Social Media Monsters: Internet Killers (True Crimes Collection RJPP Book 16)

by RJ Parker

  The end for this merciless and greedy killer was getting closer. John was getting sloppy in covering up his tracks. He wrote letters signed by Suzette to her mother, claiming that they were having fun traveling to many places, but all the envelopes were postmarked from Kansas City. Also, they were written perfectly, something that Suzette wouldn’t do. In addition, John’s name was showing up in many missing person cases in both Kansas and Missouri. Finally, in the month of June 2000, the police were able to arrest John and obtain a search warrant for his farm in Kansas after one woman accused him of assault and another of theft. On the property, the police found the remains of Suzette Trouten and Izabela Lewicka in large barrels filled with chemicals. In Missouri, where John rented two storage units, barrels containing the remains of Beverly Bonner, Debbie Faith, and Sheila Faith were also found. In Kansas, he received the death penalty along with a sentence of life imprisonment for the murder of Lisa Stasi. In Missouri, after negotiations, John pleaded guilty and received life imprisonment without parole. Currently, John is on death row in Kansas, waiting to be the first person to be executed by lethal injection there.

  Chapter 9: Ann Marie Linscott

  The free Internet posting board, Craigslist, is used in over seventy different countries. Millions of ads are posted each year for people looking to sell things or searching for specific services. Occasionally though, one might find an odd posting on the site, perhaps one of the strangest ads was one looking for a hit man!

  The online resume of Ann Marie Linscott has her listed in the 1970s as an assistant manager for the United Virginia Bank. From 1979 to 1982, she served in the U.S. Coast Guard in Alexandria, Virginia. It is stated that she earned an associate’s degree from Ferris State College in 1986.

  The next years of Ann Marie’s life are largely unknown. However, in 1996, her name comes up in the records of Kent County Circuit Court. That year, Ann Marie filed a lawsuit against the Keebler Company, its union, and a couple of the company’s employees. A restraining order was issued against one of the employees who in return had also taken a restraining order against her under the reason of unwanted sexual advances. The case was later moved to the federal court but was dismissed after a few court appearances, eight months later.

  Some years later, in 2001, Ann Marie began working as a massage therapist, according to her resume. She worked for the Hospice of Grand Rapids and she met clients at the Riverview Athletic Club. However, no record of her employment was ever found there. One manager at the Riverview named Laurie Jordan stated that Ann Marie did not work there but she was given some space for her business as a massage therapist at the club in exchange for a percentage of her fee; few people used the massage services, and Ann Marie was only there three or four times each month.

  At some point in time, Linscott had changed her name legally to Ann Marie, and had this name listed on her driving license. She was married to John Linscott, and had two children with him.

  Around the year 2004 or 2005, Ann Marie took an online college course. She met a married man taking the same course and developed an online relationship with him. The two developed an intimate and deep relationship with each other online. They finally met in person when he traveled to Reno, Nevada where he was attending a conference in July of 2005. They spent two days together and had sexual relations. In May 2007, Ann Marie visited the man in Butte County, a place near his home. After that, they stayed in touch using telephone calls and sending emails. Ann Marie also expressed her desire to move to Butte County.

  In April 2007, the man’s wife found an intact Molotov cocktail in her bedroom connected to a fuse that had not exploded. Around November 2007, Ann Marie posted an ad on Craigslist searching for someone for a freelance job. She only revealed what she was actually looking for to those who emailed her in search for additional information. Three different people responded to the ad wanting to know more about the job, thinking it would be some sort of freelance writing job. However, as they communicated, Ann Marie made it clear that the job was about eradicating a woman who lived in Oroville, Butte County, California. When asked what exactly she meant by that, she replied and said “Duh, well, have her killed.” She wanted to kill her lover’s wife. She gave further information about the woman, such as her work and home address, and also gave a description and the age of the intended victim. For the job, she offered $5,000. She was determined to get rid of that woman.

