Case of most interest besides JtR poll

[sdreid]

JtR and Zodiac are the only two I can think of who included grizzly artifacts in their mailings.

Assuming you accept that Dear Boss was legitimate.

[GUT]

Assuming you accept that Dear Boss was legitimate.

The artifact [part of the kidney] was with "From Hell" not "Bear Boss", though I'm sure Stan knows that.

[sdreid]

Hi Gut:

Yes thanks, I meant "From Hell" - my signals got crossed somehow.

[GUT]

Hi Gut:

Yes thanks, I meant "From Hell" - my signals got crossed somehow.

G'day Stan

From you I was sure it was just one of those "Stuff ups" could just see in two days some clown claiming you as proof that an artifact came with "Dear Boss".

[sdreid]

JtR and Zodiac are the only two I can think of who included grizzly artifacts in their mailings.

The Dahlia letter did contain artifacts that proved some connection, just not any grizzly ones.

[MacGuffin]

The Dahlia letter did contain artifacts that proved some connection, just not any grizzly ones.

Dennis Rader (BTK) also included a photocopy of victim Vicki Wegerle's drivers license and crime scene photos he took of her murder, in a letter to "The Wichita Eagle" newspaper before he was caught.
Wegerle's murder wasn't even considered to be a BTK murder until the letter and it's contents were received.
Not quite as gory as half a human kidney or scrap of bloody shirt, but the crime scene photos were still fairly gruesome, IMO.

Regards,
MacGuffin

[Pcdunn]

I voted for the Lizzie Borden case, which was one of the first true crime cases to frighten and fascinate me.
Runners up are The Black Dahlia and the Cleveland Torso murders.
I haven't traced the 1915 "ripper murders" of children in New York enough to determine if they were unsolved, but as I can't find anything about them outside of historic newspapers, which seem to mention numerous suspects, but most end up being released, I think perhaps the culprit/s escaped detection.

[sdreid]

JtR and Zodiac are the only two I can think of who included grizzly artifacts in their mailings.

I was referring to these unsolved murder cases. There was the John Paul Getty III kidnapping in which his abductors sent one of his ears to show that they meant business.

[sdreid]

There was the John Paul Getty III kidnapping in which his abductors sent one of his ears to show that they meant business.

And to desired effect.

[sdreid]

I voted for the Lizzie Borden case, which was one of the first true crime cases to frighten and fascinate me.
Runners up are The Black Dahlia and the Cleveland Torso murders.
I haven't traced the 1915 "ripper murders" of children in New York enough to determine if they were unsolved, but as I can't find anything about them outside of historic newspapers, which seem to mention numerous suspects, but most end up being released, I think perhaps the culprit/s escaped detection.

The last time I checked, the 1915 NY child murders are still unsolved.

[sdreid]

The last time I checked, the 1915 NY child murders are still unsolved.

The 100th anniversary of the generally considered final murder was last week.

[Pcdunn]

The 100th anniversary of the generally considered final murder was last week.

That would have been little Charlie, whose eight-year-old sister tried to help the investigators find the man she said she had seen fleeing from their apartment building.

I gather there were two successful murders, one attack in which the child was seriously wounded, and a few foiled abductions that may or may not have been related. Amazing how time buries news that once was very widely known...

[sdreid]

Hard to imagine that this guy did all this and then quit but I guess anything is possible.

[sdreid]

Hard to imagine that this guy did all this and then quit but I guess anything is possible.

Not only the murders but all the letter writing as well.

[Pcdunn]

Not only the murders but all the letter writing as well.

I should get back to ferreting out at least the links to the articles on these cases. The suspects were interesting, apparently one guy even confessed, though the belief later was that he was innocent.

As for the letters supposedly written by this perp, the story that a convict was hired to write them on prison stationery is one of the more interesting aspects of the case. The crude drawings on some letters may recall some hoaxed "JTR" missives-- but apparently was also a trademark of The Black Hand, as I've learned.

I've found one article from 1915 that was critical of the typical police interrogation tactics. In the course of the article, the author mentions the case of the murder of "Old Shakespeare" (Carrie Brown), and how the search for justice then was poorly served.
Interesting how all of these searches seem to intertwine, sometimes.