NEWS OF THE WORLD - Current Events (May Be Disturbing, No Politics Please)

[Scatter]

Sure, we slaughtered our daughter, dismembered her, and hid the body parts from here to the gates of hell..............but look how good I'm cooperating!!

Please. This sub-human debris makes the wisdom of "an eye for an eye" exceedingly obvious.

[Halloween Jeff]

it's official - bones found were those of Zahra Baker.

Rest in peace - justice will be done.



Bizarro Jeff

[Unknown Primate]

Not to get political, but if they need an executioner...

[Scatter]

  justice will be done.



Bizarro Jeff

I doubt it. What could be done to give justice to that little girl? Justice will come in hell.

[RedKing]

Not to get political, but if they need an executioner...

I am with you UP! I would have no problem being a hooded axeman executioner for scum like these people. That poor little girl!

[Dr.Teufel Geist]

I doubt it. What could be done to give justice to that little girl? Justice will come in hell.

Indeed!

[Halloween Jeff]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101127/ap_on_re_us/us_missing_woman

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2010/11/body_found_believed_to_be_jenn.html

Such a tragedy.....2 families destroyed....



Bizarro Jeff

[Opera Ghost]

When did they 'discover' him?

further to this, you might have heard of the African American who was arrested after being mistaken from a causian man wearing a mask. In today's LA Times,, the mask FX company is featured, who produced both of these masks

Crime takes on a new face with high-tech masks
LOS ANGELES TIMES | BY SHARON BERNSTEIN | 1 hour, 28 minutes ago

     
MASKS-CRIME
View more photos

LOS ANGELES -- They're not just for Halloween anymore.

Expensive, realistic masks -- the kind that are the hit of the costume party -- are increasingly being used out of season, and not always for laughs.

A white bank robber in Ohio recently used a "hyper-realistic" mask manufactured by a small Van Nuys, Calif., company to disguise himself as a black man, prompting police there to mistakenly arrest an African-American man for the crimes.

In October, a 20-year-old Chinese man who wanted asylum in Canada used one of the same company's masks to transform himself into an elderly white man and slip past airport security in Hong Kong.

Authorities are even starting to think that the so-called Geezer Bandit, a Southern California bank robber believed for months to be an old man, might actually be a younger guy wearing one of the disguises made by SPFXMasks.

News coverage of the incidents has pumped up demand for the masks, which run from $600 to $1,200, according to company owner Rusty Slusser.

But he says he's not happy about it.

"We're proud of the fact that our masks look real, but I'm not proud of the way they were used," said Slusser, a 39-year-old former makeup artist. "We're very embarrassed this has happened. We were shocked that this happened."

Conrad Zdzierak, a 30-year-old Polish immigrant, used one of Slusser's masks to disguise himself as a black man during a series of Ohio robberies last spring. The costume was so good that six of seven bank tellers wrongly identified an African-American man as the culprit in a photo lineup, said Detective Keenan Riordan, who investigated the case for the Springdale, Ohio, Police Department.

"We showed the picture to his own mother, and she thought it was him," Riordan said.

The man remained in jail until Zdzierak's girlfriend tipped police off after finding money and a mask in his hotel room. Zdzierak pleaded guilty last week to six robbery counts.

Police found two of Slusser's masks in Zdzierak's safe -- one of a young black man called "The Player," and another of an old white man called "The Elder." A search of his computer revealed videos of the robber modeling the old-man mask and trying to speak like an elderly person.

It also showed that he had sent e-mails to Slusser under a fake name, claiming to be a movie producer who wanted to know how the African-American mask would look on a white man and whether the matching hands would tear in a fight, Riordan said.

Riordan was also intrigued to find that Zdzierak had saved copies of news stories about Southern California's Geezer Bandit, so named because surveillance video from bank teller windows appears to depict an elderly man.

The images in those videos resemble Slusser's "Elder" mask.

Authorities are investigating the possibility that the Geezer Bandit was actually wearing a disguise, said FBI Special Agent Darrell Foxworth, whose office is investigating the robberies in San Diego, Riverside and Kern counties.

Foxworth noted that an eyewitness at a Bakersfield robbery last month suspected the bandit might have been wearing a mask. Slusser also confirmed that investigators have contacted him about the case.

The use of lifelike masks to commit crimes is just the latest example of crooks adopting new technology, Foxworth said.

In one New York case last year, thieves stole a car with a GPS device and used the navigation system to find the victim's home, where they stole a second car.

"Whether we're talking about this kind of mask or using the computer, it's a reflection of how criminals are using technology to commit crimes," he said. "We have to stay one step ahead of them. That's certainly a challenge for us."

Slusser opened SPFX-Masks in 2003. His six-person crew uses silicone that looks and feels like flesh, down to the pores. Each strand of hair -- and it's human hair -- is sewn on individually. Artists methodically paint the masks to create realistic skin tones.

"I wanted to make something that looks so real that when you go out for Halloween no one can tell," Slusser said.

"It's like 'Mission: Impossible' -- you pull it over your head one time and that's it. It's like a 10-hour makeup job in 10 seconds."


He experimented until he found the right recipe for silicone that would seem like skin. A key discovery was that if the inside of the mask is smooth -- even if the outside is bumpy with pores, a nose and other features -- it will stretch over most faces and move with facial muscles.

