Another True Crime Etc Blog

It was 2015 in Dos Hermanos, Spain, when a police officer escorted an elderly drunk man home. No one could have predicted what law enforcement would find inside. After seeing a chained and padlocked door in the home, the officer demanded to see what was on the other side.

Beyond the door there was a set of stairs leading to a small, roofless room with a single inhabitant. The 59 year old man was naked, frail, emaciated, and covered in his own urine and feces - living locked away in the utmost horrible conditions, with no running water or bathroom. The captive was the youngest brother of the drunk man and his sister who lived with him. The siblings claimed they had him locked away for his own safety due to his mental health problems and also claimed they kept him adequately fed and administered his necessary medications.

The Jamison Family - 44 year old Bobby, 40 year old Sherilynn, and 6 year old daughter Madyson - disappeared from Eufalka, Oklahoma, in October 2009. Their abandoned truck was found with their family dog still inside, starving almost to death. The truck also contained their wallets, IDs, cellphones, and over $30,000 in cash. The money was believed to be for a plot of land the family had been interested in purchasing. The photo of their daughter above was found on Bobby’s cell phone - taken the day before their disappearance - causing speculation that foul play was at hand leading to the family’s demise.

Centralia, PA, better known as the inspiration for the town of Silent Hill, has been plagued by a coal mine fire burning beneath its streets since 1962. Once harboring 2,700 residents in 1890, there were only 7 in the 2013 census - making it the least populated town in all of Pennsylvania.

The town was purchased from Native Americans in 1749 and in 1842 the land was bought by the Locust Mountain Coal and Iron Company. Unbeknownst to them, this company would mean the town’s downfall. The first mines opened in 1856, and others in 1860, 1862, and 1863. During the stock market crash of 1929, five of the mines closed. Some miners illegally raided the abandoned shafts, causing many of them to collapse; this would enable the fire to burn indefinitely.

While the official origin of the fire is undetermined, it is believed to have started from the burning of a local dump created from an abandoned mine pit. The fire was not properly extinguished and leaked into an open mine shaft, reaching the network of passages below. Citizens were unaware of the extent of the damage until 1979 when a 12 year old boy fell into a sinkhole that opened spontaneously where he was standing. Had it not been for his cousin pulling him to safety, he would have fallen to his death, 150 feet into the ground.

On May 26, 1990, in Wellington, Florida, Marlene Warren answered the front door to find a clown on her stoop. The clown had brown eyes, an orange wig, red nose, a smile painted on its white face, a clown suit, high-top sneakers, two balloons and carnations in one hand, and a hidden pistol in the other. One of the balloons read, “You’re the greatest.” Marlene’s 20 year old son and his friend watched as the clown handed Marlene the gifts and then shot her in the face. The clown walked to the curb, got in a Chrysler LeBaron convertible, and drove away. Marlene died in the hospital two days later. The shooting would be considered a cold case until September 2017.

Marlene was married to Michael Warren at the time of her death. He owned a used car sales lot. A woman named Sheila Keen worked for him at the time, repossessing cars for his business. Several of his employees saw the two intimate at work and Sheila’s neighbors said he frequented her place, though both Sheila and Michael denied any affair. Michael was a person of interest; he claimed his marriage was a happy one, while friends and Marlene’s family had other things to say. Marlene often threatened to divorce him due his numerous affairs and one hefty incident of domestic violence.

In 1994 Michael Warren was convicted of grand theft, racketeering, and odometer tampering and spent four years in a maximum security prison, though his wife’s murder remained unsolved. Investigators reopened the case in 2017 in hopes that forensic testing would bring the cold case to a close.

The car used by the clown to escape was found abandoned in a shopping center not long after the crime occurred - it had been stolen from another car lot. Police recovered fibers of the orange wig as well as human hair from the car. The hair was tested against Sheila’s and found to be a match. Additionally, police had testimony from two shop clerks at a costume store not far from Michael’s car lot. The clerks told police that just after close a couple days before the murder, Sheila begged to be let in the store just as they were closing. She was desperate for a clown wig, clown costume, and enough white make up to conceal her face. The clerks obliged her. Almost 30 years later the clerks were brought in by police to look at a photo line up. One positively identified Sheila as the customer, while the other said it may have been her but they were not entirely sure.

It was 2am on March 21, 2018, when Mark Anthony Conditt, 23, was alerted to pull over for a police vehicle. When he did not heed authorities, driving tactics were used to stop the car. SWAT was on the scene and as they closed in, Mark detonated two explosives, killing himself and injuring one officer. After 5 explosions, 2 deaths, and 5 injured persons, the bombings that had been terrorizing communities throughout Austin, Texas, had come to an end.

