Births

Irene Schroeder

1909 – Irene Schroeder – was an American criminal who became the first woman to be electrocuted in Pennsylvania and the fourth woman to be executed by electrocution in the United States. She was given several nicknames by the press, including “Trigger Woman,” “Iron Irene,” “Irene of the six-shooters,” “animal woman”, “the blonde tiger,” “the blonde bandit,” and “Tiger Girl.”  Schroeder (née Crawford) was born in 1909 in Benwood, West Virginia. At the age of 15, she married Homer Shrader, and they had a son, Donnie, a year later. She soon left Homer and became a waitress in Wheeling, West Virginia. There, she met Walter Glenn Dague, who became her lover.  On December 27, 1929, she and Dague as well as her older brother, Tom Crawford, were involved in a grocery store robbery in Butler, Pennsylvania. While escaping the scene of the crime, they were stopped by two police officers, Brady Paul and Ernest Moore. A shootout ensued. Paul was fatally shot, and Moore was wounded. Schroeder, Crawford, and Dague all escaped and went into hiding, leaving Irene’s four-year-old son, who had been in the car at the time, with a family member. Irene changed the spelling of her name to Schroeder to muddy the trail that the police were following.  After a long manhunt, Dague and Schroeder were both apprehended after a shootout in Arizona. They were tried in Pennsylvania and sentenced to death by electrocution. Schroeder was the first female to be executed in such a way in Pennsylvania. Schroeder was electrocuted on February 23, 1931, at 7:05 a.m. Her executioner remarked that she seemed particularly “composed and fearless.” Her parting words to her six-year-old son, Donnie were “I am going to die, my boy, but I am not afraid. Be a good boy and don’t be afraid.” Donnie was heard to remark, “I’ll bet my mom would make an awful nice angel.” Dague was executed the same day.

1933 – Bogdan Arnold – was a notorious serial killer from Poland. His reign of terror spanned from October 1966 to May 1967 in Katowice, during which he took the lives of four women. He concealed their remains within his residence. Arnold confessed to an additional attempted murder and revealed that he subjected his victims to torture.

1933 – Blanche Kiser Taylor Moore – is an American convicted murderer and potential serial killer hailing from Alamance County, North Carolina. She is currently awaiting execution in North Carolina for the fatal poisoning of her boyfriend in 1986.  Moore was born in Concord, North Carolina to Parker Davis Kiser, a millworker and ordained Baptist minister, and Flonnie Blanche Kiser. Her father was a womanizer and alcoholic who, she later claimed, forced her into prostitution to pay his gambling debts. He died, reportedly of a heart attack, in 1966. As a youth, Moore was known to switch from quoting scripture to sexually explicit topics in the same breath.  On May 29, 1952, Moore married James Napoleon Taylor, a veteran and furniture restorer. They had two children, one in 1953 and another in 1959. In 1954, she began working as a cashier at a grocery store. By 1959, she had been promoted to head cashier. In 1962, Moore began an affair with Raymond Reid, the store manager. Taylor died on October 2, 1973; as with her father seven years earlier, the cause of death was reported as a heart attack.  After her husband’s death, Moore and Reid began dating publicly. By 1985, however, the relationship had soured. There are indications that she began to date Robert J. Hutton, the store’s regional manager for the Piedmont Triad area; however, that relationship ended, and she filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Hutton and the store in October 1985. Hutton was forced to resign, and the store settled the case out of court two years later for $275,000. In 1985, Moore also accused an unknown “pervert” of starting two fires that damaged her mobile home.  On Easter Sunday, Moore met the Rev. Dwight Moore, the divorced pastor of the Carolina United Church of Christ in rural Alamance County. The two began meeting for meals. While she was dating Dwight, she asked him to procure some arsenic-based ant killer. In 1986, Reid developed what initially was diagnosed as a case of shingles. He was hospitalized in April and died on October 7, and Moore and Dwight began seeing each other publicly. Doctors indicated the cause of death was Guillain–Barré syndrome.  Moore is also suspected of the death of her father, mother-in-law, and first husband and the attempted murder of her second husband in 1989.

