Murder Cases of the Twentieth Century

From Jack Henry Abbott, who stabbed a waiter through the heart for not allowing him to use the toilet, to the “Zodiac,” an unknown California serial killer who may have murdered as many as 37 people, this reference work details 280 of the most famous murder cases of the twentieth century. Each entry contains, when applicable, birth and death dates, aliases, occupation, location of the murders, weapons used, number of victims, and the time period when the killings occurred. Films, plays, television shows, videos and audio programs based on or inspired by the case are then cited, followed by a brief overview of the murder case and a bibliography of English-language works related to it.

David K. Frasier is a reference librarian at the Lilly Library at Indiana University Bloomington. He is the author of several books.

David K. Frasier
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 570
Bibliographic Info: bibliographies, indexes
Copyright Date: 2007 [1996]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-3031-4
eISBN: 978-1-4766-0808-2
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      xi

Foreword      xv

Preface      xvii

The Cases

Abbott, Jack Henry      1

Adams, John Bodkin (acquitted)      2

Allaway, Thomas Henry      4

Allen, Peter Anthony      5

Anderson, Craig Alan      5

Andre, Carl (acquitted)      6

Andrews, William A.      7

Armstrong, Herbert Rowse      7

Atkins, Susan Denise      9

Baniszewski, Gertrude      9

Barfield, Margie Velma      10

Barney, Elvira Dolores (acquitted)      13

Beck, Martha Jule (Seabrook)      15

Bembenek, Lawrencia      15

Bennett, Herbert John      17

Benson, Steven Wayne      18

Bentley, Derek William      20

Berdella, Robert Andrew, Jr.      20

Berkowitz, David      23

Bianchi, Kenneth Alessio      26

“Bible John”      29

Blaikie, James Francis, Jr.      30

Bonney, Thomas Lee      31

Brady, Ian Duncan      33

Branion, John Marshall, Jr.      38

Broderick, Elisabeth Anne “Betty”      39

Brooks, David Owen      41

Browne, Frederick Guy      41

Brudos, Jerome Henry      42

Buckfield, Reginald Sidney      45

Buenoano, Judias      45

Bulloch, Dennis Neal      48

Bundy, Carol Mary      52

Bundy, Theodore Robert      52

Buono, Angelo, Jr.      58

Busacca, Thomas F.      58

Camb, James      60

Carignan, Harvey Louis      62

Carpenter, David Joseph      64

Carraher, Patrick      68

Casteel, Dee Dyne      68

Cavaness, John Dale      69

Chambers, Robert E., Jr.      70

Chapman, George      71

Chapman, Mark David      73

Chase, Richard Trenton      74

Chikatilo, Andrei Romanovich      75

Christie, John Reginald Halliday      78

Clark, Douglas Daniel      81

Clark, Henry Lovell William      84

Coleman, Dennis, Jr.      85

Collins, John Norman      86

Coppolino, Carl A.      88

Corll, Dean Arnold      89

Corona, Juan Vallejo      90

Cottingham, Richard Francis      93

Crafts, Richard Bunel      94

Craig, Christopher      95

Crimmins, Craig Stephen      95

Crippen, Hawley Harvey      98

Crumm, James, Jr.      102

Dahmer, Jeffrey Lionel      102

Dallas, Claude Lafayette, Jr.      107

Daniel, Victoria Loretha (acquitted)      109

Dann, Laurie Ann      110

Davies, Michael John      111

Davis, David Richard      112

DeFeo, Ronald Joseph, Jr.      113

De Kaplany, Geza      115

Demeter, Peter      117

DeSalvo, Albert Henry      119

Dickman, John Alexander      122

Dobkin, Harry      123

Donald, Jeannie      124

Douglas, William HenryJames, Jr.      126

