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OMG Facts About OJ Simpson That Will Make Your Skin Crawl

The OJ Simpson murder case is never far from popular culture. With the 20th anniversary of the killings in 2014, and a new FX miniseries about the murders and trial debuting in 2016, it's worth diving into some creepy OJ Simpson facts. Simpson's behavior before, during, and after the trial is some of the strangest and most compelling in modern history - and much of it was really, really creepy.

For example, Simpson has made numerous attempts to profit from the notoriety he achieved from the murders, even while insisting he didn't commit them. He put his name on a ghost-written confession, wanted to put his first interview on pay-per-view, and tried to cash in with a prank show. Oh, and he threw a giant bash after being acquitted of the double murder over which he was later sued and ultimately found responsible for.

What happened to OJ Simpson? Here are some of the creepiest, most WTF facts about OJ Simpson and the insane trial of the century that swirled around him.

http://www.ranker.com/list/creepy-oj-simpson-facts/mike-rothschild, crime, creepy, other, True crime, true stories,

Simpson Celebrated His Acquittal with a Huge Booze Bash
After being found not guilty of the murders, Simpson retreated to his Rockingham estate. But rather than lay low, Simpson found it an occasion to celebrate. According to a Vanity Fair interview, Simpson bought 40 cases of champagne for the rager, and even enlisted the police to protect the estate from media coverage - the same LAPD his defense had just spent nine months mocking.

OJ and Nicole's Kids Were a Few Feet Away When She Died
OJ and Nicole's two children, Sydney (8) and Justin (5), were upstairs in the two story Brentwood condo they lived in with their mother during the attack. Downstairs, just a few feet away, Nicole was being butchered by an assailant.

Simpson Got Military Knife Skills Training on a TV Show
A few months before the murders, Simpson filmed a TV movie/backdoor pilot for NBC called The Frogmen, about an elite squad of Navy SEALs based in Miami. Simpson starred as the group's leader, and as such, underwent knife combat training. The pilot also had a scene in which Simpson's character held a knife to his daughter's throat, thinking she was an intruder.

It was during the shooting of The Frogmen that Simpson went to Ross Cutlery and examined the knife that prosecutors say he used to kill Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. The tape of the pilot was admitted as evidence, but never used. It's now in a Warner Brothers vault, and has never been aired.

OJ Only Surrendered After He Got Some OJ - For Real
When the low speed Ford Bronco chase ended at OJ's estate, he agreed to turn himself in, but only if he could go inside the house first. According to a police spokesman, OJ spoke to his mother, then had a glass of his namesake breakfast beverage - a product for which he once served as a pitchman. Only then did he turn himself into police.

Simpson Has Pictures of Kim Kardashian in His Prison Cell
Simpson knew Kim's parents, Kris and Robert Kardashian, for years even before his trial. He also seems to have a pretty intense crush on Kim - who is half his age (not to mention married and a mother of two). Sources say OJ, serving a 33 year prison term for a 2008 robbery in Nevada, talks about her constantly, demands silence when her show is on, and has decorated his prison walls with pictures of her from Playboy.

One anonymous source quoted him as once saying "Kim likes black ball players, I am a Hall of Famer - and I still have my Heisman award,” - a dig at ex-boyfriend Reggie Bush, who returned his 2005 award. Whether or not this is true or just tabloid nonsense is anyone's guess.

There are also rumors (let us repeat: just rumors!) that OJ Simpson is the biological father of Khloe Kardashian. Just thinking about even a far-off possibility makes your skin crawl!

Big, Strong OJ Claimed He Was Too Frail to Fight Ron Goldman
Amazingly, one of Simpson's defenses against the murders was that he was physically incapable of beating Ron Goldman in a fight. Johnnie Cochran claimed he was hobbled with arthritis due to his football career, and that he was in so much pain he couldn't even deal cards. But prosecutors pointed out that Simpson himself claimed he'd been playing golf on his estate at the time of the killings.

Not only that, but Marcia Clark played the jury a video Simpson made months before the killings, an exercise tape called O.J. Simpson Minimum Maintenance: Fitness for Men. The arthritis story was one of many that Simpson used during the trial - often contradicting each other.

OJ Whispered to Nicole's Corpse (and Kissed It) During Her Funeral
Despite the horrific wounds inflicted on her, Nicole Brown Simpson was buried in an open casket wake. Sure enough, OJ came to it. According to multiple witnesses, including testimony from Nicole's mother, he kissed her corpse on the lips, murmured something that sounded like an apology, and might have spent as long as 15 minutes talking to the body.

Kris Jenner Has a Nacho Recipe "Inspired" by Nicole Brown
The ex-wife of Simpson defense attorney Robert Kardashian, Kris Jenner, has turned herself and her family in a cottage industry of celebrity. As such, she published a cookbook in 2014 called In the Kitchen with Kris. It includes a recipe for nachos inspired by her friend Nicole Brown Simpson - likely murdered by the man her husband was defending.

Apparently, Nicole's chicken nachos were "so fabulous, they had a cult following.”

Fleeing OJ Had a Gun, Cash, and Fake Facial Hair in the Bronco
Four days after the murders, OJ agreed to surrender to police, but instead went on the famous low-speed Ford Bronco chase, pursued by dozens of LAPD cars as the world watched, gasped, and ordered pizza (Domino's says they sold as much pie that day as they do during the Super Bowl). Would he keep going? Would he kill himself? Would he die in a shootout? Nobody knew.

Another thing nobody knew at the time was that OJ had what he needed to leave the country. He not only had a loaded .357 Magnum with him, but nearly $8,000 cash, additional clothes, a passport, family pictures - and a fake beard and mustache.

Johnnie Cochran Redecorated OJ's House to Look "More Black"
During the seemingly endless trial, jurors were allowed to go to OJ's Rockingham estate. But Simpson lawyer was inexplicably given permission to redecorate it before the tour. Among other things, Cochran took down naked photos of OJ's then-girlfriend and replaced them with stereotypical African art.

This list contains information on killers who ate their victims, loosely ranked by fame and notoriety. Believe it or not, many convicted killers have been found to have eaten their victims. Some of the most famous cannibal killers had multiple victims and a few were apprehended after consuming their first victim. Many of the most famous cases of killers who ate their victims involved severe mental illness.

Who is the most famous killer who ate their victims. Jeffrey Dahmer is infamous for eating people. He committed the murder, rape, and dismemberment of 17 young men and boys from 1978 to 1991. He often placed the body parts of his victims in his refrigerator so he could eat them at a later time. Robert Maudsley was sentenced to life in prison for killing a man in 1974. While serving time at Wakefield Prison in Wakefield, England, he stabbed two fellow inmates, one of which he was accused of eating his brain.

Armin Meiwes's killing and cannibalism is one of the strangest because his victim actually agreed to be a part of the event. Meiwes placed an add on a website in 2002. Bernd Jürgen Armando Brandes answered the add and agreed to let Meiwes amputate his penis, which both men attempted to eat.

23 Killers Who Ate Their Victims, all people, people, crime, criminals, True crime,

Albert Fish
Albert Fish murdered, raped, and cannibalized many children in the early 1900s. He stated that that he raped at least 100 children and confessed to three murders. "First I stripped her naked. How she did kick - bite and scratch. I choked her to death then cut her in small pieces so I could take my meat to my rooms, cook and eat it," he stated in a letter to the family of his victim 10-year old, Grace Budd.

At trail, Fish was found guilty and sentenced to death. He was executed by the electric chair at Sing Sing Prison on Jan. 16, 1936.

Andrei Chikatilo
Andrei Chikatilo murdered and mutilated over 50 women and children in the Soviet Union from 1978 to 1990. After being arrested in 1990, he confessed to 34 murders, admitting that most of his victims suffered 30 to 50 stab wounds. He was often referred to as a cannibal by the media of the day.

In 1992, Chikatilo was found guilty of 52 murders and five counts of sexual assault, for which he was sentenced to death plus 86 years in prison. He was executed by gunshot on Feb. 14, 1994.

Armin Meiwes
Armin Meiwes's cannibalism is one of the strangest because his victim actually agreed to be a part of the event. Meiwes' placed an add on the website Cannibal Cafe in 2002. Bernd Jürgen Armando Brandes answered the add and agreed to let Meiwes amputate his penis, which both men attempted to eat.

Brandes lost a lot of blood from the initial amputation, but Meiwes eventually finished killed him by stabbing him in the throat. The entire incident was recorded on video tape. Meiwes was arrested when someone notified police that he was discussing the killing online.

Meiwes was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.

Jeffrey Dahmer
Jeffrey Dahmer committed the murder, rape, and dismemberment of 17 young men and boys from 1978 to 1991. He often placed the body parts of his victims in his refrigerator so he could eat them at a later time. On July 22, 1991, a 32-year-old man named Tracy Edwards escaped from Dahmer's apartment after smelling a foul odor and noticing suspicious items throughout the residence.

Following Edwards' escape, he brought two police officers back to Dahmer's apartment where they found a large knife, photographs of dismembered bodies, and a dismembered head in the refrigerator. Dahmer was arrested and later sentenced to 16 life sentences.

On Nov. 28, 1994, Dahmer was beaten to death by Christopher Scarver, a fellow inmate at the Columbia Correctional Institution.

Joachim Kroll
Joachim Kroll confessed to a total of 14 murders from 1955 to 1976 in Germany. He began killing people following his mother's death in 1955. He often had sex with his victims after killing them and removed pieces of their flesh to be eaten at a later time.

Kroll was arrested on July 3, 1976 after police found the body of a four year old girl, Marion Ketter, in his apartment. He was boiling her hand in a pot at the time. At trial, he was found guilty of eight counts of murder and sentenced to life in prison. He died of a heart attack on July 1, 1991 at the age of 58.

Karl Denke
In 1924, Karl Denke was arrested after he attacked a man in his house with an axe. While at the scene, police found human flesh in jars and a record of 42 people whom Denke murdered and cannibalized. He hanged himself in his jail cell only two days after his initial arrest.

Katherine Knight
Katherine Knight, of Australia, murdered her partner John Price by stabbing him of 30 times in 2000. She then skinned him, decapitated him, and cooked parts of his body with a variety of vegetables, making a meal which she planned to serve to his children. His head was found in a pot of vegetables.

She pleaded guilty, though she took no responsibly and showed no remorse for her crimes, and was sentenced to life in prison in 2001. She is currently serving out her sentence at the Silverwater Women's Correctional Centre in New South Wales.
Leonarda Cianciulli
Leonarda Cianciulli murdered three women in Italy from 1939 to 1940. She later turned her victims' bodies into soap and tea cakes, which she then served to her friends and ate herself. She reportedly killed the women as sacrifices in order to protect her son during World War II.

She confessed to her crimes and was found guilty of murder in 1946. She was sentenced to 30 years in prison and died of cerebral apoplexy in 1970.
Nikolai Dzhumagaliev
Nikolai Dzhumagaliev killed at least seven women in the Soviet Union from 1979 to 1980, cannibalizing all of his victims. He was finally arrested when two men who were invited to his house found a woman's severed head in the kitchen.

Previously declared schizophrenic, Dzhumagaliev was committed to a mental institution. In 1989, he escaped while being transferred to another facility. He was recaptured two years later and is being held at a mental clinic.
Robert Maudsley
Robert Maudsley was sentenced to life in prison for killing a man in 1974. While serving time at Wakefield Prison in Wakefield, England, he stabbed two fellow inmates and was accused of eating the brains of one.

Maudsley is currently being held in solitary confinement in a cell that resembledsHannibal Lector's cell from the film Silence of the Lambs. He remains in this cell 23 hours a day.

Daycare Worker Horrors and Childcare Scams

Parents are reliant on daycare providers, babysitters, and nannies to look after their children while away from home. Overall, these services are carried out seamlessly and in good faith.But these accounts of criminal nannies, babysitters who murdered, and daycares that severely endangered children should remind every mom and dad out there to always check references and turn on the nanny cam. Because sometimes, childcare workers and organizations are just plain bad, and trusting the wrong one could harm your babies, or even get them killed.
Daycare Worker Horrors and Childcare Scams, other, True crime, true stories,

Amelia Dyer
Amelia Dyer was a "baby farmer" — that is, she assumed responsibility for infants for money, either because their mothers could not afford or could not be bothered to care for the children themselves. "Baby farmer" was a negative term applied to women like her, because it was generally implied that some forms of abuse or neglect would occur while under a baby farmer's "care."

As it was more profitable for the farmers if the infants simply died, many farmers would take a large but "reasonable" lump sum for the babies, then simply leave the children to starve to death in their homes. Dyer took things one step further — as soon as she admitted an infant into her home, she would murder the child right then and there, generally by wrapping dressmaking tape around their necks and strangling them. Over a twenty-year period, it is believed Dyer killed over 400 babies, though she was only tried and hanged for the murder of one.
John Burbine
The layers of sickness surrounding this story are staggering. John Burbine was arrested and held without bail in 2012 on allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct with thirteen young children, some as young as eight days (!!!) old. He allegedly filmed these encounters. Worse than this, Burbine apparently accessed these children through an unlicensed daycare and tutoring "school" he ran with his wife, Marian, who is currently under house arrest for reckless endangerment of children.

Whether or not Marian was aware of her husband's abuse is unclear, though one suspects she did, particularly considering the fact that Burbine was already a registered sex offender before these most recent allegations. He was previously convicted of indecent assault of a minor in 1989. Burbine committed suicide by hanging himself in his jail cell in 2014 before he could go to trial.
Care.com's "Wheelchair Con"
This time, it isn't the sitter doing bad things, but the potential employer — who doesn't actually exist. The website Care.com is designed to connect babysitters and nannies looking for work with parents looking to hire caretakers for their children. But of course, this is the Internet we're talking about, so it follows that people would attempt to use the site as a tool for cons, scams, and grifts.

ABC News 7 in San Francisco detailed once such attempt, in which student Lauren Well signed up with Care.com in the hopes of getting a few babysitting gigs. She received an unbelievable job offer almost straightaway, which promised to pay $18 an hour to care for the wheelchair-bound son of a deaf woman who was moving to San Francisco in the coming weeks. The woman also stated that she had recently lost her husband and baby daughter in a car accident, and her son was the only survivor. Well was touched by the woman's story, and said she'd love to take the job.

Almost immediately, the woman responded to Well, telling her she was hired without ever meeting her. This raised some warning flags for Well, but she accepted the position. Later Well received a check for $3,000, with instructions to keep $300 herself and use the rest to purchase a new wheelchair. Still undaunted, Well deposited the check and readied to quit her job, when the bank informed her the check wouldn't deposit for three weeks. Then, the woman contacted Well, explaining she was currently experiencing financial hardships, and wondered if she could have a $500 loan. At this point, Well realized the whole thing was a scam and ceased all contact with the "woman." She alerted Care.com, who confirmed that many others had complained about the scam.
Minnesota Day-Care Fraud
It's not just children and parents who suffer at the hands of nannies and daycare centers. Sometimes, the state takes on the brunt of daycare fraud. This was exactly the case in Hennepin County, Minnesota in 2015, when three daycare facilities were raided and four employees were arrested on charges of overbilling the state.

