The Dark Side of Humanity
Photo sources: Booking photo: State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory; Mug shot 1931: US Bureau of Prisons; Mug shot 1924: Indiana State Penitentiary; Wanted notice 1934: FBI, public domain; Photo c. 1933: recovered by the FBI; Portrait 1890s: photographer unknown; The Castle, Chicago: F. P. Geyer, 1896; Portrait 1890: photographer unknown.
Featured case FILE NO. 0202
Neither Clyde Barrow nor Bonnie Parker was ever tried for a killing. The FBI's own history says Parker "probably never fired a shot." The courts that did hear the case convicted the men around…
Open file : Bonnie and Clyde: What the Record Shows, 1930 to 1934Also on file
The mind of the fanatic, according to social philosopher Eric Hoffer in The True Believer, needs something to worship, even to the point of annihilation. He will sacrifice everything for the impossible dream. Many fanatical mass movements form in our society but only those that act in some dramatic manner,…
A Washington killer filed under "werewolf syndrome", a hermit burned at Dole, a peddler who blamed a curse, and a rare psychiatric delusion. This case file separates the myth, the courtroom and the medicine.
On 7 November 1974 the Lucan family nanny was beaten to death in a Belgravia basement and the Countess of Lucan ran bleeding into a pub. Her husband drove to the coast and vanished. An inquest named him a murderer. This case file sets out the evidence, the inquest, his…
This edition gathers charges, pleas, sentences, trials and appeals from 7 countries, all reported since the evening of Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026. In Orlando, Dale Smith Jr. is formally charged with second degree murder…
Standing just a tad under six-feet tall, with a thick head of black hair and piercing blue eyes, Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel seemed to be a gangster sent from central casting in Hollywood. He was charming with the ladies and a sharp dresser, athletically inclined and fearless. Not only did Ben…
Even though the sun had long set over the verdant hills of Springfield, Oregon, Thursday, May 19, 1983, remained as warm at night as it had at noon. There was a quiet to the evening, the kind of languishing stillness that sometimes thresholds a storm. But, the night staff at…
The day is stiflingly hot, over one hundred degrees, even though it is not yet noon. The elderly man, still in his heavy morning coat, reclines on a mohair-covered sofa, his boots on the floor so as not to soil the upholstery. As he naps in the August heat, his…
"Human thought is the process by which human ends are ultimately answered."
Sylvia Likens, 16, was left to board at a house on East New York Street in Indianapolis in the summer of 1965. By October 26 she was dead, with more than 150 wounds. This case file sets out who knew, who was convicted, why the Indiana Supreme Court ordered a…
In October 1931 two trunks shipped from Phoenix to Los Angeles held the bodies of Agnes Anne LeRoi and Hedvig "Sammy" Samuelson. Winnie Ruth Judd was convicted of LeRoi's murder and sentenced to hang. This case file follows her from the trial and appeal through the sanity hearing, decades in…
Content warning: This case file describes the abduction, sexual assault and murder of children and teenagers in British Columbia in 1980 and 1981. It names the 11 young people Clifford Olson admitted killing, as they have been named in the public record since 1981. It also mentions a 1989 inquest…
Lana Clarkson, 40, was shot dead in the foyer of Phil Spector's Alhambra house hours after they met at the House of Blues. The defence said she killed herself. One jury could not decide; a second convicted him of murder. This case file sets out the night, the science, the…
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DSH · Case file
The Crime Ledger. Every night.
Crime DossierNeither Clyde Barrow nor Bonnie Parker was ever tried for a killing. The FBI's own history says Parker "probably never fired a shot." The courts that did hear the case convicted the men around them, and their records put Parker at the wheel, carrying guns to a prison farm and…
Cults & ExtremismThe mind of the fanatic, according to social philosopher Eric Hoffer in The True Believer, needs something to worship, even to the point of annihilation. He will sacrifice everything for the impossible dream. Many fanatical mass movements form in our society but only those that act in some dramatic manner,…
Occult & RitualA Washington killer filed under "werewolf syndrome", a hermit burned at Dole, a peddler who blamed a curse, and a rare psychiatric delusion. This case file separates the myth, the courtroom and the medicine.
