What happened on this week in crime history June 2-8; Serial Killer Leonard Lake was arrested (June 2, 1985; Joran van der Sloot was arrested for murder in Chile (June 3, 2010); Jonathan Pollard admits to selling military secrets to Israel (June 4, 1986); Senator Robert F. Kennedy was shot in Los Angeles (June 5, 1968); Civil Righst leader James Meredith was shot during the “March Against Fear” (June 6, 1962); Kennedy family cousin, Michael Skakel was convicted of murder (June 7, 2002); James Earl Ray was arrested in London and charged with the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. (June 8, 1968).

Highlight crime of the week –

On June 5, 1968, presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy was shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California. He had just finished delivering his victory speech in the California Democratic Primary. As the senator and his entourage were walking through the hotels kitchen pantry, Sirhan Sirhan, 22, stepped forward with a rolled up campaign poster, hiding his .22 revolver. He was only a foot away when he fired at Kennedy. Body guards wrestled Sirhan to the ground, but not before five bystanders were also shot. Sirhan, who was born in Palestine, confessed to the crime at his trial and received a death sentence on March 3, 1969. However, since the California State Supreme Court invalidated all death penalty sentences in 1972, Sirhan’s sentenced was reduced to life in prison. Sirhan shot Kennedy because he believed he was instrumental in the oppression of Palestinians. Robert Kennedy died at Good Samaritan Hospital at 1:44 a.m., on June 6, just 24 hours after he had been shot.

Michael Thomas Barry is a columnist for www.crimemagazine.com and is the author of numerous books that include the award winning, Murder and Mayhem 52 Crimes that Shocked Early California, 1849-1949 (2012, Schiffer Publishing). The WINNER of the 2012 International Book Awards and a FINALIST in the 2012 Indie Excellence Book Awards for True Crime.

On This date in American literary history – May 31, 1819, poet Walt Whitman was born in West Hills, Long Island, New York. Although Whitman loved music and books, he left school at the age of 14 to become a journeyman printer. Later, he worked as a teacher, journalist, editor, carpenter, and held various other jobs to support his writing. In 1855, he self-published a slim volume of poems called Leaves of Grass, which carried his picture but not his name. With this book, Whitman hoped to become a truly American poet, as envisioned in Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay “The Poet” (1843). Whitman spent much time in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Long Island, attending cultural events, taking long walks, and sometimes riding on coaches and ferries as an excuse to talk with people. In 1856, the second edition of Leaves of Grass included his “Sundown Poem,” later called “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry.” In 1862, Whitman’s brother was wounded at Fredericksburg, and Whitman went to care for him. He spent the rest of the war comforting both Union and Confederate soldiers. His poem “Oh Captain, My Captain,” mourned Lincoln’s assassination. Whitman worked for several government departments after the war until he suffered a stroke in 1873. He spent the rest of his life in Camden, New Jersey, and continued to issue revised editions of Leaves of Grass until shortly before his death on March 26, 1892, age 72.

Michael Thomas Barry is the author of numerous book that include America’s Literary Legends: The Lives and Burial Places of 50 Great Writers. The book will be released in January 2015 and can be pre-ordered from Amazon.

On this date in American literary history – May 28, 1935, John Steinbeck’s, Tortilla Flat, was published. Steinbeck, a native Californian, had studied writing intermittently at Stanford between 1920 and 1925, but never graduated. He moved to New York City and worked as a journalist while writing his first two novels, which were not successful. He married in 1930 and moved back to California with his wife. His father, a government official in Salinas County, gave the couple a house to live in while Steinbeck continued writing. Tortilla Flat describes the antics of several drifters who share a house in California. The novel’s endearing comic tone captured the public’s imagination, and the novel became a financial success. Steinbeck’s next works, In Dubious Battle and Of Mice and Men, were both successful, and in 1938 his masterpiece The Grapes of Wrath was published. The novel, about the struggles of an Oklahoma family who lose their farm and become fruit pickers in California, won a Pulitzer Prize in 1939. Steinbeck’s work after World War II, including Cannery Row and The Pearl, became more sentimental. He also wrote several successful films, including Forgotten Village (1941) and Viva Zapata! (1952). He became interested in marine biology and published a nonfiction book, The Sea of Cortez, in 1941. His travel memoir, Travels with Charlie, describes his trek across the U.S. in a camper. Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize in 1962 and died in New York in 1968.

