Wednesday, September 20, 2023

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Sunday, August 20, 2023

Trailers for Scripts

MikesMunchies.com: Sorrento Cooking School Revisited: That's Amore! text-align:center; from Mike Colonna  on Vimeo .

Saturday, May 13, 2023

The Bates Motel

THE BATES MOTEL

Highway the view from the road from Mary’s viewpoint. It’s getting dark. We see a neon sign of a roadside motel. Mary stops in front of the check in office. She calls her boyfriend to tell him she’s lost. He doesn’t pick up the phone. MARY Jimmy I’m lost, my GPS has gone crazy, I’m parked in front of a roadside called the Bates Motel. Mary is exasperated that she cannot reach her boyfriend. She looks at the surroundings thinking whether she should get out and go into the office to get directions. She enters and walks up to a shabby looking front desk. She taps the bell on the desk for service. WOMAN’S VOICE Go tend to the young pretty woman and leave me alone. You’re always leaving me. I’m tired of it Norman, you’re making very hard on me, I’m starting to lose my patience with you.

NORMAN (Blurting out) You’re a witch, you can’t run my life, I’m fed up taking care of you. Combing your hair, cleaning after you, just Shut up, did you hear me Shut up! Mary hears the shouting match, she’s alarmed. Norman open a screen door, it closes with a startling bang NORMAN (CONT’D) (a composed Norman walk’s in as if nothing happened. Can I help you? MARY I’m looking for the main road back into town can you help me? NORMAN How did you get lost and find us? MARY Just made the wrong turn, my phone is not working  and I just need help.  

NORMAN Are you sure you’re not looking for a one night stand and he hasn’t arrived yet. MARY Why would you say something like that? It told you I’m lost. NORMAN If you’re not looking for a one night stand, what are you looking for, looks to me like you’re running away from something. MARY What gives you that idea? I really want direction on how to get out of here. NORMAN No. I really think you’re running from something. We all have our private hells we run from, what are you running from? MARY I’m not running from anything. NORMAN My mother always said, you never know who’s following you and what bad intentions they have. MARY You’re mother? NORMAN She lives in the house behind (pointing toward the door).  

MARY Is your mother OK? NORMAN She’s not herself today. She get in her moods. MARY If I’ve created a problem I’ll find someone else to give me directions. NORMAN I want to apologize, she’s a needy person. MARY Maybe I should leave, she sounds like she needs your help. NORMAN Are you hungry, mother made some great cookies, can I offer you a cup of coffee, what would you like. MARY I guess a cup of coffee would be fine. Norman invites her the parlor behind the desk. Starts the coffee maker. Keeps looking back at Mary. NORMAN Is it cold in here? Would you like me to turn on the heater? MARY No I’m fine. We hear the coffee maker squirting coffee into a paper cup. NORMAN I haven’t done the dishes yet do you mind a paper cup? MARY )Wondering what she’s gotten herself into.) No a pape cup will be fine.  

NORMAN (reaches for a tray of cookies) Mother made these, they’re her favorites. Mary looks past the parlor back into the office, late afternoon is turning into night. Very dark outside. MARY Hmm..very tasty. She looks around the room suspiciously. Crude paintings are hanging from the wall. NORMAN I see you’re noticing my mothers artwork. The paintings have a dark tone to them. MARY They’re very nice. (Trying not to be insulting) NORMAN You’re very kind. MARY What exactly do you do? NORMAN Beside’s running the office, I change the sheets in the cabins, keep the grounds clean, and I do chores for my mother. MARY Do you have any friends? NORMAN I don’t need friends. My mother is my best friend.  

MARY I admire a man who loves his mother. NORMAN Yes, sometimes we are born to comfort the ones we love. We’re almost trapped and we can’t claw out of it. MARY Your mother did not sound like a pleasant person. My mother would never talk to me like that. NORMAN You have a point. But sometimes we get into these shouting sessions, she curses at me and I threaten to leave her and never come back. But I don’t. I know she needs help and couldn’t live without me. MARY Is she bedridden or in a wheelchair? NORMAN Not really. She’s a very strong woman. My dad left us at a very young age, she inherited this Motel, I adore her for all the things she’s done for me. She tried to run to this place (he looks around the premises) but this was too much for her. So I volunteered so I’ve been stuck in the place, with no hope for a future. MARY She does love you, doesn’t she? NORMAN She’s had some men in her life, they all disappear, I try my best, but she does need a man to complete her life. MARY Looks like you’ve stepped in and filled the void. NORMAN She needs another man, that’s it.  

