VA - Couple & two teens found murdered, Farmville, 15 Sept 2009 #8

[PAXIMUS]

I want to record a few backup pieces of info that I found while trying to fill in some blanks of the timeline for myself. Sorry if what I type is out of context or has already been discussed. I read thread five today up to page 16 - lots of interesting stuff.

I had speculated before that SM could suffer schizophrenia. Tonight I ran across some lyrics he wrote according to an article, "'Syko Sam' Allegedly Argued with Girlfriend", 9/26/09, (cbs5.com/crime) that states, "In a song posted on YouTube, the Castro Valley, Calif., man growls about the evil voices inside my head. They just want me to murder continuously."

Later it's reported that he said, "It's not my fault. ... Don't blame me you can blame all the voices."

This rings true as to what schizophrenia sounds like. I know someone who suffers from this condition and we have had candid talks about what his experiences are like. When I first met him I was afraid of him and kept my distance. He had a weapon in his parent's front yard once and was acting pretty nutso. Everyone was afraid at that time. That was twenty-three years ago. He is on disability now and takes his medicine diligently (there are medicines available now that were not available twenty years ago - you have to be diagnosed and take them - they work well.) We can always tell if he has not taken his medicine - very rarely he'll call us up and begin discussing conspiracy theories and space issues and, for some reason, JFK and just strange, strange, strange connections that don't connect. Here's the thing, if he's on his medicine, he is totally rational and has shared with me about his condition, how he is fully aware of it and he'll tell me outright "it's tough having voices in your head" and "when I was young I was always hearing those voices and I couldn't get anything done. I would get these headaches. I didn't understand what was happening to me." Sometimes he'll say, "You know I can't hold a job because the fumes from the paint affect me and I get such a bad headache." He'll tell me "It's tough to be a schizophrenic." I tell him that I know it must be but with medicine he has done so well and we are all proud of him for staying with it and turning his life around. Today he is a thoughtful person. He remembers birthdays and keeps in contact and shares his feelings about things, has awareness of time, his schedule, cooks, etc. He worries about his friends and helps them. It's like night and day. But he needs to take the medicine - a miracle really.

It has been discussed what type of condition SM may have, if any, but I had a hunch it may be this. It doesn't change what he has done but would bring awareness of why sometimes people do horrible things like this. One thing though, the people who know him should have noticed something 'different' about him - off. The fact that he kept to himself and was quiet would be part of his mask. Even if he hadn't murdered, the condition would grow to where he couldn't have a normal conversation without the other person going :waitasec:. And it still will if this is what he has. When the person I know was twenty, he was undiagnosed, held a job and, because he was so handsome too, walked around and one would never know. Initially noone wants to talk about or see it until it's unavoidable. It's very, very difficult to accept. Also not all people who suffer from this would kill people but you'd know that they seem crazy for sure.

Just my :twocents:. If this is the diagnosis, it would explain the fine line as to why some people can listen to horrorcore and remain sane. They claim that they would never kill anybody but if you are literally 'sick', well ..... not a good combination.

Make sure you read that other forum I posted for you, it will bring you more up to date and we need you valuable insight here from now on.

 

[wadahoot]

If we lost just a single poster from this group it would change everything, you for example dont feel you contribute much but to the contrary your insight is unique and very helpful for those of us not so in touch with our darker sides and I learn a lot from every word you post, really.

And the Tapu, well whats a place like this without some good light hearted humor. She is funny, intelligent and informative in a good healthy light mannered way.

And I bake REALLY good chocolate chip cookies, tell everyone to play nice and am constantly trying to think of something brilliant to add :beats:

 

[wadahoot]

One thing though, the people who know him should have noticed something 'different' about him - off. The fact that he kept to himself and was quiet would be part of his mask. Even if he hadn't murdered, the condition would grow to where he couldn't have a normal conversation without the other person going :waitasec:.

