Unsolved Mysteries: Lester Eubanks

On November 14, 1965, a 14 year old girl Mary Ellen Deener was at the laundromat with her 12 year old sister Brenda, out to do their laundry. The laundromat was next to their grandmother’s house so Mary and Brenda’s mother allowed them to go out alone during that night. When Mary ran out of change she walked to another laundromat to get more coins. In that time, she was shot twice, and hit with a blunt object, causing her to die. The police managed to track down the bullet, which belonged to a man named Lester Eubanks, a man who was frequently seen around the neighborhood but was never involved in anything.

Eubanks was found guilty later on, and was sentenced with the death penalty, but later it was changed to life in prison without parole in 1972. He was a painter, and many people would take pictures with him, and soon enough he won over the guards, who allowed him in a special honors program that took inmates outside of prison. In 1793, Eubanks and 3 other prisoners were allowed on a Christmas shopping trip, but there were no guards present watching over them so they roamed free. During that time, he managed to escape.

It was noticed that during Eubank’s visits, he had an alarming number of people visit him just before he managed to escape, so it is believed that this was pre-planned, and family may have been involved in his escape.

For 20 years, no one had any leads for his escape, and it was discovered he was no longer in the database, so experts had turned to television. Lester Eubanks was put on “America’s Most Wanted.” A woman watching the show called, saying she knew Eubanks, and was living with his cousin’s widow, Kay Banks. It was soon found that he no longer lived there, Banks saying he disappeared after she threatened him by saying she called the FBI.

Investigators soon talked with Eubanks father, and it seemed the father knew where he was, but he never spoke about the details. The last lead they got was a call from the father to a phone in Alabama, and they believe Eubanks may be in Alabama. No one still knows where Eubanks is, and still remains a mystery to this day.

https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/tv/a34441076/where-is-lester-eubanks-unsolved-mysteries/

https://www.marieclaire.com/culture/a34089861/where-is-lester-eubanks-now-unsolved-mysteries/

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Unsolved Mysteries

Unsolved Mystery

By Kylei Zamora

The Zodiac Killer, the murder mystery that took place during 1968-1969 located in San Francisco taunted the police with his coded letters to the local paper. He had at least five killings directly connected to him, although he claims to have killed 37 people. He had left the bodies of all of the victims to be found and not traced back to him until years later. He first started with Betty Lou Jensen, 16, and David Arthur Faraday, 17. These two victims were found outside of their “bullet-peppered” car. There was one person, Michael Mageau, who had gotten away and was able to give a full description of the killer to the police. He described a man who was 5’8 and heavyset with a white skintone. Later, when they took the killer into questioning, he gave them the rest of the information on who he killed and why he killed them. A month later, newspapers received the first letter from the Zodiac Killer. This was a common theme with the other letters he would send, all signed with a crossed-circle symbol. He write a letter and it later got decoded by a teach and his wife that read "I LIKE KILLING PEOPLE BECAUSE IT IS SO MUCH FUN IT IS MORE FUN THAN KILLING WILD GAME IN THE FOREST BECAUSE MAN IS THE MOST DANGEROUS ANIMAL OF ALL TO KILL SOMETHING GIVES ME THE MOST THRILLING EXPERIENCE IT IS EVEN BETTER THAN GETTING YOUR ROCKS OFF WITH A GIRL THE BEST PART OF IT IS THAT WHEN I DIE I WILL BE REBORN IN PARADISE AND THEY HAVE KILLED WILL BECOME MY SLAVES I WILL NOT GIVE YOU MY NAME BECAUSE YOU WILL TRY TO SLOW DOWN OR TOP MY COLLECTION OF SLAVES FOR MY AFTERLIFE EBEORIETEMETHHPITI." The Zodiac Killer made anonymous calls to the police and sent in different tips, but was never found.

10-mysterious-police-cases-that-are-still-unsolved-1SWLJYbfRQwcxs4w

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Crime Stories

By Makaila Thompson

In the city of Yorba Linda protests have been plentiful this week. In light of recent events, the Black Lives Matter protest has been abundant but mostly peaceful. During Saturday’s Caravan for Justice rally around three in the afternoon, protestors were targeted and hit by a car outside of the public library. A woman by the name of Tatiana Turner was booked into the Orange County Jail. The crime she has allegedly committed is attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon.

