GUILTY MD - Josie Brown, 27, raped & murdered, Baltimore, 30 Dec 2005

PrayersForMaura · Feb 14, 2006

Police: Former Student Admits To Killing Internet Date

Authorities Say 22-Year-Old Led Investigators To Woman's Body

POSTED: 5:18 pm EST February 8, 2006
UPDATED: 7:22 pm EST February 8, 2006

BALTIMORE -- Baltimore County police said an Internet date ended in homicide, and they have a suspect in custody.

The body of Josie Phyllis Brown was found off an Interstate 95 exit ramp in Arbutus Tuesday night, and by the next day, her alleged date remained in police custody.

WBAL-TV 11 News reporter Tara Mergener reported Brown disappeared last December. Brown, of Baltimore's Hampden neighborhood, was reported missing from Baltimore City.

More: http://www.thewbalchannel.com/news/6846242/detail.html?rss=bal&psp=news

PrayersForMaura · Feb 14, 2006

Death points out risks of Web dating

In a case that highlights the potential dangers of popular Internet sites as a way for young people to meet, a biochemistry major at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County was charged yesterday with beating to death a woman while on a date arranged through MySpace.com, a Web site.

The student, John Christopher Gaumer, led police to the woman's body in a wooded area near a ramp leading from Interstate 95 to the Beltway near Arbutus, authorities said. Gaumer, who is charged with first-degree murder, and the woman were on their first date when she was killed in late December, according to police.

The two were arguing on the side of the highway exit ramp when Gaumer, 22, pushed the woman over a guardrail and beat her, according to police. The woman, Josie Phyllis Brown, 27, had been missing since Dec. 29.

The two met on a social networking site that enables people to post pictures of themselves in online "profiles" that can be viewed by others. The popularity of such sites - others include Friendster.com and Facebook.com - has exploded in the past two years.

More: http://www.baltimoresun.com/technology/bal-te.md.co.body09feb09,0,6949233.story?track=rss

PrayersForMaura · Feb 14, 2006

Social relationships accelerated on Web
With the click of a mouse, any one of MySpace.com's 40 million users can learn John Christopher Gaumer's height, how many times he has been in love and what he prefers on his pizza.

Those are among the personal snippets he decided to include in his online profile. Visitors can also view a dozen pictures of Gaumer - including one of him flexing for the camera and another of him posing with his mother.

Three years ago social networking sites such as MySpace .com, Friendster.com and Facebook.com were unheard of. Now, an estimated 150,000 people join MySpace.com each day.

Many people, especially those in their teens and 20s, use the site as a social outlet - along with bars, clubs and coffeehouses - to meet friends or find out more about the guy they've been eyeing but haven't had the guts to approach.

The site is also big business. Launched about two years ago by Los Angeles-based Intermix Media Inc., it has rapidly grown into a major force on the Internet, attracting a large share of the Net's adverting dollars.

In July, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. purchased Intermix for $580 million. At the time of the sale, News Corp. said MySpace .com was the fifth-ranked Web domain in terms of page views, according to a statement issued by the company.

Parry Aftab, executive director of wiredsafety.org, said her Web site receives 1,000 requests for help from people who say they are being harassed or stalked by others they met online.

More: http://www.baltimoresun.com/technology/bal-te.md.co.myspace09feb09,0,1982398.story?track=rss

concernedperson · Feb 14, 2006

This is something I have been worried about.Too many instances of crime. Too many instances of murder.

strach304 · Feb 14, 2006

The report says the woman was 27 so she's not a naive teenager. Meeting people on the internet and posting public profiles, going in chat rooms have always been part of the internet, you have more people online now than ever so we're hearing more about these kinds of things. There are also personal classified ads in newspapers, phone chat lines, dating services, etc. Everyone is online now and myspace is just a popular site at the moment but there are many journals and online diary's that people post for the public to see. I see no correlation between the internet and crime other than it's just another way to meet people. They aren't victims because they have a myspace account but more because they use poor judgement.

misterallgood · Feb 14, 2006

http://huffcrimeblog.com/?p=468
http://huffcrimeblog.com/?p=474

John C. Gaumer really spread himself far and wide. Read the entries above -- I caught onto this story 5 days ago, started researching BigThickDude. He's a real piece of work, as you will see.

Steve

Amraann · Feb 14, 2006

Ya know WS has a Large Forum and has a chatroom ... But the sharing of personal info IS not encouraged.

And people trust to quickly ......

montana_16 · Feb 14, 2006

concernedperson said:
This is something I have been worried about.Too many instances of crime. Too many instances of murder.

My daughter's friend (who I've known since they were little) has a 13 year old daughter who's a member. I keep sending these articles because she thinks she's keeping good enough watch on it. But we know how teens are. They'll find a way to do things we don't know about.

I just would rather she's not on it after what I've been reading.

kgeaux · Feb 14, 2006

concernedperson said:
This is something I have been worried about.Too many instances of crime. Too many instances of murder.

