Download or read book Notorious Murders of the Twentieth Century written by Stephen Wade and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2011-12-01 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The word 'murder' has always attracted widespread local and national media coverage. Once known, the story becomes the subject of discussion in a variety of places throughout the land. Some grisly tales become part of a culture that lives on for generations, whilst others, even by some of the worst serial killers, are soon forgotten. In this book experienced crime historian Stephen Wade has gathered together a collection of murders covering the entire twentieth century. Although famous in their own day, most are now forgotten by the general public, apart from the best true crime enthusiasts. The first conviction for fingerprint evidence, the last hanging in England and murderous husbands and wives are included; but there are also mysteries, unsolved killings and peculiar confessions. Meet the man who poisoned his rival's scones, a wrongful arrest and the acquittal of a good wife who shot her man dead. There are even tales from the Isle of Man, whose legislators continued to issue death penalties in the 1990s.
Download or read book Murders in the United States written by Ronald Barri Flowers and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presents brief descriptions of notorious murder cases in the U.S. from the 1900s to the 1990s, as well as alphabetized biographical sketches of famous killers and victims.
Download or read book Murder Cases of the Twentieth Century written by David K. Frasier and published by McFarland. This book was released on 1996 with total page 584 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Profiles of crimes that occurred prior to 1992 and the criminals.
Download or read book The Man from the Train written by Bill James and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2017-09-19 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An Edgar Award finalist for Best Fact Crime, this “impressive…open-eyed investigative inquiry wrapped within a cultural history of rural America” (The Wall Street Journal) shows legendary statistician and baseball writer Bill James applying his analytical acumen to crack an unsolved century-old mystery surrounding one of the deadliest serial killers in American history. Between 1898 and 1912, families across the country were bludgeoned in their sleep with the blunt side of an axe. Some of these cases—like the infamous Villisca, Iowa, murders—received national attention. But most incidents went almost unnoticed outside the communities in which they occurred. Few people believed the crimes were related. And fewer still would realize that all of these families lived within walking distance to a train station. When celebrated true crime expert Bill James first learned about these horrors, he began to investigate others that might fit the same pattern. Applying the same know-how he brings to his legendary baseball analysis, he empirically determined which crimes were committed by the same person. Then after sifting through thousands of local newspapers, court transcripts, and public records, he and his daughter Rachel made an astonishing discovery: they learned the true identity of this monstrous criminal and uncovered one of the deadliest serial killers in America. “A suspenseful historical account” (Publishers Weekly, starred review), The Man from the Train paints a vivid, psychologically perceptive portrait of America at the dawn of the twentieth century, when crime was regarded as a local problem, and opportunistic private detectives exploited a dysfunctional judicial system. James shows how these cultural factors enabled such an unspeakable series of crimes to occur, and his groundbreaking approach to true crime will convince skeptics, amaze aficionados, and change the way we view criminal history. “A beautifully written and extraordinarily researched narrative…This is no pure whodunit, but rather a how-many-did-he-do” (Buffalo News).
Download or read book Still at Large written by Michael Newton and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: They get away with murder. Every year in America, more than 5,000 killers elude police. And most of the notorious murderers who slip the grip of the law commit the same crime again & again, leaving the grisliest of signatures. In Still At Large, master of the crime encyclopedia Michael Newton (author of Hunting Humans, Bad Girls Do It!, Holy Homicide, Cop Killers, Killer Cops, & Black Collar Crimes) recounts chilling tales of unsolved serial murder. So you think you'll never be the victim of a serial murderer? Don't be so sure. The killers in this book could be lurking in your neighborhood, your office, & even your home. Watch out, because they're Still At Large...
Download or read book The Trunk Dripped Blood written by Mark Grossman and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2018-01-12 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A trunk dripping blood, discovered at a railway station in Stockton in 1906, launched one of the most famous murder investigations in California history--still debated by crime historians. In 1913, the dismembered body of a young pregnant woman, found in the East River, was traced back to her killer and husband, who remains the only priest ever executed for homicide in the U.S. In 1916, a successful dentist, recently married into a prestigious family, poisoned his in-laws--first with deadly bacteria, then with arsenic--claiming the real murderer was an Egyptian incubus who took control of his body. Drawing on court transcripts, newspaper coverage and other contemporary sources, this collection of historical American true crime stories chronicles five murder cases that became media sensations of their day, making headlines across the country in the decades before radio or television.
