Althouse: "Neal Falls showed up at the woman’s home on July 18 after answering an escort ad... He showed up with a 'kill list,' multiple pairs of handcuffs..."

July 26, 2015

"Neal Falls showed up at the woman’s home on July 18 after answering an escort ad... He showed up with a 'kill list,' multiple pairs of handcuffs..."

"... and a Subaru full of weapons and tools, including a shovel, knives, a bulletproof vest, a machete, bleach, trash bags, sledgehammers and axes.... In Falls’s pocket, police said, was a list of names of potential future victims, all of whom are sex workers who advertised.... Now investigators are trying to determine whether Falls, 45, was responsible for a string of slayings targeting sex workers in Ohio and Nevada, the station reported.... From the moment Falls showed up at the home of his latest alleged victim, a sex worker, he turned violent... 'I knew he was there to kill me,' she said. 'I could tell that he had already done something because he said that he was going to prison for a long time. And that’s when I knew he was gonna kill me.... When he strangled me he just wouldn’t let me get any air... I grabbed my rake and when he laid the gun down to get the rake out of my hands, I shot him. I just grabbed the gun and shot behind me.'"

From "Woman who shot alleged attacker may have slain a serial killer, police say."

He has a gun and he's already strangling you, and you beat him with a rake.

38 comments:

Fernandinande said...: shovel, knives, a bulletproof vest, a machete, bleach, trash bags, sledgehammers and axes

Don't leave home without them.

Seriously, "future victims, all of whom are sex workers who advertised" wouldn't be an issue, or would be a much smaller issue, if prostitution were legal.; 7/26/15, 9:05 AM
Bobber Fleck said...: Sometimes I lose track of the politically correct phrases. "Sex worker" is one of those phrases.

Do sex workers carry lunch pails? Are they union members? Do they receive the "prevailing wage" when they do government work? Do they pay into Social Security and Medicare? Are there OSHA rules for sex workers? Are there technical school and college vocational training programs for sex workers? Are they subject to age and sex discrimination laws?

So many questions...; 7/26/15, 9:06 AM
Anonymous said...: Seriously, "future victims, all of whom are sex workers who advertised" wouldn't be an issue, or would be a much smaller issue, if prostitution were legal.

Why do you say that? If prostitution were legal wouldn't there be more advertising not less? So the list of targets would increase. After all, the killer isn't killing because it's illegal, he's killing because he thinks it's immoral (sorta); 7/26/15, 9:14 AM
rhhardin said...: That's rake rake.; 7/26/15, 9:15 AM
Bay Area Guy said...: Brave, smart woman to protect herself like she did .; 7/26/15, 9:19 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Don't rake me sis.; 7/26/15, 9:19 AM
Scott said...: "... and a Subaru full of weapons and tools, including a shovel, knives, a bulletproof vest, a machete, bleach, trash bags, sledgehammers and axes...."

Love. It's what makes a Subaru, a Subaru.; 7/26/15, 9:22 AM
exhelodrvr1 said...: She should have called the police instead of taking matters into her own hands. We need stricter rake control laws.; 7/26/15, 9:23 AM
Tank said...: Subaru?

Prolly a transsexual lesbian.; 7/26/15, 9:32 AM
Virgil Hilts said...: The Drill Sgt said -- "he's killing because he thinks [the sex worker's vocation is] immoral." That could be true, but I suspect that a lot of serial killers pick sex workers because they will let them into their homes without a record of the appointment, they are low status, less likely to have high tech security systems, less likely to have tight families to pressure police and will be a lower investigative priority when their bodies are found. About one-third of murders go unsolved. That percent goes way up based on the low social status of the victim. This is a case in point; the guy had never been caught and was apparently not even a suspect.; 7/26/15, 9:34 AM
Bob Boyd said...: She traded him a rake for his gun. Good trade.; 7/26/15, 9:40 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: He has a gun and he's already strangling you, and you beat him with a rake.

You make do with what you have at hand. Although why she had a rake in the kitchen is kind of odd.; 7/26/15, 9:42 AM
Wince said...: He was a victim of discrimination: Weak Chin-ism. Check your Chin Privilege.

Universal Attractiveness and the Meaning of Our Chins

The judgment is built into the descriptors: strong chin or weak chin. Just think of the famed Romney mug. Or Dudley Do-Right, his jaw roughly the size and shape of a Christmas ham. Sure, he was an idiot—that was the joke!—but the chin signaled that he was a good guy, and that he was irresistible....

The limited research literature suggests that strong male chins both attract mates and predict future professional success. Broad-chinned West Point cadets generally attain higher ranks than their narrow-chinned classmates. One explanation: The extra layers of bone that develop a broad jaw require high levels of testosterone, so a cosmetic jawline is a visual testament to virility, like the peacock’s resplendent but unwieldy tail....

