The Honey Moon Killers,

 First Couple to Meet the Electric Chair

By Lynn A. Granata

Who were the Honey moon killers?

At first, I wondered as well.

They were two lame miscreants a total mismatch.  She was morbidly obese.  He was a fledgling drifter of Mexican descent.

The Honey moon Killers scene from the 1970 movie.

But what they did could break the record for the fastest and most undetectable crime spree ever known.
Martha Beck was obese and lacked self- esteem. She was a nurse who juggled full-time in a hospital and was taking care of her aged mother. One day, however, a friend called her and mailed a personals ad in a newspaper to her. Martha looked through it attentively, and found a man she liked. His name was Raymond Fernandez.

Martha (left) watches enviously while Raymond passionately kisses their next unassuming victim.

So, they agreed to meet. Martha's mom however, was concerned that Martha started missing appointments to go see her in the nursing home. Martha's mother became angry and then disowned her. Remember disownment isn't normal for any family member at any age, space, and time. Martha's mother was in the end stages of Alzheimer's disease. A disease that back then was simply called old age dementia. So her mother was technically would've been labeled a paranoid schizophrenic by today's standards.

She and Raymond agreed to start a crime spree campaign which spanned several states across America. Raymond was like a gigolo, who didn't have the gravitas to treat a lady with love and respect. Instead he was a thug that conned every woman that he met through the personals like his personal piggy bank. Martha at first, was high on his list.

The two of them traveled together. Raymond navigated the trips with his personals ad in the newspaper. Where they traveled to was contingent on what fish Raymond could catch while he baited women through his ad's description of himself, he hoped to find not just any woman, but a wealthy one. There was a wealthy dowager he and Martha met. Problem was he only would introduce Martha to them as his sister.

Raymond got them in bed, then talked them out of their bank accounts.
Raymond would get the money, then kill the victim, by bludgeoning them.

There were a few who were poisoned. And then left for dead. Until one day the fun ended forever. The last dowager was hip to his antics. She nearly corralled the two of them, until Raymond killed her first. Then Martha called the police. They were arrested and charged with robbery, first degree murder, and conspiracy. The twain were sentenced to die an execution by electric chair. They were fried in March 1951 at Sing Sing Prison in New York.

Endnote: Personal ads existed back then. The stigma of meeting a person through a personal ad existed just as much then as it does today. Bottom line never meet in a deserted area go with a friend and meet at a public place, such as a coffee shop. Today's dating scene is like a jungle, just a word to the wise stay safe.

Theories of Crime in America

Theories of Crime in America

Theories of Crime in America

Theories of Crime in America

Charles Starkweather and Caril Fugate, Go On Take the Money and Run

By Lynn A. Granata

In the middle of the 20th century 2 troubled young teen aged lovers went on a natural killing and crime spree in Lincoln Nebraska.

Caril Fugate (left) and Charles Starkweather

       They remind me so much of Bonnie and Clyde. Only a 1950's version of the infamous crime couple taking place in the beginning of modern times.

       They went on a vicious killing spree killing so many friends and even family members.

Charles was motivated by money, as he lived in poverty his entire life through. He robbed a gas station attendant for $100. Later on he graduated to grand theft auto. He killed and robbed a shoe salesman for his vehicle.

A 14 year old Caril Fugate with her 19 year old partner in crime Charles Starkweather (right).

            And used it to escape to Washington state.

        A high speed police chase ensued, and finally Starkweather was captured and arrested.

Caril Fugate was only 14, Charles was 19.  She testified that she was under duress while she accompanied Starkweather throughout his crime rampage.

Charles was executed in 1959. Caril received a life sentence, she was charged with aiding and abetting and guilt by association.

 She was later released from a woman's prison on parole in 1976, and was considered cleared and rehabilitated enough to get back into society.

Not much about her has been known since, but it's presumed that she changed her name and wanted nothing more to do with her sordid past, she made a new life for herself where she could go where nobody would remember who she was and what she did.

Dogs Make Great Sleuths

By Lynn A. Granata

Dogs 🐶 have got be the greatest fuzzy friends in the world. They not only keep you company for hours on end, but they can solve crimes better than mankind ever could.

A Blenheim Cavalier King Charles Spaniel

The reason is obvious, dogs have the keenest sense of smell. No matter what their size is or the breed. They all share the smell factor equally. Dogs are truly crime fighters. Aside from detecting scent, they are natural sentries ready to alert you when they know long before you ever could, who's at the door or on your property.
The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is awesome. Because they make great little watchdogs and they are small enough to sit in your lap. The have a truly sharp nose, they are used to flush birds and other small wild critters.

