Archive for the ‘Director's Viewpoint: From the Desk of Edward Blackwelder’ Category

Ministering to Wayne Williams

Thursday, June 10th, 2010

 

Tonight at 8:00 p.m. EST a two hour docmentary will air on CNN entitled, The Atlanta Child Murders.  I have had the distinct privilege of working with the professionals at CNN for the past year in researching the series of murders that took place in the  Atlanta, Georgia, metropolitan area that, in 1982, culminated in the arrest, trial, and conviction of an unknown black man—Wayne Bertram Williams.

Since 1982 I have called Wayne Williams “my friend.’  He’s this, not because he may or may not be guilty; that he may or may not be a serial murderer; that he may or may not be, as some call him, “A black monster.”  I call Wayne “my friend” because I have come to know him as most never will and have come to see the human side of this particular inmate that very few other have. 

This is a brief recap of my ministry to infamous sadistic serial killer Wayne Bertram Williams.

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In 1982 I was a criminology college professor and departmental chairperson at a large Alabama community college.  I also directed an academic crime laboratory which presented the opportunity to work with prosecutors and criminal defense attorneys in a variety of criminal cases.

I well remember on late afternoon when my secretary informed me that I had a telephone call from an attorney in Atlanta.  What in the world would an Atlanta attorney be calling me, a small time college professor from a small community hardly anyone had ever hear of?

I took this call and my life has never been the same.  Here’s why.

The caller was Atlanta attorney Mary Welcome requesting that I travel to her city to review and give an opinion on an undetermined amount of physical evidence that the State of Georgia had against her client—Wayne Williams.  This was the first time I had ever heard the name.  I had read several newspaper articles concerning the murders of young children in the Atlanta area but William’s name had never been mentioned.

I agreed to drive to Atlanta for a single meeting—one meeting—and left the safety of my academic nest for the Peach State’s capital city.  The trip wasn’t remarkable in any way and didn’t actually take as long as I had anticipated. 

I arrived, found Mrs. Welcome’s office, parked and went inside.  I was met by a young male attorney that introduced himself as being the brother-in-law of a former fraternity brother of mine.  I had suddenly had my very first question answered, “How did you get my name?”

I waited for a very few minutes, just long enough to drink a cup of coffee, and was then ushered into Mrs. Welcome’s average looking office.  So this is what an Atlanta attorney’s office looks like, I remember thinking.

Mrs. Welcome was most gracious and immediately got to the point of my visit.  She had recently be hired by the parents of a young black man that had been arrested by a police task force and accused of having kidnapped and murdered a number of young black children and adults.  Here I hear the name for the second time—Wayne Williams.

I reviewed her “Brady” evidence, gave my opinion, was taken to lunch by Mrs. Welcome and her legal crew and then headed back to Alabama never to return.

This was not to be as I soon received a second telephone call asking that I consider becoming a member of William’s defense team.  Me, a college professor from a small town in Alabama, becoming a member of the criminal defense team of, at that time, the most highly publicized serial murderer in American history?  At the time I didn’t know if this was an opportunity of a lifetime or a curse—I would definitely find out later.

I remember the first time Wayne and I met face-to-face.  It was in the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta.  He didn’t appear to be a criminal as many think a person accused of a crime is suppose to look.  He didn’t have blood dripping from his hands, his eyes didn’t appear as beads, his handshake was strong and firm and he was polite; heck, he wasn’t even foaming at the mouth.

Wayne and I sat down at a small table and began talking.  He ask me questions, the usual ones, and I did the same.  We learned who each other was and, as best we could, came to an agreement as to who we were, what we would be doing for each other, etc.

For whatever reasons Mrs. Welcome soon stepped aside and a Mississippi Attorney, Al Binder, came to Atlanta to assume the role of lead attorney for Williams.  It would be Al Binder that I would sit next to in the courtroom of the Fulton County Courthouse during the nine or so week criminal trial of Wayne Williams. 

To say that my “new position” created an opportunity to see a big time trial from the inside is an understatement.  You can only imagine what it was like; media from throughout the world, even Switzerland;  reporters so thickly standing in front of the courthouse each morning that I was forced to be “delivered” into the courthouse basement by automobile.  Walking from the Atlanta Downtown Hilton had become an impossibility just had eating a quite meal.  No one would leave me alone…not for a moment.

I’m not going to say whether Wayne Williams is guilty or not…I don’t know.  I only know a jury found him to be on February 27, 1982, and he’s presently inmate number 408135 at Hancock State Prison located in Sparta, Georgia. 

