Unforgotten Casebook — One case. Every angle. One place.One case. Every angle. One place.
Explore books, movies, podcasts, news coverage, and court records—organized by true crime case and real-life story, together in one place.
THE CASE LIBRARY
U.S. cases, plus the Bernardo–Homolka case in Canada.
1934
Eric Madison's death in 1934 led to the prosecution of his wife Nellie May. Her case drew attention to domestic abuse and to how the justice system treated women facing capital punishment.
1932–1972
Black men in a U.S. Public Health Service study were misled about its purpose and denied adequate treatment for syphilis. Public exposure of the study in 1972 intensified demands for research safeguards. Bad Blood investigates the history; Miss Evers’ Boys uses fictionalized characters to dramatize it.
1931–1932
An assault allegation in Honolulu was followed by a retaliatory killing and a major criminal trial. The case exposed racial prejudice and unequal power in territorial Hawaii.
1931–1935
Nine Black teenagers were accused of rape after a confrontation aboard a freight train in Alabama. Rushed trials, inadequate representation and racial exclusion from juries turned the prosecutions into a national struggle over justice. Supreme Court decisions arising from the cases addressed counsel and jury discrimination.
1930
Ten-year-old Leona O’Loughlin disappeared while her father became seriously ill in 1930. Investigators examined evidence that both had been poisoned and that the danger came from within their home.
1925
Teacher John Scopes was prosecuted under Tennessee’s prohibition on teaching human evolution in public schools. Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan helped turn the trial into a national media event. The later play and film Inherit the Wind fictionalize it; Summer for the Gods distinguishes history from that retelling.
1924
Bobby Franks was kidnapped and murdered in Chicago in 1924. The investigation focused on students Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, and the prosecution became a major public debate about punishment.
1923–1994
A white mob destroyed the predominantly Black community of Rosewood in 1923, killing residents and forcing survivors to flee. Decades later, survivors sought public recognition and compensation from Florida. Like Judgment Day investigates the history; Rosewood dramatizes it with invented characters and events.
1922
Fred Oesterreich was found shot while his wife Dolly was locked in a closet. The investigation eventually revealed another man secretly living in the household and a concealed relationship.
1920s–1930s
Albert Fish abducted Grace Budd after approaching her family in 1928. Years later, a letter describing her death helped investigators track him down. He was convicted of her murder; accounts of other killings include claims that were not all independently established.
1920s–1950s
Nannie Doss came under suspicion after her husband Samuel died in Oklahoma in 1954. She admitted poisoning him and described other family deaths. Her cheerful manner during coverage produced the nickname Giggling Granny; reported admissions should be distinguished from the murder for which she was convicted.
1917–1938
Young women painting luminous watch and instrument dials ingested radium while following workplace instructions. Severe illness led workers to challenge employers who disputed responsibility. Their struggles became an important chapter in occupational health and workers’ access to compensation. The film uses fictionalized characters inspired by that history.
1911
A fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory killed 146 people, many of them young immigrant women. Inadequate escape routes and unsafe working conditions made the disaster a turning point in public debate over industrial safety. Investigations helped bring changes to factory regulation in New York.
1892
Andrew and Abby Borden were killed with a hatchet in their Fall River home in 1892. Andrew’s daughter Lizzie was tried and acquitted the following year. The case remains unresolved; later books and films offer competing interpretations rather than an established identification of the killer.
1890s
H. H. Holmes used fraud and deception while committing murders in the 1890s, including the killing of Benjamin Pitezel. Investigators also traced the deaths of Pitezel’s children to him. Sensational stories about a Chicago “murder castle” often mix documented crimes with disputed or exaggerated claims.
1887–1904
Helen Keller and teacher Anne Sullivan developed ways for Keller to access language and education as a deafblind child. Keller’s autobiography describes her learning and relationships. The Miracle Worker concentrates on the early teaching relationship, rather than Keller’s later career as a writer and advocate.
Year not confirmed
Police found Brookey Lee West's mother's remains inside a container in a Las Vegas storage unit. The discovery led investigators to examine the mother-daughter relationship and the circumstances of the death.
Year not confirmed
Christopher Gray, a young man with a developmental disability, disappeared after leaving work in Groton. Investigators used security recordings to reconstruct his movements and uncover what had happened.
Year not confirmed
Cindy Mudd, 71, disappeared in Kanawha County. Investigators followed a sequence of surveillance recordings while searching for her and examining the people involved.
Year not confirmed
Conbino Crasto was shot during a gas-station robbery in Cleveland, Texas. Surveillance video helped investigators search for three masked people connected to the attack.
Year not confirmed
Convenience-store clerk Dahyabhai Kalidas Chaudhari was stabbed at work in Dalton. Security footage gave investigators a way to identify the person responsible for the attack.
Year not confirmed
Dion Smith, a 24-year-old father and youth worker, was found shot in a Baltimore home. Recordings outside the residence helped investigators examine a visitor's movements and the accounts of other occupants.
Year not confirmed
Gabriel Perez, 20, was shot at a Fargo fast-food restaurant. Investigators used surveillance recordings to reconstruct the encounter and identify the gunman.
Year not confirmed
Jack Davis was found with a severe head injury at home in Kinston. Cameras at his property and a neighboring home helped investigators follow the people connected to the attack.
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