Crime Screen Movie Suggestion: Scalene

August 31, 2012 at 11:42 am by Morbid  

HERE, NOW – You may be as surprised as we are to learn that we occasionally get free movies and books to review. I mention this because, in full disclosure, SCALENE was sent to us by Breaking Glass Pictures to review. But do not fear, DD reader, as I would never risk damaging my reputation for providing excellent choices in movies and books by recommending crap just to get free stuff.

In the case of SCALENE, a film directed by Zack Parker, I can honestly say you owe it to yourself to give it a shot. Not only does it delve into a bit of the headlines often featured on this site, as well as some of the re-occurring discussions they produce, but Margo Martindale delivers one of the best performances I have seen all year. Here’s the official synopsis:

“Told from three points-of-view, SCALENE is a perceptual thriller that revolves around a mother’s revenge (Margo Martindale, Emmy  Winner, F/X’s “JUSTIFIED”, Showtime’s “DEXTER”, MILLION DOLLAR BABY) after her mentally-challenged son (Adam Scarimbolo, A GUIDE TO RECOGNIZING YOUR SAINTS, LYMELIFE, STAKE LAND) is accused of sexual assault by his student caretaker (Hanna Hall, THE VIRGIN SUICIDES, Rob Zombie’s HALLOWEEN, FORREST GUMP).…

Washington Man Charged With Shooting His Wife And Daughter To Death

August 31, 2012 at 9:48 am by Morbid  

SPANAWAY, WA — A man turned himself into police after his wife and 11-year-old daughter were found shot to death in their home.

Dean Holmes, 40, has been charged with two counts of aggravated first-degree murder after he walked into a police station and admitted to killing his wife, 41-year-old Kristi Holmes, and daughter, 11-year-old Violet Holmes.

After confessing, police were dispatched to his home and could see that Dean was telling the truth when they looked through the window of the master bedroom and saw the lifeless bodies of Kristi and Violet.

Dean told police that at around 6:00 a.m. Tuesday morning, he shot Kristi as she was sleeping. He then woke up Violet and a friend of hers who had spent the night. They got into a car and Dean dropped off Violet’s friend at her house. He then drove around with Violet for a bit before pulling over and shooting her as she slept in the backseat. Then, with his dead daughter still in the backseat, he went to McDonald’s to get some food because, you know, nothing gets you hankerin’ for an Egg McMuffin like a bit of familicide.…

New Bride Drowns While Posing for “Trash the Dress” Pictures

August 30, 2012 at 12:26 pm by Morbid  

RAWDON, Quebec – A new bride was swept into a river and drowned while posing for pictures in her wedding dress.

Last week, 30-year-old Maria Pantazopoulos drowned while posing for “Trash the Dress” wedding pictures in the Ouareau River. When the subject of marriage ever comes up, I always suffer from a reaction akin to a vampire exposed to sunlight, so I was not aware of the “Trash the Dress” phenomena some recently married women partake in.

For those of you unaware, “Trash the Dress” is a a style of wedding photography that details a bride destroying her wedding dress instead of letting it rot in a closet while she slowly destroys a man’s soul. New bride’s will wear their dress one last time while on a beach, garbage dumps, fields, or abandoned buildings. A simple Google search pulls up tons of such images.

In the case of Pantazopoulos, the photographer she hired suggested a shoot at the Ouareau River. One account states she was standing on a rocky area in about a foot of water when her dress became so heavy from getting wet that she was pulled off the rocks and into the river.…

Infant Who Died During Stay With Babysitter Now A Homicide Investigation

August 30, 2012 at 9:29 am by Morbid  

FAIRFIELD, Maine — Here’s a story you may want to keep your eye on, regarding the July death of a 3-month-old girl that has since turned into a homicide investigation.

Back in July, Nicole Greenaway left her 3-month-old daughter, Brooklyn, in the care of friend and co-worker, Amanda Huard. The plan was for Brooklyn to spend the night but at 1:34 a.m., Haurd called 911 to report Brooklyn wasn’t breathing and was unresponsive. Six minutes later, paramedics arrived and rushed Brooklyn to the hospital but sadly, she didn’t make it.

