Spingola Files
The sleuth with the proof takes a look at real cases
Archive for True Crime
December 5, 2012 at 3:49 am · Filed under True Crime
If you own a Kindle, an i-Phone, an i-Pad, an Android, a Mac or a PC, Best of the Spingola Files, Vol. II: Here’s Looking at You is now available for purchase exclusively at Amazon.com. Simply download the Kindle app to any of these devices and click this link:
http://www.amazon.com/Best-Spingola-Files-Vol-ebook/dp/B00AGZTALE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1354678740&sr=1-1&keywords=spingola+files
Readers will get my take on a killer drifter, the details of the homicide investigation of two young Milwaukee girls, the guilty verdict of Drew Peterson, an examination of the emerging American surveillance state, as well as 36 additional articles of criminal justice import.
Within 24 hours after the book’s release, Best of the Spingola Files, Vol. II: Here’s Looking at You debuted at #5 on Amazon.com’s criminal procedure list and ranked #15 on Amazon’s list of “hot new releases.”
Kindle gift cards are available at Amazon.com. Give the gift of reading this Christmas!
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Steve Spingola is an author and retired Milwaukee Police Department homicide detective. His book, Best of the Spingola Files, Vol. I, is available at Amazon.com
If your group is in need of a fascinating guest speaker, consider the Spingola Files’ Psychology of Homicide presentation.
For more information, please visit:
www.badgerwordsmith.com/the_psychology_of_homicide_presentation.html
© Steven Spingola,Wales, WI, 2012
November 14, 2012 at 3:07 am · Filed under True Crime
The holidays are right around the corner. One of the gifts that keeps-on giving is an electronic book reader, such as Amazon’s Kindle Fire. For those who prefer the i-Pad or i-Phone, a Kindle app is available for free.
If you are fortunate enough land such a stocking-stuffer, be sure to checkout Best of the Spingola Files, Vol. II: Here’s Looking at You, an e-book, available exclusively at Amazon.com, set for release early next month.
This is the second of the Best of the Spingola Files book series. In Volume II, I take a look at some puzzling cold case homicides, walk readers through the Drew Peterson investigation, and detail some of the equipment and techniques utilized by the post 9/11 American surveillance state.
For more information on these and other interesting books, visit www.badgerwordsmith.com/books.html
October 27, 2012 at 7:11 pm · Filed under True Crime
To view this article, please checkout Best of the Spingola Files, Vol. II: Here’s Looking at You, available exclusively at Amazon.com in December of 2012.
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Steve Spingola is an author and retired Milwaukee Police Department homicide detective. His latest book, Best of the Spingola Files, Vol. I, is available at Amazon.com
If your group is in need of a fascinating guest speaker, consider the Spingola Files Psychology of Homicide presentation.
For more information, please visit:
www.badgerwordsmith.com/the_psychology_of_homicide_presentation.html
© Steven Spingola, Wales, WI, 2012
October 15, 2012 at 2:25 pm · Filed under True Crime
To view this article, checkout Best of the Spingola Files, Vol. II: Here’s Looking at You coming to Amazon.com in December 2012.
www.badgerwordsmith.com/books.html
© Steven Spingola,Wales, WI, 2012
September 9, 2012 at 4:23 pm · Filed under True Crime
To view this article, checkout Best of the Spingola Files, Vol. II: Here’s Looking at You coming to Amazon.com in December 2012.
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Steve Spingola is an author and retired Milwaukee Police Department homicide detective. His new book, Best of the Spingola Files, is now available at Amazon.com.
If your group is in need of a fascinating guest speaker, consider the Spingola Files Psychology of Homicide presentation. For more information, visit
www.badgerwordsmith.com/the_psychology_of_homicide_presentation.html
or
www.badgerwordsmith.com/books.html
© Steven Spingola,Wales, WI, 2012
April 8, 2012 at 2:34 pm · Filed under True Crime
Like a spectator at a gladiator fight in the Roman coliseum, I have sat back and watched the finger-pointing unfold in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida.
With his budget shot down 414-0 in the House of Representatives, his approval numbers in free fall, and a portion of his health care legislation of the verge of being ruled unconstitutional, President Obama wasted little time weighing in on Martin’s tragic death, even though the federal government arguably has no jurisdiction in the matter.
