A case in Canada that acquired the moniker, "the vampire murder" during the trial seems to have less to do with vampires than with the public's fascination with vampire-related crimes.

In Toronto on November 25, 2003, a twelve-year-old boy was found in the crawl space of the basement of his home, murdered and nearly drained of blood. He had been bludgeoned, stabbed and hacked seventy-one times, and his older brother, 16, and two friends were arrested and tried for first-degree murder.

Since they were all juveniles, they could not be named in press reports, but during the trial the victim was dubbed "Jonathan." The trial had run for three months, with startling testimony from the girlfriend of one of the accused, and was already in jury deliberations when the whole thing was derailed in February 2005 by a reporter's discovery.

The girl's testimony had centered around one of the boys being affiliated with a vampire subculture and she offered evidence from a taped phone call that the grisly murder had been planned. On the tape, made shortly before Jonathan was murdered, the boy said that they planned to kill the entire family. After Jonathan was bludgeoned and stabbed, one boy fled and the brother and other accomplice allegedly attempted to kill the step-father with a baseball bat. They were both charged with attempted murder.

Defense attorneys for the two accomplices insisted that the phone call to the girl had not been serious, and the fact that the murder had occurred shortly thereafter was only a coincidence. They contended that Jonathan's brother had acted alone in a fit of rage. The alleged accomplice said that his call to the girl to discuss the killing was an attempt to impress her, because she wanted to break up with him. He claimed that he'd said similar things to impress other girls. He was joking as well when he referred to himself as a vampire and drank blood with girlfriends before having sex.

Still, the situation looked bleak for these boys as the jury went into deliberations. But then a reported from the National Post came across a Web site, vampirefreaks.com, on which the girl had kept a blog and posted comments throughout the trial. Although she had testified that she had gone along with the boy's vampire fetish to be involved with him but had thought it childish, her vulgar online comments indicated that in fact she bore a fondness for blood, pain, and cemeteries, and hated people.

When the contents of the Web site were revealed, the judge noted that the veracity of the witness's testimony was now in doubt, and declared a mistrial. Legal commentators said that personal Web logs (known as Blogs) on the Internet add a new dimension to criminal trials. Things get exposed that could affect evidence or jury deliberations. Prior to going back to court for a new trial, the prosecutors in this case will have to evaluate whether the girl's Web postings are sincere and, if so, just how they may undermine her testimony.

Written by Katherine Ramsland.
Originally published online at The Crime Library.
Reproduced with the permission of the author.

Posted by Vladimir Fri, 07/06/2007 - 23:09

 

'Impaler' Pledges To Impale Bush

March 14, 2007 (metro.co.uk) - The American Secret Service have launched an investigation into one of the candidates for the presidency in 2008 - after he pledged that as President, one of his first acts would be to impale President George W. Bush.

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For Eric W.

My enemy died today.
Left this Earth to better places.
I miss him.

He was the cause of fear, lessons,
and time being wasted in thoughts
of revenge.

He was memories invoked, to
cause me gratitude in my sorrow.
Now, silent.

He caused me to change. to grow.
I'd gnash my teeth to think he might
have known this.

He made me face myself, my demons,
and in my fear, my anger..my faith
bloomed in a way it could not have otherwise.

I am more enraged now that he is gone,

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Arnod Paole (Serbia)

The story of Arnod Paole is one of the few vampire histories that has been sufficiently documented over the years to lend it historical validity. In the spring of 1727, Arnod Paole returned from service in the military to settle in his home town of Meduegna, near Belgrade. He bought some land, built a home and established himself in the community. After a short time, he was betrothed to a local girl whose father's land bordered his, and the two were wed.

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The Power of Fantasy

On Thanksgiving Day 1996, Roderick Ferrell, 16, from Murray, Kentucky, led a pack of kids to Eustis, Florida, where he killed the elderly parents of a former girlfriend. Ferrell had lived in Eustis for a year and had then returned to Kentucky, where he'd gotten involved with a fantasy role-playing game called Vampire: The Masquerade.

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Surrendered

I surrendered to you,

my heart,

my love,

my soul.

You took it all,

greedily,

without remorse,

without a thought.

I gave you everything,

my time,

my dreams,

eternity.

I wanted forever

in your arms.

You gave me naught

but pain.

I wanted love and

you gave me hate.

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