Blake Layman made a very bad decision when he was 16. That decision set off a series of circumstances that culminated with his arrest and conviction for felony murder. But Blake didn’t kill anyone. He broke into a house unarmed. The homeowner, who was armed, shot at him and his friend. His friend was killed. By Indiana’s Felony Murder Rule, Blake is now officially a murderer.
The felony murder rule, which comes from all the way back in old English law, treats people who are guilty of lesser crimes as murderers if they are with murderers when a murder occurs during the commission of a felony.
Almost every state in the United States has a felony murder rule, even though there are strong legal arguments to be made that it is probably unconstitutional. Critics also believe that the felony murder rule is contrary to the fundamental principle in our legal system that separates the criminals from their culpable mindset. In other words, the rule sets the same amount of blame to someone without the intent to kill as to someone who has a premeditated intent to kill.
Join Dick & Jill at the quiet end as we look at cases where the felony murder rule was applied and discuss the fairness and constitutionality of this law.
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Ted Bundy moved from Seattle, Washington to the University of Utah in 1974 after committing a series of brutal murders of young women. Police weren't yet aware that he was a serial killer. To those who knew him, he was a polite, handsome and well-educated young man.
Rhonda Stapley was a student at the University of Utah. At 21-years-old, Rhonda was innocent. She grew up as a good Mormon girl. When Rhonda met Ted Bundy, she believed the image he portrayed: a fellow student, attractive, helpful and safe. When the mask of Ted was lifted, she would experience first hand the terror and agony he unleashed on his victims.
In this episode of True Crime Brewery, we discuss the life and crimes of Theodore Robert Bundy. As we learn about his victims, we speak with Rhonda, a survivor whose life was forever changed by what he did to her.
The interior of the Diane Down's car was spattered with blood from three small bodies. Six-year-old Cheryl lay crumpled on the floor by the front passenger door. Danny and Christie, aged four and eight, were slumped at odd angles in the back seat.
As surgeons struggled to save the children, their mother Diane Downs sipped tea while her arm was treated for a bullet wound. Considering the nightmare she had just endured, nurses and doctors were amazed at Diane's composure. They assumed she was in shock.
What investigators would uncover over the next few days would bring suspicion against Diane. Why would a young mother shoot her children? Was it really possible that Diane tried to kill her children so she could be with her lover? With shades of the Susan Smith case which wouldn't occur for another 10 years, the case of Diane Downs is a story of narcissism and cruelty that will not soon be forgotten. With Diane's parole hearing coming up in 2020, join us at the quiet end for an in depth look at a mother who chose her desire for a man above the lives of her own children.
On a high, jagged cliff overlooking the Flaming Gorge Reservoir in Green River, Wyoming, a young mother and her 5 year-old son plunged to their deaths, their bodies crashing from rock to rock until they landed splayed and bleeding in the dust. Bob Duke's accounting of his family's death was heartbreaking. He described a sudden scream. He had raced to the edge of the cliff to the sight of the twisted bodies of his wife and child below. He spoke of the agony of hearing his son's last breath as he tried desperately to reach him. The rescuers wept as the 23 year-old husband and father stood in silence.
This had to be a tragic accident. You see, Bob Duke was an upstanding young man. He was well respected and successful. Any secrets in his past were well behind him. He was free to move forward and create a new life. And that would have been the end of it. Except it wasn't. Bob Duke had acquired a taste, a taste for something evil that would lead to his own downfall.
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In the middle of the night, as thunderstorms engulfed the remote tents of Camp Scott in Locust Grove, Oklahoma, 3 girl scouts were snatched from their sleeping bags. Their ravaged young bodies wouldn't be found until morning. The discovery was shocking, but there had been warnings: Warnings that were ignored by camp counselors and not revealed to parents.
Join us at the quiet end as we sip Prairie Bomb and discuss this disturbing crime and the mystery that surrounds it to this day.