According to several of Whitney's relatives, when nurse Josephine Spegel threatened to take away the children during an unannounced visit in 1969, Just raped and killed her as some of his children watched, burying the body in a remote location. Some even decide never to have children for fear that they might become abusive to their own children just like their parents were. (Available as a print and as stationery cards.). Coming Soon. One admires Whitney and his family members for their bravery in telling their harrowing stories; one just wishes this were Whitney's seventh or eighth film . There are no featured reviews for Just, Melvin: Just Evil because the movie has not released yet (). Just leave us a message here and we will work on getting you verified. One of the most mind-boggling and difficult-to-understand phenomena in all of psychology is how some parents seem to go out of their way to severely abuse, physically and/or sexually, their own children. be true. In fact, I did things to my kids that are actually much worse than what you did to me.". A few years ago, child abuse was "defined downwards" to include the most insignificant of infractions something that we still see today. (Whitney includes a link to the charity Childhelp USA on his Web site for the film, JustMelvin.com. Viewers can access the documentary for free on YouTube here. The director (Whitney) has to be one of the bravest men on earth, to expose all this. Aug 2, 2018, 7:51 PM. Fisher was a husband and father of two, seeming to live the American dream. Hoda Kotb 's absence from the Today show has finally been explained by her co-host. Just Melvin, Just Evil is the most disturbing documentary you'll ever see. Sept. 11 was a devastating event for the United States. . He was also a child molester and most likely a murderer, too. This is the kind of documentary that is behind HBO winning all those Emmy, Oscar and Peabody awards. Both of his half-sisters vehemently turn him down. lets just mute all the criticism It is a very hard to find documentary about the tormented family of Melvin Just, a man almost too evil to be believed. What a great pianist he is! With the bribe of a McDonald's hamburger, filmmaker James Ronald Whitney lures his grandfather, Melvin Just, above, to a pier for a confrontation. With this caveat in mind, I present the role of the monster. and it's one of the best."). That's a promise.". It holds an 86% approval rate on film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. Sowell killed more than 11 victims, whose bodies were later found by police. He was also a child molester and . Now, we follow the rules above for Touch Spells. Sheila Nevins, the executive who heads HBO's America Undercover documentary series and helped shape Just, Melvin for TV, says Whitney's documentary exemplifies the kinds of films she's planned for America Undercover's first regular time slot on HBO's schedule. But executives decided to give America Undercover a regular home after The Sopranos for 11 weeks, funneling viewers from HBO's biggest hit into documentaries about dwarfs, killers of abortion doctors and Melvin Just. Just's first wife, Fay (Whitney's grandmother), and mother of six of Just's children/step-children is interviewed throughout and shows naivete, alternating between whether she knew or believed before charges were brought, when it was happening, or whether she believed it immediately after Just left her for another woman. "I have much more satisfaction.". The documentary follows up with former Club Kids members as they recount their experiences with Alig. A man who had systematically sexually abused several members of his own family with devastating results was interviewed. What amazes me is how all the children, now adults, have not all turned on one another. Rather than invalidate claims of abuse by minimizing them, such individuals often seem to go to the opposite extreme and exaggerate the incidence of abuse. "Grandpa Just destroyed my family and almost destroyed my mom," Whitney narrates to the camera over footage from one of his Star Search dance competitions (an appearance he made minutes after learning that his mom had tried to suffocate herself with car exhaust). Jasmins journey: Wimauma girl makes profound recovery after tragic crash, Pasco motorcyclist: I couldnt live with myself knowing what I had done, Palm Harbor delicatessen collects hundreds of bikes for underprivileged kids, Florida adds 6,659 coronavirus cases, 98 deaths Monday, Florida adds 7,363 coronavirus cases, 59 deaths Sunday, Two lanes reopen on southbound I-275 after fatal wrong-way crash, Bicyclist killed while pedaling in wrong direction, St. Petersburg police say, Armed robbery suspects arrested after three-county chase, two cruiser crashes. Just was ultimately never charged in the case, which remains officially unsolved. It can be a frustrating yet heartbreaking film, as it is evident that the man is not Barclay, but the family is desperate to have him back. So, I must admit that my ideas about the nature of the role these folks are playing in their dysfunctional families is far more speculative than the descriptions of dysfunction family roles in my previous posts. It is a very hard to find documentary