Numerous notorious murders occurred during the 19th Century. Most of them remained unsolved due to lack of evidence and other reasons.
Out of all the unsolved murders, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln is the most famous mystery murder of the 19th Century.
It is considered so as a renowned actor assassinated Lincoln at the Ford’s Theater in Washington.
Another famous murder is the Gatton Murders, where three siblings from the Murphy family are killed. Two sisters are raped and beaten brutally, while the brother is shot in his head.
There are various other murder mysteries with very tragic ends which deserve some justice, including the murder of William Poole, Lizzie Borden’s Murder Case, the killing of Benjamin Nathan, and many more.
Here is the list of the top 10 unsolved murders of the 19th Century.
10. The Murder of William Poole
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William Poole, famously known as Bill Poole (Bill the Butcher), was born on July 24, 1821, and was the leader of the Bowery Boys Gang – the Washington Street Gang. He was also the local leader and an enforcer of the Know-Nothing Party, a potent secret political party of New York City.
During his time in the Know-Nothing Party, Bill had acquired numerous enemies, including a few Irish gangsters and Irish boxer turned Congressman John Morrissey.
Once when Bill and Morrissey were to fight against each other in the rough-and-tumble fight, Morrissey was beaten very badly by some people right before the battle. After Morrissey recovered, he tried to attack Bill by firing at him, but his pistol did not work at that very moment.
One night when Bill was at the Broadway Saloon, he was shot by an unknown person, and the bullet lodged next to his heart. He was able to live for about 14 days after he was wounded.
The Know-Nothing Party organized a massive funeral at the Broadway, where he was buried in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn and had the most extensive public gathering.
The murder of William – Bill Poole remains a mystery today.
9. The Lizzie Borden Murder Case
Lizzie Andrew Borden ( 1860 – 1972 ) was an American Woman living with his father and stepmother until she was 32. She is considered the main suspect in the double murders in 1893.
Andrew Jackson Borden, the father of Lizzie, and Abby Borden, stepmother of Lizzie, were murdered with numerous strikes made by the ax. When the incident occurred, Lizzie’s sister, Emma, was not at home, so Lizzie called her neighbor to comfort her after the death of her parents.
When the police interrogated them, she told them that they were having some issues with the property and that her father had recently killed her pet pigeons, which made her angry. Her relationship with her stepmother was also not so good.
After about a week of the incident, the police arrested Lizzie for the murders, and she was taken to court for trial. But, Lizzie was acquitted due to a lack of clear evidence. The homicide remains a mystery till today with the debate on the evidence.
Though the murder case is unsolved, a nursery rhyme after Lizzie Borden is still used, mainly by the Americans – ‘Lizzie Borden took an ax and gave her mother forty whacks. She gave her father forty-one when she saw what she had done.
8. The Murder of Libero Badaro
Libero Badaro ( 1798 -1830 ), born in Liguria, studied medicine at the University of Torino and Pavia and was an Italian Brazilian physician, journalist, botanist, and politician.
In 1830, while he was returning to his house, he was stopped and questioned by 4 Germans. They tricked him by handing him a gurnard which injured him brutally. He died by pronouncing a phrase that symbolizes the defense of the freedom of the press – I die defending freedom.
To honor Badaro, a constitutional observer dedicated his issue of November 26 to his death, and around 5,000 people with more than 800 lit torches attended the funeral to show respect towards him.
It is considered that the main culprit, Henry Stock of Germany, was hiding in the house of the ombudsman, and the public demanded the arrest of both. Later, Henry was arrested and convicted of his murder.
Libero Badaro is honored in Sao Paulo with a street named after him – Libero Badaro Street.
7. The Murder of Benjamin Nathan
Benjamin Nathan ( 1813 – 1870 ) was an American philanthropist, a wealthy stockbroker, and an investor who wore diamond studs on his shirts and used them to support various charities.
He was elected as a member and later became the President of the New York Stock Exchange in 1851 and also served as the director of Ninth Avenue Street Railway and Chicago- Northwestern Railroad.
In 1870, when Benjamin was at his Manhattan mansion, someone bludgeoned him to death. He was hit on his skull with an iron bar which left him bleeding. The tragic murder took place on July 28 – 29, and the news created chaos amongst the public.
The body of Nathan was first found by his 22-year-old son, Washington Nathan, and 26-year-old son, Federick Nathan, while other members of the family were out at their New Jersey estate.
Though several suspects were identified and put under trial, including Washinton, his profligate son, none of the suspects was indicted. The notorious incident remains an unsolved murder today, even after 150 years.
6. The Murder of John Henry Blake
John Henry Blake ( 1802 – 1882 ), son of Lieutenant- Colonel of Furbo – County Galway, Jon Blake was a member of the Tribe of Galway. He started working as a bailiff ( peace office ) in Furbo and later moved to Kitullagh to work as a land agent.
Later, he became an agent to the worst landlord who was infamous for eviction of tenants in all of Ireland – Clanricarde. He targeted Blake while he was in London.
When Blake, along with his wife, was on their way to attend a mass in Loughrea, they were shot by an unknown. Blake and Thady Ruane, his driver, could not survive the incident, but his wife was able to escape the attack and was alive.
