Bittersweet End

When I first heard we had to create a blog this semester I was pretty excited. Creating a blog in class was a first for me, although I have made a blog in the past about my personal life. What made this class assignment even more exciting is that the topic of the blog was our choice. At first, I was overwhelmed by trying to find the perfect topic for my blog. I was looking for a topic that would be keep me intrigued and inspired throughout the semester. Right away I thought of two potential topics that would fit criminal justice and cooking. I have always loved cooking as a hobby. I enjoy making classic dishes to trying exotic dishes. My idea for my blog based on the cooking topic, would have been to post a different dish in each blog post. My other idea was to focus on criminal justice in my blog. I would focus on a certain part of criminal justice in my blog since criminal justice is such a large topic. Some topics I was considering was serial killers, female serial killers, child killers, and prisons. In the end, I decided to pick criminal justice focusing on female serial killers.  

Why female serial killers?

Ultimately I picked female serial killers because It was a topic that I had brushed on, but was yearning to learn more about. What really got me interested in female serial killers or female killers in general was the show "Deadly Women". This show focused on telling the stories of women that murdered. I enjoyed it so much because most murder based shows are about males. The show really changed my perspective on females and made me realize that I was yet another person in society that under estimated females. I wanted to not only educate society about female killers, but even educate myself.

The End to This Blog?

As of now, I'm not in any rush to continue writing in this blog weekly. I would like to reflect on what I have learned over the semester and visit back. It would be interesting to see how my writing style will have changed and to see my blog views. I'm curious to see if people will continue to visit my blog. In the next couple months I would actually like to start a food blog. The sole purpose of the blog would be for personal use. It would be a great way for me to store all my recipes electronically. If I did have people viewing or commenting I wouldn't mind. I would actually be quite surprised since my goal isn't to reach out to a community of people.

My Thoughts on Blogging

I believe blogging is an electronic journal that is made public. It's a great way to express your thoughts to whomever stumbles upon your blog. Unlike a traditional journal though you can add media to your entries. For example, hyper linking and videos can be used in your blog. Adding touches like media, color, and organization to your blog will draw the readers in. Whether your writing for yourself or for an entire community it still will make an impact on at least one person. Even if that person is just yourself or maybe someone you inspired that you will never meet.You will never know the impact until you make the commitment to a create a blog and continue it.

Analysis Paper Part 2

This post, I decided to go a bit more in depth with my outline for the analysis paper. Now that I have the sources I want to use I need to organize how I will present them. This post will be beneficial to me because it will map out each part of my paper. The peer analysis paper review we had in class on monday really made me realize how I wanted to write my paper. At first, I was a bit confused how to put my opinions and resources to use in my paper. After class I had a better understanding of how to write this paper.

For my introduction, I wanted to first give a little background on female serial killers to draw the reader in. I will include a fascinating fact that I will consider the hook in my paper. After background information on my topic I want to focus on why I picked this topic.

My body paragraphs will include insight on my community blogs. At this point, I have narrowed down two options for how I want to write my body paragraphs. My first option is focusing on one community blog for each body paragraph. I would write three body paragraphs each focusing on three community blogs. Option two was to focus on three different issues in each body paragraphs. These issues would be ones that I found within my blog community that, not only I have discussed but others had to.

The conclusion will include any ending thoughts I have on this topic. I will also add how I have grown as a blogger overtime. After I will answer if i believe I feel apart of this topics blogging community or not, and adding my reasons why. My closing sentences will give advice to other new bloggers on how to approach this topic.

I am most comfortable with using MLA format when writing papers. I had never explored any other formats before. After class on monday I realized that my topic, which has to do with my major in criminology, uses APA format. I would like to attempt APA format for my first rough draft that is due next monday.

Analysis Paper

For this post, we were asked to discuss potential sources for the final analysis paper. I was pleased to have the opportunity to use a post for this, because I want to make sure my potential sources will work for my analysis paper. In addition, I believe this post could almost be compared to an outline for the paper, which always helps to get a reader organized.

