ohhowpeculiar

[ohhowpeculiar]

I am the cousin of Joanne Fantazier, and I was wondering if there have been any updates or new information on her murder back in1966. They could find no evidence, but she had been seeing/dating someone at the time and when it happened they suspected him, but again there was no evidence so they couldn't hold him. I have wondered if the use of DNA could have helped in identifying her killer.

I am very sorry for your loss. 

Because it happened so long ago, I highly doubt there is any evidence left to test for DNA. It’s my feeling that this isn’t a completely solvable case. 

That said, given that you are a member of her family, you could contact the police department where she died and see if they still have files on her. They may not since it’s been so long and files get lost/destroyed easily, but if they do you may be able to find out a lot more about the investigation itself and what kind of reasons they had for suspecting the boyfriend. 

Here is the contact information for the Police Department of Colts Neck: https://www.colts-neck.nj.us/emergency-services/police-department/

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#Jack the Ripper #history #true crime

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#true crime #Suzy Lamplugh

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Via the Barron County Sheriff’s Department on Facebook:

These are three images of the two vehicles of interest that we determined were in the area of the Closs home at the time of the incident regarding the disappearance of missing and endangered 13-year-old Jayme Closs. Again, these are ONLY vehicles of interest.

If anyone sees or has seen either of these vehicles in or around Barron County over the past two weeks they are asked to call our tip line 1-855-744-3879 with the time they observed it, location observed and plate number. Again we are only taking tips based on the below information, no other makes or models will be followed up on.

Sheriff Fitzgerald

#Jayme Closs #missing person

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#tw: mass shooting #pulse nightclub #marjory stoneman douglas shooting #virginia tech shooting #2011 tucson shooting

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An Amber Alert was issued for a missing teen in Wisconsin, and her parents were found dead in their home; officials are concerned for her safety. There was a 911 call made shortly before 1am on Monday, October 15 where law enforcement found both of her parents dead-the cause of death is still not positively determined but there were gunshots involved. It’s believed the teen, Jayme Closs was in the house at the time. 

Jayme is 100lb with green eyes and blonde hair, about 5 feet tall. If anyone has information on her whereabouts, please contact Barron County Sheriff’s Office: 855-744-3879

[ohhowpeculiar]

Still recovering from surgery, but I’m really trying to write up some posts. Anyone have questions/requests/stories to share? 

Help me stay conscious while these painkillers kick my butt. 

[ohhowpeculiar]

With the Tapps, it seems Seana was the target since she was viciously sexually assaulted, so a pedophile is a strong suspect.

(I don’t know why I didn’t get an alert for your message, I’ve only just seen it. Sorry!)

I agree with you, I think Seana was the intended victim. The attack on her was so much more brutal. 

But my gut feeling tells me that the perpetrator first became familiar with the Tapps through Margaret since she had such an active social life and would have crossed paths with so many people. But that’s just my impression, not based on anything more than a gut feeling.

[ohhowpeculiar]

Aside from the Fritzl, Dugard and Cleveland 3 cases, what cases of long-term human captivity do you know of?

The only other case that comes to mind would be the victims of Marc Dutroux in Belgium. Not quite as long-term as the cases you mentioned, but still absolutely horrific. 

One of the survivors, Sabine Dardenne, wrote a book about her experience called I Choose to Live. 

Edit: There’s also the Junko Furuta case. She was held for 40 days before she died. If you’ve never read about the case, brace yourself. It’s brutal. 

[ohhowpeculiar]

Hi, everyone!

Help me out?

I just had wrist surgery, so I’m gonna be down for the count for a while. So I’m not going to be able to write up many original posts, but I’m also bored out of my mind because I can’t do much of anything. 

But I can respond to messages and would absolutely love it if y’all would just talk to me because I’m going to lose my mind if I binge-watch one more TV show (The Good Place is fantastic, btw). 

So if there’s anything freaky and peculiar you want to talk about, drop it in the askbox! 

Also, I’m working on turning this blog into a proper wordpress site, but I’ll still be active and crossposting here. So that’ll be coming in the next few months. 

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#True crime #pennsylvania #disappearances

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#ireland #true crime #kerry babies case

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#forensics #forensic science #crime

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We are split 50/50 with two days left. 

Just posted a new poll over on Twitter, so go vote, or reblog with your thoughts/theories. 

[ohhowpeculiar]

#crime #tw: rape

[ohhowpeculiar]

Who Murdered Margaret and Seana Tapp? 

