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.


Tag: Illinois

Abraham Lincoln wrote a True Crime Story, and it was Good!

For a few short weeks during June 1841, residents of Springfield, Illinois, were caught up in the mass hysteria of a sensational murder case that had all the elements of an Edgar Allan Poe murder mystery. Three strangers from out of town arrive in Springfield, but one of them soon goes missing. Wild rumors abound […]

Car thief Martin Durkin’s 1925 Murder of the FBI’s first special agent killed in the line of duty

The following story was written and provided by the History Section of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. A link to a photo gallery of high quality black and white images from the Chicago Tribune taken during Martin Durkin’s trial can be found at the end of this article. These images are amazing to view and […]

Mug Shot Monday! John Wolker, 1897

This is what happens to people who have poor impulse control. John Wolker is a German, fifty-two years of age, and a carpenter by occupation. He is of medium height and rather lean in form. By his first wife he had two children, whom he boarded out in care of a sister prior to his […]

Adolph Luetgert and His Dissolving Wife, 1897

  On May 1, Mrs. Luetgert suddenly disappeared, but her husband was apparently unconcerned regarding her absence and advanced the theory that she had committed suicide because of his failure in business. On May 4, Deidrich Bicknesse, Mrs. Luetgert’s brother, called to see her, and Luetgert informed him that she had been missing for three […]

Mug Shot Monday! Shoplifter Bertha, 68

The following case has been a “repeater” for many years and is now in the penitentiary. She is sixty-eight years of age and has served sentences in the penitentiaries of Blackwell’s Island, Sing Sing, Jolie t, and probably elsewhere. This is her third term in Joliet. She has also served several sentences in the Cook […]

Mug Shot Monday! A Jealous Husband, 1897, Chicago

Matt Rollinger is a Luxemberger, thirty-four years of age, married, three children, and a cabinet-maker by occupation. Boarding at his house was a man whose intimacy with Mrs. Rollinger gave rise to rumors which reached his ears, and finally he became convinced of their truth. One morning after witnessing more than he could withstand, he […]

Mug Shot Monday: Arsonist George Perry

This psychological profile was written in 1897 and I do not vouch for its accuracy. Source: Crime and Criminals, John Sanderson Christison, Chicago Medical Book Co. 1898.   “The first case [George Perry] considered is that of an epileptic, and arson is the crime charged. Epilepsy has many causes and many forms. Some persons have […]

Mug Shot Monday: A 20 Year-Old Shoplifter

With this post, we introduce a new segment on HCD called “Mug Shot Monday,” which features a mug shot or photograph and a short bio. Today’s mug shot is a 20 year-old shoplifter circa late 1890s with an interesting bio. “Case 15 is a young woman, single, 20 years of age, and a native of […]