True Crime On This Day October 27th

October 27th

On October 27th in true crime, a Japanese fire-fighting serial killer, murders, cold cases, spree killer, and buried remains.

1978

After killing five people in a spree in West Bromwich and Nuneaton, Barry Kenneth Williams was arrested after leading police on a car chase that ended in Spring Gardens, Buxton.

In his car, police found home-made bombs, a 9mm pistol, a .22 calibre pistol and almost 1,000 rounds of ammunition.

1979

In Northwood, New Hampshire, the skeletal remains of 26-year-old Carmel Sue Whitacre were discovered by hunters, a short distance off Route 43.

She had been reported missing nine years earlier on August 9^th 1970 after being discharged from the New Hampshire State Hospital. Investigators concluded that Whitacre had been met with foul play and a murder investigation was opened.

1980

In Greg County, Texas, Wanda Sue Gough shot and killed her 27-year-old husband, John Gough, as he slept in bed. The murder went unsolved for 25 years until 2005, when Wanda was arrested.

She claimed that she had killed John out of self-defence because he had threatened to kill her and her children. In 2007, after a lengthy trial, Wanda was found not-guilty of murder and acquitted of the crime.

This was despite the prosecution confirming that John had not been reaching for his own gun at the time and that he was killed in cold blood. John’s own family have since disputed the claims that he was abusive to his wife.

1981

In Oklahoma City, the body of 76-year-old Ura Alma Thompson was found in her apartment by her Nephew, Frank. An autopsy showed she had been raped and was killed by asphyxiation caused by pressure on her chest or by her attacker covering her mouth and nose.

On the same day of the attack, police arrested Malcolm Rent Johnson on an unrelated weapons charge.

hen questioned about the Thompson attack, he said, “you wouldn’t have found my semen in her because I didn’t come.” Which pretty much confirmed that he was the prime suspect.

He also had a history of attacks and rapes on elderly women. His blood type was later matched to semen found at the scene. He was convicted of Thompson’s murder and sentenced to death. Johnson was executed by lethal injection in Oklahoma on January 6^th 2000.

1982

In Nagoya, Japan, serial killing firefighter Kiyotaka Katsuta drove his car into a police officer at full speed. He then calmly stepped out of the car and stole the officer’s handgun, leaving him seriously injured on the street.

Four days later, he committed a robbery and killed a man with the same handgun. Katsuta was arrested on January 31^st 1983, while threatening a man during a robbery.

He confessed to seven murders but investigators have since linked him to 22 victims. Katsuta was known to have killed by strangling or shooting and raped some of his female victims.

He was later convicted of eight murders and sentenced to death. He was executed by hanging in Nagoya, on November 30^th 2000.

1983

In Anchorage, Alaska, serial killer Robert Hansen was captured with help from the FBI. Based on rising evidence against him and the testimony of 17-year-old Paula Goulding who escaped from his clutches in June, he was arrested and charged with multiple murders.

Hansen raped and murdered at least 17 women in Alaska between 1971 and 1983 and is known to have killed over 30.

In 1983, the FBI were called in to assist with the investigation, as Alaska State Troopers were unsure what they were dealing with. It helped lead to Hansen’s arrest and he was subsequently sentenced to life in prison where he died in 2014.

His killings were the subject of the film ‘The Frozen Ground‘ with Nicholas Cage and John Cusack.

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