Editing Thomas McMonigle

{{Villain Infobox
|Image = 25330087 1470716156.jpg
|fullname = Thomas Henry McMonigle
|origin = Covell, Illinois, U.S.
|occupation = Construction worker
|goals = Abduct and kill Thora Chamberlain (succeeded)<br>Get away with murder (failed)
|crimes = [[Murder]]<br>[[Kidnapping]]<br>Attempted [[rape]]<br>Theft
|type of villain = Kidnapper}}
'''Thomas Henry McMonigle''' (28 May 1914 - 20 February 1948) was an American man responsible for the 1945 abduction and presumed murder of 14-year-old Thora Chamberlain in Campbell, California. To this day Chamberlain's body has not been located. 

==Biography==
McMonigle was born in Illinois in 1914. He had a long criminal history dating back to his teens, which included a conviction for attempted rape. He married a woman named Stella at an unknown date, but they divorced. McMonigle then married another woman, Ena Izzard, in 1943.

On 2 November 1945, 14-year-old high school student Thora Chamberlain disappeared outside Campbell High School in Campbell, California. She was seen getting talking to a man dressed in US Navy uniform and wearing several medals, who offered her a job babysitting his sister's children. Chamberlain accepted and got into the man's car. She was never seen again. Suspicion fell on Thomas McMonigle, who abruptly left the area immediately after Chamberlain's disappearence and returned to Illinois. On 6 December, McMonigle attempted suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills while taking a bus to San Francisco. He was rushed to hospital and made a full recovery, but was arrested by the FBI on suspicion of the abduction of Thora Chamberlain immediately after leaving. 

Chamberlain's friends identified McMonigle as the man in the Naval uniform who Chamberlain had left with. McMonigle, who had never served in the navy, confessed that he had dressed up in the uniform and medals after finding them in a foot locker he had stolen from a serviceman, but made various different claims about Chamberlain's fate. He claimed on several occasions that he had murdered Chamberlain by shooting, stabbing or strangling her before throwing her body in the sea; that Chamberlain had accidentally died from hitting her head and he had disposed of her body in the sea afterwards; and that she had left alive and he didn't know what happened to her. Further investigation found significant evidence supporting McMonigle's claims to have shot Chamberlain. The padding was missing from McMonigle's car, and a bullet hole was found on the inside of the door. McMonigle claimed that, after shooting Chamberlain, he had dug the bullet out of the door and buried it under a tree in his backyard. A bullet was indeed recovered from beneath this tree, and ballistics analysis proved it had been fired from McMonigle's gun. McMonigle also claimed that he had ripped out the padding and buried it in an irrigation ditch because it was covered in blood. Bloodstained car padding was recovered from the irrigation ditch. McMonigle claimed that he had stripped Chamberlain naked after killing her and thrown her body from a cliff overlooking Half Moon Bay known as the Devil's Slide. The bay was searched, and while Chamberlain's body was not recovered a pair of socks identical to those she was wearing when she disappeared were found on the Devil's Slide. Finally, a pair of shoes, schoolbooks, papers, a binder and a cowbell belonging to Chamberlain were found hidden at McMonigle's workplace. 

McMonigle was charged with the murder of Thora Chamberlain. The prosecution theorized that he had attempted to rape Chamberlain and then shot her when she resisted. The jury only took 38 minutes to find McMonigle guilty, and he was sentenced to death. While awaiting execution McMonigle confessed to murdering 11 people, but denied killing Chamberlain. He was executed by [[gas chamber]] on 20 February 1948.
[[Category:List]]
[[Category:Male]]
[[Category:Deceased]]
[[Category:United States of America]]
[[Category:Modern Villains]]
[[Category:Execution]]
[[Category:Criminals]]
[[Category:Imprisoned]]
[[Category:Murderer]]
[[Category:Kidnapper]]
[[Category:Perverts]]
[[Category:Rapists]]
[[Category:Thief]]
[[Category:Liars]]
[[Category:Dimwits]]