Joanna Yeates: Vincent Tabak Is The Pink Panther Killer?
JOANNA YEATES: Vincent Tabak – he of the iffy Facebook photos – has been charged with her murder. The press cannot comment on the case. So, it’s time to go for the girlfriend. Tanja Morson, 34. She is the Sun’s “US-born blonde”. Tabak is the Sun’s: “Dubbed ‘Pink Panther’ by pals for his love of Inspector Clouseau.”
Reality takes a back seat as the tabloids create personas for the main players. Even the most plain facts get distorted as the verge where Joanna Yeates’s body was found became the Mail’s ditch, a tabloid truth repeated in the Sun.
Chris Jefferies got the Full Robert Murat in a media that painted him as some kind of blue-haired potential paedo serial killer. He’s still on police bail.
Such is the race for news and exclusives that the Mirror and Star have both renamed Joanna Yeates “Joanne” on their front pages. This is what happens when you reduce the victim to status of Our Jo.
And, as is the way with many big cases these days – Madeleine McCann; Shrien Dewani – there is a role for a media handler. The Sun reports:
Yesterday the family hired PR man Paul Vermeij as their spokesman. He said: “The family much sympathises with the relatives of the victim.”
Hiring a PR seems sensible, given the voracious nature of a the media.
The Sun leads with:
“GIRLFRIEND: I STAND BY JO ACCUSED”
She says “I didn’t shop him”.
The Mirror leads with:
“COPS SPOKE TO GIRLFRIEND BEFORE ARREST”
You can fill in the blanks between those headlines. And meet The Tabaks:
Dr Cora Tabak, Vincent’s sister:
“His girlfriend Tanja is upset and shocked. The rumours that they have separated are not true. They are still very much together. She’s very concerned for him.”
Marcel Tabak, Vincent’s brother:
“It is nonsense. He has been made a scapegoat. The police have panicked.”
Tanja’s mother, Elisabeth:
“We saw what happened to the landlord and don’t want to see that happen to our lovely Vincent.”
Was he begainc unusually?
An assistant at the small community shop said he was a regular customer, adding: “We used to see him all the time. “He seemed completely fine that evening. He obviously had no idea what was about to happen to him. It was quite a shock when we heard that he had been arrested.”
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Posted: 24th, January 2011 | In: Key Posts, Reviews Comments (7) | TrackBack | Permalink