The next day Huard would post on Facebook that she was living a nightmare.

“My friends 3 month old daughter stopped breathing in her sleep last night:( in devasted that it didn’t realize it soon enough. For the cpr to work:(,” she posts, adding that her daughter was the one who found the baby unresponsive.

Yesterday, reports were that the death was now being considered a homicide. Greenaway told WMTV that police have told her that Brooklyn was sleeping in the bedroom of the Haurd’s 10-year-old daughter.…

Two Teens Charged After Girl, 5, Found Dead Inside Garbage Can

August 29, 2012 at 3:50 pm by Morbid  

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y.  – Two teenage boys have been charged in connection to the murder of 5-year-old Isabella Tennant.

The girl was spending the night at her great-grandmother’s house when 16-year-old John Freeman allegedly killed Bella with his bare hands. Her official cause of death was listed as mechanical obstruction of the airway and compression of the neck. There were no signs of sexual assault.

After he killed Bella, he placed her body in a garbage bag and had one of his friends, 18-year-old Tyler Best, help place the little girl’s body in a garbage can three streets away. Best ended up going to police the next day and showing police where Bella’s body had been stashed.

Freeman was arrested and charged second-degree murder while Best was charged with tampering with evidence. Both have pleaded not guilty when they appeared in court on Tuesday and ordered back to jail until their Sept. 7 court date.

Bella’s mother, Crystal Walker, told reporters that she was working late that night at a sports bar, and that Freeman often took advantage of her grandmother’s kind heart.…

Hiker Took Photos Of Grizzly Moments Before It Killed Him

August 29, 2012 at 1:34 pm by Morbid  

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The man from San Diego who was killed by a grizzly bear while hiking in Alaska’s Denali National Park took photos of the bear moments before it attacked and killed him.

Despite having undergone mandatory bear awareness training before being allowed to hike in the park, and given specific instructions on what to do in case of a bear encounter, photos from 49-year-old Richard White’s camera show he chose to ignore those instructions before he was attack and killed by the bear he was photographing.

Rangers inform hikers to stay at least a quarter mile from a bear and to slowly back away if you find yourself any closer to one, but photos taken by White show the man was taking pictures within 40 to 50 yards of the grizzly moments before the attack.

The last photos taken by White, which have not been made public, show the grizzly with his head down while grazing along the Toklat River gravel bar. The last series of photos span about 15 seconds, and show the bear lifting its head, looking toward the camera, then moving towards White.…

Man Admits To Getting His Girlfriend’s 11-Year-Old Daughter Pregnant

August 29, 2012 at 10:31 am by Morbid  

Mount Clemens, MI – A 29-year-old man has admitted to getting his girlfriend’s 11-year-old daughter pregnant.

On Tuesday, Trevaun C. Brooks pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct. Because the victim was under the age of 13, Brooks is facing a mandatory minimum term of 25 years in prison, up to life, when he is sentenced on Sept. 27.

Prosecutors say Brooks had sex with the child in her bedroom last year while living with his girlfriend and her daughter. The victim, now 12, gave birth in August and medical tests proved that the child was his.  The girl told investigators she didn’t even know she was pregnant until she gave birth.

After giving birth, the victim and her baby were removed from her mother’s home and placed in the care of state protection services. However, they are both expected to be placed back with the girl’s mother at a later date.

Brooks was a fugitive for almost a month after tests proved he had sex with the 11-year-old, but he was arrested in September after police found him living with another girlfriend.…

Naked Woman Found In Road Raped And Burned Has Died

August 29, 2012 at 9:27 am by Morbid  

Canton, OH – A woman found on the side of a rural Ohio road severely burned with a rope tied around her neck, has died.

On Sunday, a passing motorist discovered a 29-year-old Celeste Fronsman on the side of a Zainesville, Ohio, road. She was naked with a rope around her neck and suffering from severe burns.

“I have a woman right here. She’s burned severely, she’s been raped and she’s been beat up,” the man told the 911 dispatcher as Fronsman could be heard moaning in pain. “She’s got a rope around her neck, she’s totally without clothes and she’s severely burned.”

