True Crime On This Day January 12th

January 12th

On January 12th in true crime, air base bombing, cold cases, war crimes, mob boss, The Jacksonville Cannibal, and Andrei Chikatilo.

1978

In Uganda, Air Force Captain Patrick Isabirye was beheaded along with twelve other soldiers after being taken captive in December of 1977.

The bodies were found in a forest at Katuugo parish, Kakooge sub-County in Nakasongola. The murders were in retaliation for an assassination attempt on leader Idi Amin, who had become paranoid about the west and infiltrators in his military.

It remains unclear if Isabirye was involved in any assassination attempt.

1979

Italian-American organised crime figure, Giovanni Ignazio Dioguardi, died in a hospital after being moved there from a federal prison.

Also known as Johnny Dio, he was known for having been involved in an acid attack which led to newspaper journalist Victor Riesel being blinded.

In Martin Scorsese’s 1990 film, Goodfellas, Dio was played by actor Frank Pellegrino.

1980

In Sacramento, California, State University student 19-year-old Khymbrly Marcella Scruggs disappeared without a trace.

She lived in an apartment with a roommate who had spent the night with her boyfriend. She returned home to find that Khymbrly had vanished. Khymbrly had nothing planned and was scheduled to work the next day but never turned up.

All her personal belongings and clothes were still in the apartment which led to investigators suspecting foul play. No trace of Khymbrly has ever been found. Her disappearance is an active cold case in the State of California.

1981

In San Juan, Puerto Rico, in the early hours of the morning, the Boricua Popular Army, AKA: The Macheteros, carried out the largest attack on U.S. military forces since the Vietnam War.

The Macheteros were a Puerto Rican separatist organisation who bombed the Muñiz Air National Guard Base. A group of 11 Macheteros broke through the perimeter and placed 25 explosive devices within the Base.

The resulting explosions caused $45million (USD) of damages, destroyed 10 aircraft and one fighter jet. The Commandos were in and out within eight minutes. No one was ever arrested for the attack.

1982

In Jacksonville, Florida, 64-year-old George Sonnenberg was locked inside his home before the house was set alight, killing him.

He had been barricaded in his home by American serial killer Ottis Elwood Toole, AKA: The Jacksonville Cannibal. In April 1984, Toole was convicted and sentenced to death for Sonnenberg’s murder and the murder of 19-year-old Ada Johnson in February 1983.

The death sentences were later commuted to life, but Toole died in prison on September 15^th 1996.

Toole was confirmed to have killed six people from 1961 to 1983 but claimed he had killed hundreds more. His grandmother was alleged to have been a Satanist who taught him self-mutilation and grave robbing.

He was also linked with fellow serial killer Henry Lee Lucas who had been his sexual partner for at least six years. They referred to their crimes as a cult called The Hands of Death.

1983

In Rostov Oblast, Soviet Union, the decomposing body of 15-year-old Sergey Kuzmin was found in a remote forest between two local train stations.

There was no soft tissue left on his remains and was initially believed to be the remains of a young female. He had been brutally murdered by Russian serial killer Andrei Chikatilo, AKA: The Red Ripper.

Kuzmin had run away from the orphanage where he resided and was lured to his death by Chikatilo, who stalked local train stations looking for easy prey.

Chikatilo was captured in 1990 and found guilty of 52 murders. He was sentenced to death and executed on February 16th 1994.

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