Terror is in Town The subject of the book “The Midnight Assassin” by Skip Hollandsworth is focused on uncovering the truth behind who is truly at fault for the murders of Mollie Smith and, several other victims. The murders occurred in Austin, Texas during the 19th century. Based on the first three chapters, three prominent characters have been introduced. All three characters are currently prime suspects. At the time, Austin was a prestigious town, equipped with the finest law enforcement made first hand by god himself, the Texas Rangers. When the young yellow skinned slave Mollie Smith was murdered, terror truly struck Austin. News reporters from all over Texas came to cover the story, thus creating conspiracies about each suspect. Evaluation of each suspect and their motives to perpetrate such a gruesome murder-Walter Spencer, a hardworking slave, who had never done any harm; Tom Chalmers, the brother of the land owner where the murder took place; Lastly, Dr. Ralph Steiner, the esteemed doctor. Evaluation of the first suspect, is Walter Spencer. Walter Spencer is a hardworking African American slave. Spencer is the prime suspect within the investigation of Mollie’s murder. Walter Spencer could possibly be the killer because after he visited Dr. Stiner’s house he disappeared. Spencer was closest to Mollie, he was her boyfriend at the time and shared the same sleeping quarters the night of her murder. Spencer was the first to report that Mollie’s body was missing.
A key factor in the case of Walter McMillian was that he was an African American man who at one point was respected by his community. However, an extramarital affair with a white woman is what crossed the line. Affairs were not out of the norm in the Monroeville community, but given the fact that McMillian was black dramatically changed what was perceived as socially acceptable behavior. The significant questioning of McMillian’s character came into play when a young woman, Ronda Morrison was murdered. The profound change in the community’s view toward McMillian was an incentive to point to him as the mastermind behind the murder. The police were unable to produce any viable suspects which led to pressure from the community to find and convict a killer – even if the person accused was innocent. The interrogation tactics used during the questioning of suspects and witnesses produced false allegations. Tactics such as intimidation and bargaining. These practices encompassed covert operations that allowed the law enforcement – police, district attorneys, judges – to navigate the case. Several people were instrumental in concocting the false story placing McMillian at the center of the crime. After his initial lie, Ralph Myers’s was pushed by police to produce additional information which although false, was used by police to arrest McMillian. As the story gained traction in the town,
Out of all the Infamous killers in the U.S the two well-known killers that I will be researching are Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy. These two murderers share many similarities such as their backgrounds, Crimes, and Motives. Both Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy are serial killers who’ve killed over a dozen people each. They’ve committed crimes including rape, murder, and kidnapping. In this research paper I will be comparing and contrasting the two serial killers.
The Blind Assassin is a story about reflecting on the past. Iris Chase-Griffen, an elderly widow, lives in a modest home in southern Canada. As she lives out the final days of her life at her house, Iris handwrites a personal memoir depicting the haunting events of her past as the wife of a distinguished politician and businessman in the early 1900s. Iris was pressured by her father to marry the wealthy Richard Griffen after the Great Depression devastated her family’s business. Soon after Iris weds, her father dies, leaving Iris and her younger sister Laura to the luxurious tyranny of life with Richard. Iris engages in an affair with Alex Thomas, a unionist on the run and friend of the sisters, to escape from what became a restrictive, abusive marriage to Richard, but Richard sends Laura off to a mental institution after she rebels against him, and Alex dies in World War II. After the war ends Iris reveals her affair and Alex’s death to Laura, who apparently had feelings for him as well, prompting Laura to commit suicide. Later, Iris learns that Richard had been raping Laura during most of her marriage, which Laura silently endured to keep Richard from turning Alex in like he threatened. Ever since, Iris has kept the truth about her marriage and her culpability in her sister’s death secret. Iris reveals in her narrative the truth that had been hidden from the public for so long, struggling with her repressed guilt and painful memories to find some sort of reconciliation.
Thesis Statement: A research paper of the mysterious and famous 19th century serial killer Jack the Ripper and how it is that the legend came to be.
3. In “In Cold Blood”(1965), a nonfiction novel, Truman Capote accounts for the murder of the Clutter family, residing in Holcomb, Kansas, and the events that followed. The mode of development includes Gothic themes and motifs to make the audience question the roles of the protagonists and the antagonists, “Uh-huh. But you’ll have to kill me first”, said Perry to Dick when he proposed to rape Nancy Clutter; Capote also juxtaposes between different time periods to make the audience question what had really happened in the Clutter household. This work of “new-age journalism” continually asserts that Perry killed the Clutters, although scant evidence is produced. Capote’s target audience is the people who are part of the criminal justice system and psychologists. Capote is trying to prove that all people are inherently benevolent, but when they have had traumatic events occur in their past, they have injured psyches, thus attempting to explain the formerly inexplicable murders.
