True Crime On This Day August 25th

Last Updated on September 27, 2022 by Ben Oakley

August 25th

On August 25th in true crime, consulate bombing, serial killer Vernon Brown, mystery disappearance, cold case mystery, murder.

1978

In Pymble, New South Wales, Australia, 18-year-old Michelle Veronica Pope and 21-year-old Stephen Lapthorne disappeared without a trace.

They were last seen leaving Stephen’s house on the way to drive Michelle to her home in Berowra. Normally in cases like this, the vehicle is discovered at a later date, but Stephen’s green Bedford van has never been located and disappeared along with the both of them.

Detectives initially suspected they were murdered, and their bodies buried in the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, but no evidence has ever been found. As of 2022, their disappearance remains a mystery.

1979

In Nova Scotia, Canada, 22-year-old mother Lynn Adel Oliver vanished without a trace. Just before lunchtime, she left her place of work to walk home for lunch but never returned to her job.

According to work colleagues, she had been physically nervous and was worried about her physical safety, even giving instruction to call her family if she were to go missing.

Despite links to numerous suspects, no trace of Oliver has ever been found. As of 2022, it is an active cold case in Nova Scotia.

1980

In Indiana, the body of nine-year-old Kimberly Campbell was found in a vacant house. She had been raped and strangled to death by Vernon Brown.

Despite the vacant house belonging to Brown’s grandmother and the fact he was seen with Campbell the evening before, there was not enough physical evidence to charge him.

It was another year until warrants were issued for his arrest, but he had skipped town and moved to Missouri. In 1985, Brown killed two young women in Missouri, along with another in 1986.

He was finally arrested on October 27^th 1986 and sentenced to death for two of the murders. Investigators have since linked him with at least five murders across Indiana and Missouri.

Brown was executed by lethal injection on May 17^th 2005.

1981

In Santa Monica, California, 12-year-old paperboy Benjamin Lee Brenneman disappeared after finishing his paper route near his home.

His father discovered his bicycle and canvas bag near the end of the route, shortly after. Benjamin had been raped, tortured, and strangled to death.

His body was discovered the next morning by three farmworkers in a rural area of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Robert Jackson Thompson was arrested two days later and subsequently convicted of the murder.

He was sentenced to death, despite claiming that paedophilia was a mental disorder that needed treatment.

1982

In Parley’s Canyon, Utah, 33-year-old Police Trooper Daniel M. Harris was killed in a motorcycle accident while attempting to catch a suspect’s vehicle.

The driver of the vehicle led him into parked traffic, forcing Harris to drop off the bike at high speed to avoid a larger accident.

He suffered massive head trauma and died instantly of his wounds. The driver of the vehicle and the vehicle itself have never been found. His case remains open.

1983

In West Berlin, West Germany, a large bomb exploded in a storage room of the Maison de France, home to the French Consulate.

The attack killed one person and injured another 23. The Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) claimed responsibility for the attack.

However, the bombing was carried out by Carlos the Jackal. Carlos, whose real name is Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, was a Venezuelan terrorist responsible for at least 16 murders.

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