The Backroom

Send us a text

On April 4, 1968, Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was on the balcony in front of his motel room at the Loraine Motel in Memphis. At 6:01 p.m., a shot rang out. The bullet entered Dr. King's cheek, fracturing his jaw, neck, and through the jugular before lodging in his shoulder. He was taken to the hospital, before being pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m. The shooter was later identified as James Earl Ray, who was an escaped prisoner from Missouri. He was arrested at London's Heathrow Airport before being extradited back to Tennessee. He plead guilty on March 10, 1969 and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. King's funeral was attended by 300,000 people in his hometown of Atlanta. Over the years, many conspiracies have arose from the King Assassination. One of which being, the government killed King and used Ray as a scapegoat. 

Send us a text

Between 1978 and 1983, Dennis Nilson murdered at least 12 young men and boys in two apartments in North London. Nilson would lure his victims with alcohol and food. Once the victims drank themselves into a stupor, Nilson would strangle them to unconsciousness or death. If the victim lay unconscious, Nilson would drown them in his bathtub. He would dress the bodies and cuddle with them, as if they were still alive. He then masturbated over them before discarding them under his floorboards. He would keep several bodies for weeks before dissecting them and disposing of them, either by burning them in a bonfire or flushing them down the toilet. On February 10, 1983, after making a complaint that his pipes were clogging, plumbers discovered what appeared to be human flesh stuck in the pipes of the flat. The police were contacted and Nilson confessed without hesitation. Nilson was tried for six counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. He died on an aortic aneurysm on May 12, 2018. 

Send us a text

On the morning of February 28, 1997, Larry Phillips Jr. and Emil Matasareanu entered the Bank of America at the intersection of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Archwood Street. Both men were heavily armed and armored and their plan was to steal $750,000 from the bank vault. As they walked in, two LAPD officers spotted them entering and called it in. While the men were robbing the bank, LAPD began surrounding the bank. When the two men left the bank (one out through the north exit, one through the south), a 44 minute shootout ensued. Phillips ended up taking his own life as his gun jammed. Matasareanu was shot in the legs multiple times three blocks away. He was arrested but bled to death while waiting for the ambulance that showed up 70 minutes after Matasareanu was handcuffed. In all, almost 2,000 rounds of ammunition was fired by the suspects and LAPD.

Send us a text

Today, I will be talking about three men who have mad a mark in Soviet/Russian history as the most infamous killers:
Anatoly Onoprienko - Burglar turned serial killer. Confessed to killing 52 men, woman, and children. He'd rob a house, kill the fathers, then the mothers, then the children, before setting the house on fire, He'd also kill anyone who would be seen as a witness.

Alexander Pichushkin - When he was a child, he hit his forehead and it caused major brain damage. He would be prone to fits of rage and aggression. His grandfather kept him calm by placing him in local chess games in the park. After his grandfather's death, Pichushkin killed 52 people between 1992 and 2006.

Alexander Solonik - A Russian hitman who was ruthless. Every time he got arrested, he'd escape prison. He was responsible for killing some of Russia's largest mob bosses. After his third prison escape, Solonik went to Greece and began his own organization. He was killed by a Russian assassin in January 1997. 

Send us a text

On April 22, 1958, David Early was released from Fort Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary. In a pre-release letter, he said that he'd like to return to his home state of Colorado. He also mention that is attorney, Merrill Knight, would help him upon his release from prison. Early arrive in Denver two days later and showed up to Knight's residence. No one was home, so Early entered through an unlocked basement door. Once inside, he began to search for money and jewelry that he could pawn. He came across Merrill's .22 caliber rifle, which he then loaded before making himself comfortable. Early had been in and out of jail or prison for most of his life. Merrill Knight represented him out of pity. During one of his stays in prison, doctors at Colorado State Penitentiary diagnosed Early as a "dangerous psychopath". 

I'm joined by my best friend Keith for this episode.
Follow him on instagram @9zu

Send us a text

On the evening of August 20, 1989, brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez shot and killed their father, Jose and their mother, Kitty while they slept in the living room. After the murders, Lyle and Erik left and went to see Batman and attended a food festival. Upon returning to their Beverly Hills mansion, the brother "found" their parents dead and called police. During the investigation, LAPD had no intent to investigate the boys as suspects. In the months after the murders, the brothers began spending money wildly. It is belied that they spent $700,000 between the murders and their arrests. Lyle confessed to killing their parents to their psychologist, and Erik turned himself in three days later. Both were tried separately, but both trials ended in a mistrial. Eventually, they were retired together. It was clear the Jose Menendez was physically, verbally, and sexually abusing the brothers their entire lives. Kitty Menendez was a functioning alcoholic who condoned her husband behavior. This was used as a motive by the defense as to why the Menendez brothers took their parents' lives. The real reason was because they knew they would inherit their father's multimillion dollar estate. in 1994, they were found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. They were sent to separate prisons. After 22 years, both brothers reunited after they were placed in the same housing unit in a prison in San Diego County. 

