Story of the First Submarine in History to Sink an Enemy Ship

The CSS H. L. Hunley Rises Again

By Robert A. Waters

“[The Hunley] is more dangerous to those who use it than the enemy.” Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard.

George E. Dixon and Queenie

On April 6, 1862, a year after the United States of America invaded the Confederate States of America, the two armies collided near a small village called Pittsburgh Landing, in southern Tennessee. The carnage at what was later called the Battle of Shiloh was unprecedented in the history of the Americas. In two days of fighting, tens of thousands were killed or wounded. One Alabama regiment, the 21^st, lost 200 men out of 650. Sergeant George E. Dixon, a Kentuckian who had enlisted with the regiment in Mobile, was among the injured. Before the war, he had worked as a steamboat engineer in New Orleans, but resided in Mobile when the war broke out.

Dixon should have been just one more dead soldier hauled from the field and hastily interred in a mass grave. But he was lucky. Before he left for battle, his teenaged girlfriend and Mobile resident, Queenie Bennett, slipped a newly-minted twenty-dollar gold coin into his pocket as a good luck charm. In the battle, Dixon was shot point-blank. The Yankee Minnie ball struck the coin in his trouser pocket. Instead of plowing through flesh and bone and arteries, it absorbed the impact, sparing Dixon's life.

Queenie, daughter of a prosperous steamboat captain, was known around Mobile as the “the little Rebel.” Dixon, a blonde-haired, highly intelligent 22-year-old, was smitten with Queenie and, had he survived the war, they likely would have married.

Dixon’s wound was severe, a broken left femur, which caused him to walk with a limp for the rest of his short life.

When he returned from Shiloh to Mobile to recuperate, Dixon became aware of a “torpedo boat” being constructed nearby. The project was supposed to be top-secret, concocted by local pro-Southern entrepreneurs and the Confederate Secret Service. One of those loyal benefactors was Horace Lawson Hunley, a wealthy marine engineer originally from Tennessee. Dixon became friendly with Hunley as the Confederate Navy feverishly attempted to mold the submarine into a viable weapon. The Kentuckian would eventually be promoted to lieutenant and given command of the torpedo boat.

The Confederacy’s purpose in building a workable submarine was a direct result of the Union blockade of New Orleans, Mobile and other ports. The shutting down of Southern harbors had been one of the first actions taken by Abraham Lincoln and his war machine. While in New Orleans, Horace Hunley and others had begun a serious quest to build an underwater “fish” that could blow up the blockaders.

The Torpedo Boat

During 1862 and the early part of 1863, attempts to construct a workable submarine had failed miserably. As boat after boat sank or capsized during trials, resulting in the deaths of numerous crew members, the project faltered. But as the war progressed and the South continued hemorrhaging its limited manpower in battle after battle, the situation became dire. The charismatic general P. G. T. Beauregard issued a command that the new submarine, the Hunley, be moved from Mobile to the besieged city of Charleston, South Carolina. On August 12, 1863, the submarine arrived by rail.

In a test trial while still in Mobile, this underwater torpedo boat had blown up an antique coal-hauling barge, bringing a glimmer of hope to those in the know.

Constructed from iron boilerplate, the submarine was shaped like a shark, 40 feet long and just wide and high enough to carry her cramped crew. “The Hunley could dive by opening a valve and letting sea water fill the ballast tank,” wrote Gerald Teaster. “A set of crude diving planes, sticking out the side of the boat, was also provided for up and down motion. A mercury manometer, or pressure gauge, was mounted inside to show the depth. Two small hatches were installed on the top of the boat for getting in and out. Each of these had a small glass viewing port.” The propeller in the back of the submarine rotated inside a circular metal shroud that protected it from snagging on nets or other debris. Eight hand-cranks were spaced so the crew could sit along the length of the torpedo ship and drive the propeller shaft.

On its final voyage, the shark-boat held seven crew members as well as Captain Dixon. The crew, using the hand-cranks, was responsible for propelling the ship. Dixon stood in the front of the boat with his head in the forward hatch, looking out the glass window and guiding the crew. He also operated the diving planes and was responsible for setting off the explosive.

A press release from the Hunley excavation team explained that “the Hunley used an innovative lanyard system to detonate the torpedo. The idea was to ram the spar torpedo into a target and then back away, causing the torpedo to slip off the spar. A rope from the torpedo to the submarine would spool out. Once the submarine was at a safe distance, the line would tighten and detonate the warhead.” The shark-boat had to be up close and personal to work effectively.

In Charleston, the Hunley team took the boat out into the harbor numerous times to test it. However, on August 29, 1863, it sank, killing all its crew. The boat was raised and refurbished and new trial runs began. On October 15, 1863, it sank again. Four of its crew died, including Horace L. Hunley, while three survived.

After this new debacle, General Beauregard famously said, “[The CSS Hunley] is more dangerous to those who use it than the enemy.” But he reluctantly agreed to let Lieutenant Dixon have one last opportunity to prove that a submarine could sink an enemy vessel.

Engineers again raised the boat and began new tests. They renamed it CSS H. L. Hunley, for the man who had done so much to bring it to life.

The Attack

Like a shark, the gray boat knifed through the water. Just beneath the glassy sea in Charleston Harbor, the hunter had set her sights on an outsized prey.

The night of February 17, 1864 saw calm seas in the harbor. Seven miles out, the silhouettes of many Yankee ships could be seen waiting to apprehend smugglers and blockade-runners. But Dixon noticed a lone Union vessel anchored just four miles away. It was the USS Housatonic, a three-master that was 207 feet long. The sixteen-gun “sloop of war” had been instrumental in capturing several blockade runners. As she sat in the harbor, Captain Charles R. Pickering kept the boilers running and nine guards on deck.

