One of History's Most Notorious: Ted Bundy

 

Theodore Bundy was born on November 24th, 1946 in Burlington, Vermont, U.S. Ted's mother, Eleanor Louise Cowell gave birth to him at the age of 22 at a home for unwed mothers in Vermont. Many think Ted's father was an Air force veteran named Lloyd Marshall. Some even assume that his father was his grandfather. 

After his birth his mother took him to his grandparents in Philadelphia. His grandparents were very religious and didn't want anyone to know that their daughter had a child at such a young age before marriage. So they told everyone that Ted was their adoptive son. Growing up Ted believed that his mother was actually his sister. That is until they moved to Tacoma, Washington. 

In 1951, Louise married a man by the name of Johnny Bundy. Despite Ted taking his step father's last name, he didn't like him very much. He resented him for being from the "lower class". 

From a very young age Ted showed signs of destructive behavior. At the age of 3, young Ted was fascinated by knives. His mother and Mr. Bundy had multiple children together later and perhaps Ted felt like he didn't belong in their family.

In his teen years, Ted didn't have much of a social life but was an intelligent student. Some of his favorite pastimes were: stealing, sneaking out and peeping at people's windows, starting fires etc.     

After high school Ted got into the University of Washington and majored in Psychology. Later on in life, he also enrolled in The University of Utah, Temple University and University of Puget Sound. At Washington University, Ted started dating a woman who was everything he aspired to be. She was wealthy, smart and from upper class society. But when she broke up with him Ted was shattered and overcome with rage. Many believe that most of his victims resembled her(attractive women with long brunette hair). In fact, Ted even spared one of his victims because she had cut off her hair after their first meeting.

In the 70's Ted became more active in the community and politics. He even received a letter of recommendation from the Republican governor of Washington for working on his campaign. He was also dating a woman by the name of Elizabeth at that time. Elizabeth was a single mother struggling with alcoholism. But Ted took good care of her and her daughter. 

All over, Ted was very well liked by all. People described him as kind, charismatic, intelligent and quite charming. This helped Ted to gain the trust of his victims and lure them in.      

Ted was an active killer during the 70's. There's no certain known timeline as to when Ted began his rampage. But many believe it started during 1974 because that is when many women started going missing around Seattle and other places near it. Ted had created a pattern for himself. He would first lure them into his car by pretending to be injured or simply by gaining their trust with his charm. Then he would first assault them and beat them to death. Even after disposing of the bodies he would sometimes go back to them to assault his victims even after their death. He would often continue that until they were completely decomposed. Besides, Ted liked to keep some of his victims' skulls as a trophy for his crimes.

Ted confessed to 36 killings, but according to many researchers the number of his victims were over 100. The actual number of his victims will always be unknown. The women's bodies weren't fully found either. The police were only able to recover a few parts here and there. But here's to name a few cases;

• In February of 1974, Ted abducted a 21 year old woman in her sleep. Later on, her skull and jaw bone were found in Sonoma County, California. 
• April 17th of the same year, a 18 year old girl was abducted in Washington. Again, her skull and jaw bone were found in Taylor Mountain as the other victims. 
• In June of 1974, another 18 year old was abducted from behind an alley of her sorority. Her skull parts were found in Issaquah.
•   July 14th, Ted abducted a 23 year old from Sammamish lake in broad daylight. Not even 4 hours later, Ted abducted another victim. Both of their skulls were found in Issaquah. 
• In October of the same year, Ted had moved to Utah for law school. There his first victim was a 16 year old girl who was assaulted and strangled to death by him. Apparently, Her body was never found.   

Ted's rampage of murders were brutal yet short lived. On 16th August, 1975, Ted was pulled over by a patrol officer in Utah after failing to stop at a routine traffic stop. The first thing the officer noticed was the fact that his car's passenger seat was missing. Upon further investigation, he made Ted step out of his car and searched it. That is when he found some very suspicious equipment. The officer called it a "murder kit". In the kit there was rope, an ice pick, trash bags, handcuffs, a crowbar, a ski mask, masks made of pantyhose and more.

Ted tried his best to use his charm and get away with it. But the officer didn't cut him loose because despite the items found in his car, the officer had remembered the description of a suspect and his car from a kidnapping case of a woman earlier. The descriptions matched Ted and his car perfectly. 

So Ted was arrested. After his arrest, the police searched his apartment. But surprisingly they didn't find anything and he was released on a 24 hour surveillance.   

Around this time, the police reached out to Ted's e partner, Elizabeth. Now Elizabeth had tried to file multiple complaints against Ted in the previous year but no one believed her. When the detectives asked her the reason behind those complaints, she told them that Ted's behavior was growing suspicious day by day. She even found a meat cleaver, sack of women's clothing and more at their house. Ted had many other odd behaviors too. Elizabeth also claimed that he was probably stealing items as he always had expensive things but not enough money to afford it. Besides, he would become enraged if she ever talked about cutting off her hair.  

