Criminal Curiosities
As regular readers are aware, I cover true crime here and the death penalty is a regular feature. Being an abolitionist, it's with some small satisfaction that we're going to look at Britain's last executions. To the minute, if you happen to be reading this at 8am. On August 13, 1964 Gwynne Evans and Peter … Continue reading On This Day in 1964 – The Last Executions In Britain.
The Tower of London, nowadys a popular tourist destination. Once also a prison, defensive fortress, a crime scene (if you believe, as I do, that the 'Princes in the Tower' were murdered here) and also the site of a number of execution. Anne Boleyn, Lady Jane Grey (who was the shortest-reigning Queen in British history, … Continue reading Josef Jakobs – the Last Execution At The Tower Of London.
Crime, it’s a part of human existence. It’s in our culture, our art, our literature, our entertainment. For some of us it’s in our blood. It’s also crossed over into our language. Seemingly normal everyday phrases, the kind most people use without even thinking about their origin, can often have the darkest, most disturbing meanings. … Continue reading On Crime And Conversation – Criminal Slang In Everyday Use.
We're back in Pennsylvania for our latest criminal curiosity. Irene Schroeder, AKA 'Triiger Woman', 'The Blonde Bandit', 'Tiger Woman' and 'Iron Irene', was the first woman to be electrocuted in Pennsylvania. Executioner Robert Elliott said that, of all the 387 convicts he executed, that she was the most composed and fearless inmate he ever executed. … Continue reading Irene Schroeder – Pennsylvania ‘Trigger Woman.’
Well, we'll problably never know and that's what makes this case so interesting. A distinguished Professor, two Inuit helpers, the first successful expedition to the North Pole and Admiral Robert Peary, one of America's most famous explorers. Throw in the frozen wasteland of the Arctic Circle and that the murder (if it was a murder) … Continue reading Professor Ross Marvin – Murder At The North Pole..?
William Huddle Ledbetter. AKA ‘Lead Belly’, was one of the archetypal blues icons of the Deep South. He wasn’t from Mississippi or Chicago, unlike so many contemporaries, but he still had a prodigious appetite for music and the talent to match. His fondness for life’s many rich pleasures (mainly involving boozing, brawling and bumping monkeys) … Continue reading Huddie ‘Leadbelly’ Ledbetter – Bluesman, Convict and Murderer.
Meet Paul Poluszynski, alias 'Paul Jawarski', known throughout Pennsylvania as 'The Phantom.' Before the end of his extremely violent (and, some might say, mercifully brief) criminal career he claimed to have killed twenty-six people including four police officers and a payroll security guard. His gang, the 'Flatheads', also committed the first-ever robbery using a landmine. … Continue reading Paul Jawarski – Pennsylvania’s Phantom Dynamiter.
So, as you're no doubt aware, I have an interest in true crime and I ted to cover the more unusual bits and pieces. If you're interested in the subject generally then it's hard to avoid the plethora of websites and blogs out there that deal with it, although the tone and style of some … Continue reading True Crime Blogs And Websites: Some Top Picks.
The strange case of Leroy Henry attracts me for two reasons. One is that I like to look at the unusual. Even if posting on a widely-known and common story then I prefer one with a twist. It helps keep things interesting. Leroy Henry's case was very interesting. Private Henry was one of the hundreds … Continue reading The Strange Case Of Leroy Henry
"Prisoner at the Bar, the sentence of this court is that you be taken from this place to a lawful prison and thence to a place of execution where you shall be hanged by the neck until you are dead. And that afterwards your body shall be cut down and buried within the precincts of … Continue reading Trial Watchers – A Strange Breed.