Showing posts with label USA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label USA. Show all posts

Gone At 38!: The Heartbreaking Death of Eddie Guerrero | Dark History From The World of Wrestling: Part Eight

(Eddie Guerrero. Picture credit: aminoapps)

*Please be aware in this post that I will be sharing some upsetting details. I will also be talking about substance abuse and alcoholism. As always, I will try to be as sensitive with the details as I can be without taking away from any of the facts*

I couldn't talk about some of the sad, dark and tragic moments in wrestling history without including the heartbreaking story of the legendary and very much missed, Eddie Guerrero. The sudden loss of Eddie in 2005 sent shockwaves through the whole of the wrestling world and beyond and still to this day his death is very difficult to talk about for many people. 

Revisiting some of the articles and interviews that were published and aired at that time still leaves you with that gut wrenching feeling. I found myself shedding tears again whenever I watched anyone talking about Eddie and how his death had a profound effect on them. I don't think there was anyone in the wrestling business or old school wrestling fans who were not deeply saddened by his death, even people who were not a huge fan of Eddie still respected him and knew what a great, hardworking guy he was outside of the ring as well as being a fantastic wrestler in the ring. 

Eddie was someone who had worked his way up in the wrestling world from the late 1980s up until his death and like some of the other greats that I have included in this series, he had garnered a vast amount of experience and popularity all over the world. Eddie had faced a lot of tough times in his career and had weathered the storms on many occasions, he became like a big brother to other wrestlers and one of the things you will often hear about Eddie was that he was the guy you would go to if you had a problem, he'd help you look at things differently. 

As well as the tough challenges that one often faces with a career in wrestling, he battled substance abuse and alcoholism as well as a dependency on steroids. One of the things that bonded him with Chris Benoit (who I wrote about in the second instalment in this series. You can find the post here) was the pressure that they both felt in the wrestling industry and the difficulties they faced due to their size, he knew all about the temptations of steroids and the constant clashes with promoters. 

I know that some people will be uncomfortable with the fact that I have talked about Eddie's friendship with Chris Benoit but the horrific situation with Chris didn't occur until after Eddie's death. I have previously mentioned (and I still believe) that Eddie's death was the beginning of what tipped Chris over the edge. I say that not to make excuses for Chris (who was medically proven to have been very ill with severe brain damage) but the sudden and unexpected loss of Eddie, who pretty much was a rock for Chris as well as a brother figure, really devastated him completely. 

After Eddie's death was announced and there was various interviews about the sad news back then (and in previous years), you see a regular occurrence of grown men, huge wrestlers sobbing their hearts out when they recall the details, this is how much Eddie meant to the wrestling world and the fans. Not to take away anyone's heartbreak and grief about Eddie but a lot of people agree that Chris Benoit was completely destroyed at the loss of his 'soulmate'. They'd been through so much together and when the WWE tribute was aired, there was not a dry eye in the house and Chris could barely hold it together, it was heartbreaking to see. It wasn't that long ago that they both stood in the ring celebrating how far both of them had come after years of hard work and sacrifice. It seemed so cruel that just as Eddie had reached the top, his life was cut short. 

(Chris Benoit & Eddie Guerrero. Picture credit: whatculture)

Eddie's struggles in his past with his addictions were not a secret, he was very open about it and helped give advice to others not to go down a similar path. Just before he passed away he had been celebrating being sober for four years and he and his wife Vickie, together with their three daughters were looking forward to a bright future together. In the weeks leading up to that sad Sunday morning of November 13th 2005, Eddie had been exhausted and struggling with energy. Both Eddie and his wife Vickie put it down to his hectic lifestyle and the fact that he always trained so very hard, like Chris Benoit and a lot of the old school wrestlers, they would train like beasts and a lot of the time they would wrestle despite having painful injuries. 

He was a devoted family man who worked hard to give his family the best life that he could. The night before he died he had travelled from Phoenix, Arizona to Minneapolis with his nephew Chavo and Chris Benoit for a show. Whilst on the plane Chavo had noticed that Eddie had a difficult time trying to keep track of conversations because he kept falling asleep. Again this was put down to being tired with all the training and travelling they were doing which is understandable. When they arrived at the hotel, the trio made plans to meet up the next morning around seven and went to their separate rooms.

Chavo was awoken the next morning at 5:30 am by the hotel staff informing him that his uncle Eddie had made a request call the night before but was not answering his phone or the door. Chavo went to Eddie's room with the staff and they tried to get in, realising that the latch was still on the door panic set in because the realisation that Eddie must have been in there and something was very wrong. Chavo managed to get into the room where he found Eddie lying face down the bathroom, it looked like he had been trying to get ready for bed as he was holding his toothbrush in his hand. 

An ambulance was called and Chavo cradled Eddie in his arms trying to wake his uncle up. Eddie was not responding but was still breathing and gargling like he was trying to hang on, trying to fight to hang on. Before anyone knew what was happening, Eddie suddenly passed away in his nephew's arms, he was just 38 years old. Everything all happened so fast, it was both heartbreaking and traumatic.

It was devastating and whilst all this sad chain of events was going on, Chris Benoit was preparing to meet Chavo and Eddie like they had arranged the night before, oblivious to the heartbreaking events that were going on in Eddie's hotel room. When Chavo broke the news to Chris he recalled how Chris whaled out loud, completely inconsolable. Chavo had never heard or seen of Chris in such a state before. 

Nobody could believe it, one minute Eddie was there with his cheeky smile living his life, working hard and at the height of his career and then the next he was gone. 

Rumours flew around all over the place about it being a possible suicide, accidental drug overdose, foul play but it was simply his poor heart couldn't take it any more, it gave out. Being so dedicated to wrestling all of his life and putting his health at risk in the past trying to meet the demands with all the pressure he had placed on him and the pressure he placed on himself. The addictions and the steroids in the past had left a terrible mark on his body and caused some of his internal organs to become enlarged and his heart was twice it's size. The technical name for it is 'Arteriosclerosis' and it causes severe narrowing of your arteries which can lead to stroke and heart attack. The exhaustion that Eddie was feeling in the weeks up to his death was because his heart was having to pump blood faster through these narrowed arteries. Unbeknown to himself and his family it was just a matter of time.

(Eddie Guerrero. Picture credit: metro)

A similar event happened to a friend of mine years ago and he didn't take steroids or have a substance addiction but he did take various medications in the past and this caused him to have Arteriosclerosis. From my understanding it isn't that easy to diagnose straight away as the symptoms that are shown look very much like general fatigue, shortness of breath, aches and pains after strenuous exercise and these could all be put down to adrenal fatigue or being overworked. Eddie was so busy all of the time that for him to be showing these symptoms it would have seemed almost normal due to the fast paced lifestyle.

It was a devastating loss which nobody could have predicted, Eddie was four years sober but as we sadly know with these types of situations just because someone has overcome their addictions (which is an incredible achievement because it is extremely difficult) depending on the length of time they had been an addict and every individual is different, the damage is already done and even though that person may be clean, years later a sudden death can sadly occur. 

It's still so hard to believe that he was only 38, it's just so unfair for such a wonderful person who gave everything he had to wrestling as well as being a devoted family man and loyal friend. Eddie was such a rock to so many people, he was always so busy taking care of other people that he never got the time to take care of himself. One wonders what could have been if he had gotten the time to see a Doctor for a full body examination and maybe something could have been done. I have researched this disease and it can be managed with surgery and lifestyle changes, it may have meant that Eddie would have had to have surgery and retire from wrestling but what we would all give just to have him back. 

At just 38 he left behind an incredible legacy and so many people heartbroken even to this day that he is no longer with us. His glorious moments in wrestling remain and are enjoyed over and over again. His book Cheating Death, Stealing Life which he co-wrote with Michael Krugman, was completed shortly before his death. 

The loss of Eddie will be forever felt and his incredible legacy lives on. RIP Eddie x

Eddie was buried in Green Acres Memorial Park in Scottsdale, Arizona. His online memorial is here if you would like to leave a note and some flowers in tribute to him. 

