GUILTY WA - Bethany Storro charged in acid attack hoax, Vancouver, 2010

[smart blonde]

I hope I'm wrong here, but my hinky-meter is clanging loudly.

She said she never wears sunglasses, but just happened to buy some 20 minutes before the attack.

It happened near a Starbucks, in broad daylight - while she was retrieving something from her car.

Here's a Street View Map of Columbia & West 8th, near where she parked. It's in a high traffic area, across from a busy park.

Yet, there were no witnesses.

Where's the cup the acid was in?

Would the perp have taken the cup with them?

The victim is so hard-of-hearing that she can't hear her parents in the next room, but can hear someone say "Hey, pretty girl, you want a drink of this?" while she's retrieving something out of her car, on a busy downtown street?

She said it happened WHILE she was retrieving something from her car. Wouldn't you be bent down, away from the person? How would the perp know she was a "pretty girl"? She'd have had to have turned around to face her attacker AFTER the attacker spoke, and stood up straight - because the acid hit her straight in the face.

ETA:
Note that this Oregon Live report mentions that she "read the lips" of the reporters who were asking her questions, before she replied. Yet she heard the words of a stranger on a busy downtown street.

I really hope I'm wrong.

Well, I have to say, I'm impressed.

Laytonian 'called it' way back on September 3rd. Talk about having a finely tuned 'Hinky-Meter'!

 

[mysterygirl]

I don't understand this woman at all..........I thought she was sweet and brave after a horrific attack....

I still feel tremendous sympathy for her though, I can't help it.

 

[faeriegraves]

I remember watching her on the news, forgiving her *attacker* and thinking what a strong person she was, and feeling guilt that i probably wouldn't be able to forgive someone so quickly. Now I realize she isn't strong at all, just totally delusional and a racist.

 

[smart blonde]

I don't understand this woman at all..........I thought she was sweet and brave after a horrific attack....

I still feel tremendous sympathy for her though, I can't help it.

I don't understand her at all, either.

I almost wish I was feeling sympathy and compassion for her, but to be honest, all I feel is disgust.

 

[Garland]

....and here I felt so guilty about posting my doubts here!

It never made sense.
Blaming a black person was so "Susan Smith" -- and that picture of the perp looked like Barack Obama. (Take a look -- that's the detail that made me doubt her, but I didn't mention it because I didn't want to come right out and call her a racist).

She's a racist piece of slime (and I'm being nice).

She wanted to "inspire" people? She'd better get her butt on national television and apologize to all of the "black people" who were hauled in by the Vancouver Police Department.

Grrrrrrrr:furious:

ETA:

I just read that the Vancouver Police Department is going to consider her "fragile state" in determining charges.
I'm sorry, she should NOT get away with this.
She put herself on national television, incited online racism (take a look!) and is now going to get off easy.

Exactly, & I agree with you. Also, I wonder if Bethany ever read one of the Ten Commandments of the Bible: "Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbour." If she were truly a Christian, she would follow that. And the fact that she placed blame on a African American (& a imaginary one at that) disgusts me, because I, for one, happen to be an African American male myself.

Also, shame on the police for believing her without any clear cut evidence to prove it. This is just like the Susan Smith case over again in which the police believes her when she places the blame for killing her children on a person with a different skin color. It just sickens me how they can put the blame on another person who's African American (even if he or she is made up) in which they know that the police would believe them. And they're very dumb for doing so. Shame on her & shame on all of them!

 

[laytonian]

I don't understand this woman at all..........I thought she was sweet and brave after a horrific attack....

I still feel tremendous sympathy for her though, I can't help it.

If she'd only hurt herself, I'd agree.

BUT ... it's her purposefully-immoral actions, accusations, use of her friends and family to attack others, thievery from the public and failure to admit she lied, that angers me.

She staged the attack on a public street and had her story (and Facebook page) ready immediately; that shows premeditation or at least the ability to throw morality out the window quickly.

She staged a PR campaign, based on Christianity and "inspiring people". Just because she claimed that she "Love's Jesus" [sic], people believed her. Is that all it takes, anymore, for someone to evade suspicion?

