True Crime On This Day June 9th

June 9th

On June 9th in true crime, Sydney ghost train fire, mass animal slaughter, serial killers, unsolved homicide, vanished without a trace.

1978

In Southland, New Zealand, the ‘Bloody Friday’ protests took place. Farmers from across the country funnelled 1,300 ewes down Dee St. in Invercargill and let them roam the streets before slaughtering them in public at the Victoria Avenue section.

They killed them because they were frustrated with the chaos across the meat industry and the lack of support for their livestock.

The farmers had been left with hungry sheep, claiming there was not enough food and that the sheep desperately needed to be killed. The protest changed the face of farming across the country shortly after.

1979

At Luna Park, Sydney, six children and one adult were killed when the theme park’s ghost train ride caught fire. The park was shut down and a federal investigation begun.

The cause was initially put down to inadequate fire-fighting measures and lack of staff which caused the fire to spread.

The cause of the fire remained unsolved and no criminal proceedings were brought to the park. The park remained closed until 1982 when it reopened under a different name.

In 1987, the case into the fire was reopened but no new findings were made which led to public outcry. The police investigation and inquiry were criticised.

20 years later, in May 2007, Anne Buckingham, who was the niece of mob boss Abe Saffron, came forward with claims that Saffron was responsible for the fire.

She claimed the attack was part of a plan to gain ownership of Luna Park. Yet, the cause of the fire remains a mystery.

1980

In Atlanta, 12-year-old Christopher Richardson disappeared while walking to the local swimming pool at DeKalb County’s Midway Recreation Centre.

His body was discovered in a remote wooded area in January of 1981. He had been dressed in swimming trunks that did not belong to him. His body was found beside Earl Terrell, another young victim who disappeared in July of 1980.

Both had been victims of the infamous Atlanta Murders. They were a series of murders committed in Atlanta from July 1979 to May 1981 and included the deaths of at least 28 children and adults.

In 2019, Atlanta police reopened all the Atlanta murder cases to use new technology that may lead them to the culprit of the crimes.

1981

In Denver, Colorado, shortly after midnight, 20-year-old Michael Badley was stabbed to death. He was passing through the parking lot of the White Spot Restaurant, when he noticed a fight happening between two adult men.

It remains unclear exactly what happened next, but at some point, one of the men came over and stabbed him multiple times.

He was immediately taken to hospital but later died of his injuries. Despite witnesses, no suspects have ever been caught and Badley’s murder remains unsolved.

1982

In Thurso, Scotland, 18-year-old Robert Adaway was celebrating his Eighteenth birthday when he disappeared without a trace.

He was last seen in and around Thurso with suggestions that he had been hitchhiking. A large search went underway, including searches of nearby rail routes and shorelines but no trace of him was ever found.

In 2018, his two brothers were granted a death certificate in a bid to wind up their late father’s estate. Robert’s disappearance remains a mystery and has never been solved.

1983

In Croom, Maryland, 20-year-old Kimberly Christine Mileo disappeared under suspicious circumstances. She had spent the day with her boyfriend, Dana Hudson and some friends.

Her friends and their families claimed that the couple would argue constantly but were not violent towards one another. Mileo left with Hudson just before midnight and drove to Hudson’s home.

Hudson claimed that Mileo left his home in the early hours of the morning but she was never seen again.

Despite investigators looking at Hudson as a suspect, there was no evidence to charge him with anything. Two days later, Mileo’s abandoned car was discovered approximately ten miles away from the Hudson home.

Her purse and personal belongings were still inside the locked vehicle, along with a single rose that Hudson had given her.

Hudson later failed a polygraph test and there were rumours that his father helped cover up any crime that may have been committed. No charges have ever been brought against them. No trace of Mileo has ever been found, dead or alive.

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