See, these businesses were set up to assist low-income families, and as such they received subsidies through a state-funded program. Rochelle Olson of The Star Tribune in Minneapolis wrote: "The centers are accused of overbilling the state’s Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) by claiming that they cared for more children than were actually present. For example, during a two-week span at the end of last year, Minnesota Child Care Services billed the state for 2,183 children, while a video revealed that no more than 1,233 children were actually attending — a difference of 950 children." Not only this, some of the daycare centers in question were also "cited for violations related to record-keeping, staff qualifications, hazards and cleanliness."
Video Allegedly Shows Nanny Smothering a Child
Moriah Gonzales, a 20-year-old babysitter in California, was caught on film smothering a 13-month-old boy to keep him from crying. According to an article by Melanie Woodrow from ABC News 7 in San Francisco, "Gonzales was attempting to calm the baby. When she placed her hands closer to the baby's face, his cries went from clear and audible to muffled. The baby began to squirm and kick and then went limp. When Gonzales moved her hand away, the baby began crying again. She then put him in his crib and left the room." When questioned by police, Gonzales reportedly gave a statement that was completely inconsistent with the contents of the video. She now faces charges of child abuse, and police are attempting to find evidence of other victims.
Nanny Accused of Beheading Little Girl
This story hit the news in February of 2016, and it served as a sickening reminder of the human heart's darkest corridors. Citizens of Moscow near a downtown metro station were shocked when a woman, Gyulchekhra Bobokulova, clad in a black hijab, began pacing around the station entrance, screaming "Allahu Akbar!" (God is great). She also claimed to have a bomb and threatened to blow herself up. While these words and this behavior were distressing in their own right, the scene was most disturbing for what Bobokulova carried in her hands—the severed head of a four year-old girl. It was later revealed that Bobokulova was the girl's nanny, and earlier that day she had beheaded the child and set fire to the apartment where the girl and her family lived. Currently, Bobokulova is under psychiatric observation to determine whether or not she truly understands the severity of her actions. Several observers took video of the incident. (Warning: Graphic)
Couple Planned to Open Daycare In Order to Drug and Assault Children
Bebars Baslan and Kristen Henry of Brooklyn had been plotting to open a daycare so that the couple could reportedly drug children with Dramamine and molest them, according to an article by Sarah Wallace from ABC 7 Eyewitness News in New York. Fortunately, the couple was busted in a hotel room by the FBI, which had orchestrated a sting operation after Baslan and Henry's plan came to their attention. Though they pleaded "not guilty," the feds apparently have audio recordings of the couple speaking with an informant, in which Baslan is heard discussing his plans to have a family: "She is dying for me to have a baby with her for us to whatever." Nauseating.

Babysitter Caught on Camera Tossing, Knocking Over Infant
It's a familiar narrative: a family hires a caretaker for their children, believing his or her credentials to be solid, and that they would "never in a million years" harm a child. But then mysterious bruises begin to appear on their baby, prompting the family to install a hidden "nanny cam," which then reveals horrid abuse and neglect.

That was exactly the story that emerged in Jacksonville, Florida in 2010. The babysitter in question, Jeannine Campbell, was shown "slinging the child into a playpen, hitting him in the head with a ball and a towel, slapping and kicking him and swatting him 11 times," according to a Florida-Times Union article by Paul Pinkham. Campbell pleaded guilty to all charges, stating that she was angry with the mother and father, and that she took this frustration out on their child. This YouTube video from an un-sourced local news report shows much of Campbell's abuse in detail.

Babysitter Accused of Burning Child and Ripping Out Her Hair
31 year-old Lidia Quilligana was arrested in April of 2015 on charges of first-degree assault, risk of injury to a minor and criminal mischief after a "nanny cam" video reportedly emerged that showed the woman striking, stomping, and intentionally burning a three-year old, reported Fox affialate WFSB in Conecticut. Reports also indicated the babysitter abused the child's one year-old sibling as well, and that she may have ripped hair from both children's heads. In March of 2016, Quilligana (who pled "not guilty" to all charges) was offered a plea deal, though details of the deal have yet to emerge.
Staggering Abuses in Uganda "Monster Nanny" Case
This case is complicated, because it not only involves the physical abuse of a child, but also the subsequent assault of the offending nanny by the child's father, which opens up issues of law and order and gender inequality in Uganda. Video of Jolly Tumuhirwe surfaced in 2014, which showed the nanny throwing, slapping, kicking and stomping an 18-month-old girl.

When the child's father, Erick Kamanzi, saw the footage, he "beat [Tumuhirwe] to a pulp," according to The Daily Mail. Kamanzi was initially arrested for assaulting Tumuhirwe, but all charges were dropped once police viewed the nanny cam footage. Not only this, but Tumuhirwe, who was charged with torture, was denied legal representation during her trial, and was sentenced to four years in prison.

While Tumuhirwe's actions are indeed horrible, the fact that she effectively became a non-person following the incident is highly problematic, especially when considering that women hold a decidedly low social status in Uganda as it is. Add to this the fact that, according to the nanny, Kamanzi denied her early pay so she could contribute to her dying father's health care costs, while his wife constantly accused Tumuhirwe of stealing and generally did not make life easy for her. Not to mention, sites like The Daily Mail and numerous others included the leaked nanny cam video, but few included the footage of Kamanzi beating Tumuhirwe, which is just as readily viewable and equally disturbing. Again, this is not to say that the reasons leading up to Tumuhirwe's beating of the child should justify her actions, but at the very least it should make us aware that she is, at the end of the day, still a person.

Serial Killing Sprees That Are Currently Happening

Despite popular representations of killers who simply can't stop murdering, serial killer sprees can often stop for years at a time. In those cases, a clutch of bodies is found with evidence that indicates that a serial killer murdered them all within a short time frame. But if no other evidence comes forward after that, there's not much police can do except wait for the next spree. Even if authorities can figure out who might have committed multiple murders, once a serial killer has been identified, they often go to ground or leave the area.

There are several active serial killer sprees that are either ongoing, or have just recently have ended - meaning they could start again any time. In all cases, at least some of the perpetrators are still at large. A few sprees, like the "smiley face murders," might not be killings at all, but suspicious accidents that only seem related. Others cases involve single murders that may or may not be connected to a serial killer who has killed before, like the Eastbound Strangler or the Chillicothe Murders.

Whatever the case, serial killings are rare - but they do happen. Here are eight sprees that might still be going on.

Serial Killing Sprees That Are Currently Happening, other, True crime,

Pedro López
Colombian Pedro Lopez is one of the most prolific serial killers in history. In fact, he's been charged with 110 murders, and he confessed to 200 more - all the killings were of young women who he raped first. Lopez was arrested in 1981 and pleaded guilty, serving the maximum penalty Ecuador had at the time: 15 years. He was released, immediately re-arrested, and deported to Colombia, where he was first institutionalized, then released. Lopez then vanished, though he's suspected in a 2002 murder, and likely has continued killing.

The Chillicothe Killer
The small Ohio town of Chillicothe has been the scene of at least six female disappearances, with four bodies found dumped in local creeks or streams. The most recent victim was found in June 2015. The first victim disappeared a year earlier. Several of the women were involved in sex work, and it's possible they were contacted online, killed, and moved after their deaths. Police believe the shooting of a serial killer a month later in Charleston might be related, though no connection has been found as of yet.

The Gage Park Murders
The working-class Chicago community of Gage Park was shocked when six bodies from the same family were pulled out of a house. One family member had been shot, the others were stabbed. Police initially believed the killings were the result of a murder-suicide, but now believe the family was targeted for a mass killing. There's even some speculation among police that the wrong family was targeted, meaning the killer is likely to strike again.

The Long Island Serial Killer
Long Island's remote Gilgo Beach was the scene of a horror show in December 2010. That's when a Suffolk County police officer, looking for the remains of a missing woman, found a mass grave of 10 people, including a child, stretched across the sand spit. With seven other suspected victims found in the New York area, the so-called Long Island Serial Killer (also called the Gilgo Beach Killer) is one of the most prolific serial killers currently at large, and two more possible victims were found as late as 2013. The case is currently at a standstill, with victims' families desperate for closure. The NYPD had to bring in the FBI for help.

Highway of Tears Murders
From 1969 through 2011, at least 19 women were murdered and dumped along a remote stretch of Canada's Highway 16 in British Columbia. It's believed that the women were picked up hitchhiking, as the area is extremely poor and the people there have little access to public transportation. The most recent victim was found in 2011, and there are as many as 20 more suspected killings. It's highly likely that one or more serial killers are currently active in that area.

The Smiley Face Killer
Supposedly responsible for the drowning of over 40 students in the Midwest and on the east coast since 1997, the Smiley Face Killer plunges young, intoxicated, virile college men into icy water, and leaves a smiley face drawn on a wall near where the bodies were dumped. However, it's not at all clear if there actually is a Smiley Face Killer, or if the victims didn't drown due to misadventure, possibly brought on by being drunk.

Two victims have been identified as homicides, but no suspect has ever been found in either death. As recently as 2016, the drowning of 22-year-old Harvard student Zach Marr (last seen outside a bar in Boston) was attributed to the Smiley Face Killer, with another death pinned on the killer in 2015. Both police and pathologists continue to argue whether there's a killer or network of killers on the loose, or just a series of coincidental accidents.

The Eastbound Strangler
When four women were found choked to death in a ditch behind a motel in New Jersey in 2006, the police nicknamed the suspect the Eastbound Strangler. The motel was just off the expressway leading to Atlantic City, and all four women were killed in exactly the same way. After that, though, the case went cold, and no more bodies with the same MO were found. Then in 2014, two more strangled women were found in rural Egg Harbor, near the motel.

The killer of one of the women was identified and arrested, but the other murder is still unsolved - and it's quite possible the Eastbound Strangler has struck again.

The South African Gay Man Killings
Nine gay men were murdered in Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa, with the most recent killing taking place in 2013. South African police arrested several men they believed were linked to one of the crimes - the murder of Barney Van Heerden. But the killings continued despite their capture, leading to suspicion that the murders are being committed by a gang with as many as eight men, rather than a single killer.

Another murder of a gay man, this one in 2014, was committed by a killer who invited local kids to watch. However, police don't believe it's connected. The two men arrested for Van Heerden's killing were convicted, but no other suspects have emerged.

People Who Posed as Cops to Commit Horrible Crimes

The 2014 movie Let's Be Cops depicts police officer impersonation as a hilarious, almost carefree folly that comes with no real consequences. In reality, though, impersonating a cop is a federal crime, and one that real law enforcement officers don't take lightly. The suspects involved in most police impersonation cases aren't doing it to get girlfriends or whatever was going on in Let's Be Cops. Their goals are far more sinister. Most cop impersonators pretend to be officers in order to commit other criminal activity and to perpetrate downright repugnant acts. These true crime stories of criminals posing as police officers will definitely not make you laugh. Instead, they'll probably leave you wondering whether or not the guy pulling you over is a total fake.
People Who Posed as Cops to Commit Horrible Crimes, other, True crime, true stories,

Man Posed as Officer in String of Nation-Wide Prank Calls
David Stewart of Fountain, Florida was accused — but ultimately acquitted — of making a prank call to a McDonald's in Mount Washington, Kentucky, where he claimed to be a police officer and wielded his "authority" in a sadistic game of manipulation. Three people were involved with the hoax — the restaurant's manager, her boyfriend, and an 18-year-old employee.

Stewart allegedly told the manager that the employee had stolen merchandise from the McDonald's, and instructed the manager to strip-search the employee. At some point during the phone call, the manager's boyfriend arrived to continue the strip search and, apparently at Stewart's insistence, forced the employee to perform oral sex on him. The entire ordeal lasted three and a half hours.

As there was no hard evidence to convict him, Stewart walked. The manger and her boyfriend, however, were convicted for their own roles in the crime, as the McDonald's surveillance footage provided more than enough evidence. It is believed Stewart made similar prank calls in Idaho, Oklahoma, and other locations, using pay phones and calling cards to cover his tracks. Whether or not Stewart was actuallyguilty, the crimes have apparently stopped since his arrest and trial.
Guy Essentially "Became" a Cop to Commit Crimes
Henry Terry's behavior sounds like that of a method actor preparing for a role as a police officer, only with goals far more sinister than an Oscar bid. Not only did Terry utilize realistic uniforms, handcuffs, and a car equipped with flashing sirens, he apparently also had his own fake police station. According to an Associated Press writer (via Fox News), Henry set up "a personal police station where he kept records of possible crimes and sometimes interrogated 'suspects' who were handcuffed to a chair."

One of Henry's motives for this elaborate ruse was robbery. He would extort cash from his "suspects" in exchange for their release. But his actions were far more extreme than this, and he was ultimately charged on numerous counts of rape and at least one count of extreme animal cruelty. According to the New York Daily News, Terry allegedly set a neighbor's cat on fire, then promised to "solve the crime."
Man Impersonated Cop to Get Out of Swapping Insurance
Mark Monterroso was arrested in Blanchar, OK on April 8, 2016 after a road rage incident, reported News 9 in Oklahoma City. The news team noted, "police said the victim of the incident tried to get Monterroso’s insurance information after, he said, Monterroso passed his car on the shoulder kicking up rocks that broke his windshield. That’s when Monterroso identified himself as an officer, and then apparently chased the victim with a baton." Blanchard police also suspect Monterroso in a series of other police impersonation incidents, whereby the accused had been targeting unaccompanied women.
Man Posed as Cop to Give Children a Football, $20 Each
As of April 2016, no arrests had been made in a bizarre "stranger-danger" incident in Pontiac, Michigan, where a man apparently posed as a police officer and interacted with two ten year-old boys outside an elementary school. The man, who was driving a black Kia SUV, called the boys over to his car and lectured them on the importance of staying in school. The children told investigators there was a revolver in his lap, and he gave them a football and $20 each, then sent them on their way. Though he never identified himself as such, police believe the man to be a cop impersonator. [Photo used is not that of suspect's car]
Serial Killer May Have Posed as an Officer to Lure His Victims
William Suff, also known as the Riverside Prostitute Killer, was convicted of assaulting, mutilating, and murdering 12 sex workers between 1989 and 1991 (though police suspect he may have been responsible for up to 22 deaths in the area). Often times, his victims' bodies were discovered posed in lewd positions. Police know Suff lured women into his van, but it has often been rumored — though never confirmed — that he would impersonate a police officer to intimidate his victims into cooperation. He is currently awaiting execution in San Quentin State Prison in California.
A Career Cop Impersonator
In a perverse kind of way, you have to hand it to Jim Bailey of Oak Harbor, Washington: He successfully pretended to be a police officer for 25 years, even placing ads all around the state, offering his training and seminar services. Bailey was actually a reserve officer (basically a volunteer) for three years in the 1980s, but left to attend the police academy. He never graduated. Bailey's decades-long performance ended in 2014 when he effectively made a citizen's arrest, placing a man who had been fighting with his girlfriend in a headlock. His fatal step? Bailey told a passer-by to phone the police and tell them "an officer needs assistance."
Ice Cream-Loving Teen Cop Isn't Really a Cop
Unlike others on this list, Chance LaCasse's only crime was impersonating an officer — which is a serious felony, of course, but he didn't use his cop outfit to commit any other crimes. (And really, it's likely no one would have taken him seriously had he tried to intimidate them — just look at him!) No, LaCasse just really, REALLY wanted to join the police force. Prior to his arrest, his Instagram feed was festooned with photos of LaCasse dressed as a cop or a detective, even posing in a police vest or a cruiser. (The account has since been deleted, but you can see the photos reprinted here.) The teen was busted in 2015 after he strolled into a local King Kone ice cream parlor in full-on New Hampshire cop regalia, including a very real 9mm holstered to his belt. Poor kid.
Man Posed as Cop to Sexually Coerce Women
It's sadly a common narrative among police impersonation cases — a man posing as an authority figure to terrorize and abuse women. Brian Keith Cooper Jr. did just that in March of 2016, using a fake badge and a pair of handcuffs to lure women into his car, reported WBAL-TV. Cooper would then drive the women to the same dead-end street, where he would ask them, "What would you do to stay out of jail." Of course, Cooper had ideas of his own, and while at least one victim fell prey to his sexual misconduct, he was later caught in the act of another rape attempt and arrested.
Infamous Killer Ted Bundy Impersonated Cops and Other Authority Figures
If you're so inclined, reading about Ted Bundy and his crimes is a veritable rabbit hole of the gruesome and macabre. In addition to feigning injury, Bundy loved to impersonate authority figures as a means of intimidating and coercing his victims. This included posing as police officers, as he did when he abducted Carol DaRonch in 1974.

