On This Day in True Crime History – 26 September

1803: The Man They Could Not Hang: Joseph Samuel Survives Three Executions at Sydney

Joseph Samuel was condemned to hang in 1803 for a robbery tied to the murder of Constable Luker in Sydney. Read more →

1892: He Stood at the Roadside as the Body Went By: a Brisbane Teenager Hanged for Murder

Frank Horrocks was barely 17, the son of a senior Queensland civil servant and only a year out of grammar school in Brisbane, when he was charged with murder. Read more →

1901: President McKinley’s Killer Sentenced to Death After Jury Deliberates Barely an Hour

Leon Czolgosz shot President William McKinley on 6 September 1901 at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, firing two shots from a revolver he had concealed inside a handkerchief. Read more →

1932: Nine Minutes on the Gallows: the Longest Last Speech in Melbourne History

David Bennett spoke from the gallows for nine minutes, the longest statement ever made by a condemned man in Victoria. Read more →

1989: The Same Calendar Date, Six Years Apart: Harold Shipman Killed Two Elderly Patients in Hyde

Serial killer Dr Harold Shipman had a chilling habit of striking on the same date across different years. Read more →

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