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 Marie Techlowec Nielsen

On the morning of June 18, 1987, 17-year-old Edward Barrera would arrive at his home in New Britain, Connecticut. The door was locked and he did not have his own since he had to give his mother his. She had locked her keys in her car. He would then sneak into a window to get back in. 

Inside Edward would tragically find his mother's body. She was face down on her bed with her legs bound together with a piece of clothing. She had been strangled to death. 

SOURCES:

Connecticut State Division of Justice

Uncovered

Hartford Courant June 20, 1987

May 22, 2023 West Valley City, Utah Assault

Around 1:30 am on May 22, 2023, a woman passerby saw a vehicle parked in a remote part of West Valley City, Utah. It was a silver Chevrolet Aveo with black tape on the middle of the bumper and blue tape on the sides of the bumper and the flashers were on. A man was standing next to it with jumper cables.

The victim would pull over and get out of her vehicle. The man would pull out a black handgun and tell her to shut up and get in the car. She was forced into the car and he struck her and tore her shirt open. He would then proceed to put zip ties on her arms. He placed the gun down on her at one point when getting a zip tie and she grabbed the gun threw it and was able to get back into her vehicle. 

The suspect was captured on her dash cam, but it was stopped at some point. The suspect was white or Hispanic.He is 5'8" to 6'0" and 185 to 225 lbs.  His hair was black or brown and greying with a thick beard. He was wearing a yellow shirt ontop of a long white long sleeve shirt and a beanie. The victim noted that he had a tattoo on the webbing of hi right hand. 

SOURCES:

 FBI

Murders of Thomas Smith and Squire Knyston

 

Photo of Thomas Smith

On April 4, 1905, 15-year-old Thomas Smith would leave his home on Wood Street in Chorlton-on-Medlock in Manchester, England. His mother would think that he was looking for work. However, the timid boy would not return home that night. It was assumed that maybe he had gone to visit either his sister in Dunkinfield or the one in Denton. 

The next day two boys he knew came to the house and asked if Thomas was going to work. Not knowing where Thomas was and not wanting him to lose his job she sent a note to his employers that he wasn't feeling well. However, she was worried sick about him. She would make inquiries to see if he was at either sisters, but he wasn't.

At 3pm on April 11, 1905, a rag-and-bone men would go to an uninhabited house on Hoyle Street off Fairfield Street in Ancoats. While gathering items he looked in the cellar window a body would be found lying on his back under a slab. He would tell another rag-and-bone man his discovery and the two would go to the police. 

The police would break into the home and go down to the cellar. It was obvious that the boy was murdered brutally. There was a bloody brick on his neck. A newspaper comic of "Funny Cuts" from April 8th was found stuffed in his mouth as a gag and his red handkerchief with 7 black stripes was tied over it. He was partially dressed and what clothes he had were torn and disarrayed. His pants were pulled down in the back and cut in the front. 

 His face was so beaten that he was unrecognizable. His body was also covered in bruises. He had fought back with his attacker that the nail from his middle left finger was torn off. His arms were covered in scratches he wasn't just beaten, but also stomped as a boot print was on his stomach. His genitals were also mutilated while he was alive. 

It could not be said if he was sexually assaulted, but it was suspected that he was. 

Even though the brick was bloody and found at the scene the coroner believed that a knob-like object was used to beat him. 

It was thought that he had been dead for a couple of days even though he had been missing for a week. It's not stated if they think he was held prisoner, but they know that the crime didn't happen in the cellar he was found in. The only access was a window as the doors to the cellar were locked. 

He had not been reported missing, but when the description was put in the paper his mother knew it was him. His mother and older brother, Issac, would go to identify him. They could not identify him from his face due to the brutality on it. Instead, they identified him by his clothes. At the time he was dressed in a black Vicuna jacket, black vest, dark grey trousers with black stripe, blue and red striped cotton shirt, two odd black stockings, and clasped clogs. He also had in his possession a second-class ticket for the swimming bath, Mayfield Baths, number 7,837.