Download or read book Murder Along the Cape Fear written by David T. Morgan and published by Mercer University Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 558 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Murder Along the Cape Fear is the story of Fayetteville and Fort Bragg, North Carolina, during the twentieth century. Seen through the eyes of a native son, this is the tale of one - a distinguished historian - who lived through some of it and heard about much of it from friends and relatives. In this hundred-year journey the town was profoundly impacted by the establishment of Fort Bragg 10 miles to its west. Throughout this hundred-year history, murder seems to be the scarlet thread that stitched the town into infamy. The book demonstrates that Fayetteville was by no means innocent prior to the coming of Fort Bragg. Nor did all of the crime and evil emanate from Fort Bragg after 1918. As for murder, there was an abundance of killing that had no connection with Fort Bragg, but the most sensational murder case of the century involved Jeffrey MacDonald, a Green Beret Army captain and physician who received three life terms in federal prison for killing his pregnant wife and two daughters. While many other Fort Bragg soldiers were involved with murders along the Cape Fear, murders were also committed by transient civilians and local citizens like the famous inventor of the M-1 carbine, Marshall "Carbine" Williams, and Velma Barfield, who poisoned her mother and three other people. In all, about two dozen murder cases-some highly publicized and some not-are woven into this story about a North Carolina town in the twentieth century. Engagingly told, this book is a wonderful blend of history, lore, and murder.
Download or read book Power Kills written by R. J. Rummel and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-07-12 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume, newly published in paperback, is part of a comprehensive effort by R. J. Rummel to understand and place in historical perspective the entire subject of genocide and mass murder, or what he calls democide. It is the fifth in a series of volumes in which he offers a detailed analysis of the 120,000,000 people killed as a result of government action or direct intervention. In Power Kills, Rummel offers a realistic and practical solution to war, democide, and other collective violence. As he states it, "The solution...is to foster democratic freedom and to democratize coercive power and force. That is, mass killing and mass murder carried out by government is a result of indiscriminate, irresponsible Power at the center." Rummel observes that well-established democracies do not make war on and rarely commit lesser violence against each other. The more democratic two nations are, the less likely is war or smaller-scale violence between them. The more democratic a nation is, the less severe its overall foreign violence, the less likely it will have domestic collective violence, and the less its democide. Rummel argues that the evidence supports overwhelmingly the most important fact of our time: democracy is a method of nonviolence.
Download or read book Great Crimes and Trials of the Twentieth Century written by Paul Begg and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Bloody Century written by Robert Wilhelm and published by . This book was released on 2014-11-21 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A murderous atmosphere pervaded nineteenth century America unlike anything seen before or since. Lurid murder stories dominated newspaper headlines, and as if responding to the need for sensational copy, Americans everywhere began to see murder as a solution to their problems. The Bloody Century retells their stories; some still famous, some long buried, all endlessly fascinating. The Bloody Century is a collection of true stories of ordinary Americans, driven by desperation, greed, jealousy or an irrational bloodlust, to take the life of someone around them. The book includes facts, motives, circumstances and outcomes, narrating fifty of the most intriguing murder cases of nineteenth century America. Richly illustrated with scenes and portraits originally published at the time of the murders, and including songs and poems written to commemorate the crimes, The Bloody Century invokes a fitting atmosphere for Victorian homicide. The days of America's distant past, the time of gaslights and horse drawn carriages, are often viewed as quaint and sentimental, but a closer look reveals passions, fears, and motives that are timeless and universal, and a population inured to violence, capable of monstrous acts. A visit to The Bloody Century may well give us insight into our own.
Download or read book The Killer Book of Infamous Murders written by Tom Philbin and published by Sourcebooks, Inc.. This book was released on 2011-03-01 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spine-chilling Tales of the Ultimate Evil Deeds Murders have long made headlines, but only those with the most heartless betrayals, twisted lies, and gruesome crime scenes have earned a place in infamy. The Killer Book of Infamous Murders takes you behind the crime scene tape and into the heart of notorious and remorseless massacres. Uncover fascinating facts about killers' dark pasts, pent-up rage, and what finally caused them to snap-leading them to commit some of the world's most shocking crimes, including: Leopold and Loeb's "perfect crime": the kidnapping and slaying of fourteen-year-old Bobby Franks The bloody shootings of Alan and Diane Johnson, killed by their sixteen-year-old daughter The cold-blooded murder of the Clutter family The puzzling and controversial murder of Marilyn Sheppard And much more... Bury yourself in these edge-of-your-seat tales, read chilling quotes and courtroom transcripts, and test your crime IQ with trivia. You'll shudder in horrified delight-and you just might need to sleep with the lights on.
