Of being a "Murderess" and a "nut job"~~~~

Well Darklings,

I did promise to tell you what is happening with the wacky-doodle son of our neighbor.   Trust me Darklings the parents are wonderful people but they are burdened with a paranoid schizophrenic son, who has living quarters in what used to be his parents garage, they fixed it up with a shower and toilet and sleeping room with a small dorm type refrigerator.  I had a chance to see it before the son moved in.

Every so often, the voices in “crazy sons’” head just leap out and he does weird things like dancing naked and such, but for the last year or so it’s changed.  He now has it in his split-level head that we somehow cause him problems. 

On several occasions we’ve had to call the police on him when he stands on our sidewalk in front and yells at the house, for my sister with her profession something like that is not good.

Monday morning I woke up to the bright sunlight and thought what a wonderful but hot day, but that got spoiled quickly by 8:15 a.m.  when Crazy Son stepped in front of his parents house, (that's across the street) yelling to quit invading his privacy and sending mind messages to his parents, and then the usual about the ultra sound machine and that we’re going to jail.  

Then he went to the front door of his parents’ house and pounded and pounded on it, they wouldn’t let him in and talked to him through the door and he was yelling and gesturing at our house, and then he walked up and down the porch and yelling at them again while looking over at our house, but we faintly heard something from inside the house, and “Crazy Son” just stomped off the porch and into his sleeping quarters.

Doyle and I thought well that’s it for the day.  But in the evening about quarter to 6, Doyle and I decided to get something from our favorite Deli, Doyle said it was too hot for me to cook, I  said I would call the order in for Doyle to pick up and he said O.K. I called it in but before he could leave “Crazy Son” walked up to the edge of the lawn and started yelling at us.

This time he was really wacky, saying we were invading his privacy, sending messages into his parents head with the ultra sound machine, and then the usual rant calling us  some choice names, that I murdered the previous owner and buried her in the basement ,  I’ve committing a felony, I committed fraud and  going to jail.

Well that was it, if he stayed on his side of the street in some way we could deal but when he walked in front of my property it went to Code Orange and I called the Police on the non-emergency number. Then I called the Deli saying that there would be a delay picking up our order, because Doyle didn’t want to leave.

About 30 minutes later the police showed up, because it’s at their availability.  And they always send a Newbie, and I have the fun of breaking him in.

He asks what’s going on and I said that if I went back 10 years it would take all evening to tell, but I gave him the version starting with the fun and games that started less than a week ago, he said an investigating officer was going to show up who is more familiar with this and he did show up, So between Officer Newbie and Officer Experience I told them what the most recent events have been.

 Officer Experience knows “Crazy Son” and I told them that “Crazy Son” has been harassing and intimidating us, for over a week we need to clear off the porch so we can paint (except if it’s too hot) and he harasses us preventing us from doing the work, and they could see the porch  needed to be painted, and things have been moved around on the porch.   They understood.

Officer Experience said to Officer Newbie that it’s listed as an ongoing “415” which is disturbing the peace, and I am always the reporting person.  Officer Experience said we really should look into a restraining order, I told him I talked to a lawyer a while ago and it was considered that it might ramp things up in “Crazy Son”’s mind.

Officer Experience said that “Crazy Son” has some cognition as to what he can and can’t do and the R.O. might work, either way it would be another weapon that the cops can have to deal with “Crazy Son”.  I said I’d look into it again but the hard thing is having it served on “Crazy Son” because no one I know wants to get near him.  But I’ll consider it.

Officer Experience said that the parents are not going to do anything with “Crazy Son”, they won’t turn him in, he’s there to stay and I said I knew that and that I knew the parents,  the sister and grand-kids are good people, I and Doyle really like them,  and then there’s “Crazy Son”, Officer Experience agreed.    He said that he’ll read “The Riot Act” to “Crazy Son”, he not supposed to harass us, it’s illegal and that should take care of things for a while and gave me an I.R. number so I can get a copy of the report.

