Births

Frank Abagnale

1923 – Jean S. Harris – Harris was the headteacher at The Madeira School, an exclusive girl’s school in McLean, Virginia and she was dating Dr. Herman Tarnower, the author of the popular Scarsdale Diet. In the late winter of 1980, as the students were preparing to leave for vacation some of them staged a sit-in to complain about the curriculum, teachers, and headteacher, these events made Harris quite despondent and depressed and she drove the 260+ miles it takes to get to Tarnowers home as she had suicidal thoughts but wanted to chat to the Doctor once more when she got there she discovered he was having a sexual relationship with another and she confronted him, at which point he called her crazy and demanded she got out of his house, in a moment of madness she pulled out her .32 caliber revolver and shot him.

1942 – Joseph Wesbecker – gained notoriety for his involvement in a tragic incident known as the Louisville shooting. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Wesbecker’s life took a dark turn as he struggled with mental health issues. Wesbecker worked at the Standard Gravure Corporation, a printing company, for several years. His employment history included various positions within the company. Despite holding down a job, Wesbecker’s mental health deteriorated over time. He faced significant challenges, including a diagnosis of bipolar disorder and depression, which were exacerbated by stressors in both his personal and professional life. The turning point in Wesbecker’s life came on September 14, 1989, when he carried out a mass shooting at the Standard Gravure Corporation in Louisville. Armed with an AK-47-style semi-automatic rifle, Wesbecker entered the workplace and opened fire, ultimately killing eight people and injuring 12 others before turning the gun on himself. The incident shocked the community and sparked discussions about workplace violence, mental health, and gun control. In the aftermath of the shooting, investigations into Wesbecker’s background revealed a troubled individual who had faced challenges coping with his mental health issues. The tragedy at the Standard Gravure Corporation contributed to broader discussions about the importance of addressing mental health in the workplace and implementing measures to prevent such incidents. Joseph Wesbecker’s life and the events leading to the Louisville shooting serve as a somber reminder of the complex interplay between mental health, access to firearms, and workplace safety. The incident prompted increased awareness and efforts to address mental health concerns in various settings, including workplaces across the United States.

1948 – Frank Abagnale – is a fascinating figure – a notorious con artist, skilled forger, and international fugitive who, after serving his time, transformed himself into a respected security consultant and fraud prevention expert. His life is a wild rollercoaster of crime, capture, and redemption, with many twists and turns still debated today. Born in Bronxville, New York in 1948, Abagnale’s life took a tumultuous turn when his parents separated, leading to a volatile home environment. This early instability, coupled with a knack for mimicry and a youthful rebellion, paved the way for his future exploits. Abagnale’s teenage years were marked by a string of cons and impersonations. He successfully posed as a Pan Am pilot, conning his way into free flights and first-class travel. He forged checks with uncanny skill, swindling banks and businesses out of millions. He even became a fake doctor and Georgia assistant state attorney general, demonstrating his audacity and talent for deception. However, Abagnale’s luck soon ran out. FBI agent Carl Hanratty became his relentless pursuer, meticulously tracking his trail across the globe. After five years and twenty-six aliases, Abagnale was finally apprehended in France in 1970. Faced with a hefty prison sentence, Abagnale offered the FBI a deal: his expertise in exchange for parole. He began teaching agents about forgery and fraud, demonstrating the inner workings of the criminal mind. This marked the beginning of his transformation from con artist to security consultant. After his release, Abagnale founded Abagnale & Associates, a company specializing in fraud prevention and security consultations. He lectures extensively, sharing his unique insights with financial institutions, law enforcement agencies, and the public. His story has been immortalized in the bestselling autobiography “Catch Me If You Can” and the acclaimed film adaptation starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Despite his successful reintegration and contributions to society, Abagnale’s past remains shrouded in some controversy. The extent of his claims, particularly regarding the scale and specifics of his criminal activities, continues to be debated. Some argue his autobiography embellishes certain aspects for dramatic effect. Love him or loathe him, Frank Abagnale remains an undeniable icon. He represents the allure of the conman, the thrill of living on the edge, and the potential for redemption even after committing grave mistakes. His story serves as a cautionary tale against the pitfalls of crime, while simultaneously highlighting the power of self-reflection and reinvention. In conclusion, Frank Abagnale’s life is a complex tapestry woven with deceit, brilliance, and ultimately, a desire to make amends. Whether he’s viewed as a charming rogue or a dangerous criminal, his story continues to captivate and challenge us to understand the motivations and complexities of human nature.

