{"id":928390,"date":"2026-07-11T18:48:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T18:48:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/928390\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T18:48:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T18:48:42","slug":"illinois-250-states-most-infamous-and-shocking-true-crime-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/928390\/","title":{"rendered":"Illinois 250: State&#8217;s most infamous and shocking true crime stories"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Then, as now, America loves true crime stories. That\u2019s why the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2026\/07\/05\/illinois-250-unique-contributions-america\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">last edition of our Illinois 250 series<\/a> looks back at how our state has been home to some of the most notorious ones.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s a look back at the most infamous, shocking, blood-curdling or mysterious crimes and disasters that captured the attention of the nation \u2014 and the world.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2026\/05\/23\/illinois-250-celebrating-the-states-fabulous-firsts\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2026\/05\/23\/illinois-250-celebrating-the-states-fabulous-firsts\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Illinois 250: Celebrating the state\u2019s fabulous firsts<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2026\/05\/30\/illinois-250-art-culture-food-music\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2026\/05\/30\/illinois-250-art-culture-food-music\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Illinois 250: Art, culture, food and music made here \u2014 and then shared with the world<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2026\/06\/06\/illinois-250-the-political-land-of-lincoln-but-also-addams-daley-washington-jackson-obama-and-more\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2026\/06\/06\/illinois-250-the-political-land-of-lincoln-but-also-addams-daley-washington-jackson-obama-and-more\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Illinois 250: The political land of Lincoln, but also Addams, Daley, Washington, Jackson, Obama and more<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2026\/06\/13\/illinois-250-sports-cubs-white-sox-bulls-bears\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2026\/06\/13\/illinois-250-sports-cubs-white-sox-bulls-bears\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Illinois 250: Sports teams and individuals that have achieved greatness \u2014 or infamy<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2026\/06\/20\/illinois-250-from-the-jungle-to-shel-silverstein-how-the-state-has-helped-shape-the-printed-word\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2026\/06\/20\/illinois-250-from-the-jungle-to-shel-silverstein-how-the-state-has-helped-shape-the-printed-word\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Illinois 250: From \u2018The Jungle\u2019 to Shel Silverstein, how the state has helped shape the printed word<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2026\/06\/27\/illinois-250-business-manufacturing-inventions-innovations\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2026\/06\/27\/illinois-250-business-manufacturing-inventions-innovations\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Illinois 250: What we\u2019ve invented, innovated, created and manufactured<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2026\/07\/04\/illinois-250-most-influential-people\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Illinois 250: Meet the state\u2019s most influential people, from architects to a pope and future presidents<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The city burns (1871)<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"Gutted buildings and smoldering rubble are at State and Madison streets after the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. (Chicago Tribune archive) \" width=\"4723\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ctc-226346519.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"38419459\" \/>Gutted buildings and smoldering rubble are at State and Madison streets after the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. (Chicago Tribune archive)<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/enews.chicagotribune.com\/q\/u8UUckEAg390YmLhVUiIiQE6hyNuPkdyU9QWZcOJa2pydW1vcmVAZ21haWwuY29tw4g8BGbMVa0d4cL34P_agJEjnvUYkg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/enews.chicagotribune.com\/q\/u8UUckEAg390YmLhVUiIiQE6hyNuPkdyU9QWZcOJa2pydW1vcmVAZ21haWwuY29tw4g8BGbMVa0d4cL34P_agJEjnvUYkg&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1759869514877000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0S4oDGmgami--NOH2Oy0zS\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/enews.chicagotribune.com\/q\/u8UUckEAg390YmLhVUiIiQE6hyNuPkdyU9QWZcOJa2pydW1vcmVAZ21haWwuY29tw4g8BGbMVa0d4cL34P_agJEjnvUYkg\">Great Chicago Fire<\/a> began in a hay-filled cow barn behind the frame house that Mrs. Catherine O\u2019Leary shared with her husband, Patrick, and their five kids on DeKoven Street on the Near West Side.<\/p>\n<p>The fire ran \u2014 and it grew, swept by a strong wind from the southwest, eating its ravenous way north and toward downtown and beyond. People ran to the lake for shelter as the city became a vast ocean of flame.<\/p>\n<p>After that horrible night and the equally terrifying and destructive day and night that followed, the fire finally burned itself out. Chicago <a href=\"https:\/\/enews.chicagotribune.com\/q\/qvbda1z1fc90YnFB3brKKb7I_Wdv6zBj9uYsZcOJa2pydW1vcmVAZ21haWwuY29tw4gKoGWAbl8fpRLmmtB15yyCoC-Inw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/enews.chicagotribune.com\/q\/qvbda1z1fc90YnFB3brKKb7I_Wdv6zBj9uYsZcOJa2pydW1vcmVAZ21haWwuY29tw4gKoGWAbl8fpRLmmtB15yyCoC-Inw&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1759869514877000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3jgHtjb7JsRgDRjxx8IKQf\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/enews.chicagotribune.com\/q\/qvbda1z1fc90YnFB3brKKb7I_Wdv6zBj9uYsZcOJa2pydW1vcmVAZ21haWwuY29tw4gKoGWAbl8fpRLmmtB15yyCoC-Inw\">awoke two days later<\/a>\u00a0to find\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/enews.chicagotribune.com\/q\/T3dDsr-BBD10YAErzdWsRh78E5gcSn6DK2fYZcOJa2pydW1vcmVAZ21haWwuY29tw4gzd4aqrzDcLVLPou2k8MAKw8jXEw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/enews.chicagotribune.com\/q\/T3dDsr-BBD10YAErzdWsRh78E5gcSn6DK2fYZcOJa2pydW1vcmVAZ21haWwuY29tw4gzd4aqrzDcLVLPou2k8MAKw8jXEw&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1759869514877000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3-px9XsgjdLQbGkFH9-9St\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/enews.chicagotribune.com\/q\/T3dDsr-BBD10YAErzdWsRh78E5gcSn6DK2fYZcOJa2pydW1vcmVAZ21haWwuY29tw4gzd4aqrzDcLVLPou2k8MAKw8jXEw\">almost 18,000 buildings destroyed<\/a>, much of the city leveled, 90,000 people homeless and 300-some people dead.<\/p>\n<p>The Tribune offered a stirring prophecy that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/news\/ct-great-chicago-fire-cheer-up-editorial-20210820-f2emncydkzg45arl4xx6ektrpe-story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/news\/ct-great-chicago-fire-cheer-up-editorial-20210820-f2emncydkzg45arl4xx6ektrpe-story.html\">\u201cCHICAGO SHALL RISE AGAIN.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"2JY61BIG63\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2021\/09\/28\/the-great-chicago-fire-destroyed-17450-buildings-here-are-six-that-survived-and-still-stand-today\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Great Chicago Fire destroyed 17,450 buildings. Here are six that survived and still stand today.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Abraham Lincoln\u2019s grave robbers (1876)<\/p>\n<p>Four men with shady backgrounds, under the cover of darkness on Nov. 7, 1876, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2008\/01\/05\/plot-foiled\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">tried to remove the body<\/a> of President Abraham Lincoln from its marble sarcophagus in Springfield\u2019s Oak Ridge Cemetery. The next day, the Tribune <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-horrible-attempted-ro\/201332701\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">ran a long article<\/a> about the aborted scheme. The following day, the newspaper carried a longer account about the <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-the-vandals-chicago-tri\/201332979\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cDesecrators of Lincoln\u2019s Remains.\u201d<\/a> On Nov. 18, the <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-attempted-robbery-of-abr\/201333027\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">whole front page<\/a> was devoted to in-depth coverage of the plot, the break-in, the escape of two would-be body snatchers and their capture at a Chicago saloon called The Hub, allegedly frequented by lowlifes.<\/p>\n<p>What made such instant journalism possible? Chicago police Chief Elmer Washburn had a confidential secretary, Percy English, who also wrote for the Tribune. When Washburn was alerted that the skulduggery was going to happen, he allowed the young reporter to accompany authorities determined to foil the plot. English became a witness and got one of the scoops of the century.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Murder Castle\u2019 of H.H. Holmes (1893)<\/p>\n<p>Differing accounts claim that the man who became infamous during the World\u2019s Columbian Exposition as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2014\/10\/24\/chicagos-first-serial-killer\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2014\/10\/24\/chicagos-first-serial-killer\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">H.H. Holmes<\/a> may have had hundreds of victims who were tortured and killed within a network of secret rooms in his so-called Murder Castle at 610 W. 63rd St. There was a \u201cmostly\u201d soundproof walk-in vault, but it likely was used to conceal stolen furniture, not murder, experts said.