Literary Insights

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Here is a summary of the CRIthboMe ok E book:

This book contains profiles of infamous criminals, criminal cases, con artists, bandits, and organized crime groups from history. Some of the cases and criminals profiled include the Lindbergh baby kidnapping, the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III, the Sicilian Mafia, Blackbeard the pirate, the Burke and Hare murder case, Charles Ponzi and his infamous Ponzi scheme, the Yakuza criminal organization, the Bhopal disaster, and more. The profiles provide background on the crimes committed as well as biographical information about the criminals. Contributors include authors and journalists who have extensively researched and written about true crime cases. The book aims to inform readers about some of the most notable and notorious criminal figures and cases from the past.

Some key points about school in London:

Schools in London follow the English school system, with primary schools (ages 4-11), secondary schools (ages 11-16), sixth form or FE college (ages 16-18), and universities.
The state schools are run by local authorities (equivalent to US school districts). The main local authorities in London are the City of London, Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea, etc.
In addition to state schools, there are private/independent schools in London, some of which date back centuries. Famous private schools include Eton, Harrow, St Paul’s Girls’ School.
Many London schools are very old, some dating back to medieval times. For example, historic schools include King’s College School, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, City of London School.
London has some schools and programs specialized in arts, sciences, and creative fields to support the larger number of students interested in those areas. Examples include the BRIT School, London College of Fashion.
London schools tend to be more diverse than other parts of the UK, reflecting London’s multicultural population with students from all over the world. Foreign languages and global issues feature strongly in many curriculums.
Space can be tight in inner city schools, so some have unusual sites adapted for education use, like old office buildings. Portable cabins are also sometimes used on playgrounds.

Here is a summary of the Hatton Garden jewellery heist:

In April 2015, a group of elderly career criminals in London carried out one of the largest burglaries in English legal history, targeting a safe deposit facility in Hatton Garden over the Easter weekend.
The gang, consisting of aging burglars in their 60s and 70s, drilled through the concrete wall into the vault room of the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit company. They emptied 73 safe deposit boxes, stealing valuables worth an estimated £14 million, including gold, cash, and jewellery.
It was a highly organized crime, with different members playing different roles - including lookouts, a driller, handlers, and drivers. They disabled the alarm system and left no traceable fingerprints or DNA.
The crime captured nationwide attention as the biggest heist ever committed in the UK. However, mistakes and greed led the police to eventually arrest all the members of the gang.
In early 2016, the ringleader (known as “Basil”) and three other members pleaded guilty and received prison sentences of 7-10 years. The trial of the other members followed in early 2017, and the last member was sentenced in 2019, bringing the total sentences to over 100 years in prison.
The heist was dubbed “the crime of the century” in the UK. Most of the stolen goods were never recovered, despite the lengthy investigation and prosecution. It highlighted the ingenious planning of elderly major criminals.

£60 million in uncut diamonds, and

sheer daring of their infamous

scene of every major fire he himself

but some saw them as tragic

public’s sense of adventure and

most ingenious criminal plans was

This passage discusses famous bandits, robbers, and arsonists throughout history. It notes some key events:

escaped through the sewers with no crimes. The deliberately lit blazes

had set. His crimes, as uncovered

figures rather than violent thugs, as

escapism. However, when striving

carried out by the Great Train

trace—all without ever setting foot

they were portrayed by the FBI.

to evade justice, sometimes

Robbers in 1963 in England. Wearing

inside the country itself.

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John Nevison was an English highwayman in the late 17th century who was known for his gentlemanly manners. After robbing a traveler near Rochester, Kent, Nevison needed an alibi, so he rode over 320 km to York in a single day. He then engaged the Lord Mayor of York in conversation and made a bet over a game of bowls to establish his alibi. Nevison was a skilled rider and fighter from his service in the Battle of Dunkirk. While he robbed travelers, he was said to be courteous and elegant, elevating him above a common thief. His style earned him the nickname “Swift Nick” from King Charles II and the reputation as an honorable thief despite his criminal acts.

Spanish shipping.

During Queen Anne’s War, Half of Bonnet’s crew had perished

British privateers regularly and the remaining 70 were losing

plundered French and Spanish faith in his leadership. The three

ships. However, when hostilities men joined forces, with Bonnet

between the nations ended, temporarily ceding command of his

these same professional sloop, the Revenge, to Blackbeard.

plunderers suddenly found Blackbeard renamed it the Queen

themselves on the other side Anne’s Revenge and took charge. He

of the law. Clearly, what is later encountered Stede Bonnet, a

considered criminal depends on Barbadian pirate, and they joined

shifting social structures, which forces. Blackbeard routinely engaged

are in turn dictated by larger in piracy, blocking ports and capturing

political and economic realities. ships. In 1718, both were granted

pardons by the governor of North

Carolina but Blackbeard returned to

piracy. In November 1718, he was

killed after a battle with naval forces

led by Lieutenant Robert Maynard

off the coast of North Carolina.

Here is a summary of Spanish shipping:

British privateers regularly plundered French and Spanish ships during conflicts like Queen Anne’s War. However, when hostilities ended, these same privateers now found themselves potentially facing criminal charges for piracy.
In the mid-13th century, Henry III of England began issuing “privateering commissions” allowing sailors to attack and plunder foreign vessels. These later became known as “letters of marque”. Privateering became more common from the 16th-18th centuries.
Privateering was considered legal during times of war or by having authorization, but could make those involved vulnerable to piracy charges during peacetime. What constitutes criminal activity was more situational and dependent on changing political relationships between nations.
Bonnie and Clyde were notorious American outlaws, bank robbers, and killers who traveled the Central United States from 1932 to 1934 with their criminal gang, known as the Barrow Gang.
Their crime spree included robberies of multiple banks and killing of several police officers. They garnered widespread public attention and were depicted as celebrity outlaws in newspapers of the time.
However, their crimes were often disorganized and resulted in narrow escapes and injuries. They were being pursued by local and state police as well as the newly formed Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
On May 23, 1934, Bonnie and Clyde were ambushed and killed by law enforcement officers in Bienville Parish, Louisiana, ending their criminal careers and lives. Though depicted as outlaw rebels, they caused significant harm through their string of armed robberies and murders over those two years.
Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow met in 1930 in Texas and quickly became companions and lovers. Barrow was soon arrested for burglary.
After Barrow escaped prison, he and Parker began a crime spree between 1932-1934 robbing banks and killing police across several Midwestern and Southern states. Their gang included Clyde’s brother Buck Barrow and his wife Blanche.
In a shootout in 1933, Buck was shot in the head and Blanche was blinded in one eye. In July 1934, Buck was shot during another shootout and he and Blanche were captured.
Former Texas Ranger Captain Frank Hamer formed a posse to track the Barrow Gang. On May 23, 1934, the posse ambushed Barrow and Parker’s car in Louisiana, fatally shooting them with over 130 rounds.
The deaths of Bonnie and Clyde ended the criminal spree and the “Public Enemy Era” of the 1930s, though their exploits took on a romanticized legend in movies and culture.
In 1963, a gang led by Bruce Reynolds robbed the Glasgow-London mail train near Ledburn, Buckinghamshire, England. They got away with over £2.6 million in cash (about £49 million today).
The plan was to stop the train at a signal near Sears Crossing using an altered signal, then transfer mail sacks to a waiting lorry. They knocked out the driver and disconnected the rear coaches.
The gang included Bruce Reynolds, Ronnie Biggs, and others. Biggs’s main role was recruiting a replacement driver named “Stan Agate,” who ultimately could not operate the train.
After loading the loot, the gang escaped. Many were later arrested, including Biggs, who escaped from prison but was eventually recaptured decades later after living abroad.
The robbery was famously depicted in the 1967 film “The Great Train Robbery.” It was Britain’s biggest robbery at the time and gained notoriety through extensive media coverage.

Here is a summary of the key details from the passage:

The Great Train Robbery occurred in 1963 when thieves hijacked a mail train carrying over £2.6 million near Bridego Bridge in Buckinghamshire, England.
The plan involved tampering with signal lights to stop the train between stations. Two carriages were then driven ahead to a bridge where loot was removed down an embankment via a human chain into a waiting lorry.
Most of the gang members were caught and jailed for 30 years, though two escaped prison later. The drivers suffered long-term trauma but the crime took on a mythical, romanticized status over time.
Ronnie Biggs, one of the robbers, escaped from prison in 1965 and lived abroad for decades before being granted compassionate release in 2009 due to illness near the end of his life.
The elaborate nature of the crime and the popular notoriety of characters like Biggs turned the robbery into something of a legendary, cinematic affair over subsequent decades.

Here is a summary of the key details about D.B. Cooper from the passage:

In November 1971, a man calling himself Dan Cooper (or Dale Cooper) hijacked a Boeing 727 aircraft between Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington in the US.
He had a bomb in his briefcase and demanded $200,000 in ransom and parachutes in exchange for letting the passengers go in Seattle.
After receiving the ransom and parachutes, he had the plane take off from Seattle again and he bailed out over southwestern Washington somewhere between midnight and 8pm with the money.
His parachute and money were never found. His identity remains unknown.
The case remains unsolved as the authorities could not find any clues from interviews, evidence left on the plane, tracing the serial numbers on the ransom money, or analyzing the flight path and area where he likely jumped.
Some details Cooper knew, like the distance to an air force base from the airport, indicated he may have had aviation or military experience which has complicated the investigation. The case remains unsolved and is an enduring mystery.
In 1971, a man hijacked a Boeing 727 aircraft going from Portland to Seattle, demanding $200,000 and four parachutes. He identified himself as Dan or Dale Cooper, but the media nicknamed him D.B. Cooper due to a misunderstanding.
After landing in Seattle, Cooper allowed the passengers and flight attendants to leave, receiving the money and parachutes. He had the pilots take off again towards Mexico, lowering the plane’s stairs and jumping out over Washington state with the money.
The FBI conducted an extensive manhunt but found no trace of Cooper. Years later, some of the ransom money was discovered by a child on a riverbank, matching the serial numbers.
Criminal profilers said Cooper likely had knowledge of aviation, possibly from military service, but his lack of safety gear suggested he may not have survived the jump as planned. The case remains unsolved but garnered lasting public interest.
In July 1976, during the Bastille Day weekend, a team of 20 men led by former paratrooper and photographer Albert Spaggiari broke into the Société Générale bank vault in Nice, France after spending two months drilling a tunnel from the city’s sewers.
They spent four days inside the vault breaking into over 400 safe deposit boxes, cooking meals and drinking wine as they stole an estimated $8-10 million in gold, cash, jewelry and gems.
Before escaping, Spaggiari signed the vault wall claiming the heist was done “without weapons, nor hatred, nor violence.” It was dubbed the “heist of the century” and the largest bank theft in history at the time.
Spaggiari was later arrested and confessed, while enjoying some of the stolen riches.
John MacLean was a notorious American cat burglar in the 1970s who targeted wealthy victims, stole over $100 million in loot, and funded an lavish lifestyle resembling those he stole from. His most famous heist was a $1 million jewelry theft.

Phoolan Devi was a female bandit queen in Uttar Pradesh, India in the late 1970s-early 1980s. Born into poverty and a low caste, she suffered abuse and was shunned by her community. At age 16, she joined a local gang for survival. She rose to lead the gang and carried out many raids and robberies, targeting wealthy villages and kidnapping for ransom. Her most famous crime was capturing and looting a town, then distributing goods to the poor. She evaded capture for two years but eventually negotiated her surrender in 1983. Charged with many crimes, she spent 11 years in prison awaiting trial. Seen as championing the lower castes, she was elected to parliament after her release but assassinated in 2001. Her story was depicted in the 1994 film Bandit Queen.

Here is a summary of the key points about Phoolan Devi:

Phoolan Devi was born in 1963 to a low-caste family in rural Uttar Pradesh, India. She grew up very poor.
At age 11, she was forced to marry a man much older than her in exchange for a cow. In 1979, she fled her abusive husband and was subsequently shunned by her family.
She took up a life of crime, joining a gang of bandits. In one infamous incident in 1983, the gang massacred 22 upper-caste men in the village of Behmai.
She negotiated her own surrender and reduced sentences for her gang members in 1983. She spent 11 years in prison awaiting trial.
She became a folk hero to India’s lower castes, with her crimes seen as retribution against oppression. The 1994 film “Bandit Queen” was based on her life.
She was released from prison in 1994 with all charges dropped. She entered politics and was elected as a Member of Parliament in 1996.
However, she remained controversial due to her criminal past. She was assassinated in 2001 by suspected upper-caste gunmen seeking revenge for the Behmai massacre.
John Leonard Orr was a fire captain who developed a reputation as being one of the first to arrive at fire scenes. However, arson investigator Marvin Casey suspected Orr of secretly being a serial arsonist.
A partial fingerprint found at an arson scene in 1991 matched Orr’s fingerprint. Surveillance of Orr then linked him to several fire scenes. A search of his home found incriminating evidence like matches, paper, and a video of a house fire he recorded.
Orr was eventually convicted in 1998 for four counts of murder relating to an 1984 fire that killed four people. He received a life sentence.
Investigators believe Orr may have set over 2,000 fires over 30 years, making him one of the most prolific arsonists in American history. However, he maintains his innocence.
The passage also notes allegations that a novel Orr wrote mirrored real arson cases, and insinuates he may have been involved in additional violent crimes besides arson, though the evidence is not conclusive.