MARY Why don’t you just leave? NORMAN It’s too late, who would look after her? When you love your mother you just can’t leave her there alone without anybody. MARY How about a rest home? Then you could sell this place and become your own man. NORMAN No way, a rest home for mom. No way. MARY Just trying to help. NORMAN (Aggravated) Put her in a rest home? Norman stares at Mary with a coldness in his eyes. NORMAN (CONT’D) She’s not ready to be put in a nuthouse or whatever you want to call it. MARY I didn’t mean it that way. NORMAN People like you never do. Do you know what those mental institutions are like? Hat’s with electric shock wires hooked to them, people running out of control down halls, putting people like my mother in straightjackets.  

MARY I’m really sorry, you’re taking this the wrong way. Norman appears very irritated, Mary appears to be feeling sorry for Norman. NORMAN I understand. Norman’s emotions subside, he’s now very solemn and appears hurt. Mary is looking at a very disturbed person. MARY It’s getting late, I should be going. NORMAN Look we have 12 empty cabins, you’re welcome to stay in one until the morning, but don’t tell my mother, please. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not as if she’s a raving maniac, if she finds out she goes off the deep end. MARY Are you offering me a room till the morning? NORMAN Just don’t tell anyone. Especially my mother. MARY (Mary thinks about it)  Thank’s Norman, I'll take you up on your offer. I’m very tired, I’ll be gone very early. NORMAN Where are you headed, MARY I have to meet someone in Bakersfield. NORMAN Bakersfield?  

MARY Yes I’m going to a security meeting. NORMAN Well, I’ll show you to your cabin if you’re ready. MARY Need to get my suitcase. I’ll be back. Mary goes out the front and walks to her car and takes a small suitcase out of the backseat. She turns and Norman is standing directly behind her. Mary is startled. NORMAN I can help you with that. Still recovering from the shock of Norman's presents she is visibly shaken. MARY I can handle that. NORMAN No I insist. Mary follows Norman down a dimly lit walkway past several cabins. He abruptly stops at the last cabin. Unlock the door. MARY I’ll take it from here. NORMAN Let me show you around. Norman turns on the light. A double bed with neatly manicured blankets and sheets. NORMAN (CONT’D) Here’s the closet.  

MARY Thank you, is there a phone? NORMAN Yes it’s in the drawer, here. If you need to make a call, I can connect you from the office at my mother's house behind the motel. MARY Thank you Norman, thanks for your help. Norman sits in a chair inside the room. Mary’s suitcase is on the bed, she looks uncomfortable with Norman sitting in the same room. She looks at him, he’s in deep thought. MARY (CONT’D)  

Norman, (in a loud voice) Norman wakes out of his trance, jumps up and walks to the door and opens (creaking) and walks out. Mary, looks around the room, peeks through the window curtain overlooking the walkway to see if Norman has left. She walks into the bathroom, turns on the shower, walks back into the bedroom and undresses. Walks into the bathroom leaving the door partially open. We see Mary’s back as she removes the towel, partially exposing her upper torso. Her eyes show concern, after she moves into the shower, we see the door slowly close.  

And we see a shadow of a woman standing behind the curtain. Mary senses danger. The room is now filled with the steam from the shower’s hot water. Suddenly we see a hand reach up, grasp the shower curtain, and rip it open. The steam hides the intruder and Mary. A hand appears through the steam holding a glistening large bread knife. The hand comes up to strike Mary in the shower, Mary spins in the steamy shower, and kicks the attacker in the stomach, then grabs the attacker's arm holding the knife and breaks the attacker's arm. The knife falls to the floor, Mary is in full combat mode, we see blurred fighting, Mary puts the attacker in a choke hold. The attacker falls to the floor, unconscious. Mary recovers, we see her in a full body towel walking out of the bathroom with a body laying on the floor. She puts on a robe, Mary walks back into the bathroom, and recognizes her assailant. Lipstick is smeared around his mouth, he’s wearing a tattered dress. She pulls the wig off his head. Norman.

Thursday, May 19, 2022

Dark Elevator Trailer

Thursday, January 28, 2021

I'll Be Back by Mike Colonna

The Dark Elevator “I will be back” By Mike Colonna BestBeachBuys@Gmail.com 714-747-5670

Inspired by a True Story Charlie was a self made man. He owned a very successful Dot Com company. He was always fascinated with death and the after life. But is it really possible to come back from the dead? Charlie repeated this mantra almost every day of his life. Returning from a business trip, Jimmy Hartman, his business partner and best friend took back road short cut from Las Vegas back to L.A. While driving, Jimmy took his eye off the road to check on Charlie napping in the back seat. The unthinkable happened. A head on collision with a truck that swerved and hit their car, head on.