1958 – Debra Starr – 24-year-old Starr was a heroin addict who had been accused of embezzlement by her boyfriend 62-year-old Paul Lingnau and he was due to give evidence, Starr was on parole for previous crimes and knew that another conviction would send her to prison for an extended period so she arranged for another boyfriend to kill Lingnau, the police had no evidence that Starr was involved and for 14 years she got away with murder.

1963 – William Kitchens – On the night of May 16, 1986, Patricia Webb, a 25-year-old woman, attended an office party and later visited two nightclubs with a group of women. At the Silver Bullet Saloon, they encountered William Joseph Kitchens. He seemed amiable and danced with several women, including Patricia. However, there was no indication that Kitchens and Webb were forming a romantic connection. The last time the woman saw Webb, she was saying goodbye and offering to drive Kitchens home in her Pontiac Fiero. The next evening, police in Blanchard, Oklahoma, pursued a speeding car that eventually got stuck in a ditch and was abandoned. The car was identified as Webb’s. The police tracked down Kitchens at his parents’ home, arrested him, and found a .22 pistol, which was later confirmed as the murder weapon. Kitchens confessed to killing Webb in writing. He stated that he had met her in Abilene, returned to his motel with her, and had sexual intercourse. They then went for a drive that ended on a secluded, dark road. Although he couldn’t recall all the details, he remembered shooting Webb in the head in the woods. Kitchens led the officers to Webb’s body. An autopsy revealed that she had been beaten, strangled, and finally shot in the eye from close range. During the sentencing phase of the trial, Kitchens confessed to a police officer that he had decided to kill Webb at the motel. He admitted that he might have forced her to drive him to the secluded area where she was killed. He also confessed to pulling her out of the car by her hair, grabbing her by the throat, and leading her into the woods where he shot her. Kitchens explained that he was intoxicated at the time and thought he was doing these things to his wife. The jury took only 15 minutes to sentence him to death. At his execution, Kitchens addressed Webb’s family, saying, “I want you to know that Patty was always faithful to you, that I forced her for everything that she did, and I am sorry.”

1968 – Juan Rodriguez Chavez – He was the middle child of nineteen children born to a couple of itinerant farm workers. About three months after his birth, the entire Chavez family moved to West Dallas, a neighborhood populated predominantly by other Mexican Americans. At the age of 17, Chavez and two accomplices broke into the home of Raul and Vincente Mendoza with the intent of robbing them. During the robbery, the trio opened fire on the pair, partially blinding Raul and killing Vincente in the process. All three of them were arrested, tried, and convicted of murder and aggravated robbery, with Chavez receiving a 15-year sentence for his participation. While in prison, Chavez joined the Texas Syndicate, a violent prison gang, and committed upwards of 40 violations. Despite his actions, Chavez was paroled in April 1994. Shortly after being paroled, Chavez, together with a teenage accomplice, killed eleven people in Dallas, Texas during a crime spree lasting from March to July 1995. For these crimes, Chavez was sentenced to death and subsequently executed in 2003. He was also known as “The Thrill Killer”, and was an American serial killer and spree killer. His life and crimes have been the subject of numerous books and documentaries.

1971 – Sean Padraic Kenney – also known as Richard Feaster, is a convicted murderer. He was sentenced to death for the murder of 24-year-old gas station attendant, Keith Donaghy, in October 1993. In an attempt to rob him of $190, Kenney shot Donaghy with a sawed-off shotgun. In the same robbery, Kenney also killed a 55-year-old gas station employee, Richard Pine, by stabbing him and slashing his throat. This murder occurred a half-mile from the first killing. For this crime, he received a life sentence in a separate trial. The defense argued that Kenney was unable to control his impulses, but the prosecution disagreed, stating that the “facts of the case show it was the result of intelligent planning”. The investigation of Keith Donaghy’s murder did not immediately lead to Kenney. However, Richard Feaster’s companions from the bar eventually came forward with information about the killings, and the shotgun used to execute Keith Donaghy was located. As a result, Feaster was charged with both murders.

1973 – Timothy McGhee – He’s half Scottish, half Mexican, and ALL serial killer! McGhee is a member of the violent street gang Toonerville Rifa 13 in Los Angeles and whilst he was their leader he gained the nickname “Monster of Atwater” when he murdered people as part of gang culture, after this, he got a taste for killing and over time murdered at least 12 people but is suspected of many many more. He was convicted of numerous charges and given the death penalty plus 75 years, however, due to a moratorium on the death penalty in California, he is now serving life.

