Births

Yiya Murano

1793 – John White Webster – Webster was an American chemist and professor who lived from 1793 to 1850. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and earned his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University in 1811. Webster then went on to study medicine and chemistry, earning a medical degree from Harvard in 1815. After completing his education, Webster began teaching chemistry and mineralogy at Harvard in 1816. He became the first professor of chemistry at the university in 1827, a position he held until his death. Webster was known for his work in chemical analysis, and his research focused on the analysis of minerals and soils. He was also an accomplished lecturer and writer, and his lectures on chemistry were popular with both students and the general public. In addition to his academic work, Webster was also a respected member of the Boston community. He served as a justice of the peace and was involved in several charitable organizations. However, Webster’s life took a tragic turn in 1850 when he was accused of murdering his colleague, George Parkman. Parkman had disappeared, and Webster was suspected of having killed him and dismembered his body. After a highly publicized trial, Webster was found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging. John White Webster’s legacy is complicated by his involvement in this notorious murder case. Despite this, he is remembered as a pioneer in the field of chemistry and a dedicated educator who contributed significantly to the advancement of science in America.

1912 – Burton Phillips – An American criminal, bank robber, and kidnapper, in 1935 Phillips robbed a bank of $2,090 ($46,046 in 2023) and was sent to Leavenworth, however, he was considered a violent prisoner and was transferred to Alcatraz, there he would brutally attack the 63-year-old governor, James A. Johnston. He was given parole in 1952 at the age of 39 and there is very little information about him until he died in 1999 aged 87.

1930 – Yiya Murano – María de las Mercedes Bernardina Bolla Aponte de Murano, better known as Yiya Murano, was born on May 20, 1930, in Corrientes, Argentina. She is also referred to as “The Poisoner of Monserrat” and is known as an Argentinian serial killer and swindler. Murano was convicted of three murders that took place in February and March of 1979. The victims were Nilda Gamba, a neighbor of Murano’s, Leila Chicha Formisano de Ayala, a friend of Murano’s, and Carmen Zulema del Giorgio de Venturini, Murano’s cousin. All three victims showed signs of cyanide poisoning. Murano owed money to the first two victims, and a promissory note worth 20 million Argentine peso ley was missing from her cousin’s belongings. She was arrested on April 27, 1979, at her home. In 1985, she was convicted and sentenced to 16 years in prison. After serving her sentence, she was sent to an elderly care facility due to her advanced age. Murano passed away on April 26, 2014.

1957 – John Douglas White – White is a convicted murderer who gained notoriety for his heinous crimes. He was born and raised in a small town in Michigan, where he lived a relatively unremarkable life until his criminal activities began. White had a history of domestic violence, which culminated in the murder of his girlfriend’s daughter, 24-year-old Rebekah Gay. In 2012, White was staying at the home of his girlfriend, Gay’s mother, when he attacked and strangled Gay to death. He then mutilated her body and attempted to cover up the crime. After being arrested and charged with murder, White initially denied any involvement in the crime. However, he eventually confessed to the murder and was found guilty by a jury. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Today, White remains in prison, serving his sentence. He has shown no signs of remorse for his actions and has not made any public statements about the crime or its aftermath.

1971 – David Kevin Hocker – was a man known for his involvement in a tragic crime. Born on May 20, 1971, Hocker’s life took a dark turn on March 21, 1998. Living in a motel in Houston County, Alabama, USA, without a car, he asked his boss, Jerry Wayne Robinson, to drive him to run an errand. During this errand, Hocker stabbed and beat Robinson to death. After the murder, Hocker dumped Robinson’s body in a wooded area in Headland. He then used Robinson’s bank card to withdraw cash, which he used to purchase $400 worth of crack cocaine. Following this, Hocker turned himself in at the Mobile County Sheriff’s Department. Hocker’s trial was swift, and he waived his right to further appeals. His capital murder conviction appeal was rejected in April 2002 by the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. Hocker was executed on September 30, 2004.

