There have been many criminal cases throughout all of American history but there are always a few that become very well known, to the point where they become "famous". You may know some off the top of your head because of how outrageous they seem, or what they did, or even who the people were. With the years passing, people may forget of the past's crimes that changed the world; because these crimes happened, our country has learned how to become safer.
1. Bonnie and Clyde:
Bonnie was married to an imprisoned murderer and Clyde was unmarried. When Clyde was arrested, Bonnie smuggled him a gun in which he used it to escape with. They later traveled together where she was the get-away driver with other gunmen as well as Clyde. They embarked on a series of bold robberies, which made headlines across the country. They escaped capture multiple times. In 1933, Texas issued a warrant for Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow for a stolen automobile in Illinois. Clyde was suspected of numerous killings and was wanted for murder, robbery, and kidnapping.The FBI then started the hunt for the two. Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker were shot to death, in their car, by officers in a Louisiana town on May 23, 1934, after one of the most colorful and spectacular manhunts that nation had seen up to that point.
2. DB Cooper
On the afternoon of November 24, a man that called himself Dan Cooper bought a one way ticket to Seattle paying cash. This began one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in FBI history. Around 3:00pm, Cooper ordered a drink from the stewardess and when she returned, he told her he had a bomb in his briefcase and wanted her to sit with him. She did as she was told, and saw a glimpse of the wires in his briefcase. He made her right a note to the captain demanding four parachutes and $200,000. When landing in Seattle, he traded the passengers for the money and took off again with the crew to Mexico City. Between Seattle and Reno, he jumped out of the plane with the parachutes and the ransom money. The plane landed safely, but Cooper disappeared in the night and his fate still remains a mystery today. There was an investigation initiated, but the man was not found. They interviewed over 800 people, and thought of one suspect that was ruled out by flight attendants. The $20 bills with the same serial numbers as Coopers ransom money were found by a young boy in 1980. Today it is still an unsolved mystery, since the man was never found.
3. Pan AM 103 Bombing
In 1988, four days before Christmas Pan AM Flight 103 took off from London's Heathrow Airport bound for New York City. There were 259 passenger and crew members, 189 were Americans. Less than forty minutes into the flight, the plane exploded over the sky over Scotland killing everyone on board and 11 citizens on the ground. With the explosion happening 30,000 feet in the air, debris rained over 800 square miles of Scotland. Investigators went through evidence on hands and knees, finding some important evidence. They found an item small than a thumb nail that was plugged into the radio, that gave them the evidence they needed to declare that the bomb was placed in the radio. The evidence led to Libyan men, and later one was charged with the crime. Abdel Basset Ali Al- Megrahi was found guilty of the crime. Libya has taken responsiblity for the bombing and agreed to pay $3 billion to the victim's families.
4. Unabomber
Theodore Kaczynski came to the FBI's attention in 1978, with his first explosion of a homemade bomb at Chicago University. Over the next seventeen years, he mailed or hand delivered a series of increasingly sophisticated bombs that killed three Americans and injured twenty four more. He sowed fear and panic, even threatening to blow up airliners in flight. He wrote a 35,000 word essay to the FBI explaining his crimes and giving his reasons. They then published it in The Washington Post and The New York Times where there was many suspects brought to attention. But Kaczynski was found to be the most fitting, so they got a warrant and arrested him and combed through his Montana 10'x14' home. There they found a live bomb ready for mailing, journal pages of Unabomber acts and directions on how to make bombs. In January 1998 he pled guilty and is serving his time in an isolated cell in a "Supermax" prison in Colorado.
5. John Dillinger
Dillinger dominated the headlines and was a notorious and vicious thief. From September 1933 until July 1934, he and his violent gang terrorized the Midwest, killing ten men, wounding seven others, robbing banks and police arsenals, and staging three jail breaks-- killing a sheriff during one and wounding two guards on the other. Dillinger was shot outside a movie theatre by three FBI agents, and died eight days later in a hospital. The killing of John Dillinger ended the Gangster Era in America.
