Births
Wilbur Underhill
1859 – Alexander Howland Smith – also known as the “Antique Smith”, was a Scottish document forger in the 1880s. Born on March 16, 1859, he began his forging career in his native Edinburgh. He would visit second-hand bookshops and buy all kinds of old books with blank flyleaves. When these materials ran out, he resorted to modern paper. Smith started selling his forgeries in 1886 and continued for the next five years. He sold them to bookshops, auctions, and pawnshops, usually at modest prices. He forged manuscripts from various historical people, such as Mary, Queen of Scots; Oliver Cromwell; and Sir Walter Scott. Smith forged the signatures without tracing the originals. He created poems, autographs, and historical letters. He made the documents appear old by dipping them in weak tea. However, his forgeries were very clumsy. Letters were dated wrongly, sometimes after the death of their supposed writer, and had been written on modern paper with new writing implements. Despite this, his forgeries were widely sold in the British Isles and abroad and are still occasionally sold as real in the British Isles and the USA. In May 1891, manuscript collector James Mackenzie decided to sell some of the letters of his Rillbank Collection by auction in Edinburgh. Before the start of the auction, the auctioneer stated that some people had claimed that the items were forgeries and refused to personally vouch for them, which significantly decreased the prices. On June 26, 1893, Smith’s trial began. He was not charged with forgery but with selling the forgeries under pretenses. The jury convicted Smith but recommended leniency and he was sentenced to 12 months in prison. Smith passed away on May 3, 1913. His forgeries still surface today.
1901 – Wilbur Underhill Jr – often known as “Mad Dog” or the “Tri-State Terror,” was an American criminal, burglar, bank robber, and Depression-era outlaw. He was one of the most wanted bandits in Oklahoma during the 1920s and 1930s. He was born on March 16, 1901, in Joplin, Missouri, and was one of seven children. His three older brothers Earl, George, and Ernest all became career criminals, though none gained the notoriety of Wilbur, while his three sisters led law-abiding lives. Underhill began his criminal career by stealing silverware from a neighbor’s home. In 1918, he was convicted of burglary and spent four years in prison. A year after his release, Underhill became locally known as the “Lovers Lane Bandit”. When his identity became known, after being caught by a police decoy, he was sent to the Missouri State Penitentiary for five years. Underhill was released on parole in late 1926, and on Christmas Day, he and Ike “Skeet” Akins robbed a drug store in Okmulgee, Oklahoma. In the course of the robbery, 19-year-old customer George Fee was killed. They were eventually arrested on January 7, 1927, and charged with murder and armed robbery. Underhill and Akins were still awaiting trial when they decided to escape from the Okmulgee jailhouse on January 30 with fellow inmates Red Gann and Duff Kennedy using smuggled hacksaws. By the early 1930s, Underhill had become one of the most notorious bandits in Oklahoma. While an inmate in Lansing, he participated in a mass escape with 10 other inmates using pistols smuggled in by Frank “Jelly” Nash and headed for Cookson Hills. Among those included in the jailbreak included fellow outlaws Harvey Bailey, Jim Clark, Frank Sawyer, Ed Davis, and Robert “Big Bob” Brady on May 30, 1933. Underhill was killed by police on January 6, 1934, in Shawnee, Oklahoma. His last words were “Tell the boys I’m coming home”. His life and criminal career continue to capture public attention even today.
