Births
Ronald Joseph Ryan
1910 – Carmine Galante – was an American Mafioso and the acting boss of the Bonanno crime family of New York City. His parents, Vincenzo Galante and Vincenza Russo, had immigrated from Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, to New York City in 1906. Galante was rarely seen without a cigar hanging from his mouth, leading to the nicknames “The Cigar” and “Lilo” (a Sicilian term for cigar). Galante started showing signs of a criminal mind as early as 10 when he was sent to reform school. Thereafter he formed a street gang on the Lower East Side of New York City. At the age of 15, he dropped out of school and drifted toward criminal activities. During his teenage years, he worked at several places, including an artificial flower shop, a trucking company, and as a fish sorter. These jobs were, however, believed to be just covers. Throughout his life, he was involved in robbery, bootlegging, assault, gambling, extortion, and murder. He was arrested several times but was not indicted in most of the cases. He was also sentenced to several years of imprisonment on different occasions, but in most cases, he was released on parole before serving his imprisonment term. During the 1970s, Galante started asserting his control of the narcotics trade and plotted to eliminate his rivals, which proved to be his end. The other crime families could clearly see his intentions – he wanted to become “the boss of the bosses.” Galante was assassinated on July 12, 1979, while dining in a restaurant.
1925 – Ronald Joseph Ryan – was the last person to be legally executed in Australia. He was the only son of Australian-born parents John Ronald Ryan, an invalid and former miner, and Eveline Cecilia Thompson, née Young, a domestic servant. Ryan’s childhood was dominated by his parents’ alcoholism, poverty, and poor health. He was violently abused by his father and neglected by his mother. Ryan was made a ward of the state at a young age and sent to Rupertswood, Sunbury, the Salesian Order’s school for ‘wayward and neglected’ boys. He did quite well there, captaining the football and cricket teams, joining the choir, and impressing other boys as ‘a natural leader’. However, he absconded from Rupertswood in September 1939 and went to Balranald, New South Wales. In his early twenties, Ryan returned to Melbourne where he was employed as a storeman. On February 4, 1950, he married Dorothy Janet George, a secretary; educated at a private school, she had rebelled against her wealthy parents. In 1953 Ryan was acquitted on a charge of arson. To pay his gambling debts, he uttered a number of forged cheques in 1956 and was placed on a good-behavior bond. He then took a succession of jobs in the country and the city. By 1959 he was virtually a professional criminal, leading a gang that broke into shops and factories. After being apprehended in April 1960, he and three accomplices escaped from the police but were recaptured several days later. On June 17, he pleaded guilty to eight charges of breaking and stealing, and one of escaping from legal custody. He was sentenced to eight and a half years imprisonment. Ryan and another prisoner Peter John Walker escaped from Pentridge gaol on December 19, 1965; during the break-out, he seized a rifle with which he shot dead a prison officer George Henry Hodson. Ryan was found guilty of shooting and killing warder George Hodson during an escape from Pentridge Prison, Victoria, in 1965. Ryan’s hanging was met with public protests by those opposed to capital punishment. He was hanged at 8 a.m. on February 3, 1967, in Pentridge gaol. His last words were to the hangman: “God bless you, please make it quick.”
1946 – Vito Rizzuto – also known as “Montreal’s Teflon Don”, was an Italian-Canadian crime boss alleged to be the leader of the Sicilian Mafia in Canada. He was born on February 21, 1946, in Cattolica Eraclea, Sicily, Italy, and immigrated to Montreal with his parents in 1954. His father, Nicolo, married into the mob and later started his own crime syndicate in Montreal after overtaking the Cotroni crime family in the late 1970s. Rizzuto headed the notorious Rizzuto crime family based in Montreal, Quebec. He had several run-ins with the law but was able to avoid conviction for any major offenses until 2004. In 1981, Rizzuto participated in the killing of three rival capos in New York City ordered by Joe Massino of the Bonanno crime family, and he was indicted by a Brooklyn federal grand jury in connection with these killings in 2004. He was extradited to the United States in 2006 and pled guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and racketeering charges in 2007. He was given a 10-year prison sentence but was released in late 2012. The Rizzuto crime family had been in the midst of a power struggle while Rizzuto was incarcerated; his son Nicolo Jr. was killed in 2009, and his father was killed in 2010. Rizzuto died shortly after on December 23, 2013, due to complications from pneumonia, which may have been induced by lung cancer.
