Why We Solve Far Fewer Homicides In America These Days

When I was a young cop I was astounded to learn that homicides were cleared somewhere around 85%. Who would dare commit a murder with those lousy odds? Capitol punishment was still a reality before that Fuhrman vs. Georgia execution moratorium nearly ended the death penalty for good.

Then came the mid 1980s and the clearance rate for murders began dropping. The murder clearance rate steadily decreased to around 36% where it stands today.

I bet you’re thinking criminals are smarter today and better at avoiding discovery? Not a chance the killers were never very smart nor careful and actually taking steps to hide evidence.

But now we have DNA, high resolution surveillance cameras everywhere, data tracking for every little purchase we make, cell phone cell site data and even GPS gizmos tracking us everywhere we go. We are unintentionally creating airtight alibis for our usual suspects we used to arrest and convict.

The robbery or rape victim turned eyewitness pointed out the suspect in some courtroom and the case used to be all over. Today suspect can quickly tell the cops that he was at the Burger King drive through, bought gas, a bottle of wine and some smokes at a 7-11 store many miles away at the exact time of the crime and prove it without difficulty.

DNA and fingerprints found at crime scenes are often meaningless because suspects are known to their victims and are often guests in their homes. More often than not DNA is clearing wrongly fingered suspects rather than implicating the guilty.

There is a sad truth and that is perhaps as many as half of the people we convicted may well have been innocent of the crime for which they were accused.

Risky behavior and relationships engaged by marginal, throwaway type people make them right to do the time for someone else’s crime. Equally sad is the guilty get away with their crimes and commit more.

The Politics Of Elephant Ivory

I’ve always been fond of elephants and their coveted ivory. My friends at Eagle Grips have offered ivory over the years based on availability and price for top of the line gun grips. Ivory has a special warmth and incredible strength that makes it the very best gun grip material on our planet.

Then came the embargos created in an alleged effort to protect the endangered elephant. The embargos were nothing more than a grand scheme for corrupt Third World, government officials to create a monopoly on clandestine trading and artificially high prices. The end result of the embargos was to make the slaughter of these fine animals even more profitable.

Elephants die and their ivory is harvested without upsetting the balance of nature. Most of us want to protect these awesome and majestic creatures but ivory trade bans only make poaching more profitable and prevalent.

Where does Eagle Grips get their ivory you ask? This is yet another sad story. The now grown children of America’s legendary big game hunters of the 1950s have been selling off their dad’s ivory trophies for big cash. Too often that cash has been used to support narcotic addictions of these sellers.

Here’s a recent ABC news offering on this subject.

Lana Clarkson Had Way Too Many Snakes In Her Head

Out of presence of the jury during court arguments Spector defense lawyers revealed key issues about the dead woman. A detailed summary of Lana Clarkson's mental state issues at the time of her death was exposed. The shocking material came from Clarkson's medical records, diary, writings, e-mails and from various witness statements. There is now little doubt that all of this information will be presented to the jury during this trial.

These issues came up during the L.A. County medical examiner, Dr. Louis Pena's cross-examination by Spector lawyer, Christopher Plourd. That information was kept away from the medical examiner by both cops and prosecutors until after Clarkson's death was ruled as a homicide.

It's obvious that the coroner's office dropped the ball by their failure to do a psychological autopsy on Ms. Clarkson. The Cotoner's homicide ruling was clearly crafted and controlled by the cops and prosecutors who were hiding important evidence.

1. Lana Clarkson made it clear she was considering killing herself.

2. Clarkson was unable to pay the rent at her small Venice apartment.

3. Clarkson suffered from hallucinations involving an un-named but real failed actress who killed herself with a gun.

4. Clarkson battled with alcohol and substance addiction taking 10 narcotic pills per day.

5. Clarkson was obsessed with Marilyn Monroe, had won a role playing Monroe and lost the role because of personal misconduct and hallucinations.

6. Clarkson was familiar with and fond of firearms.

7. Clarkson was deeply in debt.

8. Clarkson sought alternative psychiatric assistance for her mental health issues just before her death.

I have a simple question... Did Clarkson find an great opportunity to engineer a memorable exit at famed record producer Phil Spector's home?

Chicago Corruption Book Is Coming To The Silver Screen

Chicago cop, turned fixer lawyer, turned mob-wrecking government witness, Bob Cooley is about to make another big splash. Cooley’s book, WHEN CORRUPTION WAS KING got picked up on a feature film option deal last week in Hollywood. It was never a question of if, but rather than when the persona of many of Chicago’s incredibly sleazy public officials would grace your local cinema houses.

