List of unsolved murders and deaths
Encyclopedia
This list of unsolved deaths covers notable cases and where victims have been murder
ed or have died
under unsolved circumstances, including murders committed by unknown serial killer
s. People are listed chronologically by year. (For serial killer cases which span multiple years, the entries are listed under the year the first murder took place.)
1900–1949
1950–1999
2000–present
1100–1899
1900–1924
1925–1949
1950–1974
1975–1999
2000–2010
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
ed or have died
Death
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
under unsolved circumstances, including murders committed by unknown serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
s. People are listed chronologically by year. (For serial killer cases which span multiple years, the entries are listed under the year the first murder took place.)
1779–1899
- Benjamin Bathurst, a BritishUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
diplomatDiplomatA diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
ic envoyEnvoy (title)In diplomacy, an Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary is, under the terms of the Congress of Vienna of 1815, a diplomat of the second class, ranking between an Ambassador and a Minister Resident....
who disappeared on or around 25 November 1809 in the town of Perleberg, GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and who was likely murdered. - Mary RogersMary RogersMary Cecilia Rogers , also known as the "Beautiful Cigar Girl", was a 19th-century murder victim whose story became a national sensation in the United States...
also known as the "Beautiful Cigar Girl". Her body was found in The Hudson River on July 28, 1841. The story became a national sensation and inspired Edgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
to write "The Mystery of Marie RogêtThe Mystery of Marie Roget"The Mystery of Marie Rogêt", often subtitled A Sequel to "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe written in 1842. This is the first murder mystery based on the details of a real crime. It first appeared in Snowden's Ladies' Companion in three installments, November and...
" in 1842. - Thomas C. HindmanThomas C. HindmanThomas Carmichael Hindman, Jr. was a lawyer, United States Representative from the 1st Congressional District of Arkansas, and a Major General in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War....
, American politician assassinated by one or more unknown assailants on 27 September 1868, who fired through his parlor window while he was reading his newspaper with his children in Helena, ArkansasHelena, ArkansasHelena is the eastern portion of Helena-West Helena, Arkansas, a city in Phillips County, Arkansas. As of the 2000 census, this portion of the city population was 6,323. Helena was the county seat of Phillips County until January 1, 2006, when it merged its government and city limits with...
, United States. - John M. ClaytonJohn M. Clayton (Arkansas)This article is about the assassinated Arkansas Republican. For the U.S. Secretary of State and Senator from Delaware with the same name, see John M. Clayton....
, American politician, shot and killed instantly by an unknown assailant on the evening of 29 January 1889 in Plumerville, ArkansasPlumerville, ArkansasPlumerville is a city in Conway County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 854 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Plumerville is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land....
after starting an investigation into the possible fraud of an election he took part in. After his death he was declared the winner of the election but his assassin was never found. - Andrew Jackson Borden and Abby Durfee Borden, father and stepmother of Lizzie Borden, both killed in their family house in Fall River, MassachusettsFall River, MassachusettsFall River is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is located about south of Boston, southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, and west of New Bedford and south of Taunton. The city's population was 88,857 during the 2010 census, making it the tenth largest city in...
on the morning of 4 August 1892, by blows from a hatchet, which in the case of Andrew Borden, not only crushed his skull but cleanly split his left eyeball. Lizzie was later charged and arrested for the murders as she and a maid were the only ones in the house at the time of the killings, but was acquitted by a jury and the case remains technically unsolved.
1900–1924
- William GoebelWilliam GoebelWilliam Justus Goebel was an American politician who served as the 34th Governor of Kentucky for a few days in 1900 after having been mortally wounded by an assassin the day before he was sworn in...
, American politician who was shot and mortally wounded on the morning of 30 January 1900 by an unknown assailant in Frankfort, KentuckyFrankfort, KentuckyFrankfort is a city in Kentucky that serves as the state capital and the county seat of Franklin County. The population was 27,741 at the 2000 census; by population it is the 5th smallest state capital in the United States...
one day before being sworn in as Governor of KentuckyGovernor of KentuckyThe Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the head of the executive branch of government in the U.S. state of Kentucky. Fifty-six men and one woman have served as Governor of Kentucky. The governor's term is four years in length; since 1992, incumbents have been able to seek re-election once...
. The next day the dying Goebel was sworn in and despite 18 physicians attending him, died the afternoon of 3 February 1900. Goebel remains the only state governor in the United States to be assassinated while in office. - Rose HarsentRose HarsentRose Harsent was a servant girl from Peasenhall, Suffolk, stabbed to death by an unknown assailant in what became known as The Peasenhall Murder...
, a 6 month pregnant maid who was stabbed to death on 1 June 1902 in Suffolk, England by an unknown assailant. At the time it was alleged that the murderer was a preacher of the Primitive Methodist Chapel named William Gardiner who was having an affair with the victim: Gardiner was tried twice for the murder but each time the jury failed to reach a verdict. The case has been investigated in BBC One's Julian Fellowes InvestigatesJulian Fellowes Investigates: A Most Mysterious MurderJulian Fellowes Investigates: A Most Mysterious Murder is a British five-part docudrama series produced by Touchpaper Television , which premièred on BBC One on 16 October 2004.-Overview:...
. - Elsie ParoubekElsie ParoubekElsie Paroubek was a Czech-American girl who was the victim of kidnapping and murder in the spring of 1911. Her disappearance and the subsequent search for her preoccupied Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota law enforcement for six weeks, and her funeral was attended by between 2,000 and 3,000 people...
, five-year-old daughter of Czech immigrants, was either kidnapped or wandered away from her home in Chicago on April 8, 1911. Her disappearance was the subject of intense police investigation over three states, with massive newspaper coverage. Her body was found a month later. Elsie, under the name Annie Aronburg, became one of the principal characters in Henry DargerHenry DargerHenry Joseph Darger, Jr. was a reclusive American writer and artist who worked as a custodian in Chicago, Illinois...
's immense novel The Story of the Vivian Girls in the Realms of the Unreal. - Joseph Wilson, the sixty year old stationmaster, shot dead at Lintz Green railway station, in the North East of England, on 7 October 1911. His murder sparked one of the largest murder investigations in the North East.
- The Villisca MurdersVillisca Axe MurdersThe Villisca Axe Murders occurred in June 1912 in the southwestern Iowa town of Villisca, when an unknown attacker entered the Moore residence, murdered the eight occupants of the house, including six children, with an axe and then disappeared.-Details:...
– J.B. Moore, his wife, four children and two guests were killed by an unknown axe-murderer in Villisca, Iowa on June 10, 1912. - William Desmond TaylorWilliam Desmond TaylorWilliam Desmond Taylor was an Irish-born American actor, successful film director of silent movies and a popular figure in the growing Hollywood film colony of the 1910s and early 1920s...
, popular American actor and director of silent movies from Los Angeles, United States. Killed by a shot in the back on 1 February 1922 inside his bungalow. His murder, along with other Hollywood scandals such as the Roscoe Arbuckle trial, led to a frenzy of sensational and often fabricated newspaper reports. - The HinterkaifeckHinterkaifeckHinterkaifeck, a small farmstead situated between the Bavarian towns of Ingolstadt and Schrobenhausen , was the scene of one of the most puzzling crimes in German history...
murders. Hinterkaifeck, a small farmstead between the Bavarian towns of Ingolstadt and Schrobenhausen (approximately 70 km north of Munich), was the scene of one of the most puzzling crimes in German history. On the evening of 31 March 1922, the six inhabitants of the farm were killed with a pickaxe, and the murder is still unsolved. - The Janet Smith caseJanet Smith caseThe Janet Smith case concerns the murder of 22-year-old nursemaid Janet Kennedy Smith in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on 26 July 1924, and the ensuing suspicions of a coverup.-Background:...
. On July 26, 1924, the 22-year-old Scottish nursemaid was found dead with a gunshot wound to the temple in a home in an exclusive neighborhood of VancouverVancouverVancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, Canada. Initially labeled a suicide (despite much evidence to the contrary), her friends were able to get the case reopened and deemed a murder. The initial suspect, Chinese houseboy Wong Foon Sing, was kidnapped and tortured for weeks in an unsuccessful attempt to extract a confession, causing a major scandal when it was discovered that various police officials and respected members of society were directly involved. Wong was eventually tried and acquitted for lack of evidence. A bill was proposed, banning the employment of Orientals and white women in the same household, but failed to pass.
1925–1949
- The Wallace CaseWilliam Herbert WallaceWilliam Herbert Wallace was convicted in 1931 of the murder of his wife Julia in their home in Wolverton Street in Liverpool's Anfield district...
, was the unsolved murder of a LiverpoolLiverpoolLiverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
housewife Julia Wallace on 20 January 1931. Her husband, William Herbert Wallace, was convicted and sentenced to hang, but the verdict was overturned on appeal, the first such instance in British legal history. The chess-like quality of the puzzle has attracted a host of crime writers. Raymond ChandlerRaymond ChandlerRaymond Thornton Chandler was an American novelist and screenwriter.In 1932, at age forty-five, Raymond Chandler decided to become a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive during the Depression. His first short story, "Blackmailers Don't Shoot", was published in...
said ‘The Wallace case is the nonpareil of all murder mysteries ... I call it the impossible murder because Wallace couldn’t have done it, and neither could anyone else. ... The Wallace case is unbeatable; it will always be unbeatable.’ - Vampire Murder CaseAtlas VampireThe Atlas Vampire is the nickname given to the unknown assailant who committed the unsolved "Vampire Murder" in Stockholm, Sweden in 1932....
