MO MO - Dennis Spriggs, 47, LaBelle, 15 July 1992

[SuziQ]

Thanks SQ. I would have never remembered that. I've read so many true crime books and that one was a loooong time ago!

lol, I have followed soooo many crime cases that I rarely remember the names. They all seem to follow the same half dozen scripts and blend together. It was a fluke I remembered this one.

 

[SuziQ]

I just wanted to comment on the strangest thing that I ever witnessed as being a daughter to JF, the one that made me see something that I didn't recognize deep inside of her. I can't comment much about the third husband, but I was in the hospital with JF when he had his leg amputated. A nurse came in and flipped the sheets back, exposing a stump- it wasn't bandaged. I backed out of the room, my stomach flipping, and started crying out in the hallway, I was horrified at the sight. JF came out, and was looking at me- studying me, completely emotionless.. and asked if I was ok, and I said that it overwhelmed me, I would get a drink, shake it off, and go in there and be strong for him- and to not tell him I was crying because we were there to comfort him, I didn't want his comfort. When I got back in the room, she was kinda.. fake crying.. he told me to come over, and he said tears are beautiful, never hide them from me. Your mother told me how you two were holding each other out in the hallway sobbing in each others arms, and I want you to know I'm ok, and not to worry about me. there he was, comforting us, and she took my emotions and adopted them. I have seen many things over the years, but that one time I saw someone different inside than my real mother.

Sociopaths have no empathy and emotion for others, and are very curious about expressions of human emotions. They beg borrow and steal emotional acts from others, because they have none of their own and have to fake it. They study others expressions and behavior and even practice them in the mirror. They need to perfect this to keep their true identity from being discovered. They are perfecting their mask. I suspect that's what JF was doing.

Another thing that Sociopath's do is display a warped sense of humor. But what it really is, is them saying innapropriate things because they don't have the emotional understanding connected to words. When they see that what they have said was not taken well, they use the excuse of having a warped sense of humor. Or as in Drew Peterson's case. IMO, they claim they use humor as a release. That's actually an excuse to coverup the fact that those "humurous" statements are how he really feels, and the fact he doesn't give a about his victims.

I bet JF has tried to write off a few of her "odd" statements and actions as nothing sinister, but her merely her trying to make a joke, or make light of a situation, etc.

 

[lucky2]

The Drew Peterson case and the Casey Anthony case both are stories I'm interested in. Casey Anthony is the only other person that I have ever "watched in action" that tells as many stories as someone I know. It is utterly fascinating for me to watch, I'll even rewind, watch again, seeing her every movement while she talks because it is so familiar to me- it seems like if all of the commentators and specialists that they have analyzing her can come to some conclusions, then perhaps I will have some enlightenment about that aspect of the person that I know. Drew Peterson - how he smiles and makes light of any question posed to him is familiar to me as well, and intriguing.

 

[lucky2]

well.. I think I've posted enough stuff that you get the idea of what is going on with that exhumation story anyway- without giving away any details of the third husband's wrongful death case. I have so much I would love to get off my soul someday and place permanently somewhere-but perhaps this kind of thing lingers a lifetime. Anyway... I think I will make those items that I posted on docstoc private now since you all pretty much saw them. Not sure what else to do at this point but sit and wait and see how everything turns out.

 

[lucky2]

I bet JF has tried to write off a few of her "odd" statements and actions as nothing sinister, but her merely her trying to make a joke, or make light of a situation, etc.

well suziq- I only can think of the picture of the skull and cross bones on her salt and pepper shakers with the words "this is my poison" on them as a joke that I didn't think was so funny right off the top of my head... I guess other people in my family thought it was funny

 

[lucky2]

yes.. i had a few reasons to think that you might be. For one thing- JF had a joke that she was a "cereal killer" and called herself "fruity yummy mummy". (long story i guess.. i don't understand the joke) ..

that one wasn't that funny either...

 

[lucky2]

JF told me that Dennis Spriggs presented her with a written contract just weeks before he died, with terms in it that she would rig his dead body to sit up in his coffin and "scare the hell out of us (kids) when we walked by" . yikes.

didn't much like that "funny" thing either

 

[lucky2]

. Female SK's are quite rare, and a look at a possible serial killer from the viewpoint of one of her children is almost mind boggling it is so poignent. Add to that the fact they are still building her case. It makes me wish Pat Brown, ex FBI Profiler and well studied in SK's, was a Websleuther too!

And thru this I know that we all, readers and posters, encourage you to tell what you remember. I hope it is a kind of therapy for you. We care about you Lucky above all. xox

I think this has been a kind of therapy for me. I haven't talked about this hardly at all since it started because of all sorts of reasons. This is the first time I feel the "need" the "push" to talk-and I appreciate you few troopers who are out here listening to my ramblings.. If you did find Pat Brown out here, I would be on here for a week solid talking to her I think just to lay every angle down and beg her to interpret! I do have one question for you guys though... you mentioned the extreme rarity of female serial killers. Which do you think is more rare- a female serial killer, or a woman with a sequence of horrible luck and a bad sense of humor about it???

 

[lucky2]

She has an autobiography? How do we get our hands on THAT???!!!

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/6338078/autobiography-example-jf-3-pages

I posted a few pages.. the autobiography is a "story".. it ends before any of the kids had left the house- so no issues of sick people were addressed in the first 75 pages that she gave me. I don't know how she'll address those issues. I know that in an earlier section she goes on about my dad showing up on his ex-fiance's wedding night, her pregnant with another man's baby, and proposed one last time and was rejected. I have heard many stories of this woman throughout my life, so I called her last year and had a "chat" . I asked her about this incident, and she was polite, but denied it and was worried, asking me if my mother might have a few mental problems because it was a completely made up story- and the last time she'd seen my dad was many months before and he was very very very angry with her, not proposing. so.. here's 3 pages for what it's worth if ur interested. i'll leave it up for a few days..hope you guys are all doin well out there.

