True Crime On This Day June 12th

June 12th

On June 12th in true crime, a day of bodies and missing people, serial killers, assassination, cold case in Colorado, murder in New Orleans.

1978

David Berkowitz, AKA: the Son of Sam, was sentenced to 365 years in prison. It was a landmark case. Berkowitz’s campaign of terror brought 1977 to its knees and set the horrific standard for the year to follow.

He killed six people between 1976 and 1977 but his trial in 1978 caught the public’s interest in a major way.

1979

In Tanzania, the ‘Malcolm X of South Africa’, David Bambatha Maphgumzana Sibeko, was assassinated. Sibeko had become a leading figure within the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) and used his position to bring the PAC into mainstream thinking.

Sibeko was shot dead in his flat in Oyster Bay, after an argument with members of the Second Azanian People’s Liberation Army.

1980

In Salida, Colorado, 32-year-old Beverly Lynn England disappeared from her hometown after going to meet a mystery woman but she never returned.

In 1992, her skeletal remains were discovered in the Mount Shavano area but she remained unidentified. In a cold case in 2015, new DNA technology identified her, which led to a new investigation into her suspected murder.

1981

In New Orleans, Louisiana, 31-year-old restaurant manager and Baptist minister, George Abshire, was stabbed to death.

The Bonanza Steakhouse, now a funeral home, closed at 11pm and the workers began clearing up. Just before midnight, Abshire spoke to his wife on the phone and said he was on his way home.

Shortly after, one of the departing restaurant workers claimed he saw three unidentified males hanging out at the back of the property.

Three hours later, when Abshire didn’t return home, the police were called. They entered the restaurant and found Abshire in a pool of blood. Over $5,000 (USD) was missing from the safe in the backroom, and there was no sign of forced entry.

Despite multiple suspects, and reports of disgruntled employees, Abshire’s murder remains unsolved.

1982

In Rostov, Soviet Union, 13-year-old Lyubov Biryuk was brutally murdered by Russian serial killer Andrei Chikatilo, AKA: The Red Ripper.

He lured her away then stabbed her at least 40 times before dumping her body in the undergrowth. Her remains were found on June 27^th.  Chikatilo was captured in 1990 and found guilty of 52 murders despite confessing to 56.

Almost all of his victims suffered sexual assault and mutilation. He was sentenced to death for each and every one and executed by shooting on February 16^th 1994.

1983

In San Francisco, a fishing boat in the bay pulled their nets to surface and found the decomposed body of a white adult male. The body was taken to the Fort Point Coast Guard Station. He has never been identified.

On the same day

In Fort Smith, Arkansas, the body of a white adult male in his Twenties was found in the river by Lock workers at the Lock and Dam Southend 4^th Gate. It was suspected that the victim had floated from Oklahoma on the Arkansas River. Due to the decomposition of the body, he has never been identified.

On the same day

In the Kinistin First Nation, Canada, 59-year-old Roy Nippi, who was last seen near Tisdale, vanished without a trace. A huge search got underway, and investigations continued for years but no trace of him has ever been found.

One the same day

In Vancouver, Canada, 25-year-old Ramsay Milne disappeared after last being seen on the Lions Gate bridge. Despite suggestions of suicide, investigators have never found a body, and as such, he remains listed as a missing person.

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