by tyler | May 7, 2024 | CNN, us
Here’s a look at the life of Mark David Chapman, who was convicted of murdering musician John Lennon.
Birth date: May 10, 1955
Birth place: Fort Worth, Texas
Birth name: Mark David Chapman
Father: David Chapman, former sergeant, US Air Force
Mother: Diane Chapman, nurse
Marriage: Gloria (Abe) Chapman (June 1979-present)
Education: Attended DeKalb Junior College and Covenant College in Georgia
As documented in the press, Chapman is known for an obsessive devotion to “The Catcher in the Rye,” J.D. Salinger’s novel about teenage alienation.
Suffers from depression and was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic by Dr. Bernard Diamond, a psychiatrist for the defense.
Started using drugs and skipping school his freshman year in high school. This behavior ended when he turned 16 and became a born-again Christian, as documented in the book, “Let Me Take You Down: Inside the Mind of Mark David Chapman, the Man Who Killed John Lennon,” by Jack Jones.
1971-1975 – Works on and off as a YMCA counselor.
1977 – Purchases a one-way ticket and flies to Hawaii. Attempts suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning. Once recovered, Chapman takes a job at the hospital where he received treatment.
1978 – Embarks on an around-the-world trip.
1979 – Marries Gloria Abe, the travel agent who helped plan his around-the-world trip. Chapman then quits his job at the hospital and takes a job as a security guard.
1980 – Reads a book on Lennon and becomes enraged that Lennon has so much money.
October 23, 1980 – Quits his job as a security guard, signing himself out as “John Lennon.”
October 27, 1980 – Purchases a .38 caliber revolver.
October 30, 1980 – Flies to New York. He is unable to purchase bullets, so he flies to Atlanta to acquire them, then goes back to New York. His wife convinces him to return home to Hawaii.
December 6, 1980 – Returns to New York.
December 8, 1980 – Spends the entire day outside the Dakota, the Central Park West apartment building in Manhattan where Lennon and his family live. Meets Lennon’s 5-year-old son, Sean, with his nanny and shakes hands with him. Encounters Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, as they are leaving their apartment. Lennon signs a copy of his recently released “Double Fantasy” album for Chapman. Chapman remains outside the Dakota until Lennon and Ono return home. Chapman shoots Lennon in the back four times with a .38 caliber revolver. Chapman makes no attempt to flee; he is disarmed by the doorman. When police arrive, Chapman is reading “The Catcher in the Rye,” by Salinger. Lennon is pronounced dead at Roosevelt Hospital.
December 9, 1980 – Chapman is arraigned on charges of second-degree murder. Following the arraignment, he is taken to Bellevue Hospital for psychiatric evaluation and placed under suicide watch.
June 22, 1981 – Chapman’s legal defense prepares to argue an insanity defense but Chapman pleads guilty saying that he received a message from God telling him to do so.
August 24, 1981 – Judge Dennis Edwards sentences Chapman to 20 years to life in prison and recommends Chapman undergo psychiatric treatment. Just prior to sentencing, Chapman reads a passage from “The Catcher in the Rye.”
2000-2022 – Denied parole 12 times.
by tyler | Apr 23, 2024 | CNN, us
Here is a look at the life of former AIG Chief Executive Officer Hank Greenberg.
Birth date: May 4, 1925
Birth place: New York, New York
Birth name: Maurice Raymond Greenberg
Father: Jacob Greenberg
Mother: Ada (Rheingold) Greenberg
Marriage: Corinne (Zuckerman) Greenberg (1950-March 17, 2024, her death)
Children: Jeffrey, Evan, Scott and Cathleen
Education: University of Miami, B.A., 1948; New York Law School, LL.B., 1950
Military: US Army, Captain
Recipient of the Bronze Star for his service during the Korean War.
Awarded the Legion of Honor from France.
Chairman of the Board of The Starr Foundation.
Vice chairman of the National Committee on United States-China Relations.
Member of the board of the Council on Foreign Relations.
1952-1960 – Works for Continental Casualty Company.
1960 – Is hired as a vice president for the insurance-holding company C.V. Starr & Co., Inc.
1968 – C.V. Starr & Co., Inc. begins distributing some the firm’s subsidiaries in order to raise capital to establish American International Group, Inc. (AIG). Greenberg becomes the Chairman and CEO of AIG.
1988-1995 – Director of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
1994-1995 – Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
March 2005 – Greenberg resigns as CEO and chairman of the board of AIG.
May 2005 – New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer files a lawsuit in New York County Supreme Court against Greenberg on behalf of the state, charging him with engaging in fraud to exaggerate AIG’s finances.
2005-present – Chairman and CEO of C.V. Starr & Co., Inc. and Starr International Company, Inc.
September 16, 2008 – The Federal Reserve Bank of New York announces an emergency $85 billion loan to AIG to rescue the company, on the condition that the federal government own 79.9% stake in the company. Greenberg is AIG’s largest individual shareholder before the bailout, with 11% ownership in the company.
April 2009 – The loan expands to $184.6 billion. The government eventually owns a 92% stake in the company.
August 2009 – The Securities and Exchange Commission charges Greenberg for his involvement in the fraudulent accounting transactions that inflated AIG’s finances. Without conceding or denying the SEC charges, Greenberg agrees to pay $15 million in penalties, and AIG settles the charges by repaying $700 million plus a fine of $100 million.
November 21, 2011 – Greenberg and his Starr International Company sue the federal government for $25 billion, claiming the 2008 takeover was unconstitutional. Starr International also sues the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in federal district court in Manhattan.
November 2012 – Greenberg and Starr International’s lawsuit against the Federal Reserve Bank of New York is dismissed. The ruling is upheld in appeals court in January 2014.
January 2013 – Greenberg’s book, “The AIG Story,” is released.
May 2013 – Greenberg’s lawsuit against the federal government achieves class action status. Three hundred thousand stockholders, including AIG employees and retirees, would share the reward if they win the lawsuit.
June 25, 2013 – A New York appeals court rules that the 2005 fraud lawsuit, filed by Spitzer, against Greenberg, will not be dismissed.
July 2013 – Greenberg files a lawsuit against Spitzer in New York’s Putnam County Supreme Court, alleging defamation related to statements he made between 2004 and 2012.
June 25, 2014 – After granting a request by Spitzer to dismiss most of his statements, a judge rules that Greenberg’s defamation lawsuit against him will go to trial.
October 6, 2014 – Greenberg and Starr International’s class action lawsuit against the government officially begins in the Court of Federal Claims in Washington, DC. Closing arguments take place on April 22, 2015.
June 15, 2015 – Starr International wins its lawsuit against the federal government “due to the Government’s illegal exaction,” but the court awards no monetary damages.
February 10, 2017 – Greenberg and the New York attorney general’s office reach a settlement in the 2005 civil fraud lawsuit. Greenberg agrees to pay $9 million, and former AIG Chief Financial Officer Howard Smith agrees to pay $900,000.
September 13, 2017 – The Supreme Court of New York Appellate Division denies summary judgment for several of Greenberg’s defamation charges against Spitzer.
