4 ms·

As society becomes more and more surveillance bound by cheap cameras and interconnected devices, the phenomenon of a cold and masterminding murderer terrorizing

As society becomes more and more surveillance bound by cheap cameras and interconnected devices, the phenomenon of a cold and masterminding murderer terrorizing us for years with public media taunts, and yet eluding the authorities, seems more and more out of out possibility. Truly terrifying that this was a real story.

amanaplanacanal 4y ago
On the other hand, the percentage of murders where they actually close the case keeps going down. It's a weird world we are living in.
- TEP_Kim_Il_Sung 4y ago
  Not much revenue in solving murders these days. Parking tickets is where it's at!
- jhbadger 4y ago
  Of course in the past a lot of cases were "solved" by basically blaming the murder on a local vagrant who happened to be in the area of the crime. The fact that things like DNA evidence are making this untenable is actually a good thing even if it means fewer cases are closed.
- teaearlgraycold 4y ago
  But the murder rate is also going down. Seems like the less capable criminals know they can't as easily get away with it.
- throwaway742 4y ago
  The sad truth is that they just don't care about most of the murders.
- giantg2 4y ago
  Isn't that the CSI effect? People assume they will be caught so they don't bother trying. The ones that do try, now have more info on how to avoid detection.
- sh34r 4y ago
  Murder rates are also down substantially since the 1990s. The leading theories include reduced lead exposure and fewer neglected and unwanted children thanks to reproductive healthcare. In either case, the missing murderers would’ve been more impulsive, more careless, and easier to catch. Many of the murders that go unsolved today, likely would’ve gone unsolved in the past, too. Plus, some of the cleared murders in the past were simply blamed on innocent black men by a racist system. Look at the Innocence Project for examples. We still have a problem with all that, but surely it’s not as bad as it was in the 1970s. Another contributing factor is that so much forensics and police resources are wasted on victimless drug crimes. It’s an lot easier to bust a corner boy selling drugs than to track down a murderer.
JKCalhoun 4y ago
I agree. It seems more or less impossible to commit a heinous crime these days and get away with it. I admit it's one positive outcome of our "surveillance state" (and I'm not implying Big Brother — people put Ring doorbells on their front doors, businesses and banks install cameras for security, etc).
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- jra_samba 4y ago
  On the contrary. Unsolved heinous crimes are still common. Here is one that disturbs me greatly. It is still unsolved to this day. https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/Oakland-Chinese-Chamber-of-Commerce-offers-16615466.php https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/Oakland-Chinese-Ch...
- jeffbee 4y ago
  Looking at the homicide clearance stats of cities near where the Zodiac killer was active, it looks like getting away with it is at least as easy as it ever was.
  - MomoXenosaga 4y ago
    Not true. Homicides are not equal nobody cares if a drug dealer is found dismembered. Totally rando civilians getting killed is what society cares about and those are down.
    - jeffbee 4y ago
      All homicides are down but clearance rates are terrible. I don't know of there is objective evidence to support your claims that murders of randos are routinely solved.
- livinginfear 4y ago
  The United Kingdom is nothing if not a surveillance state, and their crime clearance rates are lower than ever. They seem to have a different set of priorities for their state surveillance apparatus.
Retric 4y ago
That’s not even close to accurate, first the clearance rate has actually been falling. The actual numbers are terrible: for every 100 homicides, 61 percent are cleared, and then 70 percent of those—43 cases—lead to conviction. And this assumes that the correct person is convicted. According to some estimates, four percent of inmates on death row are innocent. Wrongful conviction rates are assumed to be higher for lesser crimes since officials are less rigorous in establishing guilt when capital punishment is not on the table. https://fee.org/articles/most-violent-crimes-in-the-us-go-unsolved/ https://fee.org/articles/most-violent-crimes-in-the-us-go-un...
- staticassertion 4y ago
  How many of those unsolved crimes involve a serial killer who taunts the police/public?
- chronogram 4y ago
  Are terrible [in America]. First Google result when searching for other countries: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1477370818764840 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/147737081876484...
  - toivo 4y ago
    Here in Finland there was interesting example where someone was selling hitman services over tor-network. They caught him because he left a plastic bag in the crime scene, the plastic bag had a sticker, from that they could tell that it had been used to weight a banana and could also pin down the place and a time. They then used the surveillance footage in store to identify the person.
    - valarauko 4y ago
      Reduce reuse recycle
  - Retric 4y ago
    It’s not easy to compare such rates between countries. Especially in terms of finding the correct killer vs someone to blame. Also, “this study did not include cases of missing persons where no body was found. In all four countries, such cases are usually labelled as a disappeared person, even if the police strongly suspect a homicide. Following other studies (Sturup et al., 2015), because of the unknown nature of these cases (including potential suicides or voluntary disappearances), these cases have not been included in the study. This may have resulted in a general under-count of the total number of homicides, including an under-count of unsolved homicides.”
paradox242 4y ago
It is an illusion that police are competent and that they solve most violent crimes they investigate.

amanaplanacanal 4y ago

On the other hand, the percentage of murders where they actually close the case keeps going down. It's a weird world we are living in.

