True Crime On This Day May 31st

Last Updated on September 23, 2022 by Ben Oakley

May 31st

On May 31st in true crime, mystery murder, cold cases, killed in the line of duty, unsolved disappearances, The Scorpion serial killer.

1978

In Chicago, a 34-year-old nurse and mother, Noel Grippo, was brutally beaten to death in her home. The murder has remained a mystery ever since.

In 2016, one of Noel Grippo’s family members walked into the Chicago Ridge police station late one evening with family secrets that had been concealed since 1978.

What was said to investigators has remained private, but investigators believe they are close to an arrest. Still, as of 2020, the murder remains unsolved and is an active cold case in the State of Illinois.

1979

In Rutherford County, North Carolina, James W. Hutchins killed three police officers while attempting to avoid arrest for a domestic abuse incident.

Two officers were killed when they arrived at the Rutherford residence and another was killed while attempting to pull Hutchins over.

The officers were Roy Huskey, Owen Messersmith, and Pete Peterson. Hutchins was caught the next day and charged with the murders. He was sentenced to death and executed by lethal injection in North Carolina on March 16^th 1984.

1980

In Coventry, Connecticut, the body of local girl Louisa Scott was found on the banks of the Skungamaug River. She had been raped and strangled to death the day before.

In March of 1982, Edward Francis Boyle was charged with the murder. Boyle was already serving a six to 12-year sentence for the July 1980 rape of another woman.

He was also convicted of raping four more women from 1977 to 1980. For the murder of Scott, he was convicted on the lesser charge of manslaughter.

He served 16 years in prison before being released in 1999. In 2004, he was back in prison for raping a 14-year-old girl and has been denied parole at every opportunity since.

1981

In Darien, Connecticut, Patrolman Kenneth Bateman was shot dead after interrupting a burglary at a local restaurant.

At around 3am, he was dispatched to the Duchess Patio Restaurant on Post Road, in response to a silent alarm. Shortly after arriving, he was shot in the throat by a surprised burglar and died less than two hours later.

In 2004, Anthony Sabato was named as a suspect in the murder but no charges were brought against him. He has been arrested and charged multiple times since 1981 on burglary and assault charges.

Despite the belief that Sabato killed Bateman, investigators claim they never had enough evidence to put together a case against him.

As such, the death of Bateman is still the longest unsolved murder of a police officer in Connecticut history.

1982

In Maplewood, Minnesota, 28-year-old Craig Ronald Erickson disappeared and was never seen again. He wasn’t reported missing until July 1^st 1982.

He was known to have had a scar on the back of his thigh but no dental records, fingerprint records, or DNA records are available, making it extremely difficult to potentially match him to a John Doe.

Despite the lack of information about his disappearance, it has long been suspected that Craig was the victim of foul play. His disappearance has never been solved.

1983

In Poland, 37-year-old Polish serial killer Pawel Tuchlin, AKA: The Scorpion, was captured. In January 1983, a special group under codename ‘Scorpion’ was set up, consisting of 11 investigators to focus solely on capturing on Tuchlin.

He was later convicted of killing nine women with a bloody hammer, and the attempted murder of another 11. The hammer was carefully wrapped up with a bandage because he claimed it made his stomach cold when he wore his pants looking for victims.

After his sentencing he believed the authorities would release him from prison in order to hunt down the real murderer. He was hung in 1987 for his crimes.

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