She allowed her friends and churchmates to use vile language against those brave enough to question her timeline of events.

She decided to blame it on a black person, because in her obvious worldview, that's the generic bad person.

She gave that 20+ minute long "I'm so brave and wonderful" press conference, while wrapped in bandages. Crying, sobbing, laughing, performing.

For over two weeks, she KNEW that black women in Vancouver were being targeted by the public, who diligently called 911 when they saw a person who resembled her fake "attacker". Those women were innocently going about their business - but the police had to question and investigate them.

She allowed the community to donate to her medical bills, holding a fundraiser which her mother attended, and to set up bank accounts (at two banks!) collecting money on her behalf.

Her lies incited inflammatory racist web rants from white supremacists, who used her as more proof of "black racism". The clever Nicholas Stix may not have believed her story, but he jumped on the fact that some news sources didn't say "black" in their coverage....and counted the paragraphs in other news, before the race of the perp was mentioned. His pages will stay online, and more people will read them.

You put racism and white supremacy together, and someone from northern Idaho (where she just came from) could have taken things into their own hands...violently.

No. She's a criminal, and lucky that her lies didn't end up harming an innocent person who resembled her perp.

 

[tlcya]

I feel no anger towards this woman. I haven't posted onthis thread but have followed the story since "the incident" and have said from day one that the person responsible would be found to suffer from serious mental health issues.

I had no suspicions about this woman and accepted her story at face value but in hindsight I think I called it correctly. Serious mental health issues. Just saying. I do not pretend to know what is happening in this poor woman's mind but it is very obvious to me that something is very wrong here. I genuinely hope and pray she gets help.

Munchausen's comes to mind for me but I am not a healthcare professional

snipped

People with factitious disorder and Munchausen syndrome feign, exaggerate, or actually self-induce illnesses. Their aim? To assume the status of “patient,” and thereby to win attention, nurturance, and lenience from professionals or nonprofessionals that they feel unable to obtain in any other way. Unlike individuals who engage in MALINGERING, people with factitious disorder and Munchausen syndrome are not primarily seeking external gains such as disability payments or narcotic drugs—though they may receive them nonetheless. In some cases, the fabrication or induction of illness is an expression of jealousy, rage, or the desire to control others.
http://munchausen.com/

as always MOO

 

[laytonian]

Exactly, & I agree with you. Also, I wonder if Bethany ever read one of the Ten Commandments of the Bible: "Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbour." If she were truly a Christian, she would follow that. And the fact that she placed blame on a African American (& a imaginary one at that) disgusts me, because I, for one, happen to be an African American male myself.

Also, shame on the police for believing her without any clear cut evidence to prove it. This is just like the Susan Smith case over again in which the police believes her when she places the blame for killing her children on a person with a different skin color. It just sickens me how they can put the blame on another person who's African American (even if he or she is made up) in which they know that the police would believe them. And they're very dumb for doing so. Shame on her & shame on all of them!

I don't blame the PD -- they were in a tough spot.

They're charged with investigating reported crimes; they'd have been reamed over the coals if they hadn't done so.

At the same time, their investigation was turning up no evidence of her claims as well as contrary evidence about the burn patterns and "no witnesses".

I do think they let her get away with it for too long. If they were truly finding holes in her story from the first, they should have interviewed her before the fundraiser.

BUT, it's also possible that they couldn't get a search warrant at that time. When it takes a search warrant to get a victim to talk to you, it's obvious that someone's protecting her behind the scenes.
Attorneys? Pastors? Friends? Family?

 

[Gene]

I hope I'm wrong here, but my hinky-meter is clanging loudly.

She said she never wears sunglasses, but just happened to buy some 20 minutes before the attack.

It happened near a Starbucks, in broad daylight - while she was retrieving something from her car.

Here's a Street View Map of Columbia & West 8th, near where she parked. It's in a high traffic area, across from a busy park.

Yet, there were no witnesses.

Where's the cup the acid was in?

Would the perp have taken the cup with them?

