True Crime On This Day November 23rd

Last Updated on September 16, 2022 by Ben Oakley

November 23rd

On November 23rd in true crime, a Thanksgiving murder, bar massacre, IRA shooting, murder, serial killer and cold case disappearance.

1978

In Los Angeles, in one of his most brazen murders, serial killer and self-confessed satanist Bobby Joe Maxwell killed 45-year-old Frank Garcia.

Garcia was sitting on a City Hall Plaza bench directly opposite the Parker Center police headquarters. Maxwell’s palm prints were later found on the bench.

Maxwell, who became known as the Skid Row Killer would kill a total of 11 people before his final arrest in 1979.

1979

In Belfast, Northern Ireland, 45-year-old Catholic prison officer Gerald Melville was shot dead at his home. His body was found the next morning when he failed to appear for work. The IRA later claimed responsibility for his murder.

1980

In the French town of Hendaye, on the border of France and Spain, three gunmen opened fire on a bar, leaving two dead and ten injured.

José Camia and Jean Pierre Aramendi were killed in the attack, carried out by the Spanish Basque Battalion (BVE). The BVE were a neo-fascist paramilitary organisation who were active from 1975 to 1981 and attacked mainly Basque Nationalists.

The three unidentified gunmen drove off at high speed over the border into Spain and were never arrested.

1981

In Charlotte, North Carolina, Patrol Officer Edmond N. Cannon was killed when he surprised robbery suspects. Earlier that evening, six men came up with a plan to rob bank deposit bags but decided on a convenience store instead.

At approximately 10pm, the men pulled up to the store in two separate cars and some of them went inside to rob it. Store clerk, Wendy Jenkins, was put in a walk-in cooler in the back of the store as the robbers started to take the money and other items.

At around the same time, Cannon pulled up to the store, unaware a robbery was in progress. Jenkins suddenly pushed the door to the cooler open and shouted for help.

Before Cannon could draw his service pistol, he was shot three times and died instantly. Later that night, the six men split their takings which amounted to $16 (USD) each.

All six were arrested shortly after and charged with first-degree murder under the felony murder rule. They were each later convicted of the murder and sentenced to life.

The felony murder rule is a legal doctrine that allows a defendant to be charged with first-degree murder for a killing that occurs during a dangerous felony, even if the defendant is not the killer.

1982

In New Jersey, 18-year-old high school cheerleader Amy Hoffman, was abducted from a local shopping mall. She was then raped and stabbed to death by American serial killer James J. Koedatich, who killed at least three people from 1971 to 1983.

Hoffman’s body was found two days later on Thanksgiving Day. Koedatich was arrested on May 12^th 1983 and subsequently sentenced to death on October 19^th 1984. His sentenced was later commuted to life.

1983

In Jackson, Missouri, 37-year-old Linda Jean Crites disappeared under suspicious circumstances. She was last heard of when speaking to her son on the evening of the 23^rd, as she made plans to visit him for Thanksgiving the following day.

She never made it to her son’s house and some people believed she never left her own house.

She was going through a divorce with her husband at the time, who was still living in the same residence as her. He claims that he argued with her just before midnight then left her room and shut her door.

He said the door was still closed the next day when he left to go to his parent’s home. Her son reported her missing one week later.

Despite the husband being a suspect in her disappearance, no trace of Crites has ever been found and her case file remains open.

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