SPECIAL BIRTHDAY EDITION - triple feature

Happy happy birthday, Beyond the Threshold Blog. I am so ecstatic to write this special birthday edition blog for everyone. 

I've officially been running this blog for one year as of October 13th. While this is still growing and evolving, I am so proud of what it's turned into, and that its sister, ‘The Beyond Store,’ is in production as well. 

It's so special having a space on the internet to myself where I can share factual information, tell spooky stories, research different topics, and connect with all of you. I'm especially grateful to have turned my hobby into something that earns money and to all of you for appreciating my work. Creating this blog on October 13th is especially fun, as I'm sure we all know the spookiness surrounding October and the number 13 (a phenomenon I'd love to research another time). This is also my forte, as I love all things creepy. Because my beloved beyond the threshold birthday is October 13th, I'm diving into some spooky history in the form of serial killers. I think some of the stories I'm telling today are also informative and give a platform to honor the victims of these crimes rather than glorifying the murderer. I love true crime and all the gory details, but I don't want it to seem like the victims are just people who died. The people we talk about today who were victims of these murderers were still people with futures they didn't get to see with people who love and miss them dearly, and I want that to be made clear. 

Today, for this special edition blog, I've prepared a TRIPLE FEATURE. We are reading about three topics that may disperse into subsections! The first topic will be about the currently logged serial killers who were either born, died, arrested, etc on OCTOBER 13TH. Next, we will talk about a woman who was murdered on OCTOBER 13TH. Finally, we will talk about a man who was sentenced to death on OCTOBER 13th. 

Gruesome details will be listed. 

Here we go! 

SERIAL KILLERS ON THE 13TH

How many serial killers do you think are in the world? Hundreds? Thousands? Millions? We may never know, but what people have taken the time to research is how many serial killer events happened on October 13th. The list I'm using today may not be fully concluded; there absolutely could be more associated with this date. On October 13th, 1956, John Sweeney was born. John Sweeney, also known as the ‘Canal Killer’, dismembered two women and threw their bodies in canals. While he is not classified as a serial killer, his murders were so horrific that media coverage prevailed. These murders were so astounding because they occurred in two different locations. Paula Fields, who was 31 at the time, was murdered and found in the canals of London. Horrifyingly, her head, hands, and feet were never recovered. Looking at this from her family's perspective, that is something so distressing, and true closure would be hard to find from that. Melissa Halstead was only two years older than Paula. Melissa was found in a canal in Rotterdam, but her identity remained unidentified for 18 years. These two women were Sweeney's former girlfriends. These gruesome murders were not only terrifying for the communities to hear about but for the families of these victims as well, who don't know what happened in their last moments alive. Specifically for Melissa's family, who had no idea where she was for 18 years, only to find that she had been murdered and discarded as if she meant nothing. It is suspected that he has had even more previous partners whom he may have murdered, and they were never discovered. Paula and Melissa had their whole lives ahead of them until John Sweeny took their futures away. Some may ask if he was never born, would they be alive still, maybe. Although if even one small change in his life occurred after being born on October 13th, maybe he wouldn't have turned out to be a murderer. In Sweeney's record, it states that he was previously convicted of attempted murder of his ex-girlfriend. What if law enforcement took higher precautions with him the first time? Maybe their deaths could have been prevented. Regardless of the speculative theories, Paula and Melissa should be remembered for who they were rather than what was done to them. John Sweeney died in prison on August 14th, 2026. 

October 13th, 1961, Hugh Morse was apprehended. Morse was first arrested on indecent exposure and assault charges, and he was honorably discharged from the military. He moved to California, where he was arrested for six months and placed on probation for three years after performing a string of robberies. A little after he was released, he lured two eight-year-old girls into an alleyway and proceeded to sexually assault both of them. This was enough for a psychological evaluation to be done, in which he was classified as a sexual psychopath and was put in a mental hospital. For some unknown reason, he was later released. He moved to Washington and was still being interviewed and observed by the FBI. In these interviews, he told them he would spy on women in their own homes,s yet nothing was done to stop or prevent him from doing what later transpired. He ended up breaking into the home of Glorie Brie, a 28-year-old woman. He raped and murdered her in her own home and somehow was not caught for this, as he went on ten months later to murder sixty-nine-year-old Blanche Boggs, whom he also raped. A month later, he severely beat and attacked twenty-three-year-old Beverly Myers, who was able to survive her injuries. Only three days later, he traveled to his ex-wife's home, named Virginia, where he was equipped with a knife and began attacking her. Her mother was there, unbeknownst to him, and was able to scare him off with her screaming. After that, he was a man on the run. Later, he forced his way into a woman's apartment whose name is not mentioned, where he threatened her and her three daughters. He molested one of the daughters and then fled the home, leaving the others untouched but still deeply traumatized. A week later, he returned to the same building, breaking into another apartment where he raped an eighteen-year-old at knifepoint; he left her alive with heavy emotional and physical scars. Only a month later, he forced his way into another woman's apartment, name unmentioned, where she was raped, beaten, and stabbed repeatedly, left for dead; however she survived. He fled the state again and ended up at the home of Bobbi Ann Landini, where he raped her and beat her to death with a pipe. He then sexually assaulted her body after death as well. The FBI decided to pursue him (FINALLY) and added him to the top ten most wanted list. Carol Ronan was his last victim before his arrest. She was 34 when he raped and murdered her. It was a twenty-one-year-old woman who recognized him and reported it to authorities, after which he was finally arrested on October 13th, 1961. He died in prison in 2003 at 73 years old and served 42 years in prison. 

