Murder & Mayhem
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Historic Indianapolis Crimes
Murder & Mystery in the Circle City
by Fred D. Cavinder
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
Hear tales from the Circle City's murderous underbelly, from poor Silvia Likens, who was tortured for months by her foster mother and eventually discovered dead, to Carrie Selvage, whose skeleton was found in an attic twenty years after she disappeared from a hospital bed in 1900. Discover how housekeepers found Dorothy Poore stuffed in a dresser drawer on a July day in 1954 and the curious story of Marjorie Jackson, her body was discovered clothed in pajama bottoms and a flannel robe on her kitchen floor, and police found $5 million hidden around her house in garbage cans, drawers, closets, toolboxes and a vacuum cleaner bag. Join local historian Fred Cavinder as he recounts the gruesome tales of Indiana's capital city, from mystery to murder.
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Murder & Mayhem in Houston
Historic Bayou City Crime
by Mike Vance
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
When the Allen brothers sold Houston's first lots, the city became a magnet for enterprising tycoons and opportunistic crooks alike. As the young city grew, a scourge of crime and vice accompanied the success of oil and real estate. The Bayou City's seedy side--flashing Bowie knives, privileged bad boys, hardened prostitutes and unchecked serial killers--established its hold. From a young Clyde Barrow to the Man Who Killed Halloween, Houston's past is filled with bloody tales, heartbreaking loss and despicable deeds. Authors Mike Vance and John Nova Lomax shine a light on these dark days.
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Durham Murder & Mayhem
by Rick Jackson
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
The Dark Side of Durham
Explore the dark side of the Bull City. If the red brick walls that once held tobacco warehouses and textile mills could talk, they would tell the tale of how the crossroads settlement of Pin Hook turned into the vibrant city of Durham in the Piedmont of North Carolina. Since its genesis, Durham has been a city where crime was woven into the very fabric of its existence. Over the years, there have been many murders, robberies and shootouts on the streets, in the alleys and on the outskirts of town. Some crimes have caught the attention of the entire nation, but most have remained just in the conscience of the locals. Local historian Rick Jackson narrates the mysteries of one of North Carolina's most important cities.
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St. Paul Murder & Mayhem
by Ron De Beaulieu
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
A fledgling community in the midst of stunning natural scenes, the St. Paul of yesteryear had a well-earned reputation for beauty and danger.
Whiskey made the river city a byword for peril. Men brawled over small offenses and killed one another with near impunity. As crime flourished beyond the power of police control, vigilantes patrolled the streets. Irresponsible speculation and white-collar crime wrecked the local economy, devastating families and driving thousands out of town. The remaining St. Paulites rebuilt their community and economy, stimulating immigration, but more people meant more crime. In the 1870s, vice and violence spiraled into the Bloody Fall of '74, and St. Paul regained its reputation as a "dead tough" town.
Historian Ron de Beaulieu reveals the past travails of life in this turbulent city.
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St. Paul Murder & Mayhem
by Ron De Beaulieu
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
A fledgling community in the midst of stunning natural scenes, the St. Paul of yesteryear had a well-earned reputation for beauty and danger.
Whiskey made the river city a byword for peril. Men brawled over small offenses and killed one another with near impunity. As crime flourished beyond the power of police control, vigilantes patrolled the streets. Irresponsible speculation and white-collar crime wrecked the local economy, devastating families and driving thousands out of town. The remaining St. Paulites rebuilt their community and economy, stimulating immigration, but more people meant more crime. In the 1870s, vice and violence spiraled into the Bloody Fall of '74, and St. Paul regained its reputation as a "dead tough" town.
Historian Ron de Beaulieu reveals the past travails of life in this turbulent city.
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Murder & Mayhem in the Willamette Valley
by Jennifer Chambers
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
Beneath the bucolic scenery of Oregon's Willamette Valley lies a dark and sinister past. Beneath the bucolic scenery of Oregon's Willamette Valley lies a dark and sinister past.
The 150-mile swath of vineyards, farmland and idyllic towns has hosted its fair share of murderers, bootleggers, and even a serial killer. Moonshiners like the Sutherland family used the wooded hills to hide their operations, skirting the law until it cost one cop his life. A chain of restaurants served as the public face of The Children of the Valley of Life, a cult with members who hid in hand-dug caves to escape the authorities. The Molalla Forest Killer, who committed multiple gruesome murders, stalked the byways.
