Off-Topic -- more Coincidences #5

[Fishface]

Here's one. I was just in a meeting and one of the participants was collecting information on my client's sibling to open a case on the sib. When asked for the sibling's birthday, mom said Nov 7th. Wow, I thought, that's the same birthday as Coral Watts. Not a very auspicious day to be born. Then I realized that today is his birthday and the sibling's.

[Fishface]

I was just typing in a crime anniversary that took place in a ceramics shop (8/20) when someone on the radio said that people looking for meaning in their lives ought to consider going into ceramics.

[Fishface]

I just made a joke in a text involving someone breaking into my place with a crowbar to steal my body parts. Then I opened my lunchtime book, Chop Shop, and immediately there's a guy violating a dead body with a crowbar to steal the gold fillings.

[Fishface]

Wow! I'm reading The Soldier's War - The Great War Through Veterans' Eyes and all the while trying to remember the name of that one guy from the anniversary documentary about Jonestown. And I shrugged, decided to watch the disc later and went back to reading. The book is a compilation of letters and diary entries from British soldiers. When I turned the page, the next entry was written by a soldier named Gosney. The Jonestown survivor whose name I was trying to remember? Vern Gosney.

[Fishface]

Here's another! I'm reading Badge 112 and the author just mentioned reading One Tough Cop: The Bo Dietl Story by Bo Dietl. That's the last true-crime book I just finished!!!

[Fishface]

This one is odd. In the section of In Contempt that has the author describing his Huggy Bear outfits from the mid-70s, I started hearing Don Cornelius in my head saying "Soooooul train!" That happens whenever I hear about someone wearing bellbottoms and plantform shoes.

Well, sir, on page 94 the author describes the first time he ever met his future courtroom opponent in the OJ trial, Johnnie Cochran. Cochran was there with his client. DON CORNELIUS FROM 'SOUL TRAIN.'

Regret to inform there are no photos of the author from his Huggy Bear period.

[Koren]

Just a little coincidence. I keep a record of each book I read in a notebook-name, author and how many pages-so I can keep track of how many pages I read per year. The book I just finished, Driven To Kill, was 333 pages. When I went to post a review in the TC section of the Biography group there were 333 posts.

[Lady ♥ Belleza, Gif Princesa]

Over Thanksgiving weekend we had to put one of our cats down. Said cat was called Abby Cat.

Right now on Facebook, I saw a post from one of my friends that she had just adopted a new dog, Abby.

[Fishface]

Lady ♥ Belleza wrote: "Over Thanksgiving weekend we had to put one of our cats down. Said cat was called Abby Cat.

Right now on Facebook, I saw a post from one of my friends that she had just adopted a new dog, Abby."

Abby lives!!!

[Fishface]

In the last TC I read, The Bundy Secrets: Hidden Files on America's Worst Serial Killer, the author outed all Ted's girlfriends, informing me that the true name of the author of The Phantom Prince: My Life with Ted Bundy is Liz Kloepfer. Well, now I'm reading Chop Shop and there's a judge in it named Klopfer.

[Fishface]

I was driving to work today and realized suddenly that I hadn't gotten one of those unwanted calls from the retirement planning company in a while. There were three or more a day for a while there.

Well, guess who just called me again. At least this time I had the pleasure of hanging up on a live person instead of a robot.

[Fishface]

I have just been reading The Trees, a Southern Gothic sort of, I guess, spoof of the Emmett Till murder. Someone is killing off the surviving members of the Milam family who were involved in that murder.

So I put the book aside and looked at social media, and discovered where someone had called me a moron and wished that I would have my head chopped off by angry Muslims. As I reported him and blocked his account, I noticed that his name is Rex...Milam.

[Jenny]

Good lord! Hope your holidays are happy anyway.

[Fishface]

Jenny wrote: "Good lord! Hope your holidays are happy anyway."

Well, I burned one batch of cookies and could not get the other batch to form up into dough, so that went in the garbage. When I asked my nephew to slice the roast beef on Christmas he put the carving knife down when my back was turned, took two forks and shredded it, as if he were making leftover sandwiches. But nobody died of my cooking, so we have that to cling to lol

[Jenny]

Fishface wrote: "Jenny wrote: "Good lord! Hope your holidays are happy anyway."

Well, I burned one batch of cookies and could not get the other batch to form up into dough, so that went in the garbage. When I aske..."

Bwahaha. That nephew would have been a casualty at my house.

[Fishface]

Jenny wrote: "Bwahaha. That nephew would have been a casualty at my house."

Every year one of those kids has thrown a tantrum because, after saying they didn't know what they wanted for Christmas, they didn't get what they wanted. I just refuse to throw gas on that ill-mannered fire lol

[Koren]

Fishface wrote: "Jenny wrote: "Bwahaha. That nephew would have been a casualty at my house."