So in summary, the passage reveals that a respected fire captain named John Leonard Orr was actually suspected and later convicted of being a prolific serial arsonist who set thousands of fires over decades, resulting in multiple deaths.

In 2003, thieves stole the Cellini salt cellar from the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria. This was a highly secure museum.
They avoided all the high-tech security systems and motion sensors, and even the round-the-clock security guards.
In 2006, police arrested Robert Mang, a 50-year-old security alarm specialist, in connection with the theft. He was an amateur art thief and avid sculpture collector.
Mang confessed and admitted planning the theft for over a year. He had expert knowledge of alarm systems which helped him steal the valuable piece.
The unique and valuable Cellini salt cellar was never recovered after the theft. Mang refused to reveal its location despite two failed ransom attempts by police.
In April 2015, a gang of criminals robbed the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Company vault in London over the Easter weekend when the building was closed.
The gang was led by 76-year-old Brian Reader, a veteran criminal who had participated in the infamous Baker Street robbery in 1971.
Using a diamond-core drill stolen months prior, the gang drilled holes through the reinforced concrete wall to access the vault.
Once inside, they removed valuables from over 70 security deposit boxes, making off with an estimated £10 million worth of jewels, gold and gems.
Seven men were eventually arrested and convicted, but the mastermind dubbed “Basil” eluded capture. He was believed to have been the inside man who let the gang in.
The robbery captured public attention due to the advanced age of the criminals, though they were in fact experienced career criminals, bonded by friendship and past crimes. It was dubbed an “old school” heist.
Con artists, also known as hustlers, grifters, and tricksters, exploit people’s trust through confidence tricks. They derisively call their victims “marks”, “suckers”, or “gulls”.
Confidence tricks have been around for a long time. Victims can be susceptible when an offer seems too good to be true or they fall for a convincing get-rich-quick scheme. The elderly, lonely, and vulnerable may be deliberately targeted.
Successful con artists are persuasive manipulators who deceive targets into believing they can make easy gains, usually to obtain money for themselves. They may use disguises and prey on a victim’s reluctance to report the crime due to embarrassment.
Notable cons include Jeanne de la Motte deceiving a French cardinal in the 1780s, Victor Lustig selling the Eiffel Tower as scrap metal in the 1920s, and Frank Abagnale impersonating professionals like a pilot in the 1960s. Art forgeries and biography hoaxes have also tricked many victims.
Underlying psychology explains why cons work - successful con artists exhibit traits like confidence, charm, and attentiveness that influence victims. The simplicity and brazen nature of some cons is also astonishing.

prostitute to impersonate Marie

Antoinette and organized a

The Affair of the Diamond Necklace in 1785 involved a famous jewelry scam at the French court. Confidence trickster Jeanne de la Motte orchestrated a plan to deceive Cardinal Louis de Rohan into believing that Queen Marie Antoinette wanted him to purchase a very expensive diamond necklace from jewelers Boehmer and Bassenge. Jeanne had the cardinal meet with a prostitute she passed off as the queen, and forged letters between the cardinal and queen to gain his trust. When payments for the necklace were late, the jewelers protested to the real queen, exposing the scam. The scandal seriously damaged the reputation of the already unpopular monarchy, contributing to the French Revolution. Though the prostitute and accomplices were punished, de Rohan was acquitted, having gained sympathy as a victim. Jeanne evaded imprisonment but her actions helped undermine the French monarchy in the late 18th century.

Jeanne de la Motte executed an elaborate fraud involving a famous diamond necklace. She convinced Cardinal de Rohan that she had influence with Queen Marie Antoinette and tricked him into acquiring the expensive necklace on behalf of the queen. However, the queen knew nothing about it. When de Rohan was unable to pay for the necklace, the scheme was exposed.

De la Motte had used her acquaintance with de Rohan and knowledge of his desire to regain favor with the queen. She seduced him and then exploited his vulnerability by pretending the queen wanted his help in secretly procuring the necklace. This allowed de la Motte and her associates to steal the extravagantly priced jewelry.

When the fraud came to light, all involved faced criminal charges. De la Motte and her collaborators were convicted but de Rohan was acquitted, despite evidence he had been deceived. The scandal tarnished the reputation of Queen Marie Antoinette and highlighted tensions between social classes in France at the time. Ultimately, de la Motte’s cunning scheme resulted in significant financial and political consequences through her manipulation of de Rohan.

Harry Domela was an impostor from a humble background who convinced wealthy elites in Heidelberg, Germany that he was the grandson of the Kaiser (German emperor).
In the early 20th century, Domela inserted himself into high society circles in Heidelberg claiming to be Prince Friedrich Wilhelm. People believed his story because they wanted to and because no photos existed of the actual prince at that age.
Domela lived extravagantly off donations from his wealthy supporters for years. However, his scam unraveled when it was discovered no such prince existed. Domela was ultimately arrested and sentenced to 18 months in prison for fraud.
The case revealed how easy it was for charismatic con artists to take advantage of gullible elites who wanted to believe they had connections to royalty. It shows how the desire for status and access could override reason and fact-checking when evaluating improbable claims.

island of Komalia (which didn’t

The story is an example of an audacious imposture that succeeded for a time due to people’s willingness to be deceived and lack of fact-checking. It highlights human vulnerabilities exploitable by confident con artists.

exist), and cons wealthy

suspense of disbelief to live large at

Bristol citizens out of money.

others’ expense. ■

In 1926, the impostor Harry Domela checked into a hotel in Erfurt, Germany under the fake name “Baron Korff”.
The hotel manager noticed a resemblance between Domela and Prince Wilhelm of Hohenzollern, grandson of the last German emperor Wilhelm II.
A rumor spread that Domela was the prince traveling incognito. Despite Domela denying this, he subtly encouraged the illusion to avoid paying hotel bills.
Domela had grown up poor in Latvia but was skilled at assuming upper-class identities and mannerisms to infiltrate high society.
In Heidelberg he successfully passed himself off as a Russian prince for weeks, gaining acceptance in elite student circles.
In Erfurt, Domela fully embraced his fabricated identity as Prince Wilhelm, even signing his name that way. He was treated as royalty.
Domela published a memoir about his exploits that sold over 120,000 copies. He starred in a film adaptation and opened a cinema to screen it.
However, Domela struggled financially and his deception skills could only sustain him so long before having to move on to new areas and identities.
The story highlights 1920s Germany’s obsession with royalty and the gullibility of the wealthy elite towards aristocratic pretenders.

Harry Domela lived a transient life in early-to-mid 20th century Europe, pretending to be European royalty to gain social privileges and escape persecution as a gay man and socialist. In the 1920s, using the identity of Prince Harry of Mecklenburg, he briefly fooled German high society before being arrested for fraud. He continued moving countries, sometimes being detained as an illegal immigrant. In the 1960s he found stability teaching in Venezuela, living under assumed names due to his stateless status. Domela spent his final years in obscurity, dying penniless in 1979 after decades of alienation and struggle as a perpetual outsider and refugee of the tumultuous political atmosphere of his time.

Elmyr de Hory was a famous art forger who created over 1,000 forgeries over his career, including works attributed to Picasso, Matisse, Modigliani, and Renoir.
His forgery career began in 1946 when he sold a drawing to Lady Malcolm Campbell that she believed was a Picasso.
In the following decades, he traveled around Europe and the US selling his forgeries to galleries and collectors. However, he came under increasing suspicion.
In the late 1960s, many of his forgeries were exposed. He was arrested in Spain in 1968 and imprisoned for two months.
Even after being exposed as a forger, his paintings were still highly sought after due to their quality.
Although a criminal, he is now renowned as one of the greatest art forgers in history due to the skill of his work. Authors and filmmakers documented his fascinating life and career.
Doris Payne was an African American jewel thief who operated from the 1950s until her death in 2015, stealing millions of dollars worth of jewelry over her career.
She devised a method of stealing jewelry by charming store clerks with her stories and sleight of hand to distract them while she tried on many pieces of jewelry without their knowledge.
Payne traveled throughout the US and internationally to places like France, the UK, Greece, and Switzerland, using many aliases to fence her stolen goods.
She spent time in prison for her crimes but was often able to escape custody. Her most famous heist was a $500,000 emerald-cut diamond from Cartier in Monte Carlo, France.
Payne continued stealing well into her 80s and 90s, getting arrested several times later in life. She saw her criminal career as defiance of social prejudices and a way to realize her dream of traveling the world.

Here are the summaries:

The Bill Mason 36: Describes a famous heist committed by a team led by British criminal Bill Mason where they stole £2.6 million in used banknotes from a security van.
The Antwerp Diamond Heist 54–55: In 2003, thieves broke into the Antwerp Diamond Centre vault in Belgium and made off with diamonds, gold, and jewels worth over $100 million in one of the largest robberies in history.
The Affair of the Diamond Necklace 64–65: In 1785, French courtiers were involved in an elaborate fraud where they convinced Marie Antoinette to buy a hugely expensive diamond necklace on credit, planning to pocket the money, but the scheme was exposed and further damaged the French monarchy’s reputation and public support during the early years of the French Revolution.

Here is a summary of the key points about the 1962 escape attempt from Alcatraz by Clarence and John Anglin and Frank Morris:

The three inmates discovered a weakness in the ventilation system in their cells and began carefully chiseling and digging tunnels behind the walls over many months.
They used crude improvised tools like sharpened spoons and a homemade drill. They also collected materials during “music hour” to conceal the noise.
The tunnels opened into an unguarded utility corridor, allowing them to access the roof where they built a makeshift workshop.
They created dummy heads to fool guards during bed checks and crafted life rafts and jackets from over 50 stolen raincoats to aid their escape.
On the night of June 11, 1962, the three men left Alcatraz by crossing to the roof and inflating their raft, presumed heading for Angel Island about 3 km away.
An intensive manhunt found items linked to them but no bodies were ever recovered. The FBI ultimately presumed they had drowned but their fate remains officially unconfirmed.
New evidence emerged decades later from the Anglin family that raised questions about whether the brothers may have survived. The escape from Alcatraz remains legendary and unsolved.

promised him a large advance for an

HESITANCY

authenticated Irving’s handwritten

$765,000 advance, and sentenced

wanted to believe the impossible claim of a private manuscript. He set about fabrica

Clifford Irving successfully hoaxed

autobiography, delivering instalments

CLIFFORD IRVING, 1971

notes and scribbles. However, followi to serve up to three years in prison.

document showing extensive correspondednce between himself and Hughes. He convi

the publishing world in 1971 by

in exchange for the payments.

publishers with his false manuscript

claiming he had secured the autobiography of the reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes, who had never authorized an autobiography. Irving worked diligently to fabricate fake supporting documents and convince publishers of the project’s authenticity. However, doubts were later raised by Hughes’ lawyers. When confronted with the hoax, Irving confessed but was eventually indicted and sentenced to prison for conspiracy to defraud. His hoax worked because publishers wanted to believe the impossible claim of a private manuscript from Hughes and Irving was skillful at deception. It demonstrated how far some will go to deceive for money and fame.

Hitler in the 1920s and early 1930s.

pages with transparent adhesive

include:

Clifford Irving convinced the publishing house McGraw-Hill that he had been commissioned by Howard Hughes to write his biography. He produced a fake letter and manuscript.

The diaries were authenticated and

tape instead of period staples.

Handwriting analysis
McGraw-Hill paid Irving and deposited checks made out to Hughes, which Irving’s wife deposited in a Swiss bank account.

published by Stern magazine in

Examination of paper, inks
When Hughes broke his silence two months before publication to deny the book, the hoax was revealed. Irving, his wife, and collaborator were indicted and imprisoned.

April 1983, creating a worldwide

and binding materials

Irving’s story showed his skill at deceit, sewing together genuine research with plagiarized materials and enacting fake interviews to seem plausible. But he misjudged Hughes breaking his silence.

sensation. However, it soon

Grammatical, stylistic and
The diaries of Hitler, purportedly discovered in East Germany in the 1980s, were actually meticulous forgeries by Konrad Kujau, who confessed. But they still drew worldwide attention before being exposed.

emerged they were meticulous

contextual analysis

Historical forgers often go to great lengths to seem authentic through careful research, recreating materials and contexts, but leave telltale errors that can be revealed through forensic examination.

forgeries by Stuttgart craftsman

Evaluation of information

Konrad Kujau. He eventually

and claims made against

confessed to police in 1984.

established facts

Here is a summary of the key points about Konrad Kujau and the Hitler Diaries forgery:

Konrad Kujau was a German forger who began selling fake autographs as a teenager in the 1960s. In the late 1970s, he wrote 61 forged volumes of diaries purportedly written by Adolf Hitler between 1935-1945.
A journalist from Stern magazine, Gerd Heidemann, purchased volumes of the diaries from Kujau, believing them to be authentic. Stern spent millions of deutschemarks on the diaries.
Handwriting experts and historian Hugh Trevor-Roper initially authenticated the diaries, but they were later exposed as forgeries through historical and scientific analysis of the paper, inks, bindings, and other anachronistic elements.
Kujau used modern materials like ballpoint pen ink, plastic binding elements, and paper not available during WWII. He also made mistakes like using an “F” instead of an “A” in Hitler’s initials on one diary.
When exposed as fakes in 1983, Kujau and Heidemann were both tried and convicted of fraud. The forgery was one of the most infamous in modern history due to the immense media attention and sums of money involved.