That’s just one not-very-big study, of course, and this sort of data has its limits. It’d be nice to know, for example, how the dearly departed owners of those skulls had done on the dating scene, or how many were brigadier generals. But it reminds us that clever evolutionary rationales for human behavior remain unproven. It may be that future generations look back on ours—in which medical professionals perform chin augmentation surgeries—with incomprehension and pity.; 7/26/15, 9:50 AM
pious agnostic said...: How did he get his gun? Was it registered? Did he buy it at a gun show? Did he exploit a loophole? How many gun owners are serial killers? Do all gun owners hate women? Are all gun owners exploiters of sex workers? Did the gun have the thing that goes up? How does the fact that he carried a gun relate to his apparent sexual inadequacies? In the light of this senseless killing would you support sensible gun laws?; 7/26/15, 9:59 AM
Laslo Spatula said...: So I was a day early with this one.

Sometimes I believe I live in Althouse's head.

I am Laslo.; 7/26/15, 10:00 AM
Laslo Spatula said...: "...including a shovel, knives, a bulletproof vest, a machete, bleach, trash bags, sledgehammers and axes...."

I understand the tools, except for the sledgehammers.

All the other tools can be used in a respectful killing, but a sledgehammer: you must really be full of hate to smash someone's head with one of those. Or you are a particularly perverted fan of Gallagher.

I am Laslo.; 7/26/15, 10:11 AM
Wince said...: Sledgehammer

Show me round your fruit cages
'Cause I will be your honey bee
Open up your fruit cages
Where the fruit is as sweet as can be

I want to be your sledgehammer
Why don't you call my name
I'm going to be-the sledgehammer
This can be my testimony
I'm your sledgehammer
Let there be no doubt about it

Sledge sledge sledgehammer

I kicked the habit (I kicked the habit)
She'd my skin (Shed my skin)
This is the new stuff (This is the new stuff)
I go dancing in, (We could go dancing in)
Oh won't you show for me (Show for me)
I will show for you (Show for you)
Show for me (Show for me), I will show for you; 7/26/15, 10:23 AM
Michael K said...: "After all, the killer isn't killing because it's illegal, he's killing because he thinks it's immoral (sorta)"

No, it's because they are available and even advertise. The "Green River Killer" spent 20 years doing this although it was before internet advertising made it so easy for the killer. Some of the "sex workers" even come to the house.; 7/26/15, 10:31 AM
Swifty Quick said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 7/26/15, 10:36 AM
Laslo Spatula said...: In my younger, less responsible days I would sometimes lay there next to a woman I just had sex with, then lightly drag the tip of a knife blade across her throat in the dark, seeing how much pressure I could produce without her waking up; I'm sure a lot of men have done things like that.

You could pretty much imagine the look that would be in their wide eyes upon awakening to a slit throat: the gurgled attempts at gasping, the array of thoughts that must be ricocheting in their panicked head.

I'll never see Mom again.

Who will take care of Mr. Wittles the cat?

Will Mr. Wittles ever understand that I won't be coming home anymore, and will he spend the rest of his days thinking I abandoned him?

Is this man going to fuck my corpse in the ass?

Just thoughts.

Really, it is a great way to learn the limitations you must put upon yourself when in situations of great power, so: character-building.

Inevitably, the inevitable happened: one woman woke up with me dragging the knife across her throat. After her initial shock she asked me if I was planning to kill her.

"No," I said. "I'm not crazy."

I expected things to go poorly after that -- there is only so much you can explain -- but then she asked me to drag the knife tip along her stomach and breasts; then, her inner thighs. Pretty soon we were having sex again, and she scraped her nails down my back with great ferocity.

"You could've killed me," she said afterward, "but you didn't. It is like I have a New Chance at Life."

Which was a pretty nice way of dealing with it, I thought.

The next time I saw her she had tattooed my name along her neck.

"You gave me a second chance to really live," she explained.

My name, tattooed on her neck? I thought that was a bit too freaky.

I am Laslo.; 7/26/15, 10:47 AM
William said...: Some years back there was a serial killer in Iran who murdered about a dozen prostitutes. His defense was that they were prostitutes and under Islamic law they deserved to die. His family stood by him. There was a mass movement to have him pardoned......It was on the news one night. I never saw any follow up to it.; 7/26/15, 10:57 AM
Scott said...: "In the light of this senseless killing would you support sensible gun laws?"

In light of this senseless killing would you support banning Subarus?; 7/26/15, 10:58 AM
Marc in Eugene said...: The local paper ran this article a couple of days ago. Not a word about the rake, but there is a photograph of Falls' tools. " Falls’ last known police contact locally... was in mid-April when Falls reported a theft. It is unknown what he reported as stolen."; 7/26/15, 11:00 AM
Anonymous said...: Dust Bunny Queen said...
You make do with what you have at hand. Although why she had a rake in the kitchen is kind of odd.