The rich marriage of characters left over from Al Capone’s mob, Chicago’s politicians, bureaucrats and cops were laid out in this continuing Cooley soap opera that make television’s Sopranos seem lackluster and tame.

As someone who knew the majority of the players in Cooley’s book it was always evident to me that these headliners played by a unique set of unwritten rules. Most honest Chicago cops, prosecutors and judges learned early on to put their blinders on or face getting framed, disgraced and fired if they interfered with any of the Windy City power.

I’m not sure what the film producer’s plans are but there is enough material available for a bunch of sequels creating a powerful film franchise.

It remains to be seen how a certain Chicago cop turned alderman with his fixer lawyer wife who is a sitting Illinois Supreme Court Judge escaped prosecution for the deeds alleged in Cooley’s book. It remains to be seen if their Teflon coating can protect them until the undertakers wheel them away.

My personal dilemma is figuring out whose unforgettable part I’m going want to play in this film.

The website for Cooley's book is here.

Another ABC News Story About Guns...

ABC News got it right again for a change...

Stanford University Home To Young Imposter

I find this story a sign of our times. We live in a land where we make laws to control illegal immigration and then don’t enforce them. There can be little respect for any of our laws under that pathetic example.

You don’t get educated at Stanford University for free and very few poor kids will ever see the inside of a world class place to prepare for a life of wealth and privilege a Stanford education will bring.

Then came the determined and clever 18 year-old lass by the name of Azia Kim who infiltrated the campus as a “student” for no less than eight months. She talked her way into the dorm and made herself at home. That is until her lack of a key required climbing through dorm windows understandably brought too many questions.

Stanford’s administration is now in a security panic as they find themselves embarrassed over the ruse. I can’t help but find Azia Kim to be a child in need who perhaps deserves a chance for real student enrolment. I also see a career ahead for this girl perhaps at our Central Intelligence Agency. That is if she’s not arrested and prosecuted for her eight-month adventure. I hope Stanford administrators will walk away from such retribution.

Azia Kim is a child of out time. There are so many people with money they will never be able to spend in their lifetimes who my get a their own personal reward by investigating Kim’s plight and help her realize the status of the trust fund babies at Stanford’s hollowed halls.

I think of all the Liberal rich ladies with big opinions and lots of cash that could step up to the plate and help like Barbra Streisand, Rosie O’Donnell and Hillary Clinton.

Dr. Henry Lee, “Least credible witness.”

Amazing words said on the record by Judge Larry Paul Fidler, during the Phil Spector murder trial. It was said out of the presence of the jury. Fidler further indicated that he will not instruct the jury about Dr. Lee’s credibility.

Fidler must be gunning for a mistrial because there is no way that statement and it’s prejudicial taint will be kept from this un-sequestered jury.

Fidler’s remarks came from a bizarre allegation made by former Spector lawyer, Robert Shapiro’s defense team members. The allegation is that Dr. Lee located and destroyed physical evidence at Phil Spectpr’s home. Shapiro was fired by Spector, and I can only conclude this effort to smear Dr. Lee is fallout from the Shapiro/Spector dispute. If that’s the case it’s an outrageous and unlawful act by Shapiro’s camp. Judge Fidler should have considered the vendetta and source of this garbage before he opened his big mouth.

The prosecution has zero evidence that would show Spector fired the gun inside Lana Clarkson’s mouth. Prosecutors have invented a non-existent piece of missing evidence and a wild theory that would suggest that the gunshot was not self-inflicted. The item in question is supposedly a fingernail and the suggestion it may be marked by bullet wipe if it even exists.

The goofiest part of this theory is that the cops and their CSI team somehow missed the item in question and Dr. Lee found it long after cops opened the death scene and returned control of it back to Phil Spector.

Prosecutors have stayed awake nights figuring ways to bring in anything and everything that can to make up for what they don’t have, evidence that Phil Spector killed Lana Clarkson.

Spector's Limo Driver's Story Folds...

Limo driver Adriano DeSouza described the Colt Cobra accurately. He said it was a black gun with brown grips. But it was not in Phil Spector’s hand in this exact pose DeSouza demonstrated in court as he’s claimed. If this Colt Cobra revolver was in Spector’s hand DeSouza would have never even seen the grips.


