There was no reason for Shirley Ellis to be killed,recalls Kathleen Jennings, the state prosecutor who eventually stared the accused down in a tough cross-examination. He was sentenced to death and met the electric chair in 1989. The majority of the names on the list of Delaware murders on the Delaware State Polices cold case website may not soundfamiliar; however, a handful of the names on the list of all murders inDelaware, list of Delaware murders, and notorious Delaware criminals have seemingly become household names as time passes. The driver became suspicious and drove off. Starkweather was found guilty of murder and was sentenced to death. A hearing was held to determine if the convicted murderer should be spared. He can be reached atspinway@aol.com. more serial killers than any other country, he terrorized the Phoenix, Arizona, community in the summer of 2006, his nine death sentences were upheld in Phoenix. In retrospect, it was probably the correct verdict,Maurer concedes. According to court documents, Catherine DiMauro was walking along Route 40 around 11:30 p.m. on June 28, 1988. Famous Murders: Kitty Genovese. It makes sense because "Psycho's" Norman Bates and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" were based on this killer. In California, he was "Gordon Jensen" where he killed two other women who were mothers of his babies. Every year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation publishes a Uniform Crime Report that details the crimes, crime rates, and crime locations in every state, county, and city, which includes a published report for crime in Delaware. Just as fast as the killings started, they suddenly stopped. The bureau concluded the unthinkable: A serial killer had come to Delaware. The story of Clementine Barnabet is that of voodoo and the occult. Two men whom he never met filed appeals on his behalf, but they were quickly dismissed for lack of standing. At each crime scene, he would leave a clue as to who he was. Sept. 28, 2016. They were all found in pools of blood with their pants pulled halfway down. Evidence that is most commonly included in Kent County homicide trials is completely dependent on the type of crime. According to their crime report from 2019, the violent crime rate in Delaware was roughly 422.6 per 100,000 inhabitants. They were between the ages of 15 and 18. Gun violence hearings leave Philly councilmembers, residents disheartened and tired. The letters stand for "bind, torture, kill" and that is exactly what he did. The case was portrayed in Law and Order season 11 in an episode titled "Ego". Jane Toppan. While on trial for his murders, he was described as "being a cold, calculating killer determined to kill as many women who worked as sex workers.". A week later, officers from the Delaware State Police and the New Castle County Police Department sprang into action. Meyers body was never found. Before his arrest, Capanos brother Gerard Capano told investigators he helped his brother dump a body from a boat off the Jersey shore. For a time, people believed it was an interstate trucker.. This list may not reflect recent changes . Thats all I have to say., On Halloween 1991, Pennell was sentenced to death. All of this thanks to a gas leak in the kitchen. Taschner even sat next to Pennell at a Moody Blues concert. After dinner, the family gathered on the veranda. Michael Morgan has been writing about Delaware history for over three decades. In 1994, Amy Anderson was the only woman to escape the clutches of Robert Leroy Anderson. Eventually, movie theaters canceled shows, people stayed inside behind locked doors, and very few ventured outside. My back all the way down into my groin. Abby's body turned up discovered upstairs, with her head smashed to pieces, while Andrew laid lifeless on the couch . Foul play is not suspected. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast). OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article. When Mary Dunning discovered her husbands indiscretions, she returned home to her fathers house in Dover. Black duct tape, likely used to prevent her from screaming, was still attached to strands of her hair. On January 17, 1999, the jury convicted Capano of first-degree murder and he was sentenced to death by lethal injection. The mere sight of a woman enraged these feelings made them pulsate and grate in the pit of my stomach.". The program also delves into pop culture, sports, and humor. The Supreme Court unanimously rejected the argument, and Pennell was scheduled for execution. The Delaware delegation left Wilmington on a Tuesday evening on a train