True Crime & Horror

On October 18th, 2011, 50 exotic animals were released from the Muskingum County Animal Farm, free to roam and wreak havoc on the town and its civilians. When deputies later arrived at the farm, they found the owner of these precious animals, Terry Thompson, dead. 49 animals were killed by police officers, and one was never found. 

Terry Thompson was a 62 year-old Vietnam war veteran and exotic animal collector who owned a 73 acre private exotic animal farm. Around 5PM on October 18th, floods of 911 calls came in from frightened citizens about sightings of dangerous animals around the town, and law enforcement urged everyone to stay indoors and not leave their homes until they were positive that all animals were removed from the town. However, no one thought that this would turn into such a deadly massacre.

Deputies killed 18 Bengal tigers, 17 lions, 6 black bears, 3 cougars, 2 grizzly bears, 2 wolves, and 1 baboon. Thankfully, no humans were harmed during this event. However, the gravity of the situation didn’t hit until the next morning when the first responders laid out the bodies of all the deceased animals next to each other as they awaited to be loaded into a bucket loader to be transported to Terry’s farm to be buried. One monkey was never found, and is suspected to have been eaten by one of the other animals. It’s also under assumption that this monkey was carrying the Herpes B Virus, which makes his disappearance concerning. 

“It was the worst thing I’ve ever seen in my life, animals or humans. Period. The smells, the sights, everybody with tears in their eyes. I couldn’t sleep for two weeks. I couldn't stop thinking, ‘this could’ve been stopped’.”  - Tim Harrison, a retired police officer and director of the nonprofit Outreach for Animals. 

A lot of people wondered, why did the animals have to die? Why were they shot? Why couldn't they have been tranquilized and transported? The answer is sad but simple, as Dan Beetem, director of animal management at The Wilds, the zoo’s conservation park explains: 

“Tranquilizers weren’t an option because unlike in movies, they don’t take effect immediately, must be tailored to an animal's size, and aren’t guaranteed to work.” 

When authorities showed up to Terry’s farm, they found him with a gunshot wound to the head. There’s two theories to this story. Theory one is that Terry let his animals loose before committing suicide due to being in debt and his recent separation from his wife. Theory two is that his farm was invaded, he was murdered, and the killers thought they’d play a sick joke by breaking the locks on the animals cages and releasing them onto the town. I personally lean more towards the second theory, due to 6 animals still being found alive and caged inside his home. They found 3 leopards, a small grizzly bear, and 2 monkeys. If he wanted to release the animals, why would he leave these 6 other animals alone and unable to escape before committing suicide? The animals found in his home were tranquilized and taken to the Columbus Zoo. 

Terry was also reported several times for unsafe living situations for his animals. People also claimed that he didn’t provide sufficient food and water to his animals, and they would often escape his yard due to being poorly fenced, and caused damage to his neighbors property. He was also cited in the past for animal abuse and neglect. Basically, this whole situation could’ve been prevented with proper action being taken, and with better laws towards owning exotic animals. 

In 2011 it wasn’t illegal to own exotic animals in Ohio, but due to this tragedy, laws in Ohio regarding ownership of exotic animals changed in January of 2014. The state now prohibits dozens of species from private ownerships, which are also listed in the link provided: https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-935.01

In 1962, a Hungarian doctor who was infested with rage, jealousy, and insecurities, committed one of the cruelest crimes you could imagine against his own wife.

Geza de Kaplany was a Hungarian born doctor who emigrated to the United States in the early 1950s. He was raised in a very wealthy family, and had a father who was physically abusive. So abusive that Geza lost sight in one of his eyes during a beating. Geza ended up attending University of Szeged to study medicine, and graduated with honors in 1951. He originally practiced in Budapest as a cardiologist, but had problems with officials in the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, and fled Hungary. He then visited England and Denmark and wrote a book called “Doctor In Revolt,” about his experiences in Hungary as a freedom fighter. He then decided to settle in Boston to continue his practice, but found out that his degree wasn’t recognized. He ended up retraining as an anesthesiologist and interned at a hospital in Milwaukee from August 1957 to August 1958. Afterwards he attended Harvard and taught anesthesiology at Yale. Then he decided to move to San Jose, California, and worked at San Jose Hospital. 

In June of 196, he met his wife, Hanja Piller, who was also from Hungary. She was 25 and a former model, a beauty queen, and a showgirl at Bimbo’s 365 Club. They had a very spicy relationship and ended up marrying in August. However, just a few weeks after their wedding, Geza was informed by a friend that his new wife has been having an affair. 

He came up with a plan to destroy her beauty and on the evening of August 28th, 1962, he carried out his plan. He tied her up to their bed and put on loud music to muffle her screams, and started to disfigure her face and body with a scalpel. He then poured a mixture of hydrochloric, sulfuric and nitric acid into the cuts, causing her to suffer third degree corrosive burns over most of the front of her body. After three hours, the police were called. Some sources say he called the police himself, while other sources claim the neighbors called the police due to the noise. When the police arrived, he explained to them that his plan was not to kill her, but to simply destroy her beauty. Sadly, Hanja spent 33 days in the hospital before she died of her injuries. Her body was so badly burned, that when paramedics tried to handle her body, they burned their hands. 

His trial took place on January 9th, 1963, and was originally charged with attempted murder, but was later changed to murder by torture after his wife died. He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, and his lawyer claimed that he had multiple personality disorder and stated that this crime wasn’t committed by him, but instead it was his alter ego, “Pierre de la Roche.” The prosecutors brought a witness to the stand, an old lover of Geza’s who said otherwise. He was declared legally sane, but medically insane. He was sentenced to life in prison, and the jury assumed that he would be considered a special interest prisoner, and wouldn’t be allowed out. Unfortunately, they were wrong. 

In 1975, he was paroled in a controversial decision marked by accusations that postmortem photographs of his victim were removed from his file by the chairman of the California state parole authority for men, prior to review of his case by the parole board. Therefore, the ability to be paroled while under the sentence of life imprisonment was removed. The parole board allowed him to travel to Taiwan in November of 1975, to work as a medical missionary doctor serving poor patients in a Catholic hospital in Lutsao. He left the United States before his prosecutors and the general public knew he had been paroled. Negative public reaction followed. Geza worked at the Lutsao clinic for the next four years, and eventually remarried. He became tired of the constant parole checks, and left Taiwan in late 1979 and went off the grid. When California corrections officials discovered he was missing, a warrant was issued for his arrest. However, a 2002 investigation indicated that California officials were made aware of his whereabouts several times over the next few years, and once even contacted him to warn him, as required by law, about an anonymous threat on his life, yet failed to take the steps to extradite him. 

The Setagaya family murders refers to the murder of four members of the Miyazawa family during a home invasion. They resided in Kamisoshigaya neighborhood of Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan. What makes this case particularly strange, is that the assailant(s) stayed in the home, using their resources for several hours before departing the home. The investigation into the murders is among the largest in Japanese history, involving over 246,044 investigators who have collected over 12,545 pieces of evidence.

The members of the Miyazawa family were Mikio (44), Yasuko (41), and their two children Niina (8), and Rei (6). Around 10:40 AM on December 31st, 2000, the bodies were found by Yasuko’s mother, Haruko. Haruko became suspicious after being unable to call her daughter (the killer had unplugged the phone line) and went to the house but received no answer after ringing the doorbell. Mikio, Yasuko, and Niina were all stabbed to death, and Rei was strangled. During the investigation, police came to the conclusion that the family had been killed on December 30th-31st between the hours of 11:30PM-12:05AM JST, and the killer(s) stayed in the house for several hours. 

The killer entered the home through an open window of the second floor bathroom at the back end of the house, located next to Soshigaya Park, and gained access to the window by climbing up a tree and then removing the window screen. The killer used his bare hands to strangle Rei, who was sleeping in his room on the second floor. Mikio rushed up the first floor stairs after he heard noises coming from Rei's room, fighting and injuring the killer until being stabbed in the head with a sashimi bōchō knife. A police report claimed that part of the sashimi knife's blade broke off inside Mikio's head, and the killer then attacked Yasuko and Niina with the broken knife until using a Santoku knife from the house to murder them.

The killer stayed inside the house between two to ten hours, using the family computer, consuming four bottles of barley tea, melon, and four ice creams from their refrigerator. The killer also used their toilet and left their feces in it without flushing, and treated his injuries using first aid kits. He then took a nap on a sofa in the second floor living room. Drawers and papers were ransacked (with some being dumped in the bath and toilet) and some money was taken as well. Interestingly, the killer also left ten items behind on the sofa, (a knife, scarf, hip bag, sweater, jacket, hat, gloves, shoes, and two handkerchiefs). An analysis of Mikio’s computer showed that it connected to the internet the morning after the murders at 1:18AM and again at around 10AM, around the time Yasuko's mother Haruko entered the house. Investigators believe the killer had stayed in the house until at least 1:18AM, but the computer usage at 10AM could have been triggered by Haruko accidentally moving the mouse. 

Investigators have been able to discover several clues to the killer's identity, but haven’t been able to apprehend a suspect.  It was determined that the killer had eaten string beans and sesame seeds the previous day after analyzing the feces left behind in the toilet. They determined that the clothes and sashimi knife left behind by the killer had been purchased in Kanagawa Prefecture. Investigators also discovered that only 130 units of the killer's sweater were made and sold, but they have only been able to track down twelve of the people who bought the sweaters. Trace amounts of sand were also found inside the hip bag that the perpetrator left at the scene, which after analysis was determined to come from the Nevada desert, more specifically the area of Edwards Air Force Base in California, and a skate park in Japan. 

The Hi-Fi murders regards the brutal torture of five people, resulting in three fatalities during a robbery in a Hi-Fi shop in Ogden, Utah. Six men participated in this crime, but only three were ever caught and convicted. 

On the night of April 22nd, 1974, Dale Pierre, William Andrews, Keith Roberts, and three other men entered the Hi-Fi shop shortly before closing time and instantly began taking hostages into the basement. The five victims were the following:

Sherry Michelle Ansley: She was 18 and worked at the shop. She was only working there for a week before the murders occurred, and was engaged and had plans to get married on August 5th, 1974. She was raped and shot dead by Pierre. 

Byron Cortney Naisbitt: He was 16 and attended Ogden High School. He thankfully survived his injuries, but due to the severity of his head wound, he had amnesia and couldn’t testify at the trial. Over a year after the attack he was able to go back to school and graduated with his class in 1976. Due to brain damage he had to drop out of college and was unable to hold down a steady job, thus causing him to rely on social security money. He suffered with chronic pain for the rest of his life and got married in 1985, and passed away at age 44 in 2002.

Carol Elaine Naisbitt: She was 52 and was the mother of Byron. She died at the hospital after being shot by Pierre. 

Stanley Orren Walker: He was 20 and worked at the Hi-Fi shop. He was shot dead by Pierre.

Orren William Walker: He was 43 and the father of Stanley. He thankfully survived the attack and was able to testify at the trial. He passed away at 69 in 2000.

How It Happened

After forcing everyone into the basement, Pierre told Andrews to get something out of their van. He came back with a bottle in a brown paper bag, and Pierre poured a cup of drano (drain cleaner) into a cup. He told Orren to give it to the other hostages, but after refusing to do it, they bound and gagged him and laid him face down on the floor. Pierre and Andrews forced the victims to drink the drain cleaner after telling them it was just vodka mixed with sleeping pills. The drain cleaner caused blisters on their lips, burned their tongues and throats, and caused the inside of their mouths to start peeling. They tried duct taping their mouths to muffle their screams, but failed due to the oozing from their wounds making it impossible for the tape to stick. Orren was given the drain cleaner last, but after seeing the effects it had on the others, he let it drip out of his mouth and faked the screams and convulsions the others were doing. 

Pierre started to become angry due to the deaths taking too long, so he shot Carol and Byron in the back of their heads. Killing Carola but leaving Byron still alive. He then shot at Orren but missed, then fatally shot Stanley before shooting at Orren again, but this time the bullet grazed the back of his head. After this Pierre took Sherry to the far corner of the basement and ordered Andrews to leave for 30 minutes. At gunpoint he forced her to remove all of her clothes and raped her multiple times. He then allowed her to use the bathroom as he watched her, then dragged her back to the others and threw her face down onto the ground before fatally shooting her in the back of the head. According to Pierre, her last words were, “I am too young to die.”

Before leaving, Pierre and Andrews noticed that Orren was still alive. In an attempt to kill him they mounted him and wrapped a wire around his throat to try and strangle him. When they failed, they inserted a pen into his ear and kicked it so hard that it popped his eardrum and came out of his throat. Then they went upstairs, loaded equipment into their van, and fled the scene. 