An organizer of a Southern California demonstration against racism was placed in jail on suspicion of attempted murder. Authorities say she drove through a crowd and struck two counter protesters. Tatiana Turner was named as the driver. She was there with about 150 people protesting police brutality and systemic racism at the Yorba Linda library. There is video and photos of the incident. The footage shows loud protesters, some waving American flags and a Trump 2020 banner, around Turner's white car as she accelerates away. Turner is being held on a one million dollar bail and expected to appear in court Tuesday, according to a county website.

California driver plows through pro-Trump rally, charged with attempted murder

Woman charged with attempted murder after plowing through crowd of Trump supporters with car

Organizer arrested after driving car into California protest

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Taman Shud Case

On December 1 1948, a man was washed upon the shore of Somerton beach in South Australia. There was nothing to identify him with, so he became known as “the Somerton Man.” He was found dead early in the morning and was brought to the Royal Adelaide Hospital 3 hours after his discovery. Dr. John Barkley Bennett concluded he passed away no earlier than 2 am, and the most likely cause of death was heart failure, and possible poisoning. In his pockets were various items such as tickets from Adelaide to the beach, matches, and a pack of chewing gum, but nothing such as an ID or money to determine who he was or where he came from. An autopsy was carried out, and in the man’s stomach was a pasty, and a quantity of blood, but it wasn’t certain for sure if the food had poison in it, but there was still no cause of death found.

Fingerprints were taken all throughout Australia, but no one could identify them. Not one person had recognized the body. On January 11, the police had begun to search every hotel the man may have been, every dry cleaner, and railroad station nearby. Then on the 12th, they found a brown suitcase at a railway station. They searched the case, but there was still nothing to identify the man, but the only thing to identify who the case belonged to was a thread which was found on the man’s body. Anything in the case to determine who the man was was removed, such as names on tags, stickers and markings. The police had John Cleland re-examine the body and the belongings, and when he did, he had found a secret pocket sewn into the man’s trousers and a piece of paper inside the pocket, and the phrase written on it was “Tamam Shud.” The phrase itself was misprinted as “Taman Shud,” and it was translated to “It is ended” in English. Still, 72 years later no one has been able to figure out this case, who the man was, what he was doing on the shore, or how he died.

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Gun Violence

by,Autumn Huerta

Gun violence is occurring more and more over the course of the pandemic, and individuals are scared for their safety, not just in some countries, but in countries from around the world. In understanding to Pastor Donovan Price “I just want to sit on the side of the curb, and shake my head and cry.” Pastor Price and numerous other citizens state that the issue of gun violence has been overlooked for so long and this is the ideal opportunity that the cops should help with gun violence now more than ever. Cops are giving a valiant effort to protect citizens from harm, but the police are at their “breaking point” as mentioned by Police Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch. “How can we keep doing our job in this environment?" Lynch said in a statement. Consequently the crime percentages of gun violence and homicides are irregular and are expanding. The cops are doing all they can in a time where we live in fear.

Chicago is among several major US cities experiencing this crazy amount of homicides and shootings as yet this year. Gun violence has come when a lot of stress is happening when events like the pandemic and all the wildfires are happening as well. In Philadelphia the percentage of shootings are 57% from last year, the station reported. Homicides are at 24% on Monday and in New York Has seen a 44% spike so far this year, according to the police. Other countries are facing the same or greater percentages of frightening homicides and shootings. New York is handling their take on it by Mayor Bill de Blasio distracting hundreds more officers than they had in past years to deal with gun violence. "We're not going back to the bad old days when there was so much violence in the city, nor are we going back to the bad old days where policing was done the wrong way and, in too many cases, police and community could never connect and find that mutual respect," de Blasio told reporters last week.

Police Officers have found that there is more gun violence and homicides because of the corona virus stay-at-home orders and people are getting restless. In New York a group of people threw glass bottles at police vehicles and they tried to shoot,but there were no injuries and no arrests were made. As it came to April and May the homicides percentages decreased, but authorities think that it will increase again this year. “We are deeply concerned that in the months ahead we may see more violence in the future," as stated by Thomas Abt, a senior fellow at the Council on Criminal Justice.

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Among Us

Entertainment: Among Us

By Annalicia Urtiaga

If you’ve been playing video games recently, you’ve probably heard of the game Among Us. The cross-platform game is based in space and can be played with a minimum of 4 and up to 10 people at a time. The object of the game is to find and expose the imposter, who is a secret murder on the space ship among the crewmates.

One game of Among Us is typically relatively quick, but quite addictive. The primary goal is to vote out the imposters, but there are also mini tasks you must complete before the end of the game. Unless you are the imposter, in which case your objective is to murder the crewmates without being caught by the others.

