True Crime On This Day March 9th

Last Updated on September 22, 2022 by Ben Oakley

March 9th

On March 9th in true crime, killer Playboy bunny, bank robber, serial killer capture, mystery disappearance, assassination, and murder.

1978

In Sydney, Australia, the last of eight robberies was carried out by bank robber Ross Oliver McCarty. He stole $2,000 (AUD) from the National Bank of Australasia in Sydney.

The robberies remained a mystery until 2018 when 69-year-old McCarty was arrested for the crimes. He admitted to being drunk every time he robbed a bank and struggled to recall the details of the events.

1979

In Westhampton Township, New Jersey, 17-year-old lab technician Lorraine ‘Lori’ Rea Herbster, vanished without a trace.

She had left her job for the day at the Microcircuit Corporation in Mount Holly and was given a lift home by a co-worker. The co-worker dropped her off just six blocks from her residence.

A witness saw her walking towards her home, but within just a few blocks, Herbster vanished. As of 2022, her disappearance remains a mystery. No trace of Herbster has ever been found.

1980

In Ecuador, Pedro Lopez, AKA: The Monster of the Andes was arrested for the murders of an estimated 300 children.

He had been released in 1978 from a Colombian prison and fled to Peru where he started killing. Upon his release and until his subsequent arrest on March 9^th 1980, he would kill on average three children every week.

He preferred to kill girls between eight and 12-years-old and had no racial preference. He attempted to abduct and kill white foreign girls but he said they were too closely watched by their families.

He would prepare graves for the girls and generally take them from one area to one mass grave. Mostly, they were filled with the bodies of other small girls he had killed.

He would become the most prolific known serial killer in the world, with over 300 murders. Due to the Ecuadorian legal system, he was released from a psychiatric hospital in 1994.

Astonishingly, his whereabouts are currently unknown. It has been suspected that he may have been killed by family members of the victims.

1981

In Indiana, the only 1981 execution in the United States took place. Serial killer, Steven Timothy Judy, was arrested in May 1979 and charged with the murders of eight women and three children throughout the 1970s.

He killed in multiple states including Indiana, Texas, Louisiana, and California. Judy was a serial rapist who sexually tortured his victims before either strangling or drowning them to death.

He was executed by lethal injection and his last words were “I don’t hold any grudges. This is my doing. Sorry it happened.”

1982

Back on May 28^th 1981, in Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Christine Schultz was shot dead in her home. Before her death, she had been gagged, blindfolded, and tied up with rope.

She had been murdered by former police officer and Playboy Bunny, Laurie ‘Bambi’ Bembenek who was in a relationship with Schultz’s ex-husband, Fred.

Bembenek was arrested shortly after and found guilty on this day in 1982 and sentenced to life in prison.

Bembenek made the headlines again in 1990, when she escaped from Taycheedah Correctional Institution via a laundry room window.

After intense media coverage, Bembenek returned to the United States from Canada in 1991.

A retrial sentenced to her to 20 years but commuted to time served and she was released shortly after. Her case inspired two TV movies and multiple books. She died in 2010 of natural causes.

1983

In Belgrade, Yugoslavia, Turkish ambassador to the country, Galip Balkar, was assassinated by two Armenian gunmen. Balkar’s vehicle was attacked when he stopped for a red light in a busy area of the city.

The two attackers, who were on foot, ran away from the scene and shot dead a civilian who attempted to stop them. Two security agents gave chase resulting in a shoot-out in downtown Belgrade, but they managed to escape.

Balkar died of his wounds two days later. The Armenian militant group, Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide (JCAG), claimed responsibility for the attack. The two gunmen were later caught and each sentenced to 20 years in prison.

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