Deaths

Ernst August Wagner

1896 – Carl Feigenbaum – A German immigrant who had taken up lodgings with Mrs. Juliana Hoffman and her son Michael, on the 1st September 1894, Feigenbaum was caught going through some cupboards that contained the valuables of Mrs. Hoffman by the lady herself and he attacked, she started screaming which woke Michael who came running to help his mom but Feigenbaum had a knife so Michael jumped out of a window so he could call for help, Michael saw Feigenbaum stab and slit his mother’s throat and then make a run for it but he was caught a short time later. He was convicted and executed at Sing Sing prison in New York, once he was gone, his lawyer stated that Feigenbaum had confessed to being Jack the Ripper.

1938 – Ernst August Wagner – was born on September 22, 1874, in Eglosheim near Ludwigsburg, Germany. He was the ninth of ten children in a family that faced significant hardship. His father, a poor peasant with drinking problems, died just before Ernst’s second birthday, and the family was forced to sell their farm due to debt. Despite these challenges, Wagner was quite intelligent and did well enough at school to earn a public stipend. This allowed him to study and become a teacher. He worked as an auxiliary teacher at several schools in Württemberg from 1894 to 1901. However, Wagner’s life took a dark turn on September 4, 1913. He killed his wife and four children by stabbing in Degerloch. He then drove to Mühlhausen an der Enz where he set several fires and shot 20 people, of whom at least nine died. He was beaten unconscious by furious villagers and left for dead. Wagner was the first person in Württemberg to be found not guilty by reason of insanity after several psychiatric assessments had diagnosed him with paranoia. He was brought to an asylum in Winnenthal, where he wrote several plays and dramas. He died there of tuberculosis in 1938.

1982 – Woo Bum-Kon – was a South Korean policeman and spree killer. He was born in Pusan, South Gyeongsang, South Korea. Before his police career, Woo served in the Republic of Korea Marine Corps, where he was recognized as a skilled marksman until his discharge in 1978. From April 11 until December 30, 1981, he served as a police officer and, with his marksmanship ability, was able to work as a guard at the Blue House. However, Woo’s excessive drinking habits and subsequent behavior caused him to be demoted to his position at Kungyu Village in Uiryeong County, South Gyeongsang Province. Woo Bum-Kon is infamous for murdering 62 people and wounding around 35 others in several villages in Uiryeong County, South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea, during the night from April 26 to April 27, 1982, before committing suicide. At the time, Woo’s rampage was the worst mass shooting in modern history committed by a single perpetrator and remains the second deadliest, later surpassed only by the 2011 Norway terrorist attacks. It was also the deadliest deliberate single loss of life in South Korean history until the Daegu Subway Inferno in 2003.

1990 – Ronald Raymond Woomer – also known as “Rusty”, was born in 1964 in Point Pleasant, Mason County, West Virginia, USA. He is known as a spree killer who committed a series of robberies and murders. His victims included John Turner (67), Arnie Richardson (27), Earldean Wright (35), and Della Sellers (34). These crimes took place on February 21 and 22, 1979. Woomer and his accomplice, Gene Skaar, traveled from West Virginia to South Carolina in February 1979 with the express purpose of committing robbery and murder. They stole a coin collection and clothing from the home of John Turner in Colleton County on February 22. Woomer was arrested in February 1979 and was sentenced to death for his crimes. He was executed by electrocution in South Carolina on April 27, 1990. His last words were “I’m sorry,” and he claimed Jesus Christ as his savior. He was buried at Mount Carmel Cemetery in Buford, Ohio County, Kentucky, USA.

1994 – Timothy Wilson Spencer – also known as The Southside Strangler, was born on March 17, 1962, in Green Valley, Virginia, U.S. He was an American serial killer who committed three rapes and murders in Richmond, Virginia, and one in Arlington, Virginia, in the fall of 1987. In addition, he is believed to have committed at least one previous murder, in 1984, for which a different man, David Vasquez, was wrongfully convicted. Spencer was known to police as a prolific home burglar. His victims included Debbie Dudley Davis, a 35-year-old account executive; Dr. Susan Hellams, a resident in neurosurgery at the Medical College of Virginia; Diane Cho, a 15-year-old high school student; and Susan Tucker, 44. All of these victims were raped and strangled in circumstances similar to each other. Spencer became the first serial killer in the United States to be convicted based on DNA evidence, with David Vasquez being the first to be exonerated following a conviction based on exculpatory DNA evidence. He was executed by electrocution on April 27, 1994, at the Greensville Correctional Center, Jarratt, Virginia, U.S.

