The case of the Menendez brothers is confusing when it comes to what side you are on. It’s either you side with the brothers or with the law. By the end of this blog, it’ll be up to you to choose.  José Menendez was a successful entertainment executive while Marie Menendez was a beauty pageant “queen.” Their sons, Lyle Menendez(age 21), and Erik Menendez (age 18) were just as successful. Lyle was a star tennis player who attended Princeton. Erik was also a star tennis player who was a nationally ranked player in his age bracket. José was a helicopter parent, wanting to be involved in his ..read more

After finishing up the Jeffrey Dahmer series on Netflix, I had more unanswered questions about one of the serial killers that was brought up in the series. John Wayne Gacy, one of America’s most notorious serial killers. I knew about Gacy and what he had done, but I wanted to do more research about him. So, for my week 5 passion blog, I am doing it about him. John Wayne Gacy mugshot John Wayne Gacy was born on March 17th, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois. While growing up, Gacy was close to his mother and two sisters, but not with his father. His father was an alcoholic who was physically abusive to ..read more

This is finally my last passion blog. We’ve been through many serial killers and unsolved cases! I would love to know which one of these blogs was your favorite. But first, here is my last passion blog.  Richard Ramirez known as the “Night Stalker” was an American serial killer. He spent over two years raping and torturing over 25 victims and killing more than a dozen people.  Richard Ramirez was born in El Paso, Texas on February 28th, 1960 to Mercedes and Julian Ramirez. While growing up, Ramirez’s cousin, Mike, was a big influence on his killings. Mike had just returned fighting ..read more

Today I am going to be talking about a case that happened over a century ago, back in the 1800s. This is the case of the Borden murders, and how no one knows who did it. Lizzie Borden was born on July 19th, 1860. She was suspected to murder her stepmother, Abby Borden, and her father, Andrew Borden. She was acquitted because there was not enough evidence to convict her of her parent’s murder. Lizzie Borden The murder occurred on August 4th, 1892, in Fall River, Massachusetts. Her father’s body was discovered on the couch in their living room while her stepmother’s body was discovered in the up ..read more

Instead of doing a serial killer for my passion blog this week, I’ve decided that I was going to do the unsolved murder of Betsy Aardsma. Now this isn’t just any murder, this murder in fact happened on our campus, at Penn State, University Park. I’m sure almost everyone here has been to the Pattee and Paterno Library. Well, that’s where this unsolved murder took place at.  Elizabeth Ruth Aardsma also known as Betsy Aardsma was murdered on November 28th, 1969 at the age of 22. Betsy was a graduate student who was killed inside the Pattee Library at Penn State in University Park, Pennsylvan ..read more

Just recently we did our paradigm shift papers and speeches, and in both my paper and speech, I included the Zodiac Killer because my topic was the increase/decrease of serial killers. Well, he was involved in my paper because one of the increases in the number of serial killers in the 1970s-1990s was the rise of media, which the Zodiac Killer took advantage of. So, I’ve decided to do this passion blog on the Zodiac Killer. Zodiac Killer The Zodiac Killer is one of the most famous serial killers because of the mystery behind who he is, but because he used encrypted letters and sent them to the ..read more

Jeffrey Dahmer   I’m sure most of us have heard about the infamous killer, Jeffrey Dahmer. If you haven’t be prepared, it’s about to get pretty gruesome, just a little trigger warning. Jeffrey Dahmer was born on May 21st, 1960 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He had a pretty good childhood, but as he grew older he started to withdraw and become uncommunicative. One of his hobbies consisted of examining animal carcasses and extreme alcoholism.  Now, this was all when he was in high school, but this didn’t stop him from graduating in 1978. The 17 victims that were murdered by Jeffrey Dahmer. H ..read more

I asked my one friend Laurel to give me an unsolved mystery. Her response was, “JonBenét Ramsey.” I’ve heard about the unsolved mystery of JonBenét, and I’ve heard how horrible and tragic it was. Before you read, I’d like to give you a little trigger warning about the case. It includes homicide of a younger child, sexual assault, and the topic of kidnapping. Alright, let’s get to it. A photo of JonBenét Ramsey JonBenét Patricia Ramsey was born on August 6th, 1990. JonBenét was considered as an “American Beauty Queen” because of beauty pageants she participated in and won.  John Ramsey, Jo ..read more

Many of you have probably heard of the name “Ted Bundy.” If you have, you have also probably heard of the violent acts of murder he committed against multiple women. In my opinion, I don’t see what all the fuss is about when it comes to Bundy, but he is one of the most well-known serial killers in all of history, so I thought I should cover him on one of my blogs. Ted Bundy Ted Bundy was born on November 24th, in Burlington, Vermont. Growing up. Bundy was said to be “charming, articulate and intelligent.” However, as a teenager, Bundy would already start to show signs of him being the serial k ..read more

I asked my roommate, “Who is your favorite serial killer?” She wondered for a little bit, and finally replied “H.H. Holmes.” So, I’ve decided to do my second passion blog, on Herman Webster Mudgett. To be honest, I didn’t know much about him before I did research on him, but now that I know, I wish I didn’t. Herman Webster Mudgett was born in New Hampshire on May 16th, 1861. Born into a wealthy family, Holmes’ childhood was considered privileged. Holmes was said to be extremely intelligent at a young age. At first, he expressed an interest in medicine which led him to practice surgery on anima ..read more