Murder of Lena and Wilhelm Riedel

In 1888 36-year-old Charles Henry Riedel his wife 37-year-old  Lena and their son 7-year-old Wilhelm "Willie" moved to Wilmington, Delaware from Philadelphia. Charles was German and spoke broken English. Unbeknownst to those around him he was depressed due to a lack of work and prospective want. 

On the morning of September 17, 1887, both mother and child were sleeping in the same bed. Lena was sleeping on her back facing up and Wilhelm was on his side facing away from his mother. Charles would go up to both. He first shot at the wall twice, but neither woke up. He would then shoot Lena and then Wilhelm in the head.  Witnesses heard Lena moaning and saying "Willie". Even if she talked evidence showed that she did not move after being shot but could have lived up to 3 hours afterward. 

Charles tried to kill himself by shooting himself in the temple, but he failed. Later that morning he would go to his door and shout that he would shoot everyone. He would then yell at Mrs. Gottilieb Wachter to see what he had done upstairs. This scared her and she rushed to her husband who was working at the mill at the time. 

The two would return and enter the home. Upstairs they would see the bodies of the mother and child still in bed. He would then be asked what he had done by them. "Just what I said I would." When they left the house Charles locked the door behind him. This was when someone was sent to get an officer. 

Later that morning Officer Sherry and Gustave Kolock would go to the home. The front door to the house was locked so the back of the house to peer in to see Charles smoking. The officer wanted someone to distract Charles briefly as he snuck in through the back to arrest him. Gustave's brother did so as he joined the party. They did this  and Charles willingly went with the officer and only asked to get his money before leaving. It was $21.70 (Around $667) one of the $5 bills was stained with blood. He grabbed it from the mantel and left with the officers. As he was put in the carriage Charles stated "I shot my wife. I shot my child. I'll shoot everybody."

He was found guilty and on August 10, 1888, Charles would be executed. He was welcoming the execution. One reporter would ask how Charles would feel if the governor would let him live a little longer. Charles would respond with "I will kill myself. I do not want to live this way. " He was religious but refused spiritual consolation. 

SOURCES:

Legal Executions in Deleware, The District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia. Page 9

The Morning News September 19, 1887

Daily Republican September 21, 1887

Daily Republican May 16, 1888

The Morning News August 10, 1888

Murder of John Bare and Ed Long

In February of 1894, there was to be a wedding in Alleghany County, North Carolina. At the end of the ceremony, a Virginian named Daniel Slaughter would talk to an old man. The old man would slap him in good fun and ask Daniel "if he was much a man". This would anger Daniel and he would curse at the old man. 

He would be told to leave and he did, but he returned a few minutes later. His return was not a peaceful welcoming. The old man and several of his friends were angry with Daniel and argued. There was an attempt to calm the crown, but it would not happen.

He would lunge at John Bare stabbing him in the heart killing him. When John initially fell to the ground Daniel went to stab him again, but the bride would prevent him by grabbing his hand. Her arms and hand were cut from the knife. Daniel would flee and Ed Long would try to stop him but would be stabbed also (possibly disemboweled). He would be caught 2 miles away. He claimed that people in the crowd were hitting his face.

He would be sent to a Sparta jail. There were talks of him being lynched. On the night of Feb. 23rd Daniel was taken from the jail and lynched on Laural Branch Spring Rd near Sparta. In the process of the lynch mob taking Daniel from the jail two were shot one of which was Alexander Rose. There were around 20 lynchers 15 of which were from Ashe County.

The day of the murder is unknown many of the articles stated that it was on the 18-20, but the earliest article I found was on the 17th. It's never mentioned whose wedding it was even though the bride was also injured at the wedding. It doesn't state Daniel's or his victim's relations to the wedding. I didn't exactly understand why Daniel got mad or why he was asked: "if he was much a man." It's likely that further information on the crime wasn't done in newspapers was due to Daniel being lynched soon after the murder. 