for Washington, D.C. From there, the party traveled to New Orleans, where they took the Sunset Limited to San Francisco. Of those, 1,476 of the murders have been solved over the years, leaving roughly 517 unsolved murders in Delaware alone. She pled guilty and said she killed the children she babysat for because she had to satisfy a sudden urge to choke them, according to The New York Times. The way he described DiMauro was so cold,says Jennings. Four days after the photo was taken, Anderson took his life in prison. By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider B Billy Bailey C Thomas Capano James B. Clark Jr. Cheney Clow D William Devonshire J Shannon Johnson (murderer) P Steven Brian Pennell R James Allen Red Dog S Nelson Shelton The blue fibers were sent to a lab for testing, and a search warrant was secured to follow Pennell. He drove her to a secluded area and sexually assaulted her in the front seat of his pick-up truck. It was one of many secrets Pennell took to the grave. They later found 11 bodies just 50 feet from his home. Charged with the murder of DiMauro, Gordon and Ellis, he exercised his right to remain silent. [5], Investigators did not have a murder weapon or a body, nor any evidence that Capano had purchased a gun. She was also strangled with a ligature and bludgeoned with a hammer. Again, there were no signs of sexual activity, but the victim was tortured and mutilated with work tools. During his sentencing, Pennel bizarrely asked to be put to death; however, he never admitted to the crimes. Hansen appeared to be the model father, husband, and business owner but he was harboring a terrible secret. Under Delaware law, all such cases are automatically appealed to the state Supreme Court. In 2017, he was sentenced to 360 years in prison. Where old crime does new time: A Research Site Dedicated to Forgotten Crimes & Forgotten Criminals. He is still living out his life sentence. My thoughts and prayers are with her family during this difficult time.. But investigators believe this serial killer murdered at least 11 people around the country. You can read more about Delaware Cold Cases here. On Nov. 23, 1989, Thanksgiving Day, the jury reached a verdict. Her body was completely hairless, a side effect of exposure to arsenic. When the ship was evacuated to lifeboats, the U-Boat surfaced and fired shots at the lifeboats and ships. Capano, 61, apparently died of natural causes. Fan Man-yee, a 23-year-old club server, was kidnapped in 1999 by three men. Manson was attempting to incite a race war, hoping to pin the murders on the Black Panthers. He was sentenced to death. The police were suddenly struck by a smell escaping from the trunk of his car. Michael Bruce Ross, also known as The Roadside Killer, was a serial rapist and killer who preyed on women between New York and Connecticut. He became an affluent lawyer, state prosecutor, Wilmington city attorney, legal counsel to Governor Mike Castle, and political consultant, well known in Delaware's political circles. With a name inspired by the First Amendment, 1A explores important issues such as policy, politics, technology, and what connects us across the fissures that divide the country. Witnesses last saw her leave in a blue Ford panel van with round headlights driven by a white male. Lastly, Leslie Van Houten, Steve Clem Grogan, and the four members from the Tate murders murdered Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary in their Los Feliz home. At just 19 years old he killed 11 people. What are the most haunted places in Delaware? He was looking right through me.. She first sent anonymous letters to Elizabeth Dunning about affairs she had with Dunning's husband. She also recalls a heartbreaking encounter with his daughter, who approached the officer during a stakeout and asked for a donation to a school fundraiser. NEW! Shows like Netflix's "Mindhunter" or books like "I'll be Gone in the Dark" try to get into the minds of these terrifying killers to learn about motives and tactics. The case was also portrayed in the Season 1, Third Episode of the NBC series Boomtown (October 13, 2002). Mason ordered Charles Watson to take Susan Atkins, Linda Kasabian, and Patricia Krenwinkel to go to Terry Melchers house and murder anyone who was there. As part of a plea bargain to avoid the death penalty, Rudolph plead guilty to all charges. They discovered carpet fibers matching those on the victims, along with hair, blood and the same brand of duct tape used on DiMauro. Patty Cannon, whose birth name may have been Lucretia Patricia Hanly (c. 1759/1760 or 1769 - May 11, 1829), was an