True Crime On This Day November 17th

Last Updated on September 16, 2022 by Ben Oakley

November 17th

On November 17th in true crime, the Burger Chef murders, serial killers, cold cases, deadly football violence and a Heathrow murder.

1978

The Burger Chef Murders occurred at a Burger Chef restaurant in Speedway, Indiana. Four young employees of the restaurant went missing in an assumed cash theft.

Two days later, their bodies were discovered by hikers in the woods of Johnson County. Two of the employees had been shot execution-style, one had been beaten to death supposedly with a chain.

The other had been stabbed in the chest. The handle of the knife was broken, and the blade was only recovered in an autopsy.

The killer or killers have never been found but it is an active cold case and has many forums and social media pages dedicated to the search.

1979

In San Bernardino, California, the body of crane operator Raymond Hopton was found in his home. He had been shot dead by an unknown assailant.

Hopton was a member of the Steel Workers Union and held the position of grievance representative. Hopton was last seen alive in the early hours of the morning at the Fontana Inn Bar.

No suspect has ever been identified and it remains an active cold case in the State of California.

1980

In California, on November 17th, the reign of one of the most infamous serial killing couples came to an end. Gerald Armond Gallego and Charlene Adell Gallego, AKA: The Love Slave Killers, were captured after killing at least 10 young girls between 1978 and 1980.

They turned their victims into sex slaves before brutally murdering them. Their arrest came about after the kidnapping of their final victim had been witnessed.

The police then tracked them using the Gallego’s number plate. Charlene testified against her husband in a plea deal that only saw her receive a 16-year sentence. Charlene claims that it was Gerald who killed every single one of the victims. She was released under a new identity in 1997.

Gerald was sentenced in 1983 to death by gas chamber at the notorious San Quentin State Prison. He died of cancer in a Nevada prison medical centre, in 2002.

1981

In Fayette County, Ohio, the nude body of an unidentified man in his late teens or early twenties was fished out of the Paint Creek. He was completely nude when found and there was no sign of any clothing nearby.

Divers searched the river but found no evidence of who the man was or how he came to be in the water. An autopsy confirmed he had been shot twice, and the bullets had passed through his chest.

After he had been shot, the wounds were cut open with a knife, suggesting the killer or killers were trying to recover the bullets, and he was stabbed at least ten times.

The investigation also discovered he had tan lines similar to male bikini bottoms and was likely to have been a Caucasian-Hispanic mix.

It has been suggested he was killed elsewhere and dumped in the creek. Despite having recognisable features, his identity remains a mystery. His case remains unsolved to this day.

1982

At the Pascual Guerrero Stadium, Colombia, rivalry between fans of two Colombian football teams, America de Cali and Deportivo Cali, came to a violent head.

Shortly after the game finished a draw at 3-3, violence erupted in the stands. It had allegedly started when drunken thugs began urinating on rival fans below which caused a stampede.

24 people were killed and 163 injured. It was one of four fatal incidents at games around the country in the early 1980s that killed an additional 47 fans.

The violent rivalry quietened down in the 1990s and is now considered one of the world’s greatest football derbies.

1983

In the car park of Heathrow Airport, London, in the early hours of the morning, 39-year-old Skyway Minicabs driver Stephen Sylvester was stabbed to death with a British Army commando knife.

His attacker had got into the back seat of the cab and stabbed Sylvester multiple times, with one wound piercing his heart. His body was placed in the trunk of the taxi which was parked in the airport’s car park at around 4am.

His attacker, who was likely covered in blood, then managed to leave the scene without a trace. It was suggested that his killer was connected to the murder of another taxi driver in the area, Pardeep Sangha, six months later.

With each incident, it remained unclear whether the attacker had taken a flight out of Heathrow afterwards. Both cases remain unsolved.

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