True Crime On This Day April 27th

Last Updated on September 23, 2022 by Ben Oakley

April 27th

On April 27th in true crime, cold case murder, mystery disappearance, kidnapping, robbery, unsolved crimes, and multiple murder.

1978

Afghanistan’s President, Daoud Khan was killed, and his family murdered. His death sparked the Afghan Civil War which still goes on to this day.

1979

In Miami, Florida, 22-year-old Jeffrey ‘Martelli’ Macchione was shot dead in his own apartment. When neighbours arrived home, they witnessed a white male and female running from the area of the apartment and jumping into a dark sports vehicle.

When they investigated Macchione’s apartment, they found him dead inside. Macchione’s murder remains unsolved and is an active cold case in the State of Florida.

1980

In Manchester, New Hampshire, 14-year-old Laureen Rahn vanished without a trace. When her mother arrived home in the early hours, she found the back door open and Laureen’s friend sleeping in Laureen’s bed.

The friend told investigators that they had been out drinking and laid down on the same bed but Laureen decided to go downstairs and sleep on the couch instead. Investigators found no signs of a struggle, nor any sign that Laureen had left the residence willingly.

The case was never solved, no suspect was ever found, and no trace of Laureen has ever shown up. It remains an open cold case to this day.

1981

In Naples, Italy, the Red Brigades kidnapped 60-year-old Christian Democrat politician Ciro Cirillo. During the kidnapping, Cirillo’s two-man escort team were shot dead in the parking garage of his apartment building.

He had become a natural target for the Neapolitan column of the Red Brigades, after he was appointed right-hand man to the leader of the Doroteo faction of the Christian Democrats, Antonio Gava.

Cirillo remained a captive for two and a half months and was threatened with execution on multiple occasions unless the Naples city government met the Red Brigades demands.

Among the many demands was housing for Naples families left homeless after a 1980 earthquake. Cirillo was released on July 25^th after a substantial ransom had been paid by Camorra mob boss Raffaele Cutolo. Cirillo died aged 96-years-old on July 30^th 2017.

1982

In Martin County, Florida, 18-year-old Frances Julia Slater was kidnapped during a robbery and later shot dead.

Armed robbers Alphonso Cave, John Bush, J.B. Parker, and Terry Wayne Johnson pulled up to a convenience store in Stuart and demanded cash from Slater, who was working her shift.

After taking the cash, the men abducted Slater, placing her in the back seat of the car. They drove to a remote area where she was stabbed and shot to death.

The group were caught one hour later when they were stopped for a broken taillight. Johnson was sentenced to life while the other three were sentenced to death. Bush was executed in 1996.

1983

In El Paso, Texas, 14-year-old Ruben Humberto Herrera was abducted and held for ransom. The Eastwood Knolls Elementary School student left home and never showed up for lessons.

His uncle, Miguel Zaragoza, was known to own a gasoline business and Ruben was kidnapped because of his uncle’s wealth.

The kidnappers phoned Zaragoza, who was residing in Mexico at the time, and demanded a $300,000 (USD) ransom for Ruben’s safe return. Zaragoza went to the drop-off point with the money, but the kidnappers did not show up.

Zaragoza then contacted police and a second meet was set up. The FBI then became involved and traced the second call to a shopping mall in El Paso.

They caught Ruben’s stepfather’s brother, Raymond Henry Acosta, red-handed. He claimed that Ruben was already dead and would not identify other people involved out of fear of retaliation.

In July 1983, Acosta pleaded guilty to commit kidnapping and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Acosta died in 2012 and never gave up the names of his cohorts. In 2013, a man from South America claimed that he was Ruben and said he didn’t want to return to the United States.

He told a missing persons organisation that he wanted police to stop looking for him and stop listing him as missing. The man remains unidentified to this day.

Despite the unidentified man and rumours that Ruben was murdered after Acosta’s arrest, no trace of Ruben has ever been found, dead or alive. His disappearance remains unsolved and his case remains open.

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