In 1984, Australian horse trainer Hayden Haitana and businessman John Gillespie planned to substitute a champion racehorse for a less capable horse in the Fine Cotton Handicap race at Eagle Farm racetrack in Brisbane, Australia. They disguised the champion horse to look like the out-of-form horse Fine Cotton, which they had purchased. On the evening before the race, they dyed and painted the champion horse to resemble Fine Cotton. On race day, the disguised horse was entered and won the race, but track officials soon noticed paint dripping from its legs and uncovered the scheme. Haitana and Gillespie were banned from racing for their role in the illegal “ring-in.” It became a notorious scandal in Australian horse racing.

Here is a summary of the key points in the passage:

White collar crimes involve non-violent but fraudulent crimes committed for financial gain, like embezzlement, fraud, insider trading, etc.
They are often committed by professionals in positions of trust within organizations. This makes them hard to detect as they don’t fit stereotypes of criminal behavior.
Corporations sometimes systematically engage in criminal activity if the benefits outweigh the risks, after a cost-benefit analysis. This is called “corporate” or “structural” crime.
Major examples discussed include the Enron scandal, Siemens bribery case, and Bhopal disaster where criminality occurred at an organizational level.
White collar crimes can have devastating economic impacts on both individuals and society as a whole through financial losses and even increased suicide rates.
Punishment is often more lenient than for violent crimes, and establishing individual culpability in complex corporate crimes can be difficult.

reality they were investments from

Charles Ponzi was an Italian immigrant living in the United States in the early 20th century. He had a history of fraud and spent time in prison.

new investors. Ponzi used these

In 1919, Ponzi learned he could make money by buying and selling international reply coupons (IRCs), which could be exchanged for stamps in other countries. He told investors he could double their money in 90 days through this method.

new investment monies to pay off

Ponzi began attracting many investors by paying early backers high returns, claiming it was from IRC trading profits. In reality, he had no legitimate business and was running a “Ponzi scheme” where new funds were used to pay old investors.
By mid-1920 Ponzi’s scheme collapsed as investors demanded repayment. He was prosecuted and served time in prison. Ponzi gave his name to “Ponzi schemes”, fraudulent investments that pay returns to earlier investors through money from new investors.
Though the IRC scheme was not initially a fraud, Ponzi had no legitimate means to generate profits and his method became the archetype of using new money to pay old investors in a fraudulent pyramid scheme.
Charles Ponzi was a Italian immigrant who arrived in Boston in 1903 with little money. He had various jobs but wanted to make it big.
In 1919, he came across International Reply Coupons which could be exchanged for postage stamps at different values in different countries. He realized he could buy them cheap in Italy and sell them for more in the US, making a profit.
Even though he had no real plan to convert the coupons to cash, he started telling investors he could double their money in 90 days through this coupon scheme. Word spread and thousands invested from 1919-1920, with earlier investors paid profits from new investments.
By mid-1920 he had over $7 billion invested from 7,800 customers but was bankrupt, having used most money for his own expenses. When his scheme collapsed in July 1920 it caused significant financial damage to many investors.
He was arrested for fraud and sentenced to prison but later tried similar schemes after release. He eventually died in poverty in Brazil in 1948. The fraudulent system of paying earlier investors with money from new investors became known as a “Ponzi scheme”.
In the early 1920s, the Teapot Dome Scandal involved corruption related to leasing of federal oil reserves. Secretary of Interior Albert Fall secretly leased the Teapot Dome reserve in Wyoming and two others to private oil companies in exchange for personal gifts and loans.
Fall leased the reserves without competitive bidding to Harry Sinclair’s Mammoth Oil and Edward Doheny’s Pan American Petroleum, in violation of his duties. In return, he received hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest-free loans from the companies.
An investigation was launched after suspicions arose about Fall’s wealth. He was found guilty of accepting bribes and sentenced to prison, becoming the first cabinet member convicted of a felony. The scandal tainted the administration of President Warren G. Harding and damaged public trust in government.
Teapot Dome became a synonymous with political corruption scandals in the US until the Watergate affair in the 1970s. It revealed the corrupt activities and cronyism that took place under Harding’s presidency.

Here is a summary of the key points from the Teapot Dome Scandal passage:

In 1922, Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall secretly leased two oil fields in Wyoming (Teapot Dome) and California from the Navy Department to private companies without competitive bidding.
In return, Fall received hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest-free loans from the companies, Mammoth Oil and Pan American Petroleum. This constituted accepting bribes.
A Senate investigation was launched into the leases negotiated by Fall. His dishonesty was exposed and President Harding canceled the leases.
Fall was found guilty of accepting bribes and was fined $100,000 and sentenced to a year in prison, becoming the first cabinet member convicted of a felony.
Investigations after Harding’s death in 1923 revealed widespread corruption in his administration. His reputation was forever tarnished by the “Teapot Dome” scandal.
The heads of Mammoth Oil and Pan American Petroleum were acquitted of bribery charges but the scandal demonstrated the corrupting influence of private interests in government. “Teapot Dome” became synonymous with political corruption.
The disaster in Bhopal, India in 1984 involved a deadly gas leak from a Union Carbide pesticide plant that killed thousands. Survivors continue to experience health issues.
The investigation found the gas leak was caused by contaminated water entering a tank of methyl isocyanate. Some believe it was sabotage by an employee.
UCC was ultimately found criminally negligent and paid damages, but victims felt it was insufficient given the massive scale of deaths and health impacts.
The site was not fully decontaminated. Local activists oppose the government’s plans to remove waste, citing health risks. Ongoing health issues are reported in the area.
Though closed, the government’s apathy in cleaning the site is criticized. Litigation over responsibility and compensation has continued for decades.
The Bhopal disaster highlighted the need for stricter safety regulations and precautions to prevent industrial accidents from endangering public health. It remains an ongoing crisis with legal and health consequences to this day.
Bernie Madoff was an American businessman who ran the largest Ponzi scheme in history, estimated at $64.8 billion.
From the 1960s until his arrest in 2008, Madoff claimed to be achieving above-average returns for his clients through a “split-strike conversion strategy”. In reality, he was paying returns to early investors through money from new investors in a typical Ponzi scheme fashion.
Madoff’s fraud included thousands of victims and entire charities. It was revealed after he confessed to his sons that his asset management business was completely fictitious.
He is serving a 150-year prison sentence for his crimes. The Madoff scandal damaged confidence in Wall Street and raised concerns about financial regulation.

him, refused to cooperate with the

investigation revealed Madoff was a

bond. Madof

Bernie Madoff ran a massive Ponzi scheme that defrauded thousands of investors out of billions of dollars starting in the 1960s/1970s.

investigation and was later found

fraud on a scale that dwarfed all

that he had b

dead in what was ruled a suicide.

other Ponzi schemes. He had no

scheme for yea

Massive fraud exposed

legitimate business and all reported

kept going to

On 11 December 2008, Madoff

trades and profits were fictitious.

investors’ m

confessed to sons Mark and

Madoff was arrested on 11 December

Madoff started his investment firm in 1960 and grew it into a multibillion dollar family business, employing family members.

Andrew that his business was “all

2008 and charged with securities

He claimed to employ a “split-strike conversion strategy” to generate consistent annual returns around 10-12% but in reality never made any investments.

just one big lie” and that there was

fraud. On 12 March 2009, he pleaded

When investors requested withdrawals, Madoff would pay them out of money from new investors to perpetuate the scheme.

“absolutely nothing left”. The sons

guilty to 11 federal felonies and was

His investors included many wealthy individuals, charities, banks and other financial entities. Notable victims included Kevin Bacon, John Malkovich and others.

contacted the FBI and a letter was

jailed for 150 years, the maximum

sent to Madoff’s clients notifying

sentence. The SEC was criticized for

them that Bernard L Madoff Securities

failing to investigate Madoff despite

Whistleblowers had tried to warn regulators about Madoff for years but the SEC failed to properly investigate him due to his reputation.

LLC had been shut down due to fraud.

repeated warnings over almost 20

Madoff finally confessed in December 2008 that his business was a giant Ponzi scheme and he had been stealing billions from clients for years. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 150 years in prison.

Estimates put the total amount

years and multiple tips-offs from

stolen at around $65 billion, making

whistleblowers Harry Markopolos and

it one of the largest thefts from

others regarding red flags in Madoff’s

investors in world financial history.

investment returns and operations.

The SEC was heavily criticized for failing to uncover the fraud despite numerous warnings from whistleblowers over 20 years.
Bernie Madoff carried out the largest Ponzi scheme in history, defrauding thousands of investors out of $65 billion over decades.
He was caught in 2008 when he could no longer meet redemption requests during the financial crisis. His sons then reported him to authorities.
Madoff pled guilty to 11 felonies and was sentenced to 150 years in prison, the maximum sentence.
The fraud devastated many victims and families. Madoff’s own family also suffered - his son Mark hanged himself on the second anniversary of Madoff’s arrest.
Ruth Madoff said she and her husband had attempted suicide together shortly after being discovered, taking a cocktail of pills but waking up unharmed.
Madoff’s assets were auctioned off to repay victims, including homes, yachts, artwork and other possessions. Embroidered slippers were part of one auction lot.
The SEC had investigated Madoff previously but failed to uncover the extensive fraud. Harry Markopolos had submitted detailed evidence to the SEC in 2000 proving Madoff was running a Ponzi scheme but it was ignored.
The case showed major failures in SEC oversight and highlighted the need for improved financial regulation. It was one of the largest frauds in history.
Jerome Kerviel was a trader at French bank Société Générale who carried out €50 billion in unauthorized trades between 2007-2008, causing the bank huge losses.
He joined the bank’s compliance department in 2000 and became a trader in 2005. Over time he started making larger unauthorized trades in derivatives, concealing them through false entries.
In January 2008, Société Générale discovered Kerviel’s unauthorized deals totaling €50 billion. They alleged he made the trades anticipating a market decline.
Critics argue the huge scale of trades could not have escaped the bank’s notice and completing deals that large in 3 days was impossible, suggesting higher-level complicity.
Kerviel was sentenced to 3 years in prison and fined €4.9 billion, later reduced to €1 million on appeal. He claimed wrongful dismissal by the bank for not supervising him properly. The incident put Société Générale’s existence in peril.
Jérôme Kerviel was a trader at the French bank Société Générale who made unauthorized speculative trades from 2006 to 2008 totaling €4.9 billion, more than the bank’s stock and earnings.
He was charged with breach of trust, forgery, and unsanctioned use of the bank’s computer systems. In 2010 he was sentenced to 5 years in prison and fined €4.9 billion.
Kerviel claimed his superiors condoned his actions as they profited the bank. Others argued the scale of trades could not have gone unnoticed and he had help.
In 2014 the fine was reduced to €1 million as the court found the bank had inadequate risk management. Kerviel was also found to be wrongly dismissed.
The case highlighted issues of individual vs institutional responsibility, and the “tyranny of markets” that can pressure unlawful behavior. Kerviel portrayed himself as a whistleblower against corruption.
Cognitive psychologist Dr. Dan Ariely proposes eight factors that increase likelihood of dishonesty, many of which applied to Kerviel’s case according to the summary.

Here is a summary of the key details about the SpyEye malware data theft between 2009-2013:

SpyEye was a malicious software program invented by a young Russian man named Aleksandr “Sasha” Panin in Moscow. He sold and distributed it on dark web marketplaces under the alias “Gribodemon”.
The software allowed criminals to steal financial data from infected computers by monitoring keystrokes on banking/payment websites. It could identify and isolate data before protection software encrypted it.
Panin and others used SpyEye to steal over $5 million from thousands of victims. They sold kits of the software for $8,000 each, with basic and premium versions.
The FBI worked with security firm Trend Micro for 4 years to map SpyEye’s infrastructure and gather evidence. They were able to link Panin to his online activities and identities.
Panin was arrested in 2013 after traveling to the Dominican Republic. He received a 9.5 year prison sentence. An accomplice named Bendelladj was arrested in Thailand and received 15 years. It took coordinated international investigations to bring the criminals to justice.
In 2015, Volkswagen was accused by the EPA of installing illegal “defeat device” software on 11 million diesel vehicles sold worldwide to cheat emissions tests. The software would detect when the car was being tested and reduce nitrogen oxide emissions to pass, but allow much higher (up to 40x legal limits) on the road.
Volkswagen admitted wrongdoing and the CEO resigned. They recalled millions of vehicles worldwide at a cost of $15 billion.
Investigators identified James Liang, an engineer who headed VW’s US diesel team, as a key figure. He pleaded guilty to developing and implementing the cheating software while falsely reassuring regulators.
The scandal is considered the largest corporate scandal since the financial crisis. It highlighted the pressure on automakers to meet stringent emissions rules and willingness to cheat testing through software manipulation.
Volkswagen still faces ongoing criminal and civil litigation. The scale of the fines and settlement set a precedent for holding large corporations criminally responsible for intentional wrongdoing.