Every year one of those kids has thrown a tantrum because, after saying they didn't know what they wanted for Christmas,..."

Last year my grandson said he wanted Pokemon cards. Couldn't find any in the stores so I ordered from Amazon. $40 got me two small packages. The other grandson got a radio control car. The first grandson was upset he didn't get anything fun. When I told him those cards were 40$ he said "Grandma, you got took!"

[Fishface]

I was at Reddit and asked one of the true-crime communities about wild coincidences and weird circumstances they've come across. The weirdest so far was the guy who was stationed with Jeff Dahmer and then worked for John Gacy:

https://www.reddit.com/r/serialkiller...

[Lady ♥ Belleza, Gif Princesa]

Fishface wrote: "I was at Reddit and asked one of the true-crime communities about wild coincidences and weird circumstances they've come across. The weirdest so far was the guy who was stationed with Jeff Dahmer a..."

That was a wild ride.

[Fishface]

Lady ♥ Belleza wrote: "Fishface wrote: "I was at Reddit and asked one of the true-crime communities about wild coincidences and weird circumstances they've come across. The weirdest so far was the guy who was stationed w..."

I agree!

[Fishface]

This just happened. Someone at X said Donald Trump was incapable of hiring competent attys and I responded saying he could have had a Dream Team like OJ's if he weren't notorious for stiffing everyone he hires. "Payback's a b!tch, and I love the irony of calling it payback," I said. I posted the response, and saw that immediately above that someone on a movie thread had posted a gif from BRIDE OF CHUCKY with an actress saying "Payback time!"

[Fishface]

Here's one. I'm reading Suddenly Gone: The Terrifying True Story of a Serial Killer's Grisly Kidnapping-Murders of Three Young Women and discovered more about his crimes than I was able to find out from Robert Keller's summaries. One of them was a victim new to me, Hazel Meeker. I looked her up to find out when she died and today is the anniversary. Jan 26th.

[Fishface]

Seconds later, here's another! Yesterday? Monday? I was searching Google for photos of a victim of Samuel Little named Fredonia Smith. Today I'm reading that same book, Suddenly Gone: The Terrifying True Story of a Serial Killer's Grisly Kidnapping-Murders of Three Young Women, and learned that the killer's adoptive mother is named Fredonia. That's not my idea of a common name...

[Fishface]

I just posted an article here on Dan Marburger, a school principal killed by a student with a gun as he tried to protect the other kids. Out of curiosity, I looked up the Brenda Spencer shooting because that school's principal died the same way. Tomorrow, Jan 29th, is the anniversary of Principal Burton Wragg's death.

[Fishface]

Another! In Suddenly Gone: The Terrifying True Story of a Serial Killer's Grisly Kidnapping-Murders of Three Young Women informed me yesterday that the killer saved master keys to everywhere he worked so he could sneak in later to rob apartments. One such key let him into the Apple Creek complex.

Today I started The Amish Wife and quickly learned that the suspect was born in a community called Apple Creek.

[Fishface]

Another! I'm most of the way through The Amish Wife and this book has been one bombshell after another. The latest one is a scene with an acquaintance pounding on the door of one of the last friends Eli Stutzman ever had in his life. The visitor is announcing that Eli was dead. The text says, "It was Wednesday, Jan 31st, 2007."

I looked at my wall calendar to doublecheck. Today is Wednesday, Jan 31st, 2024. Happy anniversary?

[Fishface]

Here is a whole list of Friday the 13th coincidences in a case I am reading about at the moment:

https://www.newspapers.com/article/th...

[Koren]

Almost done reading If You Would Have Told Me by John Stamos. Today is Feb. 3. I read that John married his wife on Feb. 3. Happy Anniversary, John!

[Fishface]

Here's one. Yesterday I started reading both Sharks in the Time of Saviors and The Billionaire Boys Club. In the first few pages of both books, a boy from a chronically-broke family is admitted to an exclusive prep school on scholarship.

[Fishface]

I just saw on my news app a piece about how ratty Ghislaine Maxwell is looking lately. Boo hoo, right? But then I saw this story underneath it:

https://globalnews.ca/news/10312743/q...

It discusses the murder of Guylaine Potvin. Her first name is pronounced the same as Ghislaine Maxwell's, at least on Midwestern TV lol. And her last name is the same as one I had to look up last night online: I was adding Mark Potvin's killing spree to my Book of the Dead.

[Fishface]

I just renewed my license and when it came in the mail, I put the updated one in the frame. I just noticed that the sticky note I have on the frame, with the original issue date of the license, is the same as this year's renewal date -- February 4th. That is also my brother's birthday, and just to tie this into true crime, it's also Hunter Biden's birthday. Isn't a smear campaign aimed at undermining a sitting president illegal? At any rate, Hunter B. is facing charges at the moment.

