Murder of Lisa Taodora Kopf (Monika Wiley)

On the night of August 4, 1998, 17-year-old Lisa Kopf and her 15-year-old sister left their home in Callingwood neighborhood in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The two would go to a house party near 102 Street and 132 Avenue. At 4:30 am Lisa would leave the party on her own. It's not stated or unknown why she left the party alone.

At 10 am a farmer feeding his cattle discovered Lisa’s body in a slough near 186 Street and 118 Avenue. She was lying face down in the mud in a slough. Her death was brutal as her face was held down into the mud until she suffocated to death. She had no drugs or alcohol in her system. She was not sexually assaulted and they may not have been the motive.

One od the early news article stated that there was a call to police around 5:20 am about a suspicious person near an abandoned building a few hundred meters away from where Lisa was found. It's not stated if this person was found or if they suspect that this person saw or knows anything about the murder.

It was stated that she was also using the name Monika Wiley.   


SOURCES:

Edmonton Police Service

Edmonton Journal August 7, 1998

Edmonton Journal August 9, 1998

Edmonton Journal November 5, 1998

Edmonton Journal Feb 2, 2018

Murder of Paul Joseph Olsen

On June 24, 1973, 20-year-old Paul Olsen was found wrapped in blankets, (a news article described them as sleeping bags) lying in a stream near Route 113 in Madison, New Hampshire. He had tape covering his mouth. His cause of death was asphyxia from obstruction of the mouth and nose.

SOURCES:

New Hampshire Department of Justice

Uncovered

Find a Grave

The Portsmouth Herald June 27, 1973

Murder of Juliet Angelino Magiulo

On June 8, 1987, 3-year-old Juliet "Julie" Magiulo was playing in her front yard in Pampano Beach, Florida. She was supposed to walk to a neighbor's home but never arrived and was never seen again. 

Almost a year later two men would be scouting for hunting land in Boward County when they would find Julie's body. It is believed that her kidnapper had asphyxiated her. 

SOURCES:

Uncovered

News-Press November 25, 1987

UPI April 22, 1988

Herald Tribune November 18, 2008

Murder of Cynthia McKenna

 

On February 18, 2007, 49-year-old Cynthia McKenna was seen arguing with a man in a silver pickup truck outside of her apartment on Waterman Ave. in North Providence, Rhode Island. She was seen leaving the vehicle. On February 21st Cynthia's body would be found dead in her bedroom. Someone had died from Asphyxiation. 

SOURCES:

Rhode Island Cold Case

Project Cold Case

Boston February 22, 2010
WPRI February 22, 2019

Jonathan Anthony Pelham

 On September 24, 2003, the Virginia Beach, Virginia Fire and Police responded to a fire around 3:42 a.m. A townhome located on the 800 block of Hampstead Cound in the Weblin Place neighborhood was fully engulfed in fire. Inside was the 12-year-old Jonathan Pelham, who had died from smoke inhalation because of the fire.

SOURCES:

City of Virginia Beach

Crime Solvers

Murder of Edna Harvey

 

On August 28, 1984 smoke was seen coming out of 87-year-old Edna Harvey's home on Finchley Rd. in Ipswich, England. Neighbors would try to get to their elderly neighbor, but could not. She would be found in her charred bed. She had been asphyxiated before her bed was set on fire. 

It's believed that a person or persons broke into Edna's bottom floor flat with the intention of robbing her. It's believed that the murder was not planned as it seemed to be panicked. She may have accidentally interrupted the robbery and her killer panicked and killed her as a result. 

Two men were seen running from the direction of Edna's home. They were seen running towards the center of the town down Finchley Road and along Cemetery Road. The two were not identified and police are keen to interview them and see if they have any information on the case. 

SOURCES:

Suffolk Police

Ipswich Star

August 17, 1907 Tombstone, Arizona Baby Doe

  On August 17, 1907, an infant was found dead in Tombstone, Arizona. He was a white newborn believed to be alive for hours and died just an hour before his body was found. He had been asphyxiated. 

SOURCES:

Find a Grave

Unidentified Wiki

The Elling Woman

 

In 1938 a bog body of a woman was found in Silkeborg, Denmark. The bog helped somewhat preserve the body and some clothing by the bog. The woman would be termed the Elling Woman. She was around 25-years-old and her sex was hard to identify at first because the front of the body didn't mummify as well as the back. She had died around 350–150 BCE.

Her death was believed to have been unnatural. She was either, executed, sacrificed, or murdered. She was hanged with a leather thong. The thong left a V-shaped ligature in her neck. No other injuries or such were linked to her death. After this, she was placed into the peat bog. 

The woman had an elaborate braid. A sheepskin cape was wrapped over her upper legs, and her legs and feet covered by a different sheepskinn cape. She was also wearing a woven belt around her waist that had a sliding knot. 

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Mummipedia

Archeology Magazine

 

Murder of Arthur "Buddy" Louis Schumacher

On July 24, 1925, around 9 a.m. 8-year-old Arthur "Buddy" Schumacher left his house in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. He had left with some neighborhood boys and was last seen by them after they hopped off a freight train they'd jumped on to get a ride to a nearby swimming hole. 

The boys said that a man on the train accosted and asked them where they were going. This scared the boys and they jumped out, but Buddy did not jump off with them. They then ran He jumped off on the otherside and the man also jumped off. They last saw Buddy at the train tracks with the man. 

