kuriositykills

[kuriositykills]

Silene Eaddy was only 15 years-old when she was brutally murdered during the early morning hours of April 17th, 2004. It was around 5:00 AM when authorities in Richland County, South Carolina were notified about a small brush fire. Columbia fire personnel were sent to the area off Highway 378 near Montgomery Lane and Pincushion Road, where they spotted the fire in a wooded area.

As first responders worked to put out the flames, they noticed the body of a teenage girl was lying facedown in the brush. She had suffered severe trauma to her body. Two days later, it was confirmed that the young victim was Silene. Dental records and a necklace she was wearing helped confirm her identity.

Silene, referred to by friends and family as Erica, had been the victim of a horrific murder. She had been savagely beaten and then set on fire. Medical examiners noted that Silene actually had soot in her lungs at the time of her death, indicating that she was still alive when the fire was lit. It is believed that the fire was set with the purpose of destroying evidence.

Silene was last seen alive by her family members between 7:00 and 7:30 PM on April 15th, 2004. She left her family’s home on foot to walk to a neighbor’s house around the corner. Silene was known to walk around the area and chat with neighbors, so this did not seem unusual. Silene’s family members grew concerned when she did not return, but they initially waited to contact authorities. The teen reportedly had a habit of running away, but she usually returned within a few days.

By the time Silene’s mother finally did report file a missing persons’ report, her body had already been found. At that point, authorities were still working to identify the girl they had found in the brushfire. When detectives were notified about Silene’s disappearance, they immediately suspected that she was the unidentified girl. These suspicions were confirmed shortly thereafter. Silene’s case was then shifted into a murder investigation.

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Laurie Dann led an unassuming childhood, growing up in an affluent northern suburb of Chicago. She was remembered as being somewhat awkward and lacking in confidence. It's believed that’s why she completely altered her face with plastic surgery at quite a young age.

She attended the University of Arizona for several years but never graduated. While working as a cocktail waitress at Green Acres Country Club, she met Russell Dann, the son of a wealthy family. The duo were inseparable and settled down and got married in September of 1982. They moved into a large mansion - something that had always been a dream of Laurie.

Shortly thereafter, Russell began to notice some bizarre quirks about his new wife. For example, she would keep her makeup in the microwave, would throw money into the back seat of her car, and would put clothes away while they were still soaking wet. While the couple remained together for several years, Laurie’s quirks began to worsen and worsen.

Eventually, she completely stopped leaving the house and refused to cook or clean up after herself. The relationship was doomed but it reached calamitous heights in September of 1986. Police received a phone call from Russell. Somebody had stabbed him with an ice-pick while he slept and he was certain it was Laurie. In fact, a store clerk would come forward to say Laurie had indeed purchased an ice-pick just days previously. The ice-pick missed his heart by just an inch.

Considering Russel was asleep and didn’t see his attacker, the charges against Laurie were dropped. The couple divorced shortly afterwards. As the divorce was underway, Laurie’s ex-boyfriend from five years previously started to receive threatening phone calls from Laurie in which she claimed she was pregnant with his child. The harassment finally ended when his lawyer contacted her parents.

Laurie moved from the marital home and decided she wanted to become a babysitter but this quickly failed when she was accused of stealing from her client’s homes and slashing up their sofas, rugs, and curtains. Following this failed business idea, she moved into a dorm room on the northwest campus. This too fell apart when Laurie starred to hide rotten meat inside furniture as well as hiding rubbish in other student’s rooms.

In January of 1988, she moved to a dorm in Madison, Wisconsin, where she became known as “elevator lady.” Students recalled her riding up and down in the elevator all day long. Once again, she started to leave rotten meat around the dorm and would often be seen stark naked in the communal areas. A month after moving in, a dorm room was set alight. Many believed Laurie had caused the fire intentionally but with no evidence, she was never charged.

By now, Laurie’s sanity had completely unraveled and nobody thought to get her more suitable professional help. After threatening a fellow student and slashing his clothing, Laurie baked buns and injected them with arsenic. She sent these laced treats to several frat houses and homes in the area before making her way to the home of a former babysitting client, asking if she could take their kids to the local fair. She gave the two children poisoned milk. Thankfully, they threw it out after saying it tasted strange. The arsenic in the laced treats she had sent out was so diluted that it caused no damage.

From here, Laurie went to a local daycare and tried to set it on fire before returning to the former clients home which she then set on fire. They were lucky enough to escape out of a smashed window. By the time the family escaped, Laurie was en route to Hubbard Woods Elementary School. Armed with two handguns, Laurie started shooting indiscriminately as soon as she entered the building. She shot and killed 8-year-old Nicholas Corwin before critically wounding another five.

Laurie ripped off the bloody shorts she was wearing and tied a plastic bag around her waist. After fleeing the school, she crashed her car into a tree and then broke into the home of Ruth and Phillip Andrews. Laurie held the terrified family hostage for six hours, claiming she had shot and killed her rapist and was now on the run from the police. Phillip grabbed the gun from Laurie as his family escaped. During the scuffle, he was shot in the chest but managed to stagger into the garden.

Alone in the Andrews home, Laurie shot herself dead.

