Today in True Crime

There’s never an ordinary day in true crime history. Flip back the calendar and see how one fateful day can ripple through time. Today in True Crime is a Spotify Original from Parcast.

True Crime
Education
History
176
March 7, 1965: Bloody Sunday
A crowd of 600 people began a march from Selma, Alabama to the state capital of Montgomery to protest for voting rights when they were met with resistance from state troopers. When the protesters refused to disperse, the officers got violent.
7 min
177
March 6, 2018: A Miracle for Oscar Romero
Vatican investigators verified that assassinated archbishop Oscar Romero was responsible for a miracle involving a Salvadoran couple and the birth of their child. This recognition was one of the final stops on Romero’s road to sainthood.
10 min
178
March 5, 2009: Crawford Family Massacre
In what was one of the worst shootings in recent Cleveland history, Davon Crawford killed his wife and four other members of her family, including a five-year-old girl and her two-year-old twin nephews.
7 min
179
March 4, 2011: “East Coast Rapist” Arrested
The cooperation between multiple police precincts led to the capture of Aaron Thomas, also known as the East Coast Rapist. His crime spree lasted 14 years across four different states.
8 min
180
March 3, 2011: Micaela Costanzo Murdered
High school student Micaela Costanzo was murdered at the gravel pits outside of West Wendover, Nevada. Her childhood friend Kody Patten and his fiancé Toni Fratto were both convicted for the crime, though the case remains shrouded in mystery.
10 min
181
March 2, 1879: The Barnes Mystery
Kate Webster chased her boss Julia Martha Thomas up the stairs of her home, threw her down the steps, and strangled her to death.
8 min
182
March 1, 1989: Glen Ridge Assault
A 17-year-old mentally disabled girl from Glen Ridge, New Jersey was sexually assaulted in a basement by three high school football players while four of their friends watched.
9 min
183
February 28, 1905: Jane Stanford Dies
After already surviving one attempted poisoning, the co-founder of Stanford University died mysteriously while on a trip in Hawaii.
8 min
184
February 27, 1859: U.S. Attorney Philip Barton ...
Expecting to meet his lover, Teresa, U.S. Attorney Philip Barton Key II was surprised by her husband, Congressman Daniel Sickles, instead. The two would take their confrontation to Lafayette Park where Sickles would shoot Key dead.
7 min
185
February 26, 1980: Mills Family Murdered
Just six years after leaving Jim Jones’ Peoples Temple, Jeannie, Al and Daphene Mills were shot and killed in their California home. Many believed it was an act of revenge by their former cult, but police suspected somebody else.
8 min
186
February 25, 1996: Haing Ngor Murdered
Eleven years after winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in the film “The Killing Fields,” doctor, actor, and Cambodian refugee Haing S. Ngor was murdered.
8 min
187
February 24, 2005: The Death of Rosemarie Essa
What was initially believed to be the result of a car accident, the death of Rosemarie Essa was just the beginning for law enforcement.
8 min
188
February 23, 1996: William Bonin Executed
Known as the “Freeway Killer,” 49-year-old William Bonin was executed for the murder of 14 teenage boys.
9 min
189
February 22, 1985: Cherrie Mahan Abducted
In rural Winfield Township, Pennsylvania, eight-year-old Cherrie Mahan disappeared while walking home from her bus stop. Although she was declared legally dead in 1998, her abduction still remains unsolved.
8 min
190
February 21, 1965: The Assassination of Malcolm X
Having lost his home in a firebomb attack just one week prior, civil rights leader Malcolm X was gunned down on stage at the Audubon Ballroom. His pregnant wife and four kids took cover in the front row.
11 min
191
February 20, 1996: Snoop Dogg Acquitted of Murder
Along with his bodyguard, McKinley Lee, rapper Snoop Dogg was acquitted of first- and second-degree murder charges in the death of Philip Woldemariam.
8 min
192
February 19, 1986: Informant Barry Seal Murdered
Barry Seal was one of America’s most notorious drug smugglers. He was killed by cartel hitmen for being a DEA informant.
8 min
193
February 18, 2010: IRS Suicide Attack
Following years of tax issues with the IRS, Andrew Joseph Stack flew his single-engine airplane into an IRS office in Austin, Texas.
7 min
194
February 17, 1977: Helen Brach Disappears
After checking out with a clean bill of health, candy heiress Helen Brach left the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and was never seen again.
8 min
195
February 16, 1961: Wilbert Rideau Bank Robbery
Wilbert Rideau’s botched bank heist would escalate to kidnapping… and then murder.
10 min
196
February 15, 1994: Danny Rolling’s Trial Begins
Three-and-a-half years after the murders which gave him the moniker “The Gainesville Ripper,” serial killer Danny Rolling entered day one of his trial with a shocking plea.
9 min
197
February 14, 1779: Captain James Cook Killed
English explorer James Cook was killed on the beach of Hawaii’s Kealakekua Bay after his plan to kidnap a local leader went awry.
8 min
198
February 13, 2006: Ilan Halimi Murdered
After being tortured and held for ransom, 23-year-old Ilan Halimi died in France. He had been targeted by a gang known as The Barbarians, who wrongly assumed the young man’s family was wealthy enough to pay the ransom because they were Jewish.
8 min
199
February 12, 1993: James Bulger Murdered
Two boys became the youngest convicted murderers in 20th-century Britain for the brutal beating and killing of two-year-old James Bulger. They were sentenced to a young offenders’ institute, where they were released at 18 years old and given new identities.
9 min
200
February 11, 1987: Peggy Hettrick’s Body Discov...
15-year-old Tim Masters didn't realize the body he saw in a field on the way to his bus stop was actually real. But it was the remains of Peggy Hettrick, who had died from a single stab wound. Police believed Masters had something to do with the crime.
11 min