But Woe, that's the problem ... he apparently didn't have ANYone in his daily life, much less any that would take the time to notice and/or care if he was acting out.
His sis has said that in their house everyone did their own thing; she has a music career and her own set of friends.
His mom is a stoner.
His dad does drugs; has a music career and seems to be angry or unable to deal with Sam.
Friends? Nope ... Sam even said he did nothing but sit in his room at the computer. Online friends wouldn't know which Sam is typing (you all don't know when I'm having serious depressive episodes ... I always try to be upbeat and not whine). And the Horrorcore people probably liked it when he was weirded-out!

What a sad little boy.

 

[wadahoot]

I'm a 3 --- knew early in life I'd NEVER be a 10 :winko:

The only reason I am not happy with the passion theory is exactly what Pixy wrote in that post #186 that Dangrs brought over from the other thread. How could he have waited throughout the drive to Michigan (and who knows how many days prior to departure Emma dissed him), thoughtout the concert (hangin' with another girl), the whole drive back and another couple of days if he was passionately exploding? And, why did he hang around, and - the biggest one to me - why did he kill Mark another day or two later. That series of events and the time they took just don't add up to passionate hysteria to me.

Yep, foiled again. I posted my thoughts as soon as I read Pax's request, but by the time they are here for you all to view, numerous already said the same thing!
Honestly - I CAN have a unique thought in my head!! Story of my life ... :::shaking head::: =)

 

[PAXIMUS]

In the same article I mention above, I ran across the source where I must have read that Sam and Emma had met before. The article is linked through WIKI Farmville murders [9].

"Sarah McCroskey says her brother met Emma about a year ago, at a concert near San Diego. They were on the phone so much after that, Sarah had to buy herself a cell phone."

Also, "Shrim says he met Emma and Melanie at a horrorcore festival a couple of years ago in Chicago. Emma's mother brought them."

Shrim and Raz knew Emma and Mel for many years. I interviewed Shrim for a story I plan to write after the trial but he cut me off one he found out I was a member of the press so that story is confirmed. Sam's sister retracted her statement in the interview I had with her on the phone just after this story broke and said she had mixed Emma up with another girl Sam had met, I have it as 100% CONFIRMED with my press reputation on the line that Sam and Emma NEVER met in person prior to him flying to VA. Sam and Emma both ALSO CONFIRM THIS THEMSELVES in their myspace comment conversations that his trip to VA would "finally allow us to meet eachother face to face after all these months chatting." Adding that her insides were all MUSHY inside at the thought of finally seeing the boy she wants to spend the rest of her life with. She also told him something to the effect " I have been hurt alot and I know I am weird when i say this but I know you would never hurt me and I want to go for it."


Keep up the good sleuthing though we need fresh eyes on this stuff.

 

[Woe.be.gone]

But Woe, that's the problem ... he apparently didn't have ANYone in his daily life, much less any that would take the time to notice and/or care if he was acting out.
His sis has said that in their house everyone did their own thing; she has a music career and her own set of friends.
His mom is a stoner.
His dad does drugs; has a music career and seems to be angry or unable to deal with Sam.
Friends? Nope ... Sam even said he did nothing but sit in his room at the computer. Online friends wouldn't know which Sam is typing (you all don't know when I'm having serious depressive episodes ... I always try to be upbeat and not whine). And the Horrorcore people probably liked it when he was weirded-out!

What a sad little boy.

Yes, that's my concern too. Because at twenty, if it is psychotic condition, it may not yet fully manifest itself outwardly. If no one is paying attention, you could easily think he is just reclusive or sort of strange. Even if things appear normal in a home where a young person begins experiencing voices, they usually try to ignore it for as long as they can because they are scared. So imagine if you don't even feel you have someone who is on your side that you can go to and tell them that you are hearing voices and be taken seriously and get taken to see a Doctor, etc. That would require a connected relationship to a loving parent who you trust. Even the person I know didn't say to his mother "I'm hearing voices." He became more unruly over time to where everyone knew he was "nuts" (yes, nuts) but no one knew what it was - just scared and afraid of what might happen next. That is why, although I'm not a Doctor, if he does suffer a psychotic condition, it can and probably will be detected eventually. But he may still be able to control what he chooses to let come out of his mouth. Eventually, it will choose for him. Rambling disconnected theories based on paranoid thoughts that are outlandish but mixed in with bits of history. It's hard to explain and I don't know if it's similar in everyone who has this. There is often violence involved but not when the person is very young - very rare.

