I'm ready for my closeup
March 4, 2005 9:58 PM Subscribe
Sometimes life throws us little changeups. We just want to get through the day, eat some fudge maybe. Yet the call for action and justice makes us put down the divinity, pick up the camera, and dispense a little homestyle justice. Gotta remember Grandpa's admonitions though: pimpin' ain't easy.
There are several hints this guy is a blowhard:
"There is a misconception that people think this [prostitution] doesn't happen," Bates said."
I've never heard anyone that naive.
"There is a mutual respect between prostitutes and myself," Said Bates. Bates has had several prostitutes approach him and ask to do interviews. When asked why, the women say, "I'll be dead in a year. No one will remember me unless it's a passing memory of $20 sex."
That type of quote from one prostitute would be remarkable, but several?
"A dozen women were murdered last year, but we don't hear about them because they were hookers," Bates said.
A dozen hookers getting murdered in the same locality does set off alarms. Again, I can imagine two or three going under the radar, but as in the case of Shawcross in Rochester, it took a lot less than a dozen to determine a serial killer was on hand.
Bates said "Girls Gone Wild" has offered him a quarter million dollars for his footage, but he isn't doing this for a fetish or to make money.
I find this statement totally incredulous. An organization trying to keep in business is going to buy completely unglamorous sex videos without any release statements?
Yvonne is now HIV positive, she has Hepatitis and has to wear a wig because the diseases have caused all her hair to fall out.
The sexually communicated hepatitis takes 20 or more years to kick in. I've never heard of it or HIV causing complete loss of hair. (Its not a side effect of the drugs either.)
Also, is he certain that all of his movies are of women over 18? Otherwise, this could be child pornography.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 6:45 AM on March 5, 2005
"There is a misconception that people think this [prostitution] doesn't happen," Bates said."
I've never heard anyone that naive.
"There is a mutual respect between prostitutes and myself," Said Bates. Bates has had several prostitutes approach him and ask to do interviews. When asked why, the women say, "I'll be dead in a year. No one will remember me unless it's a passing memory of $20 sex."
That type of quote from one prostitute would be remarkable, but several?
"A dozen women were murdered last year, but we don't hear about them because they were hookers," Bates said.
A dozen hookers getting murdered in the same locality does set off alarms. Again, I can imagine two or three going under the radar, but as in the case of Shawcross in Rochester, it took a lot less than a dozen to determine a serial killer was on hand.
Bates said "Girls Gone Wild" has offered him a quarter million dollars for his footage, but he isn't doing this for a fetish or to make money.
I find this statement totally incredulous. An organization trying to keep in business is going to buy completely unglamorous sex videos without any release statements?
Yvonne is now HIV positive, she has Hepatitis and has to wear a wig because the diseases have caused all her hair to fall out.
The sexually communicated hepatitis takes 20 or more years to kick in. I've never heard of it or HIV causing complete loss of hair. (Its not a side effect of the drugs either.)
Also, is he certain that all of his movies are of women over 18? Otherwise, this could be child pornography.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 6:45 AM on March 5, 2005
Dances, that's beautiful. May I make a small idol of you in my home?
posted by NickDouglas at 7:32 AM on March 5, 2005
posted by NickDouglas at 7:32 AM on March 5, 2005
As a fellow UCO student, my only impression on the whole affair is that he's a big attention whore. Not sure how much of a point he has, but definitely a big attention whore.
posted by Saydur at 2:12 PM on March 5, 2005
posted by Saydur at 2:12 PM on March 5, 2005
Not sure how much of a point he has, but definitely a big attention whore.
No doubt about Bates' attention whoring, Saydur, not to mention his over-moralizing. But the arrest could be a strange kind of payback from the D.A.'s office, which makes this a story worth keeping an eye on.
dances_with_sneetches, have you seen the page where V.V. lists the ten victims? Law enforcement officials are clearly concerned a serial truck-stop prostitute murderer may be operating in the South. It's entirely possible that Bates is a blowhard *and* that he's got a point thoughtful people should pay attention to.
Damn, DeepFriedTwinkies, I wish you'd made this post more clear.
posted by mediareport at 5:47 PM on March 5, 2005
No doubt about Bates' attention whoring, Saydur, not to mention his over-moralizing. But the arrest could be a strange kind of payback from the D.A.'s office, which makes this a story worth keeping an eye on.
dances_with_sneetches, have you seen the page where V.V. lists the ten victims? Law enforcement officials are clearly concerned a serial truck-stop prostitute murderer may be operating in the South. It's entirely possible that Bates is a blowhard *and* that he's got a point thoughtful people should pay attention to.
Damn, DeepFriedTwinkies, I wish you'd made this post more clear.
posted by mediareport at 5:47 PM on March 5, 2005
okay, mediareport, since it may have been my goof, I decided to read over his website more carefully.
To quote him:
"The following is a list of women that are presumed to be victims of the so-called truck stop prostitute killer. Though the women are for the most part transient, all but three were picked up while prostituting at an Oklahoma City truck stop."
