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yielded black spray paint across the faces of the family’s children’s portraits and photographs.277 James Howard and his girlfriend Stephanie Warren and their four children were stunned. Soon however, police heard from another girlfriend of Howard, Erica Beverly, who told police that Howard admitted setting the fires to collect insurance money, and spraying the epithets to make it look like a hate crime and send investigators in the wrong direction.278 Beverly further detailed that Howard has used a small bomb to ignite the fires. It is believed that the first fire did not burn sufficiently, so Howard set a second fire the same day, likely to do more damage. Fire investigators determined that both fires had been fueled by gasoline. Howard was accused of insurance fraud, arson, reckless endangerment and risking a catastrophe.279
In Idaho in 2003, the Zamitalos found it difficult to meet the financial burdens of living in a rural area and wanted to move back to the city in Wisconsin. They could not afford to do so. To raise funds, they made a cross out of broomsticks and planted it in their yard, draping over it a white nightgown.280 They also painted racial slurs on the side of a metal horse enclosure and soaked the inside of their home with diesel fuel, burning a small carpet.281 Scott Zamitalo is white and his wife Barbara is black. The small town offered the couple one hundred dollars from its tiny coffer and the community rallied around the couple. Local authorities and the
277 Marylynne Pitz, “Owner Torched His Plum Home, Faked Hate Crime, Police Charge,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 28, 2001, p. D 8.
278 Ibid.
279 Ibid.
280 Anon, “Faked Hate Crime Merits Punishment, North Idaho Couple Should Face Consequences,” Spokesman Review, October 12, 2003, p. B. 6.
281 Kevin Taylor, “Couple Faked Hate Crime, Officer Says, Mixed-Race Couple Wanted Insurance Money to Move to Wisconsin, Sheriff’s Deputy Says,” Spokesman Review, October 9, 2003, p. A. 1.
Object Description
| Title | An argument for the criminal hoax |
| Author | Pellegrini, Laura A. |
| Author email | user1963@yahoo.com; teachpolsci@yahoo.com |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Political Science |
| School | College of Letters, Arts and Sciences |
| Date defended/completed | 2008-08-20 |
| Date submitted | 2008 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2008-10-13 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Renteln, Alison Dundes |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Wong, Janelle S. Newland, Chester A. |
| Abstract | Hoaxes are part of the fabric of history. While many provide humor and lighthearted joy, the criminal hoax does not. To date, researchers have included aspects of the criminal hoax in larger academic works. This is an original typology that sets forth the criminal hoax as a distinct part of the larger field of law and public policy. This work provides newly created definitions including four distinct categories of hoaxes: the monetary hoax, the attention getter hoax, the hate crime hoax and the racial hoax. It further illustrates these types with actual detailed accounts of hoaxes and provides insights to each one. It makes policy recommendations concerning the four categories of needs: 1. legislative action, 2. a nationwide statistical database of hoax events, 3. media involvement, and 4. law enforcement training and action to deal with criminal hoaxes. Finally, it recommends further research to identify the causes and motivations of vipers. The ultimate goal of this project is to find ways to eliminate criminal hoaxes. |
| Keyword | criminal hoax; hoax categories |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m1659 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Pellegrini, Laura A. |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-Pellegrini-2397 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume26/etd-Pellegrini-2397.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 100 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 94 yielded black spray paint across the faces of the family’s children’s portraits and photographs.277 James Howard and his girlfriend Stephanie Warren and their four children were stunned. Soon however, police heard from another girlfriend of Howard, Erica Beverly, who told police that Howard admitted setting the fires to collect insurance money, and spraying the epithets to make it look like a hate crime and send investigators in the wrong direction.278 Beverly further detailed that Howard has used a small bomb to ignite the fires. It is believed that the first fire did not burn sufficiently, so Howard set a second fire the same day, likely to do more damage. Fire investigators determined that both fires had been fueled by gasoline. Howard was accused of insurance fraud, arson, reckless endangerment and risking a catastrophe.279 In Idaho in 2003, the Zamitalos found it difficult to meet the financial burdens of living in a rural area and wanted to move back to the city in Wisconsin. They could not afford to do so. To raise funds, they made a cross out of broomsticks and planted it in their yard, draping over it a white nightgown.280 They also painted racial slurs on the side of a metal horse enclosure and soaked the inside of their home with diesel fuel, burning a small carpet.281 Scott Zamitalo is white and his wife Barbara is black. The small town offered the couple one hundred dollars from its tiny coffer and the community rallied around the couple. Local authorities and the 277 Marylynne Pitz, “Owner Torched His Plum Home, Faked Hate Crime, Police Charge,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 28, 2001, p. D 8. 278 Ibid. 279 Ibid. 280 Anon, “Faked Hate Crime Merits Punishment, North Idaho Couple Should Face Consequences,” Spokesman Review, October 12, 2003, p. B. 6. 281 Kevin Taylor, “Couple Faked Hate Crime, Officer Says, Mixed-Race Couple Wanted Insurance Money to Move to Wisconsin, Sheriff’s Deputy Says,” Spokesman Review, October 9, 2003, p. A. 1. |