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"dSa3ILNaUL\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2025\/01\/09\/vintage-chicago-tribune-debunked-what-weve-found-in-the-tribune-archives-that-changes-conventional-wisdom\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Vintage Chicago Tribune: Debunked \u2014 what we\u2019ve found in the Tribune archives that changes conventional wisdom<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe did kill nine or 10 people, but it wasn\u2019t hundreds and hundreds. It wasn\u2019t in a hotel, and it wasn\u2019t World\u2019s Fair patrons,\u201d said\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/tribune.author\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-mrf-link=\"http:\/\/tribune.author\/\" data-mrf-recirculation-id=\"Article Links_1\">author<\/a> and Chicago tour guide Adam Selzer, whose 2017 book \u201cH.H. Holmes: The True History of the White City Devil\u201d sought to demystify the killer behind the legend, using official records and documents.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was a swindler, first and foremost, who partly through his own confessions, became a new American tall tale,\u201d Selzer said.<\/p>\n<p>Iroquois Theatre fire (1903)<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"Charred seats remain where the fire killed 602 people in less than 15 minutes at the Iroquois Theatre in Chicago in 1903. (Chicago Tribune archive)\" width=\"1674\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ctc-89535935.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"38423642\" \/>Charred seats remain where the fire killed 602 people in less than 15 minutes at the Iroquois Theatre in Chicago in 1903. (Chicago Tribune archive)<\/p>\n<p>The matinee performance of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-iroquois-theatre-opened\/187723488\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-iroquois-theatre-opened\/187723488\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cMr. Bluebeard\u201d<\/a> at Chicago\u2019s newly opened Iroquois Theatre on Randolph Street between State and Dearborn Streets was packed on Dec. 30, 1903, with an estimated 2,000 schoolchildren and families. Though the \u201cfinest, handsomest, and best equipped\u201d theater bragged about its 35 exits, it did not have a sprinkler system, telephone, fire alarm or exit signs.<\/p>\n<p>The second act had just begun when an arc light near the stage ignited a curtain. As flames licked at the fabric and smoke curled toward the ceiling, an overcapacity crowd of more than 1,800 panicked, rushing for the exits and jamming against doors that opened inward. Some exits were locked; others were nearly impossible to open.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"pBWgZhzgpm\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2021\/09\/17\/flashback-from-the-iroquois-theatre-tragedy-to-the-1934-stock-yards-blaze-chicagos-history-is-punctuated-with-devastating-fires\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Flashback: From the Iroquois Theatre tragedy to the 1934 Stock Yards blaze, Chicago\u2019s history is punctuated with devastating fires.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Firefighters put out the fire in 30 minutes, but not before it became the worst of its kind in American history with 602 dead, more than twice the toll of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Theatergoers from 13 states were killed in the disaster, which made headlines worldwide.<\/p>\n<p>The Iroquois Theatre fire\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/guides.library.illinois.edu\/c.php?g=416856&amp;p=2840500\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/guides.library.illinois.edu\/c.php?g=416856&amp;p=2840500\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">resulted in reforms<\/a> such as fireproof scenery and stage curtains, illuminated exits and doors that open outward. It also inspired the invention of the exit-door \u201cpanic bar,\u201d which is still in use today, and the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ul.org\/traditions\/lessons-learned-from-chicagos-tragic-iroquois-theatre-fire\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/ul.org\/traditions\/lessons-learned-from-chicagos-tragic-iroquois-theatre-fire\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">UL Label Service<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>SS Eastland disaster (1915)<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"A victim is carried on the SS Eastland as the steamship lies on its side in the Chicago River after slowly rolling over and drowning 844 people July 24, 1915. The Tribune wrote on July 25, &quot;It lay like a toy boat of tin wrecked in a gutter, its starboard half rising clear of the water.&quot; (Chicago Tribune historical photo) \" width=\"5772\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ctc-229048559.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"38419963\" \/>A victim is carried on the SS Eastland as the steamship lies on its side in the Chicago River after slowly rolling over and drowning 844 people July 24, 1915. The Tribune wrote on July 25, &#8220;It lay like a toy boat of tin wrecked in a gutter, its starboard half rising clear of the water.&#8221; (Chicago Tribune historical photo)<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/graphics.chicagotribune.com\/news\/local\/eastland\/index.html\" data-mrf-link=\"http:\/\/graphics.chicagotribune.com\/news\/local\/eastland\/index.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">SS Eastland<\/a> \u2014 packed on July 24, 1915, with Western Electric Co. employees and their families for a day trip to Michigan City, Indiana \u2014 rolled to its side in the Chicago River between LaSalle Drive and Clark Street.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"usDxlDHaOV\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2025\/07\/24\/vintage-chicago-tribune-eastland-disaster\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Vintage Chicago Tribune: Eastland disaster and its aftermath<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>More than 840 of the 2,500 aboard died, many of them trapped inside the vessel as water poured in when the ship tipped over just a few feet from the riverbank.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Black Sox\u2019 banned from baseball (1921)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2019\/10\/04\/flashback-how-8-white-sox-players-fell-from-grace-and-were-forever-marked-the-black-sox\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2019\/10\/04\/flashback-how-8-white-sox-players-fell-from-grace-and-were-forever-marked-the-black-sox\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Eight White Sox players<\/a> were charged with throwing the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2019\/10\/01\/chicago-white-sox-1919-world-series\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">1919 World Series<\/a>. Despite earning the \u201cBlack Sox\u201d nickname, the men were <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-all-black-sox-acquitted\/168959038\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-all-black-sox-acquitted\/168959038\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">acquitted<\/a> by a jury that deliberated for just 2 hours and 47 minutes on Aug. 2, 1921.<\/p>\n<p>A day after their acquittal, however, baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis ruled the players allegedly involved \u2014 Joe Jackson, Eddie Cicotte, Oscar Emil \u201cHappy\u201d Felsch, Chick Gandil, Frederick William McMullin, Swede Risberg, Buck Weaver and Lefty Williams \u2014 would be <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-crooks-scared-out-of-bas\/168959156\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-crooks-scared-out-of-bas\/168959156\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">banned for life<\/a>\u00a0from organized baseball.<\/p>\n<p>Good girl gone bad (1924)<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"Thousands gather for Wanda Stopa's wake on April 28, 1924 outside the Stopa home at 1505 W. Augusta Blvd. in Chicago. The young Polish woman was Chicago's youngest and first woman assistant U.S. district attorney. (Chicago Tribune historical photo) \" width=\"5749\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ctc-229063007.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"38420125\" \/>Thousands gather for Wanda Stopa&#8217;s wake on April 28, 1924 outside the Stopa home at 1505 W. Augusta Blvd. in Chicago. The young Polish woman was Chicago&#8217;s youngest and first woman assistant U.S. district attorney. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)<\/p>\n<p>Chicago\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/galleries.apps.chicagotribune.com\/chi-130409-wanda-stopa-pictures\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-mrf-link=\"http:\/\/galleries.apps.chicagotribune.com\/chi-130409-wanda-stopa-pictures\/\">youngest and first female assistant U.S. district attorney<\/a>\u00a0was a brilliant Polish immigrant named Wanda Stopa. She had been\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/image\/355068900\/?terms=%22wanda%2Bstopa%22\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/image\/355068900\/?terms=%22wanda%2Bstopa%22\">one of only two women<\/a> to graduate from John Marshall Law School in 1921. But just three years after graduation, Stopa left her career, married a Russian count and then fell in love with a rich, married advertising executive, Y. Kenley Smith, who paid for her to live in New York.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"Wanda Stopa in an undated photo. (Chicago Herald and Examiner) \" width=\"2460\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ctc-188311249-e1783713724842.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"38420121\" \/>Wanda Stopa in an undated photo. (Chicago Herald and Examiner)<\/p>\n<p>When Smith refused to leave his wife, Genevieve, nicknamed Doodles, Stopa <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/image\/355066652\/?terms=%22wanda%2Bstopa%22\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/image\/355066652\/?terms=%22wanda%2Bstopa%22\">showed up at their Palos Park home on April 24, 1924<\/a>, intending to kill Smith\u2019s wife. She took a shot, but it hit the couple\u2019s elderly caretaker, Henry Manning, killing him. Stopa went on the run, later killing herself by <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/image\/355066652\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/image\/355066652\">swallowing poison in a Detroit hotel room<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Approximately\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/image\/355070080\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/image\/355070080\/\">10,000 Chicagoans turned out<\/a>\u00a0for her wake and funeral.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018The perfect murder\u2019 (1924)<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"Richard Loeb, 18, left, and Nathan Leopold Jr., 19, right, stare at each other after confessing to the killing of Robert &quot;Bobby&quot; Franks in 1924. (Chicago Herald-American) \" width=\"5703\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ctc-181880609.