The American for years mocked his roommates and tried to appropriate their housing

21 February in the magazine The New York Magazine published a report titled “The worst neighbor in history” - about a man who for almost 20 years changed apartments and turned the lives of his neighbors and landlords into hell. For the victims, his acquaintance ended in litigation in the struggle for housing. From psychological violence, he often went to the physical, and in the end turned out to be capable of killing his own brother. "Medusa»Briefly retells this story.

Jamison Buckman. Photo: Montgomery County DA

4 November 2017, the 64-year-old architect Harry Backman was found dead in the basement of his own house in the Elkins Park area of ​​Philadelphia. There were obvious signs of a struggle in the house, and Backman's doctors recorded blunt head and body injuries. The same evening, seven miles from the crime scene in the hotel parking lot Fairville Inn & Suites found red Ford Escape 2013 of the year, designed for the wife of Backman - Caroline. In the cabin were bloody paper towels. A few minutes later, the police and special forces had already stormed the room number 102, where the brother of the deceased was - Jamison Backman. He surrendered without resistance.

Who is Jamison Buckman

Jamison Buckman was born in Philadelphia in 1957 year. He grew up with his parents and older brother Harry in the prestigious Elkins Park area. After school, he entered the University of Tuley, but he studied for only a year - in January 1976, not far from the campus, Jamison witnessed the brutal murder of his friend Ken Gutzeit. When he arrived on vacation in the summer of the same year, his family and friends noticed his disturbing state and were worried that what happened could severely hurt his psyche. He never returned to the university.

At the beginning of 1980, Buckman lived for several years in Israel, where he said he served in the army, and in the Netherlands, where he studied Japanese at Leiden University (the article notes that it was at the beginning of the eighties that the squatting movement in Holland flourished).

Backman returned to the USA at the end of the 1980. In the 1997 year, at the age of forty, Jamison decided to go back to university, he expected to receive money for his studies from his father. Since he paid for his brother’s education in due time, he considered this request quite fair, but his father refused. The relationship deteriorated; years later, Jamison would refuse to even attend his funeral.

Later, Backman still managed to enroll at Georgetown University, where he studied history, and also at the University of Miami for jurisprudence. In the 2002 year, at the age of 45, he became a certified lawyer, but he did not start legal practice - he failed in a qualifying exam. The man did not undertake new attempts to retake it. However, knowledge of the laws of Jemison soon still came in handy.

Serial squatter

Jamison Backman entered the first housing disputes while still a student at the University of Miami. Later, Buckman lived in New Rochelle, New York, Washington, Charleston and Philadelphia - and at each of the past addresses you can find those whom he consistently ruined his life.

Squatters acted always the same way, the stories of the victims differ only in details. At the beginning of his acquaintance with landlords or neighbors, Jamison complained about the problems that compel him to urgently move. It could have been a sudden dismissal, a former alcoholic neighbor, a close relative's illness, or even a natural disaster, as in the case of Melissa Frost in November 2012 of the year — Backman told her that Hurricane Sandy had destroyed his home. Most often, the apartment owners showed sympathy, especially since the new acquaintance made a good impression: a certified lawyer, he lived abroad for many years, was polite and tidy, he immediately offered to pay a deposit and payment for the first month. At first, the new neighbor did not arouse any suspicion: friendly and ready to keep up the conversation - he discussed Buddhist meditation with Alexa Miller from Philadelphia and gave advice on relationships, and even went to the beach with Sonya Acevedo from New York where she sunbathed topless.

But gradually the tenant began to behave strangely. In the living room of Alex Miller, he unscrewed all the light bulbs - and twisted them in his bedroom; At the house of musician Mark Geiner, he went with a baseball bat (although he did not directly threaten anyone); with the composer Michael Oberhauser from Washington, he constantly argued about the rug in the bathroom - Michael eventually had to nail the rug to the floor. In the house of Sonia Asevedo, Backman, without asking, went into the rooms of his neighbors, opened and closed the windows. The most frequent claim of former neighbors is his disgusting habit of filling the toilet with the contents of a cat tray (he had several cats in different years) and never flush. By his actions, he clearly made it clear that your rules no longer work, and now I am the owner.

