On January 9th, 1970, a man named Reg Williams phoned police in Milford, New Zealand and reported his twenty-five-year-old fiancée, Jennifer Mary Beard, missing. Jennifer, a schoolteacher from Wales, had been hitchhiking down the west coast of New Zealand, and she and Reg had been planning to meet for a vacation on the South Island, … More Jennifer Beard
In spring of 1969, a thirteen-year-old girl in Norfolk, England would go missing in the middle of the afternoon, and while her body was never found, her probable murder has been linked to two of the UK’s most diabolical serial killers. On April 8th, April Fabb was riding her bicycle from her home in Metton … More April Fabb
Thirty-eight-year-old Edwin T. Pratt was a prominent figure in the black community in Seattle. He had been born in Miami, and had had a distinguished career as an activist for the Urban League in various cities before settling in the Seattle area in 1956 and eventually becoming the Executive Director of the Urban League chapter … More Edwin T. Pratt
Seven-year-old Nikki Allan lived in the Wear Garths block of flats in Sunderland, northeast England, with her mother Sharon and her three sisters. On the evening of October 7th, 1992, the whole family was visiting Sharon’s parents, who occupied a residence in the same complex, only a short distance away from the Allan home. At … More Nikki Allan
In the spring of 1991, a chilling abduction in Australia would lead to a renewed push to locate the as-yet-unidentified serial rapist and possible murderer known only as Mr. Cruel. It was the evening of April 13th, and thirteen-year-old Karmein Chan was at her home in the affluent Victorian suburb of Templestowe, babysitting her two … More Karmein Chan
Thirty-year-old Joe Cole was the son of well-known actor Dennis Cole, and was making quite a name for himself in his own right. An actor and writer, Joe also worked as a roadie for Black Flag, the Rollins Band, and Hole, and shared a house in Venice Beach with Black Flag and Rollins Band frontman … More Joe Cole
Keith and Elaine Dardeen had bought a mobile home in Ina in 1986, so Keith could be closer to his job as treatment plant operator at the Rend Lake Water Conservancy District facility there. Elaine worked at an office supply store in town. The couple had a two-year-old son named Peter, and in November of … More The Dardeen Family Murders
In the summer of 1986, a remarkable Dutch man would mysteriously turn up murdered in his own apartment, in a crime that has sadly been all but forgotten. Willem “Wim” Klein was born in Amsterdam in 1912, and his physician father initially attempted to push him into the same line of work. Willem did obtain … More Willem Klein
In spring of 1986, the ghastly murder of an elderly widow would lead to the shocking conviction of an innocent man, a breakdown of the justice system that would take nearly a decade to be corrected. Seventy-nine-year-old Pauline Martz lived alone in the small town of Aurora, Missouri. On April 13th, firefighters were called to … More Pauline Martz
It was the evening of Sunday, January 21st, 1962. The Maps family—thirty-nine-year-old artist Edward, his twenty-two-year-old wife Christine, and the couple’s four-month-old daughter Julie Louise—had been visiting with their neighbors since about eight-thirty p.m., eating an apple pie they had brought and having a pleasant chat. They left at a little past nine p.m. so … More The Maps Family Murder