Source One:
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/index.html

When i first used the google blog search i typed "serial killers" and was the first thing that popped up. Since then, it has proven to be my number source for almost every single one of my posts on my blog. It has wonderful facts, quotes, and pictures for almost anything to do with serial killers and criminal justice in general. provides detailed background information of each serial killer which is important for my blog. I now know this is a valid source that will be beneficial, not only for this class but future classes. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if is a blog or not? I'd love some feedback on if i could use this in my analysis paper or not. 

Source two:
women serial killers blog

This blog is located on blogger and is exactly the same topic as my blog. Like me, the author of this blog is a student majoring in criminal justice. I enjoyed this blog most because of all the similarities between us authors. We kept the same outline for our blog by added a picture of each female serial killer we discussed in each post. The majority of our blog posts were the same female serial killer and that was interesting to compare. Sadly, this blog doesn't have a ton of analysis in each post it's more just the stories repeated. Although one piece of analysis i was able to spot was that the author pointed out the recurring problem that many people don't suspect females of such crimes. This is a piece of analysis I to have discussed in at least one of my posts. I believe this would be a great source for my analysis paper since it's the closest comparison to my blog.


Source 3:
diary of a serial killer

This blog is another one that i found on blogger. Although, the author has only written in it a few times i enjoyed reading them all. In one of my blog posts i talked about toxicology reports, which still involved my topic, but wasn't like my typical posts. This blog relates to that post it doesn't talk about each individual serial killer like my typical posts. It goes a little deeper by discussing genes, pychological aspects, and more about serial killers. This information is vital in understanding the whole story of why each serial killer did what they did. I enjoyed reading all the information this blog provided and would consider it being one of my potential sources.

Overall, I believe I have some great blogs picked out for my analysis paper. Sadly, it's hard to find a blog about serial killers online. I'm happy i found ones that discuss my topic and were helpful. Not only did each one provide useful information, but they also had a works cited which really confirms that it's a reliable source. Currently I am still looking for other blogs that fit my community that i could possibly use for my paper.

Forensic Toxicology

The most popular choice of weapon for a female serial killer is poison. At least 45 percent of female serial killers used poison on some of their victims. 35 percent of female serial killers only used poison on their victims (Vronsky, 43). So why is this method of killing so popular? The first reason is because most natural substances in the correct amount can be poisonous to humans. The second reason is that many poisons can copy common life threatening diseases, which leave physicians to assume that the victims died from natural causes (Ramsland, 2). To prevent this possible assumption from happening Forensic Toxicology was invented. 

What is Forensic Toxicology?

"Technically speaking, John Brenners Forensic Science Glossary defines toxicology as the study of poisons, but it also covers the detection of foreign substances in the body that can have a toxic effect, such as alcohol, industrial chemicals, poisonous gas, illegal drugs, or drug overdoses"(Ramsland, 2).  

The toxicology tests that are performed on a person that has passed away is called forensic toxicology or postmortem drug testing (Doheny, 1). Forensic toxicology isn't just important in determining if a case is foul play. Just as important it determines if a case is the result of suicide or accidental deaths (Ramsland, 2). 

How Forensic Toxicology Works: 

Getting a complete toxicology report can take time, in some cases four to six weeks, and in others even longer. The reason it can take a lengthy amount of time is because there may be a lot of specimens that need to be tested. During this process the toxicologist waits for information on the victims history and symptoms in hopes of narrowing down the testing of specimens (Ramsland, 2). The specimens could be blood, urine, tissue, or even stomach contents. If any specimens are positive it then has to be tested again in a more specialized test (Doheny, 3). An example of a specialized test is mass spectrometry, which can identify chemicals in substances by their mass and charge (Doheny, 2). Experts have to determine if in fact the drug or substance in the specimens are a therapeutic dose, a toxic dose, or a lethal dose. Lastly, this will answer the question if the certain doses contributed to the death or caused the death (Doheny, 3). 