"There are no dangerous weapons; there are only dangerous men."
- Sergeant Charles Zim.; 7/26/15, 11:00 AM
Bob Boyd said...: She was professional escort who prided herself that all her dates have had a happy ending.
This one was no exception.; 7/26/15, 11:06 AM
jr565 said...: If she had waited for cops to come SHE"D BE DEAD.; 7/26/15, 11:24 AM
Fernandinande said...: The Drill SGT said...
F-nande: ...if prostitution were legal.

Why do you say that?

Because, as with violent crime associated with drug dealing or alcohol during its prohibition, the illegality keeps the whole operation "in the shadows"; otherwise it'd be - or could be - like getting a haircut.; 7/26/15, 11:49 AM
Anonymous said...: Blogger Michael K said...
"After all, the killer isn't killing because it's illegal, he's killing because he thinks it's immoral (sorta)"

No, it's because they are available and even advertise. The "Green River Killer" spent 20 years doing this although it was before internet advertising made it so easy for the killer. Some of the "sex workers" even come to the house.

A legal sex trade wouldn't stop an illegal sex trade.

A legal sex trade would be regulated. Just like cigarettes are legal and there is a huge, underground, illegal cigarette black market, there will also be a huge, illegal, underground sex trade market.; 7/26/15, 1:17 PM
David said...: Then there is this story from Arizona:

By Carey Gillam

(Reuters) - Police in Arizona on Sunday were probing what prompted a bloody domestic assault that left a woman and her two dogs decapitated and the man she lived with hospitalized with serious injuries, including a partly severed arm.

The grisly scene was discovered Saturday morning after a neighbor decided to check on the welfare of a married couple he knew had mental health issues.

When the husband opened the door to the couple's home he was naked, a portion of his left forearm was cut off, his right eye was missing, and large amounts of blood were seen throughout the home, according to Phoenix police.

The neighbor called police who entered the home and found the headless body of Trina Heisch, 49, in a bedroom closet along with two dogs. The animals had also been decapitated. Large amounts of blood was spread across floors, cabinets and walls of the apartment, police said.

The suspect, who police have not named, but said was believed to be Heisch's husband, was taken to an area hospital where he underwent surgery. Police said he admitted to killing "three of his family members" and will be charged in Heisch's murder when released from the hospital.

Investigators said both the suspect and victim have a history of mental illness, domestic violence and drug abuse. The suspect was arrested in 2003 for attempting to kill a family member, and Heisch was arrested in March for domestic violence assault, when it was alleged she tried to stab the suspect, police said.

The two of them had met at a mental health meeting and subsequently married.

Are you sure we have too many people in prison?; 7/26/15, 1:34 PM
Big Mike said...: The plot of this story is plagiarized from "Dial 'M' for Murder." In the play (and movie) the woman is a housewife whose husband suspects she's been cheating on him, so not a sex worker but maybe a slut. And she uses a scissors, not a rake. Otherwise it's a remake and Hitchcock did it better.

[yawn]; 7/26/15, 3:19 PM
richard mcenroe said...: I believe the rake in question is a hair-care utensil.; 7/26/15, 3:26 PM
averagejoe said...: Thank god she had access to a handgun which saved her life. Unfortunately she had to steal the gun from her career criminal would-be killer, but once again, a woman's life is saved by the judicious use of a firearm.; 7/26/15, 4:02 PM
Michael K said...: "Are you sure we have too many people in prison?"

Aside from the dogs, I'm OK with it.; 7/26/15, 4:23 PM
exhelodrvr1 said...: In the future, serial killers should only purchase weapons that are equipped with the bio-identify safeties; 7/26/15, 5:16 PM
Known Unknown said...: You make do with what you have at hand. Although why she had a rake in the kitchen is kind of odd.

You don't have a kitchen rake? What are you, some kind of luddite?; 7/26/15, 9:22 PM
Known Unknown said...: A legal sex trade would be regulated. Just like cigarettes are legal and there is a huge, underground, illegal cigarette black market, there will also be a huge, illegal, underground sex trade market.

So?; 7/26/15, 9:23 PM
Lewis Wetzel said...: Why do we call prostitutes "sex workers"? I know it's a an elite, UN-NGO thing. I can't imagine that anyone who thought up the term would be anything less than horrified at a friend, or God forbid a relative, taking up that business.
"I'm a construction worker. I do hard, sometimes hazardous work putting up buildings or tearing them down."
"I'm a sex worker. I have to get stoned before I start work. There is a pretty good chance I will end my career by killing myself. I charge $40 for a handjob in a car. Sometimes I fuck a guy for a hundred bucks, but I charge an extra hundred if he wants anything kinky, like me sticking my finger in his butt."
You see the difference there? I know it's subtle.; 7/27/15, 2:51 AM
mikee said...: EMD: Imagine the sex trade with OSHA safety compliance rules, ACA/EMR/HIPPA health reporting, DOJ diversity requirements, DOE training standards, IRS forms for all participants and DOD contracting for military use.

Yeah, it isn't something anyone would want to buy.; 7/27/15, 10:52 AM