True Crime On This Day September 1st

Last Updated on February 17, 2023 by Ben Oakley

September 1st

On September 1st, in true crime, we have an unsolved murder, armed robbery, cold cases, murder, and a passenger plan shot down.

1979

In Essex, England, 25-year-old PhD student Alison Morris was violently stabbed to death from behind. She had gone for a walk from her parents’ house but less than 100 metres away, she was attacked.

Her death has since been linked to Peter Sutcliffe, AKA: The Yorkshire Ripper but no confession or substantial evidence could prove it. Sutcliffe died of Covid-19 related problems in November 2020.

1980

In McLennan County, Texas, armed robber Carl Eugene Kelly and an accomplice, Thomas Graves, robbed a 7-11 convenience store in Waco. Throughout the night, Kelly ended up killing two people.

During the robbery, they stole just $30 (USD) and kidnapped a store worker named Steven Pryor along with his car. A homeless person named David Riley was sleeping in the car when Pryor was abducted.

Riley was dragged out of the car and shot dead. Shortly after, both Kelly and Graves, took Pryor to Cameron Park, where they shot him dead and threw the body off a 60-foot cliff.

They were both caught shortly after and convicted of murder. Graves received a life sentence and Kelly was sentenced to death. Kelly was executed by lethal injection in Texas on August 22^nd 1993.

1981

In San Antonio, Texas, the body of Patricia Plummer Mondrik was discovered inside her apartment at the 9800 Block of Powhattan. She failed to show up for work the day before and her employer became concerned.

When police entered Mondrik’s residence, they found her lying dead on the floor. She had been stabbed and beaten to death, having suffered massive head and facial wounds.

There were no signs of a break-in and no signs of a robbery which meant the suspect was known to Mondrik. Her unnamed boyfriend at the time had vanished a day earlier and police believe he was responsible for the murder.

Upon trying to track him down, they learned he may have fled to Mexico. The Mondrik murder has remained an open cold case ever since but the boyfriend is still being sought as a prime suspect.

1982

In Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil, 20-year-old Brazilian Roman Catholic Isabel Cristina Mrad Campos was stabbed to death after an attempted rape.

She had been killed by handyman Maurilio Almeida Oliveira who was installing a new wardrobe in her apartment. He decided to attack her after she rejected his advances. He hit her with a chair then stabbed her 15 times, 13 in the back and two in the groin.

Campos was arrested shortly after and convicted of murder. In 2000, Pope Francis began the process of her beatification.

1983

On a September 1st scheduled flight from New York City to Seoul via Anchorage, Alaska, Korean Air Lines Flight 007 (KAL007) was shot down by a Soviet Su-15 interceptor fighter jet. Due to a navigational mistake, the crew had deviated from its original planned route and had entered Soviet prohibited airspace.

Their infraction happened at the same time a United States aerial reconnaissance mission was nearby. Soviet forces saw KAL007 as an American spy plane and destroyed it.

The Korean airliner crashed into the sea near Moneron Island in the Sea of Japan. All 269 passengers and crew aboard were killed. Soviet divers found the wreckage and flight recorders under the sea two weeks later.

This information was kept secret until 1993 as the Soviets were denying any knowledge of the incident. The shooting down of KAL007 was seen as one of the tensest moments of the Cold War and saw the anti-Soviet movement increase across America.

2020

In Exeter, England, 32-year-old student Lorraine Cox was lured to an apartment above a kebab shop by Iraqi asylum seeker Azam Mangori who then suffocated her to death with her own t-shirt.

He left her body in his flat for a week before dismembering her and spreading her remains across local bins. He was later caught and sentenced to 20 years.