Bundy identified himself as "Officer Roseland" and told DaRonch he was responding to a report her car had been broken into, and asked if she would accompany him to the station. She initially trusted Bundy, who was said to be quite charming and persuasive. However, DaRonch soon realized Bundy was not a real police officer, and when she attempted to flee his car, he slapped a pair of handcuffs on her. Luckily, Bundy only managed to manacle one of DaRonch's wrists, and she narrowly escaped one of the most notorious serial killers in history.
Fake Cop Pulled Over Real Cop
Non-cop Robert Montoya attempted to pull over a car with his Chevy Impala, which he'd equipped with a siren, laptop and a police scanner. Looks can be deceiving, of course, as Montoya was in no way a police officer. The real police caught on to this cop impersonator when Montoya attempted to pull over an undercover officer in an unmarked vehicle. Weirdly though, due to the Nuisance Abatement Law in Colorado, it was required that Montoya's Impala be "shredded to pieces," according to Christine Noel of KUSA. This destruction of the offending vehicle is apparently intended to ensure citizens that this particular car will never torment them again, but it sounds a little bit more like a big "F.U." to anyone claiming to be a cop.

Sadistic Criminal Cops Who Were Arrested for Heinous Crimes

Police officers are meant to serve the public and protect citizens, and that's exactly what the majority of them do. But there are some cops out there who grossly abuse their positions of authority for their own gain. Even more disturbing, however, are the law enforcement officials who commit truly heinous acts (either on the job or off), utilizing their specialized training to evade capture. Throughout world history, we've seen several instances of cops who tortured people, officers found guilty of multiple rapes and assaults, and even serial killer cops who score as high on the sadism scale as murderers like BTK (Dennis Rader). The rapists, tortureres, and killer cops on this list were all convicted of unsettling crimes.
Sadistic Criminal Cops Who Were Arrested for Heinous Crimes,

Gerard John Schaefer, Torturing Cop
Pulp writer Jim Thompson wrote of a remorseless deputy sheriff in his 1952 novel The Killer Inside Me, apparently based on a particularly unnerving police officer Thompson encountered in real-life. However, even the writer's fictional creation isn't as brutal and sadistic a figure as Gerard John Schaefer, who was only convicted of the torture and murder of two teenage girls (but very likely killed far more than that), all while serving as a deputy for the Martin County, Florida sheriff's department . Even more bizarre: while in prison, Schaefer began a relationship with true crime writer Sondra London who published several volumes of Schaefer's fiction. What did he write about? Deranged cops torturing and killing women and girls.
Randy Comeaux, Six-Time Rapist
Randy Comeaux, a former deputy with the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Department in Louisiana, was convicted of six rapes in 1999, though police believe it is highly likely he was responsible for up to nine more crimes in the area. Comeaux's assaults began in the 1980s and ended sometime in 1995. His victims said that the deputy would give them "helpful tips" during the attacks, like advising them to lock certain windows at night. Comeaux was ultimately caught through advanced profiling and investigative techniques, specifically the use of computers to triangulate an approximate location of the perpetrator's address, and DNA testing methods that were not available at the time of the crimes. It turns out Comeaux lived almost exactly in the middle of the triangle, and DNA extracted from saliva on a cigarette butt left at the scene of a crime was a match. This story was featured in an episode of Forensic Files.
Mikhail Popkov, AKA the Werewolf
The monstrous nickname "the Werewolf" suits Mikhail Popkov, a former Russian police officer who used his uniform and cruiser to prey upon intoxicated women. Providing them with a false sense of trust and safety, Popkov would lure these women into his car, drive them out to the woods, and then viciously attack them with "a slipknot, knife, awl, screwdriver or an axe which he used up to 17 times on some victims," wrote Siberian Times.

Following his attack, the Werewolf would sexually assault his victims, then kill them — though in some cases it is believed that he murdered his victims first, then engaged in necrophilia. Popkov eventually confessed to 24 of the murders, claiming that the only reason he ceased his activity was because he was impotent from syphilis and could no longer enjoy murder on a sexual level. Police suspect Popkov is responsible for at least five other killings, though the number could be far higher than that.
Craig Peyer, Sexual Predator and Murderer
While former California Highway patrolman Craig Peyer only ever committed one murder, his 1986 killing of Cara Knott, a student at San Diego State University, was the violent culmination of sexual misconduct and gross misuse of authority. During his trial, it was revealed that Peyer had forced numerous women to pull over along the same stretch of highway where he eventually killed Knott. It was reported by nearly two dozen women that Peyer, while not hostile, made romantic or sexual advances, in some cases stroking their hair or shoulders. There had even been a few complaints called into Peyer's station, but they were dismissed due to his reputation and record. It is believed Peyer snapped when Knott reacted negatively to his advances and even slashed him across the face with her fingernails when he attempted to grab her. He bludgeoned Knott to death with his flashlight and dumped her body below an abandoned bridge. As of this writing, Peyer is still in prison, and will not be eligible for parole until 2027.
Christopher Dorner, Rampage Cop
Christopher Dorner's case is a knotty one. It all began in 2007 when Dorner made allegations of excessive force toward fellow LAPD Officer Teresa Evans. At the time, Evans was Dorner's superior in charge of overseeing the completion of his probationary training. Dorner claimed that Evans repeatedly kicked a suspect in the face. An investigation found no significant evidence of this claim, and Dorner was fired for falsifying testimony.

In 2013, after a lengthy appeals process, Dorner published a "manifesto" to his Facebook wall. The utlining a plan to kill 40 specific law enforcement personnel and their families, including Randal Quan, who had acted as Dorner's defense attorney during the investigation. Dorner argued that his termination from the force was in response to his reporting excessive force, which had effectively angered the higher-ups. True to his words, Dorner began his killing spree by murdering Quan's daughter and her fiancee. He would go on to kill four more people and wound three others during a nine-day rampage and manhunt that ended in a standoff at a cabin in northern California. Dorner comitted suicide during this standoff.

Details thus far may seem cut and dry, but here's where things get a bit twisted: during the manhunt, LAPD officers wounded several people, as they opened fire on trucks that resembled Dorner's. An investigation was launched, and the offending officers were penalized for using excessive force. Which of course raises the question: were Dorner's initial claims of excessive force actually justified? Was he indeed wrongfully terminated? While answering yes to either of these questions does not validate Dorner's actions, it does call into question the supposed innocence of those he initially accused.
Drew Peterson, Two-Time Wife-Killer
Thirty-year police veteran Drew Peterson — who had already burned through two wives — began killing his exes as well as divorcing them. Peterson was convicted of beating and drowning his third wife Kathleen Savio in 2004, several months after divorcing her in 2003. He pretty much immediately married Stacy Cales. No one suspected him of the murder until 2007, following the mysterious disappearance of Stacy, who it is believed Peterson killed and hauled away in 50-gallon container. The pastor at Stacy's church apparently testified that Peterson had confessed the murder of Savio to Stacy, and that she provided a false alibi for her husband on the night Savio died.
Gennady Mikhasevich, Volunteer Killer
Gennady Mikhasevich served in the Voluntary People's Druzhina, a volunteer police force in the Soviet Union. He assisted in the investigation of several rapes and killings that took place between 1971 and 1985. Unbeknownst to his fellow volunteers and members of the regular police force, the crimes were not random and unconnected as many believed, but were in fact perpetuated by one man: Mikhasevich. When Nikolay Ignatovich, a young investigator, began sharing his serial killer theory, Mikhasevich sent an anonymous letter to police in hopes of derailing their investigation. However, as the letter was handwritten, investigators compared it to writing samples of people in the area, and matched the letter to Mikhasevich's hand. He was executed in 1987.

Jon Burge, Prolific Torturer
It all happened in Chicago. Where else could a man like Jon Barge succeed for decades as a police detective? The Windy City has had numerous issues of corruption among its elected officials and law enforcement agencies, not to mention a storied history of organized crime. Barge is a quintessential hard-nosed, by-any-means-necessary cop who implemented methods of confession-coercing torture that would make Al Capone proud, including the use of a cattle prod, cigarette butts, and hot radiators, to burn victims, plus non-lethal suffocation via a plastic bag, electroshock therapy, and electrocution of genitals. Worse yet, the torture seemed almost exclusively doled out to African-Americans. Barge was suspended in 1991, pending an investigation, and was finally stripped of his badge in 1993. However, he did not see any jail time until 2010. His sentence for committing torture and false arrests for ten years? Four and a half years in a federal prison, of which he only served three. As of this writing, Barge is a free man.
Manuel Pardo, the Death Row Romeo
Manuel Pardo, alongside his partner Rolando Garcia, was found guilty of robbing and murdering at least nine drug dealers in Florida during the 1980s. Pardo was unrepentant about his crimes, asserting that the people he killed were the "scum of the earth" who had "no right to live." After his imprisonment, Pardo became known as the "Death Row Romeo," because he began correspondence with several women, many of whom he convinced to send him money. Pardo was executed in 2012.
Daniel Holtzclaw, Serial Rapist
This is one very, very bad cop. Former Oklahoma City police officer Daniel Holtzclaw was found guilty of 18 charges, including "sexual battery, forcible oral sodomy and rape," reported CNN'S Michael Martinez. Holtzclaw committed these crimes while on-duty, targeting one of Oklahoma's poorest neighborhoods, and assaulting exclusively black women. While his defense resorted to victim-blaming, the evidence against Holtzclaw was overwhelming, and the jury sentenced him to 263 years in prison.

The phrase "unsolved mystery" brings up connotations of dedicated research, dangerous archeology, and that TV show from the '80s. But sometimes, these "unsolved mysteries" actually get solved—in fact, some of them were explained a long time ago. While the explanations for these crazy mysteries are often much less salacious than the mysteries themselves, they're no less interesting.

Whether they're phenomenon thought to be ancient or extraterrestrial, or crazy detective stories that ended tragically, a solved mystery is worth reading about, especially since they offer that "creep factor" generally sought-after in these types of narratives. They can involve centuries-old building techniques, natural occurrences, or the disappearances of people. And they bedeviled professional and amateur investigators for years or decades, only to be cracked.

Here are some of the strangest solved mysteries, and what really happened in these cases.

The Strangest Solved Mysteries, videos, creepy, other, True crime, true stories,

The Death of Anastasia
The horror of the October Revolution hit home in 1918, when Russia's Tsar Nicholas II and his entire family were executed by Bolshevik secret police. Among them was 17-year-old Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna— better known simply as Anastasia. Because the bodies of the Tsar and his family were never found, rumors abounded that Anastasia had somehow escaped—rumors fanned by nearly a dozen women who claimed to be missing duchess.

The most prominent was Anna Anderson, a German woman who claimed to be Anastasia in 1921, while living in an asylum. She claimed to have no memory of her escape. While Anderson managed to fool some people, survivors of the Romanov dynasty rejected her. Still, the story was made all the more intriguing by the fact that Anastasia's body was never found.

The plot thickened in 1991,when a grave site was unearthed that contained the skeletons of nine of the eleven executed Romanovs, but not Anastasia. However, in 2007, two burned skeletons were found in a pit near the same site, and DNA testing confirmed that one was the Grand Duchess. She died in 1918, as had been suspected all along.

The Bloop
"The Bloop" was the name given to an extremely powerful underwater sound detected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 1997. Detected in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean off the southern tip of South America, the Bloop was an ultra-low frequency burst of noise that could be heard through hydrophones almost 3,000 miles away. Scientists had no idea what it was, and theorized everything from calving ice in Antarctica, to an iceberg dragging along the ocean floor, to a whale, and even to some unknown sea cryptid.

It wasn't until 2012 that scientists agreed upon an explanation for the Bloop. The sound was matched to a known icequake, and it was eventually narrowed down to the crash of disintegrating icebergs somewhere between Bransfield Straits and the Ross Sea in Antarctica.

The Blood Rain of Kerala
Over two months in the summer of 2001, the state of Kerala in India was deluged by a mysterious, red-colored rain. Over a hundred thousand pounds of red particles fell, coating everything in the area. While the red rain phenomenon had happened before (documented cases go back to 1818) and would happen again, the blood rain over Kerala grabbed the imagination of scientists and pseudo-scientists alike when two researchers published a paper claiming the red particles were alien spores from an exploding, life-seeding comet.

While the paper quickly became an accepted explanation for the rain, the actual cause was identified almost immediately, albeit with far less fanfare: airborne spores from local green algae. While such spores are commonly found in the atmosphere, and have been found in the other red rains around the world, there's still no explanation for why so many rained down for so long.

The Missing Teens of Oklahoma
Three Oklahoma teens vanished in November 1970, with no trace of either the trio or their car ever being found. Their disappearance hung over their small town for decades, leading to theories that ranged from them being murdered, to the three running away to avoid the draft. The police department did little to investigate the case, and the families did everything from offer money for information to consult a psychic.

It wasn't until 2013 that the mystery was solved, or at least as much as it could be. Their Camaro was found in a nearby lake where local police were testing sonar equipment. Sure enough, three bodies were found inside the car, which was submerged in just 12 feet of water, 50 feet from a boat ramp. The bodies were identified as the three teens, and while it isn't clear whether they drove the car in accidentally or were killed, at least their families can stop looking for them.

A Man Missing for Nine Years Spotted on Google Maps
72-year-old David Lee Niles disappeared after leaving a bar in Byron Township, Michigan. Missing since 2006, Niles had been suffering from both cancer and depression, so his family had assumed he'd taken his own life, even putting out an obituary for him in 2011. It took nine years for them to figure out what happened—but the answer would turn out to be startlingly obvious.

A maintenance worker installing Christmas lights with a crane on a nearby funeral home saw a car in a small lake nearby, and police divers confirmed that it was Niles when they found his wallet. But the twist is that the car was clearly visible on Google Maps. Anyone looking at the lake could have seen it.

