Craigslist (The Fatal Bits)

Posted by Jeff on May 8, 2009 under POGWI | 3 Comments to Read

Since it’s been in the news lately, today we are going to tackle a bit of Craigslist. Mostly the murder-intensive parts.

Craigslist is, in essence, the classified ads of the internet. Need to sell an old sofa? Craigslist. Need to hire some help for the stock room of your hardware store? Craigslist. How about a new roommate or a date for this Saturday? Craigslist. It’s a very valuable resource. I’ve found a bit of freelance work through CL myself. The problem is that it’s a classified section which has been given the nigh-infinite power of the internet, and power corrupts. Also people are straight up stupid.

CL has been getting a lot of media attention lately because of this “Craigslist Murderer.” This guy (allegedly?) met a few girls on Craigslist and then brutally murdered them. “Oh no,” you cry, “I don’t want to get murdered by my new hardware store stock boy!” Well you quiet your little mind, friend, because the Craigslist Murderer is a serial killer less along the lines of the Zodiac killer and more along the lines of Jack the Ripper.

You see, there are whole sections of Craigslist that are set up to help people put themselves in situations that could be viewed as a bit on the shady side, morally speaking. In addition to sections for finding workers for food service or retail, there is also a section to hire porn actors and models. They also have a whole personal section where “women looking for men” has become “women looking for men and looking for transgender teens.” There’s nothing wrong with that, it just gives you a taste of where we’re going.

The Craigslist Murderer didn’t arrange to have a pleasant dinner and maybe go catch a romantic comedy at the Cineplex; he arranged to pay for sexual services. See, sometimes a girl, or a guy, or a guy posing as a girl, will post an ad. This ad could be for a (wink wink) massage or perhaps it will look like a classified for a date. The date ones end one of two ways. They say they are looking for a man who is “generous” (or “generou$” if they think you won’t understand) or they will say they want someone who can give them an oddly specific amount of some innocuous thing. (150 smiles or 200 roses or something) They do not mean real flowers or a Judd Apatow movie they really just mean money.

So, is it safe to hire people from Craigslist? Sure. If you’re hiring for a business it’s a great way to find potential applicants. If you’re hiring for odd-jobs around the house you’ll probably be okay, probably. If you’re looking for someone to come over and pay for sex, well, be warned you might get your face stabbed off.

Edit: See what happened?