1995 – Gowri Shankar – better known as ‘Auto’ Shankar, was an Indian criminal, serial killer, and gangster from Tamil Nadu, who was active in Chennai throughout the 1970s and 1980s. He was born on 21 January 1954 in Kangeyanallur, Vellore District, India, and died on 27 April 1995 in Salem Central Prison, Salem, Tamil Nadu, India. Shankar was born in Kangeyanallur near Vellore. In the early 1970s, he moved to Chennai, first living in a Mylapore slum before moving to the fast-developing area of Thiruvanmiyur on the outskirts of South Chennai. He survived by peddling cycle rickshaws and later began to operate an auto rickshaw, from which he got his nickname. Shankar had several wives. He married his first wife, Jagadeeswari, early in his criminal career and had 4 children with her. The marriage ended due to her suicide by self-immolation. His third wife, Lalitha, was a performer at a cabaret club he frequented. During his final years, Shankar is said to have adopted Christianity and quoted the Bible on multiple occasions during the listing of his biography. Shankar began transporting illegal liquor (prohibition being in force at the time) and soon realized that prostitution was more profitable with lower risks, due to its association with politically influential people who could keep the police in check. His gang eliminated rivals either through the police force or through murder. An incident in which a rival gangster named Babu was murdered in the early 1980s, and which was ultimately covered up led Shankar to focus more on prostitution. Shankar’s third wife, Lalitha, ran off with a pimp and Shankar’s friend, Sudalaimuthu, and started their outfit in the sex trade. An enraged Shankar planned his revenge by pretending to reconcile with the two through mutual friends. One night in October 1987, he invited her to one of his places in Periyar Nagar, then killed and buried her. He then rented the house to an old widow for Rs. 150. Shankar told Sudalai that Lalitha was on an all-India tour with a VIP, and two months later invited him for dinner. Shankar loaded Sudalai with liquor, strangled him, burned his body, and dumped his ashes in the sea. He then had the house renovated and explained away the burn marks by claiming they were roasted meat. When Sudalai’s friend Ravi confronted Shankar, Shankar killed him and buried him outside his Periyar Nagar plot. He claimed the burial was of illegal arrack that he was hiding from an upcoming police raid, and posted a false letter to his wife claiming Ravi was in fact in Mumbai. Shankar was charged with 6 brutal murders and was given the death penalty in 1995 at the age of 41. He was found guilty of the crimes he committed for 2 years, from 1988 to 1989.

2005 – Donald Jones – An American drug addict from St. Louis County, Missouri who visited his grandmother, Dorothy Knuckles to get money from her for crack cocaine, she refused and lectured him about his drug and alcohol abuses, Jones became enraged at this, and beat her with a butcher’s block and she starting screaming, to stop her he grabbed a knife and stabbed her until she stopped.

2006 – Dexter Lee Vinson – was a man from Suffolk, who attended John F. Kennedy High School. He was sentenced to death in February 1999 for the April 1997 murder of his former girlfriend, Angela Felton. Ms. Felton’s mutilated body was discovered in a deserted house in the city of Portsmouth. She had last been seen the previous day, with Dexter Vinson. There were serious doubts about Vinson’s guilt, as one supposed eyewitness admitted that the testimony she gave at Vinson’s preliminary hearing was false. Further evidence reportedly indicates that another supposed eyewitness, who only identified Vinson as the perpetrator at his trial, initially told police she was not sure she would be able to identify the man she had seen. Before his trial, Dexter Lee Vinson was assessed by a clinical psychologist who initially found that Dexter exhibited some characteristics of psychiatric illness and who recommended that he should receive further interviewing and psychological evaluation. Despite the doubts and concerns, Vinson was executed by injection on April 27, 2006. His execution was the first that year in Virginia, a state that has put to death 95 people since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.

Events

Jack “Legs” Diamond

1931 – Gangster Legs Diamond is shot in the head but survives

1936 – The Kay Jewelry Store in Lima, Ohio, was held up and robbed for the second time by Alfred Brady, James Dalhover, and Clarence Lee Shaffer. Approximately $8,000 ( $177,144.75 as of 2023) of jewelry was taken

1982 – The trial of John Hinckley begins

2018 – Mass protests break out across Spain after five men are convicted of sexual abuse and not rape

2019 – A shooter opens fire at a synagogue in Poway, California killing one person and injuring three