On this day, Dec. 5, 1873

Published



“The Boston Belfry Murderer” killed his first victim.

Thomas Piper bludgeoned and strangled Bridget Landregan in the snow, and attempted to defile the dead girl before he was scared off by a passing couple who told police that the killer looked like a “dark, bat-like figure,” with a flowing black opera cloak. In 1874, another young girl was clubbed to death by a man with a cape. A third victim was bludgeoned in her bed in 1875.

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