Woodfield didn't become well known as a football player. Roughly three months later, Finner was found dead near the Chesapeake & DelawareCanal, her body in such an advanced state of decay that a cause of death couldnt be determined. His first bombing was at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. 1. The blue fibers were sent to a lab for testing, and a search warrant was secured to follow Pennell. Check out this list: Want to see them all in one go? In his confession, Cullen said he believed he was doing the community a service, helping these sick patients relieve their pain. He was sentenced to 224 years in prison, but he died in prison of a heart attack in 2002. All of this thanks to a gas leak in the kitchen. It's even reported she threw one child in a fire to stop her from crying. Ross became a devote Catholic while in prison, and supported the death sentence against him saying he did not want to cause his victims families any more pain. In the years to come, the "Weepy-voiced killer" would be identified as Paul Michael Stephani. Thomas Capano, a prominent Democrat, was one of four brothers. Steven Brian Pennell (1957 or 1958 March 14, 1992), aka The Corridor Killer, was convicted of the murders of two New Castle County, Delaware women and suspected of three more.He also plead no contest to the murder of Kathleen Meyer once DNA evidence linked him to the case. William Devin Howell can best be described as a drifter. He is still in prison, 10 young people, earning him the title "The Co-ed Killer, convinced the FBI to let him out as an informant. Little documentation of her life exists and there are no known portraits, but historians say she was living in Delaware by 1800 . Thomas Capano, a once-prominent Delaware attorney who was convicted of killing his mistress after a dramatic trial more than 12 years ago, has been found dead in his prison cell. 1A's goal is to act as a national mirror-taking time to help America look at itself and to ask what it wants to be. These include the 1994 murder of Keith Haynes, the 2014 murder of Rogelio Hernandez, the 1969 murder of Lewis Wilson Harper, and the 1989 murder of Aurelio Maestri Reds, among countless others. According to this same Uniform Crime Report from 2019, the homicide rate in Delaware was around 4.9 per 100,000 residents, meaning that roughly 5 people per 100,000 residents of Delaware were murdered. The most famous of Delaware serial killers include Steven Brian Pennell, also known as The Corridor Killer and Route 40 Killer, who killed 5 people from 1987 to 1988, and James Allen Red Dog, who killed 5 people between 1990 and 1991, among others. While in Iowa, he lived with his mother who would often beat him. Famous Crimes the World Forgot Volume II Photo Gallery. Robert Hansen, known as the Butcher Baker due to owning a bakery, was a serial rapist and killer in the Anchorage Alaska area between 1971 and 1983. Had you heard any of these ghost stories that are part of Delaware history? I think that hurt him in front of the jury., Pennell may have come across as unlikable, but the jury still struggled with the three murder charges. On Friday, December 7, 1934, fifty-six-year-old May Carey and her son, Howard, were arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Unfortunately, it appears that the number of Delaware homicide and real crime stories will never cease. In 1891, Mary Pennington of Dover, daughter of former Delaware Congressman John Pennington, married John P. Dunning, a newspaper reporter. He confessed to several other murders just before dying in prison, according to the Star Tribune. In fact, it's among the most haunted states on the East Coast. The attorney alleged the review was neither thorough nor comprehensive, and that time was needed for a more complete evaluation. These true crime stories from Delaware appear on the Historical Crime Detective blog. At the time, only two other criminal cases in the country had permitted its introduction. The Manson Family was a communal group of people lead by the infamous Charles Manson in the 1960s. It makes sense because "Psycho's" Norman Bates and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" were based on this killer. In the 1980s, Harvey was a nurse's aid working at hospitals in Kentucky and Ohio, and he killed dozens of patients using cyanide, rat poison, and arsenic, according to WXIX. