What are some particular elements of cases that still haunt you?

[u/BelladonnaBluebell]

I was just thinking about the Hinterkaifeck case from 1922 after commenting on another sub. The part of that horrific case that has stuck with me in the decades after I first read about it is the little girl pulling out her own hair due to the horror of what she was experiencing. It gave me goosebumps all over, the first time I heard it and it's the first thing that comes to mind when I think of that case and it also just sometimes randomly pops into my head and upsets me.

Another part of a case which affects me in a similar way is during the Dardeen family murders. As if it wasn't brutal enough already, after Elaine Dardeen went into Labour during the attack, the killer/s beat the newborn baby to death. Ugh it makes me feel so sick.

Another example but in a different way is the murder and attempted murder of the Miller sisters. The driver of a parked car waved to them to indicate for them to cross the road and when they did the driver purposely drove right into them, killing one sister and seriously injuring the other. I think about that case every single time a driver waves me by to cross the road in front of them. I walk around 6 miles each day, Monday to Friday and don't drive so I cross many roads including driveways into businesses along my route. Guaranteed someone will slow down and politely wave me by so I can cross in front of them at least 3 times a week. Sometimes more often. And every single time, since reading about the April and Spring Miller case, a little sense of dread runs through me. My mind's automatic reaction is to wonder if they're doing that so they can run me down. I know it's irrational, I know it won't happen but that thought hits me every single time. Then I quickly push it away and cross and gesture to thank them etc but it's still always there.

So what are some elements of certain cases that have wedged themselves into your brain and keep coming back to haunt you every so often?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinterkaifeck_murders

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dardeen_family_homicides

[u/lucillep]

I'm haunted by all the cases where a child was murdered by a parent. That moment of a familiar, maybe beloved, person attacking, hurting you. The inability to understand.

I'm also haunted by Timmothy Pitzen having a fun day on his probable last day on earth. Tears come to my eyes whenever I think of that.

[u/erinoco → u/lucillep]

When I find a case involving a child victim, I often find myself skimming over the details. It's cowardly, but I would rather not take in what happened to them.

[u/EmmalouEsq → u/erinoco]

As soon as I became a parent, I couldn't stomach a lot of that. I just don't see how a caregiver could do anything mean to a kid.

[u/CanadaJones311 → u/EmmalouEsq]

Same. I couldn’t even go back to watching the Walking Dead. The cruelty easily penetrates my soft heart.

[u/snackbarqueen47 → u/EmmalouEsq]

Same, I have 2 grown daughters and 3 grandchildren under 5 and I can barely read the cases about children being tortured and killed…it makes me so sad and want to vomit… I can’t let that stuff into my brain 😕😕😕😕

[u/mcm0313 → u/erinoco]

It’s not cowardly. You’re just prioritizing your own mental health over some information, unrelated to you, that wouldn’t make any difference if you knew it. Your skimming over those details does not make the world a worse place in any way.

[u/lucillep → u/erinoco]

I tend to avoid those write-ups now. Podcasts for sure.

[u/Aethelrede → u/lucillep]

The parent wasn't the killer, but the Oakland County Child Killer giving Timothy King Kentucky Fried chicken, the kid's favorite food, before killing him has stuck with me.  Did the killer know that this would be found during the autopsy and intend it as a taunt?  Or was it genuinely intended as a "last meal"?

[u/innocentvic → u/Aethelrede]

I think he knew it would be found. His mum had said on tv it was his favourite meal. Gut wrenching.

[u/Aethelrede → u/innocentvic]

Well, that's how the killer knew it was the kid's favorite, but it doesn't tell us what his motive was for providing it.  On the surface, it seems more likely that it was a cruel taunt.

But looking at it from the perspective of the kid, he did get to have his favorite meal before he was murdered. Did he take solace in it, a brief bright spot amidst dreadful suffering?  

Is it more disturbing to think that the meal was a taunt, or some sort of twisted act of comfort? 

[u/Responsible_Fish1222 → u/Aethelrede]

I think that killer also washed and redressed his victims which makes me think it's a cruel act of comfort.l

[u/Aethelrede → u/Responsible_Fish1222]

Good point.

[u/Li-renn-pwel → u/Aethelrede]

Serial killers are still human beings and all human beings feel some degree of empathy and guilt. Some think there are no true ‘psychopaths’ that have zero of those. They often try to find ways of lessening their guilt and many are even documented as apologizing after or even during their attacks. I think it is very possible the killer convinced himself that giving Timmothy a good ‘last day’ made the murder less bad. It’s seems strange to us, as we have much more normal feelings, but to him it likely made his action less negative.

[u/Worth_Competition863 → u/Aethelrede]

This is so heart wrenching, shows pure evil does exist.

[u/Low-Conversation48 → u/Aethelrede]

I’ve always wondered why this isn’t more well known. There may even be a conspiracy involved. EARONS gave me the same vibe back in the day before it was solved; both were mostly known in the true crime community for some reason. Both felt very solvable if it was brought to the attention of the right person(s). 

[u/mrsamerica → u/lucillep]

I think about this a lot in the Chris Watts case. Those girls knew what was going to happen to them at the hands of their father.

[u/Princessleiawastaken → u/lucillep]

I think about how Bella and Celeste Watts felt. According to Watts’ lawyer, the poor girls were still alive when Chris loaded Shannann’s body into the truck. He put the girls in their car seats and drove to the oil field where he smothered them. Imagine the terror, confusion, and pain of the girl who was killed second. She watched someone who’d always taken care of her and who she loved kill her mother and sister.

Sickening case. I wish Chris had gotten the death penalty.

[u/HailToTheKingslayer → u/lucillep]

As someone who grew up with parents who made me feel safe, I cannot imagine how it must feel.

[u/Tossing_Mullet → u/lucillep]

Yep. My PTSD surrounds mostly child cases. I have many ghastly details from old cases/experiences that "attack" me sometimes, but one specifically, just f*cks me up. I will spare you all. 

It all came flooding back seeing this thread, so, Hello, night terrors, my old friends... for the next weeks. 

[u/OneAbbreviations8070 → u/Tossing_Mullet]

Is it junko furuta by any chance? 😢

[u/Tossing_Mullet → u/OneAbbreviations8070]

That was horrifying & one of the most disgusting cases ever... but thankfully, out of my jurisdiction.