Daily, throughout the 1982 trial, I met with Wayne to discuss trial strategy and, when we had time, to just “shoot the bull” about common, ordinary things: football, baseball, music, etc.  My daily lunch ended up being in the “holding cell” at the Fulton County Courthouse where Wayne and I dined on hamburgers, fries and a Coke or two from a nearby MacDonald’s.  The meals were unusual at all, the company, however, certainly was.  I was becoming friends with the most infamous serial killer in American history and I was beginning to like him!

Let me stop here to emphasize that I will not say, nor imply, that I think Wayne Williams is innocent.  He may well be guilty of the close to thirty dastardly murders of which he is accused.   However, I must point out that he was convicted and sentenced for having committed only two of these murders and both of them were of adults not children.

For nine long weeks, seven days per week, I was in Atlanta working with various legal oriented professional who were cast into the role of providing an adequate criminal defense to this infamous sadistic serial murderer merely because he, just as every American, has the constitutional right to such.  Remember, in theory at least, everyone is assumed innocent until proven guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt and to a moral certainly.” 

At the conclusion of tonight’s CNN two hour documentary you will have the opportunity to cast your vote:  guilty, not guilty, or not proven.  You have one vote with three choices and I encourage each of you to take a moment to cast your vote. 

Let me point out from a criminological point of view that Wayne Williams was arrested, charged, tried and convicted of two murders.  But police statistically cleared 22 additional cases, one of which Wayne Williams was not charged.  Therefore, police show a clearance rate of 85.8% in these particular murders attributed to Wayne although they made arrests in only 6.9%.

Equally important is the fact that Wayne was jailed in June of 1981, and the authorities stopped counting and adding names to “The List.”  The Atlanta police-FBI Uniform Crime Reort tabulations show seven (7) unsolved killings of blacks—ages 15 60 25—in Atlanta’s city limits from July through December of 1981 after Wayne Williams was locked up in jail!

When I made this earlier mentioned first trip to Atlanta I had already been teaching criminal justice and criminology for several years during which time I had visited correctional facilities on a regular basis.  My theory is that a student can learn so much from a book but the total learning experience must include a certain amount of “hands on” experience.  This theory allowed students to accompany me when I went to visit the likes of Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy and many others.   The students, no doubt, met Wayne and seemed to like him rather well. 

To make a very long story a bit shorter, from 1964 until present I have regularly gone into correctional facilities in a number of states and, at the suggestion of one of my Liberty University minister friends, narrowed my work to death row inmates and serial killers.   Today I continue to work more with this group than the broader overall prison population although I do, quite regularly, work with inmates serving lesser sentences.

It wasn’t long into my “prison experiences” that I noticed the large recidivism  rate, the percentage of inmates being released only to return to prison.  It didn’t take a Ph.D. to figure out that rehabilitation wasn’t working.

By now I  had experienced the saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and was learning that He, through “regeneration,” lowers this above mentioned recidivism rate.  In short, rehabilitation doesn’t work—regenerations does!  Here I invite you to read 2 Cor. 5:17 for the answer as to why.

During my many prison visits I began to interject more and more “Jesus” into my interviews.  I got to the point that I was preaching more than I was researching which goes to show that, yes, God does work in mysterious ways indeed.

You can call it “funny,” “odd,” “peculiar” or whatever adjective suits your desires but I can only call it “God doing His thing.”

The more I told  inmatse about Jesus the more they seemed to become interested.  I point out the importance of the word “seemed” as those of us experienced in ministering to our nation’s prison population well know how inmates will make every attempt and exert every effort to “use” the new guy to get what they want.  I, for sure, experienced my share of being used and, out of necessity, I soon learned to spot it, stop it, and proceed without it.

This article, however, is not about other infamous inmates, it’s about Wayne Williams.  My wife says I’m great at getting “off point” and I think I just did!

Anyway, due to a combination of economics, sociology, psychology , politics and plain hysteria Wayne Williams was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences and was transported to the Georgia Receiving and Diagnostic facility in Jackson, Georgia.  This is where I next visited with Wayne.

Football, baseball, etc., were our main Jackson topics but there was one more….Jesus!   I was serious about salvation by this time but I wasn’t at all sure that Wayne was.   I had to make sure—this is what Christians are supposed to do you know.

I bought Wayne a Bible but wasn’t allowed to give it to him since it came from the “outside,” therefore I secured one from the institutional chaplain and gave it to him. 

I remember so well that the first verse we read was, as mentioned earlier, 2 Corinthians 5:17 which talked about regeneration, becoming a new person, staring over, etc. 