The victim is so hard-of-hearing that she can't hear her parents in the next room, but can hear someone say "Hey, pretty girl, you want a drink of this?" while she's retrieving something out of her car, on a busy downtown street?

She said it happened WHILE she was retrieving something from her car. Wouldn't you be bent down, away from the person? How would the perp know she was a "pretty girl"? She'd have had to have turned around to face her attacker AFTER the attacker spoke, and stood up straight - because the acid hit her straight in the face.

ETA:
Note that this Oregon Live report mentions that she "read the lips" of the reporters who were asking her questions, before she replied. Yet she heard the words of a stranger on a busy downtown street.

I really hope I'm wrong.

Laytonian

I would take my hat off to you if I wore one. I remember reading this post two weeks ago and thinking that I what you said made sense and that I wondered if there was anything there.

Then today, two weeks laster I read the news that the story was a hoax!!! I remembered about your hinky meter. What a hinky meter you have! Well done!

 

[Gozgals]

This is one truly insane story and one woman with severe problems. If this was done for attention, (as i heard on the news) she is in need of real help.

To go to those extremes and burn yourself, takes a pretty twisted person.

I hate to know she had to go blame this on someone else too. What is this cycle again of blaming others? Even though she needs serious help, I'm glad she may do time and is being fined. Such a bizarre story.

PS: in regard to her looks, (someone mentioned this) I saw a pic where she looked pretty. Maybe the media used an old picture of her to line them up next to each other to show the contrast.

Goz

 

[laytonian]

Laytonian

I would take my hat off to you if I wore one. I remember reading this post two weeks ago and thinking that I what you said made sense and that I wondered if there was anything there.

Then today, two weeks laster I read the news that the story was a hoax!!! I remembered about your hinky meter. What a hinky meter you have! Well done!

Thanks.

If she's not willing to speak up and apologize, I wish her family would. Her brother, who made some pretty vicious comments aimed at the (fake) attacker), has merely shut down his Facebook page.

"I am so disgusted with society right now!" Storro’s brother, [deleted], said on his Facebook page, The Columbian reported.

"Yesterday my little sister got some form of acid thrown into her face while walking through downtown Vancouver, WA. She is currently in the hospital with severe burns and could face permanent damage. This incident was totally unprovoked and malicious in nature. If you believe in prayer, now is the time to ask for a full recovery and that the assailant be brought to justice!"
​

I just wish I could get Hinky Meter to work this well on the Steven Koecher case. But maybe my original suspicion (no crime, suicide) is correct ... and I'm making it too hard.

 

[laytonian]

This is one truly insane story and one woman with severe problems. If this was done for attention, (as i heard on the news) she is in need of real help.

To go to those extremes and burn yourself, takes a pretty twisted person.

I hate to know she had to go blame this on someone else too. What is this cycle again of blaming others? Even though she needs serious help, I'm glad she may do time and is being fined. Such a bizarre story.

PS: in regard to her looks, (someone mentioned this) I saw a pic where she looked pretty. Maybe the media used an old picture of her to line them up next to each other to show the contrast.

Goz

Here's why she got away with it so long -- read the "comments" from the local citizens: OregonLive.com.

 

[oh_gal]

With regard to her or her family apologizing:

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/acid-attack-victim-bethany-storro-faked-cops-red/story?id=11661268&page=2

Her mother (on page 2) is described as being "apolgetic".

It's not much, but it is a start, wouldn't you say?

 

[mysterygirl]

If she'd only hurt herself, I'd agree.

BUT ... it's her purposefully-immoral actions, accusations, use of her friends and family to attack others, thievery from the public and failure to admit she lied, that angers me.

She staged the attack on a public street and had her story (and Facebook page) ready immediately; that shows premeditation or at least the ability to throw morality out the window quickly.

She staged a PR campaign, based on Christianity and "inspiring people". Just because she claimed that she "Love's Jesus" [sic], people believed her. Is that all it takes, anymore, for someone to evade suspicion?

She allowed her friends and churchmates to use vile language against those brave enough to question her timeline of events.

She decided to blame it on a black person, because in her obvious worldview, that's the generic bad person.