The first incident occurred on March 2, 2018. The bomb was in a package and left on a residential doorstep. It detonated when the package was opened, killing Anthony Stephan House, 39; father, husband, and volunteer mentor to young athletes. Initially police thought it an isolated incident and treated it as a suspicious homicide. Ten days later on March 12, two more bombs detonated with a second casualty: Draylen Mason, 17, a prestigious musician and academic achiever. In another part of town later that day a third explosive went off, fortunately with no deaths. It was clear that a serial bomber was at work. There was concern in the community that the attacks were racially motivated - thus far all bombings had taken place in low income, minority heavy neighborhoods. Police urged the public to stay vigilant and report any suspicious packages. Between March 12th and March 20th, 1,200 calls were received.

On March 18, another bomb went off in a public park, uncomfortably close to a playground. The bomb was activated by two bicyclists riding over a tripwire. Both riders sustained serious injuries. Police began to realize they were dealing with someone more skilled than originally thought. The last two bombs before Conditt’s capture detonated on March 20th, both at FedEx ground facilities. One exploded in Schertz, Texas, and injured a FedEx employee, although it was intended for an address in Austin. The second was successfully deactivated in South East Austin. Records confirmed both packages were sent from the same FedEx store in nearby Sunset Valley. Security camera records showed Conditt’s vehicle at the location. The cameras also captured Conditt himself, dressed in disguise.

Conditt caught the attention of investigators when they reviewed suspicious purchases from hardware stores in the area. Conditt bought a large amount of nails and other objects often used in homemade bombs. His cellphone records were used to confirm his presence at all incident locations and police found multiple bomb parts in Conditt’s home, which he shared with two roommates.  

Omaima Aree Nelson was born in 1968 in Egypt, where she lived until she was 18. As a child she suffered horrific child abuse involving physical beatings, sexual assaults, and genital mutilation. Before moving to the United States in 1986, she worked as a model, nanny, and bartender.

While in the States, Omaima engaged in multiple unstable relationships and affairs with sadistic, dysfunctional men. In October 1991 Omaima met drug-smuggling airplane pilot William Nelson. They married within days of meeting. He was 56; she was 23. Their marriage would last a short three weeks before ending in homicide. Like her previous romantic endeavors, William was toxic and abusive with Omaima. He repeatedly raped and beat her throughout their union until she reached a breaking point.

On Thanksgiving weekend 1991, the two shared an apartment in Costa Mesa, CA, where the gruesome murder would take place. While they intended to have a traditional dinner, William had other plans. He violently sexually assaulted Omaima, which lead her to stab him with scissors and bludgeon him to death with a clothing iron - all while he laid on top of her, dying. While rape would traumatize anyone, Omaima experienced further pain and emotional turmoil due to her abusive childhood and the genital mutilation she experienced. She described her act of murder as self-defense. And that very well could have been the case, if killing William was all she had done.

After he was dead, Omaima dismembered William, cutting off his genitals and other parts - coroners estimated she removed roughly 80 pounds of flesh from his body. Some of him she cooked and mixed with Thanksgiving dinner. The other parts she cut from him she tried to put down the garbage disposal. Neighbors testified that they heard the disposal running multiple hours at a time for two days. Omaima reached out to two of her ex-boyfriends, desperate for help to get rid of the body; this would be her downfall. She asked one if he would help her remove all of William’s teeth. After their phone conversation, her ex contacted police, who tracked her down in William’s red corvette, pieces of him in trash bags in the back seat.

Rotenberg an der Fulda is a small, sleepy town in the midwestern part of Germany. In 2002 the community would learn a shocking truth: a cannibal lived among them. Armin Meiwes was a computer expert in his 40s who lived in a large house in the town. An unassuming member of the community, he helped out neighbors when they needed it and was considered overall to be a kind and friendly person. Yet, from a young age he had fantasized about eating his classmates. Up until 2001, he had not acted on his taboo desires.

In March 2001, Armin looked to the internet to fulfill his dark fantasy. He posted an ad on a cannibal fetish site looking for a volunteer, a “well-built man, who wanted to be eaten.” By March 9 he had his willing victim, 43 year old Bernd Brandes. Armin had a camera rolling as Bernd was drugged with a large amount of sleeping pills and alcohol. When Bernd was unconscious, Armin removed his genitals for the two men to fry and eat. Some time later, in the early hours of the morning, Armin stabbed Bernd in the neck. Bernd was then chopped up into pieces and stored in the kitchen freezer.  Armin said at his trial, “With every bite, my memory of him grew stronger.” He also revealed that Bernd “tasted of pork”.