Most interesting unsolved non-serial killer cases

[Magpie]

The trial certainly wasnt everything it should have been I agree,but I cant go along with the popularly held view in some quarters that the State railroaded 3 innocent men (boys),based on the fact that Damien Echolls was a heavy metal fan and a Wiccan.

I agree that's an oversimplification. Mostly it's because Echolls parole officer hated his guts and was willing to lie about him, while an ambitious prosecutor and a lazy police force couldn't bring themselves to dismiss this bozo.

To me ,the evidence was patchy maybe,

If by "patchy" you mean "non-existent", I'd agree

the confession questionable as to detail

Do you mean the confession from Miskelley that wasn't admissable in Echolls trial but that somehow the jury was given a copy of? Or the "confession" of Echolls at the baseball game where the only testifying witness told three different versions and has since admitted that she invented the entire incident?

",but what stood out for me was the defendants demeanour,it didnt marry up with expected demeanours of 3 innocents...quite the reverse in fact.

Agreed, Echolls came across as a total ****wit during the trial. But think about this: you're 16, on trial for something that you know you didn't do. You got this idiot parol officer on the stand spewing the same crap about you that he's been telling everyone for years--only now people are actually listening to him. You got everyone you were on bearly noddingn acquaitanceship with in your town claiming that you were pouring out your deepest secrets to them. You got zero physical evidence against you. and to cap it all off some idiot gave you this uber-goth haircut minutes before your first court appearance. The temptation to treat this like some absurd joke that simply cannot be taken seriously has to be there--especially if you're a teenage-angsty loner with a need for attention.

Echolls admits he was an idiot, admits he didn't take the court case seriously, and admits that he presented a terrible image in court

You can't execute teenagers for being...well...teenagers--however tempting it may seem, sometimes

Im grateful I wasnt on the jury,Id have had to vote innocent all the while believing them to be guilty as hell.if that makes sense.

Unfortunately the good citizens of West Memphis didn't share your admirable principles

[glyn]

Whether you believe they were guilty or not (and I'm in the "not" camp), the trial was a joke.

The trial certainly wasnt everything it should have been I agree,but I cant go along with the popularly held view in some quarters that the State railroaded 3 innocent men (boys),based on the fact that Damien Echolls was a heavy metal fan and a Wiccan.To me ,the evidence was patchy maybe, the confession questionable as to detail,but what stood out for me was the defendants demeanour,it didnt marry up with expected demeanours of 3 innocents...quite the reverse in fact.Im grateful I wasnt on the jury,Id have had to vote innocent all the while believing them to be guilty as hell.if that makes sense.

[Magpie]

Dont know whether the West Memphis 3 case would fall into the category of unsolved or not.Very many feel the three convicted were scapegoats...I dont -but many do.

Whether you believe they were guilty or not (and I'm in the "not" camp), the trial was a joke.

[glyn]

Dont know whether the West Memphis 3 case would fall into the category of unsolved or not.Very many feel the three convicted were scapegoats...I dont -but many do.

[sdreid]

Cook has also been mentioned as a person of interest, but not the only one, regarding the unsolved murder of Judith Andersen in 1957. The focus has moved more toward another man in recent years concerning the Andersen Case.

[sdreid]

Since I first read about it, the Spyglass Murder Case has been a minor fascination to me. On July 23 of 1956, 50-year-old Margaret Gallagher was sunbathing in Chicago's Lincoln Park along the lakefront when she was attacked, strangled and beaten to death. The crime got its name because a resident in a nearby high rise actually witnessed the slaying through a telescope. A man named Barry Zander Cook was charged with the killing but a jury was unconvinced and he was found not guilty leaving the crime unsolved officially.

[sdreid]

Yes, I saw that there was a postmortem photo mentioned in your article.

[The Bounder]

I couldn't find any photos of Barton on the net either, I know there is one knocking around that the police took of her face super-imposed over a shop window dummy wearing her clothes, I have seen this picture once, but have never been able to get hold of a copy myself.

I'll be sure to check out your other thread, they are just the sort of things I'm looking for to help with my own researches.

Cheers

[sdreid]

I guess the main unresolved Liverpool area slayings we'd be familiar with would be Julia Wallace and the Cameo Murders.

[sdreid]

Thanks Bounder, those are very interesting! I searched several sites for a photo of Barton but didn't find one.

It seems that every region has its own set of intriguing unsolved murders including mine. An additional mystery is why some receive wide coverage and others don't. I have noted the main ones I know in my area on this site in the Regional Murder Mysteries thread under Shades of Whitechapel.

[The Bounder]

unsolved

Two of the most interesting unsolved murder mysteries I have come across and written about are cases which are almost completely unheard of outside the local areas in which they occurred. The first is the murder of a little girl called Nellie Clarke in 1925, the case contained several peculiar mysteries which really should have given it wider recognition as an unsolved classic. The second is the murder of a prostitute in 1955 called Alice Barton, again a few interesting little things about this case make it stick out from the norm and give it a wider appeal to the true crime buff.

If anyone is interested they can view write ups on these and several other unsolved murder mysteries on my Wattpad site, just look up Bounder007.

[sdreid]

Ah yes thanks. I do have that Evangelista one in my copy of The Encyclopedia of Unsolved Crimes.

[stevenb]

I haven't heard of that one Steven. Do you have some additional enlightenment to share?

Just dug out the story - chap 11 "the dark age killer" - in "From the X Files of Murder" 1996 by Mike James, The True Crime Library ( the publishers of True Detective etc mags in the UK).

July 1929 in Detroit, Beniamino Evangelista a contractor is found beheaded in his office over a copy of an occult book he was writing, upstairs his wife and 4 kids similarly beheaded. Several links on line about the case.

Talk of occultism, cults and other crazy **** of that ilk....

http://www.hourdetroit.com/Hour-Detroit/February-2010/The-Gory-03920s/index.php?cparticle=4&siarticle=3

[sdreid]

I haven't heard of that one Steven. Do you have some additional enlightenment to share?

[stevenb]

I think a case in Chicago in the 30s is very interesting - AFAIR the family name was De Angelo and husband, wife and 4/5 children were found beheaded in their mansion, shades of black magic and what-not...