Michael Thomas Barry is the author of numerous book which include America’s Literary Legends: The Lives and Burial Places of 50 Great Writers. The book is set for release in January 2015.

This week in crime history – May 27-June 1; Explorer Jedediah Smith was murdered by Comanche’s on the Santa Fe Trail (May 27, 1831); Writer R. Foster Winans’ conviction for securities fraud was upheld on appeal (May 28, 1986); Actor Woody Harrelson’s father arrested for murder (May 29, 1979); The son of Time Warner Chairman Gerald Levin was murdered in New York City (May 30, 1997); W. Mark Felt was revealed as being the Watergate Scandal’s “Deep Throat” informant (May31, 2005); Benedict Arnold was court martialed (June 1, 1779); Scott Peterson’s murder trial began (June 1, 2004).

Highlighted Crime of the week –

On June 1, 2004, Scott Peterson’s murder trial began. He was accused of murdering his wife Laci and the couple’s unborn son. On Christmas Eve 2002, Peterson’s pregnant wife Laci, disappeared from Modesto, California. The case captivated millions across America and saturated national media coverage for nearly two years. When initially questioned about his wife’s whereabouts, Peterson claimed that Laci had disappeared sometime after leaving the house to walk their dog and after he left on a fishing trip to nearby San Francisco Bay. About one month later, Amber Frey, a 28-year-old massage therapist from Fresno, California, came forward to tell police that she’d had an affair with Scott Peterson, shattering his image as a devoted husband to his pretty and pregnant wife. As police continued to search for Laci and clues that might explain her disappearance, Scott Peterson sold her sports-utility vehicle, leading to suspicions that he might be trying to get rid of evidence.

On April 13 and 14, 2003, the bodies of Laci and her baby were found near the marina where Scott Peterson kept his boat. Within a week, Peterson was charged with two counts of murder, with the special circumstances, which opened the door for prosecutors to seek the death penalty. He was arrested in San Diego carrying large amounts of cash and his brother’s passport, and with a new hair color and cut, seemingly on the verge of running from police. Soon after pleading not guilty to the charges, Peterson retained the legal services of well-known celebrity attorney Mark Geragos. His trial began on June 1, 2004. Over the course of the next 19 weeks, prosecutors introduced 174 witnesses and hundreds of pieces of evidence designed to paint Scott Peterson as a cold and heartless man who continued to lie and cheat on his wife even as he appeared on television feigning despair over her disappearance. The prosecution’s case was hampered, however, by the fact that they had no eyewitness to the crime and had not found a weapon. Meanwhile, Geragos worked to convince the jury of an alternate scenario in which someone else had murdered Laci while she was walking the dog, then framed Scott after learning of his alibi from the news. Peterson did not take the stand in his own defense. On November 12, 2004, after seven days of deliberation, Peterson was convicted of the first-degree murder of his wife and the second-degree murder of his unborn son. On March 16, 2005, he was formally sentenced to death by lethal injection. He remains on death row in California’s San Quentin prison.

Michael Thomas Barry is a columnist for www.crimemagazine.com and is the author of numerous books that include the award winning, Murder and Mayhem 52 Crimes that Shocked Early California, 1849-1949 (2012, Schiffer Publishing). The WINNER of the 2012 International Book Awards and a FINALIST in the 2012 Indie Excellence Book Awards for True Crime.