Even though Fronsman had been raped and tortured, suffering from fourth-degree burns that went as deep as the muscle and bone (*shudder*), she was still alert and pleading for help. She was able to tell the motorist what happened, as well as responding police and medics.

She was flown to the Wexner Medical Center burn unit at Ohio State University in Columbus, where she remained in critical condition for two days before dying yesterday.…

Mom Breaks 2×4 Over Child Abductor’s Head, Saves Her Daughter

August 28, 2012 at 12:36 pm by Morbid  

Portland OR – Here’s a great story out of Portland where a mother stopped a teenager from abducting her 6-year-old daughter, then used a 2×4 to deliver a bit of street justice in the process.

Antoinette Robinson’s daughter, Xavier, had been outside playing when a 17-year-old male grabbed her and tried to pull her into some bushes. That’s when Robinson sprang into action and the teen realized he had just messed with the wrong Mama Bear.

“I thought I heard something and then I looked and the man had my daughter in a bush with his hand over her mouth & around her waist,” said Antoinette Robinson. “I jumped up and ran out of the house and I just socked him in his face. Then I went to go hit him again and he let her go and we both rolled down the hill.”

The teen let go of her daughter and took off, but Robinson got into a car with neighbors and chased him down. When they found him, Robinson jumped out of the vehicle armed with a 2×4…and she wasn’t planning on building a house.…

Man Dressed As Bigfoot Killed After Being Struck By Two Cars

August 28, 2012 at 9:26 am by Morbid  

KALISPELL, MT — If anyone would have ever old me that one day I would be using an image of Harry from HARRY AND THE HENDERSONS in an article on this site, I would have never believed it. Hoped for? Yes. Believed it? Nope.

But that day has come, thanks to a man in Montana who was killed after being struck by two cars while dressed as a sasquatch.

According to friends, 44-year-old Randy Lee Tenley wanted to start a Bigfoot hoax by dressing in  a military-style camouflage ghillie suit, and making appearances along Highway 93. So on Sunday night, Tenley donned his garb and stood in the right-hand lane of the highway, in hopes of scaring passing motorists.

Tenley’s plan may have worked out a lot better had he not decided to stand on the highway at night. In clothing designed to help you blend in with foliage. At the same two teenage girls were driving on it.

Tenley was first struck by a vehicle driven by a 15-year-old girl who says she was unable to avoid hitting him.…

Man Arrested After Botching Tattoo Of Stillborn Baby On Woman’s Arm

August 27, 2012 at 12:58 pm by Morbid  

UNION COUNTY, SC – A man in South Carolina has been arrested after botching an illegal tattoo for a woman who wanted a tattoo of her stillborn baby on her arm.

Leshannon McBeth has a few tattoos already, but decided she wanted to get another on her upper arm of her stillborn baby. She went to Jody Rector, a friend of her cousin, who said he was a licensed tattoo artist and would give her what she wanted for $150. After paying, McBeth says that the work he was doing did not look anything like her stillborn infant and asked that he make it look like her older son instead.

Rector agreed, but what McBeth ended up with is a tattoo that she says looks like Frankenstein’s monster. I think it looks like Betty Boop, but either way, it was a mess. Rector refused to refund McBeth her money, and she found out Rector wasn’t even licensed to tattoo in South Carolina. On top of that, the tattoo became infected and would not stop bleeding. McBeth ended up going to the doctor and was prescribed a round of antibiotics. Jody Rector?…

Police Accuse Man Of Beating Toddler To Death Because She Soiled Herself

August 27, 2012 at 9:52 am by Morbid  

INDIANAPOLIS, IN –  A man charged with the murder of a 3-year-old girl has admitted to beating the girl to death because she had soiled herself.

Last Tuesday, police were called to a home where they found 21-year-old Jose Cruz hysterical and his girlfriend in a bedroom with her 3-year-old daughter, Carmen. Police say the girl was not breathing and was “covered in bruises from head to toe.” She was rushed to the hospital and placed on a ventilator, but Carmen was pronounced dead on Wednesday. A medical evaluation determined the girl’s bruises were the result of beings struck with a flexible object, and that she had blunt force trauma to the abdominal area.

