# What True Crime Story Fascinates You Most? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 20, 2024, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-true-crime-story-fascinates-you-most/1010511 "2024-11-20T15:28:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2024, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-true-crime-story-fascinates-you-most/1010511/121 "2024-11-23T20:59:24Z")
Back then, who would believe a story like that? And if a child WAS believed, they would probably have been blamed for it on some level. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2024, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-true-crime-story-fascinates-you-most/1010511/122 "2024-11-23T21:10:45Z")
One case that has always fascinated me is the murder of Ken McElroy in Skidmore Missouri in 1981. McElroy was a career criminal and town bully who was shot to death in his pickup truck on the main street. There over 45 witnesses to the killing, but no one has ever been charged with crime. There was a 1991 TV film called _In Broad Daylight_ about it (based on the 1988 book of the same name by Harry MacLean. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken\_McElroy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_McElroy) ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2024, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-true-crime-story-fascinates-you-most/1010511/123 "2024-11-23T21:33:25Z")
It’s a wonder none of the townspeople didn’t burn down his house when he was away. That guy was bad news. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2024, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-true-crime-story-fascinates-you-most/1010511/124 "2024-11-23T23:46:01Z")
Yeah, and then get shot themselves, and maybe they thought (possibly correctly) that the property may have been booby-trapped? ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2024, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-true-crime-story-fascinates-you-most/1010511/125 "2024-11-24T02:13:06Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > However it may have been that the prosecution was trying to load the case against a guilty man, rather than framing an innocent one. For the record, I do believe he is guilty, I just think there’s more to it. Regardless, imho, the means never justify the end. Most all cops and prosecutors think they can trust their gut. They couldn’t have been certain enough to load the case. New topic, has anyone seen [This Is The Zodiac Speaking?](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt33480540/) It makes a hell of a case against Arthur Allen. Very compelling. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2024, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-true-crime-story-fascinates-you-most/1010511/126 "2024-11-24T02:25:08Z")
I believe that Allen probably did some of them, but not all of them. Some people also believe that Ted Kaczynski is the Zodiac, on one level or another. I don’t agree; he lived in the region at that time but I think that’s where it ends. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2024, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-true-crime-story-fascinates-you-most/1010511/127 "2024-11-24T16:13:55Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > The interesting thing for me about this thread is recognizing these cases because the Law & Order franchise made episodes based off them. Agatha Christie’s _Murder on the Orient Express_ similarly is based on the Lindbergh murder. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Krupe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Leo\_Krupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Krupe)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2024, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-true-crime-story-fascinates-you-most/1010511/128 "2024-11-24T16:17:38Z")
Allen does seem to be the best fitting suspect, as there’s a ton of circumstantial evidence leading to him. DNA tests were inconclusive though. But they were apparently run in 2002 – I’ve always thought those tests were skewed – not intentionally, like a conspiracy, but there can be problems with it: is there enough material to test and compare to a known sample (in this case from a fingerprint) (source: [“Arthur Leigh Allen does not match the partial DNA fingerprint developed from bona fide Zodiac letters,” inspector Kelly Carroll told the San Francisco Chronicle.](https://www.today.com/popculture/zodiac-killer-arthur-leigh-allen-rcna176996)) Was the test conducted properly (again, not a conspiracy thought, just that people can make mistakes)? Could the chain of custody have contaminated the sample? [Richard Gaikowski](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zodiac_Killer_suspects#Richard_Gaikowski) is another suspect high on the list (mostly Tom Voight’s, it seems), but I’ve always preferred Allen. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2024, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-true-crime-story-fascinates-you-most/1010511/129 "2024-11-24T16:38:55Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > > [@dorvann](#): > > > > The interesting thing for me about this thread is recognizing these cases because the Law & Order franchise made episodes based off them. > > Agatha Christie’s _Murder on the Orient Express_ similarly is based on the Lindbergh murder. I was trying to figure out what connection there could be but then remembered the motive in the Agatha Christie novel, which I won’t spoil here. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2024, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-true-crime-story-fascinates-you-most/1010511/130 "2024-11-24T16:53:26Z")
“Inspired by” is a better phrase here than “based on.” ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2024, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-true-crime-story-fascinates-you-most/1010511/131 "2024-11-24T17:09:27Z")