In 1906, 15-year-old Squire Kynston lived with his mother at Whitsuntide at 7 Back Grey Street in Manchester, England. In August he and his mother would get into an argument after he had stayed out all night. She saw him the day after he stayed out on Butler St. She would say "You naughty boy, go right home and stay in the house" while slapping him on the side of the head. She would never see him again after this argument. 

Someone had told her later he was with his cousin. She would assume that Squire was staying with her sister and assumed he was safe. She did not check up on him however since she and her sister did not have a good relationship. It wasn't stated if he was staying with his aunt or just assumed he was. 

On Chapel St behind London Road Station, there was an unoccupied house set to be demolished. On November 20th A workman would enter the house. He stated when he entered the ground floor rooms of the home there was a stench in the air. He would find out that the stench was coming from the cellar. He would go down the stairs nearly tripping over something. It was Squire's body. The worker would quickly go and get the police. 

One of his shoulders was under a slab of flag and his head was partially under a slope stone. Squire was not wearing any clothes when he was found, but a thin strap was found wrapped around his neck. It's believed it was wrapped tightly around his neck. It was unknown what his cause of death was as he was too decomposed and rats had been eating him. However, it was believed he may have been sexually assaulted as his pants were not on him. He was not beaten on his head like Thomas.

Though both boys had died in different ways, the way they were found in similar ways and places. 

SOURCES:

Unsolved Murders UK (Thomas)

Unsolved Murders UK (Squire)

Days of Horror

Manchester Evening News April 12, 1905

Leicester Mercury April 12, 1905

Birmingham Evening Mail

February 26, 1969 Monroe County, Florida Jane Doe

Photo of the crime scene

On  February 26, 1969, the chard remains of a woman were found in the Everglades about 10 miles northwest of Monroe station in Monroe County, Florida. The woman had been bound with metal coat hangers, and placed in a wood trunk. Her killers then covered the trunk with gasoline and burned it with her inside. It's not stated how she died, but she had died within the last few days. Her body had been badly burned and unrecognizable. 

Jane Doe was a woman between 25 to 50 years old. She was 5'0" to 5'5". She may have had black hair. She was wearing a yellow bra. 

SOURCES:

NamUs

The Miami-Herald Feb 26, 1969

The Tampa Tribune March 1, 1969

December 21, 1940 Derby, England Baby Doe

 On December 21, 1940, the body of a newborn girl was found on the bank of the River Derwent at Derby, England. She was wrapped up in sacking and a piece of mackintosh and a part of an apron and tied up with several yards of tape. Her body had been in the river for some time and had washed down the river where it was found. She was born alive and died of asphyxiation, but it does not state whether or not it was from suffocation or drowning.

SOURCES: 

Unsolved Murders UK

Murder of Barbara Jean Kemp

On December 5, 1976, 19-year-old Barbara Kemp was in the village of Baldwinsville, New York. On December 7, 1976, her body was found not far from the former Miller Brewery Plant on Great Bear Road in Volney. She was rolled up in something (not disclosed what) and dumped on the shoulder of the road. She had been stabbed multiple times causing her death. 

At the time Barbara had many friends and often frequented bars in Baldwinsville and Phoenix.

SOURCES:

New York State

Uncovered

Find a Grave

Smore December 1, 2008

Murder of Katherine Ewing

On September 26, 1981, 37-year-old Katherine Ewing was found at Fort Loudon Lake in Knoxville, Tennessee. Her body had been weighted as she was chained to pieces of cinder blocks. She had died from drowning around 5 days before her discovery. 

SOURCES:

Knoxville Tennessee

Uncovered

The Knoxville News-Sentinel September 30, 1981

Murder of Jonathan Alonzo Anthony

On November 17, 1953 neighbors of 75-year-old Jonathan Anthony went to check up on him as they had not seen him for two days. They went to his home Burnetts Chapel Rd in Greensboro, North Carolina. He had been bound, severely beaten, and gagged. He was beaten before he was bound and had been suffocated with a torn bed sheet. A blood-stained trowel was found on a shelf on the back porch.

