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

1906: Ed Gein, the Butcher of Plainfield, Born in Wisconsin

Edward Theodore Gein was born on August 27, 1906, in Plainfield, Wisconsin. He would become one of the most disturbing figures in American criminal history, a murderer and body snatcher whose crimes shocked the nation when they were uncovered in November 1957. Authorities searching his farm found the decapitated, mutilated body of hardware store owner Bernice Worden hanging upside down in a shed, dressed out like a deer. Gein had also been raiding local graveyards for years, fashioning keepsakes from the bones and skin of exhumed corpses.

Gein confessed to two murders: Worden in 1957 and tavern owner Mary Hogan in 1954. Found legally insane, he was committed to a psychiatric institution and never stood trial. He died in 1984. His crimes inspired some of fiction’s most iconic killers in movie history.

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Body Snatching Historical Crime Mental Health Murder Serial Killer USA

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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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1877: Martin Cash, the Bushranger Who Cheated the Gallows, Dies at His Farm

Martin Cash, Irish-born convict and bushranger, died on 26 August 1877 at his farm cottage in Glenorchy, Tasmania, aged 68. Twice he escaped from the supposedly escape-proof Port Arthur penal colony, the second time by swimming the shark-infested waters. On Boxing Day 1842, Cash and two companions absconded from a work party and launched an eight-month bushranging spree across Van Diemen’s Land, robbing mail coaches and homesteads before his eventual recapture. His 1870 autobiography, The Adventures of Martin Cash, ghostwritten by a fellow former convict, became a bestseller. He was one of the few bushrangers of his era to die of natural causes, cheating the gallows.

Martin Cash Author: The Bushranger of Van Diemen's Land in 1843 — Martin Cash Author: The Bushranger of Van Diemen’s Land in 1843

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Australia Bushranger Convict History Death TAS

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1809: Thomas Dowlan Hanged in Sydney for Burglary at Hawkesbury

Thomas Doolan, described as an old offender who had been tried several times in the colony, was convicted of forcibly breaking into the house of John Styles at Hawkesbury. He had previously saved himself from execution by turning informant against his accomplices, some of whom were hanged on his testimony.

Doolan was hanged in Sydney on 26 August 1809. Court records from the same period reveal he had also been among those who burglariously broke into the dwelling of a settler named Thomas Harley, beating the occupants and ransacking the house, though he did not live to face that additional charge.

Motorway 1 bridge over Hawkesbury River near Sydney with traffic

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Australia Burglary Execution Hawkesbury NSW Prison Robbery Sydney

1906: Ed Gein, the Butcher of Plainfield, Born in Wisconsin

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

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1877: Martin Cash, the Bushranger Who Cheated the Gallows, Dies at His Farm

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1809: Thomas Dowlan Hanged in Sydney for Burglary at Hawkesbury

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