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[t-r-u-3-c-r-1-m-3-j-u-n-k-i-e]

Edward James Adams

Edward James Adams (April 23, 1887 – November 22, 1921) was a notorious American criminal and spree killer in the Midwest. He murdered seven people–including three policemen—over a period of around 14 months, and wounded at least a dozen others. At age 34, Adams was surrounded and then killed by police in Wichita, Kansas.

Born

William Joseph Wallace

April 23, 1887 Hutchinson, Kansas, U.S.

Died

November 22, 1921 (aged 33–34) Wichita, Kansas, U.S.

Cause of death

Gunshot wounds

Conviction(s)

Bank robbery, murder

Criminal penalty

Life imprisonment

Victims

7

Span of crimes

1920–1921

Country

United States

State(s)

Kansas and Missouri

Early life

Edward James "Eddie" Adams was born in 1887 on a farm in Hutchinson, Kansas, as William Joseph Wallace. His father died when he was young, and his mother remarried. He had a strong disdain for his stepfather, as well as for physical labor. He learned the barber trade and moved to Wichita in the early 20th century. There, he met John Callahan, and quickly became involved in bootlegging, petty robberies, and car theft.

Adams was handsome and charismatic, and attracted many women and hangers-on. His wife left him after growing weary of his illegal activities and infidelities.

He soon formed his own gang and began committing bank and train robberies throughout Kansas, Missouri, and Iowa, eventually earning a reputation as the premier bandit in the Midwest by the early days of Prohibition.

Murder and Kansas City

In 1920, through Callahan, Adams formed a partnership with outlaw brothers Ray and Walter Majors, and, on September 5, attempted a daylight robbery against a notorious Kansas City gambling den on Grand Avenue owned by Harry Trusdell. However, a shootout between the bandits and tough employees of the illegal casino resulted in the death of gambler and gunman Frank Gardner and the eventual capture of the gang by police.

Adams was sentenced to life imprisonment in February 1921. The Majors brothers received lesser sentences by agreeing to plead guilty to robbery, and were both sentenced to five years' imprisonment. Both brothers eventually died in prison. A third Majors brother involved in the botched robbery attempt, Dudley, escaped from the scene, only to be later arrested and serve time in Delaware.

Midwest crime spree

While being transported to the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City, Missouri, Adams escaped custody by jumping off the train, and several days later joined Julius Finney in the robbery of a bank and general store in Cullison, Kansas, on February 11, 1921. He was captured on February 17, 1921, near Garden Plain, Kansas, by a posse, after wrecking a stolen car under a bridge. Convicted of bank robbery, Adams was sentenced to serve 10 to 30 years at the Kansas State Penitentiary in Lansing, in addition to his life sentence in Missouri for murder.

On August 13, Adams once again successfully escaped imprisonment after sabotaging the prison power plant and scaling the prison walls during the night, along with inmates Frank Foster, George Weisberger, and D.C. Brown. The driver of the getaway car was Billy Fintelman, a World War I veteran who had turned to a life of crime. With the exception of Brown (who was recaptured days later), the fugitives eluded capture from state authorities and eventually formed what became the newest incarnation of the Adams gang.

By September of that year, joined by Fintelman, the gang robbed around $10,000 from banks in Rose Hill and Haysville, Kansas. During the Haysville robbery, Adams pistol-whipped 82-year-old James Krievell for no apparent reason, who later died of a fractured skull.

On October 8, police attempted to trap the gang near Anoly, Kansas, but the gang managed to escape after a gunfight that left Deputy Benjamin Fisher wounded. The gang was spotted 11 days later after stealing $500 in silver from a bank near Osceola, Iowa. This was followed by another attempt by a posse to apprehend the gang just south of Murray, Iowa, where the gang rested for several hours along a gravel road just a few miles from town. Having spotted the gang's vehicle, suspicious farmer Charles William Jones (1870–1921) contacted Murray Sheriff Ed West, and a group was formed to investigate and intervene.

Upon approaching the vehicle, Sheriff West was met at point-blank range with a revolver to his face that failed to fire. He was able to take cover, and a shootout followed in which several members of the posse were seriously injured. Jones, having heard the gun battle from his farm up the road, grabbed his shotgun and ran to aid sheriff West and his group. The gang, who had by now fled from the original site, drove up the road and exchanged fire with Jones, which left him mortally wounded.

