Celebrity Crime

JonBenet Ramsey

On this page you will find: 1)  The resignation letter of Det. Steve Thomas; 2)   Letters 1 and 2 from Fleet White calling for an independent prosecutor; 3) The complete autopsy report.

Nov. 1, 2010

Johann "Jack" Unterweger

With the help of future Nobel Laureate Elfriede Jelinek and other prominent Austrian literati, Jack Unterweger wrote his way out of a lifetime sentence for murder. Paroled in 1990, and now a famous crime writer himself, he embarked on a wide-ranging killing spree, murdering women in Austria, Czechoslovakia and Los Angeles. 

by Mark Pulham

Vienna. People sitting in cafés eating Sachertorte, listening to the music of Mozart and Strauss, walking through the Vienna Woods, and if you are a film buff, thinking about The Third Man. Vienna is synonymous with culture. It is not the first place anyone thinks of when you mention serial killers. Yet in the spring of 1991, particularly in the red-light district, the fear of a killer on the loose gripped the city.

It began on April 8, 1991, when a young prostitute named Silvia Zagler vanished. When last seen, she had been standing on her regular corner around 10:30 p.m. Sabine Moitzi worked in a bakery during the day. At night, unknown to her husband, she occasionally boosted her income by working as a “secret prostitute,” which meant that she was not, as is required by the laws of Vienna, registered with the Office of Health. Eight days after Zagler’s disappearance, Sabine’s friend, Ilse, dropped the 25-year-old woman off near the rail yard of the West Train Station. A short while later, she disappeared.

Aug. 10, 2010

Colton Harris-Moore

The “Barefoot Bandit” became a modern day folk hero on Facebook, evading police across the United States for three years by stealing vehicles, boats and light aircraft before being captured in the Bahamas.  But the lanky, 6-foot-5 teenager was no Robin Hood, leaving over $3 million in damages in his wake.

by Denise Noe

Ferry boat captain Freddie Grant and ferry service employee Stan Pennerman of the Eleuthera Island of The Bahamas were going about their morning routine on July 10, 2010 when they noticed that the ignition systems on three of the service’s boats had been damaged. The men recalled seeing a tall, white teenager either bathing or swimming in an inlet the previous evening and wondered if he might be connected to the harm. Grant and Pennerman reported the damaged ignition systems and the sighting of the teen to the police.

Police connected this report to others recently received that pointed to a fugitive from the United States, Colton Harris-Moore, often called “The Barefoot Bandit.” In an article for the HeraldNet entitled “After two years, one chapter of Colton Harris-Moore’s escape comes to a close,” Jackson Holtz wrote, “In the Bahamas, video surveillance cameras reportedly captured glimpses of him prowling through bars and restaurants in the sandy, sun-splashed resort islands off the Florida coast. Officials there turned up the heat, handing out wanted posters.”

June 25, 2010

Dr. Sam Sheppard

At his second trial, with young F. Lee Bailey as his defense attorney, Dr. Sam Sheppard was acquitted of his wife’s terrible murder. The famous case continues to fuel speculation more than a half century later.

by Denise Noe

Beaten to Death

Many points in the Sam Sheppard case remain in dispute but this is certain: in the wee hours of the Fourth of July in 1954, Marilyn Sheppard was beaten to death in her suburban bedroom.

Four months pregnant, pretty, brown-haired Marilyn Sheppard, 31, was married to her high school sweetheart, successful neurosurgeon Dr. Sam Sheppard, 29.

The couple resided in the Cleveland, Ohio suburb of Bay Village in a two-story house set on a high cliff overlooking Lake Erie.

Sam Sheppard is backed up by neighbors and close friends Spencer “Spen” and Esther Houk in his claim that he called their home at 5:40 that morning.

“My God, Spen, get over here quick!” Sam shouted. “I think they’ve killed Marilyn!”

Feb. 15, 2010 Updated Feb. 20, 2010

Tiger Woods & Elin Nordegren

Whether or not he did, his sexual indiscretions are costing him untold millions of dollars in endorsements and have made the once unassailable golf idol the object of public ridicule.

by Don Fulsom

When cops arrived at the bizarre crash scene near Orlando, Florida at 2:30 a.m. on Nov. 27, 2009, the motionless, shoeless body of the world’s greatest golfer was sprawled on the ground next to his damaged Cadillac Escalade.

Though only slightly injured, 34-year-old Tiger Woods seemed completely out of it—to the point of snoring—after his vehicle had collided with a fire hydrant, and then a tree, when he erratically fled his own home.  

Tiger’s 29-year-old wife, Elin Nordegren—had reportedly smashed out the Caddy’s back windows with a nine-iron.  A golf cart was parked nearby.  

Oct. 11, 2009 Updated Sept. 4, 2010

David Letterman

Letterman survives his unmasking as a “creepy” sexual predator

by Don Fulsom

On September 9, 2009, David Letterman ambled out of his multi-million dollar lower Manhattan hideaway and plopped his lanky frame into a waiting limo for the short ride to the Ed Sullivan Theater. To Dave’s surprise, his chauffer handed the CBS TV star an envelope.

The driver had lowered his window to accept the envelope at the ungodly hour of 6 a.m. He apparently thought little about the propriety of the transaction—because the envelope came from esteemed CBS veteran “48 Hours Mystery” producer Joe Halderman.

Yet the envelope was not an innocent handoff of company memos from one Black Rock (CBS Headquarters in Manhattan) biggie to another. Authorities say its contents amounted to an extortion attempt by Halderman.  And six months later, Halderman himself concurred—pleading guilty to second-degree larceny.

In his failed blackmail attempt, the producer was threatening to expose the 62-year-old Letterman’s sexcapades, over several decades, with a significant number (eight or nine are the most prevalent rumored numbers) of far-younger Letterman staffers.  In fact, Halderman’s former live-in girlfriend, 34-year old Stephanie Birkitt, was reputedly among Letterman’s cavalcade of underling bedmates. 

Nick Adams

Nick Adams was far more a dreamer than "The Rebel" he would portray in his heyday. At 18 he hitchhiked to Hollywood to become a movie star. A quintessential self-promoter, he defied all odds in making his dream come true, but he could never seem to get out of his own way. His death, exploited by writers as one of Hollywood's dark mysteries, came by his own hand.

by Peter L. Winkler 

"Actor Nick Adams Dead In Mystery," read the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner headline on Feb. 8, 1968. The story reported:

Nick Adams, 36, who won fame as "The Rebel" on television, was found dead in his Coldwater Canyon home last night under circumstances that puzzled police.

His body, fully clothed, was found in a sitting position beside his bed by his attorney, Ervin "Tip" Roeder. There was no indication as to the cause of death. No weapons or sleeping pills were found. Adams's lawyer told Det. Verne Jones he arrived at the $54,000 Cape Cod style home bordering Beverly Hills about 8 p.m. When no one answered the doorbell, Roeder crawled through a window and discovered the body.

Nick Adams's death was the final, strangest chapter in a life and career that took many unusual turns.