Elena Semander

popular name: Allan Pinkerton

date_of_death: July 1, 1884

age: 64

cause_of_death: Gangrene (disputed)

claim_to_fame: Crime and their Victims

best_know_for: Allan Pinkerton was a Scottish cooper, abolitionist, detective, and spy, best known for creating the Pinkerton National Detective Agency during his time in the United States. When the Civil War began, Pinkerton served as head of the Union Intelligence Service during the first two years, heading off an alleged assassination plot in Baltimore, Maryland while guarding Abraham Lincoln on his way to Washington, D.C. as well as identifying troop numbers in military campaigns. His agents often worked undercover as Confederate soldiers and sympathizers to gather military intelligence. Pinkerton himself served on several undercover missions as a Confederate soldier using the alias Major E.J. Allen. Following Pinkerton's service with the Union Army, he continued his pursuit of train robbers, including the Reno Gang. He was hired by the railroad express companies to track outlaw Jesse James, but after Pinkerton failed to capture him, the railroad withdrew their financial support and Pinkerton continued to track James at his own expense.

popular name: Dr. Francis E. Sweeney

date_of_death: July 9, 1964

age: 70

cause_of_death: Natural causes

claim_to_fame: Crime and their Victims

best_know_for: From 1935 to 1938, 12 bodies – some people say 13 - were dumped in the area known as Kingsbury Run, a creek bed that ran from East 90th Street and Kinsman Road to the Cuyahoga River. The victims included seven men and five women. Most were hobos and prostitutes, people living on the edge at a time when Cleveland was hard hit by the Great Depression. Many weren't missed for months. Then 80 years after Frank Dolezal was murdered in his prison cell as the suspected serial killer, multiple investigators have uncovered both old and new evidence that most certainly points to Dr. Francis Sweeney as the actual Cleveland Torso Murderer. Dr. Sweeney perfectly fit the profile of the Cleveland Torso Murderer and had the medical expertise required for dismembering human bodies. Alas we was never arrested as he committed himself to a mental hospital after extensive questioning by Eliot Ness, special agent assigned to the killings. He died in 1964 and was interred at Calvary Cemetery in Cleveland, OH.

popular name: Anthony Spilotro

date_of_death: June 14, 1986

age: 48

cause_of_death: Murdered - mob hit, blunt force trauma, asphyxia

claim_to_fame: Crime and their Victims

best_know_for: Anthony "Tough Tony" Spilotro started out as an enforcer for the Chicago Outfit. He later ran a burglary ring known as The Hole In The Wall gang and took over Outfit operations in Las Vegas. Things were problematic for Spilotro in Vegas. In addition to being blacklisted from all Las Vegas casinos by Harry Reid, he also had an affair with fellow Outfit Vegas controller Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal's wife, which is a big no-no according to mafia ethics (such as they are.) Tony's mishaps in Vegas piled up, creating all kinds of noise and attention that accumulated into a mess that eventually sent boss Joey Aiuppa and Jackie Cerone to prison. Plus, it's been reported that Aiuppa was incensed that Tony was sleeping with Lefty's wife. The Outfit boss decided it was time for The Ant to die. In 1986 Spilotro and his brother Michael were lured to a home in Bensenville, IL and murdered in the basement. They were buried in an Indiana cornfield.