True Crime On This Day October 20th

October 20th

On October 20th, in true crime, a Brink’s armoured car robbery, shootings, missing persons, murder, and the Ripper Crew.

1978

In Caddo Parish, Louisiana, Wayne Robert Felde shot dead Shreveport police officer Thomas Glenn Tompkins. Felde had recently escaped prison in Maryland and had been arrested by Tompkins for being drunk and disorderly before shooting the officer dead.

He was quickly arrested, and his defence was built around post-traumatic stress disorder which had come as a result of serving in Vietnam. He was though sentenced to death and executed in the electric chair in Louisiana on March 15^th 1988.

1979

In Louisiana, in the early hours of the morning, Egbert Anderson shot dead another man who was arguing with him in the street.

Three eyewitnesses saw him pull a gun out and shoot the victim at close range. Anderson then removed some personal belongings from the victim and left.

Despite claims that Anderson was not at the scene of the murder, he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

1980

In Palm Beach County, Florida, 17-year-old Carol Elaine Donn vanished without a trace. While her mother was at work, Donn disappeared.

Donn was known to runaway from home and had once made it all the way to New York. However, on this occasion, all her personal belongings, purse and money had been left in the home.

Despite a search of the local area, and nationwide missing person reports, no trace of Donn has ever been found.

1981

In Nanuet, New York, six Black Liberation Army and four Weather Underground members robbed a Brink’s armoured car and killed one of the guards.

The resulting manhunt left two police officers dead. The crew managed to steal $1.6million (USD) in cash from the vehicle which was at the Nanuet mall making a pick-up.

Over the course of six years, all ten robbers were arrested, with the last being arrested in 1986.

Over many different trials, the robbers were sentenced from between 25-years to life in prison. The earliest parolee was in 2003. Others have died in prison or have been released since.

One of the guards, Joseph Trombino, was seriously injured in the initial attack but went on to survive. Sadly, he would go on to lose his life in the 2001 September 11^th attacks, while making a delivery in the North Tower of the World Trade Center.

1982

In Chicago, Illinois, unemployed carpenter Robin Gecht was arrested in connection with a spate of brutal attacks on local prostitutes.

When he was investigated, police uncovered he was part of a group of four men in a Satanic cult known as the Ripper Crew or Chicago Rippers.

Over the next few weeks, the other three members, Edward Spreitzer, Andrew Kokoraleis, and his brother Thomas Kokoraleis, were also arrested. Between them, they were linked to the disappearances and murders of 18 women in Illinois from 1981 to 1982.

Gecht and Thomas were sentenced to life in prison. Edward was sentenced to death which was later commuted to life. Andrew was sentenced to death and executed by lethal injection on March 17^th 1999.

1983

In Jefferson County, Alabama, 16-year-old Kathleen Bledsoe was abducted, robbed, and murdered while she was parked in a secluded area with her boyfriend, Charles Leonard.

Their vehicle was approached by David Duren and Richard Kinder at gunpoint. They tied the pair together, forced them into the trunk of the car, and drove around for a couple of hours.

They went to another secluded area, dragged them out of the car then shot them at point blank range. Bledsoe was shot in the head, killing her instantly, and Leonard was shot in the leg, hip, and chest but went on to survive.

Believing them to be dead, the attackers left the scene. Leonard managed to get himself free and crawled to a nearby home to raise the alert. Duren and Kinder were arrested shortly after in Huffman, Alabama.

Leonard was able to testify against both men. Kinder was sentenced to life without parole and Duren was sentenced to death. Despite becoming a born-again Christian, Duren was executed in the electric chair in Alabama on January 7^th 2000.

More murder tales.