Criminal Curiosities
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.’"
.Public Executioner. It’s not what you’d call an everyday profession. Unusual? Certainly. Skilled? Absolutely. Dark and scary? Well, it depends on why you fancy the job, really. But it’s certainly not the sort of work that most people would consider a life’s ambition or the family business unless you happen to be Albert Pierrepoint. Albert …
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."
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 …
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