True Crime On This Day March 31st

Last Updated on February 17, 2023 by Ben Oakley

March 31st

On March 31st in true crime, hostage siege, the bedroom basher serial killer, murder, unsolved homicide, unidentified remains and cold cases.

1978

In Melbourne, Australia, in the early hours, Amos Atkinson burst into the Italian Waiters Club in Meyers Place with two shotguns held to the neck of a taxi driver.

He ended up taking 20 people hostage inside the club which led to a stand-off with around 100 police officers. Amos was identified as having dined in the club just a few hours earlier.

He was seeking the release of infamous Aussie criminal, Mark ‘Chopper’ Read. Amos surrendered when his own mother turned up in her dressing gown to act as a go-between negotiator.

1979

In California, American serial Killer Gerald Parker, AKA: The Bedroom Basher, entered the apartment of 21-year-old Kimberly Rawlins. He raped and killed her by hitting her on the head with a blunt object.

The weapon was deduced to be either a baseball bat or wooden pole. Parker killed six people from 1978 to 1979. He was finally convicted in February of 1999 and sentenced to death. As of 2022 he remains on death row.

1980

In Detroit, 27-year-old Linda Monteiro was strangled to death in her own driveway as she returned home from a night club. In 1979 and 1980, there were multiple murders of women in the Detroit area.

In December 1980, Donald Murphy was arrested for the murders of two women in October and November. He was later convicted of them but confessed to three more killings.

On May 23^rd 1982, serial killer Carl Eugene Watts, AKA: The Sunday Morning Slasher, was arrested and charged with 12 murders. He was later convicted of two of them and sentenced to life in prison.

Watts body count is suspected to be closer to 100 victims across an eight-year period. He is suspected to have killed his first victim at the age of 15-years-old.

When he was 20-years-old, in 1974, he was kidnapping victims from their home, torturing them, and brutally murdering them. His crimes were not thought to be sexually related, and it became difficult to link just one person with the murders.

He never confessed to the Monteiro murder, but he died in 2007, taking any secrets with him to the grave. Monteiro’s murder remains unsolved.

1981

In Hooksett, New Hampshire, the body of 36-year-old Carl C. Lechel was discovered in a remote wooded area by loggers. He had been reported missing on January 24^th 1981.

An autopsy showed that he was beaten around the head with a blunt object and then had his throat slashed. Lechel had been convicted for the kidnapping of a seven-year-old girl in 1976 and was sentenced to life in prison.

Despite his sentence, he was released in early 1981 for good behaviour, and was mysteriously killed shortly afterwards. No suspect has even been identified and his murder remains unsolved.

1982

In Broward, County, Florida, the skeletal remains of an unidentified white male between the ages of 35 to 45-years-old were discovered. They had been found by construction workers who were digging at a nearby site.

An investigation learned the man had been killed at some point in early 1982, and his remains buried in a shallow grave. He was found wearing Sears King of the Road jogging trousers. His identity remains a mystery.

1983

In Englewood, Colorado, 22-year-old Pamela Lynne Neal disappeared after last being seen at her place of work.

Neal was an employee of the Key Savings and Loan bank in the city and was last seen leaving for her lunch break at 2pm. According to witnesses, she had cashed a cheque at another bank, bought some take-out food and stopped to purchase a lottery ticket.

She never returned to work. Neal’s roommate later discovered her lunch bag in the apartment they shared. Beside the bag was the unused lottery ticket along with her purse.

The door to the apartment was also slightly ajar. Neal’s disappearance remains a mystery, but it is strongly suspected she was met with foul play. No trace of her has ever been found, dead or alive.

1995

Latina singer Selena Quintanilla-Pérez went to a Days Inn motel in Corpus Christi, Texas, to meet the tempestuous director of her official fan club, Yolanda Saldívar.

Yolanda had been stealing money from the accounts and had recently been fired. Selena demanded she hand over the fan club records so they could investigate.

But Yolanda shot Selena in the back who died of the wound shortly after. Yolanda was later convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.