True Crime On This Day September 29th

September 29th

On September 29th, in true crime, we have a serial killer, murders, cop killer, armed robbery, and violent attacks.

1979

In Ely, Nevada, 16-year-old Nancy Griffith was brutally raped and murdered before being set on fire. In the early hours of the morning, she had refused sexual advances from Robert Ybarra Jr., who attacked her.

Despite attempting to escape twice from the attack, Griffith was doused in a flammable liquid and set on fire. Ybarra left her on a remote road to die. Amazingly, Griffith survived for a few hours afterwards and crawled to a nearby highway where she flagged down a passing vehicle.

Before her death, a few hours later, she managed to identify Ybarra as her killer, despite suffering a fractured skull and 75% burns to her body. Ybarra was later convicted and sentenced to death.

1980

In the Netherlands, 11-year-old Edith Post disappeared while she was at school. She had left her classroom to get some study materials from a closet in the hallway but never returned to her class.

Her body was found a few days later on October 2^nd in the dunes of Wassenaar. She had been beaten to death by Dutch serial killer Jacobus Dirk ‘Koos’ Hertogs who was caught on October 3^rd, one day after Post’s body was found.

He also killed another two girls, one in 1979 and another in early 1980. He was sentenced to life in prison and remains one of the Netherland’s most notorious criminals.

1981

Near Los Fresnos, Texas, police officer David Rucker was shot dead by Leonel Torres Herrera who had dropped his social security card at the scene. Herrera had killed him to avoid arrest.

Just ten minutes after Rucker’s body was found, Herrera was pulled over for speeding by police officer Enrique Carrisalez. When Carrisalez approached the car, Herrera shot him.

Bizarrely, Carrisalez was being accompanied in his car by a civilian named Enrique Hernandez. It was Hernandez who radioed in the description of the suspect’s vehicle.

Carrisalez had survived the attack and was unable to speak. He was seen nodding towards a photograph of Herrera which later led to his arrest. Carrisalez died a few days later of his wounds. Herrera was arrested shortly after and identified by Hernandez.

Despite maintaining his innocence, Herrera was convicted of both murders and sentenced to death. He was executed by lethal injection on May 15^th 1993.

1982

In Wavre, Belgium, on September 29th, three masked armed robbers attacked a weapons store. Police arrived on the scene while the robbery was in progress and a gunfight ensued, leaving one officer dead at the scene and two others seriously injured.

The robbers escaped with 15 firearms including sub-machine guns and were known as the Brabant Killers, AKA: Mad Killers of Brabant. They were a small group of three men who killed 28 people between 1982 and 1985.

They also seriously wounded another 22 and carried out numerous attacks and robberies. The identity of the three men remains a mystery but they were referred to as The Giant, The Killer, and The Old Man. Despite a large investigation that continues to this day, the case remains unsolved.

1983

In Duval County, Florida, Jeffrey Russell was beaten, robbed, and then shot dead. He had been hitchhiking in the area and was picked up by Gregory Alan Kokal and William O’Kelly, who drove him Jacksonville Beach Park, where Russell was attacked and robbed.

His body was discovered the following day by a dog walker. Kokal was arrested the following morning after he fled a gas station without paying, in O’Kelly’s truck. The officer arrested Kokal for gasoline theft and the truck was seized and inventoried.

When the truck was inventoried, the murder weapon and a box of shells were found bearing Kokal’s fingerprints. In 1984, O’Kelly stuck a plea bargain and testified against Kokal, who was subsequently sentenced to death. Despite many appeals, with one as recent as 2018, Kokal remains on death row.