Download or read book American Murder Homicide in the late 20th century written by Gini Graham Scott and published by Greenwood. This book was released on 2007 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: America has long had the reputation as the most violent and murderous of modern industralized nations. Even while violent crime has dropped in recent years, our murder rate is still incredibly high. Since the beginning of the 20th century, our society has undergone profound changes, and our technologies have advanced, but the motives and methods for murder and escaping the long arm of the law have kept pace, often capitalizing on availble technologies. In addition, as the century progressed, the media would become an integral part of murder in America, helping investigations, glamorizing murder, and bringing it into our homes on a daily basis. Here, Scott examines the changing face of murder in the context of societal changes, and traces the advances in investigative techniques and technologies. Each chapter offers vivid accounts of the most notorious and representative murders for each time period, focusing especially on those murderers who have had the edge on their pursuers, even escaping detection to this day. Beginning at the turn of the century, Scott details one of the most notorious cases of the day, in which a jealous lover poisons the wife of her lover. The book ends with the still-unsolved Tupac Shakur murder case. Taking readers through the various developments in methods of murder, and the techniques used to capture the criminals, Scott provides a fascinating overview of the way murder has changed through the decades and how law enforcement has kept pace. This insightful book sheds light on both our fascination with murder and on murderers and their nemeses over the last one hundred years.
Download or read book Homicide by the Rich and Famous written by Gini Graham Scott JD, Ph.D and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2005-03-30 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many people express shock and horror when they hear of a wealthy or famous person killing another person. As a society, we seem to expect the rich and famous to behave better, to commit fewer crimes, to be immune to the passions that inspire other, less prominent people to kill. After all, the rich and famous have everything—why would they need to murder? But the rich and famous kill for the very same reasons others do: love, power, money, jealousy, greed, revenge, and rage. Here, Scott takes us on a tour of murders committed by the rich and famous during the last century, looking at the motives, the responses of the community and local law enforcement, the media, and the outcomes. She argues that the rich and famous may kill for the same reasons as others, but they receive vastly different treatment and are often able to get away with murder. Homicide by the rich and famous is not new in this country, nor is fascination with the crimes committed by our most revered citizens. But being among the upper echelon of society does afford such suspects with a greater ability to escape punishment. They have greater access to better respresentation, they have the means to flee the country, they have influential friends in high places willing to put themselves on the line, and they are generally treated better by law enforcement and the criminal justice system. This book profiles the many ways in which homicides committed by the rich and famous are similar to other murders in their motives, but differ from those committed by everyday citizens in their outcomes. Scott provides readers with a showcase of crimes that will infuriate and fascinate readers.
Download or read book Murder and Mayhem written by David Nash and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2018-04-25 with total page 327 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This introductory book offers a coherent history of twentieth century crime and the law in Britain, with chapters on topics ranging from homicide to racial hate crime, from incest to anarchism, from gangs to the death penalty. Pulling together a wide range of literature, David Nash and Anne-Marie Kilday reveal the evolution of attitudes towards criminality and the law over the course of the twentieth century. Highlighting important periods of change and development that have shaped the overall history of crime in Britain, the authors provide in-depth analysis and explanation of each theme. This is an ideal companion for undergraduate students taking courses on Crime in Britain, as well as a fascinating resource for scholars.
Download or read book Froth and Scum written by Andie Tucher and published by Univ of North Carolina Press. This book was released on 2000-11-09 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Two notorious antebellum New York murder cases--a prostitute slashed in an elegant brothel and a tradesman bludgeoned by the brother of inventor Samuel Colt--set off journalistic scrambles over the meanings of truth, objectivity, and the duty of the press that reverberate to this day. In 1833 an entirely new kind of newspaper--cheap, feisty, and politically independent--introduced American readers to the novel concept of what has come to be called objectivity in news coverage. The penny press was the first medium that claimed to present the true, unbiased facts to a democratic audience. But in Froth and Scum, Andie Tucher explores--and explodes--the notion that 'objective' reporting will discover a single, definitive truth. As they do now, news stories of the time aroused strong feelings about the possibility of justice, the privileges of power, and the nature of evil. The prostitute's murder in 1836 sparked an impassioned public debate, but one newspaper's 'impartial investigation' pleased the powerful by helping the killer go free. Colt's 1841 murder of the tradesman inspired universal condemnation, but the newspapers' singleminded focus on his conviction allowed another secret criminal to escape. By examining media coverage of these two sensational murders, Tucher reveals how a community's needs and anxieties can shape its public truths. The manuscript of this book won the 1991 Allan Nevins Prize of the Society of American Historians for the best-written dissertation in American history. from the book Journalism is important. It catches events on the cusp between now and then--events that still may be changing, developing, ripening. And while new interpretations of the past can alter our understanding of lives once led, new interpretations of the present can alter the course of our lives as we live them. Understanding the news properly is important. The way a community receives the news is profoundly influenced by who its members are, what they hope and fear and wish, and how they think about their fellow citizens. It is informed by some of the most occult and abstract of human ideas, about truth, beauty, goodness, and justice.