(Eddie Guerrero's grave. Picture credit: findagrave)

Further Reading & Sources:


As always, if you have made it this far in this post, I appreciate it, thank you. I hope you have found this series interesting and informative. I will be concluding this series with my final post next time which will be my ninth post. I will then be moving on to another series which I hope you will also enjoy reading. Thank you as always for your messages, emails, comments and tweets about this series, I love hearing your memories as well as your opinions on my posts. 

I hope you will join me for the final post next time, stay safe and in the meantime, I hope to see you on my Socials x

The Shocking Murders of 6 Hollywood Actors & Actresses: Part One

 (Collage created by the blog author. Picture credits: Ranker / Silentology / Historic Images / Find A Grave / Imdb / Pinterest)

*Please be aware that I will be sharing some disturbing details in this post which will involve descriptions of murders, Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Suicide. I will, as always, aim to be as sensitive with the details as possible, whilst not taking away the facts of each of the cases. Please email me at jocaledoniankitty@gmail.com if you have any questions or enquiries*

Do you ever find yourself watching one of your favourite movies that you've seen hundreds of times and ever wonder what happened to some of the cast members? You soon find yourself grabbing your phone to look them up on Google to see that they've either gone on to more success, retired from acting or sadly, have passed away. Well, sometimes it is the case that they are no longer with us through illness or natural causes due to age, but sometimes you can be left in a state of shock to find they've either taken their own lives due to mental illness, accidental drug overdose or have been horrifically murdered. 

It's human nature to be shocked and intrigued when we suddenly find out that an actor or actress we have admired has been murdered. We are horrified but there is a sense of curiosity about finding out the details of how they met their tragic demise. Celebrities are just the same as the rest of us but there is this naivety we sometimes have that these individuals are somewhat above human (yikes...I sound like Marshall Applewhite - See my Heaven's Gate post!) and have a protective barrier around them. Yes, they do have the money for security, bodyguards and such but sometimes that doesn't even matter, they can still fall into dangerous circumstances just like you and I can. Sometimes it's the very people that they think they can trust, that causes them harm and a lot of the time they are at risk of being in danger due to crazed fans/stalkers. 

So how did I come to deciding to write this two part series about actors and actresses who have been tragically murdered? Well, believe it or not, I was watching the classic movie 'Boyz N the Hood' when I was just messing about on my phone and decided to see what the cast members were up to nowadays. I've seen this movie a dozen times since I was a child and never thought to find out what the cast members were up to at any given moment. I knew that Cuba Gooding Jr had gone on to make other movies. One of the most memorable actors in the movie who was responsible for the shocking on-screen death of the beloved character 'Ricky' (an actor by the name of Lloyd Avery) had a minor but pivotal role in the film. I found out recently that he sadly died in 2005. All of these years have gone by and I had no idea that he had passed away, I was pretty shocked, saddened and horrified when I looked into the details of his death (brace yourself, it's quite disturbing) which I will be sharing in this post. 

So as we know, quite a number of horrific murders of actors and actresses have happened in Hollywood and not just in Hollywood, elsewhere in the world and I have a few stories which I will be sharing in some future posts, including the story of an actress who was murdered by her male co-star because he was jealous that she was getting more 'screen time' than him (there might be some people reading this from a certain part of the world who'll know exactly who I'm talking about but it was a horrendous case). There's quite a number of shocking stories to share from all over the world but for now the focus in this post, is Hollywood. 

So grab a cup of tea or coffee, get relaxed and let's delve into part one of this short series here on my blog....

Dorothy Stratten 

(Dorothy Stratten. Picture credit: ranker)

So, I thought I would begin by talking about Dorothy Stratten, the beautiful playboy model and actress who was murdered by her controlling and abusive ex-partner. As I have already covered this case previously in 2020, I have included it below rather than going over old ground again. I had written about this tragic story in the early days of my true crime writing so not many people are aware that I have shared this case so I have included the original post below: 

[From my original post in 2020]: I thought I would begin by talking briefly about Dorothy Stratten, her horrific and heartbreaking story is well known all over the world.  Dorothy was just a down to earth teenager from Canada who was working at a Dairy Queen to help her mother out financially when Paul Snider walked through the door and turned her life upside down. 

Paul Snider was bad news but he recognised in Dorothy a diamond in the rough, she was stunningly beautiful but she wasn't stuck up, she didn't know her worth and she was naive when she met him. He convinced her to enter a Playboy modelling competition and arranged for a professional photographer to take the pictures. 

It didn't take long for Playboy to get back in touch with her and soon the pair were on a plane together to a life of Playboy mansion parties, glasses of champagne with celebrities and impressive pay cheques. Dorothy was Hugh Hefner's rising and shining star, her beauty was so unique that she was often compared to Marilyn Monroe for her beauty combined with an air of vulnerability. The cameras loved her no matter which angle she was photographed from.

Whilst everyone was falling head over heels in love with Dorothy and her sweet personality, they were quickly growing tired of Paul. Nobody wanted him around, they could see what he was all about, he saw Dorothy as his meal ticket and everyone knew it. 

Paul was a control freak and started to have a real issue with the attention and love that Dorothy was getting. Deep down he knew the real reason why he was invited along to parties, it was because people wanted to see Dorothy not him and being the thoughtful person that she was she would always take him along.

One can imagine from what we know now that Paul must have played a lot of emotional and psychological games with Dorothy. In his mind he had discovered her and it was down to him that she was famous. He made sure that he married her to (in his mind) ensure that she wouldn't be able to leave him. 

As her star grew stronger and stronger, Dorothy began to grow in confidence and even took up some acting roles. She was obviously getting sick and tired of Paul's controlling ways and constant jealousy. It was during one of her acting roles that she began an affair with the famous director Peter Bogdanovich. Paul and Dorothy started to drift apart and she went off to do photoshoots and separated herself from Paul who continued to stay in the house which they shared with friends. 

Paul knew that Dorothy was slipping through his fingers and instead of admitting that the marriage had run it's course, he became obsessed with getting her back. She agreed to meet for lunch with him and he told his friends ''The queen is coming back'' assuming that Dorothy was meeting him to patch things up but to his shock, she wasn't, she told him that she wanted out of the relationship. 

Paul just didn't want to face the fact that Dorothy wanted out of the marriage and when he turned up one night at the Playboy mansion to attend a party, he was turned away at the gate and told that he wasn't allowed in without Dorothy. Some people believe that this was the straw that broke the camels back. To top everything off, Hugh Hefner wasn't returning his phone calls (Hugh wasn't a fan of Paul's from day one and he even told Dorothy that he thought Paul was a pimp).

So what did Paul do next? well, Paul bought a shotgun. Side note: I've heard some people say that Dorothy's death was a crime of passion. In my opinion that wasn't the case, this was the classic situation of 'If I can't have you, nobody can'. 

He managed to arrange with Dorothy to meet her at the house (he told their friends to go out so they could have some privacy). This was a fatal mistake on Dorothy's part but she was only 20 years old and not really streetwise. She had money in her purse to give to him for the house, it was obvious she wanted an end to things but in her mind being as naive and gentle as she was, she probably wanted to end things on a good note. 

Paul had other ideas. He could have talked to Dorothy just as fine with the friends in the house but he wanted to trap Dorothy. He gave her one last chance to come back to him or he was going to kill her. This man was full of rage and anger, like he hated her. It was a dangerous situation where he was obsessed but insanely jealous of her. 

Nobody knows exactly what was said during the argument that took place that day on the 14th of August 1980 but Paul Snider took that shotgun and fired a bullet into Dorothy's beautiful face. Another heartbreaking detail was that she knew it was coming because she put her hand up to protect herself and the blast ripped her finger off. Investigators say that he pulled the trigger on himself about an hour after he killed her. I know these details are gut-wrenching enough but you may want to skip over this next part. 

Both Paul and Dorothy were nude. After he killed her he strapped her body to an ''exercise bench'' where he sodomized her. Clumps of her hair were found in his hands along with his hand prints on her buttocks and semen stains on the bench. 

It even sickens me to type those details but I want to give you the facts of the situation and nobody should forget what a disgusting, evil creature Paul Snider was. He raped Dorothy after he took her life, this was an evil man so full of hate, so full of jealousy and to an individual like this (I have researched these types of obsessed murderers/stalkers before) taking Dorothy's life was so that she couldn't leave him, nobody else could have her and the horrendous rape was him (in his mind) being the last man to have been with her. He wanted 100% control of everything and wanted to destroy her in every way possible. 

