True crime anniversaries in December
Tinsel, turkey… and a calendar crammed with cases that changed policing, pop culture and the law. Yes, it’s that time of year again. Here are some of the most notable December crime anniversaries the Crime+Investigation team has uncovered.
1st December: The Somerton Man is discovered (1948)
The silly season got off to a bit of a gruesome start for Adelaide locals. On the first of the month an unidentified man was found propped against a seawall on Somerton Park Beach. Months later, a scrap of paper reading 'tamám shud' (that’s Persian for 'it is finished') turns up in his pocket, torn from a copy of a poetry book called Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. While several claims have been thrown around, the case technically remains cold.
3rd-14th December: Agatha Christie disappears (1926)
The disappearance of Agatha Christie sparked a nationwide search and collective hysteria. In December 1926, Britain’s queen of crime vanished after a row with her husband. Her car was found abandoned in Surrey and 11 days later she appeared at the Swan Hydropathic Hotel in Harrogate. In a very Christie move, she was registered under the surname of her husband’s lover. The press went mad for the story and Christie never properly explained it. Theories range from a psychological breakdown to revenge against her husband for his affair or even a press stunt.
6th December: The Montréal Massacre (1989)
Just after 5pm at Montréal’s École Polytechnique, a gunman murdered 14 women and injured 14 others in a horrific anti-feminist attack. Canada now marks 6th December as a National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.
8th December: John Lennon is shot (1980)
On the evening of 8th December, outside the Dakota apartment building in New York, Mark David Chapman fatally shot John Lennon. The shockwaves were cultural as well as criminal. New York’s music scene, Beatlemania and the era’s tabloid churn all came crashing down on a winter pavement in NYC. Chapman’s parole bids continue to be denied. This includes his most recent request in September 2025.
8th December: The murder of headmaster Philip Lawrence (1995)
Philip Lawrence was an Irish headteacher at St George’s School in London. He was murdered by one of his own pupils after stepping in to help when another pupil was being attacked. Philip was stabbed outside the school gates by 15-year-old Learco Chindamo, who was part of a gang.
Chindamo arrived outside the school with 11 fellow gang members to ‘punish’ William Njoh, a St. George’s pupil. Philip witnessed the gang attacking William with an iron bar and went to help. Chindamo first punched Lawrence then stabbed him in the chest. Chindamo was convicted of Philip Lawrence’s murder in October 1996.
11th December: The Lufthansa Heist (1978)
In the early hours at JFK Airport, masked robbers stole roughly $5.8 million in cash and jewels from Lufthansa’s cargo building. It went on to become the heist that launched a thousand think-pieces (and Goodfellas scenes). The money never reappeared, and few jobs better capture the ‘70s sweet spot where airport security and organised crime briefly shook hands.
17th December: The Harrods bombing (1983)
Christmas shopping turned ugly in 1983 when a Provisional IRA car bomb exploded outside Harrods. The Knightsbridge blast killed six people (three police officers and three civilians) and injured around 90. It remains one of the bleakest afternoons of London’s Troubles-era timeline.
17th-25th December: The murder of Joanna Yeates (2010)
The disappearance of a 25-year-old landscape architect became a national story in the lead-up to Christmas. Tragically, the body of Joanna Yeates was found on Christmas Day near Bristol. The investigation (and the wrongful suspicion directed at her landlord) sparked criticism about press standards that would rumble on for years. Her neighbour Vincent Tabak was later convicted of murder.
18th December: 16-year-old Suzanne Capper was tortured to death (1992)
In a horrifying experience of torture and abuse, Suzanne Capper died on 18th December 1992 after being deliberately set alight. Suzanne was able to tell police she had been kidnapped and kept prisoner in a house in Moston, Manchester where she was tortured and abused.
Six people were tried and convicted of involvement in her murder, with many trivial reasons, including the loss of a pink duffel coat, listed as reasons for their barbaric actions. Suzanne was beaten, tortured and then driven into the countryside where petrol was poured all over her and she was set alight. She survived for several days before succumbing to her injuries.
19th December: Celine Figard murdered on a visit to the UK (1995)
Celine Figard was a French woman who went missing and was murdered while visiting the UK. On 19th December 1995, Celine accepted a lift from a lorry driver at services on the M4 in Chieveley, Berkshire. Her body was discovered on 29th December and the post-mortem determined she died due to bludgeoning and strangulation.
