True Crime On This Day May 14th

Last Updated on September 23, 2022 by Ben Oakley

May 14th

On May 14th in true crime, Mother’s Day murders, massacre, capture of the Trailside Killer, macabre discovery, the Scorecard Killer.

1978

In Victoria, British Columbia, on Mother’s Day 1978, Tommy Ross Jr. strangled to death 26-year-old mother and model Janice Forbes in her own apartment.

Ross was caught shortly after and sentenced to life in prison. He served 40 years and was released in 2018. But just six hours later, he had been rearrested due to a jurisdiction issue.

The courts decision was reversed when they realised they had released a violent criminal too soon. Another five hours passed and Ross was sent back to prison.

1979

In Denver Colorado, 76-year-old jewellery store owner Benjamin ‘Ben the Silversmith’ Goldstein was shot dead during a robbery.

In the evening, two robbers had broken into the premises and awoken Goldstein who was in the back at the time. He went to confront them but was shot dead and the suspects fled the scene.

The identity of the two suspects remain a mystery. As of 2022, the murder remains unsolved but is an active cold case in the city of Denver.

1980

In Chalatenango, El Salvador, the Sumpul River Massacre took place and left hundreds of refugee’s dead. The massacre took place during the Salvadoran Civil War which lasted from 1979 until 1992.

The Salvadoran military and pro-government paramilitaries launched an attack on the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN).

The offensive led to hundreds of refugees who were then attacked by the Salvadoran military as they tried to cross the border into Honduras. An estimated 300 to 600 refugees were killed.

Both Honduras and El Salvador denied responsibility for the attack, which was described by the United Nations as a serious violation of international law.

1981

In San Francisco, California, David Joseph Carpenter, AKA: The Trailside Killer, was arrested after being kept under surveillance as a suspect in multiple murders.

Carpenter killed hikers in state parks in and around San Francisco from 1979 to 1980. In 1960, he was sentenced to seven years in prison for an attempted murder. Three years after his release, in 1970, he was sentenced to another seven years for kidnapping.

His first murder victim was 44-year-old Edda Kane, whose nude body was discovered on the hiking trail at Mt. Tamalpais State Park, on August 20th 1979.

From then, Carpenter killed at least nine more people using a .44 calibre handgun. On July 6^th 1984, Carpenter was sentenced to death in California.

Carpenter was also a suspect in the Zodiac murders after claiming he was the notorious unidentified killer.

1982

In Atlantic County, New Jersey, the partial skeletal remains of a white adult male between the ages of 35 to 45-years-old, were discovered in a marshy meadow.

They were found by fishermen near the Golden Hammock Thorofare, a body of water where Sandbar Sharks and Seabass are commonly caught. Despite dental records being available, they have never been matched to a missing person.

The hands and feet were never recovered but investigators have long suspected foul play. The identity of the man remains a mystery.

1983

In Orange County, California, serial killer Randy Steven Kraft, AKA: The Scorecard Killer, was captured after a 12-year campaign of violence that left at least 16 people dead.

He was caught by two highway patrol officers who noticed a vehicle acting erratically on Interstate 5. The drunk driver turned out to be Kraft, who had his final victim beside him in the passenger seat.

While one officer arrested Kraft, the other approached the car and found the body of 25-year-old Marine Terry Lee Gambrel, who had been strangled to death.

Kraft was later convicted of 16 murders but it is suggested he may have been responsible for 67. His crimes are still being investigated to this day.

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