Passion, greed, insanity ...
There are many reasons that crimes are committed, and while most crimes are quickly forgotten, except by the people directly involved, some are still remembered and talked about decades later.
In "The Most Notorious Crimes in American History," Life magazine rounds up some of the most mysterious, gruesome, and shocking crimes in American history.
Business Insider rounded up 13 of the most notorious crimes highlighted in the book.
SEE ALSO: Happy Friday the 13th — here are some of the creepiest places on earth
The assassination of Abraham Lincoln — April 14, 1865
Fresh off his second inauguration and the salvation of the Union, Lincoln went to see the popular comedy "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865.
One of the most notorious assassinations in American history took place there, as the actor turned Confederate radical John Wilkes Booth sneaked up behind the president, drew a pistol, and fired a single shot at the back of Lincoln's head. Lincoln died the next morning.
Booth, who had previously performed in Ford's theater, knew the scene of the crime well. He had also been stalking Lincoln for some time. He held a fanatically pro-slavery position and desperately wanted to see the South freed from the rule of Lincoln.
It is rumored that Booth belonged to the clandestine Knights of the Golden Circle, whose members were fierce opponents of the Union. At one point he planned to kidnap the president in exchange for thousands of Confederate soldiers, but he was foiled by a last-minute itinerary change.
On March 4, 1865, at Lincoln's second inauguration, Booth stood on a balcony behind the president. The Civil War ended a month later, and days later Booth killed one of the greatest US presidents of all time.
Source: "Life: The Most Notorious Crimes in American History"
Sacco and Vanzetti — April 15, 1920
"Long live anarchy." Those were the last words spoken by Nicola Sacco before he was electrocuted on August 23, 1927.
Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were two anarchist Italian immigrants who were found guilty of killing a paymaster and a guard of a shoe factory in South Braintree, Massachusetts, in April 1920 and of stealing $16,000 in payroll money.
The two were brought together by their support of anarchist Luigi Galleani's militant activities and fled to Mexico in 1917 to avoid being drafted to fight in World War I. Their trial received worldwide attention.
Both were arrested in connection to the shoe factory robbery even though they had never been convicted of a crime before, and they were found guilty by a jury despite "contradictions in eyewitness testimonies and questionable ballistics evidence."
The trial was largely perceived as being unfair and sparked protests that eventually forced the Massachusetts governor to order an investigatory commission, which agreed with the jury.
The countless books and legal reviews written on the trial have now mostly confirmed Sacco's guilt, but Vanzetti's remains questioned.
Source: "Life: The Most Notorious Crimes in American History"
The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre — February 14, 1929
Prohibition was a windfall for organized crime in America, and for gangsters Alphonse "Scarface Al" Capone and George "Bugs" Moran in particular.
The two gangsters' rivalry led to one of the best-known incidents of organized crime in the US, which led to the killing of six mobsters and one other person on Valentine's Day in 1929.
One of Capone's top men, Jack "Machine Gun" McGurn, was sure Moran had tried to kill him twice before he decided to stage a setup designed to kill Moran and some of his men.
He lured Moran into a garage at 2122 North Clark Street in Chicago by pretending there was an opportunity to buy cheap whiskey from a bootlegger. Moran went for it, though he was not one of the seven men killed that day. He was either late or saw the police car in front of the house and hid, according to varying accounts.
The police car Moran might have seen was a fake one. This was part of McGurn's plot. Four people entered the garage, two men wearing police uniforms and two men dressed in plain clothes.
The plan was to make it look like a regular raid against bootlegging, and the plan worked perfectly. The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, as it would come to be known, also marked a turning point for the fight against gangs in Chicago.
At the time, William Russell, the police commissioner of the city, said, "We're going to make this the knell of gangdom in Chicago."
Source: "Life: The Most Notorious Crimes in American History"
See the rest of the story at Business Insider