J.D. Crighton's Blog

A bit of a daredevil in my younger days, I was blessed to check some fun and memorable items off my bucket list. One of my friends took me acrobatic flying in a Super Decathlon and I was hooked, parachute and all. Lazy eight, hammer-head stalls, and clover leafs were over the moon! While upside down, my friend yelled into my headphones, “Are you okay?” All I could say in response was, “Whooooo Hooooo!!!” Afterwards, I thought ‘what if something happened to the pilot and I had to land the plane by myself?’ I better sign up for an Aviation Ground School course at college and take flying lessons! Yep, that’s what I did. Power on, power off stalls and touch and go landings were my favorite during training. For you aviation enthusiasts…Whiskey-Hotel-Oscar-Oscar-Oscar   Hotel-Oscar-Oscar-Oscar! No doubt about it, I loved acrobatic flying over the ocean, but I thought I better learn how to scuba dive just in case we ended up in the water, LOL. That was my next bucket list adventure. I traveled to awesome scuba spots like St. Thomas and Cayman Islands, which had breathtaking underwater views, but after a close shark encounter and lost underwater camera, I gave up. On to trick waterskiing instead. That was a crack up though, because, try as I may, I could never waterski backwards for more than a few seconds before falling forward and landing flat on my face! I experienced the opposite of landing flat on my face while trying out snowboarding, which I can say with authority, at least for me, should be renamed to ‘butt-boarding.’ Next, I organized a group of emergency responders for a skydiving adventure, another one of my bucket list items. But, one-by-one, each canceled until I remained all by my lonesome self. Too scared to go alone, I put that one on hold. I defended that bucket list item when my microbiology lab partner challenged my to a debate. The question: was skydiving more thrilling than hang gliding? Of course I picked skydiving. My lab partner, who was a certified hang glider, picked that. On hang glide day, my lab partner paired me up with a cute instructor for a tandem ride. I thought it was awful nice of her! In preflight training, I learned when you tandem hang glide, the instructor must put his arm around you to grab onto the handle. Yep, that’s what they told me

My interest in writing about Detective Frank P. Geyer came after the profound sadness I felt while reading in two popular books that Geyer’s beloved wife and only daughter were killed in a fire before his assignment to the H. H. Holmes murder case. I could not imagine the heartache and sorrow he must have felt but at the same time I wondered how he could pick up the pieces after a life-changing tragedy like that, and two short months afterwards begin a complicated cross-country, international murder investigation that thrust him into world-wide recognition. I had to find out the truth and embarked on a year and a half research journey where I discovered (as I suspected) that Detective Geyer’s wife and daughter lived on. They never died in a fire and even more astounding to me was that Geyer’s great-great-grandson and his family moved twenty-eight hundred miles away from their hometown to within five miles of my home. And come to find out, he and I graduated from high schools, 2.7 miles apart, in the same year!  This was a book I knew I had to write and I traveled to Philadelphia, Washington DC, and other surrounding areas, researching City of Philadelphia Archives and the Library of Congress records where I poured through old police employment roll books and files, criminal records, Rogue’s Police gallery, rare books, and many other valuable documents. It was important to include historical facts about the Civil War, 19th century Philadelphia, the police department, and high-profile cases Detective Geyer investigated.  A warm-hearted thank you to Detective Geyer’s family, especially to his great-great grandson, who opened his heart to my journey and drove through several states to meet with me, share memories of his family, and for being a surprise high school rival. A thank you also to Geyer’s granddaughter, who is an amazing woman, and to Geyer’s relatives who welcomed me into their home. I’ll never forget their hospitality and for sharing precious memories. I know in my heart, Frank and Mary would be proud of all of them!   DETECTIVE IN THE WHITE CITY IS AVAILABLE AT: Amazon (hardcopy, paperback, large print paperback, and kindle) Barnes and Noble (hardcopy, paperback, and large print paperback) BAM! Books-a-Million (hardcopy, paperback, and large print paperback) IndieBound  (hardcopy, paperback, and large print paperback)

The article This Was a Book I Knew I Had To Write appeared first on JD Crighton.