SOURCES:

Richmond Dispatch Feb 17, 1894

The Spokesman-Review Feb 22, 1894

People's Voice Feb 23 1894

The Staunton Spector Feb 28, 1894

The Union Republic March 1, 1894

The Western Senteniel Marhc 1, 1894

The Yadkin Valley News March 8, 1894

Murder of Katie Epps and Louise Hodges

31-year-old George Epps and his wife 32-year-old Katie Epps were separated but had got back together by Thanksgiving of 1921. They were living together in 1105 1st in Washington D.C. He was believing that a friend of Katie's 24/27-year-old Louise Hodges was the reason for Katie's mistreatment towards him. He was also believing she was leading her astray to infidelity. 

On the day of  December 28, 1921, George withdrew some money and called into work claiming to be ill. He would then take the money and go to a second-hand store on D street and purchased a revolver. He would then shoot the two girls. Katie would be shot in the right breast and the center of her forehead. Louise was shot in the abdomen.

When police arrived he stated "Here I am. I have been waiting for you." He handed his gun over to the officers and surrendered himself. The girls were sent to hospital but were soon declared dead shortly after arriving.

SOURCES:

Legal Executions in Deleware, The District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia Page 22

Evening Star  December 28, 1921

Murder of Jim and John Denningfield

 On Sunday, December 18, 1927, The bodies of 55-year-old Jim Dennifield, and his son 9-year-old John were found murdered in their Dacula, Georgia by a neighbor. When they were found the two hounds stayed with John laying with him as if trying to protect him from further harm. 

It's possible that this happened on the Friday night before being found. Jim had quartered and fed his stock. His son was already preparing to go to bed when they were attacked. Jim was known to be distrustful of banks and was likely hiding money in his home. This is possibly why the killers/robbers followed the farmer home and took a cracked door as an opportunity.

Jim would fight the intruders and his son would hide under a lint pile in the adjoining room. The killer would hit Jim with an ax or similar weapon under the chin almost decapitating him and then crushed his head. The killers would drag out the 9-year-old and make him tell them where the money was hidden. He told them that the money was hidden under planks. They left no witnesses after they got the $500 (equivalent to$7,358 today). They killed the boy hacking him with the ax on a cot. 

There were bloody fingerprints found at the scene. There was some on the mantle and on the door. Tracks lead to an abandoned sawmill near the home about 500 yards away. There was evidence of them leaving in a car. 

I could only find the initial articles on this case on December 19th. I couldn't find if this case was solved or not. 

SOURCES:

The Atlanta Constitution December 19, 1927 (Part 1) (Part 2)

The Orlando Sentinel December 19, 1927

The Knoxville Journal December 19, 1927

Johnson City Staff News December 19, 1927

UNIDENTIFIED: Jan. 14, 1953 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Babes in the Woods

On Jan. 14, 1953, the bodies of two young boys (initially believed to be a boy and a girl) were found in a brush-filled area of Stanley Park in Vancouver, British Columbia. They were covered by what looked like a woman's rain cape. They were laying in a straight line with their feet almost close together and heads in opposite directions. They could have been dead for up to the fall of 1947. 

There was a hatchet found at the scene. Both boys had wounds to their heads. One of the victim's skull had a wound in the back of the head that the hatchet fit perfectly. The other skull was fractured by what may have been the hammer of the hatchet. It's believed that the killer was the mother. 

It's believed that the body of Boy A was laid down first where they were found. He was faced down in a shallow depression. Boy B was then placed down where he was found and it's believed that the killer (a woman) lost her shoe underneath his left shoulder and between a log. Before she left she covered the boys in her coat and in a panic left her shoe where she lost it. 

The boys weren't identified. It wasn't until a DNA test in 90's that Boy b was found to be a boy instead of a girl. 

There was a possible lead to identifying the children. In 1949 or 1950 a man working in a logging camp, and his companion picked up a woman and two children. During the ride, she told them that she had been in trouble with Mission Police for vagrancy charges. They learned that one or both children at some time attended Cedar Valley School and she lived on Cherry St. in Mission B.C. It's possible that the men mistook "Vag C" instead of vagrancy which was the code for prostitution at the time. 

The woman was described as having red hair. The two boys were around 6 or 7 years old with one of them wearing an aviator flying helmet. The lead managed the find the family name of Grant, but this lead was exhausted after speaking to family members. 

There was a report a few years before the bodies being found of an adult male and female walking in the woods with two young boys. One of the boys was carrying a hatchet. Later that day the couple was seen again this time without the boys and the woman was without one of her shoes. 

