True Crime On This Day November 6th

Last Updated on January 23, 2023 by Ben Oakley

November 6th

On November 6th in true crime, a serial killer, a cop killer, cold cases, revenge triple murder, and unsolved mysteries.

1978

Tony Adams was found murdered in his apartment by his boyfriend in Salt Lake City, Utah. Adams was left naked and covered in blood for a few days before he was found.

He had been stabbed in the neck and chest, and his throat was sliced with a butcher knife. Adams was an African American activist who fought for gay rights and it is suggested that his murder was one of many hate crimes in the Utah region in the late 1970s.

His murder remains unsolved to this day and is an active cold case.

1979

In Indianapolis, Indiana, during a revenge killing, Richard D. Moore shot dead his ex-wife, 27-year-old Rhonda L. Caldwell and his ex-father in law, 54-year-old John H. Caldwell, after a messy break-up.

An officer who responded to the scene, 29-year-old Gerald F. Griffin was also shot dead with a shotgun. Another officer was injured getting out of his vehicle. Moore was arrested the same day and later sentenced to death.

1980

In Anne Arundel County, Maryland, 44-year-old Nancy Marleine Snow disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Snow was working as a fundraiser for the Republican National Committee during the Reagan/Bush Campaign.

The evening before, she had flown to Baltimore to attend a private party. She was seen in the early hours of the morning getting into the car of an unidentified individual and it was the last time she was seen alive.

The owner of the car was found and he claimed that he had driven Snow home to Annapolis but she had gone to a local Irish bar instead.

She had told him that she was going to meet a boat captain named ‘Captain J’ and that she was going to help bring his boat from Florida to the Bahamas.

Snow was a devoted mother who had left all her personal belongings in the family home. The driver of the car later eloped to the Bahamas. Despite receiving a large inheritance a few weeks before her disappearance, the money remained untouched in her bank account.

Over 40 years later the disappearance of Snow remains a mystery but foul play has long been suspected.

1981

In Golden, Colorado, 23-year-old Sheila Whalen was attacked and brutally murdered in the Mountain View Motel. Her body was discovered the next day by Motel workers.

She had been killed by Stephen Peter Morin who was later convicted of three murders, including Whalen’s. Morin was arrested on December 12^th after the shooting of restaurant employee Carrie Maris Scott. Morin was sentenced to death and executed by lethal injection on March 13^th 1985.

Over the years, Morin had been linked with 48 murders in multiple states. In remains unclear how many he may have been implicit in.

1982

In Joliet, Illinois, the body of Robert Foley was found in a remote field. He had been sexually assaulted, stabbed, and strangled to death.

Investigators were beginning to make connections to other similar cases in the area throughout 1982, of young gay men being stabbed or strangled and left in remote areas. Foley had been attacked by American serial killer Larry William Eyler, AKA: The Highway Killer.

Eyler murdered between 21 and 24 teenage boys and young men between 1982 and 1984. He was captured on August 21^st 1984 and sentenced to death by lethal injection for the 1984 murder of Daniel Bridges.

He confessed to a further 20 killings before dying of AIDS-related complications on death row in 1994. Many of his victims were not named until after his death due to his lawyer holding the details of them for a future plea bargain.

1983

In Volusia County, Florida, 35-year-old Deputy Sheriff Stephen Saboda was shot and killed by a man who had taken hostages at his home.

Saboda was a member of the department’s SWAT team that had responded to the call after the man inside the home had shot and wounded his girlfriend and another deputy. During the stand-off, the suspect was able to slip out of the house and hide in the backyard.

Thinking the suspect was still in the house, the SWAT team attempted to introduce tear gas into the home. Saboda was conducting the operation in the backyard when the suspect opened fire with a .223 calibre rifle.

One of the bullets penetrated the rear of Saboda’s vest, which was not rated for rifle rounds, and he died at the scene. The suspect continued to fire at officers for several more hours before committing suicide.

1997

The 34-year-old mother of three, Jane Thurgood-Dove was shot dead in front of her children on 6th November 1997 in Victoria, Australia.

Over the years, police have had numerous suspects, two of which have passed away. In recent years, it has been speculated that Jane was the victim of mistaken identity.

Check out the Mega List of True Crime Podcasts