Births

Otoya Yamaguchi

1907 – Natale “Joe Diamond” Evola – was a New York mobster who briefly became the boss of the Bonanno crime family. He succeeded Philip Rastelli and preceded Paul Sciacca as boss in 1971.  Evola was born in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn to parents Filippo and Francesca Evola, natives of Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily. He had two brothers (Paul and Joseph Evola) and three sisters (Anna Evola, Josephine DiBarloto, and Mamie Grazzo). Evola never married and lived with his mother in Bay Ridge.  His arrest record included coercion, possession of a gun, and federal narcotic law violations. He was heavily involved in narcotics trafficking and in labor racketeering in the Garment District of Manhattan. Evola was a close associate of Joseph Bonanno, the original boss of the Bonanno crime family. In 1931, Evola served as an usher at Bonanno’s wedding.  In 1957, Evola was identified at the infamous Apalachin Meeting in Apalachin, New York, and later charged, along with twenty other organized figures, with conspiracy. The case was later overturned. On April 17, 1959, Evola was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison after being convicted of conspiracy to distribute narcotics. Evola had helped manage a large organization that imported heroin from Sicily to the United States.  Following family boss Joe Bonanno’s retirement in 1968, Evola reportedly became the boss of the family. Heavily involved in the trucking industry in the Garment District, Evola cooperated with crime family leaders Genovese and Carlo Gambino of the Gambino crime family.  On August 28, 1973, Natale Evola died of cancer at Columbus Hospital in the Bronx. He is buried in Calvary Cemetery in the Woodside, Queens section of New York.

1925 – Ervil Morrell LeBaron – was the leader of a polygamous Mormon fundamentalist group who ordered the killings of many of his opponents, using the religious doctrine of blood atonement to justify the murders. He was sentenced to life in prison for orchestrating the murder of an opponent and died there in 1981.  LeBaron was born in Galeana Municipality, Chihuahua, Mexico. After the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) officially abandoned the practice of polygamy in 1890, some polygamous Mormons, who were later excommunicated from the LDS Church, moved south to Mexico to continue the practice without the interference of U.S. law enforcement. Alma Dayer LeBaron, Sr. was one of these people, and in 1924 moved his family, which included his two wives and eight children, to northern Mexico. There, the family started a farm called “Colonia LeBaron” in Galeana, Chihuahua.  When Alma died in 1951, he passed the leadership of the community on to his son Joel LeBaron. Joel eventually incorporated the community as the Church of the Firstborn of the Fulness of Times in Salt Lake City, Utah. Joel’s younger brother, Ervil LeBaron, was his second in command during the early years of the church’s existence. The group ultimately numbered around 30 families who lived in both Utah and a community called “Los Molinos” on the Baja California Peninsula.  In 1972, the brothers split over leadership of the Church of the Firstborn of the Fulness of Times, and Ervil started the Church of the First Born of the Lamb of God in San Diego, California. That year, Ervil ordered the murder of Joel in Mexico. The leadership of the Baja California church passed to the youngest LeBaron brother, Verlan, whom Ervil tried to have killed over the next decade.  In 1974, Ervil was tried and convicted in Mexico for Joel’s murder. His conviction was overturned on a technicality; some have alleged this was as a result of a bribe. Ervil’s followers subsequently raided Los Molinos in an effort to kill Verlan, but the town was destroyed and two men were killed.  Ervil LeBaron’s attention was also focused on rival polygamous leaders. In April 1975, he ordered the killing of Bob Simons, a polygamist who sought to minister to Native Americans. In 1977, LeBaron ordered the killing of Rulon C. Allred, leader of the Apostolic United Brethren, another Mormon fundamentalist sect. Ervil LeBaron’s 13th wife, Rena Chynoweth, carried out the murder with Ervil’s stepdaughter, Ramona Marston.  It has been estimated that upwards of 25 people were killed as a result of LeBaron’s prison cell orders. Many of his family members and other ex-members of the group still remain in hiding for fear of retribution from LeBaron’s remaining followers.

