True Crime | True Stories by Major James R Howell

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Police Officer Peter Jerving was shot and killed while attempting to arrest a robbery suspect at 1:16 am near the 2700 block of South 14th Street. The suspect fled on foot as officers approached him. One officer caught the subject and a struggle ensued. The subject fired his handgun and it struck Officer Jerving who was running to the scene to assist. Despite being wounded, Officer Jerving was able to return fire and killed the subject.

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We examine the 1973 unsolved homicide of Paula Ellis and the 2006 unsolved homicide of Scotty Cockrell.



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Deputy Sheriff Ryan Clinkunbroomer was shot and killed in an unprovoked ambush at the intersection of Sierra Highway and Avenue Q just outside of the Palmdale Sheriff's Station at about 6:00 pm.

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The Virginia Tech shooting was a spree shooting and mass shooting that occurred on Monday, April 16, 2007, comprising two attacks on the campus of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States. Suspect killed 32 people and wounded 17 others with two semi-automatic pistols before committing suicide. Six others were injured jumping out of windows to escape.

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   • Nightline (ABC...

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The Virginia Tech shooting was a spree shooting and mass shooting that occurred on Monday, April 16, 2007, comprising two attacks on the campus of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States. Suspect killed 32 people and wounded 17 others with two semi-automatic pistols before committing suicide. Six others were injured jumping out of windows to escape.

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Police Officer Francis Scurry was shot and killed while backing up two detectives who were serving an aggravated assault warrant at an apartment in Madison, TN at approximately 9:30 am.

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1946 armed escape attempt at Alcatraz Federal Prison in San Francisco, CA

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   • Alcatraz Gun Battle (1946) 

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Elderly couple are murdered in their home in Bartlett, TN.



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   • TN Supreme Court Upholds Death Penalty For... 

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https://www.actionnews5.com/story/290... 

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Deputy Sheriff Austin Aldridge was shot and killed while responding to a domestic call on Chaffee Drive in Spartanburg, SC.
When Deputy Aldridge approached the house, he was ambushed by the subject. Bystanders gave medical aid to Deputy Aldridge until EMS arrived and then provided responding officers with a description of the subject and his vehicle. Deputy Aldridge died at the hospital. 

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Albert and Joan Musalo were married for 53 years, living in their Montreux dream home.  Albert was a 75-year-old retired Pan Am pilot, while Joan was a homemaker that raised the couple's four children.  The Musalos' lives came to an abrupt and tragic end on March 28, 2006.  They were found in their bed, shot to death.  The killer has not been identified




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The Atlanta prison riots denote the 1987 uprising at the United States Penitentiary (USP) in Atlanta, Georgia, during which approximately 1,400 Cuban detainees seized control of the facility on November 23, took over 100 staff members hostage, set fires that destroyed buildings, and inflicted roughly $35 million in damages over an 11-day period. The riot resulted in one inmate death from gunfire by a correctional officer, with all hostages ultimately released unharmed following negotiations



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Three officers murdered over a nine day period by the same gunman.


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Classification: Murderer
Characteristics: Child custody dispute
Number of victims: 2
Date of murders: February 15, 2002
Victims profile: Her ex-husband Alan G. Bates, 31, and his wife, Terra, 30
Method of murder: Shooting
Location: Hoover, Jefferson County, Alabama, USA
Status: Sentenced to life in prison without parole on April 25, 2003




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   • Jessica McCord : Over Your Dead Body 

   • No parole for ex-of...

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Early on Monday, September 7, 1992, Rhonda Anette Knutson was murdered while working the 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. shift at the Phillips 66 convenience store in Williamstown, Iowa, in Chickasaw County.

The store manager found Knutson’s body Monday morning around 4:45 a.m. in a room near the back of the store.
The Williamstown store was open 24 hours a day and located six miles south of New Hampton on U.S. Highway 63 and one-quarter mile north of Highway junctions 63, 18, and 346.

An autopsy concluded Knutson died after being bludgeoned to death, an...

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Concord NC officer is gunned down.


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Early 20th Century Arkansas

Helen Ruth Spence of Arkansas County was a famous outlaw and prisoner whose story captured the imaginations of many during her life and engendered a body of legend afterward. Considered a folk hero by many, she was the focus of unprecedented media coverage in her day, up until her death at the hands of Arkansas prison officials.


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Between 2001 and 2005, eleven women were buried by an unknown assailant dubbed the "Bone Collector" in an arroyo bank on Albuquerque's West Mesa, in an undeveloped area within city limits. Satellite imagery taken between 2003 and 2005 shows tire marks and patches of disturbed soil in the area where the remains were recovered. According to satellite photos, the last victim was buried in 2005.

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Police Officer Kenny Moats was shot and killed after responding to a domestic violence call at a home near the intersection of Kerrway Lane and Alcoa Trail at approximately 4:00 pm.

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On January 11, 2005, defendant shot his wife, Donna Jordan, to death at her office in a TDOT facility in Jackson, Tenn. Defendant also shot and killed Jerry Hopper, who was in the office with Ms. Jordan at the time of the shooting. After leaving the office, Jordan shot and killed David Gordon, a motorist who followed Jordan to the TDOT facility after Jordan ran Gordon off the road.

When Gordon accosted Jordan about the incident, Jordan removed a high-powered assault rifle from his truck and shot Gordon thirteen times. Jordan then returned...

