"Idaho 4" case and meritocracy of the 'Net

Maddie and Kaylee were aware they were attractive. (ABC)

Is the "Idaho 4" case the biggest true crime story ever? Yes it's a bold statement. Yes the murders in the dark of four lovely young college students has the ingredients for being a "true crime" magnet. 

What really pours kerosene in this fire, if I may use this expression, is the nature of today's media. 

When I say "media," do not assume it's a reference to the old stale "legacy media." Media simply means there is a way for ambitious communicators to get their thoughts out in front of a considerable audience. And holy cow the so-called "online sleuths" of the Idaho 4 case are feeling their oats. It has been nonstop. 

Over a year has passed. Our molasses-like legal system tries to do its thing. But the online world waits for no one. 

How the Internet has evolved! Some very interesting histories will be written. The Internet in its halting fledgling days could come across as a swamp. Ambitious conspiracy theorists were licking their chops as they did what it took to get online. It was more complicated then. We heard the term "geeky." You needed some exclusive qualities to get out there, get noticed. Alas, the Internet had connotations of being dodgy. And the legacy media with its need for advertising dollars loved "pouncing" on that to suggest it was just a lot of hooey. It was easy to document in many cases. 

So the Internet invited skepticism. Like all systems it evolved. There may still be outright garbage online. 

I get pushback when I say this but the Internet is a meritocracy - it really truly is. Either the credible stuff is at the top or it's speculative stuff that is nevertheless grounded in reasoned thought. I feel I'm getting pushback as I write this. But I stick to my guns. 

The Idaho 4 case riveted my attention for several reasons. A theme in my online writing has been the questionable lifestyle of so many college kids. The "Idaho 4" victims seemed almost a caricature of what I am thinking of. Full disclosure: a part of me feels envy as I see the various online tributes to the four, full of video of when they were in their prime as the quintessential fun-seekers. Who would not want to have the sheer amount of fun they had? 

Oh and "Greek life" figured in, a topic I have always tied to a "Lord of the Flies" ethos. I wouldn't touch their rituals with a ten-foot pole. And my, the arbitrary social "pecking order" that builds up - crass judgments of other human beings. All this in a college environment that is supposed to push lofty ideals. I have great trouble reconciling. 

 

The murder house on King Road (Fox 13 Seattle image)

They looked nice

We cannot put aside the fact that the five females of the King Road residence were, by the standards of male heterosexuals, total "babes" with their attractiveness. How did all five end up at that one residence? 

Two of them - "Dylan and Bethany" - survived and will have notoriety for the rest of their lives. They had better learn to cope with it. 

Obviously, the case would not be so sensational if there was not a persistent air of mystery. Interest would not still be so spectacularly high if there was a well-understood consensus over what happened, who the perpetrators were. I use the plural because there is a common belief on the U of Idaho campus that three people were involved. 

That's interesting and strange. Because, law enforcement has the one person in custody, this "K" fellow, who is innocent until proven guilty yet he has already spent a full year in a cage. If this one person was in fact guilty, slicing up these four kids with a K-Bar knife and creating a mess to the extent that blood dripped right outside the house, would there not be incontrovertible evidence? So the trial would happen more as a formality? Everything would thus quiet down. Well, it certainly is not coming off that simple now, is it. 

Certain "online sleuths" have risen to the top of what's out there online - not necessarily the "big names" like Nancy Grace. Mostly it's people who are unheard of, and they rise because of the sheer quality of their research and judgment. Yes, a total meritocracy! We all should be thankful for the new information/commentary ecosystem, n'est-ce pas? 

No more reliance on the likes of celebrity-conscious Katie Couric. Couric had sort of a backstabbing instinct - just ask Ashleigh Banfield. Ashleigh holds her own on the "NewsNation" cable TV channel. She has been a regular quite decent reporter on the "Idaho 4" case. The top ones you'll find on YouTube: either I don't know their names or I have forgotten them. One I know by first name only - "Nika" - and I have communicated with her. Her recent posts have been with a beautiful Christmas tree in the background. She lives in Chicago. 

 

Whodunit?

My assessment of the case at present? I will need convincing to pin this whole thing on this "K" fellow. The following is a comment I submitted to a YouTube site that is of a cutting edge nature:

 

Can you imagine all the books that will come out about this case? I suppose authors have to hold back now because new developments such as at trial will render so much stuff obsolete. And then movies too, probably pretty well off into future. We need some well-understood answers. Once there's a consensus on the salient facts, watch the flood of material come out. We'll even read about poor ol' Jeremy Reagan! Remember him? What a gallery of personalities.

