J.J. Slate's Blog, page 3
March 17, 2015
Since everyone is talking about Robert Durst…
Since everyone is talking about Robert Durst, I thought I’d throw my two cents into the mix. I’ve been following the Durst case for years. I even wrote about his missing wife, Kathie, and the decades that followed in which his family and friends began to suspect that he had something to do with her 1982 disappearance. You can read about Kathie and Robert’s case, along with the cases of twenty-nine other missing women, in my book, Missing Wives, Missing Lives. When Robert’s longtime companion, Susan Berman, was shot execution style in her Los Angeles home in 2000, and then his Galveston, Texas neighbor turned up dismembered in 2001, the coincidences became too large to ignore. I think it’s clear to most people who have followed the case for decades that Mr. Durst has been a murderer walking free for years. If it wasn’t, the HBO documentary, “The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst” has made it abundantly clear.
Over the weekend, Robert Durst was arrested in New Orleans for the first-degree murder of his friend, Susan Berman, in 2000. Producers of the riveting HBO documentary uncovered a letter written on Robert’s letterhead to Susan a few years before her murder. The handwriting on the envelope it came in looks to be a pretty close match to the same letter anonymously mailed to the LAPD the same day of Susan’s murder, letting them know a cadaver could be found in her residence. Just exactly how the LAPD missed this crucial piece of evidence is beyond me, as it appeared to have been tucked away in Susan’s belongings in her residence before the murder and must have been boxed up by someone. Additionally, at the end of the last episode of the documentary, Robert Durst, seemingly unaware of his microphone still attached to him, mutters a series of damning sentences to himself while in the bathroom. After just having been shown the handwriting evidence, he utters, “There it is, you’re caught,” and “What did I do? Killed them all, of course.” I have to admit, the finale was as shocking as it could get and I practically fell out of my seat when I heard those words come out of his mouth. Yet, I wonder how it will hold up in court? Will this audio even be allowed into the courtroom? It’s tough to say. I’m certainly not a lawyer, but I’ve seen crucial evidence tossed from trials for the most random reasons. And besides the handwriting analysis, it doesn’t look like there is much more new evidence that has been uncovered. Although, I know some people have been convicted of murder for much less. Even if the audio and the handwriting analysis is admitted into court, will it be enough to convict?
Clearly, I believe Durst is guilty. I would not have included Kathie’s story in my book if I didn’t. But I really hope the LAPD has another tidbit of evidence in their back pocket. Otherwise, I’m not so sure what we’ve learned about the case in the past few weeks really amounts to a conviction. I hope I’m wrong. What do you think? Is it enough?
February 15, 2015
Congratulations to the winners of our Valentine’s Day Giveaway!
Thank you to everyone who took part in our Valentine’s Day Giveaway! This was a massive contents with twenty different prizes from some really terrific true crime authors. I’ve listed the winners below. If your name is on the list, please contact the author of your prize! For those of you who won autographed copies of Missing Lives, Missing Wives, if you already own it, feel free to request another one of my books as a prize!
Congrats, everyone! And don’t forget to visit my Facebook page! I’m running a giveaway for the rest of the month of February to support the upcoming release of my new book, Till Death Do Us Part: A Collection of Newlywed Murder Cases
. Winners are chosen every weekday until my release date!
-JJ
1. KINDLE HD WITH LEATHER CASE …. from RJ Parker Publishing, Inc., WildBlue Press Author Steve Jackson , Kelly Banaski, and JJ Slate
WINNER IS: Marlene Fabregas
2. Autographed copies of A Descent into Hell and Deliver Us From Kathryn Casey
WINNER IS: Allison Lindley allison@amomknowsbest.com
3. Autographed copy of Missing Wives, Missing Lives from Jennifer J. Slate
WINNER IS: Lee Knieper Husemann
4. Autographed copies of Parents Who Killed Their Children and Serial Killer Groupies from RJ Parker
WINNER IS: Becky Coulter
5. Autographed copy of The Vampire Next Door : The True Story of the Vampire Rapist from JT Hunter
WINNER IS: Darlene Lamb-McCann Gerbery
6. Autographed copy of Bloody Lies: A CSI Scandal in the Heartland from John Ferak
WINNER IS: Nancy Jo Poole Smith-Babbitt
7. Autographed copy of Why We Love Serial Killers from Scott Bonn
WINNER IS: Kevin Fielder
8. Autographed copy of Why We Love Serial Killers from Scott Bonn
WINNER IS: Mary Russell
9. Autographed copy of Missing Wives, Missing Lives from JJ Slate
WINNER IS: JoAnn Arden M Brown
10. Autographed copy of Serial Killer Culture DVD from John Borowski Filmmaker
WINNER IS: Tiffney McKnight
11. Autographed copies of Killer Nurse and a free audio book of Code of Deceit from John Foxjohn
WINNER IS: Paul Stanbrook
12. Audiobook copy of DOC by Jack Olsen from Gregg Olsen
WINNER IS: Angela Jones
13. eBook copy of Moonlight Murder on Lovers Lane from Katherine Ramsland
WINNER IS: Tim Feely
14. eBook copy of Vampire The Richard Chase Murders from Kevin Kevin M. Sullivan
WINNER IS: Susan Barclay
15. eBook copy of Vampire The Richard Chase Murders from Kevin Sullivan
WINNER IS: Johnna Whetstone
16. Autographed copy of Bogeyman from Steve Jackson
WINNER IS: Krys Watkins
17. eBook copies of The Cold Blooded Trilogy from Bernard Lee DeLeo
WINNER IS: Lorie Matteson
18. eBook copies of The Bill Dix Detective Trilogy from Chris Swinney
WINNER IS: Michellle Rhoden polegod1@hotmail.com
19. $20 Amazon Gift Card from Crime Cove Book Reviews and Aeternum Designs
WINNER IS: Angie Harshbarger angieharshbarger@gmail.com
20. $20 Amazon Gift Card from Hartwell Editing
WINNER IS: Sheri Harris
February 3, 2015
Who likes chocolate?
