This Day in Crime History: DECEMBER 03, 1989 : THE CLOTHES MAKE THE MAN . . . GUILTY

Five-year-old Melissa Brannen disappears without a trace from a Christmas party in Fairfax, Virginia. The intensive forensic investigation that followed led to the arrest of party guest Caleb Hughes and, in the process, demonstrated how technically advanced crime solving had become.

After interviewing everyone who had been at the party, investigators determined that Hughes had left the party at roughly the same time that Brannen was discovered missing. When detectives visited Hughes’ home at 1 a.m., they found him washing his clothes, shoes, and belt. Although Hughes denied having any contact with the little girl, the detectives began an exhaustive search of his home and car.

To collect hairs and fibers, forensic experts carefully ran tape across all of the surfaces in Hughes’ house and car. Every tiny bit of evidence caught on the tape was cataloged and taken to a scraping room, where they were then examined under a microscope. In addition, Hughes’ clothing was systematically combed for foreign fibers and hairs.

Two of the fibers found in the passenger seat of Hughes’ car matched the rabbit-fur coat that Brannen’s motherhad been wearing at the party. Since it was possible that the two fibers had innocently landed there, though, police needed additional evidence. Although Brannen had been wearing a blue sweater when she disappeared and police located more than 50 blue fibers in the car, direct forensic comparisons were impossible to make, since the young girl and her clothing were still missing. However, investigators learned that Melissa’s sweater was part of a Sesame Street outfit made only by JC Penney, and they were able to obtain an identical sample outfit from the manufacturer. A detailed examination proved that the blue fibers in Hughes’ car matched those from the Sesame Street outfit.

Hughes was convicted of abduction with intent to defile on March 8, 1991, but Melissa Brannen was never found.

Article Details:

December 03, 1989 : The clothes make the man . . . guilty

• Author

  History.com Staff

• Website Name

  History.com

• Year Published

  2009

• Title

  December 03, 1989 : The clothes make the man . . . guilty

• URL

  http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-clothes-make-the-man-guilty

• Access Date

  December 03, 2015

• Publisher

  A+E Networks

This Day in Crime History: DECEMBER 02, 1961 : CASTRO DECLARES HIMSELF A MARXIST-LENINIST

Following a year of severely strained relations between the United States and Cuba, Cuban leader Fidel Castro openly declares that he is a Marxist-Leninist. The announcement sealed the bitter Cold War animosity between the two nations.

Castro came to power in 1959 after leading a successful revolution against the dictatorial regime of Fulgencio Batista. Almost from the start, the United States worried that Castro was too leftist in his politics. He implemented agrarian reform, expropriated foreign oil company holdings, and eventually seized all foreign-owned property in Cuba. He also established close diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, and the Russians were soon providing economic and military aid. 

By January 1961, the United States had severed diplomatic relations with Cuba. In April, the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion took place, wherein hundreds of rebels, armed and trained by the United States, attempted a landing in Cuba with the intent of overthrowing the Castro government. The attack ended in a dismal military defeat for the rebels and an embarrassing diplomatic setback for the United States.

In December 1961, Castro made clear what most U.S. officials already believed. In a televised address on December 2, Castro declared, “I am a Marxist-Leninist and shall be one until the end of my life.” He went on to state that, “Marxism or scientific socialism has become the revolutionary movement of the working class.” He also noted that communism would be the dominant force in Cuban politics: “There cannot be three or four movements.” Some questioned Castro’s dedication to the communist cause, believing that his announcement was simply a stunt to get more Soviet assistance. Castro, however, never deviated from his declared principles, and went on to become one of the world’s longest-ruling heads of state. In late July 2006, an unwell Fidel Castro temporarily ceded power to his younger brother Raul. Fidel Castro officially stepped down in February 2008.

Article Details:

December 02, 1961 : Castro declares himself a Marxist-Leninist

• Author

  History.com Staff

• Website Name

  History.com

• Year Published

  2009

• Title

  December 02, 1961 : Castro declares himself a Marxist-Leninist

• URL

  http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/castro-declares-himself-a-marxist-leninist

• Access Date

  December 02, 2015

• Publisher

  A+E Networks

This Day in Crime History: DECEMBER 01, 2004 : DEFENSE PRESENTS ITS CASE IN HAMPTONS MURDER TRIAL

On this day in 2004, the defense for Daniel Pelosi, an electrician on trial for the killing of his girlfriend’s estranged husband, R. Theodore “Ted” Ammon, a wealthy investment banker, begins presenting its case in a Riverhead, New York, courtroom. Less than two weeks later, a jury found Pelosi guilty of Ammon’s murder.

On October 22, 2001, the 52-year-old Ammon, whose fortune was worth a reported $80 million, was found bludgeoned to death at his mansion in tony East Hampton, New York. Police determined that robbery did not appear to be a motive for the slaying. At the time, Ammon was in the midst of a bitter divorce from his second wife, Generosa, with whom he had two children. Three months after Ammon’s murder, Generosa, who inherited her late husband’s estate because their divorce was not yet finalized, wed Pelosi. The blonde socialite and the then-married, high-school dropout from Long Island became romantically involved in 2000 after she hired him to work on a Manhattan townhouse she was renovating.

Pelosi went on lavish spending sprees with his new wife’s money, and the marriage soured. In August 2003, Generosa, then 46, died from breast cancer. In her will, she left the bulk of her wealth to her children, not Pelosi. In March 2004, Pelosi was arrested and charged with Ted Ammon’s murder. When the high-profile case went to trial in the fall of that year, amidst great media interest, prosecutors contended that the electrician, who had a history of financial problems, substance abuse and prior arrests, had slain Ammon to get access to his millions. The prosecution called several witnesses who testified Pelosi had admitted to them that he killed the Wall Street mogul. Additionally, prosecutors pointed to the fact that Pelosi had overseen the installation of a security camera system in Ted Ammon’s Hamptons home–the same system police believed was disabled by the financier’s killer. 

On December 1, Pelosi’s defense began its case, arguing that Ammon was bi-sexual and could have been slain by someone he met on a gay beach near his home. Pelosi, who maintained he had nothing to do with Ammon’s murder and said he was buying beer with a friend on the night of the crime, later testified it was Generosa who wanted her husband dead. The electrician said Generosa had asked if he knew anyone who would kill Ammon—or if Pelosi would do it himself. There was no physical evidence directly linking Pelosi to the crime, and he accused the witnesses who testified against him in court were lying.

On December 13, 2004, after deliberating for two-and-a-half days, a jury convicted Pelosi of second-degree murder. In January 2005, the 41-year-old was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Later that year, “Murder in the Hamptons,” a made-for-television movie about the case, was released.

Article Details:

December 01, 2004 : Defense presents its case in Hamptons murder trial

• Author

  History.com Staff

• Website Name

  History.com

• Year Published

  2011

• Title

  December 01, 2004 : Defense presents its case in Hamptons murder trial

• URL

  http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/defense-presents-its-case-in-hamptons-murder-trial

• Access Date

  December 01, 2015

• Publisher

  A+E Networks