August 10-16, 2008
Volume 27
I'm Trench Reynolds.
I blog about crime.
This is DBKP's This Week in Crime for August 10th-August 16th, 2008.
At craigscrimelist I made another short post about more teens involved in prostitution. And again more people think they're not victims.
The most interesting link I posted at CrimeNe.ws this week was a rare occurrence, someone on death row who actually took responsibility for his crimes.
At News of Doom we had several disturbing stories this week but the one that disturbed me the most was a story about a Florida DJ who had his eyes cut out.
The news was light this week at MyCrimeSpace but the story that was in the national media spotlight for a bit was about the missing Malibu twins. Luckily they were unharmed for the most part.
At TheTrenchcoat Chronicles the story that righteously raised my ire was a story about two parents who sued a school district for their son getting shot and killed there. You'd think they would have a case but read the post to find out why I think they're trying to collect blood money.
Speaking of blood money at Bad Breeders I posted a story about how I think there are some who are trying to collect their own blood money in the case of missing child Caylee Marie Anthony.
This weekend I've also opened a message board called The Open Trench. You can discuss any story from my blogs or any topic at all.
As usual if you want to follow my blogs you can use Twitter, the RSS feed, or Netvibes, and also Friend Feed.
That's it for this week. I'm Trench Reynolds for DBKP.
You will come to know when the bullet hits the bone.
by Trench Reynolds
image: Trench Network
At a news conference today St. Charles County Prosecutor Jack Banas said there will be no charges filed against those involved in the Megan Meier Myspace Hoax case. Bana said there were no applicable statutes to file charges against Lori Drew and her 18-year-old employee who has been hospitalized for psychiatric treatment.
Banas said he looked at laws related to stalking, harassment and child endangerment, but found no repeated incidents of threats to someone's life or health, and no organized conspiracy. [1]There seems to be a discrepancy between the police report and what Bana proffers as evidence.
A police report said that a mother from the neighborhood and her 18-year-old employee fabricated a profile for a teenage boy online who pretended to be interested in Megan before he began bullying her.[1]In today's news conference, Bana stated that it was the 18-year-old employee who was "responsible" for creating the MySpace profile. That the employee was now hospitalized in a psych ward.
Outrage from Missourians over what happened to Megan and Megan's family prompted the Governor to speak with lawmakers as to whether there were any laws on the books that might be applicable to this case.
The city where Megan lived passed its own ordinance against cyber-harassment.
DARDENNE PRAIRIE • City officials declared online harassment a crime Wednesday, fewer than two weeks after they learned of a 13-year-old girl who killed herself after receiving hurtful messages on a popular social networking website.Some have argued that what Lori Drew and her cohorts did to Megan was a criminal offense. Others maintain that what they did was immoral but not illegal. The discrepancy between the police report and the prosecutor's statement is interesting. Investigations are tools used by authorities in order to make the decision whether or not to file charges and what class of criminal charges would be applicable to the case.
The Board of Aldermen unanimously passed an ordinance making online harassment a misdemeanor in this city of about 5,500.
"It is our hope that by supporting one of our own in Dardenne Prairie, we can do our part to ensure this type of harassing behavior never happens again, anywhere," said Mayor Pam Fogarty. "After all, harassment is harassment regardless of the mechanism or tool." [2]
The prosecutor relayed two separate pieces of information. One, that the county has no laws that they could use in this case. Does this mean if it had the right sort of laws on the books that they could move to prosecute?
Bana said that it was 18-year-old employee who set up the MySpace profile and he seemed to infer that the mother was somehow less involved.
Why would an 18-year-old employee of Lori Drew want to set up a profile of a fake boy in order to taunt and harass a 13-year-old ex-friend of Lori Drew's daughter? We find it quite strange that an employee of Lori Drew, someone who was peripheral to Megan at best, would be the instigator in the hoax.