1950 – Elmo Patrick Sonnier – was a convicted American murderer and rapist in Louisiana. He was born on February 21, 1950, in Saint Martinville, Louisiana, U.S. Sonnier was sentenced to death on April 25, 1978, for the November 5, 1977, rape and murder of Loretta Ann Bourque, 18, and the murder of David LeBlanc, 17. His younger brother, Eddie James Sonnier, was sentenced to life in prison. On the night of November 4, 1977, David LeBlanc and his girlfriend Loretta Ann Bourque attended a homecoming football game at Catholic High School in Iberia Parish, Louisiana. After the game, the couple drove to an isolated area in St. Martin Parish. At around 1 a.m., they were approached by Elmo Patrick “Pat” Sonnier and his younger brother Eddie James Sonnier. The brothers, who had been in the area hunting rabbits and were armed with 22-caliber rifles, identified themselves as police officers and presented a badge that one of the brothers had acquired while working as a security guard. The brothers entered LeBlanc’s car, handcuffed the couple, and moved them to the back seat. They then drove the couple to an oilfield in Iberia Parish and parked by the road. They handcuffed LeBlanc to a tree in a nearby wooded area and Elmo raped Bourque. The brothers told her they would release both her and LeBlanc unharmed if she had sex with Eddie James Sonnier. Bourque agreed. Afterward, the brothers took the couple back to the car and removed their handcuffs. However, Elmo Sonnier decided against releasing them, fearing the couple would report the incident and he would be reincarcerated at Angola. The brothers forced the couple to lie face down in a ditch and fatally shot them several times. Sonnier was apprehended on December 5, 1977. He was executed by electrocution at Louisiana State Penitentiary in Louisiana on April 5, 1984. Sister Helen Prejean was asked to write to death row inmates as part of her Order’s community outreach program and wrote to Sonnier. She became his spiritual adviser and eventually wrote Dead Man Walking (1993) about her experience and her belief that the death penalty was morally wrong.
1958 – Stuart James Campbell – a former builder from Maldon, Essex, England, is known for his involvement in a high-profile English murder case where no body was found. Campbell was the uncle of a 15-year-old schoolgirl from East Tilbury, Essex named Danielle Sarah Jones. Jones was last seen alive on 18 June 2001 and despite great efforts, her body was never found. The conviction relied upon forensic authorship analysis of text messages sent on the victim’s mobile phone. Campbell was convicted of abduction and murder on 19 December 2002. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder as well as 10 years for abduction. After the trial, controversy arose when it was revealed Campbell had prior convictions for indecent assault on other girls of similar ages. Despite being incarcerated, Campbell has consistently refused to reveal the location of Danielle’s body, causing ongoing anguish for her family. His refusal to cooperate has also impacted his own circumstances, with the Parole Board denying his release from prison and refusing to recommend a move to an open prison.
1966 – Pete Carl Rogovich – is a notorious figure known for his involvement in a series of murders in Arizona in 1992. On March 15, 1992, Rogovich embarked on what was later described as a ‘homicidal rampage’. He began his spree by killing a 24-year-old Ethiopian immigrant who was working as a clerk at a nearby market, shooting the man through his eye at point-blank range. Later that same day, Rogovich began firing randomly into the parking lot of his Phoenix apartment complex. He then entered the neighboring Palo Verde Trailer Park, where he killed three women. The first was a 62-year-old woman whom he shot in the neck while she was in the laundry room. The next was a 48-year-old woman shot in the back in her driveway, and the last was an 83-year-old shot twice in the abdomen while she was inside her trailer. After the murders, Rogovich stole a van belonging to a local radio station and led police on a high-speed chase reaching up to 100 miles per hour. He was eventually apprehended after police set up a roadblock. Following his arrest, Rogovich confessed to the crimes, stating, “I did it. I know it was wrong. I know I’ll burn in hell.” He expressed remorse for his actions, attributing them to anger and personal issues, including the death of his stepfather in 1986 and a recent breakup with his girlfriend. Rogovich was sentenced on June 9, 1995, and is currently on death row in Arizona. Despite his conviction and sentence, Rogovich has made several appeals alleging violations of his rights, but these have been unsuccessful.
