1737) Ruth Judd

Ruth Judd (1905 – 1998, born Winifred Ruth McKinnell).  American medical secretary in Phoenix, Arizona, who was accused of murdering her friends, Anne LeRoi and Hedvig “Sammy” Samuelson, in October 1931. The murders were discovered when Judd transported the victims' bodies, one of which had been dismembered, from Phoenix to Los Angeles, California, by train in trunks and other luggage, causing the press to name the case the "Trunk Murders". Judd allegedly committed the murders after a jealousy-based argument about Jack Halloran, a prominent Phoenix businessman.

Judd was tried for LeRoi's murder, found guilty, and sentenced to death. However, the sentence was later repealed after she was found mentally incompetent, and she was committed to the Arizona State Asylum for the Insane. Over the next three decades, Judd escaped from the asylum six times; after her final escape during the 1960s, she remained at large for over six years and worked under an assumed name for a wealthy family. She was ultimately paroled in 1971 and discharged from parole in 1983.

Judd's murder investigation and trial were marked by sensationalized newspaper coverage and suspicious circumstances suggesting that at least one other person might have been involved in the crimes. 

- "Even among the scandalous crimes of 1930s Los Angeles, the saga of Judd--a tiny, sweet-faced young woman with red hair and enigmatic blue eyes..."   https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-jul-13-me-12329-story.html 

- "She had copper-colored hair and large, curiously pale blue eyes.” https://www.major-smolinski.com/ONEKIND/RUTHJUDDX.html

1448) John Christie

John Reginald Halliday Christie (1899 – 1953), known to his family and friends as Reg Christie. English serial killer and alleged necrophile active during the 1940s and early 1950s. He murdered at least eight people—including his wife, Ethel—by strangling them in his flat at 10 Rillington Place, Notting Hill, London.

Two of Christie's victims were Beryl Evans and her baby daughter Geraldine, who, along with Beryl's husband, Timothy Evans, were tenants at 10 Rillington Place during 1948–49. This case sparked huge controversy after Evans was charged with both murders, found guilty of the murder of his daughter, and hanged in 1950. Christie was a major prosecution witness; when his own crimes were discovered three years later, serious doubts were raised about the integrity of Evans's conviction. Christie himself subsequently admitted killing Beryl, but not Geraldine; it is now generally accepted that Christie murdered both Beryl and Geraldine and that police mishandling of the original inquiry allowed Christie to escape detection and enabled him to murder four more women. The High Court quashed Evans's conviction in 2004, accepting that Evans did not murder either his wife or his child.

 

- "Unlike Ernest, Reg was small, skinny and slight; a shy boy with pale ginger hair and a limp handshake..." https://www.murdermiletours.com/.../murder-mile-true...

 

- "His hair was a reddish-ginger color and his eyes were pale blue." https://murderpedia.org/male.C/c/christie-john.htm

 

- "With reddish ginger hair and pale blue eyes, he was considered by his sisters as “pretty”..." https://serialkillercalendar.com/JOHN-CHRISTIE-SERIAL...

 

 

1443) Edward C. O'Kelley

Edward Capehart O'Kelley (1857 – 1904). American killer who killed Robert Ford, who had killed the famous outlaw Jesse James to receive a bounty.

On 8 June 1892, while Ford was preparing to open his saloon, O’Kelley walked into the tent with a shotgun. Ford was turned away from the front entrance. O’Kelley called out, "Hello, Bob." As Ford turned around to see who spoke, O’Kelley fired his shotgun, hitting Ford in the neck and killing him instantly.

O’Kelley never explained why he had shot Ford. According to one account, O’Kelley married a relative of the Younger Brothers Gang and became friends with Jesse James, who became a cousin by marriage. Another version contends that con man Soapy Smith assured O’Kelley he’d be famous if he killed Ford. One theory involves the accusation that O’Kelley had stolen Ford’s diamond ring, and the dispute had escalated. O’Kelley was initially imprisoned for life, though his sentence was later reduced to 18 years. In the end, O’Kelley served only around 9 years at the Colorado State Penitentiary before being released due, firstly, to a 7,000-signature petition in favour of his release, and, secondly, to a medical condition.

 

- "O'Kelley was also known as Red O'Kelley due to his bright red hair..." http://www.vlib.us/old_west/guns.html

 

- "The man who killed Ford also went by “Red” O’Kelley because of his red hair." https://tomrizzo.com/day-retribution/

 

 

1301) Joseph Lécussan

Joseph Lécussan (1895 - 1946). Member of the Vichy French Milice who, along with Henri Gonnet, was responsible for the kidnapping and murdering of Hélène and Victor Basch (the latter being president of the Ligue des droits de l'homme from 1926 to 1944) under orders of the regional chief Paul Touvier.