This game grew popular quite rapidly, reaching over a million users by September 3rd. By this last Friday, September 25, it had over 3.5 million players. In fact, the game has become so popular that the creators at InnerSloth cancelled the sequel they had planned to create. The reason the creators planned a sequel was because the coding was not up to date and can not support what they had planned. They feel it is best to continue to update and better the game that is doing so well right now.

Currently, you can cross-play Among Us on three different platforms, IOS, Android, and Windows PC. Even if you are not an avid gamer, you will probably love this game. You could join the millions of people that are already hooked on this cross-platform, murder mystery.

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Election

By Makaila Thompson

The first debate of the Presidential election 2020 has officially concluded. On September 29, 2020 the world had the opportunity to watch our leading candidates verbally duke it out. It was by far the most notably chaotic presidential debate to date. President Trump and Joe Biden left the audience in awe of the events we watched. It was the kind of back and forth that made our jaws drop and laugh in disbelief. Very similar to what you would expect of a high school debate team. The constant interruptions and low blows were not what the world was expected to be displayed of the American Presidential candidates.

Article 1 : https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/09/29/takeaways-first-presidential-debate/

The Washington Post highlighted five key points from the initial debate. It was said that Biden distanced himself from the left. The Grand Old Party made it a point to try and highlight this. The Washington Post says, “It wasn’t a profile in bold politics, and it could disappoint some of his liberal allies.” Another key point was President Trump and the white suppremicist. Up and to this point the president hadn't made a clear decision on the topic. The Washington Post says, “Trump left it very unclear, and at least one group saw his words as giving them a nod.” The stand back and stand by comment by the president sent many into fits. The Proud Boys used it as a marketing tool and owned it. Many saw it as the resident as telling the group to stand down. Either way, everyone’s interpretation of his comments were theirs to form.

Article 2 : https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-09-29/trump-biden-first-presidential-debate-takeaways

The Los Angeles Times summed up the debate perfectly, “Well that was ugly.” The point is well delivered when the post talks about how debates like this harden people’s already formed opinions versus changing people’s minds for the better. There were several key takeaways outlined by the LA Times. They call President Trump a bully and ultimately prideful. They mention that he has no common courtesy and “...has no use for the tyranny of timekeepers, the standards of common courtesy or the obligations of social grace.” The LA Times talks about how Joe Biden was alive and kicking in the debate. A header was even Not So Sleepy Joe. It was clear that this article was in favor of the democratic candidate.

Article 3 :

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/9/30/key-fact-checks-from-the-first-presidential-debate

This article was more about fact checking than candidate blaming and finger pointing. There are four key topics covered: coronavirus, racial justice protests, the economy, and voting. The fact that the President mentions the death rate will be much higher if Biden was president was not factual but all opinion. “The accusation that there would be a higher death toll under Biden is predicated on the false assertion that Biden opposed Trump’s early February China travel restrictions.” Both candidates made misleading or false statements in regard to continuing protests sparked following the police-involved death of George Floyd in Minnesota in May. Biden accuses Trump of hiding in a bunker during a protest. Trump talks about support from the Portland Oregon sheriff. Both were later proven to be incorrect. Overall , this article is a neutral take on the debate. It was really my favorite. It was neither demcratic or repblican biased. It just called everyone out on their lies and told the truth. If more articles were like this, people could make clearer decisions.

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British-Iranian mother jailed in Tehran could face extra year in prison

A British - Iranian mother may face an extra year in Iranian prison as there may be new charges filed against her. Nazanin Zaghari - Ratcliffe was arrested back in April of 2016 at the Tehran airport. Zagchari - Ratcliffe was arrested on an espionage charge. Nazanin has been under house arrest since there has been a global pandemic and had to be moved from prison. “Propaganda against the ruling establishment” is what Nazanin's lawyer, Mahmoud Behzadi, described Zaghari - Ratcliffe’s new charges as. Nazanin’s lawyer also stated that she was supposed to go to Revolutionary Court on September 13 of 2020 and the ankle monitor was supposed to be attached that day. Nazanin’s husband, Richard Zaghair - Ratcliffe, stated that the trial was postponed. Her husband also feels like his wife has been “held hostage”. Nazanin herself has felt “Relieved, stressed, and angry” and also feels like a “Bargaining chip” says the British lawmaker, Tulip Siddiq. The UK's Foreign Office also released a statement earlier this month that Iran’s decision about Nazanin’s new charges are so called “indefensible and unacceptable” also adding that Nazanin Zaghari - Ratcliffe should “not return to prison”. As of right now, Nazanin Zaghari - Ratcliffe is under so called “semi house arrest” and can only walk in a 300 - meter radius stated by Nazanin’s lawyer, Mahmoud Behzadi.