Then he lists them. The names are from his page the summary is mine. A summary of the summary: only three are described as last seen at an Oklahoma City truck stop. One is only missing, so there may not even be a murder. None of the bodies were found in Oklahoma City -- which is a more likely explanation as to why the police did not connect them. The women in the order he lists them:
Margaret Holmes Gardner – disappeared from a truckstop – but 500 miles from Oklahoma City. The rationale for being on this list is specious.
Jennifer Suzanne Hyman – described as last seen at an Oklahoma City truck stop. Her body was found in Mississippi.
Sandra Janel Beard – described as last seen at an Oklahoma City truck stop. Her body was found was found 4 counties away.
Vickie Helen Anderson – described as last seen at a Sayre, Oklahoma truck stop. That's about 120 miles from Oklahoma City. Body found in Texas.
Sandra Lee-Ann Richardson – nothing is given as to where she was last seen or any connection to Oklahoma City. Her body was found in Okfuskee County, two counties away.
Casey Jo Pipestem – as provided in a link, she did have a record of prostituting in Oklahoma City. However, nothing is given as to where she disappeared and her body was found in Texas by her family – which leads me to believe that she was in that area at the time of her murder.
Patsy Laverne Leonard – prostituted around Oklahoma City, now missing. Of course people go missing for a variety of reasons and prostitutes die of a variety of reasons, for example, overdoses. No body, nothing that says murder.
Taddimeka Nicole McHenry – reported last seen at Oklahoma City truck stop. Body found 70 miles outside of Oklahoma City.
Then to top it off, he adds two prostitutes who disappeared from truck stops in Indiana and Pennsylavania.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 9:30 AM on March 6, 2005
To quote him:
"The following is a list of women that are presumed to be victims of the so-called truck stop prostitute killer. Though the women are for the most part transient, all but three were picked up while prostituting at an Oklahoma City truck stop."
Then he lists them. The names are from his page the summary is mine. A summary of the summary: only three are described as last seen at an Oklahoma City truck stop. One is only missing, so there may not even be a murder. None of the bodies were found in Oklahoma City -- which is a more likely explanation as to why the police did not connect them. The women in the order he lists them:
Margaret Holmes Gardner – disappeared from a truckstop – but 500 miles from Oklahoma City. The rationale for being on this list is specious.
Jennifer Suzanne Hyman – described as last seen at an Oklahoma City truck stop. Her body was found in Mississippi.
Sandra Janel Beard – described as last seen at an Oklahoma City truck stop. Her body was found was found 4 counties away.
Vickie Helen Anderson – described as last seen at a Sayre, Oklahoma truck stop. That's about 120 miles from Oklahoma City. Body found in Texas.
Sandra Lee-Ann Richardson – nothing is given as to where she was last seen or any connection to Oklahoma City. Her body was found in Okfuskee County, two counties away.
Casey Jo Pipestem – as provided in a link, she did have a record of prostituting in Oklahoma City. However, nothing is given as to where she disappeared and her body was found in Texas by her family – which leads me to believe that she was in that area at the time of her murder.
Patsy Laverne Leonard – prostituted around Oklahoma City, now missing. Of course people go missing for a variety of reasons and prostitutes die of a variety of reasons, for example, overdoses. No body, nothing that says murder.
Taddimeka Nicole McHenry – reported last seen at Oklahoma City truck stop. Body found 70 miles outside of Oklahoma City.
Then to top it off, he adds two prostitutes who disappeared from truck stops in Indiana and Pennsylavania.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 9:30 AM on March 6, 2005
Not sure what your point is, dances_with_sneetches, since I've already acknowledged I see problems with the guy's approach. Again, it's entirely possible that Bates is a blowhard *and* that he's got a point thoughtful people should pay attention to.
posted by mediareport at 10:23 PM on March 6, 2005
posted by mediareport at 10:23 PM on March 6, 2005
« Older Would you recognize ..... | 4 RCMP slain in routine guard of grow-op [.] Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
Once again, though, The Smoking Gun's bare-bones-latest-news style leaves out an important piece of the puzzle. Scroll down the Video Vigilante's page to read about cops, city workers and an assistant DA all recently arrested or filmed soliciting prostitutes. Video Vigilante's claim that the charges against him were filed to harass a "regular public critic" of the Oklahoma County DA's office is worth a look. Too bad TSG left that relevant tidbit out of their post.
If the vigilante did allow some local hookers to continue unbothered with their regulars, and did offer money to get the acts to occur where he could more easily film them, he's lost much of the force of his moral outrage, but it hardly rises to the level of "pandering." It's a bit loony, if Video Vigilante's right in claiming that the DA's office routinely chose not to prosecute clearly documented prostitution, for that same DA's office to now turn around and aggressively go after the guy who's been doing the documenting.
Hmm...
posted by mediareport at 12:12 AM on March 5, 2005