Police don't believe that they'll catch the person who murdered these young children. It's likely that the killer would be deceased by now anyway. They just want to give the children back their names. 

Boy A is a white male between 7 and 10 years old. He was described as having a sturdy build. He had many cavities. Clothing deteriorated. He was wearing brown oxfords with white crepe rubber soles, a belt and a leather aviation helmet with goggles, and a zipper jacket or sweater (one article states it's a red Fraser Tartan Jacket). 

Boy B is a white male and was between 7 and 10-years-old. He was described as having a slender build. He had more cavities than his brother. He was wearing identical brown oxfords with white crepe rubber soles, but 1/2 an inch longer, a belt, a zipper jacket or sweater, an aviator helmet with goggles, and the underwear he was wearing was deteriorated but believed to be too big as a safety pin was used in the elastic to keep them up. 

The hatchet at the scene was typically used by shinglers and lathers. It was rusty and the handle was broken into two by the time it was found. 

The coat was a cheap dark brown (dyed rabbit) with leg-of-mutton shoulders that were popular in 1943. The coat is a size 16 and is 40 inches long. The lining material of the coat indicated it had been worn for 2 or 3 years. The woman's show was a moccasin style size 5 1/2 with crepe soles with a light grey plastic quarter lining and a red plastic quarter binding. 

There was a light blue with white trim children's lunch box by the bodies. It isn't stated if there was anything inside the lunchbox when the children died. 

There is no mention of a bracelet that I could find, but one article has a picture of a piece of a child's bracelet with a button from the coat. 

SOURCES:

Doe Network Boy A

Doe Network Boy B

Mysterious Universe

Wikipedia

The Globe and Mail

Global

The Vancouver Sun Jan 19, 1953

The Vancouver Sun April 15, 1953

Murders of Esther and Charles Morris

On the night of September 28, 1879, around 8 to 8:30 p.m. Esther and Charles Morris were going to bed in their home in Decatur, Michigan. Their maid of 5 years was upstairs sleeping at the time. During the night possibly between 9 to 10 p.m., someone knocked on the back door of their home.

Charles was the one to answer the door. He didn't answer the door with his gun and his family believed that he may have known the person. Soon Charles was shot twice. He was shot once in the neck and once in the Chest. Charles laid dead on the back porch.

Esther was in the sitting room and may have witnessed the murder. She was holding Charles Revolver at the time. She had dropped it when the murderer shot towards her and missed. She ran and tried to hide in the closet. Inside the closet, they shot her three times. Twice in the chest and once in the arm.
A woman who worked for the Morris's, Jennie Bull, was sleeping upstairs and knew nothing until the next morning. A more recent article from 1987 stated Jennie heard Charles arguing with a man, it scared her, but she didn't hear anything else. Older articles that came out at the time contradicted this and state that even though Jennie's room was directly above where Esther was murdered she heard nothing.

The next morning either Jennie or the farmhand who was coming to the house to work found Charles first. Some articles stated that Jennie found the bodies when she woke up that morning and waited for the farmhand and told him of what had happened. As the closest neighbors weren't actually that close.


Robbery wasn't a motive for the murder as nothing was stolen except for a horse the killer road off with. There were expensive things out in the open in the house that wasn't touched. The horse was found a few days later in South Bend, Indiana. The horse seemed to be  jaded and exhausted. It was bearing an unrecognizable branding on the left rear flank.

Around 9:30 to 10 p.m., a young man returning home who lived close to the Morris's saw a man riding a horse very fast. He didn't think anything of it at the time till he heard of the murders the next day. He said the man riding the horse was wearing a strange hat.
The police tried to beat a former handyman of the Morris's into a confession. He never confessed and left the town due to the accusations and the way people treated him. There was no evidence of him killing the couple other than people's suspicions.

The crime was left unsolved and never will be.

SOURCES:
Wikipedia
Detroit Free Press
St. Joseph Herald
The True Northerner
The Herald-Palladium

MISSING: Myrisha Faye and AJ Campbell

 Myrisha Faye Campbell circa 1958 and age-progressed to 57

A.J. Campbell jr. circa 1958 and age-progressed to 54

3-year-old Myrisha Faye Campbell and her little brother 11-month-old A.J Campbell jr were picked up by their father A.J. Campbell sr. on September 6, 1958, from their home in Goliad, Texas. Their father claimed that he just wanted to take them out for a ride during one of his scheduled court-ordered visitations. He took them at 9:00 a.m. and was supposed to return with them at 3 p.m., but the children never returned home

Jewel and A.J. sr. had been married for 8 years and throughout the marriage A.J. sr was abusive towards Jewel. So eventually had left A.J. sr. and had taken the children with her. She had supported them by taking a teaching job in Goliad, Texas.

