Births

Douglas Wright

1863 – Owen Cosby Phillips – was a British businessman and politician who lived from 1863 to 1937. He was born in Wiltshire, England, and had a speech impediment that made him less confident than his brothers. He became an apprentice in a shipping firm at the age of 17 and later established his own company with the help of his brother John, who was a wealthy heiress. He expanded his business empire by acquiring shares in various shipping companies, including the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, which he became the chairman of in 1902. He also invested in other industries, such as oil, railways, and mining. He was involved in several controversies and scandals, such as publishing a document with intent to deceive and being accused of fraud and embezzlement. He was jailed for 12 months in 1931 for producing a document with intent to deceive. He died in 1937 at the age of 74.

1911 – Jack Ruby – born Jacob Leon Rubenstein on March 25, 1911, was a complex and enigmatic figure in American history. He gained notoriety for a single act that would forever link his name to one of the most pivotal moments in the 20th century—the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Born into a Jewish family in Chicago, Ruby’s early life was marked by challenges and a series of odd jobs. He eventually found his way into the world of nightclubs and entertainment, becoming a fixture in the Dallas, Texas, nightlife scene during the 1940s and 1950s. Ruby operated various establishments, including the Carousel Club, where he became known as a charismatic and flamboyant character. On November 24, 1963, just two days after the assassination of President Kennedy, Jack Ruby shot and killed Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused assassin, as Oswald was being transferred between jails. The shocking act was captured on live television and stunned the nation. Ruby’s motive for the killing remains a subject of speculation and controversy. Some believe he acted out of grief and rage over Kennedy’s death, while others suspect a conspiracy or coercion. Ruby was convicted of murder and sentenced to death, but his conviction was overturned on appeal. Before a retrial could take place, Ruby died of lung cancer on January 3, 1967, in a Dallas hospital. The life of Jack Ruby continues to be a source of intrigue and debate, with numerous theories surrounding his connections to the mob, his mental state, and the true motivations behind the killing of Oswald. His story remains a significant and mysterious chapter in the larger narrative of the Kennedy assassination and its aftermath.

1929 – Allen West – was a convicted criminal who was involved in the planning and preparation of the June 1962 Alcatraz escape, but did not participate in the actual escape. He was born in New York City in 1929 and had a history of car theft and prison escapes. He was sent to Alcatraz in 1957, where he met Frank Morris and John and Clarence Anglin, who were also part of the escape plot. West helped build a life raft and rubber life jackets for the escapees, using a makeshift workshop on the cellblock roof. However, he failed to finish removing the ventilator grill in his cell in time, so he stayed behind while the others escaped. He later gave interviews to the FBI and prison authorities, revealing details of the escape plan. He was never charged for trying to escape from Alcatraz, but he received multiple sentences for other crimes, including life imprisonment. He died in 1978 at the age of 49.

1940 – Douglas Wright – He had a troubled childhood and suffered from physical and sexual abuse. He became a high school dropout and was kicked out of the Marines for sexually assaulting a child. He was arrested for multiple burglaries and served eight years in prison. He then committed several armed robberies and murders, targeting mostly homeless men and young boys. He was arrested for the abduction and murder of 10-year-old Luke Tredway in 1984, but the case remained unsolved until 1991. He was also suspected of killing other victims, such as Margaret Rosenberry and Gail Snelling in Portland, Oregon, in 1969. He was sentenced to death for three of these murders and executed by lethal injection in 1996 at the Oregon State Penitentiary. He became the first person to be executed in Oregon since 1962.

1943 – Henryk Morus – was a Polish serial killer who was convicted in 1993 for committing seven murders in the territory of Piotrków Voivodeship. He was the last prisoner to be sentenced to death in Poland following the European Convention on Human Rights.  He was born on March 25, 1943 in Sulejów, Poland. He worked as a carpenter and a farmer. He married twice and had three children. He was a devout Catholic and a Jehovah’s Witness. He killed his victims between 1986 and 1992, mostly for robbery or personal reasons. His victims included a saleswoman, a married couple, a pensioner, a cement trader, an office owner, and two other men. He used his carbine to shoot them at close range or from a distance. He also stole their money and belongings.   He confessed to all seven murders at first but later denied any involvement before the court. He claimed that he was innocent and that he had no memory of the crimes due to material problems with his family. He also said that he suffered from mental illness and that he had been abused as a child. He appealed his sentence several times, but it was upheld by the courts until it was finally commuted to life imprisonment in 2008 by President Lech Kaczyński. He died on August 18, 2013, in Czarne prison hospital from heart failure or stroke. His body was buried in Człuchów municipal cemetery without his family’s consent.