1943 – Otoya Yamaguchi – was a Japanese ultranationalist and a member of a right-wing Uyoku dantai group. He is known for assassinating Inejiro Asanuma, the head of the Japan Socialist Party, on October 12, 1960. The assassination took place at Tokyo’s Hibiya Hall during a political debate in advance of parliamentary elections.  Yamaguchi was born on February 22, 1943, in Yanaka, Taitō ward, Tokyo. He was the second son of Shinpei Yamaguchi, who by 1960 would become a high-ranking officer in the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, and was the maternal grandson of the famous writer Namiroku Murakami, well known for his violent novels glorifying the chivalric code of Japanese organized crime syndicates known as the yakuza.  Yamaguchi began reading newspapers starting in his early childhood. Angered by what he read, he became interested in nationalist movements and vehemently critical of politicians. Due to his father’s job, he lived in Sapporo, Hokkaido for much of his childhood. In 1958, he was accepted into Tamagawa High School in Tokyo, however, his father transferred him to Sapporo Kōsei, a local Catholic school in Sapporo. Yamaguchi then decided to move to Tokyo to live with his brother and transferred back to Tamagawa High School.  Through the influence of his brother, he began attending speeches and participating in protests and counter-protests organized by various right-wing groups. On May 10, 1959, at age 16, he heard a speech by right-wing ultranationalist Bin Akao declaring that Japan was on the verge of a revolution and that the youth must begin resisting the actions of left-wing groups. This speech had a profound impact on him. After the speech, while Akao was planning to go to the next location, Yamaguchi told Akao that he wanted to go along with him, but Akao gently declined.  The assassination of Inejiro Asanuma was broadcast live by NHK television. Yamaguchi rushed the stage and stabbed Asanuma with a wakizashi-like short sword while Asanuma was participating in a televised election debate at Hibiya Public Hall in Tokyo. Yamaguchi, who was 17 years of age at the time, had been a member of Bin Akao’s far-right Greater Japan Patriotic Party, but had resigned earlier that year, just prior to the assassination. After being arrested and interrogated, Yamaguchi committed suicide while in a detention facility. Yamaguchi became a hero and a martyr to Japanese far-right groups, who as of 2022, have continued to hold commemorations to this day.

1960 – Charles Cullen – is an American serial killer and former nurse. He was born in West Orange, New Jersey, and was the youngest of eight children. His father died when he was just seven months old. Cullen displayed signs of mental instability from a young age and was frequently bullied by his peers and his sisters’ boyfriends. He attempted suicide for the first time at the age of nine.  After dropping out of high school, Cullen enlisted in the U.S. Navy. He served on the submarine USS Woodrow Wilson, but struggled to fit in and was often bullied by his colleagues. He was disciplined for wearing a surgical mask and gloves while on missile control duty. After being transferred to a ship, Cullen attempted suicide again and was medically discharged from the Navy in 1984.  Following his discharge, Cullen attended the Mountainside Hospital School of Nursing and graduated in 1986. He began his nursing career at the St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, New Jersey. Over the course of his 16-year career, Cullen worked at 10 hospitals in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.  Cullen confessed to killing up to 40 patients during his career, making him the most prolific serial killer in New Jersey history. However, some estimates suggest that the actual number of victims could be as high as 400. Cullen committed his murders by administering lethal doses of medication to his patients. His crimes went unnoticed for many years, despite reports of suspicious behavior from his colleagues.  In 2003, Cullen was arrested and charged with one count of murder. During his interrogation, he admitted to committing several more murders. He was subsequently sentenced to 11 consecutive life terms, totaling 397 years in prison. He is not eligible for parole until 2388. As of 2022, Cullen is serving his sentence in New Jersey’s Trenton Maximum Security Prison.

1960 – Bruce Edwin Callins –  was a convicted murderer who was executed by the state of Texas. He was born in Dallas County, Texas.  On June 27, 1980, Callins entered Norma’s Lounge, a bar in Tarrant County, Texas, armed with a gun. There were three patrons and three employees present when he ordered the bartender to put money from the cash register into a bag. The remaining individuals were ordered to empty their pockets onto the bar or a pool table; Callins threatened to kill anyone who withheld property. Allen Huckleberry, a patron who was sitting at the bar, failed to turn over his wallet quickly enough to appease Callins, who shot him in the neck, ultimately causing him to bleed to death.  On May 18, 1982, the jury convicted Callins of the capital offense and two counts of aggravated robbery. The next day, in a separate sentencing proceeding exclusively devoted to the aggravated robbery charges, the jury imposed a life sentence and a $10,000 fine on each count. On May 20, an additional hearing was conducted to determine the punishment for the capital murder charge. The jury affirmatively answered the Texas special issues and sentenced Callins to death.  Callins’ conviction was initially reversed for misjoinder because state law prohibited the joinder of property offenses with offenses against persons. On a sua sponte motion for rehearing, however, the court reformed the judgment to delete the convictions for the two aggravated robbery offenses, thereby preserving the capital murder conviction and the death sentence.  Callins was executed by lethal injection in Texas on May 21, 1997. His last statement was: “I want to let all of my people know and everybody who is here and supported me that I love them and wish them all the best.”

