Happy 2017 (AKA Anniversary 23 -- It NEVER Gets Easier)

The crime that started it all, the actual U-Haul murders, began as a robbery at closing time on January 3, 1994, and "ended" in a double homicide after midnight.

2017 marks 23 years since the tragic killing of Keith and Peggy; the agony and loss lives on.

What do you say each year at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve to someone who lost their loved one in the most brutal fashion possible? I don't know, either; to say I'm praying for a year better than all the ones before borders consideration and insensitivity all at once but ... what's the rule on what to say?

There's no right or wrong in what you say, but there is plenty of awkward when you say nothing at all.

Victims and their families don't possess a how-to manual any more than you do, they don't even know what is "okay," themselves--they know only what not to say and usually they learn that the hard way.

Each year since 1994, the hope of a new year is always followed by (for me) sadness.

In the very early hours of January 4, 1994, Keith Allan Christopher, 21, and Peggy Ann Crawford, 37, were brutally murdered. To say that this was a most horrendous crime isn't close to adequate (a story for another time), as each judge and prosecutor prove time and time again when publicly admitting The U-Haul Murders was the worst and most memorable case they've had to handle.

The murders were followed by a literal unbelievable crime spree that lasted weeks, crossed state lines, and involved so many jurisdictions many of the crimes went unpunished. After more than 100 total convictions/guilty pleas (including capital convictions), it'd have been a waste of taxpayer money and time to hold convicted so-call U-Haul murders, Alvaro Calambro and Duc Cong Huynh, accountable for everything.

In case you were wondering (warning: spoilers!), both killers are also dead, which makes two more families I struggle to find the right words for.

"It's a new year," I say to the victims and their families and all others touched by the U-Haul Murders. Because ... what else can I say?




PS: Sign up for updates, bookmark the website, or come back every now and then to read about a few of the crimes committed but not prosecuted, as they are only briefly mentioned in the book

Additional U-Haul Tragedies: Part One

Through no fault of U-Haul and it's family, businesses, and subsidies (the majority of the time), the U-Haul products and services have been used to hide crimes, cover up murders, move stolen goods and various victims to other locations, and one was set up as (what they hoped would be) a permanent and jimmy-rigged refrigerated storage unit for an unlucky--and un-living--individual (gotta keep the body hidden and the smell hidden even better).

Of course, there's the U-Haul Murders (us) in Reno, Nevada, 1994. Duc Cong Huynh and Alvaro Calambro killed two innocents: Peggy Crawford and Keith Christopher-and then went on a crime spree that included robberies, hostages, and high speed car chases--even a major California earthquake. Things don't get much worse than this particular case.

This one helpful guy, Joshua Luck, was rewarded after helping his neighbor load his moving trailer with a free trip to California. Unfortunately, his luck ran out when Andres Serrato coldly murdered him, then stashed him in the trailer as he made his move.

Stay tuned for part two-and no worries, sadly, there are no shortages of U-Haul stories...