Author Jennifer Chase

Man Robs Same Bank Three Days in a Row

Posted on October 2, 2011 by jchasenovelist

It often takes a brazen personality to commit a criminal act, particularly one that is done right in front of a crowd. There is a disregard for the lives of others and also, apparently, for the possibility of getting caught. I have spent a good part of my adult educational focus studying the psychology of men and women who commit acts of violence and, despite all that I have learned, I continue to be intrigued and challenged by their behaviors and choices.

Take, for instance, the method that alleged robber Charles Burnett used to steal a large amount of money. He did not steal from one location and then plan his next effort at a bank far away, in order to minimize the chance of being recognized and face a likely increased police presence. No, instead Burnett decided to return to the exact same bank not just two, but three days in a row.

Each time he showed up at the Sovereign Bank in downtown Manhattan, he passed a note to the teller demanding money and indicating that he had a gun. Over the course of his three threatening visits, he managed to collect tens of thousands of dollars. The police grabbed him after this third event, as they recognized him from the posters that were now hanging on their precinct walls. Burnett is now charged with three counts of robbery.

Not that I want to offer advice to a criminal, but wouldn’t it make more sense not to return to the scene of your crime so fast? Employees don’t tend to have that fast of a turnover at banks; you will be recognized. And, I have to imagine that New York City is not short on bank locations. But again, this is a reason why I find criminal behavior fascinating. Somehow Charles Burnett thought his plan was a good idea, and now he is sitting in jail.

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Blog: www.authorjenniferchase.com/
Website: www.jenniferchase.vpweb.com/
Crime Watch Blog: www.emilystonecrimewatch.wordpress.com/
Book & Crime Talk: www.blogtalkradio.com/jennifer-chase/
Books: Compulsion = Dead Game = Silent Partner = Screenwriting

Posted in crime, Criminology | Tagged author jennifer chase, bank robbery, charles burnett, criminologist jennifer chase, emily stone series, manhattan bank | Leave a comment

Crime Solving Partnership for DNA Evidence

Posted on September 30, 2011 by jchasenovelist

DNA is extremely complex, but we hear the word “DNA” almost on a daily basis in the news and on crime shows. In 1986, DNA was first officially used to solve a crime of two young girls raped and murdered in the English Midlands. Today, DNA is commonplace in criminal investigations and court proceedings to link a suspect to the crime and to exonerate the innocent who have been wrongfully convicted.

DNA is a naturally occurring substance and is the main component of cellular chromosomes that is the genetic characteristics in all life forms. It is a large macromolecule that consists of two strands coiled around each other. This carries the genetic information that individuals inherit from their parents. Half of the chromosomes come from an individual’s father’s sperm cell and the other half from the mother’s egg cell.

D-N-A simply means deoxyribonucleic acid. It’s a nucleic acid that carries the genetic information in the cell and is capable of self-replication and synthesis of RNA. DNA consists of two long chains of nucleotides twisted into a double helix and joined by hydrogen bonds between the complementary bases adenine and thymine or cytosine and guanine. The sequence of nucleotides determines individual hereditary characteristics.

No one has the same DNA, except identical twins. This scientific breakthrough has incredible consequences in crime scene investigation and has only just begun to be fully realized in the past ten years. DNA can be taken from body fluids such as blood, semen, and saliva. For criminal investigators, this high-tech tool is an absolute in comparing fluids found at a crime scene and body fluids taken from a suspect.

In 1989, the first DNA databank law in the U.S. was passed in Virginia. By 1990, DNA samples flooded in from convicted felons in Virginia prisons. It was an exciting time to solve cold cases, by 1990 there were many positive hits from this databank. Most noteworthy was in 1995 that identified the perpetrator that raped Debbie Smith in 1989 in Williamsburg.

With scientific breakthroughs there can come a price, and in this case there is a somewhat heavy price tag. That price tag is the growing backlog of DNA evidence waiting to be tested. It hasn’t been any secret that public labs, even in conjunction with a university, have been overburdened with cases. Out of this need, there have been partnerships between public and private labs to assist in reducing casework backlogs. It is clear that we will see more partnerships of this kind in the future to help facilitate justice in our court system.

Private laboratories have continued to improve their services and turnaround time frames for criminal cases. They continue to increase their effectiveness with new technologies and automated procedures with software and products to collect and process DNA evidence. For the next decade, we will no doubt see the effectiveness of public and private partnerships for the processing of DNA evidence for crimes.