The person cannot control their thoughts, they occur within him. They tell him things, like an outside entity, not like it's you thinking for yourself. So if you listen to bad messages all day long for many, many years from outside your head, I would think, it would manifest terrible thoughts inside your head more quickly.

He would not be able to fake the ramblings. But he may still, at his age, be able to control expressing himself and keep it all in his head. Make sense? And, I'm speculating here. I have no idea if this is a factor in this case; sounds as if it could be though.

 

[Sally Trueheart]

Thanks for the clarification on the first meet, Pax!

An idea re:Emma and Sam not getting along:
Emma was in therapy, wouldn't it make sense that there would be a meeting scheduled around this major event in Emma's life? Maybe the therapist listened to Emma's description of Sam and raised flags.

Another idea:
Emma has been said to dis her mom in her Myspace postings. I wonder if Sam felt that he had carte blanche to disrespect her mother, but it backfired on him and offended them both?

 

[Sally Trueheart]

Well, I find it interesting that some say he didn't drink or take drugs. In a way that would support the mental illness idea. I wonder if he was on some kind of meds that couldn't be combined with alcohol. Maybe when he went to VA he decided to go without the meds and that with it not going to work out with Emma became unglued.

 

[hank]

he definitely appeared to be under the influence of something (maybe malware)
in a few of the vids I have seen.

 

[wadahoot]

Well, I find it interesting that some say he didn't drink or take drugs.

There was at least one video where he was with 'friends' and he labeled it such that he was drunk in it.

 

[wadahoot]

Take note, Oh-Friends-Of-Mine:

Dear Websleuths Members, Please note that if you write to law enforcement officials or perhaps contact a lawyer involved in a high profile case there is an excellent chance that your email will become part of the public record. Meaning any personal information you include in your email will be in the public record for everyone to see. With the release of documents in the Caylee Anthony case people are distressed to see their real names and emails included. We know this is surprising to some people but understand there is nothing we at Websleuths can do. However, will will not allow posters to try and "sleuth" if a Websleuths member is an author of a correspondence released in a public document. This is against our Terms of Service. If you have any questions please contact me at tgrif@xmission.com Thanks. Tricia

 

[PAXIMUS]

I want to plan a trip to Castro Valley possibly in the next month or so and canvas the area where Sam grew up, visit his schools and places he frequented. Possibly contact friends he grew up with and maybe his sister and parents and former girls he dated and see what I can come up with. I need a few people who can work with me, a camera man and someone who knows the area, I willpay daily cash for your time. Since I do local stories only for my news paper, they probably wont cover this so I would be working free lance but I can still use my press credentials to get asccess when needed. I think we could find out a lot of good useful information during this time and I may be able to get Sam's defense fund to pay for it.


My question is who among you locals would be willing to work with me on tyhis project and can any of you who could adequately handle the video equipment needed to make this happen. I have a professional camera and portable lighting etc but would need a cameraman and somone who knows the area to provide us with the tour, this would be part 1 of a documentary and then we would move on to New Mexico and hit Shrims battleground with the same purpose in mind. I could probably swing 100 a day in cash for the helpers depending on what you did but minimum 50 a day plus meals. You would need to find your own shelter as I crash in my small mobile press van on site.

Who would be seriously interested in being a part of this.

This all depends on how things proceed with the newborn but I am making plans to do it as we speak.

Let me know if interested. I will also need the same in Farmvillege during trial

 

[tapu]

If my argument isn;t abundently clear, I suppose my lack of eloquence is to blame. Maybe it's because I'm doing work and multi tasking, but that's fine. I'd like us to hold information to some standard. It doesn't have to be admissible in court. It just has to plausible and have some corroboration. But, you guys win, I'll back off.