1930 – Kieran Patrick Kelly – was an Irish vagrant, convicted murderer, and suspected serial killer. He and his family moved to Dublin in the early 1940s, where Kelly became involved in petty crime. Known by many as “Nosy Kelly” due to his large nose, he enlisted in the British Army at 18 but was dishonorably discharged in 1951 for going AWOL. He moved back and forth between Dublin and London for several years before settling in London permanently around 1960. There, he married, had some children, and worked in the construction industry. However, the break-up of his marriage and his growing alcoholism led him to become homeless. He also had mental health issues and spent time in Broadmoor Hospital. Kelly was arrested for petty theft in 1983. While in a police holding cell, he attacked another homeless man, William Boyd, and strangled him to death. In a subsequent series of taped confessions to London police, Kelly claimed to have murdered or attempted to murder dozens of people in London using a variety of methods, from pushing people in front of trains to setting them on fire to poisoning them, for some thirty years. If Kelly’s confessions were true, he would have been one of the most prolific serial killers ever active in the United Kingdom, and one of the few known or claimed Irish serial killers. In June 1984, Kelly was convicted of the 1983 manslaughter of William Boyd, and the murder of another homeless man in 1975, Hector Fisher. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. Kelly died in 2001 in HM Prison Durham. In 2015, a former London police detective called Geoff Platt published a book about Kelly called The London Underground Serial Killer, which claimed that Kelly had murdered about 31 people, and alleged that the British Home Office had conspired to cover up Kelly’s crimes to avoid a public panic. However, in 2019 Irish journalist Robert Mulhern published another book about Kelly, The Secret Serial Killer: The True Story of Kieran Kelly, which raised serious questions about the veracity of Platt’s book and the number of murders that could feasibly be linked to Kelly. Based on his research, Mulhern believes Kelly likely only killed five or six people. In 2020, Irish broadcaster RTÉ released an eight-part Doc on One documentary series, The Nobody Zone, which explored Kelly’s life and attempted to ascertain the truth behind his claims. A two-episode docudrama based on the documentary was produced in November 2023 for RTÉ Television.
1947 – James Lowery – An American man who, with his wife had previously been caretakers for 80-year-old couple Mark & Gertrude Thompson, they had been sacked due to bad service. At a later date, Lowery and a friend went to the Thompson’s residence to rob them, and Lowery murdered both.
1949 – Arthur Dennis Rutherford – also known as “A.D.”, was born on March 16, 1949, in Gainesville, Alachua County, Florida, USA. He was a prisoner under sentence of death in the state of Florida. Rutherford was convicted of the first-degree murder of Stella Salamon. He knew the victim, a 63-year-old widow who lived alone because she had hired him to do odd jobs, one of which was the installation of sliding glass doors. Unfortunately, Mrs. Salamon was not satisfied with Rutherford’s work and expressed uneasiness to a friend about Rutherford’s continued presence at her home. Before this murder, during the summer of 1985, Rutherford told his friend Harold Attaway that he planned to kill a woman and place her body in her bathtub to make her death look like an accident. Rutherford also told a long-time business associate, Sherman Pittman, that he was going to get money by forcing a woman to write him a check and then putting her in the bathtub. If the woman initially refused to make out the check, Rutherford explained that he would “get her by that arm and she would sign.” It was then that Rutherford bragged that he would do the crime but not the time. About a week after making those statements, Rutherford again told Attaway about his homicidal plan. Rutherford also told his uncle that they could get easy money by knocking a woman Rutherford worked for in the head. Unfortunately, none of these three men took Rutherford seriously enough to report his plans to the authorities. Rutherford was executed on October 18, 2006, at the age of 57, in Starke, Bradford County, Florida, USA. His execution was carried out using lethal injection.
1954 – Colin Ireland – A British serial killer who murdered 5 homosexual men in 3 months, it is believed that he was a very organized serial killer with kill kits and a specific process that he followed with each victim. World-renowned criminologist David Wilson has stated he believed that Ireland was a psychopath.
1963 – Phung Vuong – A Vietnamese murderer who was listed on the FBI’s Top Ten Most Wanted list.