Hi everyone! I’m excited to announce a fun little giveaway I’ll be running throughout the entire month of February. Each Friday this month, I’ll select one person who has pre-ordered the eBook of TILL DEATH DO US PART and signed up for my Thunderclap campaign to receive and autographed copy of the paperback when it releases, as well as some delicious chocolate to stuff in your face while you read it. Because I can’t be the only person who likes to eat chocolate when I read!
Here’s how to enter:
Step 1: Pre-order the eBook of Till Death Do Us Part here
. Right now, it’s only $2.99! If you pre-order now and the price goes up before the release date (and it will), you are locked into that low rate. PLUS, you don’t get charged until it releases on February 28!
Step 2: Support my Thunderclap campaign here. What is a Thunderclap campaign you ask? It’s actually really neat. I created a little ad about my book that will blast out to all my social media accounts on the day before the release. All you need to do is sign in with a Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr account and pledge your support. By doing this, you are allowing my ad to create a one-time post to your social media account. This greatly increases the reach of my ad, allowing not only just my followers and supporters to see it, but also your friends, too. I need to get to 100 supporters for this to work, so please sign up to help me get there!
Finally, just because I love you so much, I’ll be sending out a bunch of chocolates to random fans and supporters all month. So look for a DM from me!
January 21, 2015
Round-up: Pre-orders and lots of giveaways!
Hi there! I feel like we have so many incredible things happening right now, I needed to gather them all together in one post. First, I currently have TWO books available for pre-order right now!
First up: Till Death Do Us Part: A Collection of Newlywed Murder Cases
We have slashed the eBook price on this to $2.99 for a limited time, so now is the time to pre-order it. Did you know if you order it now you are not charged until it is released (February 28) and even if the price goes back up before then, you lock in this low price? It’s true! And if the price drops before release day, you are charged the lowest price. Same with paperbacks!
If you can’t pre-order now, please help me spread the word about it! I’ve created a Thunderclap campaign, which you can access here: http://thndr.it/1DYishS. What is a Thunderclap campaign? It’s a really cool marketing tool. Basically, by adding your support, you agree to let Thunderclap post my little ad about my book to your Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr page on the date I have picked out. I set mine up to post the day before it is released. Every person who supports my campaign is essentially increasing my social media reach about the book, since not just my friends and followers will see it, but also your friends and followers, too!
I will also have some fun giveaways and prizes I will be announcing the first week of February. Anyone who pre-orders the book or supports my Thunderclap campaign is automatically entered to win some fun stuff! If you’ve already done one or both of these things, you are already in the drawing. I’ll be picking winners each week in February, so please stay tuned!
Next: Backseat Tragedies: Hot Car Deaths
I’m really excited about this book I co-wrote with bestselling author RJ Parker. I think it touches upon a social issue that everyone thinks about but no one has written about before. Why has the rate of hot car deaths across the country increased so dramatically in the past few decades? And what can we do to prevent these types of deaths? We’ve also slashed the eBook price on this one to $2.99 for a very limited time, so now is the time to pre-order!
PLUS: Everyone who pre-orders this book is automatically entered to win a $100 Amazon Gift Card from RJ Parker! Just think of all the books you could buy with that! Check out his post below.
Post by RJ Parker Publishing, Inc.
Finally: Have you entered our Valentine’s Day Giveaway yet? This contest goes until February 14th, and there were will be TWENTY lucky winners! Prizes include autographed true crime books from a number of terrific, bestselling authors, eBooks, $20 Amazon Gift Cards, AND one lucky grand prize winner will win a Kindle HD!
January 15, 2015
“Till Death Do Us Part” cover reveal!
