Another place to find Xians on Sunday television...

Besides all those services, sermons and beg-a-thons cluttering up the airwaves every Sunday, that is.

I've noticed you can also find quite a few Xians on the true-crime shows. Generally in the role of "defendant."

Among yesterday's line-up:

--A devout Jehovah's Witness, Christian (!!!) Longo. According to his sister-in-law (who has left the JWs), members of that cult are forbidden to marry outside the faith. This charmer murdered his wife and 3 kids. The oldest child was 5 years old. When he talked about killing his youngest, he said it was easier because "I wasn't as attached to her yet."

:wtf:

His story had another interesting twist - he took on the identity of Michael Finkel, a discredited NY TIMES writer.

http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/family/christian_longo/

If I had a dollar for every time I've heard this description in a true-crime show, we would have our own private Atheist Island: Both Michael and Jennifer were enthusiastic born-again Christians, and organized personal prayer groups for the congregation.

That's Michael Blagg, who killed his wife and 6-year-old daughter in Colorado. The child has never been found. Her mother was dumped into the garbage at Blagg's workplace.

Interesting twist here - a local cop used his experience and intuition to make an educated guess. No psychics required! Looking at the scanty physical evidence, the cop logically thought out what Blagg had probably done with his wife's body. The cop used GPS to grid the local landfill, based on the schedule of garbage pickups at the workplace. Seven months after the killings, the body was found.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/10/05/48hours/main647548.shtml

And now that I've cheered you all up...

The guy is simply mentally ill! This has nothing to do with religion! NTS! et. cetera, ad nauseum.

too a while back. I'm kind of familiar with the Blagg case as well, having watched a TV program about it. I don't think the body of his daughter has never been found.

A year or so ago I did a Google search to see how many Xian ministers, priests, etc., have been convicted of murder. One of the most horrendous cases I recall was the one about the Catholic priest who stabbed a nun to death with his letter opener.

:toast:

You may have seen the same show I did about Blagg. I caught it last Sunday, but believe it was a repeat. It came on not long after the Longo show.

Despite the handicap of being male, I'm also a big fan of the trashy true-crime movies on Lifetime, and the Oxygen Channel show Snapped.

One Snapped episode featured a woman whose disabled husband burned alive in their bedroom. Investigators figured out that the door and windows had been blocked, making it impossible for the poor guy to get out even if he had been perfectly healthy.

And OF COURSE, the wife went gave a tearful speech about how she could NEVER commit murder, because she was a "Bible-believing Xian who loves Jesus," etc. etc.

Quote from one of the cops: "She was calling the life-insurance company while her husband was still smoldering."

along with spousal abusers and child rapists. It's no surprise whatsoever that the most religious often have the most to hide, as in the BTK killer.

What I'd like to know is how to avoid Christians on Sunday morning. They're all over the place. You can't even count on normally secular fare on channels like TCM any more.