1967 – Juan Carlos Chavez – was a man who was convicted of a heinous crime. He arrived in South Florida on a raft from Cuba with two others in 1991 and was working as a farmhand at the time of the crime. Little is known about his background or family, who remained in Cuba. On September 11, 1995, Chavez abducted, raped, and killed a child named Jimmy Ryce in Redland, Florida, United States. According to his confession, Chavez blocked Ryce’s path with his pickup truck and forced him at gunpoint into the truck. Chavez took Ryce to his trailer on a nearby ranch where he raped him. About four hours later, when he heard a helicopter hovering above, Ryce ran to the door and tried to open it only to be shot in the back by Chavez, who held the child until he took his last breath. Then, Chavez decapitated and dismembered him. The child’s decapitated and dismembered body was found three months later near Chavez’s trailer. Chavez was convicted of capital sexual battery, kidnapping, and first-degree murder. In the fall of 1998, Chavez was sentenced to death. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed his conviction and sentence on November 21, 2002. After a series of appeals and motions, Chavez was executed on Wednesday, February 12, 2014, at Florida State Prison in Raiford.
1975 – Alvin Avon Braziel Jr – was a convicted murderer who was executed for his crimes. He was born in 1975 and was 43 years old at the time of his execution. On September 21, 1993, when Braziel was 18 years old, he committed a heinous crime that would eventually land him on death row. Newlyweds Lora and Douglas White were taking a walk around Eastfield College in Mesquite, Texas when Braziel attempted to rob them. When the couple couldn’t provide any money, Braziel became angry and ordered them to the ground. He fatally shot 27-year-old Douglas and raped 23-year-old Lora at gunpoint in nearby bushes. The crime remained unsolved until 2001. By that time, Braziel was serving a five-year sentence for a 1996 conviction of sexual assault against a 15-year-old. In February 2001, blood samples from Braziel were tested against samples taken from Lora’s rape kit from the night her husband was killed. The two samples were a match, and Lora also identified Braziel in a photo lineup. Braziel was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death on July 26, 2001, in a Dallas district court. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the lower court’s decision in October 2003 and again upheld the decision in 2009, when it denied Braziel’s application for a writ of habeas corpus. Despite his attorneys’ last-minute pleas to halt the execution hours before he was scheduled to die, Texas executed Braziel on December 11, 2018. His lawyers claimed prosecutorial misconduct during the 2001 trial, but the original trial court quickly denied the motion to withdraw the execution date. Braziel was pronounced dead at 7:19 p.m., nine minutes after the lethal injection began. He was the 13th and final inmate Texas put to death that year.
1978 – Stephen Akinmurele – also known as “The Cul-De-Sac Killer”, was a British suspected serial killer who was charged with murdering five elderly people between 1995 and 1998. He was born on March 16, 1978, in Nigeria to a Nigerian father and a white British mother. He and his mother moved to the Isle of Man in 1988, before he moved to Blackpool, England to work as a barman. Akinmurele had a history of mental illness and had committed crimes against the elderly from the age of 11. He was drawn to situations in which he would encounter the elderly, with the police asserting he got a “kick” out of killing old people. His victims were all senior citizens, and he was dubbed the “cul-de-sac killer” due to his choice of elderly victims living in quiet suburban streets. His first two known victims were Eric Boardman, 77, and his wife Joan Boardman, 74, who were murdered at their home in Blackpool on October 30, 1998. One of their daughters discovered their bodies. Eric, who had been beaten to death, was found under a wardrobe in the hallway of their home. Joan had been strangled to death and was left on the living room floor. Akinmurele used batteries bound together to make a cosh, which was found beneath Eric’s body. Akinmurele was arrested and charged with their murders on November 1, 1998. In the months following his arrest, he was charged with three further murders. In November 1998 he was charged with the murder of Jemmimah Cargill, 75, who had previously been his landlady. She died in a flat fire in Blackpool in October 1998 before the murder of the Boardmans. In November and December 1998, following a joint investigation between Lancashire and Manx police, he was charged with two murders that had taken place on the Isle of Man. First, he was arrested in connection with the murder of Dorothy Harris, 68, who was killed in February 1996. Harris, who had been partially blind and deaf, was found after a house fire at her home in Ballasalla. The second murder was of Majorie Ashton, 72, who was found strangled in her home, also in Ballasalla, in May 1995. Akinmurele confessed to a number of the murders but committed suicide by hanging himself in Manchester Prison on August 28, 1999, before his trial could take place. Police believe he may have also been responsible for two further killings. The case is notable due to Akinmurele’s long-standing hatred of elderly people.