The Confederate torpedo boat, CSS Hunley, was about to make history. Never in the history of the world had a submarine made a successful attack on an enemy ship.

Just a few hundred yards from the Housatonic, Lieutenant Dixon urged on his crew as they sped the boat forward. Besides Kentuckian Dixon, three came from the states of Alabama, Florida and Maryland. Little is known about the other four except they were of foreign descent. At least one, who was only known only as “Miller,” hailed from Germany.

One hundred fifty sailors manned the Housatonic. At 8:45 P.M., through the darkness, several men standing guard noticed a wake streaking towards their ship. At first, they thought it was a log, but soon determined it was moving too fast to be a natural phenomenon. By then, the shark-boat was closing fast. The Housatonic crew did what they could: they opened fire with rifles. Captain Dickering rushed up on deck and fired a double-barrel shotgun at the intruder. The small arms fire ricocheted off the iron skin of the submarine, and it kept coming.

Less than two minutes later, an explosi0n rocked the Housatonic. The copper keg, filled with 135 pounds of black powder, detonated just below the waterline at the stern of the ship. The explosion was muffled, but sent a cascade of sea-water billowing toward the sky. Five sailors died instantly, and two were wounded. Within five minutes, the ship had sunk to the bottom.

The Union sailors were lucky. The ship came to rest with part of its masts rising out of the shallow water. Many sailors climbed the masts, holding on for dear life until the USS Canandaigua appeared to rescue them. Other crew members boarded lifeboats and were rescued.

The Housatonic was lost.

But what happened to the Hunley? No one knew. It never returned to shore--it had just vanished.

Raising the first submarine to sink an enemy ship

Fast forward to May 3, 1995. Archeologists from the National Underwater and Marine Agency, financed in part by novelist and adventurer Clive Cussler, discovered a rusted hull at the bottom of Charleston Harbor. Four miles offshore, it lay in 30 feet of water. After lying on the ocean’s floor for 131 years, experts identified the ship as the fabled CSS Hunley.

In 2000, as millions watched on television, the ship was raised intact from the ocean. A time capsule, it contained bodies of the crew and artifacts of the soldiers. Because of the delicate condition of the ship, it was placed in a 75,000-gallon steel tank filled with fresh water to protect the boat. From there, archaeologists would spend years excavating the H. L. Hunley.

Among the interesting finds was a $20.00 Lady Liberty gold piece. The coin and a gold pocket-watch lay underneath the skeletonized remains of George Dixon. For more than a century, historians had debated whether the story of Queenie and the gold coin that saved the young Kentuckian was true. Many thought the tale, like countless war-time stories, had been fabricated. But the finding of the coin confirmed the story. Dixon had engraved the following statement into the back of the coin: “Shiloh. April 6^th, 1862 My Life Preserver G. E. D.”

In addition to Dixon’s artifacts, archaeologists found artillery buttons, a pipe, a pencil, a leather wallet, and other personal items. One item stirred much interest. A Union dog tag was found beneath the body of crew member Joseph Ridgeway. At first, researchers thought he may have been a spy, but later determined that he had picked up the souvenir after one of the battles he’d fought in.

How did the Hunley sink, and how did the crew die? These questions loomed large throughout the years as archaeologists worked to uncover the mystery. There had been little damage to the boat, eliminating the possibility that it had been sunk by enemy fire or had been blown up when the dynamite exploded.

CBC News reported that “the crew were killed by massive lung and brain injuries caused indirectly by their own torpedo…The exit hatches were closed and the bilge pumps that would have been used if the sub started to take on water were not set to pump, suggesting that the crew never tried to save themselves as the sub sunk.”

Dr. Rachel Lance, who graduated from Duke University with a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering, said “There were some holes in the hull that were the result of time under the sea. But there was no actual damage caused by the blast itself.”

CBC News reported that “when the charge exploded, the blast would have caused the submarine’s hull to transmit a powerful, secondary shock wave into the submarine, crushing their lungs and brain (sic) and killing them instantly.”

While there are other theories about how the Hunley met its doom, this seems to be the most likely.

On April 17, 2004, the crew of the first submarine to sink an enemy ship were interred. Thousands of Americans, many of them descendants of Confederate veterans, attended the funeral. After a memorial service and a four-and-a-half mile march through Charleston, the eight-man crew was laid to rest at Magnolia Cemetery.

My friend and fellow-Southerner, Max Northcutt, made the trip from Tennessee to South Carolina to attend the services. He was kind enough to lend me his extensive archives about the Hunley, which I used for this story. 

Sources:

The Confederate Submarine H. L Hunley by Gerald F. Teaster

The CSS Hunley: The Greatest Undersea Adventure of the CIVIL WAR by Richard Bak

The CSS H. L. Hunley: Confederate Submarine by R. Thomas Campbell

The Hunley website: The Friends of The Hunley – The World's First Successful Combat Submarine 

Mystery on Route 66

Infatuated Uncle Kidnaps, Murders 11-Year-Old Niece

By Robert A. Waters

On November 17, 1954, Jeanette Earnest disappeared. She’d been waiting for her mother to pick her up at a Fort Worth, Texas washateria after school. But when Nadine Earnest arrived, Jeanette was gone.

The hairs on Nadine's neck stood up. She knew immediately who had taken her daughter.

A few months before Jeanette went missing, Nadine had developed strong suspicions about her brother-in-law, forty-eight-year-old Thurman Priest. She abruptly moved her family's worshipping place from the Baptist Church they attended to a nearby Methodist Church. It wasn’t because of doctrinal issues—it was because Thurman, married to Nadine's sister, had started attending eleven-year-old Jeanette's Sunday School class. It seemed so weird that even the minister got involved, asking Priest to take part in one of the adult classes instead.

