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All True Crime Anniversaries

A photograph of the University of Texas (UT) Main Building tower against blue sky in Austin, Texas

Charles Whitman The Texas Tower Sniper killed after killing 16

His father was a disciplinarian who beat his wife and his sons and he expected them to emulate his social rise
A photograph of Bologna station, Italy, as seen from the Galliera bridge

85 dead in Bologna bombing at railway station

At 10:25 local time, an IED (improvised explosive device) exploded in the waiting room of Bologna, North Italy.
Ian Huntley

Soham school caretaker Ian Huntley murders two girls in his home

Two years previously Huntley had met Maxine Carr at a nightclub.
A photograph showing English £20 notes

Cash from this Bank Holiday green lights The Great Train Robbery

The robbers knew that the Glasgow-to-London mail train carried more money after a Bank Holiday Monday
A photograph of old rusty oil drums

Acid bath murderer vampire John Haigh hanged for six murders

John Haigh’s father taught him that if he sinned he would be stained.
A photograph of White House Farm, Essex, taken in 2007

Jeremy Bamber shoots dead five of his adopted family at farm

A photograph showing an English £10 note

£2m stolen by 15 strong gang in The Great Train Robbery

They’d expected to rob a lot of money but not millions.
A photograph of an abandoned Dodge Power Wagon said to have been driven by the Manson Family in Ballarat, California, USA.

The Manson Family first kills hoping to start Helter Skelter

Manson wanted a race war.
A photograph of Brooklyn Bridge in, New York City. Brooklyn was the birthplace of David Berkowitz.

David Berkowitz arrested and charged with being serial killer 'Son of Sam'

The first time he had sex, he caught a disease
A 3D rendering of nuclear warheads featuring the Flag of the United States on the side.

Ethel Rosenberg is arrested for espionage against the US

The American public wanted to know how the Russians had learnt to detonate an atomic bomb, and Ethel Rosenberg, the Atom Spy, was the answer.
A photograph of Brighton Railway Station

Robinson hanged for limbless body in first Brighton Trunk Murder

It was the pathologist from the Dr Crippen case, Sir Bernard Spilsbury, who established that the dismembered torso of a woman found in the trunk at a railway station had been killed two to three weeks previously
A graphic render of the French tricolour flag

Sudanese allow extradition of Carlos the Jackal for French murders

Carlos was a wanted man and had already been ‘moved on’ from several countries by this point
A photograph of Johannesburg, South Africa

Moses Sithole South Africa’s worst serial killer kills 22nd victim

His victims would often know that they were about to die because he would lure them to where he had dumped other bodies
A photograph of a person holding a DNA test

John Mark Karr, suspected murderer of JonBenet Ramsey, arrested in Thailand

The beauty queen and the businessman had married and had had the beautiful JonBenet Ramsey to complete their perfect life
A photograph of a person holding a cross / crucifix

Waco David Koresh born

The Seven Day Adventists are a denomination of the Protestant faith that emphasise the imminent return of Christ
Dennis Rader in handcuffs

Dennis Rader is sentenced to 175 years for the BTK murders

Intelligent, media aware, patient and predatory he had bound, tortured and killed his victims, hence his acronym.
A photograph of Hungerford Town Centre Canal

Hungerford massacre: Michael Ryan shoots 16 and himself

A photograph showing the River Thames and the Houses of Parliament in London, UK

51 people lose their lives as The Marchioness sinks on the Thames

When the party boat Marchioness was sunk on 20 August 1989, 51 people lost their lives
A photograph of a broadcast TV camera

Reality TV star body in suitcase murder suspect now in Canada

Canadian Ryan Jenkins, faintly famous for appearing in a dating series, strangled his swimsuit model wife, American Jasmine Fiore
A photograph of a road sign showing distances on the A6 road

Couple sitting in a car raped and shot: ‘The A6 Murder’

Scientists Michael Gregsten and Valerie Storie were consummating their work romance in Michael’s Morris Minor when a man tapped on their window.
A photograph of a fairground Ferris Wheel

Vampire of Dusseldorf murders two foster sisters at fairground

A village idiot had confessed to all the previous murders and atrocities in February so the police thought they had their vampire
A photograph of the street sign 'Penny Lane' in Liverpool

Murderer Mark Chapman sentenced to 20 years for shooting Beatle

He had started the trial claiming insanity, was judged sane, pleaded not guilty, was supposedly persuaded by God to confess
A graphic depiction of a smoking gun

Nazi sniper shoots dead ‘American Hitler’

A photograph of a person holding a needle, about to administer an injection

Killer doctor Harold Shipman kills ninth elderly patient

Elizabeth Ashworth was a widow who valued her independence.
A photograph of a Death's-head hawkmoth

‘Silence of the Lambs’ inspiration, original ‘Psycho’ Ed Gein is born

The inspiration for the most infamous mother in horror history, Augusta Gein gives birth to her beloved Edward on this day.
A photograph showing broken purple eye shadow

Child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey murder charges dropped

John Mark Karr, arrested for child pornography, confessed to the murder of JonBenet.
A photograph showing metal bars in a jail

Night Stalker confesses crimes to cops to escape lynch mob

The Night Stalker had struck fear into every person in California making them scared to go to sleep.
A photograph showing the city skyline silhouette of Johannesburg, South Africa

Moses Sithole South Africa’s worst serial killer kills 24th victim

She has no name.
A photograph showing a smashed beer bottle

Jack the Ripper kills his first victim Mary Ann Nichols

‘Polly’ as she’s also known, is a 43 year-old divorced mother of five.