Crime-Safety-Security
Newsletter
08 April 2008

Folklore and fables – from vampire and wolfman legends to tales of The Brothers’ Grimm – tell us of ogres, fiends, and monsters. Today we call them violent criminals. They’ve always plagued us and – as long as passions, madness, and evil exist – always will. Let’s blow away a predator's biggest advantage: the naïveté of the prey.

ANOTHER NOTORIOUS WALK-IN
and the News Media is Still Whispering the Truth

WOMAN SLAIN, ANOTHER HURT IN HOME INVASION
New Britain CT – Leslie Williams told police he entered the UNLOCKED home looking for money and a car, but when two women inside saw his face, he had no choice but to shoot them. ... Carol Larese was seriously wounded while MaryEllen Welsh was abducted then murdered. ... As he cocked the gun, Larese turned around and put her hands in front of her face. ``Williams got tired of waiting for a clean shot so he pulled the trigger at which time Larese fell forward and gave out a loud cry.''
Excerpted from The New London Day (CT) – 31 March 2008

Here we go again! Just eight months earlier in nearby Cheshire CT, two monsters entered a home through an UNLOCKED door, beat and bound Dr. Petit, tortured and raped his wife and two daughters for six hours, then poured gasoline on the females and set them afire. Yet the massive media coverage barely mentioned the UNLOCKED door that allowed the massacre, thereby depriving the public of a vital lesson. See Newsletter 08 January 2008 – Issue #1 for my rant against news media timidity and dereliction of duty.

Now two women were attacked through yet another UNLOCKED door! And once again the media glosses over the UNLOCKED door. Once again they didn’t emphasize that a hideous nightmare NEVER would’ve happened if the door had been LOCKED (and kept locked). The media blew yet another chance to help prevent future crimes.

Will the news media ever wake up and thoroughly emphasize simple life-and-death lessons within crime news stories? Not only the above tragedies – but almost ANY home intrusion as well – NEVER would’ve happened if the victims had followed the simple rules listed below.

After my lectures, people usually approach me with questions or personal stories to share. One woman told me she wants to keep her doors locked but her husband refuses – much to her distress. Just then her husband joined us and I asked him why. He said he refused to live in fear and spouted some idealistic mumbo-jumbo. The selfish twit valued his idiotic “principles” more than his wife’s anxiety.

I was tempted to ask him about the not uncommon home invasion scenario wherein the husband is beaten, bound, and forced to watch as his wife is tortured and raped. How would that mesh with his principles? And if they lived, would their marriage survive – or their psyches? But I bit my tongue and instead told him that if he wanted to risk his own hide – fine – but he had no right to risk his wife.

Know this: roughly half of the 8,000-plus home intrusions daily in the US (that’s 2.9 million annually, per the US DOJ) are Walk-Ins through doors and windows blithely left unlocked until bedtime or until leaving the home unoccupied. Never targeted yet, these Pollyannas are either blissfully ignorant, lazy, or defiantly careless. Crime survivors, however, think very differently. They know better.

Yes, it is tempting to be careless, but thousands upon thousands of predators are out there somewhere looking for careless prey. Do you really want to take the chance that one never chooses you? The solution is so simple:

Always keep all doors locked, windows guarded, and keys protected even while visiting a neighbor, working in the yard, or whatever. Granted, that may be a slight hassle but you can simply keep a key on a wristband.

Better yet (if you can afford it), install a keyless touch-pad deadbolt lock. Also install a panic-button alarm system. Both are available with remote-control pocket fobs. You can easily lock/unlock your door while in the yard as well as instantly summon help in any emergency – be it criminal, medical, or fire. See Door Reinforcement as well as Alarm Systems.

Find, at NO cost, simple security strategies for you and your loved ones at Home Security - Overview.

Find relatively inexpensive hardware and/or electronics to fortify your doors, windows, garage, yard, apartment, or dormitory at Home Security Products - Intro. Then ALWAYS use them.

At NO cost, whether or not you buy anything, ALWAYS keep ALL your doors and windows LOCKED and NEVER open your door – not even an inch – to any visitor you don’t know and trust. Period. That WILL STOP most home intrusions. Repeat: at NO cost... Repeat: that WILL STOP most home intrusions...

Of course, predators will always find prey – but the most cautious targets will be spared. Gamble in Vegas – not in your life.

Contact Us with your comments or questions for this newsletter.

Think about it: the above crimes likely never would’ve happened if those innocent victims had known what you’ve just learned in this newsletter.