Deaths

Edward Earl Johnson

1820 – Karl Ludwig Sand – Sand was a German university student who gained notoriety for his assassination of August von Kotzebue, a prominent German playwright, and politician. Sand was born in 1795 in Wonsiedel, Bavaria, and grew up in a family of modest means. Sand was a student at the University of Jena when he became involved in a student group that was opposed to what they saw as the conservative and oppressive policies of the German government. Sand was particularly incensed by Kotzebue, who he believed was an agent of the Russian government and a threat to German freedom. In 1819, Sand decided to take matters into his own hands and assassinated Kotzebue in his home in Mannheim. Sand was quickly apprehended and brought to trial. He was found guilty of murder and sentenced to be executed by beheading. Sand’s assassination of Kotzebue was a significant event in German history and was used by conservative forces to justify greater restrictions on freedom of speech and political activism. However, it also inspired a new generation of German revolutionaries who sought to overthrow the established order and create a more democratic and free society. Today, Sand is remembered as a symbol of German resistance to tyranny and oppression. His life and actions continue to be studied and debated by historians and scholars, and his legacy remains a topic of discussion in Germany and beyond.

1987 – Edward Earl Johnson – Johnson was an American man who gained national attention for his wrongful conviction and execution in 1987. Johnson was born in 1954 in Mississippi and grew up in a troubled home environment. In 1979, Johnson was arrested and charged with the murder of a convenience store clerk in Mississippi. Despite evidence that suggested he was innocent, Johnson was found guilty and sentenced to death. During his time on death row, Johnson maintained his innocence and became a vocal advocate for abolishing the death penalty. He also gained a reputation as a model prisoner, with many corrections officers and fellow inmates speaking highly of him. Despite the efforts of Johnson’s legal team and supporters to have his case reviewed, he was executed by lethal injection on May 20, 1987. His case drew significant national attention and renewed public debate about the death penalty and the possibility of wrongful convictions. In the years following Johnson’s execution, evidence emerged that strongly suggested his innocence, including the recantation of a key witness and the discovery of DNA evidence that did not match Johnson’s. His case has been widely cited as an example of the flaws in the American criminal justice system and the potential for wrongful convictions.

1992 – Roger Keith Coleman – was born on November 1, 1958, and executed on May 20, 1992. He was a convicted murderer and rapist from Grundy, Virginia, US. His execution was for the rape and murder of his sister-in-law, Wanda McCoy, which occurred in March 1981. Coleman’s case drew significant attention both nationally and globally before and after his execution due to his consistent claims of innocence. His appeals were backed by the anti-death penalty movement. After his death, his case became the second in the nation where DNA evidence of an executed man was analyzed. In January 2006, Virginia Governor Mark Warner announced that DNA evidence testing had conclusively proven Coleman’s guilt in the crime. Earlier in his life, on April 7, 1977, Coleman was convicted of attempted rape and sentenced to three years in prison. In January 1981, Coleman allegedly exposed himself and masturbated in front of two women at a public library.

1992 – Jesus Romero Jr – was born on February 3, 1965, in San Benito, Cameron County, Texas. He was convicted for his part in the rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl, Olga Perales, near San Benito. The crime took place on December 13, 1984. Romero and three co-defendants drove Perales to a remote location west of State Highway 2520 where she was raped repeatedly and then beaten around the head with a pipe and stabbed twice in the chest with a knife. Romero was executed by lethal injection on May 20, 1992.

1992 – Brian Schlaepfer – was a 64-year-old man known for a tragic event that took place on May 20, 1992. On this day, he murdered six members of his family on their farm in Paerata, near Pukekohe, Auckland Region, New Zealand, before taking his own life. This incident, often referred to as the Pukekohe massacre, is one of the most high-profile shootings in New Zealand’s history. Schlaepfer’s victims included his wife, Jocelyn Marie Schlaepfer, his sons Darrell Bryan Schlaepfer, Peter Wayne Schlaepfer, and Karl Percival Schlaepfer, his daughter-in-law Hazel Jean Schlaepfer, and his grandson Aaron Schlaepfer. The event began with an argument between Schlaepfer and his wife, which escalated to the point where he stabbed her to death. He then proceeded to shoot his sons and other family members. Schlaepfer’s actions left two girls, Linda Schlaepfer and her sister Kerry, orphaned. The event had a significant impact on the local community and the country’s legislation around gun control.