Send us a text

On the night of April 19, 1989, a group of 30 to 32 youths ran around the north end of Central Park, causing trouble. A handful of people were attacked, beaten and robbed. Around 1:30 AM, 28 year old jogger, Trisha Meili was found naked and bound in the woods. She had been beaten severely and raped. Her injuries were to the point where doctors assumed that she would die. She was in a coma for 12 days before waking up. NYPD took to the streets, searching for the suspect(s) who did this. Since the group of teens caused havoc, the police were called on them several times that night. Investigators believed the teens had something to do with the assault and rape of Meili. Five black and latino teens were convicted of the attack on Meili. It was later brought to light that the NYPD coerced and pressured the boys into confessing to the rape. Some were not recorded or had wrote a written confession. At trail, it was said that they did confess on paper and camera. In 2002, all charges were dropped, as the five teens, now men, were innocent. Throughout the trial and even up to now, the case is connected to racial profiling, discrimination, and inequality, as the teens were assumed to be guilty based on their race and never got a fair trial. 

Send us a text

Between February and October 2002, random shootings occurred in Washington D.C. , Virginia, Maryland, Washington, Alabama, and Louisiana. Many victims were shot at gas stations and in large parking lots of stores. Fear spread through communities and the shootings were at random. Many witnesses claimed they saw a white box truck speeding away from the crime scenes, which then got out to the media. Of course, this information caused suspicion of anyone with a white van or truck. As many law enforcement agencies (both local and federal) investigated the shootings, they notice that some of the evidence was the same. It was determined that two men were responsible, John Allen Muhammad, 41, and Lee Boyd Malvo, 17. Authorities closed in on them, after a man spotted two men sleeping in a 1990s dark blue Chevy Caprice. The two men were arrested and eventually tried for their crimes. In total 17 people died and 10 were wounded as a result of these attaks 65

Send us a text

On February 21, 1965, Malcolm X was preparing to give a speech to the Organization of Afro-American Unity at the Audubon Ballroom in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. As Malcolm X began speaking, a disturbance came from the crowd, as someone began to yell. As the leader's bodyguards began to move towards the audience, a man stood up and shot Malcolm X in the chest with a sawed off shot gun. Two other men stood up and began shooting Malcolm with semi automatic pistols. As the crowd stood up with terror, the second and third gunmen fled. The first gunman, Talmadge X Hayer, was shot in the leg by a bodyguard before being attacked by the crowd. Eventually, Thomas Johnson, Norman 3X Butler, and Hayer were arrested and charged with murder. They were sentenced to 20 years to life imprisonment in 1966. There have been many theories as to who was involved in Malcolm X's death, with the FBI, NYPD, and Nation of Islam being some of the mentioned. Ultimately, it is believed that the Nation of Islam was behind the assassination. Malcolm, who was a member at one point, had a falling out with the Nation. The Nation was against the idea of integration and believed that whites were the enemy. in 1964, Malcolm seemed to have a change of ideas and began to side with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, which angered the Nation of Islam. 

Send us a text

Between 1970 and 2005, Samuel Little has allegedly killed 93 people, mostly women. In his youth, Little confessed to having sexual fantasies of strangling women. He was a career criminal. He was arrested for anything from robbery to rape. In the early 70s, Little started traveling across the country, murdering unsuspected women when he pleased. He would rape and strangle his victims to death, before dumping their bodies in secluded areas. He was arrested for the final time in September 2012 on narcotics charges. DNA testing was used and established Little as the murderer of three women in Los Angeles between 1987 and 1989. While awaiting trial, Little was also being investigated for at least three dozen murders in the 80s. Samuel Little was sentenced to life imprisonment, without parole in 2014. He was given an additional life sentence in Mississippi after being tried and convicted of a murder there. Between 2018 and 2019, Little confessed to 93 murders, with 60 of them being confirmed. Samuel Little died in a Los Angeles area hospital on December 30, 202o at the age of 80.