Introduction

1. The Murder of “Omie Wise” (1808)

2. Burke and Hare, The British “Anatomy Murders” (1828)

3. The Helen Jewett Murder (1836)

4. The Murder of Mary Rogers (1841)

5. The Colt–Adams Affair (1841)

6. The Parkman–Webster Case (1849)

7. The Deering Family Massacre (1866)

8. “The Boston Boy Fiend” (1871–1874)

9. The Bloody Benders (1873)

10. The Smuttynose Horror (1873)

11. The Kidnapping of Little Charley Ross (1874)

12. “The Colorado Cannibal” (1874)

13. “The Pocasset Tragedy” (1879)

14. The Servant Girl Annihilator (1885)

15. “Jolly Jane” Toppan, Angel of Death (Late 1880s–1901)

16. Dr. H. H. Holmes, “The Arch-Fiend” (1891–1894)

17. The Fall River Murders (1892)

18. “The Demon of the Belfry” (1895)

19. “The Stockyard Bluebeard” (1898–1905)

20. The “Sausage Vat Murder” (1897)

21. The Molineux Poison-Murder Case (1899)

22. The Murder of Stanford White (1906)

23. The “American Tragedy” Murder (1906)

24. “The Female Bluebeard” (1908)

25. The London Cellar Murder (1910)

26. “The Spirit of Meanness Personified” (1906–1930)

27. “The Brides in the Bath Murders” (1912–1914)

28. “The Vampire of Düsseldorf” (1913–1930)

29. Frederick Mors (1914–1915)

30. “The Bluebeard of Paris” (1915–1919)

31. “The Ragged Stranger” (1920)

32. The Mysterious Murder of William Desmond Taylor (1922)

33. The Chicago “Thrill Killers” Case (1924)

34. The Hall–Mills Murder Trial (1926)

35. William Edward Hickman, “The Fox” (1927)

36. The “Double Indemnity Murder” (1927)

37. The Bath School Disaster (1927)

38. “The Werewolf of Wisteria” (1928)

39. “The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” (1929)

40. Bonnie and Clyde (1930–1934)

41. The Bluebeard of Quiet Dell (1931)

42. “The Trunk Murders” (1931)

43. The Massie Affair (1931–1932)

44. The Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping (1932)

45. “The Blonde Borgia” (1933–1937)

46. The Crown Point Escape (1934)

47. “The Cleveland Torso Killer” (1935–1938)

48. “The Mad Sculptor” (1937)

49. The “Babes of Inglewood” Murders (1937)

50. “The Soap-Maker of Correggio” (1939–1940)

51. The “Mad Bomber” (1940–1956)

52. “Le Docteur Satan” (1944)

53. “The Acid Bath Murderer” (1944–1949)

54. “The Lipstick Killer” (1945)

55. Nannie Doss,“The Giggling Granny” (1945–1955)

56. The Black Dahlia Murder (1947)

57. The Camden Massacre (1949)

58. “The Ripper of Rillington Place” (1949–1953)

59. The Sam Sheppard Murder Case (1955)

60. “The Butcher of Plainfield” (1957)

61. “The Glamour Girl Slayer” (1957–1958)

62. The Starkweather–Fugate Spree Killings (1958)

63. The Killing of Johhny Stompanato (1958)

64. “The Capeman” Murders (1959)

65. The Clutter Family Massacre (1959)

66. The Boston Strangler (1962–1964)

67. “The Moors Murderers” (1963–1965)

68. The Slaying of Kitty Genovese (1964)

69. “The Pied Piper of Tucson” (1964–1965)

70. “The Torture Mom” (1965)

71. The Richard Speck Murders (1966)

72. The Texas Tower Massacre (1966)

73. Mary Bell, “The Devil’s Spawn” (1968)

74. The Zodiac Killings (1968–1969)

75. The Charles Manson Murders (1969)

76. The MacDonald Family Massacre (1970)

77. The Family Annihilator (1971)

78. “The Killer Clown” (1972–1978)

79. Ted Bundy (1974–1978)

80. “Dr. Death” (1974–1998)

81. “Son of Sam” (1976–1977)

82. “The Unabomber” (1978–1995)

83. Gary Heidnik (1986–1987)

84. “The Milwaukee Cannibal” (1987–1991)

85. The “Winnetka Killer” (1988)

86. “The Otaku Killer” (1988)

87. “The Backpacker Murders” (1989–1992)

88. “The Gainesville Ripper” (1990)

89. “The Pig Farm Killer” (1991–2001)

90. “The Modern-Day Medea” (1994)

91. Andrew Cunanan and the Versace Murder (1997)

92. The Torture-Murder of James Byrd Jr. (1998)

93. The Martyrdom of Matthew Shephard (1998)

94. The Columbine Massacre (1999)

95. “The Man-Eater of Rotenburg” (2001)

96. The Murder of Laci Peterson(2002)

97. The Beltway Snipers (2002)

98. The “Grim Sleeper” Murders (1985–1988, 2002–2007)

99. The Boston Marathon Bombing (2013)

100. The Slender Man Stabbing (2014)

Photo Credits

Acknowledgments

LIZZIE BORDEN’S HATCHET,
A CLOWN PAINTING BY JOHN WAYNE GACY,
THE UNABOMBER’S TYPEWRITER
 
Feed your morbid curiosity with stories of 100 objects connected with some of the most gruesome murders ever committed. And don’t feel sheepish about it—until the police started roping off crime scenes, hordes of onlookers would walk through, grabbing any kind of souvenir they could.
 
Murder relics possess an unusual and sinister power. It can be something as obvious as the luger used by Harold Unruh, the “Father of Mass Murder.” Or a seemingly innocuous crucifix belonging to Augusta Gein, who railed against sin and was the mother of real-life monster Ed Gein, whose crimes inspired Pyscho, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and Silence of the Lambs.
 
Using one significant object per spectacular crime as a way to retell its chilling story, no gory details spared, Murderabilia weaves a historic tapestry of 100 unthinkable spasms of depravity and violence that have captivated readers for hundreds of years and continue to hold us spellbound.
 
Praise for Harold Schechter’s work:
 
“Harold Schechter is America’s dean of true crime, plundering the darkest corners of our history…”
                   --Robert Kolker, author of Lost Girls
 
“Harold Schechter is the best teller of twisted true-crime stories working today…”
                   --Deborah Blum, author of The Poisoner’s Handbook
 
“The dark prince master of American true crime history.”
                   --Peter Vronsky, author of Serial Killers
 

Harold Schechter, a two-time Edgar nominee, has published more than 30 true crime titles, including five 100K+ copy bestsellers. His most recent work, Maniac: The Bath School Disaster and the Birth of the Modern Mass Killer, just published (March 9, 2021). He has taught literature and myth criticism for more than 40 years at Queens College/CUNY and is a murderabilia collector himself.