Two German Shepherds

A bloodhound is used to find missing persons, relating to a cold case. German Shepherds work with the police, aiding them in the search for drugs and explosives. Bernese Mountain Dogs work with the United States Department of the Coast Guard. They can find a capsized boat, locate and rescue those who may have capsized from drowning.

A Bernese Mountain Dog

As for me, believe it or not a small lapdog has just as much credentials as a larger breed.

Police training Bloodhounds

My last little fur ball was a ShihTzu. He was a great little protector.

 Last year, he passed away from old age, so it's time to get another 🐶 dog. Dogs keep you in shape.

 Dogs never have to be told what to do, they just love you, and automatically defend you while they're by your side. Not bad for a dog.

Theories of Crime in America : What Causes Crime?By Lynn A. GranataFor years ...

Theories of Crime in America : What Causes Crime?


By Lynn A. Granata


For years ...: What Causes Crime? By Lynn A. Granata For years many people have been asking this question. Crime is caused by a complex numbe...

What Causes Crime?

By Lynn A. Granata

For years many people have been asking this question.

Crime is caused by a complex number of variables.

I have always believed that the most common reason for crime is impulsiveness. 

Criminals are impulsive or they act on impulses more often than those who are not criminals.

For example, a shop lifter may see a dress on a clothing rack and suddenly take a feeling of "I just cannot resist this and I have to have it."

Although she doesn't have the money to pay for the dress, technically.  She feels that urgency gnawing from within. At the moment she isn't thinking about the consequences of what may happen if she goes ahead and takes the dress off of the rack and conceals it under her clothing, then walk out of the store.

She has done it before and she never got caught. This is what gives her the confidence to keep on doing it.

In order for a crime to occur there are 3 elements that must be met, of course don't do it, because it is illegal and it isn't worth losing your freedom over it.

Many department stores have been using warning signs like this one in order to deter shoplifting and to prevent the loss of property and revenue due to store theft.

 Now the 3 elements are:

1.        Opportunity

2.   Desire for a thrilling experience, low threshold of tolerance for regular everyday       mundane tasks-boredom. 

3.      Cost v. benefits of the wrongdoing. Remember, if an individual is anxious to do something wrong, the intent has to be there or they know it's wrong, but they'll do it anyways because they feel nobody will catch them in the act. Thus in this rare scenario, the benefits outweigh the costs.   

The shop lifter took these 3 elements into consideration.

We don't know whether or not if the shop lifter ever got caught, but the thing you must be aware of is that as time goes on, she will eventually get caught, that I can assure you. It's difficult to know why she shop lifts. One or more theories can apply as to answer the why question. 

Kleptomania

Lack of Resources

No money=Poverty

Mental illness         

Different levels of crime connotes different levels of severity. Felonies are more serious than misdemeanors. A felony can result in prosecution and a 3-20 yr. prison sentence.  A misdemeanor carries no more than a 1 year prison sentence.     

Stalkers: Are They  Lonely or Just a Turn Off?

By Lynn A. Granata

There's so many of us who have played the dating game. Searching hard for strategies to find a perfect match.

However, many times more that perfect match turns out to be less than perfect. Stalkers come to mind whenever this topic arises.

So what is exactly a stalker must you ask?

Stalkers are people who for some reason are plagued with the fear of abandonment. Many of times they have a personality disorder.

 The most common personality disorders for them are borderline personality, narcissistic personality, avoidant personality, and obsessive compulsive personality.

If you break up with them, until that time comes on quickly enough, it is then and only then that you begin to learn the truth about their stealthy habit.

They will continue to call you and ask for dates long after the relationship has ended.

Ignoring them does absolutely no good. Why do they continue to chase you long after you have broken up with them? Well they are in denial. They feel oft times betrayed and are doing it out of spiteful anger.

While you were dating them, they portrayed some upsetting characteristics bordering on eccentric.

 They may have tried to do a number of things to you without your consent, for instance. That is a turn off. The negativity of their way of acting is an incredible turn off.

 They seem as though they wallow in sorrow all the time. Nobody wants to be around a stalker.

 Stalkers need help and are very toxic. If you are involved with a stalker, don't just pretend they are not there. Seek help for them if nothing else transpires.

 As they can become more dangerous as time goes on. It's important they get to a health center where they will receive an evaluation and medication if necessary.

