Murder of Hester Vanauken

On News Years 1821 in Wantage, New Jersey Hester Vanauken, was at her sisters home. Her husband Wilhelmus would send a black boy to tell her to come home that he was near dying. She paid no attention as she knew it was a lie. He would send the boy again with the same message and as a response this time the Hester and her sister invited him to come over for dinner with them.

Wilhelmus would join his wife and sister-in-law for dinner. That night she would return home with him. That night she went to bed and he read a book. Three of the children were asleep and Hester's daughter and Wilhelmus's step daughter was out of the house. He would then find her sleeping in the bed and put out the fire and candle. This was when attempted to cut her throat with a double bladed knife.

She would wake up and nearly overpowered him as she tried to escape. Because he didn't succeed in cutting her throat he took a larger stick of wood and beat her on the head with it. He would then hit the back of her head with an andiron. It's unknown which blow killed her, but it was brutal.  

Wilhelmus would go to a neighbor to admit what he had done and ask the women to lay her out. He would go to another neighbor to do the same. He told both houses to bring their own light as there was none in the house. Wilhelmus would return to his home with the neighbors.

The neighbors came to a brutal scene with the walls and doors and floor covered in blood. She was nearly naked lying on her knees and face. Her body was covered in bruises, stab marks, and marks that looked as if she was stabbed with a fork. The knife laid half open on the floor, and the club had Hester's brains sticking to it. After the neighbors came one of the young children crept upon the scene of their murdered mother.

At the time Hester was 6 months pregnant. Wilhelmus starting from about 2 to 3 years before would frequently threaten to kill his wife and his stepdaughter. His step daughter was away from the home at the time and it was believed had she been home he probably would have killed her also. 

Wilhelmus would be prosecuted and set for execution. He would be executed on January 22, 1822.

SOURCES:

Death Penalty USA

Sussex County New Jersey Archives

The Hillsborough Recorder Jan. 31, 1821 pt.1

The Hillsborough Recorder Jan. 31, 1821 pt.2

Newbern Sentinel Feb. 10, 1821 pt.1

Newbern Sentinel Feb. 10, 1821 pt.2

Murder of Anne Noblett

 

On December 30, 1957, 17-year-old Anne Noblett went to dancing classes and rock and roll lessons at the Lourdes Hall in Harpenden, England.  It was just after 6 p.m. when she left to go home alone. She had gotten off of the bus at Cherry Tree Corner, Marshalls Heath, near Wheathampstead, and began her walk home. Another local girl passed by her as she was walking on the lane and this was the last time anyone saw her. She never made it to her home which was only a quarter of a mile away. 

No one had known what had happened to the teenager for a month. During that time there were inquires and searches for the girl. Her last bus ride was even reconstructed in order to help find the girl. Searches with hundreds of volunteers were done, but she still could not be found. It could have been that someone she knew offered to give a ride or someone abducted the girl.

On January 31, 1958, Anne's body would be found in dense woodland in Rose Grove Woods in Horn Hill by brothers and their dog. This area was seven miles away from her home. Her items were found nearby her body. It's believed that her body had been there for at most 2 weeks. 

It is believed that Anne was murdered within hours of her disappearance. Even though her body was clothed there was evidence that she had been redressed likely meaning she had been sexually assaulted. She was then strangled to death. Someone then deep froze her body as the temperatures were mild and there was no possibility of it happening naturally. They then carried her body to where it was found. 

Oddly enough if they had carried her only a few dozen more yards she would have been hidden better. The area she was laid on was considered a relatively open area of wood. There was also a disused cart tract near where her body was found that was inaccessible to cars and the closest tracks were half a mile away. Whoever carried her had to of been strong enough to carry her as there was no evidence of dragging.

Police searched all deep freezing machinery within a 30-mile radius of where her body was found. Farmhouses, buildings, outhouses, and factories were all searched.  There was no evidence of any of them had been used for her body. 

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Defrosting Cold Cases

The Daily Telegraph January 7, 1958

Evening Sentinel January 7, 1958

The Guardian January 23, 1958

The Guardian February 3, 1958

The Birmingham Post and Birmingham Post July 14, 1958

Watford Observer January 30, 2002
The Comet December 21, 2017

BBC April 29, 2018

UNIDENTIFIED: December 29, 1923 London, England

On December 29, 1923, a woman's body was found in the Chelsea Basin area in the Thames River in England. It was not stated what they thought the cause of death was or if they thought it was foul play. It was not known who she was and police took her fingerprints in hopes of helping identify her with them. This was a first, but however never gave fruit to her identity.