The incident grasped a lot of attention as it happened during the Land War, where numerous other deaths and aggravations were taking place.
The investigation went on for many months, and about 7people were under suspicion, but none of them appeared for the trial. The mystery murders remain unsolved today.
5. The Gatton Murders
The Gatton Murders is about the triple homicide that took place in the town of Gatton, Queensland – Australia.
In the Blackfellows Creek lived the Murphy family. They had a total of 12 members, including parents and 10 children. Out of all 10, 3 siblings, namely Michael, Norah, and Theresa, were murdered.
Michael, Norah, and Theresa went to a Christmas party being held in the hall of Gatton, but when they reached there, the party was over, and everyone had left already, so the trio decided to return home.
The Murphy family realized that the trio had not returned from the party and started looking for them the following day. They found the trio about 2 miles away from Gatton, dead on the grass. Their bodies were on a bloody rug, hands of the two sisters were tied with handkerchiefs.
The investigation had a rough start as no notes were taken on the first visit to the crime scene. Later their bodies were taken for postmortem, and it revealed that Norah and Theresa were raped and beaten brutally while Michael was shot in the head.
Despite investigations and a few suspicions, the tragic triple homicide remains an unsolved murder mystery.
4. The Murder of Sharon Tyndale
Sharon Tyndale ( 1816 – 1871 ), a secretary of State of Illinois – United States, redesigned the Great Seal of the State of Illinois.
In 1867, he requested to redesign the seal with a modified motto from State-Sovereignty-National Union to National Union- State Sovereignty, and it got authorized by the legislature.
Though Tyndale redesigned the Great Seal, he made it look like it was done to show the legislature’s intent. He made the twisted banner with the word Sovereignty turning upside down and remains there with a minor change.
In 1871, after almost 2 years of leaving the office, he was shot dead after being robbed by an unknown while walking towards the railway station near his house in Springfield.
Despite numerous investigations and trials to find the culprit, the tragic murder was never solved. It remains the most famous unsolved murder to date.
3. Juan Prim’s murder
Juan Prim ( 1814 – 1870 ), born in Reus, Spain, was a political figure and a military leader with an impactful role during the Revolution of 1868, which led to the dethronement of the Bourbon Spanish Queen Isabella II.
In 1843, Prim was elected to the Cortes and then took part in a rebellion against the Espartero with the military governor of Madrid. He even planned a conspiracy against the government of Ramon Maria Narvaez and was captured for some time.
In the year 1870, just before the arrival of Amadeus ( King of Spain ) in Spain, Prim was on his carriage, and several unknown attackers shot him from the window of the carriage. He survived the shot for about 48 hours and died on the 3rd day.
The death of Prim deprived Amadeus of a staunch supporter who led contributed to the contribution of the instability of a reign that ended after 2 years.
The autopsy done in 2012 revealed that he might have been strangled on his deathbed, though it is not confirmed to date and the tragic end of Juna Prim remains a mystery until today despite the active investigation.
2. Helen Jewett’s Murder
Helen Jewett ( 1813 – 1836 ), born in Temple, Maine, was the daughter of an alcoholic father. She started working as a servant at the age of 12.
At 18, Helen developed herself as a sexually assertive woman and later became one of the most famous American prostitutes in New York City and worked under fake names.
On April 10, 1836, she was found dead by Rosina Townsend, the matron of a brothel. She had been hit by a sharp object several times, probably a hatchet. It is considered that there was no sign of any struggle, and her bed was put on fire after her death.
The police investigation brought 19-year-old, Richard Robinson under trial based on the testimony given by the woman living in the same brothel. Robinson was a regular customer of Helen but denied the killing and showed no response even after he was shown the corpse.
After numerous trials and hearings, Robinson was let free due to lack of evidence, and the murder remains unsolved today.
1. Abraham Lincoln’s Assassination
Born in a low-income family, Abraham Lincoln ( 1809 – 1865 ) became an American statesman and a lawyer who served the United States as 16th President from 1861 to 1865.
In 1865, Abraham Lincoln had gone to the Ford Theatre in Washington to attend the play – Our American Cousin, and he was assassinated by a famous actor John Wikes Booth.
The news about the assassination traveled all around through the telegraph, and the Americans came to know about it through the newspapers. The article had images related to the killing of Lincoln and the narration of the tragic incident.
Before his last breath, Lincoln asked Booth to convey a message to his mother, saying he gave his life for his country and to raise his hands above his face so that he could see them.
There was a search for Booth and other conspirators with the reward of $100,000. It is considered the most massive search, with about 10,000 federal troops, police, and detectives tracking them.
Conclusion:
All the murder stories traveled quickly since the invention of the telegraph and news when everyone came to know about every detail of it.
Some of the murders had convicts but could not arrest due to the lack of evidence, and unknowns committed some crimes.
There are various other unsolved murders besides the ones mentioned above, namely the Murder of Mary Rogers, Murder of Sakamoto Ryoma, Assassination of Thomas C. Hindman, and Murder of Alexander Boyd. Some of the murderers as Charles Sobhraj and his wife Chantal, still follow some methods in their crimes.