, is the nickname given to the case of an unknown assailant who committed the unsolved murder of a prostitute who was found dead with a crushed skull in her apartment on 4 May 1932 in Stockholm, Sweden. Police had also noticed that someone had drunk her blood. - Sir Harry OakesHarry OakesSir Harry Oakes, 1st Baronet was an American-born British Canadian gold-mine owner, entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist. He earned his fortune in Canada and moved to the Bahamas in the 1930s for tax purposes. He was murdered in 1943 under notorious circumstances in the Bahamas...
, an American-born British gold-mine owner and philanthropist who was found murdered in his mansion in Nassau, BahamasNassau, BahamasNassau is the capital, largest city, and commercial centre of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The city has a population of 248,948 , 70 percent of the entire population of The Bahamas...
on 8 July 1943. His murder became the subject of worldwide press coverage at the time as well as several books, films and documentaries. - Georgette BauerdorfGeorgette BauerdorfGeorgette Elise Bauerdorf was a twenty-year-old oil heiress who was strangled in her home at the El Palacio Apartments on 8493 Fountain Avenue, West Hollywood, California. She was educated in a convent on Long Island, New York....
, a 20-year-old oil heiress who was found face down in a bath tub in her home at West Hollywood, California on 12 October 1944. She had been strangled with a piece of towel stuffed down her throat and although there was a large roll of $2 bills and thousands of dollars worth of sterling silver lying in an open trunk, Bauerdorf's jewelry and other valuables were not stolen. The police believe her murderer had unscrewed an automatic night light over the outside entrance of the apartment so it would not come on and laid in wait for her. - The Black DahliaBlack Dahlia"The Black Dahlia" was a nickname given to Elizabeth Short is an American woman and the victim of a gruesome and much-publicized murder. She acquired the moniker posthumously by newspapers in the habit of nicknaming crimes they found particularly colorful...
(Elizabeth Short), a 22-year-old woman who was found severely mutilated and her body cut in half in Leimert Park, Los Angeles, California on 15 January 1947. Her unsolved murder has been the source of several books, films, and widespread speculation. - Emily ArmstrongEmily ArmstrongEmily Armstrong was a British victim of an unsolved murder in which she had been beaten to death and later found at her place of employment, a dry cleaner's shop on St John's Wood High Street. Police later determined she had been killed roughly an hour before her body was found at around 4:00 pm...
, found in a dry cleaner's shop in LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England on 14 April 1949, about an hour after she had been murdered. An autopsy showed she was beaten to death and her skull shattered by at least 22 blows from a blunt object, believed to be a claw hammerClaw hammerA claw hammer is a tool primarily used for pounding nails into, or extracting nails from, some other object. Generally, a claw hammer is associated with woodworking but is not limited to use with wood products...
.
1950–1974
- Marilyn Reese Sheppard wife of Sam SheppardSam SheppardDr. Samuel Holmes Sheppard was an American osteopathic physician and neurosurgeon, who was involved in an infamous and controversial murder trial. He was convicted of the murder of his pregnant wife, Marilyn Reese Sheppard, in 1954, while residing in the Cleveland, Ohio area. Sheppard served...
, attacked and killed in her home in Bay Village, OhioBay Village, Ohio-Education:Bay High School was awarded the blue ribbon award in the school year of 2010-11.Newsweek magazine placed Bay High School 793rd in its 2009 ranking of the top 1,500 U.S...
, United States, on 4 July 1954. Sam Sheppard was later convicted of killing his pregnant wife but this was overturned in 1966 and he was acquitted in a new trial. He claimed his wife was killed by a bushy-haired man who also attacked him and knocked him unconscious twice. Their son slept through the night, just down the hall from the bedroom in which his mother was murdered. The trial of Sam Sheppard received extensive publicity and was called "carnival atmosphere" by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Shepherd case was a large part of the inspiration for the television series and later movie The Fugitive
- Barbara and Patricia GrimesGrimes sistersBarbara Grimes and Patricia Grimes are two girls who disappeared on December 28, 1956, in Chicago, Illinois. They were found dead on January 22, 1957...
disappeared on 28 December 1956, in Chicago, Illinois after going to a cinema to watch an Elvis Presley movie. Their disappearance launched one of the biggest missing-persons hunts in Chicago history. However, police were not able to determine what happened to the Grimes sisters. On January 22 1957 their naked bodies were found off a road near Willow Springs, IllinoisWillow Springs, IllinoisWillow Springs is a village in Cook and DuPage Counties, Illinois, United States. The population was 5,027 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Willow Springs is located at ....
. The corpses contained various bruises and marks (for example puncture wounds in the chest that may have come from an ice pick) that were never fully explained. - Mary Jane Hanselman, a 16 year old sophomore at Sacred Heart Academy, Springfield, IllinoisSpringfield, IllinoisSpringfield is the third and current capital of the US state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County with a population of 117,400 , making it the sixth most populated city in the state and the second most populated Illinois city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area...
, was discovered north of the fairgrounds on April 27, 1958. She was bound with her own stockings and clothed in the uniform she was last seen wearing at a restaurant where she worked in Springfield. A dishwasher at the Georgian, the restaurant where Hanselman worked, was arrested but there was insufficient evidence to hold him. (See Absence of Goodness.) - Boy in the Box, sometimes known as "America's Unknown Child" is a name given to an unidentified murder victim, approximately 4 to 6 years old. The body of the boy was found battered and naked inside a cardboard box on 25 February 1957 in Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
. The case received massive media attention and pictures of the boy were placed in every gas bill in Philadelphia. It has been featured on the America's Most Wanted television series but despite all attention the case remains unsolved and the boy's identity unknown. - Lynne Harper, 12 years old, was last seen alive on 9 June 1959 riding on the handlebars of her friend Steven TruscottSteven TruscottSteven Murray Truscott is a Canadian man who was sentenced to death in 1959, when he was a 14-year old student, for the murder of classmate Lynne Harper...
's bike near an air force base which is now Vanastra, OntarioVanastra, OntarioVanastra, Ontario is located in the municipality of Huron East in Huron County, three kilometres south of Clinton, Ontario.It is located on the property of CFB Clinton, a former Canadian Forces Base and prior to 1968, a Royal Canadian Air Force station used for radar training.The present name...
, Canada. Two days later her body was discovered in a nearby farm woodlot, she had been raped and strangled with her own blouse. 14 year old Steven Murray Truscott was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder, becoming Canada's youngest person to be sentenced to death. The sentence was later commuted to life in prison. Truscott was held in custody for 10 years: in 2007 his conviction was ruled a miscarriage of justice, although he was not declared innocent. - The Lake Bodom murdersLake Bodom murdersThe Lake Bodom murders were an infamous multiple homicide that took place in Finland in 1960. Lake Bodom is a lake by the city of Espoo, about 22 kilometres west of the country's capital, Helsinki. In the early hours of June 5, 1960, four teenagers were camping on the shores of Lake Bodom...
, were an infamous multiple homicide that took place in Finland on 5 June 1960. That night four teenagers were camping on the shores of the lake when between 4 am and 6 am they were attacked by an unknown individual or individuals with a knife and a blunt object. Three of them died and the fourth one was wounded but survived. Although the sole survivor became a suspect for some time in 2004, the case remains unsolved and the killer(s) identity unknown. - Mary MeyerMary Pinchot MeyerMary Eno Pinchot Meyer was an American socialite, painter, former wife of Central Intelligence Agency official Cord Meyer and intimate friend of United States president John F. Kennedy, who was often noted for her desirable physique and social skills...
, a socialite from Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, and close friend of U.S. President John F. Kennedy. Shot to death on 12 October 1964 by an unknown assailant after finishing a painting and going for a walk. She was heard screaming for help by a mechanic on a nearby road who also heard two gunshots and saw an unidentified man standing over her body. Her murder would later stir speculation relating to the Kennedy assassinationJohn F. Kennedy assassinationJohn Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
. - Betsy AardsmaBetsy AardsmaBetsy Ruth Aardsma was a 22-year-old graduate English major from Holland, Michigan, who was stabbed to death in the Pattee Library at the Pennsylvania State University in State College, PA in 1969....
, was a 22-year-old woman from Holland, MichiganHolland, MichiganHolland is a city in the western region of the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan on Lake Macatawa, which is fed by the Macatawa River ....
, United States, and a graduate student at Penn State University who was stabbed to death in broad daylight in the stacks of Pattee Library on Penn State's campus on 28 November 1969. She was stabbed a single time through the heart with a single-edged small knife. Approximately one minute later two men came from Betsy's location and told a desk clerk, "Somebody better help that girl," and then exited the library. The men were never identified. 25–35 minutes later Betsy arrived at a hospital where she was pronounced dead. She had worn a red dress, and since there was only a small amount of blood visible, no one immediately realized that she had been stabbed. - The unsolved murders of Carmen Colon, 10; Wanda Walkowicz, 11; and Michelle Maenza, 11, of Rochester, New York, between 1971 and 1973. Each victim was abducted from within a different quadrant of the city proper, and their raped and strangled bodies were found in suburbs of that city that began with the first letter of their respective names. Thus, the murders were dubbed the Alphabet murdersAlphabet murdersThe so-called "Alphabet murders" took place in the early 1970s in the Rochester, New York area; three young girls were raped and strangled...
and the Double Initial murders. The cases remain open and surprisingly active. In 2009 a supernatural thriller called Alphabet Killer was released, which was loosely based on the crimes; and in 2010, a book called "Alphabet Killer: The True Story of the Double Initial Murders" was released by author Cheri Farnsworth, detailing the actual events, from the time they occurred through the present, in the only book fully dedicated to these shocking crimes. - Gus Uhlhorn, a Cincinnati, Ohio man, left the Roundup Bar on Dixie Highway, Northern Kentucky, in the early morning hours of March 3, 1973. His car was parked across the street in a parking lot. He was hit by a car as he crossed Dixie Highway. At 8:20 a.m. that morning, teenagers driving by spotted him in a water-filled ditch next to Chinatown, about 500 feet from where his car was parked. He suffered fatal injuries and was dead on arrival at St. Elizabeth Hospital, Covington, Kentucky. Erlanger police were quoted at the time as saying it was "definitely foul play—perhaps vehicular homicide." No one has ever been charged with the crime.
