True Crime On This Day March 30th

March 30th

On March 30th in true crime, floating bodies, assassinations, multiple murders, killed in the line of duty, and a Red River cold case.

1978

In Wales, United Kingdom, retired dentist John Connors was beaten to death in his own home. The following day, his body was discovered by social services.

There was no forced entry, and the suspect was said to have been known to the victim.

Despite witness accounts of a large man with dark hair seen nearby, no suspect has ever been caught and the murder remains a mystery to this day.

1979

British politician Airey Neave was assassinated by a car bomb in the parking area of the House of Commons, in Westminster.

Neave was the British Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and had been killed by the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA).

The bomb was magnetic with a ball bearing tilt-switch that was activated when he drove outside the Palace of Westminster car park. Neave was killed on the eve of the 1979 general election.

In a bizarre twist, research investigator Kevin Cahill, suggested that the murder was carried out by MI6 in conjunction with the CIA.

Cahill claimed to have had several conversations with politicians regarding Neave’s death, and they all said that no one could talk about it in detail because it would have been too dangerous.

The motive was because Neave was about to prosecute leading figures in intelligence organisations for corruption.

1980

At Miami Beach, Florida, two bodies were discovered floating in the water. One was a 40 to 50-year-old black man and the other was an 18 to 30-year-old black female.

An investigation began and concluded that both had been met with foul play and were not related to each other. Despite having recognisable faces, neither of the two bodies have ever been identified.

The circumstances of their deaths have long remained a mystery. It is suspected they may have been victims of the Miami drug wars of the 1980s.

1981

In Washington, D.C., U.S. President Ronald Reagan was shot in the chest as he walked out of the Washington Hilton Hotel. He had been attacked by John Hinckley Jr. who fired six shots in the direction of Reagan and his entourage.

The bullet that struck Reagan had ricocheted off a waiting limousine and hit him in the left side, puncturing a lung. Reagan remained in hospital for two weeks but survived the attack.

Press secretary James Brady, police officer Thomas Delahanty, and Secret Service Agent Tim McCarthy were also injured in the attack. Brady was left brain damaged and permanently disabled.

His death in 2014 was considered a homicide. Hinckley was arrested on the spot and claimed he carried out the attack to impress actress Jodie Foster, who he had become infatuated with.

Hinckley was later found not guilty by reason of insanity and admitted to a psychiatric facility. Despite Brady’s death being classed as a murder, Hinckley was discharged from psychiatric care on September 10^th 2016.

1982

In Huron, South Dakota, 31-year-old Police Sergeant and military veteran Thomas Lloyd Callies was stabbed to death when he and another officer responded to a domestic disturbance in the early hours of the morning.

They entered the residence when there was no reply, but as Callies ascended the stairs, a suspect jumped out and stabbed him in the side.

Callies managed to respond by shooting the suspect, who was arrested at the scene. Callies died of his wound shortly after as the knife had pierced his liver. The suspect was later sentenced to life in prison.

1983

In Red River Parish, Louisiana, 26-year-old Faye Aline Self left her baby with her mother and went out for the night.

She was last seen at the Wagon Wheel Bar & Restaurant with her friend, and two white males. The friends later claimed that Faye left the bar to collect her daughter as she had to be at work early.

Faye never arrived at her mother’s house and her locked car was still in the parking lot of the bar the following morning. Five years after her disappearance, Faye was declared dead by her family.

In 2006, in Colorado, Robert Charles Browne was charged with the murder of 15-year-old Rocio Sperry.

Browne had been the maintenance man at the apartment where Faye lived and claimed responsibility for her abduction and murder, along with two others from the same area. He confessed to dumping her body in a nearby river.

Browne later confessed to 47 other murders spanning various states across the country. Despite the claims of a huge number of murders, he was only ever convicted of two, with many investigators stating he is a self-professed serial killer and had nothing to with Faye’s murder.

Despite the confession, no trace of Faye has ever been found and her case remains unsolved.

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