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Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Crime Con Day Three!


What a weekend!
I spent Fri-Sun at CRIMECON in Indianapolis!
Here's Day Three of my crime filled weekend....
Day One is here.
Day Two is here.


Once again, I got up super early on Sunday morning to workout before CrimeCon began. I grabbed a coffee and drank it during my workout. I know, not a good idea.

I planned to get on the arc trainer/elliptical looking machine in the hotel gym but it was SO WEIRD. I could not get a burn on it at all. It pissed me off. So I started lifting chest, did some burpees, and my PT exercises. I was so angry I couldn't get the burn I wanted so I ran a mile uphill on the treadmill. It felt SO GOOD to finally get the burn I so desired!


 Nice view!

We only had three sessions to attend on Sunday morning and then the stress of traveling home. I got in line early for The Interrogation Experience and saved a spot for Claire. This was one of the top three sessions I wanted to go to and there was limited seating. Luckily we both got in and were sitting close to the front.



On the stage was a little interrogation table...



Then, Jim Clemente, Tim Clemente, and Bobby Chacon came onstage and welcomed us to the session. They asked us to please tweet and post pictures of the experience but to wait to post them until CrimeCon was over.

Then they got into talking about the difference between an interrogation and an interview. They weren't even 1 minute into their speech until all hell broke loose...

First, a man started recording the session on his phone, and one of the presenters (I forget who) asked him to stop. Then an argument broke out near the back of the room. There was a couple arguing about something and a police officer went over to calm them down.

"Do we need to get security in here?" one of the presenters asked.

AND THEN AN AIR HORN WENT OFF.

I seriously thought there was about to be a mass shooting and I was going to die.

There was shouting, but I don't remember what was said. Someone in a black ski mask and all black clothes ran right in front of me and down the row. That person picked up a young girl sitting on the last chair in the row, flung her over their shoulder, and ran out of the room with her. I remember seeing others in ski masks but I don't remember how many.

Then all the noise and commotion stopped and we all realized this was a "stunt" and started laughing.

One of the presenters said, "This session is not called The Interrogation Experience, it is called THE iWITNESS EXPERIENCE!!!!!"

We all started cheering!

Now, I only thought I was going to die for about 3 seconds. As soon as I saw the people in black ski masks, I knew it was "made up". But I was still shaking! I should have known something was going to go down because look at the sign we passed as we entered the room...


After that, all the police officers and FBI agents acted as if a crime had actually been committed. They asked us if we saw anything. Of course I raised my hand. I WANTED TO BE PART OF EVERYTHING!

"Bye Claire!" I said, as the FBI agents took me and about 20 other people to another room to interview us about what we had seen....

This was the first FBI agent to interview me. I told her everything I saw.
"You're still shaking!" she told me.
"I know," I said. "I really thought we were going to die for a couple seconds!"
Jim Clemente (my dude!) was in the room interviewing witnesses too.
"Jim, this young woman is still shaking!" the agent said.
"Well, get her statement," Jim said, all business. He was playing the part as if this was a REAL crime.

This Indianapolis homicide detective did my second interview, but in the end they did not choose me to be one of the witnesses to be interviewed in front of the crowd. I was sad about that, but you can't get everything you want at CrimeCon! They only chose three people to go onstage and then they choose a couple people to be in a "line up" for the witnesses to identify the perps.

The men in the lineup. Two of them were the actual perps- the ones on the right!
Do you recognize Derrick from Big Brother!?

One of the witnesses onstage being interviewed...


... and the trying to identify perps in the lineup.

There was actually a woman involved in the crime too- THE FBI AGENT THAT INTERVIEWED ME! She was the one that ran in front of me and grabbed the young girl!

It was interesting to hear the testimony from the three witnesses they chose. All three had elements of the crime correct, but they also had elements wrong. Two of them heard a gunshot but one did not. I didn't hear a gunshot, just an air horn!

The whole point of the session was to show how unreliable eyewitness testimony is! And I believe it. The "crime" only lasted about 15 seconds but I SHUT DOWN. I always thought I'd be able to save myself if something terrible was happening but now I know I would probably shut down!

The iWitness experience was one of the coolest things that happened at CrimeCon!

After that, Claire and I checked out of our hotel room and left our luggage with the bell hop. There was still more CrimeCon to experience!

We caught the tail end of F. Lee Bailey's speech. He still actually believes OJ was framed and that Mark Fuhrman planted the bloody glove. Oh my word...


The last session was about the Tricia Todd murder, with an emphasis on how you can help someone who is suffering from domestic violence.


And with that, CrimeCon was over! We went to the Closing in the Grand Ballroom and Jim Clemente talked about what an AWESOME weekend it was!

Since we had a couple hours to kill before going to the airport and Claire was starving, we went to a nearby TGI Friday's for lunch. We ate and chatted for about an hour and a half. 

Unfortunately, the menu had ALL THE CALORIES listed. I freaking hate that. It makes me crazy.

"Do you want me to read you the menu?" Claire asked.

"Yes, please." I said.

Claire was so nice to read some of the menu to me and help me pick my meal so the calories weren't staring my in the face.

OKAY, CRAZY STORY:

When we arrived at the restaurant, we were the only people seated in our section. But by the time we were getting ready to leave, the place was hopping.

Then the strangest thing happened... The woman sitting in the booth behind Claire started POUNDING on her table very loudly.

"Stop that!" her husband hissed.

"I just can't take it anymore, it's been an hour and twenty minutes of this!" the woman growled back at him.

Claire and I froze. What the hell was going on? That woman had made a huge scene pounding on her table. Was she mad at us? We hadn't been talking that loudly... and we were at freaking TGI Fridays! There were people seated all around us chatting away.