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"38420322\" \/>Richard Loeb, 18, left, and Nathan Leopold Jr., 19, right, stare at each other after confessing to the killing of Robert &#8220;Bobby&#8221; Franks in 1924. (Chicago Herald-American)<\/p>\n<p>Friends Nathan \u201cBabe\u201d Leopold Jr. and Richard \u201cDickie\u201d Loeb \u2014 the pampered sons of prominent Kenwood families \u2014\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2024\/05\/16\/vintage-chicago-tribune-leopold-and-loeb\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2024\/05\/16\/vintage-chicago-tribune-leopold-and-loeb\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">killed<\/a> Robert \u201cBobby\u201d Franks after they offered him a ride home from school on May 21, 1924.<\/p>\n<p>To the public, Franks\u2019 death appeared to have been orchestrated\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/image\/354880363\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/image\/354880363\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">for money and thrills<\/a>. But the two brilliant masterminds behind the crime simply referred to it as a \u201cperfect murder\u201d for which they believed they could outsmart the authorities and would never stand trial.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"vAJUpvfwOv\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2024\/05\/16\/vintage-chicago-tribune-leopold-and-loeb\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Vintage Chicago Tribune: Leopold and Loeb<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>After they dumped the boy\u2019s body near Wolf Lake, however, <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-take-loeb-and-leopold-on\/160620750\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">they confessed<\/a> to the murder and were brought to trial for what became the \u201ccrime of the century.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Clarence Darrow was hired by the confessed killers\u2019 families for their defense, and he made a <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/image\/355128730\/?terms=darrow&amp;match=2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" data-ylk=\"slk:surprise tactical move;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" data-rapid_p=\"33\" data-y-link-id=\"1y7wozo0az7k3b1dscpd\" data-v9y=\"1\">surprise tactical move<\/a>\u00a0as the trial began.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cWe withdraw our plea of not guilty and enter a plea of guilty,\u201d Darrow told Judge John Caverly.<\/p>\n<p>Darrow\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/image\/355248676\/?terms=darrow&amp;match=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" data-ylk=\"slk:eloquent plea;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" data-rapid_p=\"35\" data-y-link-id=\"1ddexv51u34gvz170zzj\" data-v9y=\"1\">eloquent plea<\/a> had the desired effect, and Leopold and Loeb were sentenced to <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/image\/355037981\/?terms=%22life%20in%20prison%22&amp;match=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" data-ylk=\"slk:life in prison;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" data-rapid_p=\"36\" data-y-link-id=\"1k7gz1o1rqfev61w51nj\" data-v9y=\"1\">life in prison<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Prettiest woman ever accused of murder in Chicago\u2019 (1924)<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"Beulah May Annan, wanted on murder charges for the death of Harry Kalstedt in 1924. (Chicago Tribune historical photo) \" width=\"4852\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ctc-229043993.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"38420385\" \/>Beulah May Annan, wanted on murder charges for the death of Harry Kalstedt in 1924. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)<\/p>\n<p>A young, liquored-up woman (this was during Prohibition) named <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2025\/05\/29\/vintage-chicago-tribune-roxie-hart-beulah-annan-broadway-musical\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Beulah Annan<\/a> shot her equally inebriated lover to death on April 3, 1924, inside the apartment she shared with her husband. Another young woman named <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2019\/08\/08\/a-tribune-reporter-wrote-the-hit-play-chicago-after-covering-cook-county-murder-trials-decades-later-we-owe-her-an-obituary\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Maurine Dallas Watkins<\/a> reported Annan\u2019s expedited travails through Cook County\u2019s legal system for the Tribune.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"jUUbadzCdB\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2023\/03\/09\/vintage-chicago-tribune-murder-mayhem-and-all-that-jazz-the-real-women-who-inspired-oscar-winner-chicago\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Vintage Chicago Tribune: Murder, mayhem and \u2018all that jazz\u2019 \u2014 the real women who inspired Oscar winner \u2018Chicago\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Watkins used the trial\u2019s twists to write a three-act play, \u201cA Brave Little Woman,\u201d while attending the new Yale School of Drama in 1926. When it debuted on Broadway later that year, it was called \u201cChicago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The musical version of \u201cChicago\u201d is the second-longest-running show on Broadway after \u201cThe Phantom of the Opera\u201d (13,981 performances) and the <a href=\"https:\/\/playbill.com\/article\/long-runs-on-broadway-com-109864\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">longest active show<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>First person to kill a federal agent (1925)<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"Martin Durkin's identification photos, circa 1926. Durkin was the first person to kill a federal agent, FBI Agent Edwin C. Shanahan, in Porter's Garage at 6231 Princeton Ave. in Chicago on Oct. 11, 1925. (Chicago Herald and Examiner) \" width=\"5000\" height=\"315\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ctc-240995756.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"38421445\" \/>Martin Durkin&#8217;s identification photos, circa 1926. Durkin was the first person to kill a federal agent, FBI agent Edwin C. Shanahan, in Porter&#8217;s Garage at 6231 Princeton Ave. in Chicago on Oct. 11, 1925. (Chicago Herald and Examiner)<\/p>\n<p>On Oct. 11, 1925, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2025\/10\/05\/fbi-agent-vintage-tribune\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Martin Durkin<\/a> shot FBI Agent Edwin Shanahan at Porter\u2019s Garage, 6231 Princeton Ave. in Englewood. Shanahan was attempting to arrest Durkin for violating the Dyer Act by transporting a stolen automobile, a charge Durkin denied. Durkin was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2013\/11\/05\/martin-durkin-first-fbi-murder\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">eventually caught<\/a>, subsequently convicted and sentenced to 19 years in an Illinois prison for the murder of Shanahan, followed by 15 more years in Leavenworth for his federal crime.<\/p>\n<p>Most infamous of all gangland slayings in America (1929)<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"The bodies of six of the seven men killed on Feb. 14, 1929, are in the S.M.C. Cartage Company garage at 2122 N. Clark St. on Chicago's North Side. The killings became known as the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. The dead were members of a North Side gang run by George &quot;Bugs&quot; Moran, who had a rivalry with Al Capone and his gang. (Chicago Tribune archive) \" width=\"2060\" height=\"297\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ctc-189946953-e1783714631558.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"38422306\" \/>The bodies of six of the seven men killed on Feb. 14, 1929, are in the S.M.C. Cartage Co. garage at 2122 N. Clark St. on Chicago&#8217;s North Side. The killings became known as the St. Valentine&#8217;s Day Massacre. The dead were members of a North Side gang run by George &#8220;Bugs&#8221; Moran, who had a rivalry with Al Capone and his gang. (Chicago Tribune archive)<\/p>\n<p>Seven men, suspected to be members of George \u201cBugs\u201d Moran\u2019s gang, were lined up against the wall of a garage on Clark Street, the gang\u2019s headquarters, and killed by rivals\u2019 machine guns in what became known as the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/enews.chicagotribune.com\/q\/7yPs5JQN3jx0Yre0DP42CsvLFZ2D6n_ld867ZcOJa2pydW1vcmVAZ21haWwuY29tw4gL0M1BtnYdKBLmGvsqaymIOSdFNA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/enews.chicagotribune.com\/q\/7yPs5JQN3jx0Yre0DP42CsvLFZ2D6n_ld867ZcOJa2pydW1vcmVAZ21haWwuY29tw4gL0M1BtnYdKBLmGvsqaymIOSdFNA&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1739454120765000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2-Zd06EdJETkAfSYB2e-D7\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/enews.chicagotribune.com\/q\/7yPs5JQN3jx0Yre0DP42CsvLFZ2D6n_ld867ZcOJa2pydW1vcmVAZ21haWwuY29tw4gL0M1BtnYdKBLmGvsqaymIOSdFNA\">St. Valentine\u2019s Day Massacre<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>It savagely achieved its purpose: eliminating the last challenge to Al Capone for the mantle of crime boss in Chicago.<\/p>\n<p>John Dillinger given up by \u2018woman in red\u2019 (1934)<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"People stand around the blood stain from John Dillinger, 32, in the alley behind the Biograph Theater in Chicago on July 22, 1934. Dillinger was shot and killed by FBI agents after they received a tip from a &quot;woman in red&quot; that he would be at the theater that day. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)\" width=\"5133\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ctc-88382643-e1783715662900.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"38422628\" \/>People stand around the blood stain from John Dillinger, 32, in the alley behind the Biograph Theater in Chicago on July 22, 1934. Dillinger was shot and killed by FBI agents after they received a tip from a &#8220;woman in red&#8221; that he would be at the theater that day. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)<\/p>\n<p>Chicago was in the grip of a weeklong heat wave, and the mercury on July 22, 1934, reached 101 degrees. Twenty-three people died of the heat, but the death that drew the most attention was that of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2024\/07\/18\/vintage-chicago-tribune-john-dillingers-final-days\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">John Dillinger<\/a> \u2014 a 31-year-old Indiana man who, on his birthday a month earlier, had been declared <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fbi.gov\/image-repository\/dillinger-io.jpeg\/view\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.fbi.gov\/image-repository\/dillinger-io.jpeg\/view\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Public Enemy No. 1<\/a>\u00a0by the FBI.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"abNRhIZ6cv\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2024\/07\/18\/vintage-chicago-tribune-john-dillingers-final-days\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Vintage Chicago Tribune: John Dillinger\u2019s final days \u2014 and the \u2018Lady in red\u2019 who helped trap him<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Dillinger was ambushed by federal agents outside Chicago\u2019s Biograph Theater (now known as Victory Gardens Theater), 2433 N. Lincoln Ave. His corpse was put on display at the Cook County morgue.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Battle of Barrington\u2019 (1934)<\/p>\n<p>Bank robber and \u201cPublic Enemy No. 1\u201d Lester Joseph Gillis \u2014 better known as <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-enemy-no-1-kills-us-a\/201335764\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">George \u201cBaby Face\u201d Nelson<\/a> \u2014 was killed on Nov. 27, 1934, in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2017\/05\/17\/the-battle-of-barrington\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">gun battle<\/a> with FBI agents <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2017\/05\/19\/surviving-witness-son-of-former-fbi-agent-recount-infamous-battle-of-barrington-shootout\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">in Barrington<\/a>. FBI Inspector <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fbi.gov\/history\/wall-of-honor\/samuel-p-cowley\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Samuel P. Cowley<\/a> and FBI Special Agent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fbi.gov\/history\/wall-of-honor\/herman-e-hollis\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Herman E. Hollis<\/a> were also killed.<\/p>\n<p>Chicago\u2019s notorious \u2018Lipstick Killer\u2019 (1945-46)<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"William Heirens, center, is flanked by Chicago Detective Chief Storms, left, and police captain Michael Ahern as Heirens is taken to a detective bureau lineup on July 1, 1946. He was convicted of kidnapping, strangling and dismembering 6-year-old Suzanne Degnan on Jan. 7, 1946. (Chicago Tribune archive photo) \" width=\"2102\" height=\"302\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ctc-189535867.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"38422715\" \/>William Heirens, center, is flanked by Chicago Detective Chief Storms, left, and police Capt. Michael Ahern as Heirens is taken to a detective bureau lineup on July 1, 1946. He was convicted of kidnapping, strangling and dismembering 6-year-old Suzanne Degnan on Jan. 7, 1946. (Chicago Tribune archive photo)<\/p>\n<p>Six-year-old\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-child-stolen-from-her-be\/188323938\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-child-stolen-from-her-be\/188323938\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Suzanne Degnan<\/a> was strangled by an intruder on Jan. 7, 1946, who used a ladder to climb into a window of her Edgewater home. The killer left a note demanding $20,000, but her body was found dismembered and disposed of in city sewers.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"1bi5ddqcle\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2012\/03\/07\/a-timeline-of-the-heirens-lipstick-killer-case\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">A timeline of the Heirens \u2018Lipstick Killer\u2019 case<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2012\/03\/07\/a-timeline-of-the-heirens-lipstick-killer-case\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2012\/03\/07\/a-timeline-of-the-heirens-lipstick-killer-case\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">William Heirens<\/a>, then a 17-year-old University of Chicago student, was\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-expect-arrest-to-solve-s\/188324759\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-expect-arrest-to-solve-s\/188324759\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">caught<\/a>\u00a0and confessed to killing Degnan and two women later that year. He became known as the \u201cLipstick Killer\u201d after scrawling a message in lipstick at a crime scene: \u201cFor heaven\u2019s sake, catch me before I kill more.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Heirens was in prison for 65 years, becoming one of the longest-serving inmates in Illinois history, before he\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2012\/03\/07\/lipstick-killer-william-heirens-dies-after-65-years-in-prison\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2012\/03\/07\/lipstick-killer-william-heirens-dies-after-65-years-in-prison\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">died in 2012<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The shooting of Eddie Waitkus (1949)<\/p>\n<p>Onetime Chicago Cub <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2013\/03\/14\/chicago-woman-was-real-life-stalker-from-the-natural\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2013\/03\/14\/chicago-woman-was-real-life-stalker-from-the-natural\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Eddie Waitkus<\/a>, by then with the Philadelphia Phillies, became the inspiration for \u201cThe Natural\u201d when he was shot in the Edgewater Beach Hotel by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2013\/03\/14\/chicago-woman-was-real-life-stalker-from-the-natural\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ruth Ann Steinhagen<\/a>, a 19-year-old fan.<\/p>\n<p>Grimes sisters\u2019 nude bodies found (1957)<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"Family and friends attend the burial services for Barbara and Patricia Grimes at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery on Jan. 28, 1957. (Chicago Tribune historical photo) \" width=\"4850\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ctc-26347357.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"38423005\" \/>Family and friends attend the burial services for Barbara and Patricia Grimes at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery on Jan. 28, 1957. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-grimes-sisters-find-2-l\/163244790\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-grimes-sisters-find-2-l\/163244790\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">nude bodies<\/a> of sisters Barbara and Patricia Grimes were found on Jan. 22, 1957, along a rural road near Burr Ridge. The girls had <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-young-grimes-sisters-rep\/163244863\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-young-grimes-sisters-rep\/163244863\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">slipped away<\/a>\u00a0from their home in Chicago\u2019s McKinley Park neighborhood a month earlier to see an Elvis Presley movie at a nearby theater, but never returned.<\/p>\n<p>Investigators didn\u2019t find enough evidence to explain their deaths. The official cause of death was exposure to winter cold, and despite an exhaustive investigation and widespread media attention,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2013\/05\/30\/murders-of-2-sisters-in-1956-getting-new-look\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2013\/05\/30\/murders-of-2-sisters-in-1956-getting-new-look\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the case<\/a> remains one of the Chicago area\u2019s most notorious unsolved mysteries.<\/p>\n<p>Killing of eight student nurses (1966)<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"The eight nurses killed by Richard Speck on July 14, 1966, in Chicago. From top left are, Gloria Davy, Suzanne Farris, Merlita Gargullo, Mary Ann Jordan, Patricia Matusek, Valentina Pasion, Nina Jo Schmale and Pamela Wilkening. (Curtis Thatcher Assoc.)\" width=\"1917\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ctc-229056557.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"38334474\" \/>The eight nurses killed by Richard Speck on July 14, 1966, in Chicago. From top left are, Gloria Davy, Suzanne Farris, Merlita Gargullo, Mary Ann Jordan, Patricia Matusek, Valentina Pasion, Nina Jo Schmale and Pamela Wilkening. (Curtis Thatcher Assoc.)<\/p>\n<p>Armed with a gun and a knife, Richard Speck broke into a townhouse on July 14, 1966, in the 2300 block of East 100th Street on Chicago\u2019s South Side and killed eight student nurses who lived there and worked at South Chicago Community Hospital. They were Nina Jo Schmale, Patricia Ann Matusek, Pamela Lee Wilkening, Mary Ann Jordan, Suzanne Bridget Farris, Valentina Pasion, Merlita Gargullo and Gloria Jean Davy. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2016\/04\/25\/richard-speck-attack-survivor-somebody-up-there-was-hiding-me-from-him\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2016\/04\/25\/richard-speck-attack-survivor-somebody-up-there-was-hiding-me-from-him\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Corazon Amurao Atienza<\/a> managed to crawl under a bed and hide while Speck methodically stabbed and strangled her roommates after telling them he would not hurt them, that he just needed money to get to New Orleans.<\/p>\n<p>Speck was\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-nab-killer-suspect-chic\/176439324\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-nab-killer-suspect-chic\/176439324\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">captured two days later<\/a> when an emergency room doctor at Cook County Hospital thought a patient he was treating for self-inflicted gashes looked familiar. The doctor had just had a dinner break and saw the front page of a newspaper featuring the killer\u2019s face. As he was sponging blood off the patient\u2019s arm, he saw the man had a tattoo that said \u201cBorn to Raise Hell\u201d that matched the paper\u2019s description.