True Crime On This Day September 28th

September 28th

On September 28th, throughout true crime history, we have a macabre discovery, suspicious disappearance, and an unsolved homicide.

1978

In June 2007, workers digging up land in the backyard of a residence in Puyallup, Washington, discovered a black plastic bag filled with human bones. Investigators then discovered 51 more bones connected to the same individual.

They were the remains of Joe Tarricone who had been murdered by his girlfriend, Renee Curtiss and her brother, Nicholas Notaro on this day in 1978.

After Notaro shot him dead, they both dismembered his body with a chainsaw before burying the body parts in the backyard. In 2009 they were both sentenced to life.

1979

In Turkey, successful prosecutor, and Chief of Police Cevat Yurdakul was assassinated during an armed attack. Yurdakul was a member of the Pol-Der, who referred to themselves as the ‘people’s police’. His murder happened just two years before a large coup in the country.

1980

In San Antonio, Texas, 18-year-old Beatrice G. Villela disappeared under suspicious circumstances. Villela was a manager at the Budget Beauty Salon, which was owned by her boyfriend, Oscar Lozano. He had arranged to meet at the salon to take them both to the shops but Villela never showed up and was never seen again.

An investigation learned that Villela and Lozano had broken up at some point prior to her disappearance and that Lozano had purchased airline tickets to Chicago to help her in her career.

The airline tickets were never used. Despite numerous leads, no trace of Villela has ever been found but it has long been suspected that she was the victim of foul play.

1981

In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the body of 23-year-old Portsmouth Beauty School student, Laura Kempton, was found in her apartment. She had been murdered with a blunt object to the head which had caused massive lacerations on her brain.

Kempton was also employed at Marco Polo Inc. and Karen’s Ice Cream store in the city. Despite a large investigation, her killer remains unidentified, and her murder remains unsolved.

1982

In Murfreesboro, Tennessee, 13-year-old Lisa Ann Millican was shot in the head and killed after three days in captivity.

She had been abducted from the Riverbend Mall in Rome, Georgia, on September 25^th by Alvin Howard Neelley, Jr. and Judith Ann Adams Neelley, an American couple responsible for two torture murders in 1982.

Millican was taken to a motel in Tennessee where she was raped, abused, tortured, and injected with drain cleaner. Judith was later confirmed to have shot her in the head before they both threw her body in the Little River Canyon, in Alabama.

The Neelley’s were arrested on October 14^th 1982 for the kidnappings and murders of Millican, and Janice Chatman on October 4^th. Judith was later sentenced to death but was commuted to life in 1999.

Alvin was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. He died in prison of natural causes in 2005. Had they not been caught when they were, then it was suspected they would have killed more.

1983

In Seattle, Washington, 19-year-old day care worker Maureen Sue Feeney disappeared in the early evening from East Madison Street. She had been offered a lift and subsequently murdered by Gary Ridgway, AKA: The Green River Killer.

Unlike many of Ridgway’s victims, Feeney was not involved in prostitution or street life. Her family stated that her life revolved around wanting to help disadvantaged children and was never out of contact for more than a day.

Her remains were found in May 1986, near the intersection of Highway 18 and Interstate 90. Ridgway was arrested in 2001, convicted of 48 murders, and sentenced to life in 2003.