August
6,1930
Judge Joseph F. Crater is one of the most
famous missing men in America, perhaps even the world. On August 6th, 1930, he told
friends he would be attending the Broadway play, "Dancing Partner" that evening,
and was never seen or heard from again. Nobody has been able to explain why Judge Crater
disappeared, although there are no shortage of theories. Earlier in the afternoon, Crater
went to his office, and removed a large number of papers from his files. He also cashed a
check for a very large sum of money. It is also unlikely that he ever showed up at the
theater to see the show. Since he purged his personal files, obtained a large amount of
money, and seemed to form an alibi with the theater, it seems the most obvious answer is
that he disappeared on his own accord. But no one can explain why he would wish to
disappear. The corruption investigators failed to turn up anything on him. So there didn't
seem to be any danger of a scandal. Some say he was murdered by members of the underworld
(whom he knew). Some even say he experienced some sort of religious conversion, and ran
off to Mexico. By now, it is doubtful whether we will ever know what happened to Judge
Crater.
TORONTO - Police said a lawyer demonstrating
the safety of windows in a downtown Toronto skyscraper crashed through a pane with his
shoulder and plunged 24 floors to his death.
A police spokesman said Garry Hoy, 39, fell
into the courtyard of the Toronto Dominion Bank Tower early Friday evening as he was
explaining the strength of the building's windows to visiting law students.
Hoy previously had conducted
demonstrations of window strength according to police reports. Peter Lauwers, managing
partner of the firm Holden Day Wilson, told the Toronto Sun newspaper that Hoy was
"one of the best and brightest" members of the 200-man association.
The defense in an Irish murder
trial hung on whether the accused, Thomas McGann, could draw a gun from his pocket without
shooting himself. Demonstrating in court, his lawyer shot his own foot, and died 12 hours
later. McGann, however, was acquitted.
December 9, 1996
EL PASO - Joe Chagra, the former attorney
convicted of conspiracy in the assassination of a federal judge, died late Sunday of
injuries he suffered in a car crash. He was 50.
Chagra suffered a severed spinal cord,
broken ribs, a collapsed lung and a damaged heart. He was comatose Sunday evening, and
doctors at Thomason Hospital removed him from life support.
Chagra served 61/2 years of a 10-year
prison sentence after he pleaded guilty to involvement in the 1979 assassination of U.S.
District Judge John Wood in San Antonio. Wood had been scheduled to preside in a drug
conspiracy trial involving Chagra's brother, Jimmy Chagra.
May 1, 1998
Kathleen Anderson, a senior
lawyer for Esprit Corporation of San Francisco, was paddling the Bruneau River in Southern
Idaho, with a friend. Both were experienced boaters. They met trouble at Five Mile
Rapid. Her friend went first and successfuly negotiated the rapids. Ms. Anderson followed,
lost control, plunged into the river, amd flipped. When she did not appear at the
bottom, her friend hiked up and found her floating in an eddy. She pulled her out of the
water and began CPR. These efforts, though vigorous, were unsuccessful.
July 16, 1999
 MARTHA'S VINEYARD -- John F. Kennedy Jr., prosecutor and
publisher, was killed when his plane crashed just miles from the Kennedy family compound
in Massachusetts. He was 38.
Kennedy's fate was sealed when the
single-engine, six-seat Piper Saratoga II HP that he was piloting plunged into the
Atlantic Ocean, also killing his wife, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and sister-in-law, Lauren
Bessette.
LAWYER
EATEN BY LION
Jan. 23, 2000
ROME -- A lawyer, Sergio Montella, 56, who
kept wild animals in his home in southern Italy was found dead -- apparently
eaten by a lion. Neighbors hadn't seen Montella in a week and called
police, who found his remains in the lion's cage, his body mauled and his
clothes torn.
Authorities said they were investigating if
Montella was alive when attacked by the lion or if he had died a natural
death a few days earlier while in the cage and the animal, with no one to
feed it, then ate the body.
Montella had moved from his hometown of
Naples to the countryside in southeastern Italy five years ago after
neighbors there complained that he kept wild animals as house pets.
Thanks to ace reporter
MARTHA GUAG for this story
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