Cold Cases: Famous Unsolved Mysteries, Crimes, and Disappearances in America

421 Pages·2010·3.22 MB·English

by  Helena Katz

COLD CASES
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COLD CASES
Famous Unsolved Mysteries,
Crimes, and Disappearances
in America
He´le`na Katz
Copyright2010byHe´le`naKatz
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedina
retrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,
photocopying,recording,orotherwise,exceptfortheinclusionofbriefquotationsina
review,withoutpriorpermissioninwritingfromthepublisher.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Katz,He´le`na,1964–
Coldcases:famousunsolvedmysteries,crimes,anddisappearancesinAmerica/He´le`naKatz.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-0-313-37692-4(hardcopy:alk.paper)—ISBN978-0-313-37693-1(ebook)
1. Crime—Casestudies.2. Coldcases(Criminalinvestigation)—Casestudies. I.Title.
HV6251.K384 2010
364.152030973—dc22 2010004507
ISBN:978-0-313-37692-4
EISBN:978-0-313-37693-1
14 13 12 11 10 1 2 3 4 5
ThisbookisalsoavailableontheWorldWideWebasaneBook.
Visitwww.abc-clio.comfordetails.
Greenwood
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ABC-CLIO,LLC
130CremonaDrive,P.O.Box1911
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Thisbookisprintedonacid-freepaper
ManufacturedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
Contents
Preface ix
Timeline: Milestones in Forensics xi
The Cigar Girl: The Death of Mary Rogers (1841) 1
Polar Poisoning: The Death of Charles Francis Hall (1871) 11
Bloody Murder: The Death of Abby and Andrew Borden (1892) 25
Help Wanted: The Murder of Nora Fuller (1902) 37
The Missing Socialite: The Mysterious Disappearance
of Dorothy Arnold (1910) 45
Killing Spree: The Axeman of New Orleans (1918–1919) 53
The Wizard of Whist: The Murder of Joseph Bowne Elwell (1920) 63
Married Lovers: The Murders of Edward Wheeler Hall
and Eleanor Mills (1922) 75
Hollywood Murder: The Case of William Desmond Taylor (1922) 85
The Wrong Man: The Murder of Father Hubert Dahme (1924) 99
Pull a Crater: The Disappearance of Judge Joseph Force
Crater (1930) 107
The Mad Trapper: Who Was Albert Johnson? (1931) 117
Preying on the Poor: The Cleveland Torso Killer (1934–1938) 131
Downed: The Disappearance of Amelia Earhart (1937) 143
vi Contents
The Case of the Missing Activist: Lloyd L. Gaines (1939) 157
Millionaire Murder: The Case of Sir Harry Oakes (1943) 165
Georgette Bauerdorf: The Mysterious Death
of an Oil Executive’s Daughter (1944) 177
The Black Dahlia: The Murder of Elizabeth Short (1946) 183
Unknown Child: The Boy in the Box (1957) 193
Escape from Alcatraz: Frank Morris and the Anglin
Brothers (1962) 205
Presidential Friend: The Murder of Mary Pinchot Meyer (1964) 217
The Millionaire’s Daughter: The Murder of Valerie Percy (1966) 225
Material Man: The Disappearance of Jim Thompson (1967) 235
Cryptic Killer: The Case of the Zodiac Killer (1968–1969) 245
The Vanishing Hijacker: The Disappearance
of D.B. Cooper (1971) 257
MissingSisters:The Disappearance of Katherine
and Sheila Lyon (1975) 271
The Union and the Mafia: The Disappearance
of Jimmy Hoffa (1975) 277
No Hero: The Murder of Actor Robert Crane (1978) 287
The Milk Carton Kid: The Disappearance of Etan Patz (1979) 299
The Missing Medic: Kathleen Durst (1982) 309
Paper Boy: The Disappearance of Johnny Gosch (1982) 319
Fishing for a Killer: The Murder of Matthew Margolies (1984) 327
Dog Breeder: The Case of Camilla Lyman (1987) 333
Amber Alert: The Murder of Amber Hagerman (1996) 339
Child Beauty Queen: The Murder of JonBenet Ramsey (1996) 347
Rap Race: The Death of Tupac Amaru Shakur (1996) 357
Rap Race Part Two: The Murder of Biggie Smalls (1997) 363
Bringing Down a Congressman: The Death
of Chandra Levy (2001) 369
Contents vii
MurderontheHighSeas:TheCaseofBasketballPlayer
BisonDele(2002) 379
The Collar Bomber: The Death of Brian Wells (2003) 387
Selected Bibliography 395
Index 397
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Preface
ThepopularityofsuchAmerican televisionseries asLaw&Orderand
CSI,wherecasesareneatlysolvedinone-hourepisodes,mayleadviewers
to gain an unrealistic expectation that every crime can—and will—be
solved. Cold Cases helps to address this issue and give readers a better
understanding of criminal investigations by taking them through cases
from when the crime was committed to where the police investigation
reached a dead end.
This book examines 40 well-known cases of unsolved murders and
suspiciousdisappearancesinNorthAmericaoveraperiodofmorethan
160years,fromthedeathofMaryRogersin1841tothebombingdeath
of BrianWells in 2003. Every case, except for two involving Americans
who met their demise in the Canadian Arctic, occurred in the United
States. Cases are organized chronologically to give readers some insight
intotheevolutionofcriminalinvestigationtechniquesandforensicssince
the1840s.Thebookusesanengagingyetauthoritativetonetomakethe
topic more accessible to high school, undergraduate, and community
college students as well as members of the public.
EachessayofColdCasesdescribesamurderordisappearanceandthe
circumstances surrounding it, provides background about the victim,
takes readers through the investigation, and explains how police
excludedpossiblesuspectsbeforereachinganimpasse.Someessaysthat
appear later in the book, such as the case of the Zodiac Killer and
hijackerD.B.Cooper,alsoincludedetailsofhowmodernforensictech-
niqueswereappliedtoacoldcaseinthehopeoffindingnewleads.The
final one focuses on the story ofBrian Wells, in which a man was con-
victedinconnection with thecasefouryearslater.The trailsometimes