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

1853: John Smith Hanged at Melbourne Gaol for the Murder of a Miner at Fryer's Creek

In 1853, John Smith and Henry Turner forced their way into the hut of John Warren at Fryer’s Creek, demanding gold. When Warren could not produce it, the pair shot him in the eye with a revolver at close range. Warren was found blind and bleeding, groping through the bush. He died shortly after, the bullet having shattered a fragment of his temporal bone into the brain.

Both men were tried, convicted, and hanged at Melbourne Gaol on 23 August 1853, before a large crowd assembled outside the walls.

Smith, attended by Catholic priests in his final days, was brought to acknowledge that the sentence he was about to suffer was just and merited.

View from below of historical gallows in Tombstone Arizona

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Australia Execution Fryers Creek Gold Rush Crime Melbourne Murder Robbery VIC

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1305: William Wallace Hanged, Drawn, and Quartered at Smithfield

William Wallace, the Scottish knight and military leader who had defied English rule for nearly a decade, was captured in August 1305 and swiftly tried for treason and atrocities against English civilians. Brought before a tribunal in Westminster Hall, he denied the charge of treason on the grounds that he had never sworn allegiance to the English crown, but the verdict was a foregone conclusion.

On 23 August 1305, Wallace was dragged through the streets of London to Smithfield, where he was hanged, cut down while still alive, disembowelled, beheaded, and his body divided into four parts. His head was displayed on London Bridge; his limbs were sent to Newcastle, Berwick, Stirling, and Perth as a warning to those who would resist English rule. He became the most enduring symbol of Scottish resistance.

William Wallace statue outside Stirling Castle Scotland

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Execution London Political Crime Scotland Trial UK

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2004: The Scream and Madonna Stolen at Gunpoint from Oslo Museum

In broad daylight on 22 August 2004, masked gunmen entered the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway, and tore two priceless works from the walls: the 1910 version of Edvard Munch’s iconic The Scream and his enigmatic Madonna. A quick-thinking bystander photographed the thieves as they fled to a getaway car. Fragments of the gilded frames were later found nearby, and fears circulated that the paintings had been deliberately destroyed to eliminate evidence.

Norwegian police arrested a suspect in April 2005, and in early 2006 six men stood trial. Three were sentenced to between four and eight years in prison. Then, in August 2006, police announced they had recovered both works. The Scream bore moisture damage to its lower-left corner; Madonna showed tears and holes on her right side. Before restoration, the Munch Museum exhibited the damaged paintings to the public for five days, drawing more than five thousand visitors.

Edvard Munch, The Scream (1893). Photo: Børre Høstland/National Museum of Norway. CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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Armed Robbery Art Theft Europe Norway Oslo Robbery Trial

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1972: The Brooklyn Bank Siege That Inspired Dog Day Afternoon

On August 22, 1972, John Wojtowicz and Salvatore Naturile attempted to rob a branch of Chase Manhattan Bank at 450 Avenue P in Gravesend, Brooklyn. A third accomplice fled before the robbery began after spotting a police car. Rather than escaping with the cash, Wojtowicz and Naturile held seven bank employees hostage for fourteen hours. Wojtowicz, a former bank teller, had working knowledge of bank operations, but the plan unravelled completely.

Naturile was shot and killed by an FBI agent during the final moments of the standoff. Wojtowicz was arrested and sentenced to 20 years at Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary, serving five. The story became the basis for the 1975 film Dog Day Afternoon, starring Al Pacino.

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Kidnapping Organised Crime Prison Robbery USA

1853: John Smith Hanged at Melbourne Gaol for the Murder of a Miner at Fryer's Creek

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1305: William Wallace Hanged, Drawn, and Quartered at Smithfield

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2004: The Scream and Madonna Stolen at Gunpoint from Oslo Museum

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1972: The Brooklyn Bank Siege That Inspired Dog Day Afternoon

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