Births
Vincent Coll
1908 – Vincent “Mad Dog” Coll – better known by the fearsome nickname “Mad Dog,” was a notorious Irish-American gangster who terrorized New York City’s underworld in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Born in 1908 in a poverty-stricken region of Ireland, Coll immigrated to the U.S. with his family as a baby. A tough upbringing in New York’s rough Bronx neighborhoods led him down a dark path. By his teenage years, he was in and out of reform schools and constantly in trouble with the law. As Prohibition fueled organized crime, Coll found his calling. His ruthlessness and volatile temper made him a perfect fit for the brutal world of bootlegging gangs. He rose through the ranks to become a feared enforcer for Dutch Schultz, a prominent bootlegger. A disagreement with Schultz, possibly over money, sparked a bloody gang war. Coll formed his own outfit and challenged Schultz’s dominance. This period was marked by escalating violence, with killings on both sides. In a move that cemented his notoriety, Coll’s gang allegedly botched a kidnapping attempt in 1931. The chaos resulted in the unintended death of a five-year-old bystander. The press went wild, dubbing Coll “Mad Dog” and making him a national fugitive. Despite his fearsome reputation, Coll, with the help of a skilled lawyer, managed to escape conviction for the child’s death. However, his luck ran out shortly afterward. In 1932, while seeking refuge in a phone booth, Coll was gunned down in a gangland assassination. Vincent “Mad Dog” Coll’s criminal career, though brief, was marked by violence and chaos. He remains a chilling symbol of the gang warfare that plagued Prohibition-era America.
1949 – William Michael Parente – was a New York real estate attorney. He gained notoriety due to a tragic family incident. Born in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, he grew up as an only child and attended Brooklyn College and Brooklyn Law School. Parente married Betty Mazzarella in 1977, and they had two daughters, Stephanie and Catherine. Parente’s legal career involved making high-risk loans for projects pending permit approval, which he referred to as “bridge loans.” However, he allegedly used assets from other investments to fund these loans. When investors requested their money back, Parente couldn’t immediately comply or provide a satisfactory explanation. The devastating event occurred on April 20, 2009, when the bodies of William Parente, his wife Betty, and their daughters were found in a hotel room in Towson, Maryland. Each family member had been asphyxiated at different times. Stephanie, a student at Loyola College, was the last victim. After killing his family, Parente purchased a knife and took his own life. His actions shocked those who knew him as a hardworking family man and attorney.
1964 – Robert Charles Towery – a convicted murderer, spent years on death row before his execution by lethal injection in Arizona in March 2012. He became the 1285th murderer to be executed in the United States since 1976. Towery’s crime involved the killing of 68-year-old Mark Jones during a robbery at Jones’ Scottsdale home in Arizona on September 4, 1991. Towery and his accomplice, Randy Barker, gained entry to Jones’ home by claiming their car had broken down and they needed help. Once inside, they handcuffed Jones, stole valuables, injected him with battery acid, and strangled him to death with plastic ties. Barker later testified against Towery and was released from prison in 2001 after agreeing to a plea deal. In his final words before execution, Towery apologized to Mark Jones’ family and then delivered a cryptic message to his own family: “I love my family. Potato, potato, potato.” His attorney explained that saying the vegetable’s name three times in a row was Towery’s way of assuring his nephew that “everything was OK” – a peculiar but poignant farewell.
1978 – Ruthann Veal – a young woman with a violent criminal history, committed a heinous crime in Waterloo, Iowa. On June 15, 1993, she invaded the home of Catherine Pauley Haynes, a retired University of Northern Iowa librarian. Ruthann brutally attacked Catherine, stabbing her 23 times with a kitchen knife. The force was so intense that the six-inch blade broke off during the assault. Tragically, Catherine did not survive. Ruthann’s motivation for the attack was theft. After murdering Catherine, she stole her credit cards and went on a shopping spree. The severity of the crime led to Ruthann’s conviction for first-degree murder. Initially sentenced to life without parole (LWOP), her sentence was later reduced to life with parole. This case sheds light on the complexities of juvenile offenders and the devastating impact their actions have on victims and their families.