What sick monsters like Paul Snider don't realise is that no matter their horrendous actions, there's nothing they can do to stop people loving and admiring that person they have been hell bent on destroying. There are thousands of beautiful pictures of Dorothy, footage of her at the Playboy mansion, lovely memories that have been shared about her over the years. Dorothy and her beauty have remained frozen in time. As for Paul Snider, nobody has a good word to say about him, nobody could stand the sight of him before everything happened. He is forever a monster.

He might have been lucky enough to have spotted her that day in the Dairy Queen and told her to enter the Playboy competition, but in the end, it was Dorothy's looks, Dorothy's personality that got her to where she was. Someone else would have come along and spotted her at some point in her life. 

Dorothy remains an icon but her tragic story is always remembered. People wonder what could have been. I think she would have gone on and on way past Playboy and continued with acting. 

After Dorothy's death, Peter Bogdanovich wrote a book about her and claimed that Hugh Hefner/Playboy was a huge factor in her life turning out as it had. Hugh claimed that the stress of the accusations in the book caused him to have a stroke. People close to Hugh said that he never got over the death of Dorothy. 

Even stranger, Peter Bogdanovich turned out to be a bit of an oddball himself when he married Dorothy's younger sister even making her get her teeth done so she could ''look more like Dorothy''. They married in 1988 and divorced in 2001.

Ramon Novarro 

(Ramon Novarro. Picture credit: silentology)

When we look back over classic Hollywood movies we feel a sense of romance and glamour, like the stars held themselves with more grace and mystery back then. Everything seemed to be art deco, more elegant and award ceremonies were so glamorous, it all seemed so timeless. When it came to the matinee idol heartthrobs, Ramon Navarro, he certainly fit the bill with his dark eyes, exotic features and charisma. Like a lot male movie stars of that era, Ramon lived a double life, on one side he was a heartthrob, adored by thousands of women and the other side, he was having to hide his sexuality for the sake of his career. As we know back then, attitudes were very black and white, not just the movies, times were different and a lot of singers and actors were forced to portray a squeaky-clean image, even going so far as to having their childhood's fabricated and being forced to lie about their ethnicity. That's part of the reason I have included writing about dark history on my blog because there certainly is a lot of skeletons in Hollywood's closet and an abundance of shocking stories about what went on back then. 

So Ramon was a shining star but like all shining stars, there comes a time when the light begins to fade and times move on. As he got older, Ramon was still held in high regard and very much loved, he was seen (and quite rightly so) as Hollywood royalty and a huge part of cinema history. The sad thing is, that part of this popularity caught the attention of the wrong people. Now in his late 60s, Ramon was approaching his 70s with no signs of slowing down. With the pressures of his career no longer holding him down, he knew he had made his mark on Hollywood and was now feeling more relaxed to be himself and live life on his own terms however, this would lead to disturbing consequences. Ramon was living comfortably and enjoyed the attention of younger men at his home, he lived in a beautiful big house and the young men who came to see him would often be treated to his generosity and some would steal items from his home. These men were hired from an escort agency and Ramon would pay them for their time, their company and their sexual services. It's heartbreaking to think that this wonderful actor who'd captured the heart of so many in his hay day was now paying for sex (sorry to put it so bluntly) with these younger men who didn't care about him or appreciate who he was. 

Of course, this sort of lifestyle where you are inviting strangers to your home, especially if you are known as an actor, can be very risky because they types of people believe that you have lots of money and expensive belongings. It was only a matter of time before someone really took advantage of this and two brothers (named Paul and Tom Ferguson) had overheard one of the boy's bragging about going to Ramon's home, the beautiful big house, the lovely food, the fancy furniture etc and decided that they were going to get a hold of his phone number and make him an offer they thought he would never refuse. 

The two brothers called Ramon on the phone and on the promise of a threesome with these two guys the older actor jumped at the chance. However, when the pair arrived at Ramon's home, what Ramon was expecting as he opened the door (wearing his bathrobe with $20 in the pocket) was not exactly what he had in mind. The Ferguson brothers pounced on the 69 year old and beat and tortured the poor man for hours constantly demanding that he tell them where his money was hidden. The pair were convinced that this veteran Hollywood actor had money stashed somewhere in the house. When Ramon told them there was no money, they beat him more and more to the point that he was now passed out lying in his own blood, choking. The evil brothers got fed up and decided to leave but not before checking Ramon's bathrobe pockets as he lay dying, they walked away with the $20 that he had in his robe. They didn't call an ambulance, they just left him there and Ramon sadly passed away from choking on his blood on the 30th of October 1968. 

I would leave the this terrible story there but I know you want to find out what happened next for the Ferguson brothers. Well, let's just say that karma came back for them in a big way. They were caught, found guilty and thrown in prison for  what they did to Ramon but they were eventually released....but not for long as they just couldn't stay out of trouble. The chickens soon came home to roost for the pair of them, as the saying goes, Tom committed suicide in 2005 and his brother, Paul was beaten to death in 2018. 

David Huffman

(David Huffman. Picture credit: historicimages)

David was one of those rare actors that never forgot his roots! He was a very talented man who had not only lit up the screen with his acting skills but also won praise in the theatre too. He was very creative and had many talents which included painting and music....he could even play the bagpipes! The story of what happened to David is heartbreaking, I wasn't familiar with him before I did my research but he had one of those faces where you would say to yourself ''I've seen this guy before'', which is a silly thing to think considering he was an actor but as I am someone who practically lives for 1980s movies, it's most probable that I have seen him in a 1980s movie or show. 

Well David was not just a talented man, he had two sons with his wife who he had met as a student at university and was very much a family man who never let the success of his career go to his head. Unlike a lot of celebrities, he never thought of himself as above anyone and those who knew him describe him as being generous to a fault. This was clearly demonstrated in the heartbreaking circumstances in which his death came about. His kindness and caring was to be the very things that ended up costing him dearly. 

In February of 1985, David was spending some time at a theatre with his cast members having cookies and having some time bonding with everyone. When he left that afternoon he was sitting in his vehicle practicing playing his bagpipes when he noticed out of the corner of his eye some commotion across the street. 

David witnessed a young man harassing an elderly couple and trying to steal items from their mobile home. Being the person that he was, David went to see what was happening and to see if the elderly couple were ok. It turned out that the perpetrator was a 16 year old illegal immigrant called Genaro Samano Villanueva who had come into America illegally with his family, not that long before this incident and had been going around committing petty crime as a way to make money. David saw what had happened and decided to confront Genaro which ended up with David giving chase to the 16 year old boy, the situation quickly escalated even worse when the pair got into a scuffle and Genaro forcefully stabbed David in the chest numerous times with a screwdriver, puncturing some main arteries. Blood was coming out of David very quick and fast and it didn't take long for David to collapse and die of his injuries. The whole thing took seconds, maybe a few minutes at most but David Huffman (later nicknamed by many as 'The Good Samaritan') was dead at just 39 years old. 

The elderly couple didn't know what had happened because when David chased Genaro, the pair disappeared and they never saw anybody again after that. David was found about an hour later by a group of children, Genaro fled the scene. The police launched an investigation and the elderly couple noticed the information posters and reports and recognised David, they contacted the police straight away and were give them a description of Genaro. Thanks to the elderly couple's poster of Genaro, he was soon tracked down and arrested, he was found guilty and jailed. It's scary to think that if the elderly couple had not come forward, would Genaro have ever been charged? It's a sad story about a man who was very loved and was kind and saw something happening and wasn't too proud to go and help an elderly couple in need. 

David was a hero that day and will be remembered for what he did as well as his acting credits and many talents. It's a shame that the world never got a chance to see what more David had to offer because 39 is no age and his family miss him terribly as you can imagine. 

Lana Clarkson

(Lana Clarkson. Picture credit: findagrave)

This case will probably ring a few bells with you especially if I mention the name, Phil Spector. Lana Clarkson was a stunning blonde actress and model. She had minor roles but sadly wasn't very well known until her tragic death. You'll often see her name appear next to the late Sharon Tate, who as you know was also a beautiful, blonde actress who was pregnant and married to Director Roman Polanski. Sharon and her friends had been horrifically murdered by Susan Atkins and the Manson Family back in 1969. Lana and Sharon are often compared because of some of their similarities, beautiful promising young actresses that were on the cusp of a glittering career. The story of Lana's death was difficult to understand, although we know that Phil Spector was responsible, the question that is always asked in any of these types of circumstances is why? 