Sample text from the “Secret Search” chapter in Detective in the White City: Authorities deemed the mission classified to prevent media from tipping off the fugitive. No one knew the details, not even his wife and daughter. Fourteen days after Frank and Mary’s seventh wedding anniversary, Detective Geyer sailed on the Martha steamship from Brooklyn April 23, 1892. His distraught wife told the Philadelphia Inquirer she did not know her husband left the city until the Philadelphia Detective Bureau told her. He left without so much as a goodbye to her or their four-year-old daughter, Edna. “My husband left the house one morning with the expectation of returning in time for supper. Tea-time came, but Frank did not appear. I waited some little time for him, as he is very often delayed. Late in the evening someone rang the bell, and thinking that it was he I hurried to the door. Instead of Frank, it was his fellow worker, Mr. Crawford. He told me he had come over to let me know that Frank had been sent upon some mission from the office. Frank’s work, he said, would take some time to complete and he would not report back until it was finished. In the meantime the department would keep me posted about him as far as it could and would send him any letters that I might write.” The German steamship was not licensed to carry passengers to South America, so Geyer joined as a member of the crew. “I shipped as able seaman under the name of Frank P. Roberts,” said Detective Geyer. “The first stop that we made was at St. Thomas, in the West Indies. There I made a thorough search for Marsh. Let me say right here that in every place I visited I made a thorough search. I inquired at all the American consulates and hotels and places where an American would be apt to frequent.” …Mrs. Geyer thought her husband would return in a week or two, but several months went by. Both their birthdays in July passed without any sign of Geyer. She received a few letters from Geyer and news once in a while from his longtime partner, Detective Crawford. “If he should die tomorrow I would know nothing about it until the department chose to tell me, and even then I would not know where to look for him unless they told me that also,” said Mrs. Geyer. She thought it odd that when the department gave her a letter from her husband from time-to-time, it was in a plain, blank envelope without a postmark. Also, handwritten letters never contained a date. “I do not receive them in the original envelope; they are given me by Detective Crawford in a blank envelope. In fact I have no means at all of knowing where he is,” said Mrs. Geyer. Sources:   The Illustrated American, Volume VII, No. 71, For the Week Ending June 27, 1891, “The Keystone Bank Wreck,” New York: Illustrated American Publishing Co., Bible House, 1891, 247-250.   “Long Chase for a Culprit; How Marsh, the Bank Wrecker, Was Hunted: Detective Geyer’s Story,” Washington Times, November 13, 1898, 5.   Journal of the Common Council of the City of Philadelphia, From April 6, 1891 to September 24, 1891, Vol. I. Philadelphia, PA: George F. Lasher, Printer, 1891, 143.   Annual Report of the Supervising Surgeon General of the Marine Hospital Service of the United States for the Fiscal Year 1898. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1899, 581.   “Geyer’s Absence Sill a Mystery; The Well-Known Detective Has Been Gone for Months; Even His Wife Kept in Ignorance of His Whereabouts,” Philadelphia Inquirer, 2.   Abstract of Sanitary Reports, Vol. VII, No. 3. Washington, D. C., January 15, 1892, 32.   “All the Dramas of Real Life Eclipsed By the Return of Gideon Marsh,” New York Herald, November 13, 1898, 1-2.

The article Secret Search for Gideon Marsh – June 1892 appeared first on JD Crighton.