We were about to leave anyway, so I sat at a bench near the door and waited with our things while Claire used the restroom. While Claire was gone, the woman who pounded on the table was leaving with her husband. When she walked by me, she glared and rolled her eyes.

Oh my word, she WAS mad at us! When Claire came back, I immediately told her what the lady did. We wracked our brains, wondering if we were too loud, if we were talking about anything controversial, or just anything we could have been doing that would have frustrated the woman so much. We couldn't think of anything, but she was clearly pissed at us. It shall remain one of the mysteries of CrimeCon...

We grabbed an Uber to the airport and waited for our flights together. Claire was headed back to Atlanta and I was headed to Baltimore. Our gates were right next to each other and departed 5 minutes apart. I popped an Ativan about an hour before my flight was supposed to leave and hoped it would do the trick.

ANOTHER QUICK STORY:

While we were walking toward security, guess who was walking beside us? JIM CLEMENTE, JIM FITZGERALD, AND LAURA RICHARDS!!!!!!!!!!! YOU KNOW, JUST SOME FORMER FBI AGENTS!!!!

"It's not every day you see three FBI agents walking through the airport," I said to them.

"Aw, you blew our cover!" Jim Clemente said. "Did you have fun at CrimeCon?" (He either recognized us or figured we had been there.)

Claire and I both said yes and wished them safe travels.

OMG I CAN'T BELIEVE WE SAW THEM!!!

Fun fact: The FBI agents had to go through security and take off their shoes just like the rest of us!

The flight was uneventful, except for two bouts of turbulence that nearly gave me a heart attack. And the landing always scares me. 

Once our plane finally came to a stop, the 12 year old boy beside me looked at me and said, "You don't fly well, do you?"

"Nope," I replied.

My parents picked me up in Baltimore and drove my ass back home to Camp Hill. They even bought me McDonald's on the way home.

PARENTS OF THE YEAR, I TELL YA!!!!!

And that was my weekend at CrimeCon! Now, if you actually read through all three of these CrimeCon posts completely, let me know in the comments!!!!

12 comments:

  1. That iWitness experience.... I think I would have passed out when the guys in masks came in!

    That TGI Fridays experience is strange. Were you talking about any of the popular crimes? Maybe she has a really strong opinion about OJ!

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    1. No we weren't talking about crimes, mostly we were talking about the ghost at Claire's mom's house! And then when she was pounding the table we were talking about when our flights were leaving.

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  2. Wow, what a jerk at TGI Fridays!
    I did read about all your days at Crime Con and it sounded like such a fun experience. It shows how we can all be "arm chair detectives" when we are watching Dateline, but what would we REALLY do if we were faced with some of these situations?

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    1. I know it is so crazy... I am that person that when I go somewhere, I always look for the exits and think about where I would run/hide if someone came in with a gun. And then I FROZE.

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  3. I wouldn't have liked the fake scene. I don't like surprises at all, and I know I would have cried and been really upset that they didn't do a better job at warning me. Although, I wouldn't have gone to the whole thing at all, actually because I'm too sensitive for that stuff! But what was with the lady at the restaurant? That's really weird! I want to know what her freaking problem was!

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    1. I wonder if there was anyone who was upset? I was shaking for about 10 minutes after but I wasn't upset about it or anything. But like you said, I'm sure the people that are up for something like CrimeCon are more likely to be able to handle something that and calm down from it more quickly. We did have to go through metal detectors before we went in the room, I am guessing they wanted to make sure no one tried to be a "good guy with a gun".

      We just cannot figure out the restaurant lady. I wanted to chase after her and say I was sorry!

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  4. See, we could have given you a ride from Baltimore, we were there until about 7:30 or so that day... but we didn't stop at McDonalds! so you would have missed out on that!

    Wow!! The whole Crime-con sounds like such a neat experience! how long did it take you to stop shaking?

    It would be funny to put Nancy Grace and F Lee Bailey in the same room!!


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    1. Nuts it's too bad we couldn't have hooked up in Baltimore! Look at us, jet setting all over the place. Did you just park your car at the airport?

      It took me about 10-15 min to really calm down totally. :)

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  5. OMG, wow...just wow! I think that would have been the most amazing thing. Honestly, my adrenaline is pumping just reading it. Megan, I am so happy you did this (I know flying and traveling solo is a big challenge for you). Look what taking a leap of faith produced! It's wonderful and I'm super proud of my friend. OJ framed?!? Um, no. That's just my opinion...but if he was he still deserves to rot in jail for beating Nicole and torturing her for all those years. He's a piece of shit. So...are you thinking you would go again next year or is this more of a "one and done" type experience?

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    1. I'm glad I was able to accurately describe it so your adrenaline was pumping! I am trying REALLY HARD to not let my fears about flying and spending $$$$ get in the way of me living my life. Why do I work so hard if I can't go have fun?

      I agree, and I really didn't think there was anyone in the WORLD who thought OJ was framed. It's just NOT POSSIBLE. The best book I ever read on the case is called Murder in Brentwood by Mark Fuhrman... yes, THE Mark Fuhrman. It was the first time I realized WHY the jury acquitted him. Not that I agree with the jury, but I did understand WHY.

      I will have to wait and see who is going next year before I decide whether to go or not. I mean, I don't need to meet some of those people again, although it was AWESOME to meet them the first time, you know what I mean? Who knows! We'll see! I definitely LOVED it, and if I don't go again, it's not because I didn't have a good time. The sessions would just have to be completely different and there would have to be new people I want to meet.

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  6. Very cool stuff at that convention!! I think I would have enjoyed all of it. CSI stuff is very interesting. And dang, how crazy about that lady at TGI Fridays!!!

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    1. You should have come! Indy is probably not that far from you? It's in Nashville next year. :)

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