Births

Gary Steven Krist

1934 – Warren Aloysious Kimbro – became a figure inseparable from the turbulent times and radical ideals of the Black Panther Party (BPP). His life, marked by both defiance and tragedy, offers a window into the struggles and complexities of the Black Power movement. Kimbro’s early life was steeped in the realities of racial segregation in America. Growing up in New Haven’s predominantly Black Dixwell Avenue neighborhood, he witnessed firsthand the systemic injustices faced by his community. This, along with his education at the prestigious, yet historically white, Harvard University, fueled his growing political consciousness. In the mid-1960s, Kimbro embraced the BPP’s revolutionary message of self-defense and Black liberation. He joined the New Haven chapter, rising to become a prominent figure known for his charismatic leadership and fiery rhetoric. This was a period of intense activism for the BPP, fighting for police brutality reform, community outreach programs, and political education. However, Kimbro’s story also grapples with the darker chapters of the movement. In 1969, he was accused and subsequently convicted of the murder of fellow Panther Alex Rackley, a case shrouded in controversy and accusations of political persecution. This event cast a long shadow over Kimbro’s life, forever challenging his legacy and sparking ongoing debates about intra-party tensions and judicial fairness. Despite the adversity, Kimbro maintained his commitment to the Black Power movement throughout his life. He served his sentence with dignity, becoming a mentor and advocate for incarcerated youth. Upon release, he remained active in community organizing and political activism, fighting for social justice and economic equality. Warren Aloysious Kimbro passed away in 2009, leaving behind a legacy that remains both contentious and captivating. He was a complex figure, a brilliant orator, and a skilled organizer, yet also caught in the maelstrom of the BPP’s internal conflicts. His life story serves as a reminder of the movement’s multifaceted history, its triumphs and challenges, and the enduring quest for racial justice in America.

1938 – Bernard “Bernie” Madoff – once a respected Wall Street figure, became synonymous with fraud and deceit after orchestrating the largest Ponzi scheme in history. His story is a cautionary tale of ambition, greed, and the devastating consequences of unchecked financial crime. Born in Queens, New York in 1938, Madoff’s early life was relatively unremarkable. He studied political science at Hofstra University and briefly attended law school before entering the financial world in the 1960s. Starting with penny stocks, he gradually built his firm, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities, into a seemingly successful investment management company. Madoff’s secret weapon was a massive Ponzi scheme. He promised investors steady, high returns, but instead of actually investing their money, he used it to pay out earlier investors, creating the illusion of success. This web of deceit continued for decades, fueled by Madoff’s charisma, industry connections, and a sophisticated system of forged documents and fake trading accounts. The 2008 financial crisis exposed Madoff’s scheme. With investors clamoring for their money, the house of cards began to crumble. In December 2008, Madoff confessed his crimes to his sons, who alerted the authorities. He was arrested shortly thereafter and pleaded guilty to 11 federal felonies. Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison, where he died in 2021. His victims, ranging from wealthy celebrities to ordinary retirees, lost billions of dollars. The Madoff scandal had a profound ripple effect, shaking investor confidence and prompting stricter financial regulations. Madoff’s story is not just about financial figures and legal proceedings. It’s about the human cost of his actions. Families were shattered, livelihoods destroyed, and lives irrevocably changed. The legacy of Bernie Madoff serves as a stark reminder of the devastating consequences of greed and the importance of ethical conduct in the financial world.

