True Crime On This Day September 24th

September 24th

On September 24th, throughout true crime history, there have been family murders, unidentified victims, missing people, and consulate attacks.

1978

In Colorado Springs, police were called to a rural house where they found an entire family has been shot dead. 58-year-old Timothy Hoffman, his wife Grace, their 12-year-old son and 16-year-old daughter Delilah.

Grace was holding a gun in her hand and it was suspected that investigators were looking at a murder-suicide. That suspicion was confirmed when they found a suicide note in Grace’s belongings.

She had believed the end of the world was coming due to the upcoming Middle East peace deal. A psychiatrist later confirmed her delusions.

1979

In Texas, the decomposed remains of an unidentified black man were discovered at White Oak Bayou in Houston. He became known as the Harris County John Doe and to this day has never been identified.

Although his death is listed as accidental, no cause of death has been given, leading to suspicions that he may have been a victim of foul play.

1980

In Mount Sterling, Kentucky, 41-year-old William Edward Hamilton disappeared without a trace. He was last seen walking away from his home.

Hamilton didn’t own a car and had purchased no tickets for public transport out of Mount Sterling. His personal belongings and clothes were still in his home. Ever since his disappearance, no trace of him has ever been found, dead or alive.

1981

In Paris, France, the Turkish consulate was attacked just before lunch and lasted until the next day. The attack was carried out by the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia.

The militants demanded the release of political prisoners in Turkey including two Armenian clergymen Father Manuel Yergatian and Pastor Hrant Guzelian along with 10 non-Armenians.

The four militants killed a Turkish guard, wounded the Turkish Consul and took 56 people hostage. In the early hours of the 25^th, the militants surrendered with an agreement they would remain in France as political refugees. All four men were later sentenced to seven years in prison.

1982

In Washington State, the decomposing body of 19-year-old Gisele A. Lovvorn was discovered in a remote wooded area. She had disappeared from Normandy Park on July 17^th.

She had been murdered by Gary Ridgway, AKA: The Green River Killer, one of the United States’ most prolific killers, who was convicted of 48 murders. He buried some of the bodies in what he called ‘clusters’, mostly in wooded areas.

He would return to the bodies to engage in acts of necrophilia with the corpses. He later claimed that having sex with a corpse stopped him from killing someone else at that very moment. He was arrested in 2001 and sentenced to life in 2003.

1983

In Houston, Texas, 25-year-old Murray Dale Sweat, was killed during a robbery at his apartment. Curtis Lee Johnson and accomplice Roy Junior Jones broke into the apartment but failed to realise that Sweat wasn’t alone.

He was in the apartment with some of his friends when the two robbers broke in. Sweat attempted to restrain them by grabbing Johnson’s ankle as he tried to elope but Johnson shot Sweat in the chest.

As Sweat lay dying, the pair of robbers made off with a camera and just $8 (USD). Six days later, the pair robbed a U-Totem store at gunpoint and were arrested shortly after. The gun used in the robbery was linked to the Sweat murder.

Jones testified against Johnson and was sentenced to 45-years in prison. Johnson was sentenced to death and executed by lethal injection in Texas on August 11^th 1992.