Births

Police composite of Percy Lefroy Mapleton

1860 – Percy Lefroy Mapleton – also known as Percy Mapleton Lefroy, was born on 23 February 1860 in England. He was a British journalist and murderer, known as the British “railway murderer” of 1881.  On the afternoon of 27 June 1881, 64-year-old Isaac Frederick Gold, a retired bakery manager, was murdered on the express train going from London Bridge Station to his home in Brighton. Gold had entered a first-class smoking compartment in the third carriage, and was later joined in the compartment by 21-year-old Percy Lefroy Mapleton. When the train arrived at Preston Park Station, Mapleton was observed getting out of the carriage in a distressed state and covered in blood. He had lost his hat, collar, and tie, and had a gold watch-chain hanging from his shoe.  Giving a card that carried the name ‘Arthur Lefroy’, Mapleton complained that he had been attacked during the journey by two men, who had hit him on the head, knocking him out. Richard Gibson, the ticket collector at Preston Park Station, accompanied Mapleton for the rest of the journey to Brighton, where Mapleton told Henry Anscombe, the Station Master, that he had been shot and wounded during his journey. Asked about the gold chain that had been seen hanging from his shoe, he replied that he had put it there for safety. From the station offices, he was taken to the Brighton police station, where he made an official complaint against his attackers, even offering a reward for their capture.  Constable Howland interviewed Mapleton for details of his alleged attackers before sending him to the County Hospital for treatment, where his wounds turned out to be quite superficial. Suspicious that such slight wounds could cause so much blood, the examining doctor wanted to detain him, but Mapleton suddenly announced that he had an urgent appointment in London. He returned to the police station for further interviews, and then—having bought a new collar and tie—went to Brighton Station where increasingly dubious police took him into an office and searched him. They found two Hanoverian medals in his pockets, which he denied all knowledge of. Meanwhile, the carriage had been shunted into a siding and examined, which revealed three bullet marks and other signs of a fierce struggle, including blood on the carriage’s footboard, mat, and door handle, as well as on a handkerchief and newspaper. Investigators also found coins similar to those found on Mapleton.  Mapleton was apprehended on 8 July 1881. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. He was executed by hanging on 29 November 1881 at HM Prison Lewes, East Sussex, England. He was 21 years old at the time of his death.  Mapleton is important in the history of forensics and policing as being the subject of the first police composite picture to appear on a “wanted” poster and in a newspaper.

1937 – Ronald Howard Moen – He is known for his conviction in the 1986 gunshot killings of his ex-wife, Judith Ann Moen, and her mother, Elizabeth Hazel Chatfield, in their home south of Turner. He was initially sentenced to death on April 24, 1987, for these crimes. However, his sentence was later overturned due to a 1989 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Following this, he was resentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years. Ronald Howard Moen passed away on December 3, 2006, in Penitentiary, Bend, Deschutes Co., Oregon, USA.

1945 – Thomas Andy Barefoot – He is known for his conviction in the 1978 shooting of a police officer, Carl LeVin, in Harker Heights, Texas. At the time of the incident, Barefoot was wanted in New Mexico for the rape of a three-year-old girl. He shot Officer LeVin in the head with a .25 caliber pistol to avoid arrest. Barefoot was convicted of this crime and was initially sentenced to death. His case was selected by the Supreme Court to test how to handle last-minute appeals to the federal courts. He managed to win two stays of execution in 1983 and one each in 1980 and 1981. However, he was eventually executed by lethal injection in Texas on October 30, 1984.  In his last statement, Barefoot expressed hope for forgiveness and the removal of bitterness from the hearts of those affected by his actions. He passed away at the age of 39 in Huntsville, Walker County, Texas, USA. His remains are buried in Memorial Park Cemetery, New Iberia, Iberia Parish, Louisiana, USA.