January 15, 2020 – St. John’s University’s presents Greenberg with a Lifetime Leadership Award at its Annual Insurance Leader of the Year Award Dinner. The school also announces that it has voted to rename its School of Risk Management, Insurance and Actuarial Science in his honor. It is now the Maurice R. Greenberg School of Risk Management, Insurance and Actuarial Science.
November 12, 2020 – A judge in New York’s Putnam County Supreme Court rules to dismiss Greenberg’s defamation case against Spitzer.
January 2023 – The Starr Foundation gifts Georgia State’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business $15 million. Georgia State University announces they will rename its Department of Risk Management & Insurance to the Maurice R. Greenberg School of Risk Science in recognition of the donation.
by tyler | Apr 23, 2024 | CNN, us
Here is a list of incidents of elementary, middle and high school violence with at least one fatality, from 1927 to the present. Suicides, gang-related incidents and deaths resulting from domestic conflicts are not included. If a perpetrator was killed or died by suicide during the incident, their death is not included in the fatality totals.
Because there is no central database tracking school violence incidents, this list is based primarily on media reports and is not complete or representative of all incidents.
READ MORE: Ten years of school shootings
January 4, 2024 – Perry High School – Perry, Iowa. Dylan Butler, 17, fatally shoots a sixth grade student and wounds five other people. The wounded include four students and the school’s principal. Butler dies from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
March 27, 2023 – Covenant School – Nashville, Tennessee. Three children and three adults are killed in a shooting. The shooter is fatally shot by responding officers.
November 8, 2022 – Ingraham High School – Seattle, Washington. A 17-year-old student is fatally shot, and two teens are arrested in connection with the shooting.
October 24, 2022 – Central Visual and Performing Arts High School – St. Louis, Missouri. A teen and an adult are killed in a shooting. The gunman dies after an exchange of gunfire with police.
May 24, 2022 – Robb Elementary School – Uvalde, Texas. Salvador Ramos, 18, fatally shoots 19 students and two teachers. Responding officers fatally shoot Ramos.
March 31, 2022 – Tanglewood Middle School – Greenville, South Carolina. 12-year-old student Jamari Cortez Bonaparte Jackson is fatally shot. The suspected shooter, also 12, is arrested and charged with murder and other firearm charges.
January 29, 2022 – Beloit Memorial High School – Beloit, Wisconsin. Jion Broomfield, 19, is fatally shot after a basketball game. Amaree Goodall, 19, is arrested in connection with the shooting.
January 19, 2022 – Oliver Citywide Academy – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 15-year-old freshman Marquis Campbell is shot on school grounds. Campbell is taken to the hospital in critical condition and dies from gun injuries. In January 2024, Eugene Watson, 19, is sentenced to 20-40 years in prison.
November 30, 2021 – Oxford High School – Oxford, Michigan. Ethan Crumbley, 15, opens fire, killing four students and injuring seven others. Crumbley later pleads guilty to one count of terrorism causing death, four counts of first-degree murder and 19 other charges. In 2023, Crumbley is sentenced to life in prison without parole.
September 1, 2021 – Mount Tabor High School – Winston-Salem, North Carolina. A student is fatally shot, and a suspect is taken into custody.
March 1, 2021 – Watson Chapel Junior High – Pine Bluff, Arkansas. A student is fatally shot, and a 15-year-old male suspect is arrested. In 2023, Thomas Quarles pleads guilty to murder and is sentenced to 40 years in prison.
January 14, 2020 – Bellaire High School – Bellaire, Texas. A 16-year-old male fatally shoots classmate Cesar Cortes. The teen is arrested and charged with manslaughter. The county district attorney said it appeared the shooting was unintentional. In 2021, the teen is sentenced to twelve years in prison, according to authorities.
November 14, 2019 – Saugus High School – Santa Clarita, California. Nathaniel Berhow, 16, opens fire, killing two and injuring three, then shoots himself.
May 6, 2019 – STEM School Highlands Ranch – Highlands Ranch, Colorado. Suspects Devon Erickson, 18, and Alec McKinney, 16, are apprehended after a shooting leaves one dead and eight others injured. Erickson is later sentenced to life in prison without parole while McKinney is sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
May 18, 2018 – Santa Fe High School – Santa Fe, Texas. Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17, allegedly opens fire killing 10 and injuring 13. Pagourtzis is arrested and charged with capital murder and aggravated assault of a public servant. In November 2019, he is declared mentally incompetent to stand trial.
February 14, 2018 – Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School – Parkland, Florida. Former student, Nikolas Cruz, 19, opens fire with an AR-15 rifle, killing 17 people and injuring 17 others. According to law enforcement, the suspect activated a fire alarm to draw people outside to increase casualties. Cruz pleads guilty to 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder. Cruz is later sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
January 23, 2018 – Marshall County High School – Benton, Kentucky. Gabriel R. Parker, 15, opens fire killing two and injuring 18 others. The suspect is arrested at the scene and later charged with two counts of murder and 14 counts of first degree assault. Parker is later sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty.
December 7, 2017 – Aztec High School – Aztec, New Mexico. William Atchison shoots and kills students Casey Jordan Marquez and Francisco Fernandez. Atchison, a former student at the high school, dies of what police believe to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
September 13, 2017 – Freeman High School – Spokane, Washington. Caleb Sharpe, a sophomore at the school, opens fire killing one student and injuring three others. Sharpe later pleads guilty and is sentenced to 40 years to life in prison.
April 10, 2017 – North Park Elementary School – San Bernardino, California. Jonathan Martinez, 8, and his teacher, Karen Smith, are killed when Cedric Anderson, Smith’s estranged husband, walks into her special needs classroom and opens fire, armed with a large-caliber revolver. Two other students are wounded. Anderson then kills himself.
September 28, 2016 – Townville Elementary School – Greenville, South Carolina. A 14-year-old male opens fire on the playground, wounding two children and a teacher. Jacob Hall, one of the wounded children, dies three days later. Before going to the school, the teen, later identified as Jesse Osborne, shot and killed his father. In December 2018, Osborne pleads guilty to two murder charges and three attempted murder charges. In November 2019, Osborne is sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, plus 30 years.
October 24, 2014 – Marysville-Pilchuck High School – Marysville, Washington. Freshman Jaylen Fryberg shoots five people in the school cafeteria, killing one. Fryberg dies of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the scene. A second victim dies of her injuries two days later; a third dies on October 31. A fourth victim dies on November 7.
June 10, 2014 – Reynolds High School – Troutdale, Oregon. Jared Padgett, 15, shoots and kills 14-year-old Emilio Hoffman in the school gym. He later takes his own life.
December 13, 2013 – Arapahoe High School – Centennial, Colorado. Karl Pierson, 18, opens fire inside, critically injuring one student and then killing himself. 17-year-old Claire Davis dies on December 21, eight days after being shot.
October 21, 2013 – Sparks Middle School – Sparks, Nevada. 12-year-old student Jose Reyes takes his parent’s handgun to school and shoots three, injuring two 12-year-old male students and killing Mike Landsberry, a teacher and Marine veteran. He then kills himself.
