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

1959: The Birth of the Man Who Would Become David Koresh

Vernon Howell was born on this day in 1959, destined to become one of the most notorious cult leaders in American history. The Branch Davidians, the sect he would eventually command, were themselves an offshoot of the Davidians, a reform movement within the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Howell later renamed himself David Koresh, drawing on biblical symbolism to cement his claim as a messianic figure. His leadership of the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas would end in a 51-day federal siege in 1993, a catastrophic fire, and the deaths of 76 of his followers.

Waco, Texas - November 11, 2024: The gate at the entrance to the Branch Davidian Memorial site compound | ID 344668604 © Mkopka | Dreamstime.com

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Cult Disaster Siege Terrorism USA

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1932: William Cyril Moxley Hanged at Long Bay for a Double Murder in Moorebank

On 5 April 1932, Dorothy Ruth Denzel and Frank Barnby Wilkinson, a young couple soon to be engaged, were attacked and killed while resting on a rug in a darkened lane near Liverpool, NSW. Their killer, William Cyril Moxley, a police informer with a criminal record, fled the scene in Wilkinson’s red Alvis sports car, later found abandoned in Ashfield. Moxley was identified in part by a distinctive detail: a clean bullet hole through his left ear, a souvenir from criminals he had once informed on.

A massive manhunt followed, with more than a hundred police deployed and families in surrounding suburbs locking their homes at night. Moxley was eventually tracked to bushland at Frenchs Forest in Sydney. He tried to escape, but after a chase and struggle involving three police officers, he was overpowered and arrested. He was hanged at Long Bay Gaol on 17 August 1932.

William Cyril Moxley condemned murderer at Long Bay gallows 1932

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Australia Execution Murder NSW Sydney Trial

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1891: Arthur Cooley Hanged at Campbell Street Gaol for the Murder of Mary Camille Ogilvy

Mary Camille Ogilvy, wife of a magistrate of Inverquharity station near Richmond, Tasmania, was shot dead on the morning of 14 August 1891 while walking back from the gate after seeing her husband off to the Richmond Police Court.

Her body was found the following dawn, pinned beneath a willow in the Coal River, with part of her skull destroyed by a gunshot. Evidence suggested she had been shot some 50 yards from the water and her body dragged to the riverbank. A search party of nearly 100 people with lanterns had scoured the district through the night before she was found.

Arthur Cooley, a young man already on bail awaiting trial for an assault charge, was arrested as the prime suspect and faced a coroner’s inquest that same Saturday afternoon. Public anger in the district was described as approaching lynching point. Cooley was convicted of the murder and hanged at Campbell Street Gaol on 17 August 1891.

Hobart Gaol prison exterior historic stone building

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Australia Execution Hobart Murder Richmond TAS Trial

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1980: Baby Azaria Vanishes at Uluru, Sparking One of History’s Most Divisive Cases

On the night of 17 August 1980, nine-week-old Azaria Chamberlain disappeared from a tent at a campsite near Uluru in the Northern Territory. Her mother, Lindy Chamberlain, reported that a dingo had taken the baby, but her account was met with widespread public scepticism and intense media scrutiny.

The case became one of the most controversial miscarriages of justice in the history of Australia. Lindy Chamberlain was convicted of murder in 1982 and imprisoned, before new evidence, a piece of Azaria’s clothing found near a dingo lair, led to her release in 1986. A fourth inquest in 2012 finally returned the finding that a dingo did take and kill Azaria, vindicating the Chamberlain family after more than three decades.

Dingo

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Australia Cold Case Exoneration Miscarriage of Justice Murder NT Trial Uluru

1959: The Birth of the Man Who Would Become David Koresh

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1932: William Cyril Moxley Hanged at Long Bay for a Double Murder in Moorebank

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1891: Arthur Cooley Hanged at Campbell Street Gaol for the Murder of Mary Camille Ogilvy

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1980: Baby Azaria Vanishes at Uluru, Sparking One of History’s Most Divisive Cases

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