Married to Nadine’s sister, Priest worked as a bookkeeper for a local airline company. Newspapers characterized him "as a strange little man." In his spare time, he'd begun coming over to the Earnest home to play with Jeanette and her brothers and sisters. After it became obvious that Priest had developed a crush on the young girl, Nadine forcefully warned him to stay away.

The concerned mother had even considered moving out of state to eliminate the problem.

Now that Jeanette had vanished, Nadine called police and reported her daughter missing. She  informed investigators about Priest, describing his obsession with Jeanette. Then she called her estranged husband and Jeanette's father, H. M. Earnest, who became so upset he had to be administered sedatives.

Fort Worth Police Department officers began a frantic search for Priest. He had a head start of several hours and could be anywhere. But cops knew the danger and made the case a top priority. In addition to launching a manhunt locally, they contacted surrounding states asking that their lawmen "be on the lookout" for Priest.

As he drove out of Fort Worth, Priest told Jeanette they were moving to Ohio. She asked if "Auntie" was coming. (Auntie was Priest's wife, Etta Mae.) Priest informed the child that when he found a job, Auntie would join them.

After less than an hour on the road, Priest stopped at a motel in Irving, Texas, but spent only an hour there. No one knows what happened in that room because Priest never told.

Their next stop was a tourist court called the Holiday Motel, in Baxter Springs, Kansas. Priest rented a cabin for one night. In a later interview, the manager, Mrs.  Johnnie Page, told investigators a frightening story. She said Jeanette ran out of the cabin Tuesday afternoon, in obvious distress. Priest chased her down, shoved her into the car, and sped off. Later, a maid found bloodspots on the bathroom floor of the cabin, a small bloodstain on a towel, and an earring cops identified as Jeanette's. (Inexplicably, Page had not called police. With a phone call, Jeanette's life may have been saved.)

A few hours later, Priest stopped at a tourist court in Stanton, Missouri. There he registered the two as man and wife. At about 6:00 A.M. Wednesday morning, they left.

Jeanette was never seen alive again.

Mount Vernon, Missouri police arrested Priest after he stopped at a motel and called his wife. Etta Mae spoke to the manager and asked if a little girl was with Priest. When the manager responded that Thurman was the only person in his car, Etta Mae asked her to call police.

Detectives interviewed the suspect. At first, he claimed he didn't remember what happened to Jeanette. But when one of the interrogators mentioned that she was a "beautiful girl," it was like turning on a faucet. He turned "dreamy-eyed" and assured the detective he was right.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Priest "admitted Sunday he killed his 11-year-old niece, Jeanette Earnest, and led officers to a spot four miles east of [Lebanon, Missouri] where he had hidden the body."

The reporter wrote that "the child's fully clothed, unburied body was found in a heavy oak grove about three hundred yards off U. S. Highway 66 and almost eight miles from where the girl's blouse was found Wednesday. She had been shot once in the right temple with a .32 automatic."

During the police interview, Priest told cops where they could find the gun used to murder Jeanette. The Star-Telegram reported the FBI "identified a .32 automatic pistol and an empty cartridge found near the girl's body as having microscopic marks which showed it had been fired in the chamber of the pistol." 

The community of Fort Worth reeled in horror. Her classmates had prayed en mass for Jeanette's safe return at school on Tuesday. Her father was still bed-ridden. But Nadine remained stoic in public. Her focus was on bringing Priest to justice.

Priest claimed he and Jeanette were in love. "The last two years," he said, "I [was] always so lonesome and depressed when [Jeanette] wasn't with me. I just couldn't stand it. I was afraid the family was going to take the girl away from me. If I couldn't have her, no one could."

He claimed he loved her like a father and had never "raped" her. But Dr. Paul Jenkins, who performed the autopsy, stated he "could not determine whether she had been criminally assaulted. [He] also could not definitely show that she hadn't been."

On April 29, 1955, Priest was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

On July 6, 1960, Thurman Priest died of a heart attack while still in a Missouri prison.

In his confessions, Priest alleged that Jeanette "loved" him. That is doubtful. When she was younger, she may have been flattered by his attentions as they played children's games, but later she told her mother she viewed him as a nuisance. She also said she was embarrassed when he began attending Sunday School with her.

After abducting Jeanette, it's likely he made sexual advances toward her. At the cabin in Baxter Springs, he almost certainly attempted to molest the child. She likely fought back and tried to escape. In addition to the constant threat of sexual assault, Jeanette likely felt uncomfortable spending hours and hours alone in a car with Priest. 

Perhaps Nadine said it best: "I think he was mad at her because she was crying and wanted to go home. He decided that if he couldn't have her he didn't want anyone else to have her and decided to kill her." 

Women and Self-Defense

Compilation: Female Victims Fighting Back--Stories from my Blog

By Robert A. Waters

I started my blog in 2008. Over the years, I’ve published more than 700 stories. Most deal with crime, although I also enjoy writing about the Civil War, historical events, archaeological discoveries, my family’s genealogy, etc. I also occasionally write book reviews, but only about books I enjoy.

One of my major interests concerns citizens using guns in self-defense. As a storyteller, I seldom engage in political discussions. I feel that a dramatized account of what occurred is more effective than a long political lecture. Of the 700 posts, about 100 recount true, documented stories of citizens defending themselves (or others) with firearms.

This blog entry will provide the reader a compilation of ten of those stories--focusing on women and their guns. Whether you believe a gun is an equalizer or not, check these stories.

Young home invader forces elderly, disabled Shreveport woman to open her safe. Fatal mistake.

Kidnapping, Murder, and Mayhem: Protecting Her Own (kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com)

Persistent career criminal breaks into an elderly widow's home and pays the price.  

Kidnapping, Murder, and Mayhem: Woman Kills Intruder in Self-Defense (kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com)

Young Chinese businesswoman is racially profiled by three armed robbers in Georgia. One invader dies at the scene, the others flee like cowards. High-definition video records the entire gunfight.

