Joaquin Murrieta
On July 25, 1853, bandito Joaquin Murrieta's head is placed on exhibit in the Northern Californian town of Stockton. Murrieta, who was known as the "Robin hood of El Dorado," had been disrupting the burgeoning gold trade and intimidating the public, along with his gang of thieves. The first celebrity outlaw in the new state of California, various legends sprung up about the bandito’s life.
Della Sorenson
On July 23, 1918, Della Sorenson kills the first of her seven victims in rural Nebraska by poisoning her sister-in-law's infant daughter, Viola Cooper. Over the next seven years, friends, relatives, and acquaintances of Sorenson repeatedly died under mysterious circumstances before anyone finally realized that it had to be more than a coincidence.
Preparedness Day parade just prior to the bombing
On July 22, 1916, a bomb explodes during the Preparedness Day parade in San Francisco, kills 10 people and wounding dozens more. The parade was organized by the city's Chamber of Commerce in support of America's possible entrance into World War I.
King Abdullah of Jordan
On July 20, 1951, while entering a mosque in the Jordanian sector of east Jerusalem, King Abdullah of Jordan is assassinated by a Palestinian nationalist.
Doc Holliday
On July 19, 1879, Doc Holliday commits his first murder, killing a man for shooting up his New Mexico saloon. Despite his formidable reputation as a deadly gunslinger, Holliday only engaged in eight shootouts during his lifetime, and it has only been verified to have killed two men.
James Huberty
On July 18, 1984, James Huberty opens fire in a crowded McDonald's restaurant in San Ysidro, California, killing 21 people and wounding 19 others. Minutes earlier, Huberty had left home, telling his wife, "I'm going hunting... hunting for humans."
Casey Anthony
On July 17, 2011, Casey Anthony is released from jail in Orlando, Florida, after being acquitted on charges that she killed her 2-year-old daughter. Caylee Anthony was last seen alive with her mother on June 16, 2008, leaving the Orlando home they shared with Casey Anthony’s parents, George and Cindy Anthony. Casey Anthony waited a month to report her daughter missing, and when questioned by police in mid-July, she told them a nanny had kidnapped her daughter. On October 14, 2008, Anthony was indicted on charges of first-degree murder and lying to police. On December 11th of that year, Caylee’s skeletal remains were found in a wooded area less than a mile from George and Cindy Anthony’s house.
On the night of November 29, 1988, near the impoverished Marlborough neighborhood in south Kansas City, an explosion at a construction site killed six of the city’s firefighters. It was a clear case of arson, and five people from Marlborough were duly convicted of the crime. But for veteran crime writer and crusading editor J. Patrick O’Connor, the facts—or a lack of them—didn’t add up. Justice on Fire is OConnor’s detailed account of the terrible explosion that led to the firefighters’ deaths and the terrible injustice that followed. Also available from Amazon