Considering that a huge percentage of female serial killers use poison, it seems imperative to have forensic toxicology. This could be the evidence that will make or break a case that has not yet been solved. Advances in technology have proven helpful in the field of forensic toxicology. For example, you can now get hand held breathalyzers  to measure alcohol levels instead of testing the persons blood. As a result, in shorter time spans a case can be one step closer to finding an answer. As time goes by my hopes are that the field of forensic toxicology continues to grow. Even more so in the results of the tests. In some cases time is of the essence and the answers can't wait for weeks. Thankfully, in some cases the toxicology report solved the case. Proving to be beneficial to police and a curse to female serial killers. 

Works cited:

Doheny, Kathleen. "The Truth About Toxicology Test." WedMD. N.p. n.d. Web. 25 Mar.       2013.

Ramsland, Katherine. "Forensic Toxicology." . N.p. n.d. Web. 25 Mar.       2013.

Vronsky, Peter. "Female Serial Killers: How and Why Women Become Monsters." N.p. n.d. Web. 25 Mar.  

Faye Copeland: Oldest aged Female Serial Killer?

(Lohr, 1). 

Faye Copeland along with her husband, Ray Copeland, became the oldest couple to be sentenced to death in American history (Lohr, 7). The Copeland's were convicted of killing five men in the early 1990's.  They were husband and wife killers who were known to be the most bizarre. Not only were they eligible for social security at the time of their crimes, but none of the crimes seemed to based off of passion (Lohr, 1). It's hard to tell the motive of the crimes the Copeland's committed. Even more inconvenient, there is very little information on and studies done on perpetrators over the age of sixty (Lohr, 1). "According to the 2000 Russian Journal of Psychiatry, by L. K. Khokhlov, E. A Grigoryeva., and M. M. Rozum, most elderly murderers demonstrate a close relationship between pre-senile, senile disorders and social-psychological factors and more than half demonstrate clear evidence of psychopathology" (Lohr, 1). Could insanity be the motive for the elderly couple to start committing crimes?


The Nebraska Crime Stoppers hotline logged a call from Jack McCormick, on August 20, 1989. McCormick had recently moved from Missouri, where he worked on a farm for an elderly couple. He began to explain, that the couple used drifters to commit crimes involving livestock. In the beginning, McCormick stated he was unaware of the criminal activity. Although, when Mr. Copeland found out about his suspicions he tried to kill McCormick. Luckily, McCormick escaped and fled to Nebraska (Lohr, 2). Before closing up the phone call with the Crime Stoppers, he mentioned he had seen some human bones on their property (Lohr, 2). When Missouri police received this tip they took it very seriously, considering Copeland had a long arrest record for forgery and cattle theft (Lohr, 2). 

(Lohr, 3). 

On October 9, 1989 over forty officers showed up on the Copeland's property with a search warrant (Lohr, 2). Five days passed, with no evidence of human remains found on the farm land. Finally, on October 17, 1989 police discovered three bodies in a local barn on their property (Lorh, 2). Each body was buried in a separate grave, with a single gunshot wound to the back of the skull (Lorh, 2). Later, police found two more bodies on the Copeland's property. One body was found in another barn the Copeland's used, the last body was found in an old well that police were searching (Lorth, 3). As with the others, both of these bodies had one gunshot in the back of the skull (Lorth, 3). 

Both Copeland's were to be charged with five counts of first-degree murder. Faye Copeland had her trial first, on November 1, 1990. During her trial Faye was an astonishing 69 years old (Lohr, 7). Faye's defense was that she was unaware of her husband's actions and was a victim of Battered Women Syndrome. The jury found Faye guilty of five counts of first-degree murder. The Judge sentenced her to death by lethal injection for the four counts and one count life without parole (Lohr, 7). 

The very next day after Faye's trial, Ray Copeland was informed about Faye's trial. 

 "You hear about the verdict Ray?

Nah ...what happened?

Well, they found her guilty and recommended execution for her, Ray.

Well, those things happen to some you know, he responded" (Lohr, 7).  Ray never asked about Faye after being informed on her sentence (Lohr, 7).

On March 7, 1991 Ray Copeland went to trial. Copeland was 76 years old during his trial (Lohr, 7). After weeks of testimonies the jury came to a verdict, Ray Copeland was found guilty of five counts of first-degree murder (Lohr, 7). He was sentenced to death by lethal  injection. After hearing the verdict, Ray simply mumbled, Im OK (Lohr, 7). 

