True Crime and Dumb Criminals

We were watching Dateline on Friday night, mainly because there is nothing else on TV at 10 pm on a Friday night and we are old and boring so we watch TV on Friday nights. Anyway, the story was about a woman in Las Vegas who was murdered, cut in half, and stuffed in a trash can filled with bleach. The murderer left her body in her garage in the trash can for a few weeks while he wrote himself checks from her checking account, stayed in her house, and then drove her car to Ventura where he was staying in the Motel 6.

The detectives found receipts in the woman's house from Home Depot showing purchases of gallons and gallons of bleach, a hatchet, drop cloths, and a huge trash can (the biggest one they make) all bought with her credit card. The surveillance tapes show this man buying all this stuff in 3 separate trips on the same day, then driving away in the woman's car with all this bleach and hatchets and drop cloths and the big trash can in the car.

Then, on Saturday we were watching 48 Hours Mystery about a woman in Barstow who went missing under very suspicious circumstances. Again, we are old and boring and watch TV on Saturday nights, too.

They couldn't find a body but did find receipts from Home Depot for purchases of (you guessed it) bleach, drop cloths and a big trash can. No hatchet this time, I guess this killer was a little too squeamish for chopping up bodies. And of course they see this woman's boyfriend on the surveillance tapes buying all this stuff.

So we are watching this and looking at each other like what the hell is up with murderers shopping at Home Depot and then stuffing their victims into Home Depot trash cans? And then being too stupid to get rid of the receipts?

Both killers confessed of course and are now in jail where they belong. The Barstow killer cut a deal and led the detectives out into the desert where he buried the body in the trash can. It would have never been found otherwise, the desert being a really big place with lots of room to bury bodies.

I guess if there weren't stupid killers shopping at Home Depot and then leaving the receipts laying around there wouldn't be stories for Dateline and 48 Hours Mystery to tell.