Jimmy was seriously injured, Charlie sleeping in the back seat, without his seatbelt, was catapulted from the car and died instantly. He had just gotten married to the beautiful Shella O’Rourke who he met on an “online dating” site. They were together for two years before they decided to tie the Knot. He was very popular, his friends envied his business prowess, and magnanimous personality. One thing stood out about Charlie, he loved life but always bragged that he would “be back.” Flash back Sitting at a restaurant bar, Charlie meets his future wife for the first time. Charlie is sitting at a high table sipping on a glass of water and in walks his on line date and future wife.

SHEILA Well here we are. I never thought I would be meeting a man from a dating site. CHARLIE That makes two of us. I didn’t expect to meet a man either. SHEILA (Chuckle) Well that’s a good thing. Where do we start. CHARLIE I’ll take a shot at it. As you may have checked my bio, I’ve never been married before, have no children, that I know off, my mom and dad are still kicking, my younger brother Jimmy is happily married with two young boys and no sister to pick on. SHEILA That was quick. Well let’s see, I’m an only child. My mom is still alive, my dad passed away when I was a little girl. I was a cheerleader in High School, dated a few guys, but I always wanted to be a nurse and help people.

CHARLIE A nurse? Funny, I wanted to be a Vet. As a matter of fact I almost went to Medical School and thought I would make one hell of a doctor. A waitress approaches. WAITRESS How are you guys doing today. Can I get you anything. SHEILA I’ll have a “Dirty Martini.” CHARLIE Wow, a “Dirty Martini.” WAITRESS And you sir? CHARLIE I’ll have a “Death in the Afternoon.” WAITRESS Never heard of that one. CHARLIE It’s a mix of absinthe-and-champagne it’s credited to Ernest Hemingway. WAITRESS Ernest Who? CHARLIE You know, Ernest Hemingway. The drink is named after his 1932 treatise on bullfighting. The book is all about fear and courage, life and death.

WAITRESS (Looks puzzled) Hmm Death in the Afternoon.” I’ll see if he can make that for you sir. What was the man that invented it? CHARLIE Tell him Ernest Hemingway. SHEILA Wow, now that shows the character of a man. CHARLIE You know when I was a kid, I went to Catholic Grammar and High Schools. My parents were very religious. Follow the golden rule or you would never get to heaven, I always wondered if there was a heaven or even hell. SHEILA Well, what did you come up with? CHARLIE I told my parents “don’t be surprised when I die, I will be back.” SHEILA Very interesting. Waitress arrives with drinks. WAITRESS Our bartender had to look up how to make your “Death in the afternoon.” We see them toast from a distance and keep talking. Different clips of walks in the park, going out to dinner, and eventually getting married in a Las Vegas chapel. Seven years later, Charlie and Sheila visit the same restaurant where they first met. CHARLIE You know, I think this is the same table we sat at on our first date. SHEILA You mean my first audition. I was so nervous. CHARLIE Nervous? You didn’t look nervous at all. I couldn’t take my eyes off of you. SHEILA (Shy) Looking away. To say it was love at first site would be an overstatement. I remember you confused the hell out our waitress.

CHARLIE What do you mean. SHEILA Well, I ordered a “Dirty Martini,” and you ordered some type of exotic drink. Some drink from a famous novelist. CHARLIE Now I remember, It was a drink called “Death something like that. SHEILA “Death in the Afternoon.” Ernest Hemingway’s favorite drink. CHARLIE Oh, yea, honey you have a great memory. SHEILA You said something about how you planned to come back when you died. CHARLIE You’re right. I still think that I’m coming back to check on you if anything happens to me. SHEILA Let’s not talk about death, Ok Charlie. We’re here to celebrate our five year anniversary, and I don’t want to spoil it by talking about you leaving me. CHARLIE You know I will never leave you. But I been meaning to tell you about a short business trip I have to take next weekend. There’s a some type of “techi” convention in Vegas and were going to meet some VIP’s from Oracle. SHEILA Thanks for the head’s up. Were here now let’s make the most of it. They toast. The next week.

