• Obituaries of Notable People in the Criminals Category



  • Arthur Shawcross, 63 (1945 - 2008)

    Arthur  Shawcross

    ROCHESTER, N.Y. Serial killer Arthur Shawcross, who was serving life in prison for strangling 11 women in the Rochester area, has died at 63. Shawcross died late Monday at an Albany hospital, where he had been taken after complaining of leg pain earlier in the day at the Sullivan Correctional Facility, Corrections Department spokesman Erik Kriss said Tuesday. The cause of...

    Read More About Arthur Shawcross »


  • Nikola Kavaja (2008)

    Nikola  Kavaja

    BELGRADE, Serbia - Nikola Kavaja, who hijacked a U.S. passenger jet in 1979 with the intention of crashing it into Yugoslav Communist Party headquarters, has died. Kavaja, 76, died of a heart attack at his home in Belgrade late Monday, the Blic daily newspaper said. Other local media also reported his death. The self-declared anti-communist hijacked an American Airlines Boeing 707 in New...

    Read More About Nikola Kavaja »


  • James Fantroy, 71 (1937 - 2008)

    James  Fantroy

    DALLAS - James Fantroy, a former Dallas City Council member who chose prison over admitting publicly that he embezzled public funds, has died. He was 71. Fantroy died Sunday after a lengthy struggle with kidney cancer, City Council member Tennell Atkins told The Associated Press. Fantroy served a southern district of the city from 2000 until 2007. The private security company operator...

    Read More About James Fantroy »


  • Frank (Lefty) Rosenthal, 79 (1929 - 2008)

     Frank (Lefty) Rosenthal

    MIAMI -- Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal--sports handicapper extraordinaire, Las Vegas gaming executive and the inspiration for the blockbuster movie "Casino"--died Monday. He was 79. He died from a heart attack in his Miami Beach condo, a fire-rescue spokeswoman said. Rosenthal, who once survived a car bomb, ran the Chicago mob-owned Stardust, Fremont, Hacienda and Marina casinos through the...

    Read More About Frank (Lefty) Rosenthal »


  • Frank J. Valenti (2008)

    Frank J. Valenti

    ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Frank J. Valenti, who oversaw organized crime activity in Rochester during its violent heyday in the 1960s and '70s, has died. He was 97. He died Saturday at a nursing home outside Houston, according to a death certificate filed Wednesday at the clerk's office in Fort Bend County, Texas. Valenti seized control of gambling, prostitution and extortion rackets in the...

    Read More About Frank J. Valenti »