Any true crime buffs here?

[Rick Lee]

Today is the 45th anniversary of this murder and I knew the victim. She and her family went to our church and her eldest daughter was in my sister's Girl Scouts/Brownie troop.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candy_Montgomery

Well, since the perp got off on self-defense, perhaps Betty wasn't the victim. But it was pretty crazy in that town back then. I was nine yrs old, Wylie had a population of 2700 and we knew all of them. IIRC, there were nine churches, no liquor stores and one flashing yellow light. Last time I was there about 15 yrs ago, its population was well over 100k.

What none of these movies or articles mention is that, for the two weeks or so it took to make the arrest, the town was on edge. Since everyone knew each other, we all figured the killer was among us. It was a very strange vibe. We lived about six miles from town, so in the countryside. Everyone wondered who was going to be next. I was pretty scared for those few weeks.

When it was all over, I was in that house and the CSU had removed some of the linoleum flooring, as the axe marks in it helped determine whether the killer was left or right handed. Man, that was eery.

Anyway, since today is Friday the 13th and Betty's murder was also on a Friday the 13th, it came to mind.

[juanbenae]

RIP Ms. Betty.

Love them crime shows!

My favorite two were a couple AMERICA'S MOST WANTED in the 90's. Some lady, chick I went to high school with was one of the bit actors on the show. Super cute, petite, shapely Pilipino-American gal that starred in all our high school plays... She went off to LA to become an actress.... As far as I know those were her only two credits, & both times she was assaulted and beaten.

My buddy dated her for a while. Funny thing was even though she looked very well kept, apparently, she had stinky places, like her breath & belly button to name just a couple offences..

Happy Father's Day to all you Dads!

[LWJ]

RE: feeling on edge. There was a machete murder about a mile from my house 10 - 15 years back.We had a large black lab who would bark at strangers. I was ever so thankful for that dog for the week between the murder and the arrest. Things were TENSE.

RIP Betty.

[Bill Douglas]

My grandad had a cool story.

When he and his wife got married they went to Nelson (part of New Zealand) for their honeymoon. My grandmother's mother shouted them as a wedding present a taxi and driver for a week to take them around Nelson and the bays. There had recently been a murder At the end of the week they were in a bar having a few drinks with the taxi driver when the barman came over and said something like "Big news, they found the murdered body of the missing girl." The taxi driver calmly finished his drink and walked outside. They heard a loud band so went outside to see what had happened and the taxi driver had shot himself in the head LOL

[stevej37]

I think I've read almost every book by Ann Rule...a prolific 'True Crime' writer.
She lived about a half hour drive from me...but died around 10 years ago.

If you start reading her stuff....you'll get hooked.

[CurtEgerer]

Love true crime. On YouTube a couple of really well done independent shows are Just Thought Lounge and Crime Zone. I recently started watching Fear Thy Neighbor on ID. It is crazy! Next door neighbor disputes that wind up with one or the other (or an entire family) graveyard dead. Usually some sort of petty property line dispute starts it

[Racerbvd]

Well, I won’t say that I am a fan, but this is one that hits me very closely, as I literally know all involved, grew up with the murder, he was literally one of my best friends until this, his “Prison” brides even posted on this board to get my attention. Growing up, my older sister (R.I.P.) and his sister were best friends, as we got older, since I was a skinny 4 eyed runt, he decided that (he put in a lot of time in the gym, if he wasn’t working out, he was surfing) that no one would give me a hard time. Of course as I was growing older, I, even though I skinny 4 eyed kid, because of my BMX racing, brother in law who was a 3rd degree Black belt and instructor, not to mention my Father’s old school Brooklyn ships yard no rules lessons. Greg was the guy who you wanted to be, good looking, Charley Atlas build so it was no surprise that he married who was literally the hottest girl in my High School,Prom queen,etc.
So when all of this came about, I didn’t believe it, I mean he had literally watched over my back since I was 5. And he had the absolute most beautiful woman as his wife in the zip code.
With my entertainment connections, he wanted me to tell his side of the story (this is still literally a unsolved mystery) so he was willing to give me the rights, so he would have something to leave his young son, not sure where his sweet Charger went, but I was willing to take a look and see the details,


Mind you, this was when these types of stories were bringing big $$$, he I am, beings offered the rights to his story, and it was pretty clear that I could make some good money for myself and for his son. Problem was, when I went to visit him, nothing added up, his memory of out youth had some major differences, it was very clear that he was whacked out, then there was the issue of my conscious, even though I was being given the right to his story, with the noble intention of providing for his young son, since I knew the family and others affected by his actions, did I really want to put them through this?
Well, my very small bank account answers that question, as it is bad enough that I was his best friend (what he tells everyone) but I wasn’t willing to put Rachel’s sister (who I had a thing for) or her parents, and my friends. Knowing that I am a connection to her death, I don’t reach out to some friends because I know my connection will cause pain.

https://mail.murderpedia.org/male.T/t/thomas-william-gregory.htm

https://charleyproject.org/case/rachel-aquino-thomas

And I was always very attracted to her sister, but because of my connection to her sister, I never have or could act on that.

It doesn’t get any more True Crime than this, but how we react to the situation defines who we are. Had I acted differently, my financial situation would be much better, but my Father instilled in me that I have to be happy with who is looking back at me.