This startled limo driver simply assumed the gun was in Spector’s hand. If Adriano DeSouza really believes his own story we can only suspect in all the excitement his assumptions became his own reality.

When police found Clarkson and the gun this is what they saw. The brown grips are clearly visible on this gun at Clarkson’e feet. It’s uncontested that DeSouza saw Clarkson slumped in the chair as this photo reveals.

Star Prosecution Witness Limo Driver Lied In Spector Case

Limo driver Adriano Desouza is not so dumb. He’s an illegal alien that knew full well that if he was needed as a witness by the government that would buy him time and perhaps a Green Card. Giving the government what it wants has prevented Desouza’s deportation.

Adriano Desouza’s direct testimony reveals that he is also clairvoyant. Prosecutor Alan Jackson asked Desouza to describe the gun Spector was holding. “A black gun with brown grips”, he said. The problem is the grips on this little gun (old model, Colt Cobra, D frame revolver) can’t be seen when someone is holding the gun by the grip!

I hope Spector’s defense team noticed this obvious lie and feed the lie back to Adriano Desouza during Cross-examination.

Update: To clear up confusion the Limo driver said under direct trial testimony, and to police early on that he saw Spector holding the gun in the exact pose he demonstrated in court. I have recreated that pose in this picture. The gun (Colt Cobra) is very small and the person holding it is 5’5” tall and 150 lbs. He is only slightly larger than Spector.

The driver also said that Spector had blood on his right index finger and that would make sense if Spector picked up the bloody gun after the Clarkson fell. It would be a natural reaction to pick up a gun under those circumstances for safety reasons.

It Looks Like Plea Agreement Time For Howard Morgan

No, I still don’t know what sparked this wild mess. The news here for Howard Morgan is not good. A Chicago jury voted 11-1 for conviction on the most serious charges. Racially charged cases seem to end in acquittal if the cops were White and the defendant Black. Here the jury must have found compelling evidence that Morgan tried to unlawfully open fire on uniformed cops after a minor traffic violation.

Morgan can count on being retried and barring some new evidence for the defense it looks like a long prison sentence for Morgan is in the cards. Howard Morgan needs to fold his cards and get the best deal he can get. Whatever happens now won’t be pretty.

Emotions have run very high on this tale of extreme violence and accusations. For my merely asking questions about what happened on this blog I’ve received a few very offensive anonymous comments that had to be deleted because of the language alone. I hope they did not come from cops.

I never took sides on this story because I could never figure a motive for the total war that took place. On any given day this kind of traffic stop would have become a time for cops including Morgan to all give each other the secret FOP handshake and all continuing with a smile.

The Failure of Katie Couric As An Evening News Anchor

I may not be a fan of Ms. Couric but I will never characterize her as a failure. Her CBS venture is now in a distant third place. Couric has simply been miscast in her new role as a nightly news anchor. She does not fit into the evening news.

I’ve been no stranger to TV news rooms as I’m frequently called out to assist both networks and local affiliates on thousands of new stories over the years. I function as an investigative producer even though I did not choose that road in life. I was drafted into TV news some 19 years ago. I tell you this so you know where my opinion came from.

The Today Show became a entertainment product for mostly women and as a result was loaded with estrogen. The Today Show was and is filled with opinion both overt and covert with a Left Wing flavor. Katie was always seen gushing over the Clintons and politely interacting with Conservative politicians. Couric made no secret of her hatred for American gun rights while supporting many liberal causes. The morning, women’s venue typecast Couric forever.

Couric has an Oprah like influence over other women. This could be seen when Couric led the Pantyhose revolt that nearly put the entire women’s leg wear industry into bankruptcy. I know that all the women in the newsrooms I visited followed Couric by shedding their pantyhose in a monkey see, monkey do exercise. Katie had set the trend for TV newswomen everywhere.

Couric could rival Oprah anytime in day time talk show circles. Evening news is just not Katie’s showcase.

Horrible Beating Of 91 year-old WW2 Veteran caught on tape

91 year-old war veteran, Leonard Sims has seen a lot during his life. The fact that Sims survived a six-year world war, lived in high crime, Detroit and survived this attack by a savage carjacker is amazing.




Detroit police quickly got the video and photos out to the media and nabbed their suspect in short order. According to police, a young ex-convict and world-class coward, Deonte Edward Bradley, 22, targeted Sims for a carjacking.