December 14, 2012 – Sandy Hook Elementary School – Newtown, Connecticut. Adam Lanza, 20, guns down 20 children, ages 6 and 7, and six adults, school staff and faculty, before turning the gun on himself. Investigating police later find Nancy Lanza, Adam’s mother, dead from a gunshot wound. The final count is 27 dead.
February 27, 2012 – Chardon High School – Chardon, Ohio. Student Daniel Parmertor, 16, is killed and four others wounded when student T.J. Lane, 17, opens fire in the school. On February 28, Demetrius Hewlin, 16, dies from his wounds and Russell King Jr., 17, is declared brain dead. In March 2013, Lane is sentenced to life in prison. On September 11, 2014, Lane escapes from prison. He is captured early the next morning.
January 5, 2011 – Millard South High School – Omaha, Nebraska. 17-year-old Robert Butler Jr. opens fire on Principal Curtis Case and Vice Principal Vicki Kasper. Butler then kills himself about a mile from the school. Vice Principal Kasper later dies at the hospital.
February 5, 2010 – Discovery Middle School – Madison, Alabama. 14-year-old Todd Brown dies after being shot in the head in a school hallway. Fellow ninth-grader Hammad Memon later pleads guilty and is sentenced to 30 years in prison.
October 16, 2009 – Carolina Forest High School – Conway, South Carolina. 16-year-old student Trevor Varinecz is shot and killed by a police officer after allegedly pulling a knife and stabbing the officer.
September 23, 2009 – John Tyler High School – Tyler, Texas. A 16-year-old, Byron Truvia, is taken into custody for stabbing and killing high school teacher Todd R. Henry. Truvia is later found unfit to stand trial.
September 15, 2009 – Coral Gables Senior High School – Coral Gables, Florida. 17-year-old Andy Jesus Rodriguez fatally stabs 17-year-old sophomore Juan Carlos Rivera during a fight. Rodriguez is later sentenced to 40 years in prison.
August 21, 2008 – Central High School – Knoxville, Tennessee. 15-year-old Jamar Siler shoots and kills 15-year-old Ryan McDonald. In 2011, Siler receives 30 years in prison in a plea agreement.
January 3, 2007 – Henry Foss High School – Tacoma, Washington. Student Douglas Chanthabouly, 18, fatally shoots another student, Samnang Kok, 17. Chanthabouly is sentenced in 2009 to more than 23 years in prison for second-degree murder.
October 2, 2006 – West Nickel Mines Amish School – Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. 32-year-old Charles Roberts IV goes to a small Amish school and takes at least 11 girls hostage. Five girls were killed and six others wounded. Roberts then kills himself.
September 29, 2006 – Weston High School – Cazenovia, Wisconsin. 15-year-old Eric Hainstock goes to school armed with a shotgun and a handgun. After a struggle with the school janitor, Hainstock shoots and kills the school principal. He is convicted of murder in August 2007 and sentenced to life in prison.
September 27, 2006 – Platte Canyon High School – Bailey, Colorado. 54-year-old Duane Morrison takes six female students hostage. When SWAT teams enter the school, Morrison shoots 16-year-old Emily Keyes. Morrison then kills himself. Keyes later dies at the hospital.
November 8, 2005 – Campbell County Comprehensive High School – Jacksboro, Tennessee. 15-year-old Kenneth Bartley Jr. opens fire on a principal and two assistant principals, killing one of them and critically wounding another, authorities said. In 2007, Bartley accepts a plea bargain, but his guilty plea is later vacated. In a retrial in February 2014, Bartley is found guilty of reckless homicide and not guilty of attempted first degree murder. He is sentenced to time served and released.
March 21, 2005 – Red Lake High School – Red Lake, Minnesota. 16-year-old Jeff Weise kills his grandfather and another adult, five students, a teacher and a security officer. He then kills himself.
February 3, 2004 – Southwood Middle School – Palmetto Bay, Florida. 14-year-old Michael Hernandez stabs to death 14-year-old Jaime Rodrigo Gough. In 2013, an appeals court tosses Hernandez’s life sentence and remands the case for re-sentencing. In 2016, Hernandez is again sentenced to life in prison.
September 24, 2003 – Rocori High School – Cold Spring, Minnesota. 15-year-old Jason McLaughlin shoots and kills 17-year-old Aaron Rollins and critically injures another student. The second student dies in October. In 2005, McLaughlin is sentenced to consecutive terms of life in prison for first-degree murder and 12 years for second-degree murder.
April 24, 2003 – Red Lion Area Junior High School – Red Lion, Pennsylvania. 14-year-old James Sheets brings a revolver to school and kills his principal, Eugene Segro, and then himself.
December 5, 2001 – Springfield High School – Springfield, Massachusetts. At a high school for troubled teens, 17-year-old Corey Ramos stabs to death Reverend Theodore Brown, a counselor at the school. In 2003, Ramos is sentenced to life in prison.
March 5, 2001 – Santana High School – Santee, California. 15-year-old Charles “Andy” Williams kills two classmates, a 14-year-old and a 17-year-old, and injures 13. Williams is sentenced in 2002 to at least 50 years in prison.
May 26, 2000 – Lake Worth Community Middle School – Lake Worth, Florida. 13-year-old Nathaniel Brazill, after being sent home for misbehaving, returns to school and shoots and kills his teacher Barry Grunow. Brazill is sentenced to 28 years in prison.
February 29, 2000 – Buell Elementary School – Mount Morris Township, Michigan. An unnamed 6-year-old boy shoots and kills a 6-year-old playmate, Kayla Rolland, at school. He is removed from his mother’s custody and put up for adoption.
November 19, 1999 – Deming Middle School – Deming, New Mexico. 12-year-old Victor Cordova shoots and kills a 13-year-old classmate. He is sentenced to two years in juvenile detention.
April 20, 1999 – Columbine High School – Littleton, Colorado. 18-year-old Eric Harris and 17-year-old Dylan Klebold kill 12 fellow students and one teacher before dying by suicide in the school library.
May 21, 1998 – Thurston High School – Springfield, Oregon. After killing his parents the previous day, 15-year-old Kip Kinkel returns to Thurston High armed with a rifle. He kills two students in the school cafeteria, a 16 and a 17-year-old. He is sentenced to 112 years in prison.
April 24, 1998 – James Parker Middle School – Edinboro, Pennsylvania. 14-year-old Andrew Wurst shoots and kills science teacher John Gillette at a school dance. He is sentenced to serve between 30 and 60 years.
March 24, 1998 – Westside Middle School – Jonesboro, Arkansas. 11-year-old Andrew Golden and 13-year-old Mitchell Johnson ambush fellow students and their teachers, killing five. Johnson is incarcerated in a youth facility and released on his 21st birthday, August 11, 2005. Golden is released on his 21st birthday, May 25, 2007.
December 1, 1997 – Heath High School – West Paducah, Kentucky. 14-year-old Michael Carneal opens fire on a school prayer group, killing three girls, who were 14, 15 and 17. He is serving life in prison.
October 1, 1997 – Pearl High School – Pearl, Mississippi. After killing his mother at home, 16-year-old Luke Woodham arrives at school and shoots two classmates. Woodham is serving three life sentences plus 140 years.