For me as a writer and criminologist, I can’t wait to see more breakthroughs in the forensic science of DNA in this decade. Criminals should beware because our hardworking, diligent forensic scientists may have your unique cellular chromosome and your fate now lies with the criminal justice system.

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Posted in crime, Forensic | Tagged author jennifer chase, award winning dead game, cold cases, debbie smith, DNA, DNA backlog, DNA databank law, silent partner | Leave a comment

Some Fun Stops in the Book Blog World

Posted on September 28, 2011 by jchasenovelist

I’ve been busy typing away on my newest book, Dark Mind. It’s been a fun journey with some unexpected surprises along the way. I will post more information about when and where the next Emily Stone novel will be out in the upcoming weeks.

During this crunch time, I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to stop by some great book blogs over the past month. I’m very blessed to have met some talented authors, avid readers, and just plain nice folks.

Please check out these blogs for informative book reviews, author interviews, and news about upcoming books in your favorite genres.

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Kim the Bookworm is passionate about book reviews and just a lovely person to boot: Here’s a book review: Dead Game

Strong Scenes with Thriller Author Gary Ponzo is a fantastic blog to find out more about up and coming authors and independent ones: Here’s my interview

Author Elizabeth Sogard interviews indie authors with wonderful insights and candid conversations: Here’s my interview

Author Amy Tupper has a wonderfully inspiring blog worth checking out: Here’s my inspriation on my chosen settings for my books

Sci-Fi Author Gary Starta promotes other authors on his new writer’s blog and forum: Here’s my award winning highlight of Silent Partner

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Thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of your blogs!

Posted in Silent Partner, Writing | Tagged author interviews, author jennifer chase, book blogs, book reviews, crime fiction, emily stone series, silent partner | 1 Comment

Tennessee Woman Becomes Her Own Rescuer

Posted on September 26, 2011 by jchasenovelist

In all three of my published novels, I have made an effort to feature women who show compelling strength and independence while overcoming traumatic circumstances. These women decide not to be the victim and instead take their lives and the lives of those around them into their own hands. In particular, my protagonist Emily Stone devotes practically her entire existence to tracking down the predators that exist in her area and bringing them to justice. She is a woman who refuses to play the victim. With this focus in my work, I am always interested to read news stories in which a female takes charge and fights back.

Last week, 18-year-old Summer Eaton was allegedly taken by gunpoint from a gas station by 57-year-old Stephen Cronk in Mount Juliet, Tennessee and driven to a hotel room in Mississippi. Eaton managed to get her hands on the gun and shot her attacker in the stomach. Cronk was later found in his car and appeared to have died from his wounds.

Eaton apparently got into Cronk’s truck willingly, already knowing him in some capacity, but was soon restrained with duct tape while being held at gun point. She has since been reunited with family.

There already have been questions being raised concerning why she got into this man’s vehicle and what the exact nature of their relationship was prior to this incident, but the important detail at this point is that Summer Eaton is alive and escaped a horrible ordeal.

Any safety expert will tell you that there is a right and a wrong way to fight back against your attacker. You don’t want to put yourself in any more danger and I understand the fact that the opportunity to take action is not always there. I am just thankful in this instance that the young woman made it back to Tennessee safe and sound.

What would you do?

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Posted in crime | Tagged award winning author and criminologist jennifer chase, emily stone series, rescuer, self defense, Stephen Cronk, summer eaton, Tennessee woman | 3 Comments

Putting all the Pieces Together to Write a Novel

Posted on September 23, 2011 by jchasenovelist

I love puzzles – especially jigsaw puzzles. I just finished this beautiful, 1000-piece puzzle of Yosemite (shown above) with the help of my husband. I find it relaxing and fun, and it takes my mind off of the current novel I’m working on even for a short period of time. I really find it helpful to recharge my brain before I dive back into my storyline.

I approach writing a novel like preparing to put together a jigsaw puzzle. How? You must have some type of plan on how you’re going to finish the project, but some people might just dive right in and begin to fit pieces together. Whatever approach works for you, fine tune it, and make it your plan of attack for every novel you write.

Make an overall plan of attack
Sort all of your tasks in smaller categories of easy, obtainable goals
Work through your tasks every day until an overall picture is revealed

Since I love to research, I found some interesting things about jigsaw puzzles. Did you know that one of the definitions of “jigsaw” means to arrange or place in an intricate or interlocking way?

Puzzles and mysteries seem to go hand in hand. It is the act of pondering over a problem in order to solve or understand it.

Many times I’ve heard “real life” police detectives say that they really enjoy a puzzle. That’s why detectives have been referred to as “jigsaws”, since they definitely put the pieces of a mystery together in order to solve the crime.