1946 – Gerard John Schaefer – was an American serial killer and former law enforcement officer born on March 25, 1946, in Wisconsin, USA. He gained notoriety for his gruesome crimes committed during the 1960s and 1970s. Schaefer’s early life gave no indication of the dark path he would later take. Schaefer served in the United States Air Force before joining the Martin County Sheriff’s Office in Florida as a deputy sheriff in 1972. However, his law enforcement career came to an abrupt end in 1973 when he was arrested for the assault and attempted murder of two young women. During a routine traffic stop, Schaefer was discovered with two teenage girls who were bound and gagged in the trunk of his car.  Upon further investigation, authorities found evidence linking Schaefer to a series of heinous crimes, including the murders of numerous young women. His modus operandi often involved abducting, torturing, and murdering his victims, with some reports suggesting that he may have killed more than 30 individuals.  During the trial, Schaefer vehemently denied the charges, representing himself in court. Despite the compelling evidence against him, he managed to avoid a conviction for the murders of the two girls found in his car. Instead, he was convicted of assault and sentenced to a relatively short prison term.  While in prison, Schaefer continued to maintain his innocence, but he couldn’t escape the mounting evidence against him. In 1976, he was tried again and found guilty of the murders of two Florida women, suffering the death penalty. However, his sentence was commuted to life in prison in 1981 when the Florida Supreme Court declared the death penalty unconstitutional.  Gerard John Schaefer’s life came to a violent end on December 3, 1995, when he was murdered by a fellow inmate at the Florida State Prison. Despite his horrific crimes, Schaefer’s legacy is a chilling reminder of the potential for darkness even within those who are entrusted with maintaining law and order.

1950 – Oscar Franklin Smith – is a man who was convicted of killing his estranged wife and her two sons in Tennessee in 1989. He has been on death row for more than 30 years, but he has always maintained his innocence. He claims that he was framed by someone else who left their DNA on the murder weapon, a bloody awl. He also says that he had no motive to kill his family, as he loved them and had taken out an insurance policy on them. He has filed several appeals and petitions for clemency, but none of them have been successful so far. He was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on April 21, 2022, but his execution was temporarily postponed by the governor due to an oversight in the preparation for the procedure.

1957 – Milena Quaglini – was an Italian woman who, in the late 1990s, faced a series of traumatic events that led her to commit three murders against men who had assaulted her.  Born in 1957 in Mezzanino, near Broni in the Oltrepò Pavese, Quaglini’s life took a challenging turn after she graduated as an accountant in Pavia. At 19, she left home and lived between Como and Lodi, taking on various jobs such as a cashier, caregiver, and cleaning lady. A marriage and the subsequent loss of her husband to severe diabetes plunged her into depression and alcoholism. Her second marriage to Mario Fogli, an obsessive and alcoholic truck driver, further complicated her life.  Both Quaglini and Fogli were activists for the Lega Nord. The financial troubles arising from her husband’s debts prompted Quaglini to separate from him and move to Este with one of her daughters. In Veneto, she worked as a concierge for a gym, but financial difficulties persisted.  One pivotal event occurred on October 25, 1995, when Quaglini defended herself against an attempted rape by her employer, 83-year-old Giusto Dalla Pozza. In the ensuing scuffle, she unintentionally caused his death. Initially accused of murder, her charge was later reduced to accidental death, and she received a 20-month sentence for excessive self-defense.  Returning to Broni in an attempt to reconcile with her former husband, Quaglini’s struggles with depression and alcoholism persisted. On August 2, 1998, in a drunken state, she killed Fogli after a heated argument. Quaglini strangled him with a rope, leading to her arrest. She was sentenced to six years and eight months, with the sale of her house to partially fulfill the penalty.  After being sent to a recovery community for alcoholics, Quaglini faced further trauma when she was assaulted by a former carabinieri named Salvatore. Seeking a fresh start, she met Angelo Porrello through an advertisement. However, a violent encounter on October 5, 1999, resulted in Porrello assaulting and raping her. In response, Quaglini drugged him, causing his accidental drowning. She confessed to the crime after her arrest.  Sentenced to serve time in Vigevano Prison, Quaglini attempted to overcome her depression by rekindling her passion for painting. Unfortunately, on October 16, 2001, she took her own life by hanging herself with a bedsheet in her prison cell. Although discovered alive by a guard at 1:50 am, she succumbed to her injuries in the Emergency Room at 2:15 am.

