All the secret becomes clear someday. No matter how carefully the secret is guarded, there is still someone who has seen or heard something. However, some events turn out to be so confusing that researchers have been trying to explain them for many decades, but they never come to anything. And there is no one to ask, because the participants in these stories have long left our world.
We pretty much broke our heads over the most mysterious incidents from the past. Read about them in our today's article and don't miss the bonus - books and films based on these stories.
Lizzie Borden
Lizzie Borden, a well-mannered girl, handicraftsman, fishing Sunday school teacher, remains in history as one of the most brutal killers, despite the fact that the jury acquitted her.
Lizzie's mother died early, and her father soon married another woman. The relationship between the stepmother and the girl did not work out. Lizzy called her vile and worthless behind her back, but she continued to endure. However, her cup of patience ran out when she learned that her father was going to rewrite the will, according to which almost all the property would be transferred to his new wife.
On August 4, 1892, at 11:10 am, the Borden maid, Maggie, heard a heart-rending cry from the first floor: “Maggie, hurry here! Father is dead! Someone came in and killed him! Andrew Borden's body lay on a couch in the small living room. A servant and a neighbor who came running found in the guest room the dead body of her stepmother - Abby Borden.
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Lizzie's further behavior was highly suspicious. When asked why she didn’t run upstairs for her stepmother, when she saw her dead father, the girl replied that she had received a note asking to help her sick friend and she should not have been at home. Despite a thorough search, the note was never found, and Lizzie assumed that her stepmother burned it.
Despite blatant inconsistencies and conflicting testimonies, Lizzie's reputation as a godly girl played into her hands. The people rose to her defense, and the grand jury passed the verdict: "Innocent!" The girl screamed with joy, and then announced: “Now take me home. I want to go back there right now."
Lizzie Borden lived in her parents' house until old age. Now a museum and a hotel have been founded there (pictured). Anyone can sit on the couch, just like the one that killed Andrew Borden, or sleep on Lizzie's bed.
Writer of the Serquillian Letters
In 1976, the residents of Circleville, Ohio, suddenly began to receive ominous anonymous threatening letters. The unknown was well aware of the private life of the entire town, wrote about details that could only be known to those who followed the Serquillians.
The entire population of the town was hit, but especially one married couple - Mary and Ron Gillspie. An anonymous person claimed that Mary was cheating on her husband with the school superintendent. I know where you live. I watched your house and I know that you have children. I'm not kidding. Take this seriously,”was written in one of the letters addressed to Mary.
On August 17, 1977, Ron Gillspie received an anonymous call, after which he grabbed a pistol, ran out of the house in anger, got into the car and rushed away. His body was found in a car: he crashed in a terrible accident, crashing into a tree. The police found that Ron's pistol was fired once, but the bullet was never found.
However, Mary continued to receive letters, and in 1983 an unknown person began to hang posters on the roads denouncing the woman's infidelity. In the end, she approached to rip off the slanderous piece of paper, but in time she noticed that some kind of rope was stretching from the poster leading to the box. Mary carefully opened the box and saw a pistol aimed directly at her.
The woman immediately reported to the police, and soon law enforcement officers received their suspect. The pistol found in the trap turned out to be that of Mary's ex-brother-in-law, Paul Freshur (pictured). He claimed that his weapon had been stolen from him long ago, but he was still convicted of attempted murder. Additional evidence against Paul was the conclusion of a graphological examination, according to which his handwriting coincided with that of the anonymous author.
But even after the murderer's arrest, anonymous threatening letters continued to harass the residents. Moreover, one of the messages came to Paul Frechur himself, who is serving his term in prison. After that, many believed in Paul's innocence, but the police believed that the letter could have been sent by an accomplice to avert suspicion from Frechur.
Kaspar Hauser
Kaspar Hauser, the "Forest Child" as he was later called, appeared on the streets of Nuremberg (Germany) on May 26, 1828. He was a teenager, about 16, dressed in pantaloons, a silk tie, waistcoat and gray jacket. His boots were so knocked down that bare feet peeped through holes in the soles. The boy kept repeating that he wanted to be a cavalryman like his father.
Caspar held in his hand a letter to the captain of the cavalry regiment. An anonymous author wrote that the boy came under his care on October 7, 1812, and asked the captain either to continue raising the young man or to hang him.
The captain refused to acknowledge any kindred relationship with the guy, and soon Kaspar was arrested and taken into custody for vagrancy. His jailer claimed that the young man was in tolerable physical condition, he had a healthy complexion, but he was mentally retarded. Caspar refused to eat anything other than bread and water. He was fascinated by such simple things as a burning candle or his own reflection in the mirror.
Kaspar willingly talked about his childhood. He lived in a cramped dark closet with a straw bed and wooden toys: a dog and two horses. Every morning he found water and a piece of rye bread by his bed. This went on until one night a man took the boy outside and took him to Nuremberg.
Kaspar's story has sparked a lot of public comment. The theory that the young man is the Crown Prince of Bavaria, replaced in infancy, has become widespread. But the popularity that fell on Hauser led to the fact that he was repeatedly tried to kill. On October 17, 1829, the first assassination attempt was made, and on December 14, 1833, Hauser returned home with a deep wound in the left side of his chest, from which he soon died.
Kaspar's death did not end the debate over whether he was actually the Crown Prince of Bavaria. Several genetic examinations have been carried out, but the results have been conflicting.
D. B. Cooper
On November 24, 1971, a middle-aged man walked into Portland airport, introduced himself as Dan Cooper, and bought a one-way ticket for Flight 305 to Seattle with cash. He had a black suitcase in his hands. Soon after takeoff, Cooper handed the note to the flight attendant. She, having decided that the lonely businessman just wanted to get to know each other without opening it, put the piece of paper in her purse. Then Cooper bent down and whispered, “Miss, you better take a look at the note. I have a bomb."
