Summary
In Unsolved Crimes, famous, unresolved cases from the past 120 years are examined to review what police and experts in forensic science did (or failed to do) while trying to resolve each crime. For each case covered, the key theories and suspects are described. Though technology is much improved since the time of Jack the Ripper in 1888, some recent crimes defy the best equipment and best scientists, leaving open-ended mysteries to occupy the minds of amateur sleuths everywhere. Still, it may not be too late to solve these riddles. By reexamining old evidence with modern techniques, police can often breathe new life into a cold case.
Chapters include:
- Red Jack
- The Black Dahlia
- The Boy in the Box
- JFK: Case Closed?
- Deadly Medicine.
Cases covered include:
- Jack the Ripper, unidentified serial killer
- The murder of Elizabeth Short, aka “The Black Dahlia”
- The assassination of John F. Kennedy, officially solved but often disputed
- The disappearance of Teamsters’ leader Jimmy Hoffa
- The Tylenol poisoning murders and related cases
- Lizzie Borden, accused then acquitted of murdering her parents with an axe
- Harry and Harriette Moore, murdered during the early days of the Civil Rights movement
- The murder of JonBenét Ramsey.
Specifications
Full-color and black-and-white photographs and illustrations. Sidebars. Chronology. Bibliography. Endnotes. Further resources. Index.
About the Author(s)
Michael Newton, a former public school teacher, has published more than 200 books since 1977. His recent reference works include The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers, Second Edition from Facts On File, as well as The FBI Encyclopedia and Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology. His history of the Florida Ku Klux Klan, The Invisible Empire, won the Florida Historical Society’s 2002 Rembert Patrick Award for Best Book on Florida History.