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- 0001-11-03 (xsd:gMonthDay)
- 0001-11-18 (xsd:gMonthDay)
- 1.57788E7
- 4.73364E8
- In 1993, police in Coolbaugh, Pennsylvania were baffled when teacher Joanne Chambers received multiple death threats and questionable packages. Chambers reported every incident to the police, who in turn found a resemblance in the letters to statements that a fellow teacher, Paula Nawrocki, had made. However, the police were unable to find evidence directly linking Nawrocki to the threats. Regardless, Nawrocki was arrested and charged with harassment. Nawrocki's defense team sent the threatening letters and envelopes to be tested for DNA. The lab was able to determine that the saliva found on the stamp and envelope did not match Paula, but rather it matched Joanne Chambers. It was discovered that Chambers had previously made similar allegations at a different school. (en)
- In 1991, police in Vancouver, British Columbia were investigating a charred body found in a dumpster with a bullet hole in the skull when a missing person report was filed for Mary-Lynn Breeden. Police investigated her disappearance and found that a woman had attempted to withdraw money from Mary-Lynne's account. The woman was identified from video surveillance at the bank and was questioned by police. This then led police to Christian Cruz. Police found traces of blood in Cruz' car and were able to match it to the charred body through DNA testing of the body's tooth pulp and Breeden's family members. (en)
- In 1993 when the body of 13-year-old Dario Cicolecchia was found in a Swiss cornfield, sexual assault was first considered. When swab samples from the boy's body were analysed, investigators found microscopic one-cell organisms called diatoms. A diatom is only found in water, so police began collecting samples from bodies of water in the area. Analysis of diatoms from a nearby creek matched those found on the boy's body and supplied police with the location of the murder. Months later, 35-year-old divorcee Roland Kubler was convicted of sexual assault and the attempted murder of another teenage boy, which brought him to the attention of investigators. Analysis of Kubler's car led to a match of diatoms found on Dario's body, which led to Kubler's arrest and conviction. Kubler was apparently homosexual and was especially attracted to teenagers. A shrine was built at the creek in Dario's memory, and a statue of him was erected on his grave, which symbolized the delicacy and vulnerability of people as youths. (en)
- In June 1989, Cindy Morris reported to the police in Phoenix, Arizona that her mother Ruby was missing. Ruby's husband, Gaylynn Earl Morris, became a suspect once blood samples were found in the bathroom leading police to believe that Ruby had suffered a severe blow to the head. Further investigation led to Earl's boat that had been taken out and never returned. There had been a report of a boat that caught fire and sank. Police were able to determine that the boat belonged to Earl after reviewing footage from a TV crew and photographs from the Coast Guard. Earl claimed that his wife had committed suicide and he disposed of her body for fear no one would believe it, but investigators were able to prove Earl had murdered Ruby and he was quickly convicted by the jury, who easily saw through his lies. (en)
- In 1994, doctors in Cleveland, Ohio became extremely concerned when they had an increase in the number of infants brought to the emergency room with bleeding of the lungs. Doctors quickly contacted the Centers for Disease Control and had them investigate the matter. The CDC found that all babies were from the same neighborhood and that all of their houses had suffered from water damage. After further investigation and research, a black fungus was determined to be cause of the epidemic, the killer of six infants. The fungus develops in moist conditions, becomes airborne, and threatens developing organs such as the growing lungs of babies. (en)
- In April 1993, the Commissioner of Health was astonished when businesses throughout Milwaukee, Wisconsin were closing down due to large numbers of people reporting symptoms of gastrointestinal illnesses. Eventually, more than 400,000 of the city's 1.6 million people became ill and several people died. A waterborne parasite, cryptosporidium, was identified as the culprit after analysis of stools and water supplies. It was discovered that the city’s sewage treatment outlet was too close to one of the city’s water sources. The mayor quickly issued a boil water advisory that seemed to stop the outbreaks. This was the largest waterborne disease outbreak ever documented in the United States. (en)
- In 1986, Excedrin bottles sold by a store in Kent, Washington were investigated by police after 40-year-old bank VP Susan Snow died from taking pills poisoned with cyanide. Her second husband, Paul Backwood, was briefly suspected but soon proven innocent. Investigators later found a chemical used to clean the algae in fish tanks mixed with the cyanide and, through pet store records, connected Susan's murder to the recent death of 52-year-old Bruce Nickell. Police managed to trace the chemical to Bruce's widow, Stella Nickell, and, with this new information, detectives re-opened the investigation into Bruce's death. Stella had increased Bruce's life insurance shortly before his death. Investigators then confronted the Nickells' daughter, who confessed she had helped her mother murder her father. Because the death had to be accidental in order to receive the insurance pay out, Stella laced several other bottles, waiting for a second poisoning to occur. Thanks to her daughter's testimony, Stella Nickell was convicted of the murders of both her husband and Susan Snow. (en)
- In Chipping Sodbury, England, 44-year-old Graham Backhouse was a farmer who wasn't well received by his community. On two occasions, Graham reported death threats. In 1984, when his wife Margaret went to use Graham's car to run errands, a bomb ignited when she started it, which nearly killed her. Soon after, police responded to a call from the farm, where they found that Graham had shot and killed his next door neighbor, Colin Bedale-Taylor, in the entry hall, claiming self-defense. The cuts and gashes on Graham's face and chest seemed to support this theory, as they matched a penknife in Taylor's hand which had some of Graham's blood on it and Taylor's initials etched into the handle. Taylor's son had died about a year earlier and he somehow blamed Graham for it, and it was apparent Taylor was behind all the attempts on Graham's life as an act of revenge. However, using forensic science, investigators found that Graham had actually manipulated the crime scene, fabricated the death threats, and planted the bomb, all an elaborate plot to kill his wife and benefit from her life insurance. However, when Margaret survived, he knew he'd need a scapegoat to keep up the facade, so he used Taylor. Investigators easily discovered that the penknife actually belonged to Graham, and his wounds were self-inflicted. This proved to detectives that Taylor's murder was premeditated. Graham Backhouse was charged with the murder of Colin Bedale-Taylor and the attempted murder of his wife. (en)
- Over the course of one day in 1985, police in Salt Lake City, Utah were called to two bombings. 31-year-old businessman and Mormon bishop Steve Christensen was killed by a bomb left in front of his office door. Christensen had resigned his job at a financial company following several fraud allegations, and the bombing was thought to be connected to this. The owner of a jewelry business located below Christensen's office described the man who delivered the package, but the description was mainly about his clothes and his facial description was vague. A similar bomb turned up at the home of Gary Sheets, who was Christensen's former business partner, killing his wife, 50-year-old Kathy, after she intercepted it. A teenage boy next door had witnessed the package being dropped off about midnight, but could only describe the car the suspect was driving, a tan minivan. Police had difficulty determining the motive for the killings until a third bomb went off, injuring 30-year-old Mark Hofmann, severing two of his fingers and lodging a piece of shrapnel in his kneecap. After careful analysis, however, it was determined that Hofmann was actually the bomber and that the bomb had gone off accidentally while he was moving it into his car. The motive for the killings was that Christensen discovered Hofmann had been forging and selling historical documents. Hofmann's main intention was to kill Christensen to avoid being exposed, and the other bombings were to make it seem as if all three were provoked by the financial scandal, to which Hofmann had no connection. Hofmann was charged with fraud, the murders of Steve Christensen and Kathy Sheets, and the attempted murder of Kathy's husband, Gary Sheets. (en)
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