Silas Jayne

popular name: Charles Stuart

date_of_death: January 4, 1990

age: 30

cause_of_death: Suicide by drowning

claim_to_fame: Crime and their Victims

best_know_for: “My wife’s been shot! I’ve been shot!” screamed Charles "Chuck" Stuart into his cell phone as he drove through the Mission Hill area of Boston. Paramedics responding to the call for help found that both Charles and his wife had been shot. Chuck initially pinned the blame on a robbery by a black male, however his story began to unravel and authorities soon realized that he shot his wife in the head and then shot himself in the stomach. Facing two counts of 1st degree murder, Charles Stuart drove to the Tobin Bridge over the Mystic River, and jumped to his death.

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: Cesare Bonventre

date_of_death: April 16, 1984

age: 33

cause_of_death: Mob hit - gunshot wounds

claim_to_fame: Crime and their Victims

best_know_for: As a member of the Sicilian faction of the Bonnano family, Cesare Bonventre worked as a bodyguard for the unofficial boss Carmine Galante. Several members of his family were involved with organized crime, including his uncle John Bonventre, a former Bonanno underboss and his cousins Baldassare “Baldo” Amato and the first family boss Joseph Bonanno. The lean and handsome Bonventre was known as “The Tall Guy” because he stood close to six feet seven inches tall. He was often seen with his shirt unbuttoned with a gold crucifix hanging from his neck. Bonventre was described by one author as having something about him that made him stand out from the other ethnic Italians. He wore stylish clothing, aviator sunglasses and carried European made man purses that embodied Italian couture and frequented clubs such as The Toyland Social Club and the Knickerbocker Avenue area with other Sicilia mobsters. While he may be best remembered for setting up his boss, Carmine "Cigar" Galante, along with associate Baldo Amato for one of the most infamous murders in American mafia, he eventually was murdered himself in a glue factory in New Jersey. Upon his death, he was buried at St. Charles / Resurrection Cemetery on Long Island, NY.