On April 17th, 1954, in Des Moines, Iowa, two teenage boys out fishing along a river bank found a body floating beneath the Court Avenue bridge. Police first thought the victim had simply drowned, but the man’s skull bore fractures consistent with blows from a heavy, blunt object, and the fact that there was no … More Charles Sanders

It was the afternoon of April 9th, 1953 in Rome, Italy. The mother and sister of twenty-one-year-old Wilma Montesi invited her along to the movies, but Wilma declined, not particularly wanting to see the film in question. Wilma was quite a beautiful young woman, and had aspirations of her own to be an actress; she … More Wilma Montesi

As the summer of 1954 faded into early fall, England would see a young woman fall victim to a faceless assailant in the night-time city streets. Jean Townsend was twenty-one years old, and worked as a costumer for many of the theaters around London’s famed West End. On the evening of September 14th, Jean had … More Jean Townsend

Fifty-eight-year-old Alma Preinkert had been the Registrar at the University of Maryland campus in Washington DC since the mid-1930s, and was much loved by the student body, who referred to her affectionately as “Miss Preink.” It was Saturday, February 27th, 1954, and Alma and her sister Margaret had been out at a friend’s house playing … More Alma Preinkert

It was a midsummer evening in June of 1956, and forty-nine-year-old Louise Welk was relaxing with a beer in her Rice Lake, Wisconsin apartment. Shortly after pouring herself a glass, she heard a knock at her front door. Apparently with no hesitation, Louise went to answer it. As soon as she swung the door open, … More Louise Welk

London, Ontario, lies in the southwestern portion of the province, a little over 100 miles from Toronto. It’s the definition of an average city, in regards to demographics, so much so that it’s often used as a test market for new products being introduced into Canada. But from approximately 1959 through 1984, London, Ontario saw … More Murder City: London, Ontario, Canada

In the autumn of 1954, the murder of a teenage girl would rock the city of Baltimore, Maryland, and provide fodder for a judgmental media keen to cast aspersions on the vilified “greaser” subculture. Carolyn Wasilewski was fourteen years old, though by all accounts she was mature beyond her years, hanging with an older crowd … More Carolyn Wasilewski

Sebilla Alida Johanna Niemands was thirty-two years old in late October of 1959. She had worked as a prostitute for most of her adult life after leaving an unhappy household and striking out on her own as a teenager. Though her dark, curly hair would eventually earn her the nickname Dark Molly, for some reason … More Sebilla Alida Johanna Niemands: Blonde Dolly

It was three days after Christmas, 1956. Two teenage sisters, Barbara and Patricia Grimes, who were fifteen and thirteen years old, respectively, left their home in the McKinley Park neighborhood of Chicago at around seven-thirty p.m. to head down to the Brighton Theater about a mile and a half away. Both girls were huge Elvis … More The Grimes Sisters