I liked Wayne—I certainly didn’t agree with what he had been found guilty of having done—but I felt compassion, Christian love and a sense of duty to the guy.

Wayne was receptive to hearing The Word and I diligently “put it to him” in no small doses.   I didn’t do anything but God sure did!   Wayne, after a rather lengthy theological discourse looked at me and said, “Eddie, you believe all this stuff don’t you? You really believe that I can go to heaven when I die.”    Not shocked, but a bit surprised, I answered that I believed it to the point of knowing that a person would go to heaven if certain things took place and that he as much as anyone could gain this assurance to the point of being as sure of heaven as he would be if he were already there. 

Time passed, visits continued, our friendship survived several bouts of disagreement, but God continued to work.  My friends, God won!

It was midday when Wayne prayed the sinners’ prayer.    It was just the three of us; God, Wayne, and me.

The Bible tells us that Christians have differing talents that must be used for His good.  It says, also, that every Christian has one common talent—the talent to witness and that we must witness to all people.   This is not a suggestion, my friend, it is a commandment directly from God Almighty!  For those that just may not understand the word “all,” let me give you Webster’s definition: 

ALL:  The total entity or extent of; the whole number, amount, or quantity; every; any whatsoever; each and everyone.

Remember as well that God didn’t make any junk—not a single piece.  Each one of us was made in the likeness of Him and this includes Wayne Williams.   You might as well grow accustomed to the idea, friends, its God telling you this, not me.  You may disagree and if you do the only thing I can suggest is that you take it up with The Master, after all He wrote it!

I ask you this…..how long has it been since you ministered to a prison inmate or an inmate family member?  The Bible speaks throughout about the necessity of ministering to this particular groups of individuals and I urge you to stop using the Bible as  a Sears-Roebuck catalog and read everything in it including the verses that command us to go into the prisons and minister to these incarcerated souls.

I have invited many so-called Christians over the years to accompany me to prison church services—very few have ever gone.  Their reasons are: “I’d be scared to death”—“I wouldn’t know what to say,” Would they want to talk about their crime,” etc.

Ministry friends, I have been going into prisons from California to New York and I’ve never been threatened, harassed, or hurt by a single inmate.  In fact, just the opposite is true with one exception.   These men and women are just like you and me and, believe me, any of us, under circumstances,  could find ourselves exactly where these people are.   (By the way, the exception was “The Clown Killer,” John Wayne Gacy, who made the single threat upon my life that I have received directly from an inmate).

I must say this about being a prison minister—it’s not easy.   The problem isn’t with the inmates or inmate family member; the problem is with what the inmates refer to as the “free world population.”   This free world population is you and me—those of us who have never committed a crime or, at least, have never been caught!

Sadly, the free world population does seem to look with distain upon us prison ministers and among these looking with distain, the most vocal are our good Christian brothers and sisters.   Yep, you didn’t mis-understand,  our church going, singing in the choir, Amen corner, Sunday go to meeting Christians are the last to support a prison ministry, last to say, “Preacher, you’re doing a great job,” last to contribute toward the purchase of a gallon or two of gasoline and, last but not least, the last to forgive!

In closing I must say that practically all of the more infamous inmates I have ministered to are certainly guilty as charged, there’s no doubt about this.   Nevertheless, in the scheme of theology and Christian witnessing this does not matter and should be of no concern to your witnessing potential. 

Listen people, if we got what we deserve we would all go to hell….every single one of us without exception.   It’s only by the grace of God, the death of His Son Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary, that we have a choice between spending eternity in a beautiful place called heaven or an eternity in a literal place of fire called hell. 

You have these two choices for your eternal future, I have these choices and, accept it whether you like it or not, every inmate in every prison does as well. 

Is Wayne Williams going to heaven when he dies—-yes!    Am I sure that he will—absolutely.   How do I know?   I know because I believe in God, I believe in His Son Jesus Christ, I believe in the death, burial, and resurrection.   I believe that every letter of every word of every verse of every book in the Holy Bible is the literal truth and Word of God without exception.

Finally, I encourage you to watch tonight’s CNN presentation, The Atlanta Child Murders, and decide for yourself whether you believe that Wayne Williams is guilty of killing almost thirty black children and young adults or not.  Don’t forget to vote at the conclusion of the documentary.  I understand you will have an hour following the ending of the broadcast to cast your vote.

