Centenaries - whole and half

[sdreid]

150 years ago - 1866 January 8 - A serial killer strangles and slashes the throat of Marie Bodeux in her Paris apartment. The killer, Joseph Philippe fled the residence leaving the razor that was the murder weapon behind. He is believed to have killed at least eight people in the area starting as early as 1861. The majority of his victims were prostitutes. In a few days, he will try to murder another woman but will fail and then be captured. After a trial and conviction, he will be executed on the guillotine in July of this year.

[Rosella]

The details of some of Phillipe's murders are quite sketchy, aren't they? I believe some were committed for profit. I wonder whether JTR ever read of his French predecessor's exploits when he was growing up.

[sdreid]

100 years ago - 1916 January 10 - In New York, Hannah Peck is served a meal by her son-in-law, Dr. Arthur Warren Waite, that he has seasoned with lethal bacteria. Mrs. Peck will become ill as a result and die in a few weeks. The doctor will repeat the process with the woman's husband and then attempt to do likewise with his wife before he is found out. Waite's plan was to inherit the riches of his wife's family. A jury found him guilty of the two murders and he went to the electric chair in 1917.

[Mayerling]

100 years ago - 1916 January 10 - In New York, Hannah Peck is served a meal by her son-in-law, Dr. Arthur Warren Waite, that he has seasoned with lethal bacteria. Mrs. Peck will become ill as a result and die in a few weeks. The doctor will repeat the process with the woman's husband and then attempt to do likewise with his wife before he is found out. Waite's plan was to inherit the riches of his wife's family. A jury found him guilty of the two murders and he went to the electric chair in 1917.

There is some question as to the medical qualifications of Dr. Waite. He would go to the hospital he was supposed to work at in the morning, but when he arrived he'd take another cab to go wherever he wished to (usually for gambling purposes). In appearance he was quite good looking, in a way not too dissimilar to Ted Bundy. After his death an autopsy revealed some damage due to possible meningitis to his brain.

Jeff

[sdreid]

50 years ago - 1966 January 11 - Civil rights activist Vernon Dahmer dies from burns he's received when his Mississippi home was fire bombed. Shortly afterward, four men with KKK ties were convicted for the attack but all were out of prison within four years due to light sentences and pardons. In 1998, the instigator of the attack, Sam Bowers was convicted for the crime and sent to prison for life. He died in 2006 while still serving his sentence

[GUT]

50 years ago - 1966 January 11 - Civil rights activist Vernon Dahmer dies from burns he's received when his Mississippi home was fire bombed. Shortly afterward, four men with KKK ties were convicted for the attack but all were out of prison within four years due to light sentences and pardons. In 1998, the instigator of the attack, Sam Bowers was convicted for the crime and sent to prison for life. He died in 2006 while still serving his sentence

I wonder if Dahmer was in any way related to Jeffrey?

[Mayerling]

I wonder if Dahmer was in any way related to Jeffrey?

Anything is possible, but given that Jeffrey Dahmer's victims tended to be from minority groups, he and Vernon appear to be in opposite sides on the issue of Civil Rights.

Jeff

[sdreid]

50 years ago - 1966 January 12 - In England, the bodies of two missing girls, Margaret Reynolds, 6, and Diana Tift, 5, are found in a ditch. They had both vanished, 16 weeks apart, last year. Raymond Morris is believed to be responsible although he was only convicted of a later murder. He died imprisoned in 2014.

[sdreid]

150 years ago - 1866 January 19 - Mrs. Martha Grinder is hanged in Pittsburgh for the poisoning murders of two women in a 15 month period. She is also suspected of murdering several other individuals. Grinder's motive seemed to purely be sadism which makes her rather unusual among female serial killers.

[GUT]

150 years ago - 1866 January 19 - Mrs. Martha Grinder is hanged in Pittsburgh for the poisoning murders of two women in a 15 month period. She is also suspected of murdering several other individuals. Grinder's motive seemed to purely be sadism which makes her rather unusual among female serial killers.

Don't know Stan, most shielas are sadists, that's why they marry blokes.

[Rosella]

Don't you mean masochists, Gut?

[GUT]

Don't you mean masochists, Gut?

Nope.

Mrs Gut married me to make my life hell. Just ask her.

[JadenCollins]

Nope.

Mrs Gut married me to make my life hell. Just ask her.

I feel sorry for you, GUT!

[sdreid]

50 years ago - 1966 January 21 - In Georgia, Charles Gibbs dies as a result of being fed arsenic by his wife Janie. During the next 23 months, Mrs. Gibbs will go on to murder her three sons and a baby grandson with the same substance. The serial killer's motive was to collect on inheritance and insurance benefits. Janie Gibbs was eventually found guilty and sent to prison for five life terms but was released in 1999 due to ill health and wound up in a nursing home where she died in 2010.

[sdreid]

50 years ago - 1966 January 26 - The three Beaumont Siblings, Jane, 9, Anna, 7, and Grant, 4, vanish from Glenelg Beach near Adelaide. During the day, the children had been seen in the company of an unidentified adult male. They have never been found and this mystery is still unsolved. Many suspect that they were murdered and that this crime might be related to other child slayings and disappearances, including the Wanda Beach Murders, one year previous.