Kidnapping, Murder, and Mayhem: Video Shows Chen Fengzhu Self-Defense Shooting (kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com)

Pretty real estate agent uses concealed carry handgun to fight off would-be rapist.

Kidnapping, Murder, and Mayhem: Real Estate Agent Uses Gun to Survive Attack (kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com)

Armed mother hides in a secluded closet with her young twins waiting as home intruder comes closer...and closer. 

Kidnapping, Murder, and Mayhem: Self-Defense Files 7 (kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com)

Two armed robbers burst into a check-cashing store and...surprise...surprise.

Kidnapping, Murder, and Mayhem: Life and Death at Mr. Money USA by Robert A. Waters (kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com)

Elderly St. Petersburg woman hears a noise just outside her home. A stranger tries to climb in through a window...

Kidnapping, Murder, and Mayhem: A Lady and Her Ruger (kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com)

Trapped in her bedroom, a wife and gang member engage in one of the wildest gun battles you'll ever read about.

Kidnapping, Murder, and Mayhem: GUNS SAVE LIVES - Chapter 1 - POINT BLANK (kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com)

Criminal on the run from police breaks down a 150-pound steel door. He meets a woman with her .38. 

Kidnapping, Murder, and Mayhem: Self-Defense in Knightdale, North Carolina (kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com)

Milwaukee nurse returning home after her shift stops a violent carjacker.

Kidnapping, Murder, and Mayhem: Justice for a Carjacker (kidnappingmurderandmayhem.blogspot.com)

For much more detailed full-chapter stories of armed self-defense, check out my latest book, co-written with Sim Waters, at Guns and Self-Defense.

Video Shows Chen Fengzhu Self-Defense Shooting

Female Restaurant Owner Routs Home Invaders

By Robert A. Waters

"Find a Chinese neighborhood 'cause they don't believe in bank accounts." Lyrics from a popular rap song instructs armed robbers to invade the homes of successful Chinese business owners. YG—Meet the Flockers

 

On September 16, 2016, at 3:43 A.M., three robbers kicked in the door of a home occupied by restaurant owner Chen Fengzhu (pictured). Each carried a gun and began searching for valuables. The entire incident was filmed on high-definition surveillance video.

The 36-year-old Chinese woman quickly sent the three panicked home invaders fleeing. Cameras show Chen raining bullets on the surprised trio as she races out of her bedroom dressed in pajamas. 

Daily Mail reported "incredible footage has been released showing the moment a Georgia woman rushed out of the bed in the middle of the night and opened fire at three armed men who broke into her house, killing one. The surveillance footage, released by the Gwinnett County [Georgia] Police Department, shows the intruders—all of whom are carrying guns—bursting through the front door and rummaging the house…"

Chen explained her actions to a reporter. "I didn’t have any choice," she said, "so I had to take out the gun I’d hid there. Then I loaded my pistol and walked out of my bedroom. I shot at the invaders when I saw them. One of them fled quickly, and another one ran away from the front door. Then I shot again. The one inside my house broke the glass on the back door and ran away. I didn’t feel scared at the moment and all I thought about was how to deal with the situation."

Responding officers found Antonio Leeks, 28, lying in the driveway of the home. "Police took off the burglar’s clothes," Chen said, "and attempted to resuscitate him for about 15 to 20 minutes and they told me they had failed to save him." Investigators later reported he had died from a bullet wound to his "torso."

Cops arrested one of the invaders, Bernard Little, a year and a half later. He still carried a cell phone he had stolen from the house.  The third suspect has not yet been apprehended.

Cpl. Deon Washington of the Gwinnett County Police Department told reporters the resident acted appropriately. "She exercised her right to defend her livelihood and property," he said.

But there's a back-story here, one few people know.

Many robbers target Chinese business owners because it’s rumored they keep lots of cash in their homes. Police speculated the invaders in Gwinnett County specifically targeted Chen for that reason. Once inside, the robbers began searching for cash and valuables. This gave Chen the opportunity to wake up and get her firearm.

Chen surprised the thieves with a blitz attack, emptying the magazine in her semiautomatic handgun. The video shows each robber fleeing in different directions. 

Investigators released the video in order to identify the two surviving invaders. 

Why Little was walking the streets is another back story. Born in 1982, he committed a series of violent crimes in 1997 when he was just 15 years old. The courts convicted Little of the following: kidnapping, hijacking a motor vehicle, rape, aggravated sodomy, armed robbery, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during a crime. He received sentences for each conviction, totaling 136 years. It’s probable he was released because of his age when he committed the crimes. The question remains: should anyone, even a teenager, be released early after committing all these violent crimes?

He had been on the streets for only six months before encountering Chen.

Little was convicted of the following offenses against Chen: burglary, aggravated assault, home invasion 1^st degree, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, armed robbery, and murder. He is currently serving out his sentence. According to the Georgia Department of Corrections, Little's "maximum release date is March 28, 2043."

Does that mean he can be released earlier than 2043?   

The third intruder has never been caught. (See picture below.) If you recognize him, please call the Gwinnett County Police Department at 770-513-5000.

Robert A. Waters is the author of Guns and Self-Defense: 23 Inspirational True Crime Stories of Survival with Firearms, co-written with Sim Waters. For more than 30 years, Waters has researched defensive shootings in America. He has penned 4 books describing in detail many of those cases.

“Look at my Face”

Changes in Attitudes

By Robert A. Waters

  

On September 7, 2023, ABC channel KSTP-TV reported that Democratic Farmer Labour Party second vice chairwoman Shivanthi Sathanandan was “injured after being attacked by a group of armed men who carjacked her in the driveway of her Folwell neighborhood home…”

Shivanthi described the attack in brutal detail. I'm publishing this remarkable statement verbatim: “Yesterday my children and I were violently car jacked in the driveway of our home in Minneapolis. Four very young men, all carrying guns, beat me violently down to the ground in front of our kids. The young men held our neighbors up at gunpoint when they ran over and tried to help me. All in broad daylight.