They talked to “Crazy Son” who was waving his arms and saying that we were invading his privacy to watch him poop!!!  Like What??!!   PooP???!!!   I didn’t want to see his pitiful third leg when he was dancing around naked last year, and we’re invading HIS privacy to watch him POOP???!!!

And the new one that some how using Ultra Sound I’m projecting messages into his Parents heads,  and a few other things but Officer Experience read the riot act, Officer Newbie has met “Crazy Son” and now knows what is not going on in his head, and they left.  

About 10 minutes later “Crazy Son” left his quarters and walked off, where to we don’t know but so far that night things were quiet.  I thought we might be good for 6 to 8 weeks.

Doyle thought that maybe there is a Civil type of Restraining order and I am at least going to find out what it takes to get that type of  R.O. and we have to consider costs as well to have it served.  

This morning we woke up to Crazy Son yelling that we can’t stop free speech and proceeded to go to the corner to announce my address and said the woman living there killed the former owner and buried the lady in the basement, he was yelling that to all who would listen that I was a murderer and in between that we cannot stop free speech. 

Doyle and I just rolled our eyes, my sister came over and said she had several clients coming over and she was going to call the police, I said she may want to call his parents too.  The ranting went on for about another 30 minutes and then we saw a police car show up and talk to Crazy Son.  And then the father walked down to the corner as well. 

They were still there when Doyle took me to the court house before he drove to the City and to his office.

While at the court house on the court lunch recess  I was lucky and ran into an old friend a recently retired judge, he had some free time and joined me for lunch and was willing to talk to me on the matter Pro Bono.   And the answers I got saved me the cost of consulting a lawyer.

 Knowing that he just wants the facts, I summarized it saying this has been going back some years but in the last 7 it has been accelerating, and I quickly leading up to the most recent events.

He asked me a few questions, and then explained to me that at this point in time our hands are tied, because even though “Crazy Son” is a paranoid schizophrenic, he does have some limited cognition of the law with the exception of the fantasy that is playing as a loop in his head, and as I said it does not matter what people he knows (family, a few skanky friends) say to him or the cops say to him, he refuses to believe it. 

It’s a fixation because “Crazy Son” was familiar with my Great Aunt who owned my house, he grew up with an antagonism towards her because she was kind to his parents and even helped them out with medical bills gave the money to them as a gift, and even helped their daughter with funds to go to college, but for some strange reason he hated her for that.  When I moved into  the house, I was a serious major change in “Crazy Son’s” life, and he equated my moving in with the deaths of two relatives that happened 5 months later and  another a year after that.

Of course any Normal person would know that’s life, people grow old, get sick and pass on, but “Crazy Son” through some sort of strange superstition (he never made it through high school) put the two events together and came up with this bizarre scenario.

But my Judge friend summarized the important points for the reasons why it would be difficult to get a Restraining Order are these:

1.        Its not domestic violence, “Crazy Son” is not a boyfriend, family friend, spouse, or family member, so we cannot do that kind of restraining order.

2.     In   Looking into the Civil Harassment restraining order I don’t quiet qualify for that, because he has not harmed Doyle, me or the dogs, he has not done any damage within the last 18 months to the property.  (Although I did suspect him of poisoning a rose bush)  Nor do we have either photo proof or acceptable independent witnesses to any attempts at harm.

3.       Verbal harassment or Verbal intimidation is not acceptable as a reason for a civil harassment restraining order.  Unless it is in addition to what I listed above.  A Judge will not even entertain the motion.  (That’s why the Westburro church can do what they do)

4.       Trespassing has to be proven with proof such as an independent witness or a photo, but does not necessarily meet the CHRO requirements.  Unless in the act of trespassing, vandalism or harm is done but again we’ll need proof.

And of course until the mental health laws change, the parent’s hands as well as the police’s hands are tied.

So at this time we’re stuck, all we can do is call the non-emergency number unless “Crazy Son” ramps it up.  But now, if the cops say get a restraining order I can tell the Police that we are stuck on all levels and at this point in time they are our best option to keep things calm.

