Skip to main content

17

The figures born on this date represent serial criminality across three continents — South Africa, Russia, and Australia — spanning the latter half of the twentieth century. Each operated through methods that reflected a particular kind of sustained, methodical violence: Moses Sithole, responsible for the ABC Murders in post-apartheid South Africa, preyed on dozens of women under the guise of employment offers; Alexander Astashev, the so-called Cheremkhovo Poisoner, turned domestic poison into a repeated instrument of killing across Siberia. Gregory Brazel's record spans serial murder, arson, and armed robbery, earning him multiple life sentences in Australia. Taken together, they form a portrait of predatory offending that cut across political transitions, geographic isolation, and social instability alike.

November 17, 1964 - Moses Sithole

Operating across multiple townships in South Africa over roughly sixteen months, Sithole carried out one of the country's most extensive series of killings, targeting women he lured under the pretense of offering employment. The geographic spread of his crimes — spanning Atteridgeville, Boksburg, and Cleveland — reflected both his mobility and the time it took investigators to connect the cases. The sentence handed down, over two thousand years, reflects the scale of what the courts determined he had done.

Read more …November 17, 1964 - Moses Sithole

  • Hits: 24

November 17, 1956 - Alexander Astashev

Operating across multiple Russian regions over roughly two years, Astashev led a poisoning campaign that killed 17 people and injured 14 others — crimes motivated by robbery rather than ideology or personal grievance. What distinguishes his case is the coordinated involvement of two female accomplices and the geographic spread of the attacks, which complicated investigation and allowed the scheme to continue well into 2005. His ultimate ruling of criminal incompetence meant he never faced trial, while those who carried out the crimes alongside him were imprisoned.

Read more …November 17, 1956 - Alexander Astashev

  • Hits: 27

November 17, 1954 - Gregory Brazel

Brazel's crimes span nearly a decade and cross distinct categories of violence — armed robbery resulting in murder, and the targeted killing of sex workers — making his case notable for both its breadth and the long delay before full accountability. His 1982 confession, offered eighteen years after the fact, reflects a pattern of control that extended well beyond the crimes themselves. His reputation within Victoria's prison system as among the most manipulative and dangerous incarcerated individuals has kept him from parole despite eligibility.

Read more …November 17, 1954 - Gregory Brazel

  • Hits: 25