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

1851: Too Many Escapes: Maitland Gaoler Dismissed, Replaced by a Darlinghurst Turnkey

Just three years after Maitland Gaol had officially opened its gates in 1848, its first gaoler, James Cox, was sacked. So many prisoners had slipped out under his watch that on 10 September 1851 the authorities removed him from the post entirely.

His replacement was John Wallace, formerly principal turnkey at Darlinghurst Gaol in Sydney, who took over as gaoler at Maitland. His wife, Mrs Wallace, was installed alongside him as the gaol’s matron, a husband and wife team brought in to tighten a prison that had already earned a reputation for losing its inmates.

Warder guards wall after prisoner escape attempt at Maitland Gaol 1940

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Australia Corruption Darlinghurst Escape Maitland NSW Prison Scandal Sydney

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1996: The Menendez Brothers Split Up: Sent to Separate Maximum-Security Prisons

After their conviction for the 1989 shotgun murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in the family’s Beverly Hills home, the California Department of Corrections classified Lyle and Erik as maximum-security inmates and separated them, ending years of the brothers being held together. Lyle was sent to the California Correctional Institution near Tehachapi, while Erik was sent to California State Prison near Sacramento.

The brothers had initially told police that intruders, possibly connected to organised crime, were responsible for the killings. Suspicion grew after investigators noted their lavish spending in the months following the murders and discovered they had hired a computer expert to delete their father’s recently updated will. Erik ultimately confessed to the killings during sessions with his psychologist, describing a desire to escape a controlling father’s demanding expectations, a disclosure that led to both brothers’ arrests.

Beverly Hills sign in Hollywood, Los Angeles against a blue cloudy sky | ID 1216184 © Stephen Coburn | Dreamstime.com — ID 1216184 © Stephen Coburn | Dreamstime.com

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California Murder Prison Trial USA

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1971: Four Days of Rebellion: the Attica Prison Riot Leaves 39 Dead

On September 9, 1971, inmates at Attica Correctional Facility in New York seized control of the prison, taking dozens of guards and staff hostage in protest over brutal conditions, overcrowding, and demands for basic political and civil rights. For four days the prisoners held the yard, negotiating with officials and issuing a list of demands broadcast to the watching public.

On September 13, on the order of Governor Nelson Rockefeller, state troopers and police stormed the facility, opening fire on inmates and hostages alike. By the time the smoke cleared, 39 people were dead, including ten hostages, most killed not by prisoners but by the retaking force’s own gunfire.

The riot remains one of the deadliest prison uprisings in American history and exposed the brutal conditions inside Attica, triggering decades of lawsuits, investigations, and a landmark settlement for survivors and victims’ families.

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Disaster New York Police Prison Riot USA

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1944: The Acid Bath Murderer: John Haigh Dissolves His Former Boss in a Barrel of Sulphuric Acid

John Haigh, a convicted fraudster, murdered his former employer William ‘Mac’ McSwan and dissolved his body in a barrel of sulphuric acid. Haigh later claimed the killing was driven by a compulsion he called blood lust, but McSwan had money and property, and the murder looks less like madness than a calculated escalation of Haigh’s earlier fraud schemes.

Tellingly, whatever ‘compulsion’ Haigh described did not resurface until the cash from the McSwan killing had run out, suggesting the acid barrel was less about bloodlust and more about a ruthless, practical solution to funding his lifestyle.

Portrait of john george haigh - acid bath murderer. Public Domain. — Portrait of john george haigh – acid bath murderer. Public Domain.

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England Fraud London Murder Serial Killer UK

1851: Too Many Escapes: Maitland Gaoler Dismissed, Replaced by a Darlinghurst Turnkey

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1996: The Menendez Brothers Split Up: Sent to Separate Maximum-Security Prisons

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1971: Four Days of Rebellion: the Attica Prison Riot Leaves 39 Dead

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1944: The Acid Bath Murderer: John Haigh Dissolves His Former Boss in a Barrel of Sulphuric Acid

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