The Famous Grave Co., 3822 Ridge Avenue (2026)

22/08/2026

Matilda Ward was murdered on February 7, 1923.

That day, Matilda's husband, Patrick, and their son Gilbert left to run an errand, leaving Matilda at home with her son Vernon.

While his mother sat in the dining room, Vernon entered carrying a small hatchet. Without any apparent provocation, he struck Matilda in the top of the head, splitting her skull. He continued attacking her until she stopped moving.

When Patrick and Gilbert returned, they found Matilda lying on the dining room floor in a pool of blood. Vernon was upstairs, calmly relaxing on a couch in his bedroom. When Patrick confronted him, Vernon looked at his father and said, "I had to kill somebody, so it was her."

Patrick immediately summoned a doctor, who arrived and pronounced Matilda dead. When police questioned the family, Patrick explained that Vernon had returned home about six weeks earlier to recover from a serious workplace accident. While employed as a painter on a ship, Vernon had fallen, breaking an arm, striking his head and injuring his spine. Since returning home, he had shown no signs of violence, although he frequently complained of pain in his head and spent much of his time quietly alone in his room.

Vernon calmly described the killing to investigators. He said he had slept late before coming downstairs and finding Matilda in the dining room. He told his mother, "You're tired, you ought to go and lie down and rest." When she insisted that she was not tired, Vernon said he "took the hatchet and kept hitting her until she was quiet."

Patrick told investigators that there had been no argument between his wife and son and no known reason for Vernon to want to harm her.

Vernon's disturbing calm continued after his arrest. Sitting quietly on the edge of the bunk in his jail cell, he was warned by a police lieutenant that the murder could cost him his life. Vernon simply replied, "Well, I may as well die that way as some other."

Authorities quickly questioned whether Vernon was mentally competent to stand trial. Rather than being prosecuted for his mother's murder, he was committed to Farview State Hospital for the Criminally Insane.

Vernon was eventually released and later married. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served during World War II. He died in 1975 at the age of 75.

Matilda was 50 years old.

22/08/2026

Jacqueline Brewer was murdered on December 17, 1996.

Jacqueline lived with her parents, Helen Brewer and Marc Janes, whose family had been under the supervision of Child Protection Services since 1992 because of chronic neglect involving their children.

In the days before Jacqueline's death, she was visibly ill. She suffered from a persistent fever, congestion and ongoing diarrhea, conditions that made adequate fluids particularly important. Despite her worsening condition, she received neither the hydration nor the medical attention she desperately needed.

On December 17, Jacqueline was found dead in her crib. The medical examiner determined that she had been given nothing to drink for at least two days and possibly as long as six. She died from severe dehydration. Reports also indicated that a bottle containing long-spoiled milk was found beside her.

Jacqueline's death exposed years of documented neglect and serious failures within the child protection system. An extensive internal review found that her family had been known to authorities for years, yet the case had remained largely static instead of escalating to stronger protective intervention. Investigators identified problems with communication between agencies, inadequate assessment of risk and failures in coordination among those responsible for Jacqueline's welfare.

Criminal charges were brought against Helen Brewer and Marc Janes for failing to provide the necessaries of life. During their judge-alone trial, the court determined that withholding fluids, proper supervision and medical care represented a marked departure from what any reasonable caregiver would have provided. Although both parents were described as intellectually low functioning, the court ruled that this did not remove their responsibility to protect and care for their daughter.

On October 29, 1997, both were found guilty. Exactly one year after Jacqueline's death, Helen Brewer and Marc Janes were each sentenced to three years and nine months in prison.

The circumstances surrounding Jacqueline's death also prompted scrutiny of the child welfare system. A 37-page review by the provincial Child Death Review Committee documented the failures surrounding her case, and its findings contributed to changes involving neglect assessments, protective protocols and communication between agencies.

In September 2017, more than two decades after her death, a memorial garden was unveiled at Rainbow Park in Saint John in honor of Jacqueline and John Ryan Turner, another child who died from neglect in 1996.

Jacqueline was 2 years old.