[Fishface]

So after finishing The Unicorn's Secret: Murder in the Age of Aquarius, about a killer named Ira and nicknamed "the Unicorn," I looked the guy up and learned he had died. Then I turned to my neglected news magazine and saw where a rich playgirl, curiously named Ira, had died. On the facing page there was a piece with the headline "A Unicorn Extinction Event."

[Fishface]

I just wanted to say the name Ivan is everywhere lately. Including on the first page of the book I just opened, Blood Lust.

[Koren]

Read this in a local obituary: Under family members they listed his 23-year-old cat, who by coincidence died the same day he did. I was reminded of a resident at a nursing home I worked at who had a little black dog that his wife would bring to visit him and the dog died the same day he did.

[Fishface]

Koren wrote: "Read this in a local obituary: Under family members they listed his 23-year-old cat, who by coincidence died the same day he did. I was reminded of a resident at a nursing home I worked at who had ..."

!!!

[Fishface]

6 or so hours ago I made a post here in Crime Headlines that included the phrase 'a day late and a dollar short.' I like the phrase partly because I'm the only one I know who uses it.

Well, I was just getting my taxes done and the tax lady said "That would be a day late and a dollar short."

[Koren]

It has happened twice in the last week that I have thought of someone I hadn't seen for a while and then I go to work and they are on the patient schedule. Last week I had a dream I was back at the nursing home I worked at over 20 years ago. Many of the people I worked with (employees, not residents) have passed away. I dreamt I saw two ladies that are both gone now and they waved as they walked by me. A few days later I saw an obit of a woman I thought looked familiar and reading the obit I found out she was the daughter of the woman who waved to me in my dream! I also found out a woman who is a patient where I currently work is her sister. I hadnt seen the sister for several months and sure enough, the next time I worked she was on the schedule to come in that afternoon. She got a kick out of hearing about seeing her mom in my dream.

[Fishface]

Koren wrote: "It has happened twice in the last week that I have thought of someone I hadn't seen for a while and then I go to work and they are on the patient schedule. Last week I had a dream I was back at the..."

Trippy!

[Fishface]

At my job we get families to work with, not individuals, and our new co-worker commented in astonishment at what she found out about her newest family. The mom shares her birthday with my co-worker, and two of the kids in the family share birthdays with two of the co-worker's kids.

[Koren]

I just ordered a book from Amazon called Life Among The Headstones and the final total of the order came to $6.66!

[Fishface]

Koren wrote: "I just ordered a book from Amazon called Life Among The Headstones and the final total of the order came to $6.66!"

Be sure to dress appropriately when reading it!

[Fishface]

Fishface wrote: "I just wanted to say the name Ivan is everywhere lately. Including on the first page of the book I just opened, Blood Lust."

Another book, another Ivan. Just found one 44% into True Crime Case Histories, Books 4, 5, & 6: 36 Disturbing True Crime Stories.

[Koren]

Fishface wrote: "Koren wrote: "I just ordered a book from Amazon called Life Among The Headstones and the final total of the order came to $6.66!"

Be sure to dress appropriately when reading it!

"

Ha ha! Ok! Not sure where to get an outfit like that.

[Fishface]

Koren wrote: "Ha ha! Ok! Not sure where to get an outfit like that..."

As long as you're pretty much clanking with crosses you should be OK lol

[Fishface]

Fishface wrote: "Fishface wrote: "I just wanted to say the name Ivan is everywhere lately. Including on the first page of the book I just opened, Blood Lust."

Another book, another Ivan. Just found ..."

My newsmagazine startled me by featuring a Russian columnist talking about their recent sham election. His name was the same as one of Andrei Chikatilo's child victims: Ivan Fomin. That also means 2 more Ivans for my collection.

[Fishface]

"Fishface wrote: "I just wanted to say the name Ivan is everywhere lately...."


Aaaaaand here's another. I turned on NPR and they were talking about a murdered Russian journalist. Named Ivan.

[Fishface]

I'm reading Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free and just finished the section that told me more than I ever wanted to know about the lunacy surrounding the death of Terry Schiavo, a case I shied away from as it was happening. The book just reminded me she died on March 30th. Meaning it's the anniversary in just a few more hours. RIP Terri. So sorry it ended for you in a 3-ring circus.

[Koren]

Fishface wrote: "I'm reading Idiot America: How Stupidity Became a Virtue in the Land of the Free and just finished the section that told me more than I ever wanted to know about the lunacy surroundi..."

I read a different book about her. I think it was written by the husband. Very sad story.

[Koren]

Last night (Good Friday in the Christian world) I was reading about the murder of Johnny Stompanado and found out he was killed on Good Friday (although not March 29, it was April 4).

[Fishface]

I am in the middle of Meet Me For Murder, which makes mention of a sex Killer named Rathbun. Well, today I also started Terror Town, USA: The Untold Story of Joliet's Notorious Serial Killer, and on the 2nd or 3rd page it mentions a guy named Rathbun.