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Most recently published stories in Criminal.

A Silhouette's Deception
He emerged from the obscurity of the alleyway, an unlit cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Freddie had never been one for smoking. He always found himself coughing too much, but he liked the way it looked. Lifting his head up, he saw that the moon was crescent shaped. It was his favourite moon because of its dagger-like features.
By Morgan Georgia Blanks8 years ago in Criminal
CSI
It is difficult to find a coherent and reasonable definition for crime scene investigation. However, Marilyn T. Miller, a tenured, associate professor in the Department of Forensic Science at Virginia Commonwealth University, vividly describes crime scene investigation in the second edition of the book Forensic Science: An Introduction to Scientific and Investigative Techniques published in 2005, which features her significant collaboration as the beginning point for the successful use of physical evidence by the forensic laboratory and the criminal investigator. Other connoisseurs of this field, such as Nicola Lacey, agree with this definition. As she states on her book A Reader on Criminal Justice, which is part of the series Oxford Readings in Socio-legal Studies, defining this concept might seem relatively easy, yet a simple definition instantaneously raises several important interrogatives. These questions are mostly related to how crime scenes and criminal justice are affiliated. Furthermore, it raises questions that focus on the discretion of the criminal justice system, as well as the veracity of the work done during crime scene investigations. It is worth noting the fact that all these questions are the result of the lack of information related to this field. Our society does not understand how the crime scene investigation team works, and as we all know, individuals tend to question the things that are unknown to them.
By Luz Delia Caraballo8 years ago in Criminal
Overcoming Fear: Personal Impressions of Plagues and Poisonings
It sounds bleak, but let's face it: There are so many ways to die. It can require mental skill and determination to not be afraid. One of the ways one could go? Death by poison. It's one of the oldest tricks in the book, actually.
By Wade Wainio8 years ago in Criminal
Women Are Too Weak to Serve Sentences in Prison
I must watch too much TV these days, but let's be honest, that's where most of the bullshit is flooding us from, and I need something to write and get angry about because it makes me forget how miserable my life is. Alas, to be a Millennial is bliss!
By Maura Dudas8 years ago in Criminal
Top True Crime Podcasts of 2018
Our fascination with true crime in unmatched. Cold cases, serial killers, unjust sentences—the world of true crime is no longer limited to daytime TV. And podcasts lend themselves perfectly to the telling of true crime tales—over the course of a season, they can get in-depth about intense, confusing, and shocking cases, or give you the highlights in a one-case-per-episode manner. However you prefer, podcasts are changing the game when it comes to true crime. And it's not just a matter of telling the stories: in many of these podcasts, the team does their own investigation, presents their own findings, and gives you the opportunity to interpret the evidence right along with them, just as the police, detective, even FBI have done already. Here are the best true crime podcasts of 2018.
By Nicola P. Young8 years ago in Criminal
11 Things You Might Not Know About Don Pablo Escobar Gaviria
Don Pablo Escobar was known as the "King of Cocaine" during the 1980s. He had an empire that had eyes and ears everywhere. Polices officers, judges, lawyers, media officials, and even random citizens known as "spotters" were all paid by Escobar to ensure that his every need was met. Although he was highly respected and feared, he was a family man dedicated to his own. He was compassionate about helping his home country prosper and often spent time helping the poor.
By Kristin Wilson8 years ago in Criminal
Best Investigative Journalism Books. Top Story - July 2018.
Just like investigative podcasts, the greatest investigative journalism books of all time have several things in common. For one thing, the stories pull you in and refuse to let you go until you learn the truth. For another, they expose secrets that most people would never imagine. How many of these true crime books have a place on your reading list?
By Carolena Trissel8 years ago in Criminal
Michigan's Missing: Five Unsolved Disappearances From the Mitten State
Every day, we go about our business, not spending much time thinking about what it would be like to vanish off the face of the earth. These missing persons probably never entertained those thoughts, either, as they went about their lives in the Midwestern state of Michigan.
By Jen Chichester8 years ago in Criminal
Five Famous Necrophiles
The subject of necrophilia is one that is near and dear to my sordid spirit; there is something in the obsessive love for an idealized (albeit dead) paramour that strikes us as the very height of deeply touching romantic love. We have written not one, but TWO small books (our novel Buried, as well as The Men Who Loved the Dead, an unpublished monograph on the subject.) about romantic necrophilia; "romantic necrophilia" as distinguished from "opportunistic necrophilia," or one of the other classifications given by Dr. Anil Aggrawal in his excellent text Necrophilia: Medico-Legal and Forensic Aspects. (Which, when I borrowed it through Interlibrary Loan, no doubt left the library staff even more leery of me than they previously had been.) Necrophilia is a practice both odious and morbidly fascinating at the same stroke; mix in the idea of someone who simply cannot let go of their loved one at their passing; who will steal the body, painstakingly preserve it as it decays, build to it a shrine, speak for it, breathe for it, imbue it with a reanimated existence (in their psychopathic brain scape, of course) and you have the makings for a never ending slew of morbid gothic potboilers. The practice was known in the ancient world. Greek tyrant Periander, Herod the Tetrarch (who had his wife Mariamne "preserved" in honey, where after he made love to her until the remains passed the point of being detestable) and other ancient world grotesques indulged in it. For our purposes, we will recount a small list of some of our personal faves. So, without further adieu, let us recount the Wretched Romances of the Rotten, as we present for your edification and delectation, "Five Famous Necrophiles of Morgueland." (All men recounted here, but the curious should also not discount the contributions made by such female necro- pioneers as Joan of Castile and Karen Greenlee. No chauvinists we.)
By Tom Baker8 years ago in Criminal
Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm?
The scene sets in Hagley Woods, Worcestershire in the UK; where World War II was still in uproar, four young local boys were out in the woods when they discovered a human skull inside a hollow tree trunk. The boys were out to poach, and found something that would haunt them forever. This sparked fear within the young boys and they made a pact to never talk about what they found; which is later broken after one of the young boys (Tommy Willets) had told his father.
By Jodie harris8 years ago in Criminal
Top Investigative Journalists of All Time
Without journalism, there is no first amendment, and investigative journalists are especially crucial to not only free speech but also truth in investigative reporting. These reporters expose corruption, crimes, and human rights violations, among many other scandals. It's why we love investigative podcasts. They belong to media outlets in every genre, and they spend months, if not years, digging deep to uncover lies, cover-ups, and buried skeletons—sometimes literally. Pay homage to these brave, intrepid explorers of the truth, whether it's a local news reporter or a member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
By Patty Ramsen8 years ago in Criminal
Chance Encounters
Randall knew he was never a lucky guy, if there existed such a thing as luck. He felt as though the subway doors always closed right before he stepped on, felt some other pedestrian always snagged his taxis just before he could wave it in, and felt every pretty girl in New York which he could summon the courage to talk was always taken. But today, today he found a scrap of luck in the form of an abandoned cellphone on the sidewalk.
By James Loss8 years ago in Criminal