The Investigation

The bodies were discovered three hours later when Orrens wife and other son came to the shop to look for them. They heard noises coming from the basement, broke down the backdoor, and called the police. Sherry and Stanley were dead at the scene, and Carol was taken to the hospital but was pronounced dead upon arrival. Bryon was hospitalized for 266 days before being released, and Orren had extensive burns to his mouth and chin, and damage to his eardrum from the pen. Orren was able to give a description of the two main robbers. A few hours after news of the crime broke, an anonymous Air Force employee called the Ogden police and told them that Andrews told him months earlier, "one of these days I'm going to rob that Hi-Fi shop, and if anybody gets in the way, I'm going to kill them." Hours after that, two teenage boys were dumpster diving at the Hill Air Force Base near the area that Pierre and Andrews resided in, and contacted the police after finding the victims wallets and purses, and recognizing their pictures from the driver's licenses. 

Detective Deloy White believed the killers might be in the crowd, so he came up with a plan to put on a show for the gathered airmen. As he spoke dramatically and waved each piece of evidence in the air with tongs as he removed it from the dumpster, he noticed that most of the service personnel who gathered around the dumpster stood still and watched in silence, with the exception of two men, later identified as Pierre and Andrews. The two of them paced around the crowd, speaking loudly and making frantic gestures with their hands. Due to their reactions, they were taken in for questioning, and a search warrant was issued to search their barracks. Police found fliers for the Hi-Fi Shop and a rental contract for a unit at a public storage facility. Following the issuance of another search warrant, stereo equipment taken from the Hi-Fi Shop  was recovered from the storage unit. They also found the half-empty bottle of Drano. A few weeks later, a third airman, Keith Roberts, was taken into custody after he was identified through questioning on the base as a participant in the robbery. 

Trial and Sentencing

Pierre, Andrews, and Roberts were all charged with first degree murder and aggravated robbery, and they had a joint trial. It became evident that Pierre and Andrews robbed the shop with the intent to kill anyone who was there, and they planned out the perfect way to do it for months. 

Pierre, who was 21 at the time of the crime, was convicted of three counts of first degree murder and two counts of aggravated robbery, and was given three death sentences, one for each victim that he killed. While he was in prison he changed his name 27 times in order to protect his family. He was also insisting that he was a changed man and even started reading the bible. During his clemency hearing he stated that he had a strict upbringing and that he was no longer the man he was when he committed those acts of violence. Ultimately, he was denied clemency and was executed by lethal injection in 1987 at the age of 34. 

Andrews was 19 at the time of the crime, and was convicted of three counts of first degree murder and two counts of aggravated robbery. He was given three death sentences, which was a widely controversial conviction considering that he didn’t directly kill anyone, but did admit that he forced the drain cleaner down their throats. He was executed by lethal injection in 1992 at the age of 37.

Roberts was also 19 at the time of the crime, and was acquitted of murder after it was clear that he had no part in the murders or any knowledge of the murders prior to the robbery. He was, however, convicted on two counts of aggravated robbery and was sentenced to 5 years to life. He was paroled in May of 1987, after 13 years in prison, and ended up committing suicide in August of 1992, just under a week after Andrews execution. 

A counselor at Camp Scott’s belongings had been trashed and her doughnuts had been stolen. Inside the empty box was a handwritten note, stating, "We are on a mission to kill three girls in tent one." Due to the counselor thinking this note was just a hoax considering the fact that everyone loved telling spooky stories on those campgrounds, she didn’t tell anyone about it and just tossed it away. Less than two months later, three young girl scouts would be found murdered.

**TRIGGER WARNING** This article contains violence against children and sexual assault.

The Girl Scout murders took place on June 13th, 1977, at Camp Scott, in Mayes County, Oklahoma. The victims were Denise Milner (10), Michele Heather Guse (9), and Lori Lee Farmer (8). They were sharing tent #8 together, which was the furthest away from the camp counselors tent, and partially hidden by the camp's showers. Around 6am the counselor was on her way to the shower when she noticed a girl's body inside her sleeping bag, and it was discovered that all three girls from tent #8 were missing, and then found murdered. Two bodies were inside sleeping bags, crumpled towards the bottom of the bag, and one body was found outside of her sleeping bag. The bodies were left on a trail that was leading towards the showers, around 150 yards away from their tent. Their autopsies showed that they had been bludgeoned and strangled, and all three girls were raped. A large red flashlight was found on top of one of the girls bodies, and there was a smudge on the lens, but they couldn’t make a positive identification with it as it was too smudged to read. There was also a 9.5 size foot print found in the blood in their tent, and a landowner reported hearing a bit of traffic on a remote road near the camp between 2:30 and 3:00 AM that morning. The camp was evacuated and eventually shut down completely. 

The case was classified as solved when Gene Leroy Hart, a local jail escapee with a history of violence and rape, was arrested. However, Hart was acquitted in March of 1979 after a jury unanimously returned a verdict of not guilty. Hart had previously been convicted of abducting and raping two pregnant women, along with four counts of first degree burglary. He was also raised one mile away from Camp Scott, and was a member of the Cherokee Nation. At the time of his trial regarding the girl scout murders, even though he was acquitted, he still had 305 years of his 308 year sentence to carry out from his previous crimes. He ended up dying of a heart attack at the age of 35 on June 4th, 1979, just two years after the murders. 

DNA testing performed in 1989 was officially inconclusive, as it did reconfirm Hart as a suspect, but it didn’t narrow the pool of possible suspects enough, showing that it applied to 1 in 7,700 Native Americans. DNA testing performed in 2017, with more advanced technology, strongly suggests Hart’s involvement in the crime. Even though law enforcement and many others believe that Hart was the culprit in this crime, this case remains officially unsolved. 

Junko Furuta was a 17 year old high school Japanese student who was abducted, sexually assaulted, tortured, and murdered, by four high school boys. She was a beautiful, friendly, and popular girl who took her studies seriously. Sadly her life was taken because one particular boy's romantic advances were declined by Junko, and he wasn’t going to let that slide. 

**TRIGGER WARNING** This article contains graphic violence, bodily harm, and sexual assault. 

Junko was born in Misato, Saitama Prefecture and lived with her parents, older brother, and younger brother. She attended Yashio-Minami high school and worked part time jobs after school hours to save up money for a graduation trip, and had big dreams of becoming a singer. 

Her abductors were four boys who attended the same high school. Jo Ogura (age 17), Shinji Minato (age 16), Yasushi Watanabe (age 17), and the ringleader of the group, Miyano Hiroshi (age 18). Miyano had a history of problematic behavior since he was a young child, such as shoplifting and damaging school property, and continued committing crimes through the following years. At the time of Junko’s murder, Miyato was living with his girlfriend, who was the older sister of Yasushi Watanabe. However, Miyano ended up joining a gang and started committing sex crimes, which caused his girlfriend to end their relationship. During the torture and murder of Junko, they used the second floor of Minato’s house, where they frequently used as a hangout. Miyano also had connections to the Japanese mafia, which is called the Yakuza, and Minato had also previously participated in crimes for the Yakuza such a purse snatching, extortion, and rape. It’s possible that Junko wasn’t aware of their ties to the Yakuza or of their previous crimes. Additionally, a lot of English articles state that Miyano was the one who asked Junko to date him, while Japanese articles state that it was actually Minato who asked. So it’s unclear who it actually was. 

THE KIDNAPPING

On November 25th, 1988, Miyano and Minato were walking around town when they noticed Junko on her bike around 8:30PM. Miyano ordered Minato to run over to her and push her off her bike then flee the scene, and under the pretense of having witnessed this happen, Miyano walked over to her, helped her up, and offered to walk her home safely. On their way there, he gained her trust, which allowed him to trick her into going into a warehouse where he threatened to kill her. In this warehouse he raped her, and then raped her again at a hotel nearby. From that hotel, Miyano called Minato and the other two perpetrators and bragged about what he had just done to Junko. Ogura asked Miyana to keep her in captivity to allow them and others to sexually assault her as well, as this group had a history of gang rape and had previously kidnapped and assaulted another girl, but ended up releasing her afterwards. That girl never reported it as she knew about their ties to the Yakuza and was terrified of what could happen to her and her family if she told.

Around 3:00AM, Miyano took Junko to a nearby park where the other three boys were waiting. They learned her home address in one of her notebooks and told her that they were part of the Yakuza, and that if she tried to escape, they'd kill her whole family. The boys overpowered her and took her back to Minato’s home where he lived with his parents. On November 27th, Junko’s parents reported her missing, and to hinder the investigation, Miyano forced her to call her parents three times to convince them that she had run away and was perfectly safe and staying with friends. Originally whenever Minato’s parents were around, they forced Junko to act like he was Minato’s girlfriend. However, they soon stopped the act when they realized his parents wouldn’t contact the police. Minato’s mother later confessed that they didn’t want to contact the police because their son had previously been violent towards them and they were afraid of his connections to the Yakuza. 

THE TORTURE AND MURDER

The group held Junko prisoner for 40 days, where they repeatedly beat, raped, and tortured her. They would even invite other men and boys to the home to participate in her assault. On the night of November 28th, they invited two other boys, Tetsuo Nakumara and Koichi Ihara to the home. They went upstairs where Junko was sitting and the group drank cough medicine, pretending it was drugs, and acted high. Junko was screaming in fear and tried to run away, but was ultimately stopped. Hearing the commotion, Minato’s mother went to check on the boys, and they told her they were just messing around and everything was fine. After she left, the boys began to gangrape Junko, as she was in a state of unconsciousness, just staring at the ceiling without blinking. 

Over the next 40 days, Junko was subjected to being raped on a daily basis. One time she was even raped by 12 different in the same day, and was raped by around 100 different men, around 400 different times. 

The original four boys shaved her pubic hair, forced her to dance naked and masturbate while they listened to music, and when she was beaten so badly to the point where she couldn’t even walk, they forced her to sleep outside on the balcony during the cold winter with very little clothing, and also forced her to sleep in the freezer. Objects were also inserted into her vagina and anus, including a metal rod, a bottle, and a lit match. They also force-fed her large amounts of water, milk, and alcohol. There came a point where she was so injured and so sick, that she couldn’t even keep water down. She would instantly throw it up. She was also forced to inhale paint thinner and smoke multiple cigarettes at once, and was repeatedly burned on her legs and arms with lighter fluid. By the time the end of December came, Junko was extremely malnourished as she was only fed very little food, and eventually nothing but milk. She had extreme injuries and horrible infections and could no longer even walk up and down the stairs to use the bathroom, and became solely confined to the bedroom, where she lost full control of her bladder and bowels. Her face was so beaten that her nasal cavity was full of blood, and her brain had even shrunk from the damage. 

At one point she had managed to sneak a phone call to the police, but was caught before she could say anything. As a punishment, she was again, severely beaten. She would even beg them to just kill her, but they always refused. Towards the end of her life, she was so beaten and sick that she lost all her beauty, and her body even started giving off a rotting smell, which eventually made the boys lose interest in her. This caused them to go out and gangrape another 19 year old woman, but was released afterwards. 

On January 4th, 1989, Miyano lost a game of Mahjong and decided to take his anger out on Junko by pouring lighter fluid on her body and lighting her on fire. Junko allegedly tried putting out the fire, but ultimately became unresponsive. They continued to beat her, lighted a candle and dripped hot wax onto her face, placed two small candles on her eyelids, and forced her to drink her own urine. After she was kicked, she fell onto a stereo unit and began having convulsions. Considering the fact that she was bleeding heavily, and pus was squirting out of her infected burns, they covered their hands in plastic bags and continued to beat her, along with dropping an iron exercise ball onto her stomach multiple times. The attack lasted roughly two hours before she eventually passed away. 

Being afraid of being charged for murder, the boys wrapped her body in blankets and shoved her body into a travel bag. Then, they placed her body in a 55-US-Gallon (210 liter) drum and filled it with cement. Around 8:00PM, they loaded it and disposed of it in a cement truck in Koto, Tokyo. During her captivity, Junko had mentioned that she had regretted not watching the last episode of Tonbo (Dragonfly), so Minyano found the video tape of the last episode and placed it in the travel bag. He claimed that he didn’t do this because he pitied Junko, but because he didn’t want her to return as a ghost and haunt him. 

INVESTIGATION AND CONVICTION

On January 23rd, 1989, Miyano and Ogura were arrested for the gangrape of a 19 year old girl who they had kidnapped in December. On March 29th, two police officers came to question them, as womens underwear had been found at their addresses. During the questioning, Miyano believed that one of the officers was aware of the murder of Junko and his involvement in it. He assumed that Ogura confessed to the crimes to the police, so Miyano told the police where they could find her body. The officers were puzzled by this confession, as they weren’t talking about Junko. They were talking about the murders of a different woman and her seven year old son that took place several days before Junko’s abduction. (That case remains unsolved). 