- Henry Bedard Jr., a 15-year-old boy from Swampscott, MA on December 16, 1974. He was found beaten to death with a baseball bat in a wooded area of Swampscott. His body was covered with leaves. Henry had been shopping for Christmas gifts earlier and was on his way home. The case remains open as of December, 2010.
1975–1999
- Barbara ColbyBarbara Colby-Early career:Born in New York City on July 2, 1940, she started her acting career in the theater. Following a solid performance in Six Characters in Search of an Author in 1964, she moved to Broadway with a debut in The Devils the following year...
, an American actress from Venice, California, United States, was shot to death while walking with a colleague to his car on 24 July 1975. She died instantly from her wounds but her colleague was able to describe the shooting to the police before he also died from his wounds. He said the shooting occurred without reason or provocation and said that there were two gunmen whom he didn't recognize. There had been no attempt to rob the two and the killers and their motivation are still unknown. - Seewen murder caseSeewen murder caseThe Seewen murder case was one of the biggest Swiss crime cases and is the biggest Swiss murder case. 5 people were killed, and the suspect remained unknown after the 20 year time bar expired in 1996.-Course of events:...
- 5 people were shot during Pentecost weekend 1976 in a weekend house nearby the Swiss village SeewenSeewenSeewen is a municipality in the district of Dorneck in the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. Baslerweiher is a pond above the village.- Seewen murder case :...
. Although the weapon was found in 1996, the murderer remains unknown. - Daniel J. Guyton, A1c USAF, an Air Force Security Policeman (SP) from Mattituck, New YorkMattituck, New YorkMattituck is a census-designated place in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 4,198 at the 2000 census.Mattituck CDP roughly corresponds to the hamlet by the same name in the town of Southold.- History :...
, United States, was shot to death in his patrol jeep on Scott Air Force BaseScott Air Force BaseScott Air Force Base is a base of the United States Air Force in St. Clair County, Illinois, near Belleville.-Overview:The base is named after Corporal Frank S. Scott, the first enlisted person to be killed in an aviation crash...
in Belleville, Illinois at 9:12am December 2, 1977. Guyton was found with a shotgun between his legs and what appeared to be a suicide note next to him. His death was originally ruled a suicide, until the coroner reported that Guyton's arms were too short to have reached the trigger from that position. Additionally, two shotgun shells were found on the floor of the jeep, which suggested that someone else may have pulled the trigger. Along with this evidence, several key witnesses questioned the legitimacy of the handwriting in the so-called "suicide note". At the time, Guyton was involved in a drug-smuggling investigation that other US airmen were allegedly involved in. Due to this investigation, it was deemed likely that Guyton had numerous enemies with access to the base, and to his daily schedule. Because of these factors, his death was eventually declared an unsolved murder, and the case remains open to this day. - William A. Kagdis, On August 1st, 1982 at approximately 11:50 AM Sheriff’s deputies responded to the Johnson Motel located at 9533 James Madison Highway, Fauquier County, VA, on a report that a guest had been found deceased in his rented room. Upon arrival at the Johnson Motel deputies were directed to room no.17 where they discovered the apparently dead body of a white male laying on one of the beds in the room. The victim was found lying face down in a large pool of blood. The room showed signs of a struggle having taken place. The victim was identified as William Anthony Kagdis, an aeronautical engineer with NASANASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
, who checked into the room at the Johnson Motel the evening before. An autopsy revealed Mr. Kagdis’ death was due to the numerous blunt force injuries he received to his head. Mr. Kagdis had been traveling from his home in Baltimore, MD to Tennessee on business. He was known to be driving a white 1979 Volkswagen Rabbit station wagon with mirrors on the bumpers. The vehicle had a MarylandMarylandMaryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
license plate number of EBX 304. The vehicle is believed to have been taken by the assailant after the attack and has never been recovered. - Bob CraneBob CraneRobert Edward "Bob" Crane was an American actor and disc jockey, best known for his performance as Colonel Robert E...
, an American actor, best known for his role in Hogan's HeroesHogan's HeroesHogan's Heroes is an American television sitcom that ran for 168 episodes from September 17, 1965, to March 28, 1971, on the CBS network. The show was set in a German prisoner of war camp during the Second World War. Bob Crane had the starring role as Colonel Robert E...
, was discovered violently bludgeoned to death with a weapon that was never found (but was believed by police to be a camera tripod) at the Winfield Place Apartments in Scottsdale, Ariz., on June 29, 1978. Crane had allegedly called his friend John Henry CarpenterJohn Henry CarpenterJohn Henry Carpenter was most widely known as the friend, and accused murderer, of actor Bob Crane in 1978.-Life:...
the night before to tell him their friendship was over. Crane was involved in the underground sexual scene and filmed his numerous escapades with the help of Carpenter, who was an audio-visual expert. Police reportedly found blood smears in Carpenter's car that matched Crane's blood type, but no charges were filed against Carpenter for more than a decade. When he was charged, in 1994, he was acquitted. Carpenter maintained his innocence until his death in 1998, and the case is now officially cold. - Ronda Mechelle Blaylock November 9, 1965 – August 26, 1980 {Cause of death: Multiple stab wounds to the chest and abdomen.} Ronda was a ninth grade student at Atkins High School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She attended school on Tuesday, rode the bus home to a friend's house, and she and the friend walked back to her house so that Miss Blaylock could change clothes. The two girls started walking back towards the friends house and were picked up by a young man driving a blue Chevrolet pickup truck with a white camper. The driver then dropped the friend off at her Rural Hall, North Carolina home. Miss Blaylock was never seen alive again. Her body was found about 50 feet off a private road off Secrest Road near the Surry-Stokes County line. Her murder remains unsolved. http://inmemoryofrondamechelleblaylock.tripod.com/index.html – Contact information for authorities handling the case at the bottom of linked page.
- Raymond Nels NelsonRaymond Nels NelsonRaymond Nels Nelson was bureau chief of The Providence Journal and Evening Bulletin in Warwick, Rhode Island, United States, and later a member of Senatorial candidate Claiborne Pell's team...
, Administrative Assistant to Senator Claiborne PellClaiborne PellClaiborne de Borda Pell was a United States Senator from Rhode Island, serving six terms from 1961 to 1997, and was best known as the sponsor of the Pell Grant, which provides financial aid funding to U.S. college students. A Democrat, he was that state's longest serving senator.-Early years:Pell...
and former bureau chief of the Providence Journal, Rhode Island. He was found bludgeoned to death by a typewriter in his Washington, D.C. apartment on June 1, 1981. - Raymond WashingtonRaymond WashingtonRaymond Lee Washington was the original founder of the South Central Los Angeles street gang the Crips....
, original founder of the notorious South Central Los Angeles street gang that came to be known as the CripsCripsThe Crips are a primarily, but not exclusively, African American gang. They were founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1969 mainly by Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams...
. Washington was shot dead at the age of 25 when he walked up to a car on the corner of 64th and San Pedro Streets in Los Angeles. At the time of his death, Washington no longer had any real control over the gang he originally founded. He wanted to unite warring gangs in peace and had always opposed guns. Different theories exist on why he was killed and who did it but no one was ever arrested for his murder. - Óscar RomeroÓscar RomeroÓscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez was a bishop of the Catholic Church in El Salvador. He became the fourth Archbishop of San Salvador, succeeding Luis Chávez. He was assassinated on 24 March 1980....
, the fourth Archbishop of San SalvadorSan SalvadorThe city of San Salvador the capital and largest city of El Salvador, which has been designated a Gamma World City. Its complete name is La Ciudad de Gran San Salvador...
, El Salvador, was killed by a shot to the heart on 24 March 1980 while celebrating Mass at a small chapel located in a hospital. It is believed, but never proven, that the assassins were members of Salvadoran death squadDeath squadA death squad is an armed military, police, insurgent, or terrorist squad that conducts extrajudicial killings, assassinations, and forced disappearances of persons as part of a war, insurgency or terror campaign...
s. During the funeral ceremony, a bomb exploded on the Cathedral square and shots were fired, many people were killed during the subsequent mass panic. - Peter IversPeter IversPeter Scott Ivers was an American musician, best known as the host of New Wave Theatre.Ivers was born in Illinois, but raised in Brookline, a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts. He attended the Roxbury Latin School and then Harvard University, majoring in classical languages, but chose a career in...
, television host and musician, was found bludgeoned to death in his Los Angeles apartment. The murder was never solved, although on the basis of new information found in the book In Heaven Everything Is Fine: The Unsolved Life of Peter Ivers and the Lost History of New Wave Theatre (2008) by Josh Frank and Charlie Buckholtz, the Los Angeles Police DepartmentLos Angeles Police DepartmentThe Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...
has reopened their investigation into Ivers' death. - Catrine da CostaCatrine da CostaCatrine da Costa was a Swedish woman found dead in Solna, north of Stockholm, in the late summer of 1984. Her body had been dismembered and left in plastic bags that were found on two occasions, 18 July and 8 August , one kilometer apart. The case is mostly known as Styckmordsrättegången...
, SwedishSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
prostitute. Parts of her dismemberedDismembermentDismemberment is the act of cutting, tearing, pulling, wrenching or otherwise removing, the limbs of a living thing. It may be practiced upon human beings as a form of capital punishment, as a result of a traumatic accident, or in connection with murder, suicide, or cannibalism...
body was found in SolnaSolna MunicipalitySolna Municipality is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden, located just north of the capital Stockholm. Its seat is located in the 'city' of Solna....
, just outside of StockholmStockholmStockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, during the summer of 1984. - Dian FosseyDian FosseyDian Fossey was an American zoologist who undertook an extensive study of gorilla groups over a period of 18 years. She studied them daily in the mountain forests of Rwanda, initially encouraged to work there by famous anthropologist Louis Leakey...
, an American zoologist who observed and studied gorilla groups over a period of 18 years in RwandaRwandaRwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
. She was brutally murdered in the bedroom of her cabin on 26 December 1985. Her skull had been split by a native pangaMacheteThe machete is a large cleaver-like cutting tool. The blade is typically long and usually under thick. In the English language, an equivalent term is matchet, though it is less commonly known...
, which she had confiscated from poachers years earlier and hung as a decoration on the wall of her cabin. Fossey was found dead beside her bed and 2 meters away from a hole in the cabin that was cut on the day of her murder. - Olof PalmeOlof PalmeSven Olof Joachim Palme was a Swedish politician. A long-time protegé of Prime Minister Tage Erlander, Palme led the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1969 to his assassination, and was a two-term Prime Minister of Sweden, heading a Privy Council Government from 1969 to 1976 and a cabinet...
, Prime Minister of Sweden and the leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party was shot in the back while walking home from a cinema together with his wife shortly after 11 pm on 28 February 1986 in StockholmStockholmStockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, Sweden. - Julie WardMurder of Julie WardJulie Ward was murdered in Kenya in 1988 whilst on safari in the Masai Mara game reserve. The subsequent investigation into her death was notable for the campaign by her father, John Ward; firstly to persuade the Kenyan authorities to recognise that his daughter was murdered, and secondly to try to...
, murdered in Kenya in 1988 while on safari in the Masai Mara game reserve. Her burned and dismembered body was found a week after she went missing, The original statement by Kenyan officials was that she had been eaten by lions and struck by lightning but this was later revised to say she was murdered. - Deanna CreminDeanna CreminDeanna J. Cremin was a 17-year-old American murder victim from Somerville, Massachusetts.Deanna Cremin was found behind a senior housing complex four days after her seventeenth birthday. An autopsy revealed she had been strangled, and her murder remains unsolved.- Biography :Cremin was a student...
, a 17-year-old girl from Somerville, MassachusettsSomerville, MassachusettsSomerville is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located just north of Boston. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 75,754 and was the most densely populated municipality in New England. It is also the 17th most densely populated incorporated place in...
, United States, was found behind a senior housing complex. An autopsy revealed she had been strangled. She was last seen alive by her boyfriend who, unlike on other occasions when he would walk her to the door, walked her only half way and she continued on her own toward her house. Her murder remains unsolved. - Amber HagermanAmber HagermanAmber Rene Hagerman was a young girl who became a victim of an abduction and murder. On January 13, 1996, she was riding her bike near her grandparents' home in Arlington, Texas, and was kidnapped soon thereafter...
, victim of an abduction and murder. On 13 January 1996, the 10-year old girl was kidnapped while riding her bike near her grandparents' home in Arlington, TexasArlington, TexasArlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas within the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. According to the 2010 census results, the city had a population of 365,438, making it the third largest municipality in the Metroplex...
. Four days later, a man walking his dog found her body in a creek bed. An autopsy revealed that her throat had been cut. Although a $75,000 reward was offered for information leading to Hagerman's killer, the perpetrator was never found. Her murder would later inspire the creation of the AMBER AlertAMBER AlertAn AMBER Alert or a Child Abduction Emergency is a child abduction alert bulletin in several countries throughout the world, issued upon the suspected abduction of a child, since 1996...
system. - Sophie Toscan du PlantierSophie Toscan du PlantierSophie Toscan du Plantier was a French film producer beaten to death outside her holiday home near Toormore, Skibbereen, County Cork, Ireland on the night of 22 December 1996. She was the wife of another film producer, Daniel Toscan du Plantier...
. Wife of French filmmaker Daniel du Plantier, found beaten to death outside her home in Toormore near SchullSchullSchull or Skull is a town in County Cork, Ireland. The name derives from a medieval monastic school of which no trace remains. Located on the southwest coast, in West Cork, the village is situated in a scenic and remote location, dominated by Mount Gabriel . It has a sheltered harbour, used for...
in Co Cork Ireland on the morning of the 23 December 1996. Former French President Jacques ChiracJacques ChiracJacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
was a friend of the couple and gave the case national attention. The main suspect, Ian Bailey has been questioned 2 times by the Irish Authorities in relation to the murder, but the DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions) decided not to prosecute. In early April, 2010 the French authorities issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Bailey. On 24th, April, 2010 the Gardaí in Ireland arrested Ian Bailey and brought him in front of the High Court in Dublin to appeal his extradition, this case is ongoing and is expected to take many months. - JonBenét RamseyJonBenét RamseyJonBenét Patricia Ramsey was an American child beauty pageant contestant who was murdered in her home in Boulder, Colorado, in 1996. The six-year-old's body was found in the basement of the family home nearly eight hours after she was reported missing. She had been struck on the head and strangled...
, a six-year-old American girl who had competed in child beauty pageants, was made famous by her Christmastime murder and the subsequent media coverage. She was found dead in the basement of her parents' home in Boulder, ColoradoBoulder, ColoradoBoulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
, on December 26, 1996, nearly eight hours after she was reported missing. The official cause of death was asphyxiaAsphyxiaAsphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of severely deficient supply of oxygen to the body that arises from being unable to breathe normally. An example of asphyxia is choking. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which primarily affects the tissues and organs...
due to strangulation associated with craniocerebral trauma. After several grand juryGrand juryA grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
hearings, the case is still unsolved. Her parents were the target of media coverage that suggested they were suspects, but authorities eventually confirmed that the couple had been cleared of any involvement. - Tupac ShakurTupac ShakurTupac Amaru Shakur , known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor. Shakur has sold over 75 million albums worldwide as of 2007, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world...
, a top-selling American Rapper who was shot four times in a drive-by shooting on 7 September 1996, in Las VegasLas Vegas metropolitan areaThe Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
, NevadaNevadaNevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
, United States, and died six days later of respiratory failure and cardiac arrest at the University Medical Center. - Notorious B.I.G., a famous Brooklyn rapper killed by an unknown assailant in a drive-by shooting on his way back to his hotel, while waiting for a red traffic light to change on 9 March 1997, in Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, United States. Even though a composite sketchFacial compositeA facial composite is a graphical representation of an eyewitness's memory of a face, as recorded by a composite artist. Facial composites are used mainly by police in their investigation of crimes.-PhotoFIT generation:...
of the perpetrator was made, the case is still unsolved. - Ita Martadinata HaryonoIta Martadinata HaryonoIta Martadinata Haryono was an Indonesian human rights activist, who was murdered in 1998, a case which is still unsolved.Her real name was Martadinata Haryono, however, she was better known by her nickname, Ita. At the age of 18 and while a senior year student in her high school, Ita was found...
, an Indonesian human rights activist, found dead on 9 October 1998 in her bedroom in Central JakartaJakartaJakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
, IndonesiaIndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. She was stabbed ten times and her neck had been slashed. The murder occurred just three days after a Jakarta press conference held by the human rights organizations she had been involved with. - Big LBig LBig L may refer to:* Lamont Coleman , better know by Big L, American hip-hop artist.Or a number of British radio stations:*Big L 1395, a British radio station.*Radio Luxembourg's English-language progammes ....
, Harlem rapper. Was shot multiple times in the head and chest near his Harlem home on 15 February 1999 - Jill DandoJill DandoJill Wendy Dando was an English journalist, television presenter and newsreader who worked for the BBC for 14 years. She was murdered by gunshot outside her home in Fulham, West London; her killer has never been identified....
, an English journalist and television presenter who worked for the BBC for 14 years. She was killed by a single gunshot wound to the head on 26 April 1999, after leaving the home of her fiancé. Her death sparked "Operation Oxborough", the biggest murder inquiry and largest criminal investigation since the hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper. - Suzanne JovinSuzanne Jovin caseSuzanne Nahuela Jovin was a senior at Yale University in New Haven, CT when she was brutally stabbed to death off campus. The city of New Haven and Yale University have offered a combined $150,000 for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of Jovin’s killer. The crime remains unsolved...
, a 21-year-old senior at Yale UniversityYale UniversityYale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, was found stabbed to death in 1998 on the campus of Yale. Allegations that her thesis advisor was a suspect led to the end of his career at Yale, but the crime remains unsolved. - Raonaid MurrayMurder of Raonaid MurrayRaonaid Murray was an Irish murder victim, stabbed to death at the age of 17 in the early hours of Saturday morning, 4 September 1999. As of September 2009, ten years after the murder, this case remains unsolved. The murder weapon has not been located either. Each year her family and the Garda...
, Raonaid Murray (1 January 1982 – 4 September 1999) was an IrishIrish peopleThe Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
murder victim, stabbed to death at the age of 17 within a few hundred metres of her home in GlenagearyGlenagearyGlenageary is an area in the suburbs of south County Dublin, Ireland, part of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County.While there is no officially defined boundary, it is surrounded by the areas of Sallynoggin, Dalkey, Dun Laoghaire, Glasthule and Johnstown...