The recourse left to Megan's parents, at least in the courts, is a civil suit. Lori Drew would have to sit down and answer questions in a deposition. Under oath. Perhaps the "truth" about who was behind the instigation of the fake MySpace profile might be revealed.
No criminal or civil suit will bring back Megan but they could be used to get at the truth. To shed light on what Lori Drew hoped to achieve, what her intent was, the actual plot revealed.
The story of what happened to Megan festered behind closed doors for over a year. Not until the whole truth has been revealed can Megan's family and community begin to heal.
By LBG
Source - [1] - Associated Press - No Charges Filed in MySpace Suicide Case
Source - [2] - Megan Meier Myspace Suicide: Town Cracks Down On Cyber-Bullies
Image [AP Photo]
Back to Front Page.
by Mondoreb & Little Baby Ginn
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.
MySpace Suicide: The Story Of Megan Meier - Watch more amazing videos here
The tragic story of Megan Meier, victim of a cruel MySpace hoax which led to her suicide.
by Mondoreb
& Little Baby Ginn
More on the Megan Meier MySpace Suicide:
LATEST:
Supposedly an ex-friend of Megan's replies to our stories in
"Megan Had It Coming"
MySpace Suicide:
Megan Meier's Story May Prevent Others
MySpace Suicide Reaction:
Outrage! Outrage! Outrage!
MySpace Cruel Prank Leads To Teen’s Suicide
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.
Blue Crab Boulevard weighs in on the Megan Meier MySpace story:An adult perpetrated an internet vendetta against a 13-year old girl? Even if the goal was to hurt her feelings or emotionally wound her - a grown-up (supposed grown-up) against a child? As I mentioned last night, I have no flexibility on this issue. This is the abuse by an adult on a child. Nobody can bring Megan back, but somebody should damn sure pay for this.
Source - Blue Crab Boulevard - Web Hoax Or Homocide
We've done four stories on Megan. Our outrage has not lessened. We agree with Blue Crab. An adult went after a child, and yes, Megan was still a child.
An adult who used the internet and MySpace to weave a web of lies and deceit, to set the child up and then strike like a snake in the grass: the letter of "condolence" from the perpetrators; the last note from "Josh" to Megan.Later that day, Ron opened his daughter's MySpace account and viewed what he believes to be the final message Megan saw - one the FBI would be unable to retrieve from the hard drive.
It was from Josh and, according to Ron's best recollection, it said, "Everybody in O'Fallon knows how you are. You are a bad person and everybody hates you. Have a shitty rest of your life. The world would be a better place without you."
Our question is this: Do the hoaxers realize the enormity of what they have done?
If first you practice to deceive...
By LGB
More on the Megan Meier MySpace Suicide:
LATEST:
Supposedly an ex-friend of Megan's replies to our stories in
"Megan Had It Coming"
MySpace Suicide:
Megan Meier's Story May Prevent Others
MySpace Suicide: The Megan Meier Story - Video
MySpace Suicide Reaction:
Outrage! Outrage! Outrage!
MySpace Cruel Prank Leads To Teen’s Suicide
DBKP.com - Bigger, Better!.
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.
The tragedy of the "MySpace Suicide" of Megan Meiers could prevent others like it from occurring in the future. As news of the tragic story spreads across the nation, perhaps an event calamitous for one family may be an opportunity for others.
Upon reading the story, it's hard to come away feeling anything other than shock, disbelief, outrage or sadness.
13-year-old Megan was the object of mean attacks on the popular Internet site MySpace by, what she thought was, an attractive boy, "Josh", she'd taken a liking to. Others on the site joined in.
The attacks caused the depression-suffering girl to hang herself.
It was later learned that the attacks came not from the boy, who proved to be a fictitious creation, but from adults who lived down the street from Megan.
All this took place eventhough, from all accounts, Megan's mom monitored her Internet use in every way possible. Monitored it much more than most parents, in fact.
How could this story prevent others like it from happening?