The police found the drum that contained Junko’s body and were able to identify her by her fingerprints. On April 1st, 1989, Ogura was arrested for another sexual assault, and was subsequently arrested for Junko’s murder. The arrest of Minato and Watanabe, along with Minato’s brother all followed. Several other people who had participated in the abuse and rape were also identified, including Tetsuo Nakamura and Koichi Ihara, who were all charged with rape after their DNA was found on and inside of Junko. 

All four defendants plead guilty to “committing bodily injury that resulted in death,” rather than murder. Miyano was sentenced to 20 years in prison, Minato to 5 to 9 years, Watanabe to 5 to 7 years, and Ogura to 8 years in juvenile detention. 

In the years between 1971 and 1983, a man known as the Butcher Baker used the wilderness in Alaska to hunt down his victims as a sick and twisted game of cat and mouse. Before he’d set them free in the wild, he would take them back to his home, hang them up, and rape them. He’s killed at least 17 women, but it’s suspected that he’s killed as many as 37. There's a movie based on this case called, "The Frozen Grounds."

Who Was Robert Hansen?

Hansen was born on February 15th, 1939, in Estherville, Iowa. He was the oldest of three children to Edna Margret Hansen Peterson, and Christian Hansen. His father owned a bakery, which Hansen would later work at. He and his family moved to Richmond, California, in 1942, but moved back to Iowa in 1949, and settled in Pocahontas. When he was a child, he was extremely shy, which caused a bad stutter, and also had bad acne which left scarring on his face. He was also described to be quite quiet and a loner, and struggled to form a healthy relationship with his father. To deal with his stress and toxic household, he started to become passionate with hunting and archery, which would later aid in his ability to hunt down his victims. He also served one year in the United States Army Reserve in 1957 before being discharged. He later worked as an assistant drill instructor at a police academy in Pocahontas, Iowa, where he met his wife, whom he married in the summer of 1960. The two later got divorced, and he married his second wife in 1963, and had two children together. 

Early Crime Spree

Hasen started his life of crime in late 1960. On December 7th, he was arrested for burning down a Pocahontas County Board of Education school bus garage, as revenge due to not being popular in high school, and consistently being bullied. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison, but only served 20 months. While he was in prison, a psychiatrist diagnosed him with manic depression, with periodic schizophrenic episodes. That psychiatrist stated that Hansen had an infantile personality and was obsessed with seeking revenge on the people who thought wronged him in some way. While he was serving his time in prison, his first wife filed for divorce. Over the next several years, he was jailed for multiple petty thefts, and moved to Anchorage, Alaska, with his second wife. 

He was arrested twice in December of 1971, once for abducting and attempting to rape an unidentified woman, and the second time for raping an unidentified sex worker.  He pleaded no contest to assault with a deadly weapon in the offense involving the first woman, and the rape charge involving the prostitute was dropped as part of a plea bargain. Hansen was sentenced to five years in prison; after serving six months of his sentence, he was placed on a work release program and released to a halfway house. In 1976, Hansen pleaded guilty to larceny after he was caught stealing a chainsaw from an Anchorage Fred Meyer store. He was sentenced to five years in prison and required to receive psychiatric treatment for his bipolar disorder. His sentence ended up being reduced, and he was released with time served.

The Murders

It’s assumed that Hansen began his killing spree around 1972. He would pick up sex workers in his car and force them at gunpoint to his home. There, he would restrain, torture, and sexually assault them. Afterwards, he would take them to a secluded area in the wilderness and let them go before hunting them down and killing them. He would give them a head start since he knew that wilderness very well, and knew there was no way that they could escape. 

On June 13th, 1983, Hansen came across a 17 year old woman named Cindy Paulson, and offered her $200 to perform oral sex on him in his car. Once she was inside, he pulled out his gun and drove her to his home in Muldoon. He held her captive and began to rape and torture her. He had her chained up by her neck on a pole in his basement, and decided to take a nap. When he woke up, he unchained her, put her back into his car, and drove to the Merrill Field Airport, and told her he was going to take her back to his cabin in the Knit River area of the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, which you could only go to by bush plane or boat. Cindy was crouched in the backseat of his car with her wrists cuffed in front of her body when she saw a chance to escape. While Hansen’s back was turned, Cindy crawled out of the back seat, opened the driver's side door and ran toward nearby Sixth Avenue, where she was able to flag someone down for help. 

Cindy told police that she left her blue sneakers on the passenger side floor of the sedan's backseat as evidence that she was inside of his car. She explained that Hansen panicked and started to chase her, but gave up when he saw her flag down a truck and get inside. He drove her to the Mush Inn, where she jumped out of the truck and ran inside. Cindy described her attacker to the police and they were able to track him down, however, he denied the accusation, and claimed that she was just trying to cause trouble for him because he wouldn’t pay her extortion demands. Even though Hansen had several prior run-ins with the law, his demeanor and humble occupation as a baker, along with an alibi from his friend John Henning, kept him from being considered as a serious suspect.

After bodies started being discovered in that area, it was suspected that they were dealing with one killer. Special Agent John Douglas was requested help with an offender profile based on the three recovered bodies. Douglas thought the killer would be an experienced hunter with low self-esteem, have a history of being rejected by women, and would feel compelled to keep "souvenirs" of his murders, such as a victim's jewelry. He also suggested that the killer might stutter. Using this profile, Flothe investigated possible suspects until he reached Hansen, who fit the profile and even owned a plane, which would give him access to getting to the area. 

Due to the profile and Cindy’s testimony, a warrant to search Hansen's plane, vehicles, and home was granted. On October 27th, 1983 investigators uncovered jewelry belonging to some of the missing women as well as several firearms in Hansen's attic. They also discovered an aeronautical chart with 37 little "x" marks on it, hidden behind his headboard. Many of these marks matched sites where bodies had been found previously (others were discovered later at the locations marked on Hansen's murder map).

When confronted with the evidence found in his home, Hansen initially denied all of it, but he eventually started to blame the women and tried to justify his actions. He eventually confessed to each item of evidence, and he admitted to a spree of attacks against Alaskan women starting in 1971. Hansen's earliest victims were girls or young women, usually between ages 16 and 19 and not prostitutes, unlike the victims who led to his discovery.

The Victims

Celia Beth Van Zanten (18): December 22nd, 1971. Her chest had been sliced with a knife, and she was bound and raped. She was dumped, while still alive, into a deep ravine before passing away from exposure. According to forensic evidence, she attempted to climb back up the slope but was unable to do so due to her bindings. Hansen was accused of killing her because of an "x" on his aircraft map, but denied responsibility for both her death and other women's homicides who were not involved in the prostitution.

Megan Siobhan Emerick (17): July 7th, 1973. She was last spotted leaving a dorm laundry room while attending the boarding school Seward Skill Center. She has not been seen or heard from since. Megan left behind all of her personal items, including her identification. Before contacting the police, her roommate conducted a three-day search for her. Hansen denied killing her to authorities, but he did admit he was in Seward on the day Megan vanished. Due to an "x" on his aircraft map in the Seward region, it’s assumed that he’s responsible. Apparently, Hansen admitted to a former inmate that he transported Megan to a cabin in the Seward region that was only reachable by boat, where he killed and buried her.

Mary Kathleen Thill (22): July 5th, 1975. She disappeared from Seward, Alaska. Her husband was away working on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline and she lived on Lower Point Road. She was driven into town by a friend, who then dropped her off at a local bakery. Between 1:30 and 2:00 pm, a different acquaintance saw her by a waterfall on Lowell Point Road. She has not been seen or heard from since. Hansen acknowledged being in Seward on the day Thill vanished but denied killing her. An "x" on his aviation chart in the vicinity of Resurrection Bay raised suspicions about him. According to a former prisoner, Hansen admitted to killing her and discarding her body in Resurrection Bay.

Eklutna Annie: July 21st, 1980. Her remains were discovered buried next to a power line in a wooded area, one mile south of South Eklutna Lake Road in Eklutna, Anchorage, Alaska. Hansen admitted to stabbing her in the back after she made an effort to flee from his car. She was either a topless dancer or a sex worker. Hansen also claimed that she was his first murder victim. Despite his claim that Eklutna Annie might have come from Kodiak, Alaska, troopers think she might have arrived in Alaska via California. Her body had already been largely consumed by wildlife when it was found in a shallow grave near Eklutna Lake Road.

Joanne Messina (24): She was a local topless dancer who went out to dinner with Hansen on May 19th, 1980, while she was working in Seward, Alaska. Before she offered him sex in exchange for cash, Hansen claimed that everything was going smoothly. Hansen refused to pay and refused to release her, so he drove her and her dog to a distant place by the Snow River. He hit her with a .22 caliber revolver, and then shot her twice, and her dog once. He brought Messina's body to a gravel pit nearby and dumped gravel over her body. The dog and Messina's belongings were thrown into the woods, and the gun was thrown into the Snow River. On July 8th, 1980, her severely decomposed body was found after it had been destroyed by wildlife.

 Roxanne Easland (24): She had been residing at the Budget Motel on Spenard Road in Anchorage, Alaska, with her boyfriend for the previous two weeks. On that day, she was scheduled to meet an unnamed man downtown on 4th Avenue. She has not been seen or heard from since. Although Hansen admitted to killing her, her body was never discovered.[32]

Lisa Futrell (41): She met Hansen at the nightclub she worked at in Anchorage, on September 6th, 1980. When she failed to return home, her two younger roommates reported her missing. Her body was discovered on May 9th, 1984, buried next to a gravel pit south of the former Knik Arm Bridge.

Sherry Morrow (23): She was a topless dancer who was supposed to receive $300 for nude pictures, and told friends she was seeing a photographer on November 17th, 1981. She was never seen again. A shallow grave was discovered by hunters on the banks of the Knik River, which borders Anchorage, on September 12th, 1982. Morrow, who was reported missing a year earlier, was identified from the remains. She had three gunshot wounds to the back, and cartridges discovered close to the body revealed that a .223 Ruger Mini-14 hunting rifle had been used to deliver the shots. An odd feature was that although the body was found fully clothed, there were no bullet holes in the clothing, suggesting that Sherry had been naked when shot, and had been redressed after death.

Andrea Mona "Fish" Altiery (24): She was last seen boarding a taxi to go to the Boniface Mall in Anchorage, Alaska, at 11:00PM on December 2nd, 1981. She intended to meet an unnamed man for a photo shoot and to perform exotic dances for him, When authorities searched Hansen's house, several of Altiery's possessions, including her fish necklace, were discovered. Hansen claimed that after he met her, he threatened her with a gun and abducted her, blindfolded, and handcuffed her. Near the Knik Arm Bridge, they took a car to a service road off Palmer Highway. After they arrived, he took off her restraints and sexually assaulted her. He killed her with a .22 Browning automatic pistol after she retaliated. He then stole Altiery's necklace, weighted a duffel bag with gravel, tied it to her corpse, and threw her off the bridge into the Knik River. Her body was never found.

Sue Luna (23): She was an exotic dancer who voluntarily agreed to attend a $300 photo shoot offer with a nightclub patron. On May 26th, 1982, she met Hansen in a parking lot at a diner in Anchorage, Alaska. Hansen abducted, killed, and buried Luna in the Knik River. She was discovered on April 24th, 1984. 

Robin Pelkey (19): Her partial remains were found on April 25th, 1984, in Palmer, Alaska, close to Horseshoe Lake. It was determined that she was stabbed and shot to death. It’s unclear if she was involved in sexual activity, as Hansen went for women fitting that description. In October of 2021, forensic genealogy was used to determine her identity. She had the moniker "Horseshoe Harriet" before she was identified. In the early 1980s, Pelkey resided in Anchorage, Alaska, and went missing on July 19th, 1983. 

DeLynne "Sugar" Renee Frey (22): She was a former resident of Anchorage, Alaska, and was last seen sometime in March of 1983, but was not immediately reported missing. She was abducted by Hansen and was buried as "Jane Doe'' in an Anchorage cemetery after her body was discovered on a Knik River sandbar. It wasn’t until 1989 that she was identified when an Alaska State Trooper recognised her jewelry in a case file photo.

Paula Goulding (30): She was a dancer in Anchorage when, on April 25th, 1983, Hansen offered her money before kidnapping her. He drove her to his aircraft, shackled her, and demanded she exit the aircraft under threat of being shot. She fought with him and attempted to get away once they reached a remote spot. She fled, and he fired a .223 rifle at her, killing her. On September 2nd, 1983, she was discovered on the Knik River, buried in a shallow grave. She was shot in the back, but because her clothing was unharmed, it’s possible that she was shot while still naked and then clothed after her death.

Cindy Paulson (19): She met Hansen on June 13th, 1983, in Anchorage. After agreeing to pay for sex, Hansen pulled a .357 Magnum on her and kidnapped her. She was taken to his home, bound, tortured, and sexually assaulted before Hansen took her to Merrill Field, where his airplane was. Hansen left Cindy alone in his car while he began loading his plane, threatening to kill her if she ran away. She ran away anyway after he had his back turned, toward Fifth Avenue, and was picked up by a truck driver. Cindy was brought to a safe location and contacted the police. At about the same time, a security guard at the Merrill Field noticed some suspicious activity, and although he made no contact, he noted the license tag for Hansen's car.

