Illinois was in many ways born in blood. From the early days of piracy to twentieth-century mob massacres, the state has been plagued with some of the worst crimes in history. This book begins with a general overview of crime in the state and then focuses on its headline stories. Included are the cases of the "Murder Castle" of H. H. Holmes, the intellectual thrill killers Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, the bloody St. Valentine's Day Massacre involving Al Capone's South Side mob and Bugs Morans North Side gang, the eight nurses brutally butchered by Richard Speck, and the horrifying rape and slaughter of 33 young men by "Killer Clown" John Wayne Gacy.