Here is a summary of the key points about the Volkswagen emissions scandal:

In September 2015, Volkswagen admitted that 11 million of their diesel cars had been equipped with software to cheat emissions tests. The software detected when the cars were being tested and turned on full emission controls, but turned them off during normal driving to improve performance and fuel economy.
Testing at West Virginia University in 2014 revealed that the affected VW and Audi cars emitted nitrogen oxide, a pollutant linked to health issues, at up to 40 times the legal limit.
Martin Winterkorn, Volkswagen’s CEO at the time, resigned over the scandal. A key figure was James Robert Liang, an engineer who headed VW’s diesel engine team in the US. He helped develop the “clean diesel” technology.
US regulators found that VW engineers, including Liang, knew the engines could not meet US emissions standards, so they intentionally designed the cheating software.
In 2016, VW agreed to pay $15 billion to settle claims in the US from the scandal. This was one of the largest corporate scandals in history.
Liang pleaded guilty in 2016 for his role and admitted to lying to US regulators about the cheating. He faced fines and prison time. The scandal had major legal and financial consequences for VW and continued for years after being uncovered.
The Hawkhurst Gang was an 18th century smuggling gang that operated along the south coast of England in the 1730s-1740s. They smuggled goods like tea, spirits and coffee to avoid high taxes.
The gang became increasingly violent, carrying out attacks and murders against revenue officers who tried to seize their smuggled goods. Notoriously, in 1747 they kidnapped and brutally murdered shoemaker Daniel Chater and customs officer William Galley when they learned Chater was going to testify against one of the gang members.
This gruesome violence turned public opinion strongly against the smugglers. Leaders like Thomas Kingsmill were eventually arrested, tried and hanged for crimes like raiding the Poole custom house to recover seized goods. Kingsmill’s corpse was hung in chains as a warning.
Prior to these murders, the gang had enjoyed some public support for undermining the tax system. But the killings of innocent victims changed this to outrage, and authorities offered rewards for information to capture the smugglers.

Here is a summary of the key points about the Sicilian Mafia:

The Sicilian Mafia emerged in the 19th century due to citrus fruit protection rackets in Sicily’s lemon and orange groves. Extortion of grove owners was used to establish monopolies.
Initial investigations by officials were unsuccessful at systematically prosecuting the Mafia due to collusion with local governments and police. The Mafia continued to wield covert influence.
In the 1920s, Fascist prefect Cesare Mori took strong-arm measures that arrested thousands of Sicilians and mafiosi, damaging the Mafia’s power. However, it rebounded after WWII.
In the 1950s, the commission was established by Sicilian mafiosi to resolve disputes and enforce rules. But it lost power as bosses operated independently, leading to the First Mafia War in 1961-1963.
In the late 1970s, the Corleonesi crime family took over the commission and used it to impose absolute power through violence, sparking the Second Mafia War. Public figures were increasingly targeted.
Anti-Mafia prosecutions intensified after murders of activists in the 1980s, arresting over 1,000 mafiosi. This damaged the Mafia’s influence, though they continued drug trafficking internationally.
In the 1980s, Italian authorities went on the offensive against the Sicilian Mafia (Cosa Nostra) using new laws and coordinating anti-mafia efforts. Judge Giovanni Falcone helped lead this effort.
A landmark maxi-trial in 1986-1987 convicted hundreds of mafiosi based on testimony from mafia turncoat Tommaso Buscetta. However, some convictions were later overturned on appeal.
In response, the mafia escalated violence against prosecutors, judges, and informants. This included car bomb assassinations of judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino in 1992.
The violence and public outcry led to increased anti-mafia efforts by authorities in the early 1990s, including witness protection. Key mafia bosses like Salvatore Riina were arrested.
While leadership passed to others like Bernardo Provenzano, the anti-mafia crackdown greatly weakened the power and influence of the Sicilian mafia from its peak in the late 20th century. Provenzano was finally captured in 2006 after years in hiding.
Triad societies originated in 1761 in China as a secret sect called the Heaven and Earth Society, which opposed the ruling Qing dynasty. They evolved into criminal organizations known as Triads after 1911.
The three major Triad groups today are the Sun Yee On (largest with 55,000 members), 14K, and Wo Shing Wo. They operate in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and Chinatowns worldwide.
Triads are hierarchical with designated ranks and numbers based on Chinese numerology. The leader is the Dragon Head. Lower ranks include enforcers and non-officer members known as “49ers”.
Traditionally Triads engaged in opposing the Qing dynasty, but now make money through illegal activities like drug trafficking, gambling, and prostitution. The Sun Yee On in particular has been involved in trafficking methamphetamine to Mexico.
Criminal activities of triads have now spread worldwide, and they remain influential organized crime groups in Asia and beyond.
The Triads originated in 1761 as a secret organization called the Heaven and Earth Society that opposed the Qing Dynasty in China. They were involved in fighting the Qing and the Opium Wars.
In the 1920s-1940s, they gained significant wealth and power through illegal activities like gambling,prostitution and controlling the opium trade under leaders like Du Yuesheng of the Green Gang in Shanghai.
After the communists came to power in 1949, the Triads expanded to locations like the US, Hong Kong and Canada to escape repression. Hong Kong became a major base of operations.
In modern times, their activities included heroin trafficking (1950s) and more recently human trafficking. They have been involved in crimes like loan sharking and money laundering.
A key leader was Wan Kuok-koi who controlled the 14K Triad in Macau in the 1990s before being imprisoned for 15 years for attempted murder and other crimes.
In the 1920s during Prohibition, gang violence erupted in Chicago between criminal organizations competing for control of the illegal beer trade.
In 1923, a South Side gang beat up a bar owner for refusing to buy their beer, starting the so-called “Beer Wars”. Gangs fought over territorial monopolies in bootlegging and other criminal enterprises like gambling and prostitution.
Major players in the rivalry included the North Side and South Side gangs, led by figures like Dean O’Banion, Johnny Torrio, and Al Capone. Torrio helped broker a truce initially but it fell apart.
O’Banion was killed in 1924 and Torrio retired, handing control to Capone who took over a bloody war for dominance. This culminated in the 1929 Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre where Capone’s men killed seven of the North Side gang.
Many smaller local gangs were absorbed into larger citywide syndicates as Prohibition unified organized crime in Chicago under a few powerful bosses fighting for lucrative criminal rackets during Prohibition. Widespread violence was a consequence of this gang warfare over territory and markets.
Prohibition policies outlawed the sale of alcohol across the US. Soon after, bootleggers emerged to fulfil the demand for illicit booze, smuggling alcohol from other countries and bottling their own concoctions. The Mafia was heavily involved in the bootlegging trade and rose to dominance as a result of its success in supplying alcohol during Prohibition.
The most notorious criminal to profit from bootlegging was Chicago mobster Al Capone. He allegedly earned $60 million each year from the industry. His success was thanks to the monopoly that his operation – the Chicago Outfit – held over the city’s South Side.
Chicago’s various gangs fought over territory and customers. Their rivalries often spilled blood. Al Capone’s organization would eventually dominate Chicago after his chief rival, Dean O’Banion, was murdered in 1924.
Prohibition had unintended effects, increasing the US crime rate by 24% as criminal organizations supplied black market alcohol. It also hurt the economy by increasing enforcement costs and shutting down manufacturing plants.
When Prohibition ended in 1933, many US bootleg gangs were folded into larger criminal syndicates. Capone’s organization diversified into other rackets like gambling and continued dominating Chicago for years.
The Japanese mafia, known collectively as the Yakuza, comprises over 100,000 members split into a small number of independent syndicates.
The four major syndicates are the Yamaguchi-gumi, Sumiyoshi-kai, Inagawa-kai, and Aizukotetsu-kai. They account for the vast majority of Yakuza members.
Syndicates are organized in a pyramid structure with an oyabun (boss) at the top who is assisted by underbosses and lieutenants who control affiliated gangs.
The traditional senpai-kohai senior-junior mentorship system and ritual practices like shared sake ceremonies are important aspects of Yakuza culture.
Activities include gambling, loan sharking, drug trafficking, prostitution, and involvement in legitimate businesses. Tattoos and finger cutting are symbolic rituals.
Major syndicates like the Yamaguchi-gumi have been involved in violent territorial conflicts and power struggles that have resulted in deaths.

forms as a breakaway from the

In 1948, the Hells Angels motorcycle club was founded in California. Originally just a recreational riding group, the club sought to define their outlaw identity in the 1950s under the leadership of Sonny Barger. This led to conflicts with authorities but also brought internal order. However, it also marked the beginning of their shift toward greater criminal involvement. In 1967, they became heavily involved in distributing LSD during the Summer of Love, but the drug was not very profitable. By the late 1960s, their business interests grew to include more serious offenses like drug trafficking, extortion, and prostitution. Rival biker gangs also evolved into serious criminal organizations engaged in similar illegal activities through the postwar period. Law enforcement crackdowns have attempted to curb the gangs’ expanding criminal operations.

Here is a summary of some key points about forms in California:

The Hells Angels motorcycle club was founded in California in the late 1940s/early 1950s.
Ralph “Sonny” Barger was an influential early member who helped establish structure and organization within the club.
In the 1960s, under Barger’s leadership, the Hells Angels in California became increasingly involved in criminal activity like drug trafficking.
The club established a hierarchical membership system of “prospects,” “full patch members,” etc. New chapters had to be sponsored by existing ones.
Violent clashes with law enforcement and rival gangs in the 1960s-70s enhanced the Hells Angels’ reputation for violence and criminality.
Major undercover operations in California in the 2000s provided evidence that helped prosecute Hells Angels members for criminal racketeering offenses.
The Hells Angels have expanded internationally but still have strong roots in California where the club was founded over 50 years ago. Their criminal activities remain a law enforcement concern in the state.

The Kray twins and the Richardson brothers led prominent crime syndicates in 1960s London that competed for control over criminal rackets in the city. The Krays, Reggie and Ronnie, established “The Firm” gang in East London, gaining a reputation for violence early on. They clashed with the Brixton-based Richardson gang led by brothers Charlie and Eddie Richardson, who also used extreme violence and brutality against victims. Tensions between the gangs boiled over into open conflict in 1966. Both groups were eventually brought down by police, with the Krays receiving life sentences for murder in 1968 and the Richardsons receiving lengthy prison terms as well. Their violent criminal empires had dominated and terrorized London for years before being dismantled.

Here is a summary of the key points about the Medellín Cartel:

The Medellín Cartel was established in the 1970s in Colombia by Pablo Escobar, José Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha, Carlos Lehder, and the Ochoa family. At its peak, it earned over $400 million per week from cocaine smuggling.
Carlos Lehder set up an operation on Norman’s Cay island in the Bahamas to import cocaine from Colombia via airplanes. This became a major trafficking hub.
For over a decade, the cartel operated with impunity in Colombia. However, in 1984, Justice Minister Rodrigo Lara Bonilla began aggressively pursuing the cartel. He was assassinated by Escobar.
Carlos Lehder was the first major kingpin to fall, being captured in 1987. He became an informant against other cartel members.
Key members José Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha and Pablo Escobar refused to surrender peacefully. Both were killed in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Intense collaboration between Colombian and US authorities dismantled the Medellín Cartel through prosecutions and military operations against its leaders.

Here is a summary of the key points about “Freeway” Rick Ross:

Rick Ross dropped out of high school in Los Angeles and began committing petty crimes with friends.
In the early 1980s, he tapped into the emerging crack cocaine trade by selling the drug at bargain prices wholesale to dealers across the US.
Ross generated millions in revenue per day at the peak of his operation by sourcing cheap cocaine from Nicaragua and converting it to crack.
He used street-level dealers and runners to distribute crack in over 40 cities. Ross avoided detection for years by frequently changing locations and vehicles.
A multi-agency task force was formed to specifically target Ross’s large-scale operation. He was eventually arrested in 1986 but charges were dropped due to lack of evidence.
Ross was indicted again in 1990 on cocaine trafficking charges related to a seizure in Cincinnati. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, serving 10 years.
At the height of his career in the 1980s, Ross’s crack empire spread across the US from LA and he earned up to $3 million per day, though he claims ignorance of crack’s devastating health impacts.
The passage summarizes some notable cases of kidnapping and extortion throughout history:
In 1613, Captain Samuel Argall kidnapped Pocahontas, daughter of a Native American chief, in Jamestown, Virginia.
In 1932, Charles Lindbergh’s infant son was kidnapped from their home in New Jersey.
In 1974, Patty Hearst, daughter of American media magnate William Randolph Hearst, was kidnapped by left-wing group Symbionese Liberation Army.
In 1998-2006, Natascha Kampusch was imprisoned for 8 years in the home of her abductor in Austria.
In 1873, the “Tichborne Claimant” case involved a man claiming to be the lost heir to an estate.
In 1973, John Paul Getty III, grandson of billionaire Jean Paul Getty, was kidnapped in Rome.
In 1976, 26 children were buried alive in a truck as part of a kidnapping in California.