Malai Larsen (28): She was a dancer who was reported missing on July 10th, 1981, from Anchorage, Alaska. On April 24th, 1984, her body was discovered in a parking lot close to the Knik Arm Bridge.

Teresa Watson (22): She was a dancer and was last seen in Anchorage on March 25th, 1983. She told her roommate that she would be meeting with a man who offered to give her $300 in exchange for an hour or two of company. At Scenic Lake, Hansen abducted and killed her. Hansen was unable to bury her since the earth in the region was still frozen. Instead, he abandoned her where he killed her. Her body was found on May 17th, 1984.

Angela Lynn Feddern (24): She was last seen on Fourth Avenue in Anchorage sometime in February of 1983, and wasn’t reported missing until May. The owner of a nightclub reported that Feddern, one of his dancers, had gone missing. Hansen had kidnapped and killed her. Her body was found on April 26th, 1984, at a small lake near the larger Figure Eight Lake.

Tamera “Tami” Pederson (20): She was a dancer at a nightclub in Anchorage. Her family last heard from her during a phone call on August 7th, 1982, where she claimed to have been offered money to pose for photographs. She was kidnapped and murdered by Hansen. Her body wasn’t found until after Hansen confessed and pointed to her body's location on a map. She was found 1.5 miles from the Old Knik Bridge on April 29th, 1984.

In The End…

Hansen pleaded guilty to the four homicides that the police had evidence for, (Morrow, Messina, Goulding, and Eklutna Annie), and provided details about his other victims in return for serving his sentence in a federal prison, along with no publicity in the press. Another condition of the plea bargain was his participation in deciphering the markings on his aviation map and locating his victims bodies. Hansen confirmed the police theory of how the women were abducted, adding that he would sometimes let a potential victim go if she convinced him that she would not report him to police. He indicated that he began killing in the early 1970s. 

Hansen showed investigators 17 grave sites in and around Southcentral Alaska, 12 of which were unknown to investigators. There remained marks on his map that he refused to give up, including three in Resurrection Bay, near Seward. Authorities suspect two of these marks belong to the graves of Mary Thill and Megan Emrick, whom Hansen has denied killing. The remains of 12 of a probable 21 to 37 victims were exhumed by the police and returned to their families.

In 2013, Abby Hernandez was kidnapped at 14, after accepting a ride home from school due to her aching feet from wearing a new pair of boots. For 9 months, she was held captive inside a shed, being abused and sexually assaulted, but she never lost hope to escape. Very similar to the abduction of Lisa McVey, Abby was also released by her kidnapper, but not due to sympathy and manipulation, but due to other crimes he was about to get busted for, and maybe a bit of a moral compass. I also recommend watching the movie based on this case called, “Girl in The Shed," which Abby herself helped produce.

Abby attended Kennett High School, located in North Conway, New Hampshire. She walked to and from school every day, but October 9th, 2013, was different. Abby had been wearing a new pair of boots that were really hurting her feet, and on the walk home she decided to hitchhike, and ended up getting into a car owned by Nathanial Kibby, who was a local in the area. Shortly after getting Abby into the car, he pulled out a gun and threatened to kill her if she tried to scream or escape. He then proceeded to place handcuffs on her, put a shirt over her head, and broke her phone out of the fear of being tracked. He also carried a stun gun, which he used on her often, and also put a shock collar on her after getting her back to his home. Kibby lived in a mobile home in Gorham, about 30 miles away from where Abby lived. She was locked inside of a storage shed located on his property, three days shy of her 15th birthday, where she’d spend the next 9 long months. Before bringing her inside the shed, he covered her eyes with tape, a shirt, and a football helmet to conceal his identity. It was then when he’d sexually assault her for the first time, and would be repeatedly assaulted up until the day she was released. 

Abby stated that she was always being watched while inside the shed, as Kibby had placed a security camera inside to make sure she didn't try escaping. He cut off all access to sunlight and fresh air, and even demanded that she call him her Master. Abby’s mother knew something was terribly wrong the moment she didn’t return home on time, and wasn’t answering her phone calls. A missing persons report was made, and her disappearance was widely covered, and many people helped look for her. Kibby was so cruel, he allowed her to watch the news of her own disappearance, along with her mother begging for her safe return. 

Additionally, Kibby forced Abby to write a letter home to her mother to try and stop their efforts of searching for her. In this letter he wanted her to explain that she was perfectly safe and decided to run away, and everyone should stop looking for her. She also wrote that she loved and missed her mother, and that she can’t return home, and apologized for leaving. She even wrote that she was “staying strong.” When her mother received this letter, she didn’t believe it one bit. She had a gut feeling that she was forced to write this letter, and knew that Abby would never run away, as she loved her life there at home. The lever was given to authorities, and confirmed that Abby’s DNA was on the letter, but couldn’t figure out where the letter came from. It was held for one month before it got released, which caused a public outrage. Many people were angry at Abby and her mother, stating that they wasted all their time and effort looking for Abby, when she was seemingly never in danger. 

Throughout all of the horrifying ordeal, Abby really did stay strong, and she knew that if she wanted to survive, she had to be kind and sympathetic towards her abductor, and gain his trust. She bonded with him a lot during this time, having many conversations and he even allowed her to read books that she was passionate about. Eventually, she saw his face, and learned his real name after seeing it written inside one of the notebooks he gave to her. Part of the plan she had to gain his trust was always doing whatever he wanted her to do, never putting up a fight, and always reminding him that he could let her go at any point in time, and she would not go to the police. 

Leading up to Abby’s release, Kibby started up a counterfeit money operation, and forced Abby into helping him. However, Kibby made a big mistake by paying a sex worker with the fake money, and she found out and contacted police immediately, and told Kibby she was doing so. He began to panic and didn’t want additional charges of kidnapping and sexual assault, so he agreed to let Abby go, but threatened to kill her, her family, and her dogs if she ever went to the police and identified him. On the night of July 20th, 2014, Kibby released Abby on an abandoned road, not too far from where she was kidnapped. After he drove away, Abby says that she inhaled the fresh air for the first time in 9 months, looked up at the sky and started to laugh and smile, as she couldn’t believe that she was finally free. Abby knew her location and walked home, and video footage was recorded from the camera outside her front door of the moment she walked up those steps. 

(Skip to 2:35 to see the footage of her walking up the steps).

One week after Abby returned home, Kibby was arrested. He faced a total of 205 charges, and initially pleaded not guilty to all of them. However, he later agreed to plead guilty to seven felony charges, including felonious aggravated sexual assault, kidnapping, witness tampering, and criminal threatening. He was sentenced to 45 to 90 years in prison.

Two years after she returned home, she finally gave a victim impact statement at Kibby’s sentencing hearing.

“It seems like forever, two years have gone by, both fast and slow in different senses. But I often think about Kibby and what he did affects my life on a day-to-day basis. My name does not mean the same thing anymore that it did before October 9th. I’m attending school, and I’m afraid to let anybody know what my last name is. Nobody knows what my last name is …

“ I did not put you in prison. You put yourself in prison. So I can’t carry that blame on my shoulders when it’s simply not true that I put you in prison. When you decided to point that gun at me, that was not my choice. It was not my choice to go to your house. It was not my choice for you to rape me. It was not my choice for you to threaten me. You did all that yourself … 

“There are certain aspects of my freedom that I can never get back. But in that same aspect, I want you to know that I appreciate my freedom because of you. And that I enjoy and appreciate life because of you. I never look at sunshine in the same way. I never think about fresh air in the same way.”

Lisa McVey was a 17 year old girl who was abducted and raped by a serial killer in 1984. This woman is one of the smartest survivors I’ve ever learned about, as she was able to manipulate her captor into setting her free. I strongly recommend watching the movie based on this case, called “Believe Me.” 

Who Is Lisa McVey?

Lisa was born in March of 1967, in Tampa, Florida. She had a really hard time growing up, as her mother, who was addicted to drugs and alcohol, forced her to move in with her grandmother and grandmother's boyfriend at 14. Prior to this, she was in and out of foster homes. Her grandmother’s boyfriend would molest her often for three years straight, while holding a gun to her head, and her grandmother never did anything to stop it. It’s because of this abuse that helped aid in her survival when she met serial killer and rapist, Bobby Joe Young. She knew how to handle herself in those situations, and she knew how to keep herself alive. Due to her abuse at home, she had planned to commit suicide after work that very same night she was abducted. Ironically, once she was in that life or death situation, she suddenly had the will to live, and decided it wasn’t time for her to die. 

Who Was Bobby Joe Long?

Bobby was born on October 14th, 1953, in Kenova, West Virginia, and moved to Tampa in 1983. He was a serial killer and rapist who targeted women in the Tampa Bay area, and killed at least 10 women. He was born with an extra X chromosome, also known as 47,XXY, a specific variant of Klinefelter syndrome. This condition results in excessive estrogen production, causing some female traits such as breast development. Due to this condition, he was teased as a child for his large breasts and underwent breast reduction surgery when he was a teenager. He had also suffered multiple head injuries as a child resulting from diverse accidents. He married his high school girlfriend in 1974 and had two kids with her before she filed for divorce in 1980. Bobby Joe committed at least 50 rapes in Miami. Whenever he was with a woman alone, he’d go to the bathroom to take out his “rape kit,” come back, and rape and rob the woman. He was convicted of rape in 1981 but requested a new trial and somehow the charges were dropped. After moving to Tampa in 1984, he spent eight months on a murder spree. 

Lisa McVey’s Abduction

On November 3rd, 1984, Lisa was riding home from work on her bicycle when she was found and snatched by Bobby Joe. She was thrown into the backseat of his car, held at gunpoint, blindfolded, bound, and raped. She was then brought to his apartment and repeatedly raped and tortured for the next 26 hours. Due to her experience with abuse, Bobby noticed that she wasn’t like the others. She didn’t try to run, she didn’t scream, she didn’t cry, and she obeyed. Later he would say that Lisa was “different.” Lisa relied on her memory and her ability to keep an eye out on specific details. How many turns were made from her abduction point, what she was able to see under her blindfold, the kind of car, the color of the cars interior, how many steps were taken up to his apartment, how his face felt, what his dominant hand was, that he was extremely clean (he made her shower once she was in his apartment), where his boots were placed, etc. Additionally, as part of her manipulation tactic, she tried to sympathize with him by telling him that he wasn’t really such a bad person, that she saw good in him and that he deserved to be loved, and even offered to be his secret girlfriend. Then, she tried to gain sympathy from him by telling him that she really needed to survive, as she is her fathers sole caregiver, and he was very sick and needed her. This was the final straw that persuaded him to let her go. He drove her to a remote location while blindfolded and told her to keep the blindfold on for 5 minutes so he could get away. 

When she returned home, she was scolded and beaten by her grandmother's boyfriend, and neither of them initially believed her story. It took them 5 hours before finally calling the police. What makes matters worse, most of the officers didn’t believe her story either for some reason, besides one officer in particular. She told the police all the information she had, and even made sure she left fingerprints in multiple areas of the bathroom to prove that she was really there. Through her description of the man and the details of the route they took, they were able to find Bobby Joe’s apartment, and went to hunt him down. He was found on November 16th, 1984, at a movie theater looking for a sex worker. He killed two more women before he was caught. He said that the police never would’ve found him if he didn’t let her live. On September 23rd, 1985, he pleaded guilty to his kidnapping and assault of Lisa McVey, and to an additional eight counts of first degree murder, eight counts of kidnapping, and seven counts of sexual battery. He received life sentences on every count in Hillsborough County. Additionally, he received two death sentences for the murders of Michelle Denise Simms and Virginia Johnson. 

He was executed by lethal injection on May 23rd, 2019, and Lisa and the one other survivor were present at his execution. Lisa later became a sheriff, and also works at a middle school as a resource officer, teaching students how to handle potentially dangerous situations. 

THE KNOWN VICTIMS

Artiss "Ann" Wick, 20 – killed on March 27, 1984

Nguyen Thi Long, 19 – killed on May 13, 1984

Michelle Denise Simms, 22 – killed on May 27, 1984

Linda Nuttall, 33 – assaulted in May 1984; survived

Elizabeth Loudenback, 22 – killed on June 8, 1984

Vicky Marie Elliott, 21 – killed on September 7, 1984

Chanel Devoun Williams, 18 – killed on October 7, 1984

Karen Beth Dinsfriend, 28 – killed on October 14, 1984

Kimberly Kyle Hopps, 22 – killed on October 31, 1984

Lisa McVey, 17 – assaulted, raped on November 3, 1984; survived

Virginia Lee Johnson, 18 – killed on November 6, 1984

On the evening of July 22nd, 2015, the most sinister murder case in the town of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma would take place. Five out of nine members in the Bever family would lose their lives to a cruel act of evil, but to make matters worse, it was carried out by their own loved ones.