Perry Smith and Dick Hickock were two very different men who came together in one the most renowned and talked about murders in American history. Although the men’s motives were the same, the psychological differences that they experienced after the murders were very different. Smith and Hickock were living testaments to the fact that one’s upbringing really does play a part into the person one will someday become. For Perry, his traumatic family experiences, or lack of them, led him to a psychotic malfunction and for
Serial murder crime though rare, is not a a new phenomenon. This crime has been committed for centuries and will continue to be a crime that is committed throughout the world. It is unfortunate and scary that this is probably one of the most serious of crimes that cannot be prevented. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, serial murderers commit their crimes because they want to. Rehabilitation is not obtainable for serial killers due to their inability for remorse and empathy, or to see people as people and not objects(Knight 2006). This research paper will focus primarily on serial murder within the U.S. First and foremost, a legal definition provided by the U.S. Department of Justice will be presented to set forth the discussion of this research paper. As follows will be a detailed discussion explaining serial killer typologies with the use of examples of known serial killers in the U.S. Types of serial killers are: power oriented, mission oriented, visionary, and hedonistic, each typology will be clearly defined and explained. Some serial killers can have a mixture of each typology’s characteristic. Serial killers that will be discussed and used as examples to represent the content of this research paper will be, John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, Robert Berdella, Jeffery Dahmer, and lastly the most prolific serial killer in American history, Gary Ridgeway. Problems with studying serial killing, are that because of rarity and access. Most of what we think
A serial killer is traditional defined as the separate killings of three or more people by an individual over a certain period of time, usually with breaks between the murders. (Angela Pilson, p. 2, 2011) This definition has been accepted by both the police and academics and therefore provides a useful frame of reference (Kevin Haggerty, p.1, 2009). The paper will seek to provide the readers with an explanation of how serial killers came to be and how they are portrayed in the media.
Crime and glimpses into the heads of criminal masterminds has always been something that fascinates people. Although crime is a terrible thing, the complexity and intricacy of it is something that people love to hear about. One can turn on the news at any given time and almost certainly hear an account of some form of a crime within ten minutes. In the novel In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, an account to a perplexing crime is taken to a whole new level. The Clutter family was a charming family of four that lived in the little town of Holcomb, Kansas. They were brutally murdered with no apparent motive by Dick Hickock and Perry Smith, two men that had
In this article, “Who Killed the Jeff Davis 8”, Ethan Brown, the author, attempted to solve the murder case and prove the police authorities to being wrong and being responsible for the murders of the town. The main problem of this article is determining who is responsible for the murders of those eight women everyone’s contradicting stories. In an attempt to figure out what really happened Brown includes factual evidence from interviews and shocking statistics to inform the reader of what’s going on in the article. By providing such information, Brown indulges the audience into the full experience of solving the murder case.
(hook) Midnight Assassin written by Patricia L. Bryan and Thomas Wolf. Bryan and Wolf showcase the main characters Margaret and John Hossack in the book Midnight Assassin. As the book tells about the murder of John Hossack in rural Indianola, Iowa in December of 1900, the book also includes the countless hours of Margaret Hossack trials where the jury tries to find who is truly guilty for this murder. Based on evidence in this book shows that Margaret Hossack is the one who committed this murder and clearly shows her motives as to why she killed her husband John Hossack.
Lisa Scottoline in the novel, Lady Killer, skillfully illustrates the reality between the law and relationships. Scottoline supports her demonstration by telling the story between Mary DiNunzio, her work, and friendships. Scottoline’s purpose is to capture the reader with realistic events that are normally not talked about in order to grasp the interest of her readers, and reveal the reality of criminal justice. Scottoline writes in a conversational tone for her young readers without previous knowledge about criminals nor law.
Bell witnesses the progression of evil around his own county and the way things have taken a turn for the worse when he says: “This county has not had a unsolved homicide in forty-one years. Now we got nine of em in one week” (216).
Margaret Atwood’s The Blind Assassin, Is a work of historiographic metafiction, as it combines literary devices of metafiction with historical fiction. As Doley claims, “It is aware of its own status as an artifact and constantly draws attention to the fact that the text is a work of fiction such that author does not make any overt claim that the world along with its character are true to life in any sense” (Doley, 146). In The Blind Assassin, Iris retells history knowing that it is just a recreation of her own memory. Iris doesn’t try to hide the fact that she is basing her account of history off of her own memory and ordering it in the way that she wants. While creating her own account of history, Iris does not reveal much as she keep a lot
The novel, Darkness at Noon, clearly references Stalin’s purges and the show trials that occurred during the late 1930s. Although not explicitly mentioned, it is clear that this is what the novel is truly about. By reading the book, one can gain a further understanding of the time period. The novel, Darkness at Noon, can contribute to a further understanding of the 30s in the Soviet Union through its themes of old vs. new and the use of historical fiction.