Murders investigated in true crime club

By KARINA KOVAC kkovac@liherald.com

Murder, chaos and conspiracy theories are welcomed and encouraged in Oceanside Library’s Plot Twist: A True Crime Club hosted by Emily Van Allen, the adult services librarian and Nadine Buccilli, the head of adult services and information. The group, which meets once a month, is filled with amateur sleuths looking to crack cold cases, reexamine old and new case files and explore the realm of true crime. Their latest April 18 meeting revisited the Lizzie Borden murders from August 4, 1892, that still has investigators scratching their heads.

Before the true crime club meeting convenes Allen sends out a casefile to the regulars in the group containing literature, movies, podcasts and other pertinent information to the case to get participants up to speed and get the ball rolling on ideas over methods, motives and more. The various mediums allow anyone to get involved in the club easily through their preferred way.

The engaging roundtable discussion is guided

Next Plot twist: A true Crime Club meeting

The next meeting is on May 16 at 7 p.m. and will feature a guest speaker and the inspiration for the John Corey books, Kenny Hieb, who is a retired New York Police Department detective who worked with the FBI Special Surveillance Group. He’ll be discussing his own experience in law enforcement.

— Karina Kovac

through the librarians hosting a slideshow on what is known about the case, and along the way anyone can input their thoughts and opinions. For the Borden case, commentaries dissected the layout of houses role in the murder, what happened at the trial, and Borden’s infamous bloody dress.

What makes people want to analyze the crime, Allen suggests, is the graphic nature of the crime. “I think because it’s just such a gruesome case and it’s just shocking,” Allen said, “Like, if something were to happen today, an axe murderer, we would be just as shocked as back then. And also, I think the details of forensics and everything are interesting, because they didn’t have fingerprint technology, or anything like that so a bunch of super sleuths like us wonder what would we do if we were living in the 1890s? And what technology would there be around for us to use to try to solve this case?”

AmAteuR sleuths IN the Oceanside Library Plot Twist: A True Crime Club met up on April 18 to discuss the Lizzie Bordon murder case. Librarians Emily Van Allen and Nadine Buccilli started the

Couple James and Lisa Dolan are in the beginning stages of a book on Lizzie Borden with a twist and stopped into the club looking to do more research and share their insights. James said what interested him most was how, “there is no definitive answer, there is no way you can say it was this way for sure.”

Lisa, who hosts reiki classes at the library did a star chart on Borden to look deeper into her personality. She said she found that, “She was a tough cookie, she was headstrong, and she was very materialistic. And she was bringing brought up in this confinement.”

She especially enjoyed the case on Borden because of her memories being 14 years old and watching the movie

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The Legend of Lizzie Borden starring Elizabeth Montgomery. In addition to still remembering the childhood rhyme about Borden she used to sing. Lisa said before coming, every morning while having coffee her and her husband would talk about the case and discuss what each other read on it.

The club started in the summer of last year and quickly gained traction as numbers rose in attendance. “I have always wanted to do true crime as a club,” said Buccilli of the origins, “and I’ve always been part of the Reddit true crime community and I thought that would fit really well in the library. So, then Emily started and her and I were talking, and I started to realize that she was also a true crime person like me, so I thought it would be a nice program to do with two people.”

with Michael and Suzanne Ettinger Attorneys-at-Law

Contesting a Will

In order to contest a will, the objectant must have “standing”, meaning they would legally be entitled to a share or a greater share of the estate if the will was declared invalid. “Standing” alone, however, is insuffcient. There must also be grounds for contesting as provided below.

1. Undue Infuence: Independent caregivers and caregiver children who end up being named primary benefciaries under the will are often scrutinized for having prevailed upon the decedent to leave them the lion’s share of the estate. The various means alleged may be physical or mental abuse, threats and isolation of the disabled person. Even noncaregivers who had infuence over mom or dad may be challenged where they end up with more than their fair share. As with any court proceedings, proof of the claim will need to be made.

2. Improper Execution: The formalities for executing a will must be strictly observed. The formalities include that the witnesses believed the decedent was of sound mind, memory and understanding. There must be two witnesses who signed in the presence of the testator and of each other. The testator must declare in front of the witnesses that they read the will, understood it, declare that it is their last will and testament and approve of the two witnesses to act as witnesses to the will.

3. Incapacity: Even if the witnesses testify they believed that the testator was capable to sign the will, a challenge may still be made that the person was not able to read the will due to a defect of sight or was unable to understand either the will, what property they owned or who their heirs were, due to mental incapacity. These latter claims will require medical proof.

Challengers should be wary of the “no contest clause”. This provides that any beneft the challenging party would have received under the will is forfeited if the challenge is unsuccessful. If the gift was substantial, even though not an equal share, the no-contest clause is a powerful disincentive to contest the will.

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