1945 – Gary Steven Krist – is a name synonymous with a notorious kidnapping that shook America in the 1960s. However, his life narrative is more than just a single act of darkness. It’s a complex tapestry woven with threads of desperation, manipulation, and ultimately, a quest for redemption. Krist’s early life was shrouded in anonymity. He joined the Navy at 17, seeking adventure and escape from a seemingly mundane existence. But military life didn’t provide the fulfillment he craved, and he soon found himself entangled in drug smuggling and petty crime. These activities, fueled by an insatiable hunger for wealth and excitement, would ultimately set him on a collision course with destiny. In 1968, Krist masterminded the abduction of socialite Barbara Jane Mackle. He held her captive for days, burying her alive in a coffin-like box and demanding a hefty ransom. The nation stood transfixed by the unfolding drama, and Krist, propelled by the media frenzy, became a symbol of cold-blooded villainy. However, the story took an unexpected turn when Mackle was miraculously rescued after six days. Krist, cornered and desperate, fled across the country with his accomplice, leaving a trail of chaos and deceit. Their final days on the run culminated in a dramatic capture in Florida, marking the end of Krist’s criminal spree. While awaiting trial, Krist embarked on a journey of introspection. He penned a memoir, “Life: The Man Who Kidnapped Barbara Jane Mackle,” offering a chillingly candid account of his crimes and motives. The book, laced with remorse and self-awareness, ignited a debate about the nature of evil and the possibility of redemption. Krist was sentenced to life imprisonment, though his incarceration wasn’t a passive acceptance of his fate. He actively sought rehabilitation, enrolling in educational programs and counseling sessions. He became a model prisoner, even assisting authorities in solving other crimes. This transformation, however, couldn’t erase the shadow of his past. In 2021, after serving over 52 years behind bars, Krist was granted parole. His release drew mixed reactions, with some advocating for his second chance and others wary of the past resurfacing.

1951 – Freddie Lee Wright – was an African American man from Alabama, USA. He was involved in a notorious criminal case that led to his execution. In 1977, Wright was charged with the murder of Warren and Lois Green during a robbery of their store in Mount Vernon, southern Alabama. Initially, another man, Theodore Roberts, was charged with the murders, but the charges were dropped seven months later, and Wright was charged instead. Wright was first tried in 1979, and the mixed-race jury voted 11-1 to acquit, leading to a mistrial. However, he was retried about a month later with an all-white jury. This time, Wright’s former girlfriend, Doris Lambert, testified that Wright had confessed to the murders to her. After a two-day trial, Wright was convicted and sentenced to death. Despite maintaining his innocence and claims of important exculpatory evidence being withheld, Wright was executed in Alabama’s electric chair on March 3, 2000.

1954 – Larry Donnell Andrews – was an American armed robber, murderer, and anti-crime advocate. He was one of the inspirations for the character Omar Little on the HBO series The Wire. Andrews grew up in a housing project in West Baltimore, Maryland, where he was physically abused by his mother. He became an armed robber who targeted drug dealers, with a code of ethics that included never involving women or children. In 1986, local drug kingpin Warren Boardley convinced Andrews to take on the contract killing of Zachary Roach and Rodney “Touche” Young. Filled with guilt, Andrews surrendered himself to Ed Burns, a homicide detective with the Baltimore Police Department. In 1987, Andrews was sentenced to life in prison for the two murders. While in prison, he ended his addiction to heroin, studied, and helped other inmates by running an anti-gang workshop. Detective Burns introduced him to Fran Boyd, whose family was prominently featured in The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood, a 1997 book by Burns and David Simon. Andrews encouraged Boyd to get clean. Andrews was paroled from prison in 2005. While Andrews was in prison, Simon sent him copies of the newspaper, and Andrews gave Simon information about crimes taking place in Baltimore. Simon named Andrews a consultant on The Wire, a critically acclaimed HBO series about crime in Baltimore that ran from 2002 to 2008. Simon used Andrews as one of the inspirations for the character Omar Little, a stickup artist who never targeted innocent bystanders. After his release from prison, Andrews performed youth outreach. His foundation, Why Murder? attempted to steer children away from a life of crime. He portrayed Donnie on The Wire, an associate of Omar and his advisor Butchie. Andrews and Fran Boyd married on August 11, 2007. Andrews passed away in December 2012. 

1955 – Reginald W. Perkins – was an American serial killer and sex offender. Born on April 29, 1955, in Woodruff County, Arkansas, Perkins left his home state at a young age and grew up in Texas. In the 1970s, he moved to Cleveland, Ohio to be closer to his mother. Perkins was executed in Texas for the murder of his stepmother in December 2000. Additionally, DNA evidence linked him to the murders of two women in Fort Worth in 1991. He is also suspected of killing three more women in Ohio in the early 1980s.