<\/p>\n<p>Though originally\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-death-verdict-for-richar\/176439624\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-death-verdict-for-richar\/176439624\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">convicted<\/a> and then sentenced to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-speck-sentenced-to-die\/176439744\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-speck-sentenced-to-die\/176439744\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">die in the electric chair<\/a>\u00a0for the murders, Speck was resentenced to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-new-speck-term-400-to-1\/176439892\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-new-speck-term-400-to-1\/176439892\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">eight consecutive terms<\/a> of 50 to 150 years each after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1972 that the death penalty of Illinois and other states was unconstitutional.<\/p>\n<p>Speck\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-richard-specks-death-fa\/156714649\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-richard-specks-death-fa\/156714649\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">died<\/a>\u00a0of a heart attack at a Joliet hospital on Dec. 5, 1991 \u2014 the day before his 50th birthday.<\/p>\n<p>Black Panthers leaders killed in a hail of police bullets (1969)<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"Police gather at an apartment building at 2337 W. Monroe St. following a bloody and controversial raid on Dec. 4, 1969, where Black Panthers Fred Hampton and Mark Clark were killed. (Ed Smith\/Chicago Tribune) \" width=\"4574\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ctc-26756679.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"38422784\" \/>Police gather at an apartment building at 2337 W. Monroe St. following a bloody and controversial raid on Dec. 4, 1969, where Black Panthers Fred Hampton and Mark Clark were killed. (Ed Smith\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<p>Police raided a two-flat on Dec. 4, 1969, at 2337 W. Monroe St. \u2014 the Illinois\u2019 Black Panther Party stronghold \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2019\/12\/03\/in-1969-charismatic-black-panthers-leader-fred-hampton-was-killed-in-a-hail-of-gunfire-50-years-later-the-fight-against-police-brutality-continues\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2019\/12\/03\/in-1969-charismatic-black-panthers-leader-fred-hampton-was-killed-in-a-hail-of-gunfire-50-years-later-the-fight-against-police-brutality-continues\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">killing party leaders Fred Hampton and Mark Clark<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Officially, the Cook County state\u2019s attorney\u2019s 4:30 a.m. raid by 14 Chicago police officers began as the execution of a search warrant to turn up weapons and explosives that the feared Black power group was supposedly hoarding inside.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"CmtxZHLKKs\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2026\/02\/12\/vintage-chicago-tribune-black-panther-sites\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Vintage Chicago Tribune: Black Panther heritage sites in the Chicago area<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>But survivors described a far more frightening scene: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-black-panthers-leaders-f\/38971233\/?locale=en-US\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-black-panthers-leaders-f\/38971233\/?locale=en-US\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Officers armed with shotguns and rifles opened fire<\/a> on sleeping Black Panther members inside, among them Hampton\u2019s pregnant fiancee. A special federal grand jury determined that police sprayed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2014\/12\/05\/fatal-black-panther-raid-in-chicago-set-off-sizable-aftershocks\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2014\/12\/05\/fatal-black-panther-raid-in-chicago-set-off-sizable-aftershocks\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">82 to 99 gunshots<\/a>\u00a0through doors, walls and windows, while just one shot appeared to have been fired by someone inside.<\/p>\n<p>Hoodlum shot in his basement kitchen (1975)<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"The gun used to kill crime syndicate chieftain Sam &quot;Momo&quot; Giancana was altered for the murder by an expert, gunsmiths said in 1975. The High-Standard .22 caliber Duramatic automatic pistol had been skillfully shortened and threaded for a silencer. (William Yates\/Chicago Tribune) \" width=\"6307\" height=\"509\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ctc-230282166.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"38422828\" \/>The gun used to kill crime syndicate chieftain Sam &#8220;Momo&#8221; Giancana was altered for the murder by an expert, gunsmiths said in 1975. The High-Standard .22 caliber Duramatic automatic pistol had been skillfully shortened and threaded for a silencer. (William Yates\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<p>Just hours after returning from Houston, where he had undergone gallbladder surgery, former Chicago Outfit head Salvatore \u201cSam\u201d Giancana entertained friends and family on June 19, 1975, at his Oak Park home at 1147 Wenonah Ave. Police <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-cops-watching-home-night\/174842771\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-cops-watching-home-night\/174842771\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">conducted surveillance<\/a>\u00a0as revelers entered and exited the home.<\/p>\n<p>Someone shot Giancana five times as he prepared a meal in his basement kitchen. His body was discovered by his live-in caretaker and the caretaker\u2019s wife.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"iNMVxODVSy\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2025\/06\/19\/vintage-chicago-tribune-sam-giancana-final-months\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Vintage Chicago Tribune: Inside the final months of Sam Giancana, former Chicago Outfit head<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cA frying pan containing sausage and spinach was on the stove,\u201d Tribune reporter\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-mob-boss-sam-giancana-fa\/50860365\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-mob-boss-sam-giancana-fa\/50860365\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Weldon Whisler wrote<\/a>. \u201cThe gas was turned off by police when they arrived shortly after midnight, but the food had not burned, indicating that Giancana was shot not long before.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The killing was never solved.<\/p>\n<p>Disappearance of a candy heiress (1977)<\/p>\n<p>Helen Vorhees Brach was last seen alive on Feb. 17, 1977. Brach left an appointment at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where she was given a clean bill of health after a routine checkup.<\/p>\n<p>Not many seemed to notice, at first, that she had disappeared. Brach\u2019s husband, Frank, president of E.J. Brach &amp; Sons candy company, died in 1970. They had no children, and she was close only with few relatives. Her handyman, Jack Matlick \u2014 who claimed he picked Brach up from O\u2019Hare Airport on Feb. 17, 1977, drove her to her palatial house in Glenview, then took her back to O\u2019Hare on Feb. 21, 1977 \u2014 didn\u2019t submit a missing-person report to police until March 1977. Five checks were cashed \u2014 forged with her signature \u2014 after she vanished.<\/p>\n<p>Brach was declared legally dead <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-helen-brach-date-of-deat\/165318342\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-helen-brach-date-of-deat\/165318342\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">in 1984<\/a>, though her body was never found.<\/p>\n<p>John Wayne Gacy arrested (1978)<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"Police proceed to remove a body from John Wayne Gacy's home and transfer it to a sheriff's van on March 9, 1979. (Sally Good\/Chicago Tribune) \" width=\"5642\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ctc-229050067.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"38422876\" \/>Police proceed to remove a body from John Wayne Gacy&#8217;s home and transfer it to a sheriff&#8217;s van on March 9, 1979. (Sally Good\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<p>Investigators uncovered <a href=\"https:\/\/graphics.chicagotribune.com\/john-wayne-gacy-murders-40-years-later\/index.html\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/graphics.chicagotribune.com\/john-wayne-gacy-murders-40-years-later\/index.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">29 bodies buried<\/a> at the serial killer\u2019s one-story, ranch-style house in unincorporated Norwood Park Township \u2014 26 in the crawl space under his home and three more outside the house. Gacy confessed to four more murders, of victims whose bodies were found in waterways south of Chicago.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"GP2sD3bHRk\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2021\/10\/25\/john-wayne-gacy-timeline-of-the-suburban-chicago-serial-killers-case-and-the-efforts-to-recover-name-his-33-victims\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">John Wayne Gacy: Timeline of the suburban Chicago serial killer\u2019s case and the efforts to recover, name his 33 victims<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>After five weeks of testimony from psychiatrists, police, neighbors, acquaintances and family members of the victims, a jury of seven men and five women took less than two hours to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-gacy-found-guilty-chica\/164675754\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-gacy-found-guilty-chica\/164675754\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">convict<\/a> Gacy on March 12, 1980, of killing 33 young men.<\/p>\n<p>Gacy was\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-gacy-senternced-to-death\/167711719\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-gacy-senternced-to-death\/167711719\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">sentenced to death<\/a>\u00a0the next day. He was\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-all-appeals-fail-gacy-i\/167711873\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-all-appeals-fail-gacy-i\/167711873\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">executed<\/a> on May 10, 1994, by lethal injection at Stateville Penitentiary near Joliet.