Download or read book Leopold and Loeb written by Charles River Editors and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-01-08 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes accounts of the crime and trial, including the confessions *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents "A superman ... is, on account of certain superior qualities inherent in him, exempted from the ordinary laws which govern men. He is not liable for anything he may do." - Richard Loeb There has been no shortage of shocking crimes and trials that generated frenzied coverage across America, but few can lay claim to "crime of the century" like the murder carried out by Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb in 1924. While studying as young adults at the prestigious University of Chicago, Leopold and Loeb devised a meticulous plot to kidnap and murder a child while managing to get away with ransom money, thereby perpetrating what they considered a "perfect crime." On May 21, they put their plan in motion and targeted 14 year old Bobby Franks, who had the misfortune of being acquainted with Loeb. Franks was lured into a vehicle and brutally murdered before Leopold and Loeb dumped his body 25 miles away. When attempts at ransom went awry almost immediately, Leopold and Loeb tried to cover their tracks, only to have a special set of eyeglasses link Franks' murder back to Leopold. Barely less than a week after the murder, the "perfect crime" completely unraveled when Leopold and Loeb were brought in for formal questioning and confessed. The crime was horrific enough, but the trial brought even more attention to the case, and it touched on several crucial issues. Both young men cited the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche as a motivation for attempting to commit the crime and prove they were better than the common man. As Leopold told his own attorney, "The killing was an experiment It is just as easy to justify such a death as it is to justify an entomologist killing a beetle on a pin." Moreover, in addition to the killers' families hiring renowned defense lawyer Clarence Darrow, the crimes took place at a time when various forms of media were becoming ever more popular, particularly radio and film. Thus, the trial generated more coverage than just about any before it on the way to being billed as the "Trial of the Century," and Darrow did his best to prevent the boys from suffering the death penalty by citing other factors: "This terrible crime was inherent in his organism, and it came from some ancestor... Is any blame attached because somebody took Nietzsche's philosophy seriously and fashioned his life upon it?... It is hardly fair to hang a 19-year-old boy for the philosophy that was taught him at the university." Ultimately, the boys were given life sentences + 99 years for the kidnapping, which would lend its name to a memoir written by Leopold. For his part, Darrow would use his increased prestige to participate the following year in the famous Scopes Trial. Leopold and Loeb: The History and Legacy of One of 20th Century America's Most Notorious Crimes and Trials chronicles the shocking crime and the trial that followed. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Leopold and Loeb like never before, in no time at all.
Download or read book The Crime of the Century written by Dennis L. Breo and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-05-10 with total page 576 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story behind the attack that shocked a nation and opened a new chapter in the history of American crime. On July 14th, 1966, Richard Franklin Speck swept through several student nurses’ townhouse like a summer tornado and changed the landscape of American crime. He broke in as his helpless victims slept, bound them one by one, and then stabbed, assaulted, and strangled all eight in a sadistic sexual frenzy. By morning, only one young nurse had miraculously survived. The killer was captured in seventy-two hours; he was successfully prosecuted in an error-free trial that stood up to appellate scrutiny; and the jury needed only forty-nine minutes to return a death verdict. Here is the story of Richard Speck by the prosecutor who put him in prison for life with a brand new introduction by Bill Kunkle, the prosecutor of the infamous John Wayne Gacy Jr. In The Crime of the Century, William J. Martin has teamed up with Dennis L. Breo to re-create the blood-soaked night that made American criminal history, offering fascinating behind-the-scenes descriptions of Speck, his innocent victims, the desperate manhunt and massive investigation, and the trial that led to Speck’s successful conviction.
