True Crime On This Day December 14th

December 14th

On December 14th in true crime, gruesome discovery in Colorado, cold case disappearance, murder, death sentence, and execution.

1978

In Columbus, Ohio, at some point in the late evening on the 14^th or early morning of the 15^th, 21-year-old mother Marilyn Wray was strangled to death.

Her six-year-old daughter was asleep in the next room. At seven in the morning, Marilyn’s body was discovered by her 16-year-old sister who lived nearby. As of 2022, the murder remains unsolved and is an active cold case in the State of Ohio.

1979

In Florida, Paul William Scott was sentenced to death for the robbery and murder of jewellery shop owner James Alessi, in his own home in April of 1978.

Scott and an accomplice, Richard Kondian, broke into Alessi’s home and fought with him. Alessi was beaten so badly that his skull had been crushed. One month later, his nude body was discovered on his sofa. He was covered in blood and had been restrained.

Kondian was sentenced to 45 years in prison and released on parole in 1994. Scott was sentenced to death for the murder.

1980

In Denver, Colorado, police responded to reports of a body floating in a drainage ditch near the Pepsi-Cola Company buildings. She was identified as 18-year-old Julie Marchese.

When the coroner autopsied her body, it showed that she was strangled to death and had been killed two days earlier.

The water had removed evidence from her body and no suspect could be identified. 42 years later, the investigation remains unsolved.

1981

In Kentucky, 31-year-old unemployed deckhand Edward Hale Tidwell set off to see a man in Sturgis and never returned.

He told his wife he was going to get alcohol from the man but there are claims he might have crossed the state line into Southern Illinois and may have been intoxicated while driving. The man he was supposed to have met has never been identified.

Tidwell was said to have loved his family and had no troubles in life. No trace of him or his yellow 1974 Chevrolet Bel Air have ever been found.

Investigators concluded if he had driven off the road then his vehicle would have been discovered easily enough. As such, foul play has long been suspected.

1982

In Bolton, England, the partially-mummified remains of an unidentified adult female were discovered in a residence at 27 Bromwich Street.

Her body had been there since the mid-1960s and was hidden behind furniture. She was found on a makeshift bed of newspapers and cardboard and had rosary beads on her person.

A facial reconstruction of the woman was created in order to identify her. A local female came forward to claim that it was the body of her mother, Ruth Hanratty, who had vanished in 1960 but DNA proved otherwise. Hanratty has never been found since.

In 2013, another person came forward to suggest the woman was a drinker at the town’s Gypsy Tent Bar and was known as Brenda. Despite the claim, the identity of the woman and the circumstances surrounding her death remain a mystery.

1983

In Louisiana, convicted murderer Robert Wayne Williams was executed in the electric chair. He was the first person to be executed in Louisiana since the reintroduction of the death penalty in 1976.

In January 1979, Williams and accomplice Ralph Holmes robbed the A&P Supermarket in Baton Rouge. During the robbery, Williams shot and killed 67-year-old security guard Willie Kelly. He also shot two customers in the lower legs.

Both men were arrested shortly after. Holmes was sentenced to life in prison while Williams was sentenced to death.

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