Before 1975, the only two I'd heard of were Sheppard and Percy.
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.
Just demographics I suppose.
To some extent, yes, but the UK situation was also very different.
1. Most of the cases which really caught the public imagination and were widely reported were solved, and their fame came from the high profile trials as much as anything. Think of the Evans, Christie, Haigh, Heath, Armstrong, Bentley and Cummins cases, for instance. This was the era of the superstar defence counsel and famous pathologist. Blockbuster trials almost seemed to overshadow the crimes which were the subject of them.
2. On the whole, the crimes best remembered today from from that era were generally serial killers. All of the above mentioned were serial killings except for Armstrong, Bentley and Evans. Or one-offs such as the Great Train Robbery.
3. On the whole, the other crimes from this era which are still remembered are those of children who simply disappeared, such as Sheila Fox (1944) and Moira Anderson (1957) (though the latter is now regarded unofficially as solved while her body is still missing).
There are other single murders that you could have chosen, some of which would probably have a higher recognition than Rose Harsent, such as:
Bella Wright (Green Bicycle Case) (1921)
Bella in the Wych Elm (1943)
Charles Walton (1945)
Emily Armstrong (1949)
But the reality is that there are surprisingly few (known) unsolved murders in the UK during this period. Some of the ones which have best recognition are more recent such as April Fabb, Genette Tate and Suzy Lamplugh.
I think Genette Tate's murder/disappearance is widely accepted as being perpetrated by Robert Black. Although much of the evidence of this is circumstantial and his recent death has led to a halt on the newer investigation into this.
I also consider Lindbergh as basically solved although I doubt that Hauptmann acted alone. Regarding the Bordens, since there are some other credible theories and no conviction, I do not consider that case solved. I do, however, agree that Lizzie most likely did it.
I'm also surprised at some of the cases that have no votes but I guess Dahlia is just too tough a competition.
The case ran cold until 1984 when a detective sergeant who had worked on the Deidre Kennedy case had a chance meeting with two old friends in Toowoomba.
The men were former police officers who had gone into the RAAF as military policemen and were investigating a case at Amberley airbase.
A RAAF recruit by the name of Raymond Carroll had been looking at a young woman's personal pictures and underwear.
Detective Sergeant John Reynolds interviewed Carroll and took hair samples and a cast of his teeth.Carroll said he was at Edinburgh air base at the time of Deidre's murder but an instructor said Carroll was not present for the passing out parade and a fellow recruit recalled him being granted leave for a family medical emergency.
When Carroll was asked under oath at the murder trial in February, 1985, whether he had killed Deidre Kennedy, he replied: "No, I did not".
The jury didn't believe him and he was convicted and given life imprisonment by trial judge Angelo Vasta.
The critical evidence from eminent odontologists was that Carroll had made the bite marks on Deidre's body.
However, Carroll was later acquitted, with the Court of Criminal Appeal putting considerable weight on what it regarded as discrepancies in the dental experts' testimony.
In 2000, Carroll was tried for perjury and found guilty on the grounds that he lied when he said he did not kill Deidre but he was acquitted again and the case went all the way to the High Court, which dismissed the Crown's appeal, meaning he could never be tried again.
In 2003 after public petitions, the United Kingdom passed a bill that modified the rule of double jeopardy so the Crown had a right to appeal acquittals after new and compelling evidence came to light.
Yet in Australia, after two juries found Raymond John Carroll guilty of the murder of Deidre Kennedy, her killer walks free.
My cousin, Billy Baumgartner, 17, was murdered in 1979 in San Mateo, Ca. at the end of his work shift with 2 other male employees, at a Payless Drug Store. The gunman took drugs, money and fled. Gov. Schwarzenegger reopened the case a few years ago. It is the only triple unsolved murder in Ca.
My cousin, Billy Baumgartner, 17, was murdered in 1979 in San Mateo, Ca. at the end of his work shift with 2 other male employees, at a Payless Drug Store. The gunman took drugs, money and fled. Gov. Schwarzenegger reopened the case a few years ago. It is the only triple unsolved murder in Ca.
I can't find a thread for Shirley Collins, I've just read up on it elsewhere, never heard of her case before.