The passage provides brief context about some infamous kidnapping and extortion incidents throughout history to introduce the topic.

faced starvation and disease

de Villemur, found guilty of

Lady Tichborne spent almost

claim was challenged in court. At

is kidnapped by one of his

Patty Hearst, daughter of American media mogul William Hearst, was kidnapped in 1974 by the Symbionese Liberation Army. She was pictured holding an automatic weapon in front of their logo months later, showing signs of Stockholm syndrome.

in their early years. In 1612,

treason against King Charles

£100,000 to bring ‘Roger’ to

the trial, held in 1873 at great

own generals. He is held for

Captain Samuel Argall was sent

IX, is banished from France.

England. There he was recognized

expense, it emerged that ‘Roger’

two days before international

CCTV cameras and tracking software in cell phones now play an important role in locating victims and kidnappers. New laws were passed after the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh Jr in 1932.

by dozens of people as Sir

was in fact Arthur Orton, a failed

pressure leads to his release.

Technological advances like GPS tracking devices have created a market for child safety products, but many have privacy and security issues.

Roger returned from the dead.

butcher from London who had

Notable historical abductions include Pocahontas, who was captured in 1613 by English colonists in Virginia and held hostage. She eventually married an English settler but died in England.

However, others thought him

emigrated to Australia in 1853.

Here is a summary of the key events:

In March 1932, the 20-month-old son of famous aviator Charles Lindbergh was kidnapped from the Lindbergh home in New Jersey.
A ransom note demanding $50,000 was found by the nurse. It was signed in broken English.
Retired educator Dr. John Condon volunteered to act as an intermediary to negotiate the ransom.
Condon negotiated the ransom down to $50,000 and the money was dropped off at a cemetery as instructed. However, the kidnapper did not keep his promise to return the baby unharmed.
In May 1932, the decomposing body of the baby was discovered in a shallow grave near the home. It appeared he had been dead since the kidnapping.
The crime caused international outrage. A massive investigation and manhunt followed but the killer was not identified for many years. It remained one of the biggest criminal cases in US history.

Here is a summary of the key events in the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh Jr:

In March 1932, the 20-month-old son of Charles Lindbergh was kidnapped from the Lindbergh home in Hopewell, New Jersey.
ransom notes were left demanding money for the child’s safe return. Payment of $50,000 was negotiated.
After payment, the child was never returned. His body was discovered in May 1932, confirming he had been killed.
In September 1934, some of the ransom money was found on a convicted criminal named Bruno Hauptmann during a routine traffic stop.
A thorough investigation of Hauptmann uncovered further evidence linking him to the crime, including the ransom notes and lumber from the kidnap ladder.
Hauptmann was arrested and put on trial. He was convicted of murder and executed. The kidnapping and trial had huge publicity and prompted the enactment of federal kidnapping laws.

The passage discusses the kidnapping and trial related to the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh Jr. in 1932. The key events include:

Charles Lindbergh Jr. was kidnapped from his parents’ home in 1932. A ransom was paid but the baby was later found dead.
In 1934, Bruno Hauptmann was arrested after the police traced ransom money paid to the kidnapper to him. A search of his home found more ransom money hidden there.
Hauptmann went on trial, represented by lawyer Edward Reilly. He claimed innocence but handwriting analysis and Lindbergh’s testimony identified him as the kidnapper.
In 1935, Hauptmann was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. Appeals failed and he was executed in 1936, always claiming innocence.
In later years, some argued Hauptmann was framed or that others may have been involved in the kidnapping. But the full truth of what happened was never determined.

In 1973, John Paul Getty III, the rebellious grandson of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, was kidnapped in Rome by the Italian mafia. The kidnappers demanded a $17 million ransom, threatening to cut off his fingers and ears if they were not paid. Months into the kidnapping, Getty’s severed ear was sent to an Italian newspaper along with demands for more money.

Getty’s miserly grandfather resisted paying, only contributing the maximum that was tax deductible. After Getty’s mother failed to pay the ransom herself, the remaining money was reluctantly loaned by the grandfather. Getty was released when $3 million was paid, severely malnourished and scarred from his ordeal. He was psychologically damaged and descended into addiction. The kidnapping exposed the elder Getty’s famously stingy nature.

In February 1974, Patty Hearst, a 19-year-old heiress, was kidnapped from her apartment by members of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA).
She was held captive for 57 days. Initially she pleaded with her family in taped messages, but after two months she announced she had joined the SLA.
In April 1974, under the name “Tania”, she took part in a bank robbery, seen holding a gun in surveillance photos.
In May 1974, a police shootout resulted in six SLA members killed, including the leader Donald DeFreeze, but Hearst escaped.
She was arrested in 1975 and convicted of bank robbery, given a seven year sentence. Jimmy Carter later commuted her sentence.
The case raised questions about whether Hearst was genuinely coerced or a willing participant due to Stockholm Syndrome of bonding with captors.
It generated significant media attention due to Hearst’s family wealth and status.
In July 1976, three men kidnapped 26 children and their bus driver from a school in Chowchilla, California. They transported the victims over 100 miles in two vans and buried them alive inside a buried moving van.
The kidnapped included children aged 5-14. They endured an 11-hour terrifying journey in the vans with no food, water or bathroom breaks.
The vans stopped at a rock quarry where the kidnappers transferred the victims to an old buried moving van, providing little food and water. They covered the van with dirt, burying the children alive.
After 36 hours, the children were able to escape by stacking mattresses and using a wooden beam to open the van’s roof. They then fled to safety.
The kidnapping was carried out by three men - Jan Woods, Richard Schoenfeld and James Schoenfeld - in a botched plan to get ransom money for their failed business venture.
It was one of the largest mass kidnappings in U.S. history and led to the term “Stockholm Syndrome” being coined to describe the psychological bonding that some hostages develop with their captors.
In 1998, 10-year-old Natascha Kampusch was kidnapped near her home in Vienna, Austria by unemployed telecom engineer Wolfgang Priklopil. He dragged her into his van and took her to his home.
For the next 8 years, Priklopil held Natascha captive in a small, soundproof cellar under his garage. She was imprisoned there alone.
As Natascha grew older into her teens, she began resisting Priklopil more. In response, he increased his efforts to control her through beatings, starvation, and periods of darkness. He also made her clean his home.
On August 23, 2006, Priklopil left the home. Seizing her chance, Natascha escaped from the cellar and ran into the street begging for help. Someone finally contacted the police.
Priklopil later committed suicide. Natascha received counseling and support after her ordeal. She faced long-term psychological effects from her imprisonment, but went on to study and publish a book about her experience.
Homicide is the killing of one person by another. While not all homicides are murder, all murder is homicide.
The law distinguishes between different types and degrees of murder depending on premeditation and intent. The M’Naghten rule sets precedent for an insanity defense.
Historically some women have avoided murder convictions due to assumptions about femininity and violence.
Cold-blooded, premeditated killings are goal-driven rather than reactive/spontaneous violence. Motivations include profit, sexual gratification, and revenge.
Notable murders discussed include Lizzie Borden, the Black Dahlia, the Manson Family murders, John Lennon’s killing, and O.J. Simpson trial.
Mass shootings and killings by cults involve multiple victims but are generally regarded as single events by the public.

This timeline entry describes the 1843 murder trial of Daniel M’Naghten, who was found not guilty by reason of insanity. M’Naghten shot and killed Edward Drummond, whom he believed was British Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel. M’Naghten believed that Peel and others were conspiring against him and persecuting him. At his trial, M’Naghten’s legal representatives successfully established an insanity defense, showing that he did not understand the crime or know right from wrong due to his mental state. Though the prosecution argued he was capable of knowing right from wrong, the jury found M’Naghten not guilty by reason of insanity and he was sentenced to a mental asylum. The acquittal caused public outcry, as it was one of the first modern uses of the insanity defense. It led to clarification of the rules around this defense in what became known as the M’Naghten Rules.

This summary outlines the key details of the notorious 1879 case of Kate Webster, who was convicted and hanged for the brutal murder of her friend, Maria Corney, in Richmond, Surrey, UK. Some key details:

Location: Richmond, Surrey, UK
Theme: Profit-motivated murder
In March 1879, Irish woman Kate Webster visited her friend Henry Porter in London, claiming she had inherited a house in Richmond and wanted to sell it. Henry introduced her to property broker John Church.
Kate enlisted Henry’s son Robert to help move a box from her Richmond home. Neighbors later found blood stains and signs of a fire in the house.
Police discovered the dismembered body of Kate’s friend Maria Corney hidden under piles of clothes and bedding. Her head had been severed.
At trial, Kate was described as having a strong, “unfeminine build” by observers influenced by the pseudoscientific theories of Cesare Lombroso about identifying criminals by their physical characteristics.
Kate was convicted and hanged for the brutal murder of Maria Corney, motivated by profit from selling Corney’s house and possessions.

Here is a summary of the Lizzie Borden murder case:

In August 1892 in Fall River, Massachusetts, Andrew and Abby Borden were brutally murdered in their home. Andrew, the wealthy father, was first struck with a hatchet while napping on the couch. Later that day, Abby, the stepmother, was attacked in an upstairs bedroom, receiving 19 blows to the head.

The main suspect was Andrew and Abby’s unmarried daughter Lizzie Borden. She was in the house at the time of the murders. However, the murder weapon was never found and Lizzie was ultimately acquitted at trial, with the jury unable to determine guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

To this day, the Borden murders remain one of the most notorious unsolved cases in American history. Some believe Lizzie committed the crimes due to resentment towards her stepmother, while others think an unknown intruder was the killer. The lack of definitive evidence has led to ongoing debate and speculation about what really happened in the Borden house that summer day in 1892.

Here is a summary of the key events:

Abby Borden is attacked in the guest bedroom between 9-10:30am while cleaning, sustaining head injuries
Andrew Borden returns home around 10:30am. Lizzie is heard laughing upstairs.
Bridget takes a nap from 10:30-11am.
At 11:10am, Lizzie raises the alarm and finds her father dead in the sitting room.
Bridget and neighbor Mrs. Churchill discover Abby’s body in the guest bedroom shortly after.
Autopsies show both victims were attacked with a hatchet, sustaining multiple head injuries. Neither showed defensive wounds.
No signs of break-in or theft. Blood and hair on an axe and hatchet head found in the cellar match the victims.
Lizzie is arrested and stands trial. Her testimony about her movements that day conflict with evidence. She is acquitted by the jury.
The murders remain unsolved but Lizzie Borden is widely suspected due to the lack of other suspects and inconsistencies in her story.
In 1905, brothers Alfred and Albert Stratton robbed and murdered the owners of a paint shop in Deptford, London.
They left behind a fingerprint on an emptied cash box at the scene. This fingerprint evidence became crucial to the case against them.
When their prints were taken after arrest, Alfred’s matched the print on the cash box.
At trial, Detective Inspector Charles Collins of Scotland Yard presented fingerprint evidence to the jury, the first time this was done in a UK murder case.
Collins demonstrated how varying pressure could account for differences in prints. The jury convicted based on the fingerprint evidence.
This was a milestone case that established fingerprint evidence in criminal trials and paved the way for the further development of fingerprint analysis techniques. It also made criminals aware of the need to avoid leaving prints.

Thomas and Ann were a couple that Ellen Stanton told police she saw running to apartment above their shop after the brothers allegedly committed a crime. Fingerprint evidence was crucial in convicting the Stratton brothers of murder, in one of the first cases where fingerprints led to a conviction in the UK. Fingerprints were initially recommended for use in criminal identification by a British committee in 1900. Fingerprint expert Charles Collins was able to match fingerprints found at the scene to those taken of Alfred Stratton in custody, helping secure the conviction. This set a precedent for the use of fingerprints in criminal cases going forward.

On January 15, 1947, the mutilated body of 22-year-old Elizabeth Short was found in a vacant lot in Los Angeles. She had been severed at the waist and drained of blood.
Short had recently moved to LA to pursue an acting career. She was last seen on January 9th at the Biltmore Hotel in LA.
The murder investigation was the largest in LA history but remained unsolved. Letters were received from a man claiming to be the “Black Dahlia Avenger” but these did not lead to an arrest.
Short’s murder became infamous and sparked international interest due to the brutality of the crime and lack of identifiable motive or suspects. It remains one of the most notorious unsolved murders in LA history.
In January 1947, Elizabeth Short, a 22-year-old aspiring actress, was murdered in Los Angeles.
Her body was found mutilated and severed in half, with her organs rearranged. This came to be known as the “Black Dahlia” case.
Over 150 men were initially interviewed as suspects. Mark Hansen, Short’s landlord, became a focal point due to claims he tried to seduce her.
Short’s belongings were later found cleaned of prints. Hansen identified them but denied involvement.
Robert “Red” Manley, who had an affair with Short, also became a suspect but was released after polygraph tests.
The gruesome murder dominated the newspapers. Over 500 people confessed but were ruled out. Letters from a “Black Dahlia Avenger” were suspected to be a hoax.
In 1949 another murder prompted theories of a linked serial killer, but the cases were deemed unrelated.
Despite extensive investigation, the Black Dahlia murder remains one of the most perplexing unsolved crimes in LAPD history. Experts believe the killer was a medically-trained male seeking notoriety.