Phil Spector before being known to the world as a monster and a murderer, was an American music producer and icon in the music world, and everyone wanted to work with him. He'd collaborated with everyone from Tina Turner to The Beatles. He was seen as royalty so when the news broke that a young actress had died in tragic circumstances in his home, the world was shocked. The details that were being made public about the tragic incident were even more confusing. Phil gave a strange version of events, he said that Lana had committed suicide by mistake and had been kissing the gun. 

Phil's limo driver spilled the beans and it really was one of those cases where there was quite literally a smoking gun. Apparently Phil had picked up Lana and they went back to his home where the limo driver waited outside, after about an hour, there's a loud bang that sounds like a gunshot. The limo driver then witnesses Phil coming out of the back door of his home holding a gun and saying ''I think I've shot her''.

As awful as the circumstances were, this was pretty much an open and shut case because obviously Phil was responsible for this young woman's death. It became a real saga and a real lesson in what people think they can get away with if they have a certain reputation and wealth. Phil was a powerful man at one point and knew everybody in the music industry as well as underground figures in the criminal world. He had a vast amount of wealth and when he appeared in his first trial (which ended in a hung jury), there was an air of confidence about him. The whole thing was a complete and utter waste of time but he actually thought that he could get away with it because of who he was and how rich he was. This was a man who was able to buy people's silence in the past and get everything pretty much his own way and there was a point where I actually thought he was going to get away with it. The trouble was that there was a big debate on this poor woman's mental health and whether she held the gun herself and why this so-called legendary music producer would put himself in such a position to take the life of this young woman. 

In the second trial which wasn't televised, he was found guilty of second degree murder and obviously this was a huge shock to him because all of a sudden he's no longer the big American producer, he's now in handcuffs and a jumpsuit with his wig off and instead of enjoying caviar and champagne, he's now in a cell with big Bob eating lumpy porridge. The mighty had surely fallen and it was a great thing to see that it didn't matter how much money you had or how many celebrities friends you had (who, by the way had dropped him like a bad habit) if you take the life of an innocent person, you have to pay the price. 

Again, like with Sharon Tate and others who were murdered and never had the chance to experience the success that lay ahead of them, Lana will sadly be forever remembered as being a victim of this horrible situation. Phil Spector, after all those decades of being seen as music royalty, died in disgrace in his jail cell in 2021. Instead of being remembered for the incredible achievements and moments of musical history he helped create, people look at him and his legacy now as in a dark light, the images of him in the courtroom, the mug shots without his wig on and the whole set of circumstances just go to show that a lifetime's glittering career can be utterly tarnished forever in a short space of time and there's nobody to blame but himself. 

Jenny Maxwell

(Jenny Maxwell. Picture credit: Imdb)

Jennifer Helene Maxwell (known professionally as 'Jenny Maxwell') is often unfortunately nicknamed 'The Elvis Girl Who Was Murdered'. Obviously to star in a movie with the late, great and legendary Elvis Presley (the movie was 'Blue Hawaii' - 1961) is nothing to shake a stick at but there was more to Jenny. She was a talented woman in her own right and had a unique beauty about her. She had worked in various movies and television roles and was said to have been a distant relative of Marilyn Monroe. 

Her rise to fame was quite extraordinary, she was discovered at the age of 16 by none other than the legendary film Director, Vincente Minnelli (Judy Garland's former husband and father to Liza) and the future looked bright Jenny and obviously she went on to star alongside Elvis. Being a beautiful woman she was never short of male attention and had been married twice, both marriages being quite tumultuous, her second marriage was to a lawyer who was a couple of decades older than her. Jenny was also mother, she had a son (named: Brian) that she had with her first husband and was involved in a custody battle with him. 

Her second marriage wasn't easy either when it fizzled out either, there was drama when the pair decided to separate. The man she had been in the second marriage to had rumoured dealings with the mafia and was involved in all kinds of trouble so it's no surprise that sadly, Jenny was going to be caught up in tragic circumstances. According to a book which was written by Jenny's cousin (and released in 2021), on the night of the 10th of June 1981, Jenny and estranged husband were having a conversation in the lobby of her home when someone came out of nowhere and shot the the two of them. At the time it was declared in the media as an unsolved case and a tragic robbery gone wrong but decades later the truth would be revealed. In the book that was written by her cousin (titled: 'Murder of an Elvis Girl by Buddy Moorhouse) he explains that the police found that nothing had been stolen during this horrible incident and that they believe due to their investigation that Jenny's second husband had set up the whole thing. Apparently it was all a plot to get his hands on Jenny's money. The second husband had arranged for a guy posing as a hitman to shoot Jenny but to also shoot him but in a way that it wouldn't be fatal. His plan was to have Jenny murdered, he would be injured and recover, then he would inherit all of her money. 

His plan didn't work out though because the shooter shot too close to an artery and he ended up dying from his wound. Sadly Jenny died at the scene. A further shocking twist to this whole tragic story was that due to the fact that they were still technically married and Jenny had died before her second husband, her estate automatically transferred over to him when she died. He held on for another couple of hours before he passed away and the estate was then transferred over to his daughters. Who turned out to be every bit as shady and dodgy as their father. Brian, Jenny's son was left nothing from his mother's estate, the daughters of the man who arranged his mother's murder wouldn't give him a thing. A sad story all round and your heart goes out to Jenny and Brian. If only things had turned out differently but again even when you're famous you are not immune to backstabbing people, even people who you were married to or once had a close friendship with and when it comes to money, some people have no heart and will stop at nothing to get their hands on someone's money. 

Lloyd Avery II

(Lloyd Avery. Picture credit: Pinterest)

So last but not least in this first part of this short series of posts, I have also been looking into the tragic death of actor Lloyd Avery II, most famously known for his role in the classic and Iconic 'Boyz N The Hood'. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, it was looking up the cast members of the film and seeing what had happened to Lloyd which inspired me to write this post. So as you know, Lloyd was a talented young actor but his original dream was to get into the music industry which he continued to pursue alongside an acting career. 

When it comes to Boyz N The Hood, everyone remembers the shocking scene when the character 'Ricky' is shot and the scene where Avery's character leans out of a car window and fires the fatal shot. His character is later killed in an act of revenge by Ricky's brother. Lloyd became a familiar face and had also appeared in cult movies such as 'Poetic Justice' and 'Don't Be A Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood'. He had an interesting upbringing counting the children of the legendary Quincy Jones and Smokey Robinson as his childhood friends. He was always creative as a child and it always expected that he would have some sort of career in the arts. 

Sadly though for reasons best known to himself, Lloyd's real life didn't stray that far from his on-screen characters. He found himself on the wrong side of the law many times and despite opportunities and future acting roles offered to him, Lloyd went down a different path and ended up shooting to death two people. These two people were reported to be random citizens so it's unclear if someone paid him to shoot these people or he was under the influence of something and carried out the murders after some sort of drug binge but whatever the case, he murdered two people and was sentenced to life imprisonment. All the promise of a great career gone down the tubes. 

More tragedy was to come when on the 4th of September 2005, Lloyd, at the age of just 36, was found dead in his prison cell. He had reportedly (as part of a satanic ritual) been strangled by a cellmate by the name of Kevin Roby. Looking into the murderer of Lloyd was another ordeal in itself, I wasn't expecting to go down a horrible rabbit hole as bad as it was. I was expecting the murderer of Lloyd to be a member of a gang but this was far worse. Kevin Roby was known for being a satanist who raped his sisters and reportedly murdered one of them. Even the mugshots of this monster put the chills down one's spine. An utterly terrifying individual and the circumstances of the death of Lloyd get more horrendous the more you look into it. Kevin had apparently strangled Lloyd and then used his blood to paint a pentagram on the floor before placing his body in the centre. This was all because Lloyd had apparently turned to Christianity whilst being in prison and Kevin (who was a hardcore satanist) strongly objected to being placed with Christians. Kevin tried to also murder one of the corrections officers. A very sick and dangerous man indeed. 