Another Case of Excessive Force Used Against a Black Female Student

By Lynn A. Granata

Yesterday at Spring Valley High, in Columbia, SC what appears to be an innocent young woman was brutally assaulted by a school resource officer. It was portrayed on a video that went viral.

Resource officers are public law enforcement employees. Technically they are police officers,  except with specialized training in psychology and liberal arts or social work. They are there to serve and protect our high school students.

Ever since the violence in public schools has escalated in recent years, and most particularly after the Sandy Hook tragedy resource officers were created to help quell potentially troubled students from acting out.

The young woman, only a teenager was sitting at her desk, but was asked to leave the classroom.

She had no reason to leave, at least from my research, I couldn't find any. Save for she may have been using her cell phone during a class.

Using a cell phone is a minor issue if not an issue at all. And that shouldn't have been no reason to yank her out of her chair and throw her across a room and against a wall.

What is happening in our country today? People are getting arrested, beat up, subdued and jailed for no reason.

The 14th Amendment to the US Constitution is supposed to protect the people from unreasonable searches and seizures.

Police officers can't arrest without a warrant issued by a judge.

This scene speaks for itself

This has been happening more than once within the past year.

Back in July, another young black woman was asked to pull over on side of the road in Texas.

Sandra Bland being dragged from her car in Texas July 2015

She was brutalized by a police officer and arrested without probable cause. She died in her jail cell from suicide. Sounded quite questionable, she was not depressed.

What's happening is that these resource officers are flying too far off of the handle. They are power drunk, obsessed with the thrill they get from using excessive force upon those that they see as weaker.

What should change is that resource officers should only be called when truly needed (crisis) on a campus of a high school or college.

Otherwise they are standing or sitting around looking for something to do. They are bored and virtually not needed in our schools.

If they haven't got nothing to do while they are on duty; they figure that it's okay to go look for trouble elsewhere.

Poverty and Loss of Family Values is why Crime has Risen

By Lynn A. Granata

Families of today have a lot to think about. It's not very easy. Most families want to raise their children in a stable environment.

The middle class has suffered many set backs in recent years. Recessions, inflation and unemployment have dampened the spirit of many American families.

To add to such trouble is the prolongation of suffering in poverty for a middle class family that has suffered from a major life changing event.

Unemployment is the most common set back for those who live pay check to pay check. One pay check away from being put out on the street haunts most American families who are struggling to make ends meet.

Children who grow up in poverty are at an all time high in growing up to engage in a life of crime than are their wealthier peers.

Single parent homes can't give a child the same amount of attention as two parent homes. Nonetheless, it's the loss of family values that stunts the growth of children growing up in poverty. It's a double edged sword.

Impoverished children get involved with gangs. They are more apt to commit petty crimes, such as stealing and shop lifting. They have no older adults available to supervise them. The loss of family values has caused a generation of misfits to lose respect for authority.

Nowadays, there are no more sit down dinners at suppertime. Parents have to work long hours to get paid a sustainable amount of money to keep their roofs over their heads.

How are kids going to learn family values? Politicians can't come up with good honest answers.

More decent paying jobs need to be created. So that parents will have more time to spend with their children.

Death Penalty Inmates that were Botched Executions

By Lynn A. Granata

Over the last few decades there are literally hundreds of thousands of accumulated condemned inmates awaiting execution on death row.

Clayton D. Lockett from Oklahoma was one of them. He was executed last year in an Oklahoma State Penitentiary. 

But, his execution went horribly wrong.  Because of the state using the wrong cocktail of drugs which all of a sudden, deviated from the norm.

Lockett's death by lethal injection took an hour.  When it ordinarily takes 10 minutes or less.

Lockett apparently wanted to commit suicide because he knew that the state was using cheaper less useful drugs. He feared his own botched execution.

 He tried to starve himself, it was learned. But when the "hangman" came for him in the early hours of April 29, 2014, he refused to comply.  So they tasered him. 

Once Clayton was subdued, it took the paramedics 45 minutes to locate a vein, they tried all areas possible, both his arms, legs, and feet, before they finally settled on the femoral vein in his right groin-Ewww! Lockett's veins were inaccessible. 

He was dehydrated because he hadn't eaten for 48 hours. The scary part is while he was on the gurney.  He convulsed and spoke he tried to get up off of the gurney, even though he was in restraints. He died from a heart attack an hour after he was tinctured with the lethal concoction. 

Also, in Ohio there were several death row inmates who took longer than usual because of the different mixture of lethal drugs. 

