Births

Teresa Cormack

1710Klaas Annink – better known as Huttenkloas, was a notorious Dutch murderer and suspected serial killer. He was born on June 18, 1710, in Bentelo, Netherlands. Annink, along with his wife Aarne Spanjers and his son, Jannes, were reputedly responsible for numerous robberies and murders in the region in and around Hengevelde. In 1774, a merchant from Hanover investigated and found convincing evidence that Annink was responsible for the disappearance and murder of one of his family members. Following his arrest, Annink was held for 114 days in a specially-made chair. After a controversial trial, he and his wife were sentenced to death and executed. Annink died on September 13, 1775. The seat in which Klaas Annink sat, known as the “Chair of Huttenkloas”, is still on display in the Ancient Chamber room in the Palthehuis Museum in Oldenzaal. His infamous nickname, Huttenkloas, has not been forgotten and has been adopted by a local brewery, Hengelose Huttenkloas B.V., which sells Huttenkloas beer.

1860Thomas George Woolfolk – often referred to as Tom Woolfolk was born on June 18, 1860, in Bibb County, Georgia. He was the son of Susan Moore and Richard F. Woolfolk and was raised on his father’s large cotton plantation. After the death of his mother shortly after his birth, he and his sisters were sent to live with a maternal aunt in Athens. In 1867, his father remarried, and Tom moved back to Bibb County to live with his father and new stepmother, Mattie Howard. Known for his quarrelsome and irascible nature, Woolfolk was described by those who knew him as “a sharp, cunning, dissipated, unscrupulous fellow” and “a very perverse, obstinate, eccentric and . . . a cranky sort of a person”. On August 6, 1887, in a horrific event that would mark him as one of the most infamous criminals in 19th-century Georgia, Woolfolk was accused of murdering nine members of his family with an ax. The victims included his father, stepmother, their six children, and a relative of his stepmother. Woolfolk was the only survivor and was found guilty of the murders in two separate trials. Despite his claims of innocence and appeals to the Georgia Supreme Court, Woolfolk was executed by hanging on October 29, 1890. His case remains one of the most notorious in the history of Georgia.

1948John Thomas Noland Jr – is a notable figure in the history of North Carolina’s criminal justice system. He was married to Susan Milton Noland for nine years, and they had two daughters together. After their separation in 1981, Noland’s mental health deteriorated, leading him to receive psychiatric treatment. In October 1982, Noland was found guilty of first-degree murder in the deaths of Cindy and Troy Milton. The jury sentenced him to death for both murders, a decision that was affirmed by the North Carolina Supreme Court. His case was notable for the legal proceedings that followed his conviction. Noland filed a petition seeking a writ of habeas corpus pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2254. The district court granted Noland’s petition with regard to his sentence, ordering the State of North Carolina to conduct a new sentencing hearing. However, the state appealed the issuance of the writ as to Noland’s sentence, and Noland cross-appealed on four issues rejected by the district court. The court eventually reversed the decision on the writ, affirming the original death sentence. John Thomas Noland Jr. was executed on November 20, 1998. His case continues to be referenced in discussions about the U.S. criminal justice system and capital punishment.

1952Harry D. Mitts Jr – He is known for a tragic event that took place on August 14, 1994, in Garfield Heights, Ohio. On this day, Mitts Jr., in a state of heavy intoxication, went on a shooting rampage at his apartment complex. He first killed John Bryant, a black man who was the boyfriend of a neighbor. He then shot and killed Sgt. Dennis Glivar, a white police officer who responded to the scene. Additionally, he shot and wounded two other police officers. Mitts Jr. was convicted of aggravated murder and attempted murder. He was sentenced to death and spent 19 years on death row. During his time in prison, he acknowledged his crimes and expressed remorse. He was executed by lethal injection at the state prison in Lucasville, Ohio, on September 25, 2013. He was 61 years old at the time of his execution.

