10 Notorious Crimes in American History

Top 10 Notorious Crimes in American History

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 Notorious Crimes in American History. For this list, we’ll be looking at the most infamous crimes in United States history. We’ll be excluding mass shootings and terrorist attacks, due to YouTube’s demonetization policies. Was there a particular crime that shocked you growing up, or that shocks you now? Tell us in the comments.

#10: Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

On April 14, 1865, President Lincoln was attending a play at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. Three days before, Lincoln had had a dream that an assassin had murdered the President - but assumed it must be “some other fellow”. During the play, actor John Wilkes Booth shot President Lincoln in the back of the head. Booth was motivated by Confederate sympathies and support for slavery. He had been particularly furious over Lincoln’s speech promising to grant former slaves the right to vote. Booth’s crime sent the country into shock and brought about a national state of mourning.

#9: Lindbergh Kidnapping

Little Charles Lindbergh Jr. was lying peacefully in his crib on March 1, 1932, when an intruder broke into the Lindbergh home in East Amwell, New Jersey and kidnapped him. As the 20 month old was the son of famous aviators, Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, the crime became front page news. A ransom note on the windowsill demanded $50,000. The police launched a full-scale investigation, but were unable to find usable evidence. Two months later, Lindbergh Jr.’s body was found by a truck driver. It wasn’t until 1934 that a German carpenter, Bruno Richard Hauptmann, was arrested for the crime. He professed his innocence all the way until his execution by the electric chair in 1936.

#8: Harvey Weinstein

For three decades, it remained an open secret in Hollywood. Then in October 2017, The New York Times and The New Yorker reported that dozens of women had accused film producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault and abuse. More and more women felt empowered to come forward. In total, over 80 women accused Weinstein of predatory acts. Weinstein was dismissed from his own company, and multiple criminal investigations ensued. In May 2018, he was arrested, and in March 2020 sentenced to 23 years in prison. The scandal helped spark the #MeToo movement, with many women coming forward with similar accusations against various men in powerful positions.

#7: The Bundy Murders

In the mid-1970s, serial killer Ted Bundy abducted, sexually assaulted, and murdered dozens of women. A sociopath, Bundy was very charismatic, and often approached his targets in public places, pretending to need help or impersonating a police officer. Once he had led his victims away, he would knock them out and bring them to another location. He was arrested but escaped twice in 1977, committing more murders, before being caught again. He was sentenced to death and executed in 1989. In prison, he confessed to 30 murders, but may have committed even more.

#6: The Manson Family Murders

In 1967, the Summer of Love brought hippies together in San Francisco, converging around music, anti-war sentiment, and free love. But Charles Manson walked in their midst, preying on mostly young women to build a doomsday cult that was based on white supremacist ideals, couched in hippie lingo. By the summer of 1969, he had dozens of loyal devotees, and a base at Spahn Ranch in L.A. In July and August, members of the Manson Family committed nine murders, including of well-known actress Sharon Tate. In 1971, Manson and his accomplices faced justice, sentenced to death and later to life in prison.

#5: The Murder of George Floyd

On May 25, 2020, four policemen arrested George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after a store clerk suspected he had used a counterfeit $20 bill. Police pulled Floyd from a car and handcuffed him. Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on the back of Floyd’s neck for over nine minutes, ignoring his pleas that he couldn’t breathe, until he was dead. Floyd’s murder ignited nation-wide protests against police brutality, especially against the Black community. Chauvin was convicted of murder and sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison. In June 2023, a Justice Department probe released a report exposing systematic abuses and discrimination by police in Minneapolis.

#4: Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

A prominent leader of the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr. preached nonviolence and civil disobedience, calling for desegregation and an end to Jim Crow laws and other forms of discrimination. In doing so, he made many enemies - including the FBI. On April 4, 1968, he was shot and killed at a motel in Memphis, Tennessee. James Earl Ray was arrested a few months later and sentenced to 99 years in prison. However, the King family believed that the assassination was part of a conspiracy orchestrated by the U.S. government. The true designs behind the crime were never fully determined.

#3: Watergate

On the night of June 17, 1972, five burglars stole into the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Office Building in Washington, D.C.. It was actually the second such burglary; the first had been to wiretap phones the month before. Behind it all? President Richard Nixon’s Committee for Re-Election. The burglars were caught, and the investigation revealed that Nixon subsequently tried to cover up his administration’s involvement. With impeachment looming over his head, Nixon resigned from office in August, 1974; his Vice President Gerald Ford became President and pardoned him. The term Watergate remains synonymous with political scandal today.

#2: The Zodiac Killings

He’s one of the most notorious serial killers in American history - and he was never caught. In the late 1960s, five victims in the San Francisco Bay Area were linked to the Zodiac. But the Zodiac claimed to have murdered 37 in total. He taunted local newspapers with letters and ciphers - two of which remain unsolved to this day. The killer claimed he was taking lives to serve him as slaves in the afterlife. For over six years, the Zodiac Killer terrified the country with his murders, then in 1974, he disappeared. There still remains an open-case file on the Zodiac killings to this day. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few dishonorable mentions. The Murder of JonBenét Ramsey This Child Beauty Queen’s Murder in 1996 Was Never Solved The Black Dahlia Murder The Horrific Murder of Aspiring Actress Elizabeth Short in 1947 Shocked the Nation D. B. Cooper Hijacking In 1971, an Unidentified Man Hijacked a Plane, Parachuting Away with $200,000 The Murders of Nicole Brown Simpson & Ronald Goldman O. J. Simpson’s Highly Publicized Trial Was Made Even More Infamous by a 45 Minute Car Chase

#1: Assassination of John F. Kennedy

JFK was one of the most popular presidents in American history. But on November 22, 1963, his first term was cut short. While riding in a presidential motorcade in Dallas, Texas, he was shot and killed. Former U.S. Marine Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for the crime, but he too was murdered by a man named Jack Ruby, sparking many theories about a larger conspiracy. After a long investigation, it was determined that the two men operated independently, but controversy continues to swirl around the case. Kennedy’s death shocked and outraged the nation, and the motive and even identity of his killer continues to be a topic of debate.