But Doyle is going to buy security camera’s for the house, and I am going to install a vintage style gate on the driveway to prevent anyone going to the garage.  Once we can buy and install those cameras then we’ll have any video proof we’ll need, especially if he does any physical damage.    

Doyle told me that he’s going to buy them on his “dime” so nothing out of the household budget.   He’s also thinking of getting a dash cam for the Van, primarily because of the way other drivers, pedestrians and bike riders create dangerous situations, and it will help prove we are not at fault.

It’s getting to be a pretty sad world where we have to install security cameras on our homes and dash cams in our vehicles, “1984” is here and it’s because of criminal activity, nut jobs, and people who think they are self-entitled.   

And to make it worse women fighting in Wal-mart!! And one woman got her 6 year old son to join in and kick, throw punches and hit the other woman with shampoo bottles, it was on the news last night, both women are banned from Wal-mart and the police are looking into this, someone took cell phone video of it.   That is a new low for Wal-mart.    But it only goes to show no one has any class or respect, just mouthing off, and teaching their children the same thing!   

It just confirms that we need camera’s to put people on notice to show what is truth, but if it only comes on after the reasons for such incidents are happening  then you only get half the story, body cams and dash cams on cops will be important as well.  Like that mentally ill man who was drinking and on meth, throwing his Mother into the street and banging her head into the pavement, no one had a chance to record that, only the cops using their batons to subdue him and he was trying to grab their guns.  Again only half the story was videoed.

I’m so glad that the children were not around when Crazy Son went off his rocker the other day.  I’d be very worried then.

Court let out early today, and I’ve been home for over an hour, I managed to get a taxi to drive me home and asked the driver to wait until I got into the door, which he did after I told him the reason why.  I did spot Crazy Son hiding behind some bushes on his parent’s property, but after I got inside and carefully looked out the window he was gone, most likely back into his sleeping quarters. 

Sis came over and I told her what the Judge said, and she was unhappy about that, but said she’d do her part.  She told me that the police came over and read the riot act again to Crazy and the Father also scolded him and took him away.  So her clients were able to come over without any problems.   And if he acts up she will be quick to call the police, in a way she has a far better immediate reason than I do, especially on a “Disturbing the Peace” call.

She suggested that the best thing if Crazy Son stays on his side of the street is when I’m out in front working on the plants trimming the roses, (I have to hand water them as well) if he starts yelling to just ignore him, pretend he doesn’t exist. 

But keep one eye on him, in case he makes a move.   Eventually he may become bored with his mental game or by holding off as long as possible calling the police, his parents will take a firmer hand in it as it does embarrass them.   Unless it becomes too egresses.

In a strange Gothic type of way, to be called a Murderess is kind of Gothic, considering the pet cemetery I have in back.

But not so much dealing with a Nut Case. 

So tomorrow we’ll see what develops, today I am just so glad that we had RAIN, beautiful glorious Rain, much of my runoff from the gutters and such helped to fill the underground cisterns, now I’ll have to throw in stuff to prevent mosquito’s from developing but the water should be good for 5 or 6 weeks maybe a little more.

Sadly I did not plant any new annuals in the garden, but nasturtiums have “volunteered” here and there where it has been bare, and make a very tangled almost “malevolent” addition to the garden, so I’m going to let them do their thing,  the seeds may have blown over or was dropped by birds.  But who am I to question a flowering bounty.

And now to see how dinner is coming,  I am so glad that Sis and Brian are joining us, I cannot talk about the court case, but we can have fun talking about “Crazy Son”.

Later Darklings 

 

Of a final twist in the "Suit-Case Murder"~~~~

Well Darklings,

You know how I love a mystery and yes I seemed to be obsessed with the strange case of body parts found in a Suitcase near the Goodwill Store in San Francisco and how the one suspect was released and not charged.

Well this case may never be solved.

The suspect Andrus died early this morning after being release nearly a week ago.