1988 – Blake Carter Stryker – was a young man who gained notoriety for a tragic and violent incident. Born on July 20, 1988, in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA, Stryker’s life took a dark turn on June 10, 2006. At the age of 17, he brutally murdered his next-door neighbor, Jennie Dianne Hartley, who was 47 years old. The details of the crime are chilling: Stryker stabbed Hartley 50 times inside her home. The two had known each other for years, and Hartley had even babysat Stryker in the past. Shockingly, he had helped bury her dog just days before committing this heinous act. During the trial, Stryker admitted to killing Hartley but claimed it was in self-defense. He said that after sneaking out of his house one night, he encountered Hartley outside her home around 3 a.m. When he asked her for a glass of water and to use her bathroom, she allegedly made a sexual advance and produced a knife. A struggle ensued, and Stryker ended up killing her with her own weapon. Prosecutors, however, argued that the premeditated nature of the attack was evident from the 50 stab wounds. They maintained that Stryker’s actions were not justified. Ultimately, a jury found Blake Carter Stryker guilty of first-degree murder, and he was sentenced to life in prison by Circuit Judge Pamela Campbell. Hartley’s family expressed relief at the verdict, hoping that Stryker would carry the weight of his crime for the rest of his life.
Deaths
Leona Helmsley
1923 – Pancho Villa – born Doroteo Arango around 1878, was a pivotal figure in the Mexican Revolution. His life, a whirlwind of violence, heroism, and political intrigue, continues to fascinate. Villa’s youth was marked by hardship. After his father’s death, he became responsible for his family. In a tragic turn, he killed a hacienda owner who threatened his sister, forcing him to flee into the mountains. There, he adopted the name Pancho Villa and became an outlaw. Mexico was ripe for revolution under dictator Porfirio Díaz. Villa joined Francisco Madero’s uprising in 1910, his guerilla tactics proving highly effective. Villa’s cavalry, the Division del Norte, played a key role in ousting Díaz and bringing Madero to power in 1911. Betrayal struck again when Madero was overthrown and assassinated in 1913. Villa, ever the fighter, joined the Constitutionalist Army under Venustiano Carranza to oppose the new dictator, Victoriano Huerta. Villa’s victories, including the capture of major cities, secured his place as a revolutionary leader. However, Villa and Carranza clashed over their visions for Mexico. Villa, suspicious of Carranza’s elitism, left the Constitutionalist Army in 1914. The revolution descended into civil war. In a dramatic escalation in 1916, Villa raided Columbus, New Mexico, in retaliation for US support of Carranza. This act drew the US military into Mexico on a punitive expedition that ultimately failed to capture Villa. Villa eventually retreated to a hacienda after receiving a pardon in 1920. Tragedy struck again in 1923 when he was assassinated. Pancho Villa’s legacy is complex. He is revered as a Robin Hood-like figure who fought for the poor, but also criticized for his brutality. Regardless, his charisma and fighting spirit secured his place as a Mexican revolutionary icon.
2004 – Scott Andrew Mink – was born on October 13, 1963, in Dayton, Ohio, United States. Unfortunately, his life took a dark turn. Mink was an American convicted murderer who was executed by the State of Ohio. A drug addict and alcoholic, he had been sentenced to die on June 29, 2001, for beating his 79-year-old father and 72-year-old mother to death with a hammer. The crimes occurred on September 19, 2000, when Mink, angry with his parents because they hid his car keys to prevent him from leaving the house to buy drugs and alcohol, attacked William and Sheila Mink while they slept in their rural Montgomery County home. Enraged at being thwarted in his quest to get high, Mink beat his sleeping parents with a claw hammer until the head broke. He then battered them with cutting boards until those shattered. Finally, he repeatedly stabbed his parents with kitchen knives and strangled his mother with an electrical cord. Mink then stole his parents’ credit cards and sold their belongings to purchase crack cocaine. He later confessed the brutal slayings to police. He pleaded guilty before a panel of three judges and asked for a death sentence, which the judges handed down. Under Ohio law, all death sentences are automatically reviewed by an appellate court regardless of the inmate’s desire to appeal. After his conviction was upheld by the Ohio Supreme Court on direct appeal in April 2004, Mink dropped his efforts to fight his sentence. Mink spent 1,118 days (i.e., 3 years and 23 days) on death row before being executed by lethal injection – the second-shortest time, aside from Rocky Barton, since Ohio began executing criminals in 1999.
2006 – Brandon Wayne Hedrick – On May 10, 1997, Brandon Wayne Hedrick and his accomplice, Trevor Jones, embarked on a night of drinking, crack cocaine use, and encounters with prostitutes. Their paths crossed with 23-year-old Lisa Yvonne Crider. Aware that Crider’s boyfriend was a crack cocaine dealer, they decided to pick her up, intending to have sex with her and steal any crack she possessed. Tragically, their actions escalated into a horrifying sequence of events. Crider was raped, robbed, and abducted. Fearing retaliation from her boyfriend, Hedrick and Jones ultimately killed her. Crider’s lifeless body was later discovered near the James River, bearing a shotgun wound to the face. Hedrick faced trial for capital murder, charged with robbery, rape, forcible sodomy, abduction, and using a firearm in the commission of murder. During the sentencing phase, a court-appointed psychologist highlighted Hedrick’s significantly low IQ (76) and his escalating substance abuse issues leading up to the crimes. Despite these factors, the jury recommended the death penalty. They deemed Hedrick a continuing threat to society, and his actions were deemed outrageously vile and inhuman. On July 20, 2006, Brandon Wayne Hedrick became the first person to be electrocuted in Virginia since 2003. He chose electrocution over lethal injection, marking a grim chapter in the state’s history.
