on Killer kids, killer club kids, and those tragically killed

Those of you who know me understand, at least to a degree, my fascination with true crime. For those of you who don't know me, let's just say that one of the last faces I see before I fall asleep is Ted Bundy's. The last face is Gillian Anderson's, but that's beside the point. Ok, also, I must say that Bundy's face is on the cover of a true crime book, I don't have a poster of him or some shit. I'm weird, but not that weird. 

A few weeks back, I decided to check out the series Killer Kids, one that surprisingly I had never seen. It was recommended to me because it features a lot of local and Canadian cases. I watched the first 4 episodes, which were pretty disturbing, but it wasn't the subject matter alone that bothered me. The show had this terrible narrative that blatantly targeted heavy metal music and horror movies as the catalysts for the brutal crimes. At first I was taken aback. It actually felt like a flashback to the 80's or something. "Should we blacklist heavy metal?" Huh? For real?! "She enjoyed watching horror movies and smoking the occasional joint." "He would drink beers and listen to Ozzy Osbourne." Shit son, you're talking about me! 

It's really too bad because I quite liked the content, including the often cheesy reenactments (I live for that shit). There was one case in particular that really caught my attention. In 1995, A 14-year-old brutally murdered a 7-year-old boy, and claimed to be influenced by Satan... and the movie Warlock.  It sounds terrible, but I actually laughed when that came up. I watched that movie when I was a kid and wasn't prompted to skin a boy, boil the skin and drink the water. I was also super surprised that I don't remember hearing of the case before. Probably most shocking and disturbing, aside from the gruesome details, was the fact that this little psycho was found not guilty by reason of insanity. The defense team insisted that he was not criminally responsible and the judge agreed. Must be all those damn horror movies. 

Chances are I won't be revisiting Killer Kids for quite some time, or maybe ever again, but it's not just because the show pissed me off, it's because some of the featured cases reminded me of a horrifying murder that happened close to where I live. 

In March, 2010, 18-year-old Kimberly Proctor was viciously attacked, bound, raped, tortured for hours and eventually murdered by two teenage boys. I won't mention their names, just like I didn't mention the name of the little prick from the Warlock case, because I just don't feel like it. If you are curious, there is a ton of information available online. I'm also going to spare you the grisly details of this murder because they are absolutely sickening, and it's not the reason I wanted to mention this case. The reason I wanted to write about it is because my friend and I recently visited Kim at the cemetery. Neither one of us had ever met her, but we both felt that she seemed a lot like we did in high school--the way she looked, the crowd she hung around with, her love of animals. Her murder will probably haunt me forever. 

That day in the cemetery, we visited the mausoleum, specifically to pay respects to a girl we did know, albeit not very well, who was also murdered. It was incredibly sad but, in a way, peaceful. We began looking around at other people's urns, photos and tributes. There was a great deal of sports memorabilia on display, which made me smile. Redwings flags, 49ers stickers, Habs mugs. I started picturing my Jerome Bettis autographed picture, my terrible towel, my photo of Trevor Linden from 1994. I bet those things would be displayed beside my urn, my picture. It warmed my heart to see what was important to these people who are no longer here--what made them happy and excited and proud--whether it be a picture of their kids or a hockey puck. I felt privileged to be able to look in on their memories. It was special. 

I guess that might be why I felt pretty upset when I came across an ignorant, insensitive post on Twitter recently. Someone seemingly making light of a true crime tragedy.

The tweet had the above image with the comment "I relate to Michael." I recognized the image immediately as a clip of notorious club kid/killer, Michael Alig. In 1996, Alig murdered his roommate, Andre "Angel" Melendez, chopped up his body and threw it into the Hudson River. He also happened to brag about the crime afterwards. Now, I don't think the person who posted that picture and comment was legitimately trying to be an asshole. In fact, I doubt very much that she even knows who Michael Alig is, but when people comment on your tweet, saying that the guy is actually a killer, you might want to either take it down or admit that you didn't know. Coming from someone who deems herself "the real queen of horror," I was a little surprised that she didn't have a bit more knowledge on this horrific case. Perhaps she should change her title to "the reel queen of horror," because it seems that most of her knowledge is within the realm of horror movies. And that's totally fine. But horror doesn't just exist in the movies. 

Victoria residents were once again reminded of that when the body of a missing 25-year-old woman was discovered a few days ago, on the grounds of S.J. Willis school. The very school where I wrote my English 12 final exam with a girl I knew who would years later be murdered herself. The investigation into the murder of Euarchol Wanichpan is ongoing, with little information available to the public as of yet, but the details that have surfaced are disturbing and heartbreaking. I hope investigators are able to catch the sicko(s) responsible for Wanichpan's death, and I also hope that someday an arrest will be made for the murder of Lindsay Buziak.

​If you have any information about either case, please contact the police in Victoria, or Crime Stoppers at http://victoriacrimestoppers.ca/ or 1-800-222-8477 (1-800-222-TIPS). And if any of you are able to contribute to the Go Fund Me page that was created for Euarchol Wanichpan's family, here is the link: ​https://www.gofundme.com/49g9s2o

I know this post was heavy, but I just needed to get it out. Maybe I'll write about something a little lighter next time. Until then, I leave you with this image, and I dedicate this post to Kimberly, Euar, Lindsay, Angel and their families, and anyone else who has had a loved one tragically taken from them.