Dateline NBC this last weekend profiled the story of Quinn Gray. It was one of the more interesting episodes on Dateline, and was a re-run. For those of you who first saw it, you can read my analysis of the story here from September 2011.
Enjoy!
Did you catch the story of Amy Weidner this past weekend on 48 Hours titled “Decades of Deceit“?
During the episode, I saw an interview of Rodney Denk, the man convicted of killing Amy Weidner. 48 Hours also uploaded a web extra of Denk (above).
When I saw Denk on the show he suggested there were accomplices. It caught my eye because detectives said Denk changing his story that he did have them, then he didn’t or couldn’t remember.
My question is why would you, after you confess, indicate another person was involved, if they weren’t? What gain would there be for Denk to do that? I can’t think of any reason, which leads me to believe it is possibly true.
Furthermore, by the fact he couldn’t remember the name of the guy, could he be afraid to implicate someone else out of fear? It’s possible, but from the short interview shown on 48 Hours, I cannot say conclusively.
So I set out to see the web extra on 48 Hours website of Denk.
When I watch that clip, one thing is for sure. Denk isn’t willing to tell us the truth other than to admit that he was there. He also doesn’t show us any sadness, regret or any negative emotions considering he carried around the knowledge of what he did for years. This concerns me and gets me thinking about psychopathy and pathological lying.
Considering we can’t rule out psychopathy or that he is a pathological liar, its hard to say if there was or was not another person involved without having access to more interviews of Denk. He could be simply pathological, which means he will say whatever hits his fancy at the moment.
Did you catch the story of Ute Von Schwedler and the story of her suicide this past weekend on 48 Hours Mystery? Her husband now stands accused of her murder, and is waiting to stand trial later this year.
Her son speaks out against his father, Johnny Wall, saying he believes his dad killed his mom. Johnny’s family, however, doesn’t believe it is possible.
You don’t actually get to see Johnny speak in the episode, so you are left only listening to both sides of the family react.
Pelle, the son of Ute and Johnny and who were divorced, says something astounding to me, however. Pelle recollects his dad’s behavior and word choices after his mom’s death. He talks about his dad acted very infantile, and depended on his son for comfort instead of the other way around, and what Pelle said was startling.
Pella says his dad said as he cried over Ute’s death, “Am I a monster? Could I have done this?”
Freeze frame!
What????
That says all we need to know. Hands down. Who would entertain this if they are innocent and uninvolved? Would you ever call yourself a monster if you had nothing to with the situation?
I can answer for you: NO!
Would you question if you did it?
I can answer again for you: NO!
According to 48 Hours, “Johnny Wall spent six days after Uta’s death at the University of Utah Neuropsychiatric Institute, under observation.”
None of this supports Johnny Wall’s innocence.
I will be curious to see how a jury sees this case.
Pelle, in his recollection, has clearly identified the truth in this case and its not suicide. It’s murder if you ask me, and the monster identified himself.
I’d like to add that I think Pelle is an amazing and very intelligent man. To be so rational and clear thinking through such trauma is astounding.
Megan Huntsman made the news yesterday after her estranged husband, Darren West, was at the house where her two young adult children and teenager lived. He was cleaning out the garage when he found a dead infant’s body in a box. He called the police. Upon investigation, police found six more more bodies for a total of seven deceased babies.
The story is absolutely mortifying. And when you read the news, its quite surprising to hear the neighbors speak well of Huntsman. She even babysat for the neighbor’s grandchildren! Chilling in hindsight.
For a woman to do this, you would think that she suffered some mental illness that other people might have picked up on.
Many of you are wondering what expression she is making in the photo above, which I suspect was taken when she was taken into custody.
First, I notice the stress in the forehead, which is indicated by the wrinkles.
Second, I notice her oblique eyebrows, which can indicate either stress, concern, or sadness. Or all of the above.
And last I notice her eyes which are unusually wide open, and display a fear look to me. They could also indicate surprise.
To me, her expression is indicative of a woman who is totally stressed out and concerned for her well-being, and has the potential to be suffering from a mental illness. Her expression is very unique to say the least and often odd expressions come from mental illness because the brain fires confusing signals that you and I don’t get.
As someone who understands human behavior, I have always believed that we are born with predetermined disposition. If you are a person who wakes up happy each day, you are lucky. For people who wake up less than stellar each day trying to change your outlook in life is very hard. Sure we can make small changes, but I don’t believe those changes can be modified to any large degree.
Look back to people you knew in grade school that you still might know today. Are they pretty much the same person? I can confidently say your answer will be yes. You likely won’t find a pessimist who is a blazing optimist, or vice-versa. Some people may have a situation or circumstance which caused them to be repressed, and is now removed and hence they show a different side, but it is not the norm.
While people go through some changes, overall people really do stay the same. And I believe it is hard-wired or genetic.
I consider myself neither a pessimist nor an optimist (though I tend towards optimism), but rather a realist. I tend to focus heavily on concrete facts and try to use that information to drive and motivate myself.