Raining Frogs and Fish
For hundreds of years, both scholars and bystanders have written of hordes of frogs and fish falling out of the sky. Incidents date as far back as the first century CE, when Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder documented storms of frogs and fish raining down. In modern times, an incident was recorded in January 2016 in Ethiopia.

Explanations for the animal rains traditionally involved waterspouts picking up the creatures from oceans or lakes and dumping them inland. Despite a number of scientific factors that make such a rain improbable, this was the accepted explanation. However, recent investigations has attributed the frogs on the ground to seasonal migrations that came out after a hard rainstorm (the same way worms do), and the fish have been determined to be any number of walking fish, of which there are dozens. Combine that with a healthy dose of confirmation bias and exaggeration, and you've got a solved mystery.

Why the Mayans Vanished
It's one of the most prominent societal collapses in human history. The Mayans seemingly abandoned their complex civilization and disappeared into the Central American jungle. For centuries, people puzzled over the disappearance, theorizing everything from an internal peasant revolt, to conquest by an outside and unknown people, to a UFO holocaust.

It wasn't until 2005 that a legitimate theory was put forward to explain what happened, a theory confirmed in 2012. The Mayan civilization collapsed due to a self-created environmental disaster. The Mayans chopped down too many trees, which reduced the land's ability to absorb solar radiation. This made rainfall more scarce, which caused a crippling drought. The Mayans abandoned their land not due to aliens or revolt, but to find food.

The Death of Bill Sparkman
In September, 2009, the body of teacher and US Census field rep Bill Sparkman was found tied to a tree in rural Kentucky, naked save for his socks, his hands, feet, and mouth bound with duct tape. Most mysteriously, the word "fed" was written on his chest in felt-tip marker. The death was immediately blamed on local residents with an anti-authoritarian bent, especially given the controversy about political activism group ACORN being involved with the census.

While media and pop culture speculation centered on lurid anti-Obama and anti-government conspiracies, the Kentucky State Police came out with a much more believable explanation. Sparkman was a cancer survivor, but likely believed his cancer had returned. He committed suicide and staged it to look like a homicide, in order to collect a $600,000 life insurance policy, which would go to his family.

The Kidnapping of Carlina White
On August 4, 1987, Carlina White, just 19 days old, was rushed to New York's Harlem Hospital Center. Suffering from an infection and high fever, Carlina was admitted, but disappeared during an early morning shift change. Witnesses described a heavyset woman dressed like a nurse who had been hanging around the NICU, and who left shortly after the shift change. But because the hospital's video surveillance wasn't working, nobody knew what she looked like. The incident was the first non-parental infant abduction in New York history. A reward was set up for White's return, but she was never found. The parents sued the hospital, won a settlement, and eventually split up. The case remained cold for decades.

For the next 23 years, Carlina was raised under a new name by Connecticut resident Annugetta "Ann" Pettway. After becoming suspicious of her mother's inability to provide birth documents, as well as the lack of resemblance between the two, Carolina began researching on the Internet, and found baby photos that resembled her likeness as an infant. She called the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and was reunited with her birth parents in 2000. Pettaway disappeared, but eventually turned herself in and pleaded guilty to kidnapping. She's currently serving a 12 year sentence.

The Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot Film
Shot in Northern California in 1967, the Patterson-Gimlin Film is almost certainly the most well-known piece of footage purporting to show Bigfoot. While the authenticity of the film is still debated by cryptozoologists and skeptics alike, they needn't bother: a 2004 book by author Greg Long revealed the entire thing as a hoax.

A local laborer named Bob Heironimus wore a suit, and freely admitted to Long that he'd done so. Roger Patterson never paid anyone involved with the film, had charges filed against him to get him to return the camera he used, and likely did the whole thing as a stunt to provide for his family, as he was sick with cancer.

Chilling Photos of Murder Victims Taken By Their Killers

For some killers, it isn't enough to take the lives of their victims. Some must capture the moment with a photograph, a memento mori of the sickest variety. In many cases, police departments have released these images of murder, either to assist in the identification of victims, or as a testament to the sheer brutality of these killers' crimes. Here are ten such examples of photos of murder, taken by serial killers and other murderers themselves. Be warned, however: some of the photographs on this list are quite graphic.
Chilling Photos of Murder Victims Taken By Their Killers, all people, people, other, True crime, true stories,

Shari Miller, Photographed Moments Before Death
William Richard Bradford convinced bartender Shari Miller to accompany him out to the desert for an impromptu photo shoot. After snapping several pictures of Miller, Bradford strangled the woman to death, sliced off her tattoos, and dumped her body in a dumpster.

Bradford was later questioned in relation to a missing person, Tracey Campbell. At that time, police discovered the photos of Miller, whom they recognized as their Jane Doe, as well as pictures of 54 other women. This led to the discovery of Campbell's body not far from the site where Bradford killed Miller.

In 2006, several more of the women in Bradford's photographs were identified, though most still remain unknown. Bradford was executed in 2008.
The Last Known Photograph of Madyson Jamison
The entire Jamison family - Bobby, Sherilynn, and daughter Madyson - disappeared in October 2009 under highly suspicious circumstances. Their bodies were discovered in the woods outside Red Oak, OK, four years later, and foul play is suspected. It is unclear who snapped this cell phone photograph of Madyson, though family members point out that the girl appears especially distressed, leading some to theorize that the Jamisons' murderer was the photographer.
Judy Ann Dull, Moments Before Her Demise
Serial killer Harvey Glatman's M.O. involved luring women to his hotel room, pretending to be a photographer looking to pay quick cash for a few snapshots. Once inside the room, he would tie the women up, photograph, and then kill them. Sometimes, the photo shoot did not end after death...
Regina Kay Walters, Victim of Robert Ben Rhoades
In late 1989, 14-year-old Regina Kay Walters fell victim to serial killer Robert Ben Rhoades, who drove a semi truck equipped with a torture chamber in the back. The expression of absolute terror and the defensive position of her hands is absolutely chilling.
Unidentified Victims of The Dating Game Killer
Rodney Alcala, dubbed the "Dating Game Killer" due to his rather surreal appearance on The Dating Game prior to his arrest, may be responsible for over 200 murders. Police discovered a wealth of photographs of young woman, many of whom have not yet been identified, and who are suspected victims of Alcala.
The 29th Victim of The Candyman
Dean Corll, AKA "The Candyman," earned his nickname due to a penchant for handing out free samples from his candy company to local children to lure them into his vehicle. In total, Corll murdered 28 young boys from 1970 to 1973, though a photograph of an unidentified boy found among Corll's possessions suggests their might be a 29th boy still unaccounted for. Though blurry, the child in the photo does not match any of Dean Corll's other confirmed victims.
James Ferris, Bound and Injected by Bob Berdella
Bob Berdella assaulted, tortured, and killed at least six men in the mid-1980s. He liked to take Polaroids of his victims as well, and a number of these were published in a Kansas City newspaper following Berdella's arrest.
The Lust Killer's Photo Shoot
Jerry Brudos, dubbed "The Lust Killer" and "The Shoe Fetish Slayer," kidnapped Karen Sprinker from a parking lot and held her captive in his garage. There, he forced Sprinker to model underwear for him while he photographed her. He proceeded to kill Sprinker, dismember her body, and have sex with her corpse.

Jerry Brudos was convicted in 1969 of killing Sprinker and three other women in the same fashion. He died in prison in 2006.
Photo of Kidnapping Victims Left in Parking Lot
The girl in this photo is believed to be kidnapping victim Tara Calico, though the boy is as yet unidentified. What's most chilling about this Polaroid is that it was discovered in a parking space minutes after a plain white van left the spot in September 1988. Investigators theorize the photograph was taken that very moment, with the boy and girl inside the van, tantalizingly close but so far away from rescue. Whether the victim is indeed Calico or not, the fate of these two is unknown.
Anatoly Slivko's Scout Video Images
One of the most sadistic killers in history, Anatoly Slivko conducted "experiments" in unconsciousness. He was inspired after he became sexually aroused at the grisly scene of an automobile accident in which a boy perished. Slivko would befriend young boys and then lure them out into the woods, where he would suspend them by their necks via a rope until they passed out. In several cases, Slivko assaulted the boys while they were unconscious, reviving them afterwards and swearing them to secrecy.

In seven cases, however, Anatoly Slivko would dismember, burn, and desecrate the corpses, often for the purpose of sexual gratification, recreating the accident that had initially aroused him. Regardless of whether he killed the boys or not, Slivko always made a video tape of the proceedings. He was executed in 1989.

It's a phrase heard often in murder cases, in reference to people who suddenly went crazy and committed awful crimes: "They just snapped." And while from a psychological standpoint this phrase is misleading, since these incidents are generally the culmination of a long descent into madness, for loved ones of the killers and victims alike, the term seems all too accurate. Accounts of apparently normal people who went crazy seemingly out of the blue have cropped up in the news for decades, and in every case, the shocked reaction of those who knew these individuals is the same.

There are clear patterns evident in many of these cases; however, in some circumstances, no history of mental illness or violence had been established in the killers prior to their murders. These fifteen stories of people who snapped and killed people cover both ends of the spectrum, where a clear path can be seen leading up to the "snapping," and where there is no path at all.
15 Killers Who Just "Snapped",

Brothers Murder Their Entire Family with a Hatchet
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, residents Robert Bever and his 16-year-old brother (who, because he is a minor, remains unnamed) killed three of their four siblings and both their parents with a hatchet in July 2015. They spared their infant sister, while their older, 13-year-old sister survived the ordeal, implicating her brothers in the massacre.

Bever made a full confession and indicated the murder of his family was only the beginning of a planned killing spree. Even still, those who knew him and his brother were convinced the teen had "just snapped."
Trucker Kills His Son After Hearing Voices
Australian man John Patrick O'Kane murdered his four-month-old son Zach on January 25, 2009. He was at a loss to explain his actions, stating only that he had been hearing voices prior to the killing.

O'Kane killed Zach by using a blunt object to crack the infant's skull. Autopsy reports also reveal weeks of severe abuse prior to the murder. Moreover, O'Kane had a prior conviction of abusing and blinding his infant son in 1994, a fact he kept secret from his current wife, Zach's mother.

Even so, O'Kane insists the crime was not premeditated and that he "just snapped."
Connecticut Man Assaults and Kills Woman, Daughters
Claiming to have no memory of his horrendous crimes for years afterwards, in July 2007, Steven Hayes and an accomplice, Joshua Komisarjevsky, invaded the Cheshire, Connecticut, home of William Petit, Jennifer Hawke-Petit, and their daughters Michaela, 11, and Hayley, 17. Petit was battered and tied up in the basement. Hayes then forced Hawke-Petit to extract a large sum of money from an ATM before leading her back into her home. When Hayes returned,, Komisarjevsky admitted to Hayes that he had sexually molested Michaela, and insisted the entire family had to die.

At this point, Hayes claims to have lost it. He sexually assaulted Hawke-Petit before strangling her. The men then set fire to the house and fled. Michaela and Hayley were burned alive. Petit, however, managed to escape the fire, and helped to put Hayes and Komisarjevsky away.

Neurobiologist Kills Three Colleagues
Amy Bishop worked as a neurobiologist at the University of Alabama, Hunstville. She had been denied tenure and had spent a year appealing the decision, all to no avail. On the afternoon of February 12, 2010, Bishop calmly sat through a staff meeting she technically did not need to attend.

As the meeting came to a close, Bishop drew a .9mm pistol and shot her department chair, Gopi Podila, in the head at point-blank range. She then opened fire on the rest of the staff, ultimately killing three and wounding several others, before being apprehended by a sheriff's deputy while attempting to escape the building.

By all accounts, Bishop did not fit the profile of a mass shooter. Still, it is believed her fruitless attempts at gaining tenure drove her over the edge.
Man Kills His Ex-Fiancee for Cheating

Robert Cromwell of Springfield, Oregon, had planned a romantic evening with his then ex-fiancée Casey Lynn Wright, hoping to rekindle their relationship. However, Wright admitted that she had already met someone else. Things took a disturbing turn. According to Josephine Woolington of The Register-Guard:

"Cromwell... searched her cellphone after she fell asleep and found text messages from the man referenced by Wright as well as from another man. Cromwell then told Detective Don Myers in the video that he struck Wright four times in the head using an aluminum baseball bat while she was sleeping in the Springfield home that the two previously had shared.

"Cromwell told Myers in the video that he didn’t want to wake Wright up. 'I didn’t want her to see me doing it,' Cromwell said."

Cromwell reportedly blames his outburst on the antidepressants he was taking at the time, as well as the fact he'd been having nightmares just prior to the incident.

Man Stabs Homeless Veteran 70 Times
In July 2013, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, resident Dale Wakefield had been out celebrating his 21st birthday when a 71-year-old homeless veteran, George Mohr, asked him for some spare change outside a train station. After being denied, Mohr allegedly muttered an insult at Wakefield, who, according to his sister, "just snapped" and stabbed Mohr more than 70 times with a pocket knife. He had no prior criminal record.
Woman Kills Co-Worker After Being Fired
On March 30, 2010, Tarpon, Florida, resident Arunya Rouch had breakfast with her husband, and seemed to be in a good mood. But that was before she arrived at the Tarpon Springs Publix, a grocery store where Rouch worked, to discover she was being terminated for making threats against a co-worker who had apparently been antagonizing Rouch for several months.

After pleading with her manager for a second chance to no avail, Rouch left the store, but returned several hours later with a gun, killing her co-worker in the parking lot as he ate his lunch in his car. She then attempted to murder her manager, but she could not find him within the store. Police arrived at the scene, a gunfight ensued, and Rouch was wounded. She was then arrested, and later found guilty of murder in 2012.
Exterminator Kills His Client, a Pediatrician
Jason T. Smith, an exterminator in Levittown, Pennsylvania, confessed to strangling and burning his client Melissa Ketunuti, a pediatrician, in July 2013. Smith told police he arrived at Ketunuti's home to handle a rodent problem. They reportedly argued in her basement, at which point Smith lost control and murdered Ketunuti.

Smith had only minor traffic violations on his record prior to this incident.
Rape Suspect Snaps, Kills Four Inside Courthouse
Atlanta man Brian Nichols went on a rampage in 2005, during a court appearance in a rape case. He managed to steal a gun from a deputy sheriff and kill four people before escaping: Judge Rowland Barnes, court reporter Julie Brandau, federal agent David Wilhelm and Sergeant Hoyt Teasley. His mother stated that Nichols felt demons were possessing him before his killing spree began.

Nichols was eventually talked into turning himself in by his hostage, Ashley Smith.
Troubled Man Kills His Grandparents
In 1996, Glendale, Missouri, resident David Barnett murdered his grandparents, Clifford Barnett, 82, and Leona Barnett, 75, stealing their car and $120. He collectively stabbed them twenty-one times, using five different kitchen knives for the grisly task.

Barnett confessed to the crime the next day, telling police he had not planned the murders, but that he felt a "rage" well up within him, which caused him to snap. After an initial death sentence, a judge commuted Barnett's sentence to life in prison, after revealing facts about Barnett's horrendous childhood came to light.

While plenty of people have idly fantasized about killing their boss, a select few people have actually done it. Whether it's a work-related dispute, a robbery, or revenge for being laid off, employees giving the ultimate bad performance review happens more often than you might think. Most of these cases involve long-held grudges, but a few appear to have been spur of the moment.

