Most Intriguing Classic Unsolved Single Murder Poll

[Dragonfyree]

I would vote for the murder of Arlis Perry - October 1974 at the Stanford Memorial Church on the Stanford University Campus.

What I find interesting was that a note about her murder was written in a book that David Berkowitz (Son Of Sam) had.

And how little information there is about this murder.

 

[txsvicki]

Mine is Mary Shotwell Little who vanished from a shopping mall in 1965. The series of events, clues left inside her car, sightings of her and the fact the woman who replaced her at her job was found murdered. Very fascinating case.

http://www.buckhead.net/history/mystery/msl_a.html

GA GA - Mary Shotwell Little, 25, Atlanta, 14 Oct 1965 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community


And the disappearence of the Beaumont Children in Australia in the mid 60's. The site linked is a great website about the case with tons of information.

http://www.beaumontchildren.com/

I agree about Mary Shotwell Little. So many different clues or possible leads in different places.

 

[Belinda]

I would have to go with Elfrieda Knaak. That is one of the most bizarre cases I have ever read.

 

[STANDREID]

Interesting that one case has more votes than all the other unsolved single murder cases for all time.

 

[eileenhawkeye]

Interesting that one case has more votes than all the other unsolved single murder cases for all time.

That one case...The Black Dahlia/Elizabeth Short...also has a much higher name recognition and probably has more information out there about it than the other cases.

 

[kdblaisdell]

It's a tie between the Boy in the Box and The Taman Shud Case. It's both a UID and cold case.Taman Shud Case - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[STANDREID]

That one case...The Black Dahlia/Elizabeth Short...also has a much higher name recognition and probably has more information out there about it than the other cases.

I would pretty much agree although I think in England the Wallace Case might be a bit of a challenge.

 

[STANDREID]

40 years ago, I'd heard only heard of two on the list and that's because they were the only ones in the news.

 

[eileenhawkeye]

Back then, you just had the radio, newspapers, and the evening news that was only an hour long every night, right? The media is so much bigger now, that a lot more cases get coverage, but I also think it makes it easier to avoid them.

 

[STANDREID]

That's mostly true although the library probably had books with all these cases in them. At the time, I wasn't really looking though. I heard about the Percy Case on TV, radio and the papers. The first I heard about the Sheppard Case was in a magazine article, I think. At that time, it was regarding Sheppard's appeal although it did give an account of the murder as one would expect. Although a bit lurid, the popular source 40 years ago were detective magazines.

 

[STANDREID]

Although they still endure in England, I think the last of the classic U.S. detective magazines ceased publication around early 1999. If there were any extant after that, I couldn't find them.

 

[Laura_Bean]

I voted for other. I vote the Sodder Children who went missing from WV on Christmas eve.

 

[STANDREID]

I have seen some British detective magazines for sale at Barnes & Noble but not lately. Does anyone know if any Canadian ones are still in print?

 

[STANDREID]

William Desmond Taylor also seems to have a bit of a cult following.

 

[STANDREID]

William Desmond Taylor also seems to have a bit of a cult following.

Taylor with Taylorology is the only crime other than JtR with Ripperology that I know of that has its own study name.

 

[STANDREID]

Yes, there are cases pretty much known to everyone like Lizzie Borden, those widely known only mostly by crime buffs like Hall-Mills and those known primarily only in local lore.

The case of Fay Rawley would be our big local one.

 

[STANDREID]

That one case...The Black Dahlia/Elizabeth Short...also has a much higher name recognition and probably has more information out there about it than the other cases.

That is true but I think before the 2006 movie 98% of the general populace had never heard of even this case.

 

[Dreamnine]

I think with The Black Dahlia/Elizabeth Short it's the shocking photos as much as anything else.

I do know that the case featured in true crime books from years ago.

 

[eileenhawkeye]

That is true but I think before the 2006 movie 98% of the general populace had never heard of even this case.

Are you sure about that? It's one of the most infamous unsolved murders and it's hard for me to believe that some movie, that didn't even make back its budget at the box office, is the reason for that. There was also a video game and multiple books made about the case years prior to 2006.

 

[orora]

j.f.k. !