True Crime On This Day September 4th

September 4th

On September 4th, in true crime, there are serial killers, a mystery body, unsolved murder, and a deadly arson attack.

1978

In Nashville, Tennessee, Kenneth Gordon Taylor was pulled over for a standard traffic violation. Little did the police officers know they had stopped a thrill-killer. Taylor was reported to have said ‘I’m glad you stopped me because I just committed a murder.’

The officers didn’t believe him until Taylor led them to the body of 36-year-old David Willie who had been dumped in an alley. While in custody, Taylor confessed to a total of 17 murders which had been carried out in various States including Tennessee, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

He was convicted in the murder of David Willie and sentenced to 30 years in prison. The confession to the other murders has never been proven but some of the names he gave are still listed as missing.

1979

In Miami, Florida, the body of an unidentified 18 to 22-year-old white female was discovered beside a garbage dumpster at the back of an apartment complex. Residents in the complex, found her body early in the morning.

Investigators concluded that she had been killed in a different location and dumped at the back of the complex. The identity of the female remains a mystery.

1980

In New York, fugitive Abbie Hoffman, gave himself up to the federal authorities at the U.S. District Court. Hoffman was an anti-war activist who had eloped while on bail for selling cocaine to undercover agents. He had been on the run for six years and had even undergone plastic surgery to hide his identity.

He had been living openly under the alias of ‘Barry Freed’. Hoffman was the founder of the Youth International Party, whose members are referred to as ‘Yippies’. He was sentenced to one year but released after four months. Hoffman took his own life on April 12^th 1989.

1981

In Houston, Texas, on September 4th, Connie Montez was shot dead during a robbery in the early hours of the morning. Montez was an employee at the Buckhorn Lounge which was closing up for the night. Two unidentified male suspects entered the lounge and demanded money at gunpoint.

Montez got into a struggle with one of the men and was shot dead. The robbers made off with an undisclosed large amount of money. No suspects have ever been arrested and Montez’s murder remains unsolved.

1982

In Los Angeles, California, in the early hours of the morning, the Dorothy Mae Apartment Hotel was set alight by 19-year-old Humberto de la Torre. He had thrown a dollar’s worth of gasoline on the ground floor and set it alight.

By the time the flames were brought under control, 19 people had died instantly and another six died of their injuries within 10 days of the fire. In total, 25 people were killed and another 30 were injured. Two of the dead were an unborn baby and its mother. The entire building had to be destroyed afterwards.

Until that point, only the 1973 Stratford Apartments fire, in which 25 people were killed and 52 were injured, was as deadly. After a long investigation, Torre was finally arrested in December 1983.

He claimed he set alight to the hotel due to a dispute he had with his uncle who managed the building. On June 29^th 1985, he was sentenced to 625 years to life in prison.

1983

In North Carolina, William Earl Davis broke down the door to a hotel room at the Wayne Motel, to find his wife in bed with two other men. The two men were Billy Williford and Melvin Bridgers. Williford was standing at the edge of the bed, semi-naked, which enraged Davis.

He punched Bridgers in the eye, then beat Williford to the ground by punching and kicking him. Twenty minutes later, Williford died of the injuries he received. Davis was arrested shortly after and convicted of voluntary manslaughter.