ultimate problem with war.
At the end of any war, you will have not only damaged your enemies population, but your own as well, both physically and psychologically. A war of any kind comes at great cost. To both sides. And unfortunately the rewards are sometimes not worth the sacrifices. It is not something to be entered easily or lightly, no matter how strong you may think you are.
Soldier found guilty of rape, murder – [Yahoo/AP]
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