1978 – Johnny A. Johnson – was a man who was convicted and sentenced to death for a horrific crime committed in 2002. At the age of 24, Johnson, who was staying at a friend’s house in Valley Park, Missouri, lured 6-year-old Cassandra “Casey” Williamson out of the home and led her to an abandoned glass factory. In a sunken pit at the factory, Johnson attempted to sexually assault Casey. When she resisted, he struck her several times with bricks and rocks, causing multiple skull fractures and leading to her death. The crime left scratch marks across Johnson’s chest, evidence of Casey’s struggle. Johnson was found guilty of first-degree murder, armed criminal action, kidnapping, and attempted forcible rape. In 2005, a jury recommended a sentence of death on the murder charge and life without parole on the remaining charges, which the presiding judge accepted. Despite his attorneys’ arguments that Johnson was mentally incompetent and thus ineligible to be put to death due to a diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder, the Supreme Court of Missouri finalized his execution date. Johnson was executed by lethal injection at the age of 45 on August 1, 2023.
1990 – Esteban Santiago-Ruiz – is known for his involvement in a tragic incident at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida on January 6, 2017. Santiago-Ruiz spent most of his early life in Peñuelas, Puerto Rico, and attended high school there. He joined the Puerto Rico National Guard on December 14, 2007, and served in the Iraq War from April 23, 2010, to February 19, 2011, as a combat engineer. Later, he became a resident of Alaska and was a member of the Alaska Army National Guard. On the day of the incident, Santiago-Ruiz flew from Anchorage, Alaska, to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Upon arrival, he retrieved a handgun that he had legally checked before his flight from his luggage. He then loaded the weapon and began indiscriminately firing in the baggage claim area of Terminal 2, killing five people and wounding six others. The shooting lasted 70 to 80 seconds. After running out of ammunition, he lay face down on the floor and waited for law enforcement to arrive on the scene. He was immediately arrested by an officer from the Broward’s Sheriff’s Department. Following the shooting, Santiago-Ruiz was charged with weapons charges, as well as an act of violence at an international airport resulting in serious bodily injury. Approximately one week following the shooting, Santiago-Ruiz told FBI agents that he had attacked on behalf of ISIS. He was later diagnosed with schizophrenia and pleaded guilty to avoid possible execution. On August 17, 2018, Santiago-Ruiz was sentenced to five consecutive life sentences plus 120 years in prison.
1990 – Jacob Tyler Roberts – He was raised by his aunt Tami Roberts after his biological mother, Teresa Anne Roberts, passed away from cancer in February 1993, shortly before his third birthday. Roberts is known as the sole perpetrator of the Clackamas Town Center shooting that occurred on December 11, 2012. On that day, the 22-year-old Roberts ran into the shopping center wearing black clothing and a white expressionless facial mask. He sporadically opened fire using a Stag Arms AR-15 rifle stolen from a friend. He fired a total of 17 shots, killing two people and seriously wounding a third. Many shots were ricochets. Having attempted to reload his weapon and drop three magazines, Roberts entered an employee-only back stairwell that runs behind all stores in the mall and committed suicide after descending one level. He had no connection to any of his victims, and it was believed to be a random act of violence. Before the shooting, Roberts is stated to have stolen a Stag Arms STAG-15 AR-15-style rifle from an acquaintance. Immediately before the shooting, he visited a friend who lived two miles away from the Clackamas Town Center, smoked marijuana with him, and claimed that he was moving to Hawaii. He drove to the mall sometime later and parked at the south side between Macy’s and Chipotle Mexican Grill. He ran into the mall through Macy’s department store, wearing a white expressionless facial mask and dressed in a black sweater and black pants. He was armed with the AR-15. He was also carrying five loaded magazines, one of which he accidentally dropped in the parking lot while entering the mall. Roberts legally bought four additional 30-round ammunition magazines and the ammunition to fill them at three local stores, including a Walmart, The Gunbroker, and Wholesale Sports Outdoor Outfitters. When he stole the unsecured AR-15 from a friend, it was loaded with a 30-round ammunition magazine. Between 8,000 and 10,000 people were inside the mall at the time. People who first saw him run into the mall believed the tactical clothing and hockey mask was a paintball outfit and that the rifle was a toy. Standing in a large atrium, Roberts first opened fire at the mall’s food court that was across from him at his left. The first person shot was 54-year-old shopper Cindy Ann Yuille, a hospice nurse and mother of two who was shot in the back; she died despite efforts of bystanders to treat her wound. Fifteen-year-old Kristina Shevchenko, who was walking through the mall with her friend to reach the Town Center MAX station, was the second person to be shot; she received a bullet to the chest, but she survived and made it out of the mall, where she was treated for her gunshot wound. Roberts passed away on the same day, December 11, 2012.