CHARLIE Honey did you get a chance to pick up my cleaning. I want to wear that sport coat you bought me for Christmas. SHEILA Yep, it’s in your closet. CHARLIE You know last week when we celebrated our fifth anniversary, we were talking about life and death. I’m not planning to leave you ever. And if I did, I was serious, I will be back. SHEILA So you’re going to check up on me? CHARLIE Absolutely. SHEILA You are not going anywhere, Honey. And there will never be another man. CHARLIE Never say never. Charlie comes down the stairs, with a small suitcase. It’s time for his business trip to Las Vegas. His business partner Jimmy, drives up. Charlie get’s a big kiss from Sheila. SHEILA I love you, stay safe. CHARLIE Love you too. JIMMY Well Charlie, are you ready to wrap up this Bank Rep app account. CHARLIE Ready as I’ll ever be. If we make this happen we could be the next Facebook.

JIMMY That’s a stretch but we’ll be on our way. They arrive in Las Vegas. They check into separate rooms. Charlie is up all night putting the final touches on his pitch. His laptop is full of charts and graphs. He finally is exhausted and falls asleep on the bed. Alarm sounds, Charlie gets cleaned up. Jimmy is waiting in the casino coffee shop. Charlie looks for a quiet booth in the corner. That’s were the pitch for their idea will be presented. A smartly dressed businessman walks into the coffee shop, the trio greet each other and Charlie leads them to the back booth. The pitch begins. They move out of the booth and everyone appears to be on the same page. Body language appear that Charlie and Jimmy hit the jackpot. CHARLIE (On his cell) Sheila, looks like we’ve hit it big. I can’t wait to tell you about it. SHEILA Hurry home. Can’t wait to see you. JIMMY Let’s get on the road. It gets dark out here fast. CHARLIE Copy that. They congratulate each other. They meet in the lobby of the hotel with their briefcases and small luggage. The valet delivers their car. Jimmy drives. JIMMY It is dark out here. Someday they’ll light up this highway.

CHARLIE Hey Jim, I didn’t get much sleep last night. Could you pull over, I’d like to take a short nap in the back seat. JIMMY You got it buddy. They pull over, Charlie take’s off his coat, puffs it up like a pillow, Jimmy takes off, and Charlie begins napping in the back seat. Sheila is standing in the kitchen sipping a cup of coffee, she has a flash back of her first date with Charlie. SHEILA “Death in the Afternoon.” I will be back to check up on you. (She smiles with a twinkle in her eye) Meanwhile Jimmy is driving and the dimly lit road and the jagged white stripe’s are becoming monotonous. Jimmy looks into the back seat to see how Charlie’s doing. In a flash a pickup truck in the opposite lane swerves into Jimmy’s lane. A head-on collision. Air bags explode, the car veers off the road, catapults in the air and finally rests in a ditch. Jimmy sees the back door open. He checks to see if Charlie’s ok. Charlie is resting about 20 feet from the car. JIMMY Charlie wake up. C’mon buddy don’t leave me like this. Jimmy begins sobbing next to his best friend Charlie. He calls for help.

SHEILA (On the phone) No, God No. Sheila sits down on the couch, She grabs Charlie’s picture and holds it against her. She’s sobbing. SHEILA I can’t believe this. I just can’t believe it. Sheila reminisces about the great times she had with Charlie, his strong character, smiling face, his funny stories and his story about if he died somehow he would come back. SHEILA (Out loud) What am I going to do? A very small funeral at the local chapel. At the alter is an open casket with Charlie laying in rest. Sheila requested that just a very few of Charlie’s friends attend. The priest talks about Charlie’s life, a quick sermon and the service is over. His friends pay their respects to Charlie and Sheila. The chapel is now empty with Charlie facing the heavens with his eyes closed. Sheila is shaken, she makes her way to the casket to visit Charlie for the last time. She’s crying, looks at his face that has a faint smile.

SHEILA (She bends down to kiss Charlie) I love you Charlie and I always will. As Sheila begins to move away from Charlie’s face, she does a double take and looks at Charlie again. Charlie’s left eye opens and winks. Sheila turns away and has a tearful smile. SHEILA I love you Charlie.

The Varsity by Mike Colonna Treatment

SUDDEN DEATH Trailer Trainer opens High School lccker room for Coach Rank Montiforte. Six former all American high school players one by one enter the high school around midnite. Coach Montiforte introduces each participant, he’s standing in front of a chalk board, which shows a shotgun formation with a quarterback and six linemen. The defense is made up of 11 players all henchmen working for head coach and criminal operative, Miguel “Cisco” Esquivel. Hu

man trafficking, drug distribution, etc. Montiforte’s team works out black UPS converted van loaded with computers and GPS devices. Pam Lister, an LAPD detective by day, and a member of the coaches team “The Trojan Horse,” supplies the coach and his team with information leading them to the capture or elimination of the Trojans number one target.

