Murder of Chicago area Poetry Slam Woman c. 1999-2001-who was she?
November 13, 2021 11:06 AM Subscribe
There was a case around 1991-2001 where a woman who was active in the Chicago area poetry slam scene at the time disappeared and was later found dead in Lake Michigan with some signs of foul play. The police questioned her ex-BF, with whom she was living with at the time. There was a poetry blogger who attempted to do investigative journalism about the incident. The ex BF and his mother (!) responded to postings on the blog in kind of strange and to my mind suspicious ways.
Does anyone remember the name of the victim? The only thing I can remember about her poetry is that at least one of her poems was pretty sexually explicit.
Was the case ever closed?
Does anyone remember the name of the poetry blog?
The poetry blogger was male, religious, and strongly anti pornography.
Does anyone remember the name of the victim? The only thing I can remember about her poetry is that at least one of her poems was pretty sexually explicit.
Was the case ever closed?
Does anyone remember the name of the poetry blog?
The poetry blogger was male, religious, and strongly anti pornography.
Response by poster: Unfortunately, the details are just too far off- Lorri Jackson died in another state.
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 7:15 PM on November 13, 2021
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 7:15 PM on November 13, 2021
Response by poster: Now I'm not so sure about where she died, but the rest of the details are off. It's not a bad guess though.
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 7:27 PM on November 13, 2021
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 7:27 PM on November 13, 2021
Response by poster: WCityMike2- you found the site that had the expose on it! It was Chicago Poetry.com.
Using the wayback machine link, I got to a menu from Jun7, 2001 - one of the links is "The mysterious case of the missing poet" which is absolutely what I looked at back in the day. (This was while she was still missing and her body hadn't been found yet.) Unfortunately, that particular page is not archived. SO CLOSE.
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 8:32 PM on November 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
Using the wayback machine link, I got to a menu from Jun7, 2001 - one of the links is "The mysterious case of the missing poet" which is absolutely what I looked at back in the day. (This was while she was still missing and her body hadn't been found yet.) Unfortunately, that particular page is not archived. SO CLOSE.
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 8:32 PM on November 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Hello,
Her name was Lisa Juntunen. She was a friend of mine. The autopsy asserted that she was strangled. Her boyfriend said he searched for her and found a suicide note and pills along with her jacket at the shore of lake Michigan. From my understanding they were having problems before she died. In a coincidence, her teacher from i think middle school found her body in the lake.
I remember he was responding to posts about the murder. Very strange and kind of a dumb thing to do whether he is innocent or guilty.
It's just incredibly strange that it was ruled a homicide but no killer was ever found. her boyfriend never went to jail but there was a suicide note. Maybe there was not enough evidence to pin him, and these were probably the early days of DNA. Her body was in the lake for several weeks so maybe any DNA from him was gone. I believe he was questioned and his apartment was searched for evidence. But since they lived together, maybe the only evidence would be scratches on him.
posted by metaverselagger at 7:03 PM on February 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
Her name was Lisa Juntunen. She was a friend of mine. The autopsy asserted that she was strangled. Her boyfriend said he searched for her and found a suicide note and pills along with her jacket at the shore of lake Michigan. From my understanding they were having problems before she died. In a coincidence, her teacher from i think middle school found her body in the lake.
I remember he was responding to posts about the murder. Very strange and kind of a dumb thing to do whether he is innocent or guilty.
It's just incredibly strange that it was ruled a homicide but no killer was ever found. her boyfriend never went to jail but there was a suicide note. Maybe there was not enough evidence to pin him, and these were probably the early days of DNA. Her body was in the lake for several weeks so maybe any DNA from him was gone. I believe he was questioned and his apartment was searched for evidence. But since they lived together, maybe the only evidence would be scratches on him.
posted by metaverselagger at 7:03 PM on February 13, 2022 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Thanks for the additional info, metaverselagger. I'm sorry you lost your friend, and I hope my presentation of this as a "dimly remembered mystery from the earlier days of the internet" wasn't insensitive. It was a tragic case.
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 7:07 PM on February 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Larry David Syndrome at 7:07 PM on February 17, 2022 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Max Power at 2:49 PM on November 13, 2021