February 19, 1997 – Bethel High School – Bethel, Alaska. 16-year-old Evan Ramsey uses a shotgun stolen from his foster home to kill a 15-year-old student and the school principal. He is currently serving a term of 210 years.
September 25, 1996 – Dekalb Alternative School – Decatur, Georgia. 16-year-old David Dubose Jr. shoots and kills English teacher Horace Morgan on the steps of the school. Dubose is found not guilty by reason of insanity and is committed indefinitely to a state mental hospital.
February 2, 1996 – Frontier Junior High School – Moses Lake, Washington. 14-year-old Barry Loukaitis takes a rifle to school and kills two classmates and a teacher. He is sentenced to life in prison.
January 19, 1996 – Winston Education Center – Washington. Two masked gunmen kill 14-year-old Damion Blocker in a stairwell. 16-year-old shooter Darrick Evans is given a sentence of 41 years to life in prison.
November 15, 1995 – Richland High School – Lynnville, Tennessee. 17-year-old Jamie Rouse kills a business teacher and a 16-year-old student. Rouse is serving a life sentence.
October 12, 1995 – Blackville-Hilda High School – Blackville, South Carolina. 15-year-old Toby Sincino kills a teacher and then himself.
November 7, 1994 – Wickliffe Middle School – Wickliffe, Ohio. 37-year-old drifter Keith Ledeger shoots and kills school custodian Peter Christopher and injures three others. Ledeger is sentenced to life in prison.
April 12, 1994 – Margaret Leary Elementary School – Butte, Montana. 10-year-old James Osmanson, teased because his parents have AIDS, shoots and kills an 11-year-old on the school playground. Osmanson is sent to a private residential treatment center.
February 1, 1994 – Valley View Junior High School – Simi Valley, California. 13-year-old Philip Hernandez stabs to death a 14-year-old student in a school hallway. Hernandez is sentenced to four years in a California Youth Authority prison.
December 1, 1993 – Wauwatosa West High School – Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. 21-year-old former student Leonard McDowell returns to his high school and kills Associate Principal Dale Breitlow. He is sentenced to life in prison.
May 24, 1993 – Upper Perkiomen High School – Pennsburg, Pennsylvania. 15-year-old student Jason Smith kills another student who had bullied him. He is sentenced to between 12 and 25 years in prison.
April 15, 1993 – Ford Middle School – Acushnet, Massachusetts. 44-year-old David Taber invades a middle school and takes three hostages. He later shoots and kills school nurse Carol Day. He is found not guilty of the murder by reason of insanity.
April 12, 1993 – Dartmouth High School – Dartmouth, Massachusetts. 16-year-old Jason Robinson is stabbed to death in his social studies class by three teenage attackers who invade the classroom.
January 18, 1993 – East Carter High School – Grayson, Kentucky. 17-year-old student Scott Pennington shoots and kills a teacher and custodian. He is sentenced to life in prison.
May 1, 1992 – Lindhurst High School – Olivehurst, California. 20-year-old dropout Eric Houston returns to his high school and kills a former teacher and three students. Houston is sentenced to death.
February 26, 1992 – Thomas Jefferson High School – Brooklyn, New York. A 15-year-old shoots and kills two other students. The shooter, Kahlil Sumpter, is sentenced in 1993 to between 6 2/3 and 20 years in prison and is released in 1998.
November 25, 1991 – Thomas Jefferson High School – Brooklyn, New York. A stray bullet kills a 16-year-old student during an argument between two other teens. Shooter Jason Bentley, 14, is sentenced in 1992 to three to nine years in prison.
January 17, 1989 – Cleveland Elementary School – Stockton, California. 24-year-old drifter Patrick Purdy uses an AK-47 to kill five children on an elementary school playground. He then takes his own life.
December 16, 1988 – Atlantic Shores Christian School – Virginia Beach, Virginia. 16-year-old Nicholas Elliot shoots and kills teacher Karen Farley. Elliott is sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
September 26, 1988 – Oakland Elementary School – Greenwood, South Carolina. 19-year-old James Wilson, copying the Winnetka, Illinois murders, kills 8-year-olds Tequila Thomas and Shequila Bradley in their school cafeteria. Wilson’s death sentence is overturned in January 2003.
May 20, 1988 – Hubbard Woods Elementary School – Winnetka, Illinois. 30-year-old Laurie Dann invades an elementary school and kills an 8-year-old boy. She injures six other people before taking her own life.
February 11, 1988 – Pinellas Park High School – Largo, Florida. Two 15-year-olds with stolen weapons, Jason McCoy and Jason Harless, shoot and kill Assistant Principal Richard Allen. McCoy serves two years in prison, and Harless serves eight.
March 2, 1987 – Dekalb High School – Dekalb, Missouri. 12-year-old Nathan Faris, who was teased about being overweight, shoots 13-year-old Timothy Perrin and then takes his own life.
December 4, 1986 – Fergus High School – Lewistown, Montana. 14-year-old Kristofer Hans shoots and kills substitute teacher Henrietta Smith. He is sentenced to 206 years in prison in 1988.
May 16, 1986 – Cokeville Elementary School – Cokeville, Wyoming. A couple in their 40s, David and Doris Young, take over an elementary school with a bomb and hold 150 children and adults hostage, demanding $300 million in ransom. The bomb accidentally detonates, setting the school on fire. Investigators later determine that during the fire David Young shot his wife and then killed himself. 74 people were injured in the fire.
January 21, 1985 – Goddard Junior High School – Goddard, Kansas. 14-year-old James Kearbey shoots and kills Principal Jim McGee. Kearbey spends seven years in juvenile detention and is released at the age of 21. On October 31, 2001, Kearbey is involved in a six-hour standoff with Wichita, Kansas, police. No injuries resulted and Kearbey is later acquitted of aggravated assault on a police officer.
February 24, 1984 – 49th Street School – Los Angeles. Sniper Tyrone Mitchell shoots at children on an elementary school playground, killing one and injuring 11. He later takes his own life.
January 20, 1983 – Parkway South Junior High – St. Louis. An unnamed 14-year-old shoots and kills another student before turning the gun on himself.
March 19, 1982 – Valley High School – Las Vegas. 17-year-old Pat Lizotte shoots and kills psychology teacher Clarence Piggott during class. Lizotte is sentenced to life in prison.
January 29, 1979 – Grover Cleveland Elementary – San Diego. 16-year-old Brenda Spencer opens fire on a school across from her home, killing the principal and janitor.
May 18, 1978 – Murchison Junior High School – Austin, Texas. 13-year-old John Christian shoots and kills his English teacher Wilbur Grayson, during class. The shooter is the son of George Christian, press secretary to President Lyndon Johnson from 1967 to 1969. After time in a psychiatric hospital, Christian attends high school in the Dallas area.
February 22, 1978 – Everett High School – Lansing, Michigan. 15-year-old Roger Needham kills another student who had bullied him. After four years in juvenile detention, Needham is released. He later earns a Ph.D in math and works as a professor in Missouri and New York.
March 18, 1975 – Sumner High School – St. Louis. 16-year-old Stephen Goods, a bystander, is shot and killed during a fight between other teens.
December 30, 1974 – Olean High School – Olean, New York. Honors student Anthony Barbaro kills a school janitor and two passers-by. Barbaro later kills himself while awaiting trial.
