10 True Crimes That Left America Speechless

Top 10 True Crimes That Left America Speechless

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down the worst true crimes that took time to fully process and kept the American population on edge.

The Black Dahlia Murder

It was the morning of January 15, 1947 when the body of Elizabeth Short was discovered. The grotesque display of the corpse attracted lurid media attention, as did the deceased’s lack of identity. It quickly became known as the Black Dahlia case, and it took Los Angeles by storm. While the media hungrily pounced, everyday citizens were left in abject terror and the police were left chasing their own tails. They sifted through sixty fake confessions and interviewed over 150 people while others traipsed through storm drains in a desperate search for clues. They came up with nothing substantial, ending the media circus with a frustrated shrug. To this day, Black Dahlia remains one of the most elusive unsolved crimes in American history.

The Lindbergh Kidnapping

Even to this day, nearly 100 years on, the Lindbergh kidnapping is referenced in pop culture and remains synonymous with high profile crimes. The case itself occurred back in 1932, when young Charles Lindbergh Jr. was kidnapped from his home and killed. The kidnapping earned national attention for a variety of reasons, including the fame of Lindbergh’s father, a notable aviator who made the first solo transatlantic flight. The kidnapping quickly became the most pronounced media circus of its day, with journalist H. L. Mencken even calling it “the biggest story since the Resurrection.” It ended with the conviction and execution of a man named Bruno Hauptmann, but many people continue to question his guilt.

The Death of JonBenét Ramsey

When it comes to unsolved crimes, it doesn’t get much more notorious than JonBenét Ramsey. A child beauty queen, Ramsey was discovered by her father on the afternoon of December 26, 1996, and it was evident that Ramsey had died from foul play. The sensational crime quickly attracted media attention and left America completely speechless. Various aspects of the case contributed to its macabre allure, including the age of Ramsey, her career as a child beauty queen, the curious behavior of her family, and a bizarre ransom note that was thought to have been written by Ramsey’s mother. Others focused on the police investigation, arguing that it was incompetently bungled.

The Boston Strangler

Between June 1962 and January 1964, the Greater Boston Area was besieged by a wave of violence that left thirteen women dead. Unfortunately, the case is still littered with frustrating question marks. The killings were attributed to a person known as the Boston Strangler, and while the public and media believed that the Strangler was solely responsible, the police weren’t so sure. The public was seemingly vindicated when a man named Albert DeSalvo confessed to the crimes, and his DNA was found at one of the scenes. However, many experts believe that DeSalvo did not act alone, as there have been numerous inconsistencies in his detailed confessions.

The Unabomber

Real name Theodore Kaczynski, the Unabomber was so-named after his FBI identifier “UNABOM,” which stood for University and Airline Bomber. Between 1978 and 1995, Kaczynski sent various letter bombs through the federal mail system, killing three and injuring a further 23. The case quickly became one of the most notorious in American history, and it left the country in the throes of paranoia. The FBI spent extraordinary manpower in their effort to find the Unabomber, and it became the longest and most expensive manhunt in the Bureau’s history. He was finally captured in 1996, but not before capturing more media attention by publishing a manifesto in the Washington Post.

The Oklahoma City Bombing

Great tragedy often results in great humanity. On April 19, 1995, anti-government extremists Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The blast came from a truck bomb and killed 168 people while injuring 680. It remains the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in American history. The crime gripped the nation and led to an outpouring of relief efforts. Over 12,000 people helped sift through the rubble, 9,000 units of blood were donated, and a flurry of items were sent to Oklahoma, requiring the construction of drop-off centers. One graphic photo in particular left the country speechless, and it would win the Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography.

The Zodiac Killings

There are few murder sprees as notorious as the Zodiac’s. The still unknown Zodiac Killer terrorized Northern California throughout the late ‘60s, killing at least five while taunting the police and media with cryptic letters. The killings received widespread attention and continue to captivate the American public. One of the Zodiac’s cryptograms wasn’t solved until 2020, when it was decoded by a team of private citizens. But this obsession with the Zodiac is certainly nothing new. Back in 1969, the first Zodiac cryptogram was cracked by married couple Donald and Bettye Harden after they saw it in various Bay Area newspapers. But while this collective public obsession has helped solve some cryptic writings, it has not helped in identifying the Zodiac himself.

The Manson Family Murders

At the same time that the Zodiac was terrorizing Northern California, the Manson Family were terrorizing Los Angeles. Throughout the summer of 1969, the dangerous cult killed nine people. But the most famous of all, and the one that continues to captivate the American public, were the Tate–LaBianca murders of August 9 and 10. The killings caused enormous ripples to reverberate through the American consciousness, with some arguing that it gave rise to the Satanic panic and killed ‘60s counterculture. These murders were so unbelievably shocking that they not only left America speechless, they sent it down a very disturbed road that was mirrored in the dark pop culture of the ‘70s.

O. J. Simpson

Arguably the biggest crime story of the modern era, the O.J. Simpson murder case could easily be labeled a media circus. What drew people to this story wasn’t the lurid details of the crime, but the celebrity of Simpson. He had been an incredibly popular football player, starring in iconic commercials and breaking records as a running back. It gave the case notoriety from the outset, with 95 million people watching the infamous Bronco chase on television. The following months saw an unprecedented media circus, with virtually 24/7 coverage in print, radio, and television. One producer at NBC called it “the biggest story [they had] ever seen,” and for good reason. This thing was quite literally everywhere.

The Assassination of John F. Kennedy

Of course, there’s one story that eclipses that of O.J. Simpson, and that’s the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The reaction to the president’s death was understandably swift. A quarter of a million people passed through the Capitol to see Kennedy lying in state. Conspiracy theories immediately sprouted and continue strong to this day, with a majority of Americans believing that some kind of secret is involved. Most notable of all, enraged nightclub owner Jack Ruby shot and killed Lee Harvey Oswald as he was being escorted to county jail. The shocking event was broadcast on TV and a photo of the shooting won the Pulitzer Prize for Photography. There is simply no public response like it.

Do you remember hearing about these on the news? Let us know in the comments below!