True Crime On This Day November 9th

Last Updated on November 9, 2022 by Ben Oakley

November 9th

On November 9th in true crime, an assassination, serial killers, a mystery disappearance, and a kidnapping in Amsterdam.

1978

In Los Angeles, on a Central Library walkway, 39-year-old David Martin Jones was brutally murdered by serial killer and satanist Bobby Joe Maxwell.

Maxwell was arrested in August for weapons offences but was released in October. He went on to kill 11 people over a four-month period, mostly homeless men. Maxwell became known as the Skid Row Killer.

1979

In Missouri, crime family member John Paul Spica was assassinated by a car bomb placed in his Cadillac. Spica was one of the suspects in the assassination of civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968.

Spica’s car-bomb murder was the catalyst that caused St. Louis’ infamous Mob Wars in the years that followed.

1980

In Salt Lake City, Utah, 11-year-old Kim Peterson disappeared after visiting a skating rink. He had been lured to the apartment of serial killer Arthur Gary Bishop, who confessed to the murders of five boys upon his arrest in 1983.

Petersen was trying to sell his skates when Bishop latched on to him, he told Petersen that he would buy them from him, but he had the money in his apartment.

When they arrived, Bishop beat Petersen to death and buried his body near to Alonzo Daniels, his first victim in 1979. Upon his arrest, Bishop led police to the graves of all five of his victims.

His only motive was that he got a thrill from the act of murder and if he had not been stopped then he would have continued. He was sentenced to death for five murders and executed by lethal injection on June 9^th 1988.

1981

In Rutland, Vermont, 34-year-old Patricia Lee Hesse vanished after leaving the Rutland Mall shopping centre. She had last been witnessed purchasing a fur coat for $200 (USD).

Later the same evening, her landlady noticed burning food coming from Patricia’s apartment. Upon entering the residence, she noticed the table was set for dinner with uneaten food and more food cooking on the stove.

The fur coat she had just purchased was hanging proudly in her closet. Patricia’s sister later claimed she had never recovered after the suicide of her boyfriend almost a decade earlier.

No trace of Patricia has ever been found but investigators have long suspected foul play.

1982

In Bay County, Florida, the decomposing body of an unidentified white male in his thirties was discovered. He was spotted by walkers who saw his clothed remains floating face down in water.

He was wearing brown trousers, blue flannel shirt, and green socks. Despite having a recognisable face, the identity of the man remains a mystery. Investigators have long suspected foul play and the case remains unsolved.

1983

In Amsterdam, Netherlands, Freddy Heineken, who was one of the richest people in the Netherlands, was kidnapped along with his driver and held for ransom.

Freddy was also the chairman of the board of directors and CEO of the brewing company Heineken International. He had been kidnapped by a group of five men, Cor van Hout, Willem Holleeder, Jan Boellaard, Frans Meijer, and Martin Erkamps.

On November 30^th, a ransom of 35 million Dutch guilders ($22million USD) was paid for their release. It was the highest ransom paid for a kidnap victim at the time. The men fled before releasing the hostages but Freddy and his driver were found alive shortly after.

All five men were captured shortly after and sentenced to various prison terms. The story has been written about in many books and made into numerous films, including 2015’s Kidnapping Freddy Heineken, starring Anthony Hopkins.

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