- "A chronic alcoholic, Lécussan was a tall, heavily built ex-naval officer whose hair-trigger temper matched his red hair."  https://books.google.it/books…

1268) Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll

Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll (born Uinseann Ó Colla, 1908 – 1932). Irish-American mob hitman in the 1920s and early 1930s in New York City. Coll gained notoriety for the alleged accidental killing of a young child during a mob kidnap attempt.

- "With his thick mane of red hair and toothy grin, Coll seemed to enjoy his work..."  https://lists.rootsweb.com/…/ireland.rootsw…/thread/5649948/

- "... another Hell's Kitchen Irishman with a thick mane of red hair and an engaging - some would say goofy - smile."  https://books.google.it/books…

1265) Owney Madden

Owen Vincent Madden (1891 – 1965), known as Owney Madden and nicknamed "The Killer". Leading underworld figure in Manhattan, most notable for his involvement in organized crime during Prohibition. He also ran the famous Cotton Club and was a leading boxing promoter in the 1930s.
He was born in Leeds, England, and moved to New York in 1901, along with his mother and brother (his father died in 1932).

- "... her association with the notorious red-haired gangster Owney Madden..."  https://books.google.it/books…

1258) Edgar J. Watson

Edgar J. Watson (1855 - 1910). American outlaw. He had supposedly gotten into trouble in Columbia County in northern Florida, to which his parents had migrated sometime after 1870, and had then gone out to the Indian territory (later known as the Oklahoma Territory) where he allegedly killed Belle Starr, herself allegedly an outlaw. He then returned to Florida and killed a man in Arcadia, apparently in self-defense. After that Ed Watson moved to the Ten Thousand Islands area, then part of Monroe County, where he bought a claim on the Chatham Bend River and began raising vegetables.
Locals began to notice that each season, a new crop of farm workers would arrive at Watson's plantation, but then disappear, only to be replaced by different ones the following year. Maybe, some began to theorize, Watson was killing them all at the end of the season so he didn't have to pay them.
In the autumn of 1910, two men and a woman, all employees of Watson, were found murdered on his property. By this time everyone instantly knew to suspect Watson. Watson, for his part, blamed yet another local outlaw - a man named Leslie Cox - and asked the sheriff of Fort Myers to deputize him so he could hunt Cox down. The sheriff didn't believe Watson's story, and denied the request.
Watson visited Smallwood's Store and purchased ammo which he loudly admitted he planned to use to assassinate Cox. According to legend, the woman at the store deliberately sold him ammo that had been ruined by flooding during the hurricane. When Watson showed up at the boat dock, he found a posse of locals who were fed up with him. Watson, not knowing his ammunition was wet, fired into the crowd and the gun wouldn't go off. He dropped the rifle and reached for his revolver, but he was too slow. The posse immediately shot back and gunned him down on the spot.

- "He was extremely tall, red-headed, and possessing, they say, of unnaturally small hands and feet."  http://floridazone.blogspot.com/2015/03/edgar-watson.html

- "Over 6 feet, unusually tall for the time, and extremely strong, Watson’s appearance was additionally distinctive in that he had red hair and beard, and hands and feet that seemed visibly too small for a man of his size."  https://americanhandgunner.com/…/the-lessons-of-edgar-wats…/

- "He knows Watson’s great-granddaughter, Edith, he says, who lives nearby and “has a head of red hair like E. J. Watson.”  https://www.oxfordamerican.org/…/695-the-legend-of-chokolos…

- "He was a two-hundred-pound, red-headed man, with a quick and sometimes quirky temper."  https://www.coastalbreezenews.com/…/the-killing-of-mr-wats…/

- "Watson was a ruggedly good-looking man with red hair and a beard..."  https://books.google.nl/books…

1201) Beulah Annan

Beulah May Annan (née Sheriff; 1899 – 1928). American suspected murderer. Her story inspired Maurine Dallas Watkins's play Chicago in 1926. The play was adapted into a 1927 silent film (with Francine Larrimore as Roxie Hart), a 1975 stage musical, and a 2002 movie musical (which won the Academy Award for Best Picture), all with that title, and a 1942 romantic comedy film, Roxie Hart (with Ginger Rogers as Roxie Hart), named for the character who Annan inspired.

- "They say she’s the prettiest woman ever accused of murder in Chicago—young, slender, with bobbed auburn hair; wide set, appealing blue eyes; up-tilted nose..."  https://chicagology.com/notorious-chicago/beaulahandbelva/

- "Beulah Annan was known as the “prettiest murderess” for her red hair and fair looks."  https://chicagogsu.wordpress.com/source-material/

- "The image proved irresistible: the thin straight nose, the high cheekbones . . . the gorgeous red hair that rolled off her head like a prairie fire,”  https://nypost.com/2010/08/08/the-girls-of-murder-city/

- "Beulah Annan wore her red hair in a bob."  https://books.google.it/books…

- "With her flaming red hair showing at its best with a fresh trim and marcel, she made a picture which would rival paintings of the famous Titian."  https://books.google.it/books…

928) Bill Doolin

William "Bill" Doolin (1858 – 1896). American bandit outlaw and founder of the Wild Bunch, a gang that specialized in robbing banks, trains, and stagecoaches in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas during the 1890s.

