Idaho murders victim’s mother makes emotional plea at CrimeCon – live
Follow live updates as The Independent attends the true crime conference CrimeCon 2023 in Orlando, Florida
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Thousands of true-crime enthusiasts, media personalities and survivors travelled to Orlando, Florida, to take part in CrimeCon 2023 this weekend.
The Independent was at the event which included talks with Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, the attorneys of Alex Murdaugh; and Kerri Rawson, the daughter of BTK serial killer Dennis Rader.
During one panel at the event, the mother of murdered University of Idaho student Ethan Chapin made an emotional plea to the crowd.
“But I just wanted you all to know that these were four of the greatest kids. And all the great things you read are legitimately true,” she said, before adding “don’t forget these kids”.
Also at the event, Ms Rawson spoke about the moment that she confronted her father over two cold cases that he is now being investigated over – years after he was convicted of 10 murders.
“If you haven’t done anything wrong, I’ll make sure to do everything I can to protect you. But if you did, I’ll come back and nail you to the wall,” Ms Rawson recounted telling him. “He’s been playing games for years, with me, and with you...”
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Gabby’s parents, Joe Petito and Nichole Schmidt, and her step-parents, Tara Petito and Jim Schmidt, took the stage at CrimeCon 2023 for a powerful session about domestic violence, “Missing White Woman Syndrome,” as they took the audience through what they went through since Gabby was killed.
It was Petito’s posts that inspired enormous interest in the case and were seized on by an army of online sleuths who joined the effort to help locate Petito when she was first declared missing. They pored over her Instagram posts, searching for any inconsistencies, clues or possible causes for concern.
While law enforcement was searching for Petito’s boyfriend Brian Laundrie in Florida on 19 September 2021, investigators announced they had located a body believed to be that of Petito in the eastern portion of Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. The discovery was aided by another travel YouTuber who spotted Petito’s van in a video they had been editing.
“It’s thanks to all of you that we found her,” Nichole Schmidt said on Saturday.
This is why renowned forensic psychologist Dr Katherine Ramsland decided to study the criminal mind
NewsNation correspondent Brian Entin interviewed Dr Ramsland — famous for her expertise on criminal minds and for co-authoring a book with the BTK serial killer — at CrimeCon on Friday.
This year is the third time that Dr Ramsland, who also taught Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger at DeSales University, has attended CrimeCon.
When asked why she had decided to study serial killers, Dr Ramsland said that she hoped research about the criminal mind would help prevent tragedies in the future. The expert also said that her own family had experienced trauma stemming from violence.
“... we study these people in a way that helps us prevent future serial killers and that’s probably the most important part of the kind of work we do,” Dr Ramsland said. “My father’s mother was murdered ... and my great-grandfather on the other side of the family tried to poison everybody so he could run off with someone else and that didn’t work but there’s certainly violence in the background that trickled down to me.”
Dr Ramnsland told NewsNation that she won’t be able to discuss Mr Kohberger’s case until after his trial.
Alex Murdaugh prosecutor Creighton Waters draws large audience at CrimeCon
Mr Waters, the lead prosecutor in Murdaugh’s murder convictions, and his rock band The Sole Purpose performed during the event’s kickoff on Thursday.
The veteran prosecutor then took the stage as a speaker on Saturday.
“This was the scene in the vast auditorium at CrimeCon before SC prosecutor Creighton Waters spoke about the Murdaugh murder trial Saturday afternoon,” The State reporter John Munk tweeted. “...estimated 2,000 people hanging on every word.”
Murdaugh lawyer Dick Harpootlian floats explosive theory of new suspects in murders at CrimeCon
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Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin, appeared at CrimeCon in Orlando, Florida on Saturday. Creighton Waters, the prosecutor who put Murdaugh in prison, spoke in a separate panel.
The three-day event drew thousands of true-crime fans for a range of podcasters, TV personalities and victims’ families. Kerri Rawson, daughter of BTK killer Dennis Rader, spoke about her father being investigated for additional murders.