<\/p>\n<p>The Tylenol murders (1982)<\/p>\n<p>Twelve-year-old <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2022\/09\/30\/the-tylenol-murders-40-years-ago-an-infamous-chicago-area-crime-took-these-7-lives\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2022\/09\/30\/the-tylenol-murders-40-years-ago-an-infamous-chicago-area-crime-took-these-7-lives\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mary Kellerman<\/a> of Elk Grove Village died on Sept. 29, 1982, after taking an Extra-Strength Tylenol capsule.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"11TSUhZavl\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2022\/10\/27\/the-tylenol-murders-timeline-of-key-events-before-and-after-the-1982-poisonings\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Tylenol murders: Timeline of key events before and after the 1982 poisonings<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2022\/10\/27\/the-tylenol-murders-read-the-tribune-investigation\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2022\/10\/27\/the-tylenol-murders-read-the-tribune-investigation\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Seven people died<\/a> as a result of poisoning from drug tampering in the Chicago area and panicked the nation. Widely regarded as an act of domestic terrorism \u2014 a term not in the country\u2019s vernacular at the time \u2014 the killings led to tamper-evident packaging, copycat killings and myths about tainted Halloween candy.<\/p>\n<p>Spilotro brothers buried alive (1986)<\/p>\n<p>Anthony Spilotro, 48, and his brother Michael, 41, were\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/1986\/06\/25\/spilotros-found-beaten-to-death\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/1986\/06\/25\/spilotros-found-beaten-to-death\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">beaten with baseball bats and then buried alive<\/a> on June 14, 1986, in a northwest Indiana cornfield. Contrary to what was depicted in the 1995 film \u201cCasino,\u201d the brothers were driven to a Bensenville home where Michael thought he was going to become a \u201cmade member\u201d of the Outfit. Instead, the brothers were beaten with fists, knees and feet in the home\u2019s basement before being <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2007\/08\/02\/spilotro-rumors-put-to-rest\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2007\/08\/02\/spilotro-rumors-put-to-rest\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">driven to the cornfield<\/a>\u00a0and buried.<\/p>\n<p>Dental records were used by their brother, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2009\/02\/06\/mobster-gets-life-term-2\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2009\/02\/06\/mobster-gets-life-term-2\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Patrick Spilotro<\/a>, a dentist, to identify the bodies. The details came out during the 2007 \u201cFamily Secrets\u201d trial, which Tribune editor Jeff Coen wrote about in his\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Family-Secrets-Case-Crippled-Chicago\/dp\/1556527810\/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Family-Secrets-Case-Crippled-Chicago\/dp\/1556527810\/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">2009 book<\/a>, \u201cFamily Secrets: The Case That Crippled the Chicago Mob.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The gang leader and Libya (1987)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-fort-rukn-followers-con\/201341309\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jeff Fort<\/a>, founder of the ruthless <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/1991\/09\/08\/rise-and-fall-of-el-rukn-jeff-forts-evil-empire\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">El Rukn gang<\/a>, was convicted on Nov. 24, 1987, of plotting acts of domestic terrorism from his Texas jail cell in exchange for $2.5 million from Libya. It was the first time that U.S. citizens were brought to trial and found guilty on terrorism charges, the Tribune reported at the time.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"XypuEhnJPu\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2018\/11\/05\/from-the-vault-the-making-of-jeff-fort\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">From the Vault: The Making of Jeff Fort<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Fort is serving an 80-year sentence in the supermax federal prison in Florence, Colorado.<\/p>\n<p>Hubbard Woods Elementary School shooting (1988)<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"Parents take their children home after Laurie Dann shot several second-graders and killed Nicky Corwin, 8, at Hubbard Woods Elementary School on May 20, 1988, in Winnetka. (Chuck Berman\/Chicago Tribune)\" width=\"1973\" height=\"608\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ctc-189396713.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"38423270\" \/>Parents take their children home on May 20, 1988, after Laurie Dann shot several second graders and killed Nicky Corwin, 8, at Hubbard Woods Elementary School in Winnetka. (Chuck Berman\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2022\/05\/26\/vintage-chicago-tribune-revisiting-the-hubbard-woods-elementary-school-shooting-and-laurie-dann\/?lctg=74FB74CAC5A2C5B5347DB43F7B&amp;utm_email=74FB74CAC5A2C5B5347DB43F7B&amp;g2i_eui=b91UfTE%2bmJm%2fz1XD4bJdCsYeMwBzoxme&amp;g2i_source=newsletter&amp;active=yesP&amp;utm_source=listrak&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=https%3a%2f%2fwww.chicagotribune.com%2f2022%2f05%2f26%2fvintage-chicago-tribune-revisiting-the-hubbard-woods-elementary-school-shooting-and-laurie-dann%2f&amp;utm_campaign=trib-chicago_tribune-vintage_chicago_tribune-nl&amp;utm_content=Hybrid\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2022\/05\/26\/vintage-chicago-tribune-revisiting-the-hubbard-woods-elementary-school-shooting-and-laurie-dann\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Laurie Dann<\/a> shot six children at the Winnetka school, killing 8-year-old Nicholas Corwin, during a rampage that ended in her own death in the North Shore suburb.<\/p>\n<p>Killed while walking to school (1992)<\/p>\n<p>Shortly after the 9 a.m. school bell, 7-year-old\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-sniper-kills-kid-steps-f\/182719918\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-sniper-kills-kid-steps-f\/182719918\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dantrell Davis<\/a>\u00a0was shot in the head by a sniper while walking with his mother from his Cabrini-Green high-rise to the Jenner Academy of the Arts. Half an hour later, he was\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/1997\/12\/07\/october-13-1992\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/1997\/12\/07\/october-13-1992\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">pronounced dead<\/a> at Children\u2019s Memorial Hospital.<\/p>\n<p>Later that day, police arrested reputed street gang leader\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/1994\/03\/09\/100-year-sentence-for-dantrell-killer\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/1994\/03\/09\/100-year-sentence-for-dantrell-killer\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Anthony Garrett<\/a>\u00a0in connection with Dantrell\u2019s murder.<\/p>\n<p>Brown\u2019s Chicken murders (1993)<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"Emergency officials remove one of the seven people killed at a Brown's Chicken eatery Jan. 8, 1993, in Palatine. (Jim Prisching\/Chicago Tribune)\" width=\"1756\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ctc-10588036233204482.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"38423498\" \/>Emergency officials remove one of the seven people killed at a Brown&#8217;s Chicken eatery Jan. 8, 1993, in Palatine. (Jim Prisching\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<p>Seven people \u2014 five employees and the couple that owned the restaurant \u2014 were killed on Jan. 8, 1993, inside <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2013\/01\/08\/browns-chicken-killings-20-years-ago-today\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2013\/01\/08\/browns-chicken-killings-20-years-ago-today\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Brown\u2019s Chicken &amp; Pasta<\/a>\u00a0at 168 W. Northwest Highway in Palatine.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2013\/01\/08\/browns-chicken-killings-20-years-ago-today\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2013\/01\/08\/browns-chicken-killings-20-years-ago-today\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Juan Luna and Jim Degorski<\/a> escaped justice for nearly a decade until investigators caught a break. Degorski had told an ex-girlfriend of his role in the killings, and a friend who overheard her talking about it in 2002 went to the police.<\/p>\n<p>Another piece of evidence was crucial to the case. Investigators had saved a discarded meal from the scene, and as DNA analysis improved, they were able to match DNA left on a chicken bone with Luna\u2019s saliva. The two were arrested in May 2002. Luna was convicted of murder in 2007, and Degorski followed two years later. Jurors spared them the death penalty, but both are serving life sentences with no possibility of parole.<\/p>\n<p>11-year-old gang member killed execution style (1994)<\/p>\n<p>Black Disciples-affiliated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/1996\/10\/30\/last-violent-days-of-boys-life-detailed\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Robert \u201cYummy\u201d Sandifer<\/a> was a 4-foot, 6-inch 11-year-old on the run after he allegedly fired the shot on Aug. 28, 1994, that wounded 16-year-old Kianta Britten. Two hours later, Sandifer shot and killed his 14-year-old neighbor Shavon Dean.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"I8HoRmBWsS\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2019\/08\/30\/11-year-old-yummy-sandifer-was-on-the-run-for-killing-a-teenage-girl-then-he-was-killed-by-his-own-gang-in-a-chicago-story-that-shocked-the-nation-25-years-ago\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">11-year-old \u2018Yummy\u2019 Sandifer was on the run for killing a teenage girl. Then he was killed by his own gang in a Chicago story that shocked the nation 25 years ago.