Cooper asked the girl to convey his demands to the pilots: $ 200 thousand in "freely circulating American currency", 4 parachutes (2 main and 2 spare) and a truck with fuel to refuel the plane in Seattle.
In Seattle, Cooper let the passengers go, but asked for the crew to stay. After refueling and receiving the ransom, the plane took off again. After takeoff, Cooper told the flight attendant to join colleagues in the cockpit and wait behind a closed door. When the plane landed at the airport, Cooper was not found on board. Searches in the area of his possible landing also did not lead to anything.
In 1980, the business received a new development. On vacation with his family, 8-year-old Brian Ingram dug 3 bundles of $ 20 bills from the sand, the numbers of which coincided with the numbers of the ransom notes.
Over the years, while the largest FBI investigation was conducted, a variety of theories were considered and discarded. Federal agents proposed more than 800 suspects, but all had to be released. Most are inclined to believe that Cooper's jump was too dangerous, he died. But then, where are his remains and the rest of the ransom? In 2016, the FBI closed the case, publishing its materials in the public domain on its website.
As is often the case, the criminal who managed to wipe his nose on the Bureau itself became a kind of national hero. The Pacific Northwest is full of shops and restaurants that exploit a DB Cooper theme. The mysterious hijacker even has a holiday of the same name - Cooper's Day, which is celebrated every November.
Leather Man
There are many forgotten graves in the small Sparta Cemetery in Ossining, New York, but one of them is not overgrown with trail and visitors. Which is very strange, because there is a nameless vagrant in it, who died more than 100 years ago. No one ever learned his name, but even during his lifetime he became famous as a Leather Man because of the ridiculous clothing of leather, in which he wandered around.
The Leather Man did not have a permanent home, he was a vagabond in the full sense of the word: for more than 30 years he roamed the same route between the states of Connecticut and New York non-stop, completing one circle on average in 34-36 days.
The locals already knew roughly when he would appear, and many left food for him. The Leather Man gratefully took his meal right on the steps of the porch, but never entered any house. He spent the night even in the most severe frost in one of the many caves, which he built throughout his journey.
The Leather Man never spoke of his name and origin. He spoke good French and spoke broken English, so it was decided that he was from a French province in Canada. The tramp was crazy about leather. He picked up scraps of animal hide, discarded tops of leather boots and lovingly sewed them to his robe.
Everyone was so accustomed to his regular visits that when the Leather Man did not show up at the end of the winter of 1889, the locals became alarmed and went looking for him. His dead body was found in one of his caves in Briarcliff. It was revealed that the Leather Man died of cancer.
Elizabeth Short (Black Dahlia)
Young girl Elizabeth Short came to Los Angeles to become a movie star. Waiting for producers and directors to notice her, Elizabeth worked part-time as a waitress. And the glory came to her. After her death. Few remember the name Elizabeth, but everyone knows the eerie story of the Black Dahlia.
Photo of underage Elizabeth, taken in 1943 when police arrested her for drinking alcohol.
In the early morning of January 15, 1947, housewife Betty Bersinger went with her daughter on business. Suddenly, the woman noticed something large and white in the grass. At first, Betty thought it was a mannequin broken into two pieces, but, looking more closely, she saw that this was not at all the case.
Policemen called to the scene found the woman's mutilated body. By fingerprints, the police quickly identified the deceased as Elizabeth Short, who was soon dubbed in the press "Black Dahlia" by analogy with the noir film "The Blue Dahlia".
The FBI joined the investigation of the terrible crime. The unknown, who identified himself as the murderer of Elizabeth, repeatedly sent letters and packages to the police, sending the girl's personal belongings and saying that her death was deserved. However, the investigation still reached a dead end.
The only clue was a picture from a photo booth with Elizabeth Short and an unknown man. Some suggest that, perhaps, her future killer is standing next to the girl. But whether it is so or not, and what the name of this man is, is still unknown.
Bonus: books and films based on mysterious stories
- Fall River Legend ballet
- Opera "Lizzie Borden" (Lizzie Borden)
- The film "The Curse of Lizzie Borden" (2006)
- The series "The Chronicles of Lizzie Borden" (The Lizzie Borden Chronicles, 2015)
- Film "Lizzie Borden Took an Ax …" (2014)
- Film "The Revenge of Lizzie Borden" (Lizzie, 2018)
- Leo Tolstoy's essay "What is art?": In ch. 5 Caspar Hauser mentioned
- Harlan Ellison's story "The Prowler in the City at the Edge of the World": The story offers a new version of the fate of Kaspar Hauser, according to which the young man was torn from his era and transferred to a parallel the world where he was killed by a sadist named Juliet.
- Fahrenheit 451 (1966) movie: protagonist hides Gaspard Hauser before setting all others on fire
- The film "Every man for himself, and God is against all" (Jeder für sich und Gott gegen alle, 1974)
- Film "The Legend of Kaspar Hauser" (La leggenda di Kaspar Hauser, 2012)
- The Pursuit of DB Cooper (1981)
- 2004 Without a Paddle (2004): A Trinity of Friends Going to Find the Treasure of D. B. Cooper
- The series "Twin Peaks" (1990-1991): the main character, Dale Bartholomew Cooper (Dale Bartholomew Cooper), got his name in honor of D. B. Cooper
- The series "Escape" (Prison Break, 2005–2017): one of the heroes admits that he is the very same DB Cooper
- The animated series We Bare Bears (2014 - present): In the episode "$ 100" ($ 100), the bears find a black suitcase labeled "Property of D. B. Cooper"
- The Black Dahlia novel by James Ellroy
- Film "Black Dahlia" (The Black Dahlia Haunting, 2012)