Also, the broadcast times have changed a bit due to the oil spill.  Here are the new times:

Initial CNN airing:  8:00 p.m. EDT

Re-airing:  10:00 p.m. EDT This documentary

This documentary will be re-broadcast several additional times over the following week and you can get these times by visiting my criminology web-site at: www.criminologyresearch.org

 

Bible References

Prisons

Judg. 16:21

Ps. 142:7

Matt. 14:10

Acts 5:19

Acts 16:27

1 Kings 22:27

Rev. 18:2

 

Prisoner

Ps. 102:20

Ps. 146:7

Matt. 27:15

Rom. 7:23

Eph. 3:1

2 Tim. 1:8

Dr. Edward Blackwelder

Executive Director

Criminology Research Project, Inc & Liberty Chaplain Ministries

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Holloway family finances van der Sloot’s trip to Peru-unknowingly!

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

There is a law of unintended consequences and it was apparently put into play in the Holloway/Flores cases.

Van der Sloot was apparently without funds therefore he demanded money from Miss Holloway’s family to the tune of $250,000 and actually received $15,000.  This $15,000 was used by van der Sloot to travel to Peru where evidence indicates he killed Stephany Flores who met the Dutchman while playing poker at a casino.

The very man that killed Natalee Holloway traveled to his next known criminal spree on Holloway funds!

So many times individuals, especially those in a desperate situation, will illogically contribute to the criminal spree of an derranged person by giving them money therefore this is no surprise.  It’s sad, so sad, but not without precedent.

This comes at no surprise as Miss Holloway’s family is groping for anything that casts the slightest possibility of a safe return of their daughter.  Rational thinking and judgment doesn’t plug into the formula in cases such as this.

Criminology Research Project, Inc., urges anyone that receives a demand such as this to do two things: 1. Don’t provide the funds and, 2. contact the FBI immediately.

Now Miss Holloway’s family is out $15,000, Natalee remains missing and another young lady is dead.

The best that can be hoped for is civil action to recover the lost funds, which, under the circumstances is unimportant, and to never give up hope.  Hope is the only thing Miss Holloway’s family have at the moment.

Plus, its interesting to note that we now know that there were legal routes that could and should have been taken advantage of that, for whatever reason, weren’t.  What a shame and what a blight on our criminal justice system.

This is, more than likely, going to be a long, drawnout case and, in my opioion we have only seen the tip of the iceberg.  We can only hope and pray, yes pray, that criminal justice officials in Peru, Chile, and Aruba.  With in inbreeding apparent within these “professional” organizations it’s highly unlikely that anyone’s going to be satisfied when the story crosses the finish line.

To the Holloway family I say only that you shouldn’t feel guilt for having funded van der Sloot’s latest crime spree.  You were, afterall, merely grasping for straws in an ongong effort to locate and bring back your daughter.

I seriously doubt that Natalee and Stephany are the only two victims of van der Sloot but there’s no evidence to say that is is correct.  Knowing and believing is not proving.  Proof and only proof is all that counts.  Plus, of course, it would be nice to know that there are unbiased, professional, and knowledgable investigators doing due diligence.  For the latter—I wonder.

My prayer is that justice will prevail but I seriously doubt it will bring any significant degree of closure.  If is justice does prevail it won’t bring Natalee back to Alabama nor will it bring life back to Stephany Flores.

Finally, as for justice, I understand that in the almost certain event van der Sloot is tried and convicted his sentence is likely to be no more than thirty five years in prison!

Dr. Edward Blackwelder

Executive Director

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Joran van der Sloot is a serial sadistic sexual preditor

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

Criminology Research Project, Inc., has determined that, based on preliminary evidence, Joran vander Sloot is a  serial sadistic sexual preditor.

It’s too early to classify him a serial murderer since the death of Natalee Holloway cannot be proven.  She could be alive although the statistical probability is minute.  Common sense tells us the Mountain Brook High School senior is dead but then we must remember that common sense doesn’t make probable cause.

Plus, I would be less than professional if I didn’t point out that van der Sloot has not been tried and is, therefore, afforded the assumption of innocece.  This is not what any of us believe or want to hear but it’s a must.

However, I have now gone as far as to brand this Dutchman a sadistic sexual preditor and am holding the serial killer cand in my hand.  I have a feeling I will play it shortly.

The legal system being what it is, ahtough I don’t know the ins and outs of the system in either Peru, Aruba, or Chile, my prediction is that “this one” won’t slip through the cracks.

Van der Sloot’s luck as run out and he is, in my opinion, going down for the count.

I dare not forget to mention that in addition to his many criminal problems, van der Sloot is piling up civil charges as well.  In Alabama he has a “extortion” problem in that he apparently may have staged his attempted getaway using funds raised through extortion.  The seeming fact is that he attempted to bribe the Holloway family out of $250,000 in return for revealing the location of Miss Holloway’s body and describing how she died.  It’s my understanding that $15,000 was actually transferred into a Dutch bank account in van der Sloot’s name on May 10th which, if my math serves me correctly, was four days before he arrived in Peru.