Join author Jennifer Byers Chambers as she uncovers the grim and deadly secrets of the Willamette Valley.
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Chapel Hill Murder & Mayhem
by Richard Jackson
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
Explore the dark side of small town North Carolina. Chapel Hill has seen its share of violence and murder, but somehow has been able to push those instances aside and kept the ambiance of a Norman Rockwell style small town. A walk through the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill can be inspiring, but the school has a darker side that has been well hidden. Over the years there have been many murders that have taken place among those oak trees, in the dorms and frat houses on campus. Many of the murders are unsolved and remain mysteries to this day. The victims know the truth, though, that evil has no boundaries. Local historian Rick Jackson narrates the mysteries of one of North Carolina's quaintest towns.
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Murder & Mayhem in Coeur d'Alene and the Silver Valley
by Deborah Cuyle
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
Murder & Mayhem in Coeur d'Alene and the Silver Valley uncovers pain and punishment in the panhandle
Northern Idaho's natural beauty shrouds tales of gamblers, prostitutes and violent prospectors. Illegal gambling, excessive drinking and vicious disputes were commonplace from Coeur d'Alene to Kellogg. Bordellos lined the streets, and some tempted soldiers mysteriously never returned to Fort Sherman. Former Wallace Mayor Rossi shot a man in cold blood in front of numerous witnesses and was somehow found not guilty. One mining dispute led to the gruesome murder of Idaho's ex-Governor Steunenberg. Legendary Wyatt Earp lived in the valley, until he got caught claim jumping in Murray.
Author Deb Cuyle exposes accounts of Coeur d'Alene and the Silver Valley's debauchery, secrets and sin.
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Murder & Mayhem in Washtenaw County
by James Thomas Mann
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
Washtenaw County has enjoyed low crime rates, but extraordinary criminal acts occasionally pierced its calm and quiet.
A strange bank robbery at Dexter in 1894 and the 1897 murder of James Richards raised concerns. In 1937, the McHenry family suffered a terrible tragedy but found room in their hearts to forgive. After the murder of Eleanor Farver in 1970, detectives searching for suspect John Edward Burns probed his background, seeking clues to where he fled. They discovered John Edward Burns never existed. Attorney Peter Kensler was shockingly murdered in front of his home near Manchester with two shotgun blasts to the face. The case has never been solved.
Local historian James Thomas Mann leads a tour into some of the darkest corners of Washtenaw County's past.
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Murder & Mayhem on the Texas Rails
by Jeff Campbell
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
Texas has a long, romantic history when it comes to railroads. But even though steam engines and streetcars offer nonstop service to Nostalgia City, there's a dark side to Texas rail. The Black Widow of Fort Worth engineered a fatal double-cross at a railroad crossing. The Mountaineer Madman brought death to the Texas Electric Railway, while the Trolley Bandit terrorized the citizens of El Paso. From a freak accident involving a banana peel to a tragic trip to see Santa Claus, Jeff Campbell and the staff of the Interurban Railway Museum cross the Lone Star State on trains derailed by murder and mayhem.
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Winston & Salem
by Jennifer Bean Bower
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
A young man charged with murder is marched through the streets of Winston and Salem and hanged on the outskirts of town�?A tragic event carries several citizens into a raging river and to their deaths�?An eccentric with a fascination for chemicals blows himself up at the Salem Hotel�Through the use of primary documents, these and other fascinating stories of Winston and Salem�s past are vividly brought to life. Jennifer Bean Bower, associate curator of photographic collections at Old Salem Museums & Gardens, has spent many years collecting accounts of the extraordinary historic events that have occurred in her hometown of Winston-Salem. Winston & Salem: Tales of Murder, Mystery and Mayhem covers 118 years of history and introduces readers to real-life characters and stories not soon to be forgotten.
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Murder & Mayhem in Herkimer County
by Caryl Hopson
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
Herkimer County is steeped in history, from the settlement of the Mohawk Valley by Palatine German settlers to the flood of western migration with the opening of the Erie Canal. But the region also boasts an infamous history of high-profile homicides and crimes. Roxalana Druse murdered her abusive husband and became the last woman to be hanged in New York in 1887. The death of Grace Brown on scenic Big Moose Lake became one of the most famous cases in the country in 1906, inspiring author Theodore Dreiser's novel An American Tragedy. Psychological tests of intelligence were admitted into court for the first time in an acquittal of sixteen-year-old Jean Gianini in 1914. Caryl Hopson and Susan R. Perkins collect these historic narratives of murder and mayhem in Herkimer County.