She gave that 20+ minute long "I'm so brave and wonderful" press conference, while wrapped in bandages. Crying, sobbing, laughing, performing.

For over two weeks, she KNEW that black women in Vancouver were being targeted by the public, who diligently called 911 when they saw a person who resembled her fake "attacker". Those women were innocently going about their business - but the police had to question and investigate them.

She allowed the community to donate to her medical bills, holding a fundraiser which her mother attended, and to set up bank accounts (at two banks!) collecting money on her behalf.

Her lies incited inflammatory racist web rants from white supremacists, who used her as more proof of "black racism". The clever Nicholas Stix may not have believed her story, but he jumped on the fact that some news sources didn't say "black" in their coverage....and counted the paragraphs in other news, before the race of the perp was mentioned. His pages will stay online, and more people will read them.

You put racism and white supremacy together, and someone from northern Idaho (where she just came from) could have taken things into their own hands...violently.

No. She's a criminal, and lucky that her lies didn't end up harming an innocent person who resembled her perp.

All valid points but you seem to be focused entirely on the aspect of race in this--and I don't know if that was her primary intent........I suspect it is much more complicated than that.

For one, she already has a disability and I am wondering what role that played in her self esteem issues. She is obviously sick-- but am I as angry at her as other criminals who get off constantly in our revolving justice system?

No. I can't help it--I'm just not.

She was wrong, she is sick and she needs help. And she probably gave someone the idea to throw acid in the Arizona case also, something she will have to live with amongst other things.

There is just something about her that elicits sadness --in her demeanor, I don't know. What I'm trying to say is that although she was wrong, I don't sense that it came from a place of evil or malice- but of sickness....

 

[laytonian]

All valid points but you seem to be focused entirely on the aspect of race in this--and I don't know if that was her primary intent........I suspect it is much more complicated than that.

For one, she already has a disability and I am wondering what role that played in her self esteem issues. She is obviously sick-- but am I as angry at her as other criminals who get off constantly in our revolving justice system?

No. I can't help it--I'm just not.

She was wrong, she is sick and she needs help. And she probably gave someone the idea to throw acid in the Arizona case also, something she will have to live with amongst other things.

There is just something about her that elicits sadness --in her demeanor, I don't know. What I'm trying to say is that although she was wrong, I don't sense that it came from a place of evil or malice- but of sickness....

No, I'm not entirely focused on the race issue (although I believe it was the major impetus behind her accusation).

I pity her for somehow believing she'd get "points" for this.

I'm sure the next thing we'll hear, is that she's under a doctor's care and that mental issues are involved.
That's a defense ploy, to get her out of being punished.

According to her family, she had no history of mental illness.
(If she had, do you think they'd have let her publicize this - knowing it would fall apart soon?)

The Tawana Brawley hoax disgusted me in the same way.

I believe ANY race-based false accusation, should be criminally punished. It's a hate crime.

 

[laytonian]

With regard to her or her family apologizing:

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/acid-attack-victim-bethany-storro-faked-cops-red/story?id=11661268&page=2

Her mother (on page 2) is described as being "apolgetic".

It's not much, but it is a start, wouldn't you say?

Yes, it's a start.
But it's not direct; it was made to another person, who's reporting it second-hand.

But a true apology should come directly from Bethany herself, looking right into the camera, like she was brave enough to do two weeks ago.

I see the ABC-TV writers can't spell....and that the fitness club owner made a tidy $800 profit (and lots of publicity) by keeping half the money from that "fundraiser".

ETA: Bethany's parents are evidently holding a press conference at 3:30pm PST (which, as I post, is in four minutes).

ANOTHER PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORY on KENS-5:
And there's another theory. Paradoxically, Bethany Storro could be a big narcissist.

"We shouldn't minimize the fact that she got enormous notoriety from this," says Klein-Von Reiche, and any sort of attention, positive or negative, is gold for an extreme narcissist.

"At its roots, narcissism is voracious."

-------------------

I kinda believe this one. It would account for the "pretty girl" phrase.

