True Crime On This Day April 30th

Last Updated on January 8, 2023 by Ben Oakley

April 30th

On April 30th in true crime, missing persons, arranged murder, Italian serial killer, Monster of Aosta, assassination, and cold cases.

1932

During annual carnival celebrations, a call-girl was murdered in her apartment and the blood drained from her body, leading to the case being cited as proof of vampires.

On 30^th April 1932, the residents of Stockholm were celebrating Walpurgis Night, which is a traditional holiday celebrated annually in Northern Europe and Scandinavia. But wandering among them was a vampiric murderer who has never been caught.

32-year-old sex worker Lilly Lindeström paid her rent to her landlord then went back to her apartment to meet a client. It was four days later on 4^th May when Lilly’s friend decided to call the police after becoming concerned she hadn’t heard from her.

Upon entering the apartment they were met with a horrific sight. Lilly had been dead for three days and was found nude lying face down on an ottoman. A bloodstained soup ladle in the sink suggested the killer had drunk some of the blood at the scene.

An autopsy confirmed that almost all of Lilly’s blood had been drained.This combined with traces of saliva on Lilly’s neck and body led to the conclusion that someone had consumed her blood. When the media got hold of the story, the Atlas Vampire was born.

Due to the lack of evidence, the case went cold quickly and it became a footnote in the history of 1930s Sweden. Yet, as the decades went by, the case was cited as one of the most infamous cases of real-life vampire attacks in history.

1978

In Fort Collins, Colorado, 10-year-old Christopher Vigil vanished without a trace while hiking the Grey Rock Mountain Trail.

The trail backs on to Highway 14 in the Poudre Canyon leading to some suggestions that he may have been met with foul play.

No body has ever been discovered and his disappearance remains a mystery. As of 2022, Vigil’s disappearance is an active cold case.

1979

In Cook County, Illinois, Jacquelyn Greco had arranged the murder of her 34-year-old husband Carl Gaimari. Greco’s family, including her children had been tied up while Carl was taken to the basement and shot dead.

The motive appeared to be greed and she had planned the murder to look like a robbery gone wrong. The case went cold for 33 years until February 2013 when new investigators discovered that Greco and her lover at the time had arranged the murder.

Greco was arrested and charged with murder. On December 29^th 2016, Greco was sentenced to 30 years in prison. As of 2022, the identity of the hitman remains a mystery.

1980

Italian serial killer Andrea Matteucci,AKA: The Monster of Aosta, killed his first victim. He met a man at an abandoned Roman Theatre, but the man then made sexual advances towards Matteucci and so Matteucci killed him by stabbing him to death.

From then on, Matteucci grew a second hatred for people who had affairs or sexual contact with others while having a family of their own. He killed four people from 1980 to 1995.

All his victims remains were burned which made the investigation difficult and it is also suggested that he may have killed more.

On June 26^th 1995, he was arrested in connection with the disappearance of his final victim. He confessed to all the murders and was sentenced to 28 years.

In March 2017 he was released from prison and sent to a psychiatric hospital. As of 2022, it is unclear whether Matteucci still remains there or has been released into the public domain.

1981

In Lake County, California, Swedish criminal Annika Maria Östberg and her boyfriend Bob Cox, robbed and killed ex-restaurant owner Joe Torre.

Östberg sold stolen meat to restaurants and was meeting Torre in a warehouse. The meeting was set up as a robbery. Cox shot Torre, and Östberg robbed him, they eloped with the money.

Their vehicle broke down the following day and Sergeant Richard J. Helbush pulled over to help. Östberg then shot Helbush in the back of the head.

Her and Cox robbed him and stole the police car. The car was tracked shortly after, and a shoot-out took place, resulting in Cox being wounded and the surrender of both him and Östberg.

Cox hung himself with bedsheets a few days later in Lake County Jail. Östberg later blamed her drug abuse on the crimes.

In 1983, Östberg was sentenced to 25 years to life for the murders. She was transferred to Sweden in 2009, after five previous failed appeals. She was released in 2011.

1982

In Palermo, Italy, leader of the Italian Communist Party (PCI), Pio La Torre, was assassinated by the Sicilian Mafia. La Torre and his driver Rosario Di Salvo were ambushed near the PCI’s headquarters.

A well-armed hit team trapped them in a one-way street and killed both in a hail of bullets. La Torre had been targeted because he initiated a law that introduced a new crime in the Italian legal system called mafia conspiracy.

It allowed the courts to seize and to confiscate the assets of the persons belonging to the mafia conspiracy.

1983

In King County, Washington, 18-year-old Iowa native Marie Malvar disappeared after last being seen getting into a pickup truck on Pacific Highway South.

She had been lured into the truck, raped, and murdered by Gary Ridgway, AKA: The Green River Killer. Her remains went undiscovered for 20 years until Ridgway led investigators to her burial site in September 2003. Ridgway is one of the United States’ most prolific killers.

He was arrested in 2001, convicted of 48 murders, and sentenced to life in 2003. His true victim count is believed to be much higher.

Check out the Mega List of True Crime Podcasts