Under The Bridge
A PHOTO ESSAY ON:
TEEN MURDERERS
The following is a series of pictures of teenagers who have commited homocide, showing the violent influences on our youth today.
LIONEL TATE
Kathleen Grossett-Tate was trusted to babysit Tiffany Eunick, a six-year-old girl, and brought her over to her house one evening. She left Tiffany with her son Lionel, age 14, to watch the television when she went upstairs. Around 10 p.m., she yelled at the children to be quiet, but didn’t check what the noise was about, thinking that they were just playing. Forty-five minutes later, Lionel called to his mother and told her that the girl was not breathing. He explained that they had been wrestling and he had her in a headlock as he slammed her on the table. The cause of death was due to forceful stomping that lacerated Tiffany’s liver. The girl also suffered a fractured skull and rib, swelling in the brain from a beating that lasted from one to five minutes, and 35 other injuries. He later confessed “I was imitating the professional wrestlers,” which he was watching on TV. Tate was sentenced to a lifetime of imprisonment without parole in 2001, but he was released in 2004 with 10 years’ probation.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Tate
http://murderpedia.org/male.T/t/tate-lionel.htm
ALYSSA BUSTAMENTE
When 15-year-old Alyssa Bustamante had a Friday off from school, she spent the day digging two holes in the ground to be used as graves. Then she waited. Alyssa went on with life as usual, she went to school, and she hung out with friends, all the while just waiting for the perfect opportunity to murder. That opportunity came just 4 days later, on October 21st, 2009 in the evening, when her neighbour, 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten was walking home from her friend's house. Alyssa, seeing that she finally had the opportunity to kill, took it. She grabbed Elizabeth Olten, beat her, strangled her, and finally, she stabbed her and slit her throat. She then dumped her body into one of the graves she had dug the week before in a nearby wooded area. In the end, Alyssa herself led the police to the grave where the body of the brutally slain girl lay. It was found that after she repeatedly stabbed Elizabeth Olten to death, she calmly wrote about it in her journal, calling it “pretty enjoyable”.
Sources:
http://murderpedia.org/female.B/b/bustamante-alyssa.htm
http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/young/alyssa_bustamante/1.html
Andrew Conley
On November 28, 2009, 17-year-old Andrew Conley killed his 10-year-old brother Conner. He told police he strangled the 10-year-old with his bare hands for 20 minutes. He stuffed his body in a rubbish bag and dumped him in a park near their home in Rising Sun, Indiana, and later drove to his girlfriend's home where they watched a film. The 17-year-old told detectives that he had wanted to kill someone for years. Conley confessed to killing his brother saying he wanted to model himself after the TV serial killer Dexter. It was reported that in court he said, 'I feel just like him'.
Sources:
http://murderpedia.org/male.C/c/conley-andrew.htm
DAVID GRAHAM & DIANE ZAMORA
On August 16, 2013, 15-year old James Edwards, and 16-year-old Chancy Luna, along with the getaway car driver, 17-year old Michael Jones were involved in the murder of an Australian student, Christopher Lane. The three boys allegedly gunned down the Australian baseball player out for a run because they were 'bored' and were influenced by rap music, particularly by Chief Keef, who Edwards tweeted about the day before the murder. Authorities believe the boys were just wannabes who were emulating their idols. Edwards and Luna are accused of the first degree murder of Christopher Lane, while Jones is also charged with being an accessory to the crime and driving the getaway car.
Sources:
Jake Evans
On October 3, 2012, 17-year-old Jake Evans shot and killed his sister and mother, and wrote a four-page confession detailing his thoughts and actions on the night of the murders. In his confession, he states that he knocked on his sister’s door and told her that her mom needed her. When she came out and saw him with a gun, she thought he was joking around, but Jake shot her 2 times, and then went and shot his mom 3 times. Afterward while emptying his gun, he heard noises and realized that his sister was not dead, so he shot her again, and also shot his mom again. Jake said that watching the horror movie titled “Halloween” gave him the idea because he was 'amazed at how at ease the boy was during the murders and how little remorse he had'. The 2007 film is about a ten-year-old boy who murders several people. Evans said he had watched the movie three times earlier that week and felt it would be the same for him when he killed someone.
Sources:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/25/jake-evans-confession_n_2552173.html
Rachel Shoaf & Shelia Eddy
On May 1, 2013, teenager Rachel Shoaf pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, telling authorities that she and another teenager, Shelia Eddy, planned and carried out the murder of Skylar Neese. Skylar was lured out of her room on the night of July 6, 2012 by her two best friends. They drove her to a rural area called Eddy Run Road into Pennsylvania about 30 minutes away from their Morgantown, West Virginia homes. Once at their planned gravesite for their best friend, upon the count of 3, they stabbed Skylar to death up to 50 times, and tossed her body on the side of the road. Rachel later admitted that they killed Skylar because "They didn't want to be friends with her anymore". The teens attempted to bury Skylars's body, but were unable to do so and instead covered the body with branches. Other students overheard conversations between Rachel and Sheila about the murder plot, but failed to report it, thinking they were joking. They had apparently been planning it for months. While Skylar was missing, Shelia even played a sad and hopeful actress with posts on Facebook to people like Skylar’s parents saying how much she loved her and wanted her to come home. Little did they know that she was one of Skylar’s murderers.
