Browsing: Crime

A Brief History On January 24, 41 A.D., the Roman emperor known as Caligula was assassinated by his own Praetorian Guard! Digging Deeper Digging deeper, we find Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (his actual name) usually referred to as Caligula or “little boot,” a nickname. By any name, Caligula is remembered as perhaps the worst of the worst of the Roman emperors, and his excesses are legendary!  Although some of these excesses are probably exaggerations made by his enemies and detractors, the idea that his most loyal body guards would kill him should serve as a clue!  (Imagine how bad…

A Brief History On January 23, 1897, Elva Zona Heaster, about 24 years old, was found dead, later proven to have been murdered by her husband through her own ghost’s testimony! Digging Deeper Digging deeper, we find a West Virginia couple married less than a year, Zona having been an unwed mother prior to the wedding and Erasmus Shue a divorcé and widower. Zona’s body was found by a boy who had been sent on an errand by Shue, and Shue was summoned to the scene.  Prior to the arrival of the local doctor (who doubled as coroner), Shue had moved the body…

A Brief History On January 22, 1957, long before the terrorist bombings of recent years, the “Mad Bomber” terrorizing New York City was finally arrested! Digging Deeper Digging deeper, we find a city menaced by George Metesky (born 1903) from 1940 until his arrest in 1957. Placing at least 30 bombs around the city during his terror spree, Metesky was an angry and frustrated man who felt cheated by his former employer and the rest of society. He had been injured in 1931 while working for Consolidated Edison (Con-Ed) and had been disabled from lung injuries. Metesky thought he was…

A Brief History On January 18, 1967, self-confessed “Boston Strangler” Albert DeSalvo was convicted of several rapes and related crimes, but not of murder. Digging Deeper Digging deeper, we find no one was actually convicted of the murder of the 13 victims of the “Boston Strangler” although DeSalvo had confessed. Due to some inconsistencies in his details of the murders and in analysis of the manner of each murder, there is much disagreement about whether or not DeSalvo really was the murderer he said he was, with some researchers claiming there must have been more than one killer. Raping and…

A Brief History On January 15, 2005, the serial murderer known as BTK (bind, torture, kill) was finally arrested while driving near his home in Park City, Kansas. Digging Deeper Digging deeper, we find Dennis Rader, a Lutheran church deacon and president of the church council, living in suburban Wichita and 60 years old at the time of his arrest. Rader got his nom de guerre courtesy of himself, as he had suggested several possible names for him to be called in messages left for the police and the media.  In spite of the audacity of taunting police with messages, Rader went…