 

[lucky2]

for what it's worth, I just read the 3 page entry in full- (it's hard for me to read the autobiography I admit) and it is just.. subtly incorrect. For example- the fire alarm business that DS had started was because he wanted to spend more time with the family after joining the mormon church. This business failed after a year, and that is what lead to the move to spring lake. Also, the story our whole lives has been that DS forged JF's name on the documents to purchase the house at spring lake, (her story, not sure about it's validity) and that she never saw the house until we were moving in- she was very upset. These are not really important things in the big scheme of things, but it represents the root of the problem- I have a hard time following a story that she tells me with so many facts in evidence that are materially incorrect.

 

[SuziQ]

Lucky, thanks for the docs. IMO, JF could have been sick of her life. But unfortunately chose a more lucrative way out than divorce.

Is it raining out by you? It's raining cats and dogs here. Many BBQ's will be toast this weekend.

 

[SillyRabbit]

Interesting reading, for sure. Thanks for sharing that with us--I'm sure it's difficult to read these writings when she doesn't remember incidents the same way you do.

 

[lucky2]

yes suziQ it's raining!!!! i bbq's hamburgers while it was sprinkling on me tonight- i have a lot of friends coming over tomorrow, and so do my kids and hub- so.. it's gonna be an indoor party it looks like. Rabbit, I think what is even more hard about reading this stuff is that it is the small things that are inconsequential set the stage when the medium type, more serious stuff, (say money) has hit the stage with serious problems and factual inconsistencies, and then the bigger problems of people's health. If I could trust on the basic levels of communication, I wouldn't be so untrusting on these larger issues as they come up. She claims not remembering to steal student loan money, church mission funds, take out credit cards in my name that i didn't know about TWICE, forge at least one work check of a siblings, wipe out small bank accounts, take cash from wherever she could find it- and there were WITNESSES, and she'll stand by her story that it never happened. That- is... some mind boggling stuff- you know?

 

[lucky2]

so, when her second husband accused her of owing a large sum of money, and she said he was lying, and she was lying in bed 22 hrs a day shaking to the point that even her voice wasn't right, and no one knew what her health problems were related to, then it seemed to me that she was having a stress melt down and couldn't face the intense scrutiny he was putting her under. He demanded to know what happened to the first husband, accusing her of wrongdoing, (something I didn't find out about until a couple of years ago) and he threatened to put her in a home if she didn't "get herself together". She got herself together, and he went down, and ended up in a home himself. The fact that she lied to me/us/everyone about what his illness was, and told me to never talk to him again or he could show up at my house and shoot my family never set right with me, but i sided with her and didn't take his calls to my shame- because she was my mother. I could've perhaps seen into this years and years before I did if I'd not shut him out-

 

[lucky2]

Lucky, thanks for the docs. IMO, JF could have been sick of her life. But unfortunately chose a more lucrative way out than divorce.

Is it raining out by you? It's raining cats and dogs here. Many BBQ's will be toast this weekend.

I'll write up my theory that is somewhat similar to yours soon- it may take a few posts to get it up in it's entirety, but I have analyzed the heck out of it- of course, I've analyzed the heck out of possible alternatives, and I'll post the best one i have for that one too. I can feel that my thoughts are turning to this stuff a little more lately because of the results from the autopsy being 50% completed and almost done..

 

[SuziQ]

Lucky, I assume the autopsy is your dad's? Do you know what the autopsy for Bruce showed and if the FBI is doing any tests for him also? And are they investigating and going through the medical files for the husband in the nursing home?

 

[lucky2]

Lucky, I assume the autopsy is your dad's? Do you know what the autopsy for Bruce showed and if the FBI is doing any tests for him also? And are they investigating and going through the medical files for the husband in the nursing home?

yes, my dad's from almost 17 years ago. Bruce was exhumed at the same time, so his would be on the same time frame- and yes the 2nd's. He's in a group home to be more specific- like assisted living. His brother says he's doing better over time, he reads the newspapers in the morning, discusses current events, the family takes him out over the week-ends. It seems with such a horrible neurological attack as he had some 10 years ago, he'd be getting worse. I don't know any neurological diseases that get better over time, do you? Especially with such an acute attack at the onset- mine was extremely acute- as was the JF's step-son, as was my daughter's, it seems like an odd course of any neurological illness to get better- unless it's exposure????

 

[lucky2]

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/6432357/Time-Line-of-Events-dad-only

ok.. the beginning of my very painful theory. in order to understand my theory you need to read the document that I wrote 3 years ago first- this is a smaller section of a 27 page document of "how i became aware that there was a problem" that the police asked me for when the private detective turned in this case to them. I wrote the entire document in less than 48 hours. I clipped out sections only related to my father- the rest I want to keep private for the courts if it ever gets there. Also, my theory is based on how it started, if it did indeed ever start- with my father... and why. I'll keep it up for just a couple of days then take it down so just the few of you here can read it and give me your thoughts. When my numbering system starts over- it's when I cut and pasted from the document, and it is events fast-forwarding years ahead. sorry for any confusions. Didn't add at the end that she told an investigator in an interview that my dad was having hallucinations of his own death. when i recover from this post enough then I will attempt to write my theory. this one was tough.

 

[SuziQ]

I'll be surprised if something doesn't show up in your dad's autopsy all these years later. Especially since it appears to be long term poisoning. It sounds like way back then his family was suspicious of her.

 

[SillyRabbit]

Doesn't the poison remain in the hair shaft? There would be some trace of something in the remains, I would assume, even after all these years. The 2nd husband wouldn't have been so long though--what, 2-3 years?