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 Ben Perry

On October 10, 2014, around 4:17 p.m. officers were called to do a welfare check at the home of 60-year-old Ben Perry on 19000 block of Laramie Lane in County Club Hills, Illinois. They had found Ben's body inside and he had been stabbed to death.


SOURCES:
Country Club Hills Police
Chicago Tribune

Disappearance of Jonathan Bruce Jackson

Around 8 p.m. on June 9, 1987, 31-year-old Jonathan Jackson left his home in Agana Heights, Guam. He was going out to drink with coworkers. He never returned home and was reported missing the next morning. His Mazda hatchback was later found at the Guam Airport with blood inside. 

A check of tickets showed that a ticket to Chuuk, an island in Micronesia, had been purchased under his name. It's unknown id he purchased the ticket himself or not, but no one used the ticket.

At the time Jonathan was working as a car salesman. He was legally declared dead after his disappearance. Foul play is suspected in this case. 

Jonathan is an African American male and was 31-years-old at the time. He has black hair and brown eyes. 

SOURCES:

Charley Project

Doe Network

Murder of Frank Richard Ringler

On June 8, 1987, the body of 51-year-old Frank Ringler was found stabbed to death in the living room of a home of 6300 Casada Way in Las Vegas, Nevada. He had been housesitting for an associate that weekend.

Frank had recently returned to Las Vegas after living in Florida and Barstow, California.

SOURCES:

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department 

Murder of Cecil Lawrence Chacon Jr.

In June of 1992, Cecil Chacon Jr. was a vocational coordinator at the Vance County, North Carolina schools. On June 8, 1992, Cecil was returning from a long trip to Wilmington and stopped by his mother's home on Nelson St. In Henderson, North Carolina. His mother wanted him to stay for the night, but he declined and went home around 10 p.m. He would leave alone in his 1976 Buick Skylark.

Cecil was supposed to be at school the next day on Monday. He did not show up and his mother did not get her daily call from him. The police came by his residence around 9 p.m. to check up one him. They noticed an open window on the east side of the home and that the spotlight in the back was on. No other lights were on in the house. 

The front window's screen was lying on the ground and the deputies thought a breaking and entering may have happened. In order to gain access to the house one deputy entered through a basement window. They searched around the home. In a child's bedroom, they noticed overturned furniture and dark stains on the carpet. 

They would eventually find Cecil's body in the backyard in a shallow grave 140 ft from the house. This would not have been an easy task as he was 6'4" and weighed around 295 lbs. They had stabbed him several times and then dragged him out the back door. Then they would bury him where he was found. 

A blood luminol test was done in the home and it revealed bloody bare footprints inside. The murder or murderers made an attempt to clean up the scene by moping the kitchen floor and vacuuming the carpet.

A neighbor stated that they would see a Chevrolet Blazer type vehicle that may have been red and black with yellow license plates outside his residence around 10:30 p.m. Monday night.

SOURCES:
North Carolina State Bureau of Investigations 
Find a Grave

November 11, 1896 Kansas City, Missouri Unknown Baby

Before November 11, 1896, the body of a baby was found in a patch of weeds on 20th and Charlotte Street in Kansas City, Missouri. The Baby was turned over to the Coroner. The baby was around 2 weeks old.


SOURCES:
Find a Grave
Kansas City Journal 

June 5, 1944 Carnival Girl

On June 5, 1944, a highschooler found the body of a woman among the weeds along State Street in Liverpool, Ohio around 7 a.m. He was walking and noticed feet peeking out from under blankets and automatically ran and called the police. Under the blankets was a nude young woman with a ripped slip pulled up underneath her arms. She had been strangled to death and was likely died around 5 a.m. The blankets seemed to have some wear and there was a new clothesline with them.

The next day a man was hunting for a canvas to build his children a play tent. He was rummaging through trash at Columbia Park where a carnival played the previous week. He came across a torn dress and another dress and skirt with rips.

A man would later put in a tip that around 4:10 a.m. he was putting his car in the garage when he saw a car. The car did not have its lights on when it went down State Street. The witness remembered that the plates were not that of Ohio.

It was thought that it was possible she was a dancer for the Carnival. She resembled one of the dancers that wasn't in the show in Lima where they went next, but later the carnival stated the girl had been found. By this time though the girl was called "Carnival Girl".

She was a caucasian female between 25 and 30-years-old. She was 5'6" and 125 lbs. She had Chesnut colored hair and brown. Her ears were pierced and she was wearing small hoops.

