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

1825: Thomas Peacock Hanged at Hobart for the Murder of Constable Craggs

Thomas Peacock, transported from Macquarie Harbour to stand trial, was convicted in the Supreme Court of the murder of Constable Craggs. Craggs had apprehended Peacock in the bush; Peacock stabbed him deliberately in the left side, declaring at the time that he would die happy having caused the constable’s death.

Peacock was hanged on the new drop at Hobart Gaol on 31 August 1825. His loud sobbing on the scaffold suggested the happiness he had claimed was nowhere to be found in his final moments.

Young woman bows head over execution block crying

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Australia Execution Hobart Murder TAS Trial

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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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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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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