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>After an intense police manhunt, Sandifer was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/1994\/09\/02\/robert-executed-at-11-2\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">found killed<\/a>, his body lying in the mouth of a pedestrian walkway at 108th Street and Dauphin Avenue. Less than 24 hours later, neighbors Derrick Hardaway, 14, and his 16-year-old brother, Cragg, were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/1994\/09\/07\/boys-wake-a-lesson-for-roseland\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">charged<\/a> with Sandifer\u2019s murder. Both were <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-2nd-brother-gets-prison\/201345076\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">convicted of murder<\/a> in 1997. Derrick was sentenced to 45 years in prison, but was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.themarshallproject.org\/2020\/11\/20\/i-wasn-t-a-superpredator-i-was-a-kid-who-made-a-terrible-decision\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">released<\/a> in December 2016. Cragg was sentenced to 60 years.<\/p>\n<p>Sandifer\u2019s photo was used on the cover of <a href=\"https:\/\/content.time.com\/time\/covers\/0,16641,19940919,00.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Time magazine<\/a> in September 1994.<\/p>\n<p>Chicago heat wave (1995)<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"The elderly were especially susceptible to the hot weather of the 1995 heat wave. (Walter Kale\/Chicago Tribune)\" width=\"3252\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ctc-181871327.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"38423327\" \/>The elderly were especially susceptible to the hot weather of the 1995 heat wave. (Walter Kale\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<p>The prolonged <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2025\/07\/06\/chicago-1995-heat-wave-30-year-anniversary\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">extreme heat of July 1995<\/a> \u2014 the deadliest weather event in Illinois history \u2014 led to the deaths of 739 people, mostly elderly residents, people of color and those who lived alone. The heat wave also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2015\/07\/15\/fatal-heat-wave-20-years-ago-changed-chicagos-emergency-response\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2015\/07\/15\/fatal-heat-wave-20-years-ago-changed-chicagos-emergency-response\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">redefined<\/a>\u00a0the city\u2019s emergency response and disaster preparedness.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"VwMOTWx8Wo\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2025\/07\/10\/there-are-few-memorials-for-those-chicagoans-who-died-from-the-heat-in-1995-but-we-do-have-these-remnants\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Chicago doesn\u2019t remember one of its worst disasters, and there are few memorials to this day<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Its exact duration \u2014 which, by most accounts, lasted July 13 to July 20 \u2014 is still somewhat difficult to settle on, partly because of dead Chicagoans found in homes and hotels after the heat declined to the low 90s. Even the final number of dead was only settled on months later.<\/p>\n<p>Husband of cosmetics guru Marilyn Miglin murdered (1997)<\/p>\n<p>Real estate magnate\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-real-estate-tycoon-found\/171559272\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-real-estate-tycoon-found\/171559272\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Lee Miglin<\/a> was discovered slain on May 4, 1997, in the garage of his Gold Coast home.<\/p>\n<p>Though there was no known link, police suspect\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-the-many-faces-of-andrew\/171559722\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-the-many-faces-of-andrew\/171559722\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Andrew Cunanan<\/a>\u00a0committed the crime. Cunanan\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/1997\/07\/25\/mystery-remains-cunanans-legacy\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/1997\/07\/25\/mystery-remains-cunanans-legacy\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">killed himself<\/a>\u00a0on July 23, 1997.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Unabomber\u2019 pleads guilty (1998)<\/p>\n<p>Chicago-area native Ted Kaczynski, dubbed the \u201cUnabomber,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-unabombers-career-is-o\/160651842\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-unabombers-career-is-o\/160651842\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">pleaded guilty<\/a> on Jan. 22, 1998 \u2014 almost 20 years after his first pipe bomb exploded \u2014 choosing to spend life in prison rather than be portrayed at trial as mentally ill.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"uSsyAPJQxi\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2023\/12\/10\/unabomber-chicago-native-ted-kaczynski\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">5 things you might not know about Chicago native Ted Kaczynski \u2014 the \u2018Unabomber\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Kaczynski was <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-us-seizes-unabomber-su\/169064171\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" data-ylk=\"slk:arrested;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;link&quot;,&quot;yLinkElementType&quot;:&quot;article_link&quot;}\" data-rapid_p=\"8\" data-y-link-id=\"0ms3nho0oytfv21lqhfy\" data-v9y=\"1\">arrested<\/a> in 1996 at his remote Montana cabin. He was held in the federal supermax prison in Florence, Colorado, since May 1998, when he was sentenced to four life sentences plus 30 years for a campaign of terror that set universities nationwide on edge. He admitted to committing 16 bombings from 1978 to 1995, permanently maiming several of his victims. Kaczynski <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2023\/06\/11\/ted-kaczynski-chicago-born-unabomber-responsible-for-16-bombings-died-by-suicide-in-prison-sources\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">died<\/a> in 2023.<\/p>\n<p>Judge\u2019s husband and mother killed in her home (2005)<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" alt=\"Police block off access to the 5200 block of North Lakewood Avenue while investigators work at the home of a federal judge after two people, the judge's husband and mother, were found slain in the basement on March 1, 2005. (David Klobucar\/Chicago Tribune)\" width=\"2372\" data- src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/ctc-89772809.jpg\" data-attachment-id=\"38423431\" \/>Police block off access to the 5200 block of North Lakewood Avenue while investigators work at the home of a federal judge after two people, the judge\u2019s husband and mother, were found slain in the basement on March 1, 2005. (David Klobucar\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n<p>U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow found her husband \u2014 Michael F. Lefkow, 64, an attorney \u2014 and mother \u2014 Donna Grace Humphrey, 90 \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2005\/03\/01\/federal-judges-family-killed\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2005\/03\/01\/federal-judges-family-killed\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">shot dead<\/a>\u00a0in the basement of her home, less than a year after white supremacist Matthew Hale was convicted of trying to have her murdered for holding him in contempt of court.<\/p>\n<p>Security at the Lefkow home \u2014 including a camera mounted outside the home and guards posted on the block in unmarked cars \u2014 had been beefed up after the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-hale-held-in-plot-to-kil\/166806016\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-hale-held-in-plot-to-kil\/166806016\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">allegations against Hale<\/a>\u00a0emerged in January 2003. But neighbors said the extra measures tailed off about the time Hale was\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-hale-guilty-on-4-counts\/166806159\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-hale-guilty-on-4-counts\/166806159\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">convicted<\/a>\u00a0in April 2004.<\/p>\n<p>On March 7, 2005, investigators told Tribune reporters that\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-lefkow-murderer-may-have\/166806484\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-lefkow-murderer-may-have\/166806484\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">DNA was pulled from a cigarette butt<\/a>\u00a0found in the kitchen sink of the Lefkow home. Out-of-work electrician Bart Ross, who had a long history of ranting against judges and lawyers, shot himself two days later during a traffic stop outside Milwaukee. The DNA from the cigarette butt\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-police-dna-matches-chi\/166806878\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-police-dna-matches-chi\/166806878\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">matched<\/a>\u00a0samples taken from Ross\u2019 body.<\/p>\n<p>Judge Lefkow was determined to <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-judge-i-wont-back-down\/166806978\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-judge-i-wont-back-down\/166806978\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">return to the bench<\/a>. She is now a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ilnd.uscourts.gov\/Pages.aspx?page=tabid=1_MJudgeBio_Lefkow\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.ilnd.uscourts.gov\/Pages.aspx?page=tabid=1_MJudgeBio_Lefkow\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">U.S. District judge<\/a>\u00a0for the Northern District of Illinois.<\/p>\n<p>Back-to-back governors imprisoned (early 2000s)<\/p>\n<p>George Ryan was governor of Illinois from 1999 to 2003. He chose not to run for a second term amid a brewing scandal and ongoing federal investigation related to his time as Illinois secretary of state. Ryan was <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-former-illinois-gov-geo\/152397979\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-former-illinois-gov-geo\/152397979\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">convicted<\/a> in 2006 on 18 felony counts, including racketeering conspiracy, tax and mail fraud and lying to the FBI.<\/p>\n<p>Prosecutors accused him of receiving illegal cash payments and gifts during his time as secretary of state and governor. Ryan was given a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2006\/09\/07\/ryan-gets-612-years\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2006\/09\/07\/ryan-gets-612-years\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">6\u00bd-year<\/a>\u00a0prison sentence. He spent more than five years in a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, and was\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2013\/07\/03\/former-gov-george-ryan-a-free-man-2\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2013\/07\/03\/former-gov-george-ryan-a-free-man-2\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">released<\/a>\u00a0from home confinement in 2013.