Births

Paul Charles Denyer

1936Frank Serpico – is a former New York City police officer whose unwavering commitment to integrity and the pursuit of justice made him a symbol of courage and honesty within the law enforcement community. Born on April 14, 1936, in Brooklyn, New York, Serpico grew up in a working-class Italian-American family. After serving in the United States Army, Serpico joined the New York City Police Department (NYPD) in 1959. Throughout his career, he became increasingly disturbed by the widespread corruption within the department. Serpico witnessed and experienced firsthand the acceptance of bribes, payoffs, and unethical conduct among fellow officers. Unwilling to compromise his principles, he made the courageous decision to expose the corruption within the force. In the early 1970s, Serpico took his concerns to the highest levels of the NYPD but faced resistance and retaliation. Undeterred, he approached the New York Times with his story, leading to a series of investigative articles that exposed the pervasive corruption within the department. His testimony before the Knapp Commission, a government inquiry into police corruption, further shed light on the extent of the issue. Serpico’s courageous actions came at great personal cost. In 1971, he was shot in the face during a drug bust gone awry, and many believe the incident was a setup by fellow officers as an act of retaliation. Miraculously surviving the attack, Serpico became a symbol of resistance against corruption and an inspiration for police reform. Following his recovery, Serpico left the NYPD in 1972 and continued to advocate for police integrity and reform. His experiences were later chronicled in the 1973 film “Serpico,” starring Al Pacino, which brought national attention to his story. In the years that followed, Frank Serpico became a prominent voice for police accountability and ethical conduct, speaking at universities and participating in various forums on law enforcement issues. Despite the challenges he faced, Frank Serpico’s legacy endures as a reminder of the importance of honesty, integrity, and the courage to stand against corruption, even when faced with formidable opposition. His life and experiences continue to serve as an inspiration for those dedicated to upholding the principles of justice within the realm of law enforcement.

1951Michael George Bruno Sr – He had a son, Michael George Bruno Jr., who testified against him in court. On August 8 or 9, 1986, Bruno and his son visited Lionel Merlano’s apartment in Broward County, Florida. They listened to music and drank beer for a while, then Bruno went to the bathroom and came back with a crowbar. Bruno attacked Merlano with the crowbar, injuring him but not killing him. He then ordered his son to get a gun that was under the bathroom sink. When his son returned with the gun, Bruno put a pillow over Merlano’s head and shot him twice in the head. Bruno then robbed Merlano of his stereo equipment and other electronic devices. He left Merlano’s apartment and returned several times to steal more items. Merlano’s body was not discovered until August 11, 1986, three days later. He had died from multiple gunshot wounds to the head. On September 11, 1986, Bruno was indicted for first-degree murder and armed robbery of Merlano. He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, claiming that he suffered from mental illness at the time of the crime. On September 25, 1987, he was found guilty by a jury of both charges by an 8 to 4 majority vote. The jury also voted for the death penalty as the recommended sentence. On November 9, 1987, he filed a direct appeal in the Florida Supreme Court. In that appeal, he claimed that his confession should have been suppressed because it was coerced through promises regarding the treatment of his son. His appeal was denied by the Florida Supreme Court on February 28, 1990. The court affirmed his conviction and sentence. The court found that there was no error in admitting Mr. Bruno’s confession as evidence against him. They found that Mr. Bruno’s confession was voluntary because it was not contradicted by any evidence or statement made by any other person who has personal knowledge of the facts alleged in Mr. Bruno’s confession. They found that Mr. Bruno’s confession was reliable because it was consistent with other evidence presented at trial and did not contain any material inconsistencies or contradictions. They found that there was no error in imposing death as the sentence for Mr. Bruno’s conviction of first-degree murder and armed robbery of Lionel Merlano.

1969Jiri Straka – A Czech serial killer dubbed The Spartakiad Killer who was responsible for attacking 11 women, killing three of them in five months in 1985. Shockingly, Straka was 15 years old when he committed his crimes and due to being a minor, he received a sentence of only 10 years. It is now believed that Straka lives under a different name in a different city in the Czech Republic.