UnsolvedOn 7 November 1974 the Lucan family nanny was beaten to death in a Belgravia basement and the Countess of Lucan ran bleeding into a pub. Her husband drove to the coast and vanished. An inquest named him a murderer. This case file sets out the evidence, the inquest, his…
Organized CrimeStanding just a tad under six-feet tall, with a thick head of black hair and piercing blue eyes, Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel seemed to be a gangster sent from central casting in Hollywood. He was charming with the ladies and a sharp dresser, athletically inclined and fearless. Not only did Ben…
Crime DossierEven though the sun had long set over the verdant hills of Springfield, Oregon, Thursday, May 19, 1983, remained as warm at night as it had at noon. There was a quiet to the evening, the kind of languishing stillness that sometimes thresholds a storm. But, the night staff at…
Crime DossierThe day is stiflingly hot, over one hundred degrees, even though it is not yet noon. The elderly man, still in his heavy morning coat, reclines on a mohair-covered sofa, his boots on the floor so as not to soil the upholstery. As he naps in the August heat, his…
Crime Dossier"Human thought is the process by which human ends are ultimately answered."
Crime DossierSylvia Likens, 16, was left to board at a house on East New York Street in Indianapolis in the summer of 1965. By October 26 she was dead, with more than 150 wounds. This case file sets out who knew, who was convicted, why the Indiana Supreme Court ordered a…
Crime DossierIn October 1931 two trunks shipped from Phoenix to Los Angeles held the bodies of Agnes Anne LeRoi and Hedvig "Sammy" Samuelson. Winnie Ruth Judd was convicted of LeRoi's murder and sentenced to hang. This case file follows her from the trial and appeal through the sanity hearing, decades in…
Serial KillersContent warning: This case file describes the abduction, sexual assault and murder of children and teenagers in British Columbia in 1980 and 1981. It names the 11 young people Clifford Olson admitted killing, as they have been named in the public record since 1981. It also mentions a 1989 inquest…
Crime DossierLana Clarkson, 40, was shot dead in the foyer of Phil Spector's Alhambra house hours after they met at the House of Blues. The defence said she killed herself. One jury could not decide; a second convicted him of murder. This case file sets out the night, the science, the…
Crime DossierA forger's sentence at Douai in 1796, escapes from the bagnes at Brest and Toulon, then twenty years as the informer and chief of the Paris Brigade de Sûreté. This case file separates what the record shows about Eugène François Vidocq from what he and his ghostwriters claimed in the…
Serial KillersSeven young travellers vanished from the roads south of Sydney between 1989 and 1992. Their remains were found in the Belanglo State Forest. A British hitchhiker who escaped a gunman in 1990 identified the man, and a jury convicted Ivan Milat of all seven murders in 1996. This case file…
Serial KillersBetween June and August 1980, six women and girls were killed in Los Angeles. A confession by Carol Bundy led police to Douglas Clark, who was convicted of all six murders in 1983 and died on death row in 2023, the day after his last federal appeal failed. This is…
Crime DossierIn February 1910 the music hall singer Cora Crippen, known on stage as Belle Elmore, vanished from her home in north London. Her husband said she had gone to America and died there. Five months later he fled with his typist, and remains were found in the cellar. This is…
Crime DossierOn March 18, 1993, Edward Gingerich, an Old Order Amish man in Rockdale Township, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, killed his wife, Katie. A jury found him guilty but mentally ill of involuntary manslaughter, not murder. This case file follows his illness, the trial in Meadville, the sentence, his release, his return…
Crime DossierOn September 11, 1857, Mormon militiamen in southern Utah, with some Southern Paiutes they had recruited, killed about 120 emigrants from Arkansas at Mountain Meadows after a five day siege. Seventeen young children were spared. This case file follows the cover story, the 1859 inquiries, the arrests, John D. Lee's…
Organized CrimeThe FBI says the Chicago suburb of Cicero became "a fiefdom of the Capone mob," and the 1929 killing of seven men in a North Clark Street garage was "generally ascribed" to his gang. He was never charged in it. What sent Alphonse Capone to Atlanta and Alcatraz was a…
Crime DossierIn June 1979 Susan Reinert, an Upper Merion English teacher, was found dead outside Harrisburg, and her children Karen and Michael were never seen again. William Bradfield was convicted of all three murders in 1983. Jay C. Smith was convicted in 1986, but the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reversed his convictions…
Neither Clyde Barrow nor Bonnie Parker was ever tried for a killing. The FBI's own history says Parker "probably never fired a shot." The courts that…
Even though the sun had long set over the verdant hills of Springfield, Oregon, Thursday, May 19, 1983, remained as warm at night as it had…
The day is stiflingly hot, over one hundred degrees, even though it is not yet noon. The elderly man, still in his heavy morning coat, reclines…
Mixed Outcomes"Human thought is the process by which human ends are ultimately answered."