After Sadamichi Hirasawa’s death, his adopted son Takehiko fought to secure a posthumous retrial for his father. Takehiko died in 2013 but instructed Hirasawa’s lawyers to continue pursuing a retrial and fighting to exonerate his father, with other relatives taking up the battle. Hirasawa had always professed his innocence of the 1948 poisoning murders he was convicted of and spent 32 years in prison for until his death.

Here is a summary of the key events:

On August 1, 1966, Charles Whitman brought several guns to the clock tower at the University of Texas at Austin. He had killed his mother and wife earlier that day.
From the tower’s observation deck, Whitman began firing indiscriminately at people below, killing over a dozen and injuring dozens more over the next 90 minutes.
Police from the university and Austin responded but had trouble locating the shooter in the tall clock tower. Three officers (Martinez, McCoy, Day) and a civilian, Crum, eventually made their way up the tower.
As Whitman focused on another officer, Martinez and McCoy opened fire, killing Whitman with shotgun blasts to the head and neck.
An autopsy later revealed a tumor in Whitman’s brain, which was thought to potentially contribute to his violent actions.
The mass shooting was one of the first of its kind and led to reforms in police active shooter response, including the formation of SWAT teams nationally. It drew nationwide attention to linkage between brain abnormalities and violence.
Charles Manson was a cult leader who formed a group known as the “Manson Family” in the late 1960s in California. The group mostly consisted of young women that Manson manipulated and controlled.
In 1969, Manson instructed several members of his cult to murder prominent people in wealthy Los Angeles neighborhoods. This included the murder of actress Sharon Tate and four others at Tate’s home. The next night, another couple, the LaBiancas, were murdered in a similar fashion.
The killings were initially thought to be random, but a police investigation eventually linked them to Manson and his followers. Several members participated directly in the murders under Manson’s orders.
The case received enormous publicity and was shocking due to the seemingly random and senseless nature of the killings. It drew attention to the dangers of cults and cult leaders who wield extreme control over their followers.
Manson and several members received death sentences or life imprisonment for the murders. It remains one of the most notorious murder cases in American history due to Manson’s cult of personality and the gruesome crimes committed by his followers at his instruction.

Charles Manson formed a cult-like group known as the “Manson Family” in the late 1960s. They lived communally at ranches in California, with Manson exerting control over the group. Manson became obsessed with the Beatles and believed their songs contained messages about an impending apocalyptic race war.

In 1969, Manson directed several members of the Family to murder wealthy residents of Los Angeles, including actress Sharon Tate and grocer Leno LaBianca, in an attempt to trigger the race war. Tate, who was 8 months pregnant, was murdered along with four others at her home. The next night, LaBianca was murdered in his home while his wife was also killed. Manson hoped the gruesome murders would be blamed on black militants.

Several Family members, including Susan Atkins, Tex Watson, and Patricia Krenwinkel, took part in the murders at Manson’s direction. They were all eventually arrested and convicted for their roles. Manson hoped to bring about societal collapse through the murders but was ultimately unsuccessful in sparking the race war he envisioned. The high-profile case brought national attention to the Manson Family and their cult-like practices and lethal violence.

Here is a summary of the key events:

In 1969, Charles Manson instructed his “Family” cult members to carry out murders to help ignite a race war, which he dubbed “Helter Skelter”.
On August 8, actress Sharon Tate and four others were murdered at her home by Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel, Tex Watson and Linda Kasabian on Manson’s orders.
The next night, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca were murdered in their home by Leslie Van Houten, Krenwinkel and Watson.
As the police investigation progressed, more details emerged about earlier Family-linked murders, including of Gary Hinman and Donald Shea.
Atkins confessed details to her cellmate, leading to arrests of Manson and other Family members.
At trial in 1970-1971, Manson and others were convicted of the Tate-LaBianca murders based largely on Kasabian’s testimony. They were sentenced to death but it was later commuted to life.
Manson maintained influence for decades but never expressed remorse for orchestrating the murders. The case highlighted the psychology of cult leaders and their manipulation of followers.
In 1980, Azaria Chamberlain disappeared from her family’s campsite near Uluru in Australia. Her parents, Lindy and Michael Chamberlain, said a dingo took her.
Police suspected Lindy killed Azaria and their investigation focused on proving this theory, ignoring evidence that didn’t support it.
In 1982, Lindy was convicted of murder based on questionable forensic analysis and public perception that her reaction seemed ‘unnatural’. Michael was convicted as an accessory.
In 1986, a baby’s jacket was found near a dingo den, casting doubt on the convictions. Lindy was released in 1986 and convictions were overturned in 1988.
Later forensic testing disproved some of the evidence used to convict Lindy. It took until 2012 for a coroner to rule that a dingo did in fact kill Azaria.
The case showed how preconceptions can influence investigations and trials. It took decades to overturn the wrongful convictions due to entrenched beliefs about dingoes and about Lindy’s culpability.
In 1975, Roberto Calvi became the chairman of Banco Ambrosiano, a Catholic bank in Italy with connections to the Vatican. However, his actions as chairman were not holy or legal.
Calvi siphoned money to fund political parties, took out large unsecured loans, and created offshore enterprises. This led to billions leaving Italy and huge debts for the bank.
In 1978, his activities came under investigation. Calvi was later convicted but released on bail. Banco Ambrosiano collapsed in 1982 owing $1 billion to the Sicilian mafia.
That month, Calvi disappeared from his Rome flat. His body was later found hanging from scaffolding under Blackfriars Bridge in London.
Initially ruled a suicide, prosecutors came to believe the mafia had Calvi killed to stop him revealing dealings with groups like freemasons and politicians.
Five suspects were charged in 2005 but acquitted due to lack of evidence. The case highlighted connections between the Vatican, mafia, freemasons and politicians in Italy.

Here is a summary of the key events:

James Bulger was taken from the New Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle, Merseyside, England by two ten-year-old boys, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables. They were seen on CCTV footage leading James by the hand away from the shopping centre. Two days later James’ mutilated body was found on a railway line. Thompson and Venables were identified as the main suspects. They were arrested and confessed. At their trial graphic evidence was presented showing James’ blood was found on Thompson’s shoe and bootprints matched bruising on James’ face. Witnesses also came forward about the boys trying to abduct another child that day. Despite arguments they were too young, Thompson and Venables were found guilty of abduction and murder. They were sentenced to 8 years in prison but later had their sentences increased. They were released on parole in 2001. The murder shocked the nation and prompted discussions around the age of criminal responsibility.

Here is a summary of the James Bulger case:

In February 1993, the brutally tortured body of two-year-old James Bulger was found on a railway track in Bootle, England. He had been led away from a shopping mall by two ten-year-old boys, Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, who tortured and killed him. After an extensive manhunt using CCTV footage, Venables and Thompson were identified as suspects. Though only ten years old at the time of the murder, they were tried in an adult court and found guilty of murder. They each served eight years in youth detention centers before being released on life license at the ages of 18. Their identities have been protected since release due to the notorious nature of the crime. The case raised debates around the age of criminal responsibility for murder and the rehabilitation of child killers. Had the boys committed the crime a few months earlier, when under ten, they likely would not have been prosecuted under UK law.

Here is a summary of the key events:

ordered to pay $33.5 million to the

On June 12th 1994, Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman were found murdered outside Nicole’s home in Los Angeles. O.J. Simpson was suspected due to his history of domestic violence against Nicole.
A police chase ensued on June 17th when Simpson fled in a white Ford Bronco driven by Al Cowlings. The slow-speed chase was televised globally. Simpson eventually surrendered.
Simpson hired a high-profile “Dream Team” of lawyers including F. Lee Bailey, Johnnie Cochran, and Robert Shapiro. The trial began in January 1995 and lasted 134 days.
The defense argued that LAPD mishandled evidence, accusing Mark Fuhrman of planting a glove at the crime scene. Audiotapes emerged of Fuhrman using racial slurs.
In a controversial decision, the jury acquitted Simpson in October 1995 after only 4 hours of deliberation, to widespread shock. Critics attributed the verdict to the racial makeup of the jury.
In a 1997 civil trial, Simpson was found legally responsible for the deaths and ordered to pay $33.5 million in damages to the victims’ families.
In 1997, the body of 20-year-old Ginger Rios was found buried in a shallow grave in the Arizona desert. She had last been seen four months earlier at a spy craft store in Las Vegas.
The store’s owner, Craig Jacobsen, confessed to killing Rios. He claimed he hit her during an altercation at the store.
Jacobsen was convicted in 2000 and sentenced to at least 25 years in prison.
In 2010, remains found buried near Rios in 1997 were identified as 15-year-old Jane Doe. Jacobsen then confessed this was a second victim, 15-year-old Christina Martinez, who had disappeared in Phoenix in 1997.
Jacobsen implicated another victim, Mary Stoddard, but her body was never found. He was subsequently charged with Martinez’s murder.
The gravesites and Jacobsen’s confessions suggested he was likely responsible for multiple killings in the Las Vegas and Arizona desert areas in the late 1990s.

underwent emergency operations at

later.

the murders of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls were the result of an escalating feud between the East Coast and West Coast rap scenes in the mid-1990s. The feud stemmed from an incident in 1994 where Tupac was robbed and shot in a recording studio in New York, and blamed Biggie and his producer Sean “Diddy” Combs.

On September 7, 1996, Tupac Shakur was shot multiple times in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas after attending a boxing match. He died six days later. On March 9, 1997, Biggie Smalls (The Notorious B.I.G.) was also shot dead in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles. Both murders remain unsolved, though police investigations pointed to gang involvement and turf wars between East and West Coast rap groups. The deaths cemented the volatile rivalry between the scenes and had lasting impacts on hip hop culture.

In 15th century Hungary, Elizabeth Bathory abducted, tortured and killed hundreds of young girls over several years.
In ancient China from 141-121 BCE, Liu Pengli engaged in a 29-year killing spree as Prince of Jidong.
In the 1960s in northern California, an unknown serial killer murdered 7 people and sent cryptic messages signing them as “Zodiac,” taunting police.
In the 1970s, American serial killer Harvey Glatman murdered and photographed young women he lured to hotel rooms by posing as a model scout.
In the 1970s-80s, American serial killer Ted Bundy targeted female college students across several U.S. states, using disguises.
In 1983-84 in England, local baker Colin Pitchfork was linked by DNA evidence to two murders in a small English village.
In the 1990s-2000s in England, doctor Harold Shipman was arrested and convicted of murdering over 200 elderly patients by injecting them with lethal drug doses.

Here is a summary of the key events:

In ancient China, Prince Liu Pengli murdered many people seemingly for thrills rather than any clear motive. He showed arrogance and disregard for others.
In 14th century Ireland, Dame Alice Kyteler was accused of murdering her four successive husbands through witchcraft. When accusations surfaced after the death of her fourth husband, an investigation was launched headed by the local bishop given her suspicious circumstances.
Dame Alice was eventually convicted and fled before punishment could be carried out, while her servant Petronilla was burned at the stake for witchcraft. This was one of the earliest documented serial murder cases.
The cases of Liu Pengli, Dame Alice Kyteler and others indicate that while the term “serial killer” is modern, individuals have existed for centuries who murdered multiple victims over time, though their actions were understood differently in their historical contexts.

Here is a summary of the key points about witchcraft:

In early modern Europe (16th-17th centuries), there was a major period of witch hunts led by the Catholic church where thousands of people, mainly women, were tried and executed for witchcraft. Accusations of heresy and sorcery were often broad and used to target those the church disapproved of.
Ideas of sorcery were taken more seriously by some members of the clergy than others. There were individual cases of clergy being accused and punished for sorcery before the major witch hunt periods.
Common accusations against those tried for witchcraft included practicing magic, making pacts with the devil, causing harm through spells and potions, and participating in satanic rituals. Confessions were often obtained through torture.
Some notable early cases include the trial of Alice Kyteler in 1324 as one of the first convicted of witchcraft in Ireland, and trials of around 170 Roman women in 313 BCE accused of murdering their husbands with poison.
Punishments for those found guilty of witchcraft ranged from fines, imprisonment, and torture to execution by methods like burning at the stake. The trials often targeted vulnerable groups like women, minorities, elderly and poor people.
Ideas of witchcraft and sorcery depicted evil practices that threatened the social and religious order, giving authorities justification to persecute those they disapproved of under the guise of punishing heresy and wickedness.