For our final serial killer, Brian Alpress Hunt died on October 13th. In this case, it stands to show how much more we could do in this world to prevent such tragedies. Brian Alpress Hunt was considered homeless and was convicted of two murders, with speculation of two more. He had been considered a homeless drifter traveling all over with no real place to call home. His first murder was Jack Poppele, who was 44 years old. Reports say he was beaten with a wine bottle, leading to his death. Brian was convicted and jailed for 4 years. Six years later, he was arrested for stabbing and bludgeoning a man named Franklin Boyd. Like Brian, Franklin was also homeless, and it was claimed that he owed Brian $15. It is claimed that Brian woke Franklin up, argued with him, then choked him, stabbed him 19 times with a screwdriver, and then crushed his skull with a cinder block. Brian was then sentenced to life in prison. There was speculation from law enforcement that he was involved in three other murders located in Tennessee, but these were not confirmed. This case, unlike the others, shows the lack of psychological assistance provided to homeless individuals. In the last case, we saw how many horrific events were able to occur AFTER a psych eval was done; however, Brian was never granted the mental help that could have prevented these murders. While the mental assistance provided in the last case proved unhelpful, that doesn't mean mental health assistance is not useful; it's how it's utilized and followed through that matters. The follow-through never occurred for the previous serial killer. 

Pictures for the last two cases were not provided, as I want the attention on the victims, not the murderers, and photos could not be found.

THE MURDER OF ANGELA SAMOTA

For the second story in our birthday special triple feature, we're reading about the murder of a young woman in 1984. Angela was murdered on October 13th. The day before her murder, she was out with two friends at the State Fair of Texas. Angela's boyfriend didn't join them because he had an early morning. The three decided to visit a newly opened club, and they stayed past midnight. Around 1 a.m., Angela drove her friends home, then went by her boyfriend's apartment to say goodnight. She then went to her apartment, and around 1:45 am she called her boyfriend, stating there was a man in her apartment asking to use her phone and bathroom. She gave no indication of whether the man had asked and followed her into the apartment or if he was already in there when she arrived. She claimed she'd call her boyfriend back, but when he never received a call, he drove to her place, where he still received no response.  When she did not call back, the boyfriend phoned her, and no one answered. He drove to her condo, but there was no response when he knocked on the door, which was locked. With no answer, he called the police and waited for their arrival. At 2:17 am police arrived and broke down her door to enter. Once inside, they found Angela's dead body, covered in blood and naked on the bed. The conclusions of her autopsy showed that she had been raped and then stabbed 18 times in the chest. She died from the wounds inflicted, as they penetrated deep enough to wound her heart. The case remained unsolved until 2008. A detective used the evidence collected from the autopsy, including blood and semen, finding that Donald Bess was the man responsible. He was on parole, serving a 25-year sentence at the time he murdered Angela. During the trial, many women came forward with their own sexual assaults by Donald Bess as well. He was found guilty of first-degree murder, rape, and all other charges, and was sentenced to death. While waiting for execution, he died of a heart attack on October 8th, 2022. Angela's death received so much media attention that Dateline even produced an episode detailing the events of her murder. Angela's mother lived long enough to see the capture and death of her daughter's murderer, which doesn't make up for the death of her child but hopefully provided a small bit of closure before death took her as well.  

OCTOBER 13TH EXECUTION 

The last story of our triple feature. William Lee Thompson is a man convicted of torturing and killing a Georgian woman in a Miami Beach motel room. On March 30th, 1976, William and his co-conspirator Rocco Surace held Sally Ivester and Babara savage hostage in a motel room in Miami. The two men demanded money from the women, who called their families for money. When Sally could only muster $25 while Barbara could get $200-$300 from her family, the men were outraged, expecting a larger sum. Since Sally couldn't get a larger amount of money, they then beat and tortured her. Rocco removed his chain belt and began beating Sally. William joined in the assault and used the belt to further beat and torture Sally. Sally was sexually assaulted by the pair, who used a chair leg to penetrate her vagina; this caused tearing and internal bleeding. The men repeated the process of beating with other objects such as a nightstick. The pair also forced Sally to eat her sanitary napkin and lick spilled beer off the floor, and they burned her with lit cigarettes and lighters. Halfway through her torture, she was taken to a phone booth in which she was directed to call her mother and demand more money. After the call, her mother said she sounded weird, but Sally assured her she was alright and would be okay. They returned to the room where Barbara was still being held hostage as well, and began tortuing sally once again. The two men were caught with Barbara as a witness; Sally unfortunately succumbed to her injuries. As a result, William has been sentenced to death by lethal injection on October 13th, 2026, at 6 pm. Meaning that by the time you're reading this blog, he would have already been dead. However, the governor has withdrawn his execution for unstable medical issues and dementia.

What a grim and gruesome post for you all today. I hope you all enjoyed reading these histories of serial killers on October 13th. I enjoyed researching these all and paying my own respects to the victims I've written about. 

SURPRISE THIS ISN'T ALL

Of course, I love researching and writing about all the creepy true crime topics, but I want to honor BTT with a love note as well that is quite a bit more lighthearted. Expect another blog (I'm just spoiling you guys, aren't I) about this hobby, my plans for it, and my gratitude for having it as an outlet and hobby. 

THANK YOU ALL FOR READING 

Happy first birthday, Beyond The Threshold; thank you for allowing me to be creepy, spontaneous, fun, and all over the place. 

Goodbye for now; see you in the next one!!!!!