William Randal jr. was the only other person to last see the children alive. William Randal and A.J. sr. picked up the children together in Randal’s 2- door pink and charcoal-gray 1955 Chevrolet Tudor. The had went through Cuero and Gonzales, Texas and picked up two large cans of lard. When they were 3 miles out of Goliad A.J. sr. said he needed to go see a friend and Randal had gotten out of vehicle leaving the children alone with A.J. sr.

30 to 40 minutes later A.J. sr. returned with none of the children in sight. He had claimed that he had gotten into a fight with his brother-in-law and had left the children with another relative. Randal noticed that A.J. sr was acting nervous and agitated. A.J. sr. even asked if there was blood on him and warned Randal not to tell anyone about the fight. A.J sr. and Randal had driven to Austin Texas and separated promising to meet at a bus stop at midnight the next day to return the car. A.J. sr. never arrived causing Randal to ride the bus back home and reported his car stolen.

On September 7, A.J. sr. called a minister in Fort Worth, Texas. He had implied to the minister that he had killed the children by telling him that they were “at rest with the world” and that he was going to kill himself. Which he had followed through with when his body was found in Randal’s car on a road near Austin. It was ruled a suicide because he shot himself in the head with a 16- gauge shotgun.

A suicide note was found addressed to Jewel. In the note, he admitted he had buried both of the children. He also stated that he loved the children and that he still loved Jewel. He wished her happiness. His note did not indicate where he had buried the children or their whereabouts.

Jewel remarried afterward and took the last name Robertson, and had two more children. Jewel passed away in 2013, but her two other children are still actively looking for A.J. jr and Myrisha. They believe that there might be a chance that A.J. sr. had sold or given the children away instead of killing them.

Myrisha was 3 years old white female with dark blonde hair and blue eyes. She was 2’6 and 28 pounds. Myrisha was last seen wearing a pink dress with puffed sleeves and a Peter Pan collar, pink socks, and white buckle shoes.

A.J. Jr. was 11 months old he is a white male with blonde hair and blue eyes. He was 2’2 and 25 lbs. He has a birthmark on his eyelid and a birthmark below his lower lip. His fingers were also clubbed at the ends. A.J was last seen wearing a light blue and white checkered shirt with a dark blue collar and a yellow diaper with a clear plastic liner over it.

SOURCES:
Charley Project (A.J)
Charley Project (Myrisha)

Unsolved Murders of Donald Burton and Joseph Greco

On May 2, 1959, the bodies of Donald Burton and Joseph Greco were found in the trunk of a vehicle parked on the side of the road on Montague  1/4 mile east of Meridian, Illinois. The 21-year-olds were beaten to death and had evidence of gambling paraphernalia. They were known for their frequent illegal gambling operations in the Northern Illinois area.

SOURCES:

Winnebago County Sheriff's Office

Murder of Lord Darnley and William Taylor

Henry Stuart better known as Lord Darnley came from a family that had both the Scottish and English thrones via ties with James II of Scotland and Henry VII of England.  He had the potential to claim either side. Lord Darnley met Mary Queen of Scots when he was 20 in Feb. of  1565.

The two became smitten with each other. They have soon married in July and he had become King of the Scots. Soon the bliss faded though. Lord Darnley had a bad temper and made enemies in a drunken and arrogant manner.

Mary Knew that he shouldn't succeed the crowd as he would make an awful ruler. She refused to grant him the Crown Matrimonial which would make him the successor if she was childless. Mary didn't have to worry about that as she became pregnant with her son James. Who would become the future James I of England.

Mary became close to her private secretary David Rizzio. He was stabbed 56 times on March 9, 1566, by Darnley and his confederates and Protestant Scottish nobles. This was all front of Mary whom people suspected was pregnant with David Rizzio's child.

