Most interesting unsolved non-serial killer cases

[mostfoul]

I find the case of the New Orleans Axe Man to be quite interesting, anyone else read much about that?

He wrote a letter/letters, similar to Jack.

[sdreid]

I started a poll on unsolved cases but I don't think Axeman has any votes yet even though he's listed.

[sdreid]

Just checked and yes no votes. That is a serial killer case however.

[sdreid]

Thanks Dougie. Yes, it looks like it would make a great movie along the lines of a White Mischief.

Aha! I see that IMDb lists a film entitled The Galapagos Affair that's scheduled for release next year. It appears to be about this case as per the synopsis also.

[sdreid]

Another big one here in Illinois to go along with the likes of the Grimes Sisters would be the murder of Sharon Percy, daughter of, soon-to-be U. S. Senator and brief candidate for President of the United States, Charles Percy.

[brummie]

Just found an old copy of a book about the murder of film director William Desmond Taylor in 1920's Hollywood and that brought to mind another case about the murder of an actress (Virginia Rappe I think) which was responsible for ending overnight the glittering career of Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle in 1921. I shall have to look that one up again I think, I have a book about the killing somewhere, I don't think Arbuckle was convicted and I can't remember if anyone else was.

[Graham]

Janice Weston Murder 1983

Hi All,

I posted about this strange case some time ago. Janice Weston was a wealthy lawyer whose battered body was discovered in a lay-by on the A1 in Northamptonshire, and who killed her and for what reason remains a total mystery. There were certain odd factors in the case, but no motive was ever established.

It seems to have been forgotten these days, but I wonder if any new poster to this forum recalls this case? If ever I was to write a book about a murder, this would probably be the one....

Cheers,

Graham

[sdreid]

brummie-If I recall, Arbuckle was acquitted at his third trial after two hung juries. Today, I think the consensus is that the woman died of natural causes.

Graham-That is a creepy one. At least, I have that one book which has a few pages on the case.

[sdreid]

Thelma Todd is another case like Arbuckle where there's some doubt if it was a murder which I guess we should decide before we go looking for a murderer.

[sdreid]

As briefly mentioned earlier, there was also Jeanne Axford French who was stomped to death at L.A. in 1947. I've heard her described as an actress but I have never been able to find out in which medium. She was a forty-year-old nurse and also sometimes said to be an aviatrix - a bit of a renaissance woman it appears.

[sdreid]

There are a lot of interesting unsolved non-serial killer cases that haven't been mentioned yet including many single slayings that I'll list in a later post.

First the three basic non-serial killer multiple murder types - mass, composite and spree in the order of Name (Time) Place (Victims).

Mass:

Wallstreet Bomber (1920) New York (30)
Derailment Massacre (1939) Nevada (24)
Great Hartford Circus Fire (1944) Connecticut (169)

Composite:

Red Circle Murders (1937) New York (2)
Hotard/Moate Case (1956) Louisiana (2)
Dunes Vanishings (1966) Indiana (3)
Cook/Van Cuylenborg Case (1987) Washington (2)
Springfield Vanishings (1992) Missouri (3)

Spree:

State Fair Stalker (1981) Oklahoma (4)

[j.r-ahde]

Hello Stan!

You may correct me, but if I remember things right;

The 1920 Wall Street bomber was an Italian-originating anarchist, but the authorities didn't get quite enough evidence at the time!

All the best
Jukka

[sdreid]

Hi Jukka,

Yes, I think the central theory was that it was an anarchist suicide bomber of some sort. I should probably bone up on the case again. If I recall, another theory besides that this was just some nut was that he might have been a German sore loser regarding The Great War.

[sdreid]

OK, here are some interesting unsolved single murders that I don't think have been mentioned yet in order of Name (Time) Place:

Sarah Millsom (1866) England
Matilda Hacker (1879) England
Johnny Cantwell (1881) Illinois
Ester Pay Case (1882) England
Johnnie Gill (1888) England
Peasenhall Mystery (1902) England
Norah Fuller (1902) California
Mary Money (1905) England
Emily Dimmock (1907) England
Jean Milne (1912) Scotland

More to follow.

[sdreid]

Ten more:

Mary Phagan (1913) Georgia
Green Bicycle Mystery (1919) England
Dot King (1923) New York
Edwin Creed (1926) England
Mabel Mayer (1927) California
Le Touquet Mystery (1928) France
Charles Mattson (1936) Washington
Pamela Coventry (1939) England
White Mischief Case (1941) Kenya
Lydia Thompson (1945) Michigan

Others to follow.