Elena Semander

popular name: Dan Broderick

date_of_death: November 5, 1989

age: 44

cause_of_death: Murdered - gunshot wounds

claim_to_fame: Crime and their Victims

best_know_for: In 1965 Betty met her future husband, Dan Broderick at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana. After bearing him four children, working a variety of jobs and keeping the household running, Dan was able to graduate with both a law degree from Cornell University and a medial degree from Harvard University. After working at a couple of law firms, Dan struck out on his own in San Diego, California. In short order Dan was pulling in up to $300,000 a month and was, for the most part the most powerful attorney within the legal community in San Diego at that time. He was president of the San Diego bar association and he won every case he fought and cultivated deep friendships with most of judges and court personnel. In short order he hired a 21-year-old failed flight attendant (she was fired from Delta Airlines for "conduct unbecoming") as his personal assistant (even though she didn't know how to type). Within weeks the married attorney with four children began a torrid affair with the future trophy wife Linda Kolkena. After a vicious legal battle lasting five years, Betty was only awarded roughly $28,000 lump sum, $16,000 a month in alimony (less than 5% of Dan's gross income) and she lost custody of all her children. Three months later, Dan married Linda and seven months they were both murdered in their bed by Betty Broderick.

popular name: Bobby Franks

date_of_death: May 21, 1924

age: 14

cause_of_death: Homicide - beaten and asphyxiated

claim_to_fame: Crime and their Victims

best_know_for: Bobby Franks was the son of the very wealthy Chicago real estate speculator and developer Jacob Franks. On May 22, 1924, the body of 14-year-old Robert "Bobby" Franks was found murdered on Chicago’s South Side. The murder would launch the infamous Leopold and Loeb trial. The criminal trial that followed — “the trial of the century” — would go on to captivate the nation and catapult defense attorney Clarence Darrow to fame.

popular name: Charles Lawson

date_of_death: December 25, 1929

age: 43

cause_of_death: Suicide by Gun

claim_to_fame: Crime and their Victims

best_know_for: Charles Lawson was a North Carolina tobacco farmer born on May 10, 1886, who became infamously known for the tragic and shocking murders of his own family on Christmas Day in 1929 in Germanton, North Carolina. Lawson, reportedly a hardworking man, had recently moved his wife, Fannie, and their seven children into a new home and was thought to be relatively prosperous. Just days before the killings, he took his family to town to buy new clothes and have a formal family portrait taken—an unusual gesture that later seemed eerily significant. On December 25, 1929, Lawson brutally murdered his wife and six of their children before turning the shotgun on himself. Only his eldest son, Arthur, survived, as he had been sent into town on an errand. The motive behind the murders has remained a subject of speculation for decades, with theories ranging from financial stress and mental illness to dark rumors of incest. The case has since become a haunting part of North Carolina folklore, inspiring books, songs, and documentaries. Charles Lawson and his entire family were all laid to rest is one large grave at the Browder Family Cemetery in Germantown, North Carolina.