Deaths
Ralph Fults
1773 – Lewis Hutchinson – born in 1733 in Scotland, was a Scottish immigrant to Jamaica and is known as the first recorded serial killer in Jamaica’s history. He is also referred to as the Mad Master and Mad Doctor of Edinburgh Castle. It is believed that he studied medicine in Scotland before moving to Jamaica in the 1760s. In Jamaica, he headed an estate called Edinburgh Castle. He legally obtained the house, which is now a ruin, and maintained his group of cattle through the theft of strays from neighbors. Shortly after Hutchinson arrived in Jamaica, travelers began to disappear, and suspicion started to mount. For many miles, Edinburgh Castle was the only populated location on the way from Saint Ann’s Bay. Travelers would rest at the castle, not knowing that they would become the target of Hutchinson’s rifle. Hutchinson murdered for pure sport, what may be described as a thrill killing, as passers-by from all races, shapes, sizes, and incomes were fair game. He would shoot lone travelers and was said to feed on the flow of his victims’ blood as well as dismember them. The remains were then tossed in a cotton tree or a sinkhole for animals to feast on. That sinkhole became known as Hutchinson’s Hole. At the height of his villainy, he would invite guests to his castle to be entertained before killing them. Hutchinson’s reputation for debauchery made him notable as many would avoid him out of fear. His slaves’ tales of terrible treatment and the gruesome details of the murders made him legendary. This is why he was allowed to roam free for a time until he shot an English soldier by the name of John Calendar, who attempted to apprehend Hutchinson. After Hutchinson shot Calendar, he bolted south to Old Harbour and boarded a ship. However, he was caught before he could escape. Shortly after being caught, he was tried and found guilty. In 1773, he was hanged in Spanish Town Square. Although the final toll is unknown, upon searching his home after his arrest, approximately 43 watches and a large amount of clothing were found. The records of his trial stand in the National Archives and the Jamaican Archives.
1926 – William Henry Thorpe – born in 1880, was a one-legged watchman known for his tragic life story. He served as a laborer and watchman at a building site in Breightmet, Bolton. Thorpe had lost the lower part of his left leg during the war, which left him with a distinctive sound when he walked, especially noticeable on staircases. Thorpe’s life took a dark turn when he learned that Frances Clarke, the only woman he had ever truly loved, had recently married. Devastated by the news, Thorpe wrote her a heartfelt letter, hoping to persuade her to leave her husband. However, his efforts were in vain. On the evening of November 19, 1925, a few days after learning about Frances’ marriage, Thorpe drowned his sorrows in alcohol. In the early hours of the following morning, he waited outside Frances’ mother’s house, where the newlyweds were staying. After Frances’ husband left for work, Thorpe entered the house and committed a heinous act – he cut Frances’ throat as she lay in bed. Frances’ mother, recognizing the sound of Thorpe’s wooden leg on the staircase, alerted the authorities. Thorpe was arrested at his home just as he was about to take his own life with the same razor he had used on Frances. Thorpe was sentenced to death by Mr. Justice Wright at Manchester Assizes on February 24th for the murder of Frances Clarke. He was executed by hanging in Manchester on March 16, 1926. His story serves as a grim reminder of the destructive power of unrequited love and despair.