21/08/2026

⁉️ It's been over 50 years. Who killed Valarie, and why? ⁉️

Valarie Seibert was murdered in March 1975.

On the evening of March 2, Valarie received a telephone call from a girl who claimed she wanted to return some of Valarie's costume jewelry. The two arranged to meet near a local 7-Eleven, and at approximately 7pm, Valarie left her home.

She never returned.

Later that evening, the same girl called Valarie's home again, this time saying that she could not make the meeting. By then, however, Valarie had already been gone for hours. The strange sequence of calls raised the possibility that the original conversation had simply been a way to lure Valarie away from home.

Two days after she disappeared, Valarie's body was discovered in a field. An autopsy determined that she had been shot to death. Police found no evidence that she had been sexually assaulted, and robbery did not appear to be a motive.

Investigators also questioned whether Valarie had actually been killed where she was found. Evidence suggested she may have been murdered somewhere else before her body was taken to the field and left there.

Police questioned multiple people while attempting to determine who had called Valarie and whom she intended to meet that night, but the investigation never produced a suspect. The identity of the mysterious caller and exactly what happened after Valarie left her home remain unknown.

More than five decades later, Valarie's murder remains unsolved.

Valarie was 16 years old.

20/08/2026

📚 COMING MONDAY: A NEW BOOK GIVEAWAY

This Monday, August 24, The Famous Grave Co. is giving FOUR people the chance to win a copy of Confessions of the Green River Killer by Maria DiLorenzo, published by Crooked Lane Books.

DiLorenzo did something few journalists ever managed to do: she gained the trust of Green River Killer Gary Ridgway.

What began with a letter sent to him in prison eventually turned into hundreds of phone calls over several years. DiLorenzo kept him talking, pressing for information about his crimes, his victims, and murders that remained unidentified or unsolved. The result is an extraordinarily close look at Ridgway, but also at what happens when a journalist spends years in direct contact with one of America's most notorious serial killers.

And on Monday, four copies are up for grabs.

I'll post the full giveaway and instructions for entering right here on Monday, August 24.

If true crime books are your thing, you won't want to miss this one.

📚 4 COPIES. 4 WINNERS. GIVEAWAY STARTS MONDAY.

20/08/2026

Rosemary McCloskey was murdered on January 5, 1933.

Known as Rose, she was seeing Dennis Boyle, a man approximately ten years older whom friends described as her fiancé. That evening, Rose met Dennis and went with him to Fairmount Park, where the couple sat together on a park bench.

While they were there, two men approached and launched a violent attack. Dennis was struck repeatedly in the head with stones until he lost consciousness and collapsed near the bench. The attackers then turned on Rose.

Rose fought back, leaving her hands badly mangled during the struggle. She was beaten repeatedly in the head with such force that her skull was crushed. Strands of her hair and a clot of blood were left on the end of the bench, while jagged rocks nearby were stained with blood. Rose was also attacked with a sharp weapon and slashed twice across the throat. One of the wounds severed her jugular vein. She died from the devastating injuries and was left in the park beside the unconscious Dennis.

Dennis eventually regained consciousness, but his head injuries left him confused and disoriented. Unable to find Rose, he staggered out of the park and appeared on a nearby street with blood streaming from his head. He was taken to a hospital in serious condition, where doctors feared he had suffered a fractured skull. Before police could obtain a complete account from him, he again lost consciousness.

Rose remained in Fairmount Park throughout the night. The following morning, a park guard discovered her body near the foot of a twin catalpa tree. Police soon connected her with Dennis, and when he recovered enough to speak, he told detectives that two young men had approached the couple and attacked them.

Investigators searched for witnesses and attempted to determine why Rose and Dennis had been targeted, considering motives that included jealousy and revenge. Rose's funeral was held on January 10, drawing an enormous crowd. One contemporary account estimated that approximately 7,000 people came to pay their respects. Around 40 automobiles later traveled in a funeral procession through the park where she had been killed. Rose's mother became so overwhelmed with grief that she fainted and had to be carried.

Five months later, the investigation took a bizarre turn when a woman living near Rose's family claimed that Rose's ghost had appeared to her with information about her killer. The story eventually directed attention toward a young man named Richard Bach.