1972Paul Charles Denyer – is a notorious Australian serial killer convicted of murdering three young women in Melbourne in 1993. Born to British immigrant parents in Campbelltown, New South Wales, he moved to Victoria with his family at the age of 11. He faced bullying and social isolation at school and developed an interest in knives and violence from a young age. He held various jobs but was often fired due to his incompetence and criminal behavior. His criminal spree began in February 1993 when he started stalking and attacking women in the suburb of Frankston. He was arrested on July 31, 1993, after police found one of his victim’s bodies at his home. He confessed to all four murders and one attempted abduction, revealing that he had planned to kill more women before being caught. He pleaded guilty to all charges and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 30 years. While in prison, he identified as Paula for several years, claiming to be a transgender woman, but prison authorities refused to allow him any gender-affirming treatment or legal name change. In 2022, he reverted to identifying as Paul again after undergoing hormone therapy without permission from the authorities. In 2023, he applied for parole but was denied by the Adult Parole Board of Victoria.

1975Amber Lynn Trudell – was an accountant who took yoga classes at the Yoga Oasis in Arizona. There, she met Michael Albert Dojaquez, a local yoga instructor, and started an affair with him despite being married to another man. On September 26, 2003, they had a heated argument at Dojaquez’s home. Trudell claimed that Dojaquez had beaten and sexually assaulted her and that he shot himself in the head when she tried to leave with her gun. However, the prosecutors argued that Trudell pulled the trigger herself out of guilt or anger. Trudell was charged with first-degree murder and faced the death penalty. Her first trial ended in a hung jury in March 2005. Her second trial began on July 15, 2005. The jury deliberated for less than two hours and found her guilty of second-degree murder on October 18, 2005. She was sentenced to 13 years in prison on October 23, 2005. She will have to serve at least eight years before becoming eligible for parole.

1977Chandra Levy – was an American intern at the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Washington, D.C. Born on April 14, 1977, in Cleveland, Ohio, she moved to California with her family at a young age. After graduating from the University of Southern California with a degree in public administration, she moved to Washington, D.C. for her internship. She disappeared in May 2001, shortly after completing her internship and planning to return to California. Her disappearance sparked a massive search effort, but due to a miscommunication between the police and the FBI, they failed to follow their own search parameters in Rock Creek Park, where her remains were eventually found a year later. The case attracted a lot of media attention due to her alleged affair with Congressman Gary Condit, who was never charged with any crime related to her disappearance. Despite the controversy, Condit maintained that he had been working late hours at his office or meeting with Vice President Dick Cheney when Levy went missing. He lost his bid for re-election in 2002 due to the negative publicity surrounding his involvement with Levy. Levy’s remains were identified by DNA testing and she was buried at Lakewood Memorial Park Cemetery in Hughson, California. The investigation into her death led to the arrest and conviction of Ingmar Guandique, a convicted sex offender who had attacked women in Rock Creek Park before. Guandique pleaded guilty to killing another woman named Pamela Martin in 1984 but maintained his innocence regarding Levy’s case until his death by suicide in prison in 2015.

 

Deaths

Sokrat Kirshveng

1937Sokrat Kirshveng – was a Bulgarian serial killer who lived from around 1882 to 1937. He was known as The Killer with the Adze because he used a wooden tool with a sharp blade to kill his victims. He murdered two of his wives, his aunt, and her husband, and also tried to kill his third wife. He was caught and executed by hanging in 1937. He was born in a village called Alino, where he worked as a lumberjack. He married Elena Manova in 1908 but left her and their two children to move to Sofia, where he met Vangelia Yurdanova, a tailor who lived with him in a small house. He also fell in love with Tinka Nikolova, an orderly at the 10th Military Hospital, where he worked as a security guard. He planned to run away with Yurdanova and Nikolova, but he killed Yurdanova first by stabbing her with an adze. He then tried to kill Nikolova by cutting her throat with the same tool, but she survived and alerted the police. He then fled from Sofia and traveled across Bulgaria, killing more people along the way. He killed his aunt Maria Kirshveng and her husband Petar Petrov in 1919 after they refused to give him money that he had stolen from them. He also killed two other women in 1920 and 1921, whom he met on the road or at taverns. He was finally arrested in 1937 by the police after they received several anonymous tips about his crimes. He confessed to all of them and said that he had killed for fun and pleasure. He was sentenced to death by hanging and executed on April 14, 1937, at Sofia City Prison. His body was buried in an unmarked grave near the prison wall. His case is considered one of the most notorious and gruesome in Bulgarian history.