1962 – Phillip Alan Bocharski – is known for his involvement in a heinous crime that took place in Yavapai County, Arizona, USA. In May 1995, the partially decomposed body of 85-year-old Freeda Brown was found in her trailer located outside of Congress, Arizona. The cause of death was determined to be multiple stab wounds to the head and neck. Bocharski, who lived in a tent near Congress, had previously done some odd jobs for the victim, including driving her to banks and stores in Wickenburg so she could cash checks. On May 10, 1995, Bocharski was seen with Frank Sukis, and they discussed killing Ms. Brown because she was old and suffering from arthritis. After her death, Bocharski suddenly had “hundreds of dollars” which he claimed had been given to him by someone who wanted some work done in the future. He later confessed to a friend that he had “murdered an old lady for her money.” Bocharski was found guilty of first-degree felony murder and burglary in the first degree. He was initially sentenced to death on July 27, 1999. However, his sentence was commuted to life in prison without the possibility of parole on August 8, 2008, by the Arizona Supreme Court. The court concluded that Bocharski’s attorneys did not receive enough money to collect the mitigating evidence necessary to adequately defend their client. His traumatic and abusive childhood was considered a mitigating circumstance in the case.

1963 – Leroy Dean McGill – is a convicted felon known for a horrific crime that occurred in Maricopa County, Arizona, USA. On July 13, 2002, McGill walked into an apartment in north Phoenix carrying a cup full of gasoline. He doused Charles Perez and Nova Banta with gasoline and set them on fire. Perez subsequently died from his burns, while Banta was so severely burned that treating physicians had to put her in a medically induced coma to save her life.  McGill, a twice-convicted felon for armed robberies, committed these crimes because the victims had accused him of stealing a shotgun. He had been staying with the owner of the gun, and as a result of the accusation, the gun owner threw McGill out of his home, causing McGill to become homeless. After starting the fire, McGill asked an acquaintance if he could smell burning flesh. He also bragged that he had mixed the gasoline with Styrofoam to form a gel so that it would stick to the victims and burn hotter.  McGill was found guilty of the murder and was sentenced to death on November 10, 2004. The crime was considered especially heinous, cruel, and depraved, and McGill’s prior criminal record was taken into account during the proceedings.

1972 – Paul W. Kreutzer – He is known for a heinous crime that took place in Pike County, Missouri, USA. On September 2, 1992, the body of 36-year-old Louise Hemphill was found by her children when they returned from school. Mrs. Hemphill had been stabbed in the neck, struck in the head at least three times with a baseball bat, and strangled with a belt. The strangulation probably took from three to four minutes to complete. Duct tape was found on the bed and on the victim’s ankle.  Kreutzer, who lived less than a quarter of a mile from the Hemphill residence with his adoptive parents, was arrested later that evening in possession of the victim’s purse, bloody gloves, duct tape, and a BB gun. DNA analysis of semen found on the bed cover and on Mrs. Hemphill’s face and pubic area established a genetic match with Kreutzer. A diminished capacity defense claiming post-traumatic stress was unsuccessful at trial.  Kreutzer was found guilty of the murder and was sentenced to death on April 10, 2002. The crime was considered especially heinous, cruel, and depraved. His prior criminal record was taken into account during the proceedings. He was executed by lethal injection.