The Independent’s Andrea Cavallier reports:
Murdaugh lawyer Dick Harpootlian floats explosive theory of new suspects at CrimeCon
Lawyers appeared at CrimeCon 2023 on Saturday in Orlando, Florida for ‘tell-all’ conversation
BTK killer’s daughter Kerri Rawson wears prison-like orange for ‘special convict’ in her life
On the final day of the event, the daughter of the BTK killer took to X to make a post referencing her serial killer father.
Ms Rawson posted a picture of herself wearing an orange shirt with text reading, “No touching,” on the front and, “I bite,” on the back.
“For the last day of Crime Con,” Ms Rawson wrote. “I’m going with prison orange in honor of the very special convict in my life.”
On Saturday, Ms Rawson revealed that she confronted her father Dennis Rader also known as BTK, after it was announced that he was being investigated in at least two cases years after he was convicted of 10 murders.
Ms Rawson, who is an advocate for victims and survivors, said she went in calm, then also pushed to talk about his crimes.
She said her father pushed her to talk about the Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger. They also discussed the two cases Rader is being of of, including Cynthia Kinney, who went missing 1976 from a laundromat.
Ms Rawson said she told her father, “I love you but this is out of my hands…”
“If you haven’t done anything wrong, I’ll make sure to do everything I can to protect you. But if you did, I’ll come back and nail you to the wall,” Ms Rawson said. “He’s been playing games for years, with me, and with you...”
Ms Rawson also called out true crime fans in the audience for writing letters to her father.
Kerri Rawson receives standing ovation as she takes stage at CrimeCon
BTK killer’s daughter Kerri Rawson took the stage on Saturday to talk about her father.
The massive ballroom at the Orlando hotel was packed, with nearly every seat taken.
She recently announced that she’s been working with investigators in various states to help them take a fresh look at cases that could be connected to her father, according to her website.
On the Surviving the Survivor podcast, she said that be confronted her father for the first time in 18 years, visiting him twice in prison.
BTK’s daughter slams true crime fans for writing to serial killer in prison
The daughter of notorious serial killer BTK has hit out at true crime fanatics for writing to her father in prison.
Kerri Rawson appeared on stage at CrimeCon over the weekend where she spoke out about life as the child of serial killer Dennis Rader and about her recent interactions with him behind bars.
The Independent’s Andrea Cavallier reports:
BTK’s daughter slams true crime fans for writing to serial killer in prison
Kerri Rawson told CrimeCon that her father Dennis Rader pushed her to talk about Bryan Kohberger – the man charged with murdering four University of Idaho students
Gabby Petito’s parents say daughter ‘saved so many lives’ by drawing attention to domestic violence
Gabby Petito’s family honoured her legacy at ComicCon 2023 by reading testimonies from people who have been impacted by her story.
Petito’s parents, Joe Petito and Nichole Schmidt, and her step-parents, Tara Petito and Jim Schmidt, took the stage at the three-day event for a powerful session about domestic violence on Saturday.
The family opened up about how their lives changed forever after Petito was murdered by her boyfriend Brian Laundrie during a cross-country road trip in August 2021.
Read more:
Gabby Petito’s parents say daughter ‘saved so many lives’
‘She’s a hero and saved so many lives,’ Nichole Schmidt said of her slain daughter
Mother of Idaho murders victim begs people not to forget slain students
The mother of University of Idaho murder victim Ethan Chapin made a surprise appearance at CrimeCon 2023 to beg the true crime community not to forget about the four slain students.
Stacy Chapin addressed the audience at the crime convention following a panel by Jacksonville State University professor Joseph Scott Morgan on Saturday.
During the session, titled The Idaho Murders: An Expert Forensic Analysis,” Mr Morgan delved into the quadruple stabbings that shocked the college town of Moscow in November 2022. The veteran death investigator was the solo speaker of the panel in which he took true crime fans on a journey through the killings of Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves.
Read more:
Mother of Idaho murders victim begs people not to forget slain students
‘These were four of the greatest kids,’ said Stacy Chapin