TAKE 15 MINUTES
Do you have a teen? Do you watch "Jerry Springer"?
Judge Judy?
Oprah?
Turn off the TV, have them sit down and give them a copy of this story. If they haven't already heard about it, have them read it. They will probably wonder what's up at this point.
Did the news of their adventures in science class somehow reach home?
Chances are, after reading it, most will have similar reactions to adults.
Talk to them. Ask them what they think about the story. What would they do in Megan's case? Do they know any of their friends who've met fake characters online? Do they know how often it happens?
How would react if someone on line "said things about them"?
No definitive conclusion need be reached in the discussion. The fact that they're sitting down talking with a parent might be old hat. That's good.
But it might be a new experience--for everyone involved. They will certainly notice that you turned off the TV. That might tip them off that this is serious.
Maybe this sad story might cause them to think, if only for a moment. The disastrous story of the death of Megan Meier may stick with them. Maybe they'll file it away for future reference.
In the end, you can turn the TV back on at the end of all this: you won't have missed much. Jerry, Oprah and Judge Judy won't miss the ratings points. Your teen may look at you funny. That comes with territory--or should.
The word most often used to describe the MySpace suicide of Megan Meier is "tragedy". It is apt. Maybe this tragedy can prevent another Megan from occurring.
It's too late for Megan Meier and her grief-stricken family. It may not be too late for others.
by Mondoreb
More on the MySpace suicide of Megan Meier:
MySpace Suicide: The Megan Meier Story - Video
MySpace Cruel Prank Leads to Teen's Suicide
MySpace Suicide Reactions: Outrage!
[UPDATE: 11:40 11-15-07] Prosecutor to Take Another Look at CaseA St. Charles County teen commits suicide after being targeted by an online attack, but those who instigated it face no criminal charges, or could they? The county prosecutor says he never saw the complete case file. He doesn't want to give anyone false hope, but he says it's not yet case closed.
"Me personally, I've never seen anything on this case," says St. Charles County Prosecutor Jack Banas. He says from what he's heard he knows hearts are broken, but he doesn't believe laws were.
More on the Megan Meier MySpace Suicide:
LATEST:
Supposedly an ex-friend of Megan's replies to our stories in
"Megan Had It Coming"
Megan Meier MySpace Suicide Cruel Hoax: No Justice for Megan
Cruel Hoaxer's Outed: Let the Lesser Outrage Begin
Megan Meier MySpace Suicide Reactions: Outrage! Outrage!
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.
The "MySpace Suicide" reaction to the Megan Meier story has been outrage. Outrage on a lot of levels.
Outrage at the vicious Internet attack on a 13-year-old girl by parents of the girl's erstwhile friend.
Outrage that the responsible adults have not been held accountable by the law.
Outrage that the only action taken has been a complaint filed by the parents who concocted this cruel hoax against the parents of the girl who committed suicide. They filed a complaint with local police against Megan's parents.
The reason?
After finding out who was responsible for the creation of the fictitious MySpace account that led to their daughters suicide, Megan's parents destroyed a foosball table they had been storing for the heartless adults.
Some of that outrage surfaced at the Orlando Sentinel:
Girl Commits Suicide Over Internet Prank by ADULTS--Who is Responsible?I heard this on the MJ Morning Show this morning and had to share. This story is so heinous, disgusting...I don't even know where to begin.
Any folks out there who are lawyers, law enforcement officers, or judges--can you shed some light? I'm looking for your input.
Some of it surfaced at the home of the original reporter, Steve Pokin, of the story in suburban St.Louis. Readers Respond in Force to Story on MySpace SuicideSome of you have asked your children to read the story and have requested/demanded to look at their MySpace pages.Of course, there has been outrage over the fact that Josh Evans - a 16-year-old who never existed - was created not by a teen, but by an adult. That anger is reflected in the comments posted on the Journal's Web sites.