SOURCES:

Rocky Mount Telegram November 19, 1953

The Herald-Sun November 19, 1953

The News and Observer November 19, 1953

The Durham Sun December 11, 1953

Murder of Irma Palasics

 

At about 9:30 p.m. on November 6, 1999, two young men forced their way into the home of Gregor and 73-year-old Irma Palasics in the McKeller suburb of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. The elderly couple were bound and beaten and then the men would ransack the house. They would steal cash and jewelry. Irma would pass away due to her injuries and Gregor ended up in the hospital from his injuries. 

It's suspected that the people who had done this had done this before to the couple. They were victims of burglary twice before. Once in 1997 and aggravated burglary in 1998 when they lived in Red Hill. In the 1997 burglary, the offenders stole a large amount of money and jewelry. 

SOURCES:

Australian Federal Police

Who Killed Irma

Victims of Homicide Wiki

Murder of Shannon Nicole Paulk

On the afternoon of August 16, 2001, 11-year-old Shannon Paulk and her sister Lisa were at home in the Candlestick Mobile-Home Park in Prattville, Alabama.  Shannon was a very friendly girl, she knew everyone in the neighborhood and played with most of the children there. It wasn't unusual for her to be gone hours at a time, but to come back home to eat and drink and go back out to play. This day though she would never come back home. When her mother returned home that evening Shannon didn't return home. They would report her missing at 9 p.m.

It was found that Shannon was last seen talking to an unknown man in a vehicle in the trailer park. It was believed at the time that this man had abducted the girl. It wasn't found out till the child who gave the description was an adult who said they made up the man in order to help with the investigation. 

On October 6th Shannon's remains were found by two rabbit hunters in the woods just off Autauga County Rd 66 in Autauga County Wildlife Management. This was a public hunting area about 10 miles north of Prattville. Her body had been tied with a rope and wrapped up in a trash bag before being dumped. 

SOURCES:
Alabama's Attorney General's Office
Find a Grave

The Suitcase Detective
The Montgomery Advisor August 18, 2001
The Prattville Progress August 25, 2001
The Prattville Progress October 13, 2001
The Montgomery Advisor October 31, 2001

Murder of Anna Ulm

In the summer of 1933 45-year-old Anna Ulm was staying at a cottage on Lake Hopatcong in Mount Arlington, New Jersey with her sister. On the morning of August 13, 1933, Anna told her sister she was going to go pick flowers. She did not return back that night and her sister called the police and reported her missing. Searchers were sent out to find the woman. 

Anna would be found hanging from a tree by searchers. It was initially believed that she had committed suicide, but it was found to be false. Someone had beat her with a heavy stone crushing her head with it. They then hung her from the tree possibly hoping that people would think she had killed herself. 

It's unknown what the motive for the murder was. She was not sexually assaulted and her two diamond rings were untouched so robbery wasn't believed to be a motive. One theory was that someone may have targeted her because she worked for her brother-in-law who was a chiropractor. At the time there had been two bombings of Chiropractor offices in Patterson.

SOURCES:

Find a Grave

Morris County New Jersey

The Courier News August 15, 1933

Daily News August 16, 1933

The Daily Record August 19, 1933

The Patch June 4, 2016

Murder of Shirley Wallace

On the night of July 10, 1975, 31-year-old Shirley Wallace and another 24-year-old female employee were both working at the Gentlemen's Retreat Massage Parlor on River Rd in Eugene, Oregon. A man would enter the shop with a shotgun and bound both women's hands. He would take around $30 from their wallets. He would take Shirley into another room and leave the other employee in a closet.

The woman would escape the closet and would hear the man striking Shirley in another room. She would then get help from the adjoining tavern. When people tried to intervene two were shot and wounded and the man would escape in a pickup truck.

He had stabbed Shirley to death. 

The suspect was a white male in his 20s. He was seen driving away in a red with white trim older model pickup.It's possible that the license plates may have been from out of state.

Composite of Suspect

Suspect was driving a similar pickup

 

SOURCES:

Lane County Oregon

Statesman Journal July 22, 1975

Corvallis Gazzette-Times July 22, 1975

Murder of Margaret and Bruce Moser

 

On Jan. 4 1978 20-year-old Bruce Moser left work to pick up his wife, 22-year-old Margaret, at their home located at State Road 3, 1/8 mile north of Wells and Blackford County Line in Indiana. No one would hear from the couple for a couple of days.