The criminal “signature” is becoming stronger and stronger.  It’s time now to call him what he appears to be, a serial sadistic sexual preditor.   Therefore to the entire world Criminology Research Project, Inc., officially stamps Joran van dr Sloot a serial sadistic sexual preditor.  Okay, those of you than want to come after me—come on!

Dr. Edward Blackwelder

Executive Director

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Van der Sloot Categorized as Serial: Killer or Sexual Preditor

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

It’s somewhat premature to actually classify Joran van der Sloot a serial killer or serial sexual preditor however the evidence is overwelmingly leaning in this direction.  To use a well worn common phrase, “If it looks, quacks, and walks like a duck…….”   In van der Sloot’s case he’s close to being a duck.

For starters we know there exists two cases involving this young man that have similar “signatures.”  The first that we know of is that of missing Mountain Brook, Alabama, teenager Natalee Holloway in 2005.  The second most recently know case is that of the 21 year-old lima woman, Stephany Flores, who van der Sloot met met, according to police, while playing poker at a Peru casino.

In the criminal profile business we look for similarities between three or more crimes, not all of which must be murders.  I will admit that, so far, there are only two, not three, similar incidences but the evidence is mounting at a rapid pace.

The May 30, 2005, incident involving Natalee Holloway comes exactly five years to the day before the killing of Miss Flores which, within itself is somewhat of a “signature.”  I will admit that five years between the first and second is a rather longer than usual period of time but then, again, we are drawing a conclusion based on cases we know about.  There are probably similar cases involving this young Dutchman that we don’t know about…I will almost “bet the farm” that there are.

You may be asking, “What are these similarities?”  For starters, both young girls are known to have been in the company of van der Sloot.  Also, both Miss Holloway and Miss Gamboa went with van der Sloot, from a public to a private location.   Adding to our “duck theory” is the fact that both victims were female and students.

I’m not prepared just yet to brand Van der Sloot “serial: but I’m close.  Generally, criminology and criminal justice professionals prefer to have a minimum of three “signature” cases before applying the term to an individual but, for the same of common sense, I’ll do it now.  My “gut feeling” is that there are more cases we have yet to become aware.

The young Dutchman seems, for the time being, to have gotten away with his “whatever” with Miss Holloway but, again, the Fat Lady has not sung on this first know case quite yet.  I feeling is that more and more evidence will surface connecting Van der Sloot to Miss Holloway’s disappearance.  I don’t know this to be a fact to to actually come out and say that that I do would be misleading.

I do tend to believe that certain circumstances, political in nature, kept Van der Sloot from being arrested in a timely fashion for the Holloway disappearance but in the case of Miss Flores I doubt politics will protect him in this case.  It certainly appears that this is the case.

Individuals tend to have an urge, let’s call it a need, to brag about their criminal ventures; Van der Sloot did just this relative to Miss Hollowayby admiting that he had killer her.  He has now admitted that he killed this second known victim in Peru.  He then, in both cases, retracts his “I did it” statements which is, again, somewhat of a “signature.”  To admit and then deny is seen very often just as it was in the case of the murder for hire of Dr. Jack Wilson in his Huntsville, Alabama, home by James Dennison White.  White actually confessed, then denied a number of times.

Van der Sloot’s problem is that vander Sloot was specific in he statements.  He, in fact, said, “I did not want to do it.  The girl intructe into my private life.  She had no right.  She was scared, we argued, she tried to escapt and I grabber her by the neck kand hit her.”  This statement, whether, later contradicted by the Dutchman or not is backed by video footabel of the two entering his hotel room in the early hours of Saturday, May 30th.  Van del Sloot left four hour later after he had paid the hotel in advance for another two weeks’ stay and made a request that hotel workers not go into the room.  He then paid a cab driver something like $600 to drive him to Chile. 

Human nature, as odd as it may be, says that guilty persons talk about their crimes.  But, then again innocent persons confess to crimes they didn’t commit on a regular basis especially in high profile cases.  The Atlanta Child Murder cases brought over 1,000 confessions alone all of which came from those within the “lunatic fringe.”  This is why a confession along is not enough for a conviction.  Simply put, people confess to crimes they don’t commit!  This trick, however, is not now available to van der Sloot—it’s the video!