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North Carolina Murder & Mayhem
by Rick Jackson
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
The Tar Heel State's most notorious crimes are revealed by the coauthor of Ghosts of the Triangle: Historic Haunts of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill.
The smiling faces and southern hospitality of North Carolina promise a paradise for visitors and residents alike, but darkness still lurks in small towns as well as big cities. The state's dangerous past of violence and murder is never seen in tourist pamphlets. From the capture of Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph in the mountains to the seaside murder of the Hermit of Fort Fisher, dark deeds have touched every part of the state. Author Rick Jackson tells the stories behind some of the most famous, and most heinous, crimes in the history of the Old North State.
Includes photos!
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Murder & Mayhem in the Finger Lakes
by R. Marcin
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
The pristine waters of the Finger Lakes inspire tranquility, but the region has not been spared a history of high-profile murders. George Chapman's execution for killing a hostler in a drunken rage drew one of the largest crowds in Seneca County's history. Charles Sprague was the only person from Yates County to be executed and the last person electrocuted at Auburn Prison after shooting a neighbor in a dispute over potatoes. A plea of insanity did not save James Williams from the electric chair after murdering an elderly man and attempting to rape a teenage girl. In the Feedbag Murder, the body of a missing man was found in a canal, and his friend was acquitted of the murder despite confessing to the crime years later. Author R. Marcin explores the gruesome history of homicide in the Finger Lakes.
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Murder in Visalia
The Coin Dealer Killer
by Ronn M. Couillard
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
One October morning in 1979, a stamp and coin dealer was gunned down in his Visalia shop. There were no witnesses. Persistent police efforts across jurisdictional lines connected it to another death. Two months earlier, the body of a Fresno coin dealer was found locked in the trunk of his car. The trail of evidence led to a most unlikely suspect. Author Ronn M. Couillard, retired judge and former Visalia district attorney, lays out the facts in this compelling case from the investigation to the court proceedings and the surprise that almost derailed the conviction.
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Murder & Mayhem in Mendon and Honeoye Falls
"Murderville" in Victorian New York
by Diane Ham
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
The Town of Mendon and the Village of Honeoye Falls are today quiet western New York suburbs, but they weren't always so idyllic. In years past, the village was a center of commerce, manufacturing and railroads, and by the mid-nineteenth century, this prosperity brought with it an element of mayhem. Horse stealing was commonplace. Saloons and taverns were abundant. Street scuffles and barroom brawls were regular, especially on Saturday nights, after the laborers were paid. By Sunday morning, numerous drunks--like Manley Locke, who would eventually go on to kill another man in a fight--were confined to the lockup in the village hall. It was at this time that the Village of Honeoye Falls earned the name Murderville. As the town and village turn two hundred, join local historians Diane Ham and Lynne Menz as they explore the peaceful region's vicious history.
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San Diego Murder & Mayhem
by Steve Willard
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
Early twentieth-century San Diego was growing fast, and the officers sworn to protect the city encountered more than their fair share of wily lawbreakers. From a shootout with a lone gunman in Mission Hills to gunfights with a gang of bank robbers that involved enthusiastic bystanders hoping to assist, detectives and patrolmen alike tried to maintain the peace. They encountered unexpected bodies, confronted car thieves and pursued criminals through neighboring states and into Mexico. Join author Steve Willard as he unearths stories directly from the case files of the early San Diego Police Department.
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Murder & Mayhem in Jefferson County
by Cheri L. Farnsworth
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
Jefferson County, located in New York's beautiful North Country, has a dark and violent past. During the long winter months, it was not the cold that was feared, but the killers. In 1828, Henry Evans committed a crime so brutal that the location in Brownsville is still called Slaughter Hill. A real-life Little Red Riding Hood, eleven-year-old Sarah Conklin met someone far worse than a wolf on her way home from school in 1875. And in 1908, Mary Farmer, a beautiful young mother hacked her neighbor to death and was sent to the electric chair. Author Cheri L. Farnsworth has compiled the stories of the most notorious criminal minds of Jefferson County's early history.
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Murder & Mayhem in Scott County, Iowa
by John Brassard Jr.
