That is not terribly surprising…
Okay… could you expand on that? What am I missing?
You have a blog about the Pott Murders, and Google searches the web, so it is not surprising that your blog would show up in a Google search.
Well, there is that… :o
Mine was the only relevant hit. There are one or two other hits you can drag up but not with just Potts Murders and I-77. The other hits are where people are asking if anyone knows anything about it. (There are only 2 of those.)
Since it’s such a forgotten incident I thought it odd that someone outside here would search it at this particular moment. However, I’ve since found that the person is actually from this board.
Hey, there, Camb Res, PM me!
Without much thought, my money is on Patty also. By the way, I like the way you have the story set up, with the sepia photos and stuff.
Thank you! Yeah, I went with sepia because they were bleak and spookier that way and it matches the subject and setting. Also, I didn’t really want to show all that blood in the kitchen in RED.
FWIW, I think it was Patty and/or some people she hung with back then. I don’t know though. It’s a pretty gruesome way to kill two elderly people who raised you.
Actually, the claim is that (emphasis added):
So Patty was the niece of the people who raised her, and thus fairly easy to pass off by the Pottses as their daughter (at least to people who didn’t know the family well). It would be interesting to know whether Patty was aware of the deception, and (if so) whether she had fantasies of her biological mother returning to claim her.
Maybe the sister did it.
Maybe she turned up that night wanting the real situation to be revealed to Patty; under the impression that the truth would ‘set her free’ from her drug abuse and unsavoury life choices.
Maybe ol’ Mr Potts called the sister unspeakable names, and she stabbed him in a rage that had been tempered all those years.
Maybe Mrs Potts swore to keep the identity of the murderess under wraps because nobody of that generation wants their dirty laundry aired, and ol’ Pottsy was a bastard husband anyway.
Maybe for own protection, she swore to god that she would let the sister back into her life, and the sister had visions of an eventual happy reunion: her, Mrs Potts, and Patty, the daughter she never had.
Maybe Mrs Potts smugly thought that her promise (made under duress) would never have to be acted upon, because god knows, she and she alone held the key to her sister’s freedom, and there were no witnesses to her cruel promise.
Maybe the sister (after decades of post-natal depression) wanted to wipe that smirk off her selfish sister’s face once and for all. And since Mrs Potts’ promise of a family reunion was witnessed only by god, what better way to do away with her than with a crucifix…
Other than that, I got nuthin’…
I liked your stories. Although when reading true crime stories I like to see more in the way of full names, dates and locations.
Did you only remember them as Mr. Potts and Mrs. Potts? Including their names–Homer and Leila (or Lela)–would have made it just a bit easier for researchers to look them up. According to what I found, “Patty” would have been about 49 at the time Homer was killed. For some reason those brutal stabbings seem like a somewhat more youthful crime, but I suppose with enough anger or drugs it’s possible.
Thanks for sharing.
Trying to get hold of the author Of the Pottes writings. I have been attempting to learn to form of Strightdope. I’m aware of additional info and I live three miles away. I want to send you my email so we can speak private about the info. It’s info provided by a relative in law enforcement. So I’m hoping you get back with me ASAP. I have always thought about those poor folks for many years .
What’s a good end-of-episode song for this, Ave Maria?
Meh. There are plenty of unsolved murders out there. Some killers are careful and plan well, some are just lucky and leave no clues. There are many where the police know who did it but lack sufficient evidence to convict. One of our former DAs wouldn’t charge unless a conviction was a virtual lock. His theory was if you go to trial and lose you never get another chance. If you wait, new evidence may turn up. I think history shows the longer you wait the less likely you will get a conviction due to lost evidence, witnesses forgetting, cops retiring and memories fading.
You might try sending Tapu a private message: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/private.php?do=newpm&u=135280
You have revived a almost year and half old thread that maybe not checked by the OP.
Or just post it here. I’m sure we’d all appreciate hearing the follow-up.
I guess I’ve missed a few cues here. I don’t know if it’s too late to connect, but at least this will bump the thread.
tapu
I have several people in contact with me who seem to have credible information about these murders and possibly related ones.
I am guarding their privacy very closely however. I will continue to do so until I find a way we can all communicate (a yahoo group with fresh aliases or something?). I’m also working to verify sources.
If anyone else has some connection to this case, to possibly related cases, or anything more than just prurient interest (sorry), please send me a PM here and we can move to private email if that seems comfortable.
To those who already have contacted me with relevant info about this case, I applaud your courage and honor your right to confidentiality.
Thanks, from tapu
Only prurient interest here.
Damn you. 
But if I can share info so publicly, I will.
Whoa, freaky. I was reading this thread and got to a longish post with an interesting theory about the murders, and I thought, “hey that’s a pretty good possibility, I like it; it’d make a good short story if nothing else.”
Then I looked at the username and it was me. I have no recollection of posting in this thread.
Clearly I was too close to the truth, and the Pottses’ murderer found me and had me put under general anaesthesia so I’d wake up and be substituted with a perfect clone, making sure to first remove my memories of the crime before I woke up.
Oh crap. It’s gonna happen again now, isn’t it?
(Seriously: I hope whatever info you get does bear fruit, and we can learn the truth someday. It is a creepily fascinating story.)
Yes, and I apparently thought much of your (unconscious?) post back then.
Most of what I’ve found out lately hasn’t connected to Patty. That surprises me, but it could still come together with some involvement on her part. Or, she may be completely innocent and mourning the Pottses still.
I wish I had the nerve to contact her. I tried a friend who I thought might know her, but she didn’t. That would be the best way, I think.