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40 Random Bits of True-Crime Trivia to Make You Go Full Pepe Silvia

Get out your red string! We’ve got some dots to connect

40 Random Bits of True-Crime Trivia to Make You Go Full Pepe Silvia

January 31, 2025

If you’re as into true crime as we are, feel free to print out these facts and plaster them on a massive corkboard. You never know, each one might be a clue in a big case! But if you’re more of the consumer type than the sleuth type, feel free to just get these in your brain as quickly as possible and get back to your favorite true-crime show.

Spoiler alert: The husband did it!

40

Dr. Death

The most prolific serial killer in recorded human history was a doctor. CRACKED.COM British doctor Harold Shipman (also known as 'Doctor Death') was proven to have murdered at least 250 of his patients but may have killed as many as 459 people. — BBC

39

Frances Glessner

The first female U.S. police captain also invented dollhouse crime scenes. Frances Glessner created her dioramas, which she called Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death, in the 1940s to help train forensic investigators. CRACKED.COM — Source: Smithsonian Magazine

38

Thor Christiansen

A potential victim of a serial killer survived a gunshot to the head. Serial killer Thor Chris- tiansen was only caught because his fifth would-be victim survived and recognized him months later in a bar and reported him to police. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Source

37

Wisconsin Police

CRACKED + CATCHING A DOUBLE MURDERER In 2010, Wisconsin cops used Google Maps to spot a green Kia minivan that had been seen near the place where a double murder happened - - this helped them to catch the suspect. Turns out, the guy wasn't smart enough to ditch the van. — WISTV

36

Ted Bundy

In June 1977 Ted Bundy served as his own defence lawyer in a murder case against him. He was allowed to walk without handcuffs or shackles. He was als

35

Natalie Wood

CRACKED NATALIE WOOD'S DEATH REMAINS A MYSTERY. The Oscar nominated Rebel Without a Cause actor died mysteriously in 1981 while filming Brainstorm on Catalina Island. Her death was listed as suspicious, and her ex-husband Robert Wagner remained a person of interest until 2022. The case remains cold. — Page Six / Life

34

Witching

WEIRD WORLD The National Forensic Academy is teaching future police witching. 62-year-old Arpad Vass teaches his students witching, a centuries-old practice in which a person walks a straight line holding two bent pieces of metal until they signal the presence of whatever is being sought underground. In this case, human remains. CRACKED.COM — The Marshall Project

33

British Columbia

The mystery: severed Feet repeatedly washed up on British Columbia's beaches. People attributed them to plane crashes or a serial killer. The answer:

32

John Bodkin Adams

CRACKED.COM John Bodkin Adams was a wealthy doctor (and maybe a serial killer). Doctor Adams' wealth had a dubious origin - he had his elderly female patients write him into their wills, and then he would (allegedly) alleviate their suffering with an injection. Не was never convicted for murder, but he was still found guilty of forging prescriptions and other such suspicious going-ons. — Source

31

Long Range Acoustic Devices

CRACKED.COM NZ BOYS COM West Police use weaponized sound. Sound weapons aren't just a science-fiction technology. Police forces sometimes disperse crowds with a device called LRAD (Long Range Acoustic Device), which hits you with a beam of sound of around 137 dB. The effects of this sonic shotgun include nausea, vertigo, and of course, hearing loss. — Source

30

Jam Master Jay

CRACKED JAM MASTER JAY'S MURDER WENT UNSOLVED FOR ALMOST 20 YEARS. The Run-DMC DJ was murdered in 2002 during a recording session, and the case remained cold until Karl Jordan and Ronald Washington were charged in 2021. Their trial is set to take place in 2024. — ABC / Rollingstone

29

Samuel Little

Samuel Little was the most prolific American serial killer. FBI WASHINGTON FIELD OFFICE EVIDENCE RESPONSE TEAM CRACKED.COM Не claimed to have killed as many as 93 women and the FBI has confirmed his involvement in at least 50 murders, the largest num- ber of proven cases for any serial killer in US his- tory. — Source