6. Barker/Karpis Gang
The Barker gang got the attention of the FBI by two high profile kidnappings. The high profile millionaire was released three weeks later after the gang got a $200,000 ransom. The millionaire couldn't identify his kidnappers, but police followed the route and found a can with a fingerprint of one of the members. Soon, and number of Barker's confederates were linked to the crime. The gang fled, splitting up and criss-crossing all over the country; some even underwent plastic surgery to change their fingerprints and other features. The Barkers went to Miami and started renting a quiet cottage in November along with "Ma" Barker (their mother known to help her criminal sons). In December, Doc Barker was arrested in Chicago without incident, and his apartment was searched. They found a map with the town where the others were staying. The agents surrounded the cottage in January of the next year where police called for surrender twice before opening fire on the house. The Barkers returned gunfire, soon the firing stopped and Ma and Fred were dead.
7. Casey Anthony
Casey Anthony lived with her parents, Cindy and George Anthony, in Orlando, Florida along with her daughter Caylee Anthony. Cindy called the police and reported that her granddaughter (Caylee) had been missing for thirty one days. She also added that Casey's car had smelled like a dead body had been in it. Cindy confronted her daughter, Casey, about the whereabouts of her granddaughter and she responded with varied explanations before finally saying she hadn't seen her in weeks. Casey told authorities that her daughter was kidnapped by her nanny but she was too scared to alert the police. Casey was charged with first degree murder and pled not guilty. Caylee's body was found wrapped in blankets near Casey Anthony's home. The Medical Examiner officially listed Caylee's death as "death by undetermined means". In July of 2011, the jury found Casey not guilty of first degree murder, aggravated child abuse, and aggravated manslaughter of a child. She was found guilty of four misdemeanor counts of providing false information to a law enforcement officer. With credit for time served, she was released in that same month. The not guilty verdict for Casey Anthony outraged the American public. Time Magazine described the case as "the social media trial of the century."
8. OJ Simpson
Former football star and actor was tried on two accounts of murder following the June 1994 deaths of his ex wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. The case has been described as the most publicized criminal trial in American history. Simpson hired a high-profile defense team where they persuaded the jury that there was reasonable doubt about the DNA evidence-- including that the blood sample had been mishandled by technicians and lab scientists. Both Brown and Goldman families sued Simpson for damages in a civil trial. in 1997, a trial found there was preponderance of evidence to hold Simpson liable for damages in wrongful death of Goldman and battery of Brown. Ultimately, Simpson was acquitted after a lengthy trial that lasted over eight months.
9. Colorado Shooting
On July 20, 2012 in Aurora, Colorado a mass shooting occurred inside of a movie theatre during a midnight showing of Batman: The Dark Knight Rises. The gunman, James Holmes, set off tear gas grenades and shot into the audience with multiple firearms, killing 12 people and injuring 58 others. Seventy people were shot or otherwise wounded, reported by mainstream news as the most victims of any mass shooting in the United States history. It is also the deadliest shooting in Colorado since the Columbine High School Massacre on April 20, 1999. Prosecutors filed formal charges against Holmes that include 24 counts of first degree murder and 116 counts of attempted murder. Two charges were filed for each victim to expand the opportunities for prosecutors to obtain convictions. On MArch 27, Holmes' lawyers had him plead guilty in exchange for prosecutors agreeing to not seek the death penalty in this case. On April 1, 2013 the prosecution announced that it had turned down the offer, with the district attorney stating, "It's my determination and my intention that in this case for James Eagan Holmes justice is death."
10. Greenlease Kidnapping
Although it may not be well known, it is still a famous case in the FBI's eyes. On Spetember 28, 1953 Robert Greenlease Jr., also known as "Bobby" was at the French Institute of Notre Dame De Sion, a school for young children in Kansas City, Missouri. A woman appeared at the door, convincing a sister that she was the aunt of Bobby Greenlease, and she was taking him to see his mother in the hospital, who had suffered a heartattack. The sister bought the ordeal and went to get Bobby, without any hesitation whatsoever Bobby left with the woman who even held his hand as they walked. Later that night the sister called the Greenlease residence to check on Mrs. Greenlease's condition, in which she found out that she had not suffered a heartattack. The sister then told the parents what happened, where the Mrs. relayed it on to her husband, the police, and the FBI. The parents got ransom letters for $600,000 dollars for the safe return of their son. In total, they recieved over half a dozen letters and fifteen phone calls. When recieving the money, they never returned the child. He was shot to death and buried in the woman's (the kidnapper-- Bonnie Heady) yard. Bonnie and her partner then fled the town and tried to make a run for it. They were both caught months later, and were to face the death penalty. Together on December 18, 1953 they faced Missouri’s lethal gas chamber at the State Penitentiary, Jefferson City, Missouri. They were pronounced dead at 12:12 and the ransom money was never found as claimed by the two arresting officers. The officers then served a sentence for perjury.