San Pedro Cops research Mike Colonna

SAN PEDRO COPS Mike Colonna 714-747-5670

Murders send a chill up our spines and force us to consider our own mortality especially when the murders look like these 25 most shocking murders ever committed. The only thing worse than a murder is an unsolved murder where the killer likely walks free and the family of the deceased has not been able to find closure. Despite DNA testing and advanced crime scene technologies, police still find it difficult to solve some cases, whether due to lack of evidence or lack of leads or other circumstances. The murders in this list remain unsolved mysteries to this day. From ex-lovers to coworkers to complete strangers, the suspects are varied and diverse. Make sure the lights are on when reading this list of the 25 most terrifying unsolved murder mysteries.

A story which could have been F. Scott Fitzgerald’s sequel to The Great Gatsby is that of Camilla Lyman. A well-known clumber spaniel breeder, Camilla was a rich recluse who underwent a physical transformation from woman to man from 1978 to 1985 and took on the name Cam. Cam met George O’Neil in 1981 and hired him as caretaker of his estate and dogs. When Cam failed to send his annual Christmas cards to family in 1987, they knew something was up. Police questioned O’Neil who said he hadn’t seen Cam since the summer, assuming he had gone to Europe to finish the gender reassignment surgery (though he gave no reason why he thought this). Eight years later, Cam was declared legally dead by his family; two years after that, the new estate owner found his body in a sewer. O’Neil was naturally the prime suspect but police could never link him to the death. He was, though, indicted for embezzling money which arrived in Cam’s name and keeping it. If O’Neil was the real killer, he recently (coldly) said, “She’s dead. I don’t know anything about it.”

Mario Amado thought he was taking a leisurely vacation to Rosarito Beach, Mexico, with his brother and their girlfriends. But their beach holiday took a turn for the worst. Arrested for fighting with his girlfriend, Mario was taken to prison where he was found hanging in his jail cell two hours after the arrest. The police officers were thought to have beaten Mario to death and tried to cover up it. After a second autopsy, evidence emerged that proved death by trauma. One officer, Jose Antonio Verduzco Flores, was arrested and sentenced to 8.5 years in prison, only four months of which he served. His sentence was soon overturned and the murder mystery remains unsolved.

The emergency line in Wheeling, Illinois, received a strange call on October 28, 1991. An unknown man called the emergency number, giving the address of an unconscious woman. Before the operator could get more information, he hung up the phone. Paramedics arrived on the scene to find exotic dancer Jamie Santos nearly dead in her home. Jamie appeared to have struggled with her killer and ultimately died from asphyxiation by pillow. (The previous day, Jamie cancelled various appointments, leading police to wonder whether she had expected something odd to happen.) Police believe a former customer may have killed Jamie, but with almost no evidence, the case never progressed.

Dick Hansen and his friend Jean were hanging out together before chatting in his car at the end of the night. A car pulled up and parked behind them on a street where only their two cars remained. As they left, Jean followed Dick as she wasn’t familiar with the area, soon getting the idea they were being following by the other car. Darting across a highway and trying desperately to lose their stalker, Jean and Dick exited the highway and parked their cars, behind which the car rolled up and parked behind them. Dick went to confront the man who mortally wounded him. Jean ran back to help Dick and barely caught a glimpse of the shooter as the car sped away. To this day, the murder has not been solved. Jean thinks, due to the man’s football-like build and her license plate reading “49R HUGS”, the killer may have been a fanatic of a rival team, though the ball still hasn’t been caught on Dick’s killer.

Indiana University of Pennsylvania student Jack Davis Jr. was found dead in a campus stairwell in October 1987. Police initially ruled the cause of death as choking, claiming he died by passing out, vomiting, and swallowing the vomit which he then choked on. A pathologist was called in by the family some years later who found no food in his lungs and found his skull fractured in three places. These discoveries led to the opening of the case again but it was soon closed after further information was not found. Some believe Jack was in a fight that night and, after his attackers found he wasn’t getting better, dumped his body in the stairwell once he died. 19

Ron Gillispie An anonymous writer only identified as the Circleville Writer wrote to Mary Gillespie in December of 1976. The Circleville Writer claimed to know of her extramarital affair with the school superintendent and threatened violence to get her to stop. Her husband Ron received a phone call many months later after which he drove away from the house with his gun. His body was found nearby with a bullet wound, the car crashed off the road. Mary’s brother, Paul, was arrested for the murder and incarcerated, though the harassing letters continued to arrive. As he was convicted circumstantially and the letters kept coming, Paul was released; the killer has yet to be identified.