, Co. Dublin, in the early hours of Saturday morning, 4 September 1999. - Ricky McCormick whose body was found in a field by sheriff's officers in St. Charles County, Missouri, on June 30, 1999.
- Katherine “Kathy” Page, 35 was found strangled in her vehicle May 14, 1991. The 1991 black Mercury Tracer was found around 4:20 a.m. in a ditch about a block from her home on Boliver Street in Vidor, TX. The vehicle had very little damage to it, but Page had bone fractures around her larynx, a broken nose, blackened right eye, and a bruise to the right temple, Conroy said. Page was separated from her husband and had two young daughters at the time of her death.
- Sugie Vasquez of Orange, TX was 38-years-old when her body was found in a Newton CountyNewton CountyNewton County is the name of several counties in the United States:All except for Arkansas and maybe Mississippi are named for Sgt. John Newton. Bold Name indicates county sharing boundary with a Jasper County...
pond on May 16, 1997.She died as a result of blunt force trauma to her head. In addition she had two stab wounds. Her husband, Rogelio Vasquez, 48, is believed to be in Mexico. A warrant for the murder of his wife was issued June 10, 1997. Rogelio Vasquez is described as 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs about 160 pounds. He is also a roofer by trade - Elaine Doyle was 16 years old when she was found murdered on 1 June 1986, 50 yards from her home in GreenockGreenockGreenock is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in United Kingdom, and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland...
, ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The previous night she'd been at a disco with friends until around midnight, when she began the walk home to her house and her waiting parents. Her body was discovered by a man walking his dog at 7am the next morning. She had been raped and strangled. The motive for the killing is believed to be sexual. As of 2011, nobody has been convicted. The case was featured on BBC's CrimewatchCrimewatchCrimewatch is a long-running and high-profile British television programme produced by the BBC, that reconstructs major unsolved crimes with a view to gaining information from the members of the public. The programme is usually broadcast once a month on BBC One...
, but no new leads came to light and the murder remains unsolved.
2000–2010
- Jill-Lyn EutoJill-Lyn EutoJill-Lyn Euto was an 18-year-old murder victim from Syracuse, New York. Her mother found her stabbed to death in her apartment...
, an 18 year old student, was found stabbed to death in her sixth-floor apartment at 600 James St, Syracuse, NY on 28 January 2001. No arrests have been made. - Evelyn HernandezEvelyn HernandezEvelyn Hernandez was a woman who disappeared along with her five-year-old son in San Francisco, California in May 2002. She was nine months pregnant with her second child at the time she went missing.-Disappearance and murder:...
, and her 5-year-old son Alex, last heard from on 1 May 2002 at her residence in San Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
. Her wallet was found several days later, in South San Francisco. Hernandez was nine months pregnant at the time and on 24 July 2002 her torso was found floating in San Francisco Bay. Her unborn child and her son Alex have not been found. The case was profiled twice on America's Most WantedAmerica's Most WantedAmerica's Most Wanted is an American television program produced by 20th Television, and was the longest-running program of any kind in the history of the Fox Television Network until it was announced on May 16, 2011 that the series was canceled after twenty-three years, with the final episode...
during the summer of 2003. - Rashawn BrazellRashawn BrazellThe Murder of Rashawn Brazell has become one of the most horrific murder cases in the state of New York.In February 2005, after disappearing from his home in Bushwick, Brooklyn, 19-year-old Brazell's dismembered body parts were found in garbage bags strewn throughout the borough...
, disappeared after leaving his home in Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York, United States, on the morning of 14 February 2005. His dismembered body parts were later found in garbage bags. America's Most Wanted profiled the case three times, on 29 September 2005; 1 April 2006; and 9 December 2006. - Gail DeLay, age 49, was murdered sometime between July 23 and 24, 2005, in her Dallas, TX, apartment. She was found on the morning of Sunday, July 24 by a friend. She had been severely beaten. Delay was a freelance artist, illustrator, and motivational speaker and had been a volunteer with the SPCA for 18 years. Dallas police investigated and quickly ran out of leads.
- Robert WoneMurder of Robert Eric WoneRobert Eric Wone was murdered in Washington, D.C. in August 2006. The case remains unsolved. Wone's body was found in the home of a college friend. Wone, who was 32 years old at the time, was a lawyer living in suburban Oakton, Virginia, but had been working as general counsel at Radio Free Asia in...
, age 32, was murdered on August 2, 2006, in his friend's Washington, D.C., apartment. He was "restrained, incapacitated, and sexually assaulted" prior to his death. The only individuals present in the apartment at the time were its three residents, all friends of Wone. They have denied involvement and insisted that an intruder committed the crime. Authorities claim that there was no evidence of a break-in, the apartment appeared to be washed cleaned, the three residents appeared freshly showered, and the evidence was not consistent with the residents' accounts. In addition, the residents tampered with the crime scene, waited an inordinate amount of time to call 911, and exhibited strange behavior when paramedics and police arrived. Authorities believe that either some or all of the three house-mates murdered Wone and engaged in a cover-up. - Lane Bryant shootingLane Bryant shootingThe Lane Bryant shooting was an incident of mass murder and armed robbery at a Lane Bryant clothing outlet in the Brookside Marketplace in the Chicago suburb of Tinley Park, Illinois, United States, that occurred on February 2, 2008. The shooting resulted in five fatalities, and the injury of...
– on February 2, 2008, a gunman trying to rob a Lane BryantLane BryantLane Bryant is a United States retail women's clothing store chain focusing on plus-size clothing. It began in the early 1900s with the innovative maternity designs created by Lena Himmelstein Bryant Malsin. -Beginning:...
store killed five women (a manager and four customers). The shooter has not been apprehended, although police do not consider it a "cold case" yet. - Mallory Manning – Manning, a formerly drug addicted prostitute was picked up by a supposed client on her usual corner in a inner city street in Christchurch, New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
on 18 December 2008. She was taken to a property and brutally murdered before being dumped in a nearby river where she was discovered the next day.
Unsolved serial killer murders
1800–1899- Servant Girl AnnihilatorServant Girl AnnihilatorAn unknown serial killer, popularly known today as the Servant Girl Annihilator, preyed upon the city of Austin, Texas during the years 1884 and 1885...
(aka Austin Axe Murderer), Austin, TexasAustin, TexasAustin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, 1884–1885. - Jack the RipperJack the Ripper"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...
murders, 1888 LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
1900–1949
- Axeman of New OrleansAxeman of New OrleansThe Axeman of New Orleans was a serial killer active in New Orleans, Louisiana , from May 1918 to October 1919...
murders, 1918–1919. - Cleveland Torso MurdererCleveland Torso MurdererThe Cleveland Torso Murderer was an unidentified serial killer who killed and dismembered at least 12 victims in the Cleveland, Ohio area in the 1930s.-Murderers:...
(aka The Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run), Cleveland, OhioCleveland, OhioCleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, 1935–1938. - Phantom Killer, Texarkana (TexasTexarkana, TexasTexarkana is a city in Bowie County, Texas, United States. It effectively functions as one half of a city which crosses a state line — the other half, the city of Texarkana, Arkansas, lies on the other side of State Line Avenue...
and ArkansasTexarkana, ArkansasAs of the census of 2000, there were 26,448 people, 10,384 households, and 7,040 families residing in the city. The population density was 830.5 people per square mile . There were 11,721 housing units at an average density of 368.1 per square mile...
), 1946.
1950–1999
- Jack the StripperJack the StripperJack the Stripper was the nickname given to an unknown serial killer responsible for what came to be known as the London "nude murders" between 1964 and 1965 ....
, London, 1963–1964. - Zodiac KillerZodiac KillerThe Zodiac Killer was a serial killer who operated in Northern California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The killer's identity remains unknown. The Zodiac murdered victims in Benicia, Vallejo, Lake Berryessa and San Francisco between December 1968 and October 1969. Four men and three women...
, Northern CaliforniaNorthern CaliforniaNorthern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...
, 1968–1972. - Bible JohnBible JohnBible John is the nickname of a serial killer who is thought to have operated in Glasgow, Scotland, in the late 1960s. Three murders were attributed to him, but it is not clear if they were the work of the same person.-Murders:...
, GlasgowGlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, 1968–1969. - Freeway PhantomFreeway Phantom"Freeway Phantom" was the name given to an unidentified serial killer known to have abducted, raped and strangled six female youths in Washington, D.C. from April 1971 through September 1972...
, Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, 1971–1972 - Alphabet murdersAlphabet murdersThe so-called "Alphabet murders" took place in the early 1970s in the Rochester, New York area; three young girls were raped and strangled...
, Rochester, New YorkRochester, New YorkRochester is a city in Monroe County, New York, south of Lake Ontario in the United States. Known as The World's Image Centre, it was also once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City...
, 1971–1973. - The DoodlerThe DoodlerThe Doodler, also known as the Black Doodler, is an unidentified serial killer believed responsible for 14 slayings and three assaults of men in San Francisco's gay community between January 1974 and September 1975. The nickname was given due to the perpetrator's habit of sketching his victims...
, San Francisco, CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, 1974–1975. - Oakland County Child KillerOakland County Child KillerThe Oakland County Child Killer was an unidentified serial killer responsible for the murders of four or more children in Oakland County, Michigan, United States in 1976 and 1977...
, Oakland County, MichiganOakland County, Michigan-Demographics:As of the 2010 Census, there were 1,202,362 people, 471,115 households, and 315,175 families residing in the county. The population density as of the 2000 census was 1,369 people per square mile . There were 492,006 housing units at an average density of 564 per square mile...