What happened on this date in Hollywood history – May 16, 1929, the first Academy Awards ceremony is held. The awards banquet took place in the Blossom Room of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Some 270 people attended, and tickets cost $5 each. After a long dinner, complete with numerous speeches, Douglas Fairbanks, the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which had been formed in 1927, handed out 15 awards in a five-minute ceremony. The awards presentation was somewhat anticlimactic compared to today’s Academy Award ceremonies, as the winners had already been announced in February.

In 1929, movies were just making the transition from silent films to talkies, but all the nominated films were without sound. For the only time in Academy history, Best Picture honors were split into two categories: Best Picture – Unique and Artistic Production, and Best Picture – Production. The winner in the first category was F.W. Murnau’s romantic drama Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, starring George O’Brien and Janet Gaynor. William Wellman’s film Wings, set in the World War I-era and starring Clara Bow, Charles “Buddy” Rogers and Richard Arlen, won in the second category. Other winners of the night included the German actor Emil Jannings as Best Actor for two films, The Last Command and The Way of All Flesh; and Gaynor as Best Actress. She had received three of the five nominations in the category, and was honored for all three roles, in Sunrise, Seventh Heaven and Street Angel. The Academy also presented an honorary award to Charles Chaplin; it would be the only honor the great actor and filmmaker would receive from the organization until 1972, when he accept another honorary award. Starting with the following year’s awards, the Academy began releasing the names of the winners to the press on the night of the awards ceremony to preserve some suspense. That practice ended in 1940, after the Los Angeles Times published the results in its evening edition, which meant they were revealed before the ceremony. The Academy then instituted a system of sealed envelopes, which remains in use today.

Michael Thomas Barry is the author of numerous books that includes Fade to Black Graveside Memories of Hollywood Greats, 1927-1950. The was awarded a silver medal at the 2011 Readers Favorite International Book Awards in Miami and was also the 2013 winner of the Beverly Hills Book Awards.

What happened during this week in crime history: May 12 – Body of Lindbergh baby was discovered (1932); May 13 – Pope John Paul II was shot (1981); May 15 – Second Vigilante Committee was formed in San Francisco (1856); May 16 – Voltaire was imprisoned at the Bastille (1717); May 17 – Police raid the hideout of the Symbionese Liberation Army in Los Angeles and kill six (1974).

Highlighted crime of the week – On May 13, 1981, Pope John Paul II is shot and wounded at St. Peter’s Square in Rome, Italy. Turkish terrorist Mehmet Ali Agca, an escaped fugitive who had been imprisoned on a a previous murder, fired several shots at the religious leader, two of which wounded nearby tourists. Agca was immediately captured. He claimed to have Palestinian connections, although the PLO quickly denied any involvement. Detectives believed that his confession had been coached in order to throw investigators off track. When his trial began on July 20, 1981, Agca maintained that Italy did not have the right to prosecute him since the crime occurred at the Vatican. He threatened to go on a hunger strike if his trial wasn’t shifted to a Vatican court, this was denied and he was convicted two days later. He was sentenced to life in prison but released in 2010. Many people argued that the very unusual short trial must have been an effort to cover up evidence of a conspiracy. In fact, Italian authorities had their own suspicions but did not want to disclose them in a highly publicized trial. Instead, they conducted a relatively quiet investigation into the connection between Agca and Bulgaria’s KGB-connected intelligence agency. The motive behind an alleged Soviet-inspired assassination must be viewed in the context of the Cold War in 1981. Pope John Paul II was Polish-born and openly supportive of the democratic movement in that country. His visit to Poland in 1979 worried the Kremlin, which saw its grip on Eastern Europe in danger. Although the exact extent of the conspiracy remains unknown today, Agca allegedly met with Bulgarian covert agents in Rome about assassinating Lech Walesa, the Polish labor union leader. However, this plan was abandoned when Agca was offered $1.25 million to kill the pope.

Michael Thomas Barry is the author of numerous books that include the award winning, Murder and Mayhem 52 Crimes that Shocked Early California, 1849-1949 (2012, Schiffer Publishing). The WINNER of the 2012 International Book Awards and a FINALIST in the 2012 Indie Excellence Book Awards for True Crime.

