A brief followup to my article on the rationality of conspiracy theories.
A high fraction of events where the phrase “conspiracy theory” is used to stigmatize suspicions of a criminal conspiracy are murders such as the assassination of President Kennedy or possible murders such as the suspicious “suicide” of Jeffrey Epstein. According to official FBI statistics about 14.7 percent of murders in 2019 were committed by multiple offenders, the common usage meaning of conspiracy. About twenty-seven (27) percent of murders in 2019, almost one third, were unsolved. Unsolved murders tend to be gang violence/organized crime murders, that is conspiracies that could not be proven.
Some Murder Conspiracy Charges and Convictions from a DuckDuckGo search on August 29, 2021
https://www.nola.com/news/crime_police/article_2ae64e42-06b0-11ec-b6d2-d7d25c1344ca.html
10 charged with murder, conspiracy in fatal shooting of 12-year-old Todriana Peters
BY RAMON ANTONIO VARGAS | Staff writer Published Aug 26, 2021 at 4:01 pm | Updated Aug 26, 2021 at 4:55 pm Less than three months after a hail of bullets outside a graduation party cut down a 12-year-old girl and wounded two others, Orleans Parish prosecutors have filed felony charges against 10 men suspected of having a hand in the deadly Memorial Day weekend ambush.
Bronx Man Convicted Of Murder, Robbery, And Drug Trafficking Offenses
Audrey Strauss, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that a jury returned a guilty verdict Friday against KASHEEN SAMUELS, a/k/a “Kash,” a/k/a “JR,” on five counts, including charges relating to the felony murder of Andrew Torres during an armed robbery, as well as other charges relating to robbery, robbery conspiracy, and narcotics conspiracy. U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos presided over the 9-day trial.
Man Convicted in Murder Linked to Mexican Mafia That San Diego Sheriff Helped Probe
by City News Service July 2, 2021
A jury has convicted a 24-year-old man for his role in the killing of a drug dealer in Placentia, an attack allegedly ordered by the head of a branch of the Mexican Mafia.
The 2017 fatal shooting, which San Diego County Sheriff’s investigators helped probe, resulted in the death of Robert Rios, 35.
Augustine Velazquez was convicted of murder, conspiracy, burglary and attempted robbery Wednesday in the killing.
Two New Jersey mobsters trying to overturn 1989 conviction for John Gotti murder plot
By DiMaiolo Santolo May 17, 2021Two New Jersey mobsters trying to overturn 1989 conviction for John Gotti murder plot
Two aging New Jersey mobsters, who federal judges have denied to release from prison during the coronavirus pandemic, are now alleging their decades-old convictions for plotting to murder John Gotti and ordering the hit on a New York businessman should be overturned.
Attorneys for Louis “Bobby” Manna and Richard DeSciscio, who have both been incarcerated since 1989, said they filed motions in federal court this week outlining how cases that put the two members of the Genovese Crime Family behind bars was full of prosecutorial misconduct.
Long-Time Leader of Violent Grape Street Crips Street Gang and Two Members Convicted of Racketeering Conspiracy
Leader’s Orders Resulted in Four Murders and an Attempted MurderNEWARK, N.J. – Three members of the New Jersey set of the violent street gang “Grape Street Crips” – including its long-time leader – were convicted by a federal jury today of racketeering conspiracy and a host of murders, shootings, and drug trafficking crimes, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito, FBI Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie and DEA Special Agent in Charge Valerie A. Nickerson announced.
The leader of the enterprise, Corey Hamlet, a/k/a “C-Blaze,” a/k/a “Blaze,” a/k/a “Blizzie,” a/k/a “Castor Troy,” 41, of Belleville, New Jersey; and associates Tony Phillips, a/k/a “Blue,” 27, of Newark; and Ahmad Manley, a/k/a “Fresh,” a/k/a “Moddi G,” 32, of Summit, New Jersey, were convicted following a two-month trial before U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo in Newark federal court. The jury deliberated for four days before returning the verdicts. (A chart outlining the counts per defendant and maximum potential penalties is attached below.)
Yonkers Gang Leader Convicted in Federal Court of Racketeering Charges, Murder, Conspiracy to Murder, Attempted Murder, Narcotics, and Firearms Offenses
U.S. Attorney’s Office July 01, 2013
Southern District of New York (212) 637-2600Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Steven Knowles, 25, was convicted today in White Plains of various racketeering charges, murder, conspiracy to murder, attempted murder, narcotics conspiracy, and firearms offenses following a four-week jury trial before the U.S. District Judge Kenneth M Karas. The jury convicted Knowles of charges arising out of his involvement, from 2000 through 2013, in the criminal activities of the Elm Street Wolves gang (the Wolves)—a violent street gang that was involved in drug trafficking and multiple acts of violence, including murder and attempted murder, in Yonkers, New York.
Court affirms conviction of Pagan biker who helped plot radio host’s murder
Updated: Apr. 27, 2021, 12:39 a.m. | Published: Apr. 26, 2021, 10:05 p.m.The New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division affirmed the the 2018 conviction of a Pagan biker who plotted the murder of popular radio host April Kauffman in order to protect a pill-dealing scheme he had set up with her husband, authorities said.
Three judges handed down the ruling on April 20 that the trial of Ferdinand ‘Freddy’ Augello, 65, of Petersburg, was fair and impartial, the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office announced Monday.
Augello was found guilty on Oct. 2, 2018 of murder, murder conspiracy, racketeering and drug charges after only a few hours of jury deliberations.
Fourteen Alleged Members of “Babiiez” Gang Charged in 81-Count
Conspiracy Indictment That Includes 11 Shootings
Flatbush-based Gang is Alleged Subset of Insane Crip Gangsta
Nine Handguns Were Recovered During the Course of the InvestigationBrooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, together with New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea, today announced that 14 alleged members of the Babiiez street gang are variously charged in an 81-count indictment with conspiracy to commit murder, possess weapons and related charges. The indictment includes charges related to 11 shootings that resulted in eight victims – six of whom were alleged rival gang members and two men who were not rivals.
These are a few examples of arguably solved murders committed by conspiracies.
(C) 2021 by John F. McGowan, Ph.D.
About Me
John F. McGowan, Ph.D. solves problems using mathematics and mathematical software, including developing gesture recognition for touch devices, video compression and speech recognition technologies. He has extensive experience developing software in C, C++, MATLAB, Python, Visual Basic and many other programming languages. He has been a Visiting Scholar at HP Labs developing computer vision algorithms and software for mobile devices. He has worked as a contractor at NASA Ames Research Center involved in the research and development of image and video processing algorithms and technology. He has published articles on the origin and evolution of life, the exploration of Mars (anticipating the discovery of methane on Mars), and cheap access to space. He has a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a B.S. in physics from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).