1949 – Julius Ricardo Young – was a convicted criminal who was executed in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. He was pronounced dead on January 14, 2010, at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. Young was convicted for the murders of Joyland Morgan and Kewan Morgan in Tulsa. His execution was carried out by lethal injection, a common method used in the state of Oklahoma. Young was 60 years old at the time of his execution.

1952 – George Zinkhan III – was an American academic and poet. He was a professor of marketing at the University of Georgia from 1994 until April 26, 2009. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and received his Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Swarthmore College in 1974. He earned a Master’s in Business Administration with high distinction from the University of Michigan in 1979 and his doctorate in business administration, also from the University of Michigan, in 1981.  Zinkhan was the Conn Professor of Marketing for thirteen years at the University of Houston beginning in 1981. For one year he also was an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh in 1987. He began as a professor at the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business in 1994 and served as department head for Terry’s Department of Marketing and Distribution from 1994 until 2001. He held an endowed chair as the department’s Coca-Cola Company Professor from 1994 to 2009.  Zinkhan published over 100 articles in peer-reviewed academic journals, as well as numerous chapters in edited books. He was the editor of the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science from 2003 to 2006 and of the Journal of Advertising from 1991 to 1995, as well as the book review editor of the Journal of Marketing from 1991 to 1995. In addition, he edited or co-edited several books.  However, Zinkhan’s life took a tragic turn when he was named as the prime suspect in a triple homicide. Authorities announced on May 9, 2009, that they had found and identified Zinkhan’s body, concluding that he had committed suicide.

1959 – Dave Courtney – was an English self-proclaimed gangster who later became an author and an actor. He attended Adamsrill Primary School in Sydenham, South East London. Despite his young age when notorious gangsters such as Reggie Kray and Lenny McLean were imprisoned, Courtney often emphasized his connections with them.  Courtney claimed to have been shot, stabbed, and had his nose bitten off, and stated that he had to kill to stay alive. He also claimed that a car crash on the M20 was an attempt by someone who held a grudge against him to kill him. Courtney often referred to himself as Dave Courtney OBE, the suffix standing for One Big Ego.  His house in Plumstead, called Camelot Castle, was decorated with Union Jack flags and the cross of St George, a painted depiction of himself as a knight and a large knuckle duster, alongside a band of supporting knights that included Lenny McLean, the Kray twins, Joey Pyle, Al Capone, John Gotti, Ronnie Biggs, Freddie Foreman, Roy Shaw, Howard Marks, and Charlie Richardson. Courtney claimed to have been involved in debt-collecting, minding clubs, assault, contraband, and murder. He spent time in Belmarsh Prison as a high-security prisoner.  Courtney was an author, having had six books published: Stop the Ride I Want to Get Off, Raving Lunacy, Dodgy Dave’s Little Black Book, The Ride’s Back On, F**k the Ride, and Heroes & Villains. Courtney starred in and produced his own film, Hell to Pay (2005), and took on the leading role of Mad Dave in the low-budget British film Triads, Yardies and Onion Bhajees (2003).  On October 22, 2023, Courtney was found dead at his home in Chestnut Rise, Plumstead, having shot himself. He was 64.

1973 – Jason Todd Ready – a controversial figure, faced a turbulent journey marked by military discipline, failed political endeavors, and extremist ideologies. Discharged from the Marines in 1996 for bad conduct after two court-martials, Ready, known for his unsuccessful political campaigns, vehemently advocated for border security, often proposing extreme measures like landmines. His anti-Semitic and anti-nonwhite views were alarming.  In June 2010, Ready led the U.S. Border Guard, an armed extremist group, on a mission in the Arizona desert to apprehend immigrants and drug smugglers. This event heightened tensions surrounding his extremist activities. Tragically, in May 2012, Ready took his own life in Gilbert, Arizona, following a domestic dispute that claimed the lives of four others.  Ready’s legal troubles began in 1992 with an arrest for property damage and aggravated assault. He accepted a plea bargain, resulting in an assault conviction related to an incident where a friend destroyed a car mirror with a baseball bat. In the Marines, he faced two court-martials in 1996, leading to demotion, jail time, and eventual discharge for bad conduct. In 2007, an arrest for a fake license plate revealed Ready carrying a 9mm handgun, leading to charges of possessing an illegal traffic preemption emitter.  Jason Todd Ready’s life was marked by a series of contentious events, leaving behind a legacy of controversy and tragedy.