about the tormented family of Melvin Just, a man almost too evil to be believed. All he knows so far is that one of his relatives caused it. As a viewer it's really infuriates me, how can a human being did that without conscience and getting his stomach sick and worst denying the truth until his . Whenever Melvin is putting on his shoes, he always sits on his bed. In the documentary Just, Melvin: Just Evil, Melvin Just's family says he sexually molested his nine daughters and some of his stepchildren. The two daughters that Fay and Melvin begot started getting abused when they were toddlers. Grant has been practicing her singing . Additionally, Just was accused of these same acts against Pambi and her half-sisters through Venise, Denise and Bobbie, and Jenise, the sole child of the marriage of Venise and Just.[4]. Whitney's Uncle Jim is caretaker to a feeble, aged Fay and laughingly recalls pulling three of her teeth out with pliers. The most troubling aspect of this case is that it took several decades for him to be caught. And the ending, with them hugging him and all of that, I dont think anybody that hasnt been through something like that or something similar could understand what went on there, must be very conflicting emotions there. The Imposter details Frederic Bourdins decisions about taking a missing boy's identity to live a new life. Fisher managed to survive the explosion and has been on the run ever since, earning his place on the FBIs Most Wanted list. Just, Melvin documents the emotional wreckage created by Melvin Just, a mechanic in a small northern California town who consistently molested his own children and stepchildren by two different women. Menu. A good example of this was seen in a 2000 HBO documentary called Just, Melvin: Just Evil. 1.5K views 4 years ago In this documentary focusing on his own tortured family tree, James Ronald Whitney chronicles an evil that seems too pure to be real: Melvin Just. We should just voluntarily go extinct. And it was all by their shared step-father, Melvin. Talking to a reporter about Just, Melvin: Just Evil, his intimately personal film about the grandfather who sexually molested his 10 children and stepchildren (including Whitney's mother),. New documentaries straight to your inbox. 6. It is true that mothers are at fault for turning a blind eye. May he rot in hell. I suppose I did come across as unfeeling, but I am not, how did you put it ?An illiterate cretin You did just what you said I did, you judge me without knowing me. However, this was not the case for the Fisher family. Disturbing but blatantly truthful documentary. ?If this man totally ruined your life, your spirit, and you cant be or do anything with your life because of it, why would you do this ?I have no sympathy at all for these woman. In the past, Nevins' documentaries might air any time on the pay cable channel. Director James Ronald Whitneys takes a personal look into his own tormented family tree and its history of alcoholism, drug abuse and incest across three generations. He laughs, in fact. Theres a special place in hell for men like this. I am not speaking of those abusive parents who are unstable and overreact to their children's frustrating behavior and beat them, but about those parents who seem to make a highly conscious decision to continually and methodically hurt their children in some way. In this documentary focusing on his own tortured family tree, James Ronald Whitney chronicles an evil that seems too pure to be real: Melvin Just. (The complete absence of dead or missing babies is, forgive the pun, a dead giveaway that nothing of the sort had ever really happened). Knowing what you value will help you build the most meaningful life possible. Unfortunately, none of the girls had the guidance needed to heal themselves. Mary, what the fuck are you talking about? ?Really ? Its a shame society doesnt take things like this more seriously. His sisters seem to dislike this arrangement but keep their distance from both as Jim has propositioned two of his half-sisters to live with him "as his wife", while he cares for Fay. By the time Whitney confronts Just, he's in a wheelchair and living in a nursing home. In this documentary focusing on his own tortured family tree, James Ronald Whitney chronicles an evil that seems too pure to be real: Melvin Just. If youre a long-term true crime fanatic, you have probably watched countless true crime documentaries. He wrote, "Scandalous testimony relates how Melvin was paying the girls from 25 cents to one dollar, depending on the depth of penetration, and how he forced them to get 'training' by using crayons and hot dogs. Since no one has or can have memories from this age, the public probably started to feel sorry for her put-upon parents rather than for her. He served fewer than nine years. Just Melvin, Just Evil received an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes' Tomatometer. Just, Melvin: Just Evil was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival and the "Truer Than Fiction Award" at the Independent Spirit Awards. It's so normalized to them that they speak about the most terrible things in a very casual and matter-of-fact way, some torn, some in denial. NETFLIXS MURDER