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

1981: Mark David Chapman Sentenced to 20 Years to Life for Killing John Lennon

In December 1980, Mark David Chapman shot John Lennon four times in the back outside the Dakota apartment building in New York City, killing the former Beatle as he returned home. Chapman had waited hours for Lennon, who had earlier autographed a copy of his album ‘Double Fantasy’ for him, and remained at the scene until police arrived.

On 24 August 1981, Chapman was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder, against the advice of his attorneys. He has been denied parole multiple times and remains incarcerated.

John Lennon Statue in Liverpool. A statue of John Lennon situated opposite the historic Cavern Club in Liverpool. | ID 40019847 © Chris Dorney | Dreamstime.com — ID 40019847 © Chris Dorney | Dreamstime.com

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Murder Trial USA

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1985: The Night Stalker’s begins His FInal Strike in Mission Viejo, California

In the late hours of August 24, 1985, Richard Ramirez drove to Mission Viejo in Southern California, intending to break into the Romero family home. Thirteen-year-old James Romero III spotted him and recorded the car details, alerting police. Ramirez moved on to the nearby home of Bill Carns and Inez Erickson, shooting Carns three times in the head before assaulting Erickson. Remarkably, both victims survived.

The car details noted by James Romero III proved critical. Police traced the vehicle, leading directly to the identification and arrest of Ramirez, bringing the reign of one of California’s most feared serial killers to an end.

Hooded hooligan with obscured face walking city streets at night

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Attempted Murder Murder Serial Killer USA

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1572: The Red Wedding in St Bartholomew

On August 18, 1572, Protestant Henry of Navarre married Catholic Margaret of Valois in Paris, a union designed to end the bloody civil war between France’s Catholics and Huguenots. The peace did not hold. Just days later, on August 24, King Charles IX, acting under the influence of Catherine de’ Medici, authorised a wave of targeted killings against Protestant leaders in Paris.

What began as a series of assassinations spread into mass mob violence across France. Estimates of the death toll range from thousands to as many as 50,000, as Catholic mobs hunted down Huguenots in city after city. The wedding that was meant to unite a fractured nation had become the prelude to one of the worst religious massacres in European history.

Blood-soaked bride in lingerie holding knife lying on floor

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Assassination Europe France Massacre Paris Political Crime Religious Persecution

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1929: The Vampire of Dusseldorf Kills Two Foster Sisters at a Fairground

Peter Kurten, known as the Vampire of Dusseldorf, murdered two young foster sisters at a fairground on 23 August 1929, in one of a string of attacks that terrorised the city throughout that year. Born in Cologne in 1883, the eldest of 13 children, Kurten endured a childhood of brutal poverty and domestic terror, and had already demonstrated violent and sadistic tendencies from boyhood, including drowning two playmates on the Rhine at the age of nine.

His killing spree in 1929 left Dusseldorf gripped by fear. He was eventually arrested, tried, and convicted of nine murders, though police suspected him in as many as 68 attacks. His victims were overwhelmingly women and girls. He was executed by guillotine in July 1931. Shortly before his death, he asked the prison psychiatrist whether he would still be able to hear his own blood gushing from his neck after the blade fell. When told his brain might function for a few seconds, Kurten replied: ‘That would be the pleasure to end all pleasures.’

Peter Kürten police mugshot, 1931. Photographer unknown; Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.

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Cologne Dusseldorf Europe Execution Germany Murder Serial Killer Trial

1981: Mark David Chapman Sentenced to 20 Years to Life for Killing John Lennon

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1985: The Night Stalker’s begins His FInal Strike in Mission Viejo, California

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1572: The Red Wedding in St Bartholomew

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1929: The Vampire of Dusseldorf Kills Two Foster Sisters at a Fairground

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