 

[gitana1]

This is so bizarre. I saw this woman all over the news and felt bad for her. Just read in the paper that it was a hoax. Wow. The lengths some people will go to prove a point or for attention. Yeah, she's sick all right. She's as sick as many fanatics are. The theories about Munchausen's, narcissism, etc., are interesting and may play a part but I have a feeling she's mostly just fanatic about her religion and political beliefs and felt this was the way to show the world. Just a theory. But what a thing.

People say there's no racism in America anymore. After all, we have a Black president, right? Nonsense. The fact that criminals and others notoriously blame Black people for crimes that did not happen or were done by themselves, and the fact that the public so readily accepts that the truth of the allegations and then all these people come out of the woodwork and start railing about Blacks and how the perp should be "hung in the town square", etc., proves that racism is still alive and well. So sad.

I guess I should feel sorry for someone so disturbed that they can actually disfigure themselves but it's hard for me to do so in this case because I think she hurt a whole population of people while she did so.
Nevertheless, there must be something very wrong with a person like this and sincere kudos to those posters who can continue to feel for her. That's compassionate.

I also think that sketch resembles Barack Obama with earrings. LOL. As for people believing it, I'd guess it is very hard to imagine a woman on purpose injuring her own face with some sort of acid. I certainly don't think that a random attack like that would be out of realm of possibility. It's not like she claimed alien abduction. LOL.

Can you link me to the sketch? I can't find it.

Exactly, & I agree with you. Also, I wonder if Bethany ever read one of the Ten Commandments of the Bible: "Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbour." If she were truly a Christian, she would follow that. And the fact that she placed blame on a African American (& a imaginary one at that) disgusts me, because I, for one, happen to be an African American male myself.

Also, shame on the police for believing her without any clear cut evidence to prove it. This is just like the Susan Smith case over again in which the police believes her when she places the blame for killing her children on a person with a different skin color. It just sickens me how they can put the blame on another person who's African American (even if he or she is made up) in which they know that the police would believe them. And they're very dumb for doing so. Shame on her & shame on all of them!

I guess they had to investigate. That doesn't necessarily mean they believed it but they must start with the idea that what is alleged, may have actually happened and go from there, I think. But I really do believe that the public seems to more easily accept a Black person committing a crime, without question, than a white person. That's why many of the people on death row who were later found innocent, are Black. It is truly shameful.

 

[jjenny]

Exactly, & I agree with you. Also, I wonder if Bethany ever read one of the Ten Commandments of the Bible: "Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbour." If she were truly a Christian, she would follow that. And the fact that she placed blame on a African American (& a imaginary one at that) disgusts me, because I, for one, happen to be an African American male myself.

Also, shame on the police for believing her without any clear cut evidence to prove it. This is just like the Susan Smith case over again in which the police believes her when she places the blame for killing her children on a person with a different skin color. It just sickens me how they can put the blame on another person who's African American (even if he or she is made up) in which they know that the police would believe them. And they're very dumb for doing so. Shame on her & shame on all of them!

Shame on police? Seriously? For what? Do you want them automatically disbelieve someone who claims to be a victim of some vicious attack? They were investigating, which is what they are supposed to do when someone makes a claim. Do you expect people to only contact police if they have clear cut evidence, and police declining to investigate unless the person provides clear cut evidence right from the start?

 

[oh_gal]

No, I'm not entirely focused on the race issue (although I believe it was the major impetus behind her accusation).

I pity her for somehow believing she'd get "points" for this.

I'm sure the next thing we'll hear, is that she's under a doctor's care and that mental issues are involved.
That's a defense ploy, to get her out of being punished.

According to her family, she had no history of mental illness.
(If she had, do you think they'd have let her publicize this - knowing it would fall apart soon?)

The Tawana Brawley hoax disgusted me in the same way.

I believe ANY race-based false accusation, should be criminally punished. It's a hate crime.

In your opinion, is this a hate-crime only, with no possibility that she has a serious mental illness?

 

[reportertype]

Could be a combination of the two, as well, oh_gal.
Jjenny, you beat me to the part about the police.