AMONG THE MORMONS EXAMINES ONE OF THE MOST SHOCKING CRIMES IN THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH, HOUSE OF HORRORS: LOOKING BACK AT CLEVELAND STRANGLER SERIAL KILLER ANTHONY SOWELLS TWO-YEAR REIGN OF TERROR, DETAILS OF SEX CULT RITUALS, BRANDINGS TO BE FEATURED ON NBC SHOW 'DATELINE', Subscribe to Front Page Detectives Newsletter. Whitney blends in kitschy clips of himself (in full, feather-haired, 1980s mode) competing in Star Search's dance contests and game shows, breaking the tension from his family's harrowing tales. "Yet, for all its shocks, Just, Melvin is not a work of morbid depression or a confessional freak show. Over the span of three. But sometimes speculation can generate very useful theories. I understand how you see this. It is, rather, a challenging film that reveals the real cost of abuse but, also, the deep strength of familial love. Nancy Abraham . The bus crash is considered one of the worst drunk-driving accidents in American history. She states that her daughter from a relationship prior to her marriage with Just was "seeking attention all the time", when in reality, her daughter Pambi was actually severely disabled due to Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, being born with one of the more rare forms that includes clubbed feet. Just below that it reads "Ticket Confirmation#:" followed by a 10-digit number. Melvin Just was a father, grandfather, and by all accounts, an incredible mechanic. The hurt these women suffered goes so deep its a wonder any of them are still alive. These poor woman are scared for life b/c of one evil man who raped them as children. They surely dont deserve any support in their old age. Eventually, he does in turn attack Piqua from feeling . Through shocking interviews with relatives, which describe hideous and appalling crimes, Whitney seeks to dissect the long-lasting impact of Melvin's abuse on his family. Please tell me someone helped this poor family . And somewhere in their minds its still Ok to be destroyed because it was implemented in their life. According to the victims' recollections, Just also prostituted them to other pedophiles, eventually raping and murdering a nurse-social worker who tried to protect them. How Psychologically Conditioned Rats Are Defusing Landmines, Family Dysfunction and Mental Health Blog, Why Teens Are So Critical of Their Parents, Adverse Childhood Experiences and Physical and Mental Health, 7 Ticking Time Bombs That Destroy Loving Relationships, The Single Best (and Hardest) Thing to Give Up, 3 Ways to Reclaim Your Hope and Happiness. Comedienne Roseanne Barr, for example, went public with abuse accusations against her parents, and claimed to have specific memories of being sexually abused by her father when she was only six months old. Several are severely conflicted and cannot face him, while others hug and kiss him. But the majority of the time they are still broken abused little girls . Phil television show on September 18, 2008, featured the case of a mother who was accused by authorities of child endangerment because she had left her two-year-old child in a car for a couple of minutes to go 30 feet away to deposit some money in a Salvation Army can. 3 deaths potentially linked to the Murdaugh family remain unsolved. "Well, there's lots of things that (might seem) pretty traumatic for some people," said Whitney, 37, who initially believed his mother's suicide attempts were rooted in his father's abandoning the family with his wife's best friend. Venice's interviews recall Just in a loving manner, discussing how difficult it was for her and subsequently Just when he was released to go about their daily business. The monster is in effect saying, "It was OK that you abused me because look how awful I am. The PJ Masks and George and Harold become bored with their very easily outmatched competition, so they team up and create a villain to fight. No excuses other than the fact that one cannot leave this type of person. Rays rise to success in the self-help industry led him to meet Oprah Winfrey and other celebrities, but fame led him to be negligent to his followers. In the film, Whitney confronts Just on camera about the accusations. I found myself wishing he would push the old creep off into the water in his wheelchair. It is horrible to watch but it has to be revealed. The West Midlands region of the UK has long been plagued by high levels of knife and gun crime on its streets. Just Ask My Children, 2001, directed by Arvin Brown; The story of wrongfully accused parents from the Kern County child abuse cases. Copyright Fandango. The documentary can be viewed here on Amazon Video. Year: 2000. . So sad. It is a very hard to find documentary about the tormented family of Melvin Just, a man almost too evil to be believed. Cinemark It is mentality debilitating what happened to them and to top it of both mothers allowed it . "[2], James Ronald Whitney, at the time a Wall Street executive, returns to his rural hometown of Carlotta, California, and interviews his family members about his maternal stepgrandfather, Melvin E. Just. VHEMT. Clunky still stands! The daughter hugged him because some people have to forgive to have closure and move forward in their lives