So the police decided to search his car which he had already sold to someone else. But they were able to recover it and do a forensic test. They found hair of 3 different women. Luckily, one of them was still alive who had managed to escape him. They brought her in and she was able to identify him immediately. Charges were filed, Ted was arrested, but somehow still managed to get released on bail once again.

But in February of 1976 he was up for trial for the case of the woman who had escaped him. He was found guilty and sentenced to prison for 15 years only for that case in June of 1976. But being the smart guy he was, Ted escaped prison in the October of the same year. The same month he was charged with the murder of a woman in Aspen.

Very soon Ted was found, hiding in the bushes on the prison grounds. After he was caught he was sent to solitary confinement for a couple of weeks. After that he was up for trial and chose to defend himself in court. During this time, Ted asked for permission to use the law library. While he was there researching, he noticed a window was open. So he jumped from the second story window and made a run for it. It took the police 8 days to recapture him. 

But that wasn't the last time. In December of  1977 Ted climbed out of a hole he had been creating in his cell. He had lost nearly 30 pounds to fit through it. It wasn't long before he was caught. But that was enough time for Ted to strike again.    

On January 15th 1978, Ted went to the Florida state sorority house after midnight. There he attacked a 21 year old woman in her sleep and strangled her with a nylon stocking. Then he moved on to a 20 year old's room, beat and strangled her, then assaulted her with a bottle. Then he went to the room next door where he attacked two women at once. Both women were left severely injured. All of this was done by him in under 15 minutes. But Ted wasn't done here. He broke into an apartment net and attacked another university student. Fortunately she survived but was left terribly injured and permanently deaf. But this still wasn't the end of his rampage.

In February of the same year, while Ted was on the run, he was pulled over by an officer again. The officer immediately noticed that the vehicle was stolen and proceeded to arrest him. Ted tried to run away but after some struggle the officer was able to capture him. 

And so another trial began in June of 1979. This was the first trial in the US to air on TV. One of the most vital pieces of evidence was Ted's bite mark which he left on one of his victims at the sorority. Finally, in February of 1980, Ted Bundy was sentenced to death by electrocution. To delay his execution Ted started confessing to murders one after the other, which kept the detectives hooked for 9 years. 

During one of Ted's last few trials, Ted married his partner of 6 years, Carol Anne Boone. They later had a daughter together, while Ted was still in prison. But three years before his execution, Anne filed for a divorce, as she had mentioned in her book called "A Stranger Beside Me". His former partner Elizabeth also wrote a book about her experience with Ted. Called "The Phantom Prince". Many survivors also came forward to share their brave yet traumatic stories. And of course there are many documentaries and books on Ted. 

Ted Bundy's execution was finally carried out on January 24th, 1989, which was mass celebrated.

Arthur Shawcross: The Genesee River Killer

 

Arthur Shawcross was born on June 6th, 1945 in Kittery, Maine, U.S. Arthur was the eldest of four children and his relationship with his parents was rocky. When he was young, the family moved to NYC. His life took a different turn from there. 

In school, Arthur was quiet but would also have violent outbursts. Many said that Arthur had very stereotypical sociopathic tendencies (various destructive behavior and lack of empathy). Many even claimed that Arthur turning into a serial killer was actually inevitable.

According to Arthur, when he was young, he was sexually abused by his mother and aunt. Later he also had sexual relations with his sister. But his family denied these allegations.

At the age of 19, Arthur joined the US army after dropping out of school and was later drafted to Vietnam. According to Arthur, he engaged in murder, rape and cannibalism during his time in the military. He also claimed to have a combat kill of 39. But there was no evidence to prove these claims. 

Afterwards he got married 4 times and also had children, but none of the marriages lasted due to his severe anger issues. In 1972, during his third marriage he kidnapped his neighbor's 10 year old son in New York. He lured the boy into the woods where he suffocated the boy until he passed away and then proceeded to sexually assault him. 

After 5 months, the boy's body was discovered. According to the autopsy, the boy's genitals were bitten off and the cause of death was suffocation. During the investigation the police actually suspected Arthur since he took the boy fishing a few days before his disappearance. But Arthur of course denied all the allegations and the police didn't have any evidence against him either, so they had to let him loose. 

Few months later, an eight year old girl's body was discovered under a bridge. She had been brutally raped and murdered. Her body was covered in mud and leaves. Once again, Arthur's name was brought up during the investigation because many had spotted him with the girl before the murder. 

This time the police brought him in for questioning and Arthur ended up confessing to both murders. But due to the lack of evidence, his lawyers were able to plea bargain the dropping of the first case. In 1972 Arthur pled guilty for manslaughter to the 8 year old girl's murder and was sentenced to 25 years in prison but he ended up only serving 15 years of his sentence for "good behavior".

After his release in 1987, he moved back to New York but the neighbors knew about him and his past. They made sure to not make him feel welcomed in the neighborhood and publicly shamed him.  So Arthur seeked help from the parole officers and they actually went out of their way to help him. They sealed his criminal records so it was no longer available to law enforcement agencies. 

Then Arthur went on to live his life like nothing ever happened. At this point no one knew about his past and the police weren't checking up on him either. Arthur worked small jobs and life was going well for him. But a couple months later he was back to his old ways.

In March of 1988, the body of a 27 year old sex worker was discovered in the Genesee river. The body was floating under the ice of the river. According to the autopsy, the victim had signs of strangulation around her neck and bite marks around her lower region. It was also said that the killer was going back to the body weeks after the murder to cut out pieces from the body to eat it. But the police couldn't solve the case because of the lack of evidence.   

In 1989, another sex worker's body was discovered. She also had similar marks on her body but the police didn't assume that a serial killer was on the loose. In October of 1989, a 59 year old homeless woman's body was found. Not even 6 days later, another sex worker's body was found. Their cause of death was similar and all the bodies were found in the Genesee River. So people started to call the killer "The Genesee River Killer".

Apparently, when the police went through the criminal records they couldn't find Arthur since his criminal records were shut. Slowly more and more sex workers began to disappear. So the police started questioning the workers. They all gave the police one name. A man who went by the name of Mitch. They said they didn't know much about him but he was very violent in nature. 

Few weeks later, a 26 year old woman's body was found. It was clear right off the bat that she was the most abused among all the victims. She was sexually abused, strangled to death, her genitals were cut off and there was a slit from her throat to the lower region. 

The police weren't getting anywhere with the case so they decided to get help from the FBI profilers, which didn't help much either. But it did let them know that the attacker was getting more and more comfortable and was probably returning to the crime scene to relive the experience. 

In November one sex worker was seen with Mitch and found murdered shortly after. So the suspicions were growing. In December a pair of women's jeans were found near the infamous river. Inside the jeans there was also a woman's ID so the police assumed that the woman was probably abducted by the Genesee River Killer. So they began a search party for her. But in January found another woman's body during their search.

Her naked, cut in half body was found on the iced surface of the river. The helicopter that found the body was still patrolling the area, and it was then when they spotted a man standing on the bridge and there was also a van next to him. Arthur was there to relive the pleasure of his crime. 

When the police approached Arthur they were first startled to find him masturbating. But then they questioned him and looked through his documents. The car was registered under his partner's name and he didn't have any drivers license nor ID. While asked for the reason Arthur told them the truth, that he was in jail for manslaughter in the past. 

Arthur was brought into custody and he told them about his past. The local sex workers also confirmed that he was the Mitch in question. But Arthur wasn't ready to confess. Where in the past he would randomly confess to anything, this time he was taking a step back. 

Then the police questioned Arthur's partner, Clara and she didn't really have anything to say but the police spotted some jewelry on her which belonged to one of the victims. When they told Arthur about it he started to panic and they had him exactly where they wanted. 

Arthur finally confessed to all the murders but not only that, he even went into great details about each of them. He even told them about 2 other victims who were still undiscovered. He implied that he was "forced" to kill some of them in self defense. He also confessed to cannibalism. His entire confession was a total of 80 pages long. But the confession wasn't really remorseful in nature, it was more of a brag. 

In total there were 11 victims(besides the children he had already pleaded for). Arthur's lawyer tried the insanity plea. According to Arthur he was possessed by a 13th century English cannibal. Regardless, Arthur was declared sane and he was found guilty for 10 2nd degree murders. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison for each, so in total of 250 years. 

Arthur passed away on 10th November, 2008 from cardiac arrest.   

  

The man who sold human burgers

Inside the messed up head of Joe Metheny

 Joe Metheny was born on March 2nd, 1955 in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. According to Joe, his early life was full of hardships as his father was abusive and mother was neglectful. They didn't have a stable home and Joe, along with his 5 other siblings constantly moved from different foster homes to another. When he was 6, his father passed away. So, his mother had to raise the 6 kids all by herself.

But Metheny's mother claimed that the whole tough upbringing thing was a complete lie. They were poor, yes, but the kids weren't really abused or neglected. 

Regardless, at 18 Joe joined the army and during that time he started doing drugs (Heroin and Cocaine to be precise). After serving in the military, Joe became homeless and started abusing more drugs. 

People said Joe had a short temper. But professionally he was well mannered and reliable. So he was able to get a job as a truck and forklift driver. 

