True Crime On This Day January 20th

Last Updated on September 20, 2022 by Ben Oakley

January 20th

On January 20th in true crime, hijacking, assassination, bombing in Spain, vanished without a trace, mystery murder, and murder in Illinois.

1978

In Pakistan, a PIA Flight aircraft was hijacked by a gunman who demanded to be taken to India for cancer treatment. The flight, which was already grounded had only 22 passengers on board.

Air Marshal and managing director of PIA, Nur Khan, went onto the plane himself to bring the situation to an end. When he tried to overcome the hijacker, he was shot.

Despite the gun wound, he was able to fight and overpower the hijacker, bringing the situation to an end.

1979

In El Salvador, Roman Catholic priest, Father Octavio Ortiz Luna was assassinated. His murder was political, in that the Catholic Church in the country had sought a military dictatorship, which would ensure human rights for those suffering from poverty.

Archbishop Óscar Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez, later claimed that Luna’s murder was part of a systematic persecution of the Catholic Church.

1980

In Basque Country, Northern Spain, a bomb planted in a local bar exploded and killed four people with another 10 injured. The attack had been carried out by the Grupos Armados Españoles (GAE), who were an armed group operating in the Basque Country in the early years of Spanish democracy.

The bar had been a target as it was thought to have been a meeting point for Basque Nationalists. The bomb was placed in a cardboard box next to the entrance door.

The explosion was so powerful that it collapsed the roof of the building and split nearby cars in half. Investigators stated that one of the victim’s bodies had been ‘completely destroyed’. No arrests have ever been made.

1981

In Alberta, Canada, 33-year-old Cathy Honner Heath vanished without a trace. Her family reported her missing shortly after.

Some investigators claim she was married to a Ghost Riders biker gang member, who also disappeared but was later found.

Despite an ongoing investigation into her disappearance, no trace of Heath has ever been found but foul play has long been suspected.

1982

In Monkstown, County Dublin, Ireland, 32-year-old English gay man Charles Self was attacked and killed at his home. He had last been seen at a late-night bar called the Hotpot, after having spent the evening drinking with friends.

He was witnessed getting into a taxi with a blond-haired man in a suit at just gone midnight. The taxi driver later confirmed they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. In the morning, a flatmate opened the front door and found Self’s body lying in a pool blood beside the door.

He had been stabbed fourteen times and had his throat cut. Despite a large and ongoing investigation, Self’s killer has never been found and the circumstances surrounding his death remain a mystery. The blond man in the taxi has never been seen again.

1983

In Lincolnwood, Illinois, three days before he was to be sentenced for attempting to bribe US Senator Howard Cannon, 60-year-old Allen Dorfman was shot dead in a hotel car park.

The insurance company owner was known to have been a close associate of Jimmy Hoffa.

Dorfman was believed to have been killed by those close to Hoffa, to prevent him providing information about them in a possible plea bargain. No suspect has ever been caught.

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