5 Shocking Stories About Notorious Criminals That Were Hoaxes
As morbid as it can feel, it’s easy to get swept up in the details of a twisty-turny crime. Sometimes, though, the twists are disappointingly more of a slight wobble. Whether to sell newspapers, secure some other reward or spice up a confession, people have actively perpetuated misinformation about seriously famous crimes.
Lizzie Borden Was (Not) Pregnant
In 1891, Boston Daily Globe reporter Henry G. Trickey developed a rivalry with private detective Edward D. McHenry, possibly over who had the cooler middle initial. He wasn’t too proud to put that aside, however, to beg for details about the arrest of Lizzie Borden for the murder of her father and stepmother, desperately needing a big scoop to outdo the other papers. McHenry obliged, hinting at a possible motive by telling Trickey that Borden was pregnant, but he was still salty, so it was a lie. The hoax was uncovered within a day of its publication, which might be a record in the time of print journalism.
Jack the Ripper (Didn’t) Write (At Least Some of the Letters) to Police
Jack the Ripper was the first serial killer to taunt the police and media through a series of letters — or was he? Many of the letters — including the first, which gave him his nickname — have been flagged as probable forgeries. The first two were likely written by the same person, but it was probably an employee of the very newspaper that published them, while the rest were a mishmash of clearly different authors. The real Ripper was either deeply offended or just grateful for the cool nickname.
The Lindberg Baby Was (Not) Kidnapped By the Mob
As rich people in distress, the Lindberghs fell victim to a lot of scammers in the wake of the kidnapping of their toddler son in 1932, but little was more compelling than the rumors swirling that the mob had taken the baby. After all, it was the ‘30s in New Jersey — the mob was up to tons of shady shit. They were also freely admitting it — and offering to help for a fee. No less a figure than Al Capone claimed he knew who had the Lindbergh baby and could totally hunt them down if he was just let out of prison for two teeny weeks. You can guess how that went over.
The Boston Marathon Bombing Was (Not) Committed By Anyone Reddit Says
The aftermath of the 2013 bombing of the Boston Marathon was mayhem, so the internet did what it always does when confronted with chaos: make it a thousand times worse. In this case, Reddit pored over photos from the event and identified several random Arab men as suspects. They very much were not, at least as far as anyone with authority was concerned, but now they’ll forever be linked with terrorism whenever anyone googles their name. That’s what they get for participating in athletics.
David Berkowitz Was (Not) Under Orders of a Dog
The “Son of Sam” got his name from the dog, owned by neighbor Sam Carr, who he claimed was possessed by a demon who told him to kill six people, but according to Berkowitz, the dog was as good a boy as any other. He claims that he made the whole thing up because he suspected his lawyers intended to get rich selling books and screenplays about the story and he wanted to make it sound as dumb as possible so nobody would ever want to read a book or watch a movie about it. He was, uh, wrong. Sorry, Dave. We actually love dumb murders even more.