A Murder on Halloween

Peter & Betty Fabiano
Peter & Betty Fabiano

It was late on Halloween night of 1957 in Los Angeles.  Beauty shop owner, Peter Fabiano and his wife, Betty were turning out all the lights in their home to go to bed for the night when their doorbell rang.  Mr. Fabiano went downstairs to answer the door, thinking it was a late trick-or-treater.  Mrs. Fabiano, still upstairs, heard her husband ask “Isn’t it late for this sort of thing?”  There was a muffled reply followed by a loud pop and then a thump.  As Betty ran downstairs she heard the squeal of tires on pavement as a vehicle sped off.  She found her husband sprawled on the floor, bleeding from a gunshot wound to the chest.  Mrs. Fabiano called for help, but unfortunately her husband died on the way to the hospital.

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AMY ARCHER-GILLIGAN: Murder at the Nursing Home

Amy Archer-Gilligan
Amy Archer-Gilligan

“Sister” Amy Duggan Archer-Gilligan was born in Milton, Connecticut on October 31, 1873. She was somewhat of a pioneer in the care of the elderly. During her time, not many nursing homes existed because up until then it was considered the family’s obligation to care for their loved ones.  She was the owner of “Sister Amy’s Nursing Home for the Elderly,” and later, “Archer Home for the Elderly and Infirm.” Pioneer she may have been, but these are no nursing homes where you would have wanted to send your loved ones. “Sister” Amy was later proven to have murdered at least five people, though that number is likely much higher.

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Serial Killer H.H. Holmes and his Famous Murder Castle

Herman Webster Mudgett, better known as Dr. Henry Howard Holmes, was born May 16, 1861 in Gilmanton, New Hampshire.  He was one of the first recorded American serial killers.

Mudgett had a difficult childhood, growing up with a violent alcoholic father.  His mother was a devout Methodist who read the Bible to him. He claimed that, as a child, once his classmates discovered he was afraid of the local doctor they forced him to look at and touch a human skeleton.  The bullies just wanted to scare him, but some believe that instead this is where his fascination and obsession with death started.

In June of 1884 Mudgett graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School.  While attending school he stole bodies from the laboratory, disfigured them and then claimed the people were killed accidentally so he could collect insurance money from policies he took out on each deceased person.

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Frankie Silver Murders Husband in 1831

Frankie Silver
Frankie Silver

frankie drawing

Frances “Frankie” Silver was born in 1815.  She was hung in Morganton North Carolina on July 12, 1833 for killing and dimembering her husband, Charlie Silver.  She was only 18 years old at the time of her death.

Frankie married Charlie at the age of 14.  A year later she gave birth to their daughter, Nancy.  The couple’s happiness did not last for long, however.  Charlie began drinking heavily and abusing Frankie.

Just days before Christmas of 1831 Frankie reported her husband missing after he did not return from a hunting trip.  Many people residing in Mitchell County helped search for Charlie, but they never found any sign of him. Finally, Jack Cullis who was a local hunter, discovered burnt human remains in the fireplace at the Silver’s cabin in the mountains.  There were more body parts found around the property, including underneath the cabin’s floor.

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The Lawson Family Murder: A whole Household Lost

Charles Davis Lawson was a tobacco farmer from Stokes County North Carolina.  The Lawson family owned a farm on Brook Cove Road near Germantown.  He lived there with his wife, Fannie (37), and their seven children:

Marie (17)

Arthur (16)

Carrie (12)

Maybell (7)

James (4)

Raymond (2)

Mary Lou (4 months)

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