, 1976–1977. - Connecticut River Valley KillerConnecticut River Valley KillerThe "Connecticut River Valley Killer" refers to an unidentified serial killer believed responsible for a series of similar knife murders mostly in and around Claremont, New Hampshire, and the Connecticut River Valley, primarily in the 1980s.-Investigation:...
, 1978–1987. - Original Night StalkerOriginal Night StalkerThe Original Night Stalker is the moniker for an unidentified serial killer and rapist who murdered at least ten people in Southern California from 1979 through 1986 and sexually assaulted at least fifty in Northern California from June 1976 to July 1979...
, Southern CaliforniaSouthern CaliforniaSouthern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
, 1979–1986. - 1982 Chicago Tylenol murders1982 Chicago Tylenol murdersThe Chicago Tylenol murders occurred when seven people died after taking pain-relief medicine capsules that had been poisoned. The poisonings, code-named TYMURS by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, took place in late 1982 in the Chicago area of the United States.These poisonings involved...
, Chicago area, 1982. - Frankford Slasher, Philadelphia, 1985–1990.
- Honolulu StranglerHonolulu StranglerThe Honolulu Strangler also known as the Serial Killer was Hawaii’s first known serial killer and responsible for the death of five women in Honolulu in 1985 and 1986. He was never caught.-Vicki Gail Purdy:...
, Hawaii, 1985–1986. - Hwaseong serial murdersHwaseong serial murdersThe Hwaseong serial murders were a series of unsolved serial murders that occurred in the South Korean city of Hwaseong between 1986 and 1991. Ten women were found bound, raped, and murdered. The murders are considered to be the most infamous in the modern history of South Korea. The Korean film...
, South KoreaSouth KoreaThe Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
, 1986–1991. - North Side Strangler, Milwaukee, WisconsinWisconsinWisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, 1986–2007. In September 2009, Walter E. Ellis was arrested and subsequently charged with the crimes. - New Bedford Highway KillerNew Bedford Highway KillerThe New Bedford Highway Killer was an unidentified serial killer authorities believe responsible for the deaths of nine women and the disappearances of two additional women in New Bedford, Massachusetts, between July 1988 and June 1989...
, New Bedford, MassachusettsNew Bedford, MassachusettsNew Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, located south of Boston, southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, and about east of Fall River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 95,072, making it the sixth-largest city in Massachusetts...
, 1988–1989. - StonemanStonemanThe Stoneman was a name given by the popular English language print media of Kolkata to an alleged serial killer who menaced the streets of that city in 1989....
, KolkataKolkataKolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
, IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, 1989. - Lisbon RipperLisbon RipperThe Lisbon Ripper is an unidentified serial killer who murdered three women between 1992 and 1993 in Lisbon, Portugal.-Crimes:The first victim was Maria Valentina, nicknamed "Tina", age 22, who was found on 31 July 1992 in a large cabin in Póvoa de Santo Adrião...
, LisbonLisbonLisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, PortugalPortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, 1992–1993. - Claremont serial murders, Claremont, Western AustraliaClaremont, Western AustraliaClaremont is a western suburb of Perth, Western Australia on the north bank of the Swan River.-History:Prior to European settlement, the Noongar people used the area as a source of water, for fishing and for catching waterfowl. In 1830, John Butler, a settler, set up an inn at Freshwater Bay to...
, 1996–1997.
2000–present
- The Smiley face murder theory (variations include Smiley face murders, Smiley face killings, Smiley face gang, and others) is a theory advanced by two retired New York City detectives, Kevin Gannon and Anthony Duarte, that a number of young men found dead in bodies of water across several states over the last decade did not accidentally drown, as concluded by law enforcement agencies, but were victims of a serial killer or killers.
- West Mesa MurdersWest Mesa murdersThe West Mesa Murders refer to the remains of 11 women found buried in 2009 in the desert on the West Mesa of Albuquerque, New Mexico. No suspects have been identified in the case and a serial killer is believed to be responsible.-Discovery:...
, Albuquerque, New MexicoAlbuquerque, New MexicoAlbuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...
, 2003–2005. - Daytona Beach killerDaytona Beach killerThe Daytona Beach killer is a serial killer responsible for the murders of four women in the Daytona Beach area from December 2005–December 2007. The killer has never been apprehended...
, Daytona Beach, FloridaDaytona Beach, FloridaDaytona Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, USA. According to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city has a population of 64,211. Daytona Beach is a principal city of the Deltona – Daytona Beach – Ormond Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which the census bureau estimated had...
, 2005–2007.
Suspected serial killers
- John Bodkin AdamsJohn Bodkin AdamsJohn Bodkin Adams was an Irish-born British general practitioner, convicted fraudster and suspected serial killer. Between the years 1946 and 1956, more than 160 of his patients died in suspicious circumstances. Of these, 132 left him money or items in their will. He was tried and acquitted for...
murder case, physician suspected of being a serial killer, England. One alleged victim, Gertrude HullettGertrude HullettGertrude "Bobby" Hullett , a resident of Eastbourne, East Sussex, England, was a patient of the suspected serial killer Dr John Bodkin Adams, who was charged with her murder but never tried for it.-Jack Hullett:...
, was found to have committed suicide at the inquest in 1956, but Dr. Adams was indicted for her murder the following year. The case was then dropped by the prosecution via a nolle prosequiNolle prosequiNolle prosequi is legal term of art and a Latin legal phrase meaning "to be unwilling to pursue", a phrase amounting to "please do not prosecute". It is a phrase used in many common law criminal prosecution contexts to describe a prosecutor's decision to voluntarily discontinue criminal charges...
, an action described by the judge as an "abuse of process."
Unsolved deaths
1–1100- Dagobert IIDagobert IIDagobert II was the king of Austrasia , the son of Sigebert III and Chimnechild of Burgundy. The Feast Date of St Dagobert II is 23 December -Biography:...
, 679, one of the last kings of the Merovingian line, murdered by persons unknown in the ArdennesArdennesThe Ardennes is a region of extensive forests, rolling hills and ridges formed within the Givetian Ardennes mountain range, primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France , and geologically into the Eifel...
Forest on December 23, 679.
1100–1899
- King William II of EnglandWilliam II of EnglandWilliam II , the third son of William I of England, was King of England from 1087 until 1100, with powers over Normandy, and influence in Scotland. He was less successful in extending control into Wales...
, 1100, killed by an arrow while hunting. - Agnès SorelAgnès SorelAgnès Sorel , known by the sobriquet Dame de beauté, was a favourite mistress of King Charles VII of France, for whom she bore three daughters....
, 1450, mistress of King Charles VII of FranceCharles VII of FranceCharles VII , called the Victorious or the Well-Served , was King of France from 1422 to his death, though he was initially opposed by Henry VI of England, whose Regent, the Duke of Bedford, ruled much of France including the capital, Paris...
. While the cause of death was originally thought to be dysenteryDysenteryDysentery is an inflammatory disorder of the intestine, especially of the colon, that results in severe diarrhea containing mucus and/or blood in the faeces with fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, dysentery can be fatal.There are differences between dysentery and normal bloody diarrhoea...
, scientists have now concluded that Agnès died from being poisoned by mercury. The culprit remains unknown. - RegiomontanusRegiomontanusJohannes Müller von Königsberg , today best known by his Latin toponym Regiomontanus, was a German mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, translator and instrument maker....
(aka Johannes Müller), 1476, German mathematicianMathematicianA mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
and astronomerAstronomerAn astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
died mysteriously in Rome. Some say of plague, others (most likely) by assassination. - Moctezuma IIMoctezuma IIMoctezuma , also known by a number of variant spellings including Montezuma, Moteuczoma, Motecuhzoma and referred to in full by early Nahuatl texts as Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin, was the ninth tlatoani or ruler of Tenochtitlan, reigning from 1502 to 1520...
, 1520, AztecAztecThe Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...
emperor. According to Spanish accounts he was killed by his own people; according to Aztec accounts he was murdered by the Spanish. - Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey 1678 found impaled on his own sword and strangled at Primrose HillPrimrose HillPrimrose Hill is a hill of located on the north side of Regent's Park in London, England, and also the name for the surrounding district. The hill has a clear view of central London to the south-east, as well as Belsize Park and Hampstead to the north...
London. Three men were hanged but later the witness statement was found to be perjured. - King Charles XII of SwedenCharles XII of SwedenCharles XII also Carl of Sweden, , Latinized to Carolus Rex, Turkish: Demirbaş Şarl, also known as Charles the Habitué was the King of the Swedish Empire from 1697 to 1718...
, 1718, killed by bullet in siege trench while observing enemy. Bullet entered side of head leading to speculation he was shot by one of his own men.
1900–1924
- Émile ZolaÉmile ZolaÉmile François Zola was a French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism...
, 1902, French author, died in Paris in 1902 of carbon monoxide poisoning caused by a stopped chimney. His enemies were blamed, but nothing was proved. - Death of Rudolf DieselRudolf DieselRudolf Christian Karl Diesel was a German inventor and mechanical engineer, famous for the invention of the diesel engine.-Early life:Diesel was born in Paris, France in 1858 the second of three children of Theodor and Elise Diesel. His parents were Bavarian immigrants living in Paris. Theodor...