1983 – Jason Thomas Scott – is a notorious figure known for his involvement in a series of murders in Maryland. On January 26, 2009, a frantic 911 call was made by a young woman named Karissa Lofton, who along with her mother, Karen Lofton, were found shot dead in their bedrooms. Six weeks later, another gruesome double murder was discovered when authorities responded to a report of a burning car. The victims were identified as Delores Dewitt, a 42-year-old nurse, and her 20-year-old daughter, Ebony. The Dewitts had been strangled to death before being stashed in the car, which didn’t belong to the victims, and set ablaze in a stranger’s driveway. Scott was also linked to the murder of Vilma Butler during a home invasion on June 24, 2008. Butler was shot dead and her house was set on fire, destroying most forensic evidence from the scene. Scott was eventually apprehended and convicted for these crimes. He is currently serving his sentence in prison. Despite his heinous crimes, reports suggest that Scott had a seemingly normal upbringing in Prince George’s County, Maryland, and was even considered a brilliant college student around the time he committed the murders.
Deaths
The Assassination of Malcolm X
1862 – Nathaniel Gordon – born on February 6, 1826, in Portland, Maine, was an American slave trader. He was the only person in the United States to be tried, convicted, and executed by the federal government for engaging in the slave trade under the Piracy Law of 1820. Gordon went into shipping and eventually owned his own ship. He had a wife named Elizabeth and a two-year-old son named Nathaniel at the time of his final voyage to Africa. When Gordon was 12, his father was arrested for attempting to smuggle slaves into the United States. The law stated that he should be deemed a pirate and given a mandatory death sentence. However, there are no records of how the case was resolved, albeit it is known that Gordon’s father was not executed. In 1848, Gordon’s boat, Juliet, was searched by the U.S. Navy for evidence of slave trading. After no evidence of slave trading could be found, Gordon was released from their custody. However, there were allegations that Gordon had indeed gone to Africa, taken a cargo of slaves, and returned to Brazil, where slavery was still legal at the time. In 1851, Gordon, captaining the Camargo, went on another expedition from Brazil to Africa. Gordon took on 500 Africans and set sail for Brazil. He had to take numerous measures to avoid naval patrol ships. Gordon was nevertheless chased by a British man-of-war. After arriving in Brazil and dropping off the Africans, Gordon burned his ship to destroy evidence. The Africans were seized and some of Gordon’s men were arrested and charged. Gordon himself escaped by dressing in women’s clothes. Shortly after the Camargo voyage, Gordon, captaining Ottawa, made a slaving voyage to Cuba, where slavery was also still legal, with a cargo of Africans. Only about 25 percent of the Africans survived, with Gordon later claiming that a rival trader had poisoned them. After landing in Cuba, Gordon burned his ship afterward to destroy evidence. In late July 1860, Gordon set sail for the west coast of Africa. On August 7, 1860, he loaded 897 slaves aboard Erie at Sharks Point, Congo River, West Africa. On the afternoon of August 7, 1860, he took on board 890 slaves, of whom only 172 were men and 162 grown women. Gordon was one of those infamous characters who preferred to carry children because they could not rise up to avenge his cruelties. Gordon was apprehended on August 7, 1860. He was executed by hanging on February 21, 1862, at the age of 36 in Tombs Prison, New York City, New York.