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. . Also, some examples of unsolved murders in Dover, Delaware, include the 2014 murder of Christopher Gillis, the 2007 murder of Jerome Hill, the 2016 murder of Tyler Parton, and the 1986 murder of Lonnie Hill, among many others. Sept. 28, 2016. Turns out, Metheny also owned a food stand where he would mix the human flesh from his victims with animal meat and then sell it to his customers, according to The Sun. Other killers are so famous they are known all over the country, like Ted Bundy, the BTK Killer, and John Wayne Gacy. Dover, which is the second largest city by population in Delaware, currently has a population of well over 185,000 residents. Dubbed the "Serial Killer Clown," Gacy killed 33 boys and young men in the '70s. Read more about it here: The One Place To Sleep In Delaware Thats Beyond Your Wildest Dreams. Starkweather was found guilty of murder and was sentenced to death. Between 1962 and 1964, Boston was plagued with a serial killer. Christine The Babysitter from Hell Falling was just 17 when she was convicted of smothering five children she had been babysitting. A date was set for March 14, 1992. Delaware has dealt with its fair share of Delaware killers throughout its history, ranging from mass murderers to even serial killers. These killings occurred on separate days in. Ray would often record the torture on video. One woman he brutally raped and murdered when she was vacuuming her car. Mrs. C. Thinking it was from one of her friends, Mary opened the box and passed the chocolates around. According to their crime report from 2019, the violent crime rate in Delaware was roughly 422.6 per 100,000 inhabitants. By 1932, he killed and robbed five people, according to the New York Daily News. "it would be unbearable to stay" here any longer. Later, Rogers would be connected to two other murders of women with red hair and found slain in their bathtubs. He was sentenced to death. The state responded by indicting Pennell for the murders of Meyer and Gordon, based on new evidence. Wikimedia Commons, Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images, Julian Wasser/Online USA Inc./Getty Victims of some of history's most famous murders, from left: Elizabeth Short, Sharon Tate, Kitty Genovese, JonBent Ramsey, Lizzie Borden (infamously, not a victim but a suspect), and Dorothy Stratten. Married with four daughters, Capano separated from his wife Kay the following year. Thomas Carper. 2023 www.delmarvanow.com. In the early 1900s, Lady Southard murdered her four former husbands, her brother-in-law, and ever her own daughter by poisoning. Wikimedia Commons Kitty Genovese, the victim of one of most controversial and famous murders in history. This time, however, the killer left a clue: DiMauro was covered head to toe in blue carpet fiber. He would call after every time he killed a person, confessing to murder. No evidence of sexual assault was uncovered, but the autopsy did reveal that Ellis was tortured with work tools before she died. Asking for death was his way of admitting it,the task forces Taschner suggests. Some serial killers are known for killing children, like David Meirhofer in Montana. Inside the trailer, he made a personal torture chamber, fitted with sex toys, handcuffs, whips, and chains. [citation needed] In April 2008, the U.S. District Court rejected Capano's habeas corpus petition,[7] and on September 2, 2008, the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed. She pled guilty and said she killed the children she babysat for because she had to satisfy a sudden urge to choke them, according to The New York Times. He was eventually murdered in prison. In just one instance, a Panamanian United Fruit Company ship "San Gil" was hit by a torpedo. During his sentencing, Pennel bizarrely asked to be put to death; however, he never admitted to the crimes. She survived the attack. They had dinner at a Philadelphia restaurant in June, 1996. She refused. The spectacular trial resulted in a television movie and several books. Known as a prostitute to local authorities, Gordon was last seen on Route 40, hopping into the passenger side of a blue Ford panel van. Also featured in a 2018 episode of Vanity Fair Confidential titled "The Secret of the Summer Wind.". He would then rape and murder them. For the most part, Delaware is a peaceful state. The court unanimously agreed that execution was an appropriate punishment for Pennells crimes. The killer then wrapped a ligature around her neck and repeatedly struck her over the head with a hammer. (AP Photo/Wilmington Police, File), Kathleen Fahey, sister of murder victim Anne Marie Fahey, talks during a news conference after Thomas Capano was sentenced to life in prison Thursday, March 2. I thought it was going to be a quick verdict and hed be convicted in two days. I was going through anguish each day,Maurer says. Theyre so troubling in fact, that many of them sound more like Delaware ghost stories; you wont want to believe that theyre in fact true. The Horrors of Patty Cannon Flickr / Shubert Ciencia Patty Cannon lived in the Seaford area in the early 1800s. So although it's hard to choose just one killer that terrorized the state, Robert Hansen seems to leave a really bone-chilling scare. He is still in prison. He was found guilty of raping and killing four women and was put to death in 1994. Contact me here. Its how we live. For the most part, Delaware is a peaceful state. Black children in the neighborhood