It is freaking me out. I recently found a bunch of pictures of my 14 year old son on my digital camera, all kinds of innocent poses mostly closeups of his face. When I asked him about all the pics he told me they were for his myspace account. I didn't even know he had his own account! I knew he looked up his friends pages and all, but I didn't know he had his own page. This kid uses the computer in my den, I'm in and out of this room all the time and I don't know when he managed to set this all up without me being aware.
Luckily he has deliberately mispelled his last name, and doesn't list a hometown or address, but my god, it scares me anyway. He's got his age and hobbies, his interests all listed right there.

I keep telling him to assume that anybody who contacts him is a 70 year old pedephile, to which he says "OH MOM!" like I'm some nutcase!

You are so right, concerned. There are way too many instances of crime and murder.

concernedperson · Feb 14, 2006

kgeaux said:
It is freaking me out. I recently found a bunch of pictures of my 14 year old son on my digital camera, all kinds of innocent poses mostly closeups of his face. When I asked him about all the pics he told me they were for his myspace account. I didn't even know he had his own account! I knew he looked up his friends pages and all, but I didn't know he had his own page. This kid uses the computer in my den, I'm in and out of this room all the time and I don't know when he managed to set this all up without me being aware.
Luckily he has deliberately mispelled his last name, and doesn't list a hometown or address, but my god, it scares me anyway. He's got his age and hobbies, his interests all listed right there.

I keep telling him to assume that anybody who contacts him is a 70 year old pedephile, to which he says "OH MOM!" like I'm some nutcase!

You are so right, concerned. There are way too many instances of crime and murder.

This is something you can do, stop it now. Ask for forgiveness later.

kgeaux · Feb 14, 2006

concernedperson said:
This is something you can do, stop it now. Ask for forgiveness later.

You know what? You are right. I'm going to do just that. He'll understand by the time he is 30, right? You are a good friend, thank you for cutting right to the quick. I appreciate you, girl!

PrayersForMaura · Feb 15, 2006

misterallgood said:
http://huffcrimeblog.com/?p=468
http://huffcrimeblog.com/?p=474

John C. Gaumer really spread himself far and wide. Read the entries above -- I caught onto this story 5 days ago, started researching BigThickDude. He's a real piece of work, as you will see.

Steve

Wow, Steve ... you have really uncovered some amazing stuff this time. You never seize to amaze me!

Hbgchick · Feb 15, 2006

strach304 said:
The report says the woman was 27 so she's not a naive teenager. Meeting people on the internet and posting public profiles, going in chat rooms have always been part of the internet, you have more people online now than ever so we're hearing more about these kinds of things. There are also personal classified ads in newspapers, phone chat lines, dating services, etc. Everyone is online now and myspace is just a popular site at the moment but there are many journals and online diary's that people post for the public to see. I see no correlation between the internet and crime other than it's just another way to meet people. They aren't victims because they have a myspace account but more because they use poor judgement.

AMEN to that! However, I do think that young teens using Myspace, etc. can be a real problem. If you're a grown adult, fine - but 13-18 year olds should not be looking for dates online.

less0305 · Feb 15, 2006

Anyone watching Oprah today?? I told my hubby a little while ago - a web cam is absolutely positively one thing that will never come through the doorway of our home!!!!!

Melly · Feb 16, 2006

less0305 said:
Anyone watching Oprah today?? I told my hubby a little while ago - a web cam is absolutely positively one thing that will never come through the doorway of our home!!!!!

I watched it and still can't fathom it... What I don't understand, though, is how his mom had no clue or why she would let him go on trips by himself?? I think every parent with the internet in their home needs to watch that episode!

jannuncutt · Feb 16, 2006

Melly said:
I watched it and still can't fathom it... What I don't understand, though, is how his mom had no clue or why she would let him go on trips by himself?? I think every parent with the internet in their home needs to watch that episode!

What about the father - he exploited his son!

Melly · Feb 16, 2006

I didn't mean to sound like I "blamed" the mother, I just can't believe she let him go on the trips by himself. Of course, I'm sure there's more to the story that we don't know. The dad is definitely a Class Act Idiot, no doubt about that. I wonder if he will face charges for his role in the web site?

jannuncutt · Feb 17, 2006

Melly said:
I didn't mean to sound like I "blamed" the mother, I just can't believe she let him go on the trips by himself. Of course, I'm sure there's more to the story that we don't know. The dad is definitely a Class Act Idiot, no doubt about that. I wonder if he will face charges for his role in the web site?

Oh, I'm sorry. You misunderstood me. I didn't think that you were blaming the Mother. I don't understand why she let him take those trips either. I was just expressing my disgust for the father.

OkieGranny · Sep 9, 2015

From May 2007:

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2007-05-17/news/0705170019_1_sentence-umbc-factors

Former UMBC student John C. Gaumer was spared the death penalty yesterday when a jury sentenced him to instead spend the rest of his life in prison for raping and beating to death a woman he met online...

Gaumer was convicted last week of first-degree murder and first-degree rape by the same jurors who decided his sentence. He tearfully begged the jury Tuesday afternoon to spare his life, saying he couldn't believe he "was capable of doing such a horrible thing."

GUILTY MD - Josie Brown, 27, raped & murdered, Baltimore, 30 Dec 2005

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