You know that feeling when you are leaving for a short stay away from home and you know you forgot something, but you’ll be damned if you can figure out what it is you’re missing? That was me leaving for Sacramento on Weds. I knew something was missing. I knew it. But what. Turns out… More Court Date December 6 | Legal Representation for Joseph DeAngelo
Katie and I are kind of goofy about Hanukkah. We have a song by Barenaked Ladies that we play when we light the candles. We’re heading to Sacramento this week and we’ll bring the menorah with us. We’ve taken that thing with us a lot of places but maybe my favorite was Thanksgiving night at… More Happy Hanukkah: The Hearing Coming Up this Week
In our family, we celebrate any holiday that involves presents and candy. Gotta say I truly appreciate that about my mom. She made sure we had traditions and celebrations and good memories. I think that’s why I love fall so much. It would start with the Ventura County Fair that used to be in late… More Lyman and Charlene Smith’s Secret Christmas Wedding, December 12, 1975
When Katie was born, the joke was she was born unto a family twig. We have no real family tree. I mean we do but it’s small. My dad’s family were definitely not breeders. Sure my dad had three kids, but if you asked him, that was because he had good genes (do you know… More The Mysterious Case of Anne Penn
It’s no secret you know I grew up in a household of Democrats. My dad was fierce about justice for all, equality, civil rights and human rights. He was sexist as hell but after that, I saw him out in the community as a fair man committed to community and hard work. It’s no surprise… More Busted | Five Myths About the Smith Family
My family isn’t really into funerals. Thankfully, I’ve been to very few in my life but the one I remember the most was my grandmother’s brother. They called him “Unc” (short for uncle) and he was the mischief-maker. The one who would steal the fudge frosting my mom would take off her cupcake and try… More Lyman and Charlene Smith’s Funeral | What I Remember
I have this fantasy of buying one of those sheds from Home Depot and having a friend sheet rock the thing, add some electricity and then make it the most girly place possible (that’s my taste, romantic, soft, flowery). There’d be a super big comfy chair, a laptop desk and it would smell like spring… More So Now What? Kavanaugh, Trauma, Healing and Moving Forward
Yesterday Sacramento was able to announce the arrest of another monster. Terrorist. Piece of human excrement. The NorCal Rapist was identified via DNA and he’s in custody. Not to completely freak you out, but he worked at UC Berkeley – surrounded by women who clearly had no idea there was a predator in their midst.… More My Life Has Been Incredibly Different Since the Arrest of Joseph DeAngelo
In just a few days, the names of the 9/11 victims will be read again in New York. I can’t listen to them. It tears me up and it’s been 17 years! I get lost thinking about all the little things like did they have kids (who are now grown) or were they engaged or… More Court Date Aug 23 | Twenty-Six New Charges for Joseph DeAngelo
When the FBI released the news about the Golden State Killer, the Orlando shooting massacre happened and took over the news. Today, when the DeAngelo press conference went live, Cohen was heading to court and the Manafort verdict was coming in. Our poor law enforcement folks can’t get a break! But it’s all good. On… More Top Five Reasons Having the DeAngelo Trial in Sacramento is Pure Gold
The week before DeAngelo’s arrest, I had worked a trade show called RSAC. It’s the biggest cybersecurity show in the US. It happens in San Francisco and I did it while on a crutch (busted up leg) and launching a huge PR campaign. The cover image is from one of our event buttons – it just… More The Day of the Arrest: How I Learned DeAngelo Had Been Caught
My grandmother’s piano sat in our front room. It’s dark cherry and well-worn and every Smith kid had to take piano lessons. I wasn’t that great at playing conventionally, but I was good at playing a song by ear. I could read music and loved all things Billy Joel and Elton John. I aspired to… More The Day We Learned My Dad and Charlene Were Dead
Ever wonder what the heck therapy should do for you? Here’s a summary of what it’s done for me. … More Here’s How Therapy Can Help (From a Non-Therapist)
Sometimes we get so good at our jobs we can do them almost on autopilot. We don’t realize everyone else has no idea what we are doing or why we are going so fast. This was how Thursday went down. Fast, sloppy and almost chaotic. The slap-dash of serial rapist-murder hearings. I’m pretty sure the… More Court Date July 12 | Another Hearing and Meeting New Survivors
I’m pretty sure I spent thousands of dollars in therapy to get over this. No, it wasn’t just this, but being a suspect – despite how ludicrous it seems now – was really awful. Therapy can be a real pain in the butt as you go through crap from the past that frankly, you want… More I Was A Suspect In My Dad’s Murder | Part 2