Duplicitous Killers Who Sought the Public's Help and Shed Crocodile Tears

Some vicious killers will go out of their way to prove just how "innocent" they are. They might hold press conferences, go on television, hand out leaflets, even hold hands with the victims' parents - anything to avoid a conviction. These lying killers represent a rare form of sociopath, they are truly some of the most morally bankrupt minds of modern time.

From crying fake tears to planting fake evidence,  these lying killers did everything to avoid being caught. Fear not, though. These are cases of real criminals exposed, and their horrible crimes brought to light. You can act, but you can't hide!

In 1996, Tracie Andrews brutally stabbed her boyfriend Lee Harvey more than 42 times with a pen knife following a heated argument in their car. She slashed his throat and left him to die in the countryside of Worcestershire, England. Andrews was eventually charged with the murder, but she did her best to deflect blame.

Andrews held a televised press conference in which she begged the public for information about the killer. She held Harvey's parents' hands and sat between them, sobbing as she gave a fake account of what transpired. She claimed the person who was actually responsible was a "fat man with staring eyes," who was fueled by road rage. She maintained this bogeyman had ruined her life, and sobbed on the witness stand, too, but was eventually handed down a 14 year sentence.

In Cheshire, England, Iftikar and Farzana Ahmed forced a plastic bag down the throat of their daughter Shafilea, choking her to death after she said she wanted be more Western, which they did not see fit. This was touted as an "honor killing." Shafilea's nearly-unrecognizable remains were found in a river bank, and it wasn't until seven years after the murder that Iftikar and Farzana were implicated in the crime.

Farzana wept as she was led to trial and Iftikar also sobbed in court, denying any responsibility and claiming he loved Shafilea "to bits." Farzana allegedly altered her evidence halfway through the trial, and now claimed she saw her husband beating their daughter, but didn't know what he had done. Farzana said she had been under Iftikar's control, that he had threatened to take her life, as well, should she speak to police. Shafilea’s sister refuted this, though, and insisted that her mother was active in the murder, that she encouraged him to continue once he had started.

In May 2012, Mick Philpott torched his family's home in Derby, England, killing six of his children. Philpott, who had a history of beating, controlling, and abusing women, intended to frame a former lover for the crime. But Philpott was a terrible actor. His tears in court did not convince the judge, who lambasted him for his outrageous "performance," saying it was designed to manipulate people's emotions.

Philpott had experience in front of the camera; his unconventional lifestyle, which included a live-in mistress and a total of 17 children, had been featured on British reality television programs. When he and his wife, Mairead, called a press conference immediately following the fire, Philpott did his best to play the role of the grieving father, but he fooled no one, least of all his ex-wife, who was familiar with his shtick. She told reporters that 'crocodile tears' should be "put in the dictionary with the definition of Mick Philpott.”

Mark Galante executed his pregnant wife Jody in front of their two-year-old child in early 2006. Jody had been missing for a week when her decomposed remains were discovered in the bushland of Sydney, Australia. She had been shot in the head, and the attention quickly turned to her husband, who adamantly denied any involvement.

Galante began publicly sobbing on television in January 11, 2006 when he begged viewers to turn in any relevant information, to help find his "angel." Jody's sister and mother stood by his side, as his eyes welled up with tears. Later, at her funeral, he went so far as to hold her parents' hands, breaking down in fake hysterics several times. The show didn't last long: Police discovered Galante was a heavy marijuana user and that he and his wife had begun arguing more frequently about it. People remembered their explosive fights and wondered whether he could've killed her. In 2008 Galante was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 27 years in jail.

Stuart Hazell smothered his 12-year-old step-granddaughter, Tia Sharp, in August 2012. He then photographed the school girl’s nude body, wrapped it in sheets, and hid it in the loft of his South London apartment, where it was finally located on the fourth police search of his premises. Hazell later claimed that Tia had gone shopping in Croydon, and forgot to bring her phone.

Immediately following Tia's disappearance, Hazell joined his local community in the search party and handed out leaflets, even going so far as to participate in the candlelight vigil. In news footage, Hazell bows his head and trails behind Tia's family mournfully. He possessed a knack for giving false accounts of himself and getting away with it, but when Tia's body was found, the charade was over.

In 2010, Kristi Abrahams severely battered her six-year-old daughter Kiesha in the family's Australian home, then put her to bed without seeking medical help, slowly killing her. Abrahams and her partner, Robert Smith, covered up the crime by placing Kiesha's corpse in a suitcase, burning it, and burying it in bushland. During the police investigation, Abrahams tearfully confessed to giving her child a little "nudge."

Abrahams originally placed a call to the police, and claimed her daughter was missing. Next, she and Smith set up a press conference and pleaded for information, insisting that Kiesha had been abducted. Abrahams, wearing black sunglasses, groaned and wept into a tissue explaining what a difficult time she was having. “I can’t describe how it’s been," she said during the candle-lit vigil. "You don’t know until you put yourself in my shoes." In the end, police figured out exactly where she stood. She was sentenced to 16 years in prison, and Smith to 12.

In August 2002, Justin Barber shot his wife in the face on a beach in Jacksonville, FL. It was their third wedding anniversary and the two had just finished eating at an Italian restaurant. Barber claimed that a tall man with a pistol and a baggy T-shirt attacked the couple and demanded their money and keys to their car. Attempting to protect his wife, Barber jumped in front of her and fought with the gunman, but the gun went off, and he was shot in the shoulders, hand, and nipple. He miraculously survived.

Hundreds of people gathered at April's funeral, and many noticed that Barber was not actually crying, rather, he was acting as if he were crying. At the trial, prosecutors played a videotaped deposition Barber gave in 2003, in which he exudes an eerie calm and awkwardly dabs his eyes to appear more emotional. Barber saved his tears for an interview which aired on a particularly memorable episode of Forensic Files, in which he scrunches his face up and bawls unconvincingly.

Australian Matthew Wales killed his rich mother and step-father in May 2002, in what the Melbourne media dubbed the "Society Murders." Infuriated over his mother's wealth and his distance from it, Wales bludgeoned them both to death, then dumped their bodies in a shallow grave. Homicide detectives soon zeroed in on Wales, but not before he put on quite a show.

At the funeral for his parents, Wales wore all black and sobbed publicly. One relative consoled him outside the church. Cameras caught Wales wiping tears from his face, and because of his acting, as well as the family's incredible wealth and the novelty of matricide, the case was deemed “drama of the highest order." Matthew Wales was ultimately found guilty in 2003, and sentenced to a minimum of 24 years in prison.

John Sharpe, also known as the "Mornington Monster," killed his pregnant wife Anna and their 20-month-old daughter Gracie at their home in Melbourne, Australia in March of 2004. Sharpe shot a spear gun into their heads over and over until they were deceased. He later buried his wife in a shallow grave, exhumed her, dismembered her, and reburied her.

Sharpe cried profusely in television interviews, pleading with the public for information about his family. He read from a prepared statement and shook as he wiped away tears. He claimed that he loved his wife and child more than anyone else in the world, and denied harming them. As evidence piled up, though, Sharpe confessed to the murders and was sentenced to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment.