True Crime On This Day January 30th

January 30th

On January 30th in true crime, taxicab murder, robbery, mystery airplane disappearance, macabre discovery, cold case murder in Colorado.

1978

In Louisiana, Benjamin Barry shot and killed an off-duty sheriff’s deputy during a botched bank robbery. Robert Cochran had been moonlighting as a bank guard at the time of his death.

Barry was arrested shortly after and sentenced to death for the robbery and murder. He was executed by electrocution in Louisiana on June 7^th 1987.

1979

International cargo flight Varig Flight 967 vanished without a trace while en-route from Narita International Airport, Japan, to Rio de Janeiro–Galeão International Airport, Brazil.

The flight route included a stopover at Los Angeles International Airport, but 30 minutes after take-off, radio contact was lost.

As of 2022, no trace or wreckage of the flight, or a Boeing 707-323C cargo aircraft has ever been found. The six crew members on board have always been assumed to have gone down with the plane.

It remains the largest aircraft to have completely disappeared. Notable cargo included a $1.25million USD collection of paintings by Japanese artist Manubu Mabe.

1980

Marion County, Indiana, taxi driver Kenneth Chambers was killed by Gary Burris and robber by two accomplices, Emmett Merriweather and James Thompson. Chambers’ nude body was found face down in an alley, in the early hours of the morning.

He had been tied up and shot in the head. The three of them were caught the next day when investigators read the cab company log and saw that Burris was the last passenger.

Merriweather was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Thompson was sentenced to 50 years in prison. Burris was sentenced to death and executed by lethal injection on November 20^th 1997.

1981

In Hillsborough, California, the partial skeletal remains of an unidentified white adult male between the ages of 20 to 30, were discovered in a local canyon.

The bones were found by a group of children playing in the area. An unregistered, Taurus gun was found nearby with one spent round and five live rounds.

An autopsy showed the man had died between 1970 and 1976 and there were no identifying medical marks on the skeleton. It is suspected he took his own life but foul play has never been ruled out, and as such, his case remains open and unsolved.

1982

In Denver, Colorado, 88-year-old John Dulla died of head injuries he received during a robbery at his home in October 1981. Dulla went to the bank to cash his Social Security check but was followed by an unidentified man as he left.

When Dulla arrived home, the man knocked him to the ground where he smashed his head on the side of a concrete step. His death was later ruled a homicide and despite a large investigation, the killer has never been caught.

It remains an active cold case investigation. Dulla’s wife died in 2005, aged 105-years-old.

1983

In Chicago, Illinois, 26-year-old Howard Jackson was shot to death on the second floor of a two-flat apartment on 6921 South Paulina, which he shared with his girlfriend, Darlene.

His killer, 57-year-old Charles Glass, lived on the first-floor apartment with his wife, Dorothy Gregory, who owned the building.

Glass had returned to his apartment on the evening of the 30^th to find a drunken Jackson sitting on the couch next to his wife.

Glass claimed he repeatedly asked Jackson to leave, and a heated argument erupted. Jackson allegedly put his hands into his back pockets, and Glass pulled out his firearm, assuming Jackson was going to attack him.

Glass shot Jackson three times, killing him instantly. He was arrested the same night and later sentenced to 20 years in prison.

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