**TRIGGER WARNING** This article contains violence and murder against children.

The Bever family consisted of parents April Bever (45), David Bever (54), and their seven children, Robert (19), Michael (16), Crystal (13), Daniel (12), Christopher (6), Victoria (5), and Autumn (2). 

Robert on the left, Michael on the right.

The Details

The murders were carried out by the two eldest sons, Robert and Michael. The boys claimed that their mother and father were both abusive towards them, their father being the worst by inflicting physical abuse. One of the surviving sisters, Crystal, testified that their father was abusive, but not their mother. They also stated that they were all homeschooled and were never allowed to go anywhere to meet anyone and they didn’t have any friends. The two talked often during the late nights and eventually they discovered that they both shared a secret interest in wanting to kill their entire family. This fantasy began to get worse over time, and they bonded over their obsession with mass murderers, serial killers, Columbine and the Aurora Colorado Theatre killings. Neighbors also stated that the parents kept them so isolated, they were never allowed to talk to them or any other neighborhood children, and they didn’t even know the names of most of the family until it was released by the press. 

During Robert’s confession, he said his parents would talk often about people they hated and would refer to the biblical Armageddon as "a retribution for everything they hated about the world.” He also said that he and his brother planned this murder spree for a long time, and wanted to go on a shooting spree outside of the family in hopes that their body count would outdo the 1999 Columbine murders. Their plan was to steal their parents car, shoot and kill five people at each random location they went to, and achieve a body count of at least fifty people. Then, if things were going really well for them, they planned to leave Oklahoma and continue their shooting spree in other states, achieving a body count of at least 500. They also planned to dismember their family members' bodies and store them in bins in their attic. 

Michael is not in this photo.

How It Happened

Shortly before 11:30PM Robert and Michael were in their bedroom talking and using their computer when their sister, Crystal, knocked on their door to tell them that their mother wanted them to help her with the dishes. They decided at that moment that it was time to strike, and told Crystal to come in because they wanted to show her something on the computer. As she came closer, Robert grabbed her, covered her mouth and slit her throat. Her screams caused their mother to come running upstairs to check on the commotion, and when she entered the room, Crystal managed to get away while Robert started stabbing his mother. As Cyrstal ran she began to shout to the rest of her family, warning them to get away. She also managed to grab a cell phone and ran outside, which unfortunately triggered the house alarm, which caused her brothers to go chasing after her. Michael turned off the house alarm, and before Cyrstal could call 9-1-1, she ended up passing out on the lawn, waking up to Robert dragging her back inside. 

Once back inside the house, Michael yelled to Robert that their father was coming. Robert told the court that his father was charging at him, and in fear of being overpowered, he started to stab him in the chest and heard him take his last breath. After that, they found their other two siblings, Christopher and Victoria, had locked themselves in the bathroom. Michael tried to persuade them to open the door, telling them that Robert was trying to kill him too. Sadly, six year old Christopher believed his brother, and when he opened up the door just a little bit, Michael kicked it in, and Robert stabbed them both to death. During all this, their last brother, Daniel, managed to lock himself in their fathers office and called 9-1-1, alerting them that his brothers were killing the whole family. Screaming, commotion, and a male's voice was heard before the line went dead. Sadly, the same act that fooled Christopher and Victoria fooled Daniel, too. When Daniel opened the door, Michael looked at Robert and said, “all yours!” Daniel tried begging for his life, and told Robert, “don’t kill me! I love you!” But that didn’t stop Robert from killing him. 

Through all the commotion, the brothers forgot about their youngest sibling who was sound asleep in her bedroom throughout the whole thing. Later, Robert explained that their plan was to chop Autumn’s head off, but their plan got messed up when they decided to start with Crystal first instead. The police showed up shortly after, and the two had escaped through the backdoor, but were quickly apprehended. When the police arrived and no one answered the door, they kicked it in and found Crystal lying in a pool of blood, calling for help. Crystal survived the attack, but was in critical condition and needed surgery. She identified Robert and Michael as the attackers and said they lured her into the room before slitting her throat and stabbing her in her arms and stomach. Both her and her baby sister were placed into state custody. 

Robert Bever

Michael Bever

Autopsies

David Bever: At least 28 stab wounds to the torso, face, neck, left arm, left hand.

April Bever: Blunt force trauma, more than 48 stab wounds to the head, neck, torso, arms, and hands.

Daniel Bever: 21 stab wounds to the back, chest, and shoulder.

Christopher Bever: 21 stab wounds to the back, chest, shoulder, and lower leg.

Victoria Bever: 23 stab wounds to her back, chest, both sides of her neck, and upper arm.

Investigation and Sentencing

When police first entered the home, knives, hatchets, and other bladed weapons were found at the scene, along with protective gear. However, it was stated that at least some of the weapons found were used in the killings, but not all of them. One of the brothers told police that plans for the killings were stored on a flash drive inside the home. This flash drive was later found during their second search of the home. They also found computer equipment along with video surveillance cameras, which they believed recorded the murders as they were located near where three of the victims' bodies were found. It was later determined that the brothers planned to make two videos, one with the bodies of their family that would be shown to investigators, the other without the bodies that would be posted online. Additionally, investigators looked into a shipment of boxes containing a total of 3,000 rounds of ammunition that was believed to have been delivered on July 23.

In Oklahoma, the punishment for first degree murder is either life imprisonment, or the death penalty. Michael Bever's attorney argued against the decision to try his client as an adult, stating that his client would die in prison and that it was the same as the death penalty. He argued Michael should be rehabilitated instead of imprisoned if he was physically and emotionally abused at home. Due to Michael being under the age of 18 at the time of the murders, the death penalty would not be an option for him. In the end, Robert ended up getting life in prison without the possibility of parole, and Michael got life in prison with the possibility of parole. 

David John Birnie, and Catherine Margaret Birnie were an Australian couple who lived in Perth, Western Australia. Together, they sexually assaulted and murdered four women, and attempted to murder a fifth. The media dubbed this case as the “Moorhouse Murders,” as their home resided on Moorhouse Street, in Willagee. I was inspired to write this article due to the movie based on this story, “Hounds of Love” (2016). 

WHO WERE DAVID AND CATHERINE BIRNIE?

David Birnie, born on February 16th, 1951, grew up in a dysfunctional household and was the oldest of 5 siblings. Some of the household troubles he and his siblings endured were allegedly alcoholism, promiscuity, and incest. The family never ate meals together, and the parents never cooked meals for their children. At the young age of 15, Birnie dropped out of school to become an apprentice jockey for Eric Parnham at the Ascot Racecourse. While he worked there, he had physically abused the horses and experimented with exhibition. During one evening, Birnie put a pair of stockings over his head and broke into an elderly woman’s home in an attempt to rape her. He had been in and out of prison for misdemeanors and felonies by the time he was an adolescent. When he was an adult he became a pornography and sex addict, and was also a paraphiliac (the experience of intense sexual arousal to atypical objects, situations, fantasies, behaviors, or individuals. It had also been defined as sexual interest in anything other than a consenting human partner). In his early 20’s he married his first wife, Kerrie, in 1972, and divorced in 1982. Together they had a daughter named Tanya, who never married and never had children, as she didn’t want to “spawn another David Birnie.” She had also changed her surname after his conviction. 

Catherine Birnie, born on May 23rd, 1951, was only two years old when her mother died as she gave birth to her brother, who also died just two days later. Her father was unable to raise her alone, and sent her to live with her paternal grandparents. When she was 10, there was a custody battle, and her father regained full custody of her. She met David when they were only 12 years old, and began a relationship together two years later. However, her father didn’t like him and he begged her to stop seeing him, considering the fact that their involvement together caused her to get into trouble with the police. However, his disapproval of their relationship only ended up strengthening it. Her time in prison throughout her adolescent years offered Catherine a chance to break away from David. Encouraged by a parole officer, Catherine began working for the McLaughlin family as a housekeeper. She married Donald McLaughlin on her 21st birthday. The couple had seven children together, and her first born, who was a son, was killed by a car during infancy. In 1985, she left her husband and all six children to live with David, and even though they were never legally married, she changed her surname to his, Birnie. 

The abductions and murders happened nearly instantly after they moved in together. Within five weeks, they abducted five women, all aged between 15 and 31. All victims were sexually assaulted and murdered, with the exception of their last victim, who managed to escape the day after she was captured. Her escape ended their killing spree. 

THE VICTIMS

Mary Neilson (22): She was a psychology major at the University of Western Australia and worked part time at a deli. She met David when she went to the spare parts yard, where he worked, looking for tires for her car. He offered to sell her really cheap tires and gave her his phone number. When she arrived at his home on October 6th, 1986, she was gagged, chained to the bed, and sexually assaulted while Catherine watched. She was then taken to Gleneagle, in Bedfordale, where she was assaulted again, and then strangled to death with a nylon cord. He then proceeded to stab her thinking that it would speed up the decomposition process, as he “read that in a book somewhere.” He then buried her in a shallow grave. Mary would’ve received her degree in psychology one year after her murder. 

Susannah Candy (15): She was abducted two weeks after the murder of Mary, as she was hitchhiking along Stirling Highway in Claremont. She was a brilliant young girl who was doing an amazing job at school, and lived with her two loving parents and siblings. The couple was driving along for several hours looking for their next victim when they saw her looking for a ride. As soon as she entered the car, she was held there by knifepoint while they tied her hands behind her back. Once they got back to the house, just like Mary, she was gagged, chained to the bed, and sexually assaulted. They also had her write a letter to her family to assure them that she was safe, as her father was a well known surgeon, but they still feared for her life.

After David had finished assaulting Susannah, Catherine got into bed with them, as she knew this type of thing turned him on. Together, they assaulted her one last time, and David proceeded to try and strangle her with a nylon cord, but she became hysterical. They forced sleeping pills down her throat to calm her down, and once she was asleep, he put the cord around her neck and told Catherine to strangle her. He wanted her to prove her undying love for him by murdering her. Catherine went through with the demand and killed her while he watched. When Catherine was later asked why she did it, she told them:

“Because I wanted to see how strong I was within my inner self. I didn’t feel a thing. It was like I expected. I was prepared to follow him to the end of the earth and do anything to see that his desires were satisfied. She was a female. Females hurt and destroy males.” 

They buried her near the grave where Mary was, located in the State Forest.

Noelene Patterson (31): They spotted her standing by her car on the Canning Highway, as she had run out of gas. They offered to give her a ride, and once she was inside the car, she was held at knifepoint, tied up, and told not to move. When they returned to their home, just as the women before her, she was gagged, chained to the bed, and repeatedly assaulted. The original plan was to murder her that same night, but David decided to keep her inside as a prisoner for three days. Catherine began to feel jealous and threatened, as she noticed him showing signs of an emotional attachment to her. That’s when she decided to slam David with an ultimatum: She would have to kill Noelene, or she would kill herself, and went to grab a knife and put it to her throat to show him that she wasn’t kidding. David then forced sleeping pills down her throat and strangled her to death in her sleep. They buried her body in the same forest, but further away from the other victims. It was said that Catherine got a lot of pleasure from throwing sand on Noelene’s face. 

In the image above, Noelene is on the left, and Denise is on the right.

Denise Brown (21): They spotted her waiting for a bus on Stirling Highway, and offered her a ride, which she accepted. Again, she was held at knifepoint, tied up, and brought back to the house where she was gagged, chained to the bed, and assaulted repeatedly. The following day she was taken to the Wanneroo pine plantation. While they were hidden in the forest, David assaulted her again in the car as they waited for the night to come. Once darkness hit, he dragged her out of the car and assaulted her again, and then stabbed her in the neck. They thought that she was dead and began digging a shallow grave and tossed her body inside. However, she was surprisingly still alive and sat up, and David grabbed an ax and struck her with it twice in the head. 

Kate Moir (17) The Final Victim: She was abducted at knifepoint after accepting a ride from them. On the ride back to the home, she asked them if they had planned to rape or kill her. Catherine replied with, “we’ll only rape you if you’re good.” However, she was treated differently than the former victims. She wasn’t immediately gagged and chained to the bed, and Instead, they forced her to dance for them, and slept in the couples bed with them, while being handcuffed to David. After she was abducted, they forced her to call her mother and told her that she was okay, and just had too much to drink and was staying at her friend’s house. Kate was very smart and used her words wisely, as her mother knew that she was not much of a drinker. 