It seems he died of complications from a drug overdose.

This story posted here-----

Main Suspect In Suitcase Murder Has Died

Mark Jeffrey Andrus, the main suspect in the gruesome 'suitcase murder' case, has died reports The Chronicle.

Andrus was admitted to a hospital on Saturday morning for drug-related reasons and died after going to septic shock, according to the report. He was arrested on January 30 as the primary suspect in the case of the human remains found in a suitcase in SoMa(South of Market Street area), but later released with no charges filed due to insufficient evidence. Despite being released, Andrus was still considered a suspect in the case.

The SFPD has not confirmed the report that Andrus has died, releasing only the following statement through a spokesperson: "Mr. Andrus is a free man he is not in police custody. I do not have any information on his whereabouts."

Update [4:30]: The SFPD has confirmed that they've learned of Andrus' death. His public defender, Jeff Adachi, said, "Mark was a good person and I'm very sad to learn of his passing."   Authorities have still not identified the remains found in the piece of luggage last month, although there is speculation that it is Andrus' former roommate Omar Shahwan.

`~~~~~~~

And so Darklings, did Mr. Andrus commit murder or was he duped into dropping off the suitcase with it's grisly contents?

Is the body that of Omar Shahwan, and was this victim murdered or died of natural causes and in a bizarre way was disposed of, perhaps thought as the best way by a possible drug addled mind.

Did the victim die by accident or by violence?

If it was violence what was the motive or was it of passion?

I am not saying that the late Mr. Andrus is the perpetrator, that is for the police to discover.

It is just one more bizarre mystery in this City by the Bay.

Later Darklings

 

 

Of Updates on the "Suitcase Body Parts Murder" or is it really murder???~~~~~~

Dear Darklings,

I love a mystery, I love  a mystery that takes twists and turns, but the one thing I know that in real life it is never nice and neat as in a book, movie or Television show.

It's messy and the law must always be upheld and the law has been upheld in this case that I have been posting about.

The suspect has been released but the case is still under investigation and they still do not have a positive I.D. on the victim and the police have to go over all the evidence again more thoroughly, this does not mean that the suspect is "off the hook", no.

But it does mean that the police are going to have to go over everything and wait on the results on some of the tests before there is any forward movement.

This is the story as reported by KGO T.V. (an ABC affiliate) ~~~

KGO

By    Carolyn Tyler  and    Lilian Kim 

Tuesday, February 03, 2015 12:00AM

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) --

 The San Francisco district attorney announced he will not file charges against the man accused of killing a person and carrying some of the butchered remains in a suitcase. Public Defender Jeff Adachi walked his client out of jail sometime after 9 p.m. Tuesday evening.

The district attorney says they are very disturbed by the facts of the case, but there wasn't enough evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. So the suspect will not be formally charged. It will likely be a relief for his best friend, who says he never believed he was guilty.     "It's a crying shame, but I'm supporting him," said Mark Keever. "I'm praying for him."

It was there at Keever's Tenderloin apartment on Friday that San Francisco police arrested his good friend Mark Andrus on suspicion of murder.

The 59-year-old Andrus was suspected of murdering a person whose headless torso was found in an abandoned suitcase last Wednesday. Other body parts were found nearby. Surveillance video obtained by ABC7 News shows the suspect lugging a suitcase down the street.

When asked if he ever had that suitcase in the apartment, Keever answered, "Not that I know of, no."

Keever says Andrus stayed there off and on over the past two years, and twice brought his roommate Omar Shahwan, whom the San Francisco Chronicle says investigators believe may be the victim.   "I knew Omar for two years, good guy," Keever said.

But police tell us that's speculation and the victim hasn't been identified.    "Investigators have been receiving inquiries from all over the country about concerned family members and friends who are worried that this person could be their loved one of theirs," said Sgt. Monica MacDonald.

Police and the medical examiner are trying to figure out who the victim is, what was the cause of death, and the murder weapon.

