True Crime On This Day August 4th

August 4th

On August 4th in true crime, death of a seagull, cop killer, assassination, cold case disappearance, unsolved homicide, and murder.

1978

In Iowa, 20-year-old Grinnell College and Department of Transportation intern student Camille Njus was reported missing after failing to return home after the weekend.

Her disappearance remained a mystery until October 18^th 1978 when her body was discovered in a shallow grave beneath shrubbery near the Des Moines River.

As of 2022, her death remains a mystery and is an active cold case in the State of Iowa.

1979

In El Salvador, a third Roman Catholic priest is assassinated, after two previous assassinations on January 20^th and June 20^th 1979. Father Alirio Napoleón Macías was murdered by an unknown assassin.

He was killed because the Catholic Church in the country had sought a military dictatorship, which would mean human rights for their poor masses.

All the priest’s murders were considered to be part of a sustained attack on the Catholic Church. The culprits involved in all three assassinations have never been identified or caught.

1980

In Losco County, Michigan, 20-year-old Cherita Janice Thomas disappeared while driving her brown AMA Matador on a roadway near her home.

She had been on her way to pick up her daughter who was at a babysitter’s home, near to the local police station.

Witnesses claim they saw the car just two blocks from the babysitter’s home, front to front with another vehicle. One witness even claimed that she got into the opposite vehicle before it drove off.

Investigators have long since suspected that she had been the victim of foul play. No trace of Cherita has ever been found.

1981

In Cherry Hills, Colorado, the body of 35-year-old Sylvia Quayle was discovered in her home by family members after they struggled to contact her.

Investigators learned she had been stabbed multiple times and then shot once with a small calibre bullet. She had died of her injuries at least half a day before her discovery.

No suspect has ever been caught and her death remains unsolved.

1982

In Nashville, Tennessee, 27-year-old Police Officer William Lee Bowlin was shot and killed during an ambush. He and two officers had responded to calls of a domestic disturbance after shots had been fired.

The 54-year-old suspect, who had just received a court judgment to give his ex-girlfriend his two lawnmowers and car, waited in the bushes for the officers to arrive.

After not receiving a response at the front door, Bowlin returned to his vehicle where the suspect shot him in the head. The suspect was later sentenced to life in prison but was paroled at some point after 2003.

1983

Death of a Seagull

At the Toronto Exhibition Stadium in Canada, during a Major League game between the New York Yankees, and the Toronto Blue Jays, Yankee’s outfielder Dave Winfield threw a warm-up ball in the middle of the fifth inning that struck and killed a seagull.

After the game ended, Winfield, an all-star athlete and future Blue Jay player, was taken to a police station and charged with cruelty to animals.

Amazingly, the body of the seagull was taken to the University of Guelph for a full autopsy to ascertain the cause of death.

All charges were dropped shortly after. CBC stated that never before had one bird caused such a flap.

Check out the Mega List of True Crime Podcasts