 

From site host: I'm sure they'll be a bunch. I'm an author, but I write horror fiction and not true crime. Thanks for your comment.

 

Already a book

Since submitting my comment I have learned that an eager book author has already come forward. So we learn of "Why Idaho Slept" by J. Reuben Appelman. The book's full title: "While Idaho Slept: The Hunt for Answers in the Murders of Four College Students." 

Appelman previously wrote "The Kill Jar." His new book "tells the inside story of the 'University of Idaho murders,' offering a memorable, thoughtful dive into our societal fascination with true crime, the media's seeming blood-frenzy, and the future of homicide investigations, while cultivating an intimate look into the minds and hearts of the victims and their suspected killer alike." 

Appelman is struck by the phenomenon of such widespread public interest and how this seizes on new media tools to create a phenomenon. It does remind of an earlier chapter of media evolution, that being the "O.J. trial," remember? It was a phenomenon through "cable TV" as the news channels really exercised their chops with the likes of "Larry King." Very quaint to remember. In so many ways the old media model was still at work. 

Today the whole system is fundamentally changed. Will we learn that "Eric" was really the perpetrator? Holy cow. 

 

Topical music

Early-on in the Idaho 4 case I wrote a song. Checking it now, I found some of the lyrics to be dated. I shared my initial version on my blogs. So I shall share my new revised version below. I removed references to Nancy Grace because she seems to have all but disappeared, as we are just not wowed by celebrity any more, pilgrims.

 

"The Idaho Four"

by Brian Williams

 

Respects to the Idaho Four

Alas they are with us no more

So fragile is life, we can see

So give thanks for all it can be

Their faces will stay in our heads

As if they were family or friends

But really they were common kids

The salt of the earth in our midst

They set out one evening for fun

To circulate with everyone

In college there is no restraint

So do not regard that it's late

With Xana the smile stays true

With Kaylee the glamour endures

With Madison everything's cool

And Ethan just stays in the groove

The food truck remains in the lore

As we all remember once more

The kids as they just milled around

A typical night on the town

A night that would get lost in time

Just memories all left behind

Frivolity, yes it was true

So what were they trying to prove?

They must have had time for their school

Their lives must have been like a zoo

They even had time for a dog

So Murphy was there right along

The four were all victims of fate

The worst you can have on your plate

So what on Earth came 'round the bend

The night when they all met their end?

The questions just swarm in our heads

How kids could get murdered in bed

The cops were not called right away

Now what on earth does that convey?

The mystery deepened so fast

As everyone looked for the facts

With so many eyes on the case

Could we see the end of this chase?

The world affixes its glare

The Idaho sleuths are aware

They comb through the myriad clues

To find one that would go and prove

We wonder if they're even close

The sound and the fury just floats

Will this end up like JonBenet?

We wonder with each passing day

In Moscow the college means much

A place that the denizens love

So much of a virtuous place

At least that's the way it should rate

We'll let the police do their thing

It's justice we hope they will bring

While always we keep in our hearts

The love that we strive to impart

So Xana and Kaylee stay rich

In images shared bit by bit

With Madison right by their side

The girls are vivacious and smile

There was just one boy in the bunch

His legacy gives us a rush

The four of them will not depart

From memories close to our hearts

We must contemplate what they did

The college kids with how they lived

Too wild and stupid or worse

So much, it became a big curse

And while they are not ones to blame

They should have been living more tame

To be in the swing as adults

Would prop up their welfare so much

So is there a big wakeup call

For parents to maybe install

A better sense of how to live

To stop all the foolishness, kids?

When kids get their high school degree

Is it so essential to leave?

To leave the affection of home

Before they are ready to roam?

It is not required to bolt

To make an escape from your folks

You still can find ways to advance

With time you will join the big dance

If only the Idaho Four

Had heeded my words to their core

They might not have gone so astray

And they'd be alive to this day

I'd like to implore them with verve

How "Greek life" is crude and absurd

How it can be "Lord of the Flies"

Now why can't this just up and die?

Respects to the Idaho Four

Alas they are with us no more

So fragile is life, we can see

So give thanks for all it can be

 

Respects to the Idaho Four

 

  

You might want to dance

I should add that my idea of rhythm for the song is unconventional: disco. Seriously. And why not? It would be different. Disco died because it got overdone. Or was it because of the song "Disco Duck?" Different theories are out there. Aesthetically I find the disco feel to be quite appealing, energizing. It calls on us to dance!