1965Perry Smith – was a notorious criminal who was involved in the brutal murder of the Clutter family in Kansas in 1959. He was one of the two killers, along with Richard Hickock, who broke into the Clutter home and shot all four members of the family: Herbert, Bonnie, Ulysses, and Nina Clutter. The crime shocked the nation and inspired Truman Capote to write his famous book In Cold Blood, which chronicled the details of the case and the lives of Smith and Hickock. Smith had a troubled childhood, marked by abuse from his parents and neglect from his nuns. He joined the merchant marine at 16 and served in World War II and Korea. He became involved in petty crime after his release from prison, where he met Hickock. They decided to rob a Kansas farm after hearing rumors that it had a large amount of cash in a safe. They planned their crime carefully and executed it on November 15, 1959. They then fled to Las Vegas, where they were arrested six weeks later after a tip from an informant. Smith was tried for murder along with Hickock, but he did not testify against his accomplice. Instead, he cooperated with Capote and gave him extensive interviews for his book. He also wrote letters to Capote’s editor, expressing remorse for his actions and asking for forgiveness from God and the Clutter family. He claimed that he was not a cold-blooded killer, but rather a victim of circumstance who acted out of desperation and fear. He also said that he regretted killing innocent people who had nothing to do with him or Hickock’s crimes. Smith was sentenced to death by hanging on April 14, 1965. He was executed at the Kansas State Penitentiary at age 36. His last words were reportedly “I’m sorry.” His execution was controversial because some people believed that he deserved mercy or clemency based on his mental state or cooperation with Capote’s investigation. Others argued that he deserved justice for taking the lives of four people who had no chance to defend themselves or escape their fate. Perry Smith is one of the most infamous criminals in American history, whose story has captivated generations of readers and viewers with its drama, suspense, violence, and tragedy.

1965Richard Hickock – See above

2021Bernard Madoff – born on April 29, 1938, in Queens, New York, was a notorious American financier who ran the largest Ponzi scheme in history, defrauding thousands of investors of billions of dollars. He was also a former chairman of the Nasdaq stock exchange and a pioneer in electronic trading. Madoff founded his own investment firm, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, in 1960 with his wife Ruth. He specialized in penny stocks and became one of the most successful and influential traders in the industry. In the early 1980s, Madoff started to use some of his client’s money to pay off earlier investors from new funds he created. This was the beginning of his Ponzi scheme, which involved paying returns to investors from their own money or from new investors’ money rather than from actual profits. He also used fake account statements and trade confirmations to conceal his fraud. Madoff’s scheme collapsed on December 11, 2008, when he confessed to his sons Mark and Andrew that he had been running a Ponzi scheme for years. The next day, he was arrested by the FBI and charged with securities fraud. On March 12, 2009, Madoff pleaded guilty to 11 federal felonies and admitted to defrauding thousands of investors out of about $65 billion over at least two decades. He was sentenced to 150 years in prison and ordered to forfeit $170 billion that he had obtained through his fraud. Madoff’s sons Mark and Andrew were also convicted for their roles in the scheme. Mark hanged himself in 2010 at age 46; Andrew died of lymphoma in 2014 at age 53. Madoff died on April 14, 2021, at age 82 at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina. His death came just days after he was denied parole by President Joe Biden for a third time. His estate is expected to be divided among thousands of victims who have filed lawsuits against him or received restitution from other sources such as banks or insurance companies.

 

Events

Louis Leplee

1841 – The first detective story is published, Edgar Allan Poe’s “Murders in the Rue Morgue”

1865 – President of the United States Abraham Lincoln is shot by John Wilkes Booth

1881 – Four dead in a 5-second gunfight takes place in El Paso, Texas

1936 – French singer Edith Piaf is questioned after nightclub owner and her patron Louis Leplee is murdered in Paris

1991 – Rachel McLean is murdered by her boyfriend, John Tanner

1994 – Branch Davidian leader David Koresh promises to surrender after he completes his seven seals manuscript

2013 – Comedian Kevin Hart is arrested on suspicion of drunk driving in California

2015 – Robert Durst is arrested for the murder of his friend Susan Berman

2021 – Former Minnesota police officer who shot Daunte Wright with a gun instead of a taser is arrested & charged with 2nd-degree manslaughter

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