The Face Of A World Class Coward

The disturbing video is really hard to watch as the elderly man is beaten senseless while onlookers simply observed this despicable act.

Anyone who could have stopped this carjacker by gutting him with a knife or shooting him in the head would have been a national hero. Heroes are few and far between these days.

Watch the video and read more here, here and also here.

Update: The major media organizations quickly swept this story under the rug, and it’s easy to figure out why. Political correctness and Liberal failure are hallmarked by this brutal and disgusting crime.

If Deonte Edward Bradley were White, this would have brought the race card crowd, Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton crawling out from under their rocks screaming and condemning the act along with the criminal. The problem is this is a Black on Black crime that is all too common in America. Violent Black criminals have always been a more significant threat to other Blacks than even the Ku Klux Klan.

Compare if you will the treatment by the media of three young White men accused by a disturbed, Black whore. They vilified these young men accusing them of rape and kidnapping despite there being strong evidence that the woman made phony allegations.

Deonte Edward Bradley is exactly what’s wrong with America along with those bystanders that chose to be with this vicious criminal rather than stopping him. The bystanders should be publicly identified for their obvious indifference that facilitated this incredibly horrid crime.

Piecemeal Verdicts Delivered In The Strange Case Of Howard Morgan

Howard Morgan is that former Chicago cop turned railroad cop who was involved in that beyond bizarre shooting story. I can’t guess from what I’ve seen and heard what led to this tale of horror. I don’t think the real truth will ever be known.

I’ve never taken sides other than to suggest reasonable doubt or proof beyond a reasonable doubt should rule here rather than emotions. It looks like things are going well for the defense. If Morgan is guilty and skates on all charges he paid a severe penalty by being horribly wounded, jailed, bankrupted and vilified. If Morgan is truly innocent he will never be made whole by any amount of money.

Partial or piecemeal verdicts are rare in that they usually stay sealed until the whole enchilada, is returned by the jury. I can only hope this verdict is fair and just for all.

read More here and here.

Spector Trial Bimbo Parade

The Lord only knows when some relevant evidence will be delivered to the jury that suggests that Phil Spector killed Lana Clarkson. So far only ancient and sensational conflicting claims from a peculiar assortment of former paramours of Spector have been made. Dorothy Melvin, Dianne Ogden, Stephanie Jennings, and convicted bank embezzler, Melissa Grosveror have completely derailed the trial.

None of these women had a problem sponging on Spector’s generosity or capitalizing on their new fame as heroic victims. Jennings had no problem selling her soul and salacious Spector gossip to the National Enquirer for $1000.00. One thing for sure their stories seem to get better for the prosecution with age.

These pathetic women have presented their inconsistent stories of alleged armed assault that were never ever worthy of criminal or even civil prosecution. The only thing consistent about these women is their selling out their former friend, employer or lover, Phil Spector. Trying each accusation before this jury today, long after memories have faded and the statue of limitations has expired decades ago is for one purpose only. To deny Spector a fair day in court on the matter for which he is on trial.

With all the garbage presented by prosecutor, Alan Jackson one fact remains none of the women suffered injury or death at the hands of Phil Spector. That alone makes the bimbo babbling of irrelevant and immaterial to this inquiry. The prejudicial effect of this hateful testimony may well be enormous. It does not shed any light on exactly what caused the death of Lana Clarkson.

I wonder just how long it will take for the prosecution to put on evidence that Phil Spector murdered Lana Clarkson? It really helps when you have a judge or ringmaster like Larry Paul Fidler who has no bounds when it comes to letting a prosecutor drag Phil Spector through prehistoric mud. For prosecutor, Alan Jackson, I guess the Bimbo Parade beats having no case at all.

Jackson can now count on people that know his witnesses contacting the defense attorneys and offering loads of damaging information about these bimbos.

Judge Fidler will come to regret the day he invited these bimbos in to take over his court. So will prosecutor, alan Jackson.

Read all of Crimefile's Spector stories here:

DC Handgun Ban Decision Is “Bulletproof”

This morning the DC, US Circuit Court of Appeals has refused to grant an en-banc rehearing of their decision on the Parker gun-rights case that overturned the Washington, DC handgun ban as a violation of rights guaranteed under the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution.

This case may well be appealed to the United States Supreme Court and promises to have a major impact on over 20,000 laws that infringe American’s rights to keep and bear arms.