1962David O. Hyde – On March 8, 1991, the lifeless bodies of 72-year-old John Lee and his 50-year-old daughter, Ginger Lee, were discovered brutally beaten on the floor of Joyland Market in Phoenix, Arizona. Having been the proprietor of the market for many years, Mr. Lee dedicated himself to its operation. In the evenings, Ginger Lee, his daughter, worked at the market after spending her days as an elementary school teacher at Griffith School in Phoenix. Following an anonymous tip, law enforcement focused their investigation on Hyde and his step-brother, Jackie Johnson. Hyde, during police questioning, made self-incriminating statements. Moreover, while confined in the Madison Street Jail in Phoenix, Hyde also confessed to his cellmate. According to Hyde’s statements, he and his step-brother were desperate for funds to leave Phoenix. Their ill-fated plan involved attempting to snatch Ginger Lee’s purse. However, their sinister plot went awry when Ginger caught Johnson in the act, leading to a violent struggle. In an attempt to aid his daughter, John Lee became the target of Hyde’s aggression, who ruthlessly attacked him with a sizable Bowie Knife. Subsequently, Ginger suffered repeated blows to the head with the same knife. After perpetrating the heinous crime, Hyde and Johnson made off with approximately $700 stolen from the Lees. In the legal proceedings that followed, Johnson, who did not confess to the police, underwent a separate trial and was ultimately acquitted of both murder charges.

1976Raymond Levi Cobb – is known for his involvement in a significant legal case, Texas v. Cobb, which reached the United States Supreme Court. In December 1993, Raymond Levi Cobb, who lived across the street from the Owings family in Walker County, Texas, was implicated in a burglary at the Owings’ home. At the same time, Margaret Owings and her 16-month-old daughter, Kori Rae, were reported missing. In July 1994, while under arrest for an unrelated offense, Cobb confessed to the burglary but denied any knowledge of the disappearances. He was subsequently indicted for the burglary and retained an attorney for this charge. While free on bond in November 1995, Cobb’s father contacted the Walker County Sheriff’s Office, reporting that his son had confessed to him that he had killed Margaret and Kori Rae. Cobb was taken into custody, waived his Miranda rights, and confessed to both murders. The case, Texas v. Cobb, reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which held that the Sixth Amendment right to counsel is offense-specific and does not always extend to offenses that are closely related to those to which the right has been attached. This decision reaffirmed the Court’s holding in McNeil v. Wisconsin (1991) by concluding that the Sixth Amendment right to counsel attaches at the onset of adversarial proceedings.

1981Teresa Cormack – She was a bright and lively six-year-old girl whose life was tragically cut short. On June 19, 1987, she became a victim of a heinous crime that shook the nation. Her case remained unsolved for many years, leaving her family and the community in a state of uncertainty and grief. However, in a landmark moment for forensic science in New Zealand, her case was reopened in the early 2000s when advances in DNA analysis techniques allowed for new evidence to be examined. This led to the conviction of Jules Mikus in 2002, fifteen years after the crime was committed. Teresa’s case is remembered not only for its impact on the community but also for its significance in the field of forensic science. Her story serves as a reminder of the importance of continual advancements in technology and justice systems to ensure that victims and their families can find closure.

Deaths

James Edward Pough

1885James Arcene – born around 1862 and died on June 18, 1885, was a Cherokee man known for being the youngest person sentenced to death and subsequently executed in the United States. At approximately 10 years old, Arcene was involved in a robbery and murder. The victim was a man named Henry Feigel, believed to be of either German or Swedish descent. Arcene and another Cherokee man, William Parchmeal, followed Feigel from a store near Fort Gibson in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma), intending to rob him. The robbery escalated into murder, with Feigel being shot multiple times and his skull crushed with a rock. Arcene and Parchmeal stole Feigel’s boots and a small amount of money. Arcene was arrested and tried for the robbery and murder of Feigel but managed to escape and elude capture for over a decade. He was eventually apprehended and executed at the age of 23. His case is frequently mentioned in discussions of the death penalty for children, and to a lesser degree in discussions of the unfair treatment Native Americans received from the United States government.

1923Vasili Komaroff – also known as “The Wolf of Moscow” or “The Shabolovka Street Killer”, was a notorious Russian serial killer. He was convicted for the killing of 29 people in Moscow between 1921 and 1923. However, it is believed that he murdered at least 33 customers in the stable next to his home. Komaroff was born as Vasili Terentevich Petrov on 1 January 1871 in Vitebsk Governorate, Russian Empire, to a large poor family. Many members of Komaroff’s family suffered from alcoholism, and he began drinking at age 15. He had been conscripted into the Russian army for 4 years, and at age 28 he married. In 1904, during the Russian-Japanese War, Komaroff traveled to the Far East where he managed to earn a small fortune, but he soon wasted the money. Komaroff received a one-year prison sentence for robbing a military warehouse, and while serving his sentence his wife died from cholera. After his release, he settled in Riga (now in Latvia) where he married a Polish widow named Sophia, with whom he had two children. Komaroff, still an alcoholic, often beat his wife and children. In 1915, during World War I when troops of the German Empire entered the Baltic, Komaroff and his family moved to the Volga region in Russia. When the Russian Empire began to collapse in 1917, Komaroff joined the Red Army during the October Revolution, learning to read and write and rising to the position of platoon commander. While fighting in the Russian Civil War, he was captured by the White Army troops of General Denikin. Komaroff managed to escape, but to avoid the judgment of the Military Revolutionary Tribunal he changed his name to Vasili Ivanovich Komaroff, and in 1920 moved to Moscow with his family. Komaroff settled at 26 Shabolovka Street, where he began working as a carriage driver and horse trader. In February 1921, when Vladimir Lenin declared the New Economic Policy which allowed private enterprise, Komaroff began to commit his first murders. All killings followed a single formula: Komaroff became acquainted with a client who wanted to buy a horse, and he brought them to his home and served them vodka. He was executed by firing squad on June 18, 1923.