October 5, 1966 – Grand Rapids High School – Grand Rapids, Minnesota. 15-year-old David Black injures another student before killing teacher Forrest Willey.
September 15, 1959 – Edgar Allen Poe Elementary – Houston. Convict Paul Orgeron explodes a suitcase of dynamite on a school playground, killing himself, two adults and three children.
May 18, 1927 – Bath Consolidated Schoolhouse – Bath, Michigan. Farmer Andrew Kehoe sets off two explosions at the school, killing himself, six adults and 38 children.
by tyler | Apr 23, 2024 | CNN, us
Here’s some background information about violence against US politicians and diplomats throughout history.
January 30, 1835 – President Andrew Jackson is shot at by Richard Lawrence as he attends a congressional funeral in the Capitol in Washington. Lawrence fires twice, but the bullets do not discharge.
April 14, 1865 – President Abraham Lincoln is shot and killed by John Wilkes Booth during a performance at Ford’s Theatre in Washington.
July 2, 1881 – President James Garfield is shot by Charles Guiteau as he is about to board a train at the Baltimore & Potomac Railroad Station in Washington. President Garfield is severely wounded and dies on September 19.
September 6, 1901 – After delivering a speech at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, President William McKinley is shot in the stomach by Leon Czolgosz. McKinley dies of his wound on September 14.
October 14, 1912 – Former President Theodore Roosevelt, while campaigning as a candidate of the Progressive Party, is shot and wounded by John Schrank while on his way to a campaign appearance in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
February 15, 1933 – President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt is shot at by Joseph Zangara while sitting in his open air car after addressing supporters in Miami, Florida. Roosevelt is not harmed.
November 1, 1950 – Two Puerto Rican nationalists, Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola, try to shoot their way into Blair House, where President Harry Truman is staying while the White House is renovated. The gunmen never reach the interior of Blair House and Truman is not harmed.
November 22, 1963 – President John F. Kennedy is shot and killed by Lee Harvey Oswald while traveling by an open car motorcade through Dallas, Texas.
September 5, 1975 – Charles Manson follower Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme attempts to shoot President Gerald Ford in Sacramento, California. Secret Service agents grab her and the gun, and Ford is unhurt.
September 22, 1975 – Sara Jane Moore, a woman with ties to left wing radical groups, attempts to shoot President Ford in San Francisco.
March 30, 1981 – President Ronald Reagan is shot and wounded by John Hinckley Jr. as he leaves the Hilton Hotel in Washington after delivering a speech to the Construction Trades Council.
Congressmen and Senators (selected)
December 22, 1867 – Rep. Cornelius Hamilton (R-OH) is shot and killed by his mentally ill son in Marysville, Ohio.
October 22, 1868 – Rep. James Hinds (R-AR) is shot and killed by Ku Klux Klan member George Clark while traveling on horseback to a speaking engagement near Indian Bay, Arkansas.
April 24, 1905 – Rep. John Pinckney (D-TX) is shot and killed at a Waller County Prohibition League rally in Hempstead, Texas.
September 8, 1935 – Sen. Huey Long (D-LA) is shot in the State Capitol in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Long dies two days later from the wound to his abdomen.
March 1, 1954 – Rep. Alvin M. Bentley (R-MI), Rep. Clifford Davis (D-TN), Rep. Ben F. Jensen (R-IA), Rep. George Hyde Fallon (D-MD), and Rep. Kenneth A. Roberts (D-AL) are wounded when four Puerto Rican nationalists enter the US Capitol and open fire from an upstairs spectators’ gallery onto the House floor.
June 5, 1968 – Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (D-NY) is shot by Sirhan Sirhan at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, following his victory speech after the California Democratic presidential primary. Kennedy dies the next day.
November 18, 1978 – Rep. Leo Ryan (D-CA) is shot and killed at an airstrip in Guyana after investigating the activities of the People’s Temple led by Rev. Jim Jones.
January 8, 2011 – Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) is shot and wounded by Jared Lee Loughner at a political event outside a Safeway supermarket in Tucson, Arizona. Six people are killed.
June 14, 2017 – Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), the House majority whip, is shot in Alexandria, Virginia, during a Republicans’ baseball team practice. Two others on the congressional team, and two Capitol police officers are also shot. The gunman James Hodgkinson is killed by authorities.
Governors and Mayors (selected)
February 15, 1933 – Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak is killed in Miami, with a bullet meant for President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt. He dies on March 6.
May 15, 1972 – Alabama Governor George Wallace is shot by Arthur Bremer while campaigning for president in Laurel, Maryland. Wallace is paralyzed from the waist down.
November 27, 1978 – San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Board of Supervisors member Harvey Milk are murdered by Dan White.
December 10, 1986 – Mount Pleasant, Iowa Mayor Edward King is shot and killed by Ralph Davis at a city council meeting.
February 7, 2008 – Kirkwood, Missouri Mayor Mike Swoboda and six others are shot when Charles Thornton opens fire at Kirkwood City Hall. Swoboda passes away seven months later due to complications.
August 28, 1968 – US Ambassador to Guatemala John Gordon Mein is killed by guerrillas in Guatemala City, Guatemala.
March 2, 1973 – US Ambassador to Sudan Cleo Noel Jr. is killed by Palestinian militants at the Saudi Arabian embassy in Khartoum, Sudan.
August 19, 1974 – US Ambassador to Cyprus Rodger P. Davies is shot and killed during a protest outside the US embassy following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.
June 16, 1976 – US Ambassador to Lebanon Francis E. Meloy Jr. is kidnapped and murdered by Palestinian militants in Beirut, Lebanon.
February 14, 1979 – US Ambassador to Afghanistan Adolph Dubs is kidnapped and killed by militants in Kabul, Afghanistan.
September 11, 2012 – US Ambassador to Libya John Christopher Stevens is killed in an attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
by tyler | Apr 23, 2024 | CNN, us
Here’s a select list of convicted American serial killers and notable open or unsolved cases.
Serial murder is defined by the FBI as two or more killings separated by a span of time.
Serial murders are relatively rare. Fewer than one percent of homicides during a given year are committed by serial killers, the FBI reports.
Nickname: Son of Sam
Number of confirmed victims: 6
Years and location: 1970s, New York City
Characteristics: Initially claimed a neighbor’s dog was possessed by an ancient spirit that commanded him to shoot people. The dog owner’s name was Sam. Berkowitz later said the dog story was a hoax.
Arrest, conviction and sentence: Arrested on August 10, 1977. Pleaded guilty to murdering six people and sentenced to 25-years-to-life for each murder. Currently incarcerated at the Shawangunk Correctional Facility in upstate New York.
Number of confirmed victims: Unknown, confessed to more than two dozen murders before he was executed but he may have been linked to additional slayings.
Years and locations: 1970s, multiple states including Washington, Utah, Colorado and Florida
Characteristics: Preyed on young women and sometimes lured victims by pretending to be injured. Bundy had studied psychology in college, worked as a suicide hotline volunteer while at school and served at one point as assistant director of the Seattle Crime Prevention Advisory Commission.