The comments on both pieces were mostly of the "WTF" variety.
BACKGROUND:
Cruel MySpace Prank Leads to Teen's Suicide
DBKP, because we were the first in the blogosphere to pick up on this story, was contacted early yesterday morning by FoxNews from New York. The story is still flying under the radar for most of the nation.
It will get more attention for a variety of reasons. It's tragic that a young girl lost her life. It's tragic that it was adults that were responsible for her misery.
And that tragedy continues that no justice has been found for the bereaved parents of Megan Meiers.
It will draw attention to the mostly unsupervised world that teens inhabit on MySpace. The Internet, in our minds, should remain free.
However, that puts a responsibility on parents to properly supervise their children's actions. It's a responsibility that many parents voice, but far fewer practice.
It will command some space in any article wishing to argue against 'decadent American suburbia'. It will serve as an excuse to discuss some writer's pet peeve, however unrelated to this story it may be.
Additionally, it may focus attention on a culture that focuses on drama 24/7. The betting here is that there are more conversations on the latest drug-induced bumblings of Britney than there are about responsibility in many homes.
Drama sells.
Ask Inside Edition or any of the celeb-pandering shows that proliferate on the tube.
The story of Megan Meier is tragic story.
Hopefully, that story will spark some conversation and debate that will prevent other stories like hers from happening.
by Mondoreb
More on the Megan Meier MySpace Suicide:
LATEST:
Supposedly an ex-friend of Megan's replies to our stories in
"Megan Had It Coming"
MySpace Suicide: The Megan Meier Story - Video
Megan Meier MySpace Suicide Cruel Hoax: No Justice for Megan
Cruel Hoaxer's Outed: Let the Lesser Outrage Begin
MySpace Suicide: Megan Meier's Story May Prevent Others Like It
Megan Meier MySpace Suicide: Cruel Hoaxers Outed, Let The Lesser Outrage Begin
Mondoreb @ BNN:
MySpace Suicide Reaction: Outrage!
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.
A cruel, and unbelievably vicious prank perpetrated upon a young girl has stripped away the Leave It To Beaver veneer of a suburban St. Louis neighborhood. A fourteen year old girl is dead by her own hand, her parents shattered and in disbelief, and the wonder if there will be justice for their daughter.
Will there be justice for Megan Meier?
UPDATE: MySpace Suicide Reaction: Outrage! Outrage! Outrage!
The story continues to a sad end for Megan's family. There were no winners in this story; there's not much that even the most optimistic could glean from this tale. Just a cruel prank by some vicious, thoughtless people who should have known better.
My Space' hoax ends with suicide of Dardenne Prairie teen
By Steve Pokin
Monday, November 12, 2007 5:48 AM CST
His name was Josh Evans. He was 16 years old. And he was hot.
"Mom! Mom! Mom! Look at him!" Tina Meier recalls her daughter saying.
Josh had contacted Megan Meier through her MySpace page and wanted to be added as a friend.Yes, he's cute, Tina Meier told her daughter. "Do you know who he is?"
"No, but look at him! He's hot! Please, please, can I add him?"
Mom said yes. And for six weeks Megan and Josh - under Tina's watchful eye - became acquainted in the virtual world of MySpace.
Josh said he was born in Florida and recently had moved to O'Fallon. He was homeschooled. He played the guitar and drums.
He was from a broken home: "when i was 7 my dad left me and my mom and my older brother and my newborn brother 3 boys god i know poor mom yeah she had such a hard time when we were younger finding work to pay for us after he loeft."
As for 13-year-old Megan, of Dardenne Prairie, this is how she expressed who she was:
M is for Modern
E is for Enthusiastic
G is for Goofy
A is for Alluring
N is for Neglected.
She loved swimming, boating, fishing, dogs, rap music and boys. But her life had not always been easy, her mother says.
She was heavy and for years had tried to lose weight. She had attention deficit disorder and battled depression. Back in third grade she had talked about suicide, Tina says, and ever since had seen a therapist.
