Laura James "CLEWS" Interview - Missing Pieces - Text Edition

Transcript from
Missing Pieces (Text Edition)
www.MissingPieces.info
Interview 1
October 25, 2006
Guest: Laura James
Clews The Historic True Crime Blog
http://laurajames.typepad.com/clews/

CLEWS is a weblog devoted to the discovery and dissemination of the fascinating stories to be found where murder, history, and journalism overlap.

TODD MATTHEWS(Missing Pieces): Tell me more about the beginnings of your blog. How long have you been online with this? Did it grow larger than you initially expected?

LAURA JAMES(CLEWS): I started CLEWS in the spring of 2005, back when there were only a couple other people "blogging" about true crime. And yeah, it's grown quite a bit. I have more useless knowledge stuffed in my head about old crime cases and the true crime genre than I even realized.

TODD: How is CLEWS like the old days when you were a reporter?

LAURA: Blogging is freedom. No editor, no deadlines, no assignments. The folks who read CLEWS tend to be very, very well read in true crime. The audience for true crime online is very knowledgeable. One little boo boo and I get notes. A couple of times I've strayed into vaguely political remarks, and folks actually asked me not to do that. Which is fine by me.

TODD: We all get this question....why? I'm sure lot's of people are glad you did...but often we ask why did you decide to take on such a task?

LAURA: Housewifery is isolating and boring. Now I have a second life, a second persona, online. It's fun and gives me something to think about besides the dishes. But to be honest, there's that obsessive-compusive itch to scratch. You of all people can appreciate that, yes? And the stories I write about the genre and the book reviews have led to a lot of fun friendships with other writers.

TODD: You seem fascinated with True Crime, was this a life long interest?

LAURA: I think most hardcore true crime fanatics start reading true crime as children. The first books I read were serial killer books that my mom left laying around. Some teenagers watch horror movies; some prefer the real thing. I'm glad that phase is over though. I don't think I want to immerse myself in that any more like I did when I was a teenager and those books scared me sleepless. But it did teach me a healthy respect for the human male, which some women seem to lack. F. Tennyson Jesse called them "murderees." I started reading true crime because I didn't want to be one.

TODD: Tell me about some of the real cases that interest you most.

LAURA: For some reason, there are quite a few of us who have this amazing memory for the facts of the true crime cases we've studied, and we're walking around with the devil's encyclopedia in our heads. I can see some TV show or hear a reference and think, yeah, I read about a case like that. It doesn't take long to pick up the patterns. The cases that fascinate me most are the ones in which I recognize the distinct behavioral pattern, and this makes it interesting to watch some emerging
stories, especially cases that are purely circumstantial. I am very interested in a case from 1912, the Villisca axe murders, which isn't very well known. It will be interesting to explore. But I can't help myself, I have to add that my latest obsession is with the murder trial of Father Gerald Robinson in Toledo. The guy was railroaded for a supposedly satanic ritual murder. A main witness against him was an exorcist! The prosecution changed theories and abandoned this evidence of ritualistic motive during closing arguments, because it didn't fit the evidence, which strongly points to a "sex killing," to anyone versed in them. And doesn't the satanic abuse theory sound familiar? Just when you think the satanic ritual abuse cases had run their course and it's once again safe to run a day care center, along comes this case. It's very scary.

TODD: Can you see an effect that the Internet is having on crimes, especially the cold cases? Have you been able to cooperate with Law enforcement in dealing with these issues?

LAURA: Obviously people are doing amazing things online. There is a huge amount of great writing. There are people like yourself and Steve Huff and others who hunt down clues to real cases on the internet. And it's an amazing way to communicate with a potentially vast audience, which is helping the police and victim's families spread the word about unsolved cases. It also gives us an unprecedented access into current criminal litigation. I haven't cooperated with law enforcement, but for the first time I'm doing some criminal pro bono work, I'm beating the drum to try to get Father Robinson out of prison.

TODD: You still have a shingle hung as a lawyer, what field of law?

LAURA: Oh Lord, NOT criminal law. No thanks. No money. On my first day of criminal law class, my professor told us that there are three rules of criminal law: 1. Get paid first. 2. Get paid first. 3. Get paid first. If he is found guilty, it's your fault, and good luck trying to collect. If he's found not guilty, then he didn't do it in the first place, so why should he have to pay you? I practiced insurance defense for ten years, so I represented the defendant in civil lawsuits. Let me clue you in on something: the insurance industry is very, very good at scaring people about frivolous lawsuits - largely an urban myth, in my opinion - while financially backing judges who will ensure that they get to keep all our insurance premiums. But then again maybe all this true crime stuff has made me cynical.