When they were found both Margaret and Bruce had been murdered, but their 2-year-old daughter was unharmed. Bruce's hands were tied behind his back with boot laces in the living room near the front door. He had been shot in the head. It's believed that the killer was interrupted by Bruce when he came home.  Margaret was tied to the bed with only a torn shirt on. She had been raped and shot in the head. The gun used was Bruce's .22 caliber single-shot rifle. The home was also robbed. It's unknown if the killer or killers initially intended to kill the couple.

SOURCES:

Indiana State Police (Margaret)

Indiana State Police (Bruce)

Find a Grave (Bruce)

Find a Grave (Margaret)

Medium

South Bend Tribune Jan 7, 1978

The Daily Journal Jan. 7, 1978

The Star Press Jan. 10, 1978

Murder of Jane Daley

 On December 29, 1902, a blacksmith was walking down a private path next to a canal in Wolverhampton, England. He would stumble over something and strike a match to see what it was . It was the body of Jane Daley. Jane had been kicked about and her face was badly bruised. Her legs had been tied and her clothes were torn in several places.

Jane was a middle-aged woman who lived on Strafford St. in Wolverhampton.

SOURCES:

Unsolved Murders UK

Unsolved Murders by Pat Finn

Murder of Francis James McDonough

 At 6:18 a.m. November 27, 1997 (Thanksgiving) the body of 20-year-old Francis McDonough was found by maintenance workers for the National Park Service. He was found in a desert area at the 3.3-mile marker, North Shore Rd., Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was found naked and bound and had been shot to death. He was killed elsewhere and the scene was never discovered.

The car he borrowed from a friend was located in the area of Hollywood and Lake Mead Blvd which was several miles away from where he was found.

SOURCES:

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department

Vindolanda Roman Fort, Northumberland, England Georgie

 

In 2010 Vindolanda Roman Fort near Bardon Mill Northumberland, England was excavated. The body of a child was found buried under a shallow pit in a barrack room floor. It's believed that the child was killed around 200 and that their killer buried them quickly. It was illegal at the time to bury bodies in built-up areas and had to be buried or cremated in cemeteries in the outskirts of these areas. 

The child was around 10-years-old and their gender couldn't be determined, but they are called Georgie. It was believed to be a Roman child slave or a child of a Roman Soldier. The child was not from Britain and around two years before their death the child lived in either Northern Africa or Southern Europe. 

The child likely died from a hard blow to the head as that seemed to be the only damage to the body. From the position of the body, it's possible that the hands of the child were bound when they were buried. It's possible that soldiers had killed the child and buried them in a hurry as to cover up the crime. Seeing as the childs remains stayed in the floors of the barracks it's possible that their death was unknown. 

SOURCES:

Daily Mail September 16, 2010

BBC August 28, 2012

Huffington Post

Independent

Unsolved Murders UK

Wikipedia 

Murder of Joseph Davis

 On May 15, 1976, 65-year-old Joseph Davis and his wife Adel 70-years-old were home at the house on Cushman Place in Bay Park, San Diego, California. That night someone knocked on the door and Joseph answered on the other side was an unknown intruder with a gun. 

The couple would be tied up and the intruder would ransack the house and fled with the couple's car. The couple would be left tied up and could not free themselves. Their housekeeper would find them on Wednesday. They would not have had water or food for days and as Joseph was diabetic it would lead to his death. Adel would survive. 

The car would be abandoned at an apartment complex a few days later. The suspect was a white male between 25 and 35-years-old. He was around 6' and around 200lbs. He had dark hair, a heavy beard, and long scraggly hair. 

Joseph was a self-employed swap meet buyer and seller. He typically carried large amounts of cash on himself and sometimes used a money belt. It's possible that the killer could have known or met Joseph at a swap meet. 

SOURCES:

City of San Diego

May 1912 Providence County, Rhode Island Jane Doe

  In May of 1912, the body of a woman was found in the Blackstone River in Providence County, Rhode Island. Her arms and legs were bound and her head was missing. There is little information on this case. 

She was buried in Edgehill Cemetary. The Cemetary is now abandoned and there are no grave markers.

SOURCES:

Find a Grave

Unidentified Wiki

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