In van der Sloot’s case, however, this evidence supporst his so-called confession and, believe me, this won’t be ignored by justice officials.  He may be, and is, in another country but the budding signature follows.  There are, afterall, ducks in every country and the same duck is known to travel interjurisdictional.

Having said all of this, what happens now?  I’m no mind reader but it’s my prediction that van der Sloot will “go down” on this one and other similar cases will surface.  This time the young Dutchman is “in the sights” of the criminal justice system and these professional dare not allow him to escape where he was, what he did, and how he did it.  Politics being what it is will most definitely prevent this.

We must move slowly, wait a time with patience, but my prediction is that there are other similar crimes that will be attributed to van der Sloot before this investigation is over.  The investigation(s) are no where close to termination, in fact, they have only begun.

I don’t always agree with my counterparts within the criminal justice system and don’t hesitate to say it when I feel it to be the truth.  However, in the cases involving Joran van der Sloot, it’s my prediction that there’s more to come and we have, in fact, only seen the tip of the iceberg.

We don’t know where Miss Holloway’s body is, or shall I say that ‘publically” we don’t.  A common practice is to retain a certain amount of evidence from media to maintain the ability to sort out the absessed that are innocent but who “need” to confess from the actual perpertrators.  I’m not connected to either of the cases at hand personally or professionaly but I’ve been around long enough to konow there’s more evidence than is know to the general public.

Joran van der Sloot is in Peru custody this time, not that of Aruba, and the cards are not stacked in his favor this time.  He’s currently at police headquarters being questioned in the death of the 21 year old Miss Jose Gamboa and this is where he is likely to remain.”

The signatures,  unique criminal patterns, don’t change very often from serial to serial and they haven’t with the Dutchman.  This is not to say that such has never been the case but it’s extremely rare.  It’s certainly a statistical probability that van der Sloot hasn’t make such a change—he’s just not this smart.

Is van det Sloot a serial murderer?  Well, he’s a serial sexual preditor for sure and could be a serial murderer no doubt.  Again, it a “wait a time with patience” situation one that is sure to bring about additional similar cases in the not to distant future.

I’m not in a position to classify anyone as anything on an official basis but I am willing to go as far as say that the officials have their man in both the Holloway and Flores cases.

Finally, van der Sloot, this time arund, is being represented by state-appointed attorneys which, within itself, speaks volumes.  Van det Sloot’s time has come…he will be convicted…and for what little consolation there can be for the victim’s families he will be dealt with appropriately.

This defendant is far from being out of the woods in fact, he’s just getting started witin the system.  As for how long his crime spree has been in existence, who knows?  My prediction is that he been doing his dasterdly deeds for quite a while the spread of five years between the first and second is too long an interval to be realistic.

We’ll all keep watching and Criminology Research Project, Inc., will keep reporting.  Stay tuned!

Dr. Edward Blackwlder

Executive Director

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Chris: A True Friend When There Aren’t Too Many Left

Sunday, December 20th, 2009

Criminology Research Project, Inc., has as it’s main objective the offering of documented information on a variety of criminology related matters, namely; mass, spree, and serial murder.  However, from time to time I, as CRP’s executive director, will drift away from “normal,” or shall I use the word “routine,” and delve into other areas that do not relate to crime, at least directly.  This is one of these times.

I am 63 years old, sick, disabled, at times confused, and always in need of “being a better person.”  I have been blessed throughout my life by having had a quality mom and dad, a quality education, several great jobs and, finally, a God given gift named Shirley.  More on Shirley later in this blog.

I have developed a number of friends over the years and appreciate them more than words can portray.  They are dependable, most of the time, and are there when I need them with, of course, an ocassional exception.  Sometimes the going has gotten too rough and these friends jumped ship.  Nevertheless, when this has happened I always thought of the old saying, “A person’s character is determined by how much it takes for them to quit.”  I don’t think it was Paul “Bear” Bryant that said this but it should have been.  Leaning on these few words made it possible to accept the disappointment of a friendship that was but, at the same time, wasn’t.

Time has a tendency to pass much faster than I realize therefore I don’t know if the word “months” or “year,” or “years” is most appropriate when I think of my special friend, Chris.  I know that I am no computer geek, in fact, it’s all that I can do to get this blog online!  Anyhow, I was “online” one day when I got an e-mail from Chris telling me about herself and that she believed that she had grown up with me.  Could be but I couldn’t remember.  Nevertheless, our mutual interets in criminology glued us to an everlasting relationship (don’t worry husband and wife, it’s only on a professional basis); one that, today, has a value that cannot be punched into a calculator, adding machine, or even this new fangled Dell computer.