Two years later, Ray Copeland died while awaiting execution. He died at the Potosi Correctional Center at age 78 (Lohr, 8). While in prison Faye Copeland will go to trials and her sentence will be lowered to life in prison (Lohr, 8). In the early 2000's an attorney was in the process of appealing the judges ruling. The attorney wanted to reinstate the death sentence on Faye Copeland (Lohr, 7). Before any more progress could be made on the appeal, Faye Copeland suffered a stroke, which left her partially paralyzed and unable to speak (Lohr, 8). She was then paroled to a nursing home in her hometown. Not even a year later, at age 82 Faye Copeland died from natural causes at the nursing home (Lohr, 8). 

 To this day, investigators still believe the couple committed more than five murders. The biggest piece of evidence to back this up was a handwritten list. During the searching of the Copeland's house they discovered a handwritten list written by Faye (Lohr, 3). It had names on it, all farm helpers on the property. Twelve of the names had X's by them. All five bodies found had a X by their name. The rest of the names with the X were all missing and presumed dead (Lohr, 3). After reading this evidence I completely agree with investigators. It's sad that the Copeland's weren't charged with all the murders they convicted. The motive is hard to determine, and as a result it's another case that is a bit of a mystery. In the end, if it wasn't for McCormick we may have never known about this couple's dark secrets. Just like female serial killers, senior serial killers are just as rare. Sadly, no one would assume an elderly person could commit such a crime, which is how they, like females, can get away with murder. 

 
Works Cited: 

Lohr, David. "The True Story of Ray and Faye Copeland". <Crimelibrary>. Web. 6 Mar. 2013.

Female Serial Killing Categories

In 1991 Eric Hickey split up female serial killers into two categories Black Widows and Angles of Death. When female serial killers popped up more and more it showed assorted types of deepened psychoses (Geringer, 2 ). In addition, the reason why they killed became more evident. During the 1990's Hickey's successors added to the list of categories. By 1998, Michael D. and C.Lc Kelleher authors of Murder Most Rare, published their book that contained nine different categories for female serial killers (Geringer, 2 ). The categories are: 

1. Black Widows 
2. Angels of Death 
3. Sexual Predators
4. Revenge Killers
5. Profit Killers
6. Team Killers
7. Killers Whose Sanity is in Question 
8. Killers Whose Motives Defy Explanation, 
9. Unsolved Crimes
(Geringer, 2 ). 



Black Widows:
In my last blog post i briefly talked about female serial killers being labeled as Black Widows. A huge portion of Black Widows began killing in their mid-thirties, but some started their killing career earlier. Based on cases on record, the average number of victims for a Black Widow was between six and thirteen (Geringer, 3 ). The average span of when the murders occurred was eleven years. The main motive for the Black Widow is profit, and on some rare cases they murder someone they believe learned the truth about them (Geringer, 3 ). For most Black Widows after one husband dies it isn't rare to see them relocated to another part of the country. They will then changed their name and created a completely fabricated background (Geringer, 3 ). They put up an easily act of being a faithful wife and good mom, because society assumes almost all women are. The Kelleher's state in their book also that "Because she will deliberately target those who have come to trust her, the crimes of this type of serial murderer violate our basic assumptions about love, loyalty, guardianship and friendship" (Geringer, 3 ). One example of a Black widow is Judias V. Buenoano who poisoned her husband, son, an attempted to poison her new fiance.

Angels of Death: 
A female serial killer that is categorized as an Angel of Death sets herself up as God (Geringer, 2 ). The reason being is that they prey mainly on victims that they believe are already marked for natural death. Sick patients at hospitals and caregivers for the elderly fit under people marked for natural death (Geringer, 2 ).  There weapon is either something chemical, like lethal injection of Potassium, or suffocation with a pillow. Both of these means are hard to trace which is why their the most popular for Angels of death (Geringer, 2 ). An example of an Angel of Death serial killer is Jane Toppan. Jane Toppan was a nurse that killed her patients using injections. For more information on Toppan one of my previous blogs is solely dedicated to her.

