True Crime

[Peggy Lane]

whatever said:

celerydunk said:

The best part is that he most likely killed them because he was ashamed of losing his job, but what he didnt know is that he had an extremely valuable Tiffany stained glass skylight in the dining room.

Oh, I forgot about that detail! I wonder if the house is till there in Westfield, or if the skylight was ever sold?

The house caught fire and burned down a few years after the murder. I also find the List case chilling and fascinating.

[octoberwitch]

Some believe the Dahlia murderer was a serial killer. I wonder if DNA would have solved the case if it happened today?

Has anyone heard of the Cleveland trunk murderer? Some believe it is related to the Dahlia murder.

[Smilla]

Oh, man. Is this ever not the thread to read when you're home alone at night. "Trunk murderer" is possibly the freakiest phrase I've heard all day.

[octoberwitch]

Um, I found another scary one. I never heard of this one before. He was called the servant girl annihilator. He struck in the late nineteenth century Austin and is considered by some to be

America's first serial killer.

[Shanmac]

Trunk murderer? The only thing I found is this. You mean "trunk" like "torso," right? Also -- ick.

[octoberwitch]

shanmac said:

Trunk murderer? The only thing I found is this. You mean "trunk" like "torso," right? Also -- ick.

Thank you! Yes, I meant torso. I think the bodies were FOUND in a trunk. So I confused the two. Yuck is putting it mildly.

[Deleted]

Anyone familiar with the Tim Hennis case? It's a murder that occurred in the 80s at Fort Bragg and had been unsuccessfully linked to the Jeffrey MacDonald case. Tim Hennis was convicted and sentenced to death, but won an appeal and was later released to go on with his life. I had just finished reading the book regarding this case called "Innocent Victims" and was doing my usual Google where are they now search and was surprised to find this. After reading some articles about the new charges and re-reading some of the book, I still think he's innocent. I'm just not as convinced.

[Carolina]

I watched the "Innocent Victims" miniseries when it aired about a decade ago. It seemed after watching it that Tim Hennis was innocent but now I'm not so sure. I'd like to know more about the supposed DNA evidence because it may well be damning. Hennis could always claim that he and Katie Eastburn had consensual sex (since I think the speculation is that the DNA is from semen) but it would be awfully fishy for him to change his story after all this time.

[freddydingo]

If you are a true crime aficionado you might want to check out the LA Times' Daily Mirror column. It's a look back at stories the Times reported on 50 years ago. Often, though not always, they are about crime, like the Nov 12th column about a 15 year old boy arrested for killing a 22 month girl. Occasionally they're about Hollywood, and sometimes the crime and gossip overlap. His Nov 7th column features pictures and a brief discussion of Jean Spangler, an actress who disappeared in 1949.

[freddydingo]

Yesterday was the 61st anniversary of the murder of Elizabeth Short (aka The Black Dahlia). This website offers up a new suspect in the case. Interesting reading, even if I don't find it any more likely than any of the other theories out there.