Police took Bach into custody and questioned him about the murder. He confessed, admitting that he frequented Fairmount Park at night and watched couples who went there seeking privacy. He acknowledged being in the park while Rose and Dennis were there and confessed to killing Rose.

His confession created one significant discrepancy. Dennis had consistently described two men attacking them, while Bach's confession identified himself as Rose's killer. Nevertheless, Bach was charged with the murder, convicted and sentenced to death.

On April 9, 1934, Richard Bach was executed in the electric chair for Rose's murder.

Rose was 19 years old.

19/08/2026

Margaret Sweeney was murdered on November 13, 1974.

Eight months pregnant at the time, Margaret took her 18-month-old daughter, Tammy, to have lunch with Winifred Ransom, a woman she had met only a few weeks earlier at a neighborhood hat store.

During the visit, Margaret began feeling unwell and went upstairs to lie down on Ransom's bed. While she slept, Ransom took a butcher knife and began performing a crude caesarean section on her. Margaret awoke during the procedure and tried to resist. Ransom struck her approximately 20 times in the head with a hatchet and then shot her three times with a .32-caliber revolver.

Ransom removed Margaret's 5½-pound baby girl alive. Her nephew, Robert Bullard, then helped conceal Margaret's body beneath the kitchen floorboards. Bullard took Tammy away from the house and abandoned her on a street corner. The toddler was found the following day inside a station wagon with bruises on her face and neck.

Days later, Ransom confessed to her common-law husband, John, who contacted police. Officers searched the house and discovered Margaret's body wrapped in a white sheet and plastic bag in a shallow grave beneath the floor. Her newborn daughter was found alive in a bedroom and taken to the hospital. Both she and Tammy recovered and were eventually placed with relatives. The newborn was named Margaret Teresa Sweeney.

Ransom was charged with murder and several related offenses, while Bullard was charged with conspiracy, hindering apprehension and recklessly endangering another person. Although Ransom was initially ruled competent to stand trial, medical experts for both sides later agreed that she had been legally insane when she killed Margaret.

Investigators learned that Ransom desperately wanted a child but was unable to have one. Before the murder, she had told relatives and friends that she was pregnant, worn maternity clothes, gained weight and even walked as though she were expecting. A few weeks before Margaret's death, she quit her job because she claimed she was preparing to "have her baby." Dr. Jan Grossman, chief court psychologist at Byberry State Hospital, described her behavior as having a "flavor of schizophrenia." Doctors concluded that psychotic delusions surrounding her inability to have children had driven her actions.

Ransom was found not guilty by reason of insanity, and Judge Juanita Kidd Stout ordered her committed to a state mental hospital. Within months, however, doctors began requesting permission for her release, arguing that her condition had substantially improved. Judge Stout repeatedly opposed those efforts.

In January 1977, Byberry officials again determined that Ransom was well enough to leave the hospital despite her diagnosis of schizophrenia with paranoid symptoms. Judge Stout strongly objected but acknowledged that she lacked the legal authority to prevent it. In March 1977, after approximately 20 months of confinement, Ransom was released. Hospital officials said doctors were required by law to release her after determining that she was no longer legally insane.

Margaret was 26 years old.

19/08/2026

Carmen Berrocal was murdered on June 25, 1989.

Just one week earlier, Carmen had graduated from high school. On the evening of June 24, she attended a graduation party with her boyfriend, Steven McNamee. At around 4am, Carmen left the party and began walking home alone.

Shortly before 11am, a young girl playing near Cobbs Creek discovered Carmen's body floating face down in the water and ran screaming to her parents. Carmen was naked from the waist up, with some of her clothing floating nearby. An autopsy determined that she had been sexually assaulted and strangled with a ligature.

Investigators collected semen evidence from Carmen's body, but DNA technology at the time could not identify the person responsible. Police pursued leads and interviewed potential suspects, but the investigation eventually stalled.

Six months later, Carmen's high school ring, which had her name inscribed inside, surfaced at a pawn shop. Police traced it to a plumber who claimed he had found it while working inside a house. After questioning him, investigators released him, and the significance of where the ring had been found would not become clear for years.