I have never had an really “Special” friends to speak of and, to be honest, never developed to the point of practicing the philosophy of “total acceptance and dependability” toward any of my friends.  There are, of course, a few exceptions but not many.  I can count them on one hand for sure.

Anyhow, before my mind drifted, I was telling you about Chris.  This first Internet communication became a family thing between four people; Chris and Gary…Shirley and me.  We have shared our most secret of life’s details with each other.  There have been times when we laughed, times when we disagreed, times when we shared confusion, and times when the most appropriate reaction was to simply cry.   

It’s okay to express through these psychological outlets to a special friend.  To me, Robert Edward Blackwelder, a/k/a Eddie Blackwelder, can do this with my special friend, Chris.  Chris has the capacity to accept me for who I am, not for what she wants me to be or what I should be but am not.  Chris accepts me for just being me and, somehow, has managed to last through long research demands that I have placed upon her and the need for her unique ability to find things that evade the abilities of others.  Much the same can be said about my wife, Shirley.

The general criminological theory is that a person is who he or she will always be based on the early and first years of life.  I have seen this many times over in mass and serial murderers I have been honored to study, research and whose cases I have lectured on whie a professor.   In fact, I am currently writing a book on one of these people and if you read my book, Deadly Little Secret, you will gain the understanding that I have developed that will enable you to see “reality” and “fact” rather than mere biased judgment and ultimate false opinion as to why a person did what he or she did or may have done.  People react in different ways…some acceptable, some not as acceptable and some so vile that society refers to them as “criminal.” 

Chris, like many of us, had certain hoops that she had to jump through during her early years.  My special friend is a survivor and, therefore, has the quality more commonly called “character.”  Some people think they have character, a few come close to having it, but only a very small minority actually have this most positive trail…my special friend, Chris, has character.  She doesn’t prove that she has this unique trait by pointing out expensively framed diplomas that may or may not hang in her study or brag on the accomplishments she has earned over the years.  In fact, my special friend probably doesn’t even realize the many prizes that she does have.  If she did she would NEVER admit it and would, most certainly, keep each hidden away in the depths of her brilliant and accepting mind.  The prizes that my special friend has could not have been earned from the best of schools, the greatest of advantages, or the limited opportunities afforded the rich and famous.  Nope, my special friend is who she is because God saw to it that she was to become what she, in fact, has become.  Chris is a definite survivor in every known sense of the term.  Let there be no doubt about this.

Chris has a quality set of standards that she lives by.  She knows what is right versus what is wrong versus what might or might not be, based on circumstances, and is able to put the pieces of the formula together when the need arises.  Chris is a thinker, a doer, an accomplisher.  Chris IS character.

Criminiology Research Project, Inc., has a Board of Advisors that is made up of lettered individuals with titles and letters like, “M.D.,” “Ph.D., ” Th.M.,” Th.D.,” D.S.W.,” “ J.D.,” “D.D.,” and those on  a list that continues on into oblivion.  These dedicated advisors have prefixes such as Doctor, Judge, Reverend and, for this, I am proud to have them as advisors.  However, there is my special friend that far outranks all of these prefix titles or letters that follow the name.  My friend, you see, has character, dedication, pride, dependability, spirituality, strong morality, and the ability to just pick up on what needs to be done.  Yep, she picks up on things that need to be done and goes ahead and does them.  The one thing she does not have is the necessity of wanting everyone knowing her deeds, accomplishments, qualities and abilities.  The lack of this necessity is the hallmark of character.  My special friend is humble while holding on to the ability to take a stand when to do so it the right thing to do.  My special friend has compassion to accompany her dedication that draws from her unique ability to just know the right thing to do when the right thing to do is not even apparent.  Chris, my special friend, has the unusual ability to use God’s provided radar to focus in on what really is as compared to what something appears to be.  One does not learn this in school and no doctorate degree will bestow this ability upon an individual.  Does Chris have a diploma, degree, or certification in the arts and sciences?  You had better believe she does!  She has degrees in diplomacy, faithfulness, honor, respect, honesty, love, dedication, dependability and, no doubt, class and character.  My dear reader, these are the most honorable, tough to earn and respected “degrees” a human being can possess.  The fact is that there is no wall large enough in the home of Chris and Gary to possibly hold the degrees that my friend, Chris, has. 

I’m not bragging on my special friend, to do so would dishonor who and what she really is.  The correct term for this special friend is only in God’s dictionary or vocabulary…Webster doesn’t have it, never has, never will. 

