True Crime Blog
Texas 1977 A hot ball of glowing gasses steadily climbed in the eastern sky, threatening to drive temperatures into the triple digits in defiance of the onset of fall. It was the 25th day of September and the start of a typical Sunday in the small town of Denton: Texans moseyed into diners for breakfast…
Crimes are often deterred by only to the watchful eyes of off-duty cops. An officer’s demeanor, command presence, can at times, make a crook think twice. Most departments don’t require off-duty officers to take action when crimes occur in their presence. Generally, the cop is only encouraged to be a good witnesses rather than physically interceding…
Twenty-two years ago today, 18-year-old Angie Raye Dodge was killed as she slept in her upstairs apartment in the sleepy town of Idaho Falls, Idaho. At the time of Angie’s murder, DNA had become a household term thanks to the spectacle that was the O.J. Simpson murder trial in Los Angeles. Simpson’s 1995 acquittal should…
This week I wanted to answer a question often asked by those who follow my blog: What are you reading? Who are your favorite authors? Favorite Crime Authors Joseph Wambaugh When I was a young man just out of high school, I was introduced to Wambaugh novels by my good friend Johnny Babbitt. He asked if I…
“She’s going to kill us both.” The big man at the other end of my gun glanced over to see my partner pointing her gun at him—at us—the barrel bouncing in her shaking hands. He said, “I’m cool, man.”
Baptism by Fire Before I had a chance to grab a cup of coffee or discover the location of my desk, I was given my first assignment as a homicide detective. A 16-year-old boy had been killed by a train in the City of Industry. It was a chilly fall morning, and I made the…
Nada Lazarevic, a first-generation American, immigrated from Yugoslavia. The 67-year-old was a seamstress by trade who had built a steady and substantial clientele. Thrifty and hardworking, Nada saved until she could pay cash for her modest home and sensible car. She abhorred debt. Nada was living The American Dream, until she disappeared. That was the…
Crimson was twenty-two, single, and vivacious. The daughter of perhaps the most forgiving woman I’ve ever met. She had recently broken up with Derek. He was the macho sort who boasted of his combat experience as a paratrooper during Desert Storm. Which, as it turns out, was a lie. He wasn’t a paratrooper, he hadn’t…
The Greatest Job I ever Left SPI (pronounced “spy”), the acronym for Special Investigations Bureau, was a Detective Division assignment within the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. It has been renamed to Major Crimes Bureau. Personally, I liked SPI better. The bureau comprises several details: Metro, Prison Gangs, Biker Gangs, Vice, Surveillance, and Organized Crime.…
Dickie Floyd here, Live from Vegas! This week I am attending a gathering of the California Homicide Investigators Association in Las Vegas, Nevada. These conferences are a lot of fun, but this time, I’m all business (not entirely true). Work creates thirst, but thankfully, I am here in the hospitality suite, signing and selling books.…