1977 – Brandon Wade Hein – was involved in a tragic event that led to his life sentence without the possibility of parole. This sentence was given due to his involvement in the 1995 stabbing murder of 16-year-old Jimmy Farris, the son of a Los Angeles Police Department officer. Hein, along with two other youths who were present during the murder, as well as the actual killer, were convicted under the felony murder rule. This rule states that any participant in a felony is criminally responsible for any death that occurs during its commission. The felony in question was the attempted robbery of marijuana kept for sale by Farris’s friend, Michael McLoren.  In 2009, Hein’s life sentence was commuted to 29 years to life. A documentary film called “Reckless Indifference” was made about the murder, trial, and resulting prison sentences. Hein was the only defendant interviewed in the film and has received the bulk of media attention. His conviction has courted much controversy, as some feel that the life sentence was overly harsh and politically motivated, while others feel that his involvement justified the sentence.  On May 2, 2017, a book chronicling the Farris case, “One Cut” by Eve Porinchak, was released by Simon & Schuster. In October 2019, Hein was granted parole. He was expected to be released from prison by the summer of 2020.

1978 – Jacob Wetterling – He was an American boy from St. Joseph, Minnesota, who lived a beautiful childhood before his life was tragically cut short. Jacob, his younger brother Trevor, and their friend Aaron were known to enjoy the great outdoors and ride their bikes like most kids of their generation.  On October 22, 1989, at the age of 11, Jacob was kidnapped from his hometown and murdered. The boys had ridden their bikes to a local video store in St. Joseph, Minnesota, and were returning home when a masked man emerged from a driveway and ordered them to abandon their bikes in a ditch and lie face down on the asphalt. Jacob’s brother and friend were ordered to run away, and Jacob was taken by the man. This was the last time Jacob was seen alive by anyone other than his captor.  Jacob’s abduction remained a mystery for nearly 27 years. On September 1, 2016, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension recovered human bones from a pasture near Paynesville, about 30 miles from the site of the abduction. On September 3, Jacob’s family announced that the bones were those of Jacob, confirmed by dental records.  The location was revealed by Danny Heinrich, a long-time person of interest in the abduction of another boy, 12-year-old Jared Scheierl, in the nearby town of Cold Spring. On September 6, 2016, Heinrich confessed to kidnapping and murdering Jacob, as well as abducting and sexually assaulting Scheierl.  Jacob’s tragic story has had a profound impact, leading to significant changes in child protection and sex offender registration laws. His life and the mystery surrounding his disappearance have been the subject of numerous media reports and documentaries, keeping his memory alive and serving as a reminder of the importance of child safety.

1988 – Natascha Kampusch – is an Austrian author and former talk show host. At the tender age of 10, on 2nd March 1998, she was abducted and held captive in a secret cellar by Wolfgang Přiklopil for more than eight years, until she managed to escape on 23rd August 2006. During her captivity, she was frequently subjected to physical violence from her captor who sometimes beat her up to 200 times a week.  Despite the horrifying circumstances, Kampusch found ways to survive. She recalls regressing psychologically to preserve the illusion of normality. Her captor would even read her bedtime stories and bring her gifts and snacks. She eventually gained her captor’s trust to the extent that he would take her out in public. Once, he even brought her skiing. But she never stopped looking for her chance to escape. When she was 18, the opportunity arrived — and Natascha Kampusch jumped at the chance.  After her escape, Přiklopil killed himself. Kampusch was awarded ownership of her tormentor’s home as compensation for what she went through, but she did not live there. She has written a book about her ordeal, “3,096 Days”, which was later adapted into a film released in 2013. She also briefly hosted a talk show called “Natascha Kampusch Trifft” and became the Austrian spokesperson for the PETA animal rights organization. Despite the traumatic experiences, she has shown remarkable resilience and strength.

