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1963: The Trap That Caught Serial Killer Eric Edgar Cooke

In August 1963, Perth police discovered a rifle hidden in bushes, linked to the murder of Shirley McLeod. Rather than remove it, they set a trap: replacing the weapon with an inoperable replica tied with fishing line, then waited.

On 1 September 1963, Eric Edgar Cooke returned to retrieve the rifle and was arrested on the spot. Under questioning, he confessed to 22 violent crimes, including eight murders, making him one of the deadliest serial killers in Australian history.

Captured trying to retrieve the hidden weapon

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Australia Capture Murder Perth Police Serial Killer WA

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1846: Explorer John Horrocks Shot Dead by His Own Camel in South Australia

On 1 September 1846, explorer John Horrocks was shot near Lake Dutton in the far north-west of South Australia. While reloading his shotgun during the expedition, a kneeling camel named Harry shifted its packload and tripped the weapon’s trigger.

Harry, the camel responsible for the accident and reputedly the first camel to arrive in Australia, was shot dead on Horrocks’s own orders before he died of his wounds on 23 September.

Camel commits murder?

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Accident Australia Death Exploration Lake Dutton Lake Torrens Penwortham SA South Australia

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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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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

1963: The Trap That Caught Serial Killer Eric Edgar Cooke

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1846: Explorer John Horrocks Shot Dead by His Own Camel in South Australia

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

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1888: Jack the Ripper Claims His First Victim in Whitechapel

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