A search would be done looking for Buddy. It was initially thought by police that maybe the freight had carried him far away or that he had accidentally drowned at the river where the boys planned to go. With there being no evidence of the boy showing up people began to suspect that he had been abducted. 

Buddy's body would be found 7 weeks later just a mile from his home. It was obvious that the young boy was murdered. His handkerchief was deep down his throat and he was missing some of his clothing. It's likely died the day he went missing. 

There were many leads, but nothing panned out and Buddy's murder remains unsolved. 

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Find a Grave

Stevens Point Journal July 27, 1925

News-Record July 28, 1925

News-Record July 30, 1925

The Post Crescent September 14, 1925

Murder of Laura (Felix Patricio) Abarca

 

 

On November 23, 1990, the body of 23-year-old Laura Abarca was found on an embankment off of Sunrise Highway at Mile Marker 33.5 in Mt. Laguna, California. Laura was last seen on October 17 and was reported missing on November 19th just a few days before her body was found. She was bound with a yellow cord and was found face down. She had died from asphyxiation. 

At the time Laura was working as a prostitute and was undergoing gender reassignment surgery. 

SOURCES:

San Diego County Sheriff's Department

San Diego Union Tribune

Murder of Lord Darnley and William Taylor

Henry Stuart better known as Lord Darnley came from a family that had both the Scottish and English thrones via ties with James II of Scotland and Henry VII of England.  He had the potential to claim either side. Lord Darnley met Mary Queen of Scots when he was 20 in Feb. of  1565.

The two became smitten with each other. They have soon married in July and he had become King of the Scots. Soon the bliss faded though. Lord Darnley had a bad temper and made enemies in a drunken and arrogant manner.

Mary Knew that he shouldn't succeed the crowd as he would make an awful ruler. She refused to grant him the Crown Matrimonial which would make him the successor if she was childless. Mary didn't have to worry about that as she became pregnant with her son James. Who would become the future James I of England.

Mary became close to her private secretary David Rizzio. He was stabbed 56 times on March 9, 1566, by Darnley and his confederates and Protestant Scottish nobles. This was all front of Mary whom people suspected was pregnant with David Rizzio's child.

In 1567 Lord Darnley was staying the Kirk o' Field in Edinburgh, Scottland. In the weeks leading up to Feb. 9, 1567, he was either suffering from smallpox or syphilis and stayed at the Old Provost's lodging at Kirk O'Field. He had formed pocks on himself. He was staying with his family in Glasglow before but Mary thought he'd do better there.

On Feb 10, 1567, around 2 a.m. an explosion could be heard. The place that Lord Darnley resided was in rubbles, but his body was not inside the home. He and his valet, William Taylor, were found in the orchard. Their bodies were found outside surrounded by a cloak, a dagger, a chair, and a coat. Darnley seemed

Two barrels of gunpowder were placed underneath Lord Darnley's room. Something had spooked him and he and William ran outside the place. It's believed that Lord Darnley had been asleep at the time because he was only dressed in a nightshirt. He had apparently been smothered there were no physical signs of violence, but he had internal injuries possibly from the explosion. It's not stated how William died and why they thought the items that were around them were around them.

Some suspect that it was Mary who had plotted his death. That she may have gotten revenge for David Rizzio's death or because she was in love with James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell. She was a devout Catholic and believed that divorce was not an option. James Hepburn soon became her third husband.

That night the soldier that came upon the bodies was initially cleared of any involvement. This was quickly changed as he was offered up as a scapegoat and was executed for the crime. But it's not entirely believed he committed the crime.

It's unknown what had really happened that night.

SOURCES:
Tudor Society
Wikipedia
The History Jar
Historic Mysteries
National Archives

Murder of Lisa Leckie

Derek Stacey had worked the night shift and just before 7 a.m. on March 24, 2009, went to his third-floor apartment on 390 Southdale Road East in London, Ontario, Canada. Inside was the body of his girlfriend 25-year-old Lisa Leckie and her 8-month-old son was found unharmed in his crib and her other son 8-year-old Sean was at his father's home.

Lisa had died from asphyxia either on the evening of March 23rd or sometime earlier that morning on the 24th. This was not a random act of violence as there was a note written on an impact-type typewriter with a ribbon was found in the home. The note indicated she was targeted by somebody. The typewriter would have also been something strange used because it wouldn't even have common a decade before the murder let alone when it was committed. The note had never been publically released.

SOURCES:
London Police

True Crime Files

CBC

Murder of Sheila Henry and her unborn child

On Feb. 5, 1993, the body of 26-year-old Sheila Henry was found lying in a pool of blood in her Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada home. She had been severely beaten likely with a flashlight and because she didn't die fast enough the killer suffocated her with a pillow. Unfortunately, she was also six weeks pregnant with her first child. 

 David, Sheila's husband of two years, has been the only suspect announced in this case. He said he went out around 3 p.m and returned around 8 to find Sheila's body. David also told police he lost his ring in Florida, but it was found in the cushions of a couch at the police department. David has refused to talk to police and due to little evidence, he's never been arrested for the crime. 

SOURCES:

Vancouver Police Department

The True Crime Files

Molly Matters 

Murder of Carla Whitehurst

On May 5, 1999 at 7:20 a.m. 28-year-old Carla Whitehurst was found dead in her apartment at 139 McLennan Ave. in Syracuse, New York. Her cause of death was asphyxiation.

She left behind five young children. She was described as a caring and loving mother.

SOURCES:
Syracuse Police 
Syracuse Herald Journal