TEP_Kim_Il_Sung 4y ago
Not much revenue in solving murders these days. Parking tickets is where it's at!
jhbadger 4y ago
Of course in the past a lot of cases were "solved" by basically blaming the murder on a local vagrant who happened to be in the area of the crime. The fact that things like DNA evidence are making this untenable is actually a good thing even if it means fewer cases are closed.
teaearlgraycold 4y ago
But the murder rate is also going down. Seems like the less capable criminals know they can't as easily get away with it.
throwaway742 4y ago
The sad truth is that they just don't care about most of the murders.
giantg2 4y ago
Isn't that the CSI effect? People assume they will be caught so they don't bother trying. The ones that do try, now have more info on how to avoid detection.
sh34r 4y ago
Murder rates are also down substantially since the 1990s. The leading theories include reduced lead exposure and fewer neglected and unwanted children thanks to reproductive healthcare. In either case, the missing murderers would’ve been more impulsive, more careless, and easier to catch. Many of the murders that go unsolved today, likely would’ve gone unsolved in the past, too. Plus, some of the cleared murders in the past were simply blamed on innocent black men by a racist system. Look at the Innocence Project for examples. We still have a problem with all that, but surely it’s not as bad as it was in the 1970s. Another contributing factor is that so much forensics and police resources are wasted on victimless drug crimes. It’s an lot easier to bust a corner boy selling drugs than to track down a murderer.

JKCalhoun 4y ago

I agree. It seems more or less impossible to commit a heinous crime these days and get away with it. I admit it's one positive outcome of our "surveillance state" (and I'm not implying Big Brother — people put Ring doorbells on their front doors, businesses and banks install cameras for security, etc).

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
jra_samba 4y ago
On the contrary. Unsolved heinous crimes are still common. Here is one that disturbs me greatly. It is still unsolved to this day. https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/Oakland-Chinese-Chamber-of-Commerce-offers-16615466.php https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/Oakland-Chinese-Ch...
jeffbee 4y ago
Looking at the homicide clearance stats of cities near where the Zodiac killer was active, it looks like getting away with it is at least as easy as it ever was.
- MomoXenosaga 4y ago
  Not true. Homicides are not equal nobody cares if a drug dealer is found dismembered. Totally rando civilians getting killed is what society cares about and those are down.
  - jeffbee 4y ago
    All homicides are down but clearance rates are terrible. I don't know of there is objective evidence to support your claims that murders of randos are routinely solved.
livinginfear 4y ago
The United Kingdom is nothing if not a surveillance state, and their crime clearance rates are lower than ever. They seem to have a different set of priorities for their state surveillance apparatus.

Retric 4y ago

That’s not even close to accurate, first the clearance rate has actually been falling. The actual numbers are terrible: for every 100 homicides, 61 percent are cleared, and then 70 percent of those—43 cases—lead to conviction. And this assumes that the correct person is convicted. According to some estimates, four percent of inmates on death row are innocent. Wrongful conviction rates are assumed to be higher for lesser crimes since officials are less rigorous in establishing guilt when capital punishment is not on the table. https://fee.org/articles/most-violent-crimes-in-the-us-go-unsolved/ https://fee.org/articles/most-violent-crimes-in-the-us-go-un...

staticassertion 4y ago
How many of those unsolved crimes involve a serial killer who taunts the police/public?
chronogram 4y ago
Are terrible [in America]. First Google result when searching for other countries: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1477370818764840 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/147737081876484...
- toivo 4y ago
  Here in Finland there was interesting example where someone was selling hitman services over tor-network. They caught him because he left a plastic bag in the crime scene, the plastic bag had a sticker, from that they could tell that it had been used to weight a banana and could also pin down the place and a time. They then used the surveillance footage in store to identify the person.
  - valarauko 4y ago
    Reduce reuse recycle
- Retric 4y ago
  It’s not easy to compare such rates between countries. Especially in terms of finding the correct killer vs someone to blame. Also, “this study did not include cases of missing persons where no body was found. In all four countries, such cases are usually labelled as a disappeared person, even if the police strongly suspect a homicide. Following other studies (Sturup et al., 2015), because of the unknown nature of these cases (including potential suicides or voluntary disappearances), these cases have not been included in the study. This may have resulted in a general under-count of the total number of homicides, including an under-count of unsolved homicides.”

paradox242 4y ago

It is an illusion that police are competent and that they solve most violent crimes they investigate.