May 10, 2014 – Literary Legends of the British Isles: The Lives and Burial Places of 50 Great Writers was named a finalist in the 2014 Next Generation Indie Book Awards, autobiography/ biography category

www.indiebookawards.com

On this date in crime history – April 30, 1867, western lawman Burton C. Mossman was born in Aurora, Illinois. Little is known about Mossman’s childhood in Illinois, though he apparently learned to be self-reliant and resourceful at a young age. When he was 21, he left home and moved to Mexico, where he quickly began proving himself one of the most canny and successful ranchers in the territory. By age 30, he not only had his own spread in New Mexico, but was also the superintendent of a two-million-acre ranch in northern Arizona. As the size of the southwestern cattle industry increased, cattle rustlers began to take advantage of the lack of surveillance on the isolated ranges to steal stock. In 1901, the territory of Arizona responded by organizing a ranger force to rid the region of rustlers and other outlaws. The governor of Arizona convinced Mossman to sign on as the first captain of the Arizona Rangers.

Mossman was suited to the task. Courageous and skilled with a pistol, he had a knack for surprising rustlers while they were still in possession of stolen cattle. Though he could use violence to good effect when needed, Mossman preferred to trick his quarry into giving up peacefully when possible. After a long and adventurous career with the Arizona Rangers, Mossman eventually returned to the more peaceful life of a rancher. By the time he retired from ranching in 1944, he had business interests in cattle operations from Mexico to Montana, and more than a million cattle wore his brand. He lived out the remainder of his life at his comfortable ranch in Roswell, New Mexico, and died in 1956 at the age of 89.

Michael Thomas Barry is a columnist for www.crimemagazine.com and is the author of numerous books that include the award winning, Murder and Mayhem 52 Crimes that Shocked Early California, 1849-1949 (2012, Schiffer Publishing). The WINNER of the 2012 International Book Awards and a FINALIST in the 2012 Indie Excellence Book Awards for True Crime.

On this date in crime history – April 28, 1789, the HMS Bounty was seized in a mutiny led by Fletcher Christian, the master’s mate. Captain William Bligh and 18 of his loyal supporters were set adrift in a small, open boat, and the Bounty set course for Tubuai south of Tahiti. In December 1787, the Bounty left England for Tahiti in the South Pacific, where it was to collect a cargo of breadfruit saplings to transport to the West Indies. There, the breadfruit would serve as food for slaves. After a 10-month journey, the Bounty arrived in Tahiti in October 1788 and remained there for more than five months. On Tahiti, the crew enjoyed an idyllic life, reveling in the comfortable climate, lush surroundings, and the famous hospitality of the Tahitians. Fletcher Christian fell in love with a Tahitian woman named Mauatua.

On April 4, 1789, the Bounty departed Tahiti with its store of breadfruit saplings. On April 28, near the island of Tonga, Christian and 25 petty officers and seamen seized the ship. Bligh, who eventually would fall prey to a total of three mutinies in his career, was an oppressive commander and insulted those under him. By setting him adrift in an overcrowded 23-foot-long boat in the middle of the Pacific, Christian and his conspirators had apparently handed him a death sentence. By remarkable seamanship, however, Bligh and his men reached Timor in the East Indies on June 14, 1789, after a voyage of about 3,600 miles. Bligh returned to England and soon sailed again to Tahiti, from where he successfully transported breadfruit trees to the West Indies.

Meanwhile, Christian and his men attempted to establish themselves on the island of Tubuai. Unsuccessful in their colonizing effort, the Bounty sailed north to Tahiti, and 16 crewmen decided to stay there, despite the risk of capture by British authorities. Christian and eight others, together with six Tahitian men, a dozen Tahitian women, and a child, decided to search the South Pacific for a safe haven. In January 1790, the Bounty settled on Pitcairn Island, an isolated and uninhabited volcanic island more than 1,000 miles east of Tahiti. The mutineers who remained on Tahiti were captured and taken back to England where three were hanged. A British ship searched for Christian and the others but did not find them.

