It's that time of year again, the best time, Halloween time.

I think part of Halloween's appeal is how it can be a mix of Disneyland with Las Vegas

but with a lot of candy. We decorate our homes with things that any other time of year might

be deemed macabre. Excuses need not be made to act wild, silly, or childlike. Costumes

of clothing we would never dream of wearing around our friends and family become totally

acceptable. Like mean girls, I love that. It's the only time of year you can dress like

a total SLET. Oh, is that a clothing? Oh, that's funny. Rules become obsolete and the

line of expected behaviors begins to blur. Today, I'll be telling two stories of lives lost

on Halloween, a pair from Alaska and a teen in British Columbia. All three victims having

held out hopes for an enjoyable Halloween night while falling victim to the horrors the

holiday can bring. Marie Riley of Alaska made the news back in November of 2015. She had

just graduated from Juno's therapeutic court, which was a program she participated in in

lieu of going to jail. Marie had a long, difficult relationship with alcohol. Growing up in the

tiny village of Nipakiak in Alaska, she had a happy childhood with her family, her dad

a public safety officer for the village with a population of just 400. But then adulthood

came and it wasn't so idyllic. Starting in 1984 with the dissolution of her marriage

to Gary Riley, in 91 things started to change for the worse. First, just a citation for

not wearing a seatbelt, leading to more serious offenses like driving under the influence.

From there, domestic violence charges between her and her partners, as her criminal activity

increased in severity and frequency, so did her consequences. From DV to DUII, she was

then charged with theft and forgery, earning her time in jail. As the years went on, her

rap sheet grew, shoplifting, false police reports, larceny, probation violations, trespassing,

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