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Dreamin’ Demon Home Office, Akron, OH  – It’s the end of our biggest year ever.  We’ve gone from a little blip on the true crime horizon to the juggernaut we are today.  Or, at least, as Morbid says, we’ve raised our level of suck.   At the beginning of 2008, Morbid was the only guy writing here on the front page.  Now he’s got a bevy of stunningly beautiful writers and one Imp Queen.  You’re welcome, internet.    Come and hang with us as we exorcise the Top Ten Stories of 2008.  Begone, foul spirits! 

10. Michael Gagnon Is An Asshole (January 1, 2008 – 262 comments)

Michael Gagnon drove drunk right before the New Year and killed five people:  Bethany Griffin, 36, Jordan Griffin, 10, Vadi Griffin, 8 weeks, Lacie Burkman, 7, and Haley Burkman, 10. Gagnon injured three other members of the family. In late June, he was sentenced to 43 years in prison.

9.  Modesto Police Officer Does World A Favor (June 16, 2008 – 265 comments)

Modesto Police Officer Jerry Ramar shot Sergio Aguiar as Aguiar was in the process of kicking and beating his two-year-old son, Sergio Jr., to death. Aguiar was killing his son on the side of a rural California road in front of multiple witnesses. This case engendered a lot of debate among our readers: should passersby have tried harder to save baby Sergio at possible risk to their own safety? There was little middle ground on this story, and the comments still make for an interesting exercise in morality and ethics.

8.  Felicia Mikels Is Dead-Thanks, Uncle Chris! (January 21, 2008 – 392 comments)

Felicia Mikels, 17, didn’t make it home the night of January 18, 2008, because she was dead.  Her five-week-old daughter Miciana was abandoned on a New Jersey lawn, but Felicia remained missing. Felicia’s paternal uncle, 26 year old Christopher Mikels, and his friend Douglas Mandichak, 25, had reason to believe that one of them was Miciana’s father. Felicia’s uncle and his friend had been having sex with Felicia for some time. They didn’t like being asked for child support, so they beat Felicia to death and threw her body in a river, where it lay unrecovered until April 29 because of ice. Chris Mikels and Douglas Mandichak are under indictment for murder.

7. Cesar Monarrez Rapes Children (February 13, 2008 – 399 comments)

Cesar “Bubba” Monarrez, 18, was arrested after being caught on video molesting a four-year-old-girl at a daycare center in Springdale, Arkansas. This article spawned the Bubbaku, a Demon-inspired haiku used to make fun of assclowns. This article also spawned widespread use of the word “tard” to describe some levels of idiocy exhibited by defenders of the people we cover. Bubba has since been convicted and will be in prison for a very, very long time. But the comments are hilarious. I highly recommend them.

6. Charles Smith & Christina Haynes SUCK! (June 18, 2008 – 522 comments)

The story of Charles Smith and Christina Haynes is one of the most heinous non-fatal cases of child abuse I’ve ever seen. Haynes’ daughter Kyra Wine, 3, lost part of her feet, bits of her fingers, and had extreme bruising all over her tiny body when found by officers doing a welfare check in June. The toddler’s scalp had been pulled away from her skull, her hands and feet had been restrained until the circulation was cut off and her flesh rotted and died. Still, we got family members of the perpetrators in our comments section, yelling that we didn’t know the full story. We knew enough: Kyra remained in the hospital for months. She is now with her grandparents and sister, still recovering.

5. Alicia Hartner Controls the Minds of Men (March 6, 2008 – 611 comments)

Alicia Hartner, Mike Wellwood and Phillip Morris were arrested and charged with the double murder of Jack Mascow and Dennis Langley, Alicia’s mother’s ex-boyfriend, in Michigan.  Alicia wrote out and signed a confession implicating Mike and Phillip, and to all appearances (especially mine), they looked guilty as sin.  Sometimes, looks are deceiving.   While the three suspects were held without bond for months on end, evidence turned up implicating one Doyle Palmer, 40, in the murders.

We have had many family members come to the site on every side of this case: the victims’, Doyle Palmer’s, Alicia’s, and most notably our members FreePhil and FreePhil2, who are relatives of (guess who?) Phillip Morris. Phillip’s family steadfastly maintained his innocence and kept us updated. Early in December, I heard from Phillip’s sister, who told me the charges were being dropped against her brother and possibly against Alicia and Mike as well. She was right. By Christmas, after being in jail for nine months, the three original defendants were released and the murder charges were dropped against them. Charges remain in effect against Doyle Palmer. I got to reverse myself and apologize (a rare occurrence, I might add), and this case continues to develop. Watch this case with us into 2009.

4. Couty Alexander Showed His True Colors (July 1, 2008 – 740 comments)

Couty Alexander shot Christa Ann Baker, his bride of three months, in the head.  No real dispute there – clearly, he did it.  How it happened was another matter, and it seemed that everyone who ever knew Couty or his homeschooling, conservative, fundamentalist Christian family came to our site to talk about it. From “it was an accident” to “don’t blame the homeschoolers”, myriad topics got covered in our comments section, and this story took on a life of its own.