The next day, David went to work and Catherine went to the door to carry out a drug deal, and forgot to chain her up to the bed. Kate knew that it was probably her only chance she’d get to escape, and climbed through a closed window by breaking its lock, and hit her head on the concrete. She tried knocking on several neighbors' doors, but no one answered, so she decided to jump a gate and was attacked by David’s dog. She thankfully was able to escape the dog and ran into a nearby vacuum cleaner store. She told them that she had been abducted and raped and the police were called. For some strange reason, the police were skeptical to believe her story, besides one female officer who believed her due to the amount of detail and information she provided, including their phone number and address. She told the police that the Birnies had given themselves fake names, but she read David’s name on a medicine bottle. She also told them that they watched the movie “Rocky” on VHS, and described a drawing she had concealed in their house as proof that she had been there. They found her drawing, as well as the VHS tape in the VCR. 

David and Catherine were arrested and gave conflicting stories during their interviews. Catherine claimed that she had never seen Kate before, while David said that Kate had come over to their house on her own free will to engage in consensual sex with them. David eventually was convinced to confess and tell them who the other victims were, and where the bodies were located. 

There could be other possible victims that the Birnies were responsible for. Cheryl Renwick vanished in May 1986, and Barbara Western in June 1986.

TRIAL, SENTENCING, AND IMPRISONMENT

When the trial began, David Birnie pleaded guilty to four counts of murder and one count each of abduction and rape. When asked why he had pleaded guilty, he gestured toward the victims' families and said, "It's the least I could do." He was sentenced to four terms of life in prison. After being found sane enough to stand trial, Catherine Birnie was also sentenced to four terms of life in prison. Under law at the time, both were required to serve 20 years before being eligible for parole.

David Birnie was found dead in his cell on October 7th, 2005. He was 54 years old. An inquest found that he had hanged himself from an air vent using a length of cord. Various factors led to his suicide, those being a failure to provide him with his anti-depressants, his computer had been confiscated and he was suspected of sexually assaulting another prisoner. He was described by a former prison officer as a 'model prisoner' who looked after injured animals. Catherine was not allowed to be present at his funeral. 

Between the years of 1967 and 1987, a vicious couple took the lives of at least 12 young women in some of the most horrible ways. At least 8 of these murders involved West’s sexual gratification including torture, mutilation, bondage, and rape. Most of the victims were teenagers between the ages of 15-18, while the oldest was 27 and the youngest was 8. This is one of the United Kingdom's most prolific cases. Here is everything you need to know about the sickening duo.

FRED CAME FROM A VERY TROUBLED BACKGROUND

Fred was born on September 29th, 1941, at Bickerton Cottage, Much Marcle, Herefordshire. He was the first surviving child to Daisy Hill and Walter West. They were a poor family of farm workers but a very close-knit family. However, his father was seen as a disciplinarian and his mother was very over protective. Being the first of their surviving children, Fred was a complete mommy’s boy and was favored by Daisy. All six children had assigned chores at a young age, and were all given seasonal work to do. The three boys hunted rabbits and harvested wheat, while the three girls picked strawberries and hops. Due to this, Fred was instilled with a very strong work ethic at a young age, and also had a life-long habit of petty theft. 

Fred dropped out of high school at the age of 15 and remained barely literate throughout the rest of his life. However, he did have a love for woodwork and art, and began working as a laborer at Moorcourt Farm. Fred alleged that his mother introduced him to sex when he was 12 years old, and claimed to have believed incest was normal as his father had an incestious relationship with all of his sisters. However, his brother Dough said this wasn’t true. Fred also began experimenting with bestiality in his teenage years. 

By 1957, Fred began spending a lot of time at a Youth Club, where he started to make aggressive advances towards women and young girls. He objectified women on a daily basis, and would fondle them without their permission, as he believed that women were sources of pleasure that he could use whenever he wanted. When women did accept his advances, they often said that the sex was unsatisfying and that he was very selfish in bed, as he only cared about his own pleasure. 

In June of 1961, Fred was accused by his 13 year old sister Kitty of raping her on several occasions, and that he impregnated her. Fred was arrested and even admitted to sexually molesting his young sister, and even admitted to doing this to several other young girls as well. When he was asked why he’d been doing it, he replied with: “Doesn’t everybody do it?” His trial was on the 9th of November, but even though his mother was disgusted by what he’d done, she was completely ready to testify in his defense. However, right before she could do that, Kitty changed her mind and chose not to testify, and Fred walked free. Most of Fred’s family Disowned him, and his mother banished him from her home, and he went to live with his aunt. By mid 1962, he made up with his parents, but still had a very strained relationship with the rest of his family. 

FRED’S FIRST MARRIAGE AND THE ESCALATING VIOLENCE 

Fred married a 21 year old woman named Catherine “Rena” Bernadette Costello just two months after they met. She was already pregnant by an Asian bus driver during the time they met, and Fred agreed to raise the child as if it were his. They came up with a plan to tell people that she had actually suffered a miscarriage and ended up adopting the child as a reason to explain her asian descent. They lived in his aunt’s home at first, but soon moved into their own place and he became an ice cream vendor. In March of 1963, baby Charmaine was born. In 1964, the couple had another baby girl together, Anna Marie. 

Fred started to abuse not only his wife Rena, but their two children as well. Neighbors and the nanny claimed that Rena was a good person and considerate mother who was struggling to raise their children, and that Fred treated the children harshly. He forced the children to remain in the bottom bunk of a bunk bed, which had bars fitted to the space between the bunks, caging them inside like they were animals. He only allowed the girls out when he was at work. The nanny, McNiell, had a friend named Anne McFall who was 16. She was mourning the recent death of her boyfriend, and was spending a lot of time at the West’s residence, and soon began to feel an attraction towards Fred. 

Fred admitted to having multiple affairs during his marriage, and fathered at least one illegitimate child. When Rena found out about this, she began having her own affair with a man named John McLachlan, who was aware of the physical abuse he forced his wife and children to endure, and would often beat him every single time he beat them. McLachlan stated, “he couldn’t tackle a man, but wasn’t slow in attacking women.” By 1966, Fred started portraying dominance and control over his wife, their nanny McNeill, and her friend McFall. He was prone to violent mood swings, but most of his violence was directed towards Rena and McNeill. It was also reported that Fred had started to sexually abuse Charmaine, and suggested that Rena start prostituting herself to gain more of an income. 

In an attempt to escape from Fred’s domestic abuse and sadistic sexual tendencies, she called up her lover McLachlan and asked him to help save her and her daughters. The plan consisted of secretly driving to her home and discreetly taking her and her children back to Scotland. Both McNeil and McFall knew of these plans, and they believe McFall spilled the beans to Fred as he showed up at the exact time that the plan was supposed to be carried out. McFall also declared that she had feelings for Fred and would be staying behind with him. An altercation started between Fred and McLachlan, and Fred was hit multiple times while holding onto both of the children, and the police were called. In the end, the children were allowed to stay with Fred, and Rena was arrested and given three years probation. Rena alternated between living with Fred and the children, and returning to her original home in Glasgow. Letters were also sent between McFall and McNiell and her family, stating that a relationship with Fred would most likely offer her a better life than she ever had in Scotland, and tried to persuade Fred to divorce his wife and marry her instead. 

ROSEMARY WEST ALSO HAD A TROUBLED BACKGROUND

Rosemary West, who was born Rosemary Letts to William Letts and Gwendoline Fuller. She was the 5th of 7 children and was born into a poor family. Rose’s mother suffered greatly from depression and was given electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), both during and soon after her pregnancy. It’s speculated that this treatment could’ve caused prenatal developmental injuries to Rose. She grew up as a precocious and very moody teenager, and did poorly in school. After her parents separated, she initially lived with her mother for 6 months, and then moved in with her father permanently. Her father suffered from paranoid schizophrenia, and was prone to violence and even sexually abused Rose and her oldest sister, Patricia. 

When Rose hit puberty she became highly fascinated with her changing body, and would purposely parade around the house naked, even in front of her younger brother Graham, who was 9 at the time. When she was 13 she would sneak into Graham's bed at night and molest him on multiple occasions, and her other youngest brother, Gordon.  

FRED AND ROSEMARY UNITED 

The two met when Rose was 15 and Fred was 27. She was initially very repulsed by Fred and had refused to go out with him. But as Fred continued to pursue her and display romantic gestures, she decided to accept his offer. After a few dates, the two started up a relationship. She started visiting his home often, and spent a lot of time with his daughter and step-daughter, who she treated with care and affection originally. She eventually became the daughters nanny, and quit her job to care for the girls, as long as Fred gave her extra money to send to her parents to prove that she was still working. 

A few months into dating, Rose decided to introduce Fred to her parents, and to say that they were outraged is an understatement. They were disgusted with their teenage daughter dating an older man. Her mother stated that he was a pathological liar, and didn’t like his boastful and arrogant behavior, and her father threatened to call social services if he didn’t stop seeing his daughter. Her parents forbade her from contacting or seeing Fred, but she defied their orders and did it anyway. She was then placed in a home for troubled young girls in August of 1969, and was only allowed out under controlled circumstances. When she was allowed out to visit her parents on the weekends, she always made sure to take the time out to also see Fred as well. 

On her 16th birthday, Rose was allowed to move out of the home for troubled girls and move back in with her parents. Fred was in jail and serving a 30 day sentence for petty theft and not paying fines. As soon as Fred was released, Rose went to live with him, and her father made one last attempt to keep Fred away from his daughter. In February of 1970, Rose was examined by a police surgeon and confirmed that she was pregnant. She was then placed back into the home of troubled young girls, but was released on March 6th, under the understanding that she would terminate her pregnancy and return back home. However, she didn’t terminate the pregnancy and went back to live with Fred. This resulted in her father banning her from ever coming into his home again. 

On October 17th, 1970, Rose gave birth to their first child, a daughter who they named Heather Ann. It’s speculated that Heather might’ve been fathered by Rose’s own father. I’m not sure why they couldn’t just do a DNA test to prove this theory or not. 

The Image above shows all of the West’s children.

Fred was thrown into prison two months later for car theft, so Rose looked after the three children by herself, at the age of 17. She forced Charmaine and Anna Marie to call her mother. Anna reported that she and her sister Charmaine were constantly subjected to criticism, beatings, and other forms of harsh punishment. Anna would always show emotion and try to obey everything Rose did to her, while Charmaine was always more rebellious, showed no emotion, and antagonized Rose by saying that her “real mommy” wouldn’t hurt them, curse at them, and that her “real mommy” will come save them soon. A childhood friend of Charmaine’s later reported that she once came over to see her friend, and when she walked in, she saw Charmaine standing on a chair, completely naked, gagged, and with her hands bound behind her back, with Rose standing next to her with a big wooden spoon in her hand. Charmaine stood there with no emotion, and seemed very calm and unconcerned, while Anna was standing next to the door, expressionless. 

THE MURDER OF ANNE MCFALL, CHARMAINE WEST, AND RENA WEST

In July of 1967, 18 year old Anne McFall was eight months pregnant with Fred's child. She vanished and was never reported missing, but her remains which have been dismembered were found buried at the edge of a cornfield in June of 1994. Her limbs were carefully separated at the joints of the bones, and many of the small bones were missing from her hands and feet, assuming they were kept as trophies.  It’s also speculated that the unborn baby was also removed from the womb. Fred initially denied killing McFall, but confided to one visitor following his arrest that he had stabbed her to death during an argument. This explanation is inconsistent with the fact that her wrists were found with sections of dressing gown cord wrapped around them, suggesting she had been restrained prior to her murder. 

Rose is believed to have killed Charmaine shortly before Fred was released from prison on June 24h, 1971, and a forensic odontologist confirmed that Charmaine did in fact die while Fred was still in prison. In her later testimony at Rose's trial, Shirley stated she and her family had lived in the upper flat of Midland Road in 1971 and that her two daughters had been playmates of Charmaine and Anna Marie. She stated that after her family had vacated the upper flat of Midland Road in April 1971, on one day in June, she had brought Tracey to visit Charmaine, only for Tracey to be told by Rose: "She's gone to live with her mother, and bloody good riddance!” Tracey was Charmaine’s friend who had witnessed her standing naked on the chair while being beaten by Rose. Rose explained Charmaine's disappearance to others who asked about her whereabouts by claiming that Rena had taken her to live with her. She also informed staff at Charmaine's primary school that the child had moved with her mother. When Fred was released from prison on June 24th, he handled Anna Marie's concerns for her sister by claiming her mother picked her up and returned to Scotland. When she asked why her mother wouldn’t also bring her back to Scotland, he replied with: "She wouldn't want you, love. You're the wrong color.” 

Charmaine's body was stored in the coal cellar of Midland Road at first, until Fred was released from prison. He then buried her naked body in the yard close to the back door of their home, and remained adamant that he never dismembered her body. An autopsy suggested the body was severed at the hip, and this damage may have been caused by building work Fred conducted on the property in 1976. Several bones, particularly patellae, finger, wrist, toe and ankle bones were missing from her remains, leading to the speculation that the missing parts were kept as trophies. 