At that time Joe met this woman, and they ended up getting married and having a child together. Joe was also able to afford a trailer for them to live in. But apparently, both of them were addicts so the marriage wasn't the most stable one. When their son was 6, Joe went home from work one night and everything was gone. The trailer was empty. Joe knew that his wife had left and she had taken their child with her. And rightfully so, he was devastated. 

After 6 months, Joe found out from a local drug dealer that his wife had moved to the other side of the town where she worked as a sex worker and was doing drugs all the time. And their child had been taken away from her for child abuse. 

One night Joe went up to the bridge where he heard his wife was living. He asked two men there if they knew where she was. They replied in the negative and that filled Joe with anger.  He genuinely believed that these two men were lying to him and they had something to do with her. Rage overtook Metheny's body as he took an ax and murdered the two men. 

Then he found a sex worker and lured her under the same bridge with some drugs. He also asked her about his wife and when she said she didn't know, he assaulted and beat her to death. Then he heard another sex worker nearby and killed her as well. But he wasn't done here. He saw a fisherman nearby who may or may not have witnessed something, so he hit him in the head with a steel pipe which killed him instantly. As Joe was 6 '1 and weighed about 450lbs, all of the murders were very easy for him.  

He tried to clear up the crime scene. He drowned two of the bodies in the lake, cut the head off of one of the homeless men and buried it, He threw another body into the bushes. But apparently more people were coming, so he left shortly after. 

After a couple weeks Joe was arrested for the murders. After a year he went through a trial but was proven not guilty for the lack of evidence. The time in jail taught him nothing but made him even more desperate to kill.

After getting out of jail Joe wanted to strike again. He had created a very good pattern for himself. He decided to target sex workers as he knew that people didn't care for them as much as they did for housewives or other women in the upper class society.

So he would lure the victims into his trailer and then strangle or beat them. After that he would dismember them and store the human flesh in his freezer. And bury the unwanted body parts. But as time progressed, his fridge was getting filled with human flesh. So Joe decided to utilize all of it and open up a small roadside business. Joe Metheny decided to sell human burgers.

He opened up his business on a main road where a lot of locals and truck drivers would get these burgers from him, thinking they were made out of pork or beef. Joe would mix real beef or pork with the meat of his victims. For weeks he sold these human burgers and no one had any complaints or suspected anything. Rather, people loved it. 

Fortunately, it all came to an end one night in 1996 when Joe lured in yet another victim. When the young woman entered his trailer he tried to knock her out. She fell to the ground but wasn't unconscious. But believing she was unconscious, Joe turned around for a split second and the girl was able to make an escape. 

She ran to the main road and spotted a truck driver. She told the man the whole story and they went to a nearby gas station and called the police. 

When the police went to his place to arrest him, Joe was already standing outside, waiting to be arrested. Joe gave a pretty long confession and he confessed to 13 murders. But no one really knew the actual count for lack of evidence. 

Joe was found guilty for the murders of Kimberly Spicer, Cathy Magaziner and Tony Ingrassia. He was sentenced to death but later on it was changed to two life sentences. 

 The police also went door to door to ask people about the said human burgers. But they said it tasted like normal beef or pork. Regardless there was no actual evidence of it. Joe only claimed to have done it. So he was never charged for that. 

At the age of 62, in 2017 Joe Metheny passed away in his prison cell. 

Edward Gein: The Butcher of Plainfield

The infamous body snatcher and human trophy collector

Edward Gein was born on August 27, 1906 in La Crosse, Wisconsin, U.S. Edward was raised in a very strict household with strong religious values. His parents, George Philip and Augusta Gein, did not hesitate to enforce their rules with physical violence on young Ed. 

Their family life was anything but stable. George constantly changed jobs and was unable to stick to one due to his heavy drinking problem. Augusta was verbally abusive towards him and they had their constant fights. In 1915, Augusta forced her family to move to an isolated farm in the town of Plainfield, Wisconsin. She believed that was the ideal place to raise her boys and keep them away from all the "sinful" activities and taught them that all women, but herself were servants of the Devil.

  Edward was very quiet as a kid. His teachers described him as an "odd" kid. He didn't have any friends either because his mother forbade him from speaking to anybody. Regardless, Ed was still very close with his mother and described her as his 'first love'. 

Things took a different turn, when in 1940 Ed's father passed away. Edward and his brother, Henry had to pick up jobs around the town to support their family.

As time went on, Henry met a woman and started to move on with his life. But not Edward. He was at home, still very much obsessed with his mother. Henry expressed his concerns and allegedly talked poorly of Augusta. 

Then on May 16th, 1944 the two brothers were working around a farm. When suddenly a fire started. Edward reported to the authorities that his brother was missing. Soon they discovered his body lying face down nearby. There were no signs of any burnt skin but they did find injuries on his head. According to the autopsy, the cause of death was heart failure. So that was that and the police closed the case. Many believe that Henry, Ed's brother, was indeed his first victim. 