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
Scott County is one of the oldest counties in Iowa. It is where the Blackhawk Treaty was signed and where the first railroad bridge across the Mississippi River was built. But Scott County has also been witness to many shameful deeds. Travel down Utica Ridge Road, where young Grace Reed paid the ultimate price for spurning the affections of a local farmer. Enter the bedroom of Margaretha Nehlsen, who poisoned her children with chocolate candies. Hear the tale of Harry Hamilton, a former policeman turned career criminal who played a key part in perhaps the most infamous bank robbery in Scott County history. Come and explore these stories and more with author John Brassard Jr. as he guides you through the darker side of Scott County history.
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Austin Murder & Mayhem
by Richard Zelade
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
Beneath Austin's shiny veneer lies a dark past, filled with murder, lechery and deceit. Legislators, lawmen and lawyers killed, robbed and lied just as well and just as often as the drifters and grifters preying on newcomers. The nation's first known serial killer made his debut in Austin in the form of the Servant Girl Annihilator, who is still rumored to be Jack the Ripper. After the Willis brothers murdered their neighbors over rumored buried gold, a lynch mob hanged the boys from live oaks on present-day Sixth Street. Freshman representative Louis Franke died after he was robbed and beaten on the steps of the statehouse. Author Richard Zelade delivers a fascinating look at the seedier side of Austin history.
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Murder & Mayhem in Essex County
by Robert Wilhelm
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
The idea of a criminal record originated in the early seventeenth century when the magistrates of the Massachusetts Bay Colony began recording dates, places, victims and criminals. Despite, or perhaps because of, the strict code of the Puritans, some early settlers earned quite the rap sheet that landed them either in the stocks or at the end of a noose. With biting wit and an eye for the macabre, local author Robert Wilhelm traces the first documented cases of murder and mayhem in Essex County, Massachusetts. Discover the story of Hannah Duston's revenge on her Abenaki Indian captors, why the witchcraft hysteria hung over Salem and Andover and how Rachel Wall made her living as a pirate. Decide for yourself whether the accused are guilty or if history lends itself to something else entirely.
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Murder & Mayhem on Ohio's Rails
by Jane Ann Turzillo
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
Ride Ohio's rails with some of the bravest trainmen and most vicious killers and robbers to ever roll down the tracks. The West may have had Jesse James and Butch Cassidy, but Ohio had its own brand of train robbers. Discover how Alvin Karpis knocked off an Erie Railroad train and escaped with $34,000. Learn about the first peacetime train holdup that took place in North Bend when thieves derailed the Kate Jackson, robbed its passengers and blew the Adam's Express safe. Make no mistake--railroading was a dangerous job in bygone days.
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Murder & Mayhem in Portland, Oregon
by J. D. Chandler
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
The headlines shook Portland, Oregon. The brutal Ardenwald axe murders. The retribution killings by Chinatown tongs. The fiendish acts of the Dark Strangler. In this compelling account, author JD Chandler chronicles the coverups, the false confessions, the miscarriages of justice and the investigative twists and turns of Portland's infamous crimes while providing valuable historical perspective. From the untimely end of the Black Mackintosh Bandit to the convoluted hunt for the Milwaukie Monster, join Chandler as he unveils the shadowy heart of the city, acknowledges the officers who sought justice and remembers the individuals whose lives were claimed by violence.
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Six Miles to Charleston
The True Story of John and Lavinia Fisher
by Bruce Orr
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
The shocking true story of America's first female serial killer, half of a husband and wife team who terrorized Charleston, SC, in the early 19th century.
On February 18th, 1820, John and Lavinia Fisher were executed in front of some two thousand South Carolinians. To this day, legends of the husband-and-wife serial killers range from the fearsome to the fantastical-and many swear they have encountered Lavinia's ghost haunting the Old Charleston Jail House. But in Six Miles to Charleston, local historian and former homicide investigator Bruce Orr uncovers their horrifying true story.
When a young man outwitted John and Lavinia in 1819, he escaped death and went straight to the authorities. Orr recounts the investigation from the initial police raid on the murderous couple's Six Mile Inn-with its reportedly grisly cellar-to their capture, incarceration and dramatic last moments of life. But as Orr reveals, there still may be more sinister deeds left unpunished. An overzealous sheriff, corrupt officials and documents only recently discovered all suggest that there is more to the tale
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Murder & Mayhem in Southeast Kansas
by Larry E. Wood
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
From railroad towns like Ladore to cow towns like Newton and Wichita, southeast Kansas pulsed with rowdy activity during the late nineteenth century. The unruly atmosphere drew outlaws, including the Dalton Gang, and even crazed serial killers the likes of the Bender clan. Violent incidents, from gunfights to lynchings, punctuated the region's Wild West era, and the allure of the frontier also attracted the everyday people whose passions sometimes spawned bloodshed as well. Award-winning author Larry E. Wood explores thirteen of these remarkable episodes in the criminal history of southeast Kansas.
