Murder of Difficulty Talby

Difficulty Talby was born in 1635 to Dorothy and her husband  John in Salem, Massachusetts. The couple had moved to Salem from Lincolnshire, England in 1630. They were active church members in the Puritan community. Their 6th child Difficulty Talby was born in 1635 and was baptized in October of that year.

Dorothy was a faithful and respectable member of the church but she had a history of spiritual delusions.  At one point because of her delusions, she was cast out of the church. She had attempted multiple times to harm her husband and children. Even refusing meat. She had assaulted her husband in April of 1637 and failed to show up to court and was bound to a post till she "learned her lesson". She was again punished for infractions against her husband in July 1837 and was publicly whipped. She seemed to improve for a while, but it became worse. 

In November of 1638, Dorothy strangled and broke Difficulty's neck. She claimed that God had told her to do it. 

She was found guilty at trial and was hanged on December 6, 1638. It was said that she tried to make it less painful by putting the cloth covering her head under the rope and she was hanging she tried to grab onto the chair to save herself.

Difficulty may be buried at the Kings Chaple Burying Ground in Boston. 

SOURCES:

Find A Grave (Difficulty)

Find A Grave (Dorothy)

Executed Today 

Wikipedia

Winthrop's Journal

End of Watch: Murder of William Cole

On November 22, 1879, a warrant was out for Tom Leach an African American man who's brother Peter Leach was convicted of murder. Deputy Sherrif William Cole had gotten the warrant and spotted Tom with another one of his brothers Ben while walking down the street in Robeson County, North Carolina.

The young Sherrif Deputy Cole then came out with his Henry rifle and the warrant in hand. He went to talk to Tom with intent to arrest. When he confronted the two Tom asked William to read out his warrant. Tom then pulled a gun out of his sleeve and shot William in the forehead.

William fell onto the ground and Tom pointed the gun at Williams' chest saying "Damn you, take that." Then he shot him again in the chest before taking the victims Henry Rifle and fleeing to South Carolina.

I could not find any articles that stated whether or not they found and prosecuted Tom Leach for the crime.

SOURCES:
Officer Down Memorial Page
The Raleigh News
The Chapel Hill Ledger

Unsolved Murder of Carl Erwin DeLong Jr.

On October 30, 1956, 26-year-old Carl Delong Jr. was found unconscious Riverhills Drive east of 56th Street of Tampa, Florida. Carl had been beaten badly and his wallet with $70 in it was missing. His missing car was found at the bar he was last seen at. It had turned out he had gotten a ride from someone at the bar. It isn't stated whether or not if they think the people whom he rode with are suspects.

Carl would make it to the hospital, but unfortunately, never recover. He would stay unconscious for 22 days before dying from his injuries on November 20th. The motive for his murder seemed to have been robbery.


SOURCES:
Find a Grave
Hillsborough County Sheriffs
Tampa Bay Times October 31, 1956
Tampa Bay Times November 21, 1956
Tampa Bay Times November 23, 1956

Murder of Agnes, Maude, Eddie, Dorrie, Hughie, and Winnie Ching

27-year-old George David Silva who was of Cingalese decent was working as a farmhand for Charles Ching at Alligator Creek about 20 miles away from Mackay, Queensland, Australia. On November 16, 1911, Charles was away from the home at the time for supplies and money for George's wages. The three oldest children Florence, Henry and Henrietta were not living in the home at the time.

Maud (17) the daughter of Charles and Agnes (45) rejected George's advances. This angered George and went after the family. He shot Agnes and Maude in the neck with a revolver and a muzzle-loading rifle. He had beaten Hughie (5) and Winnie's (1) skulls in.  He dragged the bodies to the sitting room and placed them by a colored table and a table cloth placed on top of them.

He then took Dolly (8) and Teddy (10) away from the home and was witnessed by Grace Carey a schoolgirl who would walk home with the Ching Children. Once they got a mile and 1/2 he had shot and bashed both of their skulls in.

After the murder, he locked the door and waited for Charles. He told him that the family went to visit a neighbor and George and Charles had made dinner together in the kitchen house.  When his family didn't return Charles went to the neighbor he thought they were at. The neighbor stated they weren't there and to open a window for access to the house. So George and Charles did just that. Inside he found four members of his family dead. Two of the children were still missing.

George went to get the police and was carrying the bloody clothes that he wore during the attack. On the way, he burned the clothes, but they were later found.

George had tried to pass the blame to two neighbors named Dooley Khan and Charles Butler. There was no evidence to support that the two had killed the family. But after fearing a lynch mob would go after him, either way, he confessed to killing the family. He stated that Agnes wouldn't let him marry Maude.