1902 – Mathias Kneissl – known as Robber Kneissl, was born on August 4, 1875, in Unterweikertshofen. He was a German outlaw, poacher, and popular antihero in the Bavarian folklore of the Dachau district when the Kingdom of Bavaria was part of the Second Reich. Kneissl was the eldest of six children of a poor innkeeper. His parents, who were later described as having “unknown origins” and as “ill-tempered”, purchased the mill at Sulzemoos Schacher in 1886. The mill was in a strategically remote location and was often used as a secret meeting place for local criminals. When he was 12 years old, a school report card wrote about Kneissl, “He is not totally devoid of gifts, but he is lazy beyond imagination. He never pays attention, his output doesn’t exist. It is useless to scold him or punish him. He has no love of school whatsoever.” Kneissl began accompanying his brothers at an early age while poaching. At age 16, he was imprisoned for the first time, because members of his family were suspected of cattle raiding. His father was arrested for plundering the pilgrimage shrine of Herrgottsruh at Friedberg in 1892 and died soon after while in police custody in the town of Dachau. Soon after, Kneissl’s mother was also arrested and imprisoned for poaching and her sons began to skip school in favor of poaching instead. After serving his sentence, he was released in February 1899 and worked as a carpenter in Nußdorf am Inn. After six months, Kneissl was dismissed by his master, because his colleagues refused to work with him any longer. Due to his bad reputation, he was unable to find another job. For two years, Kneissl was pursued by the police. After his accomplices were arrested, he continued committing armed robberies on his own. An attempt to arrest him occurred on November 30, 1900, in Irchenbrunn Altomünster. In a massive gun battle, two policemen were injured so badly that they subsequently died. Three months later, in March 1901, Kneissl was captured at Geisen Egenhofen by 60 policemen. During the preceding gunfight, Kneissl was seriously injured by a bullet in the abdomen. Between November 14 and 19, 1901, Kneissl was placed on trial at Augsburg. He was executed on February 21, 1902.
1965 – Malcolm X – originally named Malcolm Little, was born on May 19, 1925, in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. He was an American Muslim minister and a prominent figure during the civil rights movement. He was also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. Malcolm X was a spokesman for the Nation of Islam until 1964. He was a vocal advocate for Black empowerment and the promotion of Islam within the Black community. He was known for his powerful speeches that challenged societal norms and played a crucial role in the fight against racial injustice. He was one of the most significant figures within the American Black nationalist movement. Many of the ideas he articulated, like race pride and self-defense, became ideological mainstays of the Black Power movement that emerged in the 1960s and ’70s. Malcolm X spent his adolescence living in a series of foster homes or with relatives after his father’s death and his mother’s hospitalization. He committed various crimes and was sentenced to 8 to 10 years in prison in 1946 for larceny and burglary. In prison, he joined the Nation of Islam, adopting the name Malcolm X to symbolize his unknown African ancestral surname while discarding “the White slavemaster name of ‘Little’”. After his parole in 1952, he quickly became one of the organization’s most influential leaders. He was the public face of the organization for 12 years, advocating Black empowerment and separation of Black and White Americans, and criticizing Martin Luther King Jr. and the mainstream civil rights movement for its emphasis on nonviolence and racial integration. Malcolm X also expressed pride in some of the Nation’s social welfare achievements, such as its free drug rehabilitation program. In the 1960s, Malcolm X began to grow disillusioned with the Nation of Islam, as well as with its leader, Elijah Muhammad. He subsequently embraced Sunni Islam and the civil rights movement after completing the Hajj to Mecca, and became known as “el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz,” which roughly translates to “The Pilgrim Malcolm the Patriarch”. After a brief period of travel across Africa, he publicly renounced the Nation of Islam and founded the Islamic Muslim Mosque, Inc. (MMI) and the Pan-African Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU). Throughout 1964, his conflict with the Nation of Islam intensified, and he was repeatedly sent death threats. On February 21, 1965, he was assassinated in New York City. Three Nation members were charged with the murder and given indeterminate life sentences. Speculation about the assassination and whether it was conceived or aided by leading or additional members of the Nation, or with law enforcement agencies, has persisted for decades.
1995 – Samuel Christopher Hawkins – At 51, Samuel Christopher Hawkins, haunted by childhood demons, earned the grim moniker “traveling rapist” for his heinous crimes across Texas, Oklahoma, and Colorado. Convicted twice for capital murder, his first victim, 12-year-old Rhonda Keys, met a tragic end in Amarillo (1976). His chilling modus operandi involved infiltrating homes through open doors, targeting vulnerable women for assault. In Borger, Texas (1977), Hawkins brutally attacked Abbe Rodgers Hamilton, a pregnant 19-year-old. His apprehension came when a vigilant schoolboy recognized him from a police sketch, leading to a dramatic confrontation. Despite Hawkins defending himself in court, a taped confession, unbeknownst to him, played a crucial role in proving the police’s fairness and his culpability. Detective James LaFavers and Derrell Garner, of the Amarillo Police Department, played key roles in the investigation and trial, unveiling the disturbing narrative of Hawkins’s violence.
