USA - Dark Stories True Crime Tours

1975: The Bystander Who Saved a President: Second Failed Attempt on Gerald Ford in San Francisco

Just seventeen days after Lynette Fromme aimed a pistol at Gerald Ford in Sacramento, a second attempt on the president’s life unfolded outside a hotel in San Francisco on September 22, 1975. Sarah Jane Moore, a 45-year-old activist and FBI informant, fired a single shot from a .38 revolver at Ford as he left the St. Francis Hotel, missing him by only a few feet.

The shot went wide largely because of a bystander, former Marine Oliver Sipple, who was standing nearby and grabbed Moore’s arm as she fired, deflecting her aim. Moore was wrestled to the ground and arrested at the scene.

She pleaded guilty to attempted assassination of a president and was sentenced to life in prison. Moore later expressed regret over the attempt, and she was eventually paroled in 2007 after more than three decades behind bars.

Gerald Ford portrait in the Michigan State Capitol at 100 N Capitol Avenue in Lansing, Michigan | ID 103716497 © Glenn Nagel | Dreamstime.com — ID 103716497 © Glenn Nagel | Dreamstime.com

⬅ See all events from 22 September

Assassination Attempted Assassination California Political Crime San Francisco Trial USA

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2002: Hillside Strangler Angelo Buono Dies in Prison, Never Expressing Remorse

Angelo Buono Jr., one half of the killing partnership known as the Hillside Stranglers, died of a heart attack at age 67 while serving a life sentence without parole at Calipatria State Prison in California. He had been convicted of nine murders committed with his cousin Kenneth Bianchi in Los Angeles between 1977 and 1978, victims who were kidnapped, tortured and strangled before their bodies were dumped on hillsides around the city.

Buono ran an upholstery shop that served as a base for the pair, luring young women into his van before the killings. Bianchi, who was arrested first in Washington State, struck a deal and testified against Buono in exchange for avoiding the death penalty, a betrayal that helped seal his cousin’s conviction after one of the longest and most expensive criminal trials in California history.

Buono spent the rest of his life in prison showing no remorse for the killings, dying quietly behind bars rather than facing execution.

Empty desert prison yard with guard tower in background

⬅ See all events from 21 September

California Los Angeles Murder Prison Serial Killer Trial USA

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1989: The Night Stalker Convicted on All 43 Counts: Richard Ramirez Faces California Justice

Richard Ramirez, the serial killer known as the Night Stalker who terrorised California in 1984 and 1985, was found guilty on every one of the 43 charges brought against him: thirteen counts of murder, five attempted murders, eleven sexual assaults, and fourteen burglaries.

The trial itself became a spectacle of its own, dragging on for years and costing an estimated 1.8 million dollars, making it one of the most expensive criminal trials in California history at the time.

Ramirez showed no remorse throughout proceedings, at one point flashing a pentagram drawn on his palm to reporters and declaring his admiration for Satan.

⬅ See all events from 20 September

Burglary California Murder Serial Killer Sexual Assault Trial USA

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1692: Pressed to Death: the Only Person in America Executed by Stone for Refusing to Plead

Giles Corey, an 81 year old farmer in Salem, Massachusetts, refused to enter a plea when charged with witchcraft during the hysteria of 1692. By standing mute he prevented a trial from proceeding under the law of the time, which instead prescribed peine forte et dure: the accused was stretched on the ground and heavy stones piled onto his chest to force a plea.

Corey endured the ordeal for two days without submitting. Sheriff’s men reportedly used a stick to push his tongue back into his mouth when it protruded under the weight. His last words are said to have been a simple demand for more weight: “more weight”.

By refusing to plead, Corey ensured he was never convicted, which meant his property could not be seized by the colony, an outcome believed to be his deliberate motive in choosing this brutal death over a trial. He remains the only person in American history known to have been executed by pressing.

Peine forte et dure - Punishment for refusing to plead in court. — Peine forte et dure – Punishment for refusing to plead in court.

⬅ See all events from 19 September

Colonial History Execution Massachusetts Salem Trial USA Witchcraft

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