10 Famous Homicide Cases In Pennsylvania That Will Never Be Forgotten
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Christi
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In 2015, National Geographic reported that evidence of the oldest known homicide had been uncovered – literally. Paleontologists in Spain found a 430,000-year-old skull that bears evidence of traumatic injury. Every community has its grisly tales of murder including the Coal State. And though every slaying is a tragedy, some serial killers in Pennsylvania will go down in history as the most famous murders in Pennsylvania. That’s certainly the case with the murders below, which are without a doubt 10 of the most bizarre and famous murders in Pennsylvania history.
Harvey M. Robinson is not only one of the youngest serial killers in Pennsylvania but also in all of American history, and the only serial killer from Allentown, PA. From 1992 to 1993, he raped and killed three women in the city, who ranged in age from 15 to 47. He is currently on death row.
Miranda Barbour was a 19-year-old newlywed when she confessed to slaying over 20 victims. The confession came after she and her husband, Elytte Barbour, were arrested for the murder of a man that Miranda lured on Craigslist. (Remember that website?!) Barbour claimed that she started murdering people across the country as part of a satanic cult that she joined in Alaska.
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Adam Leroy Lane is nicknamed the "Highway Killer" because he was a truck driver and usually attacked his victims while on duty. This Pennsylvania serial killer went on a murderous rampage in 2007, taking the lives of victims in Harrisburg, York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. He is currently serving life in prison.
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The notorious murders of three siblings occurred in 1934 but have yet to be forgotten by the community. Elmo Noakes and his niece fled California after their family objected to their moving in together. When they ran out of money, Noakes smothered his three children and buried them in a shallow grave in Cumberland County. After the children's bodies were discovered, the couple used the last of their money to purchase a handgun, which they turned on themselves.
Gary Styles was a traveler in a carnival throughout the duration of his life thanks to a genetic deformity that made his hands look like lobster claws. He was notoriously bad-tempered towards his family, a quality that culminated the day he shot his daughter's fiancée in the face with a shotgun. Eventually, his wife paid a fellow carnival worker $1,500 to kill her menacing husband, making this not only one of the most famous murders in Pennsylvania but one of the strangest too.
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Thorman was a 13-year-old servant when she fatally burned a toddler on the stove. When she was caught by the infant's aunt, she confessed to slaying three other children in the same manner, claiming that "I did it because I have the devil in me."
When it comes to Pennsylvania murder victims, a large number were slain by Charles Cullen. A former nurse with a penchant for murder, Cullen is often considered to be the most prolific serial killer in American history with over 300 victims. Though he was from New Jersey and worked there, he spent parts of his nursing career in Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton. Eventually, Cullen was arrested in connection with a patient's overdose. He confessed to 40 murders, but investigators estimate the actual number to be much higher.
Robert Wayne Marshall knew that his crime was so heinous that he killed himself before the police could catch him. The 37-year-old man would have been under arrest for dismembering and disemboweling two men in 1988 and 1992.
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Harrison Graham is a case that begs the question of whether an insane person can be responsible for his or her actions or if the shortcomings of the mental health care system should be held accountable. Friends allegedly repeatedly tried to get help for the 28-year-old mentally disabled drug addict, who also suffered from a multiple personality disorder and a fervent attachment to his Cookie Monster doll. After Graham was evicted from his Philadelphia apartment, police discovered the bodies of seven women in his apartment, all in various stages of decay.
In 2009, at just 11 years old, Jordan Brown was arrested for the murder of his father's fiancee, Kenzie Houk, and her unborn child. The fifth-grade boy, an avid reader and football player, allegedly shot the woman before leaving for the school bus. He was tried as an adult and convicted of murder. However, after nearly a decade behind bars, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his conviction.
What lurid news stories of crimes in Pennsylvania keep you awake at night? Did you know about these famous murders in Pennsylvania? Know of any other Pennsylvania murders victims, unsolved crimes, or baffling mysteries? Feel free to share your thoughts and comments.
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Famous Murders In Pennsylvania
Have there been any other famous murders in Pennsylvania?
- One of the state’s most infamous crimes occurred in 2017 when four young men were murdered on a farm just outside of New Hope in Bucks County. Easily among the most tragic and famous murders in Bucks County PA, the slaying of Dean Finocchiaro, Mark Sturgis, Tom Meo, and Jimi Taro Patrick sent shockwaves throughout the nation. In 2020, the cable channel Investigation Discovery aired a two-hour special on the murders called, “The Lost Boys of Bucks County.”
Aside from the famous murders in Bucks County PA, are there any other infamous crimes linked to the state?
The famous murders in Bucks County PA aren’t the state’s only history-making slayings:
- In the 1980s, decades before the famous murders in Bucks County PA, the state was being terrorized by Gary Heidnik, who held six women captive in his Philadelphia residence between 1986 and 1987. One of the women eventually escaped and reported Heidnik to authorities, but not before he committed one of the most famous murders in Pennsylvania. He killed two of the captive women, earning him the nickname the “House of Horrors” killer and cementing his place in infamy.
Have any other famous murders in Pennsylvania inspired TV shows or movies?
Several famous murders in Pennsylvania have inspired TV shows and movies:
- In 2013, for example, the murder of East Pennsboro Township resident Randi Trimble was the subject of an episode of the Biography Channel's "Deadly Ambition" series. A twisted tale, the episode revealed that Trimble’s husband, Brian, and his friend, Blaine Norris, plotted to murder Trimble in an effort to claim her $100,000 insurance policy, which they would then use to fund their low-budget horror movie.
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