Robert Berdella (1949 - 1992)

Robert Berdella was apprehended on April 2, 1988. By that time, he had abducted and tortured at least six young men, and the Kansas City Police Department suspected him in two other disappearances. Berdella had detailed torture logs and large numbers of Polaroid pictures he had taken of his victims. Volumes of pictures were recovered […]

Abdullah Shah (1965 - 2004)

Abdullah Shah (1965-20 April 2004) was an Afghan man found guilty in Kabul of killing more than 20 people, including his wife. His sanctioned execution was the first in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001. Shah served under Zardad Khan—even earning the nickname Zardad’s dog— who served under Gulbuddin Hekmatyar in the […]

Thomas Lee Woolwine (1874 - 1925)

Los Angeles District Attorney, figure in the William Desmond Taylor murder case. Woolwine was a district attorney in L.A. His investigations ended the careers of two L.A. Mayors. He also attempted to jail Valentino for bigamy. However, he made his way into Hollywood legend during the 1922 murder of movie director William Desmond Taylor. Many […]

Albert N. “Wallpaper” Wolff (1903 - 1998)

Crime Fighter / Member of ‘The Untouchables.’ Note that the inscription on the grave marker is incorrect as the Untouchables were part of what is now the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) which is part the Treasury Department.

Byron Raymond “Whizzer” White (1917 - 2002)

United States Supreme Court Associate Justice, Professional Football Player. Born in in Fort Collins, Colorado, he grew up in tiny Wellington, where his father was a lumber dealer and staunch Republican mayor.  White excelled in both academics and athletics.  He graduated first in his high school, college, and law school classes.  His athletic achievements included […]

Kate Warne (1970 - 1868)

Private Detective. Born in New York City, almost nothing is known of her prior to 1856 when, as a young widow, she answered an employment advertisement placed by Alan Pinkerton. She was one of four new agents the Pinkerton Detective Agency hired that year and proved to be a natural, taking to undercover work easily. […]

(1917 - 2002)

United States Supreme Court Associate Justice, Professional Football Player. Born in in Fort Collins, Colorado, he grew up in tiny Wellington, where his father was a lumber dealer and staunch Republican mayor.  White excelled in both academics and athletics.  He graduated first in his high school, college, and law school classes.  His athletic achievements included […]

Anne of Austria (1601 - 1666)

Anne of Austria was betrothed at age eleven to King Louis XIII of France. Her father gave her a dowry of 500,000 crowns and many beautiful jewels. For fear that Louis XIII would die early, the Spanish court stipulated that she would return to Spain with her dowry, jewels, and wardrobe if he did die. […]

Caroline Bonaparte (1782 - 1839)

Caroline Bonaparte was born in Ajaccio, Corsica. She was a younger sister of Joseph Bonaparte, Napoléon Bonaparte, Lucien Bonaparte, Elisa Bonaparte, Louis Bonaparte and Pauline Bonaparte. She was an older sister of Jérôme Bonaparte. In 1793, Caroline moved with her family to France during the French Revolution. There, she fell in love with Joachim Murat, one […]

David Mountbatten (1919 - 1970)

David Mountbatten was born in 1919. He was only son of George Mountbatten and Russian Countess Nadejda (Nada) Torby who wed in 1916. His paternal grandparents were Prince Louis of Battenberg and Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine. Therefore, he was a great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria. His maternal grandparents were Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich […]

Roger Mortimer (1287 - 1330)

Roger Mortimer, grandson of Roger Mortimer, 1st Baron Mortimer and Maud de Braose, Baroness Mortimer, was born at Wigmore Castle, Herefordshire, England, the firstborn of Marcher Lord Edmund Mortimer, 2nd Baron Mortimer, and Margaret de Fiennes. Edmund Mortimer was a second son, intended for minor orders and a clerical career, but on the sudden death […]

King Mongkut (1804 - 1868)

King Mongkut was indeed supported by a pro-British, Dis Bunnak, the Samuha Kalahom, or Armed Force Department’s president, the most powerful noble during the reign of Rama III. Also some British merchants who were fearful of the anti-West feeling growing during the previous reign, seeing the ‘prince monk’, Mongkut, who the ‘champion’ of European civilization […]

Haile Selassie (1892 - 1975)

Haile Selassie I (Ge’ez: ቀዳማዊ ኃይለ ሥላሴ, qädamawi haylä səllasé[nb 1]; Amharic pronunciation: [ˈhaɪlɜ sɨˈlːase] (23 July 1892 – 27 August 1975), born Tafari Makonnen Woldemikael, was Ethiopia’s regent from 1916 to 1930 and Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He also served as Chairperson of the Organisation of African Unity from 25 May […]

Amha Selassie (1916 - 1997)

Amha Selassie became Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen of Ethiopia when his father was crowned Emperor on 2 November 1930. Crown Prince Asfaw Wossen was granted the title of Meridazmach and the province (former kingdom) of Wollo to rule as his fief. He was married to Princess Wolete Israel Seyoum, great-granddaughter of Emperor Yohannis IV, and […]

Prince Makonnen (1923 - 1957)

Prince Mekonnen (baptismal name: Araya Yohannes; 16 October 1923 – 13 May 1957) was the second son, and second youngest child, of Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia and Empress Menen Asfaw. He was made Mesfin (or Duke) of Harar upon the coronation of his parents in 1930. It was widely believed that Emperor Haile Selassie favored […]