1975 – Stephen Port – is a British serial killer and serial rapist. He was convicted of the murder of four young men and multiple rapes and sexual assaults of a number of others. Port received a sentence of life imprisonment with a whole life order on November 25, 2016, meaning he will not become eligible for parole and is unlikely to be released from prison.  Port was born in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. When he was a year old, his family moved to Dagenham in East London, where he grew up and where his parents still live. He was described as being a “loner” and was often bullied at school during his childhood. Former teachers also described Port’s personality as “quiet”. His neighbor described him as having a peculiar, childlike personality, exhibiting odd behavior as a grown man, such as playing with children’s toys. After leaving school, aged 16, he went to art college, but it proved too expensive for his parents and he spent two years training as a chef instead. A former romantic partner of Port’s described his personality as childish and gave that as the reason for ending their relationship. He came out as gay in his mid-twenties. He lived with his parents until his early thirties, then lived alone in a flat in Barking, London, and worked as a chef at a Stagecoach bus depot in West Ham. Port also briefly appeared on an episode of the television show MasterChef. He was described as having an athletic appearance at the time of the murders due to regularly going to the gym. He was bald and disguised this in public by wearing a blonde toupee. The hairpiece was professionally fastened and increased his confidence when meeting other men.  Port met his victims via online gay and bisexual social networks and dating or hookup apps, and constructed biographies in which he made false claims about his background, including one in which he pretended to have graduated from Oxford University and served in the Royal Navy. In another, he gave his occupation as a special needs teacher. Port used gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), a date rape drug, adding it to drinks given to his victims, raping them, and murdering four of them in his flat in Barking. The prosecution said that Port himself used a range of drugs, including amyl nitrite (poppers), Viagra, mephedrone, crystal methamphetamine, and GHB or GBL in its liquid form, but GHB was what he used to ply his victims. Postmortem examinations on the four young men who died revealed that each had died from a drug overdose featuring high levels of GHB.

Deaths

Sofie Johannesdotter

1680 – Catherine Deshayes – also known as Catherine Monvoisin or simply La Voisin, was a notorious figure in 17th-century France. Born around 1640, she played a significant role in the infamous “Affair of the Poisons”.  Deshayes started her career as a fortune teller and face-reader, supporting her family after her husband’s business went bankrupt. Her practice gradually expanded to include the creation and sale of alleged magical objects and potions, arranging black masses, and selling aphrodisiacs and poison. By the late 1660s, she had become a wealthy and famous fortune teller with clients among the highest aristocracy of France.  However, Deshayes’s activities eventually led to her downfall. She was arrested on March 12, 1679, and subsequently convicted of witchcraft. The charges against her included poisoning and alleged sorcery, and she was suspected to have been involved in numerous deaths. Deshayes was executed as a witch on February 22, 1680, in Paris, marking a grim end to her notorious career. Her story serves as a chilling reminder of the dark side of the 17th-century French aristocracy and the deadly intrigues that sometimes lurked behind the glittering facade of the royal court.

1876 – Sofie Johannesdotter – a Swedish-Norwegian woman born in 1844, gained notoriety as one of Scandinavia’s most infamous serial killers. Her dark legacy unfolded during the 19th century, marked by a series of poisonings that terrorized the region.  Johannesdotter’s deadly deeds were rooted in poisoning, a method she employed to eliminate at least three victims. Convicted and executed, she stands as the last woman to face capital punishment in Norway and the penultimate individual to be executed in the country overall.  The chilling tale of Sofie Johannesdotter intersects with the sinister “affaire des poisons” in France, where fortune tellers played pivotal roles in orchestrating heinous crimes. Johannesdotter’s actions, believed to be responsible for over a thousand murders, drew parallels to the notorious La Voisin, Catherine Deshayes.  Her story serves as a haunting chapter in the annals of true crime, reflecting the darker facets of human nature and the pursuit of justice in a bygone era. The execution of Sofie Johannesdotter remains a somber testament to the consequences that befell those who wielded poison as a weapon in the shadows of 19th-century Scandinavia.

1947 – Harry Kendall Thaw – was the son of American coal and railroad baron William Thaw Sr. He was born in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, and was educated at the University of Pittsburgh and Harvard University. He was the heir to a multimillion-dollar fortune.  Thaw is most notable for murdering the renowned architect Stanford White in front of hundreds of witnesses at the rooftop theatre of New York City’s Madison Square Garden on June 25, 1906. Thaw had harbored an obsessive hatred of White, believing he had blocked Thaw’s access to the social elite of New York. White had also had a previous relationship with Thaw’s wife, the model and chorus girl Evelyn Nesbit, when she was age 16 or 17, which had allegedly begun with White plying Nesbit with alcohol (and possibly drugs) and raping her while she was unconscious. In Thaw’s mind, the relationship had “ruined” her.  Thaw’s trial for murder was heavily publicized in the press, to the extent that it was called the “trial of the century”. After one hung jury, he was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Plagued by mental illness throughout his life that was evident even in his childhood, Thaw spent money lavishly to fund his obsessive partying, drug addiction, abusive behavior toward those around him, as well as the gratification of his sexual appetites. The Thaw family’s wealth allowed them to buy the silence of anyone who threatened to make public the worst of Thaw’s reckless behavior and licentious transgressions. However, he had several additional serious confrontations with the criminal justice system, one of which resulted in seven years of confinement in a mental institution.  Thaw was married to Florence Evelyn Nesbit from 1905 to 1915, and they had one child, Russell William Thaw. Thaw died on February 22, 1947, in Miami, Florida, and was buried in Allegheny Cemetery.