In a few cases, the murder happens because the employee has been discovered stealing from the employer, like in the case of the murder of pop star Selena by her fan club president. And in a few cases, we'll never know, because the killer was themselves shot dead, or committed suicide.

Here are some cases of employers who killed their bosses, and what became of them.

Employees Who Killed Their Bosses,

Yolanda Saldívar
Saldivar was president of singer Selena's fan club, a position she obtained by essentially harrassing the singer's manager until he gave in. She was also embezzling from the singer, and when Selena's management found out, they fired her. When Selena set up a meeting with her in a motel room in March 1995, to discuss the situation, Saldivar first claimed she'd been raped and asked Selena to take her to a hospital. When the hospital punted her for not having been raped, Selena demanded financial papers from Saldivar, who shot her.

At her trial, Saldivar claimed the gun accidentally went off, which prosecutors refuted with evidence that the gun was so heavy it couldn't fire on it's own. Also, Saldivar didn't call 911, instead chasing a bloody Selena into the hotel lobby calling her a bitch. She was sentenced to life in prison, while internet hoaxes constantly proclaim her as being dead.

Natavia S. Lowery Killed the Celeb Real Estate Agent She Worked For
A celebrity real estate broker and former manager of the Ramones, Linda Stein was found dead in a pool of blood on the floor of her Manhattan apartment. While a murder weapon was never recovered, Lowery, then her personal assistant, confessed to beating Stein to death with a yoga stick during an argument where Stein accused Lowery of stealing from her - a confession she soon recanted.

Lowery claimed that Stein was dealing with massive mood swings due to anti-cancer medication, had called her a racial slur, and blew marijuana smoke into her face, though no marijuana was found in Stein’s system. Her family attempted to pin the murder on Stein’s daughter, Mandy, but Lowery did herself no favors by looting Stein's bank account after the murder - and was found guilty.

Carter Cervantez and Clarence "David" Mallory Strangled Their Ex-Manager
Cervantez and Mallory were accused of stealing $18,000 from the Fort Worth American Eagle store they worked at during the summer of 2014, and subsequently disappeared. They came back Thanksgiving weekend to brutally murder their former boss, Ashlea Harris. The store manager was found in her apartment bound with duct tape, beaten, burned, and strangled.

The duo took her keys, which led police to track them back to the American Eagle store, which they were attempting to rob.

Russell Carter Strangled His Boss With His Tie
Recently-fired Welsh truck driver Russell Carter believed his boss, Kinglsey Monk, had stiffed him out of $4,000 in wages. So he took Monk and three other workers hostage, then beat Monk with a pipe and strangled him with his own tie. To finish off his debt collecting, Carter doused the other people in gasoline and set the building on fire. They escaped, and Carter claimed he was insane, therefore not liable for his actions. The UK legal system disagreed, and gave Carter 30 years in prison.

Ernesto Hernandez Avalos Beat His Boss to Death with a Shovel
In January 2007, Avalos was a 27-year-old California day laborer. While doing some landscaping work, his boss, Woo Sung Park told him he was working too slowly. Avalos responded to the criticism by hitting Park in the back of head with his shovel, then beating him to death with it.

Police arrived, and attempted to take Avalos into custody, at which point Avalos grabbed a pick axe to finish Park off. Once subdued, Avalos admitted to using methamphetamine prior to work that day, but maintained he felt Park was going to physically attack him. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison anyway.

Jessica Dayton Conspired to Murder Her Boss With a Rock
Dayton was a 19-year-old waitress at Missouri's Lincoln Café when she entered into a convoluted plot to kill her manager, 33-year-old Curtis Bailey. Dayton conspired with Bailey’s live-in girlfriend Denise Frei to get Bailey to black out from drinking, so that Frei’s teenage son Jacob Hilgendorf could kill him.

However, this Swiss watch of a plan went awry when Bailey woke up from his stupor and started to struggle. Dayton hit on the head with a rock before Hilgendorf delivered the final blow. After the trio of master criminals was arrested, they insisted that they simply wanted to beat Bailey, not kill him. Dayton ended up getting life in prison for her role in the killing.

Sarah McLinn Nearly Beheaded the Boss Who Was Taking Care of Her
Harold Sasko was the 52-year-old owner of a Cici’s pizza restaurant franchise in Kansas City when he hired 19-year-old Sarah McLinn. Knowing she'd recently been involved with drugs and gangs, he invited McLinn to live with him. She returned the favor by mixing sleeping pills in his beer, binding his hands and feet with zip-ties, and sawing his head nearly off.

McLinn's defense attorneys argued that dissociative identity disorder was to blame, and that McLinn had as many as four different personalities - one of whom, named Alyssa, was the actual killer. Prosecutors claimed McLinn had researched vulnerable spots on the neck, and planned to flee after the killing. She was found guilty and sentenced to a minimum of 50 years in prison.

Jeffrey Johnson Shot His Boss and Caused a Bloodbath at the Empire State Building
After six years working at Midtown, Manhattan clothing design firm Hazan Imports, Johnson was laid off in 2014. He returned to the design firm with a .45 caliber pistol and shot his former boss, with whom he'd exchanged harassment complaints before his layoff. After shooting the man four more times on the ground, he started walking toward the Empire State Building. Once he got there, NYPD officers confronted him, and a shootout erupted. Nine people were hurt, all by stray bullets from the police, while Johnson was shot dead.

Randolph Sanders Executed His Boss After She Found He'd Stolen from Their Non-Profit
Kim Jones, program director at Philadelphia non-profit Turning Points for Children, was shot in the head execution-style in public by a man who took a gun out of a bag and fled afterwards. Several weeks later, Philly police zeroed in on Randolph Sanders, Jones's assistant director, and someone she'd worked with for years.

Jones had determined that Sanders had stolen at least $40,000 from the non-profit, and was about to go to Philadelphia's Department of Human Services with her findings, which likely would have ended with Sanders being arrested. After Sanders was caught, he confessed to the murder.

Eric Allen Kirkpatrick Shot His Boss at the Company Christmas Party
Kirkpatrick murdered his former boss, Benjamin Banky, the CEO of natural health products company TallGrass Distribution, shortly after he was fired. Kirkpatrick showed up at the company Christmas party with a shotgun and opened fire, shooting and killing Bank. After a quick standoff, Kirkpatrick gave himself up, pleaded not guilty, and was convicted of murder anyway.

People Who Impersonated Celebrities to Commit Crimes

Someone's probably told you that you bear an uncanny resemblance to "that guy that was on Empire." You know the one. But for these enterprising scammers, they took their resemblance to various celebrities to the limit and committed an array of nasty crimes. Whatever the reason, these celebrity impersonators prove that your average Elvis impersonator isn't always innocent.
People Who Impersonated Celebrities to Commit Crimes, celebrities, other, True crime, true stories,

Woman Impersonates Anna Wintour to Fleece Man Out of Money, Time
You don't have to look like a celebrity to pull off the scam of a lifetime. That's what impersonator Emma Charlton figured out. Posing as Vanity Fair editor Anna Wintour, who you may recognize from The Devil Wears Prada, Charlton tricked a man named Neil Lupton into falling in love, marrying her, and fleeced him out of cash. It wasn't the first time she had pulled similar scams. As it turned out, Charlton had a long history of impersonating other people and fleecing men along.
Michael Jackson Impersonator Becomes Smooth Criminal
It may not surprise you that being a celebrity impersonator isn't always the most lucrative job you can land. Amar Clement made a living from impersonating Thriller-era Michael Jackson. But when he realized he wasn't making as much cash as he would've liked, Clement decided to move into a new career - bank fraud. The Jackson impersonator laundered money directly from customers' accounts, buying used cars with the ill-begotten cash until he was caught. Not exactly a "Smooth Criminal" by any account.
No One's Arms Were "Wide Open" for This Creed Guitarist Impersonator
Kevin Eckenrod might be one of the only people glad Creed exists. He's made a living impersonating Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti, using his vague resemblance (despite being 11 years older) to a third-tier grunge band's guitarist to trick girls into dates, bars into giving him free drinks, and other perks.
A Michael Jackson Impersonator Lured and Molested Children
The year was 1994. We all remember how Michael Jackson was accused of molesting children. But someone tied to MJ was actually arrested for abusing children. Michael Johnson, a Jackson impersonator, was the leader of a youth gang and would molest and force sex on teenage boys in order to initiate them into the gang. Johnson was later arrested but most of his victims refused to testify, claiming they loved the MJ impersonator.
The Bob Marley Impersonator Who Slaughtered His Wife
Unlike the real Bob Marley, this impersonator wasn't so mellow. Melvyn Edwards was a professional Bob Marley impersonator. But he snapped one day after his wife, who was divorcing him, kicked him out of her house. Edwards raped and murdered her and was subsequently arrested. Everything was not "All Right" in this case.
Man Pretends to Be Multiple Motown Singers in Order to Win Sympathy, Free Meals
You might not know many Motown singers by name. But one man plagued on peoples' love of Motown by pretending to be multiple singers, including Lamont Dozier (who you might know as the guy who wrote "Baby I Need Your Loving"). Alan Young would use his skills as an impersonator to win free hotel rooms, food, and sympathy. Plus, Young developed a habit of faking a heart attack every time someone caught him in his lies, making this impersonator a real character.
Elvis Impersonator Tries to Commit Biological Terrorism
When an Elvis impersonator fakes an act of biological terrorism anywhere else in the country, it's a headline. When it happens in Florida, it's just another Tuesday. Elvis impersonator Michael Conley was on the run from the cops from a previous warrant. 64-years-old, the impersonator holed up in a motel in Fort Pierce, Florida, claiming he had a "biological weapon" and threatened to unleash it on whoever had the misfortune of entering the motel. Authorities burst into the motel, arrested Conley, and later discovered that the supposed "biological weapon" was simply a vial of salt.
Impersonator Pretends to Be Toni Braxton at a Concert
So you want to throw a Toni Braxton concert but you can't get ahold of Toni Braxton? So what do you do? You could do what one concert promoter did and try to pass off a celebrity impersonator as the real deal. Impersonator Trina Johnson-Finn was hired to perform at a concert but what she didn't know was that she had been billed as the real Toni Braxton. She was thrown into jail but unlike some of the other people on this list, at least Johnson-Finn was innocent.
Man Pretends He's BMW CEO, Writes Articles for Slate
Why do people impersonate celebrities? The world may never know. Ravi Desai, an aspiring journalist, was notorious for faking his identity on numerous occasions. In one particularly infamous incident, Desai pretended to be the CEO of BMW, writing a series of journal entries for Slate magazine. Slate later realized Desai was a fraud and retracted the articles.
Man Lured Teenaged Girls By Pretending to Be Justin Bieber
Whether you hate him or love him, there's no denying that Justin Bieber is extraordinarily popular with teenage girls. 34-year-old Lee Moir took advantage of Bieber's popularity with naive teenage girls and pretended to be the then-teenage pop star online, demanding the girls send him money and explicit videos of themselves. If the girls refused to send him money, the false Bieber threatened to post their videos online. He was later implicated in a sting operation.

It is common for some murderers to take "trophies" from their victims, and in some cases, those trophies are their clothing. Photos exist of serial killers wearing their victim's clothes. In other cases, these criminals were caught on surveillance cameras playing their macabre game of dress-up. Some murderers were even arrested while clad in their victim's clothing.

Below you will find an offering of each variety, from actual serial killer photos, serial killer victim pics, and accounts of murderers donning their stolen trophies. Be warned that some of the images are NSFW.

10 Killers Who Wore Their Victims' Clothes, wtf, killers, serial killers, other, True crime,

Dennis Rader
Otherwise known as BTK (Bind, Torture, Kill), Dennis Rader had a flair for tormenting and murdering women as well as a penchant for staging bondage-inspired photographs in which the killer would wear a "lady mask" and his victims' clothing. You can view a full gallery of Rader's "art" here, though be warned, many of these images are quite NSFW.
Ed Gein
Ed Gein didn't wear his victims' clothes, but he did wear his victims. No photos exist of the serial killer, grave robber, and cannibal "dancing in the moonlight" in his infamous skin masks and suits. There is, however, a fair amount of photographic evidence of these repugnant creations floating around out there. This is one of the less graphic photos available. Note that this skin mask bears a striking resemblance to the mask worn by Michael Myers in the Halloween films.
Ray and Faye Copeland
This killer duo were found guilty of murdering five drifters in their Missouri home between 1986 and 1989. After being discovered, police later found a quilt, made by Faye, fashioned out of their dead victims' clothing.
Ivan Milat
Ivan Milat, otherwise known as the Backpack Murderer, killed 7-12 young men and women between 1989 and 1993, stealing a number of their personal items and burying their bodies in Belanglo State Forest. Among Milat's numerous trophies, the above shirt was apparently so treasured that he actually began wearing the garment.
Jerry Brudos
Having a serious (and deadly) shoe and lingerie fetish, Jerry Brudos was known to both steal and wear his victims' high heels. He would also force his victims to model his shoe collection, sessions Brudos would photograph before killing them.
Russell Williams
Former Canadian colonel Russell Williams was convicted of raping and killing two women in February 2010. Among the evidence presented to the jury during his trial were these photographs of Williams posing in his victims' underwear and lingerie (he also committed several break-ins, and stole undergarments from girls as young as 11).
Jose Agrela
Jose Agrela killed his roommate Colin Evans in their Chelmsford, Essex, apartment on September 30, 2014. After doing so, Agrela donned Evans's clothes and ring, then took his dog, Sweep.
Robin Pask
Lab technician at York University, Robin Pask, used a forked carving knife to cut the throat of a visiting professor, Dr. Elizabeth Howe, in her office on July 25, 1992, killing her. His motives for doing so remain fuzzy, as Pask's mental health had been deteriorating for several months prior to the murder. Upon his arrest, Pask was discovered wearing Howe's skirt and sneakers.
James Allen
James Allen murdered and robbed two people in London in 2012. He was captured on a CCTV camera wearing a jacket belonging to his second victim, Julie Davison. He was also apparently wearing her sneakers at the time.
Edmond Tennent Brown IV
Kathryn Tennent, who at the time of her crimes was named Edmond Tennent Brown IV, was obsessed with her father's long-term girlfriend, Mary Lynn Witherspoon, so much so that she killed Witherspoon on the morning of November 14, 2003. Tennent Brown was observed standing outside the crime scene, wearing Witherspoon's undergarments and a pair of her slacks.

People Who Killed Their Victims to Assume Their Identities

Police estimate that hundreds of thousands of dead people have their Social Security numbers and other aspects of their identities stolen every year, mostly for purposes of fraud. But a few identity thieves take their crime to the ultimate point: killing people just to steal their lives. Murdering someone AND stealing their ID is rare, but when it happens, it often is the result of a long and involved con.

Killers who became their victims include a woman who murdered her sister after pretending her house was firebombed by drug dealers; a career fraudster who sent his victim off to another country, then killed him when he came back; a convicted rapist who killed a homeless man in order to fake his own death; and a lesbian serial killer known as the most wanted woman in America.

Here are some of the stories of people who killed others to assume their identities.

