Month: July 2022

The Death Kiss

Sometimes a kiss can kill.  Murder and suspense rock a Hollywood movie set as leading man Miles Brent is shot dead by a real bullet while filming the final scene for The Death Kiss.  As news spreads about the tragedy that has just unfolded, the producers and studio executives of Tonart Studios appear more worried about their investment and how to complete the picture than the death of one of their colleagues.   

Studio screenwriter Franklyn Drew puts his mystery crafting skills to work, first discovering that the shooting wasn’t an accident and eventually cracking the case.  During his investigation, he continually butts heads with the real detective assigned to the case. 

Between the jaded studio execs, the audacious screenwriter, a clownish security guard, a temperamental director and a flustered detective who always seems to be a step or two behind in the investigation, the film is full of humor and works satirically as an early send up of the Hollywood movie industry.

Bela Lugosi stars as a cool-headed studio manager assigned to resolve the complicated situation to everyone’s satisfaction.  It’s interesting to see him play a character other than a creepy ghoul, and he does so skillfully, even as the role doesn’t give him a whole lot to work with.  

Filmed in 1932 and clocking in at a little over an hour long, this pre-code mystery provides plenty of entertainment.  Something to love about these early pictures are the occasional strange shots and conspicuous cuts.  These movies were made at a time before filmmakers had developed what would come to be known as Hollywood’s ‘invisible style.’  

In the movies closing scenes, Drew attempts to discreetly explain to the detective how the murder went down.  But, in a somewhat awkward shot, a hot mic picks up their conversation and tips off the killer, spurring him to take drastic action.  Even if the sequence is initially a bit confusing, it’s quickly apparent what’s happening, and the meandering camerawork delivers a clever plot twist.  These seemingly strange shots call attention to the fact that you are watching a film, which in this instance adds yet another layer to the film about a murder that’s about a film about a murder.

Interview Room profiler on Delphi predator: “I don’t think it was his first time”

In last Sunday’s The Interview Room with Chris McDonough, former FBI profiler and executive director of the Cold Case Foundation, Gregory Cooper, sketched out a possible profile of the murderer of Abigail Williams, 13, and Liberty German, 14, of Delphi, Indiana.  Assessing solely the Delphi predator’s approach to the crime, Cooper was able to infer a number of probable traits and behaviors exhibited by Bridge Guy.  In a somewhat startling claim, Cooper asserted that he believed this crime was not Bridge Guy’s first attempt to go from fantasy to reality.   

“I don’t think it was his first time.  I think there were other incidents….I think there were other approaches he’s made in the past…maybe other types of assaults…other efforts that have been made.  But he’s been practicing, most likely.”

Although not a lot is known about the actual crime scene, Cooper was able to offer some thoughts on the Delphi predator from what is known.  Former Carroll County Prosecutor Robert Ives has described the crime scene as “odd” and that it displayed at least three “signatures.”  Drawing on that information, Cooper formed some conclusions about Bridge Guy.

“(The presence of) signatures suggest the probability exists that this individual has either committed crimes in the past and/or most likely will commit crimes in the future.”

Cooper also concluded the signatures suggest an emotional and psychological investment in the crime scene.  Whereas Ives described the crime scene as ‘staged’ in an effort to trick investigators, Cooper differs from him on that point.

“This is posing….Posing of the body is more of a signature where you‘re now projecting a psychological perspective….There are things he did with those victims that meant something to him….A projection of the personality of the offender into the crime scene.  It meant something to him.” 

So where does this leave some of the more recent individuals put forward as possible suspects?  Do they fit the profile laid out by Cooper during his appearance on The Interview Room?

Due to the recent release of an FBI search warrant affidavit by the Murder Sheet podcast, a number of online sleuthers have been putting forward the now deceased Ron Logan as the killer of Abby and Libby.  However, from what is publicly known about Logan, he doesn’t seem to fit Cooper’s profile of the Delphi predator.  Additionally, it appears nothing ever came of the search of Logan’s property.  To be sure, Logan would have to be one of the most thoughtless predators in criminal history to commit a crime in what is essentially his own backyard and then make no effort to conceal or dispose of the bodies.       

One individual authorities have looked at pretty intensely is Kegan Kline.  Currently sitting in jail on multiple counts of possession of child pornography, child exploitation and child solicitation, investigators seem to believe he had some involvement or knows something about who perpetrated the murders.  The transcript of his interrogation also reveals investigators attempting to pull Kegan’s father, Tony Kline, into the investigation.  How many of the boxes do either of the Kline’s check on Gregory Cooper’s Delphi predator profile?  Neither of the Klines seem like a perfect fit, but there is much we don’t know about them and it’s possible Cooper’s profile is not without its flaws. 

However, this brings up an interesting comment made by former WISH-TV journalist, Demie Johnson, who, during a recent appearance on the Murder Sheet podcast, related information she received from sources inside law enforcment.  

“Who else are they looking at?  Because I was told in the very beginning when I learned about Kegan Kline that he’s not the guy, he just knows who it is or is part of it.  So, to me, it’s like who do they know it is or who do they think it is and why can’t they go after that person?  What’s missing and was it a mistake by law enforcement?  Did they make mistakes along the way?”

Indeed, one gets the impression from the Kegan Kline interrogation that investigators don’t think he’s the perpetrator.  But due to the fact that he was in contact with Liberty the day of the murders, coupled with the peeping tom incident that arose from exchanges with the anthony_shots profile, Kline clearly has some explaining to do.  Of course, Kline’s father is the closest person in his orbit, but there are probably many others in the Kline milieu and beyond that are being looked at.   

Whoever the Delphi predator is, if he evenly broadly matches Cooper’s profile, it is almost a cosmic certainty that he is deeply immersed in online pornography and some of that most likely involves CSAM.  The likelihood that this crime is linked to some organized ring or loose confederation of child predators of diverse intentions and degrees of depravity seems like a pretty good bet.  Could one of their number have obtained information about the girls via Kegan Kline or the anthony_shots profile and chose that opportunity to make his approach and carry out his dark fantasies?