Arrest, conviction and sentence: Arrested for the final time on February 15, 1978. He had been previously arrested for murder in Colorado but escaped from custody, before being captured in Aspen a few days later. Months later, Bundy escaped again, prompting a nationwide manhunt. While a fugitive in Florida, he killed two college students and a 12-year-old girl. Bundy was apprehended a third and final time in Pensacola in a stolen car. He was convicted on three counts of murder and sentenced to death in the electric chair. Executed on January 24, 1989.
Angelo Buono Jr. and Kenneth Bianchi
Nicknames: The Hillside Stranglers
Number of confirmed victims: At least 9
Years and locations: 1970s, Los Angeles, Washington state
Characteristics: Buono and Bianchi were cousins who posed as police officers to trap teenage girls and young women, some of whom worked as prostitutes. Bianchi claimed that he suffered from multiple personality disorder but later admitted that he faked the condition. Buono owned an auto upholstery shop and was not a suspect until Bianchi was caught, confessed and identified his cousin as his accomplice.
Arrest, conviction and sentence: Bianchi was arrested on January 12, 1979; Buono was arrested on October 19, 1979. Bianchi was arrested in Bellingham, Washington, as a suspect in the murders of two college students at Western Washington University. He pleaded guilty to the slayings in Washington and confessed to five of the Los Angeles murders. He was sentenced to five life terms for murder and one additional life sentence for conspiracy. Bianchi is incarcerated at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla. Buono was arrested at his home in Glendale, California, the same day Bianchi admitted he participated in five of the Hillside killings. Bianchi testified during Buono’s trial. Buono was convicted of nine murders and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He died in prison in 2002.
Number of confirmed victims: 25
Year and location: 1971, Yuba City, California
Characteristics: A farm labor contractor, Corona was convicted in the stabbing deaths of 24 workers. His 25th victim was shot. During a 2011 parole hearing, he confessed to killing the men. Corona, who was 77 and suffering from dementia at the time of the hearing, described his victims as alcoholics who had trespassed in the orchards.
Arrest, conviction and sentence: Arrested on May 26, 1971. Corona was arrested after a neighbor reported suspicious activity in a peach orchard. Police found 25 bodies buried in shallow graves in orchards surrounding the Feather River and traced the bodies to Corona. Four victims were never identified. After being convicted in 1973, Corona was sentenced to 25 life terms in prison but an appeal led to a new trial in 1982. Corona was again convicted at the second trial and sentenced to 25 concurrent terms of 25-years to life. He died of natural causes on March 4, 2019.
Number of confirmed victims: 16 (Dahmer confessed to 17 murders but prosecutors lacked evidence to convict him in the additional killing)
Years and locations: 1970s-1990s, primarily in the Milwaukee area
Characteristics: A former chocolate factory worker, Dahmer picked up young men at bus stations, bars, shopping centers and other locations. He got them to visit his apartment by offering them money to pose for photos or by promising them alcohol. He drugged them and strangled them. He ate parts of at least one of his victims and kept the remains of others in his apartment.
Arrest, conviction and sentence: Arrested on July 22, 1991. Dahmer was apprehended after one of his captives escaped and went to the police, still wearing handcuffs Dahmer shackled to one of his wrists. Charged with 15 counts of murder, he pleaded guilty but insane. A Milwaukee jury ruled against Dahmer’s insanity claim, and he was sentenced to 15 life terms in February 1992. Dahmer pleaded guilty to a 16th murder in Ohio and was sentenced to an additional life term in May 1992. He was beaten to death in prison in 1994.
Nicknames: The Golden State Killer, Visalia Ransacker, East Area Rapist, Original Night Stalker
Number of confirmed victims: At least 13
Years and location: 1970s-1980s, California
Characteristics: DeAngelo, a former police officer, began with a string of burglaries, then grew more violent with a series of killings, rapes and assaults in the 1970s and 1980s, as he moved from one county to the next. Two of his earliest known homicides were the murders of a couple in Rancho Cordova who may have witnessed him breaking into a home. After the Rancho Cordova slayings, DeAngelo started a series of murders in the Santa Barbara area, more than 300 miles south of Sacramento. Investigators at the time didn’t see a connection between the attacks in Santa Barbara and Sacramento. Decades after the killings, true crime author Michelle McNamara drew attention to the case with blog posts and a book, “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark,” published two years after her sudden death in 2016.
Arrest, guilty plea and sentence: DeAngelo was arrested on April 24, 2018. Detectives used a public genealogy website to narrow down their list of suspects and then collected DNA samples from DeAngelo’s trash and the door handle of his car. Hours after they confirmed two DNA matches, DeAngelo was arrested. On June 29, 2020, DeAngelo pleaded guilty to 13 counts of first-degree murder and special circumstances – including murder committed during burglaries and rapes – as well as 13 counts of kidnapping, and he acknowledged more than 50 rapes he was not charged for because of California’s statute of limitations. DeAngelo avoids the death penalty with his guilty plea. On August 21, 2020, DeAngelo was given 11 life sentences without the possibility of parole.
Nickname: The Grim Sleeper
Number of confirmed victims: 10
Years and location: 1980s-2000s, Los Angeles
Characteristics: Franklin targeted prostitutes and female drug addicts. Franklin was called the Grim Sleeper because he was believed to have stopped killing for more than a decade before he began a second murder spree during the 2000s. Franklin, a married father of two, is a former city sanitation worker and garage attendant.
Arrest, conviction and sentence: Arrested on July 7, 2010. Undercover Los Angeles police officers obtained a sample of Franklin’s DNA from a leftover pizza slice and matched it to the killer’s DNA. He was convicted of slaying 10 people and was sentenced to death in 2016. He died in prison in 2020.
Number of confirmed victims: 33
Years and locations: 1970s, Chicago area
Characteristics: A construction company owner who moonlighted as a children’s party clown, Gacy abducted young men and boys or lured them to his home. He was twice married and divorced with two children.
Arrest, conviction and sentence: Arrested on December 21, 1978. Police investigating the disappearance of a teenage boy discovered the remains of victims in a crawlspace under Gacy’s house. He was sentenced to death by lethal injection on 33 counts of murder. Executed on May 10, 1994. In 2011, Sheriff Tom Dart and the Cook County Sheriff’s Office began to identify the last eight unnamed victims of Gacy. As of October 2021, only 5 remain unidentified.
Randy Steven Kraft
Number of confirmed victims: Convicted of 16 murders in Orange County, California but linked to at least 29 additional slayings nationwide, according to prosecutors. Detectives found a notebook in Kraft’s briefcase that contained a list with more than 60 entries. Prosecutors said the journal chronicled Kraft’s killings. Defense attorneys argued the diary included ambiguous entries like “New Year’s Eve,” referencing events unrelated to murder.
Years and locations: 1970s-1980s, California, Oregon, Michigan
Characteristics: Kraft, a computer consultant, picked up young hitchhikers on the interstate. He targeted men with military backgrounds.
Arrest, conviction and sentence: Arrested on May 14, 1983. Kraft was pulled over by California Highway Patrol for weaving, and officers found a dead body in the front passenger seat. He was convicted on 16 murder counts and sentenced to death. He is incarcerated awaiting execution at San Quentin State Prison.
