The story of Trina Garnett, “one of approximately 470 prisoners in Pennsylvania serving life without parole for crimes they committed as teenagers.”
| The Nation | May 2012
(Source: longform)
"Today, 20 years after the sight of those two dusty women holding hands and driving off a cliff into the Grand Canyon in their turquoise Thunderbird rather than surrender to murder and armed-robbery charges stunned audiences, a mere half of its name still signifies: when Diane Sawyer announced she’d be leaving Good Morning America, all Robin Roberts had to say was she would miss “my Thelma,” and the viewers got it."
— Sheila Weller’s “The Ride of a Lifetime” (March 2011)
(Source: vanityfair.com)
Till Murder Do Us Part
In 1990, Betty Broderick confessed to killing her ex-husband and his new wife to Los Angeles Times cub reporter Amy Wallace:
Betty said that in order for me to understand the killings, I had to know the long history of her case—and with Dan and Linda dead, only she was left to tell it. Over the next six months, she called and wrote often, always eager to describe the “overt emotional terrorism” that Dan had inflicted upon her. At first, she talked only obliquely about the killings, which she called “the incident,” but eventually she called me from a public telephone at the jail and confessed.
Almost two decades later, Wallace tells of how she landed the story and explores its lasting impact:
I’d like to say I was assigned to the Betty Broderick story because I had a reputation for getting the ungettable. In fact, I drew the short straw. After the killings, a veteran police reporter was assigned to cover the investigation. Being less experienced (and, not incidentally, female and thus, presumably, more persuasive with Betty), I was assigned Betty duty. My job was to describe her world by reaching out to her and every friend she had—what’s known in newspapers as the “soft” side of a hard news story. That kind of assignment can be difficult if not impossible. Once Betty and I made contact, though, our relationship became instantly and strangely intimate.
"There is anecdotal evidence to suggest that pregnant women in Alabama, aware that they may be arrested and their medical records subpoenaed if they or their babies test positive for drugs, may be changing their behavior — although not necessarily as some prosecutors hoped. Carmen Howell, a defense lawyer in Enterprise, says she knows of one woman who drove to Georgia when she went into labor and another who gave birth to a three-pound baby in a bathtub at home. She is concerned that women who use drugs may also be having abortions to avoid prosecution. This law, she says, “is a deterrent to choosing life."
— Ada Calhoun’s “The Criminalization of Bad Mothers” (Apr 2012)
(Source: The New York Times)
"The death of a child—particu
larly a sudden, unexplained death in which abuse is suspected—evokes strong emotions, even among seasoned investigators, doctors, forensics experts, and prosecutors. A more thorough investigation would have uncovered ample evidence to suggest that Andrew had an undiagnosed eating disorder, raising the possibility that he had unintentionally consumed too much salt on his own. But law enforcement officials are accustomed to handling child abuse cases, not medical mysteries, and salt poisoning is rare enough that most emergency room doctors will never encounter a case during their careers. Against the backdrop of possible abuse, authorities wasted little time. Larry was charged with injury to a child for failing to get Andrew timely medical attention. The onus for the boy’s death fell on Hannah, who was charged with capital murder."
— Pamela Colloff’s “Hannah and Andrew” (Jan 2012)
(Source: texasmonthly.com)
“What do you get when you take a P.I. firm, then add in a bunch of sexy soccer moms, official sponsorship from Glock, a lying boss and delusions of grandeur?”
After acting erratically and trying to skip out on a dinner bill, she was detained briefly in Malibu before being released in the middle of the night. Twenty-four years old and in an unfamiliar area, she had no car, no phone, and no wallet. A year later, her body was found in a nearby canyon. On the search for answers.
| Los Angeles | Sep 2011
(Source: longform)
"Two young women wearing explosive belts roamed the wooden floor, wraithlike figures dressed in black, their faces hidden by veils. Irina shuddered. Russia has an enduring capacity to produce ghastly social phenomena; these were the latest occurrence of the shahidka, female Islamic martyrs who had sown fear during the second Chechen war. The Russian news called them black widows, women driven to militant Islam and vengeance by the loss of Chechnya’s young men. The hostages noticed an incongruity: The black veil worn by one shahidka framed the neatly sculpted eyebrows of what seemed a teenager who had recently visited a beauty salon."
— C.J. Chivers’ “The School” (March 2007)
(Source: esquire.com)
