Sunday, October 28: The A.D.D. Detective
MURDER MYSTERY NEWS
by Leigh Lundin
Following are a couple of news items that caught my attention, relating to mystery, murder, mayhem, and heroism.
23 October 2007 – The Heroes
The heroes are Qemal Agaj of Albania and Fred Hunt of Berwick, Maine, who were swimming off Cocoa Beach, Florida. They saw a 68 year old woman caught in a rip tide and set out to save her.
Many years ago in South Beach, I saved a girl once, or at least I like to believe I did. I often swam out to the buoys that demarcated the limit that boats were allowed to approach, and sculled and floated in relative privacy. In the best private dick hedonism, the days were lazy, the exercise good, the sun bright, and the girls topless.
One afternoon, I heard screaming and spotted a girl floundering. She had attempted to swim out to an anchored boat and had exhausted herself halfway there. Old Boy Scout and Red Cross training kicked in, and I approached cautiously, aware that the desperate will grab anything they can cling to, not uncommonly drowning the rescuer.
I swam up from behind and instructed her to lay her head back, and refused to approach closer until she complied. I cupped her under the chin and using a regulation sidestroke, I began to tow her. Another lad swam out as well, and together we pulled her to the boat. It didn’t seem a big deal, just a matter of giving someone a hand. Afterwards, however, a friend said, “You saved her life.”
It’s still hard to internalize, because my risk was minimal. However, Fred Hunt and Qemal Agaj found themselves in a very different situation. They faced a rip current, a nasty phenomenon involving tides and a broken sandbar. The break in the sandbar creates a funnel, a chute in which swimmers can be swept out to sea. So far this year, ten swimmers have died off Florida’s Space Coast this year, not a few of them from rip tides.
The two men swam out, reassured the woman, and shoved her towards shore, where her husband, Iden Ford, and paramedics pulled her to safety. Then, the tide seized Qemal Agaj, nearly sweeping him away until paramedics succeeded in getting a line to him.
Only Fred Hunt’s wife noticed that her ‘strong and confident’ husband had gone under water, his body suffering a heart attack. By the time paramedics rescued him, Hunt, 51, was already in cardiac arrest. Iden Ford was devastated, his wife safe but one of her rescuers lost trying to save her.
Both men (indeed, all three men) are heroes, putting their lives on the line to save a stranger. So far, though, I haven’t mentioned the woman’s name.
The rescued is our colleague, Canadian mystery writer, Maureen Jennings, author of the Detective Murdoch series, now in television production. Murdoch, as many of you know, is a turn-of-the-century investigator working in Toronto. Thanks to real-life heroes, we still have his creator.
Links
- http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/volusia/orl-drown2307oct23,0,6020336.story
- http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-writer24x07oct24,0,585460.story
- http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/071023/national/cda_novelist_saved
- http://www.maureenjennings.com/
24 October 2007 – The Felon
If Ellery Queen had written this as a mystery, no one would have believed it. Russia’s most prolific serial killer, Alexander Pichushkin, 33, was convicted in criminal court of attempting to kill 64 people, one for each square on a chessboard.
Pichushkin, the Bittsa Park Maniac, was housed in a tempered glass cage during proceedings. He listened for the hour it took Judge Vladimir Usov to read the verdict, seeming almost proud of his accomplishment.
Pichushkin is known to have killed at least 48 and may have killed 61, 62 or 63, remaining shy of his goal, beating the record of Andrei Chikatilo’s 53 murders. The killings were gruesome and varied, and I leave the details to those who pursue such things in their attempt to grapple with evil.
Links
- http://www.crimelibrary.com/news/original/0807/1502_Alexander_Pichushkin.html
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Pichushkin
- http://www.mail.com/Article.aspx?articlepath=APNews/General%20World%20News/20071024/Russia_Serial_Killer_20071024.xml&cat=world&subcat=&pageid=1
These two news items cover what our genre is about, Crime and Punishment, and of course detection in the pursuit of evil.
Hello.
My name is alisa.
I am a serial grappler.
I am trying to decide how to say serial killers are a fascinating read for me.
Ah! There I said it. I can’t wait to get to these links.
Either I am a sick puppy or hopely as you stated, attempting to grapple with evil.
Thanks.
I think serial killers used to be interesting, back when Golden Age writers like EQ were doing them and they usually had real motives rather than being just nuts. Yes, I know that’s a sweeping generalization, and many in the glut of serial killer novels of the past few decades are very good. But while I used to be automatically attracted to a novel about a series of murders, now I’m a much harder sell.
It’s a harder sell to editors, too, even though there is a readership out there who is interested in such stories. I think the problem is there was a major glut in the market for quite a while and so many of them were not well written. It reminds me of the vampire stories which grew so commonplace that editors groaned to see another one come over the transom…until Stephen King wrote SALEM’S LOT. That one still gives me nightmares, yet I am amazed by the story and characters he created.
I still find serials fascinating, like those in P. Cornwell’s early stories (not her later ones). It’s all about figuring them out.
—
I’m sad, though, that the man lost his life to save another, and yet humbled that those two men risked all to save her.
I meant true crime serial killers. Like my first
The Boston Strangler. I somehow got a book about Albert when I was in high school. I switched from Margaret Mitchell (I’d already read it 6 times) to true crime. I guess today that would be called sensationalism? I don’t know.
Prayers and blessings for Mr. Hunt and his family and for everyone who tries to help an other person in ways both large and small.
As to serial killers, I have to agree with Jon Breen. When reading a mystery I like my killers to have a real motive that connects to the victim. Subsequent murders should connect to the original motive or occur to cover the killer’s identity.
Simple? Yes! Enjoyable? You bet!
I’m just and old fashioned girl.
Terrie
>I’m just and old fashioned girl.
he he, I know what you mean.
>I meant true crime serial killers. Like my first
The Boston Strangler. I somehow got a book about Albert when I was in high school. I switched from Margaret Mitchell (I’d already read it 6 times) to true crime.
I know. What queer minds the Bundy’s and the Dalmer’s of this world got to have.
The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission named our heroes above, Qemal Agaj and Fred Hunt, Jr, as recipients of the Carnegie Medal.
The Commission has awarded nearly 10,000 recipients in a little over a century.
http://www.carnegiehero.org/awardees_recent.php