- "At six feet two inches tall and a mere 150 pounds, outlaw Bill Doolin was a stringbean cowboy with auburn hair, blue eyes and reportedly wore a “ragged brindled” mustache."  https://truewestmagazine.com/kill-bill/

- "The son of a Johnson County, Arkansas, farmer, Doolin was six feet, two inches tall, weighted 150 pounds, had auburn hair, blue eyes, a hooked nose and wore a ragged mustache."  https://www.nps.gov/fo…/learn/historyculture/bill-doolin.htm

- "Here Emmett became the saddle companion of slender, six-foot-two, auburn-haired, drooping-moustached, gander-blue-eyed Bill Doolin."  https://books.google.it/books…

926) William C. Quantrill

William Clarke Quantrill (1837 – 1865). Confederate guerrilla leader during the American Civil War.
After becoming a schoolteacher, Quantrill joined a group of bandits who roamed the Missouri and Kansas countryside apprehending escaped slaves. Later on this group became Confederate soldiers, who were referred to as "Quantrill's Raiders". This group was a pro-Confederate partisan ranger outfit best known for their often brutal guerrilla tactics, which made use of effective Native American field skills. Also notable, William's group included the infamous young Jesse James and his older brother Frank James. Quantrill is often noted as influential in the minds of many bandits, outlaws and hired guns of the Old West as it was being settled. In May 1865, Quantrill was mortally wounded by Union troops in Central Kentucky, in one of the last engagements of the Civil War.

- "... hair, a rich auburn, and his eyes - who can describe them?"  https://books.google.it/books…

- "Standing 5 feet 9 inches tall, young Quantrill had a slight frame, reddish hair and cold, steel-blue eyes."  https://www.historynet.com/americas-civil-war-guerrilla-lea…

- "... the 5'9", slightly built, red haired, blue-eyed, 19-year-old moves to the perfect locale for a budding sociopath ..."  http://homebrewedmojo.blogspot.com/…/quantrills-kentucky-en…

925) Cole Younger

Thomas Coleman Younger (1844 – 1916). American Confederate guerrilla during the American Civil War and later an outlaw leader with the James–Younger Gang. He was the eldest brother of Jim, John and Bob Younger, who were also members of the gang.

- "Cole stood almost six feet tall and dressed well. He had curly, light auburn hair and freckles."  https://truewestmagazine.com/cole-younger/

- "Where he got his fiery red hair, no-one really knew. Cole had green eyes and a red stubble for a goatee."  https://books.google.it/books…

- "... but Cole was a red-haired beef of a man with sideburns..."  https://books.google.it/books…

923) Sam Brown

Sam Brown (1831 - 1861). Alabama-born outlaw, active during the California and Nevada Gold Rushes. He and his boys robbed gold and payrolls in both locations.
On July 6th, 1861, in Genoa, Nevada, he harassed German innkeeper Henry Van Sickle, pulling a pistol and chasing him through his own establishment in front of over two dozen guests. July 7th saw the rematch, as Van Sickle engaged Brown in a running gunfight and eventually shot him to death. Accounts claim Brown had killed between 15-20 men.
Henry Van Sickle went on to be a major figure in Nevada politics. The man’s clash with Long-Haired Sam Brown and subsequent career was, by some accounts, the inspiration for the fictional short story by Dorothy M. Johnson The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

- "He stood 6 foot tall, weighed 200 lbs. and had long flaming red hair and whiskers."  https://visitcarsonvalley.org/demise-bad-man-sam-brown/

- "His face had a florid complexion, topped by coarse red hair and long whiskers."  https://thetahoeweekly.com/2018/06/sam-brown-sierra-bad-man/

- "... Long-Haired Sam Brown had a beard and long red hair..."  https://glitternight.com/…/gunmen-of-mystery-from-the-old-…/

- "It was Stewart, red-haired like the loutish Brown, but a bigger man..."  https://truewestmagazine.com/justice-comes-to-nevada/