People Who Killed Their Victims to Assume Their Identities,

The Husband and Wife Team Who Killed Three People for Their Identities
Julie and Dimitry Yakovlev were found guilty of a scheme wherein Dimitry murdered three people to obtain their identities, which they then used to pilfer bank accounts and open credit cards. Julie pleaded guilty to a slew of fraud charges, but wasn't a suspect in the murders. Dimitry was the main suspect in the disappearances of Michael Klein, Irina Malezhik and Viktor Alekseyev - two of whom have never been found, and the other was found dead in New Jersey.

All three had had their identities stolen after their death, netting the husband and wife over half a million dollars, which had to be forfeited. Dimitry was given 30 years in prison, while Julie pleaded guilty and got three years.

George Kalomeris, Who Killed Two People to Get Control of Their Million Dollar Estates
Kalomeris resided in multiple states, and therefore had no problem killing people in two different states and assuming their identities to get his hands on their money. The first person Kalomeris killed was Gary Wayne Thomas, a man who lived in his apartment complex and who had a million-dollar trust. The two got high together, whereby Kalomeris shot and killed Thomas, and over the next eight months, assumed the man's identity. He called Thomas's bank and told him he was moving to Maryland - and established an address there.

He blew through most of the money, the zeroed in on another man, Thomas Wayne Jones, a wealthy paraplegic. Kalomeris shot Jones in the neck, buried him, and took control of his estate, including a stash of rare gold coins. However, Jones was actually alive, and eventually able to testify against Kalomeris, who was sent to prison. While in prison, Kalomeris put out a hit on Jones, using money he was continuing to steal from Gary Wayne Thomas's estate. The inmate Kalomeris approached ratted on him, and while he was under investigation, Jones died of his injuries from the shooting. Kalomeris was sentenced to nearly 400 years in prison.

The Freeloader Who Murdered Her Sister and Bombed Her Own House
Stevie Allman became a minor celebrity in Oakland after she was rescued from her house, which had apparently been firebombed by drug dealers out to get revenge on her because of her anti-drug efforts. Money was raised to help treat her injuries, she spoke out against the arsonists, and even the state's governor got in on it, offering a reward for the capture of those who bombed Allman's house.

It sounded like good-old American heroism, except that Stevie Allman had set the fire herself, and wasn't Stevie at all, but her sister Sarah, who had murdered Stevie and stuffed her in a freezer. Sarah and Stevie lived together in the house, and while Stevie was known as an anti-drug crusader, Sarah was an unemployed freeloader who routinely stole from her sister - even forging her name to cash an inheritance check. Police speculated that Sarah killed Stevie and assumed her identity to gain access to the deed to the house, as well as Stevie's finances. Other family members noted that two women lived in the house, and when confronted, Sarah readily admitted what she did.

The Man Who Murdered a Mother and Child So His Girlfriend Could Take Her Identity
The 2010 double murder that gripped Australia, the case of the deaths of 22-year-old Karlie Pearce-Stevenson and her two-year-old daughter, took almost five years to finally unravel. Karie's bones were found in October 2010 in a forest in New South Wales, while her daughter's remains were found in a suitcase in July 2015, almost 700 miles away. Both of their identities had been exploited for fraud, theft, and to send fake messages implying Karlie was still alive.

When the infant's remains were linked to Karlie's, police went public, imploring the people of Australia for tips as to the culprits. Within a few days, they had a suspect, Karlie's former lover Daniel Holdom - whose current girlfriend was using Karlie's identity to open bank accounts and defraud credit card companies. Holdom was arrested on double murder charges.

The Evil Twin Who Tried to Become Her Good Twin
A bizarre southern California attempted murder trial involved Jeena and Sunny Han, literally characterized by police as a good twin and an evil twin. In this case, the evil twin was Jeena, who was arrested on a slew of charges, including conspiracy to commit murder, robbery, and false imprisonment. All of them stemmed from an attempt to kill her "good twin" Sunny, and assume her identity.

Jeena was apparently mad at Sunny for assisting police in a prior credit card fraud scheme that she'd been busted for. Jeena hired two guys and went over to Sunny's apartment, planning to kill her and take her identity, including her good credit score and clean arrest record. The plot got botched when Sunny (who didn't realize that her sister was in her apartment) called the police, and Jeena made a run for it. She was eventually arrested at San Diego Airport. Jeena was found guilty and sentenced to 26 years to life in prison.

Albert Johnson Walker, Who Took a TV Repairman's Identity, Then Killed Him
Canadian con artist Albert Johnson Walker had already been part of a number of failed fraud schemes when he met TV repairman Ronald Platt. He was living in England while fleeing over a dozen charges of fraud, money laundering, and theft when he changed his name to "David Davis" and started a business with fellow expat Platt. When Platt wanted to go back to Canada, Walker claimed he needed Platt's birth certificate and ID to hold up his end of the business. After Platt left, Walker assumed his identity.

A few years later, Platt was broke and came back to England. Realizing his fraud was about to be exposed, Walker took Platt fishing, then murdered him with an anchor and dumped the body at sea. However, when the body washed up, it was wearing a Rolex registered to Platt. Walker was arrested soon after, and is serving life in prison.

The Lesbian Serial Killer Who Seduced Women and Took Their Names
A 12-year manhunt for "Chameleon Killer" Elaine Parent came to a head in 2002 in Florida, after police in two countries tracked her down. Parent was accused of stalking single women, taking them as lovers, then killing them and stealing their identities. The first killing attributed to Parent was a woman who washed up on a Florida canal having been hacked apart, but with a tattoo that police identified and tracked back to Parent, the victim's roommate. Parent had used a false ID to trick the victim into handing over her Social Security number, driver's license number, and credit card number for a "numerology analysis," then killing her.

Over the next decade plus, Parent took authorities in the US and UK (where she'd lived for a long time) on a chase involving dozens of identities, several other murders, multiple countries, and countless leads. Parent was finally tracked back to Florida, and shot herself while waiting to be arrested.

William Morse, Who Killed a Contractor, Spent His Money, and Became Him
Simple greed appeared to be the motive behind the murder of Richard Bellittieri, a contractor hired by William Morse to do some work on the duplex he was building. According to Maine prosecutors, Morse shot the man, dragged him into a nearby woods, buried him, and chopped a tree down on him. He then pilfered his finances to the tune of $175,000, and even introduced himself to people as Bellitteri.

He kept the ruse up for a year, before being pulled over for DUI with Beillitteri's ID and credit cards. Maine put him on trial for murder and identity theft, and he was found guilty. Morse will spend a minimum of 60 years in prison.

The Rapist Who Killed a Homeless Man and Stole His Identity to Fake His Own Death
Michael Henderson was already a serial sexual offender, who had served a multi-year prison sentence for child sexual abuse. After being accused again of sexually assaulting a minor, in this case, a 16-year-old relative, Henderson decided it was time to create a new life for himself. To do that, he shot and killed homeless man Gary Ali, then put Ali's body in a car with his own ID, and set it on fire.

The burned car was traced back to Henderson, who was arrested in 2011 for both the murder and the rape. It took a jury just 20 minutes to find him guilty, and he was given life in prison.

While the majority of workplace killings are either employees who kill their bosses, or commit a mass killing of their fellow workers, a few times bosses have given their employees the ultimate bad performance review - death. Many of the documented instances of employees killed by bosses are from other countries, so details on the cases and their outcomes are sketchy. But what we know is usually horrifying.

There's the Russian railroad supervisor who crushed a tardy employee with a sledgehammer, the Japanese fish wholesaler who beat an underling to death, the South African boss who shot a man for demanding withheld wages, and the electrician from the Virgin Islands who had to kill an employee charging at him with a machete. Of course, these killings happen in the US too - or are foiled by the sheer stupidity of those involved.

Here are known cases where a boss has killed an employee, or attempted to.

11 Bosses Who Killed Their Employees, other, True crime, true stories,

The Car Dealer Who Killed Two Employees That Kept Asking Him for Raises
Rolandas Milinavicius had lived in Atlanta for some time when he started a business to import American cars back to his home country of Lithuania. He hired two other men from Lithuania, but continuously had trouble keeping the business afloat. When the two men confronted Milinavicius, he promptly shot and killed both of them, pumping nine bullets into one, and shooting the other in the head. He turned himself in to the police the next day, and was found guilty of murder.

The Brooklyn Gas Station Kingpin Who Murdered at Least Two Employees
Since coming to America from India in 1984, Gurmeet Singh Dhinsa built a multi-million dollar empire of gas stations in Brooklyn, and he did it the old-fashioned way: cheating the government, intimidating and attacking competitors, and murdering people. In 1997, he was arrested on a slew of fraud, tax evasion, and murder charges - specifically that he had at least two former employees killed.

Dhinsa had already served multiple prison stints on weapons charges and fraud, but the law came down on him hard for ordering a hit on an employee he thought was stealing from him, and another whom he suspected of cooperating with the government in the prosecution of Dhinsa's brother in a different murder case. Not only that, but Dhinsa was accused of killing THAT employee's brother, who had traveled from India to investigate his brother's death. He was found guilty, sentenced to life in prison, and had his assets seized to cover the millions of dollars in fines he was forced to pay.

The Fishmonger Who Beat a Part-Time Employee to Death
Japanese fish wholesaler Miyuki Muto was apparently having some tension with part-time worker Haruhiko Masumoto. She didn't like his attitude, and the two had some conflicts about money, as well. When verbal haranguing didn't produce the desired remorse, Muto escalated the incident with a performance improvement plan - which, in this case, was a vicious beating. According to police, Muto began kicking Masumoto, and when he fell down, rained blows on his head and chest.

A few hours later, she found Masumoto unconscious in a car, and called an ambulance. While she did attempt CPR, it was too late, and the young man died at the hospital from severe internal injuries. Muto threw herself on the mercy of the court, and was given five years of probation, as well as coming to a monetary settlement with the family.

The Boss Who Accidentally Called the Employee He Was Plotting to Kill
Arkansas used car dealer Larry Barnett owed a former employee a lot of money. While working out a payment plan would have been the sensible thing to do, Barnett went another way, calling a local hit man to take out the employee. Somehow, while the two were conversing about how best to kill the man, Barnett accidentally called the guy - who heard his own murder being plotted out. The man was understandably freaked out, and called the police, who immediately arrested Barnett. And it's a good thing the man took action, because he returned home to find that someone had tampered with his gas stove.

The Small Business Owner Who Killed Three Employees, Then Himself
A Somali-American home healthcare business turned into a massacre when the business's co-owner, Ahmed Dirir, shot and killed three people, including the other owner and two employees, then himself. The motive for the killing was never clear, though security video taken at the business showed Dirir engaged in a running argument with the co-owner.

The Boss Who Shot and Killed the Employee Chasing Him with a Machete
Ivan Mills, a Virgin Islands electrician, shot and killed one of his own employees in self-defense after the man started chasing Mills with a machete. According to police, Mills and the employee, Brendan Maloney, got into an argument at a job site after Mills refused to pay Maloney for substandard work. Things escalated quickly, as Maloney pulled a machete out of his truck and started chasing his boss. Mills was able to get back to his own car, pull out a legally-registered firearm, and shoot Maloney in the chest, killing him.

The shooting was investigated as a homicide, and it's not clear if Mills faced charges.

The Dress Shop Owner Who Tried to Rob His Seamstress - and Shot Her Daughter
In 1978, Brooklyn dress factory owner Frank Dichiara learned that one of his seamstresses, Eleanor Zurlo, had $140,000 in the bank as her life savings - equivalent to $580,000 in current dollars. Dichiara managed to convince Zurlo to withdraw the money and keep it in cash, so she could invest it in "good deals" that came along. The whole time, he planned to rob her. He waited until her musician husband was gone, then broke into her apartment to steal the cash.

Sadly, the couple's 13-year-old-daughter walked in unexpectedly, having gotten out of school early. Dichiara panicked and shot her four times, killing her. The girl didn't die right away, and instead told police as she was dying that her mother's boss shot her. Dichiara was immediately arrested, found guilty, and was sentenced to life in prison. He was released in 2007.

South African Boss Shoots Employee Seven Times Over Unpaid Wages
A supervisor at a private security firm in Durban, South Africa, was accused of shooting an employee seven times when the man complained about being denied pay for months, and of not being given the proper tools to do his job. In the aftermath, the owner of the company reimbursed the man's family, and eventually lost so many contracts that he had to close the firm.

A Russian Railways Supervisor Kills a Tardy Employee with a Sledgehammer
While the details are sparse, the crime is brutal: a supervisor for a remote Russian railroad station employee took a sledgehammer to the head of the man when he showed up 30 minutes late for his shift. The two appeared to have argued, and when the employee talked back one too many times, he took a hammer upside the head. The employee died, and the supervisor faced a long prison term.

The GE Supervisor Who Shot His Employee's Husband - in a Daycare Parking Lot
General Electric supervisor Hemy Neuman was arrested for shooting and killing Rusty Sneiderman, the husband of his employee Andrea Sneiderman. According to Neuman's estranged wife, he was having an affair with Andrea, a charge she denied in court. Andrea claimed that Neuman harassed her with explicit emails and constant date requests, and at some point, something snapped in Neuman, leading him to shoot Rusty Sneiderman in the parking lot of the daycare where was dropping off his kids.

Neuman attempted to use an insanity defense, claiming he was having delusions of angels and demons, but he was found guilty of murder in 2010. Three years later, Andrea was arrested on charges of murder, racketeering, perjury, and fraud; apparently having conspired with Neuman and lied about it in court. The murder charge was thrown out, and she was found guilty of the others. A few years later, Neuman's guilty verdict was overturned by the Georgia Supreme Court due to a violation of attorney/client privilege. His retrial is set for late 2016.

The Worst Bachelor and Bachelorette Parties

A wedding is supposed to be one of the happiest moments of a young person's life. There's nothing more joyous than being surrounded by loved ones and saying 'I do' to the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. Unfortunately, not every couple gets to make it down the aisle. Below are some of the worst instances of bachelor and bachelorette parties gone wrong. In this list you'll find tragic accidents, stupid mistakes, and even instances of murder that completely derailed bachelor or bachelorette parties. If you want to throw your own party, it's best if you try to avoid these mistakes.

The Worst Bachelor and Bachelorette Parties,

Beware the Tractor-Trailer
While out celebrating her bachelorette party in a fancy stretch limousine, bride-to-be Sunshine Royston was tragically killed in Baltimore when a tractor-trailer slammed into her ride in the wee hours of the morning. Early reports suggest the tractor-trailer was at fault for not yielding the right of way, and what should have been a night of fun ended in horror. Royston suffered head injuries and was pronounced dead at the hospital a little while later. Her stepfather was quoted saying, "They thought they did the right thing by not going out drinking and driving and guess what? You do the right thing and it still doesn't pay off."
Woman Dies in Car Crash Driving to Own Bachelorette Party
Minutes before getting involved in a deadly car crash, bride-to-be Collette Moreno took one last selfie with her best friend, Ashley Theobald, while driving to her own bachelorette party. Theobald was driving when one poorly judged move caused the women to collide with an oncoming car, ending Moreno's life and severely injuring Theobald. Theobald thought she had enough space to pass the car in front of her, but her calculations were off, causing a deadly mistake. "It felt like a messed-up dream and I needed to wake up from it," Moreno's mom later told reporters, "And I just couldn't believe it. I still can't."