Many of the cohabitants tried to either ignore the behavior of Backman, or to negotiate peacefully - but the man never went to negotiate, and recommended to all the discontented to go to court. The second month was usually the turning point, when it was necessary to pay the rent again - Jamison flatly refused and insisted that he had every right to do so. He began to complain and make comments to neighbors on any trifles: dirty dishes in the sink, dust in the living room, butt, forgotten in the toilet. Buckman argued: thus, the landlord does not provide adequate living conditions, and therefore violates the contract, which means he can not pay.

In disputes, Buckman behaved aggressively - shouting, waving his arms, breaking personal space: he could poke a finger in the chest or shoulder. He nearly pulled Melissa Frost from Philadelphia down the stairs, Arlene Hairabedian, with whom he had lived in New York for four years, tried to strangle.

It was not easy to drive Backman out of the house: when relations with Melissa Frost became tense, he simply did not leave the house - he was afraid that the hostess would change the locks. Most disputes with neighbors inevitably ended in court - this is what he was added to. At the hearings, Buckman behaved aggressively and even outrageously - he declared counterclaims, covered insults with his opponents. For example, a realtor from South Carolina Backman called the owner of a slum, another former neighbor accused of having infected herpes. Most often the courts he lost. Judge Marvin Williams from Philadelphia bluntly said that he did not believe not his single word, but really scared his behavior. After the trial, Buckman often disappeared from the lives of his victims himself.

Most of those who came across him claim that material compensation or housing itself was of little interest to a man. Much more - the fact of the scandal. He seemed to get some special pleasure when he put his neighbors in a difficult position and forced him to fight frantically for living space.

Jamies Buckman's Farewell Party

The last victim of the serial squatter was Alex Miller from Philadelphia. He settled into her house in March 2017, under the assumed name Jed Creek. By mid-April, their conflict had already reached its peak. Then the girl's mother hammered his phone number in Google, then immediately picked up the phone and called Alex with the words: “It seems we have big problems. He is not who he claims to be. ” The Miller family was one of the few who understood everything about Backman in advance.

After unsuccessful attempts to drive out Jamison, Alex developed a plan. 1 May she decided to have a party at home - she invited friends, relatives and neighbors on Facebook, called the event “The Farewell Party of the serial squatter Jemison Backman”. Alex started at seven in the evening (it was at this time that Backman started conducting online lessons in his room), turned on hip-hop loudly (the neighbor hated this music), and hung in the bathroom portraits of other Backman victims that she found on the Internet (to show his past is not a secret to anyone).

The neighbor became furious and slammed the door and ran away. Alexa, despite the entreaties of her friends, was left alone to spend the night. The next morning Jamison returned and started making threats. A fight ensued: Buckman tried to strangle Miller, and later attacked her with a knife and cut her thigh. The girl contacted the police - after seeing the wounds on the victim’s leg, the police arrested Buckman and forbade him to approach Alexa. In his room, a former neighbor found a pistol cleaning kit and cartridges; the weapon itself could not be found.

With short breaks, Buckman stayed behind bars until 28 October 2017, until his older brother, Harry, made a pledge for him. Now Jemison was not at home, and he asked to see his brother, but he refused to accept him.

In the evening of November 3, Harry Backman's wife, Caroline, was not in Philadelphia — she was visiting Saratoga with her children and grandchildren. Harry himself had to briefly call home, and then join the family. Driving up to the house, Harry noticed his brother, which Caroline had immediately written about. A minute later, his wife received from him another short message with typos - he assured that he was leaving. But to the family, Harry Backman never came.

After being arrested and charged with the murder of Brother Jamison Backman, they were imprisoned in Montgomery County Prison in Pennsylvania. There, before the first hearings of the case, which were scheduled for December 11, he committed suicide.

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