were being targeted and murdered one-by-one, murdered her four former husbands, her brother-in-law, and ever her own daughter by poisoning. Several law enforcement agencies provide reports and information on their websites if youre interested in knowing more about the number of murders in Delaware by year. He was put to death in 2010. But one of his accomplices, Wayne Henley, turned on Corll and shot him to death. Meyers body was never found. The story goes that Bartlett ran an inn with her family where she is said to have poisoned the guests with arsenic and would then ditch the bodies in a local corral. After Matzke fell asleep on the couch, Cook lead Swaney to the body and proceeded to torture him the same way. David Parker Ray bought a $100,000 trailer. Some believe Williams has nothing to do with these crimes and think that police pinned them on him because they wanted an answer. They killed five people, who were at the housepregnant actress Sharon Tate, Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger, and Wojciech Frykowski, and Steven Parent. But he just wouldnt talk., RELATED:Surviving an Encounter With a Killer. The blast killed 1 spectator and injured over 100 others. Dig deeper Although this killer was never identified and spanned two states, The Phantom Killer earns his spot on the list for the terror he caused in 1946. When Joubert was caught, he said was happy because he knew he would kill again, according to the New York Daily News. more serial killers than any other country, he terrorized the Phoenix, Arizona, community in the summer of 2006, his nine death sentences were upheld in Phoenix. But, it's what he did with their bodies that really shocked the nation. Famous Murders: Kitty Genovese. Capano, 61, apparently died of natural causes. Mark Goudeau became known as the "Baseline Killer" when he terrorized the Phoenix, Arizona, community in the summer of 2006. killed 10 people in Wichita between 1974 and 1991, killing 17 people with an axe on behalf of the Church of Sacrifice. Commuters and students were lining up for their early morning breakfast when a gigantic explosion destroyed the building. In 1982, Minnesota police received several phone calls from a man who was crying. For example, physical evidence that is often included in trials can range anywhere from blood, saliva, semen, skin cells, or other DNA evidence, to cell phone pings, to gunpowder residue, and most often includes Kent County murders crime scene photos, to show the jury the environment surrounding the crime as well as show the scene surrounding the crime itself and the relativity of any items of evidence. He asked again. Every year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation publishes a Uniform Crime Report that details the crimes, crime rates, and crime locations in every state, county, and city, which includes a published report for crime in Delaware. Howard agreed and in a last . Steven Brian Pennell, Delawares only documented serial killer, did all of these things. It took a year and several deaths before police were able to break open the case and arrest Brian Pennell. In the mid-'80s the tropical utopia was gripped with fear when five bodies were found near water. When Dunning, who had returned from the war, was shown the note from the candy box, he immediately said, Cordelia.. Money wasnt an issue. Foul play is not suspected. Despite recklessness with drugs, unusually high patient deaths, and charges of theft, she managed to . Hansen appeared to be the model father, husband, and business owner but he was harboring a terrible secret. During those years free from jail, he killed four people. It was hard to get into a conversation. Abby's body turned up discovered upstairs, with her head smashed to pieces, while Andrew laid lifeless on the couch . Police found a strangled woman's body hiding under a pile of clothes. Do any specific names or examples come to mind when you think of famous Delaware murders? Welcome to HistoricalCrimeDetective.com [Est. Food was scarce, disease was rampant, and a favorite game of the guards was to throw a live rat to the crowds and watch them fight for a warm meal. No angry boyfriend or anything that would connect a murderer to her death. Manson was attempting to incite a race war, hoping to pin the murders on the Black Panthers. However, not all of our history is peaceful and calm. Whisenhant declined having any final words when he was eventually put to death. He was sentenced to death and met the electric chair in 1989. If they were sequestered any longer, they wouldnt have been able to go home to their families., In the end, Pennell was convicted of murdering Ellis and DiMauro. However, Capano's other mistress, Debby MacIntyre, had bought a gun and admitted having supplied the weapon to Capano.[2]. As the bodies began to pile up, investigators struggled to find the culprit. 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