True Crime Stories

On October 31, 1975 in the elite neighborhood of Belle Haven in Greenwich Connecticut the body of 15 year old Martha Moxley was found beaten under a tree in her own yard.  In 2002 the suspect was finally charged, convicted and sentenced to jail.  This case made headlines not just because it was such an old cold case but because the suspect was related to one of America's most prominent families. The Moxley family that included father, David, mother, Dorothy, and children John and Martha had moved to Belle Haven less than a year prior to Martha being killed.  David had transferred there from California when he became a senior partner in an accounting firm.  Just around the corner from their new home lived Rushton Skakel and his seven children (six boys and one girl) who were between the ages of 9 and 19.  Anne Reynolds Skakel had died in 1973 from brain cancer.  The Skakel's were notorious in their neighborhood partly because Rushton was rarely around so t...

As with many high profile cases that occurred several decades ago, the Lindbergh case has still been hotly debated as to if the correct person was charged (and in this case convicted and executed) and much speculation of the handling of the case as well as the subjects. On March 1, 1932 Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr, the 20 month old son of Charles Sr. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh was reported kidnapped from his home between 10 and 10:30 pm near Hopewell New Jersey. The family nurse, Betty Gow, had placed the child in his crib for bed around 8 and when she went back in at 10 the crib was empty.  Upon asking Charles Sr. and Anne Lindbergh if they had taken the baby and a short search, the police were notified by Oliver Whately, the caretaker around 10:25 pm. Nearly immediately the crime scene was compromised.  There were servants, media, the family lawyer and members of the police (from different branches) swarming the home.  A ransom note was found in an envelope on a ra...

The trial of Daniel James White in San Francisco was dubbed "The Twinkie Defense" trial even though that was never truly claimed at all.  This was one of many times that the media put a spin on things that made a case or defense seem ridiculous.  One of my pet peeve cases involving this sort of thing is the "Hot Coffee" case against McDonald's.  The difference here is that murder was involved. On November 27, 1978, city supervisor, Dan White climbed through the basement window of city hall with a loaded gun and 10 extra rounds of ammunition to avoid metal detectors at the entrance.  He entered the office of Mayor George Moscone.  On November 10th White had resigned his commission on the Board of Supervisors stating the low pay, the fact he was not allowed to supplement the pay through the police or fire department (both former jobs of White's) and "corrupt politics" within the city.  Four days later he tried to reverse his resignation and had app...

On Saturday March 25, 1911 at about 4:40 pm a fire broke out in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City.  In the end, 146 of the 500 garment workers died.  Most were Jewish and Italian immigrant women and children.  The oldest victim was 43 and the two youngest were 14 years old.  Many died not from the fire, or even smoke inhalation but from blunt force injuries from jumping from the 8th, 9th, and 10th floors of the building. This tragedy brought to light the working conditions of especially of women and immigrants.  America was still considered the place to come to in order to succeed in life and get away from various government laws in other countries.  Many immigrant families soon learned that it was not what they expected and struggled to provide the basic needs to their families.  Many of the wealthy factory owners knew this and it was quite common for employees to be taken advantage of by working extremely long ho...

This is one of the cases that "won't go away."  In hindsight there is really very little that is "sensational" about the story by modern standards but in 1924, at the time of the crime it became one of the first dubbed "crime of the century." Nathan Leopold Jr., 19, and his partner in crime, Richard Loeb, 18 were two University of Chicago law students who came from wealthy families.  On May 21, 1924 Leopold and Loeb kidnapped 14 year old, Robert "Bobby" Franks while he walked home from school.  Once inside the car they had rented, Bobby was murdered and his body was dumped in a culvert near Hammond Indiana.   Most believe that Loeb was the driving force behind the crime.  It was said that he read a lot of detective novels and was fascinated by crime.  He also appeared to be the more social and dominating of the two.  Others believe that this crime would have never happened had the two not met and become friends.  Leopold was considered to...

Over the last year or so I had seen some highlights and topic titles about a former valedictorian being accused of murdering his mother.  For whatever reason I never seriously gave a look at the articles or information.  Today I am unsure if I am glad I had not paid attention until it had gotten to this point or if I feel bad that I did not.  After watching an episode of 48 Hours, I am completely sympathetic as well as outraged about this case.  I will be honest in saying that a lot of my reaction is based on my experiences with dealing with those with mental illnesses as well as those who provide services to the mentally ill.   On May 27, 2011 around 2:30 pm Bernard Pyne returned home with his young daughter, Julia.  When he attempted to enter the garage through a small walk in door he found it blocked... blocked by the body of his wife Ruth Pyne, 51.  Bernard immediately prevented his daughter from seeing the scene and called the police.  He t...