Young Mother Killed After Falling from Party Bus
Jaime Frecks was a part of a bachelorette party that ended in tragedy in Kansas City in 2013. The hardworking mother was taking a night off to take part in the festivities, and the party lead the group to an appropriately named party bus. While driving down the interstate, Frecks somehow managed to fall out of the emergency door of the bus, where she was then run over by several cars on the highway. The worst part? Reports say that three cars hit Frecks after she fell out of the bus, but only the second car stopped. Later, one of her friends who was on the bus described the situation as "a nightmare." No kidding.
Limousine Fire Leaves Five Dead
Never trust a car's drive shaft and the rear floor board - enough friction between them could result in major problems. In 2013, nine passengers out celebrating a bachelorette party in San Francisco faced what became known as a "catastrophic failure" when the back of their limo suddenly caught on fire. Flames soon engulfed the limo, killing five people including 31-year-old Neriza Fojas, the bride-to-be. The driver of the car, Ricky Brown, reported days later that during the ride, one of the passengers knocked on the separator and said "smoke." Brown thought she wanted to stop to smoke a cigarette and kept driving. It was only after that he realize what she meant. The fire was officially ruled an accident some time later.
Drunk Driver Leaves Bride-to-be Clinging For Life
In Long Island, New York, a limo carrying an eight-person bachelorette party was struck by a drunk driver after a night of merry celebration. Four of the women were killed on-site, but the bride was rushed to the hospital where she remained in critical condition. The driver of the truck that hit them was identified as 55-year-old Steven Romeo, and after initially fleeing the scene of the crime, he was apprehended a short time later. Romeo was arraigned from his hospital bed on a mighty $1 million bond, and pleaded not guilty.
Groom Murdered by His Friends at Bachelor Party
Probably the biggest tip for throwing a bachelor party is not inviting people who might murder you. It's a lesson that groom-to-be Ramsey Raulinautis unfortunately found out the hard way. During his bachelor party, Raulinautis took his friends out, but the night went very differently than he anticipated. It ended with Raulinautis severely beaten and then set on fire by his "friends." His fiance, Mandy Hammond, had to identify the body, but she could hardly tell it was him. "I could barely recognize him, he had horrific injuries and burns." Maybe this should be stressed again: don't surround yourself with people who want you dead.
Who Knew Alcohol Was So Deadly?
At bachelor parties, you expect there to be drinking... just hopefully not enough to kill you. In this case, the groom-to-be was Paul Tobutt, who spent his bachelor party in Spain with his friends. Not being as familiar with the customs of the different country, Tobutt took part in the "dentist chair," which is basically a tradition where the groom-to-be sits in a chair and people pour alcohol down his throat. Let's just say Tobutt drank a looooot. After, his friends carried him to their room where they just assumed he had passed out. It was only in the cold, sobering light of morning that they realized their friend was dead. His father was quoted saying, "I don't think that would happen in this country." So if you go to a different country and get offered the "dentist chair," politely say no and casually drink your diet ginger ale.
Beware the Albert Dock
Everyone knows the saying "don't drink and drive," but it doesn't seem like enough people know "don't drink and swim." In what was officially reported as a "tragic accident," 24-year-old Dale Joint died in the Albert Dock just two weeks before his wedding, while out celebrating his bachelor party in Liverpool.

The groom-to-be was out drinking with his friends and family, and the group was waiting for a bus to come pick them up near the dock. While they were waiting, Joint suggested they hop on one of the boats anchored in the harbor. But in his intoxicated state, Joint missed the jump to the boardwalk and plunged into the water. When he didn't resurface, a panic arose and even though the party dove in after him, he couldn't be found. It was only after professional divers arrived were they able to locate his body. He was found with a big cut on his forehead and authorities believe that the cut, paired with the intoxication and the cold water, made it so Joint couldn't move very well in the water and he drowned.
Quiet Bachelorette Party Ends Tragically
Back in 2011, a quiet bachelorette party in central Sweden took a tragic turn when the bride-to-be collapsed without warning in front of her family and friends. She died less than 24 hours before she was set to walk down the aisle and marry her beloved. When she collapsed, an ambulance was quickly called to try to revive her, but with no effect. "I miss and love her, just like our children and families do," said the woman's would-be husband.
Bride-to-be Paralyzed After Party Joke Gone Wrong
At her own bachelorette party, Rachelle Friedman was celebrating with her closest friends when they all decided to go for a swim. They changed into their bathing suits, and set off to play in the pool. It was there that Friedman's best friend jokingly pushed her into the water... but with disastrous results. Friedman fell awkwardly and hit her head on the bottom of the pool. "I instantly went stiff and couldn't move," Friedman told reporters. "I weirdly did not panic, I kind of knew exactly what happened." As traumatic as the experience was, Friedman remained determined to get married, and even with the slight delay, she still married the man she loved.

The scariest serial killers, with info about their methods, victims, and more. Serial killers are among the most terrifying people imaginable, partially because of how unfathomable their crimes can be. Most serial killers kill randomly, looking for a specific type of victim in the dead of night, whether they’re tall, blonde women or short, elderly black men. Any type of person can be prey to a certain type of serial killer. Many of these heinous evildoers have been known to rape and torture their victims. Some have even made meals out of their victim’s dead bodies.

One of the things that make serial killers so scary is that anybody can be a victim, and anybody can be the culprit. Many of the worst serial killers were friendly neighbors or easy-going coworkers that one would never suspect of secretly having human heads in the fridge. The serial killers on this list are among the scariest villains in history due to their methods, their motives, and their personalities.

Who are the scariest serial killers in history? What did these serial killers do to make them so terrorizing? What were their motives, if they had any? And what became of the serial killers that haunt many people’s nightmares? Vote for the scariest famous real serial killers.

The Scariest Serial Killers in History, history, all people, people, crime, killers, serial killers, True crime,

Albert Fish
In the 1900s, Albert Fish kidnapped, raped, killed, and cannibalized young children. While only three victims were ever proven, he claimed to have killed many, many more. Fish was often known as The Gray Man, along with a few other nicknames. He was caught in 1934 and sentenced to death by electrocution.
Andrei Chikatilo
Over the span of 12 years in Russia, Andrei Chikatilo killed at least 52 women and children by stabbing. He was often called the Rostov Ripper and had been suspected of the crimes over the decade of terror, but he wasn't apprehended until 1990. Chikatilo was executed via firing squad in 1994.
Ed Gein
Ed Gein famously inspired a plethora of the most horrifying Hollywood serial killers of all time, including Norman Bates, Jame Gumb ("Buffalo Bill"), and Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Although Gein only allegedly killed his brother and two local women, he was also known to dig up the dead bodies of women similar to his mother and use their skin to make a suit. He also used the body parts to make masks, bowls, lamps, and more. He was caught in 1957 but died in a mental hospital of respiratory failure in 1984.
Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper earned the title as the world's scariest and most notorious serial killer for his mysterious and unforgiving nature. During the 1800s, he killed many English prostitutes by slitting their throats and opening their abdomens. He sometimes took body parts, including the uterus, as trophies. Nobody knows his true identity or what became of him.
Jeffrey Dahmer
Jeffrey Dahmer became one of the most famous serial killers in the U.S. when he was caught for the murders of 17 young men who he raped, dismembered, and ate. Dahmer had been attempting to create a mindless sex slave by drilling a hole in the heads of his live victims. He was caught in 1994 and beaten to death in prison.
John Wayne Gacy
When having a children's birthday party, you never imagine that the party clown could be anything more than an entertainer. But in John Wayne Gacy's case, he was a professional clown with a murderous streak. Gacy killed 33 young men and buried the bodies around his home, after torturing and raping his victims. He was discovered and executed in 1994.
Leonard Lake
Leonard Lake and his partner Charles Ng killed between 11 and 25 people during 1983-1985. He brought his victims to his cabin's custom dungeon to torture, rape, and kill. He videotaped many of his victim's last torturous moments. After Lake was arrested on a firearms charge, he killed himself with a cyanide pill. That's when the police discovered his dungeon of horrors.
Pedro López
Pedro Lopez raped and killed more than 300 girls throughout South America, receiving the name the Monster of the Andes. He originally killed 100 tribal women in Peru, but the police let him go to continue his murderous steak. He was arrested and convicted in 1980 but let go in 1998.
Richard Ramirez
Richard Ramirez, aka The Night Stalker, terrorized the people of Los Angeles when he went on a year-long crime spree in which he broke into people's homes to rape and murder. He killed 13 people and injured more. He was sentenced to death but died of cancer in June 2013.
Ted Bundy
Between 1974 and 1978, Ted Bundy kidnapped and killed 30 women, although the actual number of victims is likely much higher. He tortured and raped his victims, sometimes even keeping their dismembered heads as keepsakes. He was caught in 1979 and sentenced to death by electric chair.

On March 20, 1995, members of Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo ("supreme truth") unleashed sarin gas on Tokyo's metro commuters, killing 13 people and injuring as many as 6,000 more. Overnight, the international media took up the lurid story of Japan's death cult. Yet the group, a mixture of outcasts, weirdos, sad sacks, and self-professed messiahs, had been causing problems in Japan for almost a decade by the time they carried out the Tokyo attack. Read on for scary, bizarre, insane information about Aum Shinrikyo.
Scary Facts On Aum Shinrikyo, Japan's Subway-Gassing Cult, videos, creepy, other, True crime,

Founder Shoko Asahara Declared Himself Christ
It's hard to say whether Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara, who was born Chizuo Matsumoto, was completely insane or just really good at manipulating people. He claimed to be a Christ figure, the first enlightened one since the historical Buddha. By his own estimation, Asahara could save members of his cult from the impending apocalypse by radiating his own supreme powers into his followers. His extremely confused belief system incorporates elements of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and yoga.
Massacre of 29 Sheep in Australia
In 1993, Aum Shinrikyo purchased Banjawarn, a sheep ranch in the Australian outback. In preparation for the Tokyo subway attack, the cult tested sarin gas on the sheep, killing 29 animals. When Australian police raided the ranch in the wake of the Tokyo attack, they discovered a makeshift chemical weapons lab, evidence of explosions in the area, and found that Aum Shinrikyo was mining uranium, a component in nuclear weapons.

Source: Slate
Asahara Kept Female Followers' Pubic Hair in Jars
Reports of Shoko Asahara's bizarre sexual practices exist in Japanese throughout the internet and printed media, but prove hard to track down in verifiable form in English. According to these reports, Asahara had sex with various female members of the cult, sometimes as part of their initiation ritual. He would then take a single public hair from each woman and place it in a jar, on which he would write the woman's holy name, as given by the cult. When Asahara was arrested following the Tokyo attacks, he was sitting in a small room surrounded by these jars.
Aum Shinrikyo is a Doomsday Cult
Aum Shinrikyo, now called Aleph, was founded on a doomsday doctrine—according to founder Shoko Asahara, the world would end either in 1996 or between 1999 and 2003. The apocalypse would be initiated by the US starting World War Three with Japan. Despite this relatively unspecific time prediction and a complete lack of hostility between the US and Japan, thousands—as many as 40,000, according to some estimates—joined the group, seeking a more meaningful existence.
The Matsumoto Incident
In June of 1994, ten months before the Tokyo subway attack, Aum Shinkrikyo members sprayed sarin gas from a modified truck in a residential neighbor of Mastumoto, a small city northwest of Tokyo. Eight people died, including a woman who was comatose for 14 years before passing. Another 600 were injured. Police at first suspected an innocent local man of the crime.
The Cult is Responsible for the Only Verified Death-by-VX Gas
VX gas is a nerve agent classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the UN. In December 1994, Aum disciples attacked fellow cult member Tadahiro Yamaguchi with VX on the streets of Osaka. He died as a result, and is the only verified, fully documented death-by-VX gas ever. The cult also attacked Hiroyuki Nagaoka, who ran an organization that helped Aum Shinrikyo members escape the cult. He survived.
They Manufactured Their Own Weapons
All the gas used by Aum Shinrikyo in their various attacks was manufactured by the cult itself. According to reports, they weren't particularly good at what they did, and their biological weapons program was a complete failure. They also attempted to manufacture 1,000 assault rifles, but only ended up successfully making one. Despite the relatively unsuccessful weapons manufacturing capabilities of Aum, it's still terrifying that a cult founded by an insane person managed to manufacture sarin and VX gas.
The Assassination List
In the late 80's, Aum Shinrikyo published manga, or Japanese comics, about the cult and its beliefs in order to attract new members. In the 90s, manga artist Yoshinori Kobayashi illustrated a satire of the Aum by mimicking the style of the cult's own manga. This landed him at the top of Aum's assassination list. They never got to him, and neither did they manage to kill several other people on this list, including the heads of two Buddhist sects, Soka Gakkai and The Institute for Research in Human Happiness.
The Disappearance of Tsutsumi Sakamoto and his Family
Tsutsumi Sakamoto, a young, high-profile lawyer, decided to organize action against Aum Shinrikyo in the late 80s, believing them to be socially dangerous. In 1989, he gave an interview with Tokyo Broadcasting System. The television station then broke source confidentiality protocol by showing the interview to Aum before it was broadcast. On November 3 of that year, cult members broke into Sakamoto's home, murdered him, his wife, and his 14-month-old son, and took the bodies. Police declared the family missing but didn't resolve the case until after the Tokyo attacks, when a cult member admitted to the crime.

Source: New York Times
They Wanted to Kill a Lot More People than They Did
Despite the many people murdered by Aum Shinrikyo, their death toll is far smaller than the cult had hoped. According to a lengthy report on the cult's activities, in 1990 a member tried to coat the Diet building—the Japanese equivalent of Capitol Hill—in a nerve toxin. The toxin and device used to spray it were ill conceived, and nothing came of it. Shoko Asahara also at one point announced intentions to drop toxins throughout Japan using balloons. All told, the cult also attempted nine biological attacks they hoped would cause mass causalities – nothing came of any of them, again due to technical ineptitude in manufacturing weapons.

Craziest Conspiracy Theories About the Black Dahlia

Articles and stories about Elizabeth Short always point out how unremarkable she was. Talented, but not magnificent. Pretty, but not exceptionally so. Tainted, somewhat, by the rose tattoo on her thigh. Just another young woman drifting through Hollywood in 1947, seeking fame. She was twenty-two when she died. When she was surgically cut in half and drained of blood. When she was posed like a mannequin and dumped in a field. She was twenty-two when she became infamous, not famous like she wanted. She was twenty-two when she became the Black Dahlia.

It's one of the most famous murders in American history, partially because of how gruesome it was, and partially because it remains unsolved to this day. There was a media frenzy in the aftermath. The police got hundreds of tips, and even a few confessions, but they were never able to definitively prove any of their Black Dahlia theories. This list explores conspiracy theories about what happened to Elizabeth Short. Do you believe any of them?

Craziest Conspiracy Theories About the Black Dahlia, other, True crime,

Her Murder Was Inspired by Man Ray

Steve Hodel, who maintains that his father, George Hodel, killed Short, believes George was inspired by a surrealist artist named Man Ray. George and Man Ray were close friends and Man Ray’s work often featured nude men and women cut in half. In particular, Hodel believes his father was influenced by a specific piece called “Le Minotaure,” and draws parallels between the art and the way Short’s body was posed when it was found.