1997 – Joseph Aiuppa – also known as “Joey O’Brien” and “Joey Doves”, was a notorious Chicago mobster who led the Chicago Outfit from 1971 until his skimming conviction in 1986. He was born on December 1, 1907, in Melrose Park, Illinois, to Sicilian immigrants from Lascari, Province of Palermo, Sicily.  Aiuppa started his criminal career as a muscleman and hired gun for Al Capone in 1935. By the 1970s, he had risen high in the Chicago mob. He controlled the mob’s operations in Cicero and the western suburbs of Chicago for decades. This district was the highest-earning neighborhood for the Outfit, going back to Al Capone, who headquartered out of this area while he was in command.  During the 1920s, Aiuppa, a former boxer, rose through the ranks of the Chicago Outfit, beginning as a driver for higher-ranking Outfit leaders such as Tony Accardo. He graduated to operate several gambling establishments in Cicero, Illinois. These clubs included bookmaking establishments and underground casinos with secret entrances. In the early 1930s, Aiuppa managed Taylor & Company, a front for manufacturing illegal slot machines, under the guise of a furniture manufacturer.  Aiuppa was a charter member of Local 450 Union for Hotel and Restaurant Employees. He had connections to John Dillinger and the Karpis Gangs. In 1935, Chicago crime files indicated Aiuppa as a trigger man and expert bank robber for Claude Maddox.  Aiuppa eventually owned or operated several establishments in Cicero, collectively called the Strip. This was the original “strip” before the mob-controlled casino strip in Las Vegas. Aiuppa operated handbooks at various locations on Cermak Road in Cicero, IL. The various clubs located on Cicero Avenue were the Frolics, the Towne Hotel, the 411 Club, and a few others. Prostitution, slot machines, and various gaming activities occurred inside these nightclubs.  Aiuppa also owned the Navajo Hills golf course outside suburban Chicago for many years and eventually sold it. This was one of his many real estate dealings that he made money on with his personal take and share of running the most powerful and successful Outfit neighborhood for decades. Aiuppa operated his real estate holdings under “Rosemar Realty”, named after his mother, Rose Marie. From time to time, Aiuppa also put cars or small real estate in her name, as he would rarely keep any assets in his name except for the home in which he resided in Oak Brook, Illinois. He also used other relatives, including brothers and later nephews, to hold title to his many constantly changing real-estate assets in and around the Chicago area.  Aiuppa passed away on February 22, 1997, in Elmhurst, Illinois.

2000 – Michelle O’Keefe – was born on October 11, 1981, in Hanford, California. She was an 18-year-old American college student and aspiring actress. Michelle was known for her lively and down-to-earth personality, and she was popular among her friends not only for being a brilliant student and a cheerleader but also for her amicable and charming personality. On February 22, 2000, Michelle was tragically murdered in Palmdale, California. She was on her way home from appearing in a Kid Rock music video, a fact that attracted significant national media attention. Her case was featured in episodes of America’s Most Wanted and Dateline NBC.  The investigation into her murder was challenging and took several years. Initially, Iraq war veteran Sgt. Raymond Lee Jennings was arrested for the murder and sentenced to life in prison after three trials. However, after serving 11 years of his sentence, Jennings was exonerated and freed from prison. The Los Angeles District Attorney was persuaded of Jennings’ innocence after a law student saw the case on television and began an investigation.  The judge who freed Jennings stated that the jury was never given crucial information: that known gang members were present at the scene of the crime. In their filings to the court supporting Jennings’ innocence claim and requesting his release, the DA’s office revealed that they believed the killing to be gang-related. The case remains open and continues to be a subject of public interest and media coverage. Michelle O’Keefe’s life and untimely death continue to touch many, reminding us of the importance of justice and the enduring impact of a single life.

Events

Emma Coronel Aispuro

1898 – Black postmaster Frazier B. Baker is lynched, and his wife and three daughters were shot in Lake City, South Carolina

2002 – Canadian serial killer Robert Pickton is arrested in British Columbia, Canada

2006 – At least six men stage Britain’s biggest robbery ever, stealing £53 million (about $92.5 million or €78 million) from a Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent

2021 – The wife of drug cartel boss “El Chapo”, Emma Coronel Aispuro is arrested in the United States on drug trafficking charges & conspiring to free her husband from prison