I know Lloyd was responsible for the deaths of two people and the whole thing is horrendous but to have his life end like that just adds more tragedy and horror to what could have been a successful and fulfilling life. What the hell happened to that young boy who was so talented and on the way to bigger and better things? I guess we will never know but what a horrible way for things to end. 

So this was a very difficult post to get through, each of these stories was tragic and in many cases, utterly horrifying. I appreciate it if you have made it this far in the post. I'm thinking of the people I have written about here and how incredibly different each of these stories are. It's tragic in every case. RIP Lloyd, Ramon, David, Jenny, Lana and Dorothy. 

Further Reading & Sources:

Boyz N The Hood | Wikipedia

Lloyd Avery II | Wikipedia

Lloyd Avery ll | imdb

Kevin Roby | True Crime Database

Lloyd Avery ll | Investigation Discovery

Lloyd Avery ll | Find a Grave

Ramon Novarro | Wikipedia

Ramon Novarro | imdb

Roman Novarro | Golden Globes

Roman Novarro | LA Times

Roman Novarro | Find A Grave

David Huffman | Wikipedia

David Huffman | imdb

David Huffman: Article | LA Times

David Huffman | Find A Grave

Jenny Maxwell | Wikipedia

Jenny Maxwell | imdb

Jenny Maxwell: Article | The Livingston Post

Murder of an Elvis Girl | Book by Buddy Moorehouse

Jenny Maxwell | Find A Grave  

Lana Clarkson | Wikipedia

Lana Clarkson | imdb

Murder of Lana Clarkson | Wikipedia

Lana Clarkson | Britannica

Lana Clarkson | Find A Grave

Dorothy Stratten | Wikipedia

Dorothy Stratten: Article | ABC News

Dorothy Stratten | imdb

Dorothy Stratten | Book by Morghan Knight

Dorothy Stratten | Find A Grave

Thank you for taking the time to read this post, I appreciate it very much. If you would like to help support my weekly content by making a small donation by buying me a coffee, you can find the link on my page at the right of this page. You can also find all of my social media links here

Stay safe and I hope to see you in part two....x

10 Facts You May Not Know About Serial Killer....John Wayne Gacy | #TrueCrime With @CaledonianKitty

 (John Wayne Gacy: Picture credit: bbc)

Before I get into this post I would just like to say a big thank you for the amazing feedback on my last posting in this series which focused on 10 Facts You May Not Know About Serial Killer....Ted Bundy as well as the post I had written about him last year which went into his background, crimes, trial, aftermath etc. I always receive numerous messages and comments on my Social Media Platforms in regards to my posts on various serial killers. It's amazing that no matter how many books we may have read, documentaries we may have watched, there always seems to be information that we come across that we didn't know previously. I'm always appreciative when people reach out to me to say that they enjoy my work and have found out some more details they never knew about a certain case before. 

I often get asked the question ''Who is your favourite serial killer?'' and in all honesty, that question is quite a pet hate of mine. I believe it to be in poor taste. I'm not a fan of a serial murderer, an individual who has taken lives in horrific ways and destroyed families as well as leaving survivors behind with a lifetime of trauma. I think some people often get the lines between reality and fantasy blurred and that's when you get ''fans'' of these types of people. There's women who talk about Ted Bundy like he was Donny Osmond and guys who will drool over the likes of Jodi Arias. I think it's the fantasy of being with this type of person in a sexual manner but of course I assume in their fantasies that they escape or are spared? The truth of the matter is that they could have been so easily a victim themselves of these types of people, any of us could. 

So when asked that question I don't want to be rude and not answer it so I tend to respond with, ''the serial killer that I find interesting to study is...'' and then I respond with who that individual is and why. If you've been a reader of mine for a while you will know that the serial killer who I find intriguing in a psychological way as well as to research, is John Wayne Gacy. The response to this is often shock because they assume that I will pick one of whom they deem to be 'handsome' and that's also where so much glamour has been placed onto these people via movies, culture, music etc. Possibly explaining in a way why some people see these monsters as celebrities. John Wayne Gacy himself though not what some would class as being a handsome fellow, has been glamourized too. 

The first time I ever came across John Wayne Gacy was in a TV movie based on his crimes and I still maintain that it is one of the best portrayals (next to the chilling movie, Henry) of a serial killer to date. I am of course (and you're probably fed up of me mentioning this but I'm going to say it again) talking about To Catch A Killer starring Brian Dennehy. I still get chills down my spine with Brian's performance. I was very young when I saw this movie and it wasn't until years later that I realised that the story was true and that John Wayne Gacy actually existed. And so I began to read books about him and watched his interviews. I couldn't believe that this guy had been responsible for such horrific things whilst putting on the act of being a pillar of his community. I started to become interested in the double lives of serial killers, how someone could act like the nicest person you could meet one minute but then be able to carry out the most nightmarish things that one wouldn't dare to imagine then next. 

So this is a pretty long intro into this post so I will end it here but I have covered John Wayne Gacy's crimes, background and aftermath before as well as sharing other facts. I'm including him here in this series along with a list of other serial killers that I have had requested from readers. I hope that you find this post an interesting read. 

1) John Wayne Gacy's starsign was Pisces 

2) Gacy is often referred to as 'The Killer Clown' because he would raise money for local children's charities by dressing up as a clown. He would visit hospitals and attend charity events. His clown names were 'Pogo The Clown' & 'Patches The Clown'

3) Gacy was a prolific note taker and would write down everything he ate, drank and did whilst in prison. He would record everything in a diary, including who visited him, what took place and what time they left. 

4) Gacy claimed that other accomplices were involved in helping him carry out his crimes as well as the disposal of the remains afterwards with many victims placed in the crawl space of his home.

5) Jason Moss was a young man who had become fixated on serial killers and took it upon himself to write to them in prison. John Wayne Gacy was one of the killers who responded and so a twisted web began to be weaved, check out the post I wrote about this shocking story: WHO WAS JASON MOSS?: THE SHOCKING & TRAGIC STORY OF THE YOUNG MAN WHO WROTE TO INFAMOUS SERIAL KILLERS & IT RUINED HIS LIFE

6) John Wayne Gacy was executed by lethal injection on the 10th of May 1994. He was 52 years old. 

7) Gacy's last meal was reported to have been KFC chicken, a dozen deep-fried shrimp, French fries, a pound of strawberries and Diet Coke. 

8) John Wayne Gacy never expressed remorse for his crimes and claimed that he was a victim himself.

9) Like Ted Bundy's execution, a large crowd gathered outside of the prison with t-shirts and banners in support of his death. 

10) There are still unidentified remains that were found in Gacy's crawl space. The remains have been kept in storage and have numbers assigned to them which is heartbreaking but to this day nobody knows who these young boys (estimated to be aged between 14 and 30) are. 


I hope that you found this second instalment in this series to be interesting and informative. As I mentioned before, for a more in depth look at John Wayne Gacy, his life and crimes, please check out my previous posts: John Wayne Gacy: ''I'm The 34th Victim.'' and The Jason Moss Story

I would just like to take a moment to remember some of the victims that we know about and who have been identified...so far. RIP:

John Butkovich (18)

Darrell Sampson (18)

Randall Reffett (15)

Samuel Stapleton (14)

Michael L. Bonnin (17)

William Carroll Jr (16)

Rick Johnston (17)

Gregory Godzik (17)

John A. Szyc (19)

John S. Prestidge (21)

Matthew Bowman (18)

Robert E. Gilroy (18)

John Mowery (19)

Russell Nelson (22)

Robert Winch (16)

Tommy Boling (20)

David Talsma (19)

William Kindred (19)

Timothy O'Rourke (20)

Frank Landingin (19)

James Mazzara (20)

Robert Piest (15)

Kenneth Parker (16)

Michael Marino (14)

Timothy Jack McCoy (16)

James Haakenson (16)

William George Bundy (19)

And the names we are yet to learn. Let's hope they are recognised one of these days. May they all rest in heavenly peace. 