And, of course, the usual suspects—Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton—could hardly resist jumping into the fray. Jackson would rather talk about an unjustifiable intervention by a self-declared neighborhood watch captain than a love child.[1] While Sharpton—damaged goods in the minds of many after the Tawana Brawley debacle—is always on the lookout for ways to raise his profile.[2]
It is, however, the recent remarks of Bill Cosby—a celebrity whose candid comments regarding bigotry and personal responsibility have opened a dialogue on race relations—that are, unpredictably, off base.
Yesterday, Washington Times columnist Deborah Simmons noted that Cosby believes that “the gun” was the impetus for Trayvon Martin’s death.
“We’ve got to get the gun out of the hands of people who are supposed to be on neighborhood watch,” Cosby told Simmons.[3]
True, guns do not belong in the hands of some people. Individuals convicted of felonies and/or domestic violence, those abusing drugs, and persons suffering from mental health issues are ticking time bombs when a firearm is figured-in to the equation.
Yet if Cosby had taken the time to research the background of the shooter, he might conclude that, had the system done its job, “the gun,” at least lawfully, would not be an issue.
“Charged with resisting arrest without violence,” in July 2005, the Los Angeles Times reported, “he [Zimmerman] avoided conviction by entering a pretrial-diversion program, something common for first-time offenders.”[4]
Zimmerman’s former girlfriend also filed a domestic violence injunction against him. Zimmerman countered with his own injunction, although it appears the police did not investigate.[5]
Had the system done its job by placing Zimmerman, who is Hispanic, on an extended period of probation for the incident outside a central Florida night spot, the court, in all likelihood, would have prohibited him from possessing firearms while serving his sentence.
Ironically, Jackson and Sharpton continually take the criminal justice system to task for its treatment of minority offenders—often times encouraging prosecutors to send those charged with acts of violence, such as fighting with law enforcement officers, into diversion programs.
In the Zimmerman’s case, it appears that a Florida prosecutor bought-in to the charlatanism of the Jackson/Sharpton school of justice—the ugly results of which are now in plan view for all to see.
Unfortunately, Bill Cosby chooses to blame “the gun” instead of Jackson and Sharpton—the hucksters of criminal justice diversion, who then go on to incite the populous when those sentenced to the same diversion programs they advocate for predictably reoffend.
Some might call it a conspiracy of sorts, while others, rightfully, the revolving door of ignorance and the politics of self-pity.
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Steve Spingola is an author and retired Milwaukee Police Department homicide detective. His new book, Best of the Spingola Files, is now available at Amazon.com.
If your group is in need of a fascinating guest speaker, consider the Spingola Files Psychology of Homicide presentation. For more information, visit www.badgerwordsmith.com/the_psychology_of_homicide_presentation.html
© Steven Spingola, Wales, WI, 2012
[1] “Jesse Jackson Confesses to Love Child,”
www.guradian.co.uk. January 18, 2001. 7 April 2012.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/jan/18/2
[2] Kennedy, H. “Rev. Al Shrapton: I Won’t Apologize for Handling of Tawana Brawley Case.” www.articles.dailynews.com. May 19, 2011. 7 April 2012. http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-05-19/local/29579330_1_tawana-brawley-group-of-white-men-racial-tensions
[3] Simmons, D. “Simmons: Bill Cosby Weighs in on Trayvon Martin Case.” www.washingtontimes.com. April 7, 2012. 8 April 2012. http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/apr/7/simmons-bill-cosby-weighs-trayvon-martin-case/
[4] Muskal, M. “Trayvon Martin Case: George Zimmerman, Mystery Gunman.” www.latimes.com. March 23, 2012. 8 April 2012. http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-george-zimmerman-20120323,0,6326075.story
[5] Sieczkowski, C. “Who is George Zimmerman? Florida Shooter has Checkered Past of ‘Vigilantism’ and Domestic Violence.” www.ibtimes.com. March 23, 2012. 8 April 2012. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/318716/20120323/george-zimmerman-florida-shooting-trayvon-martin.htm
November 20, 2011 at 5:16 pm · Filed under True Crime
An ongoing investigation in the state of Washington rings similar to the infamous disappearance of Caylee Anthony.
