Southwest PA Self-defense Network Blog

  Review of Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann c2017 Great book, highly recommended. The investigative journalist investigates the systematic murders and cover up of the ( at the time ) oil rich Osage Indian nation murders. The conspiracy to defraud through stealing leases, marrying and then offing the spouses, destroying records, bribery, corruption, was astounding.  It wasn't until the FBI leaned heavily on getting this solved and despite many years of investigation they finally cracked it.  Heavily documented and authoritative. ( 2022) 

   NYPD: Stories of Survival from the World's Toughest Beat Edited by Clint Willis  c - 2002 This book is a collection of stories from various true crime writers and overall I was rather disappointed. The stories were an odd collection with some of them dating back 100 years to the 1927 or even 1800's.  It describes a lot of what life was in NY for cops.  A good book if you are into the history of law enforcement in a specific location ( NY ) but for overall info about cops and cop stories, there is better out ther. 

 The Myth of the Out of Character Crime by Stanton Samenow copyright 2010 Another great book on the criminal mind by Samenow.  "The theme of this book is that people always respond in character, that is impossible for a person to do otherwise. " Samenow tackles the tough but popular thought of "He just snapped" and  expression when someone does something bad, " That is so out of character !" or " They would never do that!" . Samenow's theory and supporting evidence is that people never act of character and when you dig deep you find a lot of supportive evidence that the person, all along had exhibited the traits that led up to the crime.  Samenow examines 5 cases studies for the book although he has examined hundreds of others.  1. Washington Snipers Lee Malvo and John Muhammed. 2. Steven, a talented young scientist with no criminal record accused of kidnapping, and threatening to blow a man's head off.  3. Stuart, 20 year old " all ...

  This Dear Abby has a lot of freight to it and because Sexual Assault is the secret affliction no one talks about, I wanted to highlight some points on this. My comments and observations are at the end. Rape Victim Has Kept It a Secret for Decades - October 19, 2021 - DEAR ABBY: Thirty-five years ago I was raped by a stranger. He told me he would kill me if I ever told anyone. I never told my husband (now ex-), mostly because I was afraid if I did he would never touch me again. So I lived with the secret. It eventually tore our marriage apart and we divorced. Although we have both moved on and remarried, we have remained in touch. I am 60 now and he is 64. I yearn to tell him the story before one of us leaves this Earth. I want him to understand and hopefully forgive me for the events that drove us apart. The need to tell him is so strong, I cry about it. Please advise me on this. -- STILL NOT OVER IT IN MARYLAND DEAR STILL NOT OVER: If it will bring you comfort, reveal the secre...

 https://www.yahoo.com/news/feud-ax-fishing-knife-bloody-085816129.html General Principles of Self-Defense Lesson 7: What Is the Escalation Principle? Why Is It Bad to Think 'They'll Never Do That’? This article highlights our Self-Defense Lesson #7 - Escalation principle.  The Escalation Principle is a self-defense dynamic where a conflict escalates and the victim does not anticipate that escalation. Because they don't anticipate it, they can't prepare for it and it catches them unawares.  Escalation is often seen in stalking, harassment and in emotionally charged situations where a percieved injustice has been inflicted. The later, is often referred to as the parking lot escalation where someone thinks you stole thier parking spot, you respond with some verbal retort and they get out with the crow bar.  With stalking and harassment, the escalation principle comes into play when the bad guy ramps up the intensity of the harassment.  It goes from a simple break...

   https://www.yahoo.com/news/liberty-universitys-emphasis-purity-enabled-223500050.html ----------------------- I'm not going to repost the entire article for sake of length but some quotes. "Ten people have joined an existing lawsuit saying they were raped, sexually assaulted, drugged, or abused at Liberty University while those in power refused to act, a new filing shows.On Thursday, a status report from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York revealed Jane Does 13-22 joined the first 12 anonymous plaintiffs suing the private Christian school for dollar amounts to be determined at trial, alleging the university created an unsafe environment.     -  So let's be clear from the outset. This isn't a single female getting black out drunk at a fraternity and doesn't recall anything. This is about the environment that Liberty university created in fostering a 'we care' about what happens to you and it has affected the victims.  ...

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndia/pr/cresco-man-will-spend-decade-federal-prison-tormenting-minnesota-woman-two-years ----------- I've copied the entire article here. My commentary is in red.  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, August 2, 2021 Cresco Man Will Spend a Decade in Federal Prison for “Tormenting” Minnesota Woman for Two Years A Cresco man who cyberstalked a Minnesota woman for nearly two years was sentenced on July 30, 2021, to ten years in federal prison. ( Federal prison is more strict, he'll most likely serve most of that time. State or local, not s  o much.) Michael Shawn McGuire, age 58, from Cresco, Iowa, received the prison sentence after a December 8, 2020 guilty plea to four counts of cyberstalking.  Information disclosed at the sentencing and plea hearings showed that in the fall of 2017, the victim, who was living in Minnesota, met McGuire on an online dating website.  The two dated for approximately seven months before the victim broke up with McGu...