1957 – Charlie Brandt – He is known for his crimes as an American serial killer who murdered at least four female victims; one in Indiana and three others in Florida.  His first known crime occurred on the night of January 3, 1971, when he was just 13 years old. Brandt shot his parents in their family home, killing his pregnant mother and wounding his father. He spent one year at a psychiatric hospital before being released and was never criminally charged.  33 years later, on September 13, 2004, Brandt stabbed his wife and niece to death and then hanged himself in his niece’s garage. This incident, Brandt’s efficiency in killing his wife and niece, and his hidden obsession with human anatomy led investigators to look into the possibility that he had committed other murders since moving to Florida in 1973.  The 1989 murder of a homeless woman near Brandt’s home was solved as a result of the investigation, as Brandt was found to have been the perpetrator. The police suspect him in three other Florida murders, but his true number of victims could potentially be more than 30.  Brandt passed away on September 13, 2004, in Maitland, Florida, USA.

1957 – James Lee Beathard – He is known for his conviction in the 1984 murder of Marcus Lee Hathorn. The crime was part of a plan developed by Gene Hathorn to kill his family for an inheritance. Gene Hathorn and Beathard drove to the trailer where Hathorn’s family lived, and the three family members were shot dead.  Beathard was tried first, with Gene Hathorn testifying against him. Hathorn claimed that Beathard had entered the trailer and shot the victims. Beathard, however, testified that he was innocent of murder, and that Hathorn had convinced him that they were going to a drug deal. Beathard was convicted of Marcus Hathorn’s murder and sentenced to death in 1985.  At his own trial, Gene Hathorn repeated his version of events. However, the same prosecutor who had supported Hathorn’s testimony at Beathard’s trial now argued that Hathorn had entered the trailer and killed his family while Beathard had remained outside. Hathorn was also sentenced to death.  Several months later, James Beathard filed a motion for a new trial. At a court hearing, Gene Hathorn voluntarily contacted Beathard’s lawyer to say that he wanted to recant, testifying that he had lied at both trials. He said that Beathard had no role in planning the murders and did not shoot any of the victims. However, the motion for a new trial was denied because it had been filed too late.  James Lee Beathard was executed by lethal injection on December 9, 1999, in Huntsville, Texas, for the murder of Marcus Lee Hathorn. He maintained his innocence until the end.

1958 – Jessie Joe Patrick – He was convicted for the murder of 80-year-old Nina Rutherford Redd in July 1989. The crime took place inside her home in Dallas, where she had been sexually assaulted before her throat was cut with a knife. Patrick was a neighbor of Redd’s. He was executed in Texas on September 18, 2002, at the age of 44.

1961 – Ronnie Johnson –  On the evening of March 11, 1989, Tequila Larkins, proprietor of Sparkle City Laundromat in Perrine, Florida, secured the front entrance around 9 p.m. Inside the laundromat were customers Jerry Briggs, Valerie Briggs, Eric Bettle, and Walter Hills, along with Ms. Larkins herself.  Shortly thereafter, Ronnie Johnson approached the laundromat and knocked on the front door, requesting change. Ms. Larkins opened the door, at which point Johnson forced his way inside. He initiated an argument with Ms. Larkins, which quickly escalated into a physical altercation. After landing several hits on Ms. Larkins’ face, Johnson drew a firearm and shot her.  On April 2, 1989, Johnson admitted to the crime. However, he later sought to have his confession excluded from evidence.

1963 – Kenneth Watson – On the 31st of October, 1988, Ella Hickman unexpectedly walked into her home while a burglary was taking place. The intruder assaulted Hickman, inflicting six stab wounds with a long, pointed instrument. One of these wounds cut her carotid artery, leading to severe blood loss and ultimately, her demise. Forensic evidence discovered at the scene of the crime pointed to Kenneth Watson. Consequently, he was accused of First-Degree Murder, Burglary accompanied by Assault, and Armed Robbery.

1967 – Bobby Ray Hopkins – was a former bull rider who was convicted and sentenced to death for the brutal murders of 18-year-old Sandi Marbut and her 19-year-old cousin Jennifer Weston. The crime took place on the evening of July 30, 1993, when Hopkins entered the apartment where the two girls lived. He attacked Sandi, stabbing and cutting her approximately forty times. Jennifer came downstairs while Hopkins was attacking Sandi and subsequently attacked herself. She tried to flee upstairs but was overpowered and died at the landing at the top of the stairs after sustaining sixty-six stab wounds.  Forensic evidence linked Hopkins to the crime. Blood on hairs found on towels discovered near the apartment was consistent with the blood types of Sandi, Jennifer, and Hopkins. A knife discovered in weeds outside of the apartment had blood on it that was also consistent with the blood of Hopkins, Sandi, and Jennifer.  Prior to the murders, Marbut had accused Hopkins of stealing money from a purse in the home and told him not to return. Hopkins was executed in the United States in 2004.

