True Crime On This Day April 14th

Last Updated on September 23, 2022 by Ben Oakley

April 14th

On April 14th in true crime, a bizarre night of murder, plane explosion, shooting, rice riots, triple murder, and serial killer in Washington.

1978

In Catoosa County, Georgia, Robert Lewis Collier shot dead 24-year-old sheriff’s deputy Baxter Shavers after a robbery. Shavers was investigating a robbery and was tracking down Collier when he was shot and killed.

Collier was arrested the next day and subsequently sentenced to death in August of 1978. The death sentence was later commuted to life in prison after an appeal challenged the fairness of the conviction.

1979

In Liberia, the rice riots started and ended with death and destruction. Early in the year, Florence Chenoweth, the minister of agriculture, proposed an increase in rice prices by four dollars to $26 for a 100-pound bag.

After the announcement, the new Progressive Alliance of Liberia party called for a peaceful demonstration.

On April 14^th, the protest grew to unprecedented numbers and a large mob caused widespread devastation causing an estimated $40million in damage.

Troops were called in to assist the police in the capital of Monrovia but after 12 hours, at least 40 people had been killed and over 500 injured.

1980

In Bowie County, Texas, 16-year-old fast-food restaurant employee, Richard Whitehead, was shot dead during a robbery by Delma Banks Jr., a former co-worker. Banks was caught shortly after, convicted of murder, and sentenced to death.

In 2003, ten minutes before his execution, he was granted a reprieve. In 2004, the death sentence was overturned based on an unfair trial. He was resentenced to life in prison, where he remains to this day.

1981

In Savannah, Georgia, Sergeant John Joseph Brown was accidentally shot and killed by a fellow officer during a shoot-out with a suspect.

The shooting occurred at the intersection of Liberty Street and West Broad Street. The two officers had tried to arrest a suspect, wanted on a warrant.

At some point during the exchange of gunfire, Brown was shot, and it remains unclear how the other officer had come to shoot him. The suspect was also shot and killed at the scene by another officer. No one was charged with the shooting.

1982

In Snohomish County, Washington, while on work release from a prison sentence, Charles Rodman Campbell killed three women.

Renae Wicklund, her eight-year-old daughter Shannah, and neighbour Barbara Hendrickson were stabbed to death. Campbell was serving a prison sentence for sexually assaulting Renae in 1974 and killed her out of revenge. He was later sentenced to death for the murders.

The State of Washington made a $2.3million (USD) settlement with the families of the victims. Campbell was executed by hanging in Washington on May 27^th 1994

1983

In Seattle, Washington, 19-year-old Andrea Childers was waiting at a bus stop when she was offered a lift by a man in a pick-up truck. A few hours later, she was raped and murdered by the driver, Gary Ridgway, AKA: The Green River Killer, one of the United States’ most prolific killers.

Childers’ skeletal remains were found near Sea-Tac Airport in 1989. Ridgway was arrested in 2001, convicted of 48 murders, and sentenced to life in 2003. His true victim count is believed to be much higher.

On the same day

In Rostov Oblast, Soviet Union, the remains of 10-year-old Olga Stalmachenok were discovered on a farm. Her heart had been cut out of her chest and removed.

She had brutally murdered by Russian serial killer Andrei Chikatilo, AKA: The Red Ripper. Chikatilo had enjoyed playing with the blood of his victims and chewing upon the organs of his female victims.

He was captured in 1990 and found guilty of 52 murders despite confessing to 56. He was sentenced to death for each and every one and executed by shooting on February 16^th 1994.

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