Here is a summary of the key points about Jack the Ripper:

Jack the Ripper killed and mutilated five prostitutes in the Whitechapel district of London in 1888.
The first victim was Mary Ann Nichols, whose throat was cut. Subsequent victims showed increasingly brutal knife injuries and evidence of attempts to remove organs.
Witnesses provided some clues about encounters with the killer, described as middle-aged with a foreign appearance. An apron was also found at one crime scene, fueling rumors of a butcher or skilled worker.
The graphic nature of the murders and inability of police to catch the killer led to widespread panic and media sensation. Jack the Ripper was never identified.
The double murder of Elizabeth Stride and Catharine Eddowes on the same night provided an infamous example of the killer’s brutal method. Letters sent to police have since become important pieces of evidence, but their authenticity is debated.
The identity of Jack the Ripper remains one of history’s most famous unsolved cases, inspiring conspiracy theories and speculation about who committed the horrific Whitechapel murders over 130 years ago.
The “Jack the Ripper” murders took place in 1888 in the Whitechapel area of London. Victims were predominantly prostitutes.
The first two victims were Mary Ann Nichols and Annie Chapman, whose throats were cut.
On September 30th, there were two murders on the same night - Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes. Eddowes’ body was mutilated severely.
Letters were received by investigators during the murders, including one coining the name “Jack the Ripper”. A letter also promised to “clip” the next victim’s ears, which proved true when Eddowes’ earlobe was found cut off.
The fifth and final confirmed victim was Mary Jane Kelly, whose murder on November 9th was the most gruesome. Her body was “hacked beyond recognition”.
The killer was never identified. The murders ceased and remain some of the most infamous unsolved crimes in history. The identity and motives of Jack the Ripper continue to be speculative.

Here is a summary of the key details about Harvey Glatman:

Harvey Glatman was a serial killer who murdered 3 women in California between 1957-1958.
His method was to lure models he found through ads he placed, with promises of cash for modeling work. He would bind and photograph his victims.
Glatman murdered Judy Dull, Ruth Mercado, and Lorraine Vigil. He kept photographs of his bound victims locked in a toolbox.
When police were closing in on him for the assault of Lorraine Vigil, Glatman readily confessed to the 3 murders. He led police to the toolbox containing the incriminating photographs.
Glatman was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. He was the first serial killer in the United States to be identified through photographs of his victims.

So in summary, Harvey Glatman was a California serial killer in the late 1950s who posed as a photographer to lure and murder young women, keeping photographs of his bound victims as trophies until his crimes were discovered through one of the photos. He readily confessed when facing arrest.

Ted Bundy was a serial killer who operated in the U.S. in the 1970s.
As a child, he exhibited antisocial and disturbed behavior. He grew up believing his grandparents were his parents.
In the 1970s, Bundy would lure young women to his car by asking for help or pretending to be injured.
Once the women were in his car, he would hit them with a weapon, handcuff and abduct them. He would then murder and dispose of their bodies.
Bundy traveled between several states, killing an estimated 30-100 women total. He targeted young women and college students.
He was eventually convicted of murder and received the death penalty. Despite his crimes, Bundy maintained he was not guilty and felt no remorse or guilt.
Bundy’s case brought greater awareness of serial killers and prompted new laws and investigative techniques around the U.S. He remains one of the most infamous serial killers in American history.
Ted Bundy’s early life was unstable - he grew up believing his mother was his sister and grandparents were his parents. As a young child he exhibited disturbing behavior like terrifying his aunt.
Bundy’s mother gave birth to him out of wedlock and left him at an unwed mothers home. He was adopted by his mother’s new husband but never bonded with his stepfather.
Bundy’s first acknowledged murder was in 1974 when he abducted a student from her home. Over the next year he killed numerous other students, luring women to his car by feigning injury.
He was first arrested in 1975 for fleeing police but items found in his car implicated him in an earlier abduction. He was convicted but continued killing until being arrested again in 1978.
Bundy confessed to over 30 murders and exhibited theatrical psychopathic behavior in luring and killing victims. Psychiatrists believed his childhood trauma and inability to bond with others contributed to his pathologies.
Ted Bundy committed his first murder at the age of 15.
During the 1970s, Bundy murdered more than a dozen young women across various states like Washington, Utah, Colorado and Florida. His victims included students like Margaret Bowman and 12-year-old Kimberly Leach.
Bundy was first arrested in 1975 in Utah for evading arrest. A search of his car found evidence linking him to missing women. However, he was later convicted in 1976 for the murder of Caryn Campbell based on hair evidence found in his car.
Bundy escaped from jail twice - once during his trial in Colorado and once from a jail in Glenwood Springs, Colorado in 1977. He then travelled to Florida where he killed two sorority sisters.
In total, Bundy confessed to killing over 30 women and was linked to around 50 murders. However, some estimates placed his total victim count as high as 100-300 murders across multiple states in the 1970s.
Bundy was sentenced to death and spent over 9 years on death row in Florida. He was executed in the electric chair in January 1989.

In the 1960s, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley abducted, tortured, and murdered five children in the Manchester area in the infamous “Moors Murders” case. Brady was obsessed with killing and involved Hindley, his girlfriend, in the crimes. Together they murdered Lesley Ann Downey, John Kilbride, Edward Evans, Keith Bennett, and Pauline Reade between 1963-1965. They buried the bodies of their victims on Saddleworth Moor.

In 1965 Brady grew arrogant and confessed details of the murders to Hindley’s brother-in-law David Smith. After luring another victim, Edward Evans, to their home, Brady killed him while Smith witnessed the murder in horror. Smith then helped Brady and Hindley clean up before contacting the police. When arrested, police found pornographic photos of Downey and other evidence in the couple’s home.

In 1966 Brady and Hindley were convicted of three murders. They later confessed to killing Reade and Bennett as well. Brady was declared criminally insane in 1985 and has been imprisoned ever since, while Hindley died in prison in 2002. The case garnered significant public attention and is regarded as one of the most infamous murder sprees in British history due to the young ages of the victims and photos/audio taken of Downey during her torture and murder.

The Zodiac Killer operated in Northern California in the late 1960s. He committed at least five murders and multiple attempted murders.
He taunted police and the public by sending encrypted letters describing the crimes. He signed them with a crossed circle symbol.
The final murder definitively linked to the Zodiac was of cab driver Paul Stine in San Francisco in October 1969. The killer shot Stine in the head and wiped down the cab.
Arthur Leigh Allen is considered the prime suspect. When questioned, his mother had recently given him a Zodiac brand watch with the crossed circle symbol. A friend claimed Allen expressed a desire to kill couples and taunt police.
Allen lived near the sites of the murders and had traits matching witness descriptions. However, he was never conclusively linked to the crimes and died in 1992 without being charged. The Zodiac Killer was never identified.
Harold Shipman was a British general practitioner and serial killer who is believed to have murdered between 215 to 250 of his patients over a period of around 24 years between 1975 to 1998 in Hyde, Greater Manchester and the surrounding areas.
He was initially suspended in 1998 after forging the will of an elderly patient, Kathleen Grundy, to inherit her estate. This raised suspicions and her body was exhumed, finding lethal doses of morphine.
Shipman was charged and convicted in 2000 of 15 murders but an inquiry later estimated he may have killed between 215 to 250 patients, mostly elderly women patients he visited at home, making him one of the most prolific serial killers in history.
He primarily used lethal injections of diamorphine (morphine) to kill his victims and would falsify medical records to conceal the murders. Many victims were then cremated which destroyed evidence.
Shipman maintained his innocence throughout and was seen as a benevolent family doctor prior to the murders being uncovered. He was sentenced to life imprisonment but died in 2004 after apparently taking his own life in Wakefield Prison.
A public inquiry after his conviction found systemic failures in health care oversight that allowed Shipman to murder undetected for so long. It was seen as a massive breach of the public’s trust in the British healthcare system.

was found mutilated in Ukraine

15 young men in London.

and made a grim discovery: at

Jack Unterweger, an Austrian

in 1983, it marked the beginning

least 11 dismembered bodies

criminal turned author, is

of a series of killings attributed

concealed in various places.

convicted of murdering three

to Soviet serial killer Andrei

Dahmer’s goal was not to commit

prostitutes in Los Angeles. He

Chikatilo. He targeted and

admitted to murdering,

murder, but to fulfill bizarre sexual

was later found guilty of

mutilated over 50 victims, mostly

dismembering, and engaging

fantasies, often involving necrophilia

additional murders in Austria

young women and children,

in cannibalism and necrophilia

and homosexuality. He had even

and Czechoslovakia before

between 1978-1990 around

of 17 men between 1978-1991

attempted a bizarre zombie-like state

committing suicide in prison.

Rostov-on-Don in Russia. He was

in Ohio and Wisconsin in the

in some victims by drilling holes in

eventually identified and convicted

US. He was arrested in 1991

their skulls and injecting acid into

based on biological evidence.

after attempting to restrain a

their brains – all in a perverse effort

He confessed and was sentenced

young man, and police found

to create living, uncomplaining sex

to death. American serial killer

dismembered bodies and

partners through chemical lobotomy.

Jeffrey Dahmer also admitted to

evidence of murder and

committing grotesque acts of

cannibalism in his apartment.

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This summary covers details from the context passage about serial killer Colin Pitchfork:

In 1986, the bodies of 15-year-olds Dawn Ashworth and Lynda Mann (killed 3 years earlier) were discovered in Narborough, UK.
Semen samples from both crime scenes matched the same blood type and enzyme profile.
Police believed the killings were committed by the same man. Local newspapers warned “it could be your daughter next.”
Geneticist Alec Jeffreys developed DNA fingerprinting to help the investigation.
17-year-old Richard Buckland confessed but his story was confusing. He admitted to one murder but not the other.
Police took DNA samples and matched them to Colin Pitchfork, a local resident, who was convicted of the double murder. He appealed his sentence in 2009 but it was only reduced by two years.

Here is a summary of key points from the passage:

A local police force appealed to citizens, asking 5,000 men in three surrounding towns to provide DNA samples, in an effort to catch the killer responsible for murders of two teenage girls, Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth.
Colin Pitchfork was identified as a suspect after a woman overheard him bragging in a pub about providing a DNA sample for his friend, Ian Kelly. When questioned, Kelly admitted that Pitchfork had gotten him to provide the DNA sample under Pitchfork’s identity.
Pitchfork’s DNA was then matched to the DNA evidence from the crime scenes. He became the first person convicted of murder based on DNA evidence.
Pitchfork had escalated from flashing hundreds of women and girls to raping and murdering Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth. He showed no remorse for his violent actions.
Pitchfork was sentenced to life in prison. He later appealed for clemency, pointing to his good behavior and education in prison, but victims’ families strongly opposed any reduction in his sentence.
Pitchfork’s sculpture made from sheet music was removed from display after public outrage over a serial killer profiting from his crimes. He was denied parole in 2016 and remained in prison.

Here are some key assassinations and political plots throughout history:

193 CE: The Praetorian Guard in imperial Rome stab Emperor Pertinax to death and award the role of emperor to the highest bidder.
1100s-1200s: A militant order of Shia Muslims known as the Hashashins assassinate Seljuk Turks and other Sunni opponents.
1894: French Army captain Alfred Dreyfus is convicted of passing secrets to the Germans.
1916: Actor and Confederate supporter John Wilkes Booth assassinates Abraham Lincoln at a theatre in Washington, D.C.
1963: Lee Harvey Oswald shoots US President John F. Kennedy as he rides through Dallas in an open-top car.
1978: Former Italian prime minister Aldo Moro is ambushed and shot dead by the left-wing paramilitary Red Brigades.
2006: Former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko is poisoned with polonium at a London hotel.
2002: One-time Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt is kidnapped by guerrillas.

While the methods of assassinations are typically planned in secret, political plots are very rarely successful without coordination between conspirators. The global consequences of Litvinenko’s poisoning are still not fully understood, though it heightened tensions between Russia and the UK.

The poisoning in 2006 of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko in a London hotel is believed to have been carried out by other Russians. This led to a diplomatic dispute where diplomats were expelled from Russian and British embassies. Technological advances now help agencies like the FBI uncover political conspiracies through surveillance and wiretapping. Most countries have treason laws punishing actions against the state or crown. Bringing plotters to justice can be difficult due to the covert nature of the schemes, though murder, kidnapping and conspiracies are illegal. Major events like the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinado that sparked WWI and deaths of leaders like Aldo Moro and JFK had large consequences by removing influential figures. Assassinations have historically been used as a tactic by secret societies, rebel groups, individuals with grievances, and sometimes governments seeking political change. While some attempts failed, assassinations have significantly altered history on several occasions.

Here are the key points about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln:

John Wilkes Booth was a famous actor and Confederate sympathizer who hatched a plot to kidnap Lincoln in March 1865.
As the Civil War ended, Booth wanted to further destabilize the government and decided to assassinate Lincoln instead.
On April 14, 1865, Lincoln and his wife attended a play at Ford’s Theatre in Washington D.C. Booth learned of this and made his way to their private box.
Booth shot Lincoln in the head with a pistol. Lincoln died the next morning.
Booth’s co-conspirators unsuccessfully attempted to kill Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward that same night.
Booth was later hunted down and killed before he could be brought to trial. The assassination deepened the divide in America after the Civil War.

Here is a summary of the key events in the Dreyfus Affair:

In 1894, Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish captain in the French army, was wrongfully convicted of treason for allegedly passing secrets to Germany. He was publicly humiliated and sent to prison.
Later, Colonel Georges Picquart uncovered evidence implicating another officer, Major Ferdinand Esterhazy, as the real traitor. However, Picquart was silenced and sent overseas.
In 1898, Esterhazy had a secret court martial where he was quickly acquitted and allowed to flee. Author Émile Zola wrote an open letter titled “J’Accuse…” to accuse the French government of a miscarriage of justice.
Under pressure, Dreyfus was retried in 1899 and exonerated. However, it took until 1906 for Dreyfus to be reinstated and decorated by the French Army. The affair exposed deep anti-Semitism in the French military and had wide social and political impacts in France.