Number of confirmed victims: Convicted of eight murders. In 2018, Little confessed to a total of 93 murders during an interview with FBI crime analysts and James Holland of the Texas Rangers. Investigators have confirmed at least 60 of the confessed killings. The FBI describes him as America’s most prolific serial killer and has asked for the public’s help in identifying more of his victims.
Years and locations: 1970s-2005, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas
Characteristics: A nomadic drifter, Little began traveling state-to-state and committing crimes after leaving Ohio in the late 1950s. Little often targeted vulnerable women involved in prostitution and addicted to drugs. A one-time competitive boxer, Little would punch and stun his victims before strangling them. Without bullet wounds or stab marks, most of these deaths were attributed to accidents or drug overdoses.
Arrest, conviction and sentence: Arrested on September 5, 2012, at a Kentucky homeless shelter. Little was extradited to California on a narcotics charge. Once Little was in custody, the Los Angeles Police Department matched Little’s DNA to victims in three unsolved homicides from 1987 and 1989. He was indicted on three counts of murder, and in 2014, he was convicted and sentenced to three life sentences with no possibility of parole. In 2018, Little was extradited to Texas where he plead guilty to the 1994 murder of Denise Christie Brothers and given a life sentence. In 2019, Little received four additional sentences of life for the murders of four women in Ohio. Little died in prison in 2020.
Nickname: The BTK Killer
Number of confirmed victims: At least 10
Years and location: Kansas, 1970s-1990s
Characteristics: A churchgoer, Cub Scout leader and married father of two, Rader worked at the home security company, ADT, and he later became a code compliance supervisor in suburban Park City, Kansas. Two of his earliest victims were women who worked at an office with him. He also murdered a co-worker’s husband and two children. In a letter found folded into a book at the public library that was found months after the first killings, Rader described one of the crime scenes and suggested that he should be called “BTK,” short for “bind, torture, kill.” He continued mailing cryptic letters to the media and the police prior to his arrest.
Arrest, conviction and sentence: Arrested on February 25, 2005. Rader was caught after he sent a floppy disk to a TV station in response to reports speculating that BTK was dead or in jail because it had been more than a decade since his last victim was found. Police traced the disk to a computer at Rader’s church and found that his DNA matched the killer’s. Rader pleaded guilty to 10 murders and was sentenced to 10 consecutive life terms. He is currently incarcerated at the El Dorado Correctional Facility in Kansas.
Nickname: The Night Stalker
Number of confirmed victims: Convicted of 13 murders but linked to one additional slaying via DNA.
Years and location: 1980s, California
Characteristics: A drifter with an interest in Satanism, Ramirez typically broke into homes through unlocked windows and doors late at night, shooting any men he encountered while looking for women to attack. His victims ranged in age from nine to 83.
Arrest, conviction and sentence: Arrested on August 31, 1985. Ramirez was captured and held by a mob of citizens in Los Angeles before police intervened and arrested him. He was sentenced to death on 13 counts of murder and was later linked via DNA to a killing in San Francisco. He died of complications from cancer while awaiting execution at San Quentin State Prison in 2013.
Nickname: The Green River Killer
Number of confirmed victims: At least 49
Years and location: 1980s-1990s, Washington state
Characteristics: Ridgway targeted young women who were runaways or prostitutes and left some of the bodies in or near the Green River, a waterway in the Seattle area. He was a thrice married truck painter who had a son with one of his wives. Ridgway was questioned by police in 1983, soon after the killings began, and detectives obtained a search warrant in 1987. At the time, no evidence was recovered linking him to the murders, and he had passed a polygraph test early in the investigation.
Arrest, conviction and sentence: Arrested on November 30, 2001. Advances in DNA testing technology led to the arrest, as law enforcement re-tested evidence that had been collected years before. They found a match and he was charged and taken into custody. He confessed and plead guilty to 48 killings. In 2011, he was charged with a 49th slaying. Ridgway is serving a life sentence at the Washington State Penitentiary.
Number of confirmed victims: Convicted of nine murders but confessed to 17 killings
Years and location: 1990s, New York
Characteristics: An unemployed landscaper who lived with his mother on Long Island, Rifkin would drive to New York City and pick up prostitutes. He strangled his victims and took personal belongings from the women. These items were found in his bedroom, where police also discovered a book about the Green River Killer. His mother claimed that she did not go into her son’s bedroom and was unaware of the killings.
Arrest, conviction and sentence: Arrested on June 28, 1993. Rifkin was pulled over for driving without a license plate, and police found a dead woman in the back of his truck. While in custody, he confessed to killing 17 women. During multiple trials, Rifkin’s attorneys argued that he suffered from mental illness, but he was convicted on nine charges of murder and was sentenced to more than 200 years in prison. Currently incarcerated at the Clinton Correctional Facility in New York.
Number of confirmed victims: 11
Years and location: 2000s, Ohio
Characteristics: A convicted sex offender, Sowell preyed on women struggling with drug abuse and homelessness. He would invite victims to his house and offer them beer. He told police that he became enraged with the women because they reminded him of an ex-girlfriend who abandoned him after he helped her kick drugs. The victims were strangled and buried on his property.
Arrest, conviction and sentence: Arrested on October 31, 2009. Police issued a warrant for Sowell’s arrest after a woman told them that he had hit her and sexually assaulted her. Officers found two bodies in the house and discovered more remains in the backyard. After a 25-day trial, Sowell was convicted of 11 murders and sentenced to death by lethal injection. Sowell died in prison in 2021.
Number of confirmed victims: At least 14, including a pregnant woman
Years and location: 1980s-1990s, Los Angeles
Characteristics: A father of four whose jobs included delivering pizza, Turner targeted female drug users in South Los Angeles.
Arrest, conviction and sentence: Turner was charged with murder in 2004 while incarcerated for rape. Detectives had discovered that his DNA matched a sample from a crime scene and ultimately forensics connected him to 10 killings. During the investigation, police discovered that they had wrongfully convicted an intellectually disabled janitor named David Allen Jones, who served nine years in prison for three of Turner’s slayings before he was released in 2004. Turner was convicted of 10 murders in 2007 and sentenced to death. In 2014, he was convicted of four additional murders and again sentenced to death. He is incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison awaiting execution.
Number of confirmed victims: 6 (was linked to at least one other death but the body was never recovered)
Years and location: Florida, 1989-1990
Characteristics: Wuornos had a long history of robbery, prostitution and drug abuse before she began killing men she met along Interstate 75 in Florida. She claimed that over the years, she had been repeatedly beaten and raped by the men who paid her for sex. Her first victim, Richard Mallory was a convicted sex offender.
Arrest, conviction and sentence: Arrested on January 9, 1991. Wuornos was arrested after her lover, Tyria Moore, told police about the murders and agreed to cooperate. Moore was not charged with any offenses. Wuornos later gave investigators a statement admitting to the murders but she said she killed in self-defense. During her trial for the murder of Richard Mallory, three psychologists testified for the defense that Wuornos suffered from borderline personality disorder, impairing her ability to conform her conduct to the requirements of the law. After about 90 minutes of deliberations, the jury returned a guilty verdict. At her sentencing hearing, Wuornos claimed that police coerced her into confessing. The judge sentenced her to death. She pleaded no contest to the other five slayings. She was executed on October 9, 2002, after voluntarily ending her appeals, saying that she would kill again if released.