Further Reading & Sources:

Inside The Mind of A Serial Killer of John Wayne Gacy | Book by Brad Hunter

The Last Victim: A True-Life Journey Into The Mind of A Serial Killer | Book by Jason Moss & Jeffrey A. Kottler

To Catch A Killer | TV Movie Based On The John Wayne Gacy Case

John Wayne Gacy: Documentary | Born To Kill

John Wayne Gacy Talks: Part One | CBS Chicago

John Wayne Gacy Talks: Part Two | CBS Chicago

John Wayne Gacy Talks: Part Three | CBS Chicago

John Wayne Gacy Talks: Part Four | CBS Chicago

John Wayne Gacy Talks: Part Five | CBS Chicago

John Wayne Gacy: News Report | Chicago Tribune

John Wayne Gacy | Britannica

John Wayne Gacy: Article | Mirror

John Wayne Gacy | Murderpedia

Conversations With A Killer: The John Wayne Gacy Tapes | Netflix

John Wayne Gacy: Article | New York Post

John Wayne Gacy | Wikipedia

Serial Killers: Article | CNN

Serial Killers of The 70s | Book by Jane Fritsch

the Big Book of Serial Killers: Volume 2 | Book by Jack Rosewood & Rebecca Lo

-  The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers | Book by Michael Newton

John Wayne Gacy: Defending A Monster | Book by Sam L. Amirante & Danny Broderick


Thank for taking the time to read my second instalment in this series, if you would like to leave a comment below please do so or you can contact me at jocaledoniankitty@gmail.com 

If you would like to help keep my weekly content going (online costs, materials etc) please consider helping me out by buying me a coffee on my ko-fi page or by donating to my PayPal. Thank you so much!

Please stay safe and I hope you will join me in my third instalment in this series. I post new content every Sunday so keep your eyes peeled x 

10 Facts You May Not Know About Serial Killer....Ted Bundy | #TRUECRIME With @CaledonianKitty

 Ted Bundy collage. Picture credits: britannica / wikipedia / gq / denverpost / cosmopolitan / palmbeachpost

As you may be already aware I, like millions of others over the years have already written previously about Ted Bundy. I've talked about the horrendous details of his crimes, the victims, the trial and the aftermath but is there anything else that hasn't been covered when it comes to him? I've always said that, in my opinion he is the most over-glamourized serial killer in history (so far, at least). I've personally lost count of how many books, articles, podcasts, documentaries and movies have been made about him. Despite there being so much out there about his crimes, a lot of people are still unaware of other bits of information about him. I have put together a new series on my blog which focuses on some of the unknown facts of the Serial Killers that many of us know from the endless books and movies. 

[If you are not familiar with Ted Bundy and his shocking crimes, please check out my previous post on him]

So let's get into it in this first instalment of this series '10 Facts You May Not Know About Serial Killer.....Ted Bundy'.

1) Ted (full name Theodore Robert Bundy) confessed to the murders of 30 young women but the true number of his victims is unknown. He constantly toyed with investigators right up to his execution that there may have been more victims. 

2) Ted once worked on a crisis hotline as a volunteer with the best selling true crime author, Ann Rule. The pair became close friends and Ann would later write a book based on her friendship with him, his trial and his crimes. In her book 'The Stranger Beside Me', Ann recalled how Ted would be 'wonderful' on the phone with people who were depressed and suicidal, she said it was ironic that he had saved lives during those moments. 

3) Some people who knew Ted were shocked and in disbelief when his crimes were exposed. He was able to adapt his persona to whoever he was with at any given time. One of his ex girlfriends who had a young daughter, explained that Ted was a great father figure to her little girl and would often make breakfast for them in the morning. 

4) When Ted was a young child there were some red flags beginning to show including the time that he was staying with an aunt who had woken up to find that he had placed knives around her whilst she had been asleep in bed. She was shocked and disturbed by the discovery and also to Ted's reaction to it for he could not stop laughing. He found this strange act to be very amusing. 

5) Ted has a secret daughter whom he fathered whilst in prison with a groupie who would attend his trial. Carole Ann Boone was obsessed with Ted and was one of many of his 'fan girls'. He would write to many women in prison but Carole was the one he gained the most out of (obviously he was using her for his own gain). His daughter changed her name and has continued to live a private life. 

6) Ted Bundy was 42 years old when he died in the electric chair on the 24th of January 1989. 

7) Ted Bundy's youngest known victim was 12 year old Kimberly Leach 

8) The run up to Ted Bundy's execution was like a national event, t-shirts were printed, banners were made, countdowns to his death were arranged. Crowds of people and media were camped outside of the prison chanting ''Burn Bundy Burn''. When his death was announced and the hearse containing his body was being driven out of the grounds, people cheered and sang songs in celebration. 

9) 42 people reportedly came to watch the execution of Ted Bundy, many of them were relatives of the victims. 

10) Ted Bundy's brain was examined for any signs of abnormalities but none were found. Scientists were nowhere near any closer as to trying to understand Ted's remarkable intelligence but also his sickening and cruel thirst for violent sexual murder. 

So, I have covered just some of the facts about Ted Bundy in this piece along with my original post about him. If you would like me to write more future articles about Bundy please let me know. I always welcome comments below or emails: jocaledoniankitty@gmail.com 

RIP to Ann Marie Burr, Lonnie Trumbell, Lisa Wick, Joni Lenz, Lynda Ann Healy, Donna Gail Manson, Susan Elaine Rancourt, Brenda Baker, Roberta Kathleen Parks, Brenda Carol Ball, Georgeann Hawkins, Janice Ott, Denise Naslund, Caryn Campbell, Julie Cunningham, Denise Lynn Oliverson, Melanie Cooley, Shelly Robertson, Nancy Wilcox, Melissa Smith, Laura Aime, Debby Kent, Nancy Baird, Sue Curtis, Debbie Smith, Rita Lorraine Jolly, Vickie Lynn Hollar, Lisa Levy, Margaret Bowman, Kimberly Leach, Lynette Culver, Rita Curran & many unidentified others. 

Further Reading & Sources:

The Many Faces of Ted Bundy | True Crime With Caledonian Kitty

Hunting Humans | Book by Michael Newton

The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers | Book by Susan Hall

The Big Book of Serial Killers | Book by Jack Rosewood

The Killer Book of Serial Killers | Book by Michael and Tom Philbin

Journey Into Darkness | Book by John Douglas & Mark Olshaker

The True Crime Dictionary | Book by Amanda Lees

Serial Killers of The 70s | Book by Jane Fritsch

Ted Bundy | Documentary | Born To Kill

Ted Bundy | Wikipedia 

Ted Bundy | Murderpedia

Ted Bundy | Trial Playlist - YouTube

The Stranger Beside Me | Book by Ann Rule

Thank you as always for taking the time to check out my latest post and the first instalment of this series. I hope you found it informative and an interesting read. If you would like to help support my weekly content by buying me a coffee, you can do so here or via my PayPal. Thank you so much!

Stay safe and I hope you'll join me in my next post x 

UNSOLVED: Who Is The Connecticut River Valley Serial Killer & Could He Strike Again?

(The seven known victims of the CT River Valley Killer: Top from left: Cathy Millican, Ellen Fried, Lynda Moore. Bottom from left: Bernice Courtemanche, Eva Morse & Barbara Agnew. Pictures credit: Philip E. Ginsburg)

For decades, the real identity of the cold and sadistic serial killer who was behind the brutal murders of 7 women in the Claremont (New Hampshire) and Connecticut River Valley areas in the USA, has remained a mystery. Some people will say that they know who is behind the killings, some people say he's still alive and lives among them to this day. Others will say that he took his own life after allegedly murdering his first wife (who still remains missing to this day) as well as his second wife and step-daughter. Whatever the story or people's thoughts on this case or the killer's true identity, it continues to remain a haunting conversation for many people. 

I will be delving into this case a bit more in this post as part of my Serial Killers of The 1980s series but first I want to give a quick shoutout to Shilo, otherwise known as The String Theory, who knows Connecticut well and was kind enough to email me some maps of the area. He's awesomely talented, be sure to check out his music and have a banter with him on Twitter. 

Now, what we know of the elusive CT River Valley Killer is that he is reportedly responsible for 7 murders, all female with the youngest being 17 and the oldest being 38. Six of the victims were abducted but one was murdered in her home. Each of the crime scenes painted a shocking similarity as the deaths occurred as a result of stab wounds. 