1975Faisal Bin Musaid – was born on April 4, 1944, and died on June 18, 1975. He is known for being the assassin and nephew of King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. Faisal bin Musaid was born to Prince Musa’id bin Abdulaziz, son of the founder of Saudi Arabia and half-brother to all six Saudi kings, including King Faisal. His mother was Watfa, a daughter of Muhammad bin Talāl, the 12th and last Rashidi emir. His parents divorced when he was young, making him and his siblings closer to their maternal Rashidi relatives than to their paternal Al Saud relatives. Faisal moved to the United States in 1966 and attended San Francisco State College for two semesters studying English. After leaving San Francisco State College, he went to the University of California, Berkeley, and then to the University of Colorado Boulder. He was described by his peers as a quiet, likable, notably unstudious young man. In 1971, he received a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Colorado and then returned to the San Francisco Bay area. Faisal bin Musaid is known for the assassination of his uncle, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia. The details surrounding the assassination are complex and it is a commonly-held, but so far unsubstantiated, popular belief in Saudi Arabia that Faisal bin Musaid was a pawn in a Western conspiracy to assassinate King Faisal.

1990John Edward Swindler – was born on May 12, 1944, in Columbia, South Carolina, and passed away on June 18, 1990. He was an American murderer and suspected serial killer. His life ended with execution by the state of Arkansas for the 1976 murder of Patrolman Randy Basnett. Swindler was also convicted of the murders of two teenagers, Greg Becknell and Dorothy Rhodes, in his hometown of Columbia. He was charged but never convicted of the murder of Jeffrey McNerney in Florida. On September 24, 1976, Swindler shot and killed Patrolman Randy Basnett. Officer Basnett had stopped at a service station at the Kelly Highway exit in Fort Smith, Arkansas when Swindler also stopped there in a stolen car with a South Carolina license plate. Swindler was returning to Leavenworth, Kansas to settle some personal grudges that had arisen when he had been imprisoned there. Swindler pulled a revolver and shot Basnett twice in the chest. Basnett, who was standing beside the car, returned fire before collapsing, slightly wounding Swindler. Swindler was captured within minutes by police officers who had answered Basnett’s call. Swindler was the first person to be executed by the state of Arkansas since 1964 and is the only person to have been executed in the electric chair in Arkansas since the reinstatement of capital punishment in 1976.

1990James Edward Pough – was an American spree killer who killed thirteen people in two separate attacks in Jacksonville, Florida on June 17 and 18, 1990. Pough was born on February 16, 1948, in Jacksonville, Florida, the first of nine children. He grew up in an area near Florida Community College in Jacksonville. As a child, Pough suffered from asthma and had a close relationship with his mother, whom he helped out a lot after his father left the family in 1959. He attended a vocational school but dropped out in his sophomore year. At the age of 18, he began working as a common laborer, which he continued until his death. Pough had affiliations with street gangs during his time at school. He was arrested multiple times for various crimes including vagrancy, attempted robbery, assault, displaying a knife dangerously, and gambling. In 1971, Pough got into an argument with his best friend, David Lee Pender, and shot him three times, leading to Pender’s death. On June 17 and 18, 1990, Pough shot and killed two people at random on Jacksonville’s Northside, wounded two teenagers, and robbed a convenience store. The next day, he shot and killed nine people and wounded four others at a General Motors Acceptance Corporation (now Ally Financial) car loan office before committing suicide. At the time, this was the deadliest single mass shooting committed by a lone gunman in Florida history.