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"tmF59mafoG\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2024\/08\/24\/dishonor-roll-illinois-government-officials\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Dishonor Roll: Statewide officials<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Rod Blagojevich was\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-illinois-democrats-romp\/153130784\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-illinois-democrats-romp\/153130784\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">elected governor<\/a> in 2002 and served until 2009, when he became the first Illinois governor in history to be\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-impeached-gov-rod-blag\/153132349\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-impeached-gov-rod-blag\/153132349\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">impeached<\/a>\u00a0and removed from office.<\/p>\n<p>The impeachment occurred after Blagojevich was\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2009\/12\/06\/strange-trip-for-illinois-blagojevich-3\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2009\/12\/06\/strange-trip-for-illinois-blagojevich-3\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">arrested<\/a> in late 2008 by federal law enforcement on a series of corruption charges, including attempting to sell the U.S. Senate seat once held by President Barack Obama. At Blagojevich\u2019s first trial, he was convicted of lying to the FBI, but the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-former-illinois-gov-rod\/153132509\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-former-illinois-gov-rod\/153132509\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">jury was hung<\/a>\u00a0on other charges.<\/p>\n<p>At his second trial in 2011, Blagojevich was found <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2011\/06\/27\/blagojevich-convicted\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2011\/06\/27\/blagojevich-convicted\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">guilty<\/a>\u00a0on the more widespread allegations, including the Senate seat charges, trying to shake down a children\u2019s hospital leader in exchange for sending money approved for pediatric services, and seeking a $100,000 contribution from a horse track owner in exchange for signing favorable legislation.<\/p>\n<p>In 2020, President Donald Trump, a Republican later\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2024\/05\/30\/jury-has-reached-a-verdict-in-donald-trumps-hush-money-trial-in-new-york\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2024\/05\/30\/jury-has-reached-a-verdict-in-donald-trumps-hush-money-trial-in-new-york\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">convicted<\/a>\u00a0of felonies himself,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2020\/02\/18\/i-cant-wait-to-get-home-rod-blagojevich-released-from-prison-after-trump-commutes-ex-illinois-governors-14-year-sentence\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2020\/02\/18\/i-cant-wait-to-get-home-rod-blagojevich-released-from-prison-after-trump-commutes-ex-illinois-governors-14-year-sentence\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">commuted<\/a> Blagojevich\u2019s 14-year sentence to about eight years served.<\/p>\n<p>Jon Burge\u2019s \u2018Midnight Crew\u2019 (2010)<\/p>\n<p>Decades after torture allegations were first leveled against former Chicago police Cmdr.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2018\/09\/19\/jon-burge-and-chicagos-legacy-of-police-torture\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/enews.chicagotribune.com\/q\/x_WXhFLULu_0YuslCWoFiJmR36wTII7B8PBdZcOJa2pydW1vcmVAZ21haWwuY29tw4gG82feSVSfq3L1t2pt55rVzRLPmw&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1750868185789000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3-jm2qQ4fGEuFY6Dp4KM3i\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/enews.chicagotribune.com\/q\/x_WXhFLULu_0YuslCWoFiJmR36wTII7B8PBdZcOJa2pydW1vcmVAZ21haWwuY29tw4gG82feSVSfq3L1t2pt55rVzRLPmw\">Jon Burge\u2019s \u201cMidnight Crew,\u201d<\/a> a secret Chicago police internal report surfaced cataloging more than 50 instances of \u201cmethodical\u201d and \u201csystematic\u201d torture by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2018\/09\/19\/disgraced-ex-chicago-police-cmdr-jon-burge-accused-of-presiding-over-decades-of-brutality-and-torture-has-died\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Burge\u00a0and his subordinates<\/a>. Burge himself was never charged directly in any of the torture allegations, though he was <a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-cop-dismissed-in-torture\/166330374\/\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-cop-dismissed-in-torture\/166330374\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">fired<\/a>\u00a0from the Chicago Police Department in 1993.<\/p>\n<p>Although most of Burge\u2019s alleged misconduct took place in the 1970s and \u201980s, his accusers played a fundamental role in former Gov. Ryan\u2019s decision to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2003\/01\/12\/clemency-for-all\/?lctg=74FB74CAC5A2C5B5347DB43F7B&amp;utm_email=74FB74CAC5A2C5B5347DB43F7B&amp;g2i_eui=b91UfTE%2bmJm%2fz1XD4bJdCsYeMwBzoxme&amp;g2i_source=newsletter&amp;active=yesD&amp;utm_source=listrak&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=https%3a%2f%2fwww.chicagotribune.com%2f2003%2f01%2f12%2fclemency-for-all%2f&amp;utm_campaign=trib-chicago_tribune-vintage_chicago_tribune-nl&amp;utm_content=Hybrid\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/2003\/01\/12\/clemency-for-all\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">vacate Illinois\u2019 death row<\/a>\u00a0in 2000 and declare a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-illinois-gov-george-rya\/163771252\/?lctg=74FB74CAC5A2C5B5347DB43F7B&amp;utm_email=74FB74CAC5A2C5B5347DB43F7B&amp;g2i_eui=b91UfTE%2bmJm%2fz1XD4bJdCsYeMwBzoxme&amp;g2i_source=newsletter&amp;active=yesD&amp;utm_source=listrak&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=https%3a%2f%2fchicagotribune.newspapers.com%2farticle%2fchicago-tribune-illinois-gov-george-rya%2f163771252%2f&amp;utm_campaign=trib-chicago_tribune-vintage_chicago_tribune-nl&amp;utm_content=Hybrid\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/chicagotribune.newspapers.com\/article\/chicago-tribune-illinois-gov-george-rya\/163771252\/?lctg=74FB74CAC5A2C5B5347DB43F7B&amp;utm_email=74FB74CAC5A2C5B5347DB43F7B&amp;g2i_eui=b91UfTE%2bmJm%2fz1XD4bJdCsYeMwBzoxme&amp;g2i_source=newsletter&amp;active=yesD&amp;utm_source=listrak&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=https%3a%2f%2fchicagotribune.newspapers.com%2farticle%2fchicago-tribune-illinois-gov-george-rya%2f163771252%2f&amp;utm_campaign=trib-chicago_tribune-vintage_chicago_tribune-nl&amp;utm_content=Hybrid\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">moratorium on capital punishment<\/a>\u00a0in the state.<\/p>\n<p>A federal jury convicted Burge on June 28, 2010, on all three counts of obstruction of justice and perjury for lying in a lawsuit about the torture of suspects in attempts to obtain confessions. He was <a href=\"https:\/\/enews.chicagotribune.com\/q\/BtAYQErQG5l0Y1oRgA5HFO7u-TGCwiqwmCP1ZcOJa2pydW1vcmVAZ21haWwuY29tw4gzOqldWMIeIvLcmn_xu4sxB8XooQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/enews.chicagotribune.com\/q\/BtAYQErQG5l0Y1oRgA5HFO7u-TGCwiqwmCP1ZcOJa2pydW1vcmVAZ21haWwuY29tw4gzOqldWMIeIvLcmn_xu4sxB8XooQ&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1750868185789000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2TRFnLcel9PY6N7x-5PibB\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/enews.chicagotribune.com\/q\/BtAYQErQG5l0Y1oRgA5HFO7u-TGCwiqwmCP1ZcOJa2pydW1vcmVAZ21haWwuY29tw4gzOqldWMIeIvLcmn_xu4sxB8XooQ\">sentenced to prison<\/a> and released in 2014. Burge\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/enews.chicagotribune.com\/q\/7uyhB6na2VL0Y1OmLyYkHBEkGXQi8EDyHDZ0ZcOJa2pydW1vcmVAZ21haWwuY29tw4gTixO7Jj3e4qLKHHq-GYIoqkcuSg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/enews.chicagotribune.com\/q\/7uyhB6na2VL0Y1OmLyYkHBEkGXQi8EDyHDZ0ZcOJa2pydW1vcmVAZ21haWwuY29tw4gTixO7Jj3e4qLKHHq-GYIoqkcuSg&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1750868185789000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3Prm8d0MxVDu_KXYO31g-o\" data-mrf-link=\"https:\/\/enews.chicagotribune.com\/q\/7uyhB6na2VL0Y1OmLyYkHBEkGXQi8EDyHDZ0ZcOJa2pydW1vcmVAZ21haWwuY29tw4gTixO7Jj3e4qLKHHq-GYIoqkcuSg\">died<\/a>\u00a0in 2018.<\/p>\n<p>Lawsuits from Burge\u2019s victims have cost taxpayers many millions in settlements and judgments, much of it paid out of city coffers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Then, as now, America loves true crime stories. That\u2019s why the last edition of our Illinois 250 series&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":928391,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5124],"tags":[374406,374424,374414,181525,197691,374411,374422,960,374410,374416,168050,374419,176456,336578,374420,5386,1818,374405,374408,374426,56429,25445,19814,374427,374425,259821,374415,374407,259817,374413,374418,374409,374417,374421,182386,374412,374423],"class_list":["post-928390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago","tag-abraham-lincoln-grave-robbers","tag-andrew-cunanan","tag-battle-of-barrington","tag-beulah-annan","tag-black-panthers","tag-black-sox","tag-browns-chicken-murders","tag-chicago","tag-eastland-disaster","tag-eddie-waitkus","tag-fred-hampton","tag-fred-hampton-murder","tag-great-chicago-fire","tag-h-h-holmes","tag-helen-vorhees-brach","tag-il","tag-illinois","tag-illinois-history","tag-iroquois-theater-fire","tag-joan-lefkow","tag-john-dillinger","tag-john-wayne-gacy","tag-jon-burge","tag-jon-burge-midnight-crew","tag-lee-miglin","tag-leopold-and-loeb","tag-lipstick-killer","tag-murder-castle","tag-nathan-leopold","tag-richard-loeb","tag-richard-speck","tag-ss-eastland","tag-the-natural","tag-tylenol-murders","tag-unabomber","tag-wanda-stopa","tag-yummy-sandifer"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=928390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/928391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=928390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=928390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=928390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}