Criminal Curiosities
John Wilkes Booth, assassin of President Abraham Lincoln. John Wilkes Booth was born into one of America's most distinguished acting dynasties. He died one of America's most notorious figures and its first Presidential assassin. On the evening of April 14, 1865, not long after the final surrender of Confederate forces that effectively ended the Civil War, …
Continue reading "On This Day in 1865: The Last Stand of John Wilkes Booth"
The SS motto - 'My honour is loyalty.' As a freelance scribbler and long-time student of military history I love finding the more overlooked or forgotten aspects of the subject. For instance, the popular narrative of the Second World War holds that the British people pulled together, fighting as one for a common cause. …
Most people know the name. Most who know the name, know the story. 'Doctor' Hawley Harvey Crippen (actually a salesman of quack remedies) unwittingly became one of criminal history's most infamous names. His wife Cora disappeared. Her remains were found beneath the coal cellar of their home, 39 Hilldrop Crescent. Crippen flees to Canada with …
This is Joseph Paul Franklin. He's reportedly confessed to 22 murders, at least 16 bank robberies, several non-fatal shootings and a number of other crimes. Most famously, Franklin was the man who shot porn magnate Larry Flynt (leaving him permanently paralysed) and civil rights leader Vernon Jordan. Jr. (who also survived). Franklin, barring any last-minute …
It's rare that I get to combine two of my biggest interests in the same scribble, so I thought I'd indulge myself. This is Roy James AKA 'The Weasel.' Roy was, like so many aspiring racers, big on ability but short on cash. Even in the 1950's and 60's racing was still the most expensive …
'I have come to the conclusion that executions solve nothing, and are only an antiquated relic of a primitive desire for revenge which takes the easy way and hands over the responsibility for revenge to other people.' Britain's former chief public executioner Albert Pierrepoint in his 1974 memoir 'Executioner: Pierrepoint.' I know, I …
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