Broken Lives

672 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Reading and writing narrative essay

Broken Lives written by Estelle Blackburn is an expository text, which through research has presented that nineteen year old John Button was wrongfully convicted of killing his seventeen year old girlfriend Rosemary Anderson in a hit and run. I believe through my reading of Broken Lives that the key factor of expository texts is to explore awkward questions deeply and critically. In this case who was guilty of killing Rosemary Anderson in a hit and run, John Button or Eric Edgar Cooke, and the effect of Cooke’s crimes and murders had on people. John Button was a loving, caring, active and an innocent man. John’s relationship with girlfriend Rosemary Anderson was strong. They planed to get married and Rosemary’s family accepted John for who he was and was already thinking of him as a son in law. “She was all he could think of: he was in love and was still consumed by the beautiful night at the Skyline Drive-in”. John was caring and always thoughtful of other living things. “John was upset when he saw the first kangaroo die from Colin’s shot… He was too soft hearted to shoot”. As a child and teenager John loved to keep active by attending ballroom dancing which he was in love with. Button was innocent of killing Rosemary, but fierce police questioning and the police failing to investigate the case thoroughly lead to his imprisonment. There was little physical evidence to prove John’s guilt. “… looking for blood, flesh or human hair which was likely if the car had hit a human...

Show More
Related

  • Steven Truscott Case Study

    1358 Words  | 3 Pages

    On June 9th 1959 near Clinton, Ontario 14-year-old Steven Truscott gave his classmate 12-year-old Lynne Harper a ride on his bike from their school down to Highway 8 (Ontario Justice Education Network Timeline of Events for the Steven Truscott Case). This sole event would be the one to change his life forever. The next day Lynne’s body was discovered near Lawson’s bush (close to the area in which he dropped her off) where she had been strangled, sexually assaulted and subsequently killed. That day Constable Hobbs conducted lengthy seven-hour interview on young Steven Truscott in which he asked him a number

    Read More

  • Anthony Sowell Research Paper

    1797 Words  | 4 Pages

    “She still today never told me she loved me…never… never in her life … it’s too hard to explain,” says Anthony Sowell as he mentions his mother while he is being interrogated by Cleveland Homicide Detective (Sberna). The classic neighbor that every family wishes to have, friendly, helpful and caring was holding back numerous secrets. In Anthony Sowell’s actions of the rape, beatings and murder of 11 innocent women, he demonstrates the qualities of a human monster while showing how nurture creates a personality as well as proving that humans are capable of creation more fear than those who are written about in fiction.

    Read More

  • John Q

    479 Words  | 1 Pages

    he was willing to kill himself to save mikey. why did rebecca payne change her attitude towards the archibald and helps them find a donor for their son.because she saw the conversation between john and mikey change her opinion.what change the attitude of Dr.Turner.because john’s pleading with Dr.Turner caused him to change his mind. If John was going to kill himself and there was a good heart available, he would do it .Ultimately, John’s selflessness was what caused both of them to change their mind. There was so much emotion behind his

    Read More

  • Criminological Theories, Ideas, And Film Reflection: Valentine Road

    1362 Words  | 3 Pages

    The documentary "Valentine Road" connects with many ideas and topics that have been discussed in various theories, lectures, and book readings. This terrifying documentary shows the difficult lives of Brandon McInerney and Lawrence King. An unfortunate incident took place in Oxnard, where King has been shot and killed by McInerney. This entire incident was surrounded in controversy especially because of the fact that King was homosexual. There are quite a few ideas and topics of victimization that can be applied to both individuals, but some applicable ideas and concepts consist of identifying who the victims are and what consequences they suffered and also why, bullying, and criminological theories.

    Read More

  • Opening Statement for the Case against Mary Maloney

    812 Words  | 2 Pages

    Life. Life is what gives you the ability to think, to speak, to breath and to be a part of this world. It is worth more than any amount of money, your life is priceless. Without it, we would seize to exist; our world would be utter darkness. Honourable Judge, Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, today Mary Maloney stands on trial before you. A woman who took the away the life of not just an innocent citizen, but her very own husband. She was thought to be an ordinary women, a typical housewife and a soon to be loving mother. However, the facts presented before you today conclude that Mary Maloney was not just an unordinary detective’s wife, but also a murder. On April 13th 1953, the life of Patrick Maloney came to a tragic end because of leg of lamb in the hands of Mary Maloney. For the following reasons, Mary Maloney, wife of the deceased, is guilty of 1st degree murder.