  The people who communicated with Ann Marie about the job, whom she called the “silent assassins,” reported her to the law enforcement authorities in California. It wasn’t long before the FBI was involved and Ann Marie was arrested at her home in Grand Rapids, Michigan (near Summit Avenue NE and 14 Mile Road) in January 2008. The man and his wife were also identified by the investigators, but their identity was not released to the public. The woman is only known in police reports by her initials C.Z. The man cooperated with the police, as he was also being investigated to determine if he was involved with this plan. He acknowledged his previous involvement with Ann Marie in past years.

  The intended victim had to leave her family and her career in order for her to be hospitalized because of the stress, but she and her husband are working on a way to save their marriage. Ann Marie was charged with a murder for hire plot.

  It was discovered that Ann Marie had a long history of getting too attached to another person (such might have also been the case with the employee from the Keebler Company). In the summer of 2008, while she was locked up, she wrote a love letter to the sheriff’s deputy in the Newaygo County Jail after she was transferred to the Montcalm County Jail. She wrote, “I wish you'd send me a card with a little note letting me know you're thinking of me and missing me. I need something to hang onto! ... I think of you often every day.”

  In the 1997 case, her co-worker was obliged to file a personal protection order after she started stalking him.

  Although the charges were initially filed in the Eastern District of California, Ann Marie was able to plead guilty in the Western District of Michigan, her home state. Her lawyer claimed that she suffered from a borderline personality disorder and that she needed help with her mental illness. On February 4, 2009, the Honorable Janet T. Neff, U.S. District Court Judge sentenced Ann Marie Linscott to 151 months in prison (approximately twelve and a half years). In her ruling, she stated she believed that Ann Marie did not fully understand what she had done and showed no regret for her actions.

  Chapter 10: Brian Horn

  So many of the cases highlighted in this book seem to deal with people posing as others online. The case of Brian Horn may be one of the most difficult ones to read, as his victim was just twelve years old.

  In 2010, thirty-four-year-old Brian Douglas Horn was a twice convicted sex offender, a cab driver, and a soon to be child killer. His prior sex offenses included two separate incidents of taking a young girl to his car, where he allegedly fondled and raped at least one of them. In 1998, he was arrested and charged with indecency with a juvenile and contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile.

  From the start of his early life, Brian was an incredibly active and hyper infant. His mother claimed he was walking at five months and running at nine months. He would also stand in his crib and shake it violently—so much so that she took him to see a doctor. He was prescribed a drug called Thorazine, often used to treat severe behavioral disorders. When the drug made him nearly catatonic, his mother refused to give it to him any longer. In his later childhood, Brian was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and she had great difficulty disciplining him. She claimed they were nearly evicted from their home because Brian liked to set paper airplanes on fire and send them coasting out the windows. He also created dangerous makeshift flamethrowers using a lighter and a can of hairspray.

  Brian’s parents were also arrested at one point for selling drugs out of their own home. The two had a contentious marriage, and separated several times before finally divorcing. In addition to the two sex-re
lated offenses on Brian’s record, he managed to rack up twelve other arrests in his adolescent and adult years.

  In March of 2010, he convinced twelve-year-old Justin Bloxom that he was a fifteen-year-old girl named ‘Amanda’ who wanted to meet up with him for sex. The two met online through a social networking site and began to exchange sexually explicit text messages and photos. At one point, after Brian sent him a sexually provocative photo, Justin replied back, “you gotta remember, I’m only 12.”

  On March 29, 2010, Justin’s mother dropped him off at a friend’s house on Douglas Lane in Stonewall, Louisiana. His friend saw him texting someone during the night, and when he woke up in the morning, Justin was gone.

  Phone records indicate that the night of his disappearance, Brian texted the young boy as Amanda, telling him ‘she’ would send a cab to pick him up so the two could meet and have sex. Unfortunately, Justin fell for the ruse and snuck out of his friend’s house to rendezvous with the fictitious girl. Brian Horn picked Justin up in his taxicab on a nearby road, pretending to be the driver sent by ‘Amanda.’ Less than two hours later, Justin was dead and Brian had dumped his body in the woods. The manner of his death was later listed as asphyxiation.