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Murder & Mayhem in Nashville
by Brian Allison
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
From post–Civil War political feuds to Depression-era mass murder-explore the criminally fascinating secret history of Music City, USA. Nashville is known for its bold, progressive flair, but few are aware of its malevolent past. Now, historian Brian Allison sheds light on some of Nashville's darkest deeds in this compulsively readable chronicle of turn-of-the-century bad behavior. Included here are tales of infamous bar brawls, escaped fugitives, and deadly duels instigated (and won) by legendary hothead Andrew Jackson; a tour of the notorious red-light district of Smokey Row, where one of the largest congregations of prostitutes in the country was at the service of 1000s of beleaguered boys in gray; a killer temptress with a penchant for poison who strolled the city streets looking for victims; a grisly-and true-local legend known as the Headless Horror; the facts behind the macabre 1938 Marrowbone Creek cabin murders; and much more. Vividly capturing the outlandish mischief, shocking crimes, and political powder kegs of an era, Murder and Mayhem in Nashville lifts the veil on a great city's sordid secrets.
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Fox Cities Murder & Mayhem
by Gavin Schmitt
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
The safe and sedate Fox Cities have seen their share of horrible crimes. Coldblooded murder, kidnapping, prostitution, organized crime and other misdeeds shocked and appalled not just the community but the entire state. Murderer Porter Ross tried to commit suicide by eating bedsprings. Wenzel Kabat mutilated and burned a man in order to take over his farm. The Appleton Butcher left dismembered human remains on a playground for children to find. In this volume, crime writer and leading expert on the Milwaukee Mafia Gavin Schmitt turns his magnifying glass on small-town America.
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Muncie Murder & Mayhem
by Douglas Walker
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
Muncie epitomizes the small-town America of squeaky-clean 1950s sitcoms, but its wholesome veneer conceals a violent past. Public scandals and personal tragedy dogged the long, notorious life of Dr. Jules LaDuron. Baseball ace Obie McCracken met a tragic and violent end after joining the police force. A mother's love could not stop James Hedges from committing murder. The paranoid delusions of Leonard Redden hounded him until one day he carried a shotgun into a quiet classroom. Detectives Melvin Miller and Ambrose Settles chased a murderer across county lines in pursuit of justice. And newsman George Dale's showdown with the Klan prepared him for the political fight of his life. Douglas Walker and Keith Roysdon, authors of Wicked Muncie, introduce a new cast of characters from the city's notorious past.
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Murder & Mayhem on Staten Island
by Patricia M. Salmon
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
The excitement and vibrancy of big-city thrills take a deadly turn when they hit Staten Island. Edward Reinhardt murdered his wife and rolled her body in a barrel down a busy thoroughfare. A known bootlegger--and suspected police informant--was found shot three times in a Packard on South Beach, sparking one of the island's greatest mysteries. In 1843, the bodies of a mother and daughter were discovered in a Christmas Day fire; a family member would stand trial three times for their deaths. During the Jazz Age, a kiss would cost a popular Port Richmond teenager her life. Local historian Patricia M. Salmon has meticulously researched Staten Island's most horrific murders, some well-known and others long forgotten.
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Unsolved Murders & Disappearances in Northeast Ohio
by Jane Ann Turzillo
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
Cold case files litter the desks of authorities all across Northeast Ohio. Louise Wolf and Mabel Foote, Parma teachers, were on their way to school one winter morning when a maniac sprang from the bushes and bludgeoned them to death. When young Melvin Horst went missing on his way home from playing with friends in 1928, many thought he was kidnapped or accidentally killed by a bootlegger's car. Charles Collins's death looked like suicide but was proved otherwise by two preeminent surgeons and has remained a mystery for more than one hundred years. Author Jane Ann Turzillo recounts eight unsolved murders and two chilling disappearances in Northeast Ohio's history.
