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

1808: Broughton and Cheeseman Hanged in Sydney for Cattle Theft at Hawkesbury

Stockmen, Richard Broughton and John Cheeseman, conspired to steal two head of cattle from their employer’s flock at Hawkesbury in April 1808.

Cheeseman paid off Broughton for the two heads of cattle, which were then driven through Parramatta and on to a farm near the Brickfields in Sydney. A king’s evidence witness revealed he had overheard the deal being struck and later spotted the cattle in a herd at the Nepean River.

Broughton and Cheeseman were tried, found guilty and hanged in Sydney. A third accused, Joseph Tilson, was found to have been an unwitting hired drover and escaped the same fate.

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Australia Execution Hawkesbury NSW Parramatta Sydney Theft Trial

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1973: The Stockholm Bank Siege That Gave Psychology a New Term

On 28 August 1973, Swedish police ended a six-day hostage crisis at Sveriges Kreditbanken in Stockholm by pumping tear gas into the vault where captors and hostages had been confined since 23 August. The standoff concluded not with gratitude but with something far stranger: the hostages insisted on leaving alongside their captors, fearing police would open fire, and then embraced them warmly as the ordeal ended.

The behaviour baffled investigators and onlookers alike. A psychiatrist advising Swedish police coined the term ‘Stockholm syndrome’ to describe the paradoxical emotional bonds that had formed between the captives and the people holding them at gunpoint. The phrase entered the psychological lexicon and has since been applied to hostage situations around the world.

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Europe Hostage Crisis Kidnapping Police Psychology Siege Stockholm Sweden

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1925: Murder On The Dance Floor: Audrey Jacob Shoots Fiance Dead in Perth

At a charity ball in the Government House Ballroom in Perth on the night of 26 August 1925, Audrey Jacob, a 20-year-old art student, shot her former fiance Cyril Gidley through the heart in front of hundreds of revellers.

Gidley, a 25-year-old ship’s engineer, had ended their engagement months earlier, dramatically throwing the engagement ring into the sea. Audrey had attended the ball in costume as Pierrette, a lovesick clown; when Gidley ignored her all evening, she slipped away, changed into a striking blue evening gown, and returned. As the orchestra struck up an encore dance number, she approached him on the floor. A single shot rang out and Gidley collapsed without a word.

Audrey stood over the body, smoking gun in hand, and declared to the stunned crowd: ‘I did it. Take me away. It’s all right. I know what I’ve done.’ She claimed the gun discharged accidentally during a confrontation. The case became a media sensation and led to a landmark trial in which she was found not guilty.

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Australia Fremantle Murder Perth Scandal Trial WA

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1979: Mountbatten Killed by IRA Bomb Off the Irish Coast

On 27 August 1979, Lord Louis Mountbatten, 79, was killed when a bomb planted by the Provisional IRA detonated aboard his fishing boat, Shadow V, in the waters off Mullaghmore, County Sligo, Ireland. The bomb, concealed on the vessel the night before, was remotely detonated as Mountbatten and family members set out from the harbour. Three others died in the blast, including his 14-year-old grandson Nicholas Knatchbull and a 15-year-old local boy.

Thomas McMahon, an IRA bomb-maker, was arrested hours before the explosion on unrelated grounds and later convicted of the murders based on forensic evidence linking him to the boat. The attack was coordinated with the Warrenpoint ambush the same day, which killed 18 British soldiers, making 27 August 1979 one of the deadliest days for British forces during the Troubles.

A typical view in London. London. October 2018. A statue of Lord Mountbatten in Horse guards parade in london | ID 130381623 © Chris Mouyiaris | Dreamstime.com — ID 130381623 © Chris Mouyiaris | Dreamstime.com

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Assassination Europe Ireland Murder Political Crime Terrorism UK

1808: Broughton and Cheeseman Hanged in Sydney for Cattle Theft at Hawkesbury

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1973: The Stockholm Bank Siege That Gave Psychology a New Term

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1925: Murder On The Dance Floor: Audrey Jacob Shoots Fiance Dead in Perth

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1979: Mountbatten Killed by IRA Bomb Off the Irish Coast

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