Former San Francisco Police Chief Tony Ribera says he's sure investigators have been retracing the suspect's steps trying to figure out where he's been in the last few weeks.    "See if you can't get search warrants to search those locations to see if there's any sign of a struggle, if there's any blood, any sign that would make it a crime scene," he said.

Under the law, Mark Andrus had to be released.

The case remains under investigation ………

 

~~~~~~~~

 

And that is where this case remains.....For those of you who love a Murder Mystery, I will keep you updated as things unfold.

For me, well Belladonna and Weiner Dog need their walks and do discoveries of their own.

Later Darklings.

 

Of "The Suitcase Body Parts Murder"~~~~~

"....this is a City.....and sometimes you expect things like this."

So said one resident of the Tenderloin of San Francisco.

Dear Darklings,

I know I seem to be terribly focused on this horrible crime, but in the city that gave us Sam Spade and the "Maltese Falcon" and T.V. programs like "The Streets of San Francisco" and "The Line Up" and Film Noir movies as well at Dirty Harry, in a city that inspired Anne Rice to start writing "Interview with a Vampire", was the birth place of Anton LaVey's "Church of Satan"  one cannot help but feel the gothicness of the place.

Granted not as old as New York, or London or Paris, nor as associated with the mixtures of Voodoo, Hoodoo and Santeria as New Orleans, or the bizarre fake glam of Los Angeles, San Francisco has a strange, twisted mystic all its own.

I have found that in traveling through this city it has soooo many different faces, it is both a city and county within the same borders,  but within those borders there are different feels to it, if one can take away the cheap garishness of cheap trinkets and souvenirs and look for it's original foundations.

It's like micro-climates, beautiful peaceful, business and gray, glamorous and haute something, flashy and garish, gritty, sophisticated, old money, new money, sleek, but art Deco, 30's/40's noir yet Victorian and modern, light and dark, clean and dirty, international and historical, glass towers and wooden false fronts, high power business and abject poverty.

She is a siren that beckons, where either you thrive or be destroyed, to be loved or feared or both.

She is a city that hates cars, but has crowded streets, and people moving like lemmings with strong leg muscles from walking and directions that would drive a person insane unless you have a guide and forget GPS it will mislead you, and buses and trolleys packed like sardines, and heaven help you if you contract lice or bed bugs by contact or some crazed person who thinks you didn't look at them right and decides to stab you or you find unusual characters that become landmarks within themselves.

And yet at times there are moments of kindness but far and few between.   And most of all Fear.

One old time fireman said to me "every minute of everyday somewhere there is a fire burning in San Francisco, she is a city always on fire."

Doyle told me in the hospitals there is new life every day, but in the streets there is death every day and this was one of them.

It seems that SFGate has labeled this death "The Suitcase Body Parts Murder"....but whether a murder has really been committed is not known at this time and is still to be determined, without the Head to show if a blow had been rendered, it leaves it up to the City Medical Examiner to make that determination, and who it is, is still unknown.

Last report is evidence has been sent to a DNA Laboratory in the hopes of identifying this person.

However a person of interest (and we know what that means) was detained and finally arrested, thanks to both a phone tip, eye witness testimony and surveillance footage and according to this news report-------

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco police arrested a man on suspicion of murder Saturday in connection with a suitcase found on a downtown street stuffed with dismembered human remains.

Mark Andrus, 59, had been spotted on surveillance footage near where the suitcase was discovered and was booked into county jail hours after he was detained as a "person of interest," Officer Grace Gatpandan said.

