Cases from 1978 include criminal investigations, trials, and notable events that occurred during the year. Whether they involved new charges, breakthroughs in cold cases, high-profile trials, or tragic incidents that captured national attention, the cases documented here reflect the state of the criminal justice system in 1978. CaseSleuth provides detailed, chronological coverage of each case with timelines, evidence breakdowns, profiles of key people involved, and links to primary sources and media coverage.
3 cases found
On November 18, 1978, more than 900 members of the Peoples Temple cult died at their jungle commune in Guyana after cult leader Jim Jones ordered a mass poisoning, in the largest single loss of American civilian life before September 11, 2001. U.S. Congressman Leo Ryan and four others were also murdered at a nearby airstrip.
Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer (1960-1994), known as the Milwaukee Cannibal, was an American serial killer who murdered 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991. His crimes involved drugging, strangling, dismemberment, necrophilia, and cannibalism. After his final intended victim Tracy Edwards escaped on July 22, 1991, police discovered human remains throughout Dahmer's Milwaukee apartment. Dahmer confessed, was convicted on 15 counts of first-degree murder in Wisconsin, and was sentenced to 15 consecutive life terms on February 17, 1992. He pleaded guilty to an additional murder in Ohio. On November 28, 1994, fellow inmate Christopher Scarver beat Dahmer to death at Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Wisconsin.
Ted Kaczynski, a former UC Berkeley mathematics professor, conducted a nationwide mail bombing campaign from 1978 to 1995 that killed three people and injured 23 others. He was identified after his brother recognized his writing style in a published manifesto and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.