1997 – Clarence Allen Lackey – was born on August 3, 1954, in El Paso, Texas, USA. His parents were Joseph Edgar Lackey and Anna Bell Adkins. Lackey was convicted in the abduction and murder of Toni Diane Kumpf, 20, in Lubbock. Kumpf was raped and beaten, and her throat was slashed by Lackey, who also burglarized her apartment. This crime occurred in July 1977, five months after Lackey was released from prison on a previous burglary and attempted rape conviction. He was convicted of murder by the Tom Green County Court in Texas and was sentenced to death in 1978. Lackey’s execution came almost twenty years after his conviction. He died on May 20, 1997, in Huntsville, Walker County, Texas, USA.

2006 – Bobby Jack Fowler – was an American criminal whose life was marked by a series of violent crimes. Born in Texas, Fowler’s early years remain shrouded in mystery, with limited available information about his upbringing and family background. Fowler’s criminal history gained notoriety in the late 1960s and 1970s when he became a suspect in multiple unsolved murders. His modus operandi typically involved abducting and assaulting young women, leaving a trail of fear and horror in his wake. Fowler’s criminal activities spanned several states, including Oregon, Texas, and possibly others. In the 1990s, Fowler’s name resurfaced as law enforcement agencies began reexamining cold cases, connecting him to a string of unsolved homicides. Advances in forensic technology and renewed investigative efforts led to the posthumous identification of Fowler as a potential serial killer. One of the most significant breakthroughs came when authorities linked Fowler to the 1995 murder of 16-year-old Nadine Anne Antoniazzi in Oregon. DNA evidence conclusively tied him to the crime, and further investigations suggested his involvement in other unsolved cases. Bobby Jack Fowler’s life came to an end on May 20, 2006, when he died in prison while serving time for an unrelated assault conviction. Despite his death, the investigations into his potential involvement in various unsolved crimes continued, shedding light on the dark and elusive nature of his criminal activities. Fowler’s story serves as a chilling reminder of the complexities surrounding criminal investigations and the ongoing efforts of law enforcement to bring closure to victims’ families. The legacy of his crimes persists in the annals of true crime history, as authorities continue to piece together the puzzle of his dark and disturbing past.

2012 – Abdelbaset al-Megrahi – al-Megrahi was a Libyan intelligence officer and the only person convicted for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people. He was born on April 1, 1952, in Tripoli, Libya. Al-Megrahi was initially indicted for the bombing in November 1991, along with another Libyan intelligence agent, but it wasn’t until April 1999 that he was finally arrested and extradited to Scotland for trial. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2001 but was released on compassionate grounds in 2009 due to his terminal illness. He died in Libya in May 2012. The Lockerbie bombing was one of the deadliest acts of terrorism in history and sparked an international manhunt for those responsible. Despite being the only person convicted for the attack, al-Megrahi’s guilt remained controversial, with some suggesting that he was a scapegoat for a larger political conspiracy.

2012 – Geoffrey Evans – born in 1940 in England and died on 20 May 2012 in Dublin, was an English criminal who committed horrific crimes in Ireland in 1976 with his accomplice John Shaw. They had planned to rape and kill one woman each week. Evans and Shaw were under investigation by the British police for three rapes committed in England in 1974, which led them to flee the United Kingdom and travel to Ireland. They planned a series of murders and rapes, which they funded through house theft. They were arrested in Cork and received a two-year prison sentence for burglary. However, after 18 months, they were released and managed to evade British prosecution for the rape charges in England by failing to return to the U.K. and traveling through Ireland. In August 1976, in Wicklow, they repeatedly raped and then murdered Elizabeth Plunkett, 23. In September of that year, in Castlebar, they beat, raped, and murdered 23-year-old Mary Duffy. On 26 September 1976, both were arrested by the Gardaí and later sentenced to life imprisonment for the two murders. In December 2008, Evans underwent heart surgery, suffered a stroke, and fell into a coma. He remained in hospital care until June 2010 and then was given temporary release when doctors said he was in a vegetative state. In April 2011, he was transferred to Dublin’s St. Mary’s Hospital. He died there on 20 May 2012 at the age of 71 or 72. The cause of death was sepsis caused by pneumonia.

Events

19th Century Taxi

1899 – The first traffic ticket in the US is issued. New York City taxi driver Jacob German was arrested for speeding whilst driving 12 miles per hour on Lexington Street

1981 – Aileen Wuornos is arrested in Florida for the armed robbery of a convenience store

1994 – Actor Bobcat Goldthwait is charged with misdemeanors for a fire on “The Tonight Show”