Gatpandan said she could not comment on exactly how police linked Andrus to the body, but said they were aided by the surveillance footage and witness statements. She did not have any additional information about Andrus, the body parts found in the suitcase or a possible motive.

Andrus' family told the San Francisco Chronicle he had run-ins with the law, kept to himself and drifted so far from them that they didn't know where he was or how to reach him.

"We haven't heard from him in, oh my gosh, years and years and years," said Helen Andrus of Spokane, Wash., who is married to Mark Andrus' older brother, Jon. "My husband at one point tried to reach out and find him, but I'm guessing it's been 20 years now since we last saw him."

The newspaper said Andrus had arrests in Missoula, Montana, in the 1980s and '90s for suspected drug possession, theft, burglary and jumping bail.

Police received a call on Friday night on the department's anonymous tip line that a "person of interest" in the suitcase incident had been spotted in the city's Tenderloin neighborhood, Gatpandan said. They responded and detained two people, including Andrus.

Police had released photos of Andrus from the surveillance footage earlier in the day showing him in a striped baseball cap, light blue jeans and a blue and orange jacket.

The suitcase was found Wednesday afternoon outside a Goodwill thrift store in the city's South of Market neighborhood. More body parts were found in a trash can nearby. The San Francisco medical examiner determined that the remains belong to an unidentified light-skinned man. Authorities will now turn to a DNA laboratory to identify him.

The condition of the man's torso had police considering the possibility that organized crime or a gang was responsible for the remains, Officer Albie Esparza told the Chronicle before the announcement of Saturday's arrest. He did not elaborate in the story.

Gatpandan said she did not know whether the second person who was detained remained in custody Saturday.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

But there is more that I found out over 3 hours ago~~~~

 

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) [Televison] --

 Arraignment is scheduled for early this week for a man arrested in connection with a dismembered body found in a suitcase in San Francisco. People who live in the building where murder suspect Mark Andrus was staying say they're in shock.

When asked if he'll be there in court to defend him, San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi answered, "Yeah, that's what we do."

Adachi came to the jail on Saturday night to visit the 59-year-old accused killer. Andrus, seen in surveillance camera stills, is accused of dismembering a body, stuffing the headless torso into a suitcase, and then dumping it at 11th and Market streets.

"We generally enter a plea of not guilty and then begin the investigation of the case," Adachi said. "But at this point, the case is under investigation."

Police point to photos and surveillance video as evidence leading to Andrus' arrest. It shows a man dragging a suitcase just two blocks from where the body and suitcase were found.

"You're not really thinking about somebody's torso being in a suitcase," said Miles Gregory. The San Francisco resident says he's breathing some relief knowing a murder suspect is off his neighborhood streets.

On Saturday night, investigators came to a public housing building in the city's Tenderloin neighborhood after getting an anonymous tip. The suspect was led out with a sheet covering his head.

"So many people coming in and out of here, it's scary," said one San Francisco resident.

Andrus didn't officially live there. But one longtime resident told ABC7 News that the 59-year-old has lived there on and off for about a year. He bunked with a friend on the fourth floor. A resident named Bill lives next door.

Very nice guy," he said. "That's why it's a surprise when I saw his picture on TV."

Others are shocked that a man seen regularly in the building could be accused of something like this.

"My roommate, she got kind of afraid of it," said resident Leslie Clark. "But I looked at her and said, 'this is a city. You know, and sometimes you expect things like this.'"

San Francisco resident Jackie Williams added, "I've spoken to the man a couple of times in passing and stuff, but that's crazy. I mean, it's just really scary because you never know what's going to trigger a person off."

The case remains under investigation ........