and not let it eat them up from the inside out. Great people. him or visiting him), but then again there are parts that so mirrored my story Something sinister took over Black River Falls, Wisconsin, in the 1890s that caused residents to murder each other, set buildings ablaze, and exhibit some . The abuser lies so well. Quit using it as an excuse to drink. Whitney not only explores the unspeakable acts perpetrated by his grandfather, but also the legacy of self-destructive behavior that can all be traced back to Just. My guess is that victims (or "survivors") of significant abuse secretly want to think that their families are not as sick or evil as the abuse might suggest, and therefore want to believe that almost every parent acts that way at one time or another. Tales of the Grim Sleeper details Lonnie David Franklin Jr's crime spree, including murdering 10 black women in Los Angeles. However, that episode was pre-recorded so her last live appearance on the program was Friday 17 February. This resulted in nothing happening except the kid no longer being allowed to go visit her anymore. The documentary is available to watch for free here on YouTube. So why are so many of us drinking over the recommended limits? [01:14:35] On The Today Show, her co-host Savannah Guthrie . About the murder, I believe he dumped her body in the woods, the house wasnt seen w/the blood Im sure it was cleaned up very soon afterwards, no DNA back then, blood-spatter lights, etc. Woooooow ! away at times knowing that someone elses family has gone through this also The abuse resulted in dysfunction spanning three generations of Whitney's family. All Rights Reserved. The documentary is available for Amazon Prime members for free on Amazon video here. child protective service visits, blood all over and he wasnt the main suspect? Subject Melvin Just is alleged to have raped and murdered Josephine Spegel, a social worker, around March 11, 1969 while his family lived in Carlotta, California (In Southern Humboldt). Over the span of three generations, Just, who married Whitney's grandmother and was later convicted of child molestation, is revealed to have abused his stepchildren from two marriages. Often we are questioned in front of our abusers. "It's not a newsmagazine piece, and it's not interrupted by commercials. Moses who fatally shot a 38-year-old woman on Wednesday morning at about 11am in Orange County, Fla., returned around 4pm to the scene later in the day . Wisconsin Death Trip (1999) Cinemax. Glory Daze follows Michael Alig's story, the club owner of Club Kids who got caught up in New York nightlife's glitz and glam. The documentary provides extensive information on the case and discusses the negligence of police to handle crimes in black communities in America. On Friday night, they were a big bunch of nothing. Their villain won't be evil and refuses to destroy him. ..and a special place in heaven for kids like this too. One of Melvin Just's brothers lives "up in the hills" of Central Kitsap. TUCKER CARLSON: You always imagine in your mind's eye that it's evil men who destroy society: wild-eyed, spit-flecked dictators pounding the podium to demand the annihilation of their enemies. The Imposter is available to view here on Amazon Video. Alex Murdaugh sits in the Colleton County Courthouse in Walterboro, South Carolina, as his attorneys discuss motions in front of Judge Clifton Newman on Dec. 9, 2022. . Others go to the opposite extreme and become so overprotective of their children that they end up snuffing out their children's ability to grow up. And a few weeks later, he was dead. And we are so afraid to contradict his lies. The text credits are interspersed with video, revealing the daughters to struggle between extreme grief and extreme hate, as the clergyman attempts to conduct the ceremony. It shows the different types of destruction incest can have on different family members. The idea that victims of parental abuse may want to protect their own parents and make their children hate them a bizarrely altruistic rather than a selfish motive for their behavior may seem at first to the reader to be far-fetched. Old Medication, New Use: Can Prazosin Curb Drinking? Such people do not generally come to therapy themselves to find out what drove them to act in such heinous ways, so therapists such as myself are left to theorize about the reasons for their behavior on the basis of descriptions and histories provided by their victims, and on the basis of discovering the family dynamics of those patients who have abused or neglected their children in much more subtle and far milder ways. Sign up to receive breakingFront Page Detectivesnews and exclusive investigations. The murder, as i recall, when he went after and beat, and buried the social worker happened out of the house, he came back in and the terrified family never brought it up. "I think that two consenting adults . In a large American family ravaged by alcohol and suppressed trauma, it seems that only one member \"made it out.\" This man is James Ronald Whitney, who was brave enough to use this documentary as an outlet to explore his family's history, searching for answers (and closure) to the horror suffered by himself and his relatives.