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First Presidential Debate

By: Annalicia Urtiaga

As we all know, it is election year. The current US president, Donald Trump, is running for his second term against former vice president, Joe Biden. Last week on Tuesday, September 29th, the first of the three presidential debates took place. It was quite controversial, to say the least.

This year’s debates will be different than before, because of the coronavirus pandemic. The candidates will stand farther apart and will not shake hands. The audience was much smaller as well, having only 80-90 people, and they were all tested for COVID as well as wearing masks. These changes, however, were not the only differences in this year's debate.

Much of the debate consisted of the moderator, Wallace, having to continuously tell the two candidates to stop talking and allow the other to speak. Every topic, from the coronavirus down to family. Insults such as, “clown”, “not smart” and “liar” were thrown around from both parties, as well as interruptions and more arguments rather than having a sophisticated debate.

These arguments happened so much so that the Commission on Presidential Debates are making some changes for the next two debates. A possible new change could be cutting their mics if they continue to interrupt one another. The CPD has not announced all of the changes as of now, but they are still discussing it. More will be to come at the next debate, taking place on October 15th, 2020.

Binge Watching

By Valeria Nunez

With all the shows I have binged watched or shows I took ages to watch, Modern Family has to be the TV show that tops them all. With this show it isn’t like many of the other shows that they have a whole storyline or many episodes that connect it all together. This show is based on this huge family when at first glance seems to be shown as the “perfect” family, but in reality have many common problems that real families have. Each episode comes to show something different which the family faces or a lesson to teach to those big families. In total this show has 11 seasons with each season having 18-24 episodes, and each episode ranging about 30 minutes. It is a perfect show to watch when you want to binge watch a show without a huge storyline to remember, a show that you can just listen to like a podcast, and just to give you something to watch.

Modern family demonstrates this huge family and the common problems that a family would go through. From first boyfriends, kids who do not listen, divorced parents, arguments with the family, and a little of everything families go through. Even with all the ups and downs this huge family goes through it always revolves around the same thing that at the end of the day they are still your family and that you would literally quite do anything for your family. Even when shows portray this “perfect” family or makes you think that “I wish that my family was like this.” I love this show because it doesn’t make me think that, it lets me see that in every family these are problems, that they go through many of the same things, and there are many highs and lows. Modern Family allows the viewers to see it not all show families are perfect and can go through hard times as well.

The Night Stalker

By Valeria Nunez

Richard Ramierz who is also famously known as “The Night Stalker.” Richard Ramierez was known for home invasions murdering people from Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Orange County. When looking at this man you do not think much but a regular man walking down the street but there is so much more than anyone knew. Growing up Richard didn’t have great role models, with having a cousin who corrupted his mind with telling him stories of what his cousins and his friends did to women while being in the army. Also having that same cousin murdering his wife in front of Richard while he was around 11.

Throughout the crime scenes there were satanic symbols which lead detectives to believed the murder was into Santanism. Which was not proven until in the courtroom when he raised his hand and had a pentagram drawn on his palm and yelling “Hail Satan” as he walked out.

Through all this many know that he was known to break into homes and committed murder, robbing, and sexually assualting women. What many people do not know is that was not all he was doing throughout these home invasions. If Richard would commit an home invasion and if the family had a child he would abduct them and sexual assault them in a different location. Or he would abduct children in the open sight throughout the day it didn’t matter because he did not care. Once he no longer wanted the child he would leave them at a location with access to a public phone or a public place where those children could call the police.

It was until August 31, 1985 when he was finally caught and put into a cell. After being found guilty for 13 counts of murder, 5 attepted murders, 11 sexual assults, and 14 bulgaries he was sentence to the death penality. Richard didn’t die until June 7th, 2013 at age 53 but didn’t die on the electric chair but from B-cell lymphoma.

It is crazy how when you follow the trail and look at the case and the first clue they had was a shoe print. How in months looking for more clues, small key details, or just something to finally catch him and to finally catch him. The relief those detectives felt, the peace of all those residents not having to be worried anymore, or those families who lost loved ones because of him and finally getting answers.