But things were going exceptionally well. She had shed 20 pounds, getting down to 175. She was 5 foot 5½ inches tall.
She had just started eighth grade at a new school, Immaculate Conception, in Dardenne Prairie, where she was on the volleyball team. She had attended Fort Zumwalt public schools before that.
Amid all these positives, Tina says, her daughter decided to end a friendship with a girlfriend who lived down the street from them. The girls had spent much of seventh grade alternating between being friends and, the next day, not being friends, Tina says.
Part of the reason for Megan's rosy outlook was Josh, Tina says. After school, Megan would rush to the computer.
"Megan had a lifelong struggle with weight and self-esteem," Tina says. "And now she finally had a boy who she thought really thought she was pretty."
It did seem odd, Tina says, that Josh never asked for Megan's phone number. And when Megan asked for his, she says, Josh said he didn't have a cell and his mother did not yet have a landline.
And then on Sunday, Oct. 15, 2006, Megan received a puzzling and disturbing message from Josh. Tina recalls that it said: "I don't know if I want to be friends with you anymore because I've heard that you are not very nice to your friends."
Frantic, Megan shot back: "What are you talking about?"
SHADOWY CYBERSPACE
Tina Meier was wary of the cyber-world of MySpace and its 70 million users. People are not always who they say they are.
Tina knew firsthand. Megan and the girl down the block, the former friend, once had created a fake MySpace account, using the photo of a good-looking girl as a way to talk to boys online, Tina says. When Tina found out, she ended Megan's access.
MySpace has rules. A lot of them. There are nine pages of terms and conditions. The long list of prohibited content includes sexual material. And users must be at least 14.
"Are you joking?" Tina asks. "There are fifth-grade girls who have MySpace accounts."
As for sexual content, Tina says, most parents have no clue how much there is. And Megan wasn't 14 when she opened her account. To join, you are asked your age but there is no check. The accounts are free.
As Megan's 14th birthday approached, she pleaded for her mom to give her another chance on MySpace, and Tina relented.
She told Megan she would be all over this account, monitoring it. Megan didn't always make good choices because of her ADD, Tina says. And this time, Megan's page would be set to private and only Mom and Dad would have the password.
'GOD-AWFUL FEELING'
Monday, Oct. 16, 2006, was a rainy, bleak day. At school, Megan had handed out invitations to her upcoming birthday party and when she got home she asked her mother to log on to MySpace to see if Josh had responded.
Why did he suddenly think she was mean? Who had he been talking to?
Tina signed on. But she was in a hurry. She had to take her younger daughter, Allison, to the orthodontist.
Before Tina could get out the door it was clear Megan was upset. Josh still was sending troubling messages. And he apparently had shared some of Megan's messages with others.
Tina recalled telling Megan to sign off.
"I will Mom," Megan said. "Let me finish up."
Tina was pressed for time. She had to go. But once at the orthodontist's office she called Megan: Did you sign off?
"No, Mom. They are all being so mean to me."
"You are not listening to me, Megan! Sign off, now!"
Fifteen minutes later, Megan called her mother. By now Megan was in tears.
"They are posting bulletins about me." A bulletin is like a survey. "Megan Meier is a slut. Megan Meier is fat."
Megan was sobbing hysterically. Tina was furious that she had not signed off.
Once Tina returned home she rushed into the basement where the computer was. Tina was shocked at the vulgar language her daughter was firing back at people.
"I am so aggravated at you for doing this!" she told Megan.
Megan ran from the computer and left, but not without first telling Tina, "You're supposed to be my mom! You're supposed to be on my side!"
On the stairway leading to her second-story bedroom, Megan ran into her father, Ron.
"I grabbed her as she tried to go by," Ron says. "She told me that some kids were saying horrible stuff about her and she didn't understand why. I told her it's OK. I told her that they obviously don't know her. And that it would be fine."
