True Crime Books by Jason Lucky Morrow

Welcome to HistoricalCrimeDetective.com [Est. 2013], where you will discover forgotten crimes and criminals lost to history. This blog is the official website for true crime writer Jason Lucky Morrow, author of four books including the popular series: Famous Crimes the World Forgot, Volume I and Volume II. Please follow us on Facebook, for updates. Contact me here.


Archive for July, 2013

The False Confession of a “Mercy Killer” Nurse

 Over-Zealous Newspapers Quick To Play Up Story 2 day Interrogation Leads to False Confession Police Tactics Criticized [Note: Versions of the following three stories appeared in 80 newspapers for the newspaper archive database I used in this case. That doesn’t mean that only 80 newspapers published this story, it only means of the newspapers the […]

Cop Killer, 1937, Michigan State Policeman Richards F. Hammond

Part 1 [MONROE, Michigan,  Jan. 20, 1937]—The bullet-pierced body of Michigan State Policeman Richards F. Hammond was found handcuffed to a mail box on a lonely country road today, five hours after he was abducted by a former convict he had arrested. A posse of more than 200 officers from Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan searched […]

Two Opium Dens Busted in 1901 Raids

“The two visitors were so far on their way to dreamland that they did not pay any attention to the entrance of the officer.” – My favorite quote for this story. Opium Den Raided [Burlington, Iowa, Sept. 12, 1901]—Two sallow-complexioned Chinamen and one wreck of white humanity lined up at the police station bar yesterday […]

Rented Husband Loses Lawsuit for His Share

Okay, this may not be a crime story per se, but there was no way I was NOT going to post this from our: “We couldn’t make this up department.” The only crime committed here is stupidity. [LOS ANGELES. May 1, 1941]- In blasé, nonchalant tones, Samuel Brummel, 56-year-old insurance salesman, testified Thursday that his […]

The Amazing Crime Spree of a 14 year-old boy

I almost feel sorry for the police. This kid is like the “James Bond” of juvenile delinquents. [November 18, 1949] A thin, wiry, 14 year-old boy who has led officers of three states on a merry chase for seven crime-packed weeks was captured today at his Texarkana home. The boy, small for his age, launched […]

Denver’s Capitol Hill Thug Kills 3 Women

This story has been removed and is now a part of my award-winning book, Famous Crimes the World Forgot: Ten Vintage True Crime Stories Rescued from Obscurity, Volume I.  —###—

The Confessions of Serial-Killer “Texas Jim”

  This story has been moved here:   —###—

Mug Shot: President McKinley Assassin Leon Czologz, 1901

Forgotten President, Forgotten Assassin In the 1890s, Leon Czologz joined the growing American anarchist movement because of what he perceived as a great injustice to the common man by the wealthy who exploited the poor to enrich themselves. He blamed government for this inequality and after reading about the assassination of Italian King Umberto I […]

Father Poisons Family, Oklahoma, 1934

After my last post (The Andrea Yates Epidemic of 1901) I remembered reading this filicide story (a parent who kills their children) and decided to post it because it has subtle differences to it compared to the mothers in the 1901 story. The father’s excuses and story in this post seem a little “hinky.” Isn’t […]

The Andrea Yates Epidemic of 1901

As sad as this story is, in the course of my research for other vintage crimes I come across many similar accounts of parents murdering their children (known as filicide) due to depression, religious fervor, or other reasons. In most of these cases, poverty drives their depression. With just some light searching done of newspaper […]