cases in the news with Dr. Brian

Here’s a rapid rundown on cases in the news this week:

The body of a missing nine-year-old girl has been found in central Missouri, and a 15-year-old (boy, I predict, but authorities haven’t said yet) is in custody, charged with first-degree murder. The judge in the case will decide next week whether to charge the suspect as an adult (multiple factors go into that determination — more on that in my blog post dated 5/1/09), but in any case, the death penalty will be off the table (the Supreme Court has ruled that it’s “cruel and unusual punishment” to execute convicts who were under the age of 18 at the time of their crimes — more on that in my blog posts dated 3/8/07 and 8/9/07).

America’s Most Wanted host John Walsh has stated his belief that the perpetrator in the kidnapping and murder of little Somer Thompson in Florida is a “retired” sexual predator who “came out of retirement” to commit this latest horrific crime. I admire Walsh, but I think he’s jumping the gun and exceeding his expertise on this one. I’ve seen nothing to suggest that the perpetrator in this case is some kind of experienced “expert,” nor have I seen anything to suggest that the same person committed similar crimes years ago and didn’t commit any in between then and now (even if the “m.o.” in this case is similar to the “m.o.” in some old, cold cases, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the same perpetrator, nor does it mean, if it is the same perpetrator, that other, perhaps yet-undiscovered crimes haven’t been committed in the intervening years).

What’s with these Ivy League labs? Just weeks after Annie Le was murdered in a lab at Yale, we’re learning that six Harvard researchers were hospitalized when they developed symptoms like dizziness and rapid heart rate that were traced to the coffee in their lab having been laced with the chemical sodium azide. I suspect that this was no accident and no joke — that someone in that lab, probably someone with narcissistic traits who felt “slighted” somehow by the people in that lab did it intentionally. I’d say there’s a dangerous individual with access to dangerous chemicals, which makes this case a bigger deal than it might seem at first, given that no one died or was seriously/permanently injured.

Study this: A new study revealed that 1/3 of parents still don’t have a clue what “sexting” is, let alone how it could harm their teens. If you or someone you love is one of those “clueless” parents, check out or send them my column The “Sext” Generation.