Timothy O'Bryan

popular name: Stanford White

date_of_death: June 25, 1906

age: 52

cause_of_death: Gunshot wounds

claim_to_fame: Crime and their Victims

best_know_for: Stanford White was a celebrated American architect and a partner in the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, one of the most significant Beaux-Arts firms at the turn of the 20th century. White designed many houses for the wealthy, in addition to numerous civic, institutional and religious buildings. When White was 25 years old, he embarked on a year-long tour of Europe, gaining inspiration and honing his techniques. Upon his return to New York in 1879, White entered into an architectural partnership with Charles Follen McKim and William Rutherford Mead to form “McKim, Mead & White.” The firm would go on to produce such iconic structures as the Washington Square Arch (1892), the Brooklyn Museum (1895), the Morgan Library (1903), the Rosecliff Mansion in Newport, Rhode Island and the original Madison Square Garden where he would suddenly and violently lose his life. The grave of Stanford White can be found at St James Episcopal Cemetery in St. James, New York.

popular name: Kitty Menéndez

date_of_death: August 20, 1989,

age: 47

cause_of_death: Homicide - gunshot wounds

claim_to_fame: Crime and their Victims

best_know_for: Kitty Menendez was a former beauty queen, school teacher and mid-level Beverly Hills socialite who was married to entertainment executive Jose Menendez. Sadly Kitty and Jose will always be remembered as the murder victims of their two sons - Erik and Lyle. In August of 1989 the couple’s two sons, Lyle and Erik, drove a small white hatchback up to the house, got their weapons from the trunk and entered the house via the French doors. The first shot from a .12 gauge shotgun hit José in the back of the head and killed him instantly. They continued with two more shots, tearing open both arms. Kitty was not so lucky as they pumped 10 shots as she tried to crawl away with the final shotgun blast to the face. Lyle dialed the fake 911 call and told police they had arrived home after a movie to the grisly discovery as smoke from the gunshots still loomed in the air. But as the months passed after the execution-style deaths, police were struck by the sons’ lavish spending sprees: buying Rolex watches, private tennis lessons, expensive clothing, jewelry, a Porsche, and even a chicken wings restaurant. After two hung juries, a third trial found them guilty of murder and sentenced the two sons to life without parole.

popular name: Big Jim Colosimo

date_of_death: May 11, 1920

age: 42

cause_of_death: Homicide - gunshot wounds

claim_to_fame: Crime and their Victims

best_know_for: James "Big Jim" Colosimo was the first organized crime leader in Chicago who ran a popular restaurant, Colosimo's Cafe, that was a hot spot for vice in Chicago. Colosimo built his empire on gambling, prostitution and load sharking. When Johnny Torrio, his second-in-command, suggested that Colosimo get into bootlegging - Colosimo said emphatically "No!" as he didn't want any attention drawn to the police. Torrio brought in hitman Frankie Yale and had him killed in his own restaurant. Torrio took over and made a then small-time hoodlum named Al Capone his #2 man to build up the bootlegging operation.