Dark Stories: On This Day In True Crime History - Dark Stories True Crime Tours

1950: Ethel Rosenberg Arrested as the Atom Spy at the Heart of a Nuclear Secrets Scandal

Ethel Rosenberg, a 34-year-old mother of two, was arrested in New York on 11 August 1950 in connection with the Harry Gold and Klaus Fuchs atom spy case. She and her husband Julius, both lifelong Communist sympathisers with Russian-born parents, were accused of passing atomic secrets to the Soviet Union. The trail had begun with the unravelling of a network stretching from British physicist Klaus Fuchs to the heart of the American nuclear program.

Convicted at trial in March 1951, both Rosenbergs were sentenced to death. On 19 June 1953, Julius was executed first at Sing Sing prison, followed by Ethel at 8.11 p.m. Five electric shocks were required before doctors pronounced her dead.

In her final letter to her lawyer Emanuel Bloch, Ethel wrote: ‘I am not alone, and I die with honor and dignity, knowing my husband and myself will be vindicated.’

Ethel Greenglass Rosenberg under escort after spy charge arrest

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Espionage Execution New York Political Crime Trial USA

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1899: Chung Yeung and Lem Kai Hanged at Fannie Bay Gaol for the Yam Creek Murder

In July 1898, a Chinese man named Chee Hung vanished from Yam Creek in the Northern Territory. Days later, human bones were discovered in a neighbouring garden. Investigators found that Chee Hung had been accused of stealing gold, shot while fishing at a billabong, and then his body was cooked and dismembered with an axe to prevent identification. Lem Kai and his accomplice Chung Yeung were arrested and tried at the Circuit Court in March 1899, where circumstantial evidence was overwhelming and both men were convicted of wilful murder.

On 10 August 1899, both men were hanged in the yard of Fannie Bay Gaol in the presence of the deputy sheriff, gaol officials, and four justices of the peace. The executioner and his assistant were prisoners serving time in the gaol itself.

Both condemned men admitted their guilt to a Chinese missionary who attended them before the execution, and they met their deaths with composure.

Workers washing mining tailings in the 1870s

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Australia Execution Murder Northern Territory NT Trial Yam Creek

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1949: The Acid Bath Murderer: John Haigh Hanged for Six Killings

John George Haigh was an English serial killer who battered or shot his victims, then dissolved their bodies in sulphuric acid to erase all evidence. He forged his victims’ signatures to sell their possessions and collect large sums of money, a scheme he had refined through years of fraud and multiple prison terms. Though convicted of six murders, Haigh claimed to have killed nine.

Born in Stamford, Lincolnshire, and raised in Yorkshire by strict Plymouth Brethren parents, Haigh drifted from fraud into murder after becoming fascinated by French killer Georges-Alexandre Sarret, who had used acid to dispose of bodies. He was arrested in 1949 after police connected him to the disappearance of a widow whose remains, including gallstones and false teeth, survived the acid and were found at his workshop in Crawley, Sussex. Haigh was convicted at Lewes Assizes and hanged at Wandsworth Prison on 10 August 1949.

Portrait of john george haigh

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England Execution Fraud London Murder Organised Crime Serial Killer Sussex UK Yorkshire

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1970: Jim Morrison on Trial in Miami for Indecent Exposure

Jim Morrison, lead singer of The Doors, stood trial in Miami, Florida on 10 August 1970, facing charges stemming from an incident at a concert on 1 March 1969. Prosecutors alleged he had exposed himself on stage at the Dinner Key Auditorium, using profane language before a crowd of thousands.

Morrison was acquitted of lewd and lascivious behaviour but convicted of indecent exposure and open profanity. He was sentenced to six months hard labour and fined $500, but remained free on bond while the conviction was under appeal. He never served the sentence. Morrison died in Paris on 3 July 1971, before the appeal could be heard.

Jim Morrison photos in cafe. Le Pere Lachaise cafe interior in Paris. Singer Jim Morrison used to visit this cafe. | ID 63547008 © Darius Strazdas | Dreamstime.com

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Political Crime Scandal Trial USA

1950: Ethel Rosenberg Arrested as the Atom Spy at the Heart of a Nuclear Secrets Scandal

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1899: Chung Yeung and Lem Kai Hanged at Fannie Bay Gaol for the Yam Creek Murder

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1949: The Acid Bath Murderer: John Haigh Hanged for Six Killings

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1970: Jim Morrison on Trial in Miami for Indecent Exposure

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