Madeleine of Valois (1520 - 1537)

Madeleine of Valois was born at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France, the fifth child and third daughter of King Francis I of France and Claude, Duchess of Brittany (daughter of King Louis XII of France and Anne, Duchess of Brittany). Very frail from birth, she grew up in the warm and temperate Loire Valley region of France, rather […]

Domino Harvey (1969 - 2005)

Domino Harvey dropped out of school as a teenager to pursue a career in modeling, but did not enjoy working in the industry. Harvey later claimed to have attended the Lee Strasberg Institute and been represented by the Ford Modeling Agency; in a 2005 article, Aida Edemariam of The Guardian notes that she was unable […]

Leo Frank (1884 - 1915)

Leo Frank (April 17, 1884 – August 17, 1915) was an American factory superintendent who was convicted of the murder of a 13-year-old employee, Mary Phagan, in Atlanta, Georgia. His legal case, and lynching two years later, attracted national attention and became the focus of social, regional, political, and racial concerns, particularly regarding antisemitism. Born to […]

Clayton Fountain (1955 - 2004)

Clayton Fountain (September 12, 1955 – July 12, 2004) was a former federal prisoner, member of the Aryan Brotherhood, and convicted murderer. Clayton Anthony Fountain was born on September 12, 1955, at the U.S. Army Hospital in Fort Benning, Georgia. Clayton was the oldest of six children, having one brother and four sisters, and was […]

Andrew Martinez (1972 - 2006)

Andrew Martinez was a high school football player when he attended Monta Vista High School in Cupertino, California. Martinez attended classes at the University of California, Berkeley. In September 1992, his second year in college, he began appearing naked in public and led a campus “nude-in” to protest social repression. Campus police first arrested him that […]

Lawrence Phillips (1975 - 2016)

Despite his considerable character issues, with his strong performance, Lawrence Phillips was drafted sixth overall in the 1996 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Rams. Several teams with higher picks let it be known that they passed on him due to his off-the-field troubles. He was widely expected to be selected by the new Baltimore […]

James Earl Ray (1928 - 1998)

James Earl Ray was born to a poor family on March 10, 1928, in Alton, Illinois, the son of Lucille (Maher) and George Ellis Ray. He had Welsh, Scots, and Irish ancestry, and was raised Catholic. In February 1935, Ray’s father, known by the nickname Speedy, passed a bad check in Alton, Illinois, then moved […]

Fred West (1941 - 1995)

In September 1962, the 21-year-old Fred West became re-acquainted with a former girlfriend, Catherine Costello, who was better known as Rena from her time working as a prostitute. Costello was already pregnant by another man, and she and West married on 17 November before moving to Coatbridge, Lanarkshire. Her daughter, Charmaine Carol, was born on […]

John Straffen (1930 - 2007)

John Straffen returned home to Bath in March 1946, where the Medical Officer of Health examined him and found he still warranted certification under the Mental Deficiency Act. After several short-term jobs, he found a place as a machinist in a clothing factory. Early in 1947, Straffen began to go into unoccupied homes and steal […]

Harry Randall Truman (1896 - 1980)

Harry Randall Truman was born in Ivydale, Clay County, West Virginia, to Rosa Belle (née Hardman; 1873– 1957) and Newberry Truman (1874– 1923). His family settled in Chehalis, Washington several years later, where his father died in a logging camp accident in 1923, aged 49. He had one sister, Geraldine (1905–1987).Truman enlisted in the 100th […]

Robert Stroud (1890 - 1963)

Robert Stroud (January 28, 1890 – November 21, 1963), known as the “Birdman of Alcatraz”, was an American federal prisoner and author who has been cited as one of the United States’ most notorious criminals. During his time at Leavenworth Penitentiary, he reared and sold birds and became a respected ornithologist, but because of regulations, […]

Garry Marshall (1934 - 2016)

Garry Marshall began his career as a joke writer for such comedians as Joey Bishop and Phil Foster and then became a writer for The Tonight Show with Jack Paar. In 1961, he moved to Hollywood, where he teamed up with Jerry Belson as a writer for television. The pair worked on The Dick Van […]

John List (1925 - 2008)

Born in Bay City, Michigan, John List was the only child of German American parents, John Frederick List (1859–1944) and Alma Maria Barbara Florence (Hubinger) List (1887–1971). Like his father, he was a devout Lutheran and a Sunday school teacher. In 1943, he enlisted in the Army and served in the infantry as a laboratory […]

Steve Curnow (1984 - 1999)

Steve Curnow was born on August 28, 1984 to parents Robert and Susan Curnow. He has one sister named Nancy. Steve dreamed of being a Navy top gun pilot and was very close with his mom Susan and father Bob. He loved soccer and worked part-time as a referee and his dad Bob coached the soccer […]

Cassie Bernall (1981 - 1999)

Cassie Bernall (November 6, 1981 – April 20, 1999) was a student killed in the Columbine High School massacre at age 17. Initial reports suggested that Eric Harris asked if Bernall believed in God moments before she was fatally shot. She was reported to have answered “Yes”. This story led to Bernall being presented as a […]