Here is a summary of the key events in the passage:

Grigori Rasputin was a peasant mystic and faith healer from Siberia who gained great influence over the Russian royal family in the early 1900s.
He was introduced to Tsarina Alexandra in 1905 after she turned to faith healing in hopes of curing her son Alexei’s hemophilia. Rasputin uniquely claimed he could heal the young boy.
Rasputin quickly endeared himself to the royal family, especially Alexandra. His influence grew as he became indispensable for supposedly healing Alexei through his charisma.
On December 19, 1916, Rasputin was murdered in Saint Petersburg by Tatiana’s relatives and allies who were concerned about his influence over the tsar and tsarina. They laced pastries and wine with cyanide before shooting and drowning him when the poison failed to kill him.
The assassination contributed to further unrest and instability in Russia, eventually culminating in the Russian Revolution in 1917 that overthrew the tsarist government.
Grigori Rasputin was a Russian mystic and faith healer who gained influence over the Russian royal family through his purported abilities to ease the hemophilia symptoms of Alexei Nikolaevich, the son and heir of Tsar Nicholas II.
In 1916, Rasputin’s critics blamed him for Russia’s failures in World War I and growing unrest. Prince Felix Yusupov along with others conspired to assassinate Rasputin to end his influence over the royals.
At Yusupov’s palace, Rasputin was given poisoned wine and cakes but survived. He was then shot, beaten, and thrown into an icy river. However, his death fulfilled a prophecy he made shortly before, that if harmed by the royal family, they would not survive more than two years.
In 1917, Nicholas II abdicated and the Bolsheviks seized power, imprisoning and executing the royal family in 1918. Rasputin’s uncanny prediction about their demise proved tragically accurate. His assassination thus failed to save the Romanovs but marked the decline of the Russian monarchy.
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963 while riding in a motorcade through Dealey Plaza. He was shot in the neck and head.
Witnesses saw shots fired from the Texas School Book Depository. Howard Brennan saw a man firing from the 6th floor corner window.
Within an hour, Lee Harvey Oswald, a former Marine and defector to the Soviet Union, was identified as a suspect after leaving the Depository around the time of the shooting. He shot and killed Dallas police officer J.D. Tippit.
Oswald was arrested later that day after being confronted in a movie theater. He was charged with killing President Kennedy and Officer Tippit.
The next morning on November 24th, as Oswald was being transferred to the county jail, nightclub owner Jack Ruby fatally shot Oswald before witnesses and television cameras in the basement of Dallas Police Headquarters.
The murder of Oswald prevented a trial from determining if he acted alone or was part of a conspiracy, fueling extensive debate and conspiracy theories about the assassination.
John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas while riding in a presidential motorcade. Lee Harvey Oswald was initially arrested for the murder of a Dallas police officer and later charged with assassinating President Kennedy.
The next day, as Oswald was being transferred between jail facilities, nightclub owner Jack Ruby fatally shot Oswald, claiming he did so to spare Jackie Kennedy the ordeal of a trial.
The Warren Commission was established by President Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the assassination. It concluded that Oswald acted alone in shooting Kennedy from the Texas School Book Depository building. However, conspiracy theories abounded that others may have been involved.
Subsequent investigations by the US House of Representatives in 1979 left open the possibility that another gunman on a nearby “grassy knoll” may have been involved in a broader conspiracy. The circumstances and forensic evidence surrounding the assassination remain controversial.

Here are the key points summarizing the passages:

Aldo Moro was a longtime prime minister of Italy from 1963-1978 and leader of the Christian Democratic Party.
On March 16, 1978 he was kidnapped by the far-left terrorist group the Red Brigades, who shot and killed his bodyguards before abducting him.
The Red Brigades wanted to start a communist revolution in Italy and targeted Moro after arresting some of their founders.
After a week of holding Moro, the Red Brigades demanded the release of 14 imprisoned leftist militants in exchange for Moro. The government refused to negotiate.
Moro’s family, supporters and Pope Paul VI pleaded for his release. Hundreds of suspected terrorists were arrested but to no avail.
On April 15, the Red Brigades announced they had sentenced Moro to death. He was found murdered on May 9, shot 11 times in the heart.
The apparent leader of Moro’s killing, Mario Moretti, was not arrested until April 1981. He received six life sentences.
The kidnapping and killing of Moro deeply embarrassed the Italian government and polarized Italian politics. It showed the threat from radical terrorist groups at the time.
Former Russian FSB spy Alexander Litvinenko poisoned with radioactive polonium-210 in London in 2006
He met with two Russian men, Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun, for tea at a hotel, where they slipped the poison into his drink
Litvinenko felt unwell soon after and died three weeks later, giving evidence from his deathbed accusing Russian president Vladimir Putin of ordering his assassination
The poisoning caused an international incident between the UK and Russia, damaged relations, and the UK requested the extradition of the suspects who Russia refused
Lugovoi defended himself but Britain charged both men in absentia for Litvinenko’s murder, citing evidence including radioactive traces found in hotels both men stayed in
The poisoning demonstrated the long arm of the Russian state and its willingness to assassinate defectors and opponents on foreign soil through secret services like the FSB using exotic radioactive poisons
Litvinenko was a former Russian FSB agent who defected to the UK and became a vocal critic of Vladimir Putin.
In 2006, Litvinenko met with two Russians, Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun, at a hotel in London where he was poisoned with polonium-210, a radioactive substance.
Litvinenko began feeling ill and was hospitalized. He suspected the Russian government was behind his poisoning.
Litvinenko gave detailed testimony to UK police from his hospital bed, identifying Lugovoi and Kovtun as suspects and linking the poisoning back to Putin.
Despite evidence against them, Russia refused to extradite Lugovoi and Kovtun for trial in the UK.
A British public inquiry later concluded that the Russian State was directly or indirectly responsible for Litvinenko’s death.
The poisoning highlighted Russia’s alleged use of assassination against Putin critics abroad and the lack of accountability for rogue actions by Russian spies. Litvinenko’s death became highly politicized between Russia and the UK.

Here are the key details from the passage:

Alexander Litvinenko was a former FSB and KGB officer who defected to the UK and worked as a security consultant for MI6.
In November 2006, he met with two Russian men, Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitri Kovtun, at the Millennium Hotel in London. During the meeting, they ingested polonium-210, a rare and lethal radioactive isotope.
Litvinenko fell ill shortly after and was hospitalized. Doctors did not initially know he had been poisoned with polonium-210. He died three weeks later, becoming the first confirmed victim of polonium poisoning.
Forensic investigation found high levels of polonium-210 on objects from the hotel bar where Litvinenko met with Lugovoi and Kovtun, indicating they were responsible. Kovtun had 390,000 becquerels of polonium found in the sink of his hotel room.
The UK accused Russia of the assassination. An inquiry concluded Russian President Vladimir Putin “probably approved” the assassination. However, Russia refused to extradite Lugovoi and Kovtun.
The murder strained UK-Russia relations. Some Russian diplomats were expelled from the UK in response. The UK also cut intelligence ties with Russia.
While evidence pointed to Russian involvement, no one has been convicted for Litvinenko’s murder due to lack of access to suspects in Russia. The assassination remains an infamous unsolved crime involving Russian state-sanctioned radioative poisoning on British soil.

Here is a summary of the provided text:

Ravaillac, a Catholic fanatic in 17th century France, believed he received a divine vision telling him to convert King Henry IV, who had moved against the Catholic Netherlands. After several failed attempts to meet with and convert the king, Ravaillac waylaid the royal carriage and fatally stabbed Henry. He was subsequently tortured and executed for the regicide, with his body torn apart by an angry mob.

His act of assassinating the French king through stabbing led to severe consequences, displaying the consequences for harming or killing royals in 17th century France.

Ruth Ellis was the last woman to be executed in Britain, hanging in 1955 for murdering her lover David Blakely. Thousands called for her death sentence to be suspended due to reports of abuse by Blakely.
Han van Meegeren was a Dutch painter who became extremely successful creating forgeries in the style of famous Dutch masters like Vermeer. His most acclaimed forgery led to his downfall when it was discovered among the possessions of Nazi Hermann Goering.
Dick Hickock and Perry Smith met in prison. After being released they decided to rob the home of the Clutter family but found no safe, so they murdered the family of four. They were captured after a manhunt and executed for their crimes.

Here are the key details from the passages:

Truman Capote visited Holcomb, Kansas in 1959 with Harper Lee to research the murder of a family by Richard Hickock and Perry Smith. He published his research as the nonfiction novel In Cold Blood in 1965.
Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate went on a murder spree in 1957-1958 after Starkweather killed Fugate’s mother and siblings. Starkweather was executed for the murders, while Fugate served 17 years in prison.
Frank Lucas smuggled heroin directly from Southeast Asia to New York in the 1960s-1970s using military planes and dead soldiers’ coffins. He was sentenced to 70 years in prison but his sentence was reduced when he turned in accomplices.
The Bandidos motorcycle club originated in Texas in the 1960s and expanded internationally, with members involved in drug trafficking, assault, and murder. They identify as “one percenters” who operate outside the law.
Serial killer Donald Harvey carried out over 50 murders as a medical orderly and nurse in Ohio in the 1970s-1980s using various methods.

Here is a summary of the provided text:

Members of the Irish Republican Socialist Party waylaid and robbed a Cork–Dublin mail train outside Sallins, County Kildare in 1976, making off with around £200,000 (£1.3 million today). Three men were convicted but allegations of coercion saw their convictions overturned.
Several cases of serial killers are mentioned, including Peter Sutcliffe (killed 13 women in northern England in the 1970s-80s), Dennis Nilsen (murdered at least 12 men in London in the late 1970s-early 80s), Alain Lamare (“Killer of l’Oise” in France in the late 1970s), and Francis Heaulme (“Criminal Backpacker” strangled/stabbed at least 9 victims across France in the 1979-97).
The 1978 assassination of Georgi Markov in London, allegedly by a KGB operative using a poison pellet shot from an “umbrella gun”, is discussed.
The 1978 Jonestown Massacre is mentioned, where over 900 members of the Peoples Temple cult died after drinking cyanide-laced Flavor Aid under the direction of cult leader Jim Jones in Guyana.
The 1983 kidnapping of Heineken CEO Freddy Heineken in Amsterdam by Cor van Hout and Willem Holleeder is summarized.
The 2008 case of Josef Fritzl, who held his daughter Elisabeth captive for 24 years and fathered her seven children in a hidden cellar in Austria, is covered.
Aileen Wuornos was a female serial killer from Michigan who began working as a prostitute in Florida in her teens. She claimed that seven men she shot and killed had tried to rape her.
Beverley Allitt was a nurse at a UK hospital who murdered at least four children and attempted to kill nine others over 59 days in 1991 by injecting them with insulin.
Nick Leeson was a trader at Barings Bank in Singapore who hid massive trading losses, causing the collapse of the bank to the tune of £832 million.
Josef Fritzl imprisoned his daughter Elisabeth in the basement of their Austrian home for 24 years, fathering seven children with her during that time.
Guy Georges was a serial killer and rapist in Paris in the 1990s known as “The Beast of the Bastille” who murdered seven women.
Aileen Wuornos, Beverley Allitt, Nick Leeson, Josef Fritzl, and Guy Georges were all arrested and convicted for their crimes.

Here is a summary of the key points without sensitive details:

claimed responsibility for the

sold on this and other Indian

identities of employees from

A Canadian couple was convicted of kidnapping, forcible confinement, aggravated sexual assault, and first-degree murder of teenage girls in the 1990s.

attacks. More than 100 women had

Reserves, to avoid the high taxes

Bangladesh Central Bank (a SWIFT

In Italy in the late 2000s, an American student and her Italian boyfriend were initially convicted, then acquitted, of murdering a British student. A third man remains imprisoned.

been raped, murdered, and left in

that the Canadian government

member) to send dozens of illegal

In South Africa in the 2010s, an Olympic athlete was convicted of murdering his girlfriend and received a controversial sentence.

car parks or the desert after

placed on tobacco sales. White

transfer requests – totalling almost

In Nigeria in 2014, hundreds of schoolgirls were kidnapped by an extremist group, with many still unaccounted for despite negotiations.

boarding the city’s buses. “Diana”,

was also involved in transporting

£673 million – to foreign banks.

In Mexico in the 2010s, a vigilante claiming to be a victim targeted bus drivers, killing two, in retaliation for unsolved crimes against women.

herself a victim, held the drivers

tobacco over the border. Several

Many of the transfers were blocked

In Canada in the 2010s, a man was involved in a large tobacco smuggling operation and motor racing.

responsible, and saw the shootings

other members of the smuggling

or recovered, but £64 million

In Bangladesh in 2016, unknown hackers stole around £64 million by exploiting the SWIFT bank transfer system.

as a way to bring the killers to

ring were arrested, and White gave

vanished. Whether it was an inside

justice. Despite searches, police in

himself up in March 2016. He was

job or the work of ingenious hackers

Juàrez were unable to discover the

suspended by NASCAR that April.

remains unknown.

vigilante’s true identity.

The Crime Book - Dorling Kindersley