She would be misidentified by a man who had not seen his wife for 2 years. By the end of the month, a family member would tell him that they actually spoke to her recently and could not be Jane Doe.

It was found that the woman had the habit of staying at a common lodging house in Walham Green. The manager of the house however did not know the woman's name.

She was a woman around 45 to 50-years-old. She was well dressed and had a bag with when she was found. Inside the bag was a handkerchief with an M on it, a photo of a man cut out from a larger photo, She had two £1 notes, eight 10s. notes, and 4s in silver and copper.

SOURCES:

Daily Herald January 5, 1924

The Kensington News and West London Times January 11, 1923

Chelsea News January 18, 1924

Chelsea News January 25, 1924

MONSTERS: Tsurube Otoshi (Falling in Well Bucket)

 

"Nishioka no Tsurube-oroshi" (The Tsurube-Oroshi of Nishioka) from the Kokon Hyakumonogatari Hyōban written by Yamaoka Genrin, edited by Yamaoka Motoyoshi

Tsurube Otoshi (Falling in Well Bucket) is a yokai from Japan. It is a gigantic disembodied head of either a human, a tengu, or an oni and sometimes appears as fireball flames with facial features. Its size is the typical size of a human head to two meters in diameter. They live and spend most of their time in the tree tops preferring taller trees like pines, kayas, and other such conifers. The trees they live in are typically deep along paths in the forest and outside of towns where travelers are likely to be. The places they are known to be is the Wakayama Prefecture, the Kyoto Prefecture, the Shiga Prefecture, the Gifu Prefecture, and the Aichi Prefecture.

At night they wait in the treetops for unspecting creatures and travelers. When they need to eat they will quickly fall to the ground to trap their prey. This is how it got its name. They enjoy this kind of killing and let out a laugh as they hunt and eat their meal. Sometimes when they are not hungry they will come down and do the same crushing people to death for fun. Sometimes they don't use themselves, but large rocks or well buckets and enjoy the damage dealt. After they are done feeding and or having their fun they will slip back into the trees laughing and challenging others to pass underneath their tree.

Travelers are warned to not pass under the tall trees at night because the Tsurube Otoshi might get them. 

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Yokai

Yokai Wiki

UNIDENTIFIED: December 27, 1953 Los Angeles, California John Doe

 On December 27, 1953, an off-duty Los Angeles Police Officer was hiking in Griffith Park in Los Angeles, California when he discovered skeletal remains scattered along the hillside. He had died around a year before and there was no evidence of violence on the skull. A broken phonograph was found nearby. It was the type to be used for home recordings so police suspect it was a suicide note. It's also believed that he was not wearing his pants when he died. v

John Doe was a man between 50 to 60-years-old. He was 5'0". He was wearing a grey hat with the initials 'STW', grey trousers, a white nylon shirt, a red sports shirt, and brown Oxford shoes. He had a pocket comb, black plastic lead pencil, a gold wristwatch 'Gruen' brand, a silver scapular medal and chain, a pair of old bifocal glasses, and a pair of horn-rimmed eyeglasses.

SOURCES:

NamUs

Unidentified Wiki

Daily News December 28, 1953

Murder of Albert Lucia

 On December 24, 1883, 30-year-old Christian Reibling (white) was drinking with another man alcohol diluted with water. That Christmas morning they continued drinking a bottle of gin. At a livery stable in Lyndon, Illinois Christian would argue with 19-year-old Albert Lucia (white). It would result in Christian shooting and killing Albert.

Christian would be arrested. He would state that he could remember drinking the bottle of gin, but nothing after. He regretted what he had done and acknowledged he should not have been drinking with his pistol. If he was sober he would not have killed Albert as he had no reason to.

Christian would go to trial and would be found guilty and set to hang. He was to be the first hanging in Whiteside County.  Christian was accepting of his fate and felt remorseful for the killing. He believed that he would be accepted in heaven even for his crime because he was not in the right mind and had no actual malice towards Albert. 

