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

1881: President James A. Garfield Dies 79 Days After an Assassin’s Bullet, Washington D.C.

James A. Garfield, the 20th president of the United States, was shot on July 2, 1881 at a Washington D.C. railway station by Charles Guiteau, a disgruntled and mentally unstable office seeker who had been refused a political appointment.

The wound itself was not immediately fatal, but the president lingered for 79 days as infection set in, worsened by doctors repeatedly probing the injury with unsterilised fingers and instruments in the years before antiseptic surgery was widely practised in America. Garfield died on September 19, 1881, becoming the second American president assassinated in office after Abraham Lincoln.

Guiteau stood trial and was hanged the following year, reportedly declaring at his execution that he had acted for the good of the nation and that his death would be a great loss to politics.

Engraving of the assassination of President Garfield

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Assassination Execution Murder Political Crime USA

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1980: Smuggled in a Book Spine: the Hillside Strangler Plot to Fake a Copycat Killing

On September 19, 1980, Veronica Compton attempted to strangle a 26-year-old woman at a motel in Bellingham, Washington. The attack was part of a plot to convince authorities that imprisoned Hillside Strangler Kenneth Bianchi was innocent—and that the real killer remained at large.

Bianchi had supplied Compton with a semen-filled condom concealed in the spine of a book. She was to plant its contents at the scene of a staged rape and murder, creating false evidence to cast doubt on his guilt. But the woman survived, and the scheme unravelled.

Compton was convicted of first-degree attempted murder in March 1981. She remained imprisoned until 2003.

Close-up of worn book spine titled Modern English Drama

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Arizona Attempted Murder Escape Murder Prison Serial Killer Trial USA Washington

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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.

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Colonial History Execution Massachusetts Salem Trial USA Witchcraft

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1916: He Ruined My Life’: Antonio Picone Hanged at Melbourne Gaol for a Market Shooting

At 4 a.m. on 25 July 1916, three revolver shots rang out at the Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne. Joseph (Giuseppe) Lauricella, a 32 year old Carlton fruiterer buying tomatoes for his shop, fell dead with wounds to the head and neck. His killer, laborer Antonio Picone, fled through a market shed still clutching a smoking revolver before being tackled and held by a bystander, until police arrived.

Picone, wearing a military reject badge in his lapel, was hauled before the City Court that same day. When the charge was read he insisted, “I didn’t do it,” yet detectives testified he had already told them why he pulled the trigger: “He robbed me of my bread, disgraced me, ruined the whole of my life.”

Despite his courtroom denial, Picone had already given detectives his own account of the killing, telling them plainly it was revenge for the ruin of his livelihood and reputation. Picone was convicted of murder and hanged at Melbourne Gaol on 18 September 1916.

Victoria Market Melbourne 1911 Still In Operation Today

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Australia Execution Melbourne Murder Trial VIC

1881: President James A. Garfield Dies 79 Days After an Assassin’s Bullet, Washington D.C.

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1980: Smuggled in a Book Spine: the Hillside Strangler Plot to Fake a Copycat Killing

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

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1916: He Ruined My Life’: Antonio Picone Hanged at Melbourne Gaol for a Market Shooting

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