Blair Adams was a young Canadian construction worker who feared someone was after him. After a string of erratic behaviors – withdrawing all money from his savings account, trying to get across the American border (he was denied as he had a large sum of money, the sign of a drug trafficker), buying a roundtrip ticket to Germany which he soon returned – Blair managed to cross the border to Seattle in a rental car. He flew one-way to Washington D.C. and drove to Kentucky. In Knoxville, he told a gas station attendant his car wouldn’t start and the attendant told him he had the the wrong keys. Hitchhiking to a nearby hotel, Blair checked in and later left the hotel. His body was found 12 hours later, naked from the waist down and surrounded in Canadian and American dollars and German marks, in a parking lot.

Wil Hendrick was a University of Idaho student in 1999. While attending a friend’s party, Wil mysteriously disappeared. Rumours began circulating Wil had confronted a group of people at an earlier party over his sexuality and that he was killed for it. The following night, his car was found parked outside of his friend’s house and gone the following day, found parked downtown – unlocked and with his portfolio in it. Though there were no signs of tampering, Wil’s partner Jerry thinks a man driving a refrigerated truck who yelled a gay slur at Wil could be responsible. The man was leaving town and no trail has ever been found. Three years later, Wil’s body was found in a rural part of his college town.

Lawton, Oklahoma, played host to the gruesome and unsolved death of Aileen Conway in 1986. Aileen’s body was found in her flaming car in what her husband (Pat) believes was murder. Though the cause of death was initially ruled an accident, Pat found evidence which seems to prove the contrary, including the car which was smothered in gasoline and a few erratic instances at home such as the iron being left on, her purse left behind, and the water hose filling up the pool. The current assumption is that Aileen may have walked in on burglars who were robbing the neighborhood and the burglars kidnapped her and tried to make her death seem like a road accident.

Angie Housman was a normal fourth-grader living in the suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri. Last seen alive eight houses away at her local school bus stop, Angie mysteriously disappeared. Her limp, ice-dotted body was found nine days later tied to a tree. The cause of death believed to be exposure to the elements, medical examiners found her kidnapper raped and tortured her for a week before duct-taping her live body to the tree. Though police pulled DNA and fingerprints from her body, they have never been able to identify their owner and thus the killer in this murder mystery.

Su Taraskiewicz was a ramp supervisor at Northwest Airlines in the early 1990’s, only the second female ground service worker for Northwest. Though her death by stabbing and assault was ruled a random act of violence when her body was discovered in the trunk of her car, over a year later her mother was flipping through her diary and found a complex tale of sexual harassment and corruption at work. Su filed complaints with the airline for sexual harassment by her coworkers, but the abuse only worsened. The previous summer, baggage handlers were found to be stealing packages of new credit cards sent in the cargo hold and using or selling them. Some of Su’s coworkers are suspected in her murder, but with little information, her murder remains unsolved.

Twelve people among Cleveland, Ohio’s homeless population were murdered in the late 1930’s and nobody knows who did it. Also known as the Butcher of Kingsbury Run (a suburb of Cleveland), the Cleveland Torso Murderer always beheaded his/her victims and often cut them in half, even castrating most of the males. Some of the victims’ bodies were found so long after (up to a year in one case) that it was impossible to identify them. Though there were two loose suspects, neither was ever truly linked to the murders.

The town of Gormania, West Virginia, was rocked by a yet unsolved murder-disappearance in early 1998. Teenager Cathy Ford was having an affair with a local police officer, Paul Ferrell. The day after speaking to Paul on the phone, Cathy vanished. Paul found her car near her trailer the next day, burnt to a crisp; police wouldn’t find the car until two weeks later. Paul was later arrested and charged as he did not report the car (and sent a fake letter to the police purportedly from Cathy and as blood found in his bedroom was “not inconsistent” with that from Cathy’s parents. Cathy’s body was never found and an investigative journalist found two witnesses who claimed to have seen Cathy long after her supposed death. Paul was released on parole over 15 years later and some believe he was innocent.

Happy newlyweds Su-Ya Kim and Su Young moved from Korea to the U.S. in 1981. After having two children and opening two successful stores, Su arrived home one day and found his wife Su-Ya had not returned and the car engine was cold. The following day, a security guard found a body in a trash dumpster and reported a white man with round glasses had acted strangely around the bin early that morning. Police identified the body as Su-Ya’s but the evidence has not been sufficient enough to find the killer. With the pain of his wife’s death too hard to bear, Su moved back to Korea with his children a few months later.