The case was high-profile and received extensive news coverage. It included the UK’s first national DNA screening programme in the hunt for the suspect and over 5,000 people were screened. Stuart Morgan, a lorry driver from Dorset was arrested in February 1996. A colleague recognised Morgan from the photofit and he was handed a life sentence.
20th December: The Zodiac murders begin (1968)
Just days before Christmas, Californian teenagers David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen were shot dead. In retrospect, it was the Zodiac Killer’s opening move. The killer went on to terrify the public with cryptic letters to newspapers and taunting phone calls to police. The Zodiac Killer still hasn’t been caught and remains one of the most notorious American serial killers in history. Of course, questions have been raised about how police dealt with the first murders.
20th December: Colin Ireland convicted (1993)
Colin Ireland, widely described as the ‘Gay Slayer’ in the mainstream and tabloid media, was handed a life sentence for some of his crimes on 20th December 1993. Ireland was a serial killer who killed homosexual men. He was convicted of the murders of Andrew Collier and Emanuel Spiteri. Since his conviction, he was found to be responsible for at least three more murders.
21st December: The Lockerbie Bombing causes 270 deaths (1988)
The Lockerbie Bombing is one of the most infamous terrorist attacks that took place over the British Isles. On 21st December 1988, a hidden bomb on Pan Am Flight 103 exploded mid flight. The explosion caused the death of 243 passengers, 16 crew and 11 people who lived in the town of Lockerbie.
Operations between the local Scottish police force and the FBI are ongoing, with the terrorists responsible still being sought and charged. Many have been imprisoned but the investigation is ongoing.
21st December: The Crossbow Cannibal convicted (2010)
The Crossbow Cannibal, Stephen Griffiths, was responsible for the serial murders of three women in Bradford between 2009 and 2010. Stephen Griffiths murdered sex workers Susan Rushworth, Shelley Armitage and Suzanne Blamires and gave his name as ‘the Crossbow Cannibal’ when he initially appeared in court in May 2010.
Griffiths was convicted of the murders on 21st December 2010 and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a whole life order imposed.
24th December: Elle Edwards is shot and killed (2022)
Christmas Eve is supposed to be a happy and joyous occasion – but it turned lethal and tragic at one Merseyside pub in 2022.
That evening, 26-year-old beautician Elle Edwards was at the Lighthouse pub in Wallasey Village, Wirral with a group of friends. Just before midnight, the revelry of the evening was brutally interrupted by a gang feud-related shooting.
22-year-old Connor Chapman fired at the entrance of the pub with a sub-machine gun. Edwards, an innocent bystander who had no connection to Chapman’s intended target, was hit by two stray bullets. Despite rapid medical intervention, Elle’s injuries proved fatal, and she died in hospital.
Chapman was late found guilty of Edward’s murder and sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 48 years.
26th December: JonBenét Ramsey goes missing (1996)
Six-year-old girl JonBenét Ramsey was reported missing on Boxing Day from her family home in Boulder, Colorado. Seven hours later she was later found dead in the basement. The combination of a ransom note, a compromised crime scene, intense media attention and the potential involvement of family members made sure the case captured global headlines. Nearly three decades on, it’s still unsolved.
29th December: Valerie Graves murdered in her own home (2013)
Valerie Graves was murdered in her own home in December 2013. By November 2014, the police had a partial DNA profile for the suspect and in January 2015, the local police began a voluntary mass DNA screening programme in Bosham where Valerie lived.
The suspect, Cristian Sabău, was arrested in July 2019 in Romania with Sussex Police seeking his extradition. He claimed he had entered the home with burglary in mind, not knowing Valerie was in and violently attacked her with a hammer in the spur of the moment. He was jailed for life with a minimum term of 23 years and 272 days.
30th December: Margaret Fleming killed by her carers (1999)
In a sad story of neglect and abuse, Margaret Fleming was a vulnerable adult murdered by her nominated carers in Inverkip, Scotland. Margaret had learning difficulties and had care provided by Edward Cairney and Avril Jones.
The couple killed Margaret in December 1999 but concealed her death so they could continue to claim her benefits. Their crime was only uncovered in 2016 when the authorities discovered Margaret was missing. No trace of Margaret has ever been found but both Cairney and Jones were convicted of her murder in 2019.