ConvictedSylvia Likens, 16, was left to board at a house on East New York Street in Indianapolis in the summer of 1965. By October 26 she…
ConvictedIn October 1931 two trunks shipped from Phoenix to Los Angeles held the bodies of Agnes Anne LeRoi and Hedvig "Sammy" Samuelson. Winnie Ruth Judd was…
ConvictedLana Clarkson, 40, was shot dead in the foyer of Phil Spector's Alhambra house hours after they met at the House of Blues. The defence said…
A forger's sentence at Douai in 1796, escapes from the bagnes at Brest and Toulon, then twenty years as the informer and chief of the Paris…
ConvictedIn February 1910 the music hall singer Cora Crippen, known on stage as Belle Elmore, vanished from her home in north London. Her husband said she…
ConvictedOn March 18, 1993, Edward Gingerich, an Old Order Amish man in Rockdale Township, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, killed his wife, Katie. A jury found him guilty…
Mixed OutcomesOn September 11, 1857, Mormon militiamen in southern Utah, with some Southern Paiutes they had recruited, killed about 120 emigrants from Arkansas at Mountain Meadows after…
Mixed OutcomesIn June 1979 Susan Reinert, an Upper Merion English teacher, was found dead outside Harrisburg, and her children Karen and Michael were never seen again. William…
ConvictedHerb, Bonnie, Nancy and Kenyon Clutter were killed in their farmhouse near Holcomb, Kansas, on November 15, 1959. Richard Hickock and Perry Smith were convicted in…
ConvictedMarilyn Reese Sheppard was beaten to death in her Bay Village home on July 4, 1954. Her husband was convicted in 1954, and in 1966 the…
ArchivedJames Crawford came to work a little early that Tuesday morning. The Boss had ordered some rosebushes and Crawford promised him that he would be there…
Content warning: This case file describes the shooting death of Bonny Lee Bakley, a murder prosecution that ended in acquittal, allegations of solicitation to commit murder,…
Unsolved"Truth exists, only falsehood has to be invented."
ClosedTDSH Case File · Los Angeles · 1994 to 1997O.J. SimpsonTDSH fileIn the recordThe downtown Los Angeles criminal courts building, now the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal…
ConvictedShepherd’s BushLondon → BristolWoolwich Crown CourtCase dossier · UK · Double murderConvicted 21 Jul 2025Yostin MosqueraAvon GorgeExhibit 01Clifton Suspension Bridge, Bristol.Photo: Gothick, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA…
ConvictedChris Watts pleaded guilty in 2018 to murdering his pregnant wife Shanann and daughters Bella and Celeste in Colorado. The lies, the confession and evidence.
ConvictedNicolas Claux was convicted of the 1994 premeditated murder of Thierry Bissonnier in Paris. The record, the nickname, and what was never proved.
ConvictedTDSH case fileJosef FritzlJosef Fritzl · case file • Josef Fritzl · case file • Josef Fritzl · case file • Josef Fritzl · case file…
Mixed OutcomesDowntown Waco, Texas, from Interstate 35. City context for the apartment-pool arrests. Credit: HuecoBear / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain). Criminal privacy cases distinguish between public lewdness…
ArchivedMinshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, where Josh Baxter was sentenced in February 2026 after convictions for grievous bodily harm and intentional strangulation. Credit: Bristol Filer /…
ConvictedThe Granville Road walk-up building identified in the Commons record as the site of the 1999 case. Credit: Szetoyanlun / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0). In…
UnresolvedEvidence-led Gerd Wenzinger dossier covering Dana Franzke, Sabrina Graf, the “Havel Ripper” nickname, medical-boundary abuse, Brazil allegations, extradition and the untried murder evidence.