illegal slave trader, murderer and the co-leader of the Cannon-Johnson Gang of Maryland-Delaware. The smell turned out to be Tiffany Bresciani decomposing body. By 1980, the couple killed 10 teenagers in Nevada and California. From there, Reid went on to rob four different fast-food restaurants and kill people inside. Eventually, he escalated to killing them and cutting their heads off. The coast to coast trip, including layovers, took four and a half days. His first bombing was at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1987, when he was just 13 years old, he stabbed Rebecca Spencer to death. [1][2] The medical examiner determined that Capano died of sudden cardiac arrest. All five of us were taken aback by his impassioned statements.. Patty Cannon, who lived on the Delaware-Maryland line near Seaford, confessed to killing more than two dozen people - including her husband and one of her children. Between the years of 1987 and 1988, Pennell preyed on the sex workers who worked on Route 40. It was as fine a piece of testifying as Ive ever seen,Maurer contends. Typically, theres some horrifying event in the life of a serial killer that explains how they became sociopaths. He was executed in 1985. Ed Gein seems like a character out of a horror movie. Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer and Ariel Castro are just a few of the criminals who've called Ohio home. Not a single justice asked a question. In 2017, he was beaten to death in prison. He buried the bodies in his "garden" behind a strip mall as a memorial. Its how we live. He also asked Gerry to help dispose of a blood-stained sofa and carpet into a dumpster, which was managed by a third brother, Louis. In the '92 book, he wrote, "The bothersomeness was getting worse. Bundy graduated from the University of Washington in 1972. He was charged with 48 murders but was able to avoid the death sentence with a plea bargain. When the shells did not sink the ship, they put it into its grave with another torpedo. He pled no contest to the two murders and asked the Superior Court to sentence him to death. Another resource which provides homicide statistics for every state is Project: Cold Case, who defines themselves as a not-for-profit organization with an ambitious goal of publicizing all unsolved homicides in the United States while linking information, families, and law enforcement, and ultimately, helping to solve cold cases.. Her killer cut up her body. After an extensive search, the FBI joined in the investigation in July and a federal grand jury heard evidence for over a year. Two years later, he killed Joan Heaton and her two daughters. If you travel the swamp trail alone, you might hear the screams of the young runaway who was raped and killed here in the 1870s she still haunts these woods. Thank you! killed 10 people in Wichita between 1974 and 1991, killing 17 people with an axe on behalf of the Church of Sacrifice. He disposed of their bodies in the wooded areas near the Green River. Prosecutors alleged that Capano murdered Fahey at the house he rented and, with the assistance of his brother Gerry, dumped her body in the Atlantic Ocean. Three days later, Kathleen Meyer, another Brookmont Farms resident, was last seen alive hitchhiking along Route 40 around 9:30 p.m. An off-duty police officer spotted the 26-year-old accepting a ride from a stranger in a blue Ford van. Despite killing 11 of her own family members, Nannie Doss never broke a smile and was nicknamed "The Giggly Granny." Some papers even described her as more of a cartoon character than a serial killer. While Florida has seen the likes of Aileen Wuornos and Ted Bundy, one unknown serial killer makes this list for her brutality. Why did he refuse to admit guilt but demand to be executed for the crimes? Is A Netflix And Chill Date Supposed To Be A Death Sentence? Locals are still stunned by the evil behavior of a local man that was fairly well known. You can hear the sound of organ music filling the air. Sign up for our weekly newsletter. It's hard to pin down Terry Peder Rasmussen. He is currently serving a 70-year sentence. She was partially clothed, her legs spread apart. But he was fired one night in 1994, apparently setting him down a murderous path. A blue Ford panel van with round headlights drove past. Also among the same list are the many unsolved murders Dover, Delaware, which include the 2014 murder of Christopher Gillis, the 2007 murder of Jerome Hill, the 2016 murder of Tyler Parton, and the 1986 murder of Lonnie Hill, among many others. When police arrived at the home, the place was filled with garbage to the ceiling. 