Sample research for Detective in the White City: The Secret Search for Gideon Marsh – June 1892 Authorities deemed the mission classified to prevent media from tipping off the fugitive. No one knew the details, not even his wife and daughter. Fourteen days after Frank and Mary’s seventh wedding anniversary, Detective Geyer sailed on the Martha steamship from Brooklyn April 23, 1892. His distraught wife told the Philadelphia Inquirer she did not know her husband left the city until the Philadelphia Detective Bureau told her. He left without so much as a goodbye to her or their four-year-old daughter, Edna. “My husband left the house one morning with the expectation of returning in time for supper. Tea-time came, but Frank did not appear. I waited some little time for him, as he is very often delayed. Late in the evening someone rang the bell, and thinking that it was he I hurried to the door. Instead of Frank, it was his fellow worker, Mr. Crawford. He told me he had come over to let me know that Frank had been sent upon some mission from the office. Frank’s work, he said, would take some time to complete and he would not report back until it was finished. In the meantime the department would keep me posted about him as far as it could and would send him any letters that I might write.” The German steamship was not licensed to carry passengers to South America, so Geyer joined as a member of the crew. “I shipped as able seaman under the name of Frank P. Roberts,” said Detective Geyer. “The first stop that we made was at St. Thomas, in the West Indies. There I made a thorough search for Marsh. Let me say right here that in every place I visited I made a thorough search. I inquired at all the American consulates and hotels and places where an American would be apt to frequent.” …Mrs. Geyer thought her husband would return in a week or two, but several months went by. Both their birthdays in July passed without any sign of Geyer. She received a few letters from Geyer and news once in a while from his longtime partner, Detective Crawford. “If he should die tomorrow I would know nothing about it until the department chose to tell me, and even then I would not know where to look for him unless they told me that also,” said Mrs. Geyer. She thought it odd that when the department gave her a letter from her husband from time-to-time, it was in a plain, blank envelope without a postmark. Also, handwritten letters never contained a date. “I do not receive them in the original envelope; they are given me by Detective Crawford in a blank envelope. In fact I have no means at all of knowing where he is,” said Mrs. Geyer. Sources:   The Illustrated American, Volume VII, No. 71, For the Week Ending June 27, 1891, “The Keystone Bank Wreck,” New York: Illustrated American Publishing Co., Bible House, 1891, 247-250.   “Long Chase for a Culprit; How Marsh, the Bank Wrecker, Was Hunted: Detective Geyer’s Story,” Washington Times, November 13, 1898, 5.   Journal of the Common Council of the City of Philadelphia, From April 6, 1891 to September 24, 1891, Vol. I. Philadelphia, PA: George F. Lasher, Printer, 1891, 143.   Annual Report of the Supervising Surgeon General of the Marine Hospital Service of the United States for the Fiscal Year 1898. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1899, 581.   “Geyer’s Absence Sill a Mystery; The Well-Known Detective Has Been Gone for Months; Even His Wife Kept in Ignorance of His Whereabouts,” Philadelphia Inquirer, 2.   Abstract of Sanitary Reports, Vol. VII, No. 3. Washington, D. C., January 15, 1892, 32.   “All the Dramas of Real Life Eclipsed By the Return of Gideon Marsh,” New York Herald, November 13, 1898, 1-2.

The article Secret Search for Gideon Marsh appeared first on JD Crighton.

While reviewing documents, images, and videos from the Chris Watts case for a true crime book, I came across something that ran chills down my back and brought tears to my eyes . . . major tears!

Watch the video and decide for yourself if the giggles are from a toy or from one of the beautiful Watts girls, Bella or Celeste (CeCe).

Frederick Police Officer Lines is assigned as liaison to work with dog handler Jayne Zmijewski from Search and Rescue Dogs of the US (SARDUS).

Zmijewski’s dog, a Labrador Retriever named Cody, is specifically trained for signs of trauma.

In this video clip of Officer Lines’ body cam from a K9 search of the Watts home,  a little girl is clearly heard giggling while Cody searches Shannan’s shoe closet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zM_ROE2luBQ

Below, is a transcription of the dialog between K9 Handler Zmijewski and Officer Lines to help you decide for yourself:

[Little girl giggles]

Zmijewski: “Oh my gosh! What, what in the world was that?”

Officer Lines: “Woooow!”

Zmijewski: “Go in there and step on that little blue thing and see if that’s were that . . .”

Officer Lines: “Yeah, it sounded like a kid toy.”

Zmijewski: “It sorta sounded like it.”

Officer Lines: “Something . . . there was a . . . I heard it.”

Zmijewski: “Did you hear it?”

Officer Lines: “I did.”

Zmijewski: “Sounded like a kid giggling or something didn’t it . . . or a kid.”

Officer Lines: “It did.”

Zmijewski: “Where did that come from ‘cause all he [Cody] did was go straight in there.”

Zmijewski: “That was strange. Well, we’ll make a note of that.”

Officer Lines: “I heard it. I definitely heard the same thing you did.”

Zmijewski: “Yeah, I mean he [Cody] just sorta turned around and looked.”

**Watch the full body cam video without transcription here

Source: Office of the District Attorney, Nineteenth Judicial District, Weld County Colorado. RAW body cam video, K9 Search 08-14-2018, 1203 hrs, Part 2.

The article Chilling: Little Girl Giggles During K9 Search in Chris Watts Case appeared first on .

While reviewing files from the Chris Watts case for a true crime book, I came across something that ran chills down my back and brought tears to my eyes . . . major tears.

Watch the video (link below) and decide for yourself if the giggles are from a toy or from one of the beautiful Watts girls, Bella or Celeste (CC).

Officer Lines is assigned as the Frederick Police Department liaison to work with dog handler Jayne Zmijewski from Search and Rescue Dogs of the US (SARDUS). Zmijewski’s dog, Cody, is a Labrador Retriever specifically trained for signs of trauma. In this raw body cam video from the K9 search of the Watts home, a little girl heard giggling while Cody searches Shannan’s shoe closet.

