Richard Unruh accused of shooting more than a dozen people in New Jersey in 1949 . Courts ruled that WWII veteran was not competent to stand trial . Franscell said Cohen coped by stashing scores of newspaper clippings on the 1949 shooting into a suitcase . Friends and survivors of shooting recount day 's horror , aftereffects . He was considered first single - episode mass murderer in U.S. history .
Richard Unruh accused of shooting more than a dozen people in New Jersey in 1949 . Courts ruled that WWII veteran was not competent to stand trial . Friends and survivors of shooting recount day 's horror , aftereffects . He was considered first single - episode mass murderer in U.S. history .