Sexual Predators: 
  This means that the female serial killer was driven to kill by some type of sexual fantasy (Geringer, 2 ). This category of female serial killer is quite rare compared to the rest. This tends to be more common in male serial killers. Jane Toppan could also be under this category, because at one point she stated that she derived sexual pleasure from killing her victims (Adams, 1 ). Another debatable one is Alieen Wuornos, some say debatable whether sexual fantasy had any part with her motivation to kill (Geringer, 2 ). 

Revenge Killers:
Revenge female serial killers tend to be obsession-driven (Geringer, 2 ). Whether it be by love, hate or jealousy which are the most common factors. They are just as rare as Sexual Predators, but when pushed just enough they will come back for vengeance. The average age for Revenge Killers are between mid 20's to early 30's (Geringer, 2 ). Martha Wise is a perfect example she was told she could not marry a much younger man from her family and minister. To lash back at them she poisoned three family members and burned down the church (Geringer, 2 ). 

Profit Killers:
These killers strictly kill for monetary gain. They hire themselves out as "hit women" to mainly jealous wives that want their husband killed because they cheated or are abusive (Geringer, 2 ). The wives don't want to do the dirty work so they hire a Profit Killer. This differs from the Black Widow because the Black Widow chooses their victims, while Profit Killers will commit murder for others (Geringer, 2 ). Because they are considered "silent witnesses" their killing career could last for many years. Madame Alexe Popova is a prime example of a Profit Killer (Geringer, 2 ). She poisoned some three-hundred husbands and boyfriends for different women. She was finally caught in 1909 and executed by a firing squad (Geringer, 2 ).

Team Killers: 

(Geringer, 2 ).

Female Team serial Killers can really come in many shapes and sizes. This one category comprises two-thirds of the female serial killer rank and file (Geringer, 2 ). This category consists of three types of Team Killers groups. The most infamous one is the "male/female" duo, which consists of one male and one female partnered together. In most of the cases they are just thrill-seeking lovers (Geringer, 2 ). The second most common Team Killers isthe "female/female" duo. Most of the time these two women agree together to commit the murders as a team (Geringer, 2 ). Although in some cases one female may force the other to be part of the deadly team. The last group is called "killing family" when three or more people come together as a team to commit multiple murders (Geringer, 2 ). The most infamous example of the "killing family" group is Charles Manson. He led sixteen people to commit over dozens of murders back in the late 1900's. Shockingly ten of the sixteen apart of the "killing family" were females (Geringer, 2 ). 

The last three categories aren't as closely defined as the others (Geringer, 2 ).  

Killers whose sanity is in Question: 
This category of females usually have gone to trial and plead not guilty because of reason of insanity. There are very few women that have gotten away with murder using this defense and instead of going to prison they go to a mental hospital.  Jeanne Weber got out of being hung in 1908 after killing her children. She convinced the jury that she was insane and was sent to an institution instead of prison (Geringer, 2 ). 

Killers Whose Motives Defy Explanation:

 (Geringer, 2 ).

This category of women are found guilty of their crimes, but they remained unlabeled, The reason being because, there is no clear motives present (Geringer, 2 ). Audrey Marie Hilley is the most famous case for this category (Geringer, 2 ).  If there was clear motives she would have been placed in the Black Widow category. From all the evidence collected there was no tangible gain or monetary profit for Hilley (Geringer, 2 ). For some unknown reason, Hilley went on a four year killing spree killing three of her family members (Geringer, 2 ).  

Unsolved Crimes: 
These are crimes that are suspected to be committed by a women but there was no confirmed suspect or motive behind it (Geringer, 2 ).  A eerie example of one close by are the murders at Maryland's Prince George's County Hospital during 1984 and 1985 (Geringer, 2 ).  Someone killed seventeen patients instantly, by injecting potassium into their IV tubes. When they suspected it was a female, the DA's office believed she was innocent and let her go (Geringer, 2 ). 


Works Cited: 

Geringer, Joseph. "Black Widow: Veiled in Their Own Web of Darkness." .N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2013. 

Adams, Nicole. " Ten American Female Serial Killers." Listverse.  29. Dec. 2012. Web. 4 Feb. 2013.