Downs, Elizabeth Diane Fredrickson      128

Dresbach, Ralph Wayne      130

Einhorn, Ira Samuel      132

Ellis, Ruth      134

Engleman, Glennon E.      136

Erler, Robert John, Jr.      136

Essex, Mark James Robert      138

Evans, Gwynne Owen      138

Evans, Timothy John      140

Eyler, Larry W.      140

Fernandez, Raymond Martinez      141

Fish, “Albert” Hamilton Howard      146

Fitzsimmons, George Kearon Joseph      149

Fox, Sidney Harry      150

Franklin, George Thomas, Sr. (conviction overturned)      151

Friedgood, Charles Edward      154

Fry, John Carl      156

Fugate, Caril Ann      158

Fullam, Augusta Fairfield      158

Fuller, Thomas Charles, II      160

Gacy, John Wayne      161

Gallego, Gerald Armand      167

Gardiner, William George Last (acquitted)      169

Garrow, Robert F.      171

Gates, Wyley (acquitted)      172

Gein, Edward Theodore      173

Gillette, Chester Ellsworth      177

Gillies, Jesse James      179

Gilmore, Mark Gary      182

Graham, Gwendolyn Gail      183

Graham, Lewis Texada, Jr.      183

Gray, David Malcolm      184

Gray, Henry Judd      185

“Green River Killer”      185

Greenwood, Harold (acquitted)      186

Gregg, Troy Leon      188

Griffiths, Peter      189

Griggs, Ronald Geeves (acquitted)      190

Gunness, Belle      192

Haigh, John George      195

Hall, Archibald Thomson      198

Hansen, Robert C.      201

Harris, Jean Struven      204

Hatcher, Charles Ray      206

Hauptmann, Bruno Richard      209

Heath, Neville George Clevely      214

Heidnik, Gary Michael      217

Heirens, William George      220

Henley, Elmer Wayne      223

Herrin, Richard James      223

Hickock, Richard Eugene      224

Hilley, Audrey Marie      227

Hindley, Myra      229

Hirasawa, Sadamichi      230

Hobson, Sueanne Sallee      231

Hoffman, Barbara      232

Hoolhouse, Robert William      233

Hosein, Arthur      234

Hosein, Nizamodeen      236

Hulme, Juliet      236

Hulten, Karl Gustav      238

Hume, Brian Donald      239

Hunt, Joe      241

“Jack the Stripper”      242

Jahnke, Richard John, Jr.      243

Jenkins, Steven Todd      244

Jones, Elizabeth Maude      247

Jones, Genene Ann      247

Jones, James Warren      249

Joubert, John J.      254

Judd, Winnie Ruth      256

Judy, Steven Timothy      258

Kallinger, Joseph Michael      258

Kemper, Edmund Emil, III      261

Kennedy, William Henry      265

Kitto, Michael Anthony      266

Klenner, Frederick Robert, Jr.      266

Knighten, Greg Spencer      268

Knowles, Benjamin (acquitted)      270

Knowles, Paul John      271

Kraft, Randy Steven      274

Krenwinkel, Patricia Dianne      276

Kürten, Peter      276

Landru, Henri Désiré      280

Larzelere, Virginia Gail      282

Legere, Allan Joseph      285

LeGeros, Bernard John      286

Leonski, Edward Joseph      287

Leopold, Nathan Freudenthal, Jr.      289

Light, Ronald Vivian (acquitted)      292

List, John Emil      293

Loeb, Richard R.      295

Logan, Michael David      295

Lonergan, Wayne Thomas      295

Lucan, Lord      296

Lucas, Henry Lee      298

Lundgren, Jeffrey Don      302

McCollum, Ruby      303

MacDonald, Jeffrey Robert      304

Mackay, Patrick David      307

“Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run”      310

Mahon, Patrick Herbert      312

Manson, Charles Milles      313

Manuel, Peter Thomas Anthony      320

Merrett, John Donald      322

Miller, James William      323

Milo, Frederick P.      324

Montgomery, Candace Lynn (acquitted)      325

Morris, Raymond Leslie      325

Mossler, Candace Grace (acquitted)      329