~~~~~~~~

 

Doyle told me that the police were tight lipped about this and he suspected that they had quiet a bit of information, the fact that they were able to move in so quickly about it was amazing but he said, if only those who live in the Hunter's point area or know of suspects in gang shootings would be as forth coming many of those homicides would be cleared up quickly, but Fear among them prevent those cases from ever being solved or even bringing closure to the survivors. 

And yet, I would not be surprised if I see a variation of this story appearing in a police procedural drama, I work in this city, even if I'm partly retired.  At one time in my youth I lived here, this does not surprise me, and yet it is what I expect from this Gothic City, that now I prefer to view at a distance.

Later Darklings

 

 

Of our own Murder mystery~~~

Well Darklings,

The news on the body part's that were found on 11th and Mission is sparse.

So far the suitcase was left in front or near the Goodwill Store in that area, and it contained a torso and leg of a light skin male, other parts were found in a 3 block radius but no head.

They have a image but not a very good one of a suspect. 

The possibility of identifying the body is unknown as the easier identifiable parts (head, hands) have at this time not been found.

And at this time they do not know how the person died.

The question of DNA is questionable unless this person is in a data base, but if not, it will only make it harder.

Doyle told me SFPD is being very tight-lipped about it and he has to respect that.

Having been on a couple of juries, one of them a murder, I know how hard and difficult getting answers can be, its not like how they show on CSI or NCIS or Blue Bloods or Bones, the answers are not there within the 43 to 45 minutes of show time.  It can take months trying to pull it all together, and still have the case go cold.

But because it is so unusual, it has peaked my interest, if I were a hard-boiled news reporter of the 1940's I'd call it "The Torso Murder" but now, who knows.

And speaking of Murder plus Film Noir, I have a guilty pleasure in watching Viola Davis in "How to Get Away With Murder"  when I first heard that title of that program I thought what are they going to come up with.

And they have come up with things that would make even my head pivot around, even Doyle is trying to leap ahead of the story line, because there is that campus cop that saw the group of law students take the rug out of the house, he is that one string that's left dangling to entangle them.

This is one program that keeps me glued to my TV what is going to happen, I keep asking.

The only draw back is you have to watch it in sequential order, it is not episodic, but still it is worth viewing.

And now my ride is here and I'm going out to dinner with my Doyle.

Later Darklings

Of "Film Noir" and Body Parts~~~~

Hello My Darklings,

I know what a combination but all will be clear as you read on.

First the Film Noir Festival,  oh to put it simply it was so much FUN!!!

Everyone there many dressed (including Moi and her sister) in period or near period clothing, we ran into old friends as well.

Staying at the hotel and resting between shows as well as doing some shopping was Perfect!!

If you are a film noir buff and you find out that they are holding one of these, then make a vacation of it, even if you can only do two or three nights of it, do make a vacation of it.

Although both Sis and I are of an age (you can guess how old I am, Sis is a few years younger) we have maintained our looks, although you cannot fight off old age completely, you can keep some of it at bay so to speak.

So on those days when there were no matinees we either rested, did a bit of spa work  (Heavenly to be pampered) or we went shopping and dinning out.  Loved It!

Doyle had let a few of our "friends" know where we were staying, they are trans-gender and love to dress up in period clothing, and I have to admit they look good in it too. So they would call at the Hotel to pick us up and we'd share a cab, I have to admit we did turn heads, but Doyle is also a very practical fellow, he knew Sis and I would be safe with them and see us safely back to our hotel and they love Film Noir as well.

We had a great time comparing the merits of the different films and discussing the mental motivations behind the plot lines as well as the clothing designs. 

The first film "Woman on the Run" (1950) with Ann Sheridan was filmed partly on location here and at the old amusement park in Santa Monica, and the ending with a "Laughing Sal", so San Francisco.

I really do love films that were done on location in the Bay Area, it gives a chance to see how much the Bay Area and San Francisco has changed. 

The time period was from 1934 and 1936 with our two favorites "The thin Man and After the Thin Man" right up to 1969 with the Honeymoon Killers although that was not so much my favorite,  the minute it creeps out of 1964 it begins to cease to be true Film Noir in my personal opinion.  Even our friends agreed.

But the French films were not neglected we had

OSSESSIONE  (1943)  a film that everyone thought was lost, because all known copies had been destroyed  and one of my favorites  LES DIABOLIQUES   (1955) Some times known as Diabolique, oh what a twist ending that one has, double twists. 

I could go on and on about it but it would only be my opinion, it's best to view the films yourself and draw your own opinion. 

I've made a list of the previous films shown at this and other Film Noir Festivals, so if they do appear on DVD I can add them to my collection. 

Doyle recorded Svengoolies presentation of "House of Horror" with Rondo Hatton, although not a good actor to see these movies is still part of the Horror tradition. 