About a year later Augusta had a stroke. Despite Ed's good care Augusta passed away in 1945. In her last days she continued to verbally abuse him.

Edward was absolutely devastated after his mother's death and barely had much skills to fend for himself. He was still living in their family house. Rooms turned into a garbage pile. He didn't take much care of the house and had trash and dust everywhere. But oddly enough he kept his mother's room completely clean, as if she had never left. Also he had 0 to no social life. Many found him odd but no one really paid much attention to him.

On November 16th, 1957, Bernice Warden, a local 58 year old woman, disappeared. Later that day when her son stopped by the shop where she worked, he couldn't find her anywhere. Then when he looked for her, he found a trail of blood near the register which went all the way near the exit door. Even the back and front doors were unlocked. 

This greatly concerned him. He checked the receipts and the last purchase was made by Edward for antifreeze. He immediately reported the police and they went to Ed's farm to question him. The police further searched his house and to their surprise, they found the body of Bernice Warden in the summer kitchen. 

Apparently, Bernice's decapitated, naked body was hanging by her feet from an overhead pulley. There had been a cut made from her pelvic to her chest. Multiple organs had already been taken out. 

The cops immediately called for backup and began searching the rest of the property. The things they found absolutely horrified them. Here's to name a few-

• Lampshades made with human flesh
• A chair made out of human skin
• A box full of human nose
• Soup bowls made out of human skull
• A shade pole decorated with women's lips
• A shirt and leggings made with different kinds of skin from various parts of human body
• One wall decorated with nine women's faces 
• A corset made out of a woman's torso
• A refrigerator filled with human organs

After all day of searching the police found many questionable things. They also found Bernice Warden's freshly severed head in a bloody burlap sack. However large nails were inserted in her ear which were connected with twine. Edward originally wanted to hang her head on the wall.

 According to Edward's statement, he was trying to make a body suit out of human skin to turn himself into a woman. He said it was a way for him to feel close to his deceased mother. 

So Edward confessed to killing 2 women, Bernice and local tavern owner Mary. The rest of the bodies were stolen from the local cemetery. He had made a friend there, Gus. Gus helped him dig up the bodies but didn't participate in any other activities. 

Edward did it all for about 12 years after his mothers death. But the dead skin was dry and he needed fresh skin to work with. So he decided to kill.

Edward was pled not guilty for reasons of insanity and was sent to central state hospital for the criminally insane. But 10 years later another trial was done and he was found guilty for first degree murder. Ed spent the rest of his life in an institution and passed away on 26th July, 1984.

As for his house of horrors, people in town absolutely despised it besides attracting many tourists. One day it mysteriously caught on fire and burnt to the ground. 

Many characters in various well known movies were inspired by Edward. Psycho (1960), Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Silence of The Lambs and many more. As well as many documentaries and books.   

Japan's 7 faced killer

 Kazuko Fukuda and her reign of terror

Fukuda Kazuko, was Japan's one of most notorious serial killer's with 7 different faces and identities. Each backed up by a detailed back story. For 15 years no one could identify her.

She was born on 2nd January, 1948 in Matsuyama, Japan. Her childhood was seemingly rough. It's said that her parents were divorced and her mother ran a brothel. Her mother remarried a fisherman but the marriage was anything but happy as they fought constantly.

In high school, Kazuko fell in love, it came as a ray of light in her dark life. But then darkness overtook again as her first love died from a car accident. Then she dropped out of high school and ran away from her abusive home. But at the age of 18, Kazuko was arrested and imprisoned for robbery. In prison Kazuko apparently was a victim of sexual assault by her fellow male inmates along with many other women (Matsuyama prison incident).    

After 2 years, Kazuko got out of prison and married her first husband, the marriage only lasted for 5 years. But in 1974, she married again and had 4 children. Now her life was somewhat stable. But wealth and greed started to consume Kazuko. She started gambling, loaning and living lavishly. but soon ran out of all her money and fell into a serious financial crisis. She was in a 2 million yen debt. That's when she started working as a cabaret hostess under the alias Hatsumi Takai. There she met her victim, Atsuko Yasuoka. 

Atsuko was one of the top hostesses and most liked. She was glamorous, beautiful, confident and everything Kazuko aspired to be. Jealousy struck Kazuko. Perhaps the jealousy and her greed drove her to the murder of Atsuko. 

One day, She asked Atsuko if they could have a little chat and Atsuko agreed. On 19 August 1982 Kazuko visited Atsuko's apartment, the sight of the apartment only added fuel to her jealousy. Suddenly her rage and jealousy took over her and she strangled Atsuko with a towel. Then she went back to her home and told her husband everything. She convinced him to bury the body and steal belongings from her apartment. After stealing furniture and other belongings from Atsuko's apartment, they drove 18 kilometers to Matsuyama mountains to bury the body.  