    Read More

  • Social Order in P.D. James’ A Mind To Murder

    1470 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the basic assumptions underlying any detective novel is a sense of social order. The novelist assumes that the reader agrees that killing people is wrong; it does not matter if the victims are exemplary citizens or odious individuals, it is the mere act of snuffing out another’s life that is against the social order. In P.D. James’ A Mind To Murder, Nurse Marion Bolam’s murder of her stuffy and self-righteous cousin Enid illustrates a situation where the nurse and her invalid mother had suffered from her cousin’s stinginess; James gives us a clear look at the murderer’s fear that if Enid had been given time to change her will as she had threatened to do, the Marion and her mother would never get the money to which they considered themselves entitled. However, James urges us to understand, this does not matter. Murder, for whatever reason it is committed, is still murder, and it is always wrong.

    Read More

  • Love Triangles

    706 Words  | 2 Pages

    The victim is nineteen year old Khadijah Stewart. Stewart had grown up in the south side of Richmond, Virginia (a high crime area) where she met a boy named Tommie. Both were in middle school but Tommie soon got arrested for robberies and gun charges, he was sentenced to life as a juvenile. As time goes on Stewart forms a history of dating bad boys. The main on and off again boyfriend throughout her high school years was a young man named Lionel. In High school Stewart is skipping school to hang out Lionel and his gang members. Afraid how the streets could impact Stewart, the mother moves the family to Chesterfield County, a successful middle class suburbs, to create new life. As her life is changing for the better her heart longs to maintain

    Read More

  • Young Offenders Act

    765 Words  | 2 Pages

    Steven Truscott was a 14 year old boy who was sentenced to life in prison after being accused of the murder of Lynn Harper. It was June 9, 1959 when Lynne Harper, a 12 year old girl, was heading towards a nearby school after having family dinner with her parents Leslie and Shirley. She was heading towards a nearby school playground in Clinton, Ontario where she came across Steven Truscott. She asked for a ride to a nearby highway. Steven Truscott agreed. Lynn clambered onto the handlebars of the 14-year-old boy's bike and they pedaled off. This short ride would trigger a chain of events that will hunt the lives of many for roughly half a decade. This would change the lives of two families, horrify a community, and bring doubts to the justice system protecting everyone’s lives. Lynne’s partially nude body was found nearby a bush in a farmer’s field two days after the bicycle ride with Steven. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled to death with her own blouse. Almost immediately, Steven was assumed to be the likely killer, although there was no physical evidence linking him to the murder. Steven was targeted as a consequence of being the last person to see Lynne alive. Two after the body was found; Steven was charged with the murder and was tried by the court as an adult. The trial lasted 15 days and Steven was sentenced to hang, which was after changed to life in prison. Now when did this misfortune start? It could have been when Steven agreed to give Lynne a ride, or it could have been when there was no physical evidence pointing to Truscott. Even if Steven was a potential suspect, there was no reason of why he should have been treated the way he was.

    Read More

  • Central Park Jogger Case Study

    2067 Words  | 5 Pages

    The case of the Central Park jogger is a very controversial topic but many important aspects show that the case in its entirety was very biased and corrupted, which was made even more clearly years after when Matias Reyes confessed to the crime. Especially during the 1990s, when crime in New York City had peaked and the entire justice system felt as though their hands were tied. Statistics had shown that around thirty six people were murdered each week in New York City during 1989. In this case, many young minorities were brought in for the attempted murder and rape of Trisha Meili, but only five eventually confessed and were found guilty. Antron, Yusef, Korey, Kevin, and Raymond were convicted of this crime solely based off their confessions even though they had no other evidence that placed them at the crime. There were many aspects to the confessions that didn’t always match up to the actual crime. Despite the boys’ inevitable outcome, there were many factors that contributed

    Read More

  • Anomie Case Study

    1505 Words  | 4 Pages

    He had explained to police that women were the natural choice because he had the need to feel dominant. He had stated that he found crime easy to commit because it was what he had done before and Catherine was a crime of opportunity, she had no one to protect her, she was alone and he wanted to commit a crime. He stated that Catherine’s murder and assault was “just an idea that came into my mind, I couldn’t put it aside, it was the perfect opportunity.’ He had weighed his benefits and left with a purpose to kill someone and that night he had wanted it to be a woman, he had told police that “I knew as soon as I saw people turn away from her, I could commit a crime and chances were, I could get away with it” (Schmalleger, 2014, pg.