2014 was an incredible year for me. I published two books with RJ Parker Publishing, Inc., both of which have done phenomenally well, spending several weeks each in #1 spots on Amazon. I’ve met a huge amount of fans who share my passions and have encouraged me to keep writing about what I love. My publisher and mentor, bestselling true crime author RJ Parker, has given me free rein to explore the topics that interest me and because of that, I have a real shot at writing true crime for a living. I am so very excited to present the cover of my latest book, Till Death Do Us Part: A Collection of Newlywed Murder Cases. (By the way, how gorgeous is this cover? Thank you to Katherine McCarthy at Aeternum Designs for this work of art!)
And before I get into the blurb, have you entered our Valentine’s Day giveaway? Check it out by clicking here!
***
Till Death Do Us Part: A Collection of Newlywed Murder Cases
Publishing 2/28/2015
Studies have shown that marriages typically thrive the most in the months after the wedding, a period known as “the honeymoon period.”
Not these marriages.
Spousal murder is never acceptable, but newlywed murder seems to be on a completely different level. It is unconscionable to think someone could stand in front of his family and friends, pledging to honor and cherish another person for the rest of his life, and then kill his spouse in cold blood just months, weeks, or even days later. It happens more than you’d think—and, contrary to popular belief, it’s not always the husband who acts as the aggressor.
In her third true crime book, bestselling author JJ Slate examines more than twenty true stories of newlywed murders, delving into the past of the victims and aggressors, searching for answers to the question everyone is asking: How does this sort of thing happen? These shocking cases of betrayal and murder might just make you think differently about those five sacred words, “till death do us part.”
January 6, 2015
Win a Kindle HD! A Valentine’s Day Giveaway for those winter blues!
Have you missed me? Please excuse my lack of blogging these days. I’ve been hard at work on my next book! I’m so excited to finish it up and release it! I’ll have an announcement to share with you all soon.
In the meantime, we’ve made it through the New Year and we’re knee deep in the most depressing time of year: Winter. I don’t know about you, but I always get the winter blues in the months before Spring. Maybe it’s because I have lived in New England my whole life? So let’s brighten things up a bit, shall we? Check out this Valentine’s Day Giveaway I am co-hosting with RJ Parker and several other incredible true crime authors! There are 20 awesome prizes–including a KINDLE HD! Good luck!
1. KINDLE HD WITH LEATHER CASE …. from RJ Parker Publishing, Steve Jackson (Wild Blue Press), Kelly Banaski (Women Condemned) and JJ Slate (that’s me!)
2. Autographed copies of A Descent into Hell and Deliver Us From Kaitryn Casey
3. Autographed copy of Missing Wives, Missing Lives from JJ Slate
4. Autographed copies of Parents Who Killed Their Children and Serial Killer Groupies from RJ Parker
5. Autographed copy of The Vampire Next Door : The True Story of the Vampire Rapist from JT Hunter
6. Autographed copy of Bloody Lies: A CSI Scandal in the Heartland from John Ferak
7. Autographed copy of Why We Love Serial Killers from Scott Bonn
8. Autographed copy of Why We Love Serial Killers from Scott Bonn
9. Autographed copy of Missing Wives, Missing Lives from JJ Slate
10. Autographed copy of Serial Killer Culture DVD from John Borowski
11. Autographed copies of Killer Nurse and a free audio book of Code of Deceit from John Foxjohn
12. Audiobook copy of DOC by Jack Olsen from Gregg Olsen
13. eBook copy of Moonlight Murder on Lovers Lane from Katherine Ramsland
14. eBook copy of Vampire: The Richard Chase Murders from Kevin Sullivan
15. eBook copy of Vampire: The Richard Chase Murders from Kevin Sullivan
16. Autographed copy of Bogeyman from Steve Jackson
17. eBook copies of the Cold Blooded Trilogy from Bernard Lee DeLeo
18. eBook copies of The Bill Dix Detective Trilogy from Chris Swinney
19. $20 Amazon Gift Card from The Crime Cove Book Reviews
20. $20 Amazon Gift Card from Hartwell Editing
October 15, 2014
Thanks to Jim Harold!
Thank you, Jim Harold, for having me on your podcast, Crime Scene! We talk about Social Media Monsters: Internet Killers
and Missing Wives, Missing Lives on this episode!
Check out other terrific interviews by Jim on his site: http://jimharold.com/ and join his Paranormal Plus Club here: http://jimharold.net/!
September 17, 2014
Who are you really talking to online? Social Media Monsters releases tomorrow!