Mothershed, William James      331

Mullin, Herbert William      332

Nance, Wayne Nathan      335

Narciso, Filipina Bobadilla      337

Neelley, Alvin Howard, Jr.      337

Neelley, Judith Ann      337

Neilson, Donald      340

Nelson, Erle Leonard      341

Newell, Hugh William Alexander      343

Nichols, Donald Boone      344

Nilsen, Dennis Andrew      345

Nodder, Frederick      347

Olson, Clifford Robert      349

Pan, Rui-Wen      350

Pancoast, Marvin      352

Panzram, Carl      354

Parker, Pauline Yvonne      356

Perez, Leonora M. (charges dropped)      356

Petiot, Marcel André Henri Félix      357

Petrovich, Oliver      359

Pierce, Darci Kayleen      360

Pierre, Dale Selby      361

Pikul, Joseph John      362

Poddar, Prosenjit      365

Podmore, William Henry      365

Podola, Guenther Fritz Erwin      366

Powell, Bernadette      368

Powers, Harry F.      368

Puente, Dorothea Helen      370

Putnam, Mark Steven      372

Ramirez, Richard Leyva      375

Rattenbury, Alma Victoria (acquitted)      377

Rogers, Dayton Leroy      380

Rossney, Damian      383

Rouse, Alfred Arthur      383

Rowland, Walter Graham      385

Ruppert, James Urban      386

Ruxton, Buck      387

Sangret, August      389

Schmid, Charles Howard, Jr.      390

Schreuder, Frances Bernice      391

Scott, Leonard Ewing      392

Seddon, Frederick Henry      393

Sellers, Sean Richard      395

Shawcross, Arthur John      397

Sheppard, Samuel H. (acquitted)      399

Simmons, Ronald Gene      402

Sims, Paula Marie      405

Slater, Oscar Joseph (reprieved)      406

Smart, Pamela Ann      408

Smith, George Joseph      410

Smith, Perry Edward      412

Snider, Paul Leslie      412

Snyder, Ruth May      413

Sobhraj, Charles      416

Sodeman, Arnold Karl      418

Sorrentino, Paul      419

Speck, Richard Franklin      419

Starkweather, Charles Raymond      424

Steinberg, Joel Barnet      429

Stoner, George Percy      430

Straffen, John Thomas      430

Stuart, Charles M., Jr.      432

Stuart, Rupert Max      434

Stutzman, Eli E., Jr.      435

Sutcliffe, Peter William      438

Swartz, Lawrence J.      441

Tait, Robert Peter      442

Taylor, Kenneth Z.      443

Thatcher, Wilbert Colin      444

Thomas, Arthur Allan (pardoned)      445

Thompson, Tilmer Eugene      446

Thorne, John Norman Holmes      447

Tinning, Marybeth Roe      448

Toole, Ottis Elwood      451

True, Ronald      452

Tucker, Karla Faye      454

Umstadter, Travis      455

Van Houten, Leslie Sue      456

Vaquier, Jean Pierre      456

Walker, Buck Duane      457

Wallace, William Herbert (reprieved)      459

Watson, Charles Denton      460

Weger, Chester Otto      461

Wigginton, Tracey      462

Wilder, Christopher Bernard      462

Williams, Wayne Bertram      466

Wood, Catherine May      468

Wood, Robert William Thomas George Cavers (acquitted)      471

Woodfield, Randall Brent      472

Wuornos, Aileen Carol      476

Young, Graham Frederick      478

Yukl, Charles William, Jr.      481

Zeigler, William Thomas, Jr.      482

“Zodiac”      485

Appendix: A Classification of the Cases      487

Author and Title Index to the Bibliographic Entries      497

General Index to Page Numbers      509

ALA Outstanding Reference Source
“a near-perfect reference source…thorough yet nonlurid…. Useful, entertaining, extremely well written and meticulously researched and formatted”—Library Journal; “Frasier’s carefully researched and objectively written case reports ought to be sources of choice”—Rettig on Reference.