True Crime On This Day August 9th

August 9th

On August 9th in true crime, restaurant attack, Andrei Chikatilo, crime spree, assassination, cold cases, murder, unsolved true crime.

1978

In Polk County, Iowa, 59-year-old Glenn W. Turner was brutally murdered, and his body left in the back of a van.

The van was located near the popular Latin King Restaurant where an employee found his body the following evening.

Turner had been killed by a blunt object to the head and had been dead at least 24 hours before his discovery. The murder remains unsolved and is an active cold case in the State of Iowa.

1979

In Los Angeles, the founder of the infamous Crips gang, Raymond Lee Washington, was assassinated in a drive-by shooting. He had just been released from prison, after serving five years for robbery.

Washington had founded the Crips as a minor street gang in the 1960s. By 1971 the Crips became the first major African-American street gang in Los Angeles.

1980

In Shelby County, Tennessee, Gary Bradford Cone began a crime spree that ended with the deaths of an elderly couple.

It began in the middle of the day on the 9^th when Cone robbed a jewellery store in Memphis and eloped with over $112,000 (USD) of watches, rings, and stones.

The owner gave a description to police and a few moments later, they were involved in a high-speed police chase. Cone abandoned the car in a residential area of the city and opened fire on police.

He shot and wounded one officer and one citizen before making his escape. The following morning, in the same residential area, after pulling his gun on more people, he broke into the home of 93-year-old Shipley Todd and his wife, 79-year-old Cleopatra Todd.

Over the next few hours, the Todd’s were beaten and mutilated by Cone. He stole enough cash to catch a flight from Memphis to Florida, where he was arrested shortly after.

Despite pleading insanity, Cone was sentenced to death on July 29^th 1982.

1981

In Palm Beach, Florida, Donald Bohannon died from 31 stab wounds while he slept in his own home. He was attacked by Jerry Haliburton who had broken into the home to rob it.

Haliburton was on parole at the time for a previous robbery. He later claimed to his brother that he killed Bohannon purely to see if he could kill another human being.

Haliburton was arrested in late 1981 and charged with the murder. He was sentenced to death and despite numerous appeals, he remains on death row.

1982

In Paris, France, the Chez Jo Goldenberg restaurant attack took place, killing six people and wounding another 22. The attack on the Jewish restaurant was carried out by the Abu Nidal Organization.

They were a group that splintered from the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, a faction of the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization), now known as Fatah. Two attackers threw grenades into the restaurant then opened fire on diners.

It was considered one of the largest attacks on Jews in France since World War Two. It wasn’t until December 2020, when one of the suspects was handed over to French authorities.

1983

In Rostov, Russia, just one day after the body of Irina Dunenkova was found, Russian serial killer Andrei Chikatilo, AKA: The Red Ripper, claimed his youngest victim.

Seven-year-old Igor Gudkov was lured away from his family and into Aviator’s Park. There, Chikatilo butchered and mutilated him before leaving his body in the undergrowth.

Gudkov’s remains were found three weeks later. Chikatilo was captured in 1990 and found guilty of 52 murders. He was sentenced to death and executed on February 16^th 1994.

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