Megan went to her room and Ron went downstairs to the kitchen, where he and Tina talked about what had happened, the MySpace account, and made dinner.
Twenty minutes later, Tina suddenly froze in mid-sentence.
"I had this God-awful feeling and I ran up into her room and she had hung herself in the closet."
Megan Taylor Meier died the next day, three weeks before her 14th birthday.
Later that day, Ron opened his daughter's MySpace account and viewed what he believes to be the final message Megan saw - one the FBI would be unable to retrieve from the hard drive.
It was from Josh and, according to Ron's best recollection, it said, "Everybody in O'Fallon knows how you are. You are a bad person and everybody hates you. Have a shitty rest of your life. The world would be a better place without you."
BEYOND GRIEF INTO FURY
Tina and Ron saw a grief counselor. Tina went to a couple of Parents After Loss of Suicide meetings, as well.
They tried to message Josh Evans, to let him know the deadly power of mean words. But his MySpace account had been deleted.
The day after Megan's death, they went down the street to comfort the family of the girl who had once been Megan's friend. They let the girl and her family know that although she and Megan had their ups and down, Megan valued her friendship.
They also attended the girl's birthday party, although Ron had to leave when it came time to sing "Happy Birthday." The Meiers went to the father's 50th birthday celebration. In addition, the Meiers stored a foosball table, a Christmas gift, for that family.
Six weeks after Megan died, on a Saturday morning, a neighbor down the street, a different neighbor, one they didn't know well, called and insisted that they meet that morning at a counselor's office in northern O'Fallon.
The woman would not provide details. Ron and Tina went. Their grief counselor was there. As well as a counselor from Fort Zumwalt West Middle School.
The neighbor from down the street, a single mom with a daughter the same age as Megan, informed the Meiers that Josh Evans never existed.
She told the Meiers that Josh Evans was created by adults, a family on their block. These adults, she told the Meiers, were the parents of Megan's former girlfriend, the one with whom she had a falling out. These were the people who'd asked the Meiers to store their foosball table.
The single mother, for this story, requested that her name not be used. She said her daughter, who had carpooled with the family that was involved in creating the phony MySpace account, had the password to the Josh Evans account and had sent one message - the one Megan received (and later retrieved off the hard drive) the night before she took her life.
"She had been encouraged to join in the joke," the single mother said.
The single mother said her daughter feels the guilt of not saying something sooner and for writing that message. Her daughter didn't speak out sooner because she'd known the other family for years and thought that what they were doing must be OK because, after all, they were trusted adults.
On the night the ambulance came for Megan, the single mother said, before it left the Meiers' house her daughter received a call. It was the woman behind the creation of the Josh Evans account. She had called to tell the girl that something had happened to Megan and advised the girl not to mention the MySpace account.
Source: Suburban Journals - 'My Space' hoax ends with suicide of Dardenne Prairie teen
It's hard to see how after arranging such a cruel hoax with such tragic consequences, the adults involved could instruct their children on any moral or ethical issues that the children might have to deal with later.
It's just a sad story.
Our hearts go out to the parents and family of Megan.
By LBG
[photo:chatinthehat]
notes: Mondoreb
More Megan Meier MySpace Suicide Stories:
All stories listed on ticker in upper left-hand corner of page.
LATEST:
Megan Meier MySpace Suicide: Reactions to the Reactions to the Reactions
Supposedly an ex-friend of Megan's replies to our stories in
"Megan Had It Coming"
MySpace Suicide: The Megan Meier Story - Video
Megan Meier MySpace Suicide Cruel Hoax: No Justice for Megan"
Cruel Hoaxer's Outed: Let the Lesser Outrage Begin
Megan Meier MySpace Suicide Reactions: Outrage! Outrage!
MySpace Suicide: Megan Meier's Story May Prevent Others Like It
DBKP.com - Bigger, Better!.
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.