Cruz, who was initially arrested on preliminary charges of attempted murder, told investigators that he became upset over the fact that Carmen had soiled herself. In response, he says he beat Carmen with a brown leather belt, shook her, pulled her hair and threw her into a television. Police would later retrieve a brown leather belt from the home as well as a black power cord.…

Man Charged With Sex Crimes After Running A Train On A Carnival Cruise Ship

August 27, 2012 at 9:14 am by Morbid  

ORANGE COUNTY, FL – A Florida man has been accused of participating in the gang rape of a 15-year-old girl on a Carnival cruise ship.

Casey Dickerson, 31, was arrested on a federal sex charge after he and several teenage boys allegedly raped the girl in Dickerson’s cabin on the Carnival Sensation last weekend. According to the FBI, Dickerson was on the cruise with his wife where he and four other teenage boys got a 15-year-old so drunk that she was unable to stop the train they ran on her.

According to the complaint, the victim said that she had went to Dickerson’s cabin with her friend and four teen boys. After being given alcohol, Dickerson and the teens took turns sexually assaulting her while her friend was held inside a bathroom. She said that while she was being assaulted on the floor of the cabin while wearing only a bra,  someone knocked on the door and one of the boys answered it. After the person who knocked at the door left, Dickerson and the teens continued their sexual attacks — even telling each other to “switch” into different positions.…

Driver Accused Of Giving Oral To Dildo With Sex Toy Up His Butt

August 24, 2012 at 8:21 am by Morbid  

St Paul, MN – After 911 received a call from a woman regarding the driver of a truck in front of her, a dispatcher informed officers close to the location to keep their eyes out for “a white male in a red pickup performing oral sex on a white dildo.”

Police responded to the area and noticed a red pickup on University near Wheeler Street being driven by 45-year-old Brian Wutschke. They pulled him over and searched the interior of his truck, which contained several pairs of women’s panties, including a pair hanging from the rear-view mirror and one on the gear shift.

But that was nothing compared to what they found inside Wutschke. After first locating a sex toy underneath his flannel shirt, they also detected a buzzing sound as they were giving him a pat-down. That’s when Wutschke admitted to the officers that he had an electric sex toy shoved up his ass.

None of the officers present wanted to deal with the removal of the sex toy, so they arrested Wutschke and placed him in the squad car.…

Two Women Fatally Electrocuted While Trying To Help Car Crash Victim

August 23, 2012 at 2:36 pm by Morbid  

Los Angeles, CA — Two women in Los Angeles were fatally electrocuted Wednesday night while trying to help a car crash victim.

The crash happened around 8:30 p.m. in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, where an SUV crashed into a fire hydrant and then a light pole which knocked down a power line. The water shooting out of the busted hydrant pooled around the vehicle, hiding the live electrical wires that were left exposed.

As neighbors and rubberneckers began converging on the scene, a woman who lived in a house nearby ran to help the man in the vehicle, only to be electrocuted as soon as she stepped into the pool of electrified water.

“She walked, stepped in the water, fell back on her back with her arms straight out, and then I ran back to the house to get my mom and came back. Another lady supposedly was reaching in to help her got shocked too, and they were trying to help her and everybody was like stand back, don’t touch the water,” a witness, Christie Vergini, told Fox LA.…

Girl Kills Mother During Driving Lesson In Church Parking Lot

August 23, 2012 at 8:33 am by Morbid  

NEWPORT, Ky. — I have stated my opinion on women drivers multiple times on this site and every time I do, someone inevitably gets angry with me and I get hate mail. But I am in a good mood this morning so I will bite my tongue and not use this tragic story to rail on you females and how, by and large, you all are horrible, horrible drivers.

Kimberly Riggs, 40, and her 15-year-old daughter had just left church services at the Newport Church of God on Sunday when Riggs wanted her daughter to practice her driving skills in the parking lot. That’s when an unbelievable chain of events occurred, leaving Riggs dead and her daughter unlikely to get behind the wheel of a car for a very long time.

According to Newport police, Riggs was standing outside of a car in the parking lot as her daughter sat in the driver’s seat. Witnesses said the car suddenly lurched backward and the open door hit Riggs, knocking her to the ground.…

Man Charged With Biting Girlfriend’s Child As Punishment

August 22, 2012 at 8:45 am by Morbid  

WEST HAVEN, CT – Police in Connecticut have arrested a man after they say he bit his girlfriend’s 5-year-old child as a form of discipline.

