Murder of Gordon Pitcher

On June 27, 1959, 21-year-old Gordon Pitcher got into an argument in a downtown hotel washroom in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. This resulted in him being stabbed in the stomach. The weapon was either an icepick (more likely) or a knitting needle.

SOURCES:

Toronto Police Service

The Sault Star July 2, 1959

The North Bay Nugget July 4, 1959

William Zinsmeister Shoots up a Picnic

 On June 23, 1923, 35-year-old William Zinsmeister would question his son-in-law. He would inquire where his daughter, 15-year-old Mamie, was attending a picnic for the St. Williams Catholic Church in Louisville, Kentucky. He would then ask who she was attending with and if it was the boy he disapproved of. He would then call a taxi to come get him at his soft drink stand at 1:30 p.m. 

Before leaving he would tell his son-in-law that he "I'm going to kill 5 kids this afternoon". His son-in-law would try to make it to the river before him. He left in the taxi with two revolvers and over 75 rounds. The taxi would bring him to the picnic area of the Ohio River. There was nothing unusual about how William was acting in the taxi.

When they arrived William would leave the vehicle and walk towards the river. The Taxi driver would stay and chat with someone. He would then walk down to his daughter who was sitting on a log next to the water. 18-year-old Thomas Mullaney and 16-year-old Sarah Connolly were in the water near her. 

William would be greeted by Mamie saying "Hello Daddy." He would then ask his daughter "What are you doing out her Mamie?". She responded with something along the line of to have a good time and her father's response was "Well I'm going to kill you." He then pulled out and began shooting. 

Mammie died almost instantly with two shots to the head. He then began shooting at those in the water. 16-year-old Sarah Connolly would be shot and killed. 16-year-old Gertrude Franconia, and 18-year-old Charles Eifler would be injured. Thomas would be able to get one of the revolvers from William and received a wound to the shoulder and was hit on the head. 

Those witnessing the madness would run screaming towards where the Taxi was parked. "He's shooting people in the water." After the shooting William would flee across fields on foot towards his childhood home and where he was born. He was a few hundred feet from his former home and would kill himself. 

There were only two deaths, Mamie and Sarah. Sarah's body was washed away and a search would be done for it. She wouldn't be found for two days. Her body would be found down stream about a mile from the scene. The rest were injured with non life threatening wounds.

SOURCES:

The Puducah Sun-Democrat June 25, 1923

Messenger-Inquirer June 25, 1923

The Courier-Journal June 25, 1923

Hinton Daily News June 25, 1923

Murder of William Ronald Cree

On the night of June 23, 1923, 31-year-old Philip Murray and 30-year-old William Cree would be in Philip's room at a tenement home at 40 Jamaica Street, Edinburgh, Scotland. The two would get into a fight. William would be thrown from the second story and would die from it. 

Philip was arrested and tried for the murder. He was adamant that William fell out of the window on his own accord. The majority would find him guilty and set to hang on October 30th at Calton. Philip would carry a crucifix to his execution.



SOURCES:
British Executions
The North Star October 10, 1923
Lincolnshire Echo October 10, 1923
The Gloucestershire Echo October 30, 1923

UNIDENTIFIED: June 23, 1923 Charleston, West Virginia John Doe

 On June 23, 1923 a man died in Charleston, West Virginia. He was either found dead in or near the Kansas River. There is little information in this case. 

SOURCES:

Find A Grave

Murder of 12th/13th century Archer

Archeologists were investigating the historic Kirk Ness, which was the site of a church and cemetery in North Berwick, Scotland. The dig was organized by the Scottish Seabird Centre and latterly supported by Historic Scotland. It revealed structural remains including stone tools, lead objects, ceramic material, and butchered bones of seals and sea birds. This suggests that it was once a settlement.

One discovery was that the skeletal remains of a young man from the 12th or 13th centuries were found. He was over 20-years-old with a slightly better build than average. He had worn to his shoulder that suggests that he might have been an archer.