Van Sickle station in Genoa, Nevada

915) Big Harpe and Little Harpe

Micajah "Big" Harpe, born Joshua Harper (before 1768 – 1799), and Wiley "Little" Harpe, born William Harper (before 1770 – 1804). Murderers, highwaymen, and river pirates who operated in Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, and Mississippi. They are often considered the earliest documented serial killers in the United States, reckoned from the colonial era forward.
Loyal to the British Crown during the American Revolution, the Harpes became outlaws after the war and began robbing and killing settlers in the remote frontier west of the Appalachian Mountains. They are believed to have killed thirty-nine people, and possibly as many as fifty. As the Harpes' crimes gained notoriety, vigilante groups formed to avenge their victims, and they were eventually tracked down and executed around the turn of the century. Their legendary savagery has since entered American folklore, appearing to have been motivated more by blood lust than financial gain.
Though many historical accounts identify them as brothers, it is also possible they were actually first cousins named Joshua and William Harper who emigrated from Scotland in 1759 or 1760.
Their hair colour is disputed. According to the description given by Kentucky Governor James Garrard, they both had black hair, while other sources describe one or the other as red-haired.


Big Harpe:

- "He was described as typically being "diry and shabby," the darkness of the grime offset by a thatch of "fiery red hair."  https://www.findadeathforum.com/showthread.php…

- "He wore no covering on his head, so the natural protection of thick, coarse hair, of a fiery red, uncombed and matted, gave evidence of the rudest exposure."  http://hendersonkyhistory.com/HarpeBros.htm

Little Harpe:

- "His description of Little Harpe was similar, except he had red hair and "bore a look of cunning and treachery."  http://www.thepastwhispers.com/ALHN_Harpes.html

- "Big Micajah, described as bony and muscular, was the brawn to the brains of red-haired Wiley..."  https://www.scotsman.com/…/the-harpe-brothers-scots-who-bec…

- "Wiley, or Little Harpe, was at times described as having black hair, but in fact he seems to have been red-headed."  http://helenroulston.com/whoweretheharpes.html
 
- "Red hair was the particular mark of Little Harpe."  https://books.google.it/books…

- "Little Harpe was small and wiry, with fox-red hair."  https://books.google.it/books…

- "Wiley had flaming red hair, was sllightly smaller in stature and went by Little Harpe."  https://books.google.it/books…

635) Marguerite Alibert

Marguerite Marie Alibert (1890 – 1971), also known as Maggie Meller and Princess Fahmy. French socialite. She started her career as a courtesan in Paris and in 1916 she had an affair with the Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII). After her marriage to Egyptian aristocrat Ali Kamel Fahmy Bey, she was frequently called Princess by the media of the time. In 1923, she killed her husband at the Savoy Hotel in London. She was eventually acquitted of the murder charge after a trial at the Old Bailey. Her affair with the Prince became the subject of the book The Prince, the Princess and the Perfect Murder. The killing of her husband was the focus of the book Scandal at the Savoy: The Infamous 1920s Murder Case.

- "Petite, with long auburn hair and an impish, provocative charm, men found her hugely appealing." https://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2017/11/photo-of-the-day-1210/

- "At this time, she wore her striking auburn hair in long tresses, 'falling to my knees'." https://books.google.it/books…

- "The Prince, a newcomer to such arts, had been initiated, bewitched and then become more than a little obsessed with the shapely body, auburn hair and sensuous mouth of the woman he knew as Mme Maggie Meller." http://tweedlandthegentlemansclub.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-two-princes-francaise-and-perfect.html

- "... and later briefly King Edward VIII, chose to take this woman, with her glorious auburn hair and a flaming temper to match, as his first lover." https://www.express.co.uk/…/A-new-book-brings-to-light-the-…

414) François Ravaillac

François Ravaillac (1578 – 1610). French factotum and murderer of King Henry IV of France in 1610.

- "... a thirty-two-year-old with red hair, François Ravaillac, was awaiting his opportunity." https://books.google.it/books…

- "Ravaillac wore his red hair shaggy on his shoulders..." https://books.google.it/books…

298) Jesse James

Jesse Woodson James (1847 – 1882). American outlaw, bank and train robber and leader of the James–Younger Gang. Raised in the "Little Dixie" area of western Missouri, James and his family maintained strong Southern sympathies. He and his brother Frank James joined pro-Confederate guerrillas known as "bushwhackers" operating in Missouri and Kansas during the American Civil War. As followers of William Quantrill and "Bloody Bill" Anderson, they were accused of participating in atrocities against Union soldiers and civilian abolitionists, including the Centralia Massacre in 1864.

- “The fact that Jesse James suffered from ophthalmic conjunctivitis is in sync with J. Frank Dalton having died a blind man. But the man who Ford killed in 1882 did not suffer from ophthalmic conjunctivitis. Neither did he have red hair like Jesse. The man who Ford killed had black hair.” http://virtualcities.com/ons/tx/y/as/txy60a23.htm

- “The man who was killed and buried in Missouri did not have the eye problem, and according to the doctor, also had black hair. Jesse James had red hair." http://www.durangotexas.com/eyesontexas/…/granbury/james.htm