, 1913, the place is unknown and many theories are given about Diesel's death. He disappeared in the English Channel and was found dead at sea ten days later. - S. L. MacGregor-Mathers, 1918, well-known magician and occultist, died of an unknown cause; it is known that he had many enemies. The manner of death is unknown; his death certificate lists no cause of death. Violet Firth (Dion FortuneDion FortuneViolet Mary Firth Evans , better known as Dion Fortune, was a British occultist and author. Her pseudonym was inspired by her family motto "Deo, non fortuna" , originally the ancient motto of the Barons & Earls Digby.-Early life:She was born in Bryn-y-Bia in Llandudno, Wales, and grew up in a...
) claimed his death was the result of the Spanish influenza of 1918. As few facts are known about Mathers' private life, verification of such claims are very difficult. - B. H. DeLayB. H. DeLayBeverly Homer “B.H.” DeLay was an American aviator, engineer and actor.DeLay was born in Alameda, California, and educated at the Engineering School of the University of California and at the University of Heidelberg in Germany...
, 1923, Aviator Actor who died while performing on 4 July in Venice Beach (Los Angeles) California area, died when the wings of his plane were sabotaged causing him to die instantly in the subsequent crash.
1925–1949
- Ottavio BottecchiaOttavio BottecchiaOttavio Bottecchia was an Italian cyclist and the first Italian winner of the Tour de France. He was found dead by the roadside; the reason remains a mystery.-Origins:...
, 1927, Italian Cyclist, was found by the side of a road, covered with bruises and with a serious skull fracture. His bicycle was undamaged, propped against a nearby tree. He was brought to a hospital but died soon afterwards. An official inquiry concluded accidental death but many suspected that he had run afoul of the powerful and growing fascist movement in ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
at the time. - Death of Ivar KreugerIvar KreugerIvar Kreuger was a Swedish civil engineer, financier, entrepreneur and industrialist. In 1908 Kreuger co-founded the construction company Kreuger & Toll Byggnads AB which specialized in new building techniques. By aggressive investments and innovative financial instruments he built a global match...
, 1932, in a ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
hotel room. Probable suicide. - Ghazi of IraqGhazi of IraqGhazi bin Faisal was the King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq from 1933 to 1939 having been briefly Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Syria in 1920...
, 1939, King of Iraq, died in a mysterious accident involving a sports car he was driving. Some believe he was killed on the orders of Nuri as-SaidNuri as-SaidNuri Pasha al-Said was an Iraqi politician during the British Mandate and during the Kingdom of Iraq. He served in various key cabinet positions, and served seven terms as Prime Minister of Iraq....
. - King Ananda MahidolAnanda MahidolAnanda Mahidol was the eighth monarch of Thailand under the House of Chakri. At the time he was recognized as king by the National Assembly, in March 1935, he was a nine-year-old boy living in Switzerland. He returned to Thailand in December 1945. Six months later, in June 1946, he was found shot...
of Thailand, 1946. Died of gunshot wounds; suicide, accident or assassination. - Jan MasarykJan MasarykJan Garrigue Masaryk was a Czech diplomat and politician and Foreign Minister of Czechoslovakia from 1940 to 1948.- Early life :...
, 1948, son of Tomáš Garrigue MasarykTomáš MasarykTomáš Garrigue Masaryk , sometimes called Thomas Masaryk in English, was an Austro-Hungarian and Czechoslovak politician, sociologist and philosopher, who as an eager advocate of Czechoslovak independence during World War I became the founder and first President of Czechoslovakia, also was...
; Czech diplomat, politician and Foreign Minister of CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakiaCzechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, was found dead in the courtyard of the Foreign Ministry below his bathroom window. The initial investigation concluded that he committed suicide by jumping out of the window, although many are convinced that he was pushed. - The Taman Shud CaseTaman Shud CaseThe Taman Shud Case,While the words that end The Rubaiyat are "Tamam Shud", it has always been referred to as "Taman Shud" in the media, presumably due to a spelling error that persisted. In Persian "tamam" is a noun that means "the end". "shud" is an auxiliary verb indicating past tense, so "tamam...
, 1948, AdelaideAdelaideAdelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, in which a man was found dead on the beach. His dental records did not match those of any known person. He carried no identification. The labels on his business suit and clothing were all missing. In one trouser pocket there was a piece of paper with the words 'Taman Shud' on it. This is a phrase on the last page of collection of poems called The RubaiyatRubaiyat of Omar KhayyamThe Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám is the title that Edward FitzGerald gave to his translation of a selection of poems, originally written in Persian and of which there are about a thousand, attributed to Omar Khayyám , a Persian poet, mathematician and astronomer...
of Omar KhayyamOmar KhayyámOmar Khayyám was aPersian polymath: philosopher, mathematician, astronomer and poet. He also wrote treatises on mechanics, geography, mineralogy, music, climatology and theology....
and it means 'the end.'
1950–1974
- Barthélemy BogandaBarthélemy BogandaBarthélemy Boganda was the leading nationalist politician of what is now the Central African Republic. Boganda was active prior to his country's independence, during the period when the area, part of French Equatorial Africa, was administered by France under the name of Oubangui-Chari...
, 1959, Prime Minister of the Central African RepublicCentral African RepublicThe Central African Republic , is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It borders Chad in the north, Sudan in the north east, South Sudan in the east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo in the south, and Cameroon in the west. The CAR covers a land area of about ,...
, in a plane crash. - Death of Dag HammarskjöldDag HammarskjöldDag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld was a Swedish diplomat, economist, and author. An early Secretary-General of the United Nations, he served from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in September 1961. He is the only person to have been awarded a posthumous Nobel Peace Prize. Hammarskjöld...
, 1961, in NdolaNdolaNdola is the third largest city in Zambia, with a population of 495,000 . It is the industrial, commercial, on the Copperbelt, Zambia's copper-mining region, and capital of Copperbelt Province. It is also the commercial capital city of Zambia and has one of the three international airports, others...
, Northern RhodesiaNorthern RhodesiaNorthern Rhodesia was a territory in south central Africa, formed in 1911. It became independent in 1964 as Zambia.It was initially administered under charter by the British South Africa Company and formed by it in 1911 by amalgamating North-Western Rhodesia and North-Eastern Rhodesia...
, aeroplane crash. - Dorothy KilgallenDorothy KilgallenDorothy Mae Kilgallen was an American journalist and television game show panelist. She started her career early as a reporter for the Hearst Corporation's New York Evening Journal after spending only two semesters at The College of New Rochelle in New Rochelle, New York...
, 1965, New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, death certificate reads "acute ethanol and barbiturate intoxication / circumstances undetermined." People who have said publicly that she could have been murdered (perhaps by needle injection after drinking an unknown amount of alcohol) include Larry KingLarry KingLawrence Harvey "Larry" King is an American television and radio host whose work has been recognized with awards including two Peabodys and ten Cable ACE Awards....
, Dominick DunneDominick DunneDominick John Dunne was an American writer and investigative journalist, whose subjects frequently hinged on the ways in which high society interacts with the judicial system...
, Bob Bach (who booked the mystery guests on Kilgallen's TV show What's My Line?What's My Line?What's My Line? is a panel game show which originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, with several international versions and subsequent U.S. revivals. The game tasked celebrity panelists with questioning contestants in order to determine their occupations....
), and writer Mary Brannum Bringle (a colleague of Patricia BosworthPatricia BosworthPatricia Bosworth is an American journalist and biographer. A former faculty member of the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University, she has also been an editor, actress and model.-Early life and career:...
). - Death of George Washington Vanderbilt IIIGeorge Washington Vanderbilt IIIGeorge Washington Vanderbilt III was a yachtsman and a scientific explorer who was a member of the prominent United States Vanderbilt family.-Early life:...
, (1961), in San Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
. - Lead Masks CaseLead Masks CaseThe Lead Masks Case was the name given to the events which led to the death of two Brazilian electronic technicians: Manoel Pereira da Cruz and Miguel José Viana...
in NiteróiNiteróiNiterói is a municipality in the state of Rio de Janeiro, southeast region of Brazil. It has an estimated population of 487,327 inhabitants and an area of ², being the sixth most populous city in the state and the highest Human Development Index. Integrates the Metropolitan Region of Rio de...
, Rio de JaneiroRio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, 1966. - Harold HoltHarold HoltHarold Edward Holt, CH was an Australian politician and the 17th Prime Minister of Australia.His term as Prime Minister was brought to an early and dramatic end in December 1967 when he disappeared while swimming at Cheviot Beach near Portsea, Victoria, and was presumed drowned.Holt spent 32 years...
, 1967, Australian Prime Minister, vanished while swimming in heavy surf, presumably drowned. - Edward Mutesa, 1969, died, possibly from alcohol poisoning, in his LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
flat. - Hale BoggsHale BoggsThomas Hale Boggs Sr. , was an American Democratic politician and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Orleans, Louisiana...
and Nick BegichNick BegichNicholas Joseph "Nick" Begich, Sr. was a Democratic Party member of the United States House of Representatives from Alaska. He disappeared in a plane crash in Alaska in 1972. His son Mark Begich is currently the junior U.S...
, 1972, Democratic U.S. House members whose plane disappeared in the Alaska wilderness. Remnants of plane and bodies never recovered. - Aman Mikael Andom, 1974, EthiopiaEthiopiaEthiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
n military figure, sources say that he committed suicide, while others say that he was killed by political rivals among the coup leadership, possibly including Mengistu Haile MariamMengistu Haile MariamMengistu Haile Mariam is a politician who was formerly the most prominent officer of the Derg, the Communist military junta that governed Ethiopia from 1974 to 1987, and the President of the People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia from 1987 to 1991...
. - Jimmy HoffaJimmy HoffaJames Riddle "Jimmy" Hoffa was an American labor union leader....