His death was brutal and seemed to have been professional. He had been fatally stabbed four times in the back, twice in the left shoulder, and twice in the ribs. The injuries suggested that the weapon used was a dagger-like weapon with symmetrical lozenge-shaped sections with sharp edges and at least 2.75 inches long. This suggests that the weapon may have been a dagger that was a specialist military weapon carried mainly by military men. With the weapon and the accuracy of the stab wounds pots towards a degree of professionalism and arguably a degree of calculation.

SOURCES:
Archeology Magazine

BBC February 21, 2014

The Herald February 21, 2014

The Mirror February 21, 2014

The Courier and Advertiser February 22, 2014

Murder of Hannah Davis

 In 1829 21-year-old David Evans and Hannah Davis were loved each other in Wales. They were not wed yet,but in April Hannah would become pregnant. David was a Husbandry Laborer and Hannah worked as a servant for a farmer.  David claimed he loved her and was very attatched. 

On June 11th Hannah would visit David and ask him if he would go with her to see her family on Saturday the 13th. He was agree to go with her and they spent the next two hours together. He would promise that would,meet her on the road near Esgar Fynwent.

When the day came David would leave home between 9 to 10 and took a bill hook (a tool similar to an axe and a knife) with him. He would tell his sister that he was going to mend some gaps in the hedges. He began working and before closing one gap Hannah came to him. She would ask him if he was coming and he did not want to. He gave the excuse that his sister was washing his stockings. This did not work with Hannah and she told hime "Come this night, or I will never forgive you". 

David would hide the bill hook underneath his jacket and walked with her. They proceeded to walk along the road to Cwm-sifigw, in the parish of Llanybyther. When the two would get to Pencader mountain David would use the bill hook on her. He would slash her throat which did not make her fall, but then he would stab at her causing her to fall. He would use it no less than 14 times. She would fall into the ravine.

He would claim to automatically feel regret as he murdered her and their unborn child. he would then run homeward and on the way dipped the bill hook in a pool of water to clean off the blood. There was no blood on his clothes.He would sneak into the home about 1 to 2 a.m. when he'd lay in bed for an hour. He would then clean his shoes and grease them. In order to trick his sister who he told the day before that he wasn't going with Hannah he finished the hedges. 

Hannah's body would soon be found. It was said that her blood caused the water to be red for two miles. 

When police arrested David he had claimed innocence. He would go to trial and would be found guilty of the murder. He would be set to hang on September 21, 1829. David confessed to the murder just before he was to be hanged. He stated that just before the murder that the two were getting along and that he had done it out of jealousy. Jealousy of what was not stated or if he had planned to murder her all along that day. 

On September 21 David would be hanged in Camarthen. with perperations done David gave the signal he was ready by dropping a handkerchief. The bolt would draw but the hook gave way and  instead of hanging he landed on his feet. He expected to be reprieved, telling the officials that “He had been hanged once and they had no more to do with him”. This was not the case though as it was to be hanged till dead. He would be hanged a few minutes later and would hang for an hour. His body would be sent for disection.

SOURCES:
Executed Today
The Bristol Mercury and Daily Post, Western Countries and South Wales Advertiser June 30, 1829

The Taunton Courier, and Western Advertiser, for Somerset, Wilts, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall July 8, 1829

The Western Flying Post or Sherborne and Yeovil Mercury July 13, 1829

Chester Chronicle, and Cheshire and North Wales General Advertiser September 25, 1829

Sheffield and Rotherham Independent October 3, 1829

Serial Killer: Rebecca Smith

 

In May 1831 26-year-old Rebecca Smith would may Philip Smith. He was known as a drunkard. After Rebecca's mother's death in 1846 the £100 she inherited they moved to Westbury, England, and their money was wasted away by Philip. During the marriage they would have their first child, Jane, in 1832 she would have 10 more none of them living very long after. This would cause Rebecca to work as a crop picker and vegetable grower. This caused the family to live in a visible state of poverty of health.

Their last child, Richard, would be born on May 16, 1849. He was seemingly healthy, but Rebecca would start to tell people the opposite. Even before Richard was born she was asking around for rat poison/ arsenic. She would ask a girl, Caroline Mackay, to buy some. Soon after he became sick on June 7th. 