1959 – Wolfgang Abel – is part of a notorious German-Italian serial killer duo. He and his partner were implicated in a series of murders that took place across Italy, the Netherlands, and Germany between 1977 and 1984. Despite their claims of innocence and allegations of being scapegoats for an ineffective police force, the evidence against them was compelling.  Known by the moniker “Ludwig”, Abel and his accomplice left leaflets adorned with Nazi symbols and slogans at each crime scene. Their victims were often marginalized individuals, including prostitutes, homeless people, and drug addicts, but also extended to priests and patrons of nightclubs and pornographic cinemas.  Both Abel and his partner hailed from wealthy families in Verona, Italy, and their friendship began in high school. Their heinous crimes eventually led to their arrest and subsequent sentencing to 27 years in prison. Despite the severity of their actions, they maintained their innocence throughout their trial and incarceration. Their case remains one of the most chilling in European criminal history.

1969 – Alex Pagan – Having previously robbed the house of Freddy Jones and his family, he found out that they may have up to $13,000 in cash somewhere in the house and therefore planned to revisit and relieve them of that too. On 23rd February 1993, Pagan and his friend Willie Graham broke in and had the family at gunpoint demanding the money, when the family stated there was no money, Pagan & Graham ended up murdering Jones and his son Michael Lynn and attempting to murder the mother Latasha and 18 month old LaFayette

1971 – Ralph E. Swan – With the limited information available, I believe, Swan and his accomplice Adam Norcross broke into the home of Kenneth Warren to rob his house and they shot him to death

Deaths

Viola Liuzzo

1965 – Viola Gregg Liuzzo – was a white civil rights activist who dedicated her life to fighting for racial justice and equality. She was born in 1925 in Pennsylvania but grew up in poverty and witnessed segregation in the South. She moved to Michigan with her husband and five children and became involved in the NAACP chapter in Detroit. She was inspired by the courage and determination of African Americans who were struggling for voting rights and decided to join them in their march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. She traveled across the country, helping with logistics, transportation, and security. She was shot and killed by Ku Klux Klan members on her way back from a trip to the airport. Her death sparked outrage and grief across the nation, and she became a symbol of martyrdom for the civil rights movement. She was honored with a memorial plaque on the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama, and her name is also inscribed on the Michigan Hall of Fame. She is remembered as a brave and compassionate woman who gave her life for a noble cause.

1993 – Ramon Montoya Facundo – was a Mexican citizen who was executed by lethal injection in Texas on March 25, 1993, for the murder of a Dallas police officer. He was 38 years old when he committed the crime, which occurred on January 16, 1983. He shot Officer John R. Pasco in the head after Pasco tried to arrest him for carrying a weapon. Montoya claimed he ran away from the officer and accidentally fired his gun while trying to throw it away. He had prior convictions for weapons possession and burglary in the United States.  Montoya’s execution sparked controversy and protests in both Mexico and the United States. Mexico considered the death penalty an excessive punishment and rejected pleas from President Carlos Salinas de Gortari and the Vatican to spare Montoya’s life. The Vatican also condemned the execution as a violation of human rights and dignity. Some human rights groups and citizens’ organizations in Mexico City demonstrated against the death penalty and demanded clemency for Montoya. They argued that he was a victim of racism, poverty, and social injustice.  In Texas, Montoya’s execution also caused riots among some of his fellow inmates at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City and his home state of San Luis Potosi. Some of them threatened to kill other U.S. prisoners who were awaiting their executions or transfers to other states. The riot police had to be deployed to protect them from possible attacks.  Montoya was one of nine Mexicans on death row in Texas at the time of his execution. He was the first Mexican executed in more than half a century by an American state. His execution also raised questions about the fairness and effectiveness of capital punishment in both countries.