The case remained cold for 15 years. In November 2004, homicide prosecutor Jude Conroy encouraged detectives to take another look at the preserved DNA evidence. When the profile was entered into a DNA database, investigators finally obtained a match: Raymond Williams.

Williams was already serving a life sentence for the 1992 shooting death of a man inside a bar. Even more significantly, investigators discovered that the house where Carmen's high school ring had been found belonged to Williams' brother.

In January 2005, Williams was charged with Carmen's murder, assault, robbery and related offenses. Faced with the DNA evidence and the possibility of the death penalty, Williams agreed to confess. He claimed that he had met Carmen on a train and that their sexual encounter had been consensual, but investigators determined that his account was false.

Williams ultimately pleaded guilty and was spared the death penalty. He received another life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Carmen was 18 years old.

18/08/2026

Imagine me, calling out someone for blatantly stealing my content! Where do I get the nerve?! Sorry, I did all the research, the traveling, the filming, and editing. Taking that work and just putting it somewhere else under your own name is stealing, not "sharing."

18/08/2026

The Perez family was murdered on October 18, 2011.

Amy Friedlander, née Perez, lived with her husband, Sam Friedlander, and their children, Molly and Gregory, in an upscale development called Michelle Estates. Amy and Sam had become estranged and were in the midst of a divorce, with tensions inside the home continuing to escalate.

Around midnight, Sam entered the master bedroom carrying a wooden table leg and attacked Amy, repeatedly striking her in the head. Neighbors later recalled hearing a loud, strangled cry, but police were not called. Amy suffered devastating head injuries and attempted to defend herself during the attack. Her injuries were so severe that she was ultimately identified through dental records.

Sam then retrieved a 12-gauge shotgun he had legally purchased six months earlier and went upstairs, where Molly and Gregory were sleeping. He entered Gregory's bedroom and shot him at close range, killing him instantly. Sam then entered Molly's room and fatally shot her before covering her body with a blanket.

After killing his wife and children, Sam went into the basement, where he used the shotgun to take his own life.

When Sam failed to arrive at work the following morning, a concerned colleague contacted authorities. A state trooper was dispatched to the house and, after receiving no response at the door, entered and discovered Amy in the master bedroom, Molly and Gregory in their bedrooms, and Sam in the basement.

Investigators reconstructed the killings through the physical evidence inside the house and learned that the Friedlanders' deteriorating marriage had been marked by considerable tension. Friends said Sam had become increasingly erratic during the divorce and had spoken about feeling humiliated and believing he had "no way out."

In the aftermath, neighbors created a memorial outside the home with stuffed animals, candles and cards honoring Amy and her children.

Molly was 10 years old. Amy was 46 years old. Gregory was 8 years old.

17/08/2026

⚠️ Another case so reprehensible that it deserves to be reposted and seen by a wider audience. CAUTION: The details are very hard to digest. ⚠️

This case broke my heart, and for a long time I wasn't sure how to tell it. But this child deserves to be remembered.

On April 9, 1982, a baby girl was born in the bathroom of a home on Cambria Street near 13th Street in North Philadelphia. Her birth had followed a pregnancy that had been kept hidden, and sometime afterward, the newborn was found outside the residence.

Her discovery led to a criminal investigation, and the circumstances surrounding her birth and death were examined during court proceedings later that year. Serious charges were filed, and the case ultimately resulted in a conviction in October 1982.

But beyond the investigation and the courtroom, there was a baby girl whose life was extraordinarily brief. She was never given a name, and she never received a proper burial.

For the sake of remembrance, I am calling her Dora, a name meaning "gift." It is not the name she was given in life, but a name chosen here so that she can be remembered as more than an unnamed child in an old criminal case.

Every life, no matter how brief, deserves dignity. Dora deserves to be remembered.

The Famous Grave Co.

22/08/2026

22/08/2026

21/08/2026

20/08/2026

20/08/2026

19/08/2026

19/08/2026

18/08/2026

18/08/2026

17/08/2026

Address

Website

Alerts

Shortcuts

Share

Listing takedown request