1. Bonnie and Clyde:
Bonnie was married to an imprisoned murderer and Clyde was unmarried. When Clyde was arrested, Bonnie smuggled him a gun in which he used it to escape with. They later traveled together where she was the get-away driver with other gunmen as well as Clyde. They embarked on a series of bold robberies, which made headlines across the country. They escaped capture multiple times. In 1933, Texas issued a warrant for Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow for a stolen automobile in Illinois. Clyde was suspected of numerous killings and was wanted for murder, robbery, and kidnapping.The FBI then started the hunt for the two. Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker were shot to death, in their car, by officers in a Louisiana town on May 23, 1934, after one of the most colorful and spectacular manhunts that nation had seen up to that point.
2. DB Cooper
On the afternoon of November 24, a man that called himself Dan Cooper bought a one way ticket to Seattle paying cash. This began one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in FBI history. Around 3:00pm, Cooper ordered a drink from the stewardess and when she returned, he told her he had a bomb in his briefcase and wanted her to sit with him. She did as she was told, and saw a glimpse of the wires in his briefcase. He made her right a note to the captain demanding four parachutes and $200,000. When landing in Seattle, he traded the passengers for the money and took off again with the crew to Mexico City. Between Seattle and Reno, he jumped out of the plane with the parachutes and the ransom money. The plane landed safely, but Cooper disappeared in the night and his fate still remains a mystery today. There was an investigation initiated, but the man was not found. They interviewed over 800 people, and thought of one suspect that was ruled out by flight attendants. The $20 bills with the same serial numbers as Coopers ransom money were found by a young boy in 1980. Today it is still an unsolved mystery, since the man was never found.
3. Pan AM 103 Bombing
In 1988, four days before Christmas Pan AM Flight 103 took off from London's Heathrow Airport bound for New York City. There were 259 passenger and crew members, 189 were Americans. Less than forty minutes into the flight, the plane exploded over the sky over Scotland killing everyone on board and 11 citizens on the ground. With the explosion happening 30,000 feet in the air, debris rained over 800 square miles of Scotland. Investigators went through evidence on hands and knees, finding some important evidence. They found an item small than a thumb nail that was plugged into the radio, that gave them the evidence they needed to declare that the bomb was placed in the radio. The evidence led to Libyan men, and later one was charged with the crime. Abdel Basset Ali Al- Megrahi was found guilty of the crime. Libya has taken responsiblity for the bombing and agreed to pay $3 billion to the victim's families.
4. Unabomber
Theodore Kaczynski came to the FBI's attention in 1978, with his first explosion of a homemade bomb at Chicago University. Over the next seventeen years, he mailed or hand delivered a series of increasingly sophisticated bombs that killed three Americans and injured twenty four more. He sowed fear and panic, even threatening to blow up airliners in flight. He wrote a 35,000 word essay to the FBI explaining his crimes and giving his reasons. They then published it in The Washington Post and The New York Times where there was many suspects brought to attention. But Kaczynski was found to be the most fitting, so they got a warrant and arrested him and combed through his Montana 10'x14' home. There they found a live bomb ready for mailing, journal pages of Unabomber acts and directions on how to make bombs. In January 1998 he pled guilty and is serving his time in an isolated cell in a "Supermax" prison in Colorado.
5. John Dillinger
Dillinger dominated the headlines and was a notorious and vicious thief. From September 1933 until July 1934, he and his violent gang terrorized the Midwest, killing ten men, wounding seven others, robbing banks and police arsenals, and staging three jail breaks-- killing a sheriff during one and wounding two guards on the other. Dillinger was shot outside a movie theatre by three FBI agents, and died eight days later in a hospital. The killing of John Dillinger ended the Gangster Era in America.
6. Barker/Karpis Gang
The Barker gang got the attention of the FBI by two high profile kidnappings. The high profile millionaire was released three weeks later after the gang got a $200,000 ransom. The millionaire couldn't identify his kidnappers, but police followed the route and found a can with a fingerprint of one of the members. Soon, and number of Barker's confederates were linked to the crime. The gang fled, splitting up and criss-crossing all over the country; some even underwent plastic surgery to change their fingerprints and other features. The Barkers went to Miami and started renting a quiet cottage in November along with "Ma" Barker (their mother known to help her criminal sons). In December, Doc Barker was arrested in Chicago without incident, and his apartment was searched. They found a map with the town where the others were staying. The agents surrounded the cottage in January of the next year where police called for surrender twice before opening fire on the house. The Barkers returned gunfire, soon the firing stopped and Ma and Fred were dead.
