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

1985: Night Stalker Richard Ramirez Captured by an Angry Mob in East Los Angeles

For months in 1985, Richard Ramirez, the Night Stalker, terrorised California, breaking into homes while families slept to assault, mutilate, and murder. His reign of terror ended not with a police operation but with a newspaper front page: once his mugshot was published across California media, his anonymity was gone.

On 31 August 1985, Ramirez attempted to carjack vehicles in the Boyle Heights neighbourhood of East Los Angeles. Residents recognised him, chased him down the sreet, and beat him to the ground before police arrived to take him into custody. Facing the mob, Ramirez reportedly confessed to officers, preferring arrest to the alternative.

Stalker captured

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Boyle Heights California Capture East Los Angeles Los Angeles Murder Organised Crime Serial Killer Trial USA

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2006: The Scream Recovered Two Years After Brazen Oslo Museum Theft

Edvard Munch’s iconic painting The Scream, stolen from the Munch Museum in Oslo on 22 August 2004, was recovered by Norwegian police on 31 August 2006. The theft had been carried out in broad daylight by masked gunmen who forced staff to the ground before fleeing with the painting and another Munch work, Madonna.

The recovery came after a lengthy investigation involving multiple arrests. The paintings were found hidden and showed some damage, but were ultimately restored and returned to public display.

Edvard Munch, The Scream (1893). Photo: Børre Høstland/National Museum of Norway. CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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Art Theft Europe Norway Organised Crime Oslo Robbery

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1888: Jack the Ripper Claims His First Victim in Whitechapel

Mary Ann Nichols, known as Polly, was 43 years old, a divorced mother of five, and homeless on the night she died. In the early hours of 31 August 1888, she went to the streets of Whitechapel, London, to earn money for a bed. Her body was found before 4 a.m., her throat slashed with a long-bladed knife and her abdomen deeply cut. There were no witnesses.

Nichols became the first of at least five women murdered in and around Whitechapel between late August and early November 1888 by the killer who would become known as Jack the Ripper. Her death ignited intense press and public interest in both the murders and the desperate living conditions of London’s East End.

Despite countless theories, the killer Jack The Ripper, has never been identified.

Illustration of PC Neil discovering the body of Mary Ann Nichols with his lantern. Unknown artist, 1888. Published in Famous Crimes Past and Present, c.1903. Public domain.

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Cold Case Europe London Murder Serial Killer UK Unsolved

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1825: Three Men Hanged at Hobart for Bushranging and Robbery

On an evening in July 1825, a gang of armed bushrangers descended on the home of Samuel Haywood in the Macquarie district of Van Diemen’s Land. One of the men posed as a letter carrier, tricking Mrs Haywood into opening the door before the others rushed inside. When Haywood moved for his gun, a pistol was fired at him during the confrontation.

The gang ransacked the house and escaped with an immense quantity of property, including clothing. They were later traced to a house near the Hobart Penitentiary, where their brazenness helped betray them: several were still wearing clothes stolen from Haywood and were immediately recognised by their victim.

At the Supreme Court, John Everist, Joseph Broadhead, Charles Bradbury and William Buckley were tried for the robbery. The Attorney-General remarked that almost every crime short of murder had been committed during the raid.

Everist, Broadhead and Buckley were convicted and hanged at Hobart on 31 August 1825.

Three hanging noose ropes isolated on a white background

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Australia Bushranging Execution Hobart Robbery TAS Trial

1985: Night Stalker Richard Ramirez Captured by an Angry Mob in East Los Angeles

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2006: The Scream Recovered Two Years After Brazen Oslo Museum Theft

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1888: Jack the Ripper Claims His First Victim in Whitechapel

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1825: Three Men Hanged at Hobart for Bushranging and Robbery

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