Ann Marie Ackermann is a former American lawyer, now living in Germany. Her book, Death of an Assassin, the true story of a 19th century German murderer who died defending Robert E. Lee in battle, will be published by Kent State University Press in 2017.
Who knew? Abraham Lincoln picked up his pen not only to scratch out the Gettysburg Address and Second Inaugural Address. He also wrote poetry and true crime. His one true crime short story, published in the Quincy Whig in April 1846, is based on a...
His parents assumed he was dead. The grave digger did too. Well, maybe. If he thought it was strange that the corpse of the six-year-old child, two days after his purported death, vomited and hadn’t yet entered rigor mortis, he didn’t do anything...
Where can you find the greatest number of true crime titles under one roof? Laura James, attorney and true crime author, recently posted a blog about the Borowitz collection at Kent State University. Albert Borowitz himself published about...
Sherlock Holmes had his magnifying glass. A modern detective will bring things like evidence tags, fingerprint kits, and latent bloodstain reagents. What did a 19th-century detective pack into his forensic kit to bring to a crime scene? Let’s ask...
No other arrow in history has set so many quills into motion as William Tell’s apple shot. Tell’s composure and courage have thrilled composers and poets alike. Rossini’s overture and Schiller’s dramatization are only two expressions of admiration...
I recently helped solve a crime. All because I knew when to call the police. On the bus, several passengers — about 10 of us — overheard another passenger talking on her cell phone. She mentioned a theft one of her companions had just...
People love them. Restaurants hate them. And that’s why the law had to step in. When a European vintner suspends a bush, broom, or ivy bunch outside his door, that signals the sale of homemade wine and cheap, country food on his farm. The “vintner’s...
Part Two: The Offender, Jefferson C. Davis It was a shot that echoed through Civil War history, but not through the corridor separating North and South. When one Union General, Jefferson C. Davis, aimed a pistol at another Union General, William...
Part One: The Victim Not all bullets in the Civil War were exchanged between North and South. One of the most spectacular crimes of the Civil War, besides the Lincoln assassination, was the murder of Major General Bull Nelson from Kentucky. A fellow...
Dogs love stench. They are attracted to different fragrances than we are. They poke in garbage, sniff rear ends, and flop down on the beach to roll in dead fish. So it is not surprising that incidents of dogs discovering homicide victims sprinkle...
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