, 1975, International Brotherhood of Teamsters leader who disappeared from the parking lot of a Michigan restaurant. Body never recovered; declared legally dead by the state of Michigan in 1982. - Haile Selassie, 1975, Emperor of Ethiopia until his deposition in 1974. His death was officially said to be from natural causes, but a persistent allegation is that he was smothered with a pillow.
1975–1999
- Omar TorrijosOmar TorrijosOmar Efraín Torrijos Herrera was the Commander of the Panamanian and National Guard and the de facto leader of Panama from 1968 to 1981...
, 1981, brigadier general and president of PanamaPanamaPanama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, died in a plane crash. - Roberto CalviRoberto CalviRoberto Calvi was an Italian banker dubbed "God's Banker" by the press because of his close association with the Holy See. A native of Milan, Calvi was Chairman of Banco Ambrosiano, which collapsed in one of modern Italy's biggest political scandals...
, 1982, CEO of Banco AmbrosianoBanco AmbrosianoBanco Ambrosiano was an Italian bank which collapsed in 1982. At the centre of the bank's failure was its chairman, Roberto Calvi and his membership in the illegal Masonic Lodge Propaganda Due...
, found hanged under Blackfriars BridgeBlackfriars BridgeBlackfriars Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, between Waterloo Bridge and Blackfriars Railway Bridge, carrying the A201 road. The north end is near the Inns of Court and Temple Church, along with Blackfriars station...
in LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. - Eduardo Frei MontalvaEduardo Frei MontalvaEduardo Frei Montalva was a Chilean political leader of world stature. In his long political career, he was Minister of Public Works, president of his Christian Democratic Party, senator, President of the Senate, and president of Chile from 1964 to 1970...
, 1982, president of ChileChileChile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
from 1964 to 1970. As of 2005, his death is being investigated because of allegations that he was poisoned. [2] - Samora MachelSamora MachelSamora Moisés Machel was a Mozambican military commander, revolutionary socialist leader and eventual President of Mozambique...
, 1986, president of MozambiqueMozambiqueMozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
, killed in air crash on the border of South AfricaSouth AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, hillside in the Lebombo MountainsLebombo MountainsThe Lebombo Mountains, also called Lubombo Mountains, are an 800km long, narrow range of mountains in Southern Africa stretching from Hluhluwe in KwaZulu-Natal in the south to Punda Maria in the Limpopo Province in South Africa in the north. Part of the mountains are found in South Africa,...
. He was leading anti-Apartheid spokesman. - Uwe BarschelUwe BarschelUwe Barschel was a West German politician and from 1982 to 1987 Minister-President in the State of Schleswig-Holstein...
, 1987, minister-president of Schleswig-HolsteinSchleswig-HolsteinSchleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig...
. - Muhammad Zia-ul-HaqMuhammad Zia-ul-HaqGeneral Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq , was the 4th Chief Martial Law Administrator and the sixth President of Pakistan from July 1977 to his death in August 1988...
, 1988, military ruler of Pakistan, died in a plane crash in 1988. - Pablo EscobarPablo EscobarPablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria was a Colombian drug lord. He was an elusive cocaine trafficker and rich and successful criminal. He owned numerous luxury residences, automobiles, and even airplanes...
, 1993, head of the Medellín CartelMedellín CartelThe Medellín Cartel was an organized network of "drug suppliers and smugglers" originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia. The drug cartel operated in Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Central America, the United States, as well as Canada and Europe throughout the 1970s and 1980s. It was founded and...
, war against Escobar ended in 1993, as he tried to elude the Search Bloc one more time. Using radio triangulation technology provided as part of the U.S. efforts, a Colombian electronic surveillance team found him hiding in a middle-class barrio in MedellínMedellínMedellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.3 million...
. A shootout between Escobar and the Search Bloc personnel ensued. Some believe U.S. special ops snipers may have taken part in the final shootout with Escobar. Accordingly, how Escobar was killed during the confrontation has been debated, but it is known that he was cornered on the rooftops of Medellín and suffered gunshots to the leg, back, and the fatal one behind his ear. - Zviad GamsakhurdiaZviad GamsakhurdiaZviad Gamsakhurdia was a dissident, scientist and writer, who became the first democratically elected President of the Republic of Georgia in the post-Soviet era...
, 1993, former president of GeorgiaGeorgia (country)Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, died in circumstances that were (and still are) very unclear. It is known that he died in the village of Khibula in the SamegreloSamegreloSamegrelo/Samargalo or Megrelia, Mingrelia is a historic province in the western part of Georgia, formerly also known as Odishi.It is inhabited by the Megrelians, an ethnic subgroup of the Georgians.-Geography and Climate:...
region of western Georgia. - Juvénal HabyarimanaJuvénal HabyarimanaJuvénal Habyarimana was the third President of the Republic of Rwanda, the post he held longer than any other president to date, from 1973 until 1994. During his 20-year rule he favored his own ethnic group, the Hutus, and supported the Hutu majority in neighboring Burundi against the Tutsi...
, 1994, president of Rwanda, killedAssassination of Habyarimana and NtaryamiraThe assassination of Juvénal Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira on the evening of April 6, 1994, was the catalyst for the Rwandan Genocide. The airplane carrying Rwandan president Juvénal Habyarimana and Burundian president Cyprien Ntaryamira was shot down as it prepared to land in Kigali, Rwanda....
in a mysterious plane crash at KigaliKigaliKigali, population 965,398 , is the capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is situated near the geographic centre of the nation, and has been the economic, cultural, and transport hub of Rwanda since it became capital at independence in 1962. The main residence and offices of the President of...
airport. The resulting political instability led to the Rwandan GenocideRwandan GenocideThe Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
and the outbreak of full-scale war in Burundi. - Cyprien NtaryamiraCyprien NtaryamiraCyprien Ntaryamira , was President of Burundi from 5 February 1994 until his death when his plane was shot down on 6 April 1994.-Biography:...
, 1994, president of Burundi, killed in a mysterious plane crash at Kigali airport. The resulting political instability led to the Rwandan Genocide and the outbreak of full-scale war in Burundi. - Kristin SmartKristin SmartKristin Denise Smart is an American missing person. She went missing on May 25, 1996 while attending California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and has not been heard from since....
, 1996, California Polytechnic State UniversityCalifornia Polytechnic State UniversityCalifornia Polytechnic State University, or Cal Poly, is a public university located in San Luis Obispo, California, United States. The university is one of two polytechnic campuses in the 23-member California State University system....
student last seen returning to her dorm from an off campus party. Body never recovered; declared legally dead by the state of California 2002.
2000–2010
- Giorgi SanaiaGiorgi SanaiaGiorgi Sanaia, sometimes spelled as Giorgi Sanaya was a Georgian television journalist of the independent broadcasting company Rustavi 2 who was murdered under controversial circumstances in 2001....
, 2001, GeorgianGeorgia (country)Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
journalist known for opposition to government, shot in apartment in Tbilisi. - Enrique SalinasEnrique SalinasEnrique Eduardo Guillermo Salinas de Gortari was the youngest brother of former president of Mexico Carlos Salinas....
, 2004, brother of former MexicanMexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
president Carlos SalinasCarlos SalinasCarlos Salinas de Gortari is a Mexican economist and politician affiliated to the Institutional Revolutionary Party who served as President of Mexico from 1988 to 1994. Earlier in his career he worked in the Budget Secretariat all the way up to Secretary...
. Found with a plastic bag over his head in a parked carAutomobileAn automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
. The vehicle was abandoned in the upmarket municipalityMunicipalityA municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
of Huixquilucan, Estado de México outskirts of Mexico CityMexico CityMexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
. - John GarangJohn GarangJohn Garang de Mabior was a Sudanese politician and rebel leader. From 1983 to 2005, he led the Sudan People's Liberation Army during the Second Sudanese Civil War, and following a peace agreement he briefly served as First Vice President of Sudan from January 2005 until he died in a July 2005...
, 2005, SudanSudanSudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
ese politician and former rebel leader (suspicious helicopter crash), Southern Sudan. One theory was poor visibility. Second one was arranged by Sudanese Government. - Britt Lapthorne, Australian backpacker from Melbourne, aged 21, went missing September 18, 2008 in Dubrovnik, Croatia, where she was last seen at a local nightclub. Her body was found almost 3 weeks later in a Dubrovnik Bay. In April 2009 it was revealed that Ms Lapthorne's body only surfaced once it had already decomposed, making it likely that it was weighed down before being deposited into the water, according to her father, Dale. To date, no solid leads have been established as to the identity of her abductors, neither as to how Ms Lapthorne died. The AFP (Australian Federal Police) has been involved in reviewing the case, which has included travel to Croatia, as reported by the Herald Sun on March 24, 2010.
Date of death disputed
- Raoul WallenbergRaoul WallenbergRaoul Wallenberg was a Swedish businessman, diplomat and humanitarian. He is widely celebrated for his successful efforts to rescue thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary from the Holocaust, during the later stages of World War II...
, a Swedish humanitarian who worked in Budapest, Hungary, was most likely executed in Russia in or around 1947 after being captured by the Red Army in 1945. Death is dated by Soviet authorities as 16 July 1947, but this is disputed; remains an unsolved case.
See also
- Alphabet murdersAlphabet murdersThe so-called "Alphabet murders" took place in the early 1970s in the Rochester, New York area; three young girls were raped and strangled...
- The Keddie MurdersThe Keddie MurdersThe Keddie Murders is an unsolved 1981 American quadruple-murder that took place in Keddie, a former resort town in the foothills of Northern California's Sierra Nevada mountains. The murders took place in cabin 28, during the late evening of April 11, 1981 and/or early morning of the 12th...
- Cold case
- Forensic science