2013], where you will discover forgotten crimes and criminals lost to history. So I ask that the sentence be death as said by the states laws and Gods laws. He was sentenced to 15 years in Utah State Prison but was extradited to Colorado. He is still in prison, 10 young people, earning him the title "The Co-ed Killer, convinced the FBI to let him out as an informant. For the most part, Delaware is a peaceful state. He explained everything. Contact me here. Dennis Lynn Rader is better known by his other name: the "BTK Killer." Since then, the country has become captivated with true crime, particularly serial killers. Terry is not the only member of the Blair family who has a murderous past. Since then, he raped and killed at least seven other women during his time in Kansas City, Missouri, the Daily Mail reports. He then waited for the rest of his children to come to house. Capano was the last person seen alive with Anne Marie Fahey. When you think of Hawaii, you think of sunny beaches and peaceful islands. She was working the streets along U.S. 13. Also known as The Route 40 Killer, Pennell was found guilty for the torture and murder of 2 New Castle County women and is believed to have murdered 3 others. [11], A 2000 episode of The FBI Files, title "Deadly Obsession,"[12] and an episode of the CBS News documentary program 48 Hours featured the case. One of the most haunted hotels in Delaware is known as the Addy Sea B&B in Bethany Beach. Pennell asked if he could proceed without an attorney. The Incredible Restaurant In Delaware With Almost As Many Desserts As Main Dishes, Thousands Of Singing Spring Peepers Are A Welcome Sound Of Normalcy Here In Delaware, Best Hotels & Resorts In Delaware: 12 Amazing Places To Stay, Everyone In Delaware Should Visit This Epic Flea Market At Least Once, The Deadly History Of This Delaware Prison Is Terrifying But True, The Deadly History Of This Delaware Bridge Is Terrifying But True, The One Delaware Town With The Most Intriguing And Almost Unbelievable History, 5 Abandoned Forts In Delaware That Hold Historic Keys To The Past, Read more about the Ghosts of Woodburn here, Read more about the Strange History of Delmar here, Read more about Terror at Fort Delaware here, hike that will take you to a U-Boat observation tower, Read more about the modern Delaware serial killer here, Haunted Road Trip To Visit Some Of The Spookiest Places In Delaware, Fort Delaware, where you can even sign up for an overnight tour. They had a deal. Cook was executed in 2012, and thanked Red Robin in his final words. OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article. Once there, he would strangle them to death. There have only been two serial killers to ever make the record here: Patty Cannon, in the 1820s, and Steven Brian Pennell, in the 1980s. The court unanimously agreed that execution was an appropriate punishment for Pennells crimes. Pages in category "People convicted of murder by Delaware" The following 10 pages are in this category, out of 10 total. She made up a story about being tired from partying all day and needing to sleep. Once Matzke was awake they both strangled Swaney with a bed sheet. One of the world's most prolific serial killers might still be out there. On March 14, 1992, the state of Delaware killed Steven Brian Pennell. Oddly enough, this sort of thing was a fairly regular occurrence until the end of the war. Ocean-going ships that stopped near Cape Henlopen carried news from foreign places; and the ships arriving from Philadelphia dropped newspapers at Lewes that kept residents informed of domestic events. Black children in the neighborhood were being targeted and murdered one-by-one, murdered her four former husbands, her brother-in-law, and ever her own daughter by poisoning. In 2002, he was in jail for fraud and convinced the FBI to let him out as an informant. Ed Kemper is a particularly brutal serial killer who killed 10 young people, earning him the title "The Co-ed Killer." During his confession, he explained how he strangled each of his victims to death and disposed of their bodies in lakes or near railroad tracks, according to Charlotte Magazine. The day before Halloween, Price, a redhead, was found dead in the bathtub, and Rogers fled the scene. I had no death-penalty experience, and the state had pulled out all the stops because of the severity of the crimes.. The Green River in Washington state became notorious because of the number of bodies that were found there in the '90s. "it would be unbearable to stay" here any longer. Nearly a year after his indictment, Thomas Capano went on