“Look at my face in the picture. This is the face of a mother who just had the sh-t beaten out of her. A mother whose only thought was, ‘let me run far enough and fight hard enough so that my kids have a chance to get away.’ This is the face of a mother who just listened to her four year old daughter screaming non-stop, her 7 year old son wailing for someone to come help because bad guys are murdering his Mama in the back yard, her neighbors screaming in outrage…all while being beaten with guns and kicks and fists.

“I have a broken leg, deep lacerations on my head, bruising and cuts all over my body.

“And I have rage.

“These men knew what they were doing. I have NO DOUBT they have done this before. Yet they are still on OUR STREETS. Killing mothers. Giving babies psychological trauma that a lifetime of therapy cannot erase. With no hesitation and no remorse.

“I’m now part of the statistics. I wasn’t silent when I fought these men to save my life and my babies, and I won’t be silent now. We need to get illegal guns off our streets, catch these young people who are running wild creating chaos across our city and HOLD THEM IN CUSTODY AND PROSECUTE THEM.

“PERIOD.

“Look at my face. REMEMBER ME when you are thinking of letting juveniles and young people out of custody to roam our streets instead of HOLDING THEM ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS.

“You could have been reading the obituary for me and my children today. But instead I’m here. To write this.

“Look at my face. These criminals will not win. We need to take back our city. And this will not be the last you hear from me about this.

“Thank you to the incredible Minneapolis 4^th Precinct Officers, Mayor Frey, Chief O’Hara, Paramedics, neighbors, friends and DFL family, who all came to our aide during this terrifying experience. I’m so grateful for this community that wraps us in love.”

This response is a far cry from a Facebook post Shivanthi made on June 5, 2020, after George Floyd ‘s death.

“We are going to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department. Say it with me.

“DISMANTLE…The…Minneapolis…Police…Department.

“As allies, what can we do right now. LISTEN and LEARN from our Black siblings. And then AMPLIFY this message right now, in this moment. MPD has systematically failed the Black Community, they have failed ALL OF US. Its time to build a new infrastructure that works for ALL communities. If you are still disagreeing with that BASIC FACT, I don’t know what to say to you.”

On November 2, 2021, USA Today reported “Minneapolis residents voted not to replace the city’s police department.”

Two days after the carjacking, Minneapolis police located Shivanthi’s abandoned car. It's not known if police have identified or arrested the carjackers.

Unlike many who have called out Shivanthi’s “hypocrisy,” I’m saddened by the attack on her and her family. For a mother to have been beaten by four thugs in front of her young children is horrendous. She’s right, those kids will likely suffer trauma for a lifetime. She's also right that her attackers are likely hardened criminals who have violently assaulted others. And she's right in calling for these attackers to be severely punished. There’s no excuse for such violence.

Here’s hoping those who committed this act will be found quickly. And I hope Shivanthi and her children make a full recovery.

Robert A. Waters is the author of Guns and Self-Defense, written with co-author Sim Waters. For more than 30 years, Waters has researched “righteous” defensive shootings. He has penned four books describing in detail many of those cases. If this story intrigued you, check out our book. Chapter 4 recounts the true story of a black female Milwaukee nurse who used her concealed carry pistol to single-handedly stop a violent carjacking ring. The night before, the carjackers had shot an innocent man, shattering his jaw in an attempt steal his vehicle. In addition to this exciting case, our book describes two dozen more inspiring stories of ordinary citizens who used guns to save their own lives or the lives of others.

Kystie's Law

 

Woman Sued After Using Firearm to Save Cop

By Robert A. Waters

Aurora Police Sgt. Bill Halbig wrote the following synopsis about the circumstances that led to a lawsuit against Kystie Jaehnen: "On January 20, 2017, a suspicious person prompted a call to 9-1-1 in Ohio County, Indiana. The suspicious person was parked in an elderly person’s yard for an extended period of time, blocking her driveway and creating a road hazard.

"Shortly after, a police officer (Michael Powell) arrived in response to the call. The man began resisting and both the officer and the man went to the ground. A young woman (Kystie) standing nearby on her property ran to help the officer. Kystie could see the officer was losing the fight as this man reached for the officer’s gun. Fortunately for the officer, Kystie was armed and shot the man one time which ended the fight."

The assailant, Justin Holland, 25, received immediate on-scene medical attention but died from his wound. Some newspapers reported he was shot once in the shoulder, others that he was shot in the abdomen. An autopsy determined Holland had the following drugs in his system: methadone, methamphetamine, benzodiazepines, marijuana, and dextromethorphan.

The Dearborn County Register reported Holland (pictured above) "was facing charges of fraud of a financial institution, theft and forgery at the time of the incident and had previously been arrested for one count of battery resulting in bodily injury."

Indiana State Police Public Information Officer Sgt. Stephen Wheeles said that "it was obvious the officer was not winning the confrontation." Because of this, the Dearborn/Ohio County prosecutor refused to charge Kystie. In fact, he praised her actions.

Then the family of Holland sued Kystie Jaehnen.

Eagle Country Online reported "an Ohio County woman facing a wrongful death lawsuit for fatally shooting a drugged-up man as he attacked a police officer is asking Indiana lawmakers to enact new legal protections for people in her situation." Kystie told prosecutors when she went to Powell’s defense, she felt she was protected under Indiana’s self-defense law.

That was not the case.

The complaint alleges that "Kystie L. Jaehnen used excessive and unjustified deadly force in shooting and killing Plaintiff’s decedent, Justin Holland. [She] acted willfully, wantonly and with reckless disregard for the welfare of [Holland]." Eagle Country Online reported that "the Hollands are seeking unspecified damages, relief, and legal fees from Jaehnen, Powell and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. They demand a jury trial."