SOURCES:
Unidentified Wiki
East Liverpool Historical Society

Unsolved Murders & Disappearances in Northwest Ohio chapter 8

Something is Out There 

The Evening Independent  June 6, 1944

The Coshocton Tribune June 9, 1944 

News-Journal June 9, 1944

Murder of William Arliss "Curly" Shelton

32-year-old William "Curly" Shelton was a T.V. star in Evansville, Indiana. He was a regular on "Hillside Hoedown" a popular Saturday night country music variety show that aired on  WEHT-TV in northwestern Kentucky and Southwestern Indiana, and Eastern Illinois. He was a guitarist and vocalist.

On December 4, 1957, Curly was found lying face down in the front seat of his convertible behind the behind VFW Club on  U.S. 41A and 3 miles South of Henderson, Kentucky. He had been beaten to death. There was no weapons used on him and it seemed his killer used their fists and stomped on him. He had a fractured skull and a broken leg. He was seemed to have been beaten outside of his vehicle and then thrown into the vehicle after the beating.

He was kind of a playboy and was involved with several women. Some of who were married or in a relationship. He was also a heavy drinker and in deep debt, but police said robbery doesn't seem to have been the motive. It could be possible one of the women he was involved with's boyfriend or husband killed him. This case has never been solved.


SOURCES:
Kentucky State Police
WKYT
News 14
Messenger-Inquirer
The Messenger 

Disappearance of Patricia "Pat" Daphne Broun

At 8:30 a.m. on 4 June 1953, Broun left her home in Mount Lawley suburb of Perth, West Australia, Australia for work at HC Griffin, ANA House, 22 St. Georges Terrace, Perth. While at work she got a phone call from an unidentified male around 3 p.m. Towards the end of the call she agreed to meet the man at 6. A coworker overheard her phone call. 

At 4:30 Patricia asked to leave early. She caught a trolley bus to Mount Lawley. At 5 she then was at Simmon's Grocery store at 291 Walcott St. in North Perth and bought a can of Coca Cola. She then left the store and went to Osborne's, a corner store at the intersection of Walcott and Cliveden Streets. She then returned to Simmon's around 5:45 and under her arm, she was carrying a parcel approximately 8"x9"x3" (20cm x 22cm x 8cm) in size. She was last seen around Walcott St. at 6. Possible the man she was supposed to see was in this area. 

A friend stated that Patricia told her she was 2 months pregnant. Her parents weren't aware of this and were quite religious. If she ran away her child would have been born in late 1953 or early 1954.

Patricia is a white female and was 17 at the time. She's 5'5" (165 cm) and has a thin build. She has fair to light brown hair and large blue eyes. She was described as having a fair complexion with a faint chickenpox mark towards the middle of her forehead just above her right eyebrow. She was soft-spoken and inclined to drop the g off the end of relevant words. She may be pregnant.

SOURCES:

West Australia Crime Stoppers

Mirror

Sunday Times

June 4, 1933 Grand Canyon, Arizona John Doe

On June 4, 1933, on a cliff near Shoshone Point in the Grand Canyon, Arizona photographer Emery Kolb found a body. The skeletal remains had a .22 or .32 caliber pistol was found by the right hand and a bullet hole was present in the skull. Emery would photograph the scene and collect the remains.

John Doe had killed himself about 2 years before being discovered.

Emery would die in 1976 and in his garage, the remains and photographs would be found. He had placed the remains inside of a boat-mounted in the rafters of the building with the fragmented clothing. Emery had a history of being involved with coroner's juries, but it's unknown why he didn't turn over the remains to the corner. 

It was said the Emery was the last person seen with Glenn and Bessie Hyde who disappeared during a honeymoon trip on the Colorado River in 1928. These remains do not belong to Glenn though. 

He was a white male around 18 to 22-years-old and was around 6'0", He was wearing cheap clothing, a pair of khakis, a white cotton shirt, a sandal, and a belt. He was likely right-handed. 

SOURCES:

Doe Network

NamUs

Unidentified Wiki

Coconino County

Daily Sun Arizona

WANTED: Ortiz Court, Orangevale Rape

In December of 2003, a man broke into a residence in Orangeville where a young female was home alone. The man would attack her physically and sexually and rob the place and then would flee the residence. He was wearing a ski mask and was described as a white male around 6'2" and 175 lbs with blue eyes. It was believed that at the time he was in his 20's. 

SOURCES:

Sacramento County Sheriff's Department