Later on it was discovered that the prison was getting these drugs from prison doctor's who made them up themselves.  Before the drugs were imported from Europe. Europe, however, discontinued making them and shipping them to American Penitentiaries. In Europe, drug manufacturers and pharmacies are growing increasingly against the death penalty.

Death by lethal injection is legal in 38 states.  But, the drugs now have been banned until further notice. Executions have been suspended until they can find another way to supply the proper drugs again. The death penalty to me personally is Barbaric, and I don't believe in it.

The Rise and Fall of the Institution of Mental Health Across America

By Lynn A. Granata

An institution for mental health was located in every single state in the union, going back 50 -100 years ago.

These huge fortresses once housed the criminally insane. Despite that, they also were used to warehouse many unfairly committed members of a civilized society.

It's not like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. In fact the movie is a laughing stock almost Disney Land compared to the reality of what an insane asylum truly was like inside and alas outside it's looming walls.

Long ago, sanitariums or asylums were known as snake pits. Because of the number of such unspeakable atrocities going on inside them.

ECT and insulin shock therapy and then later came the short lived lobotomy or psycho surgery. It wasn't until the early 1950's until drug therapy came to save the day.

Thorazine arrived and when it did, the need for long-term mental health treatment was changed forever.

The 1960's and the Civil Rights Movement came then the deinstitutionalisation of mental health hospitals started to gradually take place. Just a pointer, don't believe that President Ronald Reagan did it, either.

The gradual closings of large public mental hospitals started soon after Thorazine was discovered. President Reagan's idea wasn't until a good 30 years later.

President Reagan ended federal funding to the states to help stop public mental hospitals from abuse. States were then unable to sustain them on taxpayer dollars alone. As a result they closed and many of these dinosaur brick asylums were left abandoned completely. Leaving so many vacant buildings to become dangerous to children who played within their horrid walls and Kirkbride style underground tunnels.

An abandoned Kirkbride style tunnel.

As a result the very last of them had shut down and were boarded up by the time President Reagan took office. These were expensive entities and were no longer sustainable.

An abandoned mental hospital.

In favor of community mental health centers the public asylums ended. Taxpayers were spared the burden of funding these long gone houses of Barbary. Advocates for the rights of the mentally ill had won a long standing battle.

An abandoned American asylum with the entrance to it's tunnel.

Today, unfortunately there are some remaining homeless individuals that were affected by the deinstitutionalisation movement. However, there are now better places they can go for humane treatment without risking losing their civil liberties, such as the outpatient community mental health centers, homeless shelters, and soup kitchens.

What to Look for in a Sex Offender

By Lynn A. Granata

             Sex Offenders throughout history have been stereotyped as fat, bald, dirty old men who hang around in parks looking for unsuspecting innocent children to bait.

             Truth be told, it's difficult to determine who's a sex offender from who isn't. Sex offenders can blend in with the rest of society quite suavely. There are 3 levels of sex offenders. Level 1 sex offenders are the least dangerous. They are usually hypothetically an 18 year old boy who dates his 15 year old next door neighbor. It only takes one date before he becomes aroused and she reports him for sexual assault. He gets charged with statutory rape. A lot of statutory rape cases are never reported, just to keep that in mind.

              Level 2 offenders are more daring and don't always stay within their own demographics. They are the stalkers who when you tell him you don't want to see him anymore, he doesn't take no for an answer. Level 2 sex offenders don't bother strangers, but they may target members of their own family. Usually second degree relatives for example they'll sexually molest a stepchild or a niece or nephew.

              Finally the most dangerous of all the level 3 sex offender is the one who will charm random strangers. They are the ones who are most likely to get involved in online dating sites. They use their charm to lure in vulnerable victims.

             What causes a sex predator to act out you may wonder? If they see say a small child at a playground and that child is alone, then they feel that it’s an opportune time to act, but keep in mind that they kindly lure their unsuspecting victims. Rather than just “grab” them and whisk them away.  It’s always best to make sure that your child is never alone and is either always accompanied by you or with an older responsible person. Sexual offenders tend to gravitate toward vulnerable people, especially those who are less likely to be reported missing.

            Please use this information as a guide only. It is not intended to give out legal advice. Nor is it designed to provoke anxiety. It is used solely for entertainment purposes only.  If you ever feel your life is endangered; please call your local police and emergency services by dialing 911 immediately.

50 Years Since the Brutal Torture Murder of Sylvia Likens

Fifty Years Since the True Torture Murder of Sylvia Likens

By Lynn A. Granata

    Back in the summer of 1965, a pretty 16 year old girl and her 15 year old sister were invited to stay with Indiana's infamous Gertrude Baniszewski.

