Criminal Justice or Criminal Injustice?

EPONYMOUS ROX (E.R.), is a well known True Crime Writer and has written several books in this genre. He is best known for his work in the

Smiley Face Killer case where he has fought to make public a tremendous amount of evidence concerning a horrendous mass murderer. It seems that many police departments prefer to ignore this evidence somehow hoping it will go away.Rather than do an interview based on one of E.R.’s books I will instead use his Blog, www.killingkillers.blogspot.com, as the basis of my questions and will address the question of punishment as well as criminal acts since that is the topic of a chapter in my own book.

With the above in mind, here are my questions and E.R.’s answers:

Interview Questions with answers:

1. Tell me a little about yourself, your background, etc.

I investigate and report on crime, corruption, and police misconductfor Crime Magazine and the GatherNews agency. As author of THE CASE OFTHE DROWNING MEN and HUNTING SMILEY, I’m also considered an expert onthe so far unsolved 16-year murder spree of the ‘Smiley Face SerialKillers’.

2. I am facinated by a number of the entries in your blog including the one about Natalie Wood. She was one of my favorite actresses when I was young and I’ve always wondered what really happened to her. Do you believe Robert Wagner will ever be convicted for her murder?

Ms. Wood was and still is a much beloved cinematic icon and at thevery least the aged Wagner should be charged, arraigned, and triedASAP for her apparent manslaughter. There is no statute of limitationsbarring this from happening, and new evidence shows his then-wife’sdrowning was obviously a “crime of passion” resulting from theirdrunken brawling, not an misstep on her part. So, yes, I believe theman could easily be convicted if dragged into court now.

3. Like most people, I have a lot of questions about the Chris Dormer case in Los Angeles. Your Blog has a lot of information I was not aware of. Do you believe we will ever know the truth behind this bizzare case?

Sometimes, as in the case of Officer Dorner, the truth is in plainsight and totally consistent with its telling: In reporting his fellowLAPD officers for extreme brutality, he unwittingly crossed the ‘BlueLine’ and came up against a notoriously corrupt agency andbureaucracy.

The more Dorner petitioned those powers-that-be for redress of theirwrongful penalties, the more entrenched he became…until, this man ofaction and highly trained soldier exploded violently.

Many millions of people cheered him for his ensuing bloody rampagebecause, sadly, many millions of people have suffered similarexperiences, in one way or another. This, by the way, is societal illwhich should be thoroughly explored.

4. The only thing I know about the Smiley Face Killer is what I’ve read on your blog. Your latest entries suggest that this may be an International Mass murder on a grand scale. Do you believe there is just one killer or could this be the work of an organized group? Or could the overseas cases be the work of one or more copycat killers?

The longstanding belief is that Smiley is actually a serial killinggang abducting and killing young males in bodies of water. But, sincethat theory was as statistically improbable as non-recreational winterdrownings are, I studied the case in considerable depth.

The evidence and an exceptionally high body count supported insteadthe likelihood of mass murder, albeit not organized per se andcertainly not premeditated.

This was for the most part an American phenomenon, but recently hasspread to other regions as well. Now, the practice of killing youngmen through excessive force and dumping their bodies into water so to

forensically disguise the homicides as accidents, is an internationalone.

It is also a crime after the fact and unto itself.

5. As something of an expert on crime what do you believe could be done to improve our criminal justice system?

A biased judiciary, coupled with police misconduct, are the keycomponents of runaway crime.

Justice must be blind and fair, and sentencing uniform regardless ofthe social status of the perp.

As to crooked cops, officers of the law should be severely punishedwhen they stray even the slightest from their duties. That includestaking bribes from organized crime, profiling innocent citizens,falsifying evidence, and brutalizing suspects.

Lastly, there must also be logic and sound reason in developing penalcodes—far too many people are presently being incarcerated for merelysmoking dope or other mild substances, whilst corporate fraudsters arewined and dined and violent criminals are shown mercy and a revolvingdoor.

Frivolous law enforcement burdens the criminal justice system andtaxpayers, and fails to protect the public from true threats.

6. My personal belief is that when we incarcerate someone for more than a year the person we release back into society is likely to commit additional crimes since they will have learned from other convicts and will have few options in a society that is not accepting of ex convicts. Would you express your views on this subject?

Violent offenders should not be integrated with any general prisonpopulations. Period.

Most, in fact, should be put to death for the crimes they’vecommitted; they are simply too dangerous to be housed anywhere or toever be released again.

Eliminating this destructive and disruptive element from prisonsocieties would then allow other inmates a chance at rehabilitationwhile they’re being imprisoned, and thereby increase their potentialto become productive citizens once their sentences are complete. Thiswould serve to sharply decrease the alarmingly high rate ofrecidivism.

7. I believe that corporal punishment, such as administered in Singapore, is a reasonable means of punishment since it is swift and can free the convict to return to society much sooner, after education and training where needed. Do you agree or disagree with this idea?

No, I don’t approve of corporal punishment. It is enough to daily beata man’s soul by seizing him of his freedoms. It would be cruel andunusual to also assault his body.

Note: This is something E.R. and I can disagree on since I believe locking up someone in a cage is in fact cruel and unusual and if we can reduce the time spent in the cage by a few swift smacks on the rear that is in fact far less cruel and unusual!

8. Do you believe in Capital Punishment? Why or why not?

Absolutely. There are some truly vile creatures out there who don’tonly take a victim’s life, they torture, taunt and/or rape them first.These vicious types must be destroyed like the rabid animals they’vebecome.

The only caveat, of course, is that our criminal justice system hasrun itself so aground and amok we have no faith anymore that only theguilty occupy death row. A particularly untenable situation in thisera of DNA and other advanced forensics.

9. Is there anything you’d like to add with regard to your blog or your views on the criminal justice system?

The 'Killing Killers' weblog gets a lot of traffic because of my focuson cold cases police and prosecutors have no interest in revisitingand complex ones they seem to be avoiding, many of which KK regularsand new guests are also trying to crack.

Crowd-sourced brainstorming is fairly new but proving a great tool forapprehending those who’ve managed to elude justice, so everybody(including perps and suspects) are welcome to join in these debatesand can even do so anonymously if they want. Comments don’t requirepreapproval to go live on Killing Killers and, although the site iswell moderated, deletions have so far been a rarity.

10.Where can readers buy your books? And where can they find your Blog?

Amazon.com probably has the most complete offering of my publishedworks, in both print or digital editions. Visithttps://www.amazon.com/author/eponymous for pricing and availability.

And for those who enjoy crime investigations, the science of crime,and cyber sleuthing, drop by http://KillingKillers.blogspot.com.That’s my number one hangout whenever I’m online.

I sincerely appreciate the time you took to spell out your intelligent and well reasoned and researched views. Even though we disagree on one point, the use of corporal punishment, it is clear you have given a lot of thought to this area. We can certainly agree there is room for a great deal of improvement in our criminal justice system.

I hope readers will flock to Amazon.com and to yoru website to purchase one or more of your books and to learn more about your exciting and interesting work.