Those Munchchausen Syndrome people kind of fascinate me. The case of Lacey Spears is one I just learned about. She was giving her toddler son salt through a feeding tube. I can’t imagine the pain that poor little guy went through. She was caught on camera in the hospital giving him the fatal dose. > **[Mom convicted of killing son, 5, by poisoning him with salt](https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/nation-world/2015/03/02/mom-convicted-killing-son-5-poisoning-him-salt/15653022007/)** > > WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - A woman who blogged for years about her son's constant health woes was convicted Monday of poisoning him to death by force-feeding heavy concentrations of sodium through his stom… ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2024, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-true-crime-story-fascinates-you-most/1010511/132 "2024-11-24T19:45:39Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > One case that has always fascinated me is the murder of Ken McElroy in Skidmore Missouri in 1981. McElroy was a career criminal and town bully who was shot to death in his pickup truck on the main street. There over 45 witnesses to the killing, but no one has ever been charged with crime. > > There was a 1991 TV film called _In Broad Daylight_ about it (based on the 1988 book of the same name by Harry MacLean. > > [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken\_McElroy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_McElroy) This is one of those exceedingly rare instances where I think the extra-judicial solution was warranted. To paraphrase: The rule of law is not a suicide pact. The townspeople were completely justified in my view. That was the closest they’d come to justice. I strongly suspect if I were one of them I’d have seen nothing as well, and not have lost a second of sleep over it. ---
**Author:** ![themapleleaf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/themapleleaf/32/14349_2.png) [@themapleleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themapleleaf)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2024, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-true-crime-story-fascinates-you-most/1010511/133 "2024-11-24T20:08:27Z")
The “D. B. Cooper” hijacking. The fact that someone in the modern era, could take over a Boeing 727 and demand ransom money, parachute out of the aircraft with the money, and now, over 50 years later, the culprit has never been identified, and we don’t know if he’s alive or dead, though some of the money was found at a distance from the jump site, is difficult to fathom. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2024, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-true-crime-story-fascinates-you-most/1010511/134 "2024-11-24T21:01:01Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > The townspeople were completely justified in my view. That was the closest they’d come to justice. “He needed killing” used to be a valid defense in several states. > [@themapleleaf](#): > > The “D. B. Cooper” hijacking And he gave his name as “Dan Copper”, not DB, that was an error by a reporter. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-true-crime-story-fascinates-you-most/1010511/135 "2024-11-25T00:36:48Z")
> [@Leo\_Krupe](#): > > Allen does seem to be the best fitting suspect, as there’s a ton of circumstantial evidence leading to him. I haven’t looked it up to verify it, but the show claimed the killings stopped the 4 years he was locked away. If true. That’s a heck of a coincidence. As far as the DNA, are they sure had his correct DNA from early on? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-true-crime-story-fascinates-you-most/1010511/136 "2024-11-25T01:03:21Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > New topic, has anyone seen [This Is The Zodiac Speaking?](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt33480540/) > It makes a hell of a case against Arthur Allen. Very compelling. I used to date Arthur Allen’s cousin. I’m not sure how well she knew him, but she felt pretty sure he was guilty. ---
**Author:** ![spifflog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-true-crime-story-fascinates-you-most/1010511/137 "2024-11-25T16:35:19Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > If abuse is all you’ve ever known, and you are still emotionally immature (as even children raised in wonderful homes are by their teen years) the situation may seem so hopeless that there is simply no other means of escape. Except there is means of escape. They were both grown men with money and cars. All they had to do was drive away. This excuse that they were ‘trapped’ or ‘powerless to escape’ is nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2024, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-true-crime-story-fascinates-you-most/1010511/138 "2024-11-25T17:07:22Z")
> [@spifflog](#): > > All they had to do was drive away. You could be right - I am not trying to defend the Menendez brothers specifically; as I said, I know little about the case or the facts brought out at trial. However, I think it is entirely possible that a childhood distorted by severe abuse could result in “adults” of 18 and 21 who had far less maturity than we would expect at that age (which is still pretty young - an 18 year old is technically an adult but with zero experience at being one). Again, not saying that’s what I believe was true with the Menendez boys. Just that I can easily imagine a situation where it _was_ true. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-true-crime-story-fascinates-you-most/1010511/139 "2024-11-26T00:53:41Z")
You have obviously never known anyone who grew up in an abusive environment. ---
**Author:** ![spifflog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2024, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-true-crime-story-fascinates-you-most/1010511/140 "2024-11-26T12:04:33Z")
I’m not going to go tit-for-tat on this. I’ll end with this: I refuse to subscribe to the assertion that the only option for two grown men with means was to either stay and be further abused (if they were indeed abouse int he first place) or kill their parents. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-true-crime-story-fascinates-you-most/1010511.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-true-crime-story-fascinates-you-most/1010511.md?page=8)