7. Casey Anthony
Casey Anthony lived with her parents, Cindy and George Anthony, in Orlando, Florida along with her daughter Caylee Anthony. Cindy called the police and reported that her granddaughter (Caylee) had been missing for thirty one days. She also added that Casey's car had smelled like a dead body had been in it. Cindy confronted her daughter, Casey, about the whereabouts of her granddaughter and she responded with varied explanations before finally saying she hadn't seen her in weeks. Casey told authorities that her daughter was kidnapped by her nanny but she was too scared to alert the police. Casey was charged with first degree murder and pled not guilty. Caylee's body was found wrapped in blankets near Casey Anthony's home. The Medical Examiner officially listed Caylee's death as "death by undetermined means". In July of 2011, the jury found Casey not guilty of first degree murder, aggravated child abuse, and aggravated manslaughter of a child. She was found guilty of four misdemeanor counts of providing false information to a law enforcement officer. With credit for time served, she was released in that same month. The not guilty verdict for Casey Anthony outraged the American public. Time Magazine described the case as "the social media trial of the century."
8. OJ Simpson
Former football star and actor was tried on two accounts of murder following the June 1994 deaths of his ex wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. The case has been described as the most publicized criminal trial in American history. Simpson hired a high-profile defense team where they persuaded the jury that there was reasonable doubt about the DNA evidence-- including that the blood sample had been mishandled by technicians and lab scientists. Both Brown and Goldman families sued Simpson for damages in a civil trial. in 1997, a trial found there was preponderance of evidence to hold Simpson liable for damages in wrongful death of Goldman and battery of Brown. Ultimately, Simpson was acquitted after a lengthy trial that lasted over eight months.
9. Colorado Shooting
On July 20, 2012 in Aurora, Colorado a mass shooting occurred inside of a movie theatre during a midnight showing of Batman: The Dark Knight Rises. The gunman, James Holmes, set off tear gas grenades and shot into the audience with multiple firearms, killing 12 people and injuring 58 others. Seventy people were shot or otherwise wounded, reported by mainstream news as the most victims of any mass shooting in the United States history. It is also the deadliest shooting in Colorado since the Columbine High School Massacre on April 20, 1999. Prosecutors filed formal charges against Holmes that include 24 counts of first degree murder and 116 counts of attempted murder. Two charges were filed for each victim to expand the opportunities for prosecutors to obtain convictions. On MArch 27, Holmes' lawyers had him plead guilty in exchange for prosecutors agreeing to not seek the death penalty in this case. On April 1, 2013 the prosecution announced that it had turned down the offer, with the district attorney stating, "It's my determination and my intention that in this case for James Eagan Holmes justice is death."
10. Greenlease Kidnapping
Although it may not be well known, it is still a famous case in the FBI's eyes. On Spetember 28, 1953 Robert Greenlease Jr., also known as "Bobby" was at the French Institute of Notre Dame De Sion, a school for young children in Kansas City, Missouri. A woman appeared at the door, convincing a sister that she was the aunt of Bobby Greenlease, and she was taking him to see his mother in the hospital, who had suffered a heartattack. The sister bought the ordeal and went to get Bobby, without any hesitation whatsoever Bobby left with the woman who even held his hand as they walked. Later that night the sister called the Greenlease residence to check on Mrs. Greenlease's condition, in which she found out that she had not suffered a heartattack. The sister then told the parents what happened, where the Mrs. relayed it on to her husband, the police, and the FBI. The parents got ransom letters for $600,000 dollars for the safe return of their son. In total, they recieved over half a dozen letters and fifteen phone calls. When recieving the money, they never returned the child. He was shot to death and buried in the woman's (the kidnapper-- Bonnie Heady) yard. Bonnie and her partner then fled the town and tried to make a run for it. They were both caught months later, and were to face the death penalty. Together on December 18, 1953 they faced Missouri’s lethal gas chamber at the State Penitentiary, Jefferson City, Missouri. They were pronounced dead at 12:12 and the ransom money was never found as claimed by the two arresting officers. The officers then served a sentence for perjury.