To me Film Noir is just as important and just as Gothic as Horror movies such as "Woman in Black" and such, because the Gothicness comes from the filming and showing the distortions of the motivations of the people involved, being done in Black and White also give emphasis to the mood and feel of it.  Light and Dark, Good and Evil, Caring and Selfishness, Love and Hate.

I feel to be an Elder Goth one needs to watch Noir films as well, to see motivation all the better to understand the importance of the Light.   To me Film Noir is Goth and Gothic in a modern sense.

Ahhh but the day after the presentations when the festival was completely over, on Monday, we got an early call from Doyle and he says to us "I'm going to pick you up but wear your best Vintage dresses"  O.K. we think and he said he'll call for us at the desk...O.K. we think.

So we are completely packed and I ask management to send up what would be called a "bell boy" to help take our bags down, after we get word that our "ride" has arrived. 

And we in our vintage clothing are greeted by Doyle in a old-fashion 1940's chauffer uniform, and waiting for us at the curb is a vintage 1940's Roles Royce with a friend of Doyle's at the wheel also in a chauffer livery,  I don't mind telling you that a few well dressed business men and women were looking at us in puzzlement, and I think envy as Doyle so straight face escorted us to the Roles and helped us in as his friend put our bags in the trunk and we drove down the Streets of San Francisco and over the Bay Bridge, to a lot of appreciative honks and thumbs up and mouth open expressions.

The faster cars took their time passing us checking us out, even a few motorcyclists as well, and Sis and I waved as if we were the Queen and laughing about it.

When we got home I asked Doyle how come this and he said "it's the only way to end a weeklong adventure as you transition back to reality"  and his friend said that he wanted to take his restored Roles out anyway to clear the pipe's.  It seems that the chauffer livery was special made for his friend and he had a spare that fit Doyle, I'm so glad he didn't gain weight.

It was lovely!  And unfortunately back to the reality of bill paying, and laundry, and in Sis's case calling her colleague who covered for her for any updates. 

Dinner was easy, our old standby Chinese.  Yes back to reality.

But it seems that mystery and Noir does not easily leave us we heard on the news last night that Body part's were found in a 3 block radius from around 11th and Mission. 

This is the news story as it stands right now......

SAN FRANCISCO — Police responding to reports of a suspicious package in an up-and-coming area here Wednesday afternoon instead found something horrific — a suitcase containing human body parts.

The body was so mutilated that officers had to call the medical examiner in to determine if it was from a human being or an animal, police spokeswoman Grace Gatpandan said.   The race and gender of the person were unknown, she said.  

The roller-type suitcase had been left next to a pile of garbage and debris at 11th and Market streets, Gatpandan said.   Police initially responded to a report of a suspicious package at 4:14 p.m. Wednesday.  The block was shut down as part of the investigation and remained shut down late Wednesday night, she said.

More remains were found in the surrounding blocks. "It is unclear at this time if all the remains belong to one victim," Gatpandan said.   Police had a "preliminary, distinct suspect description," but it wasn't being released as officers are "actively attempting to locate this particular person of interest.”

Exactly when the suitcase was left in the area is under investigation.   Police had a rough description of a suspect, the Chronicle reported, and detectives were working to obtain surveillance video in the area.   Authorities later found more body parts within a three block radius of where the suitcase was found.

“There was one crime scene — it was just very large,” Police Officer Grace Gatpandan said.  Information about whether the body parts came from one victim or more was not immediately known.   The street is in a long-troubled area with large numbers of homeless people. It is also just a block from Twitter headquarters and part of an emerging tech corridor.

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San Francisco, New York, Los Angles, all are cities of Noir, but none so much as San Francisco, is this the body of a woman?  Do we have a "Black Dahlia" type crime here, or was it something more mundane.

Our San Francisco police department is going to have it's hands full, but as more and more surveillance camera's are installed hopefully it will make it easier to solve crimes or will it just confuse it more, or drive miscreants into darker and darker area's of the cities.

Later Darklings