Customers include Halloween revelers, theme parks and a few TV shows and horror movies, Slusser said. The main character in the film "Hallows Point" wore an SPFX mask, he said, as do the dancing old man characters who perform at Six Flags amusement parks.

Slusser's customers also include a few Hollywood celebrities who use the masks to fool paparazzi, but he declined to reveal their names.

The masks are time-consuming to make, and they're not cheap. Slusser's first effort to sell them through a Manhattan Halloween shop was a flop, simply because customers weren't expecting to spend hundreds of dollars for a mask.

Slusser moved his sales operation online. The company projects $500,000 in sales this year and expects to turn a profit for the first time.


Lawbreakers have always tried to hide their identities, wearing hats, pulling bandannas or ski masks over their faces, or donning wigs. Slusser's masks pose additional challenges, but the larger issue remains human nature, said Riordan of the Springdale police force.

"It's not SPFX masks or Rusty Slusser that's making these people commit crimes," Riordan said.

___

(c) 2010, Los Angeles Times.

Visit the Los Angeles Times on the Internet at http://www.latimes.com/.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

[Moonshadow]

Not trying to be political here, but if you are so inclined, please keep the victims of the horrific shooting in Tucson today in your thoughts and prayers. This has been a devastating blow to us here in AZ, to have so many people killed or injured by such a senseless act of violence.

Karen

[Scatter]

Not trying to be political here, but if you are so inclined, please keep the victims of the horrific shooting in Tucson today in your thoughts and prayers. This has been a devastating blow to us here in AZ, to have so many people killed or injured by such a senseless act of violence.

Karen

Just horrific. My heart goes out to the victims and their families.

[Moonshadow]

Just horrific. My heart goes out to the victims and their families.

Gary, it's been a very depressing day here in Phoenix. We found out about it while we were out at lunch and running errands. Everyone you met was just in shock over it. Of course, as sane people, we can never begin to understand how people can do these things. I've just had a knot in my gut ever since I heard. Gifford had been to ASU (where I work) and was very supportive of our efforts in solar energy technology and biofuels. She seemed like a really nice person. I'm hoping she can recover, but brain injuries like this have a very high mortality rate. Then there's also the people who were killed, one being a child. There's just so much tragedy here. I was glad to read the posts on monster stuff, just to get some escape from it all.

[Gasport]

Doesn't matter what side of the political fence you're on...wrong is wrong and this was simply a disgusting example of a totally worthless homicidal maniac ruining the lives of countless innocent victims. Not just the dead and wounded, but all their extended families and loved ones. There are no words...

[Halloween Jeff]

Whatever else he may have done, it might be good to remember that Jared Loughner is someone's son - that he had people that cared about him....I'm saddened over the loss of life, and the fact that Jard never got the psychological help he needed.....medication and counseling might have helped his young man.  he certainly seems to have the flavor of schizophrenia about him....

No winners in this horrible situation.



Bizarro Jeff

[Moonshadow]

Jeff, I've also been wondering why this guy didn't get the help he obviously needed. I don't want to blame anyone, but it seems like it would be clear to anyone close to him that he was in serious need of help. And I agree, from everything I've heard, it sounds like schizophrenia is the likely issue.

[Halloween Jeff]

Moonshadow -

My background is actually in mental health/abnormal psychology, and I've seen the way the system actually works.

First and foremost, you have to WANT any services.  In the United States, individuals have the right to be crazy, until they violate the rights of others.  I could be psychotic, hearing voices, having delusions, and, as long as I kept to myself and didn't hurt anyone else, I could be as "crazy" as I liked.  Generally speaking, there aren't laws that mandate treatment (here in NY we have Kendra's Law that will force treatment, but only if an individual meets specific guidelines AND is taken to court and found to be in need of treatment.  Where I live (upstate NY) I've never heard of it being utilized.  You can suggest treatment, but unless the authorities become involved, treatment can't be forced.

Denial is a wonderful thing - most of the people I've ever worked with have denied their mental illness...and, if there is nothing wrong with you, then obviously no need to participate in treatment, take medications, etc. 

The Court system in the United States have upheld the rights of the mentally ill, and rulings have supported the concept of "least restrictive environment" (mental health treatment must be in the least restrictive environment possible.  For example, if you can safely be maintained on an outpatient basis, you are).  Criteria for admission to a psychiatric hospital (at least in NY and KY - I've worked in both) are a vague "danger to self, danger to others" - which covers a lot of ground.  I've known people who were admitted after threatening suicide when intoxicated, and have known people who were clearly psychotic who weren't admitted.....there are few hard and fast rules.

Perhaps his parents didn't see anything....perhaps they didn't know where to turn.....maybe he just refused to go....from the little I've seen online, he appears to have been social withdrawn/isolated, laughed at inappropriate things, which to me screams schizophrenia, most likely Schizophrenia, Paranoid type, which is usually pretty straight forward to treat.  Of course, not having examined him, this is all conjecture on my part. 

Most people with a mental illness are more a danger to themselves than anyone else - unfortunately, paranoid schizophrenics can be the exception to the rule.  I knew a case in KY years ago - identical twins who were paranoid schizophrenia.  One twin decided to kill several members of his family, then commit suicide.  His brother was equally as violent, and was held on a locked ward for years - he could not be trusted off the ward for any reason......this guy, for whatever reason, was a ticking time bomb, and someone lit the fuse....



Jeff