True Crime On This Day July 7th

Last Updated on September 27, 2022 by Ben Oakley

July 7th

On July 7th in true crime, serial killer, massacre, mystery patient, murder in Maine, unidentified murder victim, teen model disappearance.

1978

In Kennebunk, Maine, 18-year-old Mary Ellen Tanner crossed the Mousam River Bridge and was never seen alive again.

Tanner’s body was found just a few days later near a grass airstrip known as Gracie Evans Field, a place considered so remote that only locals knew where it was.

The Mary Tanner murder is rife with conspiracy theories. Rumours of a resident cover-up abounded for decades after. As of 2022, the murder remains unsolved.

1979

In California, serial killer Thor Nis Christiansen was arrested on a drink-driving charge, but police did not know who they had in custody.

He was released shortly after but rearrested on July 11^th under extraordinary circumstances. Back on April 18^th 1979, 24-year-old Linda Preston was hitchhiking when Thor picked her up. She was violently attacked but managed to escape, even after been shot in the head.

On July 11^th, Preston spotter her attacker in a bar in Hollywood and called police immediately. Thor was then arrested and charged with four murders from 1976 to 1979.

He was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty. On March 30^th 1981, Thor was stabbed to death by another prison inmate. His own murderer has never been identified.

1980

In Safra, Lebanon, The Day of The Long Knives took place. It happened during the Lebanese civil war as part of a consolidation of Christian fighters under Lebanese leadership.

A 500-strong armed militia of the Lebanese Phalanges Party launched a surprise attack on the Tigers Militia and ended up killing an estimated 83 people. An unknown amount were injured.

1981

In San Francisco, California, an unidentified American Indian man died from multiple hematoma’s after being admitted to hospital on July 2^nd.

A hematoma is an extremely bad bruise where blood collects and pools under the skin. Hematoma’s in the head can cause fatal neurological problems, caused by pressure on the brain.

Despite emergency cranial surgery, the man died, leaving no information of who he was or who had caused the bruises on his head. It’s unclear how he came to be at the hospital. His identity remains a mystery.

1982

In Collier County, Florida, the decomposing body of an unidentified murder victim was discovered. A tourist from New Jersey was walking near the Tamiami Canal, near the Oasis Ranger Station, when he noticed the victim floating in the water.

The victim was in his twenties and had been shot dead just one day earlier. The water had accelerated his decomposition which made his face unrecognisable. Despite having DNA, fingerprint, and dental records, his identity remains a mystery.

The murder remains unsolved but detectives working on the case believe he may have been killed on Florida’s East Coast then dumped in the canal.

1983

In Cocoa Beach, Florida, 18-year-old child actress and teen model Tammy Lynn Leppert disappeared under suspicious circumstances.

She was last seen wearing a blue denim shirt decorated with flowers, along with a matching skirt.

A friend later told investigators that he had left her in a parking lot after an argument and it was suggested she had been picked up by her abductor shortly after.

An FBI investigation linked serial killer Christopher Bernard Wilder to her disappearance, but it has never been confirmed.

Wilder was known to have killed at least eight young women before he was shot dead by police on April 13^th 1984. Leppert was best known for her small role in 1983’s Scarface.

Despite claims of sightings over the years, no trace of her has ever been found, dead or alive, and her case remains unsolved.

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