1958 – Robert Wayne Vickers – also known as “Bonzai Bob”, was born on April 29, 1958. He entered Arizona’s prison system as a teenager in 1977, after committing 12 burglaries in 13 days in Tempe. His first murder came on October 4, 1978, when Vickers killed his cellmate, Frank Ponziano, allegedly because Ponziano did not wake him up for lunch and drank Vickers’ Kool-Aid. Vickers also carved the word “Bonazi” on Ponziano’s back using a sharpened toothbrush. Vickers was known for creating makeshift knives and bombs, which he used to attack more than 11 prison guards during his two decades behind bars. In August 1988, Vickers escaped from death row at the Florence prison and, along with another inmate, climbed atop the roof of Cellblock 6 through a shaft. However, they were eventually brought down by officers rushing to the roof. On March 4, 1982, while on death row for the Ponziano murder, Vickers killed another death row inmate, Buster Holsinger, by setting him on fire. The attack also nearly killed a half-dozen other inmates due to smoke inhalation and forced officials to evacuate death row. Vickers was executed on May 5, 1999. Despite his violent history, he was not an imposing figure to look at. He was thin, standing six feet one inch and weighing 148 pounds.

1966 – Michael Alig – was an American club promoter and artist who was born on April 29, 1966. He was one of the main figures of the Club Kids, a group of young New York City clubgoers that became a cultural phenomenon in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Alig was born and raised in South Bend, Indiana. After graduating from Penn High School in 1984, he attended Fordham University in New York City. He later transferred to the Fashion Institute of Technology, where he was introduced to New York City nightlife. While working at Danceteria, Alig learned the nightclub business and soon became a party promoter. His ability to stage memorable parties helped him rise in New York’s party scene. During this time, Alig and other regular clubgoers began creating flamboyant personas, and later became known as “Club Kids”. In March 1996, Alig and his roommate, Robert D. “Freeze” Riggs, killed fellow Club Kid Andre “Angel” Melendez in a confrontation over a drug debt. In October 1997, Alig pled guilty to first-degree manslaughter. Both men were sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison. Alig was released on parole in May 2014. On Christmas Eve, 2020, Alig died at his Washington Heights home from an accidental drug overdose at the age of 54. His life and career remain a significant part of New York City’s club culture history.

1970 – Rodney Charles Rachal – is a convicted criminal known for his involvement in a fatal robbery that took place on October 25, 1990. Born on April 29, 1970, Rachal was a 20-year-old father of eight children at the time of his arrest. In the incident, Rachal and several friends formed a plan to commit robbery at an apartment complex known for its high rate of pedestrian traffic. The group lured three men into an ambush, where Rachal confronted the victims with a .357 caliber handgun. During the robbery, Rachal shot two of the victims in the head, killing one of them. He also shot another bystander, who survived. Rachal was arrested a few days later in possession of a .357 caliber handgun. He provided the police with a detailed written confession, which was admitted at trial. He was convicted of capital murder in October 1992 and was sentenced to death on March 9, 1993. In 2012, Rachal won a new punishment hearing due to guidelines covering punishment phases of capital murder trials being refined by rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court. However, he remains on death row.

Deaths

Frank Basil McFarland

1943 – August Sangret – was born on 28 August 1913 and passed away on 29 April 1943. He was a French-Canadian soldier who was known for the infamous “Wigwam Murder” case. Sangret was born in Battleford, Saskatchewan. He was of mixed race, part French Canadian and part Cree Indian. His early life was marked by poverty and illness, and he received no formal education. Despite this, he was described as modestly intelligent and had an excellent memory. He spoke both English and the Cree language fluently. He worked as a farm laborer in the town of Maidstone in the 1920s, developing a muscular physique due to the outdoor work. He had a history of contracting venereal diseases, indicating his sexual promiscuity. Throughout the 1930s, he had an extensive criminal record, including convictions for violent assault, threatening to shoot a woman, vagrancy, and theft. In September 1942, Sangret was convicted and subsequently hanged for the murder of 19-year-old Joan Pearl Wolfe in Surrey, England. This case, known as the “Wigwam Murder”, was so named because Wolfe had been living in two separate, improvised wigwams on Hankley Common in the months preceding her murder. This case marked the first occasion in British legal history in which a murder victim’s skull was introduced as evidence at trial.