In 1808, an American whaling vessel was drawn to Pitcairn by smoke from a cooking fire. The Americans discovered a community of children and women led by John Adams, the sole survivor of the original nine mutineers. According to Adams, after settling on Pitcairn the colonists had stripped and burned the Bounty, and internal strife and sickness had led to the death of Fletcher and all the men but him. In 1825, a British ship arrived and formally granted Adams amnesty, and he served as patriarch of the Pitcairn community until his death in 1829.

In 1831, the Pitcairn islanders were resettled on Tahiti, but unsatisfied with life there they soon returned to their native island. In 1838, the Pitcairn Islands, which includes three nearby uninhabited islands, was incorporated into the British Empire. By 1855, Pitcairn’s population had grown to nearly 200, and the two-square-mile island could not sustain its residents. In 1856, the islanders were removed to Norfolk Island, a former penal colony nearly 4,000 miles to the west. However, less than two years later, 17 of the islanders returned to Pitcairn, followed by more families in 1864. Today, around 40 people live on Pitcairn Island, and all but a handful are descendants of the Bounty mutineers. About a thousand residents of Norfolk Island (half its population) trace their lineage from Fletcher Christian and the eight other Englishmen.

Michael Thomas Barry is a columnist for www.crimemagazine.com and is the author of numerous books that include the award winning, Murder and Mayhem 52 Crimes that Shocked Early California, 1849-1949 (2012, Schiffer Publishing). The WINNER of the 2012 International Book Awards and a FINALIST in the 2012 Indie Excellence Book Awards for True Crime.

On this date in crime history – April 22, 1934, George “Baby Face” Nelson kills Special Agent W. Carter Baum during an FBI raid in northern Wisconsin. Nelson was holed up with notorious bank robber John Dillinger’s gang at the Little Bohemia resort but didn’t follow the planned escape route. As he was stealing a car to escape, he blasted several agents with two handguns. The notorious gangster was born Lester Gillis but wanted to be known as Big George Nelson. Unfortunately for him, his youthful looks caused everyone to call him “Baby Face.” He joined Al Capone’s gang in 1929, where he was known for his particularly brutal strong-arm tactics. In fact, his unpredictable violence got so out of hand that it eventually led to his expulsion from the gang.

In the early 1930s, Nelson joined up with bootleggers in California. However, after Prohibition ended, Nelson returned to the Midwest to try his hand at bank robberies. Nelson hit a series of banks in 1933 and 1934 and was upset when John Dillinger and Pretty Boy Floyd were given credit for his crimes. Despite this, Nelson teamed up with Dillinger in April 1934: The pair robbed two banks in South Dakota and Iowa. Reportedly, Dillinger was a bit perplexed by Nelson’s outbursts during the robberies. After shooting bank employees at both of the banks, Nelson had to be persuaded not to kill them. Not long after the raid on April 23, Dillinger was killed by agents in Chicago, making Nelson the country’s newest Public Enemy Number One. On November 27, Nelson was spotted driving in rural Illinois. After a chase involving two FBI agents, Sam Cowley and Herman Hollis, an epic gun battle ensued. Witnesses say that Nelson tired of exchanging shots from behind his cover and decided to attack the agents on the offensive. Although Cowley and Hollis fired many rounds into Nelson, he kept coming at them with a machine gun. Nelson killed both agents and hobbled away to a getaway car, but he did not survive the bold move. The next day, his body, riddled with bullets, was found in a ditch.

Michael Thomas Barry is a columnist for www.crimemagazine.com and is the author of numerous books that include the award winning, Murder and Mayhem 52 Crimes that Shocked Early California, 1849-1949 (2012, Schiffer Publishing). The WINNER of the 2012 International Book Awards and a FINALIST in the 2012 Indie Excellence Book Awards for True Crime.