# Florida child murder - Words almost fail me **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 8, 2007, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-child-murder-words-almost-fail-me/395081 "2007-03-08T09:14:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2007, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-child-murder-words-almost-fail-me/395081/1 "2007-03-08T09:14:55Z")
I really am close to tears, and at the same time I want to fly to Florida and kill this sick fuck myself. \*A sex offender was found guilty Wednesday of kidnapping and raping a 9-year-old girl and burying her alive in a case that led to a crackdown around the country on people convicted of sex crimes. Jurors deliberated about four hours before returning the verdict against John Evander Couey in the slaying of Jessica Lunsford, who was snatched from her bedroom in 2005 about 150 yards from the trailer where Couey had been living. **Her body was found in a shallow hole, encased in two black plastic trash bags. She had suffocated, and was found clutching a purple stuffed dolphin**.\* [My Way News](http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070307/D8NNIR0O0.html) I hate this fucked up world sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2007, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-child-murder-words-almost-fail-me/395081/2 "2007-03-08T09:40:07Z")
You must be _this_ outraged { :eek: } to enter this thread. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2007, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-child-murder-words-almost-fail-me/395081/3 "2007-03-08T09:42:50Z")
If you want to be disgusted, read this [more thorough account](http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/predators/jessica_lunsford/1_index.html), and then ask yourself what could Couey’s family members/trailermates be expected to have not heard or seen while that girl was still alive. Don’t read that link if you’re unwilling to feel even more disgusted and saddened though. In addition to the reporting in the OP’s link, there’s reason to believe that Jessica was still alive when the police first investigated neighborhood residences. But, since no one “ratted out” Couey’s presence to the police they didn’t do the sort of extensive search that might have found her. And based on residue analysis from Jessica’s stomach, there’s room to question whether Couey ever bothered to feed her during the time he’d held her. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2007, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-child-murder-words-almost-fail-me/395081/4 "2007-03-08T15:14:08Z")
In other news, a Massachusetts man a few days ago took his two small children from their day care, drove to the parking lot of the company where his common-law wife, the mother of the children, worked, doused car, self and children with an accelerant, and set them ablaze. The first responders who put out the fire didn’t even know there was anyone inside the car till they knocked down the flames and saw what was left of the three bodies inside. Yup, some people are sick fucks all right. Always have been, always will be. ---
**Author:** ![HubZilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@HubZilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HubZilla)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2007, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-child-murder-words-almost-fail-me/395081/5 "2007-03-08T18:33:38Z")
[QUOTE=aldiboronti] She had suffocated, and was found clutching a purple stuffed dolphin. [/QUOTE] For some reason, picturing her clutching the toy for protection really got to me. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2007, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-child-murder-words-almost-fail-me/395081/6 "2007-03-08T19:35:40Z")
**aldi,** the crime took place in **2005.** Try to save your outrage for fresher outrages. ---
**Author:** ![Cowboy8467](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@Cowboy8467](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cowboy8467)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2007, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-child-murder-words-almost-fail-me/395081/7 "2007-03-08T20:30:33Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] **aldi,** the crime took place in **2005.** Try to save your outrage for fresher outrages. [/QUOTE] Yea, I was down in the Tampa area on spring break right when the abduction occurred and I remember it getting a lot of press. I kind of figured most people knew about it up north too. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2007, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-child-murder-words-almost-fail-me/395081/8 "2007-03-08T20:31:49Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] **aldi,** the crime took place in **2005.** Try to save your outrage for fresher outrages. [/QUOTE] I was just gonna say, this case sounded awfully familiar. Megan’s Law sure works wonders, doesn’t it? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Slypork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@Slypork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slypork)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2007, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-child-murder-words-almost-fail-me/395081/9 "2007-03-08T20:46:47Z")
[QUOTE=KGS] I was just gonna say, this case sounded awfully familiar. Megan’s Law sure works wonders, doesn’t it? :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] Which is where Jessica’s law now comes into play. [Jessica's Law - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica's_Law) ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2007, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-child-murder-words-almost-fail-me/395081/10 "2007-03-08T22:01:01Z")