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Murder & Mayhem in Rockford, Illinois
by Kathi Kresol
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
Rockford rightly prizes its prosperous heritage, earned by manufacturing concerns like the Rockford Watch Factory and the Manny Reaper Company. But the town once named Midway also harbors a history of crime and calamity. Gunfire broke out in the streets when networks of Prohibition informants slid sideways. In 1893, John Hart forced his own sisters to drink poison. Three years later, James French shot down his wife in the street. Over the years, a courthouse collapsed, a factory exploded and trains collided. Join local historian Kathi Kresol as she explores the mayhem milling about in Rockford's past.
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Murder & Mayhem in St. Lawrence County
by Cheri L. Farnsworth
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
St. Lawrence County is known for its picturesque waters and pristine seasons. But underneath this fair facade lies a sordid past, rife with tales of killings and cunning, like the man who slashed his wife to death after instructing a constable to close the door and depart; a robbery that descended into the brutal axing of a mother and her two small children; the unsolved case of a young woman bludgeoned to death on school grounds in an upscale neighborhood; and the gruesome poisoning of one man at the hands of his son, his wife and her lover. Join author Cheri Farnsworth as she investigates these and other notorious cases of murder and mayhem in New York's North Country.
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Murder & Mayhem in MetroWest Boston
by James L. Parr
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
MetroWest is known for its rolling farmland, winding rivers and quaint white churches facing green town commons. But looks can be deceiving. Tales from these small towns captured headlines and shocked readers across the state with lurid details of betrayal, cruelty, greed and murder. Nina Danforth, spurred on by love and jealousy, made a midnight call to the home of Andrew Emery in Framingham seeking revenge. The murder of spinster Mabel Page in Weston sent a man to the electric chair, and forty years before Lizzie Borden, the grisly axe murder of a husband and wife sent shock waves through the terrified town of Natick. Authors James L. Parr and Kevin A. Swope reveal the stories behind these crimes and the motives of the desperate criminals who perpetrated them.
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True Murder Mysteries of Southwestern Pennsylvania
by A. Parker Burroughs
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
Historical true crime stories from the southwestern corner of the Keystone State, reaching as far back as 1795. In the southwest corner of Pennsylvania, beyond the picturesque scenes of the Monongahela River Valley, there are long-forgotten mysteries of scandal and murder. Amid the hardship of life on the frontier of Washington County in 1795, young Isabel Stewart was found dead, and her killer never identified in the oldest unsolved murder in the region. La Mano Nera (the Black Hand) gangs from Calabria, Italy, extorted and slaughtered their way into the 1920s as Sicilian-style vendettas became a common occurrence. The disappearance of local huckster Harry Lane in 1893 caused a flurry of murder conspiracies, yet all that could be found was a bloodied hat, it took another one hundred years before the mystery was solved. Local author Parker Burroughs details gruesome homicides and puzzling whodunits in Pennsylvania coal country.
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Cincinnati Murder & Mayhem
by Roy Heizer
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
Cincinnati's history is rife with reprehensible crimes and great tragedies. In 1874, a brutal murder caught the attention of a strange and notorious journalist, who turned the crime into a legend. In the 1930s, Cincinnati resident Anna Marie Hahn became Ohio's first female serial killer and the first woman executed in its electric chair, but she isn't the only serial killer to have darkened the dangerous streets of the city. Murderers are not the only monsters. Microbes did the dirty work in 1849 and 1919, and Mother Nature herself turned killer in 1937 when the Ohio River lethally overflowed its banks. Explore stories of murder and catastrophe as author and history lecturer Roy Heizer leads this dark journey into the sinister side of Cincinnati.
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Staten Island Slayings
Murderers & Mysteries of the Forgotten Borough
by Patricia M. Salmon
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
Historical true crime tales from this not-so-quiet New York City borough.
Despite its reputation as the least bustling of New York's five boroughs, Staten Island has seen its share of violence and murder-dating back even to its days as a sleepy farming community in the mid-eighteenth century. The 1920 discovery of a woman's body by two young boys walking their dog remains unsolved. An inmate at Sailors' Snug Harbor-a retirement home for seamen-shot a preacher in cold blood. Shocking and horrific stories of killers and their victims such as these plague Staten Island's otherwise pleasant past.
From the handsome soldier convicted of his Russian wife's shooting in New Dorp Beach to the New Brighton guard beaten to death while protecting seized whiskey during Prohibition, local historian Patricia Salmon uncovers Staten Island's most chilling tales of crime-both the infamous and the long forgotten.
Includes photos.