Who is really on the other end of that Facebook friend request, or behind that dating profile, or posting that item for sale on Craigslist? How can you be safe if you plan to meet up with a stranger you met online? What precautions should you take? Tomorrow, RJ Parker and I are releasing our new book, Social Media Monsters: Internet Killers. You can order it now here. In this book, we have detailed more than thirty chilling true stories of killers that have used the internet to locate, stalk, lure, or exploit their victims. Facebook, Craigslist, MySpace, chat rooms, dating sites–it doesn’t matter where you are online; killers are lurking in the shadows. They lurk in suicide chat rooms, search for escorts on Craigslist, and create fake social media profiles to fool and gain the trust of their victims. Someone you have been talking to for months or even years could be a completely different person from what you envisioned.
Not only do we detail these terrifying stories of killers that use social media to find or exploit their victims, but we discuss how law enforcement is now using social media to track and prosecute criminals, and we also provide some terrific tips on internet safety for people of all ages. Learn how to protect yourself from online predators–and spread the knowledge!
September 16, 2014
Thank you, The Charley Project!
Thank you so much to Meaghan from The Charley Project for this glowing review of Missing Wives, Missing Lives. If you have never visited The Charley Project, now is the time to do it–the site is a HUGE collection of missing persons cases that have gone cold and are often forgotten by mainstream media. I am a longtime fan of the site and believe Meaghan has done an incredible job at keeping the site up-to-date and offering that extra publicity for families of missing loved ones. It’s definitely worth taking a look at!
http://charleyross.wordpress.com/2014/09/15/missing-wives-missing-lives/
July 27, 2014
Establishing a link between John Bittrolff and the Long Island Serial Killer
It bothers me that police have been so quick to dismiss any connections between John Bittrolff, the man arrested earlier this week for two cold case murders in the 90s, and the Long Island Serial Killer. Maybe they are just taking their time to piece together a strong case against him. Or maybe they do have some sort of evidence that clearly proves he’s not the killer and they are keeping it from the public so as not to compromise the case. In my last post, I noted that Suffolk County DA Thomas Spota told the media this week, “There is no evidentiary or investigative link between these two murders and any of the Gilgo victims. The evidence recovered from Tangredi and McNamee, the manner in which their bodies were found and the crime scenes are unique to them and distinctly different from the Gilgo crime scenes.” This may be true, but there is a rather large connection that the police are failing to bring up, mainly that torsos from two of the LISK victims were recovered in the Manorville pine barrens, a mere three miles from where Bittrolff lived.
Let’s journey back before anyone ever knew a serial killer was leaving bodies around the beaches of Long Island. In November of 2000, a decomposing body of a woman was discovered in garbage bags in a wooded area off Halsey Manor Road in Manorville, NY. She was approximately 5’2″ and between the ages of 18 and 35. Her identity remains unknown. Her head and her hands were missing.
In 2003, another female body was found in the Manorville pine barrens. She too was found headless, with no hands, but police were able to determine her identity–she was a twenty-year-old woman named Jessica Taylor who had been working as a prositute. On her lower right back, she had a tattoo that appeared to have been mutilated, possibly to discourage identification of the body. It said, ‘Remy’s girl.’ Police later announced that ‘Remy’ was a friend of Jessica’s, but they refused to release any additional information about him.
Then, in March and April of 2011, while looking for more remains in the Gilgo Beach area, police discovered the heads and hands of both Jessica Taylor and the unknown female (now dubbed Jane Doe #6) from the Manorville crime scenes. While these two victims were disposed of differently from the other eight victims, they were found in such close proximity of a number of the other victims, and so were included in the count of ten LISK victims. And they have a distinct link to Manorville.
In addition, the third victim police are trying to link Bittrolff to, Sandra Costilla, who was found in North Sea in December of 1993, was posed in a similar manner to the other two victims that are linked to his DNA, but unlike those two victims, there are reports that her body was mutilated in some manner after her death. If they are able to link Bittrolff to Costilla’s murder, they then have a killer in custody who mutilates some of his victims, but not all–a killer whose MO changes from victim to victim.
While police can tell the media that the crime scenes are unique and the evidence collected from the victims doesn’t suggest a link, it seems to me the Manorville connection, the fact that all of the identified victims were prostitutes (or living similar lifestyles), and the fact that a number of the bodies were mutilated or dismembered in some way are three extremely BIG links. In addition to Jessica Taylor and Jane Doe #6, four other victims were found in the Manorville area between the years of 2000 and 2012 (two more females and two males). In all, there are a total of seventeen bodies possibly linked here–four men, twelve women, and one toddler.
If Bittrolff has been killing for over twenty years, I think it’s likely his methods of killing and disposal of the bodies could have evolved over time. I don’t believe comparing the crime scenes and the manner in which the bodies were discarded is terribly important when you are dealing with someone who started killing in his twenties and has since grown into a middle-aged man. Just some food for thought.
Interested in reading more about the Long Island Serial Killer? Check out RJ Parker’s Serial Killers Abridged, which published May 31, 2014. I wrote the 101st case file in the book, highlighting the details of this particular case.
