The First Principle of any study of crime is there is an antecedent for everything. "That thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done; and there is no new thing under the sun."
From The Daily Perspective:
On this date in 1927....
Today, disgruntled school board member, Andrew Kehoe, set off dynamite at a school in Bath, Michigan, after killing his wife and setting fire to his farm. Kehoe was allegedly upset over a property tax increase in order to fund the school building. Kehoe claimed the tax put his farm in foreclosure.
"Explosion of dynamite mysteriously planted under the foundations of the Bath Consolidated grade school here today, took an estimated toll of between 30 and 40 young lives and completely demolished the west wing of the two story brick structure," The Warren Tribune reported. "Work of the physicians and nurses was hampered by the heartbreaking search of parents for their children. Parents went from group to group and the general rescue activity was frequently interrupted by the sobbing of a mother who had found what she feared."
The bombing killed 45 people, most of them children under 12-years-old. After the bombing, Kehoe drove his car into a crowd of rescuers and detonated a bomb, killing himself and the schools superintendent while injuring several more. The disaster was the worst attack on a school in American history.
And another entry from the same folks that underscores the First Principle -- on this date in 1975:
Norma Jean Armistead checked herself into the Kaiser Hospital in Hollywood, California, after claiming to have given birth at home. Armistead, a nurse at the hospital, confused doctors by showing no evidence of giving birth. Doctors pieced together the evidence after Kathryn Viramontes was soon discovered at her apartment in Van Nuys stabbed to death with her baby cut from her womb. "Authorities said Armistead took the Viramontes infant to the hospital after the murder and claimed to be the natural mother. However, hospital authorities became suspicious and notified police," The Oakland Tribune reported on December 10, 1975.
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I recall a similar case to Armistead's in the early 90's, though for the life of me I can't find anything about it.
Excellent blog, by the way.
Posted by: Stephen Blackmoore | May 18, 2006 at 11:51 AM
The Kehoe case demonstrates that this type of violence is nothing new. The circumstances change but the crimes remain the same. There isn't more violence now, per person. There are just more people and better information flow.
I just discovered your blog this week, and I like it a lot!
Posted by: Julie Brown | May 18, 2006 at 07:18 PM