The investigation remains open to this day and there was a potential eighth victim who thankfully survived. Jane Boroski was seven months pregnant when she nearly lost her and her baby's life at the hands of who police believe to be the CT River Valley Killer. It was through her bravery and detailed description of her attacker that gave investigators an idea of who they were looking for. They were also able to put a profile together with the help of a psychologist by the name of John Philpin. John is a famous criminal profiler and author who has worked on many cases, he isn't just a professional with a passing interest in the criminology and psychology field, he actually cares about the cases that he studies and cares about the victims. John will go to each crime scene and study them thoroughly as well as spending hours pouring through documents and autopsy findings. 

There have been various suspects over the years and one in particular, Michael Nicholaou is who Jane originally believed was responsible for her ordeal that summer night of 6th of August 1988. 

So I'm going to go into a little bit of the background of each of the victims and Jane's horrific attack as well as the frightening story of Michael Nicholaou who was painted as the number one suspect. Michael is no longer alive but other people who were around at the time believe that the real killer is still living among them but people are either too scared to speak up or have no way to prove it. 

The first known victim of the CT River Valley Killer was said to be 26 year old Cathy Millican. Cathy was a talented photographer and was a keen lover of animals especially birds. It was a hobby that she enjoyed very much and she would regularly go for walks in wooded areas taking pictures without any problems. However, on this particular day of autumn, in October of 1978, Cathy didn't return home, her loved ones grew concerned as it was completely out of character for her. She was reported missing the next day and sadly, it wasn't long before her deceased body (she had been reportedly stabbed 20 times in a ferocious attack) was found along with some of her belongings in a wooded area.

Although this was 1978, the police would not make a connection with Cathy's murder to the rest of the victims until later on so that is why CT River Valley Killer is often spoken about as being an active serial killer of the 1980s. As is usually the case, a victim of a serial killer will be discovered and that leads investigators on a trail which often leads far back, so you often find that the killer may have murdered someone during their teenage years. The six other murders and the attempted murder of Jane Boroski all took place in the 1980s. After the shocking discovery of Cathy's murder, the police appealed for information but nothing was leading them in the right direction. At that point they obviously couldn't see into the future that they had a potential serial killer on their hands but they certainly knew that this was a vicious murder of an innocent young woman and it shocked the public, not just in the area where it happened but far beyond as well. 

According to investigators, the killer didn't strike again until July 25th 1981 when 37 year old Mary Critchley went missing. Mary was a university student but was known to be a regular hitchhiker. On the day that she went missing she had informed friends that she planned to hitch a ride to continue her journey after they had dropped her off. Mary vanished without a trace until her deceased and badly decomposed body was found in a wooded area. The true nature of her death could not be determined due to the level of decomposition, her remains were found on the 9th of August of 1981 and they had been exposed to the elements. Because of the nature in which she was found and location, investigators believe that Mary was a victim of the CT River Valley Killer. 

17 year old Bernice Courtemanche went missing on the 30th of May 1984 and tragically her remains were not found until two years later. As you can imagine (or don't want to imagine understandably) her remains were skeletal on discovery but remarkably, forensic investigators were still able to determine that she died as a result of continuous stab woulds. Bernice was just an innocent high school student who had dreams of becoming a nurse. Like Mary, she had a habit of hitchhiking and she had told friends that she was planning on visiting her boyfriend, she never arrived and was reported missing. 

On July 22 1984, 26 year old nurse, Ellen Ruth Fried had stopped off at a grocery store after a late shift in Claremont and whilst there she used the payphone to call her sister. It was 2am when she had last been seen and her sister later mentioned to investigators that Ellen had mentioned seeing a car continuously driving around the parking lot. When she got off the phone from her sister, Ellen never returned home that night and seemed to just have vanished into thin air. It wasn't until the 19th of September 1985 that sadly, Ellen's remains had been found in some wooded area next to a beauty spot known as the Sugar River. Again because of the time that had passed and being exposed to the elements, the nature of Ellen's death could not be determined but the forensic team did say that they believed she had been sexually assaulted. 

Eva Marie Morse was a 27 year old single mother who decided to hitchhike after work on the 10th of July 1985. Sadly Eva never made it home. It was really sad to see when researching the circumstances surrounding Eva's disappearance and death, some of the comments and judgments by some of the investigators working on the case. Eva was larger lady who wore glasses and because she didn't appear (in their opinion) as a typical 'victim' (serial killers usually abduct and murder victims who are smaller and lighter in weight than they are) and didn't fit the 'pretty' aesthetic as the other victims did, they didn't believe that she could be a victim of the CT River Valley Killer. But as John Philpin said during his research of the case, the killer is not selecting the victims and stalking them, he's choosing victims from convenient locations. The killer is spontaneous so he is abducting anyone who happens to be in an easy location for him. It was as if he didn't seem to care who it was as long as the victim was female. 

Eva's remains were found of the 25th of April 1986 just 500 feet from where Mary Critchley was found. There was evidence to suggest that Eva had been sexually assaulted. Her death was determined to have been caused by multiple stab wounds. 

Lynda Moore was a 36 year old mother of two children and chillingly, her murder happened on her own doorstep. Lynda had been working on her garden, she often spent time sunbathing there too, police believe that her killer may have been watching her on this particular day of the 15th of April 1986. Lynda was an attractive woman and some of the officers working on the case had commented that they did sneak a glance over at her house if they happened to ever drive by and saw Lynda sunbathing in her garden. Whatever happened that day of April, nobody but the killer and Lynda knows but her heartbroken husband returned home to find his beloved wife deceased in their living room. It was a horrific sight and there had obviously been a struggle. Investigators believe that the killer had seen Lynda in her garden and chased her into her house where he stabbed her a reported 25 times. There was also evidence that Lynda tried to fight off her attacker. Her husband, being in shock, had acted in a manner in what the police believed to be suspicious but he had an alibi and it soon became apparent that he had nothing to do with his wife's death. 

(A witness description of a man seen in the area at the time Lynda was murdered. Picture credit: Philip E. Ginsburg)

The final deceased victim of the CT River Valley Killer is said to have been 38 year old Barbara Agnew. Barbara was a bit of a tom boy who never liked to carry a handbag and preferred to carry things around in her pockets as well as partaking in activities like skiing. She had been spending time at a ski ranch in Stratton Mountain when she disappeared on her way home on the 10th of January 1987. 

On the 10th of January there had been a blizzard but she still insisted on driving home, she never returned and her car was later found. Chillingly, there was blood found on the steering wheel, evidence of a struggle  and her belongings were found in a bin close to her car. Her body was eventually found on the 28th of March 1987 in a wooded area. Like the other victims, there were similarities at the crime scene together with a similar method of killing. Barbara had been repeatedly stabbed and had various defensive wounds where she had tried to fend off her attacker. 

Jane Boroski was just 22 years old and seven months pregnant when she decided that she needed to stop by a late night grocery store to grab a quick drink from the vending machine as the shop was closed. She'd been to a fair and was alone at the time. As she sat in her car having her drink she noticed a car pull up beside her and didn't think anything of it. She was just about to get ready to leave when a strange guy got out of the vehicle parked next to her and proceeded to walk around her car to where her driver's side door was. Before there was any time to react, the strange man mumbled something about enquiring if the payphone worked. The man then threw himself forward and tried to drag Jane out of her car, she begged him not to hurt her and that she was pregnant, he didn't seem to care. 

Despite being seven months pregnant, alone and terrified, Jane fought with everything she had to protect herself and her unborn child. There was a scuffle with the attacker pulling the door open trying to grab Jane, in the fracas, Jane started to kick him and her car windshield. Realising that Jane was not a woman to be messed with and would not go down without a fight, he suddenly pulled out a knife and said ''Maybe this will persuade you to get out of the car?''

Jane did as he said and asked him what he wanted. He responded with a bizarre reply accusing Jane of beating up his girlfriend. Jane had no idea what he was talking about and told him so. He then asked about her car, enquiring if it was a Massachusetts car, she told him that it wasn't. Without a word he walked around to the back of Jane's car to check out the licence plate before calmly walking back to his vehicle. 