Rachael Runyan was like any typical three-year-old girl, playing in her front yard one day when she was kidnapped by an unknown man. Exactly 21 days later, her body was discovered in a rural creek near her hometown. Little evidence existed then, but years later the killer left a message in a market bathroom. He or she claimed that Rachael’s murder was part of a Satanic ritual and police believe she was filmed being molested, tortured, and murdered in a snuff film (“a movie in a purported genre of movies in which an actor is actually murdered or commits suicide”, American Heritage Dictionary). No one has ever been charged with her murder and the mystery remains unsolved.

It’s not unusual for couples to fight as Leroy Drieth and girlfriend Patty did one night. What made it unusual was that after the argument, Leroy’s car crashed into a tree upon leaving Patty’s house and his death was initially ruled a suicide. (A witness said Leroy told him he was going to kill himself after the argument.) Still unsure, his family had his body exhumed 25 years later and knife marks were found on his neck. His family believes Patty’s family may be to blame.

A gang of thugs was terrorizing the small town of Rock Creek, Ohio, in the late 1960’s. Newly hired Chief of Police Robert Hamrick vowed to put an end to the gang, arresting several members while his family received death threats. While pursuing a fleeing vehicle, communication between Robert and the radio dispatcher ended when the line went dead. His car was found four hours later stuck in a tree, with most of his skull crushed and the car windows intact, leading some to believe he was beaten after the crash. Though a witness reported hearing gang members brag about murdering the officer, no one was ever connected or arrested.

Philip Frasier, aged 25, was on his way from Anchorage to Washington state in the summer of 1988. On the way, he picked up a hitchhiker at a service station en route. That night, the hitchhiker arrived at the house of Eddie and Pauline Olson in British Columbia, Canada. He said “his” car was having trouble and they offered to let him stay the night. The next morning, the hitchhiker introduced himself as Philip Frasier and tried to sell the car to Eddie so he could buy a plane ticket. Eddie refused, the hitchhiker drove off, and the car was found burnt out over 300 miles away. Philip’s body wasn’t found for six more weeks, dumped off a turnaround on a country road, and the search for his killer remains.

Ruth Cooper and younger boyfriend Stephen Harkins went camping near Tacoma, Washington in the summer of ’85. Four days after they were last seen, Stephen and his dog’s bodies were found dead (by bullet wounds) in his sleeping bag. Ruth’s body was found two months later, decapitated with a tube sock around her neck. Four months later, Diana Robertson’s body was found deep in a Washington forest, murdered the same way as Ruth. Her boyfriend, Mike Riemer, was nowhere to be found though a note in his blood-stained truck nearby read “I love you, Diana.” Police believed Mike was the murder for 25 years, until his skull was found a mile away from where Diana’s body laid. The case is still unsolved and an unknown serial killer may still be on the loose.

An orthopedic surgeon living near Los Angeles, California, Ted Loseff was experiencing marital disputes with his two-year wife, Wilma. On February 23, 1974, Ted was found lifeless in his car, presumably having suffocated to death in his garage from the running car. Police immediately suspected his wife Wilma, even though their prenuptial agreement stated she would not receive anything in the case of his death. A friend identified Ted’s handwriting in a supposed suicide note written by Ted which asked Wilma for compassion but claimed it was written many months before. An autopsy was finally performed four years later which showed Ted had had been involved in a struggle and vomited before death (the remnants of which were found inside). His wife Wilma died almost 10 years after his death without enough evidence to charge her and Ted Loseff’s death remains unsolved.

Leticia Hernandez, a seven-year-old girl from Oceanside, California, was kidnapped while playing in her front yard in December 1989. Afterwards, several people reported seeing Leticia at different places across the United States with a man and woman in their late twenties, but she was never seen with them by authorities. Over a year later, her body was found off a highway near her hometown, believed to have been killed between 1 to 12 months after her abduction. Her mother died in 1998 without ever finding the true killer.

Nineteen-year-old Keith Warren was found hanging from a tree near his Silver Spring, Maryland, home in what was ruled a suicide. Over five years later, Keith’s mother received an envelope with photos that helped her force police (who had been uncooperative) to reopen the case. The photos showed Keith was wearing clothes which weren’t his and had been initially laid on the ground before being raised up on the tree (which was so small a suicide on it was essentially impossible). Keith’s body was exhumed and deadly chemicals were found in it. Almost 20 years after his death, the case was reopened by the Montgomery County Police Department in 2014. They admitted the investigating officer ruled Keith’s death as a suicide based on hearsay from an unknown source. Keith’s sister Sherri is actively pursuing the answer to her brother’s unsolved murder.