2003Ernest Martin – was an American criminal who was executed by the State of Ohio for the murder of a Cleveland store owner. On December 20, 1982, Martin robbed Ernel Foster, a security guard, of his .38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver at a bus stop in Cleveland, Ohio. Foster was able to identify Martin in a police line-up and later in the courtroom. Martin’s girlfriend, Josephine Pedro, testified that he had threatened her with the stolen gun earlier that year. She also testified that Martin revealed a plan to rob Robinson’s Drug Store. Despite her attempts to dissuade him, Martin threatened her to cooperate with the robbery. On the day of the robbery, Martin wore a disguise and waited for Pedro to enter the store. When the owner, 71-year-old Robert Robinson, locked the door before Martin could enter, Martin fired two shots through the door, fatally wounding Robinson. Martin then allegedly returned to the apartment to change his clothes before returning to the store to finish the robbery. Martin was convicted of the crime on July 8, 1983, and spent 19 years, 11 months, and 10 days on death row while his case was appealed. He was executed on June 18, 2003.

2014John E. Winfield – was born on August 18, 1970. He was convicted in Missouri state court of multiple counts of murder, assault, and armed criminal action. The crimes were committed out of jealousy. On September 9, 1996, he murdered two women, Arthea Sanders and Shawnee Murphy, who were friends of his ex-girlfriend. He was arrested the next day. His method of murder was shooting. His conviction and sentence were affirmed by the Missouri Supreme Court on direct appeal. He was sentenced to death on September 18, 1998. He was executed by lethal injection on June 18, 2014.

2014John Ruthell Henry – was born on January 16, 1951, and passed away on June 18, 2014. He was an American serial killer who was convicted for the murder of his second wife and stepson in Florida in 1985, a few years after being paroled for the 1975 murder of his first wife. In August 1975, during an argument, Henry stabbed his 28-year-old common-law wife Patricia Roddy to death. He pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and received a 15-year prison sentence with a chance of parole. In January 1983, Henry was paroled after serving 7½ years of his murder conviction. After his release, he married 28-year-old convenience store clerk Suzanne Overstreet, a divorced woman with a 4-year-old son named Eugene “Buggy” Christian. The couple’s marriage proved unstable, as both of them were arrested on multiple occasions for possessing and selling drugs. On December 22, 1985, Henry went to Suzanne’s apartment to ask whether he could buy any Christmas gifts for Christian. Suzanne allowed him inside, but then the pair began to argue. Henry later said that the two fought over a knife before he stabbed Suzanne 13 times. After wrapping her body in a rug, Henry stole a car and took Christian to a pasture near Thonotosassa, where he stabbed him to death. Henry was sentenced to death in three separate trials and was executed for the latter murders at the Florida State Prison in 2014.

2018XXXTentacion – whose real name was Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy, was an American rapper and singer-songwriter born on January 23, 1998. He was known for his raw and daring style of music, which did not follow any beat or notes, and was known to be aggressive with a heavy mix of distorted beats. He began writing music after being released from a juvenile detention center and started his music career on SoundCloud in 2013. He formed the underground collective Members Only in 2014 and became a popular figure in SoundCloud rap. His debut album, “17” (2017), was certified triple-platinum in the US and reached number two on the Billboard 200. His second album, “?” (2018), debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and was certified quintuple-platinum in the US. His song “Look at Me” gained mainstream attention. Despite his success, XXXTentacion was a controversial figure due to his widely publicized legal troubles. He was tragically murdered on June 18, 2018. His music continues to resonate with his young fanbase, with his depression- and alienation-themed music often credited for its musical versatility.

Events

Roberto Calvi

1873 – Susan B. Anthony is fined $100 for voting for a US President

1936 – The first bicycle traffic court in America is established in Racine, Wisconsin

1945 – William Joyce (Lord Haw Haw) charged with treason

1978 – Jeffrey Dahmer committed his first murder by killing hitchhiker Steven Mark Hicks

1982 – Italian banker Roberto Calvi’s body is discovered hanging beneath Blackfriars Bridge in London, England

1990 – James Pough, angry about his car being repossessed, killed 9 people at General Motors Acceptance Corp

1996 – Ted Kaczynski suspected of being the Unabomber is indicted on 10 criminal counts

1997 – Jamaica issues a warrant for singer Sade who fails to report to court on charges of failure to obey a cop who signaled her to stop

2019 –  Two 14-year-old boys become the youngest in Irish history to be convicted of murder when found guilty of the murder and sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl in Dublin

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