Heading for Wichita, the gang's crime spree continued - robbing 11 stores in Muscotah, Kansas, and abducting and later robbing two motorcycle officers outside Wichita, where their motorcycles were set on fire. Back in Wichita, on November 5, 1921, Adams shot and killed Patrolman A.L. Young in cold blood while Young was on duty. The motive behind the killing was said to be a mutual love interest, who had chosen the company of the officer over the outlaw. The gang then committed their most successful robbery with the theft of $35,000 after robbing a Santa Fe express train near Ottawa, Kansas.

Downfall

On the evening of November 20, 1921, Adams, along with Foster, Nellie Miles (a local madam and long-time friend of Adams), George J. McFarland (a local thug and bootlegger), and two alleged prostitutes, were joyriding around Wichita. Another car carrying Fintelman, his wife, Weisberger, P.D. Orcutt, and two unnamed ladies, followed at high speeds. Two motorcycle policemen pulled over the vehicle carrying Adams, and a gunshot came from the vehicle; whether the shot was fired by Adams or Foster is unknown, but it killed patrolman Robert Fitzpatrick. The outlaws sped away, released the women, and fled south into Cowley County.

Later that night, the trio ran out of gas and stopped at a farm, where Adams attempted to steal a vehicle from farmer George Oldham. When Oldham resisted, Adams shot and killed him. Adams and Foster took the car, while McFarland ran away alone into the night. The duo returned to Wichita in the stolen car. The next day, Adams and Billy Fintelman went to McFarland's house to look for him, only to find two officers waiting. Adams shot and wounded officer Ray Casner, while the other policeman hid under a bed. Adams once again escaped.

Adams hid out until the funeral of fallen officer Fitzpatrick on November 22, at which he assumed the bulk of the police force would be present. He had planned to rent a car to leave town for good, but the proprietor of the garage recognized him and contacted police. Three officers arrived on the scene. Adams shot at them, fatally wounding detective Charles Hoffman, who had pulled Adams to the ground. Officer Charles Bowman was also hit by gunfire. D.C. Stuckey, hiding behind a pillar, shot Adams three times and killed him.

Eddie Adams' body was publicly displayed in the City Undertaking Parlor in a grisly celebration of the end of a reign of terror. More than 9,000 people viewed the slain outlaw. In the end, 18 people were arrested as accomplices and hangers-on of Adams. Four were sent to the Kansas State Penitentiary, including Frank Foster, who was sentenced to remain there for life.

[t-r-u-3-c-r-1-m-3-j-u-n-k-i-e]

Tony Alvin Ables

Tony Alvin Ables (born December 28, 1954) is an American serial killer who murdered one man and later three women and girls of various ages in the Tampa Bay area. Officially convicted of two murders, Ables was later connected via DNA evidence to two other murders in 2006: of 84-year-old retiree Adeline McLaughlin in 1983, and his 31-year-old girlfriend Deborah Kisor in 1987. Despite their romantic involvement, Ables was not charged with Kisor's killing, and is yet to be tried for McLaughlin's. He is currently serving a life sentence for killing another girlfriend, 48-year-old Marlene Burns, in 1990.

Born

Tony Alvin Ables

December 28, 1954 (age 69) St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S.

Other names:l

Tony Abels

Thadaisis Gordon

Michael Jones

James Selbe

Conviction(s)

Murder

Criminal penalty

Death; commuted to life imprisonment

Victims

4+ (2 convictions)

Span of crimes

1970–1990

Country

United States

State(s)

Florida

Date apprehended

June 4, 1990

Imprisoned at

South Bay Correctional Facility, South Bay, Florida

Murders

Ables' first murder occurred at age 15 in 1970, when he killed a man during a robbery in St. Petersburg. He was quickly arrested for that murder, and in March 1971 pled guilty to first-degree murder, receiving a life sentence. In 1983, after serving 12 years at a state prison, he was released on parole and got a job as a construction worker.

Five months after his release, on June 25, he broke into the apartment of 83-year-old Adeline McLaughlin, a retired widow from Worcester, Massachusetts, by breaking through her window. He suffocated McLaughlin with a pillow and then proceeded to burglarize her apartment. The killing shocked the neighboring tenants, who knew Adeline as a mysterious yet friendly old lady.

On Valentine's Day, 1987, Ables sexually assaulted and murdered his 31-year-old girlfriend at the time, Deborah Kisor, of Monterey, California. She was last seen the previous day making a phone call from a payphone in front of an apartment building. Her body, dressed in only a blouse and a jacket, was found by a passer-by walking along a path near Roser Park bridge. She had bruises on her legs, with a blue pair of jeans laying beside the body. Despite being romantically involved with Kisor, Ables was not arrested as a suspect in her murder at the time.