SOURCES:

Legal Executions Illinois, Indiana, Iowa Kentucky and Missouri pg 9

Genealogy Trails

Freeport Daily Bulletin May 16, 1884

Chicago Tribune May 16, 1844

UNIDENTIFIED: 1881 Tombstone, Arizona Teamster

 In 1881 a Teamster (similar job to today's truck drivers) was killed by the Apaches in Cochise, Arizona.

SOURCES:
Find A Grave

Tombstone Chamber of Commerce 

Murder of Luke Crawford

 On December 15, 1873, in Calhoun County, Georgia, Bill Roseman (black) killed Luke Crawford (black) by shooting him with a musket. Bill would claim that Luke owed him money. 

Bill would be tried and found guilty. He was hung on January 29, 1875. 

I could not find much information on this case. 

SOURCES:

Legal Executions in Georgia page 18

INFANTICIDE: December 14, 1923 London, England Baby John Doe

 On December 14, 1923, the newborn body of a baby boy was found in the Regents Canal near Grove Road, Marylebone district in London, England. A man on the towpath next to the canal found the body in the canal. He was wrapped up in a piece of calico cloth. It's believed that the baby died from inattention at birth and was in the canal for around 17 days. 

SOURCES:

Unsolved Murders UK

MISSING: Nancy Anderson

 On December 13, 1958, 60-year-old Nancy Anderson had a dinner party with her neighbors at her home in Palmer, Washington. At 8 a.m. the next morning, a neighbor would bring her a newspaper but would find her front door open. Along with that, some lights were on, her purse was inside the dishes were still in the sink, and her dog was running loose. This was odd of her. There were several searches for her, but none turned her up. According to Black Diamond History Nanct had a habit of throwing trash into a nearby river and at the time it was high. It's possible that she may have accidentally fallen in, but there was no evidence of it. 

Nancy is a white female and was 60-year-old at the time. She was 5'4" and around 105 to 110 lbs. She had white hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a bright blue dress.

SOURCES:
NamUs
Black Diamond History

Murders of Zofia , Antoni, Bronisława, and Stefan Dolińska

 

At the beginning of the winter of 1923 in Poland 32-year-old Marianna Dolińska and other Roma families living in the Roma community near Antoniówka were suffering from hunger. It was a hard winter for them and members of the community began to steal food and animals from nearby farms to prevent starvation. 

In reaction, the State Police decided to stop the Roma who were stealing. One of the Roma that was arrested was Marianna's husband. This would leave her and their four children without help. Soon after his arrest, the camp was dispersed. For unknown reasons, the Dolińska family was rejected by the community. 

 Marianna and her children were left to wander around the forest and starve. Marianna's mentality was getting worse and believed that she and the children would starve to death and that was a slow and painful death. Instead of watching her children waste away, she decided to take their fate into her own hands. 

On the night of December 11, 1923, would hang her four children  6-month-old Zofia, 3-year-old Antoni, 5-year-old Bronisława, and 7-year-old Stefan. She would then go to the Rodam police and admit her crime. She would bring them to her children. A police photographer would take photographs of the scene. (These photographs are seen in most mentions of this case.) There was a 6-month investigation into the case because of Marianne's mental health. 

Marianna was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. She was suicidal at the time and planned to kill herself, but did not follow through. She was observed exhibiting frequent and violent mental changes. She had fits of rage and destructive behavior or would fall into a stupor for days. It was determined that she was a "neutral perpetrator" and had done it without awareness of the consequences at the time. By 1926 she suffered from manic-depressive disorder and was believed to have bipolar disorder.

She would die in 1928 and was buried in the hospital cemetery

Be aware that photos of the children are posted in each link below. It is a sad and horrible sight to see four children hanging from a tree. The photographs of the children are termed "Wreath of Children" and are falsely used to represent massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army in 1943. Please be aware before looking up the case yourself and or clicking any of the links I've used.

SOURCES:
Wikipedia

Rzeczpospolita May 19, 2007

Interia Wydarzenia December 11, 2014

December 11, 1923 Sheffield, England Baby John Doe

 On December 11, 1923, the body of a newborn baby boy was found dead in the Endcliff Park boating dam in Sheffield, England.  He had been burned about the head and arms before he was placed in the water. It's not stated what his cause of death was.

SOURCES:

 

Unsolved Murders

INFANTICIDE: April 6, 1924 Sheldon, England Baby Jane Doe

 On April 6, 1924, the body of a newborn baby girl was found in a pond at Garretts Green in Sheldon, England.

