According to this CNN
report, Phoenix police believe they have captured the “Baseline Killer”:
Police
said Thursday they have caught the Baseline Killer, the gunman responsible for
nine slayings that spread terror across the Phoenix area for nearly a year.
Police
Chief Jack Harris said investigators are recommending that Mark Goudeau, a
42-year-old construction worker who has been in jail since September, be
charged with 71 counts, including nine murders -- most of them random shootings
committed on the street at night.
Of course, Goudeau has not faced trial yet and
deserves the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. Still, we can say two things for sure,
namely:
- The police believe they have a strong case against
him, and
- Celebrity Phoenix “psychic” Allison Dubois had
nothing to do with catching this man. In
fact, the CNN report cites “a tip from the public”, not psychic powers, as
leading them to Goudeau.
Not that Dubois didn’t try to make a preemptive
strike. As I wrote in July,
Dubois made several vague guesses (excuse me, gave
psychic impressions) about the killer, none of which were of any use, and most
(as far as I can tell), were completely wrong. For example:
Dubois
said: “the Baseline Killer is not from Arizona”
But:
“Goudeau was born Sept. 6, 1964… and grew up in a Phoenix neighborhood near
12th Street and Southern Avenue.
Last time I looked, Phoenix was in Arizona. Dubois 0 for 1.
Dubois
said: “he's ready to bolt, if he hasn't already… I would look in California
if I were [the police]”
But:
Goudeau was caught in Phoenix.
Of course, Dubois didn’t say anything so definite
or falsifiable as “he has moved to California”. She phrased it so that wherever he was found her “impression” would
fit. However, it would seem unlikely for
this married man with family connections in Phoenix to run to California. In any case, Dubois’ “information” about him
being “ready to bolt” was clearly wrong and of no use to the police. Dubois 0 for 2.
Dubois
said: “He didn't have a father in the household.”
But:
Older brother Oscar told The Republic that their upbringing was uneventful, at
times idyllic. There was no violence in the house growing up, he said, although
he admitted that their father was a strict disciplinarian.
Dubois 0 for 3. Admittedly the report says his parents
divorced, but the above comment directly contradicts there being no father around
when he was growing up. And that’s
doubly true when we look at the next of Dubois’ “impressions”:
Dubois
said: “He had a mother he didn't respect but that he, on a strange level,
loved and is a little protective of when somebody says something about his
mother. It's a love-hate which he has for her… “
But:
“An older brother said [Goudeau’s Mother] died in 1976, when Goudeau was 12…”
Dubois missed his Mother dying when he was a
child. Dubois 0 for 4. This is my favorite:
Dubois
said: “I see [the killer] tucking his hair up in his hat to hide his
hair."
But
CNN says: “Police have said the killer… wore disguises, which included a
wig of dreadlocks and a fisherman's hat.”
See the picture – not much hair to tuck up into his
hat. Of course, he could have recently
cut it, but I’m going to bet he always wears his hair this short. I could be wrong, but I have a very strong
feeling I’m not. (Call it a psychic
impression if you like.) Now, I’m sure
Dubois wouldn’t have read the reports of the dreadlocks and the hat, and tried
to make her psychic impressions fit this description, oh no. She used psychic powers, I’m sure. But she was still wrong and still no help to
the police. Dubois 0 for 5.
Dubois
said: “[The killer] was in and out of juvenile (detention) as he was
growing up.
But:
although Goudeau has been in jail, trouble didn’t begin for Goudeau until “1982,
when he was 18. He and one of his brothers were accused of raping a young
woman.”
So no juvenile trouble at all – nothing until he
was 18. Dubois saw nothing of his adult
crimes or the 13 years he spent in adult jail. More completely wrong and worse than useless information from
Dubois. Dubois 0 for 6.
Did she get anything right? Well, she did say the killer knew the area
well and that his luck would run out. Whoopie doo!
Now might be a good time to remind everyone of the
TV program “Medium”, which features a character called Allison Dubois who lives
in Phoenix and solves crimes every week using psychic powers. I watched this program a few times (as a service
to my readers – so you won’t have to), and I can report that this TV “Allison
Dubois” not only sees exact names and/or faces of people involved in crimes,
exact locations of evidence (for example – exactly where a gun was hidden), but
also has conversations with dead people – including, at times, murder victims. And I’m talking complete sentences –
questions asked and answered in detail. None of this “I’m getting a J connection” drivel you see on Larry King. Did I say she solves crimes each week that
would otherwise have been unsolved, using only her psychic powers? I did?
I must stress again that police do sometimes arrest
the wrong person and that Mark Goudeau should be considered innocent of all
these crimes until proven guilty. I just
ask you to remember the above analysis of what Dubois said compared with the
actuality, when and if Dubois ever claims that her lame “impressions” were
right, and whenever you read of her repeated claims that she helps the police
solve crimes. One thing I do know – if
Goudeau was innocent of these crimes, the TV “Allison Dubois” would quickly
prove him innocent and lead police to the real killer. Over to you, real Allison Dubois.
Other
reading:
The Two Percent Company’s Allison
Dubois week.
CSICOP on How Not to Test Mediums.
September 8,
2007 – Update
Goudeau
found guilty on 19 counts of sexual assault.
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