Deaths

Frank G. Spisak

1874 – Franklin B. Evans – known as The Northwood Murderer, was a 19th-century American murderer and suspected serial killer. He was born in 1807 in Strafford, New Hampshire. Throughout his adult life, he lived in several New Hampshire towns including Manchester, Concord, Allenstown, Derry, and Candia. He was married three times and fostered two children.  Evans led an itinerant lifestyle and traveled around the state. He presented himself as a botanist, magician, and even a Millerite preacher, traveling extensively around New England and even farther north into Canada. However, he was quickly exposed as a fraud wherever he went.  He was convicted for the brutal murder of his niece Georgianna Lovering in Northwood, New Hampshire, in 1872, and later confessed to another similar murder in the town of Derry, committed in 1850. He was suspected in at least three other child murders in Maine and Massachusetts but denied responsibility for them. He was executed at the New Hampshire State Prison for Men in 1874.

1907 – Selina Rushbrook – was a Welsh petty criminal, prostitute, and brothel keeper from Swansea, Wales. She was born as Selina Ann Jenkins to parents Francis James Jenkins and Catherine Jenkins. After her father’s death when she was four years old, she was raised by her mother.  In 1887, her mother remarried a mason named John Collins and had two more children. By early 1899, Selina had moved out of her family home and into Vaughan’s lodging house on The Strand, Swansea. She first came to the attention of the authorities in February 1899, when she was arrested for riotous behavior. Given the choice of seven days’ hard labor in Swansea Prison or a fine, she opted for the custodial sentence. This was the first of her many spells in prison. The prison records describe her as being 5 feet 2½ inches tall, with brown hair, an imperfect education, and an occupation of prostitute.  In 1901, she married shoemaker Ebenezer Rushbrook and continued to work as a prostitute and thief. The couple moved to Bridgend, and although both Selina and Ebenezer Rushbrook were convicted of theft in 1902, she appears not to have come to the attention of the authorities for the three years following that incident. In late 1905 or early 1906, the Rushbrooks separated, and Selina returned to Swansea to work as a prostitute.  In February 1907, while leading prospective client Ernest Witts towards a secluded area of Swansea Docks, she fell from a footbridge into the lock. Although Witts attempted to grab her, he failed to reach her and was left holding her shawl. He made no further effort to save her as he was unable to swim and instead went to fetch help. Roughly three hours later, police recovered her body from the lock.  Her life was examined by local historian Elizabeth Belcham in her book “Swansea’s ‘Bad Girls’: Crime and Prostitution 1870s–1914”.

1997 – Zein al-Abdeen Hassan Isa – was born on June 3, 1931. He was the third son of a farmer and while a teenager, he married a woman named Foiziya, his double first cousin. In the 1950s, Zein left Palestine, emigrating with members of neighboring families.  He was a Palestinian immigrant living in St. Louis, who was responsible for the honor killing of his 16-year-old daughter Palestina (also known as Tina) in 1989. His wife Maria Isa was Brazilian. After learning that Palestina had taken a part-time job without her parents’ permission, and dated an African-American boyfriend, Maria held down Palestina, who was then repeatedly stabbed by Zein.  Zein Isa was a member of the Abu Nidal Organization, which at the time he murdered his daughter was plotting to bomb the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C… A crucial factor in his trial was that the FBI had Zein under surveillance in connection with his suspected militant activities, and had recorded Palestina’s murder on an audio cassette. This was especially important in confirming that Maria was an active participant in the murder and that Zein’s claim of self-defense was unwarranted.  On December 20, 1991, both Zein and Maria Isa were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. On April 1, 1993, Zein Isa was indicted by the FBI in connection with his Abu Nidal Organization activities, but the charges were dropped because he was already on Death Row. Zein Isa succumbed to diabetes on February 17, 1997. Maria’s death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment without parole.

