We are delighted to welcome back author JoAnne Myers to Omnimystery News.
We asked JoAnne to tell us more about her short story collection of true crime Twisted Love (Black Rose Writing; July 2014 trade paperback and ebook formats) and she titles her guest post for us today, "Why Do People Murder?"
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Photo provided courtesy of
JoAnne Myers
I have always been fascinated with psychotic behavior. I often wonder why some people murder. Out of my seven published books, with the eighth being a work-in-progress, Twisted Love, 12 cases of love gone bad, and The Crime of the Century concern actual homicide cases. From reading newspapers, watching television news reports, watching crime shows on television, and discussing the subject of murder with various individuals, I have discovered that killer's murder for a variety of reasons. I myself could only kill out of self-defense.
However, I have at times been so angry with an individual that I fantasized about beating their face to a pulp, but I calmed down and dismissed the idea. In The Crime of the Century, the murders happened for two reasons, lust and convenience.
There are many reasons a person would commit unlawful murder; lust, greed, jealousy, revenge, rage, thrill seeking, and etc. There are also many categories for murder. In my crime novels, the killer or killers justified their actions in senseless and self-absorbed ways. The outcome for all homicide victims, and their loved ones left behind, consists of a lifetime of pain, and an endless sense of loss.
Here is an explanation of the homicide categories within the stories in Twisted Love, 12 cases of love gone bad.
"The End of Autumn" — This murder fits into The Obsessive category — Violence because: "if I can't have her, nobody can." ... or: "if she won't have me, she won't have anything."
"Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" — Hedonistic/Comfort (profit) Killer category — Serial killing for monetary gain became the focus of this story.
"A Senseless Killing" — The Just Plain Bad and Angry category — A combination of angry, hostile, jealous, resentful, and disturbed individuals, who are socially isolated, socially inadequate, and who feel worthless.
"The Death of Innocence" — The Over-Controlled Hostility Type category — Anger builds up like in a pressure cooker, before they explode.
"Girl Not Forgotten" — Approach/Explicit category — This type of killer is a planner and actively seeks victims, while taking careful steps to avoid getting caught.
"The Possession" — The Hurt and Resentful category — Violence occurs because they hold grudges or seek revenge.
"Home Town Hero" — Hedonistic/Comfort (Profit) Killer category — Serial killing for monetary gain became the focus of this story.
"Horrible Sin" — The Hurt and Resentful category — Violence occurs because they hold grudges.
"All For the Family" — This couple's greed for monetary gain and new identities turned ghoulish.
"Thicker Than Water?" — The Just Plain Bad & Angry category — A combination of angry, hostile, jealous, resentful, and disturbed individuals, who are socially isolated, socially inadequate, and who feel worthless.
"Mail Order Murder" — The Paranoid Obsessive category — Violence can lead to murder within this category because the killer becomes delusional. Distrusts his partner even when partner is innocent.
"Where's Christopher?" — Chronically Aggressive category — These individuals take pleasure in inflicting pain to others, and see violence and aggressiveness as power.
Here's an excerpt from "All For the Family":
Texas, 2007
If nineteen-year-old Molly had listened to her mother, perhaps the slender, freckle-faced felon and her now-divorced felon husband Ernie would not be sitting in a Texas prison. The way the auburn-haired Molly chose to make a new life for herself and Ernie shocked the town and became forever known as the cruelest and dumbest action one could take when one wants to do "all for the family."
Candy will say she tried to talk her daughter out of marrying the lazy, drinking, sandy-haired, blue-eyed Ernie. But Molly was "starry-eyed head over heels in love," or so she thought.
Molly insisted she knew the seldom-employed Ernie well enough to be his wife and allow him to be the only father her four-year-old son Mathew knew. Even though Mathew was conceived from an earlier relationship, Molly insisted that the uncouth and chain-smoking Ernie treated him respectfully. "He loves me and Mathew," Molly would say.
After a two-month courtship, Molly married twenty-two-year-old Ernie Abbott. According to Candy, she hated Ernie and wanted everyone including Molly to know it. She told Molly she was making a drastic mistake by marrying Ernie, but her eldest daughter, insisted the two were soul mates. "He's the one," Molly said.
In a simple backyard ceremony with the theme of Harley Davidson motorcycles, the pair exchanged wedding vows. As if straight from the pages of American Rider, the bride wore jeans and a sleeveless Harley shirt. The groom donned black leather chaps and a vest emblazon with the famous cycle logo.
Friends and relatives surrounded the glowing couple and, happily toasted them with keg beer. A reception followed, with grilled hotdogs and burgers as the main course. They received numerous wedding gifts and money, to help them on their way to a long and happy life together … or so the giddy couple thought.
Candy was not the only one who disapproved of the courtship. Baby-sister Janie was as different from Molly as igloos are from tropical huts. Janie was known as the "pretty" sister and Molly the "plain Jane". Janie thought Ernie was a loser, as did most of Molly's family. She believed her big sister thought she was in love, because, according to Janie, Ernie was the first man to pay attention to Molly in a long time.
According to Janie, Molly called her jealous. Afterward, Janie thought it best to let Molly find out for herself what a "bad apple," Ernie was. She gave the marriage two years, "Good things come to those who wait," she said.
The next move for the newlyweds was buying the dream home Molly wanted so much. According to Molly, when she saw the two-story ranch-style house in a quiet and family-oriented neighborhood, with an adjoining playground and dog park, she knew, "This is the one for us."
She said Ernie picked her up and swung her around, telling her the house would be theirs. They called the realtor, and three weeks later they moved in-but as renters, not owners.
According to the loan officer, both had inadequate credit. The loan officer informed the couple that with neither earning more than minimum wage, and Ernie's upcoming legal matters, he did not see a home in their near future.
Molly was devastated, recalled Candy. Besides being a mother, Molly wanted so much to be a homeowner, she said.
Another person who had doubts about the couple getting the home was Rita, Ernie's mother. Tall and skinny, with waist-length red hair, Rita dressed and partied like a teenager. When she learned of her son attempting to purchase a home, she told relatives, "With Ernie's credit and legal matters, he couldn't get a loan for a candy bar."
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JoAnne Myers has been a long-time resident of southeastern Ohio, and worked in the blue-collar industry most of her life. She is a mother of three and grandmother of eight. Besides having several novels under her belt, she canvas paints.
For more information about the author, please visit her website at BooksAndPaintingsByJoanne.com and her author page on Goodreads, or find her on Facebook and Twitter.
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Twisted Love by JoAnne Myers
A Short Story Collection
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
A collection of true crime cases from Ohio and surrounding states, featuring riveting cases of obsession, lust, murder, secret lives, and sexual depravity. It showcases the chilling reality that homicide investigators know all too well: the last face most murder victims see is not that of a stranger, but of someone familiar.
— Twisted Love by JoAnne Myers