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Trooper Nicholas Hopkins was shot and killed while serving a search warrant at a home at 1426 North 42nd Street and Caseyville Avenue in East St. Louis, Illinois. He and other members of the Emergency Response Team were making entry into the home at 5:30 am when he was shot by an occupant during an exchange of gunfire.

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During the 1980s, several other women in St. Petersburg were also killed in stabbing attacks, raising fears about a possible serial killer. Neighbors in South St. Petersburg even held community meetings to discuss their concerns, but detectives said those cases likely were not connected.
Known as the Summer of Hell

"Each one has their differences, which would probably rule out a pattern,"

One of the most chilling links to the Playboy club came in 1983 when Linda Lansen, the photographer who took photos of Carolyn Merricks winning Bunny of...

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1969 unsolved stabbing death of a student inside the library on the campus of Penn State University.

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https://www.aetv.com/articles/penn-st...

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   • Murder in the Stacks: A Tragic Story 

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   • LeCroy Murder - Expanded Ch 2 Coverage 

https://www.deseret.com/2010/12/28/20...

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Kate Ragsdale, 73, was killed on Feb. 24, 2013, in her home in The Highlands neighborhood, off University Boulevard and not far off the eastern edge of the UA campus. A neighbor checked on Ragsdale the night of Feb. 24, 2013.
Ragsdale was last seen by friends on the Sunday night before she was found. She had been to a friend's home in the Forest Lake neighborhood to watch an episode of "Downton Abbey."
Ragsdale was a well-known, well-liked member of the Tuscaloosa and University of Alabama communities. Friends have described her as having a giving...

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Idaho trapper murders two Wildlife Officers



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   • KUTV News clip, March 1987 

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   • This EASY HIKE In The Sawto

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Richmond, Indiana officer is shot to death.

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Woman on Tennessee death row due to be executed in November of 2026 for the 1995 murder of a woman who was stabbed, had her throat slit and a pentagram cut into her chest and finally beaten to death with a piece of asphalt. 

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   • Murder victim's mom wants Christa Pike exe...   

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An American serial killer dubbed "The Sunday Morning Slasher".  Is now suspected to have killed more than 100 women, which would make him the most prolific serial killer in American history.
 

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https://murderpedia.org/male.W/w/watt...

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   • Detectives Lock up a Murderer Using Eviden...  

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Arkansas Correctional Sergeant is stabbed to death.

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https://casetext.com/case/jackson-v-p...

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On the evening of January 6, 1999, according to Angela, Bea arrived home from work and noticed Lisa wasn’t home. Assuming she was asleep in her room, she attempted to open the bedroom door which was locked. After breaking down the door, Bea found the body of her daughter. She was 27 years old and nine months pregnant with a little girl. Police believed that Lisa may have been the victim of a burglary. Her family, however, believes the suspect was close to Lisa.

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January 18, 1970.
Karen Ferrell, who was 18 and in her freshman year at WVU, was hitching a ride back to her dorm with her friend, Mared Malarik, who was the same age and in the same year of school.
 
The pair became fast friends during freshman orientation, despite having distinctly different backgrounds. Karen was a coal camp kid from the Mountain State and Mared hailed from suburban New Jersey.

Two female WVU undergraduates take a trip to the Metropolitan Theatre to catch a movie, but they never return. Eighty-eight days l...

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April 17, 1996 (Charlotte County, Florida)
Thomas Reese and Michael Tish, who were storm utility engineers for Charlotte County, discovered a human skull in a remote, heavily wooded area off of Highway 41 and immediately notified the police department.   While searching the scene, deputies found the nude body of a young, white male that was later identified as Richard Montgomery. 

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Seventeen year old Lisa Pennington, along with her twenty-five year old sister, Cheryl Genzer were last seen alive at the Oklahoma State Fair on September 23, 1987.
The sisters would both be found a month later, their bodies in a shallow grave. They had both been shot in the head- but each with a different caliber of weapon. It was known within days that the sisters had last been seen with the suspect and another male friend of his. 
 

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A state trooper is murdered in Indiana.

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https://www.odmp.org/officer/26745-tr...

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https://dailyjournal.net/2023/07/07/l...

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A Mountain Brook, AL officer on routine patrol discovered Montgomery’s body in the parking lot of the athletic complex of Mountain Brook High School.
Montgomery was face down on the pavement and had been shot multiple times, including once in the back and possibly twice in the head. “There was blood in the area and there was other physical evidence that led us to believe she was shot in the parking lot,’’ Cook said.
There was no car nearby, and the victim did not have any identification on her. It wasn’t u...

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In February 2019, both Turpin parents pleaded guilty on 14 felony counts, including abuse of a dependent adult, child abuse, torture, and false imprisonment. In April, they were sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 25 years. 

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A Gilbert, AZ officer is gunned down.

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Lawson was abducted from her Jasper home in the early-morning hours of September 11, 1991.
McPherson’s cousin, Jerry Bland, was identified as the main suspect and died by suicide as law enforcement surrounded his home.
The kidnapping happened about 3 a.m. at the home Lawson, 25, shared with her husband, 26-year-old Earl Lawson, also an attorney.


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Serial Killer in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Cathy Lyn Shakelford,
The first known victim was a member of the Sac and Fox Nation. She ran away at the age of 17 and lived homeless in Oklahoma City. The last sighting of her alive was two months before her death, when she was being treated at the Oklahoma City Hospital.

Arley Bell Killian
On April 19, 1979, children playing basketball in a park discovered a human head. Over the next few days, police found more of her remains scattered...