Police in a Seattle suburb are on the lookout for two-year-old Sky Metalwala. The boy’s mother, Julia Biryukova, 30, of nearby Redmond, told investigators that her son went missing on November 6 after her car stalled. As she left to get gas in nearby Bellevue, Biryukova told police she left the toddler inside her unlocked vehicle while her four-year-old-daughter and she walked to town for gas. When Biryukova allegedly returned an hour later, the child was gone.
Detectives later conducted an examination of Biryukova’s vehicle and determined that the Acura Integra was not low on fuel. Police believe the car could have driven significantly further with the amount of fuel in the tank.
For just over a week now, searchers checked the area adjacent to Biryukova’s residence and the surrounding area where her vehicle supposedly stalled.
Then, yesterday, based on tips generated by members of the public, investigators expanded the geographical nature of the search.
One area investigators continue to scour is Watershed Park, located in the Houghton area of Kirkland—a secluded wooded-preserve complete with hiking trails. Mountain bikers and hikers frequent this 73-acre park, known for its natural green spaces and upland forest.
“We believe there’s something suspicious afoot here,” Bellevue Police Major Mike Johnson told The Seattle Times. “The story doesn’t add up.”
Considering that Julia Biryukova and her “estranged husband” had just completed a heated custody battle involving their son just a week before he went missing, Maj. Johnson’s quote is probably an understatement.
So where will investigators turn next?
Local police agencies will bring in trained cadaver dogs to search Watershed Park and other relevant areas. Besides tips from the public, information provided from a high-tech, smart-phone computer forensics device, known as The Universal Forensic Extraction Device (UFED 2.0), will likely be used to search Biryukova’s cellular telephone. This Big Brother technology will bypass a cellular telephone’s pass code and then retrieve geo-tagged photos, the owner’s list of contacts, deleted or undeleted text messages, GPS locations, and a list of all incoming and outgoing calls.
Sadly, as each day passes, the likelihood that Sky Metalwala is still alive decreases exponentially. While the twists-and-turns of a high-profile investigation become fodder for the press, it is important to reflect on the plight of the victim. Children place the ultimate trust in their parents to care for their needs. Even wild animals attend to and fiercely defend the lives of their young. Each year in the U.S., though, this bond is broken about 1,000 times, as young child become homicide victims at the hands or a parent or guardian.
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Steve Spingola is an author and retired Milwaukee Police Department homicide detective.
If your group is in need of a fascinating guest speaker, consider the Spingola Files Psychology of Homicide presentation. For more information, visit www.badgerwordsmith.com/the_psychology_of_homicide_presentation.html
© Steven Spingola, Wales, WI, 2011
July 30, 2011 at 4:04 pm · Filed under True Crime
So, facetiously, what caused the Wisconsin Capitol Police to, FINALLY, put up the crime scene tape in the Capitol rotunda on July 25? Was it threats to the lives of lawmakers? Was it staffers of elected representatives once again being party to the crime of criminal trespass? Was it protestors vandalizing the historic building’s expensive marble? Not a chance. When it comes to these actual events, the Capitol Police appear to don their blinders, even if video captures the perpetrators committing criminal offenses.
Yet the Capitol Police did affect an actual felony arrest this week—the crime: the popping of a protestor’s balloon.
Go ahead, laugh, but one can imagine Chief Tubbs and his investigators chalking-out the balloon as it tumbled to the marble floor. ‘We need to expand the scene,’ one of the investigators shouts to a police officer in uniform. ‘There may be DNA left behind from the cutting instrument.’
Even though this incident sounds like a goofy skit from Saturday Night Live, the Capitol Police actually took a man into custody and referred the alleged perpetrator to the Dane County DA’s office for the felony change of recklessly endangering safety. Now, Ron Blair, a facilities manager at the Capitol, is on leave from his job with state government. The Capitol Police allege that Blair, in an attempt to pop the balloon, waived a sharp object.