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Minneapolis Murder & Mayhem
by Ron De Beaulieu
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
Minneapolis has a bloody, unacknowledged heritage. On the shore of Lake Harriet, Ojibwe warriors killed a Dakota man, triggering two retaliatory massacres. Ten years later, pioneer settlers roved the land of Minneapolis in gangs for protection from other pioneer gangs. When a lynch mob hanged a violent criminal across the street from Central High School, they left his corpse dangling for hours. Rioting Riversiders toppled a streetcar and attacked the driver. A man murdered a kind stranger because he misunderstood his intentions. Separate industrial disasters shattered the St. Anthony Falls, causing one fatality, and nearly razed the Mill District, killing eighteen more and injuring countless others. Author Ron de Beaulieu uncovers the dark, sinister history beneath the city.
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Murder & Mayhem in Erie, Pennsylvania
by Justin Dombrowski
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
Gruesome Tales From the Gem City of the Great Lakes
From the French and Indian War to Oliver Hazard Perry at the Battle of Lake Erie, the city of Erie has a prideful place in the American story, but there also exists a seedy history of crime and murder.
In 1905 Detective James "Jimmie" Higgins was mysteriously killed at Central High School and the drawn-out manhunt for his murderer occupied headlines for months. On a cold January night in 1911, a massive explosion rocked the Erie waterfront when criminals bombed the Pennsylvania Railroad Coal Trestle, leaving it a smoldering mass of steel and debris. The unsolved murder of Manley W. Keene inspired a local newspaper to bring in the "Female Sherlock Holmes," Mary Holland, who defied gender expectations and reshaped detective work in Erie for generations.
Author Justin Dombrowski uncovers dark stories from Erie's illicit past.
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Prohibition Pittsburgh
by Richard Gazarik
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
Pittsburgh is a hardworking city. And hard workers sometimes enjoy the occasional spirit. So, when Prohibition hit the Steel City, it created a level of violence and corruption residents had never witnessed. Illegal producers ran stills in kitchens, basements, bathroom tubs, warehouses and even abandoned distilleries. War between gangs of bootleggers resulted in a number of murders and bombings that placed Pittsburgh on the same level as New York City and Chicago in criminal activity. John Bazzano ordered the killing of the Volpe brothers but did so without the permission of Mafia bosses. His battered body was later found on the street in Brooklyn. Author Richard Gazarik details the shady side of the Steel City during a tumultuous era.
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Murder on Long Island
A Nineteenth-Century Tale of Tragedy & Revenge
by Geoffrey K. Fleming
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
In the mid-nineteenth century, James Wickham was a wealthy farmer with a large estate in Cutchogue, Long Island. His extensive property included a mansion and eighty acres of farmland that were maintained by a staff of servants. In 1854, Wickham got into an argument with one of his workers, Nicholas Behan, after Behan harassed another employee who refused to marry him. Several days after Behan's dismissal, he crept back into the house in the dead of night. With an axe, he butchered Wickham and his wife, Frances, and fled to a nearby swamp. Behan was captured, tried, convicted and, on December 15, became one of the last people to be hanged in Suffolk County. Local historians Geoffrey Fleming and Amy Folk uncover this gruesome story of revenge and murder.
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Murder & Mayhem in Seattle
by Teresa Nordheim
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
Seattle harbors a dark and violent history that stretches back to a bloody battle between natives and settlers in 1856. In the early 1900s, Dr. Linda Hazzard stole money from countless patients after starving them to death in her infamous sanitarium. Three robbers opened fire in the notorious Wah Mee gambling club in 1983, killing thirteen people in the state's deadliest mass homicide. Some of America's most notorious serial killers wrought terror in Seattle, including the Green River Killer, Gary Ridgway. Ted Bundy's murder spree started in King County before reaching national attention in the 1970s. Local author Teresa Nordheim exposes these and many more gruesome events that scarred the city.
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Dark Tales of the Eno River
by David Cook
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
Mayhem on the Eno River
Visitors to the Eno River don't expect to encounter haunted houses, train wrecks or fun outings that turn into tragedy, but some of them have experienced just that. In 1771, a few of America's first rebels were hanged near the river. An accident at a sawmill led to a series of hauntings. A Valentine's Day dance became the area's greatest murder mystery. Train-hopping teenagers had harrowing experiences, and a baby abandoned in a suitcase was found by a nearby farmer. Author and former Eno River State Park ranger Dave Cook details the scary side of a beloved tributary.