Officer Powell's legal defense is covered by his department and the Fraternal Order of Police Legal Defense Fund. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources is also covered.

Halbig wrote: "It is tragic how one person's irrational and unlawful actions can destroy the peaceful lives of others. This case is about more than the right or wrong of one party suing another. Imagine not being able to come to the aid of another person for fear of being sued, possibly to the point of bankruptcy. This case is about a person having the basic God-given right and the 2nd Amendment right to defend both yourself and others without the fear of civil retribution."

Halbig started a GoFundMe page that raised nearly $100,000 to cover Kystie's legal expenses.

After Kystie (now married and called Kystie Phillips), testified, the state of Indiana passed Act 1284, also referred to as Kystie's  Law. According to WKRC television, "the new law gives those cleared of wrongdoing immunity from civil lawsuits. The change is being praised by police groups, but the group Moms Demand Action says it encourages armed vigilantism."

In 2019, the Holland family dropped its lawsuit. No reason was given.

NOTE: Michael Powell is a "conservation officer" for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

Can You Help Solve This Mystery?

Do you remember seeing any of these items years ago?

Ten-year-old Amy Renee Mihaljevic went missing 34 years ago, on October 27, 1989, in Bay Village, Ohio. Her body was discovered on February 8, 1990, in Ruggles Township, Ashland County, Ohio. She had been stabbed to death and likely raped.

Amy's abductor, a stranger, called and arranged for her to meet him so they could buy a present for her mother. The man seemed familiar with Amy and her family, stating that Amy's mother was getting a promotion at work. The child fell for the ruse and was abducted from a nearby shopping plaza when she went to meet the man. 

Several items she had taken with her were missing when she was discovered. I am posting these pictures from the FBI website. If you have seen shoes similar to those pictured above, or earrings that look like the one pictured, please contact the FBI.

A few hundred yards from her body, investigators found a blanket that had been fashioned into a curtain. Amy's hair and her dog's hairs were found embedded in the blanket. It is believed the killer rolled her body into the blanket to transport her to the place where she was found. The blanket is distinctive. If you remember going to a house and seeing a blanket like this being used as a curtain, please call the FBI.

Someone has gotten away with murder for more than three decades. If any of these items bring back a memory, please call the FBI at 202-324-3000. 

Please check out the following FBI video for more information about the case:

(22) Seeking Information in Amy Mihaljevic Murder - YouTube

 

"...In the prime of his predatory years"

The Murder of Kristin Lodge-Miller

By Robert A. Waters

The Crime

At 6:00, on the morning of July 15, 1993, Kristin Ann Lodge-Miller, 26, headed out for a jog in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She had no idea she would never come home.

The (Raleigh) News and Observer reported that Kristin “slipped on an old T-shirt and a pair of orange and pink jogging shorts, grabbed her keychain with a small can of mace, and headed out the door for her morning run.” The tree-lined running trail on Estes Drive near her home seemed especially peaceful. After a three-mile run, she planned to drive to her job as a speech therapist for children and elderly stroke victims.

Kristin, a stunningly beautiful mid-western girl, had earned her undergraduate degree in speech-language pathology, and later obtained her master’s degree in the same field.  She and her husband, Erik, moved to Chapel Hill when he was accepted into the graduate business school at the University of North Carolina.

As the sun rose, citizens of the college town began milling about. On the sidewalk that runs parallel to Estes Boulevard (pictured), Kristin passed walkers and other joggers. She must have felt safe. Who would attack someone with so many people around?

From a stand of trees beside the walkway, a teenaged boy jumped Kristin. He attempted to drag her into some bushes, but she fought back. Spraying her assailant with mace, she broke away and fled. Her attacker, who later told cops Kristin made him angry by fighting back, chased her. As he closed the gap, he pulled a .32-caliber handgun from his pocket and fired six shots. Three bullets pierced her back. Staggering, Kristin dropped to the ground. Her assailant then ran up to her, placed the gun to the back of her head and pulled the trigger.

According to The Chapel Hill Herald, “Police found four spent shell casings on the road—two located within three feet of her body…A fifth spent shell was found about 11 feet away and a sixth forty-five feet away, indicating that the assailant fired the gun while chasing her, then shot her at close range as she fell, police said.” They located Kristin’s mace cannister near her body. It was half-empty, with sticky residue still on it.

The crime happened so fast onlookers couldn’t help. Numerous calls from horrified witnesses crackled into the 9-1-1 system and within a couple of minutes, cops and paramedics arrived. EMTs raced Kristin to a nearby hospital where she was officially pronounced dead.

Observers provided investigators a detailed description of the shooter. In less than an hour, cops arrested 18-year-old Anthony Georg Simpson. The killer was riding his bicycle through the heart of the city, seemingly without a care in the world.

In November of 1992, the teen had moved with his mother, Karen, into a new condominium. Coventry, on Weaver Dairy Road in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was high-end, owned by Ethan Horton, a cousin of Karen. Horton, who had been a football star at the University of North Carolina, now played for the Los Angeles Raiders.

The News and Observer reported that in his home state of Virginia, Simpson “had been suspended from school 23 times for insubordination, fistfights, and disrespect. He appeared in juvenile court three times and was labeled ‘beyond parental control.’”

The Daily Tar Hill reported that he had served time in two Virginia facilities. “When [Simpson] was 14,” the article read, “he spent about three months in the Norfolk Detention Home for smacking an enemy classmate on the head with a shovel during a home economics project. In early 1992, Simpson served nine months in the Beaumont Learning Center for shooting into a moving car during a drug deal.”

In Chapel Hill, his crimes continued. Less than a month before murdering Kristin, police arrested Simpson for stealing a Honda. Instead of jail time, a judge released Simpson and ordered him to perform a few hours of community service.

