The following story was made into a movie in 1984 entitled, Mrs. Soffel, and starred Diane Keaton and Mel Gibson.   Story by Thomas A. Duke, for his book, Celebrated Criminal Cases of America, 1910. . During the early months of 1901, twenty-seven burglaries were committed in Pittsburgh, and the modus operandi of these bold […]

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 […]

  Originally Titled: “The Crime in Room 406,” by Sgt. Thomas Harvey, as told to Fred H. Thompson, True Detective, Sept. 1930. Want to Read This Story Later On Your Tablet? Download PDF file of The Murder in  Room 406 . “Something terrible has happened over at Hotel Hollis!” These were the words that greeted […]

Original Title: “The Truth about Evansville’s Infamous ‘Bohannon Crime,’” by Harry R Anderson, former Evansville Police Chief, as told to Warner O. Schoyen, City Editor of Evansville Courier, True Detective Mysteries, Oct. 1930. Want to Read This Story Later on Your Tablet? Download PDF file of The Last Rendezvous of a Ladies Man . BILL […]

  The following story was written by Thomas Duke in 1910. At the end of the story are links to more articles, a video, and there has even been a movie made recently about this case. The Botkin-Dunning Case was the first time the US Postal Service had been used to commit murder.     […]

Theodore Durrant was born in Toronto, Canada, in 1871, and while a child came to San Francisco with his parents, who gave him a good education. In 1895 he was a medical student at Cooper Medical College. He pretended to be a devout Christian and was one of the most active members of Emanuel Baptist […]

While researching newspaper coverage of other crimes, I came across trial coverage of the strange murder of Clothilde Marchand in 1930. What came out of that trial is a bizarre tale with the following ingredients: A Ouija board, witchcraft, an Indian faith healer, manipulation and coercion to kill, and a philandering sculptor who claimed it […]

  This story has been removed and is available for reading in my book, “Famous Crimes the World Forgot, Volume I.” Photos from this book are available for viewing here.   —###—

Posted below is a short but interesting documentary about the murder of Sonja McCaskie in 1963. She skied for the British team during the 1960 Olympics. Her killer, 18 year-old Thomas Lee Bean, was tried and sentenced to die in the Nevada gas chamber in 1963.  In 1972,  the United State Supreme Court overruled all […]

Wife Accused of Mate’s Murder Sobs Out Details [Sendai, Japan, Aug. 6, 1955] — An attractive 26 year-old Army wife on trial for her life yesterday told an Army court-martial through shuddering sobs how the husband she Is accused of murdering bragged of his lurid sex life, beat her end threatened the lives of her […]