Senior Appeals Court Judge Laurence H. Silberman is the author of the solid and well-written court’s opinion that many of my lawyer friend’s have called bulletproof.

The gun rights haters claim that the Second Amendment is somehow only the right of States or only a collective right of the people. The Parker case makes it clear that the Second Amendment grants an individual right to all Americans.

The politicians in the states and cities that refused right to carry laws and banned firearms are in for some much needed changes. The law-abiding folks will have a level playing field as the Gun Free Killing Zones are eliminated as soft targets when dealing with armed criminals.

Why Fly The Not So Friendly Skies Anymore?

In the latest revelation of the evolution of our POLICE STATE, Carl Pershing was convicted of the federal felony crime of interfering with a flight crew. It seems he was kissing his girlfriend and failed to heed two warnings from some uptight Southwest flight attendant.

Between the TSA weenies and bimbo flight attendants there is little reason to withstand the torture of commercial air travel anymore. I hope for but don’t expect the judges on the appeals court to toss this conviction out like so much garbage.

You have to read this insanity to believe it.

She’s like the ACLU, you hate her until you need her…

That’s how a copper friend describes WBBM-TV investigative reporter Pam Zekman. Zekman cut her reporting teeth at the old City News Bureau and then worked her way through both of Chicago’s daily newspapers until she found a home at WBBM.

This diminutive lady can bite as hard as the biggest bulldog. In addition to her Pulitzer-prize Zekman has amassed two DuPont-Columbia Awards, two Peabody Awards and 18 local Emmy Awards. Zekman received the 2003 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chicago chapter of American Women in Radio and Television and the City Club of Chicago’s 2004 John A. McDermott Award for Distinguished Social Leadership.

Okay, I’ve not been a fan of Zekman like I am of my old reporter Pal John Drummond. Zekman is sometimes way too caustic for me when she has taken Chicago cops to task on various allegations. That may well be because her wrath hits too close to home.

The up side of Pam Zekman is that she is a government watchdog on constant patrol. Keeping government honest in Chicago is an impossible task with few takers for that tough job. The quest for hard-hitting stories makes the Windy City fertile ground for a top-notch investigative newshound like Pam Zekman.

Ms. Hilton Won’t Be Staying At The Hilton

Paris Hilton is now set to be a guest of the L.A. County Jail for 45 days. Hilton got the mandatory invitation for a probation violation after she was bagged by police after driving while her license was suspended.

45 days in the calaboose for such an offense is the rule rather than the exception. There is some salvation for Hilton nobody has talked about yet. Some local police departments such as Culver City Police Department would come to Hilton’s aid by offering her accommodations at their cleaner, safer and more comfortable “celebrity dungeon”. Of course for most people there is the daily rate for the privilege of staying under nicer conditions. The judge has eliminated this option for the Party Princess. It’s too bad that the Mayberry Police can’t help this Simple Life star fatten up on some of Aunt Bea’s cooking during her retreat.

Superior Court judge Michael Sauer ordered Hilton to surrender on June 5th to begin serving her sentence. Don’t look for that to happen as her high priced lawyers earn their fees by obtaining a stay of execution until a higher court has an opportunity to intervene. It may be many months before Hilton is forced to do anything at all.

There will be jokes about this that will go on forever. It’s not very funny at all. Perhaps now someone else may avoid a DUI rap, injury or even death by not driving drunk.

Paris Hilton should keep a detailed diary of her experience in her own handwriting. When she gets out she should then put it up for sale on E-Bay and give the proceeds to a worthwhile charity. The publishing rights should also be assigned to the owner of the memoir.

There Are Eight Million Reasons For Gun Rights

Meet Jack Rhodes, 44. New York police say he’s the man who was caught on tape beating and robbing a 101 year-old woman, Rose Morat.

People who commit atrocities like Rhodes now stands accused of deserve to be stopped cold in the act of committing their crimes.

Quoting from that old TV series about the NYPD. “There are eight million stories in the Naked City and this is one of them.”

Read about his arrest here.

Information on that great TV series, Naked City.

Utah Allows Guns On College Campuses

The lovers of the Gun Free Zone concept must really hate Utah. The gun-rights haters will scream that gun carrying students and faculty members will leave a trail of dead bodies wherever they go.

Allowing the law-abiding sane and sober folks to be armed on campuses will promote safety rather then be a threat. More armed good people can and will overwhelm the evil ones.

Read about Utah here.