trial in the fall of 1998. Keep up with Kendra on Instagram, Twitter and kendrasyrdal.com, The essays in this book are short and sweet, and incredible. Shortly after that, now-retired Superior Court Judge Bill Lee sentenced Capano to death. Ellis had been bound at the feet and the ankles. What his wife didn't know was that Herb also cruised gay bars at night, picking up young men. He was executed by lethal injection, the first person to be executed in Delaware after the death penalty was reinstated in the state in 1975. Editor's Note: A warning that these accounts can be upsetting to some and describe graphic details of real-life cases. In the '90s, Paul Dennis Reid moved to Nashville to become a country music star. No one was ever charged. Although Carroll Edward Cole's crimes weren't committed in Iowa, he grew up in the state that seemingly shaped his life into a serial killer. We've collected five of the most notorious cold cases in American history, ranging from 1892 to 1996. . With equity for BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and other underserved victims not prioritized in the true crime communitytogether we can do better. Steven Brian Pennell, Delawares only documented serial killer, did all of these things. Gabby Petitos Family Says There Is No Doubt Brian Laundrie Murdered Her. Dover, which is the second largest city by population in Delaware, currently has a population of well over 185,000 residents. This time, however, the killer left a clue: DiMauro was covered head to toe in blue carpet fiber. She was a kid, and you never want any child to experience what was happening,says Taschner. At one point, there was a line of five or six vehicles with men waiting to talk to her.. Unfortunately, it's also the unluckiest town in the state. The woman calling said she had been kidnapped. There was no pattern or clear idea as to who would be next. A date was set for March 14, 1992. When 10 women were murdered in the mid-'90s in Charlotte, North Carolina, they all had one thing in common: They all knew Henry Louis Wallace. In some ways, he was very much a conformist. Harvey was convicted of 37 murders and sentenced to multiple life sentences. He would call after every time he killed a person, confessing to murder. You'd pay an annual fee and receive a list of eligible lovers in your area. Wallace even attended some of their funerals. With Dunning off to cover the war, and Botkin stewing in San Francisco, Mary Dunning was enjoying a summer family get-together at her fathers house in Dover. It's a silly name for a sadistic man who took pleasure in torturing women sexually. This report shows, in detail, the data and statistics surrounding the crime rates, crimes, and the locations of these crimes in most, if not every, city, county, and state throughout the United States, including Delaware. Robinson was sentenced to death and remains on death row. Then she sent a box of chocolates with the note, "With love to yourself and baby." So although it's hard to choose just one killer that terrorized the state, Robert Hansen seems to leave a really bone-chilling scare. A white male opened the side panel. Currently, there is no definite way to know how many murders in Delaware 2021 as well as how many murders in Dover, Delaware, 2021 yet. The women who met with him for a date disappeared. In fact, Gaskins claimed he killed 200 hitchhikers. Why did a 31-year-old married father oftwo embark on a killing spree? Although Harvey Robinson is known for being a young serial killer, Craig Price from Rhode Island was even younger. Check out thisHaunted Road Trip To Visit Some Of The Spookiest Places In Delaware. There werent a lot of experts in that field, and there was no case law to ensure the evidence was introduced correctly. In all, he murdered seven people, becoming known as the "Fast Food Killer.". If that was ruled inadmissible, everything else wouldve been kept out under the fruit of the poisonous treelegal doctrine. Fairbanks became so impassioned that we thought he would burst into tears,Moore recalls. We do know that based on archived reports released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as well as local and state law enforcement agencies, it seems that the homicide rates in both Dover and Delaware as a whole seem to be rising every year. He is still in prison. Simmons was apprehended by the police after killing a bank teller, an oil company worker, and wounding 3 other people. They would engage in flirty banter with the men who stopped, but they never got into a vehicle. The killer then wrapped a ligature around her neck and repeatedly