1997 – Pedro Medina – was a Cuban refugee who was executed in Florida for the murder of a 52-year-old woman named Dorothy James in 1982. He claimed that he was innocent and that he had been framed by James’ husband. However, he admitted to being in James’ apartment when she was killed and taking her car after she died. His execution by electrocution caused his head to burst into flames, raising questions about the use of capital punishment.  Medina was among nearly 125,000 Cubans who were sent to the United States during the 1980 Mariel boatlift. He eventually lived with his half-sister in Orlando. His victim, Dorothy James, an elementary school gym teacher, lived in an apartment next door and befriended Medina. Dorothy James was found dead in her apartment on April 4, 1982. She had been gagged, stabbed multiple times, and left to die.  Early in the morning of April 8, 1982, Medina was found asleep in James’ automobile at a rest area on Interstate 10 near Lake City and was arrested for theft of the automobile. The next day, detectives from Orange County, Florida investigating the murder of James interviewed Medina in the Columbia County Jail about the auto theft and the murder. Medina’s explanation of how he came to be in James’ vehicle was not believed by the detectives.  Medina was arrested and indicted for the murder of James. During his pretrial confinement, Medina exhibited signs of mental instability, including eating his feces, and was once placed on suicide watch. He requested a psychiatric examination and was examined by two psychiatrists. Each determined that Medina met the statutory criteria for competence to stand trial, but was pretending to be insane. The trial court found Medina competent to stand trial.  Medina was tried before a jury in Orange County on March 15–18, 1983. Medina testified in his defense and denied murdering James. However, Medina admitted being in James’ apartment the night of the murder and that he was in James’ apartment when James was dead. Medina also admitted that a hat found by police detectives on a bed near James’ body was his hat and that he took James’ automobile after she died.  The jury deliberated for less than an hour before finding him guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, robbery and rape. Medina appealed his conviction, but it was upheld by the Florida Supreme Court.  Medina’s execution date was set for March 22, 1995, despite protests from human rights groups and religious organizations who argued that it violated his constitutional rights. Medina refused to have any last meal or make any final statement before he was put to death by lethal injection at Stateville Correctional Center near Joliet.  His execution raised concerns about the safety and legality of electrocution as a method of capital punishment. During his execution process at Raiford Correctional Institution near Raiford on March 25, 1997, at approximately 6:00 p.m., the electric current coursing through the wires caused a fire to break out in the chamber, creating smoke that filled it with flames.  An autopsy later revealed that the current had destroyed Medina’s brain, killing him instantly.  Pedro Medina is one of the most notorious criminals in Florida history and one of the last people to be executed by electrocution before it became obsolete as a form of capital punishment.

1998 – Ronald L. Watkins – In May 1988, Ronald Watkins, then 35, admitted to the brutal murder of William McCauley during a robbery at McCauley’s business in Danville, Virginia, where Watkins had previously been employed. The crime involved Watkins stabbing McCauley seven times in the back and slashing his throat.  As he lay on the gurney in the death chamber of the Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt, Virginia, located approximately 55 miles south of Richmond, Watkins expressed his remorse. “I just want to say I’m sorry to the McCauleys and my family for the pain that I have caused them,” he said. His death was confirmed at 9:17 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.  Rosalynn Carter, the spouse of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, appealed for clemency on Watkins’s behalf, citing his conversion to Christianity while on death row. In a letter dated March 13, she wrote, “(Watkins) has demonstrated his transformation by working diligently to guide his son to lead a good and righteous life and by reconciling himself with his father who abused him horribly.”  William Geimer, a law professor at Washington and Lee University, also petitioned for clemency, stating that Watkins, who had undergone a religious conversion four years prior, was no longer the same man who had committed the murder nearly a decade ago. Geimer compared Watkins’s life since 1994 to that of Karla Faye Tucker, a born-again Christian who was executed in Texas in February despite pleas for clemency from televangelist Pat Robertson and the Vatican. However, Geimer noted that, unlike Tucker, Watkins was not telegenic and verbally articulate.  At the time of McCauley’s murder, Watkins was on parole for the abduction of an elderly woman. McCauley, a 29-year-old businessman, was found in a pool of blood by his father after his business had been robbed.

1999 – Charles Henry Rector – On the 17th of October, 1981, a horrific crime was committed against Katy Davis by Charles Rector and his accomplices.  Katy, who resided in Austin, Texas, noticed three unfamiliar men outside her apartment. Sensing danger, she decided to walk away, only to return later. Upon her return, she was ambushed by two of the men who coerced her into unlocking her door.  The men proceeded to pillage her apartment before abducting her to the Town Lake area. There, she was subjected to a brutal gang rape, shot in the head, and thrown into Town Lake. The assailants repeatedly submerged her head underwater until she tragically drowned.  A few hours later, Rector was apprehended. Despite wearing Katy’s clothes, possessing her jewelry, driving her car, and having his knife discovered at her apartment, he maintained his innocence.  Rector, who had a criminal history that began at the age of 12 and was on parole for a prior murder, was implicated in Katy’s savage murder.