      On approximately July 3, 1965,  the two young ladies had just met two of Gertrude's small daughters. The girls were invited by Marie Baniszewski and Shirley Baniszewski to go to their house in Indianapolis and meet their older sister, Paula. Sylvia Likens and Jenny Likens originally met the Baniszewski's in church. And rode the church bus home on this particular day.

        After they went to their house, the two girls then decided to stay because their carnie parents had no place to leave them for the summer, while they were touring with the carnival. Mr. Likens agreed to pay Gertrude $20 a week to board his two daughters at the Baniszewski's.

       In the beginning of this arrangement, Paula Baniszewski was friendly with Sylvia and Jenny. A few week's later, Gertrude's check didn't arrive in the mail. When the 2 girls got home from school that day, Gertrude forced the two girls to go downstairs to the basement. The two girls were both whipped with a belt, Gertrude was angry because her $20 check was late.

       As time went by, the scapegoated violence toward Sylvia escalated. Her sister Jenny was spared because she coercively agreed with the Baniszewski family to take part in Sylvia's abuse. Sylvia its been speculated took this abuse for both herself and her younger sister who was also afflicted with polio.

        If you're wondering why this all happened in the first place, there's more than one answer.  The answers of course are unjustified, but to the Baniszewski's however, they were. No matter how wrong it was.

       Sylvia it's believed was spreading gossip around the high school that the children attended. It was speculated that she told everyone in her class that Paula and Stephanie Baniszewski were sluts.

      Sylvia was beaten and battered with a vast array of housing items. She was constantly beaten with broom sticks and burned by cigarettes, branded with a hot poker, starved,and sexually molested with a coke bottle.

    The suspects were Gertrude and her 7 children and their friends. Since this is such a long story, to make it short Sylvia was put in the basement, starved, was given scalding baths, she was forced to eat her own vomit.

   She eventually succumbed to such brutal trauma that was inflicted on her and then died a painful death from her injuries in October 1965.

        The Baniszewski family was charged with murder. The children plea bargained and most of them served out their time in juvenile detention centers or were placed into foster care.

       Gertrude was sentenced to prison for life, but then because of good behavior her sentence was reduced to 20 years in prison. She was released from Indiana State Prison in 1985 and she served the rest of her time on parole. She moved to Iowa, changed her name, and she died in the summer of 1990 at the age of 62. She developed lung cancer from years of excessive chain smoking.

    It was a cruel shocking crime, and it was true! To see the whole story, watch  An American Crime. It stars Katherine Keener as Gertrude and Ellen Page as Sylvia.

Clayton D. Lockett

Bad Seed or Bad Start?

By Lynn A. Granata

     Whenever a death penalty execution by our criminal justice system occurs the media goes on an immediate frenzy.

        On April 29, 2014 an angry young man, Clayton D. Lockett was executed by a botched lethal injection in an Oklahoma penitentiary.

        He started his life on the wrong foot. His mother abandoned him when he was three years old, and his father forced him into a life of crime and violence.

         In fact, both of his parents were drug addicted degenerates. At some point in his young life, his drug afflicted father, with which whom he lived with as a child remarried.

      Lockett never had any say in the matter just like with every other malevolent eventful turn of unfortunate circumstances. A wicked stepmother, so what difference does it make? Lockett may have been born bad, but what other way else can you say or rephrase this fact? You can also say he was born into a life where he never had a chance.

     Okay, but that's no excuse for the brutal rape, robbery, torture and murder of Stephanie Neiman, he committed back in 1999.

     What motivated him to do such evil? He was angry because Neiman represented everything in life that Lockett wanted, felt he should have had and hated her because of it. He was consumed by anger and malevolent jealously, a bad combination.

     Why was he ever born in the first place? He was unwanted. What was his biological mother thinking? She abused him and threw him away.

      What chance does anybody have in life when the cards are clearly stacked against you? No one around to teach this "boy" right from wrong.

     Maybe we ought to set more laws for parents. Parents who are unfit should not be allowed to bear children. But that would be a moot point to ponder. His mother was given free will. There's no reproduction law, aside from legalized abortion, that states that you can't have children.

      Again, free will is what God has given us. If his mother didn't understand the meaning of free will, she would never be able to teach the concept of it to her son.

      You can say anything you want about Clayton D. Lockett. He was evil, he was a monster, he got what he deserved, etc. Let the truth be told he just never had a chance, period.