1984 – James W. Hutchins – born on March 26, 1929, in Rutherford County, North Carolina, was an American serial killer who killed four people in two different states. His father was an alcoholic who physically abused his mother and chased her with a gun. Hutchins was widely feared in Rutherford County as a violent and dangerous man with a short fuse, who would attack others for a minor or no reason. At the time of his arrest in 1979, Hutchins was married and had three children. He was unemployed at the time of the murders but had previously worked in various occupations, including as a textile worker and a carpenter. Hutchins served in the US Air Force during the Korean War and was trained as a rifleman. In April 1954, Hutchins was arrested after fatally shooting Bruce Weibel, a 32-year-old truck driver from Texas. Hutchins, who had been hitchhiking while he was AWOL, killed Weibel after the driver picked him up in New Mexico. He then wrapped the body in a blanket and hid it under a bridge, then drove the truck before being arrested in Oklahoma. During the investigation, Hutchins was questioned in the death of an unidentified woman in Colorado. He admitted to killing Weibel, claiming self-defense, but denied killing the woman. In 1979, Hutchins was convicted of the murders of three law enforcement officers in North Carolina. He was sentenced to death and executed on March 16, 1984, by the state of North Carolina at Central Prison in Raleigh, North Carolina by lethal injection. Hutchins became the first person to be executed in North Carolina since 1977 when capital punishment was reinstated. The murders inspired a motion picture and prompted statewide changes in law enforcement protocol for the interagency reporting of officer murders and radio cross-communication between local agencies and the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.
1993 – Ralph Fults – was a Depression-era outlaw and escape artist associated with Raymond Hamilton, Bonnie Parker, and Clyde Barrow of the Barrow Gang. He was born in Anna, Texas, and his father was a U.S. postal worker. Fults was first arrested at age 14, in Aspermont, Texas, after police found him carrying a suitcase full of stolen goods. He escaped from the town’s jail a week later after making a key from an old tobacco can. Fults was incarcerated in the Gatesville State School, from which he escaped on April 16, 1927. In 1929, he was arrested and convicted of burglary after selling stolen cigarettes to a grocer in Greenville, Texas. Given a two-year prison sentence, Fults arrived at Huntsville Prison on June 16. He was eventually transferred to Eastham prison farm, from which he escaped with two other inmates on April 8, 1930. Fults met Clyde Barrow in the back of a “one-way wagon”, the name given to prison buses in Texas under Bud Russell. They were being transported to Eastham Prison Farm in Huntsville, Texas. While incarcerated, the two inmates began to plan a raid on the farm when they got out, where they would release as many fellow inmates as possible. During his time in prison, Fults became acquainted with many criminals and outlaws of the “public enemy era”. He helped smuggle hacksaw blades to bank robber Ray Hamilton to escape from jail in McKinney, Texas on January 27, 1932. Fults joined up with Hamilton on March 22 and, along with Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, attempted to rob a hardware store in Mabank, Texas. After the night watchmen sounded the alarm, the four fled in a stolen car until Barrow drove into a mud hole, which bogged the car down. Although Barrow and Hamilton were able to escape on foot, Fults and Parker were arrested by arriving police. Fults was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment on May 11, 1932. He was granted a pardon by Governor Miriam A. Ferguson shortly before she left office, on January 10, 1935. After his release, Fults rejoined Hamilton and the pair stole eight Thompson submachine guns from a National Guard armory in Beaumont, Texas. After stealing a car in Tulsa, Oklahoma on February 24, he and Hamilton headed for Texas after managing to evade a police ambush while passing through McKinney. In his later years, Fults was often visited by prison chaplains who encouraged him and gave him hope. He was given a New Testament and was moved by the passage John 3:15: “That whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but shall have eternal life.” In 1944, after 10 years in prison, he was given a conditional pardon. He worked in a shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and saved his money. Ralph met a young waitress named Ruth and eventually shared his story with her. She believed that he had truly become a changed man, and they married in 1947 and returned to McKinney. Ralph found it hard to socialize in McKinney. Ruth, a devout Baptist, continually encouraged him to go to church with her and the children. There are no records of him committing any crimes after his release from prison. It seems that he truly became a changed man.