    Read More

  • Marilyn Sheppard Case Study

    220 Words  | 1 Pages

    Marilyn sheppard is beaten to death inside her suburban home in cleveland,Ohio.Her husband, Dr.Sam Sheppard,claimed to have fallen asleep in the family’s living room and awakened to find a man with bushy hair fleeing the scene.The authorities,who uncovered the fact that Dr.Sheppard had been having an affair,did not believe his story and charged him with killing his pregnant wife.Creating a national sensation,the media invaded the courtroom and printed daily stories premised on sheppard’s guilt.The jurors,who were not sequestered,found sheppard guilty.Arguing that the circumstances of the trial had unfairly influenced the jury.Sheppard appealed to the supreme court and got his conviction overturned in 1966.Yet,despite the fact that sheppard

    Read More

  • Unheard Voices: Celia's Struggle in a Slave Society

    1090 Words  | 3 Pages

    A just crime was committed out of hopelessness by a 19-year-old slave named Celia who had been a victim of her master’s constant sexual abuse since the age of fourteen, murdered her master Robert Newsom. Unfortunately it happen in the midst of turbulent political times because of the slavery struggles in the neighboring state, this was one of the many factors that influenced the outcome of Celia’s trial, which did not seem to be in her favor, for at the time slaves were seen as nothing more than property, so in order to rule in Celia’s favor they would have to recognize them as people, which would have raised significant questions about the right of slaves to fight back against their owners abuse. McLaurin provides a great insight into the hardships faced by slaves, especially females to whom being raped was a reality and why the ruling against Celia and her execution came as no surprise.

    Read More

  • Blood Splatter Analysis Essay

    1005 Words  | 3 Pages

    An article on a 2008 case of a father being the killer of his nine year old daughter (Mya Lyon) has speculated to be a push and pull over the story told. That is when they turned to blood spatter evidence to prove that Mya was stabbed in her father’s van and not in the alley that Lyon stated he found his daughter in. On July 2008, Richard Lyons screams as he found his daughter in the alley dead. Being pronounced dead, she was stabbed multiple times. Lyon stated that after discovering her body he took her into the van with his uncle to the hospital. Until the physical evidence raised questions on Lyons story of his daughter’s

    Read More

  • Childhood Trauma In Things Fall Apart

    280 Words  | 1 Pages

    Childhood trauma and events are an important topic. The impact of childhood trauma and events can be seen in the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. On page 151 it states “Nwoye struggled to free himself from the choking grip, answer me roared Okonkwo, before I kill you.” Okonkwo grabbed Nwoye, his son by the neck because Nwoye decided to convert into Christianity along with the white mens. He wanted to convert to another religion because he didn’t like his father and what their way of teaching was. Okonkwo and Nwoye were raised in the Igbo culture. He didn't like that they killed for revenge. While Okonkwo is harsh because of his culture, Nwoye wants to be different than his father. This shows that his father had an impact on how he

    Read More

  • Broken Angel

    1151 Words  | 3 Pages

    Broken Angel by Francine Pascal Broken Angel by Francine Pascal is a story about Angel Desmond who is at the racetrack and has gambled away all of his money. His girlfriend Tia Ramirez and her friend Conner McDermott are looking for him. They find him at the racetrack and Tia gets very angry with Angel when she finds out he has lost all of his money. Angel dreads telling his parents, because he lost his whole savings account which was for college. He graduated form El Carro is supposed to go to Stanford in the spring. His parents are really excited about it.Angel stayed up late that night thinking about what happened. The next morning his mom offers to take him to get a small refrigerator for his dorm room at Stanford. He cannot take the pressure anymore so he tells his parents he does not have any money. Then he tells them what happened and they are very disappointed in him. His father fires him from his job at the garage that his father owns. Tia and Conner meet ant the café and try to think of ways to help Angel. Finally when everything seems hopeless Conner thinks of a good idea. Conner’s mom is in all kinds of charities that give out scholarships at the end of school. Conner said he would ask his mom to put in some good words for Angel. Conner goes to ask his mom to help Angel. He is very nervous because she is usually drunk. She is an alcoholic. He finally gets his nerve up and knocks on her bedroom door. He walks in and she is cleaned up and sober. It was a big shock to Conner. His mom calls a few people for Angel and makes a few dinner dates.Tia goes to Angel’s house to tell him the good news. He comes to the door smiling from ear to ear. He said he has got good news for her. She tells him the news about Conner’s mom trying to get him a scholarship. He tells her tell Conner to just forget it. He is not going to college. He tells Tia he is going to stay with her. She tells him he cannot because he has worked so hard to go to Stanford. He then tells Tia she does not love him because she is pushing him away.

    Read More

More about Broken Lives

Open Document