Five most creepy MySpace criminals
By John Pospisil
Should you be scared of the people you meet on MySpace? Well, I guess that depends on whether you value your safety or not. As you’ll see, MySpace isn’t just “a place for friends”, it’s also a place where murderers and criminals hang out, and sometimes find their victims.
1. What is it with kids these days? One minute they’re on MySpace pronouncing their Christian values; the next minute they’re killing their parents. On the morning of November 13, 2005, the then 14-year-old Kara Borden (pictured) logged onto her gaudy MySpace profile (where, incidentally, she was pretending to be 18 years old). A few hours later, she watched as her 18-year-old boyfriend, David Ludwig, (also a MySpace fan) shot her parents. Both Borden and Ludwig described themselves on their respective MySpace profile as Christian, with Borden proclaiming that her interests included Jesus, church, and her youth group — she seemed to have forgotten to mention conspiring to kill her parents.
2. Murderer John Gaumer (aged 22 at the time of crime, pictured) met his victim 27-year-old single mother Josie Phyllis of Baltimore on MySpace. The two hit it off, and so they went on a date on Dec 28, 2006. They had dinner, and then visited several bars. Unfortunately, the two had an argument, so Gaurmer stranded Phyllis on a ramp on the Baltimore Beltway. However, he later came back, but the argument continued so Gaurmer threw Phyllis down a highway embankment, and for good measure, beat her with a tree branch. The injuries inflicted on Phyllis were horrific — her jaw bone was ripped off, the finger tips on her left hand were cut off, and she was missing her nose. So much for finding dates on MySpace.
3. On MySpace it’s not enough to be careful about the photos you place on your profile; you also need to be careful about where your own photos appear. In September 2006, after seeing a photo of another woman on her boyfriend’s MySpace profile, Arizona resident Heather Kane (pictured) decided to pay a hit man to kill the “other” woman. Fortunately, Mesa police were tipped off, and so Kane actually paid an undercover cop to kill her boyfriend’s “friend”, rather than an actual hit man. Apparently, Kane asked the hit man to shoot the woman in the head, and to provide post-murder photos as proof. I guess that’s the only way to make sure.
4. Recently Chris Collings, along with David Spears, were accused of raping and murdering nine-year-old Rowan Ford. Spears was Ford’s stepfather, and Collings a friend of Spears. Both men had MySpace profiles, though only Collings’ was open to the public. The site caught the eye of investigators because it featured images of grim reapers and sexual acts, and also made references to drug taking. According to KOLR/KSFX, which talked to a forensic psychologist, the MySpace page could be considered a ”rehearsal of a fantasy”:
“It’s something many sexual offenders do before they commit a crime. While some people will stop at the fantasy stage, others can only fantasize for so long before they act out what they’ve rehearsed.”
Both men are charged with one count each of first degree murder, forcible rape and statutory rape.
5. MySpace can also help catch criminals. Last month, murder suspect and gang member, 19-year-old Dwayne Stancill, of Oakland, and the son of a cop, was caught with the help of an image from his gang’s MySpace profile. It’s alleged that Stancill shot Greg Ballard Jr, a popular San Leandro High School football player. Investigators has managed to gather some information about the suspect, but it was only when they viewed the gang’s MySpace profile that they were able to identify Stancill. Stancill told police he “didn’t really have a reason” for killing Ballard, who had apparently been trying to change his life after “hanging around with the wrong people” and serving time in Juvenile Hall.
What’s the take away from this story? MySpace is full of just as many criminals and creeps as the real world.
See also: MySpace’s five dumbest criminals
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