My song is "strophic" in structure: one melodic idea repeats itself throughout. I like writing songs like that. There is a risk of monotony, yet some classic songs have been written this way. Let me add that singers like it: it's simple! "By the Time I Get to Phoenix."

Could I have my song recorded? Probably not, as people might accost me on matters of taste. Also, if the case actually does reach resolution in the next few months - don't hold your breath - it will become dated. Such is the problem with a lot of "topical" songs. I never had my George Floyd song recorded. My lyrics were with the premise of the cops being the "bad guys" in the story, but now we are seeing some shades of gray re. that, at least. Topical songs can be dicey.

 

"Nika"

Sharing with "Nika"

The remainder of this post will present two comments I submitted to the YouTube channel of the sleuther "Nika." She's such an agreeable person.

 

Nika, it is unfortunate that the sheer mystery persists in this case, over so much time. You share persuasive observations. If we had more faith in the justice system here, we wouldn't look for so much insight from people like you. I think the public is looking for confirmation of whether there is a drug connection. If there is not, well then it's a crazy guy who had a crush on one or more of the girls. What is the average day like for Dylan and Bethany now? Can they ever step out of the shadow of this? I don't see how. And, if Bryan is acquitted, is released from custody, and if the public remains convinced he's guilty, my goodness what can he do? Where can he go? He'll need something like a witness protection directive. Another thought: Is the cost of college tempting kids to get involved in dangerous things? Like drug interaction? Or for attractive girls to market their feminine attributes? It's unpleasant to say that, but it was Arianna Huffington a few years ago who taught us about "sugar babies." So I guess it's real. And dangerous. These kids don't want to graduate with a mountain of debt. If this scenario is true, it would be a wakeup call for the public to realize the daunting cost of college. Is there a better way? 

Thanks for your vigilance Nika. But why can't we just rely on LE? That is the way the system is supposed to work. Algorithms are pushing a lot of the same material to people now, so my updated thoughts may be typical among the case followers. So I'll state that LE may be involved but NOT in a sinister way. OK, what I mean is that drug task forces operate largely out of the shadows, even out of the complete awareness of standard LE. Or if there is awareness, these matters may not inspire pride or approval among them. So what I mean, as I'm trying to cut to the chase, is that kids who get caught with drugs can be induced to become informants, right? And it's not really a "choice," not the way it's presented. Can I assume that informants can get a target on their back when outed? "I told Adam everything." Remember the guy pushed out of the helicopter in the movie "Scarface?" People then say "well sir how does Bryan K. figure in." At this point I'd have to be more conspiratorial. Was there an involved scheme to have the guy set up as a "patsy?" I read once that "it was common knowledge" on the UI campus that three people were involved. Common knowledge? What's going on here? And time just passes. And we keep hearing from Nika, bless you. Make us some pancakes sometime.

(King 5 News image)

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Panoply of Christmas songs is right before us

The Fab 4 at Christmas

Gloomy or refreshing? How to describe the weather on this Christmas Eve Day, 2023. When I was a kid, to have typed the year 2023 would have blown my mind. I was in awe thinking of the future year 2000, way off in the future of course. No one knew what "Y2K" would have meant. No Internet! 

I think of the highly complicated things people do using the web today. And then I have to wonder: What did people do with that part of their brains in the pre-digital days? How could they adjust without having that outlet? Today we're informed of a routine "Windows update" as if it's such an essential thing to stay current. I'm thinking of the way-back times when there was no Internet. When "cable TV" was making inroads, giving us multiple TV channels to choose from. We'd turn a knob to change channels. 

My neighborhood was stuck with one channel while a lot of my childhood peers talked up the "Able Cable." Remember that term? I could not watch "Gilligan's Island" or "Gunsmoke." I'd hear references to these programs from talk shows and wish they were available. Years later when re-runs of such shows showed up on late-afternoon TV, they hardly seemed a big deal. There was something about late-afternoon TV that just seemed depressing. If you're my age (late 60s), do you remember? Hogan's Heroes? The Flintstones? Fred Flintstone was once featured in a cigarette commercial. 

I remind friends today that we're so spoiled with what's available for entertainment. One does not need a TV contract at all. I would not mind having one on the side, but the problem is: Who can trust these cable and satellite companies with what they choose to charge you? I had cable TV through a trustworthy local company - Federated - for a long time. In fact I switched to Federated just to get their TV. Eventually they had to depart from providing TV service. 