Rena had sporadic contact with her children each time she and Fred separated. She is also known to have visited his home in order to get information about her children's whereabouts and welfare in August of 1971. Fred's sister-in-law, Christine, later stated that Rena suffered with depression and was extremely anxious about the welfare of her children. Being provided with Fred's Midland Road address, Rena left to confront him, likely to discuss or demand getting sole custody of her daughters. That was the last time Rena was ever seen alive again. She is believed to have been strangled to death, possibly in the back seat of Fred's car, and likely while being intoxicated. When her body was discovered, a short length of metal tubing was found with her remains, leaving a possibility that she had been restrained and subjected to a sexaul assault prior to her murder. Rena's body was extensively dismembered, placed into plastic bags, and buried close to a cluster of trees known as Yewtree Coppice at Letterbox Field.

PROSTITUTION AND INCREASING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE 

Soon after Rose gave birth, she was encouraged by Fred to start taking up prostitution to gain more money for the household. She operated in a room upstairs in there home, and additional to the prostitution, she would also have casual sex with both men and women who rented rooms in their household, or people that Fred would meet during work. She would go around telling people that no man or woman could ever satisfy her, and when engaging in sex with women, Rose would steadily increase the level of brutality to which she subjected her partner with. Acts such as partially suffocating them, or inserting large dildosinto into their bodies. If the woman resisted or stated any pain or fear, this would excite Rose, who would typically ask: "Aren't you woman enough to take it?”

To many of these women, it became apparent Rose and her husband, who often participated in threesomes with her and her lovers, took a particular pleasure from seeking to take women beyond their sexual limits, typically via sessions involving bondage as they openly admitted to taking a particular pleasure from any form of sex involving a strong measure of dominance, pain and violence. They collected a large amount of bondage and restraining devices, magazines and images, later expanding this collection to include videos depicting bestiality, and graphic child pornography. 

The room Rose used for prostitution was known as "Rose's Room", and had several hidden peepholes which allowed Fred to watch her sleep with her clients. He also installed a baby monitor in the room, allowing him to listen from other areas in the home. The room included a private bar, and a red light outside the door warned when Rose was not to be disturbed. She carried the only key to this room around her neck, and Fred installed a separate doorbell to the home which Rose's clients were told to ring whenever they visited. By 1977, Rose's father had come to accept his daughter's marriage, and obtained a grudging respect for Fred. When her father learned about Rose being involved in sex work, he would also visit to have sex with his daughter. By 1983, she had given birth to eight children, at least three of whom were fathered by clients. Fred willingly accepted these children as his own, and falsely informed them the reason their skin was darker than that of their siblings was because his great grandmother was a black woman.

When each of their children reached seven years old, they were given multiple daily chores to perform in the home. They weren’t allowed to socialize outside the household perimeters unless either of their parents were present, and had to follow strict rules given by their parents, with severe punishment, which was nearly always physical, being the punishment for not following the household rules. The children feared the wrath from their parents, mostly being inflicted by Rose, and only seldomly by Fred. The violence was often irrational, indiscreet or just inflicted for Rose's own sick pleasure. She always made sure to not mark the children's faces or hands in her beatings. Heather, and subsequently her younger brother Stephen, ran away from home, both returned to Cromwell Street after several weeks of alternately sleeping rough or staying with friends, and both were beaten when they returned home. 

 Between 1972 and 1992, the children were admitted to the hospital 31 times, and the injuries were explained as accidents and never reported to social services. On one occasion, as Stephen was mopping the kitchen floor with a cloth, Rose accidentally stepped into the bowl of water he had been using. In response, Rose hit the boy over the head with the bowl, then repeatedly kicked him in the head and chest. On another occasion, Rose became angry about a missing kitchen utensil, so she grabbed a knife she had been using to cut a piece of meat, and repeatedly inflicted light slash marks to Mae's chest until her rib cage was covered with wounds. 

FRED AND ROSE SEXUALLY ABUSED THEIR OWN DAUGHTERS

It started in September of 1972, when the couple brought 8 year old Anna Marie to their cellar, where she was ordered to undress, with Rose tearing her dress from her body, all while commenting on Anna’s nervousness. She was then stripped naked, bound to a mattress and gagged, following with the sexual assault by Fred, her own father. After the rape, Rose followed her to the bathroom, laughing as she watched Anna Marie struggle to walk. She then handed her a sanitary towel, explaining to the child: "I'm sorry. Everybody does it to every girl. It's a father's job. Don't worry, and don't say anything to anybody. To make sure these sexual assaults would continue, Fred and Rose then threatened her with severe punishments if they ever found out that she had told anyone. Rose occasionally sexually abused Anna by herself, and later took extreme pleasure in degrading her with acts like binding her to various items of furniture before encouraging Fred to rape her, and forcing her to do chores while wearing sexual devices and mini skirts. From the age of 13, Fred and Rose forced Anna to prostitute herself within the household, with her clients being wrongfully told that she was 16. Rose was always present in the room when these acts occurred, to make sure she didn’t reveal her real age. 

Heather and Mae became the focus of Fred's sexual attention after Anna ran away from home in 1979, after enduring a very severe beating from Rose to her stomach just days after being discharged from hospital for treatment of an ectopic pregnancy. The frequency of the abuse endured by Heather and Mae increased when both girls reached puberty. He even referred to his intentions to impregnate both his daughters, and would sometimes force all his children to watch pornography with him. As Heather, Mae and their younger brother Stephen were very close in age, they came up with the plan that if their father asked either of the two girls to be alone in a room with him, they would only do so if at least one other member of the trio were present to avoid either girl being raped. Both girls also developed a routine, where they would only shower or undress when their father was either out of the house, or as her sister stood guard at the door. Stephen was also informed by his father that he would have to have sex with his mother by the age of 17, but ended up being evicted from their home when he turned 16. 

Although the girls were disgusted by their father's behavior, Mae developed a mechanism where she would tolerate her father sexually fondling her, then jokingly brush aside any efforts he made to take the molestation further. In her autobiography, she recollected that Heather "was affected quite badly by all of this. Even more than me." A strong suspicion remains that, by 1985 or 1986, Heather had been forced to engage in sexual relations with her father, and by the mid 1980s, she developed classic symptoms of the distress felt by victims of child abuse. These included habits of her biting her nails until they bled, drinking alcohol, or warily watching her father through the corner of her eye wherever she was sitting or standing, and expressing nervous fragility whenever in the presence of men. Additionally, her sleep was repeatedly broken by nightmares, and she would repeatedly bounce back and forth as she sat on any chair. This distressful behavior led Fred and Rose to suspect Heather of being a lesbian, which also resulted in her becoming the recipient of taunts from her father, saying that she was "ugly" and a "bitch". On the occasions Heather remonstrated about the abuse to her mother, Rose would simply laugh at her distress. 

THE WEST’S SEXUALLY ASSAULTED AND PLANNED TO MURDER CAROLINE OWENS

In October of 1972, the Wests hired a 17 year old woman, Caroline Owens, as their children's nanny. They had picked her up one night on a secluded road while she was hitchhiking home from her boyfriend’s home. Learning that Owens disliked her stepfather and was looking for a job, they offered her a part time job as a nanny to the three children that were in their household at that time. She was promised that she would be driven home every Tuesday. Several days later, Owens moved into 25 Cromwell Street, sharing a room with Anna, who Owen’s noted was "very withdrawn". Considering Rose was involved in sex work at this time, she explained to Owens that she worked as a massage therapist, so the people who were coming to the home so frequently were her clients. Fred also claimed to be skilled in performing abortions, if she would ever need one. 

When Owens herself became the recipient of their sexual advances, she announced her intentions to quit and leave their home.

Knowing Owens' habits of hitchhiking along certain roads, the couple came up with a plan to abduct her for their shared pleasure. Fred later admitted that the specific intent of this abduction was the rape and likely murder of Owens, but that his initial incentive was to determine whether his wife would be willing to at least assist him in an abduction. On December 6th, 1972, the couple lured Owens into their vehicle with an apology for their conduct and offered to drive her home. Initially, she believed they had been sincere in their apologies to her and accepted a ride. Rose joined her in the back seat, claiming she wanted to have a "girls' chat" as Fred drove.

Shortly after, Rose began to fondle her, as Fred questioned whether she had had sex with her boyfriend that evening. When Owens began to protest, Fred stopped the car, referred to Owens as a "bitch", and punched her, causing her to go unconscious, and then was bound and gagged with a scarf and duct tape. In her statement to police, Owens stated that she was given a drugged cup of tea to drink, then again gagged and subjected to a prolonged sexual assault from Fred and Rose. At one stage, Fred remarked that her clitoris was unusual, then slashed her genitals with a leather belt. When she screamed, Rose smothered her with a pillow and further restrained her about the neck before performing cunnilingus on her. Quickly realizing the gravity of her situation, she stopped resisting.

The next morning, having noticed her creaming when one of his children had knocked on the door of the room where she was restrained, he threatened that he and his wife would keep her locked up in the cellar and allow his "black friends" to abuse her, and that when they had finished, he would bury her body. Fred then claimed he had killed hundreds of young girls, adding that she had primarily been brought to the house for "Rose's pleasure". He and Rose then calmly asked Owens whether she would consider returning to work as their nanny. Seeing her chance to escape, she agreed, and vacuumed the house to indicate her belief in becoming an extended member of the family. Later that day, she escaped from a laundromat that she and Rose went to and went back home. She was initially too ashamed to tell her mother what had happened, but when her mother noticed the welts, bruises and exposed tissue on her body, Owens burst into tears and told her what happened. 

Her mother immediately reported her daughter's ordeal to the police, and the Wests were arrested and charged with assault, indecent assault, actual bodily harm, and rape. The case was tried on January 12th, 1973, but Owens had decided that she couldn’t face the ordeal of testifying in court. All charges pertaining to her sexual abuse were dropped, and the Wests agreed to plead guilty to the reduced charges of indecent assault and causing actual bodily harm, and each of them were fined £50, were allowed to walk free. When Owens heard this news, she attempted to take her own life.

THE MURDER OF HEATHER WEST

Heather complained to her friends about the abuse she and her siblings endured, and her external signs of psychological distress were noted by several of them. Staff at her secondary school which Heather and her siblings attended, are also known to have expressed concern as to why Heathe refused to obey orders either to change her clothing for, or shower after, sporting activities. On one occasion, she was forced to take a shower, resulting in her peers and staff noting her arms, legs and torso were covered in welts and bruises in various stages of healing. Heather attempted to excuse these injuries as having been from fights with her siblings, but confided in one close friend that they had been inflicted by her parents, adding that her mother considered her a "little bitch" who deserved her beating. 

By the mid 1980s, rumors of Rose's sex life had reached several of the children's classmates, and although the West children had been instructed never to talk about details of their home lives to others, Heather confided to her friends that many of these rumors were true. The father of one of these classmates was a friend of the West’s, so word soon reached Fred and Rose that Heather had explained details of her home life, including details of her mother's promiscuity to her classmates. Fred was so concerned by these revelations that he began to escort Heather to and from school.

After Heather left school in 1986, she applied to several jobs in an effort to leave home. By June of the following year, she had high hopes of escaping her home by getting a job as a chalet cleaner at a holiday camp. On June 18th, 1987, she received notification that this application was declined. In response, she burst into tears in front of her siblings Mae and Stephen. That same evening, her whole family heard Heather crying loudly as she tried to sleep. The next morning Heather was "back to her usual self, looking miserable, biting her nails and sitting on the couch bouncing back and forth as she sat,” as her siblings left the house to go to school.

When Heather's siblings returned home, they were informed that Heather had left to accept the job she had previously been refused. However, Rose told a neighbor that she and Heather had had a "hell of a row,” and that Heather had run away from home. Later, to answer their children's questions about why Heather failed to contact or visit her siblings, the parents claimed that she had eloped with a lesbian lover. When Mae and Stephen suggested they report her disappearance to police, Fred changed his story yet again, saying it would be unwise to initiate a search for Heather as she was involved in credit card fraud. On more than one occasion, Fred and Rose persuaded an unknown acquaintance to fake phone calls from Heather to her parents. 

In the years following Heather's disappearance, Fred would sometimes jokingly threaten the children that they would "end up under the patio like Heather" if they either misbehaved or spoke about the mistreatment they endured to anyone outside the household. With Rose's approval, he later constructed a barbecue pit opposite where Heather had been buried, and placed a pine table on her grave for the children of the family to sit upon whenever they held family gatherings in their garden. Heather's disappearance, along with Fred and Rose's constantly changing stories about their daughter's whereabouts, plus their jokes about foul play, ultimately led to police enquiries as to Heather's whereabouts. These enquiries culminated in a search warrant being issued to search the Wests' garden in February of 1994. 