Brian Keil, 25, was watching his girlfriend’s two children, ages 5 and 8-years-old, when the siblings got into the fight over a toy. In response to the 5-year-old biting the 8-year-old, Keil figured he would teach the younger child a lesson — and bit the child on the arm.

I often bite unattended children in the mall, but that is purely for fun. The act of biting a child as a form of punishment for biting is just stupid. It does nothing to prevent the child from doing it in the future and can even make the situation worse. It’s also illegal.

If Keil didn’t know this beforehand, he found out when the children’s father arrived to pick them up. When he learned what Keil did to his child, and saw the mark on the child’s arm, he immediately took the 5-year-old to the police station and showed the cops the very visible bite mark Keil had left.…

Lawsuit Alleges Teacher Made Students Trim Her Pubic Hair

August 21, 2012 at 9:34 am by Morbid  

Great Falls, MT – Some former students and employees of Dahl’s College of Beauty have filed a lawsuit claiming they were sexually harassed and forced to wax one instructor’s pubic hair.

Fifteen former students of the school, as well as the school’s former director and former director of financial aid, filed the lawsuit against the school after they say they were unjustly expelled or fired for filing complaints regarding the behavior of some of the school’s instructors.

The students say they paid nearly $10,000 to the school that promised to teach them the basics needed to work on clients and “all the necessary skills you need to pass the Montana State Board Exam.” What they say they got was instructors who did not properly teach the curriculum and instead, according to the lawsuit, routinely slept, surfed the Internet, conducted personal business, made sexual remarks, and delegated their duties to unqualified, unlicensed students.

I know, I know — you don’t care about that, you came for the pubic hair. Well, the lawsuit also alleges that one particular instructor would publicly expose her genitals and require students to wax her pubic hair.…

Mom Who Stabbed Sleeping Daughter With Steak Knife Told Police “I Went Crazy”

August 20, 2012 at 12:53 pm by Morbid  

FITCHBURG, WI – More details have been released regarding the Wisconsin mother who repeatedly stabbed her 6-year-old daughter with  a steak knife while she slept.

Early Monday morning, 30-year-old Tasha Harmon went to her neighbor’s apartment suffering from self-inflicted stab wounds to her neck and chest. She told the neighbors she had just stabbed her 6-year-old daughter before stabbing herself.

When the neighbors entered Harmon’s apartment, they found her daughter covered in blood, lying on her bed. She was suffering from several stab wounds inflicted by her mother, who had used a 7-inch steak knife that was found nearby. The girl was still alive and rushed to the hospital with life-threatening stab wounds to the chest and back as well as a punctured lung. According to reports, the girl told police, “Mommy tried to kill me.”

Harmon was transported to the hospital in serious but stable condition before being released on Thursday and placed in jail. She has been charged with attempted first degree intentional homicide. Her daughter was listed in critical condition, but police say she is expected to recover.…

Speedo Wearing Priest Seen Chasing Boy Down Street After Alleged Molestation

August 20, 2012 at 11:00 am by Morbid  

WOODBURN, Ore. – A Catholic priest in Oregon got himself into some trouble after he allegedly fondled a 12-year-old boy during a sleepover.

Just before midnight Sunday, James Curths was hosting a barbecue when a 12-year-old boy ran up to them begging for help, saying that a man was chasing him. At about that time, Curths says he saw a man come around the corner wearing only a Speedo. That man was Rev. Angel Armando Perez, pastor of St. Luke Catholic Church, and the 46-year-old was trying to wave the boy over to him. Curths said the boy was scared to death and hid behind him, telling him the man in the speedo had touched his privates.

“He was staring at us,” said 28-year-old Heather Rodriguez, Curths’ sister-in-law. “Then he stood there with his hands on his hips like, ‘You’re really not going to give him to me?’”

Perez didn’t run away until after Curths told him they were calling police. They took the boy to his sister’s house where the boy repeated what he told Curths; that Perez had touched his privates.…