She Was Killed by a Lover After She Became Pregnant

Strap in for this one, because it’s a doozy. A woman named Janice Knowlton believes that her father, George Knowlton, killed Elizabeth Short because she was pregnant with his baby. Knowlton came to this conclusion after she uncovered some repressed memories of her father in therapy. She even wrote a book about it called Daddy was the Black Dahlia Killer. Seems legit.

Her Slaying is Connected to the Cleveland Torso Murders

Between 1935 and 1938, at least twelve people were killed and surgically dismembered in and around Cleveland. The manner in which they were surgically cut apart is very similar to the way the Black Dahlia was bisected and many people believe that the killer is one and the same.

She Was a Prostitute

Here comes Knowlton again, with another dubious theory. In Daddy was the Black Dahlia Killer, she also asserts that Short was a call girl. Most experts on the case regard this as untrue.

Orson Welles Killed the Black Dahlia

This theory comes from Mary Pacios in her book Childhood Shadows: The Hidden Story of the Black Dahlia Murder. Pacios was a childhood friend of Short’s, and while her account sheds light on her friend’s early life, her evidence against Welles is less than credible. It boils down to her belief that Welles not only privately suffered from a mental illness, but a mental illness that doesn’t actually seem to exist. Many writers refer to serial killers as having “diphasic personalities,” but there’s no research that proves that condition even exists.

The Murderer Sent Coded Clues

The owner of BlackDahliaSolution.org thinks that Short’s killer sent coded clues to the newspapers and the police after her death. The writing on the website can best be described as “unhinged,” but the author points towards a man named Ed Burns as the killer. For what it’s worth, Larry Harnisch, the copy editor and researcher from the LA Times, seems to think the guy is full of it.

Her Killer Also Murdered Georgette Bauerdorf

Georgette Bauerdorf was found strangled in her bathtub in 1944, two and a half years before Short was killed. She was also violently attacked and raped. In Severed, author John Gilmore compares both crimes and believes that they carry the same signature.

Ed Edwards

Writer John Cameron’s got a thing for Ed Edwards. Cameron came into the public eye when he speculated that Edwards killed Teresa Halbach, whose murder was the subject of the Netflix docuseries Making a Murderer. Edwards is known to have been a prolific serial killer but has only been officially linked to five murders: four in Ohio and one in Wisconsin.

Halbach’s murder, which occurred in Wisconsin, at least fits in the area he was known to kill in. However, Cameron also believes Edwards is responsible for the murder of JonBenet Ramsey (which occurred in Colorado) and the Black Dahlia murder. Which he would have had to have committed when he was fifteen. And living in Akron, Ohio. Oh, and Cameron believes that Edwards is also the Zodiac Killer, because why not?

Her Killer was Jack Anderson Wilson

Arnold Smith was one of Gilmore’s main sources when writing Severed. Smith claimed to know who killed Short; he said it was a man named Al Morrison. However, there is no evidence that Al Morrison exists. Police believe that it was just an alias that Smith used. On top of that, Arnold Smith wasn’t even his real name. It was Jack Anderson Wilson, and he was a career criminal, though he had only ever been convicted of petty crimes. Also, psychic Marie St. Claire claims to have made a psychic connection with Short, who said that her murderer’s name was Morrison, so, um, case closed?

The Letters “D” and “E” Were Carved into Her Body

In Crime magazine, Stephen Karadjis claims that the letters “D” and “E” were carved into Short’s pubic area. His claims are based on testimony and photographs that are sealed and not available to the public, so they’re difficult to verify. However, he believes the “D” stands for Leslie Dillon, one of the lead suspects in the case.

Creepy and Terrifying Details About the Green River Killer

Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer, is America's most prolific serial killer, so named because his first five victims were found along the Green River in Washington state. Between killing his first victim in 1982 and his capture in 2001, he murdered at least 49 women, most of them prostitutes or teenage runaways. During interrogation after his arrest, Ridgway admitted to more than 70 murders, though many of these remain unconfirmed. Read on for more creepy and terrifying details about Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer.
Creepy and Terrifying Details About the Green River Killer,

Gary Ridgway, Family Man
Gary Ridgway was married three times, and at the time of his arrest, he and his wife lived a respectable life in a quiet area, where his neighbors thought of him as a stand-up guy. Ridgway also had a son, and would sometimes show pictures of his son to prostitutes to put them at ease before he murdered them.
Ridgway Stayed Out of Prison for Decades
The Green River Killer claimed the vast majority of his victims in 1982-83. He was arrested on a prostitution charge in '82 and became a suspect in the case, but was released after passing a polygraph test. It wasn't until 2001 that police compiled enough DNA evidence to arrest Ridgway. At that time he was living peacefully with his third wife, who began divorce proceedings pretty quickly.
He Found Choking His Victims "Rewarding"
As is expected from a serial killer, pathological liar, and necrophiliac, Gary Ridgway has said some super, super creepy things. A sampling of his sinister one-liners: “I don’t know if it was an illness, or just, uh, I wanted to kill;" “My method’s working pretty good. Choking is what I did, and I was pretty good at it;" and “They look in the bedrooms, nobody’s in there, nothin’s, you know, there’s my son’s room. Hey, this guy has a son, he’s not gonna hurt anybody.” He preferred choking to other forms of murder because “that was more personal and more rewarding than to shoot her.”
He Openly Admits You Can't Trust Him
Ridgway is the first one to tell you he can't be trusted. When interrogated by the police, he openly admitted to being a pathological liar. Said journalist Charles Harger of Ridgway, "Gary Ridgway is absolutely playing me; he's playing everybody when he talks. I don't think Gary Ridgway can even comprehend the truth.”
He Stayed Eerily Calm
In his typically blood-chilling, nonchalant manner, the Green River Killer explained to detectives why one of his victims was found without a head, saying, “The head probably rolled the rest of the way down the hill as the body decomposed.”

He killed so many women he was fuzzy on the details of this particular murder, offering, "I picked her up someplace and went to the house and killed her, most likely.”
He Targeted Forgotten Women
Ridgway intentionally targeted women he knew the police wouldn't spend too much time getting worked up about. In a way, his crimes tell us as much about our value system as a society as they do about his warped mind. He said, “I picked prostitutes because I thought I could kill as many of them as I wanted without getting caught.” He also focused on underage runaways and other forgotten women.
Ridgway Went Camping with His Son—and the Remains of Some Prostitutes
In 1984, Ridgway took a camping trip to Oregon, south of his home in Washington, with his son. He also happened to have the remains of two or three dead prostitutes in his car. He paid for everything in cash to leave no record of the trip, and dumped the remains in the Oregon area, so as to make detectives think the Green River Killer was moving south. He then presumably had a nice time camping with his son.
Ted Bundy Tried to Help Find Ridgway
After seeing a newspaper picture of Detective Dave Reichert, the lead officer in the Green River Killer case, Ted Bundy wrote him a letter offering assistance in finding the killer. Ted Bundy the rapist, serial killer, and necrophiliac? Yes, that Ted Bundy. In his letter to Reichert, Bundy wrote, “Don't ask me why I believe I'm an expert in this area, just accept that I am and we'll start from there.” Reichert took Bundy up on his offer in 1986, but it got him nowhere.

He Was Really Weird
It's easy to see these things in retrospect, but Ridgway was always the kind of weird where you know something isn't quite right about him. For example, after six months of questioning, Dave Reichert, the head detective in the Green River Killer case, asked Ridgway if he had any questions. Ridgway responded, "Yeah, how come your hair is gray and your eyebrows are dark?" Um, what?
He Was a Cheapskate
As you'd expect from his crimes, the Green River Killer hated prostitutes. But maybe not for the reasons you'd think. "I picked prostitutes as my victims because I hate most prostitutes and I did not want to pay them for sex.” Mark Prothero, Ridgway's lawyer, had the following to say: "I came up with the term psychofrugalpath. He was cheap to a psychopathic degree. When you would ask him why he would kill the girls, he would say because he would get his money back."

Crazy Facts About the Criminal Landscape of Postwar Japan

In the wake of World War Two, the citizens of Japan were faced with what seemed like an insurmountable task—to rebuild their society, culture, and government from the ground up. As history shows, they proved remarkably successful at this, in part because of a bustling criminal underworld that flourished in Japan's cities in the post-war years (1945-52). Criminal activities from black markets to prostitution to illicit property development deals created the foundation of a new Japan, relying on a strong partnership between Allied forces, Japanese government officials, and the yakuza gumi, or criminal “families” of the underworld.

The Japanese postwar landscape was a nightmare. All major Japanese cities were destroyed in the war. Ever wonder why Tokyo or Osaka weren't hit with nuclear bombs? They were already obliterated. The firebombing of Tokyo incinerated more than 16 square miles of the city, an area equivalent to about 70% of Manhattan. Major cities in Japan were filled with millions of homeless civilians and psychologically damaged war veterans, who slept in bomb craters, ruined buildings, tents, or just out on the street.

From the atomic devastation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki to the firebombing of Tokyo, Allied bombs destroyed huge swaths of Japanese real estate. After the war, the country was left a blank canvas, and the yakuza (or Japanese mafia), flush with cash from the black markets, made unfathomable sums of money on redevelopment.

The yakuza inextricably tied itself to business and government in the post-war years by brokering deals with Japanese politicians, gangs, subcontractors, and the 8th Army Procurement, the Allied office in charge of reconstruction money. The outrageous acts committed by these groups continue to have consequences for Japan even today.
Crazy Facts About the Criminal Landscape of Postwar Japan, history, politics & history, interesting, other, True crime,

The Robin Hood of Osaka
Mitsuji Morimoto, a Japanese soldier, returned from the Philippines to Osaka after the war to find his city in ruins. Determined to help the weak and protect them from the predatory, he elbowed his way into Umeda market, where local thugs were taking advantage of hapless, poor vendors. Morimoto pushed out the low-level gang members and formed a legitimate, bustling market. Fed up with the inefficiency of the police, Morimoto and his followers kept order themselves; he was known to patrol the market in a leather jacket, with a knife at his chest and a pistol on his hip. To quote the man himself, “It was a time when the strong ate the weak in cold blood. I did what I could to prevent it.”
"Brightness From Shinjuku"
You'd be forgiven for thinking the black markets of postwar Japan were hard-to-find, underground affairs. In fact, Kinosuke Ozu was so proud of his Shinjuku market he created a massive sign out of 117 lightbulbs reading “Brightness from Shinjuku.” In the dark nights of the destroyed city, the sign was visible all around, and it's implementation was lauded by the media and inspired other yakuza clans to start their own black markets. It might also be considered the first of Tokyo's countless bright-light signs.
The Yakuza Controlled the Entertainment Industry—and Still Does
Entertainment in postwar Japan existed primarily for Allied soldiers, who had money and time to burn. This led to the popularity of American imports like jazz and blues, as well as European diversions like cabaret and can can dancing. High-powered yakuza bosses like Akira Ando operated nightclubs and bordellos catering to soldiers, and would manage the careers of the singers, actors, and dancers who worked for them. No wonder, then, that the yakuza still control much of Japan's entertainment industry today.

The Black Market Explosion
The statistics of the black market explosion in post-war Japan boggle the mind. By October of 1945, just two months after the first black market opened in postwar Tokyo, there were 17,000 black markets in Japan. In Tokyo alone, vendors in these markets operated 76,000 stalls, each with an average of 40 customers daily, totaling more than 3 million transactions. By July 1946, city officials in Osaka estimated 100,000 people were supporting themselves through black market activity.
Kurosawa Hid Cameras in Wooden Boxes to Evade Censorship
The SCAP created pretty strict regulations for filmmakers in the postwar years. All depictions of feudal Japan were banned—that's why you don't see any samurai movies from 1946 to 1952—and all films about contemporary subject matter were subject to censorship. Akira Kurosawa broke laws on various occasions. In 1947, he shot portions of his film One Wonderful Sunday on the streets of Tokyo without permission, hiding the camera in wooden boxes. His 1948 film Drunken Angels also broke the law, by insinuating about the presence of Allied forces and their role in Tokyo's black markets. As detailed in a documentary on the Criterion Drunken Angel DVD, the script for the film was heavily edited by SCAP, but Kurosawa ignored all their mandates and the film was somehow released without a final review from Allied powers.
Rice Was Used as Currency
Food was so scarce in postwar Japan that rice became a form of currency. As detailed in Stray Dog, the Akira Kurosawa film, rice ration cards were traded as highly prized commodities, and it was essentially impossible to survive without eating food from the black market, as illustrated by the story of a judge who died from malnutrition after publicly declaring he would eat no food obtained illegally. The sad truth behind all of this is, once the Allies arrived with their rations, there was more than enough food to go around, but it mostly ended up on the black market, where the lower class paid exorbitantly inflated prices for things like stale bread.
The Ozu Gang Jumpstarted Black Market Japan with a Newspaper Ad
The Ozu yakuza family holds the distinction of starting Japan's postwar black markets. On August 18, 1945, three days after Japan surrendered, the Ozu gang ran an ad in a Tokyo newspaper asking factory owners and other manufacturers to come to their headquarters to discuss distributing their products. Japan's economy was essentially dead following the war, and most manufacturers were stuck with stockpiles of useless military equipment the war-time government forced them to make. Gang leader Kinosuke Ozu told them to melt down swords to make kitchen knives, and turn helmets into pots and pans. They did so, providing him with a huge supply to meet the broken city's demand, and so was born the Shinjuku black market.
Pan Pan Girls Were Prostitutes Originally Pimped by the Japanese Government
Pan Pan girls were prostitutes who catered to Allied military personnel. Their name comes from the Japanese pronunciation of “pom pom," a direct association with American traditions like cheerleaders and small-town sports.

The Pan Pan girls were mostly former employees of the Recreation Amusement Association, an organization created by the Japanese to provide prostitutes to Allied personnel. The organization served as a legitimate pimp service, but shut down in 1946 after the rampant spread of venereal diseases through the Allied community.

Pan Pan girls became a major symbol of the occupation, and were used in countless films to imply Allied presence without showing Allied personnel or using spoken English, both of which were forbidden by SCAP (the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, officially a term for General MacArthur that was used by the Japanese to refer to any of the offices of the US occupation).
From Black Markets to Legitimate Businesses
What started as illegal markets quickly turned into legitimate businesses. By 1946 there was a Tokyo Professional Stall Vendors Union, and all stall vendors were technically required to obtain licenses through police stations. The Shinbashi black market, one of the biggest in Tokyo, run by the Matsuda gang, went legit pretty quickly. In 1946, 80 percent of the market's vendors were registered. These markets provided jobs for as many as 500,000 people, and the money from originally illegal activities was funneled into legitimate business ventures.
Hooker Alley and the Great Condom Clog
Hooker Alley sat right between Tokyo's Imperial Palace and the Nomura Hotel, headquarters for Allied soldiers. Hundreds of Pan Pan girls worked this area, which was something like an outdoor sex club, with prostitutes performing various sexual acts in stairwells, cars, nearby huts, spaces between buildings, or in some cases right on the street. American soldiers threw so many condoms in the moat of the Imperial Palace after their visits to Hooker Alley that the moat clogged, and had to be cleaned out weekly with a giant scoop.