  Around 6:30 that morning, police had stopped Brian in the area where Justin’s body would later be found. He told them he had locked his keys out of his cab and was waiting for a ride. They believed him and left him to his business. They had no idea Brian had just dumped a murdered child’s body nearby. Once Justin was reported missing four hours later, however, they went back to the area to search for him.

  Justin’s body was found soon after in a marshy ditch in a wooded area near Highway 171 in Louisiana, near where police recalled seeing Brian’s taxicab just hours before. Further searching of the wooded area turned up Brian’s car keys and his cell phone charger. They immediately put out word they were looking for the twice-convicted sex offender. They didn’t have to look long. Brian turned himself in soon after.

  He was initially charged with second-degree murder, but the charges were increased as police uncovered the text messages the two had exchanged that night. He went to trial in 2014 officially charged with first-degree murder.

  In a somewhat surprising turn of events, Brian’s defense team did not call any witnesses, nor did they try to make a case for their defendant. During opening statements, his lawyers claimed the death had been an accident and his intent on luring the young boy into his cab was because he was a swinger and he wanted the child to have sex with his wife and girlfriend.

  It took the jury just forty-five minutes to convict Brian Horn of first-degree murder. In April of 2014, the jury recommended he be given the death penalty. After the trial, all twelve jurors and the three alternates reached out to Justin’s mother and asked if they could visit the Justin Bloxom Memorial Garden, a park set up in Justin’s name after his murder. Together, they traveled to the garden and hugged his mother, ending the day holding hands and reciting a prayer for the twelve-year-old.

  Following Justin’s death, his family and friends formed the Justin Bloxom Alliance for Innocence, a private, non-profit organization aimed at spreading the word about the dangers children face in this era using the internet, social media sites, and cell phones. In addition, a number of bills have been passed in Louisiana and surrounding states, dubbed as “Justin’s Law,” that place stricter employment regulations on violent sex offenders to keep them away from children, as well as tougher penalties for repeat sex offenders.

  Chapter 11: Anthony Powell

  The internet has become a place where anyone can express his or her opinion about something. People can post whatever they want, making their voices heard. Some use Facebook or Twitter to express how they feel, and others post videos on YouTube for millions of people to see. Among these videos are people showing off their talents and passions, yet still others use the site to expose their hatred.

  Anthony Powell was a twenty-eight-year-old Christian student at Henry Ford Community College. His parents were Sam Powell, a retired Detroit police officer, and Doris Powell, a registered nurse. He had suffered from chronic depression since his childhood and did not like to take medication, according to his mother. His parents had tried to help him, but they could not do any more than they had already done. Anthony’s jobs varied, from working at a grocery store to restaurants.

  Anthony was ambitious. He wanted to work in the movie industry as a director or an actor. Among the classes he took in college was a theatre class, which he shared with Asia McGowan, who reportedly was an atheist. Asia was a special and extremely talented woman. She had a passion for dancing and acting. She was set to become a famous dancer and actress. Everyone admired Asia. Soon, Anthony developed feelings of love towards her and attempted to strike up a relationship with her. There is some speculation that the two were secretly dating, but Asia’s friends and family have denied there is any truth behind those rumors.

  Anthony Powell may have seemed normal if you met him in person, but online he was something else, and it was apparent that he was unbalanced. On YouTube, he posted many videos under the name ‘Tony48219,’ making statements against atheists and black women. In his videos, he would describe black women as being promiscuous. He went as far as posting one video with the title “Black Women Don’t Deserve Respect.” He also attacked atheists in his videos, calling them “stupid,” being “the fallen angles of the devil,” and as “not human,” but instead “filthy animals.” He clearly had a massive hatred toward atheists and their beliefs. He ranted about the theory of evolution and couldn’t understand how anyone could believe in it. He also described evolution as a comedy, and would frantically laugh after. As a pro-creationist, Anthony was obsessed with another YouTube creationist, ‘VenomFangX,’ who created many videos about religion, Christianity, and God.