 In Japan many disappear in the middle of the night, cutting ties with everyone they know to start somewhere new. Kazuko wanted to use that cultural phenomena and take over Atsuko's life and wealth, while making it seem as if she had voluntarily disappeared. But unfortunately for her, Atsuko's body was found very soon. 

At first police marked it as a case of robbery and murder and were getting nowhere with it. But then Atsuko's father reported that there had been some suspicious activities in her bank account. Someone was trying to withdraw money. At the same time her partner reported that some items were missing from their shared room. Then, the apartment staff reported that they saw 3 men and a woman loading furniture into a rental truck. Which led police to track the rental truck and find the rental records.

When the police reached Fukuda's home, her husband greeted them at the door and they began questioning him. It didn't take him long to confess that he was the one who buried the body. But he had also claimed that he had done it under his wife's orders. But apparently, it was too late for them to catch the main culprit. Kazuko had already fled. 

The media started broadcasting the case. And soon enough, Kazuko became a wanted criminal for murder. But as the case dragged on, she also became more daring. As if she enjoyed the chase. 

After her husband was taken into custody, he tried to contact Kazuko one last time, but she had already fled to Kanazawa. There she adopted her first identity, Shinobu Onodera. She started working as a hostess again but the news was spreading quickly. So she went to Tokyo and decided to go the extra mile this time by getting plastic surgery. She went back to Kanazawa and started to enjoy her new life.

Although it didn't take long for things to take a turn again, one day Kazuko was on a call with one of her lovers, when suddenly she realized that the police were with him and they were trying to track her down. So, Kazuko tricked them into believing that she was in Kansai and they fell right into her trap.

After a year, Kazuko met a customer at her work. Their frequent interactions soon turned into an affair. However, the man was already married but left his wife to marry Kazuko. They got married and she helped him manage his shop very well. Life went on like this for 5 years. Even though the husband had his suspicions, he decided to ignore them. 

However, Kazuko's new life also came to an end in February of 1988, when the police were about to find her, she escaped once again. Afterwards, she went to Nagoya and took the name Kuramoto Kauru. But out of the fear of getting caught she kept moving. In May of the same year, she left Nagoya. Throughout the whole process she was still in contact with one of her sons. 

Kazuko had lived like this for almost 15 years, changing identities, jobs , places. With less than a year left, before her crimes were about to go unpunished, Kazuko went to Fukui. The police department, for the first time in Japan, made the bold move of announcing a 1 million yen bounty for Kazuko Fukuda. 

Despite the media pressure, Kazuko was living freely under the name Yukiko Nakamura. She became a regular customer at a local oden restaurant, charming the people there with conversations and karaoke. No one suspected anything, until one of Fuji TV's shows started to constantly broadcast about Kazuko Fukuda. They played her voice and one of the customers at the odeon restaurant recognized it. He immediately reported to the police about his suspicions. 

On July 29th, when Kazuko visited the restaurant again, they tried to bring her in for voluntary questioning. But Kazuko casually refused to answer questions and give her fingerprints. She quickly left the place and never went there again. But the police weren't ready to give up. They asked the owner of the place to provide them with any of the bottles or utensils that Kazuko has touched. From there, they collected her fingerprints, and the results were indeed positive. 

There were only 23 days left before the statute of limitations was about to expire on Kazuko's case. But the police were very close. The restaurant owner decided to help. She spotted Kazuko on the streets and invited her to the restaurant again. Despite the heavy chances of getting caught, Kazuko went anyway and while she was leaving, officers surrounded her. Kazuko Fukuda was finally arrested. 

Only 11 hours before the statute of limitations was about to expire on her case, Kazuko was officially indicted on August 18, 1997 for the murder of Atsuko Yasuoka. 

In May of 1999 Kazuko Fukuda was sentenced to life in prison, ending her 15 years journey of disguise. After 17 years of captivity, at the age of 57, in 2005 she passed away from illness.  

This case still stands as one of the most remarkable cases of Japan. Kazuko Fukuda carried herself with confidence and arrogance all those years, yet somehow she always knew her life of disguise would finally come to an end right before the statute of limitations would expire. In the end, Kazuko was a woman who wanted to be seen and heard and live a better life. Before her death, she said how she wanted to be remembered  as Kazuko Fukuda and not any of her false identities.  

The unsolved Black Dahlia case

The case of Elizabeth Short

In the morning of January 15, 1947 the Los Angeles dispatch center received a call, reporting an abandoned body. In the middle of suburbs, a woman's naked dead body was found. But that wasn't the only concerning part. The body was cut in half and drained off of blood. There were cuts on her forehead, each side of her mouth were cut and her right breast was also cut off. There was also a game of tic-tac-toe cut into her hip area. There were also rope marks on her neck, arms and legs. So who was this unfortunate woman? Let's break down.