1957 – Nicolo “Cola” Schiro – was an early Sicilian-born New York City mobster who, in 1912, became the boss of what later became known as the Bonanno crime family. He was a ruthless and ambitious leader who helped to build the family into one of the most powerful in the city. Schiro was born on September 2, 1872, in the town of Roccamena, in the Province of Palermo, Sicily. His father’s family came from the Arbëreshë community of Contessa Entellina. A few years later, Schiro’s family moved to his mother’s hometown in nearby Camporeale. In 1897, Schiro emigrated to the United States. He settled in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, where he became involved in the local Italian community. He soon joined the Mafia and quickly rose through the ranks. In 1912, Schiro was appointed boss of the Bonanno family. He immediately set about expanding the family’s operations. He controlled gambling and protection rackets in Brooklyn and engaged in bootlegging during Prohibition. He also printed counterfeit money. Schiro’s leadership of the mafia clan was marked by violence. He was responsible for the deaths of several rivals, including the “Good Killers,” a group of Sicilian gangsters who had been challenging the Bonanno family’s control of Brooklyn. In 1927, Schiro was forced to step down as boss of the Bonanno family. He was replaced by Joe Bonanno, who had become a powerful figure in the Mafia. Schiro returned to Sicily, where he died in 1957. Schiro was a controversial figure. He was feared and respected by his associates, but he was also hated by his enemies. He was a ruthless and ambitious man who helped to build the Bonanno family into one of the most powerful in the city.

1998 – Arthur Martin Ross – was born on May 24, 1954. He is known for a crime he committed in Tucson, Arizona, USA. On April 10, 1990, Ross telephoned James Ruble, a 26-year-old male real estate agent, expressing interest in leasing a vacant office. Once inside the business, Ross shot Ruble twice in the head with a nine-millimeter handgun. He then fled with Ruble’s wallet, which contained a credit card, a bank card, and identification. Ross used the bank card to withdraw approximately $800 from Ruble’s account at automatic teller machines in Tucson and Casa Grande. He was arrested in Casa Grande on April 14, 1990. Ross was executed by lethal injection in Arizona on April 29, 1998.

1998 – Frank Basil McFarland – An American rapist and murderer found responsible for the brutal rape and murder of 26-year-old Terry Lynn Hokanson when found she had been stabbed at least fifty times but was able to describe her assailants before succumbing to her injuries the next day. McFarland’s accomplice, Ryan Wilson was found shot to death a month later and McFarland faced a second murder charge, he was eventually found guilty and sentenced to death. He was executed by lethal injection in Texas on April 29, 1998.

1999 – Ronald Dale Yeatts – was born on December 10, 1960, in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, USA. He was the son of Curtis Lee Yeatts and Mary Ellen Millner Yeatts. Yeatts was involved in a crime that led to his execution. On September 23, 1989, he and an accomplice, Charles Michael Vernon, went to the remote farmhouse of Ruby Meeks Dodson, a 70-year-old widow, in Ringgold, looking for drug money. They pretended to have car trouble and asked for water. Once inside, they ransacked Dodson’s home and took $1,400 from her. Dodson was found dead on her kitchen floor. Yeatts was sentenced for the murder of Ruby Meeks Dodson. Despite maintaining his innocence, his attorney, Gerald T. Zerkin of Richmond, stated in the clemency plea to Governor James S. Gilmore III that Yeatts was the killer. However, the jury in Yeatts’s 1990 trial was not informed that Yeatts would not be eligible for parole for 30 years if they gave him a life sentence. Governor Gilmore denied clemency and the Supreme Court turned down a final appeal and stay request. Yeatts was executed by injection on April 29, 1999, at the age of 38, in Jarratt, Greensville County, Virginia, USA. He was buried at Danville Memorial Gardens in Danville, Danville City, Virginia, USA.

