Drew Peterson: ”It Happened To Me”

• When homicide meets narcissism

The Disappearance of Stacy Peterson: Some Semi-Rhetorical Questions

October 29, Drew Peterson reported his wife Stacy missing. She is his fourth wife. His third wife died under suspicious circumstances; and Stacy’s disappearance led authorities to exhume the ex-wife’s body, and Friday’s autopsy revealed that her “accidental” drowning was, indeed, murder.

Now, let’s assume for a moment that Peterson killed both women: What is the thought process by which, having gotten away with one murder, you would risk a second one when even the mere suspicion of the second murder would probably lead to the exhumation of the first body (right now, it might be easier to prosecute him for killing his ex-wife than for killing Stacy, because there’s physical evidence)? Stupidity? Peterson’s a police sergeant: He knows how investigations work. Arrogance and a sense of invincibility? Even O.J. Simpson waited until after he was acquitted and immune from further criminal prosecution before breaking the law (again) in any major way.

The Coin Toss

In Virginia, Judge James Michael Shull was faced with of two divorced parents, each wanting custody of their child for Christmas. Since there was no compelling reason to choose one parent over the other, Judge Shull tossed a coin. The Virginia Supreme Court ruled last week that Judge Shull “failed to uphold the dignity of the judiciary,” and removed him from the bench: a rather draconian punishment, given the behavior of some judges who are allowed to keep their gavels and robes (such as Philadelphia judge Teresa Carr Deni, appointed to another 6-year term earlier this month, despite her decision last month to downgrade the alleged at-gunpoint rape of a prostitute to a “theft of services” charge).

And exactly how should Judge Shull have resolved this issue? This was the proverbial coin-toss decision, which made tossing a coin rather appropriate. Would the Virginia Supreme Court have preferred he ask for a sword and suggest a more Solomonic solution?

• No Charges For 10-Year-Old Firestarter and other crime news both serious and not

Why Fred Goldman Must Be Smiling Now

All that sports memorabilia O.J. Simpson allegedly tried to steal at gunpoint last week, claiming it was legally his… whether or not Simpson is found guilty, any of the memorabilia that turns out to have been legally owned by Simpson… will get handed over to the Goldmans.

And the publicity generated by the robbery couldn’t not have increased sales of the book (as of Tuesday morning, it’s the #2 best seller at Amazon.com).

• If Who Did It (September 17): Okay, what’s the weirdest thing about last week’s release of O.J. Simpson’s hypothetical double-murder confession (as if this whole affair needed any more weirdness)? No mention of Simpson’s name on the cover. It’s a confession without a confessor.Or even worse than no confessor: Amazon.com is marketing the book as “If I Did It by the Goldman Family”.
• September 6
  Barnes and Noble decides to carry O.J.’s book after all, and Lisa Nowak will try an insanity defense (article)
• August 14
  O.J. Simpson’s hypothetical double murder confession, the rights to which are now owned by the family of murder victim Ron Goldman, has been contracted to a publisher [updated article].
• July 30
  So… Now that the rights are owned by Ron Goldman’s father, who plans to rename it Confessions of a Double Murderer, is anybody more inclined to read the thing? And will it become the best-seller HarperCollins originally expected it to be? [article]

PWNED!

 

I’m probably way too old to even try to use the ersatz word correctly. In a literal sense, it does apply to O.J. Simpson, who just lost the rights to his life story and likeness. In a more colloquial sense, though (and I’m not sure “pwned” can legitimately used in any other way), I believe it better applies to The World’s Stupidest Pedophile: