Robert D. Washburn was sentenced to 27 years in prison after he pled guilty to the 1986 first-degree murder of Jennifer Marie Bastian (13) in Tacoma, Washington. Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Martin gave him a 320-month sentence: a month for every year the Bastian family was robbed of their beloved. Washburn must serve a minimum […]
Archives for January 2019
The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson
January 25, 2019 By
The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson is another book I found while reading the BBC History magazine. I read it was part about the history of the cholera outbreak in London, 1854. But it was also described as a detective story. We obviously have victims but where was the culprit coming from? What were the […]
Guilty plea expected in 1986 Bastian murder
January 18, 2019 By
The Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office reports that Robert Dwane Washburn’s attorney asked for an appointment to change his client’s plea. “The expectation would be that Washburn changes his plea to guilty on January 25 at 1:30 pm.” No details about a plea agreement are known but Washburn will not face the death penalty if he is […]
The Girls are Gone by M. Brodkorb & A. Mann
January 14, 2019 By
The Girls are Gone by Michael Brodkorb and Allison Mann tells the story of Samantha and Gianna Rucki, two teenage sisters, who vanished on April 19, 2013 while their parents Sandra Grazzini-Rucki and David Rucki battled each other in court over custody and other elements of their divorce. I announced the release of the book […]
The Last days of Night by Graham Moore
January 10, 2019 By
I just watched an episode of the Big Bang Theory where Leonard, Howard, and Sheldon take a closer look at themselves to see who amongst them is Edison and who resembles Tesla. With that discussion in mind, I wondered through my local book store and saw Moore’s book. Westinghouse, Edison, Tesla. I flipped to the […]
Hope for William Thomas Zeigler
January 5, 2019 By
The Tampa bay Times announced Jan 3, 2019 that the Florida State Attorney’s office is “taking a fresh look” at the 1975 case of William Thomas Zeigler. Whether that fresh look is indeed an official review does not become clear in the article. However, we finally have a Florida state representative who “wants to introduce […]
Sandra Kay Ross (Feb 6, 1952 – missing Jan 8, 1984)
January 1, 2019 By
On January 8, 1984 Sandra Kay Ross disappeared from Apex, Wake County, North Carolina. She was 31 years old and the mother of a young daughter. Her case was entered into the NamUs database on July 15, 2009 (#MP2482 link below). There is very little information online about Sandra’s case except for some repeated content. […]
