Gabby Petito: Behind the Perfect Posts
On July 2nd 2021, 22 year old Gabby Petito set out for a four-month road trip across the United States with her boyfriend, Brian Laundrie. The two documented their trip online through her blogs on social media platforms such as Instagram and Youtube. On August 12th 2021, police in the southern town of Moab, Utah were called due to a possible domestic violence incident involving Petito and Laundrie. In the bodycam footage, Laundrie claimed Petito had hit him after an argument,
6 days ago8 min read
The West Memphis Three: Truth & Fear
On May 5 1993, a small and religious working class town of West Memphis, Arkansas was shaken by the disappearance of three eight year old boys, Steve Branch, Michael Moore and Christopher Byers. The following day their bodies were discovered in a forested area known as the Robin Hood Hills, brutally tied up and discarded. The shockwave of this event caused a wave of terror though the small town, placing the local police under immense pressure to find the perpetrators that wer
Mar 65 min read
Brandon Mayfield: Forensic Failures
On March 11 2004, terrorist bombings on passenger trains in Madrid killed 191 people and injured hundreds more. In a desperate, international investigation to find the perpetrators, law enforcement agencies used forensic evidence, including latent fingerprints, to identify suspects. One of those prints was wrongly connected to an Oregon attorney, Brandon Mayfield, leading to him being secretly arrested and detained by the FBI. Brandon Mayfield's case prompted lawsuits, policy
Feb 44 min read
Michelle Carter: The Deadly Weight of Words
On July 12, 2014, 18-year-old Conrad Roy III died by suicide in an isolated parking lot in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. However, no one could predict that what began as a simple teenage tragedy became a landmark legal case. This was not because of a gun or a weapon, but a revelation that persistent text messages and phone calls from his then-girlfriend, Michelle Carter, was found to have influence his death. This case soon became known as the “texting suicide case.” Carter was i
Jan 79 min read
Andrea Yates: A Tragedy of Motherhood
On June 20, 2001, Andrea Yates, a 37-year-old mother suffering from severe mental illness, drowned her five children in the bathtub of her Houston home. Her confession to 911, and the shocking methodical nature of what followed, sent shockwaves through the nation. Andrea Yates' case is a tragic story that confront how psychosis, religion, and systemic healthcare failures can collide and how the law responds when a mother’s mind is so deeply fractured. Background: Life, Mothe
Nov 19, 20256 min read
The Central Park Five 1989: False Confessions & Wrongful Imprisonment
In 1989, five teenagers were arrested for a brutal assault they did not commit. The Central Park Five comprised of Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, Antron McCray, Yusef Salaam, and Korey Wise. They were wrongfully convicted for the assault and rape of Trisha Meili, a 28-year-old woman jogging in Central Park. Their coerced confessions, obtained after gruelling interrogations, led to prison sentences ranging from six to thirteen years. This case continues to raise urgent que
Nov 5, 20255 min read
The Cost of Silence: Kitty Genovese and how her case changed psychology
“For more than half an hour, 38 respectable, law-abiding citizens… watched a killer stalk and stab a woman.” This was the shocking headline of a New York Times article published on March 27, 1964. It came two weeks after 28-year-old Kitty Genovese was killed in Queens, New York. Kitty Genovese’s case would soon raise outrage, fear, and a critical question: Why didn’t anyone help?
Sep 14, 20255 min read
