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April 16, 2006
Another Murder, Another Blogger: How Will the Media React?
Ever since I woke up this morning, CNN has been recounting the grisly details behind the murder of 10-year-old Jamie Rose Bolin of Purcell, Oklahoma. Her body was found in the apartment of 26-year-old Kevin Underwood, who resided in her apartment complex. When police came by his apartment, he quickly confessed. "At that time Mr. Underwood stated 'go ahead and arrest me. She is in there. I chopped her up,"' stated a police affidavit.
Watching the news, I immediately began to wonder if Underwood had a blog. Just last summer, murder suspect Joseph Duncan made headlines because he maintained a blog. After a minute or so of Googling, I soon found Strange Things are Afoot at the Circle K, a blog believed to have been published by Underwood since 2002.
At first blush, it is a typical personal blog, with links to other blogs ranging from John Aravosis' AMERICABlog to McSweeneys, as well as summaries of news stories from around the world. Digging a bit deeper, things get a lot darker. On the blog's profile page, Kevin describes himself as "Single, bored, and lonely, but other than that, pretty happy." He then offers a chilling quote:
If you were a cannibal, what would you wear to dinner? The skin of last night's main course.
I wasn't sure if I wanted to spend Easter morning reading the blog of an alleged murderer, but it was hard not to get sucked into this terribly sad story. The blog paints portrait of a very lonely person. In one lengthy post from last September, he recounts his struggle with depression and social phobia, in the context of his secret love for a woman he worked with. She and her boyfriend were in a horrible car accident; he died, while she was hospitalized.
I went to Tim's funeral, and I also went to see Genie in the hospital every day. She did make it through, but she was in the hospital until December 18, the day before my birthday. I went and saw her every day, and I would sit there for hours. Even the days she was unconscious, or so doped up on morphine she barely even knew who she was. Even when she was conscious, she'd still be so doped up I had to help her eat. Most days I was the only visitor she had, her family hardly ever even came to see her. Partly because it was about an hour's drive to even get to the hospital she was at. But I drove it every day, and sat with her every day.I felt like a horrible person. Because in the back of my mind, a voice kept telling me, "Hey, she's single now, just give her a couple of months to get over the loss of Tim, and then make your move." I'd tell that voice to shut up, and stop thinking things like that, but it kept coming back.
In the end, the woman recovered and began dating another coworker, throwing Kevin into further bouts of depression.
[O]ver the last year or so I find myself becoming more and more detached from the world. I almost never leave the apartment except to go to work or my parents' house, and when I do leave the apartment, I walk around like a zombie, with a blank expression on my face, not looking at anything or anyone. In fact, the last couple of months, I've noticed that my eyesight is going, probably because my eyes are getting weak. Whenever I'm out of the house, I never focus on anything, I stare blankly ahead, operating on a sort of fuzzy peripheral vision. The only things I ever really focus on and look at are books or computer screens for hours on end, which strains my eyes further. When I'm not safe in my apartment, I am silent and expressionless, looking at nothing. I have no personality. If someone says hi to me, I either ignore them, or grunt out a small "hi," or "ok," if they ask me how I'm doing. It gets worse every day, I withdraw farther and farther into myself with each passing week.My spirit has been totally crushed. Anyone who looks into my eyes can see this.
I wish I could be like I used to be. I wish I could be like Melissa.
I wish I could be human.
It is probably only a matter of time before the media begins talking about Kevin Underwood as the Murderer-Blogger, rather than just a murderer. The fact that it's possible for anyone with Internet access to delve into an accused killer's mind will no doubt serve as fodder for the Nancy Graces and Larry Kings of the world. I'm concerned, though, that these portrayals will link his blogging habits and obsessive Internet use with his horrific crime, somehow suggesting that blogging too much can drive any young person to pyschopathic behavior. While it's true that previous killers such as Eric Harris and Jeff Weise have been active in online publishing, this doesn't mean that other killers weren't writing things down before the birth of Web 2.0. From Westley Allan Dodd to David Berkowitz to the Unabomber, killers have kept meticulous records of their thoughts, fantasies and actions, yet no one ever makes the claim that keeping a journal somehow increases the likelihood of being a psychopath.
Unfortunately, there's a media fascination with all things Internet related. If a sexual predator hurts a child, it's local news, but if they meet each other on MySpace, it's national news. Simply adding the Internet to the criminal equation sensationalizes it even further, sometimes steering the blame to the technology rather than the criminal.
I've got to wonder, though, if blogs have ever stopped anyone from committing a horrific crime. Go back and read Kevin Underwood's blog, and it's clear that there were times when he was reaching out for help. In the case of the blog entry I quoted above, only a couple people replied initially, offering sincere, but limited emotional support. I wonder if his social network had been stronger, both online and offline, if he could have gotten the support and treatment he needed - and maybe this terrible tragedy could have been avoided. -andy
Posted by acarvin at April 16, 2006 2:03 PM
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