2001 – Dominick Basso – was an American mobster who worked for the Chicago Outfit, a powerful organized crime syndicate. He was a high-ranking bookmaker who ran gambling operations in Illinois and other states. He was also involved in a scandal with baseball legend Pete Rose, who allegedly placed bets on major-league games through Basso’s bookmaking wire room.  Basso was born on February 15, 1938, in Chicago, Illinois. He served in the United States Navy during the Korean War. He joined the Chicago Outfit in the late 1950s and rose to prominence as a gambling boss. He was known for his lavish lifestyle and his connections to other mobsters, such as Ernest Rocco Infelise, Donald Angelini, Dominic Cortina, and Salvatore DeLaurentis.  In 1988, Basso was convicted of syndicated gambling and conspiracy to commit gambling. He was sentenced to 20 months of probation and 70 days of work release. He had to forfeit $225,000 in cash, his car, his cell phone, and his jewelry that were seized by the authorities. He also had to close down his bookmaking business.  Basso died on March 25, 2001, in Mount Prospect, Illinois. He was buried at Mount Carmel Cemetery in Chicago Heights. His son, Vincent Basso, was also involved in a point-shaving scandal at Arizona State University basketball in 1999. Vincent Basso pleaded guilty to racketeering charges and received a sentence of one-and-a-half years in prison and a fine of $27,000.

2002 – John P. Hogan  – In Merced, California, a tragic incident occurred involving a retired deputy from the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department. He fatally shot his 17-year-old daughter and three stepchildren while his estranged wife, Christine McFadden, was out for a morning walk.  Subsequently, he took his own life, holding his daughter’s body in his arms.  It appears that he entered the house after Christine had left for her morning walk at 6 a.m.  When Christine returned home just after 7 a.m., she discovered her 17-year-old daughter lifeless in the hallway outside her bedroom. Distraught, she went to a neighbor’s house and contacted the police. Upon returning to her home with the deputies, she discovered the bodies of her three other children and the retired deputy.  The three older children were identified as Melanie Willis, 17; Stanley Willis, 15; and Stuart Willis, 14.

2003 – Larry Eugene Moon – was a man who was executed by lethal injection in Georgia on March 25, 2003, for the murder of Ricky Callahan in 1984. He was also convicted of two other murders in Tennessee within a month of the Callahan killing, but he maintained his innocence and claimed that he was a victim of a professional hitman. He had been sentenced to life imprisonment in Tennessee for armed robbery and kidnapping, but he never faced trial for those crimes. He appealed his death sentence several times, but his appeals were unsuccessful. He argued that the state had failed to disclose evidence that supported his self-defense claim in the Tennessee case and that one of the state’s witnesses had lied about the circumstances of the shooting. However, the courts rejected his arguments and upheld his conviction and sentence. He was executed at 7:23 pm on March 25, 2003, at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison.

2003 – John Michael Hooker – After serving time in prison for manslaughter when he was a teenager, Hooker started dating Sylvia C. Stokes, their relationship was very volatile and Stokes ended up getting a restraining order, Stokes moved out of their home and moved in with her mother, this infuriated Hooker and he broke into the apartment she was staying at and stabbed her to death with a butcher knife when Stokes mother came to see her daughter, Hooker stabbed her to death as well.

2006 – Kyle Aaron Huff – was a 28-year-old man who committed a mass shooting in Seattle, Washington, on March 25, 2006. He killed six people and injured two others at a rave after-party before killing himself. His motive for the attack remains unknown, although he left behind a letter that expressed his dislike of rave culture. He had no criminal record or history of mental illness. He was born on September 22, 1977, in Whitefish, Montana, and moved to Seattle shortly before the shooting. He attended The Art Institute of Seattle and North Seattle Community College but did not graduate from either institution. He worked as a carpenter and lived alone in a house near the Capitol Hill neighborhood where the shooting occurred. He was described by his friends and neighbors as quiet, polite, and friendly. 

2016 – Yasutoshi Kamata – A Japanese serial killer dubbed “The Osaka Ripper” who, between 1985-1994, was found responsible for the murder and dismemberment of four women and a girl. He received the death penalty and was executed via hanging in 2016

Events

O. Henry

1898 – Writer O. Henry is sentenced to 5 years in prison for embezzling $854 from a bank, reportedly to pay for his sick wife’s medical bills. He goes on to write many classics while in jail including “Whistling Dicks Christmas Stocking”

1931 – Scottsboro boys arrested

1990 – An arson fire at the Happy Land Social Club killed 87 people, most of the victims being Hondurans celebrating carnival

1995 – Mike Tyson is released from prison after serving 3 years for rape

2006 – Capitol Hill massacre