[kuriositykills]

Look Before You Lock

I was recently listening to a podcast that talked about children dying of heatstroke from being left in hot cars. This made me realize that we tend to blame the parents, claiming they are horrible, neglectful parents. But this usually isn't true, 53% of these incidents are actually just forgetting the child was in the car.

Imagine, you're running late for work and rushing to get the kids out the door and get to work. You drop the older ones off at school and have to drop your baby off at a babysitter, but you're in a rush and forget. After work, you come out to your car and see your baby. Dead. You are then not allowed to go to your child's funeral and charged for your baby's death. All because of a tragic accident..

#true crime #accident #heat stroke #children

[kuriositykills]

The Strange Disappearance of Kenny Veach

The Mojave Desert, located in the southwestern United States, is a brutal and unforgiving landscape.

Sprawling over parts of four states; California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah, the area is so vast that entire European countries like Ireland and Iceland could fit comfortably within its boundaries.

The “high desert” is prone to extreme temperatures and arid conditions. In November of 2014, an American hiker named Kenny Veach had a strange encounter with a mysterious cave in the Sheep Mountain area, just north of Las Vegas.

Once, he posted: “I hike over mountain top after mountain top and sleep on peaks under the stars . . . Sometimes I have to scale giant cliffs to get myself out of a jam, but I always make it back.”

He was proud of the fact that there was only one time that he had to be rescued on one of his adventures, and that was when he injured his leg at the top of a mountain.

Tired of the daily Monday-through-Friday grind, Kenny wanted to be his own boss, be in charge of his own life, and have the free time to immerse himself in his desert explorations.

So, he quit his day job and decided to be an inventor. He started a YouTube channel, documenting his creations and his forays into the desert.

It was in June of 2014, using the name Snakebitmcgee, Kenny left a comment in response to a YouTube video that read: That ain’t nothing. I am a long-distance hiker. One time, during one of my hikes out by Nellis Air Force Base, I found a hidden cave.

The entrance to the cave was shaped like a perfect capital M. I always enter every cave I find, but as I began to enter this particular cave, my whole body began to vibrate.

The closer I got to the cave entrance, the worse the vibrating became. Suddenly, I became very scared and high-tailed it out of there. That was one of the strangest things that ever happened to me. 

Unbeknownst to Kenny and the rest of the world, that comment would have tragic consequences.

Kenny’s comment on that video sparked a flurry of requests for him to prove his claim.

Since he hadn’t documented the first trip to what would become known as “the M cave”, he needed to go back to the area to locate it and, this time, document what he found.

On his second search for the cave, he went armed with a 9-millimeter handgun and a video camera. 

He documented some wildlife and found a whole horde of pine nuts that he gleefully ate on camera. He stood next to an abandoned mine shaft and rather sheepishly declared that he was unable to find the cave on his second hike.

Much to Kenny’s dismay, that video was met with criticism. Many thought he had made the whole thing up, and the public demanded proof of his claim of a mysterious cave with supernatural properties.

Viewers actively encouraged, and some even dared Kenny to go back out to the mountain range a third time. 

However, one comment on his video, which has since been deleted, read, “No! Do not go back there. If you find that cave entrance, don’t go in, you won’t get out.”

Whether that comment was made by somebody teasing Kenny or whether it was a serious warning by somebody who was personally familiar with the cave is unknown.

Regarding the M cave, Kenny said, “I solo hike across mountain tops that most people wouldn’t dare go. I have been in more caves than I can count. I play with rattlesnakes for fun. But this one particular cave was beyond anything I had ever encountered.”

Hoping to put the naysayers in their place, Kenny hiked out to the territory a third time.

On the 10th of November 2014, Kenny once again made his way to the Sheep Mountain area, which is close to the U.S. Air Force installation called Area 51, known for its speculated connection to UFOs and secret government experiments.

It’s located near Groom Lake and is within the Nevada Test and Training Range. As late as 2012, the U.S. government denied the existence of Area 51, and it is still closed to the public.

Both ground and aerial searches were conducted, but no sign of Kenny could be found.

Dave Cummings from Red Rock Search & Rescue reported finding Kenny’s cell phone next to an abandoned vertical mine shaft, where he filmed part of the M cave video.

Specially trained individuals were called in to conduct a search of the mine. Unfortunately, aside from his vehicle and his cell phone, no trace of Kenny was ever found.

[kuriositykills]

Jonathan Hoffman, a 17-year-old senior at Farmington Central High School, resided with his grandparents, Sandra Layne and Fred Layne, in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan. This arrangement came about as his parents, Michael and Jennifer Hoffman, navigated a divorce in Arizona, where they had relocated approximately a year prior.

Opting to remain in Michigan for his final year of high school, Jonathan had recently received acceptance to Eastern Michigan University. Upon the completion of the divorce proceedings, Jennifer intended to return to Michigan to reunite with her son.

Jonathan had had several minor run ins with law enforcement. On the 17th of March, 2011, 17-year-old Jonathan was pulled over in Farmington Hills and ticketed for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia in the form of a grinder. He received a 93 day suspended sentence and was placed on 12 months’ probation.