2002 – Dragoslav Petkovic – Petkovic was the perpetrator of a 2002 school shooting in Banja Luka, Bosnia-Herzegovina in which a history teacher died, another teacher was injured and then the perpetrator took his own life. From reports, it is believed that Petkovic may have shot and killed the teacher as he believed he would fail the class.

2009 – William Mark Mize – also known by several aliases including William Talento, Chad Harris, and Phillip Gonzalez, is a notorious figure in American history. Born in El Paso, Texas, in 1961, Mize grew up in the San Francisco suburbs with his mother Eve. In a fit of teenage rebellion, he left home to work as a waiter. On a trip to Idaho, he met Teresa Mastin, a 15-year-old who swiftly became his first wife after she got pregnant. The family grew larger with the arrival of William Mize II. Mize’s biological father, who had been absent throughout his childhood, was suddenly on the scene. Far from harboring ill feelings towards his father, Mize called his son Will in his honor. The newborn would be William Mize V, as his father for some reason decided to skip a generation in his suffix, preferring to be known as William Mize IV. The family decided to move to the state capital of California, Sacramento, where Mize’s daughter Angela was born in 1984. Mize is infamous for orchestrating a criminal scheme involving his family that managed to swindle millions of dollars from insurance companies. Between 2006 and 2017, Mize orchestrated over 30 falsified automobile accidents involving his wife, children, nephew, and a supporting cast of accomplices. He would cut up his accomplices with a razor or a box cutter, spraying real blood on the vehicles to make the set-ups more credible. In exchange, they pocketed $6 million between them. Mize was convicted for the 1994 murder of Eddie Tucker. Mize was the leader of a small group, similar to the Ku Klux Klan, called the National Vastilian Aryan Party (NVAP). Witnesses testified that Mize made all the decisions for the NVAP. On October 15, 1994, several NVAP members and applicants gathered at Mize’s home. Those present were Mize, Mark Allen, Chris Hattrup, Brian Dove, Samantha Doster (Mize’s girlfriend), and Tucker. Mize told the group that there was a crack house in Athens that he wanted “gotten rid of.” He stated that he wanted Hattrup and Tucker to set the house on fire, and they stopped at a convenience store and bought a can of lighter fluid. Hattrup and Tucker were dropped off near the house but their attempt to set it on fire was unsuccessful. When they rejoined the group, Hattrup told Mize that he needed to talk with him. Hattrup also said, referring to Tucker, that they “didn’t need anybody around that couldn’t follow orders”. A jury found Mize guilty of malice murder in the shooting death of Eddie Tucker. The jury recommended a death sentence after finding two statutory aggravating circumstances: 1) that Mize caused or directed another to commit the murder and 2) that the murder was outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible or inhuman in that it involved an aggravated battery to the victim. Mize was executed by lethal injection at the state prison in Jackson.

2014 – Clayton Lockett – was an American man born on November 22, 1975. He was abandoned by his drug-using mother at the age of three and was raised by his father, who introduced him to a life of crime and substance abuse. Lockett had his first run-in with the law at the age of sixteen in 1992, when he pleaded guilty to burglary and knowingly concealing stolen property. He was sentenced to seven years in prison. During his time in prison, he was victimized by other inmates. In 1996, he was sentenced to four years in prison for conspiracy to commit a felony. His most notorious crime occurred in June 1999, when he kidnapped and shot 19-year-old Stephanie Neiman. After shooting her, he ordered an accomplice to bury her alive. Lockett was convicted in 2000 of murder, rape, and kidnapping. He was sentenced to death plus 2,285 years in prison on October 5, 2000. His execution took place on April 29, 2014, in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. However, the execution was botched, and Lockett died 43 minutes after being sedated due to a heart attack.

Events

Boris Becker

1832 – Evariste Galois is released from prison

1872 – Jesse James Gang robs a bank in Columbia, Kentucky

1982 – Richard Kuklinski murdered pharmacist Paul Hoffmann by beating how with a tire iron

1992 – The President of Exxon, Sidney J. Reso is abducted in front of his home

2022 – A London court sentences retired Tennis star Boris Becker to 2 1/2 years in prison for hiding assets during bankruptcy proceedings