1999 – Charles E. Pierce – born in 1920, was a notorious American criminal. His most infamous act was the murder of 13-year-old Michelle Wilson from Boxford in 1969. Wilson was riding her bicycle home from a friend’s house when Pierce accosted her, dragged her into his van, and strangled her. After her death, he committed necrophilia and then took her body to some woods, where he bit her, beat her, kicked her in the head, put a 98-pound rock on her head, and covered her with leaves.  In June 1980, Pierce was sentenced to life in prison. He died in prison on February 17, 1999. During his time in prison, he was suspected of several other child murders. Despite his heinous crimes, Pierce’s case provides a chilling glimpse into the psyche of a violent criminal.

2004 – Cameron Todd Willingham – born on January 9, 1968, in Ardmore, Oklahoma, was a man who was convicted and executed for the murder of his three young children by arson at the family home in Corsicana, Texas, on December 23, 1991. The victims of the fire were Willingham’s three daughters: two-year-old Amber Louise Kuykendall, and one-year-old twins, Karmen Diane Willingham and Kameron Marie Willingham. Willingham himself escaped the home with only minor burns. Stacy Kuykendall, Willingham’s then-wife and the mother of his three daughters, was not home at the time of the fire as she was out shopping for Christmas presents at a thrift shop.  Prosecutors charged that Willingham set the fire and killed the children in an attempt to cover up the abuse of the children and wife. However, there was no evidence of child abuse. Kuykendall told prosecutors that he had never abused the children. She insisted he would never harm their children, but according to Kuykendall, she herself was abused by him.  After the fire, the police investigation determined that the fire had been started using some form of a liquid accelerant. This evidence included a finding of char patterns in the floor in the shape of “puddles,” a finding of multiple starting points of the fire, and a finding that the fire had burned “fast and hot,” all considered to indicate a fire that had been ignited with the help of a liquid accelerant.  Willingham was executed by lethal injection on February 17, 2004. Since Willingham’s 2004 execution, significant controversy has arisen over the legitimacy of the guilty verdict and the interpretation of the evidence that was used to convict him of arson and murder. The case was complicated by allegations that Texas Governor Rick Perry impeded the investigation by replacing three of the nine Forensic Commission members to change the Commission’s findings; Perry denies the allegations.

2011 – Frank G. Spisak Jr – was an American serial killer who was convicted of three murders and one attempted murder at Cleveland State University. In February 1982, Spisak embarked on a racist, anti-Semitic shooting spree, calling it his first “seek and destroy mission” in which he was attempting to “clean up the city”.  On February 1, 1982, Spisak shot Reverend Horace Rickerson, a 57-year-old black man, seven times. On June 4, he shot John Hardaway, another black man, seven times. On August 9, Spisak shot at Coletta Dartt, a white woman who he claimed had “made some derisive remarks about us,” referring to the Nazi Party. Spisak missed and Dartt managed to escape. On August 27, he shot Timothy Sheehan, a white man who he thought was Jewish, four times. On August 30, he shot Brian Warford, a 17-year-old black youth, once in the head.  Spisak was found guilty of three counts of aggravated murder and was sentenced to death. He was executed by lethal injection on February 17, 2011. During his trial, Spisak testified in his own defense in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas court in July 1983. He was a self-acknowledged disciple of Adolf Hitler and later admitted he went on “hunting parties” to kill blacks in hopes of fomenting a race war in Cleveland.

Events

Jeffrey R MacDonald

1970 – US Army Officer Jeffrey MacDonald murders his pregnant wife and 2 small children, he would later blame the murders on Manson family followers. The case is one of the most litigated murder cases in American history.

1995 – Colin Ferguson is found guilty of killing six people on the Long Island Railroad in New York

1998 – US Naval Academy cadet Diane Zamora, 20, is convicted of capital murder for the killing of Adrienne Jessica Jones

1998 – Larry Wayne Harris & Bill Levitt are arrested for the possession of Anthrax