The other day I was reading a news brief on the Clarion-Ledger website about a woman who had been killed. Here is what the C-L originally reported:

1. Twonda Thomas, a woman, had been killed by Chandle Hobson, also a woman.
2. Twonda’s son, Chandle Thomas, had beaten Chandle Hobson with a pistol after the murder.
3. Chandle Hobson was in the hospital and Chandle Thomas was under house arrest.
4. WTF. How is it possible that not only are there two people in the universe named Chandle, but that Twonda knows both of them and that one is a boy and one is a girl?
5. I consult coworkers.
6. We decide that Chandle the woman is Twonda’s sister or cousin who she named Chandle the son after.
7. We are all mystified by the case of the two Chandles.

That night, the 10:00 news reported the following:

1. Twonda Thomas, a woman, had been killed by Chandle Hobson, a man.
2. Ohhhh. I get it.
3. But is older Chandle younger Chandle’s father?
4. The news doesn’t report that fact.

Finally, two days later, the Clarion-Ledger gets its facts straight:

1. Twonda Thomas, a woman, had been killed by Chandle Hobson, her husband.
2. Chandle Thomas then chased his father into the woods and beat on him with a pistol.
3. This, while awful and tragic, at least makes sense.
4. (It sucks that a husband killing his wife makes sense.)
5. But at least it explains the Chandle-Chandle question.

I’m all for breaking news, but perhaps a bit of, I don’t know, CONFIRMATION OF THE SEX OF THE MURDERER could make your story a bit more well-rounded. I guess I’m not sure how it was confusing — the woman was killed by her husband, BUT MAYBE IT WAS HER FEMALE FRIEND WITH THE SAME NAME AS HER SON. AS A NEWSPAPER REPORTER WITH THE HIGHEST STANDARDS OF FACT-CHECKING AND ACCURACY, SHOULD I CHECK IT OUT? NAH. ALSO, TYPING IN CAPS IS FUN.