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Murder & Mayhem In Cumberland County
by Joseph David Cress
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
From the horrific Enoch Brown Schoolhouse Massacre of 1764 to settlers who hunted local tribes for a bounty, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, has long had a violent and bloody history. As more people came to the region, murder and mischief of every kind only multiplied. Local author Joseph David Cress explores the dark side of history, from little-known cases such as that of Sarah Clark--who became the first woman hanged in the county after she poisoned a family to dispatch a romantic rival--to high-profile crimes like the shocking 1955 courtroom slaying that left one person dead and three injured. Join Cress on a hair-raising walk down Hell Street as he investigates the underbelly of Cumberland County.
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Murder & Mayhem In Ulster County
by A. J. Schenkman
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
In 1870, the" New York Herald" proclaimed that Ulster County was New York's "Ulcer County" due to its lawlessness and crime. The columnist supported his claim by citing that in only six months, "it has been the scene of no less than four cold blooded and brutal murders, six suicides and four elopements." Hannah Markle--the bane of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union--ran a Kingston saloon where murder and violence were served alongside the whiskey. John Babbitt confessed on his deathbed to murdering Emma Brooks, and Willie Brown--reputed member of the Eastman Gang--accidentally shot his best friend. The infamous Big Bad Bill, the "Gardiner Desperado," lashed out more than once and killed in a drunken rage. Discover the mayhem and murder that these and others wreaked on one of New York State's original counties.
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Murder & Mayhem In The Highlands
Historic Crimes of the Jersey Shore
by John King
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
Visitors gazing out over the Highlands of coastal New Jersey might never guess that these rolling hills have been a stage for mankind s darkest deeds. In his thrilling new book, Murder & Mayhem in the Highlands, John King shines a spotlight on the region s violent history of kidnapping, murder, smuggling and extortion. From axe-wielding lunatics to killers who leave calling cards, King presents each case with the care of a criminal investigator, including details from coroners reports and witness testimonies. In this sensational and gripping read, uncover the gritty history of the Highlands, where a suspicious death usually meant foul play and staying in a hotel might cost you your life.
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Murder & Mayhem in the Catskills
by Caroline Crane
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
Stylish resorts, breathtaking vistas and glittering lakes are hallmarks of the Catskills region. But since the pre-Revolutionary era, this seemingly idyllic vacationland has been a theater for some of mankind's darkest deeds and evildoers, including the notorious Murder, Inc. Caroline Crane explores the stories behind the bodies and bones that turn up here, from the bizarre hex murder at Stone Arch Bridge to the murderous escapades of Lethal Lizzie. Meet Claudius Smith, the hotheaded Tory outlaw who terrorized local colonists, and Dutch Schultz, the mobster whose fortune still lies buried in the mountains. Murder & Mayhem in the Catskills provides a fascinating glimpse into the shadowy heart of the mountains and reveals the area s surprising connections to some of America's most infamous criminals.
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Murder & Mayhem in Washington County, Rhode Island
by Kelly Sullivan Pezza
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
Rhode Island's Washington County hides a dark past riddled with macabre crimes and despicable deeds. In 1890, an argument over wages turned deadly when former hotelier George Kenyon shot and killed his carpenter on the grounds of the Gilbert Stuart House in Saunderstown. Senator Charles Burdick was shot and left for dead at his Charlestown home in 1930. Even the peaceful village of Woodville has a veritable rap sheet of thieving maids, speakeasies and murderously jealous wives. From chilling acts by the KKK to physicians practicing under the influence of narcotics, author Kelly Sullivan Pezza's collection of articles from the Chariho Times uncovers the violence and vices of Washington County.
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Murder & Mayhem on Chicago's West Side
by Troy Taylor
Part of the Murder & Mayhem series
The author of Haunted Illinois takes readers to the Windy City's wild west, where criminals from Frank Capone to John Wayne Gacy left their mark.
Blazing from the West Side, the Great Chicago Fire left nothing but ashy remnants of the developing city, leveling its landscape but certainly not its spirit. While the West Side was home to the infamous O'Leary barn, it was also where news of some of the city's most gruesome and horrific crimes reverberated throughout the state and across the country. Read about the bloody end of Roger "the Terrible" Touhy, who, although he undoubtedly lived up to his name, met an ill-deserved fate. Troy Taylor also delves into the life of John Wayne Gacy, the depraved man masked by the clown costume, and yet again proves to be a master storyteller and historian of Chicago's criminal underworld.