George was found guilty and was executed on June 10, 1912. He was hanged at Boggo Road Gaol in Brisbane. 

SOURCES:

Murderpedia

INFANTICIDE: November 14, 1920 Wakefield/Woolley, England Baby Doe

On the afternoon of November 14, 1920, a farm laborer saw a green taxi-cab coming from the direction of Wakefield to Woolley, England. He said that the driver was wearing a uniform and that the nearside was a woman. He hadn't realized what the people in the taxi had done.

Another witness stated that while walking down Mill Lane towards Barnsley Rd. they saw the taxi pass the end of the lane. He saw someone closing a door and continued driving. It's believed that they tossed something out. What was left by the road was a pillow slip with a dead newborn baby girl inside.

The girl had been born alive but may have died due to inattention at birth. It's likely that the baby was abandoned like this to hide the fact the mother was even pregnant.

SOURCES:
Unsolved Murders

UNIDENTIFIED: 1930's death of a Unknown mother and two children

 

Reconstruction of Jane Doe and the Younger John Doe

On May 15, 1935, a woman named Grace Dague and her daughter Inez Perry Masterson were looking for flowers in the forest in East Middlebury, Vermont. Off of a remote road leading to the Brookins/Blackmer hunting came the two stumbled upon the skeletal remains of three murder victims.

The bodies were of a woman 34 to 45-years-old and two children one being 13 to 15-years old the other 9 to 11-years-old. At the time it couldn't be determined the genders of the children. and it's still unknown. Later DNA suggested the older child and woman were mother and child making it possible that she was mother to the two children.

Each had been shot in the head likely with a Colt Automatic which fired .38 caliber bullets. It's likely the three were sleeping when they were killed. As they seemed to have been in pajamas as pearl buttons used on them were found with the bodies and feathers from a pillow (likely from being used to shoot through to muffle the sound).

It's believed they had been there up to 1932 as one of the legs of one of the victims was covered by a tree root and a hunter, Edward Munso, stated he was hunting in the area and smelled a terrible odor in November of 1932, but didn't investigate it. The family may not have been local and may have been from anywhere.

The bodies were found with green and buff-colored canvas awning with pullies attached. It is believed to have been used to help drop off the bodies where they were found. It was described as 20 feet big and was the type used on Yatches or porches at the time. The awning was believed to have been manufactured and sold outside of Vermont.

They tried to have Orthodontists from all over to look at the teeth of the Doe's to see if they could recognize them. Jane Doe and the older John Doe had dental work done on their teeth. This did not lead to an identification.

Jane Doe was a white female between 34 to 45-years-old. She was around 5'2" and weigh undetermined. She likely had dark hair. She also had molted teeth and a number of fillings.

Doe 1 is white between 13 and 15-years-old. He was around 4'11" at the time. The Doe had Tooth-straightening devices on teeth, described as gold bands, or brackets encircling the teeth in the upper jaw. They were done in a ribbon arch appliance.

Doe 2 was white between 9 and 11-years-old. He was around 4'4" at the time.

Does 1 and 2 are believed and often talked about as if they are male, but their gender is still undetermined.

SOURCES:
Doe Network (Jane Doe)
Doe Network( JohnDoe 1)
Doe Network (John Doe 2)
NamUs (Jane Doe)
NamUs (Doe 1)
NamUs (Doe 2)
Rutland Daily Herald May 21, 1935
The Burlington Free Press May 22, 1935 (part 1)
The Burlington Free Press May 22, 1935 (part 2)
Salt Lake Telegram May 25, 1935
Rutland Daily Herald May 29, 1935
Rutland Daily Herald June 6, 1935

Unsolved Murder of Barbara May Williams

In 1958 26-year-old Barbara Williams was working as a nursing assistant at the Tresillian Hospital on the corner of Edward and Tyrell streets in Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia. She has been working there for around two years and lived on the premises in the staff area in her own room.

At about 6:30 p.m. on 7 November 1958 Barbara finished work and told friends she intended to go to bed early. At 7 p.m. she was seen by a ward maid hanging her laundry. Barbara asked the ward maid to buy her a newspaper and gave her the money before going to her room. The ward maid knocked on Barbara's door at 7:45 p.m. to give her the newspaper, but she didn't answer and the room was dark.

Police believed that she left soon after going to her room to an unknown location. Her makeup, cigarettes, and handbag were left in her room. She was last seen still wearing her work clothing. A red topper, blue blouse, red skirt, and black shoes. She was not seen at the hospital the next day was reported missing on the 9th. 

On 16 November 1958, her body was found in a shallow grave in the sand dunes near the intersection of West Coast Highway and Ross Avenue in Sorrento Beach.

SOURCES:

The Sydney Morning Herald December 21, 1958

Crime Stoppers