In 1567 Lord Darnley was staying the Kirk o' Field in Edinburgh, Scottland. In the weeks leading up to Feb. 9, 1567, he was either suffering from smallpox or syphilis and stayed at the Old Provost's lodging at Kirk O'Field. He had formed pocks on himself. He was staying with his family in Glasglow before but Mary thought he'd do better there.

On Feb 10, 1567, around 2 a.m. an explosion could be heard. The place that Lord Darnley resided was in rubbles, but his body was not inside the home. He and his valet, William Taylor, were found in the orchard. Their bodies were found outside surrounded by a cloak, a dagger, a chair, and a coat. Darnley seemed

Two barrels of gunpowder were placed underneath Lord Darnley's room. Something had spooked him and he and William ran outside the place. It's believed that Lord Darnley had been asleep at the time because he was only dressed in a nightshirt. He had apparently been smothered there were no physical signs of violence, but he had internal injuries possibly from the explosion. It's not stated how William died and why they thought the items that were around them were around them.

Some suspect that it was Mary who had plotted his death. That she may have gotten revenge for David Rizzio's death or because she was in love with James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell. She was a devout Catholic and believed that divorce was not an option.

It's unknown what had really happened that night.

SOURCES:
Tudor Society
Wikipedia
The History Jar
Historic Mysteries

The Wonnangatta Murders: Murders of Jim Barclay and John Bamford

Government Gazette page 6

On December 14, 1917, James "Jim" Barclay hired a cook named John Bamford worked for the Wonnangatta Station he managed in a secluded valley in the Victorian Alps in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. The two workers were last seen when they left Talbotville on December 21, 1917, after voting. They then returned to the Wonnangatta Station. 

On December 28th the Goold brothers went by the station. They didn't see neither worker but heard them and a dog moving cattle. They were out of sight and the Goold's left a note for the two in the Station. 

On Jan. 22, 1918, Harry Smith, a good friend, and stepson of the original owner of Wonnangatta Station went to the station to drop off mail. He found that Jim and John were not there. The crops had been cut which Jim stated he was going to mid-Jan. Their bedroom doors were locked and "Home Tonight" was written on the kitchen door in chalk. The note the brothers left weren't there and the note on the door wasn't there when they visited almost a month before. It's assumed Jim and John had been at the Station between Dec. 28th and Jan. 22nd.

Harry had stayed for two nights and they never arrived. He left on the 24th thinking they were probably doing work in another area. When he arrived back on Feb. 14th and the mail he left was still untouched and the message on the door was still there. The dog that Jim owned looked bad as he had been starved. The next day he arranged for a telegram to be sent to Arthur Philips the current owner. He was afraid something had happened to the two.

A search ensued and lasted several days. On Feb. 25th Jim was found in a shallow grave near the Conglomerate Creek which was 420 paces from the Station. Jim was shot in the back possibly with his own gun. Jim's clothes and a handgun he recently purchased were missing, but they left other valuables and Jim's shotgun at the station. John's horse was missing also. Food in the homestead was found to be covered in strychnine, but neither one (Johns body hadn't been found yet) was found to have been poisoned.

It was initially thought that John with his short temper had gotten in a fight with Jim and killed him. But in November his body was found buried under some logs near Howitt Plains Hut on Mount Howitt. He had been shot in the head. It was possible that John and Jim had stayed at the Hut to fix a fence.

It's unknown what had happened to the two or even the motive as some of Jim's personal items had been stolen(including a handgun he recently purchased), but other valuable items were left behind. If Jim and John were killed by the same person or person's why did they take John so far away to be killed and Jim so close to the Station? Or did the murders start at the Howitt Plains Hut while they stayed there to fix some fencing? Or it could be possible that Jim was at the Station while John was at the Hut and the murderers knew this and used the opportunity to kill both. 

Some assume that John had killed Jim and Jim's friend killed him in retaliation. But there's no proof in this and why would they allow it to take so long for them to be rediscovered. Jim also wrote to a friend that he was in fear of his life and hearsay claims he said he was scared of "three blokes". He had bought a handgun to protect himself. The crops he planned in mid-Jan. Were cut when Harry arrived on Jan 22nd and it's believed he may have been killed around that time. 

No one will really happen that night and it may never be known.

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

The Line Up

Harry's Hut

ABC