Ironically, late last March, the Dane County District Attorney’s office finally got around to charging Katherine R. Windels of Cross Plains. According the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Windels sent an e-mail to 15 lawmakers that read, in part: “Atten: Death Threat!!!! Bomb!!!” and “Please put your things in order because you will be killed and your families will also be killed due to your actions in the last 8 weeks.
“I hope you have a good time in hell,” Windels allegedly wrote, explaining that she would end the lives of targeted lawmakers via bombings and by “putting a nice little bullet in your head.”
Charged with a serious felony, the Dane County DA’s office refused to have Windels arrested. Instead, officials permitted her to stroll into intake court to answer a summons.
Politics, I am sure, had nothing to do with the way either of these investigations proceeded, right?
This balloon popping incident, at best, merits a civil forfeiture disorderly conduct citation, which will then allow Chief Tubbs’ forensic investigators to remove the crime scene tape before the Dane County Coroner orders an autopsy.
A Note to Law Enforcement Vendors: Canadian Border Police Need 21st Century Drug Testing Kits
For Americans spending a portion of their summers hiking and fishing in Canada, here is a post it note: leave the 5W-30 at home.
Janet Goodin, a 66-year-old grandmother from Warroad, Minnesota, found that out the hard way in April.
Looking to drop a few greenbacks at a Canadian bingo hall just a hop, skip, and jump over the border in the Manitoba town of Sprague, Goodin stopped to pay a required duty. Taking an apparent page out of the TSA’s policy manual, agents from the Canadian Border Services flagged Goodin for additional screening.
“So I got up there and they pulled me over for a search,” Goodin told Minnesota Public Radio. “I was just concerned for being late for bingo. I wasn’t concerned for anything else.”
Little did Goodin know that the cargo secreted in her vehicle might land her a role in the Canadian version of Midnight Express.
A border agent found a canning jar inside of Goodin’s vehicle, which, like most of us, she shares with other family members. The agent asked the grandmother what was inside the receptacle, but Goodin did not know. The agent took the bottle for preliminary drug testing, which, the agent claimed, came back positive for heroin.
The Canadian Border Service then arrested and stripped searched Goodin. A magistrate set her bail at $5,000 and a $15,000 surety, requiring her daughters to back the note with the titles of their American properties. However, a judge refused to accept the titles as collateral, which meant Goodin, living primarily on a fixed income, remained a guest at a Canadian jail for the next 12 days.
But when the suspected heroin was sent to a Canadian crime lab, a chemist discovered the brownish substance to be dirty motor oil.
The response from the Canadian Border Services: ah, well, never mind.
“Whenever the CBSA becomes aware of erroneous field tests, we will review that case and determine appropriate next steps and where appropriate, take corrective action,” spokeswoman Lisa White told the Winnipeg Free Press.
Of course, Canadian authorities did drop the charges against Goodin. Nonetheless, the experience has understandably left a bad taste in her mouth.
“Two weeks out of somebody else’s life might not seem so long,” Goodin is quoted in the Winnipeg newspaper, “but when you get to be my age and you see the end coming, every day counts.”
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Steve Spingola is an author and retired Milwaukee Police Department homicide detective.
If your group is in need of a fascinating guest speaker, consider the Spingola Files Psychology of Homicide presentation. For more information, visit www.badgerwordsmith.com/the_psychology_of_homicide_presentation.html
© Steven Spingola, Wales, WI, 2011
May 8, 2011 at 2:41 am · Filed under True Crime
To read this article, purchase the Best of the Spingola Files, coming to Amazon.com’s Kindle store in January 2012.
Seven Spingola, Wales, WI, 2011
February 5, 2011 at 8:34 pm · Filed under True Crime
To view this article, checkout Best of the Spingola Files, Vol. II: Here’s Looking at You coming to Amazon.com in December 2012.
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Steven Spingola is a former Milwaukee Police Department homicide detective and the author of Predators on the Parkway: a Former Homicide Detective Explores the Colonial Parkway Murders.
If your organization is in need of a fascinating guest speaker, consider the Spingola Files presentation The Psychology of Homicide. For more information, visit http://www.badgerwordsmith.com/the_psychology_of_homicide_presentation.html
© Steven Spingola, Wales, WI, 2011
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