28

Shoplifter

CRACKED savers savers phormacyEXPIR HEALTH HOME BEAUTY to de SOS ers so.ers 00 FOOD SMALT ec. ers CATCHING A SHOPLIFTER In 2016, a woman running out of a store in the UK was spotted by a guy on Google Street View. She was wearing the same clothes as when she was arrested for theft, which ended up being key evidence. Lesson: don't steal with a Google van around. — Express

27

Ted Bundy

Ted Bundy talked people off the ledge. One of the most infamous serial killers actually saved lives as a suicide hotline operator. And, like Hannibal Lecter, he once helped police catch a notorious serial killer. CRACKED — State Archives of Florida/Wiki Commons,
Damon Shaff/Shutterstock
Murderpedia

26

Google Maps

CRACKED SOLVING A SEXUAL ASSAULT CASE In 2017, the Milwaukee Police used a Google Maps request to help solve a kidnapping and sexual assault case. This request allowed Google to search for devices near the crime scene, which led to the arrest of two suspects. — NBC

25

Fingerprint Science

CRACKED.COM MYTH: Found fingerprints at the crime scene? Bingo! REALITY: There are no true consensus as to how and if fingerprint forensics really work. The precision and methodologies of fingerprint forensics have been questioned and opposed by a lot of experts (even entire countries). The claim that no two fingerprints are identical has still not been proven, but the error rate has. Point is that it's not an exact science, and shouldn't be believed to be. — Source

24

The Doodler

IDENTITY UNKNOWN The Doodler 10/2 Case The Doodler was a serial killer in San Francisco in the 1970s. Не targeted gay men and killed them by stabbing them. CRACKED — San Francisco Police Department/Wiki Commons
San Francisco Chronicle

23

22-Year-Old Cold Case Solved

CRACKED Moon Bay cir SOLVING A 22-YEAR-OLD COLD CASE In 2019, police in Florida were able to find the body of William Moldt who had disappeared 22 years earlier. This was only possible because a person who used to live in the area noticed a car submerged in a pond on Google Maps. — BBC

22

Mosquito Detective

A killed mosquito at the scene of a crime led police to a suspect. CRACKED.COM Chinese local police caught the burglar through DNA analysis of the blood- stain left by a squashed mosquito. Police were then also able to solve three other burglary cases all linked to the same man. — Global Times

21

The Golden State Killer

CRACKED THE GOLDEN STATE KILLER Joseph DeAngelo, a 74-year-old ex-cop, pleaded guilty to being the Golden State Killer, who committed assaults and murders in California 40 years prior. It took law enforcement decades to solve the crimes, which were linked through DNA they'd finally retrieved from his car door. — The Guardian

20

Gun-Related Murders

GUN-RELATED MURDERS ARE THE HARDEST TO SOLVE. Evidence such as DNA is often not found when a gun is used, leading to fewer arrests and convictions tha — More: Scary (And Infuriating) Reasons Murders Don't Get Solved

19

The I-70 Killer

... TELL US NOW. THE I-70 KILLER : a I-70/I-35 SERIAL KILLER MIDWEST 4 E M L N COMPOSTE OF SAME WHITE MALE 22 TO 32 YEARS OLD Kenneth S. tells US about the I-70 slayings. In 1992 in Indianapolis, Robin Fuldauer was working by herself at a Payless. A man came in, shot her in the head, then took a few dollars from the register. Three days later, the same thing happened to a woman working at a bridal shop in Wichita. Police linked those murders to four additional ones. All the victims were petite with shoulder-length brown hair who worked — Source: Tell Us Now: 14 Haunting Unsolved Mysteries

18

Villisca

CRACKED VILLISCA AXE MURDER HOUSE This house, in Villisca, lowa, was the site of a gruesome, unsolved murder case from the early 1900s. People can take a tour of the house and even spend the night for $400. The graves of the victims are located at the nearby Villisca Cemetery. THE Villycca Ax Murder House JUNE 192 — Source

17

Renew Your License!