SOURCES:

Unsolved Murders UK

GHOSTS: Specter of Newby Hall

 

In 1963 Reverend Kenneth F. Lord would be taking pictures of the Church of Christ the Consoler on the grounds of Newby Hall in North Yorkshire, England. When the pictures were processed a strange figure would show up standing next to the altar.

The being was semi-transparent and was standing on the first step to the altar. It still towered over it however as it stood 9ft high. The figure was wearing a black robe that covered where its feet supposedly were and the hood was over the head. The hands are unseen and the face is covered in a white sheet with two depressions where the eyes are. The figure seems to look right at the camera. It's believed that this figure could have been a 16th-century monk wearing a white shroud over the face to mask leprosy or disfigurement.

Reverend Lord was confused by this figure as the church had no history of the paranormal. It was said the he was not the type of man who would pull a hoax at the time. 

Reverend Lord would then release the photo. It's believed that the photo was a hoax or possible double exposure. It's said that professionals at the time looked over the photograph and came to the conclusion that it wasn't so.

So was this a hoax or is there a harmless Specter at Newby Church?

SOURCES:

Burials and Beyond

Wikipedia

Ghosts Wiki

Urban Legendpedia

INFANTICIDE: December 7, 1923 Sheffield, England Baby Jane Doe

 On the morning of December 7, 1923, the body of a newborn girl was found at the Encliffe Park boating dam in Sheffield, England. There was evidence of animal activity on the body as she was missing her left leg under the knee, and left hand. She had been born alive but likely was asphyxiated. Her arms and head were shown to have been burned after death. She was then placed in the water.

SOURCES:

Unsolved Murders UK

Suspicious Death of Elsie Payne

  On December 7, 1923, 12-year-old Elsie Payne was out on an errand in Cardiff, Wales by one of her neighbors. Elsie was walking with a friend, 14-year-old Susie Phillips, but the two separated and Elsie proceeded down Iron St. Soon after at 8:40 pm Elsie would enter her aunt and uncle's shop on Clifton St. 

She was bleeding from the throat and said "A man asked me where Clifton Street was" before collapsing. By the time she was at the hospital she had lost too much blood and even though family members wanted to donate it was too late and she died before they could. 

There was a blood trail that led 103 years down the street across from some railings on the other side of the road in Iron St. off Clifton. Susie stated that she did not see anyone following them, and didn't notice anything when she left Elsie. 

It was stated that her injury likely was caused by a knife or piece of glass, but it was also possible that it was caused by falling on the railings or onto broken glass. The wound was up and forward. Another girl was injured similarly by slipping and landing on the railings on her chest. In several articles, it states there was no evidence of what had happened to her. 

It was believed however that she had been murdered as her last words mentioned of a man looking for directions. There seemed to be no evidence at the scene of the accident. 

One article claims that there were two witnesses of Elsie on Iron Street. One man, a painter, saw a man with his hand on a girl and ran away. This made the painter think the man had stolen something and chased after him, but lost him. The second witness stated that they saw a man and a girl and heard the girl screaming and running across the street thinking the man had hit her.

The family would receive a 3-page letter from a man claiming to kill the girl. He claimed he used a corkscrew, but evidence showed that she was not killed with one.

SOURCES:

Daily Mirror December 10, 1923

The Gloucestershire Echo December 11, 1923

The North Star December 21, 1923

Daily Mirror December 21, 1923

Evening Express December 31, 1923 

UNIDENTIFIED: Winter 1766 Barbecue, North Carolina Stranger

 In the winter of 1766, the body of a man was found frozen to death on the steps of the Barbecue Presbyterian Church in Barbeque, North Carolina. He was never identified so he was buried in the cemetery.

SOURCES:

Find A Grave

December 5, 1933 Racine, Wisconsin Baby John Doe

  On December 5, 1933, an unknown baby boy was buried at the East Meadows Cemetery in Racine, Wisconsin. There is little information in this case.

SOURCES:

Find a Grave

UNIDENTIFIED: December 2, 1838 Akron, Ohio Jane Doe

On December 2, 1838, an elderly woman would die in Akron, Ohio. She had died from consumption.

Jane Doe was a woman and was around 70-years-old. 

SOURCES:

Find a Grave