Great Unsolved Crimes

By Louis Solomon

I read this book rather quickly.The brief accounts of what happened leaves you wondering why the author left out details.I believe this book is better suited for the young adult reader catergory. One... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0590030205
• ISBN13: 9780590030205
• Release Date: January 1977
• Publisher: Scholastic
• Weight: 0.22 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Some Forgotten Mysteries

This book tells about six famous unsolved crimes, now long forgotten. It is an easy reading book that does not tell why these crimes were selected. "The Great Free Fall Robbery" is about the hijacking of an airliner by "D.B. Cooper". "Murder on Fifth Avenue" is about the death of Serge Rubinstein in 1955. He was an "international financier". "The Ten Hot Old Masters" tells about the 1933 theft from the Brooklyn Museum. "The Man with the Monkey Nose" is about the first kidnapping in 1874 America. Charley Ross was kidnapped and never found even after the ransom money was paid. "The Vanishing Bones" tells about the bones of "Peking Man" which disappeared during the turmoil of World War II. "The Ma and Pa Murders" covers the murder of Abby and Andrew Borden in 1892 Fall River Massachusetts. After Lizzie Borden was acquitted, self-appointed amateur investigators began trying to reverse the verdict. Many people today have the idea she was guilty! Besides Lizzie and their maid Bridget, there was a strange young man hanging around the Borden house that morning who was never identified or found. Andrew Borden was a self-made millionaire who operated just within the letter of the law. He was hated by the small businessmen he had ruined, the mill hands he exploited, the tenants he evicted, and the debtors who had to pay usurious interest rates. Abby was little known and had no known enemies. Lizzie was known as a "warm, kind, and loving person" who did church welfare work. A real estate deal in 1887 put a house in Abby's name. August 4, 1892 was another ordinary day, but a heat wave was hitting Fall River. Andrew left home after 9 AM to go downtown to his bank, then returned around 10:40. Bridget saw Andrew resting on the couch when she went upstairs to her third floor attic bedroom. Bridget came down just after 11 AM when Lizzie screamed for her. Lizzie said she had gone out to the backyard, to the barn, to the loft in the barn before she returned to find Andrew dead. No one else was known to be in the house. Later Abby was found, killed almost two hours before Andrew. Lizzie said "it wasn't Bridget or anyone who worked for Father"! So Lizzie was the logical suspect. She had given conflicting statements at the inquest. The legend of a dutiful daughter slaughtering her parents seemed to fill some void in the psychology of people, so they believe this. Public opinion favored Lizzie; her pastor, associates in the YMCA, WCTU, suffragettes, and women's rights supported her defense. Lizzie's statements at the inquest were banned from the trial (no Miranda warning). People believed the police were trying to frame Lizzie because they could not solve the crime. Did a five year old real estate transfer cause Lizzie to suddenly snap? Could Lizzie be both a cunning criminal and a blundering idiot? The jury quickly found her 'not guilty'. Lizzie and Emma bought a bigger house and lived together for 12 years. Then Emma moved away to live in seclusion in New Hampshir