Then on the 21st of March, West Bloomfield Township police responded to complaints outside the home. When they arrived, they found Sandra and Jonathan outside the home arguing. Jonathon told police that he was angry over a text message that his father had sent him. When Jonathan calmed down, police left and no arrests were made and no citations were issued.

At around 5:30PM the 18th of May, 2011, a 911 call was placed to West Bloomfield Township police.

The phone call was placed by Jonathan. He said that his grandmother had shot him in the chest and he was going to die. Around three minutes into the phone call, Jonathan is heard pleading “no grandma” before exclaiming to the dispatcher that he had been shot again. At one point in the phone call, a woman can he heard shouting: “Let go, let go. You’ve got to let go!” Towards the end of the phone call, the same woman can be heard calmly saying: “I will get you a drink of water.”

As officers pulled up to the upscale condo, they heard several more shots. They found Sandra standing behind a screened door. She was holding a .40-caliber handgun but placed it on the floor when ordered to do so by police. She came out of the door, raised her hands and screamed: “I murdered my grandson!”

Upstairs, the officers discovered the lifeless body of 17-year-old Jonathon Hoffman. He had been shot 5 times with 9mm glock. He was shot in the upper right armpit area, in the upper right chest, in the left arm near the shoulder, in the left lower chest and on the left side of the abdomen. Four of the shots had been close range. He was rushed to Botsford Hospital where he was declared dead.

According to Sandra’s attorneys, there were problems in the home and Sandra was afraid of her grandson. One of the attorneys, Mitchell Ribitwer, told reporters outside that drugs and drug paraphernalia was discovered inside the home that belonged to Jonathon.

He also said that in March, police had responded to a domestic disturbance call at the home. According to defence Ribitwer: “I spoke to the officer who responded, and he indicated this young man was totally out of control in the street. He was derogatory to his grandmother. He was yelling and shouting and almost got into it with police.”

Sandra said to detectives that Jonathan had been taking the synthetic drug, K2, and that it changed his character. She said he had become increasingly violent after taking the drug and purchased a gun because she feared that he would kill her. After Jonathan had been ticketed for marijuana possession and drug paraphernalia, the court had ordered him to undergo alcohol and drug treatment which was monitored by random testing.

According to Sandra’s lawyers, Jonathan had violated his probation on the day of his murder when he tested positive for the K2 drug. They claimed that this led to an argument during which Sandra had feared for her own life. However, Jonathan's autopsy showed that the drug was not present in his urine.

During the trial, prosecutors said Sandra had followed her grandson to the bedroom loft after shooting him once. But before this, she had gone into the basement, walking through Jonathan's blood, to retrieve more ammunition, showing intent.

Ultimately, Sandra Layne was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 20 to 40 years in prison, as well as an additional two years for using a firearm in the commission of a felony.

[kuriositykills]

Edward Wayne Edwards had a rough childhood. He was an illegitimate child, his mother passed away due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound, his foster-mother passed away, and his foster father was an alcoholic. He had been sent to an orphanage where he was abused by a nun and the other boys before his grandmother became his legal guardian. 

Ed loved to cause trouble, stealing and selling anything he could get his hands on like cigarettes, bicycles, and food. He would also get into fights with the neighborhood boys. 

Edward’s grandmother couldn’t control him so she sent him to a reform school in Philadelphia. At this school, he escaped 2 times, then finally returned to Akron in 1950, when he was 16 years old.

All through Ed’s life he has been in and out of prison, having escaped almost every time. He traveled all over the country with multiple women, burglarizing gas stations, stealing cars and robbing a bank. Ed had been put on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list in 1961. 

In 1962, Edwards had been arrested and sentenced to 16 years at Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary. After serving 5 years of his 16 year sentence, he was transferred to Lewisville Federal Penitentiary and was granted parole. 

Edwards then got remarried, started a family and claimed to be a “rehabilitated” criminal. He published a book, went on game shows, and traveled the country talking about his life.

On August 8, 1977, the bodies of Billy Lavaco, 21, and Judith Straub, 18, were discovered in Ohio. Both had been shot in the neck. The case went cold. 

On August 9, 1980, Tim Hack and Kelly Drew vanished from a wedding reception in Wisconsin. Two months later their bodies were found on the edge of a cornfield. They had been stabbed and strangled. Ed was questioned at the time of the murder, but this case also went cold.

In 2009, Edwards’ daughter April heard about the murder of Tim and Kelly and told the police about her father. Edwards was arrested for the double murder of Tim hack and Kelly Drew. Ed wanted the death penalty, but capital punishment is illegal in Wisconsin, so he confessed to the murder of Billy Lavaco and Judith Straub. But capital punishment wasn’t allowed in Ohio in 1977. Ed then decided to admit to killing his adopted son Dannie Boy Edwards in 1996. He killed him for his life insurance policy of $250,000. Edwards lured him to a secluded area and shot him twice in the chest. 

Edwards was then sentenced to death by lethal injection for killing Dannie Boy. Dannie’s half-sister stated, “Do not give this man what he wants. He’s taken and taken his entire life.” 

#50s #60s #70s #victims #true crime #wisconsin #ohio