It was a no-brainer for me to give up TV permanently. Heavens, I wouldn't trust any of the non-local cable and satellite behemoth companies to have access to a bank account of mine for "electronic bill pay." I shudder at the thought. They raise rates, apparently, when they just feel like it. I wish there was a better way. 

But I still do business with Federated for getting Internet and that means I get YouTube with my laptop. YouTube opens an unlimited world for enjoying music from all ages, movies and TV specials from all ages such as when Dean Martin and Andy Williams did their thing. Nothing says "Christmas" like an Andy Williams TV special from the middle 1960s. His wife Claudine was stable then, not having gotten into trouble. Celebrities can end up on such a slippery slope. I often feel for them: there must be almost unbearable pressure being in the fishbowl of being so well-known, being judged all the time as if you can always be at the top of your game. 

There is great irony watching the wholesome TV Christmas specials of the bygone time. So much talent giving us entertainment in the 1960s. The boomers were growing up. We now reminisce about so many of those shows. "The Beverly Hillbillies" et al. And nearly all of them had a "Christmas episode." We can watch so much of this now from YouTube, it loses its novelty quality. Of course that's what happens with all popular entertainment. Marketers understand the principle of scarcity or the perception of scarcity. 

Remember the old NFL "TV blackouts?" Made the value of the product shoot up exponentially. If a blackout was lifted at the last minute, and we could see the Vikings get into their huddle on the field, my oh my it seemed like a gift from God! Admit it: This is how you felt. 

 

Embarrassment of riches

Christmas music? One can listen to old Christmas music all day on an unlimited number of days. I called up an Eddie Fisher tune from the early 1950s. It's all there. Does it make us happy? In my case probably yes, because about two weeks after Thanksgiving I had my appetite filled, found I was ready to actually put Christmas aside. 

Oh, the irony of the 1960s popular entertainment is this: At the same time we enjoyed Don Knotts in his classic comedy movies - so pure and innocent - the U.S. was escalating its presence in the Vietnam war with all its unspeakable carnage. Well, it's good to speak of it now. It's good as a reminder of the tragic folly for the U.S. military to extend itself into such things. 

Yes I mention this often. You have to understand that the daily news was full of the tragedy of the Vietnam war as I was growing up. Juxtapose that with the quite heavy coverage of the "protest" movement among USA youth. The protests sent a message to all youth: Do not be trusting and do not conform, because look where conformity can get us: into the hellhole of Vietnam. 

 

Artists and current events

The Beatles were at their height through the war escalation years. Artists will attach themselves to major events and conflict going on around us. It's part of their raison d'etre. John Lennon was in my opinion the most talented Beatle. He definitely rolled up his sleeves to write music that was like a clarion call in pushing simple peace. 

Peace yes, and if there were factions in Indochina that wanted to "duke it out" with a civil war, well then I guess my attitude would be let them do it. The communists won. Do we even care today? Well no, we don't. And look what all we went through. 

John and Yoko

Lennon's "Happy Xmas (War is Over)" puts aside the typical imagery of sleigh bells and mistletoe. What did I tell you about non-conformity? Let me stress that putting aside convention became quite the thing in the mid-'60s through the mid-70s, roughly speaking. We pushed aside convention to a fault. 

There is a right way and a wrong way to do everything. The avant garde forces put kids under too much pressure to eschew simple convention. 

Lennon's "Happy Xmas" had a call to action in its refrain "war is over, if you want it." The song was recorded in 1971. It did not catch on in the U.S. right away, not even close. With time it grew to be a classic here. 

John cited as one motivation for writing the song, that he was sick of "White Christmas." Well we are all familiar with the movie "White Christmas," so we know it's kind of nostalgia about World War II, right? You wouldn't deny it was nostalgia, would you? WWII was really hell on Earth. 

"Happy Xmas" did not appear on an album until 1975. Oh, let's stress that the chords and melody borrow heavily from a traditional English folk standard. Ergo, it's a public domain melody! I read years ago that the melody for Simon and Garfunkel's "Scarborough Fair" is an old folk melody, thus public domain. 

What would Lennon be like if he were around today? Well, I think he'd be quite conventional. My, the money he could earn on the casino performing circuit! I don't think money was on his mind when he wrote "Happy Xmas." RIP John Lennon.

 

Addendum: Public domain melodies are available for all. Reminds me of the old saying: Good composers borrow, great composers steal!

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com