Female vs. Male Serial Killers

Recently, a peer suggested that one of my blogs should be written on the differences of female and male serial killers. I felt it was necessary to do so, and I'm apologetic for not doing it before. I believe it's very important to understand characteristics and motives of serial killers. Most certainly, before going in depth in cases like I have in my past posts. That being said, I'm dedicating this whole post to spread awareness of not only the differences of male and female serial killers, but also the similarities. 

Execution of Murders

The first huge difference between male and female serial killers is the way they execute their murders. Almost all female serial killers tend to be very sly and attentive when planning and executing a murder (Geringer, 2). Often they lean towards a more untraceable and non-aggressive way of killing their victim (Geringer, 2). "The Electronic Journal of Sociology, published by the University of Guelph, Ontario, estimates that 80 percent of female serialists have employed poison by itself or with other means" (Geringer, 2). While on the other hand male serial killers tend to be more physical and face to face. It is more common for a male serial killer to shoot, stab, or strangle their victims (Geringer, 2). The way male serial murders carry out their murders are almost always a cruel, violent, and bloodbath of an act (Geringer, 2). 

Demeanor  

Overall female serial killers are much more subtle, unlike male serial killers who are very aggressive and tend to be over the top. As a result, male serial killers killing careers usually only range from a few months to the longest four years (Geringer, 2). Recorded lengths of female serial killing careers range from six to eight years. In some cases females have gone undetected for three decades (Geringer, 2). As rare as female serial killers can be compared to males, perhaps females could give the males pointers on how to go undetected for a longer period?

Victims

Another big difference between female and male serial killers is their victims. Females largely tend to kill victims that they know and are close to (Geringer, 2). This could range from family members to someone they provide care for, like a nurse or caregiver. Males for the most part don't have a relationship with their victims(Geringer, 2). They will pick out a stranger and stalk them until they are ready to carry out their crime (Geringer, 2). This being said, you'd think it would be harder to detect males since the victims are random, but the extent of their crimes give them away easily. 

Motives 

In addition to their victims, motives are also very different. There are many different types of female serial killers. The most notorious type being the Black Widows (Geringer, 2). The term black widow comes from a toxic spider that kills it's mate when there usefulness is over. These female serial killers portray a perfect housewife to cover their true colors (Geringer, 2). Seventy- five percent of female serial killers kill for only a profit, or any asset gained from a "sudden" death (Geringer, 2).The only way they would obtain this profit or asset is by killing a family member like husbands, parents, and even their own children. Thirteen percent will kill for control and following very close behind twelve percent will kill for revenge (Geringer, 2). Male serial killers motives on the other hand can be very fuzzy for a bunch of reasons. Although when men kill repetitively half the time the motive is sexually driven. Which explains why most of the time victims of male serial killers will not have clothes on. 

Similarities 

Although male and female serial killers seem very different there are three major similarities. The first one is their ability to portray themselves as normal looking citizens. Most of society is under the assumption that all serial killers look like Hannibal Lecter (Geringer, 2). 
 In reality most serial killers could be your neighbor, friend, and even your own family. The second is that they may be psychopaths, but psychopaths aren't insane. The Third is that as psychopaths they lack a conscience.(Geringer, 2). Co-author of The A-Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers, Harold Schecter said "Serial killers are psychopathic personalities...lacking in certain basic human emotions, including remorse. Other human beings are just objects they use for their own gratification"(Geringer, 2).

 I believe that people need to start opening their eyes and realizing that at this day and age anyone could be a serial killer. Society needs to stop labeling a serial killer as only a male figure, and accept the fact that women also can and have been serial killers. As of now male and female serial killers are quite different, but over time i think they will become more similar. Male serial killers will become more sly and undetectable like women serial killers, and women will become more violent and random like male serial killers. For example, Aileen Wuornos killed all her victims face to face every time with a gun. This type of serial killing fits that of a male serial killer. Perhaps that's why she may have gotten away with murder for a longer period of time?  

Works Cited: 

Geringer, Joseph. "Black Widow: Veiled in Their Own Web of Darkness." .N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2013.