On This Date in Crime History

Murderous thug is elected sheriff of Bannack, Montana - 1963

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Henry Plummer

On May 24, 1863, the good citizens of Bannack, Montana, elect Henry Plummer as their new sheriff, not realizing he is a hardened outlaw who will use his office to rob and murder.

Bonnie & Clyde are killed - 1934

Bonnie Parker & Clyde Barrow

by Michael Thomas Barry

On May 23, 1934, famed fugitives Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker are killed in a police ambush near Sailes, Louisiana. A contingent of officers from Texas and Louisiana set up along the highway, waiting for the fugitives to appear, and then unloaded a two-minute fusillade of 167 bullets at their car, killing them both.

Chandra Levy's remains are found - 2002

Chandra Levy

by Michael Thomas Barry

On May 22, 2002, the remains of former Federal Bureau of Prisons intern Chandra Levy are found, over a year after the 24-year-old was last seen at a health club. The skeletal remains, discovered by a man walking through Washington D.C.'s Rock Creek Park, were identified through dental records. A sweatshirt, sneakers and a Sony Walkman cassette player were also found in the vicinity.

Bobby Franks is kidnapped and killed - 1924

leopold and loeb

Leopold & Loeb

by Michael Thomas Barry

On May 21, 1924, fourteen-year-old Bobbie Franks is abducted from a Chicago, Illinois, street and killed in what later proves to be one of the most fascinating murders in American history. The killers, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, were extremely wealthy and intelligent teenagers whose sole motive for killing Franks was the desire to commit the "perfect crime."

Mary Kay Letourneau marries her victim - 2005

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Mary Kay Letourneau and Vili Fualaau

by Michael Thomas Barry

On May 20, 2005, ex-teacher and convicted pedophile Mary Kay Letourneau, marries her former victim and the father of two of her children, Vili Fualaau. Just nine months earlier, Letourneau had been released from prison after serving a seven-and-a-half year sentence for raping Fualaau.

Oscar Wilde is released from prison - 1897

Oscar Wilde

by Michael Thomas Barry

On May 19, 1897, writer Oscar Wilde is released from jail after two years of hard labor. His experiences in prison were the basis for his last work, The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898).

Teamsters are murdered by renegade Indians in Texas - 1871

Chief Satanta

by Michael Thomas Barry

On May 18, 1871, Kiowa Chief Satanta joins with other Indians to massacre a wagon train near the Red River in northeastern Texas. One of the leading chiefs of the Kiowa in the 1860s and 1870s, Satanta was a fearsome warrior but also a skilled orator and diplomat. He helped negotiate and signed treaties with the U.S. establishing a Kiowa reservation in Indian Territory (modern-day Oklahoma), but Satanta remained resistant to government efforts to force the Kiowa to abandon their nomadic ways.

LAPD raid leaves six SLA members dead - 1974

The famous S.L.A. publicity image of new member Patty Hearst

by Michael Thomas Barry

On May 17, 1974, Los Angeles police surround a home in Compton where the leaders of the terrorist group known as the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) are hiding out. Several months earlier the SLA had kidnapped Patricia Hearst, heiress to the Hearst family publishing empire. Police found the house in Compton when a local mother reported that her kids had seen a bunch of people playing with an arsenal of automatic weapons in the living room of the home.

President Andrew Johnson is aquitted of High Crimes & Misdemeanors - 1868

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Andrew Johnson

by Michael Thomas Barry

On May 16, 1868, the U.S. Senate votes against impeaching President Andrew Johnson and acquits him of committing high crimes and misdemeanors. In February 1868, the House of Representatives charged Johnson with 11 articles of impeachment for vague "high crimes and misdemeanors."

San Francisco's 2nd Vigilance Committee is formed - 1856

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Symbol of the 2nd Vigilance Committee

by Michael Thomas Barry

On May 15, 1856, angered by the shooting of a prominent journalist, San Franciscans form their second vigilance committee to combat lawlessness. The need for vigilance committees in San Francisco was obvious. Only two years after gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in 1848, San Francisco had grown from a sleepy little village with 900 inhabitants to a booming metropolis with more than 200,000 residents.