Christopher Dorner: Other Notable Manhunts Throughout U.S. History
The search for disgraced LAPD officer and alleged-killer Christopher Dorner is one of the biggest dragnets for a suspect in the department's history and has put cops on extended hours, with police from the border to San Bernardino County on high alert overnight.
Ted Soqui for LA Weekly
It will surely make the history books. We looked at some of America's other historic manhunts:
-John Wilkes Booth: Yeah, we're going old-school on you. After he assassinated Abraham Lincoln on April April 14, 1865, you bet the long arm of the law wanted to catch up with this scoundrel. Federal officials sent out the troops, literally, and on April 26 Booth was found at a Virginia farm and shot. Dead.
-Ted Kaczynski: The Unabomber sent bombs to targets from 1978 to 1995. That meant one of the longest and most expensive hunts for a killer in FBI history. Despite the effort, they couldn't get him until newspapers published a manifesto he mailed them: His brother, recognizing the writing, turned him in. Kaczynski was arrested at his cabin on April 3, 1996.
-The Night Stalker. Richard Ramirez put Southern California on edge with a series of slayings of the worst kind: He would enter people's homes, rape, and shoot. At random. On August 27, 1985, after cops figured out Ramirez was the killer and distributed a booking photo to the media (he appeared on every front page in town), he was spotted in East Los Angeles. What started as a few people chasing him down the street turned into a mob and Ramirez was held for cops (but not before sustaining a few bruises).
-The Zodiac Killer. We saved the scariest one for last. Why is this one scary? Notice that we don't have a real name here? Yeah, the Zodiac Killer has never been found. Authorities believe Mr. K. is responsible for 7 murders in the Bay Area in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He taunted the public by sending letters with cryptograms to the press. He claimed to have committed 37 homicides. It's not clear if he's dead or is still plying his trade somewhere out there.
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