PROVE IT, COPPER! CRACKED.COM In 2011, a California gang member was arrested for driving with an expired license. While in custody, police noticed that his chest tattoos depicted an unsolved liquor store robbery and murder. After questioning, he confessed and was convicted. — Source: 15 Embarrassingly Kooky Details From The World Of Organized Crime

16

DNA Evidence

Since 1989, 365 convicted prisoners have been exonerated by DNA evidence. 28% had confessed. 20 were on death row. CRACKED COM — Source: 25 Unsettling Stats That'll Shake Your Foundations

15

The Night Stalker

Serial killer Richard Ramirez, the Night Stalker, was once pulled over by a police Officer when he was speeding away from a crime scene in a stolen

14

Texas

An overhaul of the Texas. Justice system including more prisons and executions can be traced back to one serial killer. Kenneth McDuff, a Texas serial killer who was on death row, was paroled, committed more murders and then finally executed. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Texas Monthly

13

Salvador Dali

When Dali's remains were exhumed, his mustache was still perfectly intact X His body was removed for DNA samples for a paternity case, 28 years after his death. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM — Source: 14 Now-You-Know Facts From Art History

12

Frozen

Animation code from Frozen was used to solve a 63 year old, erm, 'cold' case. CRACKED.COM The Dyatlov Pass incident left nine Russian hikers dead in 1959. Engineers recently relied on animation codes in Frozen to prove a long- standing theory that an ava- lanche resulted in the deaths of the nine hikers. — IndieWire

11

Sir Harry Oakes

The case of Sir Harry Oakes sounds like an Agatha Christie novel Sir Harry was found dead at his Bahamas mansion in 1943. Не had been bludgeoned to death, partially burned, and covered with feathers. There was an attempt to frame his son-in-law for the murder, and the Duke of Windsor (formerly the freaking King Edward VIII) hovered suspiciously around the case. SOL GRACKED.COM — Source

10

The Hinterkaifeck Murders

THE YEAR WAS 1922... THE HINTERKAIFECK MURDERS HAPPENED Regarded as Germany's most famous unsolved crime, the killing of a family of five and their maid on a farmstead in Bavaria shook not only the country but also the world as details emerged of the unknown killer who-by the look of the crime scene-spent days after bludgeoning the family to death staying in their home and feeding their animals while the bodies were decomposing in the barn. CRACKED.COM — Source

9

Undercover Indeed

Serial killer Marcel Petiot joined the police force and was assigned his own case. After his crimes were dis- covered, Petiot grew a beard and joined the po- lice using the alias Captain Valeri. Не was searching for himself until someone recognized him, months later. CRACKED NOW YOU KNOW — Crime Magazine

8

The Bear Brook Murders

The culprit in the Bear Brook murders has been identified. When police failed to identify four bodies crammed into metal drums, the case went cold. SH

7

Crime Procedurals

Crime procedurals created something called the CSI effect in juries. It means that juries have expect not only that forensic evidence will be extremely accurate, but that it should be there in every criminal case. CRACKED.COM — Source: Cornell University

6

Selena Gomez

CRACKED Selena Gomez helped solve a murder case. Over one weekend, Gomez helped amateur sleuths solve a real-life cold case at CrimeCon Chicago. The event was organized to help bring peace to Kurt Sova's family by solving his murder. — Silvia Elizabeth Pangaro/Shutterstock
Elle

5

Target

40 Random Bits of True-Crime Trivia to Make You Go Full Pepe Silvia — Source: Target

4

Charles Manson

MYTH: CRACKED Manson and his posse were serial killers. REALITY: None of them were. Serial murder is defined as the killing of three or more people by

3

Glitter Clues

Glitter is just as good as a fingerprint (or better). Alaska officers arrested Michael Alexander on kidnapping and murder charges based on the unique

2

CSI IRL

MYTH8 CSI teams SWeep through the scene of a crime and solve it, fast. FAGT8 That's only on TV. Crime scene investigators don't solve cases. Their rol

1

Serial Killers

CRACKEDCo MoRE SERTAL KILLERS ARE BORN IN ANUARY THAN ANY OTHER MONTH A study of 293 serial killer spread across 29 countries all over the world revea

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