Iowa has its share of scumbags too. Recent cases in our news include a little girl who was molested by a family friend. The friend’s brother raped and killed her so she couldn’t testify against him. Both of them were convicted. In another rape/murder case, the only logical suspects were friends of the mother. Apparently there’s no evidence to prove they abducted and killed the child (and dumped her body in a river), but one of them was recently convicted on child pornography charges. The mother has lost custody of her other children. What can be done about these abominations? How can we protect our kids? All the laws in the world don’t seem to make a difference. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2007, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-child-murder-words-almost-fail-me/395081/11 "2007-03-08T23:25:09Z")
[QUOTE=AuntiePam] What can be done about these abominations? How can we protect our kids? All the laws in the world don’t seem to make a difference. [/QUOTE] By not using Law, which only shows up afterward. I’ve said it before–we **need** psych screening in grade school. Paper & pencil tests to locate possible trouble, & then a shrink to tell if the tests were right. ---
**Author:** ![dgrdfd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@dgrdfd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dgrdfd)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2007, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-child-murder-words-almost-fail-me/395081/12 "2007-03-09T00:01:39Z")
[QUOTE=AuntiePam] What can be done about these abominations? How can we protect our kids? [/QUOTE] The only thing that is coming to mind for me is to make them have [special green license plates.](http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/07/us/07license.html?_r=1&ref=us&oref=slogin) Surely that will stop them. > [@](#): > > I’ve said it before–we need psych screening in grade school. > > Paper & pencil tests to locate possible trouble, & then a shrink to tell if the tests were right. And how much money do you want to put on the fact that it would end up like special education and mainly the poor will fail these tests? ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2007, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-child-murder-words-almost-fail-me/395081/13 "2007-03-09T01:22:38Z")
The really sick thing: this man was living with his niece, his sister, and another man in the same house trailer! NONE of these people EVER told the police about the fact that the perp was a registered sex offender! The poor little girl would have been saved, has his dirtbag relatives gone to the police! ---
**Author:** ![Auntbeast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Auntbeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Auntbeast)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2007, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-child-murder-words-almost-fail-me/395081/14 "2007-03-09T01:57:05Z")
A friend of mines daughter ran off a few months ago (she was 14) with some guys (yes, plural) she had met on myspace. The police were of no help. He went to three counties to try and get a hospital to do a rape kit on her (they told him she had to say she was raped before they would do it) and the police said since the guys dropped her off at a friends apartment, that they weren’t going to go after them. The wouldn’t tell the father WHICH apartment in the complex, he was not able to find his daughter until she showed up the next day at school. Yes, I live in Tampa. Things like Cooey make the news, but it hasn’t seemed to have an effect on the day to day running of the police/hospitals. BTW, the guys that she was with were all in their 20’s. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2007, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-child-murder-words-almost-fail-me/395081/15 "2007-03-09T02:32:07Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] The really sick thing: this man was living with his niece, his sister, and another man in the same house trailer! NONE of these people EVER told the police about the fact that the perp was a registered sex offender! The poor little girl would have been saved, has his dirtbag relatives gone to the police! [/QUOTE] Wrong, > [@](#): > > From, [**JESSICA LUNSFORD: DEATH OF A 9-YEAR-OLD By Anthony Bruno**](http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/predators/jessica_lunsford/1_index.html), various pages > When a child is reported missing, the police typically check on all the known sex offenders in the area, and detectives from the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office did just that in the days following the disappearance of Jessica Lunsford. In the course of their investigation, detectives discovered that one known offender, John Evander Couey, 46, was not living at the address where he was registered. … > Detectives learned that Couey had moved in with his half-sister, Dorothy Marie Dixon, 47. Dixon’s boyfriend, Matthew Oley Dittrich, 