The Lizzie Borden trial made a huge splash in the newspapers of the time,not only in Fall river, Massachusetts, where the double axe murder occurred, but across the country. Police investigations of families with any kid of social status were not known for suspecting upright citizens- they tended to think immigrants or low-lifes were responsible. And investigations were limited- very poor when held up to today's standards. Lizzie was declared not guilty by a jury- even when all the evidence led to her murder of her stepmother and father.

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Also called #Route29Slaker and #theshenandoahmurders, the Rte. 29 murders in Virginia terrified citizens and travelers beween 1996 and 2014.According to witnesses on Route 29, the unidentified stalker would flag down womwn who appeared to be driving alone on a stretch of rte 20 between Manassas and Charlottesville. Some women escaped from him and were able to provide sketch artists with his face and profile. He was never caught nor identified over a period of 20 years. Of the nine murders/disappearances only the cases of Morgan Dana Harrington (2009), Alexis Murphy (2013) and Hannah Graham (2014)were solved,ending in convictions of their murderers- the other cases are still unsolved. The search forand investigation of Alicia Showalter Reynolds (1996) still continues.

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It was the Hearst newspaper story of the new century in 1902. Everybody loved Jolly Jane Toppan- the loving, caring nurse- until her patients, friends, enemies, and relatives started dropping like flies. When they finally caught up with her, she copped the insanity plea, and told the whole story, admitting to at least 31 deaths she had caused. But many believed she had done away with 100 souls in her 5 years of killing.

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