True Crime On This Day September 27th

September 27th

On September 27th, throughout true crime history, there have been abductions, a cop killer, macabre discoveries, and hijackings.

1978

Spree rapist and killer Stevie Lamar Fields kidnapped and held captive 26-year-old Rosemary Cobbs. He raped her and forced her to write cheques for him until he eventually shot her five times and killed her. Two days later, he stole a Pontiac Trans Am and picked up two prostitutes.

With help from a friend, Fields took the women to his home, robbed, raped, threatened and beat them. After one of them was let go, police were led to his house. He was sentenced to death in 1979 and would remain on death row until his death by natural causes on February 28^th 2017.

1979

In Los Angeles, 23-year-old police officer David B, Kubly was shot and killed after chasing a robbery suspect. Kubly had attempted to stop the suspect while waiting at a red light but the suspect drove his car into a side-street shop.

He emerged from the crash and opened fire, hitting Kubly in the process, who died shortly after in hospital. After a manhunt, the suspect was caught, convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.

1980

In Los Angeles, the decomposing remains of an unidentified black adult male were discovered at the rear of businesses on South Central Avenue. He had died at some point in 1980 but the exact cause of his death remains uncertain.

Due to the location where he was found, investigators have long suspected foul play. The circumstances surrounding his death and the man’s identity, have remained a mystery ever since.

1981

In Dubrovnik, Croatia, a Yugoslav Airlines Boeing 727 jetliner carrying 101 people was hijacked shortly after take-off. The three hijackers ordered the plane to land in Athens, Greece, to refuel.

While on the ground, the hijackers refused to use the plane’s intercom and the refuelling took plain in silence with the men making hand gestures to the ground crew.

The plane then took off and landed in Lanarca, Cyprus, where the trio made their escape. None of the passengers or crew were harmed. The hijackers have never been caught.

1982

In Davenport, Iowa, 16-year-old Kimberly Sue Doss disappeared under suspicious circumstances. She had last been seen at a Greyhound bus station, on her way to visit her father. Doss never arrived at her family home and witnesses claimed she had never boarded a bus.

A charity named Thursday’s Child, who helped at-risk teenagers, claimed to have contacted Doss in 1984. They stated she was now a working prostitute in Hollywood under a pimp named James Wiseman.

Doss’ family believed the description did not match and so investigators did not look into it further. Despite the claim by Thursday’s Child, no trace of Doss has ever been found since. Her case remains unsolved.

1983

In Orange County, Florida, Carol Miller Ward was raped, strangled, and stabbed to death by Anthony Bertolotti after he had broken into Ward’s home.

Her body was discovered by her husband when he returned from work the same day. Ward had been repeatedly stabbed with two knives and was found naked from the waist down.

Bertolotti robbed her of just $30 (USD). He was arrested shortly after and subsequently sentenced to death. He was executed in the electric chair in Florida on July 27^th 1990.