On August 8, 1984, Jim Rollins arrived at a home in Ferntree Gully, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia, to pick up his date for the opera. When no one answered the door and Jim realized that all of the lights were out, he became concerned and entered the home through an unlocked back door. 

He found his date, Margaret Tapp, tucked into bed. When Jim went to wake her, he noticed a strangulation mark around her neck and realized she wasn’t sleeping. Margaret had been killed the night before. 

After phoning the police and Margaret’s sister, Jim suddenly remembered that Margaret’s 9-year-old daughter, Seana, was supposed to be home as well. He entered her bedroom to find the little girl also strangled in her bed. She had been the victim of what investigators have called “a very sickening sexual attack.” Both Margaret and Seana were neatly tucked into bed by the killer so as to look like they were asleep. The killer had used a rope to strangle them and it was not found at the scene.

Investigators found no evidence of forced entry or a struggle, nor did they find any unidentifiable fingerprints. Footprints from a pair of Dunlop Volley sneakers, a popular shoe at the time, were left on the floor of the home and were never identified. DNA was retrieved from semen on Seana’s clothing, but a decent sample would not be extracted for several years. 

A neighbor reported having heard a muffled cry at around 11 PM on the night of the 7th. Their dog had also barked at something outside the home at around midnight, perhaps the killer making their escape from the Tapp home. Between this witness testimony and the fact that both victims were wearing nightdresses, police determined that the murders had taken place either very late on the 7th or in the early hours of the 8th of August. 

In addition, neighbors had reported seeing a red Ford utility vehicle parked near the house not long before the murders. The owner of the car has never been identified. 

Margaret had worked as a nurse for many years and was also attending law school part-time at the time of the murders, bringing her into contact with many people. She also had a very active social life and was known to have dated multiple men, including men who were married. 

In fact, the home where the murders took place had been bought for her by a doctor named John Bradtke she had a long-term relationship with. When Dr. Bradtke died in a car accident a year before the murders, Margaret fought the doctor’s widow for ownership of the home and was ultimately awarded half-ownership, after which she bought the second half. Whether she continued to have an acrimonious relationship with Mrs. Bradtke is uncertain. 

In 2008, a man named Russell John Gesah was charged with the murders based on a DNA match. Two weeks later, the charges were withdrawn when it was discovered that the DNA sample had been contaminated in the lab. This revelation brought to light many issues with the handling of DNA evidence and called into question the efforts police had made in previous years to use DNA to rule out other suspects in the case. 

"I am now not satisfied, because DNA in the case was contaminated, that those previously eliminated on DNA evidence were correctly eliminated," said Det-Sen-Sgt Ron Iddles

Suspects

In this case, the problem really isn’t a lack of suspects. With little physical evidence to go on and the sheer number of people Margaret and Seana both came into contact with, police have had a difficult time narrowing the list of potential perpetrators. 

An angry wife: It’s often theorized that a wife of one of the men Margaret dated might have gotten angry enough to commit the murders. Mrs. Bradtke is the most obvious choice in this scenario. However, this theory doesn’t really match the facts. Besides there being no evidence to implicate anyone in arranging a murder-for-hire, the sexual assault of Seana points to a sexually-motivated predator. 

A rejected man or spurned lover: Ian Cook was a family friend who had stayed with Margaret at the house once and had reportedly made unwanted romantic/sexual advances toward her. She later said that he had “come on strong” and she’d told him she wasn’t interested. 

Margaret was also said to be taking driving lessons at the time, and her driving instructor was apparently attracted to her. When the police questioned him, he lied about having ever been in the Tapp home, where his fingerprints were found. 

Since Margaret dated several men and wasn’t committed at the time to any one of them, the idea of a jealous lover or rejected man committing the crimes has been one of the top theories in the case. 

A troubled neighbor: Suspicions in the neighborhood quickly fell on a family that lived across the street from the Tapp home. The family was generally avoided in the community and regarded as troublesome. Margaret, however, had hired one of the teenaged sons to do some yard work for her, despite warnings from concerned neighbors that the boy had a habit of making sexually suggestive comments to older women. 

Sources

The Herald Sun: Sex tape clue in double murder of Margaret and Seana Tapp in Cold Case Files

The Age: A mother, her daughter and a murder case that got away from all

The Sydney Morning Herald: DNA blunder sinks kill trial

News.com.au: Family in shock over DNA mix-up

Million Dollar Cold Case: The Murders of Margaret and Seana Tapp (youtube video of Australian true crime documentary series)

h/t to @kannaophelia for requesting this case

#Australia #unsolved deaths #true crime #tc original #homicide