Mob Hit

I'm going to generalize here. If you go into a club that has strippers or you use the services of a bookie for sports betting on a football, basketball, or in some cases a hometown sporting event - you are doing business with the mob. Maybe not Don Corleone of Godfather fame, but some aspect of organized crime either directly or indirectly.

A few years ago in Maryville, Tennessee, an up and coming entrepreneur and his brother thought they would go into the arcade machine business. You know - pinball machines and other machines that gave the possibility of betting on the outcome of a session. A building was constructed and the machines were moved in. A short time later in the early hours of the morning - BOOM! - the building was blown up - and never reconstructed. Somebody had sent a warning. You don't buy pinball machines or other gaming machines unless you go through the right channels!

Turf wars are not uncommon in the murky world of organized crime. Sometimes these wars become violent. People are found dead.

Next week at my website ThomsonTalks I will tell a story of two bookies too many in a small Southern town. The story is fiction of course but it follows a pattern that has occurred in many small cities across the U.S. Be watching for it.




Missouri,Montana,Nebraska,Nevada

Motive for Murder - Ethnic Custom?

This is a weird one for most citizens of the U.S. However with so many new immigrants this motive becomes increasingly common. Here is a scenario: Two missionaries go to the Riff Valley in Central Africa to serve their church. They have children - two sons - who assimilate very quickly into the pagan culture that surrounds them i.e. even though their parents are white Americans, the two boys playmates are young men of a tribal culture that has a set of very strict rules of retribution for things like infidelity etc.

Years later, one of the boys moves to Illinois and marries. The marriage turns rocky. A divorce takes place and the husband suspects marital infidelity. Suddenly the couples 10 year old son is found murdered. Even though there is no evidence linking her to the crime, the mother is convicted. The father goes free. A question lingers - Did the father follow a tribal custom of killing the first born as retribution for infidelity? It's weird, but how much can we assimilate into the customs of another country - especially when we are young? Does your police department ever consider ethnic tribal customs as possible motives for murder?






New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York

Murder for Enjoyment

The FBI estimates there are 20-50 serial killers at large at the present time in the U.S. Our country has the largest number of serial killers in the world.






South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah

Murder to cover-up a crime

Murky waters here, but it happens a lot.




Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia

Murder for Power

Saddam Hussein stayed in power quite effectively for years by murdering his rivals. Can you think of any cases where this has happened in the United States?





Wisconsin, Wyoming, Puerto Rico

Murder for Revenge

Very high on the list of motives. Post your comments.

Murder for Money

This ranks up at the top of motives for murder. If you know of any recent, old, or unsolved murders where the motive was money, please post your comments.