Just like that—voila—he was back on the streets. A below-average student, he dropped out of summer school. The few acquaintances he made in school described him as a loner and wannabe gangster. He bragged about raping women and being a hitman. (Police later investigated those claims and said they never happened.) At some point, violent fantasies had become hardwired into Simpson’s psyche. Kristin’s murder was just a step up the ladder of rage.

Once caught, the teenager quickly confessed. Police were surprised he didn’t come from the “poor side of the tracks.” In fact, his mother was an officer in the United States Air Force. However, his father was long-gone and Simpson spent lots of time alone since his mother’s job took her away from home at times.

Four witnesses identified Simpson as the shooter. The Chapel Hill Herald reported “Simpson led police to an abandoned shed off Estes Road where he tossed the gun. [Cops] made the case stronger when [they] matched Simpson’s fingerprints with fingerprints on the six-shot ammunition clip found in the weapon used to kill the jogger.”

Trial

“The sign Thursday at an impromptu memorial for slain jogger Kristin Lodge-Miller asked ‘Where is the justice?’’’ So wrote the editors of the News and Observer after Anthony Georg Simpson’s trial ended with a verdict of second-degree murder. Citizens of Chapel Hill were outraged to learn Simpson could be eligible for parole after only ten years. Prosecutors had asked the jury to find him guilty of first-degree murder—he would have had to serve twenty years before being considered for parole if he had been convicted of the higher charge.

For weeks, newspapers had a hard time finding room to print the deluge of letters to the editors that complained about the verdict. One letter protested Simpson's sentence because he was “in the prime of his predatory years.” Women’s groups, rape crisis organizations, even high school students held vigils lamenting the decision. And letters from ordinary citizens kept coming. Even years later, an occasional letter arrived at some local newspaper denouncing the verdict.

Kristin’s murder had struck a chord.

One juror spoke anonymously to the press. He stated three jurors refused to vote for first-degree murder, thereby causing the group to go with the lesser charge. The three stated they were not convinced that Simpson’s intent was to rape Kristin. They also considered the fact that the victim pepper-sprayed her attacker. That, in the killer’s own words, angered him. The News and Observer wrote that “apparently, jurors agreed with the argument that Simpson became enraged after Lodge-Miller attempted to spray him with Mace when he approached during her early morning jog last July.” That, some of the jury seemed to believe, mitigated his crime.

In hindsight, citizens need not have worried about Simpson cheating the system and being released early. He seemed unable to comply with prison rules. Throughout his imprisonment, Simpson has racked up an amazing 47 infractions. These included such offenses as sexual crimes, drug infractions, fighting, possession of a weapon, disobeying orders, assault on an officer, assaulting staff with a weapon, and countless other violations. Because of this, Simpson has not been seriously considered for release.

After the verdict, Erik Miller wrote a letter to the people of Chapel Hill. In the note, he stated, “Our loss has been total and final. We know we cannot have Kristin back, and neither can this society. Kristin Ann Lodge-Miller was one of the few people who I can truly say positively affected society. She certainly had a positive effect on myself and my family. Her beauty was far beyond the physical and it is, indeed, a severe blow to all now that she is gone.” 

Random crimes always frighten people. They shatter what people perceive as order in the universe. Such cases always generate more publicity than most other crimes. This case was a prime example. 

The Octogenarian Murders

 

Did a Fourteen-Year-Old Boy Get Away with Two Cold-Blooded Slayings?

By Robert A. Waters

The Murders

On October 20, 1941, in Media, Pennsylvania, two elderly women suffered a brutal attack that would ultimately kill them.

In late afternoon, Elizabeth Watson, 83, and her sister, Belle Geary, 80, walked toward home after dining at a local restaurant. Elizabeth had long been widowed and Belle never married. As they made their way through a secluded alley toward their residence, the sisters realized someone was following them. Suddenly, the stalker blitzed the women. Using a rock, he beat Elizabeth to the ground, then pummeled Belle. As the octogenarians lay bleeding, the assailant flung the stone at Belle’s head, knocking her cold. Then he fled. He took nothing.

Someone heard screams and called police.

Elizabeth suffered a skull fracture while Belle’s lacerated face and head bled profusely. An ambulance crew raced them to Chester Hospital. Three days later, Elizabeth died. Belle lingered for nearly four months before she passed away. The coroner said her death was a direct result of the assault.

Investigators quickly identified a suspect, 14-year-old John “Jackie” Leeds. On the day of the murder, he had escaped from Glen Mills Reformatory, a nearby reform school for juvenile delinquents. Another inmate, who had also escaped that day, ratted him out to authorities. The Republican and Herald quoted District Attorney William B. McClenachen: “Leeds has made a complete confession and admitted the murder of Mrs. Watson and severely beating her sister. He told us he did the job by himself.” In fact, he wrote out one confession, and signed two others written by officers. In addition, the other teenager who fled the reformatory at the same time as Leeds told detectives his friend had bragged about killing Elizabeth and showed off a “roll of bills.”

The next day, investigators took Leeds from the jail intending to participate in a reenactment of the crime. However, before he could lead them to the crime scene, cops ended the walk-through after local media descended en masse.

Prosecutors thought they had a slam dunk case and held Jackie Leeds without bond on a first-degree murder charge. In fact, the District Attorney was so confident in his case he went on vacation.

But the local justice system had never reckoned with a mom like Margaret Leeds Braden. Immediately after her son’s arrest, she spoke with reporters. Sobbing, she said, “He didn’t do it. I know he didn’t do it.” And with those words hanging in the air, she hired E. Leroy van Roden, one of the finest attorneys in Pennsylvania.

