Page 14 - DIY Defense Investigations - AFI-LLC Newsletter October 2021

DIY Defense Investigations - AFI-LLC Newsletter October 2021

This Day in History (September)

Starting in June, we began presenting these noted days in history as may be interesting to fellow investigators. Follow
the link to each story – as most have hidden gems and tidbits. These include the first PIs solving crimes, early and modern
forensics, posthumous findings to a conviction, etc. We hope you find these interesting and historical events of interest.

A Teenage Boy Murders His Father… then it gets really bizarre (09/01/1981)
Fifteen-year-old Eric Witte shoots his father, 43-year-old volunteer firefighter Paul Witte, in the family’s Indiana home.
Although Eric admitted to shooting his father, he claimed that the gun had accidentally gone off when he tripped on a
rug. The bullet hit his father, who was lying on a couch across the room, in the head. The shooting was ruled an accident,
and Eric was released. Three years later…
-- continued at www.history.com/this-day-in-history/a-teenage-boy-murders-his-father

Federal Legislation Makes Airbags Mandatory (09/01/1998)
On September 1, 1998, the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 finally goes into effect. The law
required that all cars and light trucks sold in the United States have air bags on both sides of the front seat.
-- continued at www.history.com/this-day-in-history/federal-legislation-makes-airbags-mandatory

First Drunk Driving Arrest (09/10/1897)
25-year-old London taxi driver George Smith becomes the first person ever arrested for drunk driving after slamming his
cab into a building. Smith later pleaded guilty and was fined 25 shillings. In the United States, the first laws against
operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol went into effect in New York in 1910.
-- continued at www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-drunk-driving-arrest

The Guillotine Falls Silent (09/10/1977)
At Baumetes Prison in Marseille, France, Hamida Djandoubi, a Tunisian immigrant convicted of murder, becomes the last
person executed by guillotine. The guillotine first gained fame during the French Revolution when physician and
revolutionary Joseph-Ignace Guillotin won passage of a law requiring all death sentences to be carried out by “means of
a machine.”
-- continued at www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-guillotine-falls-silent

Serial Killers Charlene Williams and Gerald Gallego Meet (09/10/1977)
Charlene Williams meets Gerald Gallego at a poker club in Sacramento, California, resulting in one of the worst serial
killing teams in American history. Before they were finally caught, the Gallegos killed and sexually assaulted at least 10
people over a two-year period.
-- continued at www.history.com/this-day-in-history/serial-killing-couple-meets

13-year-old Newspaper Delivery Boy Found Dead (09/21/1983)
The mutilated body of 13-year-old paperboy Danny Joe Eberle is found in his hometown of Bellevue, Nebraska. Eberle
had been stabbed multiple times, bound with rope and tortured to death. FBI investigators called in to help catch the
vicious killer found only one clue that could help them: The rope that had been used to tie up the victim was so unusual
that the FBI had no records of similar ropes made by any domestic manufacturers.
www.history.com/this-day-in-history/a-13-year-olds-dead-body-turns-up

Cyanide-Laced Tylenol Kills Seven (09/29/1982)
Flight attendant Paula Prince buys a bottle of cyanide-laced Tylenol. Prince was found dead on October 1, becoming the
final victim of a mysterious ailment in Chicago, Illinois. Over the previous few days, six other people had died of
unknown causes in northwest Chicago. After Prince’s death, Richard Keyworth and Philip Cappitelli, firefighters in the
Windy City, realized that all seven victims had ingested Extra-Strength Tylenol prior to becoming ill. Further investigation
revealed that several bottles of the Tylenol capsules had been poisoned with cyanide.
-- continued at www.history.com/this-day-in-history/cyanide-laced-tylenol-kills-seven
(The culprit was never caught)

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