1996 – Thomas Lee Ward -was an American criminal who was tried, convicted, and executed by lethal injection in Louisiana for the murder of his stepfather-in-law, Wilbert John Spencer. On the night of June 22, 1983, Ward arrived by bus in New Orleans, Louisiana from California, where he had just been released from jail after serving 60 days for molesting his 10-year-old daughter. He went to the residence of Lydia and John Spencer, the mother and stepfather of his estranged wife, Linda. Ward was allowed into the house to visit his children. Ward returned to the house at approximately 5:30 a.m. the next morning, asking to see his children one last time. He then went into the bedroom of his wife’s mother and stepfather, pulled out a gun, pointed it at Wilbert John Spencer, and said “I am sorry, John, I have to kill you.” He then shot Spencer once at close range. As Lydia Spencer reached for her husband, Ward shot her in the stomach. When she turned around, he shot her in the back. She then ran for the door, trying to get out of the house. Ward followed her, striking her with three more shots. Ward was indicted by the Orleans Parish Grand Jury with first-degree murder. On August 15, 1984, the jury at Ward’s trial found him guilty as charged. After a sentencing hearing, in which Ward testified, the jury unanimously recommended a sentence of death. Ward was executed by lethal injection at the Louisiana State Penitentiary on March 16, 1996, at the age of 59. He declined to make a final statement but dictated to his attorney: “I am leaving the world at peace with myself and with the Almighty. I feel remorse for the things that I did. I hope that young people today will learn that violence is not an answer. I hope the legal system learns that lesson, too. The death penalty is not a solution.”
2000 – Lonnie Weeks – was an American criminal who was convicted and executed for the murder of Virginia State Trooper Jose Cavazos. Weeks grew up in Southeast Washington D.C. His father died when he was 10 years old, and his mother became addicted to drugs and began to steal. When Weeks was 14 years old, his mother abandoned her children, leaving them with their grandmother in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Despite growing up in an area notorious for crime and drugs, Weeks managed to stay out of trouble and was a well-behaved student. He was an active and enthusiastic member of his church, held a part-time job, and was captain of his high school basketball team. On February 23, 1993, Weeks shot and killed Virginia State Trooper Jose Cavazos during a traffic stop. Weeks was a passenger in a vehicle driven by his uncle, Lewis Dukes. Trooper Cavazos had pulled over the vehicle for speeding. Weeks, carrying a Glock 9 mm handgun loaded with armor-piercing ammunition, fired at least six bullets at Trooper Cavazos, two of which entered his body beside the right and left shoulder straps of the protective vest he was wearing. Both Weeks and Dukes were captured within an hour of the crime. Weeks was indicted for first-degree murder and was found guilty in October 1993. After a sentencing hearing, in which Weeks testified, the jury unanimously recommended a sentence of death. He was executed by lethal injection in Virginia on March 16, 2000.
2005 – Mohammed Bijeh – was an Iranian serial killer. He was convicted of raping and killing 54 young boys between June 2002 and September 2004 and was sentenced to 100 lashes followed by execution. All the boys were between 8 and 15 years old. The murder of children around Tehran was recognized as the largest criminal case in Iran for the last 71 years and strongly influenced public opinion in the country. Bijeh was born into a crowded family; he had six brothers and six half-brothers. When he was four years old, his mother died of cancer. His father was a merchant who married immediately after the death of Bijeh’s mother. Bijeh couldn’t remember his mother and said that his father was a barbaric person who beat him and chained his legs during childhood. His father forced him to abandon school and work. He was 11 when he moved to Khatunabad with his family, where he began working at a furnace. Around then, he was raped multiple times. He admitted that he had been raped and wanted to take revenge on the community and that he suffered from his mother’s early death and the lack of affection he suffered in childhood. Bijeh commented on his main motive for the murders: “I suffered cruelly from childhood, and when I compared my life with others, I had to commit such acts.”
