True Crime On This Day December 8th

Last Updated on February 17, 2023 by Ben Oakley

December 8th

On December 8th in true crime, the murder of John Lennon, cold case mystery, macabre discovery, and assassination.

1978

In Massachusetts, 19-year-old Theresa Corley was found murdered and her body dumped on the side of Route 495 in Bellingham. She was found naked with her clothing next to her body and she had been strangled to death with a ligature.

During an investigation it appeared she might have been raped by three men who didn’t kill her, instead they left Corley to hitchhike home. The killer may have picked her up then, but the case remains unsolved.

1979

In Brunswick County, North Carolina, the decomposed remains of an African American female were discovered by a group of hunters near the Hooper Hill section of Leland.

Because of the decomposition of the body, investigators initially put the age of death between 13 to 56-years-old but a 2017 examination put her age between 42 and 55-years-old.

The only evidence to her identity was a yellow Snoopy watch. Investigators learned that she was indigenous to North Carolina. As of 2022, the identity of the body remains a mystery.

1980

In New York City, English musician and former Beatles star, John Lennon was shot dead by Mark David Chapman. Lennon was exiting his residence at the Dakota apartment building with his wife, Yoko Ono, when Chapman walked up behind them and shot Lennon four times in the back.

Chapman was a Beatles fan who had been angered by Lennon’s new lifestyle and public statements. He was also inspired to kill by the character of Holden Caulfield from J. D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye, which has gone on to be the subject of conspiracies ever since.

When he was arrested, he was reading the novel, with the intention of it being his manifesto.

Chapman had planned the murder for many months and had travelled from Hawaii to wait for Lennon outside the Dakota building.

Shortly before killing Lennon, Chapman had met him at an album signing. In the days following Lennon’s murder, three Beatles fans took their own lives.

At the time of the funeral on the 12^{th of} December, many countries across the world held a ten-minute silence and some radio stations went off the air temporarily. Chapman was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison.

He became eligible for parole in 2000 but has been denied release on at least 10 separate occasions.

1981

In Fayetteville, North Carolina, the skull of an unidentified black male in his twenties, was discovered behind a nightclub. It had been found by workers who were cleaning up the area.

An autopsy concluded the man had been dead for at least six months. The rest of his body was never recovered, leading some investigators to suggest he was killed and then decapitated.

The circumstances of his death and his identity remain a mystery.

1982

In Paramaribo, Suriname, journalist Abraham Maurits ‘Bram’ Behr was assassinated by the military at Fort Zeelandia. On April 7^th, he had been arrested for writing a book about the atrocities committed by the military.

He had initially supported the 1980 military coup but then became one of the leading oppositionists to the regime of Dési Bouterse. On June 24^th 1981, Behr became one of the founders of the Communist Party of Suriname.

Then on December 8^th 1982, he was shot dead along with 14 other military opposers. The incident became known as the December Murders.

1983

In Northern District, Israel, 14-year-old Israeli Danny Katz was murdered by a Palestinian militant. He was last seen alive leaving his home to visit a friend but disappeared on the way.

Three days later, his mutilated body was found at the mouth of a remote cave in the Sakhnin region. He had been raped, tortured, and strangled to death. There were signs that he had been beaten with chains while tied to the cave wall.

The attack was one of many aimed at Israeli children during the early 1980s. An investigation led to the arrests of five men who all admitted to torturing and killing Katz. All five were sentenced to life in prison.

2004

In Columbus, Ohio at a Damageplan gig, heavy metal guitarist Darrell Lance Abbott, AKA Dimebag Darrell, was shot dead along with two other people by a crazed fan.

The former Pantera guitarist was on stage with his new band when Nathan Bray broke through security and opened fire. The murder happened exactly 24 years after the murder of John Lennon.