On June 4, 1990, after getting into a drunken argument with his new girlfriend and roommate, 48-year-old Marlene Burns, Ables pushed her down the stairs, beating and kicking her to death afterwards. As he was leaving the apartment and wiping the blood off his hands, he was seen by witnesses, who had already called the authorities to report a domestic dispute. When police arrived, they arrested Tony on the spot and soon charged him with first-degree murder, holding him without bail at the Pinellas County jail.

Trial and imprisonment

In early June, Tony Ables was convicted of killing Burns and sentenced to die in the electric chair, but two years later, his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment by Justice Bob Barker. The reason for this was that Ables suffered from mental health issues, a claim that was corroborated by his brother Anthony, who said that their rocky childhood, in which their father abused their mother to the extent that she left the family, was a definite contributing factor.

The McLaughlin and Kisor murders remained unsolved until 2006, when homicide detectives submitted Ables' DNA to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which matched with evidence found on both women's bodies. Ables was not charged with killing Kisor but officials consider the case closed. As for the McLaughlin murder, he was officially booked for it, but has yet to be charged. According to Police Major Michael Puetz, there is a strong possibility that Ables could be responsible for other crimes, for which he has yet to be connected with.

[t-r-u-3-c-r-1-m-3-j-u-n-k-i-e]

Francisco Acevedo

Francisco Acevedo (born September 2, 1968) is an American serial killer who was convicted of strangling three women to death in New York between 1989 and 1996. Acevedo was linked to the murders in 2009 after voluntarily giving his DNA as a parole condition for drunk driving. In 2012, he was sentenced to 75 years to life imprisonment.

Born

Francisco Acevedo

September 2, 1968 (age 55) Meriden, Connecticut, U.S.

Conviction(s)

Murder ×3

Criminal penalty

75 years to life imprisonment

Victims

3

Span of crimes

1989–1996

Country

United States

State(s)

New York

Date apprehended

April 21, 2010

Early Life

Francisco Acevedo was born in Meriden, Connecticut on September 2, 1968, one of three children to Yadira Acevedo. His parents divorced when he was 14 years old, after which he moved in with his father. According to court records, he abused alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine at the age of 12.

Acevedo dropped out of high school during his freshman year and worked a series of jobs, including as a laborer, a cook at a pizzeria, a dishwasher at Testa's Silvertown Inn, and a midnight baker at Dunkin' Donuts.

In the 1990s, he was living in Mount Vernon, New York. He met his wife while working at New Way Kitchen, with whom he would have two sons.

Crimes and trial

On July 3, 1986, three years before his first known murder, Acevedo picked up a woman in his company truck in Meriden and drove her to a secluded area, where he bound her hands, blindfolded, and sexually assaulted her. The woman fled after he fell asleep, and he was arrested and sentenced to ten years in prison. He was released in June 1988.

On November 11, 1997, he was charged with third-degree assault on his wife in Yonkers; however, the charge was later dismissed. On August 30, 1998, he was arrested again for breaking his wife's nose after punching her in the face. He was convicted of a misdemeanor and served nine months in jail.

Acevedo was arrested in Brentwood on January 26, 2009, his fourth time for drunk driving. While in prison, he gave a sample of his DNA as part of an optional parole application. His DNA was linked to evidence from three decade-old murder victims:

Maria Ramos of the Bronx, murdered on February 5, 1989, aged 26

Tawanda Hodges of the Bronx, murdered on March 28, 1991, aged 28

Kimberly Moore of Greenburgh, murdered on May 24, 1996, aged 30

Each victim was found naked and beaten, and were posed after their deaths. Investigators were aware of the murders being connected due to matching DNA found on each victim. However, they had no suspect whose DNA matched prior to Acevedo's arrest.

Acevedo maintained his innocence, claiming that he had sexual intercourse with the victims but had no involvement in their murders. He was acquitted of three counts of rape, as the victims were known prostitutes. He was found guilty of the murders on the first day of jury deliberations and was sentenced three times to 25 years to life imprisonment, each to be served consecutively, totaling to a minimum of 75 years. He is currently incarcerated at Green Haven Correctional Facility.

https://www.practicalhomicide.com/current/Yonkers.htm