2000 – Hernando Arturo Prada – known as “The Angel of Death” (Spanish: El Ángel de la Muerte), was a Colombian criminal and serial killer responsible for at least 10 murders in Bucaramanga in the 1990s. He was born in 1974 in Bucaramanga, Colombia. Prada was sentenced to 55 years imprisonment for his crimes. However, during a prison transfer in February 2000, he hijacked a commercial airliner, AeroTACA 7683. Due to security oversights, Prada was able to smuggle a knife onto the plane and threaten the passengers. He then ordered the pilot to land on an airstrip in Aguachica. Once the plane landed, Prada took an INPEC employee, Elkin Cristancho, hostage and traveled toward the village of La Moneda. Unbeknownst to Prada, the whole incident was noticed by a group of paramilitary operatives. The operatives chased after Prada, and three hours later, they located both him and Cristancho. Prada was killed in the process, while the unharmed Cristancho was returned to his co-workers. Prada’s death occurred on February 21, 2000, in La Moneda, Santander, Colombia, due to ballistic trauma. His life and crimes left a significant mark on the history of Colombia.
2012 – Colin Ireland – was a British serial killer infamously known as “The Gay Slayer.” Born in Dartford, Kent, he led a seemingly ordinary life before embarking on a gruesome murder spree in the mid-1990s. Ireland gained notoriety for targeting gay men, making headlines for his chilling acts of violence. Before his descent into infamy, Ireland had worked as a steward and bouncer, blending into various social circles. In 1993, he coldly executed a plan to achieve notoriety as a serial killer. Over a short span, Ireland claimed the lives of five gay men in London, leaving a trail of fear and terror within the LGBTQ+ community. His crimes were characterized by meticulous planning, with Ireland meticulously selecting victims and coldly executing his heinous acts. The moniker “The Gay Slayer” emerged as a grim reminder of the specific demographic he targeted. His motive appeared to be a twisted quest for notoriety rather than any personal connection to his victims. The authorities launched an intense manhunt to apprehend Ireland, ultimately leading to his capture in 1993. Upon arrest, he quickly confessed to the murders, displaying a disturbing lack of remorse. In 1994, Colin Ireland was convicted of multiple counts of murder, receiving a life sentence for his heinous crimes. Colin Ireland’s case remains a chilling chapter in criminal history, highlighting the depths of human depravity. His macabre quest for infamy and the ruthless targeting of a specific community underscore the importance of justice and vigilance in the face of such horrifying acts. Ireland passed away in prison in 2012, leaving a legacy of terror that continues to be studied and remembered.
2013 – Kaoru Kobayashi – was a Japanese newspaper deliveryman convicted of the heinous kidnapping, sexual assault, and murder of 7-year-old Kaede Ariyama in Nara, Nara Prefecture, on November 17, 2004. With a dark history as a repeat sex offender, Kobayashi, an ex-convict and pedophile, faced the ultimate penalty—death by hanging. The execution took place on February 21, 2013, at Osaka Detention House. The shocking crime not only left a lasting scar on the community but also triggered a heightened moral panic against otaku culture in Japan.
Events
Kathleen Savio
1431 – Joan of Arc’s first day of interrogation during her trial for heresy
1858 – Edwin T. Holmes installs the first electric burglar alarm in Boston, Massachusetts
1965 – Civil Rights activist Malcolm X is shot dead by Nation of Islam followers at Audubon Ballroom in New York City
1982 – William G. Bonin is convicted for the rape and murder of 14 boys and men, he was believed to be responsible for at least 21 people. He was sentenced to death and executed in 1996
1989 – US authorities bust a Chinese drug smuggling ring capturing a record 820lbs of heroin worth in excess of $1 billion
2008 – Pathologist Larry Blum concludes that Kathleen Savio died from drowning via homicidal means, Savio was the ex-wife of Drew Peterson