1979 – Brandon Wayne Hedrick –  He was an American convicted murderer who was executed by the state of Virginia in the electric chair for the 1997 murder of 23-year-old Lisa Crider. Lisa was kidnapped, robbed, raped, and shot in the face by Hedrick.  On May 10, 1997, Hedrick and Trevor Jones spent the evening drinking, smoking crack cocaine and marijuana, and employing the services of four prostitutes. After driving the last two prostitutes back to downtown Lynchburg, Virginia, Hedrick and Jones saw Lisa Yvonne Crider. Jones knew that Crider’s boyfriend was a crack cocaine dealer, and the two decided to pick Crider up, have sex with her, and rob her of any crack in her possession.  Crider voluntarily traveled with Hedrick and Jones back to Jones’s apartment, where Jones paid Crider $50 to have sex with him. Afterward, Hedrick retrieved a shotgun from Jones’s car at Jones’s direction and robbed Crider of the $50 at gunpoint. Hedrick and Jones handcuffed Crider, duct-taped her eyes and mouth, and led her to Jones’s truck. The three left the apartment around 1:00 a.m. After driving for some time, Jones stopped the truck because Hedrick wanted to have sex with Crider. Hedrick raped Crider after telling her not to “try anything” because he had a gun. Afterward, the two men decided to kill Crider, fearing retaliation from her boyfriend. They continued driving until daybreak when Jones stopped the truck near the James River. Jones led Crider to the riverbank, told Hedrick to “do what you got to do,” and walked back to the truck. Hedrick shot Crider and left with Jones. The two men fled Virginia in Jones’ truck the next day. That evening, Crider’s body was discovered at the James River with a shotgun wound to the face.  About one week later, the authorities arrested Hedrick and Jones in Lincoln, Nebraska. Hedrick was convicted of capital murder in the commission of robbery, rape, forcible sodomy, abduction, and use of a firearm in the commission of murder. During the sentencing phase of his trial, a court-appointed clinical psychologist testified that Hedrick was significantly immature for his age and that he had a problem with drugs and alcohol that accelerated in the months leading up to the crimes. He noted Hedrick’s IQ score of 76, which was “far below average,” although “not so low as to suggest mental retardation.” The jury recommended that he be sentenced to death, finding that Hedrick posed a “continuing serious threat to society” and that his conduct in committing the offenses was “outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible or inhuman in that it involved torture, depravity of mind, aggravated battery to the victim beyond the minimum necessary to accomplish the act of murder.”  Brandon Wayne Hedrick was executed on July 20, 2006, at the age of 27.

1981 – Melissa Huckaby –  is a former Sunday school teacher who pleaded guilty to the murder of Sandra Cantu. She is the granddaughter of Clifford Lawless, pastor of Clover Road Baptist Church, in Tracy, California.  On March 27, 2009, eight-year-old Sandra Cantu disappeared from Tracy, California. Her body was discovered ten days later inside a suitcase in a local irrigation pond. The black Eddie Bauer suitcase that contained the body of Cantu belonged to Huckaby, who reported to have left it in her driveway on the day Cantu went missing.  Huckaby was arrested on April 10, 2009, and charged with the kidnapping, rape, and murder of Cantu. The cause of death was determined to be “homicidal asphyxiation.” Some of Sandra’s injuries were also consistent with a rolling pin with a bent handle and a bloody smudge found inside the church. The pathology report revealed that the smudge on the rolling pin matched Sandra’s blood. The report also showed she was sexually assaulted with the object.  Huckaby pleaded guilty to the kidnapping and murder of Cantu and was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in 2010.