I found some really interesting facts about jigsaw puzzles that I never knew before and now they intrigue me even more.

John Spilsbury, a teacher in England, created the first jigsaw puzzle in the year 1767 as a way of teaching geography.
Research shows that there are many healthy and uplifting benefits to working puzzles.
These mind-flexing activities of puzzle solving can actually lead to a longer life and a better quality of life.
It can reduce chances of developing certain types of mental illnesses: such as memory loss and dementia.
Working jigsaw puzzles actually simultaneously uses both sides of the brain. The left brain hemisphere (analytical side) sees all of the separate pieces and attempts to sort them out logically. The right brain hemisphere (creative side) sees the “big picture” and works intuitively. Both types of thinking helps to successfully piece together the puzzle.
Completing a jigsaw puzzle helps to encourage the production of dopamine (the brain chemical that increases learning and memory).
It has been suggested that children improve their writing and reading skills when working different types of puzzles.

From my studies of criminal psychology and serial crime, it makes me wonder if psychopaths are good a working jigsaw puzzles?

Do they possess the balance of both brain hemispheres to solve a problem or commit certain types of crimes?

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Posted in Criminology, Writing | Tagged author jennifer chase, award winning author, compulsion, crime fiction, dead game, jigsaw puzzles, novel writing | Leave a comment

Crime Rates Were Down Again in 2010

Posted on September 21, 2011 by jchasenovelist

If you turn on the evening news or one of the 24-hour cable networks like CNN or Fox News, you may think that murders and kidnappings are occurring every minute of the day in this country. It can be argued that television police dramas also feed into that notion, with some of the worst fears we have about our children’s safety or the intentions of our neighbors played out in the storyline. The reality, though, may be quite different than our perception.

According to statistics released by the FBI this week, crime in the United States is declining and has been for four years. It dropped six percent in 2010. Property crime is also waning, with the number of reported incidents down 2.7% in the past year, making for an eighth consecutive year of lower numbers. This data is encouraging, and it’s important to know why crime is down so that we can keep these numbers moving in the right direction.

Several experts offered their thoughts on the reasons behind the falling crime levels in an article recently published on MSNBC’s website. One theory is that our population is aging and those over fifty are the least likely group to be involved in criminal activity. Others mention the more effective policing procedures that have been implemented over the past two decades, particularly in terms of technology and targeted placement of officers in high-crime areas. I recommend you check out the article to read more about the data and the theories behind it.

Are you encouraged by the latest statistics concerning crime in our country? Or, do you think the data released by the FBI doesn’t tell the whole story or accurately reflect the current situation in your neighborhood?

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Posted in crime, Criminology | Tagged award winning author and criminologist jennifer chase, crime, criminal activity, criminology, fbi, readers favorite awards | Leave a comment

What’s the Bug Deal?

Posted on September 19, 2011 by jchasenovelist

One of the more interesting or perhaps creepy crawly facts about crime scene investigation is that forensic entomology is used more and more to help solve crimes. This type of work within the crime scene condition is definitely not for the squeamish or faint of heart. It sometimes makes me shudder just thinking about it.

Forensic entomology is the study of insects and how it relates to the condition of a decomposing body. This can be a crucial piece to the puzzle in homicide investigations. An entomologist can type the insects and their state of development, environmental factors, weather data, and current condition of the body, which can provide investigators an accurate indicator of the time of death.

The various clues are derived from maggots, flies, beetles, and other types of insects that help to tell the story of death. How’s that for the ultimate jigsaw crime puzzle? There are certain types of flies that are attracted to the odor of decomposing human and animal tissues. Basically, the fly lays eggs on the dead body with the resulting factor of larvae, or maggots. The development of the eggs and adult flies help to pinpoint a timeline.

The forensic entomologist uses the evidence of the development sequence of insects to work backward to deduce the time of death, or post mortem interval. The timeline is extremely important in homicide investigations. It can pinpoint, fairly accurately, the time of death, and possibly point to who might be responsible for the act.

Forensic entomology is used in the investigation for civil cases as well as criminal. Homicide investigations seem to get all the attention for this forensic science, but civil cases can benefit as well. Think about product liability, such as food, various goods, and environment.

In crime scene investigation, entomological evidence has been used more frequently in recent years. There is a need for trained forensic entomologists, but there are few universities that offer this type of training. Many forensic entomologists first train and study medical entomology, then they specialize in the forensic area.

You many never look at bugs the same way again!

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