2007 – Leona Helmsley – born Lena Mindy Rosenthal on July 4, 1920, was an American businesswoman. Her flamboyant personality and reputation for tyrannical behavior earned her the nickname “Queen of Mean.” Leona’s career as a hotelier began when she joined one of Harry Helmsley’s brokerage firms, Brown Harris Stevens, as a senior vice-president. She was already a millionaire in her own right at that time. Leona faced legal troubles after allegations of non-payment by contractors hired to improve her Connecticut home. In 1989, she was investigated and convicted of federal income tax evasion and other crimes. During her trial, a former housekeeper testified that Leona had once said, “We don’t pay taxes; only the little people pay taxes,” a quote that became associated with her for the rest of her life. Despite her controversial reputation, Leona Helmsley left a lasting impact on the business world.
2007 – Priscilla Bradford – was an American murderer who, along with two friends, plotted and carried out the bludgeoning death of her husband, John Young Bradford. The crime took place in Melbourne, Florida, in 1980. Priscilla’s motive remains intriguing: she and her accomplices wanted an all-female lab. After several failed attempts to kill her husband, they ambushed him upon his return from work. Armed with a cast-iron frying pan, apothecary jars, and a cast-iron bottle capper, they attacked him. Priscilla’s daughter, Eden, was ordered to finish him off. The women were sentenced to life in prison
2010 – Derrick Leon Jackson – Forrest Henderson and Alan Wrotenberry, both Houston Grand Opera singers, shared an apartment. When Wrotenberry failed to show up for work, police discovered his body in the bedroom, wearing only swimming trunks. In another room, they found Henderson’s nude body. Blood covered the walls, doors, and curtains. A bloody metal bar and knife were also found. Both victims had been beaten and stabbed. Their wallets were missing, and Henderson’s car was gone. The case remained unsolved for seven years until new fingerprint technology linked Derrick Jackson, a man serving time for an unrelated robbery, to the crime scene. Blood and DNA evidence further implicated Jackson, although he denied involvement.
2011 – Mark Anthony Stroman – was an American neo-Nazi and spree killer who was executed in Texas for murder. In 2001, Stroman carried out a shooting spree in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, killing two people and seriously injuring a third. His motive for the shooting spree was “revenge” for the September 11 attacks, as he specifically targeted Arabs or people who looked “of Muslim descent.” However, his victims were all from South Asia, with one of the two murder victims being Hindu. Stroman’s early life was marked by alleged abuse from his stepfather. He got married at 15 and had children shortly after. He identified as a white supremacist and was a member of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas. Just before his shooting spree, he was free on bond for a gun possession arrest. Stroman had a criminal record with convictions for burglary, credit card fraud, robbery, and theft. His juvenile record even showed involvement in an armed robbery at the age of 12. He was covered in tattoos featuring Nazi and KKK images. During his spree, Stroman targeted individuals based on their perceived ethnicity. On September 15, 2001, he fatally shot Waqar Hasan, a Muslim Pakistani immigrant who owned a convenience store in Dallas. A few days later, he encountered Rais Bhuiyan, a former Bangladeshi air force pilot working at a gas station. Stroman shot Bhuiyan in the head, leaving him partially blinded. On October 4, he killed Vasudev Patel, a Hindu Indian immigrant working at another gas station in Mesquite, Texas. Stroman’s actions left a tragic impact on the lives of his victims and their families, and his case remains a grim reminder of the consequences of hate-fueled violence. If you’d like to learn more, there’s a documentary film titled “An Eye for an Eye” that chronicles his story.
Events
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1971 – The FBI begins covert investigation of journalist Daniel Schorr
1991 – Mike Tyson is accused of raping a Miss Black America contestant
1994 – Former NFL running back, broadcaster and actor OJ Simpson offers $500,000 reward for evidence of ex wifes killer
2000 – The leaders of Salt Lake City’s bid to win the 2002 Winter Olympics are indicted by a Federal grand jury for bribery, fraud and racketeering
2000 – Terrorist Carlos the Jackal sues France in the European court of human rights for allegedly torturing him
2012 – 12 people are killed and 59 injured after a gunman opens fire at a “Dark Knight” premiere in Aurora, Colorado
2015 – The hacker group “The Impact Team” announce they have hacked married dating site Ashley Madison