Elizabeth Short was born on July 29, 1924 in Hyde Park, Massachusetts. Other than her parents separating when she was young, she had a seemingly normal childhood. Elizabeth stayed with her mother in Massachusetts and grew up to be a beautiful young woman. 

Like many teenagers Elizabeth felt as if she didn't belong in a small town. So she moved to her father's place in Vallejo. But Elizabeth was a bit of a rebel and would constantly break rules. So eventually after a very short period of time, her father kicked her out. But she didn't want to go back to her small town. Instead she found a job as a camp cook on the military base. After working there for 9 months she moved to San Diego.

There she met a woman by the name of Dorothy, who worked at an all-night theater. They connected well and Elizabeth told her that she didn't have any place to stay. Dorothy was kind enough to offer her place. 

Elizabeth stayed with Dorothy for a month. While leaving she told Dorothy that someone named 'Red' was picking her up. Later she hopped into a Studebaker Coup and that was the last time Dorothy ever saw her. Few days later Elizabeth's body was found by a local woman. The woman, Miss Bersinger, was on a walk with her daughter and that is when she found the body lying around in the grass on the side of a road and she immediately went to a nearby house and called the police.

Once they made some DNA tests, they were able to identify the body. They contacted her father, Cleo but he really couldn't care less that his young daughter was murdered. Thankfully, when they contacted her mother back in Massachusetts she immediately flew to Los Angeles to identify the body.

Soon Dorothy was also informed. She told the police about the last time she saw Elizabeth and how a man, by the name Red, picked her up in his Studebaker Coup. The police searched for him everywhere and finally found him through a motel. His real name was Robert Manley. He was a sales engineer and lived in South Beach California with his wife. 

Police found that on January 17th, 2 days after Elizabeth's murder, Manley took off to San Francisco with his friend Harry. The police went to Harry's place to find Robert and had to wait 2 days to find them. The police took Robert into custody. They were very confident about this but Robert took 2 polygraph tests but nothing came out of it. The police also searched his car but they found 0 evidence. They had nothing against him.  

A month went by and the cops had no clue. The media pressure started increasing. The media loved the case because a beautiful young woman was murdered which caught a lot of public attention. That's when they gave her the name 'black Dahlia'.

Because of the insane public attention, many started coming forward, claiming to be the murderers of the Black Dahlia. But they had no real evidence that they had actually killed her. But then police also started receiving anonymous letters, whom they believed was the actual murderer because this person was sending the police some of Elizabeth's personal belongings. 

By February, They arrested Red again but still, they had nothing against him. Then they found another suspect. George Hodel who was an infamous Hollywood doctor.  

The police found a tip that Elizabeth was seen around George for a while. When the police dig up his past, he became a very strong suspect. So, allegedly Gorge sexually abused his own daughter but for some reason the charges were dropped against him. There were also other questionable reports against him.

But since he was financially well off, they knew it wouldn't be easy to arrest him. So they decided to bug his house and listen to his day to day conversations. 

In February of 1950, George was speaking on the phone and a woman's scream was heard twice. The cops went to check inside the house but they didn't find anything. After they left George was heard making a phone call and he said something about covering her with a blanket and putting a pillow over her face. Then he was heard saying something along the lines of, "Supposing, I did kill the Black Dahlia, They couldn't prove it now. They can't talk to my secretary anymore because she is dead". (George's secretary was found dead from a drug overdose a few days back). Even Gorge's own son believed that he was the one responsible for the murder of Elizabeth and many more.

By April, the cops had enough evidence to arrest him, but by then he had already fled the US. In 2013, they tested the soil of George's home for human remains, and the results were positive. But again, there was nothing the police could do about it.

Then on November 24, 1950 the 27th confessor of the Black Dahlia murder, came forward. But this person was slightly different. A woman by the name of Christine Reynolds confessed to committing the murder. 

According to her statement, Elizabeth and her were lovers. They met at a bar 3 years before Elizabeth's murder and she knew her as "Libby". 4 nights before the murder, Christine went out looking for Elizabeth and found her at a bar with another woman. They got into an argument and shortly after, left the bar in Christine's car. They continued to argue in the car and Christine said that she was so mad that she proceeded to choke Elizabeth. Elizabeth managed to get out of the car and started running. Cristine ran behind her and began to choke her again and eventually stabbed her with a pocket knife that she had. Then she left her body by the street.

The police didn't believe her story until she mentioned one detail that the police spared the public from. Christine said how she cut some of Elizabeth's hair off and then proceeded to insert it in her vaginal region. 