Jane, at this point claimed that she wasn't scared of him and believed that this had simply been a misunderstanding because he'd previously accused her of beating up his girlfriend. She thought he had suddenly realised that she wasn't the person he thought she was and that was going to be the end of it. 

Jane being annoyed that the whole thing took place in the first place, mumbled ''Hey a**hole, what about my windshield?'' (She later spoke of how she deeply regretted saying this at the time but she was so wound up). He heard what she said and it angered him, before she knew it he was holding a knife up to her throat. In an episode of Unsolved Mysteries, they featured this case and for some reason a lot of what had taken place that night had been cut and told in a different way. I know that they had consulted Jane about the segment and she had been on set but the whole version of events was not broadcast, maybe because they only had a certain time slot for each case? The show had featured other stories not just the CT River Valley Killer case. 

Anyway, Jane had spotted a car off in the distance and being a heavily pregnant young woman and let's face it, a tough, determined cookie, she ran towards that car screaming and yelling for help to no avail, they simply drove past (who ignores a pregnant woman screaming for help being chased by a psycho?). The attacker caught up with her and managed to get her on to the ground and proceeded to stab her but it was in locations that were not too close to the baby. She struggled at first but he soon overpowered her, she was exhausted and gave up. Seeing her lack of fear, her exhaustion, her lack of reaction to what he was doing seemed to have had an impact on him. It seemed that he was getting a thrill when he believed her to be in fear but had simply lost interest in carrying on the attack any further because she had given up fighting him. Psychologist John Philpin believes that to be the case, that the fear from the killer's victim's is what drives him. 

After repeatedly stabbing her 27 times and seeing the bloody mess he had created before him, he simply got up and walked back to his car as if nothing had happened. Jane laid there, beyond exhausted, beyond pain and beyond fear as she made eye contact with him as he drove away leaving her to bleed to death. It is believed that this was his method, a stabbing frenzy then leaving the victims to bleed to death. Investigators believe that this man who carried out this evil attempted murder on Jane and her baby was indeed the CT River Valley Killer.

Astonishingly, once Jane thought that the attacker had gone, she managed to get to her car and pull herself into the drivers seat. Dripping with blood and running on fear and adrenaline, Jane put her foot down and drove as fast as she could. She was making her way to her friend's house and she couldn't get there fast enough, the trouble was, in another moment of sheer horror like you would see in a movie, Jane found herself driving right behind the monster who had just tried to kill her and her baby. It's hard to imagine how she must have felt and it is incredible that she and the baby were able to survive that utter nightmare. She managed to drive to her friend's house and stumbled to the porch shouting for help. Terrifyingly, the psycho was hovering about outside in his car watching for a few moments before taking off. That was the last she saw of him.

Jane went to the hospital, had tests, treatments and was able to make a full physical recovery, the baby was born without anything physically wrong. Jane was able to give the investigators a physical description of her attacker but when it came to remembering the exact licence plate number it was a problem because the plate had been too dirty. She was able to give them a description of the car which they followed up and tracked down a number of owners but that lead to no leads. 

(Jane's description of her attacker. Picture credit: Philip E. Ginsburg)

There are the seven victims that are confirmed to have lost their lives at the hands of the CT River Valley Killer, Jane who survived and the possible unidentified victims who'd remains might still be out there yet to be discovered. There's so many theories and opinions as to who the killer really is. A few of the possible suspects have been guys who have behaved in a creepy fashion in the past, guys who have stalked local waitresses or retail assistants. A few people have been looked at as possible suspects. The main name that has come up, time and again is that of the late Michael Nicholaou, Michael, who was 56 at the time of his death in December 2005 was said (and still is considered) to be one, if not, the main suspect in the Connecticut River Valley murders. Unfortunately he isn't here to face investigation and I don't say that in sympathy to him, I say unfortunately, because this man was a narcissistic monster who left a trail of deceased women behind him. He was said to have been a nightmare of a man, a control freak, the sort of guy you would cross the street to avoid and the reason he isn't alive right now is because he took his own life after murdering his wife and his step daughter in cold blood. His first wife also mysteriously vanished without a trace after a hellish marriage to him. To this day, nobody knows the whereabouts of his first wife Michelle Marie Ashley. Michelle had been through hell with Michael and told friends and relatives that she was terrified of him. She and her children had fled to a secret location to get away from him but he managed to track them down. The kids were fine and ended up staying with relatives but nobody knows what happened to Michelle and you don't have to be Albert Einstein to figure it out. 

At first for a long, long time, Jane believed that Michael Nicholaou was the man responsible for her vicious attack that night in 1988 but she has since changed her mind. Other people believe that Michael is not the CT River Valley Killer. He may have been an evil man who took innocent lives and it's a sure bet that he murdered Michelle but was he really responsible for the deaths of the seven victims too? Who can really say but any DNA tests have proved to be inconclusive so it remains a theory. 

(Michael Nicholaou. Picture credit: murderpedia)

Various names have been mentioned when trying to identify the real killer. Delbert Tallman was a convicted child molester who's name was thrown in because of the sickening and evil crimes that he had committed but after thorough investigation it was determined that he couldn't have possibly been responsible. There was no evidence and nothing tied him to the crimes as well as the fact that he corroborated alibis. 

So as of 2023, we are still no further in finding out who exactly is or was the Connecticut River Valley Killer. After the attack on Jane he suddenly stopped, there was no more murders that fitted his Modus Operandi.

Sadly, as I was researching this case I stumbled across so many serial killer cases from Connecticut and surrounding areas. It seems that Connecticut has seen it's fair share of murders and tragedies. I have made a note of all the other cases that popped up during my research including the cases of William Devin Howell and Gary Schaefer. 

I have decided that after this series I will start work on an Unsolved Serial Killer series. Any type of serial killer story that I have covered is always traumatic and quite frightening but we tend to rest a bit easy when we read about cases where the monsters have been caught and brought to justice. But what about the numerous cases where the murderer is still out there, possibly waiting to strike again? I wrote about Dennis Rader - BTK (Bind. Torture. Kill) in my last post and how he would take breaks in between murders and had managed to evade justice for 30 years. It's frightening and I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like for the relatives of the victims, never knowing, never having the answers you so desperately need, no closure and no proper justice. I've covered so many cases where murderers have not faced justice until decades later and you can really see how it has taken a toll of so many relatives of victims and the survivors. The hunt for the serial killer and the never ending hope of the killer of your loved one takes it's toll on people, they lose a big chunk of their lives because of it. It's really not fair. My heart always goes out to them but if there's anything to take away from cases like BTK, The Green River Killer (a case that I will be covering soon) and The Grim Sleeper, it's that there is always a hope that one day, no matter how many years and decades do by, that thanks to the advances in DNA technology that we have today, there is always the chance that these monsters will finally be caught and face their day in court. 

My thoughts and condolences to anyone who has lost a loved one or friend to a serial killer or to any act of crime. RIP to the known victims: Cathy Millican, Mary Critchley, Bernice Courtemanche, Ellen Fried, Eva Morse, Lynda Moore and Barbara Agnew. RIP also to the innocent women who lost their lives to Michael Nicholaou. Thoughts are also with Jane Boroski and her daughter, such an inspiration and example of strength, bravery and endurance over the unimaginable. I'm also thinking of the many potential victims that we do not know about. I hope one day this case is completely solved as I'm sure you do too. 

If you are interested in delving more into this case please check out the incredible bookThe Shadow of Death: The Hunt For The Connecticut River Valley Killer by Philip E. Ginsburg

Also check out John Philpin's website

The segment on the Unsolved Mysteries episode featuring this case can be found here

Thank you again to Shilo for his assistance in maps/locations. 

Further Reading & Sources: 


(Jane with her daughter Jessica. Picture credit: Philip E. Ginsburg)

I hope you have found this latest post informative and if you have any thoughts or theories to who the CT River Valley Killer is, I would love to hear your views. You can leave any comments below or contact me via email: jocaledoniankitty@gmail.com or message me on my social media platforms

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Take care of yourselves and thank you as always for stopping by. I hope you will join me in the next case, this one will be a little bit closer to home for me and quite a disturbing serial killer to say the least. 

Hope to see you next time x