I believe in God more than I believe in anything.  It hasn’t always been this way but, my dear reader, it is now.  I don’t believe, I know, that God sent this special friend into my life and I thank Him everyday and every night for doing so.  I believe in angels, I don’t worship them as is proper, but I believe in them and, yes, Chris, my special friend, is an angel.  God makes angles, not families, not circumstances, not growing up atmospheres, not schools, not schools of theology and, certainly, not society.  Angels are special, so special that only God can provide them.  There are three words that go together: angel, Chris, and Shirley.  I will tell you about my angel, Shirley, in my next blog but both Chris and Shirley are angels which, in case you are wondering, carries the definition, “an immortal spiritual being attendant upon God, a guardian spirit or guiding influence, a kind and lovable person, one who manifests goodness, purity, and unselfishness.”

We all have special God given talents in addition to God’s command to represent Him as the Holy Scripture commands.  I use the word “commands” in that His command is not a mere suggestion, it is just this, a command.  In addition to honoring His command in an honorable and dignified manner, Chris and Gary have the talent to perform as an artist with brush and canvas in the designing, building, and turning  a heavy, coarse, closely woven fabric of cotton, hemp, or flax into a trophy.  They, simply, call it making a quilt.  The finished product, at the hands of Chris and Gary, is nothing less than a perfect work of art.  I would be incomplete in the writing of this blog if I didn’t give you, the reader, the opportunity to look, first hand, at my special friend’s work.  I invite, no encourage, you to visit: www.welovequilting.com and www.ChrisWheelerQuilts.com.  Chris and Gary built each quilt out of love for the art that it is, out of dedication brought about through pride, and out of a desire to build a lasting memento of what was is and will be.  Am I encouraging you to purchase one of Chris and Gary’s quilts?  Let there be no doubt that I, indeed, am doing just this.  I am honored to possess one of their works of art…I cover myself under “my prize” every night.  She doesn’t give them away so don’t ask, but I promise you a good deal in price, quality and pride.  Every quilt will become a heirloom; a valued family possession that will be handed down from generation to generation.  Believe me, your owning a trophy from Chris and Gary will be worth it’s weight in gold…mine is. 

In closing this blog it is only proper to offer a brief prayer.  “Our dear Heavenly Father, I come to you an humble servant, one that does not deserve all that You have provided and one that seeks Your guidance in my actions, words, deeds, desires, and motives.  I thank you for special friends, people like my special friend, Chris.  I don’t deserve this kind of special friend, but I don’t deserve any of the many things that You have bestowed upon me.  Thank you, God, for sending Your Son Jesus Christ.  You did good, God, and I want you to use me however you desire.  I stand ready to carry out Your wishes but, hey God, you “gotta” tell me what , how, when, and where.  Thank you,too, for Happy my companion, friend.  Happy may not use very good English but she gets her point across, the point that you gave us everything and that everything belongs to You.  She teaches me loyalty, dedication without reservation and shows a genuine love that only comes from You.   Without you,  God, I would be nothing and without Chris, Gary, and Shirley I would be alot less.   Be with us all, God, we need You right now.  We know that You can but, more important, we know that You will direct our paths even when the road traveled is rough.  We know what awaits us and we thank You.   Pick us up, God, and hold us in the palm of your mighty hand when the going gets rough, when we know we are going to miserably fail.  Thank you, God, for just being around.   You have broad shoulders, you must have, to tolerate what we throw at You be it our actions without thought, our thoughts without guidance, our words without consideration.  You didn’t make any junk, we just act as though You did.  We are worldly, no doubt, but I humbly ask you to overlook our misdeeds, sins, and transgressions through your forgivness and grace.  I know that You will because You promised that You would if we will only believe, have faith, and show Your compassion to our fellow man.  We can’t do Your Will without Your help.  We, also, know that You have not and will not require more than you make possible for us to achieve IF we only believe in you and recognize the sacrifices given us through the death, burial, and resurrection of Your Son, Jesus Christ.  We know how unworthy we are and humbly ask that you over look our worldly deeds, forgive us of our sins, and let us know, through salvation that, even while on this earth, we are as sure of Heaven as we would be if we were already there.   Never let us dare forget that our physical death is nothing more than passage to a home that you have awaiting each of us.  Let us never forget that our living today is only a pause in Your Plan.   We know that we only have to ask, just make sure we do.  I ask you, God, to be with our world leaders that they will do as You want.  Let us give to Caesar that which is Caesar’s but to give to You that which is Yours.  Never let us become confused in knowing Your will versus that of Caesar.  Make sure, please, that we honor Your directions toward Caesar but when there is a choice to be made, let us honor You and fight the dictates of Caesar.  I ask all of this in the name of Your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

 

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