I'm not trying to "win," man, I'm trying to reason with you. My take on this is that everyone pretty much gets how to weigh the bits of information under discussion now. We've grasped the difference between corroborated evidence and uncorroborated evidence. (In that sense, you have "won"--you have made that point quite eloquently and I think we all we thank you for it.) And now, we can commence with imagining what might have happened. It'll be more interesting this way, Andres, really.

 

[dangrsmind]

I want to plan a trip to Castro Valley possibly in the next month or so and canvas the area where Sam grew up, visit his schools and places he frequented. Possibly contact friends he grew up with and maybe his sister and parents and former girls he dated and see what I can come up with. I need a few people who can work with me, a camera man and someone who knows the area, I willpay daily cash for your time. Since I do local stories only for my news paper, they probably wont cover this so I would be working free lance but I can still use my press credentials to get asccess when needed. I think we could find out a lot of good useful information during this time and I may be able to get Sam's defense fund to pay for it.


My question is who among you locals would be willing to work with me on tyhis project and can any of you who could adequately handle the video equipment needed to make this happen. I have a professional camera and portable lighting etc but would need a cameraman and somone who knows the area to provide us with the tour, this would be part 1 of a documentary and then we would move on to New Mexico and hit Shrims battleground with the same purpose in mind. I could probably swing 100 a day in cash for the helpers depending on what you did but minimum 50 a day plus meals. You would need to find your own shelter as I crash in my small mobile press van on site.

Who would be seriously interested in being a part of this.

This all depends on how things proceed with the newborn but I am making plans to do it as we speak.

Let me know if interested. I will also need the same in Farmvillege during trial

Pax,

I live in the bay area and I grew up here (Berkeley and San Francisco). Depending on some things that are gong right now actually, I may or may not still be on hiatus by the time you get this trip organized. To be honest, I hope I will be too busy to help you...

Even if I can't be your camera person, I hope we can meet f2f and have a dinner or something at least. Also, if I am not available, I know some other people in the area that are reliable and would likely be interested.

Contact me as necessary...

--D

 

[dangrsmind]

You know I always am leaning towards #3, we don't know for sure, however after analyzing the jail house walk again yesterday I am now leaning towards #1.

He's smiling several times on the way into jail. He's actually happy about the situation IMO. And then he makes the Jesus comment, which based on the preceding smiling, I think he was planning to say as he approached the jail house doors.

Then there is the Dexter books. I just can't fit reading those AFTER the murders into the crime of passion theory. In most (all?) cases I've read about that are true crimes of passion, the killer is very agitated afterwards often attempting to take their own life. I posted a link to typical crime of passion shooting that took place just outside Farmville where an estranged husband shot his wife and her younger lover as they exited a nightclub. He then turned the weapon on himself.

Sam's crimes don't fit this model. First of all, they take place over a long period of time separated from the time of the triggering event and not involving the triggering person (the man that supposedly sent Emma the text message). Here he waits days, maybe as much as a week, after breaking up with Emma before killing her. He's seen at STFW with a different girl and in the pictures we have he didn't seem upset at all just pretty wasted.

I am not aware of any suicide attempt by Sam following the murders, but there were those pills in the car so maybe he was thinking along those lines. Hard to say. But again in the more typical case we just hear about a "murder-suicide" after the fact.

A person that commits a crime of passion is often very remorseful afterwards, perhaps even distraught. They've just done something they themselves can't imagine doing and they don't know exactly why. I don't see any evidence of that here. He's reading Dexter, sending funny notes to Mary and others, etc. I don't see any evidence of him being saddened or shocked by his own actions and then I remember the smiling on the way into jail...

So in the end, while keeping an open mind, I have to favor #1

 

[claudicici]

where are the locals? are there any locals still posting?

 

[tapu]

I've heard from a few people that they're laying low.

 

[DoctorZ]

I've heard from a few people that they're laying low.

I can't really blame them. However, Farmvillian left us hanging about that picture of the guy with the strange outfit.

 

[tapu]

He's around though. I bet he pops back in.

 

[dangrsmind]

I can't really blame them. However, Farmvillian left us hanging about that picture of the guy with the strange outfit.

Patriot, has hot pants, flags and is looking for love...