But again her story wasn't fully aligning. So the police sat her down and asked her and she finally broke down and admitted that she was in fact lying. She said that she had a friend in the police department who told her about the intimate details. When the police asked her the reason behind her lies, Christine said how 2 days before Elizabeth's body was discovered, she had woken up with blood all over her. She couldn't remember what had happened the previous night due to heavy drinking. She went to the cops but no one took her seriously. But she really believed that she had killed or at least hurt somebody and the thought of it bugged her for years. So she decided to come forward.

Another strong suspect that the police had, was a serial killer, known as, 'The Cleveland Torso Killer' of Cleveland, Ohio. In Cleveland there was a series of disturbing murders and the evidence suggested that it was all done by one person. The bodies found there were very similar to the Black Dahlia's (cut in half).  Many believe that she was his last victim. Many also believe that George Short was the actual Cleveland killer.

Regardless, the Black Dahlia case still remains unsolved. 

Witches of Salem

 Witchcraft or mass hysteria?

The infamous Salem trials took place in colonial Massachusetts between 1692 to 1693. These trials were a series of hearings for people accused of witchcraft. People's obsession with witches has been a pressing topic for years now. But was it just that? Or was it something much more sinister. The story reveals the dirty truth of politics and prejudice of the human race.

In the 17th century, there were two Salem's on the north coast of Massachusetts. The Salem village and the town of Salem. The two Salem's had their regular conflicts for political and religious matters. The members of the Salem community were very religious in nature. They strictly followed the Bible and weren't very forgiving towards people who didn't. 

In 1689, Samuel Parris, a local religious man, became the minister of the Salem village. But many were not happy with it as he was not the greatest man of all time. Regardless, his family moved in from Boston and they started living in the assigned ministry home. 

One day Samuel's 11 year old daughter, Betty and his niece, Abigail went missing for a short period of time. Which they probably ran away to escape everything for a moment. But it raised some eyebrows in the conservative community. They returned home safely shortly after but in February of 1692 both of the girls started showing strange symptoms. They had severe fever, they would hide under tables and cry out of some kind of pain and their body would convulse into unhuman positions. The girls claimed to be bitten and pinched on their neck, arms and back. The family tried everything they could to help them but the home remedies and the prayers didn't help. So they decided to call in the town physician and minister. After analyzing the girls, both of them came to the conclusion that the girls were bewitched. This led to one of the largest witch hunts in history. 

The news of the historical diagnosis spread very quickly in the community and with that many other young girls were found with similar symptoms. No one in the community had any logical answers and they were just looking to blame someone.

 Even though the Parris sisters were the first girls to be diagnosed with bewitchment, they weren't the first ones to get arrested. Because they belonged from a wealthy family, they were considered as the "victims". The first person to be arrested for afflicting them was their family servant, Tituba. It was most likely for her ethnic and racial differences. Tituba pleaded with them but because she was a slave, no one listened. The prejudice here was ever so clear. But this was just the beginning.

The same year many other girls were also diagnosed with bewitchment. When asked, one of the girls, Ann blamed two women by the names of Sarah Osborne and Sarah Good. Sarah Osborne was being accused because she wasn't the most religious person in the community and also had some legal dispute with a higher social status family. Then there was Sarah Good and she mostly was being accused because she was underprivileged and relied on her neighbors for support (which led people to believe that other women who were also relying on their neighbors were also practicing witchcraft). Her neighbors as well as her husband accused her of witchcraft. 

On March 1st, the 3 women were interrogated. Both Sarah's denied all allegations, but Tituba admitted to being a Devil's servant. Many believe that it was an attempt to save herself since denying the allegations was clearly not working. Regardless, on July 29, 1692 a total of 5 women were hanged convicted of witchcraft.   

Slowly more women, as well as children started getting accused of witchcraft. 4 other people were accused of witchcraft the same month. Even Sarah Good's 4 year old daughter was also accused. But the upper class people of society also started to get accused. One of the women, Martha Corey, was an active 80 year old member of the church. When her husband stood up for her, he was also convicted of witchcraft. And when refused to enter a plea, he was killed under torture. 

Most of the people who were accused were women (78%). Women who went against the norms and challenged the system. But also people who were slaves, native Americans or of lower economical conditions. Regardless, the last trial was held in the May of 1693. 

The root of these trials was mass hysteria among young women which led people to believe that they were bewitched. For years historians tried to find what was causing it. Recently it was discovered that it may have been caused by a fungus called, Ergot. This fungus is believed to grow on rye and can cause ergotism in creatures. So many believe that this fungus caused mass hysteria and made the victims go manic. And the prejudice in society turned it into witchcraft.

From 1692-1693, more than 200 hundred people were accused and 20 were executed, which included both men and women as well as children. For decades people tried to seek justice for the innocent people who were convicted in the Salem witch trials. In 2001, on the 300th anniversary of the Salem trials, the Massachusetts Legislature passed the act to exonerate the convicts and named each of them innocent.