# What famous cases are still open? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 7, 2005, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-cases-are-still-open/329951 "2005-11-07T19:50:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-cases-are-still-open/329951/21 "2005-11-08T05:17:30Z")
Ambrose Bierce? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-cases-are-still-open/329951/22 "2005-11-08T05:20:00Z")
> [@don't ask](#): > > Jfk I heard they found this guy, Lee something. Might be a promising lead. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-cases-are-still-open/329951/23 "2005-11-08T05:20:11Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > What about Lizze Borden? (Is it Borden or Gorden, my head is hurting and I’m blanking). Still don’t know who killed her parents. Borden. My money’s on an illegitimate son of Andrew Borden’s. ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-cases-are-still-open/329951/24 "2005-11-08T05:59:28Z")
> [@Skipper Too](#): > > If you ask O.J. the killer of Nicole is still unknown. And given that he was acquitted and the double jeopardy issue, technically it still is. Theoretically someone else could be tried and convicted. And the cops sure had a ton of science that they ought to be have been able to convict if OJ did it. My guess is the cops fumbled. At least w/Lizzie, the police could be excused due to lack of available forensic science. (Although w/Lizzie IMO there are other plausible suspects and possibilities.) ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-cases-are-still-open/329951/25 "2005-11-08T09:57:05Z")
> [@rfgdxm](#): > > . . . the cops sure had a ton of science that they ought to be have been able to convict if OJ did it. . . . Are you suggesting that OJ is innocent? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-cases-are-still-open/329951/26 "2005-11-08T10:06:09Z")
> [@](#): > > And the cops sure had a ton of science that they ought to be have been able to convict if OJ did it. My guess is the cops fumbled. Basically what happened was Simpson’s lawyers convinced the jury that they could ignore any evidence they wished to because the legal system was racist. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-cases-are-still-open/329951/27 "2005-11-08T13:46:55Z")
While speaking of OJ, don’t forget Ron Goldman. JonBenet Ramsey’s murder is still unsolved. All three of these horrible murders will probably never be solved. ☹ :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-cases-are-still-open/329951/28 "2005-11-08T15:31:12Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > …Who killed Sam Shepard’s wife remains unsolved (there is conflicting information about a supposed deathbed confession from a convict)… Dr. Sam Sheppard was convicted in his first trial in 1954, but the conviction was set aside by the U.S. Supreme Court due to the “Roman carnival” atmosphere of the trial (too much media intrusion, public hysteria, no sequestration/too much mingling by the press with the jury, etc.). Sheppard was acquitted in his second trial, in 1966. He testified in the first trial, but didn’t in the second. A few years ago, many years after Sheppard’s death, his son Sam Reese Sheppard brought a civil suit against the State of Ohio for the wrongful imprisonment of his father. There was considerable additional evidence introduced by the plaintiff, including bloodstain analysis. The plaintiff strongly suggested that Richard Eberling, a criminal who’d done some work in the Sheppard house, was the actual murderer. After a multi-week trial, the civil jury didn’t need long to deliberate before ruling against the plaintiff. I was involved on the periphery of the civil retrial, helping the State’s trial team. I was inclined at the outset to believe that Eberling was the killer, but after reading Sheppard’s implausible first-trial testimony and reviewing the evidence, I agreed with the conclusion reached by the civil jury. Even after all these years, though, it’s still a controversial case in the greater Cleveland area. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-cases-are-still-open/329951/29 "2005-11-08T15:50:45Z")
The death of Joan Robinson Hill in Houston in 1969 led to her husband, Dr. John Hill, being tried for murder by omission. The first attempt was a mistrial and he was shot to death in the doorway of his home waiting for the second trial. Everyone “knew” that Joan’s stepdad, oil tycoon Ash Robinson, had ordered the hit, but Ash was never arrested for the crime and it was never proven in court, nor was John Hill’s guilt ever proven. As an interesting aside - the shooter was hired by a fairly notorious Houston madam named Lilla Paulus. At her trial, the chief witness against her was her daughter, Mary Jo. I went to high school with Mary Jo. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-cases-are-still-open/329951/30 "2005-11-08T18:45:24Z")
> [@](#): > > All three of these horrible murders will probably never be solved. There may not have been a conviction, but the murders of Nicole Brown-Simpson and Ron Goldman are not unsolved. OJ Simpson may have been found not guilty in a courtroom but it’s foolish to ignore the reality that he did kill them. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-cases-are-still-open/329951/31 "2005-11-08T18:58:54Z")
The murder of [Ken Rex McElroy](http://www.lewrockwell.com/anderson/anderson6.html) has never been solved, and probably never will be. ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-cases-are-still-open/329951/32 "2005-11-08T21:52:24Z")
Big Pussy Bompensiero. I know who knows but…fagedaboutit, I ain’t sayin’. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-cases-are-still-open/329951.md?page=1)