By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
A true crime series hosted by the St. Joseph Public Libraries will host a presentation this evening talking about some lesser-known St. Joseph criminals.
Kim Schutte will present at the East Hills Library, teaching people about St. Joseph's equivalent of Bonnie and Clyde, Clarence and Juanita Spargur.
Downtown library manager Jen Wildhagen who organized the series says even she had never heard of this couple, so she's excited to learn more about them
"The fact that the environment could put out people like this regularly and in our area, is very interesting to me,” Wildhagen tells KFEQ/St. Joseph Post. “I’m looking forward to learning more about who these people were, how they got involved in the crimes they did, and what ended up happening to them, because I don’t really know anything about that.”
Wildhagen says along with the fascination on true crime, learning about it 100 years later helps soften the blow of what they did
"The thirties mob, bank robber, Baby Face Nelson and all of that crew, those stories I think are really fun to listen to probably because they are so long ago now that the impact isn’t as direct and awful on a personal level,” Wildhagen explains. “So that’s another thing it has going for it I think.”
Wildhagen says the fascination with true crime seems to come with people touching the dark, without worrying about it touching them back
"Learning about the stories without the fear necessarily of it happening to you personally or learning about terrible stories in a safe environment is fascinating,” Wildhagen says.
Wildhagen says she has been fascinated with true crime for some time now, and one thing that has been a benefit to her from it, is learning more how to protect herself
"Because I’ve heard about the terrible things people can do to one another, I am on alert,” Wildhagen points out. “And I’m not necessarily saying that that’s what everybody gets out of it, but that is something that I’ve gotten from it.”
The presentation is free to attend and will begin at 6pm tonight at the East Hills Library in the theatre.
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