Before leaving, McClenachen released one of Jackie Leeds’ confessions to reporters. It read: “I was broke and hungry and I saw one of [the sisters] carrying a pocketbook. I grabbed at it and the ladies resisted. One of them hit at me with her cane. I got mad and hit her with my fist. Then I picked up a rock and beat the one lady (i.e., Elizabeth Watson) over the head until she fell down. Then I threw the rock at the other one and hit her in the head. Then I kept on beating them. It was horrible the way I beat them. They were both unconscious. I got frightened and ran away.”   

His mother responded: “If they got a confession from Johnny, they beat it out of him. They beat him at Glen Mills although he is just a boy. After he left Glen Mills, he walked all the way to the home of my brother, a few blocks from ours, and slept in my brother’s car. We found him there…He still had on the uniform that he had on when he left school. There was not a scratch on him except the black and blue spots from the beating school attendants gave him that caused him to leave.”

A persistent truant, Leeds had been examined by psychiatrists at Allentown State Hospital, referred to in the media as an “insane asylum.” Over the years, he had been arrested numerous times for truancy, loitering, theft, and trespassing. Try as she might, John’s mother could not control his rebellious behavior. As a last resort, on the recommendation of psychiatrists at Allentown State, she admitted Jackie to Glen Mills Reformatory. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that “Mrs. Braden sent her intelligent but wayward son [to Glen Mills] in an effort to rehabilitate him.” She later said she thought it was a “school.”

The Trials

On January 19, 1942, just three months after the crimes, Leeds stood trial for the murder of Elizabeth Watson. The prosecution relied heavily on his written confessions, as well the testimony of Charles Mitchell, the boy who escaped the same day John did. Mitchell told the court he saw John at Broad Street Railroad Station in Philadelphia and John had flashed a wad of cash. After allegedly revealing to Mitchell that he’d killed an old “broad,” John supposedly gave his friend one dollar.

The defense tackled the written confessions first. John took the stand and said he did indeed write the confessions, but only because interrogating detectives threatened to arrest his mother if he didn’t confess. He said they told him his mother was already in custody and could be given life in prison or even the death penalty. John, who did not look like a “hardened” criminal, made a good impression on the jurors. Cops, suddenly placed on the defensive, denied they’d coerced the teenager.

The second strategy for the defense was to show that John was nowhere near the location where the octogenarians were attacked. The Republican and Herald reported John’s mother “denied that he was in the Media area at the time. She contended that he had walked 20 miles from the reformatory to the home of her brother in Germantown.” Her brother, a respected businessman, told the court he found John sleeping in his car the following morning. In addition, John Dickinson, a truck driver, testified he gave Leeds a ride from Westtown, 16 miles from Media, to Philadelphia the night of the slayings.

On January 26, the jury acquitted Leeds.

The decision stunned Judge Albert Dutton McDade. The Delaware County Daily Times reported that Dutton “denounced the verdict from the bench and told the jurors they were guilty of a ‘miscarriage of justice.’” He said he’d heard that Leeds had molested a nurse at Glen Mills Reformatory and was a danger to the community.

On the same day he was found not guilty of Elizabeth Watson’s murder, Miss Belle Geary died. The coroner told reporters her death was a direct result of the beating.

In June, 1942, the court committed John to Fairview State Hospital where he was diagnosed as “mentally ill with criminal tendencies.” The hospital released him a few months later.

Immediately after leaving the hospital, prosecutors ordered Leeds to stand trial for the murder of Belle Geary. This time, the prosecution’s case was even weaker than before. Charles Mitchell, the reformatory inmate who claimed Leeds confessed to him, could not testify since he was fighting with the United States Marines in the South Pacific.

And this time, the defense’s case was stronger than at the first trial. The lawyers had located additional witnesses who claimed to have seen Leeds in Philadelphia at the time of the attack.

Once again, the “bad boy” was acquitted.

His mother celebrated with her son, telling the press, “I told you so.”

Aftermath

John “Jackie” Leeds had accomplished something few people have. He’d been acquitted of two murders in separate trials. Now all he had to do was live a clean life. Alas, he seemed to not be able to do that.

After his acquittal, Leeds joined the United States Army.

On December 4, 1945, Mrs. Anna E. Reiker had just returned to her home in Germantown. Her husband was overseas in the military. The Delaware County Daily Times reported “John J. (Jackie) Leeds, now in Army uniform, who was acquitted of a charge of murdering the aged Geary sisters in Media four years ago, was arrested in Germantown Monday on charges of attacking a soldier’s wife.”

The victim told investigators that before she removed her coat, she heard a knock on the door. “As I opened the door,” she said, “a man in uniform grabbed me by the neck and threw me to the floor. I struggled and he broke my glasses and I started to scream.” She told investigators the stranger punched her in the face several times, then attempted to pull her to him and kiss her.

Fortunately for Mrs. Reiker, her two sisters were visiting and ran to her aid. When he saw them, Leeds fled as one of her sisters called police.

As responding officers spoke to Mrs. Reiker, Leeds arrived back at the house. He said he wanted to “apologize” to his victim. Cops, noticing Mrs. Reiker's bruised and battered face, quickly arrested Leeds and charged him “with aggravated assault and battery and attempt to ravish.”

On December 12, 1945, Leeds went on trial. Although he was acquitted of “attempt to ravish,” the jury convicted him of “aggravated assault and battery.” The judge sentenced Leeds to three years in prison.

On November 26, 1947, the Philadelphia Times-Tribune reported the following: “John (Jackie) Leeds, twenty-two, who as a teenager was acquitted in the slayings of two Media sisters, was sentenced to fifteen to thirty years in prison after pleading guilty to burglary charges. Burglaries of a private house, two churches and a parked car netted $4.35 in cash and a chalice. A lunacy commission which examined the youth said he was not insane but had a ‘psychic illness.’”

At this point, John Leeds disappeared from history.