Murder of Richard Rugman and Attempted Murder of Eliza Smith

 On the night of April 1, 1887, 80-year-old Richard Rugman and his live-in maid 76-year-old Eliza Smith was at their home on Morton St. in Thornbury, England. visited by their neighbor Mrs. Brown. She left the two at 6p.m. and then another friend of theirs, French, came and visited till after 7 p.m. The two seemed to be in a good mood that night. A third visitor would come that night and create a tragedy.

Richard was sitting in his chair by the kitchen fire and Eliza was sitting nearby. A man would come to the house and lift the latch of the door to the kitchen. Eliza did not recognize the man as he demanded £5. Eliza would reply with a "My good man. we've got no money to give you. We can't afford it." The man angry at the response would then strike Richard upon the head with a large stick and then struck her. Richard would be struck at least five times over his right eye, and his arm broken from trying to protect his face. Eliza's face was badly beaten and he beat her on the left side of her body. The two lay on the floor till the next morning.

Eliza took all her strength to crawl outside the house. She would be discovered by George Trayburn, a tradesman, who came to get their order of meat. He would get help from a man named Horsman, who was working nearby, to bring Eliza into the home. They discovered the grizzly scene and Richard. The police and doctor would be called to the scene.

 It was found that the stick used was from the garden. The killer took it from a bundle of withies that was going to be used to make spikes. The murder weapon was found. It was about two feet long and the butt end that used to hit the two broke off. 

Richard's wounds were so severe that doctors worried about his survival. He would lay in and out of consciousness as people who knew him visited. He recognized his friends and family, but unfortunately, he would die over a week later.

Though the unknown man had the opportunity to ransack the house he did not. There was gold and silver on a table upstairs and Eliza had a box with  £13 inside. The cottage they lived in was humble in nature and it was strange that the man thought they would have the money to give.

It was suspected at first that Eliza may have done the murder, but doctors stated she did not have the strength to do such blows. Also, her retelling of the crime right after may have been inaccurate due to her injury and worsening memory problems she had over the last few years. 

The case remains unsolved.

SOURCES:

Unsolved Murders UK

Thornbury Roots

Citizen April 9, 1887

The Bristol Mercury and Daily Post, Western Countries and South Wales Advertiser May 4, 1887

Christina Johansdotter Murders Infant So She'd Die

In 1740 Christina Johandotter lived in Sweden and had no will to live. She missed her fiance who had died and wanted to join him, but suicide is a sin and she did not want to go to hell. If she was in hell then she would not be able to see her fiance again.

She would witness a woman who was executed for infanticide. She decided to commit suicide by execution and repent and admit her crime in order to be forgiven and allowed into Paradise. The problem was that she had to kill someone specifically a child. Killing an adult did not always get the death penalty, but a child does get execution by decapitation.

One day in 1740 Christina would visit a friend and asked them if she could take the child. She told them that she wanted to show the infant to a friend visiting from the country. Christina would instead bring the child outside and chop off their head with an axe. She would be arrested for the murder. 

She would admit that she missed her fiance and thought this was the only way to see him soon. She was prosecuted for the murder and executed. At the time punishment for child murder was decapitation and then her body was burned at the stake. 

At the time suicide executions were a solution for those who wanted to die and go to heaven. Those who committed sins could ask for forgiveness and can enter heaven. Children were seen as being sinless and that 

Suicide executions became a historical phenomenon that created its own culture and customs. By the 1700's killing a child as a means of death was the most common reason to do so, the second being unmarried mothers killing their newborns in secret. 

There were theatrical performances for these suicides. Families of the condemned would buy special costumes decorated with embroidery and ribbons and pay for a suit to escort the condemned to the place of execution. Many who watch sympathized with the condemned especially if they were female.

The government would try to prevent this and issued a new law in 1754. This however did not end this type of suicide method though. The law stated that if those who had done a suicide-execution were to stand on the schavott for two days with the crime stated on a board and the person remaining blindfolded and whipped. This did not deter people from doing this.

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Murderpedia

History Collection

INFANTICIDE: 1892 Ozaukee County, Wisconsin Baby Jane Doe

 In 1892 the body of a baby girl was found in a canal in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin. They were buried in Opitz Cemetary in Mequon and it was paid by T. of Mequon on Mach 29, 1892. 

SOURCES:
Find a Grave

CURSES: Curse of the Ninth Symphony

 

Gustav Mahler 1907

The Curse of the Ninth Symphony regards composers dying soon after completing their ninth symphony. It's said that after the ninth it's said that a musician is doomed to die and never make it to their tenth symphony. It's unknown why, but there is a shocking amount of classical musicians who have died before their tenth symphony was finished. Now it can take years or even decades to write nine symphonies, and some of them may just be due to old age, but there are many early deaths also. There are however alot of musicians who've made more that just nine symphonies.