  Asia also had an account on YouTube in which she posted various videos of herself, sometimes dancing. Anthony became obsessed with her and started stalking her using YouTube and Facebook (apparently they were friends on Facebook), while still posting his own videos. Some online users were alarmed by the types of videos that Anthony posted and tried to help him. In one video, he stated that he was going to kill himself because there was no point in living anymore but he was still scared to do it. One user living in Virginia with the online nickname ‘Infamoustrag’ found the videos so disturbing, he reported Anthony to the police on March 25, 2009. On April 2, 2009, ‘Infamoustrag’ received a reply from Chief James Barren’s office thanking him for contacting them. The person left a name and a contact number for ‘Infamoustrag’ to contact them back. ‘Infamoustrag’ was able to make a link between Anthony’s talk about suicide and him being upset over a girl. He tried to warn the Detroit Police about a possible suicide, but did not think that there would also be a murder committed by Anthony before his suicide. Another YouTube poster going by the online nickname ‘DC Coop,’ twenty-four-year-old Don Cooper from Atlanta, told Anthony that he should get help after he saw the video in which Anthony said that he wanted to kill himself.

  On Good Friday, April 10, 2009, Anthony took a shotgun with him to the Mackenzie Fine Arts Center. At 12:30 p.m. that day, police were called in with a report of an assault. As soon as police arrived on the scene, they heard gunshots. The college went into lockdown so that the police would make sure that there were no other threats and a gunman was not still at large. They soon discovered the bodies of Anthony and Asia in one of the classrooms. Apparently, Anthony used the shotgun to murder Asia and then kill himself.

  Although the motives behind this murder may look religious, investigators believe it was caused by a combination of depression, hatred, and fanaticism. Anthony’s parents were shocked to learn their son could do something like this. They did not know where he could have gotten the gun since they did not keep any guns at home. His mother knew that he suffered from depression and he had a history of mental illness, and that he might kill himself. She had tried to offer him help, but
she did not expect that he would take someone else’s life in the process. Anthony’s parents offered their condolences to Asia’s parents and they said that they were very sorry for the actions of their son. Asia’s father, Turahn McGowan, was shocked from the videos that Anthony had posted and wished that someone could have helped Anthony before he took the life of his daughter, especially since the police had been warned about him before.

  The death of Asia McGowan should be a wakeup call to stop intolerance towards other people’s beliefs and opinions, especially in a time where anyone can share anything with the entire world.

  Chapter 12: David Heiss

  Some people live their entire lives online. They become so engaged in this virtual life to the point that they can’t recognize what is real and what is not. Generally, these people lack social skills and like to hide behind the online anonymity. Some even become a danger to others who are not careful about keeping their personal information a secret. When the line between reality and fantasy is shattered, there’s no telling what could happen

  David Heiss grew up living with his grandmother and his aunt in Dauborn in the west central region of Germany. His parents divorced when he was six years old. He rarely saw his mother, who worked as a nurse and lived with her daughter in Limburg, fifteen kilometers away from Dauborn, and he saw or talked with his father even less. For about two years, he lived in the family home. David was very close to his grandparents. He was devastated when his grandfather died, and when his grandmother fell ill, his sadness deepened.

  David was a student at Limburg's Tilemannschule. The school had great facilities and a good reputation. He was a good student, excelling in German, politics, biology, mathematics, and Catholic religion. At age nineteen, he left school but despite his good grades, he was not able to get into a university because he could not afford the costs. Instead, he joined the military after school. However, he was injured and he soon dropped out. His mother noticed that after his experience in the military, he seemed distressed. She tried to make him see a psychologist, which he did only twice. Then, David got a job at a textile dye production company. He had to travel to Frankfurt daily, and he earned about £600 per month.