31, and her daughter and son-in-law, Madie Catherine Secord, 27, and Gene Allan Secord, 35, also lived at Dixon’s residence, a trailer at 6647 Snowbird Court, which is miles from Couey’s registered address and within sight of the Lunsford home. Investigators drove to Dixon’s trailer, looking for Couey. … When detectives arrived at Dorothy Marie Dixon’s home, they found Dixon, her boyfriend, and her daughter at home. When asked where John Couey was, the trio said they didn’t know and denied that he had been living with them. … > > Couey admitted to raping Jessica after taking her to his room at his half-sister’s home, keeping her in bed with him for the rest of the night, then raping her again in the morning. Afterward he put her in his closet and ordered her to stay there and not say a word while he went to work at “Billy’s truck lot.” Again, she complied with his order and stayed put the whole day. According to the America’s Most Wanted website, Couey turned on a television set for her to watch through the slightly opened closet door. Couey told detectives that she had seen televised news reports about herself and the efforts to find her. Couey told authorities that he had been drinking and getting high the night he abducted Jessica, saying he had been “drug-hazed.” He remembered cooking her a hamburger at some point during her capture and making her urinate in the closet, so that his housemates wouldn’t know she was there. He kept her in the closet for three days. During that time, investigators came to the trailer looking for him but did not check his closet. … > > The detectives did a cursory search of the premises, looking for signs of either Couey or Jessica. Unfortunately they failed to check the closet in the room where Couey had been staying. … The cops already knew that Couey was a registered sex offender that’s why they were looking for him. The poor little girl would have been saved, if the fucking cops had looked in the fucking closet. But why let the facts get in the of your opinion? CMC fnord! Next time READ the fucking cite! ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2007, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-child-murder-words-almost-fail-me/395081/16 "2007-03-09T02:56:02Z")
[QUOTE=AuntiePam] Iowa has its share of scumbags too. Recent cases in our news include a little girl who was molested by a family friend. The friend’s brother raped and killed her so she couldn’t testify against him. Both of them were convicted. In another rape/murder case, the only logical suspects were friends of the mother. Apparently there’s no evidence to prove they abducted and killed the child (and dumped her body in a river), but one of them was recently convicted on child pornography charges. The mother has lost custody of her other children. What can be done about these abominations? How can we protect our kids? All the laws in the world don’t seem to make a difference. [/QUOTE] Both of your examples seem to say “Don’t have scummy friends and your kids will be safer.” ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2007, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-child-murder-words-almost-fail-me/395081/17 "2007-03-09T03:38:49Z")
And just this week, another sick fuck abducted his 8 year old daughter, strapped her into his Cessna, and (allegedly) intentionally flew the plane into his ex-mother-in-law’s house. How anyone could take the life of their own child is beyond my comprehension. [http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-03-05-indiana-plane-crash\_N.htm?csp=34](http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-03-05-indiana-plane-crash_N.htm?csp=34) ---
**Author:** ![Trivial\_Trivia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@Trivial\_Trivia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trivial_Trivia)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2007, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-child-murder-words-almost-fail-me/395081/18 "2007-03-09T05:13:28Z")
Wow. Reading stories like this you’d think that caucasian citizens of a Christian-Judeo society based on law and order and democracy were barbarians or something. ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2007, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-child-murder-words-almost-fail-me/395081/19 "2007-03-09T05:23:19Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] I’ve said it before–we **need** psych screening in grade school. Paper & pencil tests to locate possible trouble, & then a shrink to tell if the tests were right. [/QUOTE] I totally, completely, utterly, and the rest of the thesaurus, agree with you on this. We have the tools and skills and knowledge - let’s use them for prevention and treatment and save worlds of grief. ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2007, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-child-murder-words-almost-fail-me/395081/20 "2007-03-09T05:56:29Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] By not using Law, which only shows up afterward. I’ve said it before–we **need** psych screening in grade school. Paper & pencil tests to locate possible trouble, & then a shrink to tell if the tests were right. [/QUOTE] And then what? Harrass people for the rest of their life based on some answer they gave when they were in grade school? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/florida-child-murder-words-almost-fail-me/395081.md?page=2)