Sources:
http://newsball.com/the-murder-of-skylar-neese-her-16-yr-old-bff-killers-rachel-shoaf-shelia-eddy/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Skylar_Neese
Kelly Ellard & Warren Glowatski
More details on this case can be found in the book, “Under The Bridge” by Rebecca Godfrey. The novel raises the question of what can be done to protect our youth from bullies, as well as the relationship of the amount of ever-present violence that young people are exposed to daily through television, films, video games, and music lyrics and the occurrence of aggressive, violent, bullying behaviour. Rebecca Godfrey brings forth this book allowing us to learn about bullying behaviour, and some of the darkest elements of human society, in order to learn from horrific events like these, and prevent incidents like this in the future.
17-year-old Diane Zamora and her fiancé, David Graham, had a bright future ahead of them. They were high school sweethearts. She was an honour roll student bound for Annapolis, and he was a track star with an appointment to the Air Force Academy. However, on December 4th, 1995, a farmer discovered the battered body of Adrianne Jones, a sophomore member of David's high school track team, lying in a field. She was brutally beaten, and had been shot in the head. After nine months of dead ends, investigators got a tip from one of Diane's Annapolis classmates. Diane had admitted that she and David had murdered Adrianne after David had confessed that he'd been involved with the girl. In September of 1996, both Zamora and Graham were arrested for the murder. Given separate trials, the young lovers turned on each other and said that the killing had been the other's idea. Neither defense worked. Both were found guilty and given life sentences.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_Zamora
BARRY DALE LOUKAITIS
On February 2, 1996, 14-year-old Barry Dale Loukaitis dressed to look like a gunslinger from the Wild West in a black duster, and armed with a hunting rifle and two handguns that belonged to his father. At Frontier Middle School he held students hostage and had a shooting spree that occurred in algebra class. It took the lives of three people and resulted in the critical injury of one more. It was believed that, aside from a history of mental illness and dysfunctional issues in his family, Barry was influenced by Pearl Jam’s song and video “Jeremy.” The video shows a troubled youth committing suicide in front of his classmates and teacher. It was also reported that he said, “This sure beats algebra, doesn’t it?” when he saw his classmates panic. This is a quote from a Stephen King novel, Rage, in which the protagonist kills two teachers and takes his algebra class hostage. Barry is currently serving two life sentences, with an additional 205 years in prison.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frontier_Middle_School_shooting
http://murderpedia.org/male.L/l/loukaitis-barry.htm
Graham Young
At an early age, Graham Young had been fascinated with chemistry, particularly types of poison and their effects on people. His other great interest was idolizing murderers such as Dr. Hawley Crippen, William Palmer, Adolf Hitler and others. Young started experimenting with poisons when he was 14. His family and friends were his victims. They suffered from continuous vomiting, diarrhea and stomach pains. In 1962, the mother of Young’s stepmother died from poisoning. Young was caught when his teacher inspected his desk one evening after school, suspicious about the odd experiments Young was suggesting to the class. The teacher found poisons, essays about famous prisoners, and sketches of dying men. These revelations led him to call the police. Young was sent to a maximum-security hospital, but this did not stop him from poisoning hospital staff and fellow inmates, one of which died. Young was released when he was 23 and went to live with his sister. However, his poisoning spree continued, and his victims most often were coworkers. Young was sent back to prison for life.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Young
http://murderpedia.org/male.Y/y/young-graham.htm
CHANCEY LUNA, JAMES EDWARDS & MICHAEL JONES
On the evening of Friday November 14, 1997, 14-year-old Reena Virk was invited to a "party" by her friend near the Craigflower Bridge, west of the city of Victoria, British Columbia. She was subsequently swarmed by a group later called the Shoreline Six. One of the girls stubbed out a cigarette on Reena's forehead. Then, while several others stood by and watched, she was repeatedly hit, punched and kicked by a group of people, many of which did not even know Reena. This first beating ended when one of the girls told the others to stop. Reena managed to walk away, but was followed by two members of the original group, Kelly Ellard and Warren Glowatski. The pair dragged Virk to the other side of the bridge, made her remove her shoes and jacket, and beat her a second time, after which Kelly drowned Reena.
Sources:
"Under The Bridge" by Rebecca Godfrey
Under The Bridge