True Con Artist

Murderous Minds: Stories of Real Life Murderers That Escaped the Headlines offers a look into the lives of individuals who committed heinous acts of evil but managed to avoid the media storm that usually accompanies them.

During 51 days in early 1993 one of the most tragic events in American crime history unfolded on the plains outside Waco, Texas. An obscure and heavily armed religious sect called the Branch Davidians was barricaded inside their commune and outside were hundreds of law enforcement angry because the former had killed four ATF agents in a botched raid. Go on an engaging and captivating ride to examine one of the most important true crime stories in recent decades.

Elisa had made a habit of calling her parents every day and the 29th and 30th were no exception. That was also the day she moved in and was quickly drummed out by the other tenants because she made them "uncomfortable". Her eviction from the shared room to her own private room must have been difficult for a young woman already full of insecurities, neuroses, and esteem issues. January 31, 2013, Elisa Lam's parents, for the first time on Elisa' "West Coast Tour", didn't receive a call from her daughter.

"Being in the same room with him and looking at him, I realized that one day I would be in the same position as he, facing death. Before it happens I mean to do the things I want to do. I will not end up saying I wish I had." When Sal Mineo said those words about his dying father, nobody could have predicted that just four short years later, he would himself be facing death.

Esta historia real muestra un caso de robo de banco innecesario en el que los criminales no estaban obligados a hacerlo. Simplemente abrieron la boca con el olor del dinero. El equipo de policía utilizó una técnica innovadora e increíble para rastrear a los ladrones. Continúa leyendo para descubrirlo

Dramatizada Claude Buffet, un criminal cínico y sin escrúpulos, haciéndose pasar por taxista desvalijaba a sus indefensos clientes. Por este método robó las joyas y el bolso a una señora de la alta sociedad parisina y terminó asesinándola, poniendo a la policía inmediatamente a trabajar, con lo que inevitablemente acabó en prisión. Harto de las duras condiciones de la vida en la cárcel, convence a otro recluso, Roger Bontemps, para intentar una fuga tomando como rehenes a los trabajadores de la enfermería, exigiendo que les liberen a cambio de la vida de éstos.

Just like the majority of California girls, Lana Clarkson wanted to become famous. She had that superstar look and when her family moved to Los Angeles, Lana did her best to make a name for herself in the entertainment industry. She had no idea that an accidental encounter with a world famous producer and mad musical genius Phil Spector would be fatal and end her hopes and dreams of international fame.

The tragic story of Natalee Holloway still remains a mystery to this day. The events prior to her disappearance are centered on unreliable witnesses, investigators not following proper procedures, and friends who had left her alone with local patrons. To say that a school trip is never supposed to turn out this way is a monumental understatement.

To many, the name Carl Switzer doesn't ring a bell; the name Alfalfa, however, does. As Alfalfa, the freckle-faced kid with an unmanageable cowlick, Switzer won movie fame in the Our Gang comedies of the early 1930s. Carl Switzer played the iconic character from 1935-1940, and his popularity surpassed many of the other characters. At the time, no one could've foreseen the tragic circumstances that lead to the end of Switzer's life within 20 years of him leaving the show.

The story of Tara Calico is one of confusion, uncertainty, and sadness. The events of her disappearance are one of the least understood of any crime over the past 50 years. A single Polaroid showing what is widely believed to be Tara ultimately gives her disappearance its most notable name: The Polaroid Mystery.

Not all unknown forces are amiable to us humans, and some may be quite worth the fear that we instinctively feel when it comes to these forces. The idea of being confronted with a paranormal phenomenon of any kind is enough to flabbergast most people. But what if that paranormal phenomenon is coupled with a crime? Seeing a Bigfoot in the wilderness would be stunning enough, but imagine one grabbing your wallet and running off with it!

Get inside and conquer the world of cons. The world can be a deceptive place. There are individuals out there who will do anything to gain something regardless of who they hurt or who they have to deceive. Unfortunately, this practice is only becoming more of the norm.

There has never been a con-man trickster in American history as devious, or as likeable, as Randolph "Soapy" Smith. He was a sociopath with a smile that could melt the hardest heart. He was a man without a conscience, a natural criminal quite willing to steal from the hapless poor and the greedy rich with an equally shameless eagerness. Soapy’s only measure of man was the wallet he could empty from the day he learned how to cheat at cards, hide the pea in a shell game, or invent a scam.

Hoax, conspiracy, or secret society? That is the range of responses you might hear when raising the idea of the Priory of Sion. Ostensibly a clandestine order designed to disguise the truth about the children of Jesus Christ, the group have been labeled as either an elaborate concoction or the most powerful secret society in the world. Are they real? What are they hiding? Where did they come from? What impact can they have on the world around us? These are the questions this book will hope to answer.

It is often difficult to comprehend what makes a person kill. But when they kill and then commit further acts of depravity on their victim, it gives a whole new meaning to wrongdoing. In volume three of the True Crime Stories, we examine murderers who have all displayed the same gut-churning, wicked twist - each of them ate their victims. Each of these violent killers is examined in detail, including their backgrounds, the crimes they committed, and how they were brought to justice.

When it comes to cold-blooded murder, nobody who is a part of civilized society can stand the thought that someone out there would actually get away with such horrendous crimes. We all want these wayward criminals to be caught and held accountable for their actions. This book demonstrates the lengths that some have gone to and the depths that they have plumbed just to make sure that the long arm of the law finally reached the barbaric perpetrators of unspeakable deeds and brought them to justice.

Mikhail Popkov may be the most prolific serial killers in world history. He led a double-life as a family man with a wife and a young daughter. But after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Popkov was able to take advantage of the lack of police authority to get away with his most barbaric fantasies.

Authorized User is based on the true story involving early '90s Sony hip hop artist Tim Dog. Allegedly, Tim Dog the con artist had been victimizing unsuspecting victims for approximately a decade and a half with little to no attention from law enforcement. Based on the evidence and reports later received by law enforcement, Tim Dog targeted single mothers, young aspiring artists, and even a few men in his fictitious business circle.

Wie gelang dem "Ausbrecherkönig" Carl August Lorentzen seine legendäre Flucht aus dem Staatsgefängnis im dänischen Horsens kurz vor Weihnachten 1949? Mit dieser Frage beschäftigt sich Niels Ole Frederiksen, der als Dreijähriger als Sohn des damaligen Vize-Inspektors diese spektakulärste Flucht aller Zeiten aus einem dänischen Gefängnis quasi hautnah miterlebte. Ein hochspannender True Crime-Fall aus Dänemark!

John Wilkes Booth murdered Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre and was killed in Garrett's Barn, Virginia by Sergeant Boston Corbett. But what if the body wasn't John Wilkes Booth? Nate Orlowek believes the body in the barn that day may not have been John Wilkes Booth. So who was the man in the barn that day?