People suspected Rebecca to have killed him. The local registrar, George Shorland, had initially listed the cause of death as unknown, but rumors changed his mind. An inquest was done on the child's death and Richard's body was exhumed on June 22nd. It was found that he was poisoned with arsenic. July 18th two more of her children were exhumed and found to have been poisoned with arsenic. 

On August 9, 1849, Rebecca was put on trial for only Richards's murder. It took 30 minutes to find her guilty, but they recommended mercy for her. The judge ignored it and sentenced her to death. Two petitions for mercy were sent to the Home Secretary to help save her, but she was still set to hang. Knowing that death awaits her a week after her sentence she would make a confession to the prison chaplain. 

Out of her 11 children, the oldest one survived to adulthood. Two had died from natural causes.7 more of her children were poisoned and killed the same way Richard was. She had poisoned them all with arsenic. 

Rebecca's execution was heavily favored by the general public even though infanticide wasn't viewed as bad as a standard murder. Women in these cases don't typically get capital punishment and there is usually some sympathy for the mothers. There were factors that weighed against Rebbecca. She wasn't some young scared and ignorant mother at the time she was 44. Poisoning the child compared to smothering or drowning was seen as especially cruel.

On August 23, 1849, Rebecca was to be hanged in New Prison in Devizes. Early in the morning the streets leading to the goal were filled with people to watch the hanging. 

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Executed Today

True Crime Library

Capital Punishment UK

Amcotts Moor Woman

 

In the summer of 1747, a peat digger found a body roughly under 6ft under peat moss near Amcotts, England. His shovel would hit a shoe and when they found it with a foot still inside they fled the scene. The following October S. George Stovin would set out with his team to excavate the remains.

The remains belonged to a woman who lived and died between 200 and 400 A.D. Her body was bent so that her feet and head were close to touching as if a strong current had placed her body there. She was mummified and her hands were described as well-preserved, but they were lost when they were sent for study. Both of her shoes were found, but the one hit with the shovel was damaged. The shoes were described as having a tawny color and being pliable. 

Her remains were buried at the Amcotts churchyard.

SOURCES:
Wikipedia

Mummipedia

Bright Edge Deep

INFANTICIED: June 8, 1910 Neshannock Falls, Pennsylvania,

 On June 8, 1910, the body of a newborn was found in a sack in Neshannock Falls, Pennsylvania. She had died recently and her cause of death was unknown.

She was a white female and was about a day old when she died. 

SOURCES:

Find a Grave

GHOSTS: El Silbón

 

Effigy of El Silbón at a Venezualan theme park

The legend of El Silbón started in the middle of the 19th century in Columbia and Venezuela. He is most known in the Los Llanos region. He was described as a lost soul cursed to wander. There are a couple of versions of the story but both state that he was the son of a farmer. He would then kill his father and soon after tortured and killed. He was cursed to carry the bag of bones of his father.

It's known when he's around as he whistles. The whistle notes are C,D,E,F,G,A,B in that order. It rises in tone to F and lowers to B. When you hear the whistles close do not worry, but when it's in a distance that is when you're in danger. It's said his whistle foretells your death. The only thing to save the soon-to-be victim is the bark of the dog, a chili, or a whip. He typically preys on womanizers and drunks.

One version of how he became a spirit was that he was a spoiled brat who demanded that his father hunts for a deer. It was his favorite typed of meat and when his father returned empty-handed he became furious. He would then kill his father cut out his heart and liver and have his mother unknowingly cook it for dinner.

His mother found that the meal was strange and tough. She begins to suspect that something was wrong. She would then find out that they were her husband's remains. His other would curse her son and his grandfather would order him to be tortured. In a long painful process first, his back was whipped, and salt was put into the wounds. After he was satisfied with the wounds two large monstrous dogs were on him biting his ankles. He would run into the woods and never be seen again. His grandfather would curse him to carry his father's bones.

In the other version, he was a married young man who worked on his father's farm in Venezuela. One day his father berated his wife and called her a whore. She would tell El Silbón what happened and this infuriated him. He would then confront his father and killed him. His fate is the same where he is tortured for a long time with whips and salt, eventually being chased into the forest by dogs.

SOURCES:
Wikipedia

Scary For Kids

Myths and Folklore

Villians Wiki