3. Did Tyson Chamberlain Kill Easton Lee? (March 28, 2008 – 896 comments)

The answer is almost certainly “yes”.  On March 21, eight-month-old Easton Lee died a horrific death.  Tyson Chamberlain, a roommate of Easton’s mother, told police he’d been bathing the baby when he slipped under the water.  While trying to save the infant, Chamberlain said, he accidentally caused a few injuries.  The autopsy disagreed.  This case is still pending, and we have multiple family members and friends of nearly every party in this case, including Easton’s grandmother. Those who believe TysonTyson reviews is innocent have been as vocal as those who believe Tyson is guilty. Easton’s family has shown us grace in the face of their crushing grief; Tyson supporters are adamant that their boy isn’t the babykilling type. We’ll be following this case closely through the trial phase.

2. Dead Baby, Carseat Found On Side Of Road (January 29, 2008 – 1507 comments)

Early on the morning of January 29, 2008, Travis “T.J. Mullis” left the Texas trailer he shared with his girlfriend, Caren Kohberger, and took their three-month-old son Alijah with him. The baby had been crying, and Caren was ready to get him out of her hair – even though Travis said he wasn’t safe to take Alijah. And Travis should know – he’d already attempted to molest a little girl living in the same trailer. Caren insisted Travis take the baby with him, so Travis did. He drove from Alvin to Galveston, where he took baby Alijah out of his carseat, put him on the ground, stomped his skull in, and left his diaper-clad body right off the seawall. A few hours later, birdwatchers stumbled across the body of Alijah James Mullis.

This story was the one that showed us what happens when a case grabs the attention of a group of people. We closed comments at nearly 1500, then reopened them briefly. This case was by far the biggest commenter turnout this site had ever seen. Until…

1. Caylee Anthony (July-December 2008, 7 posts, 31,662 comments.  Yes, 31,662.)

Does this story need any introduction, any explanation?  Yeah, I thought not. Our biggest story of the year was none other than the murder of two-year-old Caylee Marie Anthony. Caylee’s mother Casey Anthony, 22, has been charged with murder in her death. Caylee was killed on or about June 16 and reported missing a month later on July 15. After multiple articles and major drama in and around this case, utility worker Roy Kronk discovered Caylee’s body on December 11 just yards from the Anthony family home in OrlandoOrlando reviews. Well, actually, he discovered it in AugustAugust reviews. Yeah, it’s a long story. If you’re not up on your reading, better get on that.

In conclusion, all our stories are important to someone. Some of the stories that have affected us the most didn’t even crack the top ten: Tina Richards and Phillip Waller Suck At Parenting, Tracey Hermann & James Sargent Suck At Parenting, and a lot of other parents who suck at parenting come to mind.

Morbid asked our staff writers to come up with their own top tens, and I’ve posted them in the forums. Here are Ruby’s Top Ten; Lizard’s Top Ten, and So Jaded’s Top Ten. And if you have a favorite (or un-favorite) story we missed, tell us about it. We want to know what moves you. In the upcoming year, we’ll be broadening our focus, sharpening our image, and maybe even putting a patch on that hole in Morbid’s couch. And I started writing this piece last year, so I guess it’s time to shuttup and publish.

Happy 2009!

Imp, Morbid, and the Demoniacs

Update:

Hi, Morbid here…I just wanted to add another list, and that is our top 10 YoutubeYouTube videos. These are videos that we have had attached to stories featured on the site from our Youtube Channel (which you should join). If you think the comments get strange here, you haven’t read shit compared to the trolls on Youtube. The stories that garnered the most Youtube activity are completely different than the ones featured here on the site.

• Step-Father Busted Molesting Step-Daughter (21,582 views 20 comments)
• Boy, 5, records teacher berating him in class (23,349 views 168 comments)
• Toddler Abuse In Car Wash Caught On Tape Follow Up Video (40,690 views 181 comments)
• 3-Year-Old Videotaped Smoking Pot (42,531 views 190 comments)
• Mother accused of blackmailing man who had sex with her son (45,750 views 5 comments)
• Woman Laughs About Killing Bicyclist (48,547 views 174 comments)
• Woman Stabbed To Death Protecting Her Baby (56,890 views 209 comments)
• Teen Arrested For Making Baby Fly (98,623 views 438 comments)
• Babysittter swings infant into door frame (199,753 views 462 comments)

And our legendary Youtube video that still gets comments pretty much everyday since it was posted back in March..

• Toddler Abuse In Car Wash Caught On Tape (643,323 views and a whopping 3,095 comments)

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1. Dreamin’ Demon Podcast 09/14/2008
2. Dreamin’ Demon Podcast 5/11/2008
3. It’s Labor Day At The Dreamin’ Demon!
4. It’s Case Update Thursday at Dreamin’ Demon!
5. Dreamin’ Demon Podcast 8/9/2008