Michael Thomas Barry

Award winning author Michael Thomas Barry was born and raised in the Chicago area and earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in both Criminal Justice and History from Cal State Fullerton. He also holds a post graduate degree in legal assistantship from the University of California, Irvine. Michael has worked as a sworn Peace Officer for the County of Orange, civil litigation paralegal, and regional asset prevention manager.

Mass Murder-Suicide at Jonestown - 1978

Jim Jones

by Michael Thomas Barry

On November 18, 1978, Peoples Temple founder Jim Jones leads hundreds of his followers in a mass murder-suicide at their agricultural commune in a remote part of the South American nation of Guyana. Many of Jones’ followers willingly ingested a poison-laced punch while others were forced to do so at gunpoint.

Wisconsin Serial Killer Claims Last Victim - 1957

Edward Gein

by Michael Thomas Barry

On November 16, 1957, serial killer Edward Gein murders his last victim, Bernice Worden of Plainfield, Wisconsin. His grave robbing, necrophilia, and cannibalism gained national attention, and may have provided inspiration for the characters of Norman Bates in Psycho and serial killer Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs.

The "In Cold Blood" Murders - 1959

Richard Hickcock & Perry Smith

Richard Hickock & Perry Smith

by Michael Thomas Barry

On November 15, 1959, four members of the Clutter family were bound, gagged, and shot to death in their isolated farm home in Holcomb, Kansas. On the morning after the murders, the bodies of four members of the Clutter family: Herbert, his wife Bonnie Jean, daughter Nancy, and son Kenyan, were discovered by a friend of Nancy's after efforts to rouse them for church had failed.

Murder in the streets of Tombstone - 1882

Frank "Buckskin" Leslie

by Michael Thomas Barry

On November 14, 1882, gunslinger Franklin "Buckskin" Leslie shoots and kills Billy "The Kid" Claiborne in the streets of Tombstone, Arizona. The town of Tombstone is best known today as the site of the infamous shootout at the O.K. Corral. In the 1880s, however, Tombstone was home to many gunmen who never achieved the enduring fame of Wyatt Earp or Doc Holliday.

Suspect in bombing of United Flight 629 is arrested - 1955

United Flight 629

by Michael Thomas Barry

On November 13, 1955, FBI agents search the home of John Graham, a chief suspect in the bombing of United Airlines 629 that killed 44 people on November 1, 1955 over Longmont, Colorado. The flight had originated at New York’s La Guardia Airport and made a scheduled stop in Chicago before continuing on to Denver, where there was a crew change. The flight took off at 6:52 p.m. and eleven minutes later, air traffic controllers saw two bright lights suddenly appear in the sky north-northwest of the airport.

Scott Peterson is convicted of murdering his wife and unborn son - 2004

Scott Peterson

by Michael Thomas Barry

On November 12, 2004, Scott Peterson is convicted of murdering his wife Laci and their unborn son. When initially questioned about his wife's whereabouts, Peterson claimed that Laci had disappeared on Christmas Eve 2002, sometime after leaving the house to walk their dog and after he left on a fishing trip to nearby San Francisco Bay.

Corpse found buried in lawn of Sacramento area boarding house - 1988

Dorthea Puente

by Michael Thomas Barry

On November 11, 1988, police unearth a corpse buried in the lawn of Dorothea Puente's home in Sacramento, California. Puente operated a residential home for elderly people, and an investigation led to the discovery of six more bodies buried on her property.

Chicago Mobster Dion O'Banion is Murdered - 1924

Dion O'Bannion

by Michael Thomas Barry

On November 10, 1924, Chicago Mobster Dion O'Banion is murderd. He was born on July 8, 1892 in Maroa, Illinois and was an Irish-American bootlegger of the early 1920s, and organized crime boss. O'Banion was the leader of the notorious North Side Gang in Chicago, and was an arch rival of Johnny Torrio and Al Capone.