Greenspan's Body Count: Phillip Marshall, Alex Marshall, Macaila Marshall

or, the Celebrated Murdering Maestro of Calaveras County.

Calaveras County is in the California gold country in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains.  It was made famous in the Mark Twain short story The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.

It was not the 19th century gold rush, but the 21st century real estate rush, that brought us today's tragic tale.

The Calaveras County Sheriff's Office has identified the three people killed in the suspected murder suicide in Murphys.

The body of 54-year-old Phillip Marshall, and his two juvenile children, were found inside their home in the Forest Meadows subdivision yesterday afternoon. All three died from gunshot wounds to the head. The children were 17-year-old Alex Marshall and 14-year-old Macaila Marshall, both students at Bret Harte High School. The family dog was also found dead. The Sheriff's Office believes that Phillip shot his children, and then turned the gun on himself. Phillip's estranged wife, and mother of the two children, was out of town at the time of the shootings. 

The home at 1259 Sandalwood Drive was purchased in 2004 for $584,000.  It is now worth $344,616 according to Zillow.

Greenspan's Body Count stands at 239.

Greenspan's Body Count: Hans Walters, Kathryn Walters, and child

The real estate wasteland of Las Vegas has been a favored hunting ground of serial killer Alan Greenspan. Today's episode of Greenspan's Body Count comes from the Las Vegas suburb of Boulder City:

A Las Vegas police lieutenant and two family members are dead after an apparent double murder, suicide and arson at a home in Boulder City, authorities said Monday.

[...]

Henderson police spokesman Keith Paul said a man called 911 at about 8:20 a.m. Monday and told a dispatcher he killed his wife and child, set his house afire and would shoot anyone who approached.

The home is owned by Hans Walters, according to Clark County assessor records. Many know Walters as a Las Vegas police lieutenant married to a former Las Vegas police officer, Kathryn Walters. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that she left the department in 2005.

Boulder City police arrived to find the homeowner with a handgun in the doorway of the burning house before he retreated back inside and apparently killed himself.

Hans Walter bought the home at 1313 Esther Drive near the peak of the bubble in 2005 for $305,000. Zillow currently values the house at $155,124.

Greenspan's Body Count stands at 236.

Greenspan's Body Count: 69667 Northhampton Avenue, Cathedral City

Cathedral City is near Palm Springs, an oasis in the desert east of California's Inland Empire, the #2 most depressing place in America.

And it was the last place three people saw yesterday. AP:

Three people were found shot to death in a Riverside County home and investigators suspect a double murder-suicide.

Cathedral City Police Lt. Charles Robinson says officers were called to the house in Cathedral City late Wednesday morning.

They discovered a woman and her adult daughter shot to death in a bed. In another bedroom, the body of the older woman's common-law husband was found with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The home was purchased in March 2003 for $170,000, was Zillowed up to $399,000 in the bubble, and is now back to $175,000.

But lookie here.  The tax assessment jumped by $106,000 in 2007.  Because of California's Prop 13, you only get a jump like that if you make major improvements to the house.  It looks like these guys did a major remodel, likely funded with a home equity suckout.  That would have left them deeply underwater after the crash.

And it looks like this double-murder-suicide came down to a broke man angry over not getting enough of his dying wife's assets.

Investigators say the woman had been recently diagnosed with a terminal illness, and her common-law husband was upset over her plans to divide her assets after her death.

The daughter was visiting from Florida to help put her mother's affairs in order.

Killing over the assets of the dying, murdering for the last scraps in a desperate America.  That's what the  Greenspan-Bernanke Fed have brought us to.

Greenspan's Body Count stands at 233.

Greenspan's Body Count: Chris Lighty

Damn, it ain't easy bein' a gangster living beyond your means.

Today's episode of Greenspan's Body Count is superstar hip-hop manager Chris Lighty.  New York Daily News:

Law enforcement sources said Lighty’s wife of seven years told police he was facing financial woes that include a $5 million debt to the IRS. However, The Associated Press reported that Lighty paid off most of what he owed by selling a Manhattan apartment for $5.6 million in October.

Lighty still owed more than $330,000 in state and federal taxes, the AP reported. And in April, he was sued by City National Bank for not paying them after he had overdrawn his account by $53,584.

HT: IPFreely

A friendly tip from W.C. Varones: if you suddenly find yourself enjoying incredible financial success, don't party like it will last forever. Pay your taxes, don't take on debt, and put aside at least 20% just in case you hit tougher times later in life.

Greenspan's Body Count stands at 228.

Greenspan's Body Count: Daryl Benway and Abigail Benway

Alan Greenspan is 86 years old, yet still one of the most prolific killers in history.

Today's episode of Greenspan's Body Count comes from Oxford, Massachusetts:

A 9-year-old boy is fighting for his life after a weekend shooting in Massachusetts at the hands of his father, who police say also killed his 7-year-old daughter before committing suicide.

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Authorities say the children's father, 41-year-old Daryl Benway, separated from his wife just weeks before opening fire Saturday at the family's home in Oxford, 60 miles south of Boston.

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The late 7-year-old Abigail Benway was to start second grade soon at Chaffee Elementary School.

[...]

Friends and neighbors tell The Boston Globe that Daryl Benway recently lost his job and feared foreclosure.

Greenspan's Body Count stands at 227.

Greenspan's Body Count goes to college: Jason Yoder

When we think about Greenspan's Body Count, we usually think of homedebtors and real estate speculators.

But many of the unsung victims of Alan Greenspan's bubbles are education speculators instead. And they are largely young and naive:

One evening in 2007, Jan Yoder of Normal, Illinois noticed that her son Jason seemed more despondent than usual. Yoder had been a graduate student in organic chemistry at Illinois State University but after incurring $100,000 in student loan debt, he struggled to find a job in his field. Later that night, Jason, 35, left the family's mobile home. Concerned about her son's mood, Jan Yoder decided in the early morning hours to go look for him on campus, where a professor she ran into joined her in the search. The two of them discovered his body in one of the labs on campus and called campus police at 8:30AM. 32 minutes later, Jason was declared dead due to nitrogen asphyxiation.

Student loan debt is far more deadly than housing, consumer, or business debt because you can't go bankrupt on it. It will haunt you until your dying day. If you must use debt to pay for education, put it on your credit cards so you can go bankrupt immediately after graduation.

Greenspan's Body Count stands at 225.

Greenspan's Body Count: Michael Marin

Alan Greenspan is still concentrating his killing spree in the sand states.

Phoenix, Arizona:

A horrified court room looked on today as a man who had just been convicted of burning down his $3.5 million mansion collapsed and died in front of them.

Michael Marin, 53, was found guilty of arson by a jury in Maricopa County Superior Court. He appeared shocked and closed his eyes as the verdict was read before appearing to put something in his mouth and wash it down with liquid in a plastic water bottle.

[...]

Prosecutors claimed Marin set fire to his house in desperation because he could no longer pay the mortgage.

[...]

Marin, a father of four and grandfather of two, attended Yale Law School. He was an ex-Wall Street trader who enjoyed collecting art including Picasso sketches and described himself as a 'careful thrill seeker' to the Phoenix New Times after scaling Mount Everest and trips into the jungles of south-east Asian [sic].

Jackass. I'd love to climb Mt. Everest but I've got the little problem of paying my f-ing bills.

Greenspan's Body Count stands at 224.

HT: IP Freely.