The mood was festive as the public viewed the remains of John Dillinger in 1934  Chicago, IL —In the early 1970’s I was assigned to remove murder suspects from the Cook County Jail and take them to the Cook County Morgue .   The old Morgue seen above in rare photos was located at Polk and Woods Streets on Chicago’s West side.  It was near the Cook County Hospital .  It has since been torn down.  From 1960 until 1976 the elected Cook County Coroner was the late Andrew J. Toman, MD .  Various forensic pathologists appointed by the Cook County Board have since replaced Dr. Toman.  It is now called the Office of The Cook County Medical Examine r . In those days Coroner’s Inquests into the manner of death were held.   They were presided over by a Cook County Deputy Coroner and a jury of six men hearing the testimony and reviewing the complicated evidence determined if the death was a crime or from some other means....

New York, NY —Watching Saturday Night Live tonight introduced me to Lena Dunham .  I heard the name before but was not quite sure where. I must have spent too much time in my cave.  Dunham is a tattooed and somewhat pudgy gal that most would dismiss as a potential leading lady of most films.  I was curious so I investigated to learn why this 27 year-old girl was hosting SNL.   I watched her skits and she seemed somewhat talented.   Where and how did she get her breaks I wondered?   Hell I have socks in my dresser that are older than Dunham!   It turns out that Dunham took a route to stardom I was taught to avoid like making short films.   I was taught to patiently wait for an agent or manager to discover your acting skills and make you a star.   That is now so “old school” and nearly always leaves the blood of hopefuls on the, Boulevard of Broken Dreams .   Most of the A list actors are not also writers and directors...

Aschaffenburg, Germany —When I was required to serve in the U.S. Army I had the good fortune of serving as a medical corpsman in this lovely town some 30 kilometers South of Frankfurt . I landed here in December of 1968 somehow escaping a combat assignment in Viet Nam .   I arrived in Germany just 24 years after World War II ended.  Technically I was still part of an occupation army.  Thankfully the deep wounds of war here healing and a real friendship was developing between Germans and Americans.  This was amazing since Aschaffenburg was the scene of the most aggressive and deadly resistance once the war ended.   Thankfully my predecessors were mush better behaved than the Russian military swine that raped the women and children of Berlin while looting their last few possessions.  The German people showed me kindness as they welcomed me into their nation, homes and hearts.  Learning about the customs, food and rich culture was a r...

Chicago, IL —In Chicago like most cops I had a part-time security gig.  I handled security for the now long gone Continental Trailways Bus Company  located at 20 East Randolph.   I had to deal with pimps looking for runaway girls needed for their stables.  Pick pockets, purse-snatchers, baggage thieves, drug addicts and sex-perverts all loved bus and train stations.    Dealing with this culture took a lot of tough love.   Yes, I had some epic and unforgettable battles that sent lots business to the local emergency rooms and the old 001 police lockup at 1121 South State street.      There were times I’d encounter people in real need and helping them was often a challenge.   I sent many people to area shelters and places where they could score a free meal.   I’d find vulnerable and desperate runaway girls in need of social services.    I gave the Salvation Army hundreds of customers over the years.   O...

Munich, Germany —One of the more compelling true stories of wartime Germany is that of young Sophie Scholl and the organization known as the White Rose .  The White Rose was a small university based peaceful Nazi resistance organization committed to revealing the evil state secrets of the Third Reich .  They exposed the cruel murders of mentally ill children, Jews and prisoners of war.  They did so by writing, printing distributing leaflets exposing the shameful Nazi crimes.  In 1943 Sophie, her brother Hans Scholl and a friend, Christoph Probst were caught in the act of distributing hundreds of leaflets at the University in Munich.  They were arrested, tried convicted and executed for treason.  Eventually four other members were executed too and others imprisoned.  What makes Sophie special was that she fought tyranny and demanded that she not be treated better than her brother and friend Christoph.  The young trio were allbeheaded ...

My S&W five-shot Bodyguard with Sambar Stagg Grips from Eagle Grips   Tallahassee, FL —There is a legislative effort here in removing the taint of criminal accusations from people who were arrested but not convicted in self-defense cases.   We all know some cops and prosecutors are quick to force people to trial that have lawfully and justifiably used deadly force.   The all time Poster Boy for such cases is George Zimmerman .  There are cases far less toxic than Zimmerman where people used deadly force in the greatest extreme in self-defense.   These people are arrested, photographed, fingerprinted and they are later cleared by Grand Juries that refuse to indict or trial juries.   The records of these cases are public and currently accessible by potential employers, financial institutions, the public or the media.   The damage can result in lost opportunities, home or business loans and sometime derogatory news stories.   ...

Chicago, IL —It happens again and again, a forgetful or preoccupied traveler is found to have a firearm in a carryon bag at Midway or O’Hare Airports .  Zero tolerance kicks in and the hapless traveler is hauled off to jail.  They are forced to miss their flight along with the weddings, funerals and business meetings they planned on attending. That happened to the late retired Chicago cop and actor Dennis Farina seen in the above photo being handcuffed by police at LAX in 2008.   Everyday thousands of   travelers are similarly found with lotions, potions, perfume, liquor or various objects that just appear harmful.   Thousands of other forgetful or preoccupied people with the prohibited liquids don’t face arrest, just the confiscation of their sometimes-expensive property.   The point is that no person with criminal intent would ever knowingly place a bag on a conveyor belt for TSA inspection that contains a gun!   We all know our ...

Los Angeles, CA —Most of my visitors know that I’m an actor, writer, and video producer in addition to being a private investigator.  Along the way I have found some wonderful friends involved in German filmmaking and funding.  I’ve got two film projects of my own in development.  With a lot of luck maybe something will yet see production.  Let me begin by letting you know a little about Germany’s partnering with American film producers .   Germany is no small player in making top quality English speaking films.   For well over a year I’ve been hearing buzz about this film produced by the prolific American producer Scott Rudin and Berlin’s Studio Babelsberg .   Germany is dead serious about making terrific and in recent years given generous film grants to producers to make the magic happen. Some recent past productions funded by the German government are some of my favorites such as Black Book, Valkyrie, Inglorious Bastards and The Book Thi...