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

1939: Bookmaker Irving Feinstein Strangled and Burned by Murder Inc.

In September 1939, New York bookmaker Irving Feinstein was strangled to death by members of Murder Inc., the enforcement arm of the American organised crime syndicate. His body was set alight and dumped in a vacant lot, a signature disposal method of the organisation.

The killing was ordered after Feinstein was accused of doublecrossing a criminal associate. He was one of dozens of victims claimed by Murder Inc. during its brutal reign as a contract killing operation for the mob.

⬅ See all events from 4 September

Gang Murder Organised Crime USA

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

2009: Millionaire Michael McGurk Shot Dead Outside His Cremorne Home

On the evening of 3 September 2009, millionaire businessman Michael McGurk was shot dead in the driveway of his home in Cremorne, Sydney. His young son witnessed the killing. McGurk had been embroiled in a bitter legal dispute with property developer Ron Medich over a failed business deal.

The murder triggered one of the most complex organised crime investigations in New South Wales in years. Ron Medich was ultimately convicted in 2019 of arranging the killing, and sentenced to a minimum of 30 years in prison.

⬅ See all events from 3 September

Australia Cremorne Gang Murder NSW Organised Crime Sydney Trial

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

1981: Andrei Chikatilo Resumes Killing After a Three-Year Pause

Soviet serial killer Andrei Chikatilo had committed his first murder in 1978, preying on young victims lured from rail stations and bus depots around Rostov-na-Donu. By 1981, after a three-year hiatus that investigators could scarcely explain, he resumed killing. Poverty and the decay of Soviet society made his victims easy to isolate: young people drifting toward cities with no contacts, no money, and no one to report them missing.

Chikatilo would not be caught for nearly another decade. In 1984, police briefly detained him but a botched blood typing test cleared him. He was convicted of theft and served three months. By 1990, when he was finally arrested, he had murdered at least 50 people. Soviet authorities had actively suppressed public warnings during the investigation, maintaining that serial murder was ideologically incompatible with communist society.

⬅ See all events from 3 September

Europe Execution Murder Rostov-na-Donu Russia Serial Killer Soviet Union Trial

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

1885: Charles Bushby Hanged at Ballarat for Shooting a Detective on the Gong Gong Road

In December 1884, plain-clothes Detective Sergeant Hyland was pursuing a suspect wanted as an accomplice in a wool-stealing robbery at Kyneton. Acting on a tip that the man had been seen asking questions near the Gong Gong hotel, Hyland and Senior Constable Hehir hired a cab and tracked him along the road near Brown Hill. When Hyland stepped out and approached, the man drew a revolver and shot him in the shoulder at close range. Hyland rushed him before he could fire again, and a fierce struggle followed, with two more shots discharged into the ground and air before the man was handcuffed and taken into Ballarat. Surgeons at the hospital extracted the bullet from the sergeant’s back.

The man, Charles Bushby, also known as Baker, was convicted of attempted murder at the Ballarat Court and sentenced to death. He was hanged at Ballarat on 3 September 1885.

Old abandoned Kyneton Hospital building in Victoria, Australia

⬅ See all events from 3 September

Australia Ballarat Execution Kyneton Murder Police Robbery Trial VIC

1939: Bookmaker Irving Feinstein Strangled and Burned by Murder Inc.

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

2009: Millionaire Michael McGurk Shot Dead Outside His Cremorne Home

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

1981: Andrei Chikatilo Resumes Killing After a Three-Year Pause

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

1885: Charles Bushby Hanged at Ballarat for Shooting a Detective on the Gong Gong Road

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

Subscribe to Dark Stories