Number of confirmed victims: At least 15
Years and location: 1970s-1990s, Washington state
Characteristics: A married father of five who flew helicopters in the Army and the National Guard, Yates predominantly preyed on prostitutes. One of the victims was buried in Yates’ yard.
Arrest, conviction and sentence: Arrested on April 18, 2000. Yates was arrested after police matched fibers found on the body of a dead prostitute to Yates’ car, which also had blood on the seatbelt and seat. DNA testing and other evidence linked Yates to at least 12 murders. He later pleaded guilty to 13 killings in exchange for a life sentence (408 years) in lieu of the death penalty. In 2002, he was convicted of two additional murders in a different county and sentenced to death. Yates’ attorneys have repeatedly appealed the ruling but he remains on death row awaiting execution at the Washington State Penitentiary.
Number of victims: 29
Years and location: 1979-1981, Georgia
Characteristics: Over the course of 22 months, 29 African-American children and teens were murdered in the Atlanta area. The FBI worked with local authorities to investigate the killings, which detectives believed were linked.
Investigation: In 1981, the Reagan administration allocated more than $2 million in federal funds to help police track leads and provide funding for youth programs to keep kids safe after school. On June 21, 1981, a man named Wayne Williams was arrested and charged with the murders of two young men whose bodies were found in the Chattahoochee River. Although prosecutors said the two murders were connected to the child killings, Williams was never charged with the other crimes. He was convicted on two counts of murder and sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison. He has maintained his innocence. In 2005, the DeKalb County Police reopened their investigation into five of the killings.
Number of victims: At least 11
Years and location: 1962-1964, Massachusetts
Characteristics: During the late spring and summer of 1962, six women between the ages of 55 and 85 were found dead in Boston and its suburbs. After a few months of quiet, younger victims began turning up. Mary Sullivan, 19, was the final victim, murdered in January of 1964. Albert DeSalvo, an inmate at a psychiatric hospital, confessed in 1965 that he was the Boston Strangler.
Investigation: Although DeSalvo claimed that he killed the women, police lacked physical evidence tying him to the murder scenes. He was instead tried for a series of robberies and sexual assaults. DeSalvo was convicted on all counts and sentenced to life behind bars in 1967. Six years later, he was stabbed to death in prison. In 2013, investigators found DNA connecting DeSalvo to Sullivan’s murder. The DNA at the crime scene matched DNA collected from DeSalvo’s exhumed corpse. Investigators tried to locate DNA from the other murders but have not yet been able to find additional biological evidence.
Number of victims: At least 5
Years and location: 1960s, California
Characteristics: During a string of seemingly random killings, phone calls and letters were received by police and newspapers from a person claiming to be the murderer. The letters were laden with mysterious symbols and references to astrology. Zodiac claimed that he or she killed as many as 37 people. After the last known murder in 1969, Zodiac mailed a piece of the victim’s shirt, along with a letter to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Investigation: In 2002, a San Francisco homicide detective said more than 2,500 people had been considered suspects in the case. In 2018, police sent two of Zodiac’s letters to a lab, hoping to find DNA on the stamps or the envelope flaps.
by tyler | Apr 23, 2024 | CNN, us
Here’s a look at the life of Rick Santorum, former Pennsylvania congressman.
Birth date: May 10, 1958
Birth place: Winchester, Virginia
Birth name: Richard John Santorum
Father: Aldo Santorum, a psychologist
Mother: Catherine (Dughi) Santorum, a nurse
Marriage: Karen (Garver) Santorum (1990-present)
Children: Isabella, 2008; Patrick, 2001; Peter, 1999; Sarah, 1998; Gabriel, born and died in 1996; Daniel, 1995; Richard Jr., 1993; Elizabeth, 1991
Education: Pennsylvania State University, B.A., Political Science, 1980; University of Pittsburgh, M.B.A., 1981; Dickinson School of Law, J.D., 1986
Religion: Roman Catholic
Member of the “Gang of Seven,” a group that exposed and condemned scandals in Congress, when in the House of Representatives.
Founded the Congressional Working Group on Religious Freedom.
Known for spearheading and helping to pass the welfare reform bill and a ban on partial-birth abortion.
1981-1986 – Administrative assistant to Pennsylvania state Senator J. Doyle Corman.
1986-1990 – Associate attorney at Kirkpatrick & Lockhart in Pittsburgh.
January 1991-January 1995 – US Representative for the 18th District of Pennsylvania. Is re-elected in 1992.
January 1995-January 2007 – Republican senator from Pennsylvania. Is re-elected in 2000.
1996 – The Santorums’ son, Gabriel, is born prematurely and only lives for two hours. Santorum’s wife Karen writes a book about the experience, “Letters to Gabriel: The True Story of Gabriel Michael Santorum.”
2001-2007 – Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference.
November 2006 – Is defeated in his Senate race by Democrat Bob Casey.
2007-May 2008 – Management consultant at law firm Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC, in Washington, DC.
2007-May 2011 – Political contributor at Fox News.
2007-June 2011 – Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
2008 – The Santorums’ youngest child, Isabella, is born with Trisomy 18, a rare genetic disorder.
March 2, 2011 – Fox News suspends Santorum’s contract for 60 days and gives him a May 1, 2011, deadline to decide whether to run for president, or have his contract terminated.
April 13, 2011 – Announces that he has formed a presidential exploratory committee, but does not publicly declare his candidacy.
May 5, 2011 – Fox News ends association with Santorum after he doesn’t respond by the May 1 deadline regarding his decision on seeking the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.
June 6, 2011 – Launches his presidential campaign in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.
February 15, 2012 – Releases his last four years of tax returns showing he earned more than $3.6 million.
April 10, 2012 – Suspends his presidential campaign.
June 2013 – Named CEO of EchoLight Studios, a faith-based movie studio in Dallas.
April 28, 2014 – Publishes his book, “Blue Collar Conservatives.”
February 10, 2015 – Santorum and wife Karen publish a book about their daughter entitled “Bella’s Gift.”
May 27, 2015 – Santorum launches a campaign for the GOP presidential nomination.
February 3, 2016 – Announces he is suspending his bid for the Republican presidential nomination.
January 18, 2017-May 2021 – Joins CNN as a political commentator.
March 25, 2018 – In response to students protesting for gun control legislation, Santorum remarks, “How about kids instead of looking to someone else to solve their problem, do something about maybe taking CPR classes or trying to deal with situations when there is a violent shooter that you can actually respond to that.” A few days later, Santorum says he misspoke “in using the term CPR.”
February 28, 2019 – In an interview on CNN’s “New Day,” Santorum calls President Donald Trump’s decision not to hold North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un responsible for Otto Warmbier’s death “reprehensible.”
May 22, 2021 – A CNN spokesperson says that the network has “parted ways” with Santorum after he faced widespread condemnation for remarks he made about Native Americans.
November 2, 2021 – Newsmax announces hiring Santorum as a senior political analyst.