The disappearance of Tina Marcotte and death of Tom Keuter are one of the strangest unsolved murder mysteries out there. Tina called her friend Vicky for a ride late one night as she was heading home from work as her car had a flat tire (which was later found to have been slashed). Tom, a coworker and the man Tina told her friend on the phone would give her a ride, was the prime suspect after Tina disappeared. He voluntarily went in for police questioning and gave a story which didn’t entirely fit but wasn’t enough to arrest him. Three days after Tina’s disappearance, police told Tom they found blood in his car and, just after the shift change the following day, Tom was found dead, crushed by the rear wheel of his forklift. Police believe he loaded the machine with 2,000 pounds (907 kg) of lumber from the yard he worked at, drove the forklift up an incline, and ran back to lay in its path as it drifted down. Over two years later, Tina’s body was found under a wood pile at Tom’s former employer; the cause of death was blunt force trauma. Neither Tina’s disappearance nor Tom’s death have ever been truly solved.

One Unlucky Guy by Mike Colonna

ONE UNLUCKY GUY Wise Guys Sketch By Mike Colonna

Nick “The Nose” Manicotti Tony “The Forehead” Pomponio Frank “Dimples” Montiforte Tony “The Godfather” Dijerlando One Unlucky guy Frank DiGambliano The Voice Larry Capeloto A news desk with a TV Monitor and One Unlucky Guy from the Cook County Jail. (V.O.)THE VOICE Today we ask four gentlemen from Chicago’s underworld questions about how men with such low IQ”s have become so successful. Frowning, Manicotti, Pomponio, Montiforte, Dijerlando all look up to the ceiling looking for semblance or source of the voice. VO THE VOICE Although they are pillar of their families, (they all have happy faces nodding approval) they all have amassed records as “bookies,” scoundrels, and hitmen for local gangsters. (They look for the voice, with ticked off expressions.) VO THE VOICE Let’s introduce our lineup. They all brush off their clothes, ready for their introduction. VO THE VOICE Of losers

MONTIFORTE Who you calling a loser (looking for the voice under the table, the walls, ceiling.) VO THE VOICE Nick “The Nose” Monicote. (Monicote parades his proud nose) he’s the one with the long nose who thinks he looks like a handsome Cyriac Dibergio, (Monicote proudly accepts the comparison) Pause but really looks like a poor mans pinochio. (Manicotti is pissed, looking for the voice) The nose has gotten him in a of trouble, once he thought lost his wallet and sniffed around his home like a “bloodhound” until his wife showed up and caught him eating their dog’s kibble. Manicotti is visibly upset with the Voice. VO THE VOICE Then there’s Tony “The Forehead” Pomponio, (Tony is pressing his hair to display his forehead) He too has a penchant for disgracing his family. POMPINIO Penchant, what’s a penchant? (Looking for the voice) VO THE VOICE He’s been caught feeding pigeons at Buckingham Fountain, trapping them, taking them home to his wife pretending they were small chickens. (Pomponio looks for the Voice with vengeance) VO THE VOICE His family lives a life of luxury (Pomponio chest out proud smiles at his pals, salutes the Voice for the compliment, but his family has no idea that he wet’s the bed at night.

VO THE VOICE Then there’s Frankie “Dimples” Montiforte. He’s enamoured with Pomponio’s forehead but doesn’t let on that he has felling for Tony “The Forehead.” (Frankie looks up in disgust at the Voice looking for the voice) MONTIFORTE (Looking up at the voice) I do not have feeling for Tony “The Forehead.” (Fist at the Voice) Take it back, VO THE VOICE Ok, I’ll take it back...(Frankie looks pleased for a moment) VO THE VOICE No I won’t take it back! (Frankie needs to find the voice) Just admit it, you are in love with Tony “The Forehead,” and everyone knows it. The panel nods up at the Voice in agreement.

MONTIFORTE I am not VO THE VOICE You are too MONTIFORTE Not Everyone agrees with the Voice. Now we have Tony “The Godfather” Dijerlando. Tony at one time weighed more than 450 pounds. He went on a potato diet and in two years has lost more than 200 pounds. The Godfather, stands and show’s off his body. VO THE VOICE The Godfather has a reputation of being the consigliere for the mob, he is looked up as role model by their families. (The Godfather is proud of the compliment, shows it) but the word is that The Godfather sleeps with a blow up doll and calls her “Tricksy” after his first wife. (The Godfather scorns the Voice with a scowl and fist.) Let’s listen in while Nick “The Nose” brings the panel to order.