True Crime On This Day December 11th

December 11th

On December 11th in true crime, the Lufthansa Heist, kidnapping, killed in the line of duty, murder, Andrei Chikatilo, and an unidentified body.

1978

The infamous Lufthansa Heist occurred at JFK International Airport, in New York. $5.875 million USD was stolen.

It was the largest cash robbery on American soil at the time and influenced the 1990 film, Goodfellas. The scale of the robbery made it one of the longest investigations in the USA.

1979

In Dallas, Texas, just one day after killing Stanton Winston Blanton during a robbery, fugitive and serial killer Donald Eugene Harding kidnapped the entire Baker family before robbing their home and leaving with an unknown amount of cash and goods.

He left the family tied up before moving across the State to Waco to continue his campaign of crime across America’s Southern and middle States. Harding was recaptured in 1980.

1980

In Marion County, Indiana, 44-year-old Indianapolis Police Sergeant Jack Ohrberg was shot dead as he and two other officers were serving papers on a suspect at a property.

He had been killed by Tommie J. Smith and Gregory Resnover, who were attempting to avoid arrest. Both Resnover and Smith were sentenced to death.

Resnover was executed on December 8^th 1994 and Smith was executed on July 18^th 1996.

1981

Outside of Maggie’s Restaurant in San Antonio, Texas, 21-year-old employee Carrie Marie Scott was shot dead during a robbery attempt.

The killer, Stephen Peter Morin, then stole Scott’s car and left the scene of the crime. On the same day, Morin abducted Margaret Mayfield from a local shopping centre and held her hostage in the car by driving around until the gas ran out.

Morin was arrested the next day while boarding a bus from Austin to Kerrville.

He was later convicted of three murders, including the 1981 murders of Janna Bruce in Corpus Christi and Sheila Whalen in Golden, Colorado.

He was sentenced to death and executed by lethal injection on March 13^th 1985. Over the years, Morin had been linked with 48 murders in multiple states. It remains unclear how many he may have been implicit in.

1982

In Rostov Oblast, Soviet Union, 10-year-old Olga Stalmachenok was brutally murdered by Russian serial killer Andrei Chikatilo, AKA: The Red Ripper. Her remains were found on a farm on April 14^th 1983.

Her heart had been cut out of her chest and removed. Chikatilo had enjoyed playing with the blood of his victims. He chewed upon the organs of his female victims and the testicles of his few male victims.

But he still maintained that he never ate them, he simply chewed and discarded. 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 San Jacinto County, Texas, hunters discovered the partial skeletal remains and soft tissue remnants of an unidentified white male in his Twenties.

He was found in a national forest hunting area and had been dead for at least six months. The exact circumstances of his death and his identity remain a mystery to this day.

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