Deaths

Guo Zhongmin

1906 – Johann Otto Hoch – also known as The Bluebeard Murderer and Chicago Bluebeard, was born as John Schmidt in 1855 in Horrweiler, in the Grand Duchy of Hesse, which is present-day Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. He emigrated to the United States in the 1890s and dropped his surname in favor of assorted pseudonyms, often taking the name of his most recent victim.  Hoch was a notorious bigamist and murderer. He was found guilty of the murder of one wife but is thought to have killed more, perhaps up to 50 victims. Hoch used matrimonial ads to find his victims. He would swindle all their money and either leave them or kill them with arsenic and then begin his pattern all over again.  Chicago police dubbed him “America’s greatest mass murderer”, but statistics remain vague in this puzzling case. We know that Hoch bigamously married at least 55 women between 1890 and 1905, bilking all of them for cash and slaying many, but the final number of murder victims is a matter of conjecture. Sensational reports credit Hoch with 25 to 50 murders, but police were only certain of 15, and in the end, he went to trial (and to the gallows) for a single homicide.  Hoch was apprehended in 1905 and was executed by hanging on February 23, 1906.

1931 – Irene Schroeder – born on February 17, 1909, 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 was born 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, Dague, and 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. Her son Donnie was soon interviewed by the police, and his testimony was later used to help convict his mother. He stated: “I saw my mama shoot a cop. Uncle Tom shot another one in the head. He shot right through the windshield.”  Tom Crawford was never arrested; the police believed that he was killed in a shootout after a robbery in Texas. 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., wearing “a gray dress of imitation silk with white collars and cuffs, beige silk stockings and black satin slippers” to her death. 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.

1956 – Jack Dragna – born Ignazio Dragna on April 18, 1891, in Corleone, Sicily, Italy, was a Sicilian-American Mafia member, entrepreneur, and Black Hander who was active in both Italy and the United States in the 20th century. He was also known by other names such as Charles Dragna and Antonio Rizzotto.  Dragna immigrated to the United States on November 18, 1898, with his parents, older sister Giuseppa, and older brother Gaetano. They initially stayed in East Harlem, Manhattan, with his mother’s cousin Antonio Rizzotto’s family, also from Corleone.  As a young man, he joined the Italian Army and later the Sicilian Mafia. In 1914, Dragna returned to America and appears to have had a relationship with Gaetano Reina, who eventually led his own crime family in Manhattan and the Bronx. That same year, Dragna petitioned for naturalization as Charles Dragna and was a suspect in the murder of Jewish poultry dealer Barnet Baff. After the killing, Dragna fled to California. He was extradited to New York but never went on trial.  In 1915, Dragna was arrested for Black Hand extortion of a Long Beach man and served three years in prison. During the Prohibition Era, Dragna and his brother Gaetano (now named Tom) ran extortion and illegal liquor distillation operations. In 1922, Dragna married his second cousin, Francesca Rizzotto.  In 1931, Dragna succeeded Joseph Ardizzone as boss of the Los Angeles crime family. It was rumored that Dragna was involved in Ardizzone’s disappearance and presumed murder. The American Mafia wanted to make inroads in California and supported Dragna, as opposed to the “Mustache Pete” Ardizzone. His brother Tom became his consigliere.  Dragna remained the boss of the Los Angeles crime family from 1931 until his death in 1956. He died on February 23, 1956, in Los Angeles, California, U.S. at the age of 64.

1996 – William G. Bonin – also known as the Freeway Killer or the Freeway Strangler, was an American serial killer and twice-paroled sex offender who committed the rape, torture, and murder of a minimum of twenty-one young men and boys between May 1979 to June 1980. He was born on January 8, 1947, in Willimantic, Connecticut, U.S., and died on February 23, 1996, at San Quentin State Prison due to execution by lethal injection. He was the first inmate in California to die by this method.  Bonin was the product of a dysfunctional family and child molestation. He grew up with an alcoholic father and absentee mother and was primarily raised by his grandfather, who was a convicted child molester. He ran away from home at the age of eight and in his early adolescence, he was sent to a juvenile detention center for stealing license plates.  On at least twelve occasions, Bonin was assisted by one of his four known accomplices; he is also suspected of committing a further fifteen murders. He became known as the “Freeway Killer” due to the fact that the majority of his victims’ bodies were discovered alongside numerous freeways in southern California.  Bonin was convicted of fourteen of the murders linked to the “Freeway Killer” in two separate trials in 1982 and 1983. He spent fourteen years on death row before his execution. His crimes and trial received significant media attention and he remains one of the most notorious serial killers in American history.

