Rebecca Leighton, the so-called “Saline Death” nurse has been released due to lack of evidence. I haven’t been following this case, and am not saying whether I think she is guilty or not… however I do think there is a propensity for the media to give a disproportionate amount of attention to cases where young, pretty women are allegedly involved in murder.
The ante is upped when there is potentially sex involved.
The case of Amanda Knox comes to mind. In the early days of the story breaking, I was initially sure that Ms Knox was involved in the murder of her flatmate, Meredith Kercher… until I started reading further into the case. The blog of Candace Dempsey particularly forced me to reconsider the evidence, and I began to reflect on how this young woman’s looks may have impacted on how the case has been reported–regardless of Knox’s innocence or guilt. The way Knox was reported on buying thongs shortly after the murder (because she was locked out of her crime-scene house) or how her knickname of “Foxy Knoxy” was seized upon by the media (she runs fox-like on the football field) makes me shudder.
Who knows what we will learn about Rebecca Leighton and the deaths at her hospital in the weeks to come, but I can’t help but feel that it is all reported through the prism of a largely male-dominated media that is slightly hopeful to find that the sexy nurse was truly naughty.