THE REVOLVING DOOR

In 1978, Lawrence Singleton abducted and raped 15-year-old Mary Vincent, chopped off both her arms below the elbow with a hatchet and left her for dead in a culvert near Sacramento, California. She was found the next morning wandering near a roadway holding her arms above her head to restrict blood loss.

Singleton, sentenced to a mere 14 years in prison, terrified his victim from his prison cell with many letters to her lawyer threatening to hunt her down and kill her. And still he was paroled in 1986 after serving only eight years! Vincent, with artificial arms and fearing for her life once again, fled the state and went into hiding until 1998.

In Florida in 1997, Singleton murdered Roxanne Hayes, a 31-year-old mother of three. He died of cancer while on death row.

Why was a monster ever freed to hunt Mary Vincent and kill Roxanne Hayes? Shame on the legal scholars who try to justify such insanity.

But the U.S. isn’t alone in spectacular stupidity. Far from it. Most Western countries suffer from this seemingly viral Mad Law Disease. I’ve got files bursting with examples from all over the globe. Here’s but one from our neighbor to the north:

Conrad Brossard had a habit of killing people or trying to kill them whenever he wasn't locked up behind bars. His violent crime sprees, and his turns through the revolving door of Canada's penitentiaries, stretches for decades. ... In 1970, after escaping from a jail where he was serving seven years for assault, attempted rape and armed robbery, he killed a motorist who picked him up while hitchhiking. ... Mr. Brossard was sent to jail for life. A decade later, however, he was on an escorted outing and managed to escape. He kidnapped a motorist at gunpoint, stabbed him 13 times and shot him in the liver. The victim survived by playing dead, and later said, "I can't understand how he can be constantly let out on parole.” ... Mr. Brossard, returned to jail for a 23-year sentence, was out again on parole after 7 years, and was arrested at that point for another attempted murder and armed robbery. He returned to jail again for a life sentence. Then the parole board was told that a psychiatrist had rated his degree of dangerousness as "weak to moderate." Board members ruled that "the risk he presents is not unacceptable." As soon as he was released yet again, he raped and murdered a woman.
Excerpted from The Toronto Globe and Mail – 08 May 2002

“During the past two decades nearly half a million Americans have been murdered, and an additional 2.5 million have been wounded by gunfire – more casualties than the U.S. military has suffered in all the wars of the past 200 years." [Stabbings, clubbings, strangulations, etc. multiply those totals.] ... “At the moment there are about 100,000 murderers locked up in America’s prisons and perhaps 800,000 paroled murderers living free in American society. The United States has more murderers than doctors, more murderers than college professors. It has more murderers than police officers.”
Excerpted from The Atlantic Monthly – September 1997

Those stats have only gotten worse. An estimated 630,000 prison inmates are released each year and nearly two-thirds are re-arrested for a new crime within three years, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The U.S. has roughly 650,000 cops.

I am not advocating the Death Penalty – I want no part of that debate. Simply keep a predatory killer in a cage as long as the victim remains dead – to protect the rest of us. I made a similar argument in Newsletter 12 February 2008 > Hall of Shame – Idiot Lawyer & Idiot Shrinks Awards.

See Predatory Mind to learn how to deal with the monsters who walk among us.

Contact Us with any questions, comments, or requests. I’ll answer as many as possible in the next newsletter.

Contact Us for Michael Edward Loftus Sr to speak to your group.

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Pointing out a victim's possible missteps before she fell prey is not always a bad thing, according to Linda Fairstein, renowned author and former New York City sex crimes prosecutor. "If we can learn something from it, we can give her back some dignity," she says. "If we see what the risks are and what would prevent this from happening to someone else, then there's something that benefits the memory of that victim."
Excerpted from The New York Daily News – 24 August 2006

We’d be wise to learn from the little mistakes of victims. Usually, they didn’t know that predators are always hunting for carefree prey. As Dr. Anna Salter wrote in Predators, "Normal, healthy people distort reality to create a kinder, gentler world than really exists."

You don’t need a bulletproof vest, a bodyguard, or to sleep with one eye open – just a new attitude toward being S.A.F.E.:

Skeptical of anyone trying to get near you or trying to isolate you,
Aware of danger zones and escape strategies,
Flexible: being tricky, changing strategies as needed – and if worse comes to worst:
Exploding like a mad dog to fight for your life. Stun & run. See Fighting Options.

Whenever you’re tempted to be careless, ask yourself, "What could possibly happen?" The stories throughout this newsletter and web site show what could possibly happen – and how to avoid being easy prey.

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