I translated the dialog between Zmijewski and Lines that occurred beginning at location 43:33 ; T18:15:58Z to help you decide for yourself.

Zmijewski: “Oh my gosh! What in the world was that?”

Officer Lines: “Wow!”

Zmijewski: “Go in there and step on that little blue thing and see if that’s were that . . .”

Officer Lines: “Yea, it sounded like a kid toy.”

Zmijewski: “It sorta sounded like it.”

Officer Lines: “Something . . . there was a . . . I heard it.”

Zmijewski: “Did you hear it?”

Officer Lines: “I did.”

Zmijewski: “Sounded like a kid giggling or something didn’t it . . . or a kid.”

Officer Lines: “It did.”

Zmijewski: “Where did that come from ‘cause all he [Cody] did was go straight in there.”

Zmijewski: “That was strange. Well, we’ll make a note of that.”

Officer Lines: “I heard it. I definitely heard the same thing you did.”

Zmijewski: “Yeah, I mean he just sorta turned around and looked.”

Source: Office of the District Attorney, Nineteenth Judicial District, Weld County Colorado. RAW body cam video, K9 Search 08-14-2018, 1203 hrs, Part 2.

The article Little Girl Giggles During K9 Search in Chris Watts Case appeared first on .

Frank Geyer arrested Annie McCraken for larceny on May 19, 1880.

Early in the month of May, I made another research trip to Philadelphia, Washington DC, and surrounding cities and was honored to meet with Detective Geyer’s amazing family. Unlike troubling claims that Geyer’s wife and daughter were tragically killed in a house fire prior to his assignment to the H. H. Holmes case as told in two popular books (Erik Larson’s Devil in the White City and Harold Schechter’s Depraved), Geyer’s wife and daughter lived on and were never involved in a fire to begin with. In fact, the names of Geyer’s wife and daughter were incorrect in those books as well. It is puzzling to Detective Geyer’s family as to why such statements were ever printed.

Most of my research time was spent at the City of Philadelphia Archives. I can’t say enough about their professional and knowledgeable staff! While there, I poured through old police employment roll books and files, criminal records, Rogue’s Police gallery, rare books, and many other valuable documents.

I set aside time to travel to Library of Congress (LOC) in Washington DC. Parking is few and far between so after driving in circles, I found a parking spot an hour walking distance from LOC (good thing the rain stopped). But it was worth it. I combed through Pinkerton Detective Agency files looking for information on the H. H. Holmes case and Pinkerton’s involvement in the investigation prior to the City of Philadelphia assigning Detective Geyer. Some Internet sites identify Detective Geyer as a Pinkerton Detective, which is not correct. Detective Geyer had a long employment history with the City of Philadelphia. Even so, I checked Pinkerton’s employment cards to verify Geyer was not an employee (which he was not) and came across a rare letter from Pinkerton officials who responded in 1940 to a request for information on their involvement in the H. H. Holmes case. In the letter, they describe reviewing their Pinkerton files and documents and very specifically state Geyer was with the City of Philadelphia.

Pinkerton Detective Agency officials review their H. H. Holmes case file in 1940, and respond to a request for information from Mr. Dudley. Page 1 of letter. (Source: Library of Congress, Pinkerton Files)

Page 2 of letter.  (Source: Library of Congress Pinkerton Files)

All in all, it was a much needed research trip. I want to give a special shout out to Detective Geyer’s wonderful family for sharing precious photos and memories with me, and especially Geyer’s great great grandson, who drove over twelve hours one way to be there. I also can’t say enough about the City of Philadelphia Archives staff and the Library of Congress personnel. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Detective in the White City: The Real Story of Frank Geyer

on sale November 14, 2017!

-JD

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Early this month I made another research trip to Philadelphia, Washington DC, and surrounding cities and was honored to meet with Detective Geyer’s amazing family. Unlike the troubling claims repeated in two popular books (Detective in the White City and…

The post Book Research Trip appeared first on JD Crighton.

So excited to reveal my cover for Detective in the White City: The Real Story of Frank Geyer! Its been a long journey and a year and a half of research, but the wait is well worth it! The idea…

The post Cover Reveal: Detective in the White City appeared first on JD Crighton.

I found an old newspaper ad for Detective Geyer’s book about the H. H. Holmes, Benjamin Pitezel investigation. The price of the Geyer’s book was inflated to $1.50 due to National sensationalism of the case. H. H. Holmes wrote his…

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