True Crime On This Day August 13th

August 13th

On August 13th in true crime, serial killer, killed in the line of duty, macabre discovery, pig inadvertently kills 2,500 people.

1978

A decomposing nude body was discovered on the Carquinez Scenic Highway. Later identified as Carmen Colon, one of serial killer Joseph Naso’s victims.

He would go on to kill six women but claimed 10. In an uncanny twist, a victim attributed to ‘The Alphabet Killer’ a few years earlier, was also named Carmen Colon.

1979

In Colorado, a drunk-driver knocked over and killed 25-year-old police officer Walter Michael Northey. 30-year-old schoolteacher John Hostetler had run into Northey as he was getting back into his patrol car.

Witnesses claimed that Northey had been thrown almost 100 feet in the crash. Northey and a colleague had stopped two motorcyclists for standard traffic violations when he was hit.

A tow truck driver was also injured when he became pinned between his truck and Hostetler’s car. Hostetler was charged with manslaughter.

1980

Pig inadvertently kills 2,500 people

In Moradabad, India, during the Eid al-Fitr holiday, a pet pig strayed into a prayer service at an Idgah in the city, where over 50,000 Muslims were in prayer.

An idgah is an open-air enclosure reserved for prayer. Police in the area refused to remove the pig and so a group of Muslims pelted the police with stones.

The police responded by indiscriminately firing into the crowd, killing at least 100 people. The following day, riots began, and violence erupted until November when the situation was finally brought under control.

Official estimates put the total killed at 400, unofficial estimates put the death toll at over 2,500.

1981

In Bedfordshire, England, 36-year-old Carol Morgan was beaten to death with a meat cleaver at a shop she operated with her husband.

The Morgan’s Store Murder is not that well known in the United Kingdom but remains unsolved to this day. Witnesses at the time led police to numerous arrests but no charges were ever brought forward.

Cold case units in the UK, review every unsolved case on a two-yearly basis.

In 2019, a review led to the arrest of a 69-year-old man and a 70-year-old woman from Brighton, but again, no charges were made, and the murder remains unsolved.

1982

In Rostov Oblast, Soviet Union, nine-year-old Oleg Pozhidayev was brutally murdered by Russian serial killer Andrei Chikatilo, AKA: The Red Ripper.

The boy’s body was later found with his genitals removed. Chikatilo had enjoyed playing with the blood of his victims and confessed to tearing at the victim’s genitalia, nipples, tongue and lips with his teeth.

Chikatilo 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 16th 1994.

1983

In Chicago, Illinois, 33-year-old Patrol Officer Steven Mitchell was stabbed to death when he and his partner responded to a suspicious person report.

After getting a description of the suspect, they searched the area for the man. They went to a nearby house where Mitchell knocked on the front door, while his partner went to the back of the house.

The suspect, David Vann, answered the door and stepped outside to talk to Mitchell then pulled a 14-inch kitchen knife from behind and stabbed him in the back.

Mitchell struggled with Vann but Vann removed his service weapon and shot his partner who was running in from the back.

Mitchell died the following day of his wounds while his partner recovered. Vann was ultimately found not guilty by reason of insanity.

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