struck her over the head with a hammer. Boston nurse Jane Toppan admitted to first eleven murders, then later to 31. During those years free from jail, he killed four people. First, he would abduct them and then he would torture them. He was executed in 1959. After being brought into custody Hansen confessed to raping over 30 women, and murdering 17. When Israel Keyes killed himself in prison in 2012, he took a lot of answers with him. Patty Cannon lived in the Seaford area in the early 1800s. Police believed the murders were the act of a serial killer, but could never find the culprit. Asking for death was his way of admitting it,the task forces Taschner suggests. They nicknamed him "The Green River Killer.". This list of unsolved murders includes notable cases where victims have been murdered under unknown circumstances. Everything else was the same. Authorities also link him to a couple's murder in Burlington, Vermont. Superior Court Judge Richard Gebelein denied Maurers claims, concluding that the carpet was in plain view once Pennell opened the door to invite Taschner inside the van. In fact, some of the furnishings were made of body parts. "Babysitter from Hell" when she choked and killed five children in the early '80s, including an 8-month-old baby. The fibers led to everything else,says Oberly. In Utah, he murdered three women. What the NFL didn't know was that they just drafted one of America's deadliest serial killers. The official cause of death was from "softening of the brain, due to melancholy,"but some say she died of the lingering effects of sweet revenge. It was registered to Steven Brian Pennell, a Delaware electrician with no criminal record. Steven Brian Pennell is the state of Delawares only known serial killer. Delaware was the scene of the crime, but the authorities decided that the murder trial would be held in California. He was found guilty and sentenced to death. It was a strange, strange thing., Pennell argued as if he were a prosecutor demanding death for a vicious criminal. In the weeks that followed, both the killer and the task force accelerated their activities. One cant help but wonder why he demanded the ultimate punishment, even while maintaining his innocence. He was found unresponsive Monday afternoon at 12:34 in his cell at the James T. Vaughn Correctional Center near Smyrna and later was pronounced dead. Harry F. Powers bought a subscription and listed an alias. Famous Crimes the World Forgot Volume II Photo Gallery. The famous rhyme makes it seem as if there has never been any doubt as to whether Lizzie Borden killed her father and stepmother on August 4, 1892. That didnt happen.. Hansen would abduct women and release them into the Alaskan wilderness only to hunt them down with his rifle. She immediately identified the vehicle. Eugene Butler was declared mentally insane in 1906 and died in an asylum a few years later. It may surprise you to learn that the small state of Delaware holds more than its fair share of haunted locations. It was a little surreal being in the courtroom,Gebelein says. All rights reserved. Rogers may be the murderer of Nicole Simpson not O.J. In January of 1984, just two months after the Bennett family moved into their Aurora home, 3 of the 4 family members were brutally murdered by a still unknown assailant. The state of Delaware only has one documented serial killer: Steven Brian Pennell or more commonly known as the "Route 40 Killer." He and the other accomplice are now serving their life sentence in prison. Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. Meirhofer was one of the first serial killers to be identified using FBI's newly developed profiling system that helped catch countless other serial killers. He was known as "The Serial Stabber" because between 2009 and 2010, Elias Abuelazam stabbed 18 people in Flint, Michigan. In 1993, Rifkin was pulled over by police for not having a license plate. Bobby Beausoleil, Mary Brunner, and Susan Atkins held Gary Hinman hostage for days in order to retrieve his inheritance. Each state has a connection to an infamous serial killer. She was an illegal slave trader, involved in the kidnapping of both free and enslaved African Americans. Once caught, Charlene turned on Gerald in return for a shorter sentence. Black children in the neighborhood were being targeted and murdered one-by-one. At least one-third of those murders were tribal women. Many of both the recent and decades-old murders in Dover, Delaware, have not been solved, and law enforcement continues to use every resource available to them in order to continue investigating each homicide.