2000 – Terry Melvin Sims – was born on February 5, 1942, in the United States. He was an American convicted murderer who was executed by the state of Florida for fatally shooting a sheriff’s deputy in Longwood, Florida. He was the first Florida inmate executed with the use of lethal injection.  On December 29, 1977, Sims, along with three accomplices, committed a robbery at the Longwood Village Pharmacy in Longwood, Florida. Sims and one of his accomplices entered the building, while the other two waited in the getaway car. They ordered the customers to enter the bathroom. At the same time, 57-year-old former U.S. Marine Corps soldier and World War II veteran George Pfeil, a retired New York City officer and the Seminole County reserve deputy sheriff, entered the store. When he saw that the place was being robbed, Pfeil and Sims began exchanging gunfire at one another. Pfeil was shot twice, both wounds being fatal. Sims was shot once but managed to flee the scene.  Sims fled the state of Florida not long after, taking refuge in California. There, in June 1978, he was arrested after a failed robbery. Sims was extradited to Florida to stand trial. At the trial, two of his accomplices testified that after Pfeil’s murder, Sims bragged that he had “killed him with one bullet”. In the end, Sims was found guilty of first degree murder and was sentenced to death.  In 1999, convicted killer Allen Lee Davis was executed in Florida by the routine method of the electric chair. During his execution, blood began rapidly pouring out of his nose, and witnesses reported that Davis was still alive after the electrocution stopped. The execution was considered by some to have been botched, and this prompted the United States Supreme Court to challenge the use of Florida’s electric chair, temporarily halting all executions in the state. By this time, other U.S. states had converted their execution method to lethal injection, and Florida soon also decided to change its method. Sims, who had spent over 20-years on death row, was scheduled to be executed on November 2, 1999. However, a judge awarded Sims a stay of execution, rescheduling it to February 23 the next year. A week before his scheduled execution, Sims challenged the use of lethal injection, but his appeals were denied.  Sims was executed on February 23, 2000, at the Florida State Prison in Raiford, Florida.

2003 – Guo Zhongmin – was born on June 24, 1966, in the People’s Republic of China. He is known for a tragic event that took place on February 18, 2003, in Yangxiaoxiang, Huludao, People’s Republic of China. Due to a land dispute with three neighbors, he armed himself with a knife and a stick, entered their homes, and stabbed or beat a total of 13 people, all of whom died as a result.  The victims included Liu Changrui, Liu Changyu (wife of Liu Changrui), Liu Yumei (daughter of Liu Changrui), Liu Meng (daughter of Liu Changrui), the grandson and granddaughter of Liu Changrui, a nephew and niece of Liu Changrui, Guo Zhongren (Guo’s cousin), the wife and son of Guo Zhongren, Zhang Baohua, and Li Guoren (Zhang Baohua’s brother-in-law).  After the incident, Guo fled and hid in the mountains. More than 1000 police officers were involved in the manhunt for him. On February 23, 2003, when he was surrounded, Guo committed suicide by swallowing pesticide. His actions and the subsequent events left a deep scar on the local community.

Events

Lord Liverpool

1820 – The Cato Street conspiracy was uncovered, this was an attempt to murder the British Prime Minister, Lord Liverpool, and all cabinet ministers

1898 – In France, Emile Zola is imprisoned for writing his “J’accuse” letter which accused the government of anti-semitism and for wrongly imprisoning Alfred Dreyfus

1998 – The US Supreme Court allows Megan’s Law, which allows the public access to sex offender information stand as it is deemed constitutional

2010 – Unknown criminals who knew the inner workings of the plant pour more than 2.5 million liters of diesel oil and other hydrocarbons into the River Lambro in Northern Italy causing an environmental disaster

2020 – African American Ahmaud Arbery is shot to death after being chased down by 3 white men in Brunswick, Georgia. A video of the killing emerged in May, prompting arrests