2005 – Stanley L. Hall – He was on parole for injuring a young girl whilst trying to shoot a man when he decided to steal 44-year-old Barbara Wood’s car for a drive-by shooting he was planning, once he had the car he threw Wood off a bridge into an icy river 75 feet below, her corpse was found months later
2009 – Marvin “Popcorn” Sutton – was an American Appalachian moonshiner and bootlegger. Born in Maggie Valley, North Carolina, he grew up, lived, and died in the rural areas around Maggie Valley and nearby Cocke County, Tennessee. He was known for his traditional methods of making moonshine and his rebellious attitude. Sutton began his moonshining and bootlegging empire with just one barrel, which eventually grew into a larger operation. He considered moonshine production a legitimate part of his heritage, as he was a Scots-Irish American and descended from a long line of moonshiners. In the 1960s or 1970s, Sutton was given the nickname “Popcorn” after his frustrated attack on a bar’s faulty popcorn vending machine with a pool cue. Throughout his life, Sutton faced several legal charges related to his moonshine production but managed to avoid prison sentences until later in his life. In 1999, he self-published an autobiography and guide to moonshine production called “Me and My Likker,” which also chronicled his incredible journey of moonshine production. He also self-produced a home video featuring his moonshining activities. In 2009, Sutton was sentenced to prison for illegally distilling moonshine and illegal firearm possession. However, he chose to end his life by suicide rather than report to federal prison. After his death, a new company and associated whiskey brand were named after him, carrying forward his legacy.
2010 – Lawrence Raymond Reynolds Jr – An American alcoholic who broke into 67-year-old Loretta Mae Foster’s home to steal money for booze, unluckily Mrs. Foster was there and Reynolds strangled her and left with $40 and a blank check. His actions led him to death row, where he spent a significant portion of his life. In a shocking turn of events, Reynolds attempted suicide by overdosing on prescription pills two days before his scheduled execution. He was found unconscious in his cell and was immediately placed on suicide watch. Despite this incident, his execution was rescheduled and carried out.
2010 – Filip Kapisoda – was a Montenegrin model and former handball player. He was one of the contestants of the Serbian show, Veliki Brat VIP All Stars (Big Brother VIP All Stars) in which he reached the finals in third place. Because of his attractive looks, Kapisoda received an offer from the designer Rocco Barocco, but he rejected it to create a career in Montenegro. As a participant in multiple fashion shows, Kapisoda won many awards. He received recognition as the best model of Belgrade Fashion Week 2006. On 16 March 2010, the bodies of Kapisoda and his girlfriend, the 32-year-old singer Ksenija Pajčin, were found in her apartment in Belgrade. Both had gunshot wounds to the head. Police suspect a murder-suicide, with Kapisoda as the shooter. Police were called to the house several nights earlier as the couple were reported by neighbors because Kapisoda had broken into Pajčin’s apartment, knocking down the door. Early investigation reports stated that the dead bodies were discovered by the singer’s mother and that the gun used in the homicide was found next to Kapisoda’s body. It is believed that the motive for the murder-suicide was jealousy. He was buried on 19 March 2010 in Cetinje, the day before Pajčin’s funeral. His funeral was attended by his brother, the handball player Petar Kapisoda, and his friend, the singer Goga Sekulić.
Events
Billie Holiday
1948 – Billie Holiday is released for good behavior
1977 – Timothy King became the 4th & final victim of the “Oakland County Child Killer”
1994 – Tonya Harding pleads guilty
2016 – US College student Otto Warmbier is sentenced to 15 years of hard labor for trying to steal a political poster in Pyongyang, North Korea
2021 – A gunman shoots and kills 8 people at 3 different spas in Atlanta, Georgia