Examples of Musicians believed to be victims of the Ninth Curse:

• Ludwig van Beethoven (1827)
• Anton Bruckner (1896)
• Antonín Dvořák (1904)
• Gustav Mahler (1911)
• Ralph Vaughan Williams (1958)

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Classic FM

Savage Content

New York Public Radio

INFANTICIDE: March 1913, Plymouth, Pennsylvania

  In March 1913, an infant boy was left in an orchard in Plymouth, Pennsylvania. The boy would then die from exposure. 

SOURCES:
Find a Grave

Unsolved Murder of Santo Joseph DiStefano

On July 22, 1947, the body of 34-year-old Santo DiStefano was found in a sewer catch basin along Green Pond Rd. in Rockaway Township, New Jersey. Santo was last seen alive at 12 a.m. on March 22, 1947, at Ernie and Buff's Tavern on 21st st. in Patterson and likely died around that time.

Joseph had been shot around 5 times in the back of the neck killing him. He was not killed at the scene. Multiple people had to of been involved in his death or at least the disposal of his body. The grate that covered where he was could only be lifted by no less than 3 people. 

SOURCES:

Morris County New Jersey

The Morning Call July 23, 1947

The Daily Journal July 24, 1947

INFANTICIDE: March 18, 1901 Bartonville, Illinois Baby Jane Doe

On March 18, 1901, the body of an infant girl was found in a coal mine in Bartonville, Illinois. There is little information in this case. 

SOURCES: 

Find a Grave

UNIDENTIFIED: March 15, 1891 Bolinas, California Adult Male Unknown

On March 15, 1891, the body of an adult male was found on the beach of Bolinas Bay in Bolinas, California. The body was found by James Wilson and was badly decomposed. His cause of death is undetermined.

His race is unknown or unstated, but it was believed he was in his 40's. He was 5'10" with a stoat build. He had a purse contains $1.25 and several foreign coins (Unstated from where). He had papers with him, but they were unintelligible. 

SOURCES:

Unidentified Wiki

Find A Grave

INFANTICIED: March 13, 1955 Harding Township, New Jersey Baby John Doe

 On  March 13, 1955, two young brothers were riding bikes down Long Hill Rd. in Harding Township, New Jersey. They would spot a pasteboard box tied with a sash cord in the swamp waters near Bridge 545. Opening the box partway terrified the brothers as they saw an infant's leg. They would quickly go to their father and report what they found. Police were contacted and looked inside the box. Inside was the body of an infant around 6 weeks old when he died.  He had been killed. 

The infant was male and was around 6 weeks old. 

SOURCES:

Morris County New Jersey

The Courier-News March 14, 1955

UNIDENTIFIED: March 1857 Newham, England Jane Doe

 In March of 1857, an unknown young woman drowned in or around the London Borough of Newham in England. She was buried on March 11th in the City of London Cemetery and Crematorium.

It's believed that Jane Doe was in her mid 20's.   

SOURCES:
Find a Grave

The Aschbroeken Man

 

In 1931 the body of a man was found in a peat pit in Drenthe near Weerdinge, Netherlands. The body was well preserved, unfortunately, his skull was lost soon after discovery.  The body was that of a man who lived and died during the bronze age between 1316-928 B.C. He would now be known as the Aschbroeken Man as his identity will never be known.

The man was between 35 and 45-year-old when he died. His bones showed that he had broken his right upper arm once, and the fracture healed wrong. This caused the arm to point slightly outwards. He had growth spurts from around 9 that were likely caused by being ill or malnutrition at the time. 

It's unknown why he ended up in the bog, but his arm may have been the reason. Evidence from other bog bodies in the Netherlands showed that many of them also had some sort of disability. This may have been the reason he ended up in the bog also. 

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Drents Museum

GHOSTS: The Gelin

 

In Turkey Gelin (Turkish for Bride) is a type of female ghost associated with the local legend of the tragedy. These young women or girls usually died violently usually by suicide because they were jilted by a lover or an unmarried pregnant woman. After death, they become a harbinger of death much like a banshee. She is typically seen in slum areas. 

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Definitions

UNIDENTIFIED: March 2, 1923 Tempe, Arizona John Doe

On March 2, 1923, a man was found in the bed of the Salt River in Tempe, Arizona. It's believed that he had died of exposure or old age. He had died within hours of discovery.

He was a white male around 65-years-old. 

SOURCES:

Find a Grave

Unidentified Wiki