-
kinapped
On March 1, 1932, Charles Lindbergh Jr., the 20-month-old son of the famous aviator, was kidnapped, and although a ransom of $50,000 was paid, the child was never returned. His body was discovered in May just a few miles from his home. Tracking the circulation of the bills used in the ransom payment, authorities were led to Bruno Hauptmann, who was found with over $14,000 of the money in his garage. While Hauptmann claimed that the money belonged to a friend, key testimony from handwriting analy -
forgery
In 1970, authors Clifford Irving and Richard Suskind concocted a scheme to forge an autobiography of notoriously eccentric and reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes. Assuming that Hughes would never come out from hiding to denounce the book, they felt that their plan was fool-proof. Irving went to publisher McGraw-Hill claiming that Hughes had approached him to write his life story and that he was willing to correspond with only the author. As proof, Irving produced forged letters that he claimed -
Kipnapping
Although serial killer Ted Bundy was responsible for an estimated 30-plus murders, there was little physical evidence to connect him to the crimes when he was arrested in 1975. Two years later, having been convicted only of kidnapping, Bundy was preparing to stand trial for murder in Colorado when he escaped and headed to Florida. There, he killed three more people early in 1978, and when he was finally captured in February of that year, the physical evidence in those cases led to his conviction -
cerial killer
In a two year period between 1979 and 1981, 29 people — almost all children — were strangled by a serial killer. Police staked out a local river where other bodies had been dumped and arrested Wayne Williams as he was driving away from the sound of a splash in an area where a body was recovered a couple of days later. Police didn’t witness him drop the body, so their case was based largely on forensic evidence gathered from fibers found on the victims. In all, there were nearly 30 types of fiber -
Teens attacked
Between June 1984 and August 1985, a Southern California serial killer dubbed the Night Stalker broke into victims’ houses as they slept and attacked, murdering 13 and assaulting numerous others. With citizens on high alert, an observant teenager noticed a suspicious vehicle driving through his neighborhood on the night of August 24, 1985. He wrote down the license plate and notified police. It just so happened that the Night Stalker’s latest attack took place that night in that area, so police -
The rampart scandal
The rampart scandal The rampart scandal happened in the late 1990’s. There was 70 or more police officers that worked this case. There goal was to stop drug trafficing in Las Angelas -
The beating of Abner Louima
In 1997 Several police were called to a night club due to a fight. When they got there a fight broke out between the citizens and the police. One of the oficers was struck and the officer grabed a man who he thought had hit him and then took him back to the police station where he beat him sexually assaulted him and also shoved a broom stick up his pooper. Later it was found out and Abner Louima was awarded 8.75 million dollars. -
Wisconsin party beating
In October of 2004, Frank Jude and his friend Lovell Harris were invited to a party at an off-duty police officer’s home. Several of the persons attending the party were off-duty police officers and when one of them reported that his wallet and badge had been stolen they immediately shot slurs and accusations at Jude and Harris, who were black. The off-duty police officers severely beat and assaulted the men, but Harris was able to escape. Jude suffered various injurie -
The Kathryn Johnson shooting
In 2006, police raided a house in a crime and drug ridden neighborhood in Atlanta. 92 year old Kathryn Johnston, who was home at the time, was startled by the forced invasion and shot once at police officers, not hitting anyone. Officers retaliated and fired 39 shots, hitting Johnson at least 5 times. After searching the home and not finding drugs, the officers planted drugs in the home and convinced a drug informant of theirs to lie to police and tell them that h -
Chicago bar attack
In 2007, this attack skyrocketed to attention everywhere when a video released showed a 250 pound male Chicago police officer repeatedly kicking and punching a 125 pound female bartender. The bartender, Karolina Obrycka refused to serve intoxicated off-duty police officer Anthony Abbate any more alcohol. The tape, caught on video surveillance from the bar, then shows Abbate confronting Obrycka behind the bar, and Obrycka asking him several times to leave. Abbate then threw -
Quadriplegic epidsode in Florida
In 2008, a surveillance video in a Florida Sheriff’s office shows a deputy dumping a quadriplegic man from his wheelchair onto the floor. Brian Sterner, 32, was paralyzed from the chest down after a wrestling incident when he was 18 years old and confined to a wheelchair, had been picked up on a warrant charge. Officer Charlette Marshall-Jones who told Sterner that she didn’t believe he was really paralyzed grabbed the handles behind the wheelchair and forcibly -
New Year’s Day shooting in California
In the early morning hours of New Years Day 2009, officers in Oakland were called to reports of a fight on a crowded transit train. Officers Tony Pirone and Johannes Mehserle responded amongst others and detained some of the people believed to have been involved in the fight. Twenty-two-year-old Oscar Grant was on the floor detained for questioning when he got up and tried to leave but then voluntarily returned and was lying on the floor. Onlookers who c -
Jaywalking in Seattle
In June 2010, a video surfaced of Seattle police officer Ian P. Walsh attempting to cite several pedestrians for jaywalking. In the video, a 19 year-old girl is seen and became combative with the officer and Walsh tried to arrest her. Her 17 year-old friend came to her aid, and pushed the officer attempting to free her from the officer’s grip. The officer then turned to the 17 year-old and punched her in the face. The crowd, seen in the video, yelled and shouted at Wals