THE REMAINING VICTIMS

The image above shows all 12 of the victims.

The couple murdered their first known victim in April of 1973, and their last known victim in August of 1979. 

April 20th, 1973

Lynda Gough (19): She was a lodger and shared sex partners with Rose. Following her disappearance, Gough's mother traveled to Cromwell Street to ask about her daughter's whereabouts, when she saw Rose wearing her daughter's clothes and slippers. She was informed that Lynda had moved to find work in a different town. Her remains were buried in an inspection pit beneath the garage, which was later converted into a bathroom.

November 10th, 1973

Carol Ann Cooper (15):

She had been placed into care following her mother's death in 1966. She was last seen alive by her boyfriend while boarding a bus to her grandmother's house. Fred referred to Cooper as "Scar Hand" in reference to a recent firework burn she had sustained. Cooper was the final victim found from the cellar. Her skull was bound with surgical tape and her dismembered limbs were bound with a cord and braiding cloth. 

December 27th, 1973

Lucy Partington (21):

She was a college student who was abducted from a bus stop. Her precise day of death may have been one week after her disappearance, as Fred admitted himself into the casualty unit of the Gloucester Royal Hospital with a serious laceration of his right hand on January 3rd, which was possibly sustained as he dismembered her body. Her body was discovered in the Cromwell Street cellar on 6 March 1994. 

April 16th, 1974

Thérèse Siegenthaler (21):

She was a college student who was studying sociology and was abducted while hitchhiking. Fred mistook her Swiss accent to be a Dutch accent, and always referred to her as either "the Dutch girl" or "Tulip". She was reported missing by her family in Switzerland when communication from their daughter stopped. Fred later concealed her remains by building a false chimney breast on her grave.

November 15h, 1974

Shirley Hubbard, (15):

She was a  foster child abducted from a bus stop. Her dismembered remains were found in a section of the cellar known to the family as the “Marilyn Monroe area.” Her head had been completely covered in tape, with a one eighth of an inch diameter rubber tube inserted three inches into her nasal cavity to enable her to breathe. 

April 12th, 1975

Juanita Mott, (18):

She had been a former lodger at 25 Cromwell Street, but was living with a family friend when she disappeared. She is believed to have been abducted by the Wests as she was hitchhiking. In his confessions to the police, Fred would refer to her as "the girl from Newent.”

May 10th, 1978

Shirley Robinson (18):

She was another former lodger at 25 Cromwell Street, and was a bisexual woman who had engaged in casual sex with Fred and Rose. At the time of her disappearance, she had been eight months pregnant with Fred's child, and her baby boy was supposed to be born on June 11th. No sexual motive existed for this murder, and the prosecution contended at Rose's trial that Robinson had been murdered as her pregnancy threatened the stability of the Wests' relationship. Fred had originally planned to sell their baby to a childless couple and had photographs taken with Robinson for this purpose. 

August 5th, 1979

Alison Chambers (16):

She had been placed into foster care at the age of 14, and had repeatedly absconded from Jordan's Brook House. She became acquainted with the Wests in mid 1979, and Fred later claimed to his solicitor that she had died as a result of Rose becoming "too bloody vicious" with her. Her dismembered body, missing several bones and with a leather belt looped beneath her jaw and tied at the top of her head, was buried in the garden of Cromwell Street. This was the final murder where a definite sexual motive was established. 

Additional to the confirmed 12 victims, police firmly believe Fred is also responsible for the 1968 disappearance of Mary Bastholm (15), but her remains have never been found. West's son, Stephen, has said he firmly believes the missing teenager was an early victim of his father, as Fred had openly bragged of having committed Bastholm's murder. 

CHARGES AND SENTENCING 

On May 6th,Fred and Rose were jointly charged with five counts of murder, with Rose simply replying, "I'm innocent" upon hearing each formal charge, a response that proved to be a theme throughout each of the 46 interviews investigators held with Rose prior to her trial. As well as the murders of the victims exhumed from Cromwell Street, Fred had confessed to the murders of his first wife and step daughter, and to knowing the location of Anne McFall's remains, even though he has always denied killing her. Fred agreed to identify each burial location, and the remains were found between April 10th  and June 7th. After being transferred to the prison, he was instantly put on suicide watch. On June 30th, 1994, Fred was charged with 12 murders, and Rose was charged with 9. This was the first time the couple had seen each other since Fred was arrested in February.

After Fred’s suicide watch had been more relaxed, he ended up killing himself in his jail cell by strangling himself in January of 1995. At the bottom his suicide note was a gravestone, with “In loving memory. Fred West. Rose West. Rest in peace where no shadow falls. In perfect peace he waits for Rose, his wife,” written inside. 

Rose pleaded not guilty to ten charges of murder, and her trial began October 3rd, 1995. After seven weeks of evidence the judge instructed the jury, emphasizing that circumstantial evidence can be sufficient for a finding of guilt, and that if two people take part in a murder, the law considers them equally guilty regardless of which of them did the deed. On November 21st and 22nd, the jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict for all ten of the murders. She was given life in prison without the possibility of parole. She is currently still in prison at the age of 69. 

A cheating wife. A lover in the attic. Scorned and broken hearts. A sweet talking babe. A murder cover up. An unbelievable story. This is a case that you wouldn’t possibly think could be true, but it really is. 

Walburga Oesterreich, who preferred to go by “Dolly,” was born in 1880, to German immigrant parents after arriving in the United States. She grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and lived in a community of fellow German immigrants. She grew up poor and at the early age of 12, she had to find a job, and found herself working at a textile mill which was owned by Fred Oesterreich. Fred was also a German immigrant who became quite successful and owned a few businesses by the early age of 17, and hired other immigrants. Dolly was a very pretty and very outgoing, friendly girl, and made friends easily. She immediately caught the eye of Fred, and the two started dating, even though she was so young at the time. The two didn’t get married until she was 17. 

A Hot Steaming Love Affair… 

Dolly became a housewife in her early 30’s and by the time she was 33, in 1913, she began feeling very unsatisfied due to Freds long hours at work. She was a woman who had “needs,” and those needs weren’t being met. Fred was either always coming home late, always busy, or was too drunk to get it up. Additionally, Dolly felt that he just wasn’t so good in the bedroom to begin with. It was rumored that she had invited multiple men into her home to satisfy her while Fred was at work, but things got much more intense after she met 17 year old Otto Sanhuber. Otto worked at Freds textile business, and when Dolly’s sewing machine broke, she called up Fred and asked him to send someone out to repair it. Dolly knew who Otto was already, and she was secretly hoping that he would be the one he’d send. She already had the plan to seduce him. When Otto knocked on the door, she answered it in nothing but a robe, and I guess it really worked on him because he immediately came inside and got down to business, thus starting a very lengthy love affair.

When the affair first began they spent all their time together going to hotels. However, she began feeling paranoid, as hotels cost money and it was becoming expensive. But most of all, it was Fred’s money, and she didn’t want him to notice his money missing and look into the issue. Due to being afraid of him finding out, she decided it would be best to just have him come over and sleep together in her bed. However, after a while of doing this, her neighbors began noticing and asked her who that mystery man was. She told them that he was just her “vagabond step brother,” which means that he was essentially homeless and had no job or food or proper shelter. Dolly started feeling even more paranoid now, and didn’t want anyone going around asking more questions and bringing it up to Fred, so she came up with yet another amazing idea. She asked Otto if he would be okay with quitting his job and living in her attic. While Fred is at work, they can have their fun together, and then he can go back into the attic when he’s home. Otto thought this was a great idea, as he pretty much had it made in this situation. He didn’t have to work, he didn’t have to pay bills, he didn’t have to worry about buying food since Dolly would feed him, and he gets to have sex with Dolly all day every day. What else could a young 17 year old ask for? During the day he would make love to Dolly, and at night he would focus on his writing. He wanted to become a pulp fiction writer and have his stories published one day. So Dolly gave him a bed, a desk that he could write on, would bring him books every week from the library, and food every day. Otto also didn’t really have any friends or family, so no one would really notice his absence. This went on for 5 long years, until 1917.

Hardcore Paranoia 

In 1917, Fred tells Dolly that they’ll be moving out of Milwaukee and going to Los Angeles, California. For several years now, he began to think that he was going crazy. He would hear strange noises throughout the house, every night he’d hear footsteps above his bed, and the food in the home disappeared faster than it should’ve for only two people living there. He wasn’t sure if someone was sneaking around, if there were ghosts in their home, or if he was going insane. He brought up these concerns with Dolly multiple times, and she would gaslight him and tell him that she had no idea what he was talking about, that he wasn’t making any sense, and that maybe he should go see a doctor. Fred did in fact, go see a doctor, and the doctor told him he couldn’t find anything wrong with him. Freaked out, he officially tells Dolly they’ll be moving, and it wasn’t up for debate. 

They go down to LA to look around for homes, but she voices one non negotiable for her. She told Fred that there must be an attic in their new home. He said okay, and looked around, but it was very hard finding a home with an attic in LA, but Dolly ended up getting lucky and found one. They bought the home and went back to Milwaukee to pack, and Dolly made sure Otto went to the new home early, so he had time to get situated before Fred arrived. 

Over the course of the next several months, Otto continued to do what he always did. Passion with Dolly by day, pulp fiction writer by night. He even managed to publish some of his stories, which he gained money from and helped provide assistance for Dolly with costs of food and such. However, Fred just continued to get more and more paranoid, as all the same noises and issues from his previous home had followed him all the way to LA. He was truly convinced that he was going crazy. He continued to get gaslighted by Dolly, and he began getting so frustrated and stressed that the couple began to argue much more frequently. 

On August 22nd, 1922, the duo had their biggest argument ever. It was so loud that Otto was able to hear everything from the attic. He felt as though Dolly was in danger and wanted to go down there to protect the love of his life. So he went down a little hole which actually led into their bedroom closet, where he found two of Fred’s 25 caliber pistols. He grabbed one of the guns and went through the kitchen to confront Fred, and as soon as they saw each other, everything started to make sense. He realizes that this man, who used to work for him, has been living in his attic for the last 10 years, and he’s been supporting him the entire time. He became furious and the two ended up getting into a physical altercation when the gun went off. The first bullet hits the ceiling, and the next three hits Fred directly into his chest, killing him instantly. 

Dolly and Otto start to panic and he decides to lock Dolly inside the closet which locks from the outside. This would work as an alibi since she clearly couldn’t kill someone if she had been locked inside a closet. He then takes a few expensive items from around the house, including his diamond watch that he was wearing. He then goes upstairs to hide since he knew the neighbors would call the police, considering there were gunshots and all the screaming she did. When the police showed up, they found Fred’s lifeless body on the floor, and Dolly passed out inside the closet. When they asked her what happened, she said they were robbed, they killed Fred, and locked her inside. The police were very skeptical about her story, but since they didn’t really have any evidence to challenge her story, they had to let her go. They had just gotten away with murder. 

Life As A Widow 

You would think that Dolly and Otto’s relationship would now be a normal and public relationship, considering her husband is no longer around. But that’s not what ends up happening at all. Instead, Dolly purchased another home with the money she got after Fred’s death, and this new home had an attic in it. Life went as it always did… He’d mess around with Dolly during the day, and write during the night. It’s unclear as to why Otto would want to continue on with the same old arrangements, now that they no longer have to sneak around. But for Dolly, the reason was quite clear. She had met another man named Hermann Shapiro. Hermann was a very successful businessman and the two hit it off immediately. She even gave him a gift early into the relationship, which was a diamond watch. Knowing the situation, he asked her, “isn’t this the watch that was stolen from your late husband?” She told him that she had actually found it somewhere in the house. He believed her. 

Once again, due to the long hours Hermann was working, she became unsatisfied, even with Otto in the attic. She started paying less attention to Otto, and went out and got another successful man to have on the side, named Roy Klumb. Roy was a successful lawyer and an aspiring actor. She knew that the guns were still in the home, and she didn’t want anything suspicious around incase the police showed up again, so she talked to Roy and told him that she still had one of Fred’s .25 caliber pistols, and that it looked very similar to the ones used to kill Fred, and asked if he’d be able to get rid of it for her. He didn’t question it at all and agreed to dispose of the gun, and threw it in the La Brea Tar Pits. However, she still had one of the other guns, and she couldn’t ask Roy to dispose of another gun as it would make her look really shady, so she went to one of her neighbors and told him the exact same story she told Roy, and asked if he could dispose of the gun for her. He agreed to do so and buried the gun deep in his backyard. 

Dolly now had three men to satisfy her needs. Otto, Hermann, and Roy. However, a few years later, something made Dolly want to end things with Roy, and he became furious. Due to his rage he decided to go to the police and tell them about the gun that Dolly asked him to dispose of and where it was. The police went and retrieved the gun and went to Dolly’s home and arrested her. The neighbor who disposed of the other gun saw her getting arrested and didn’t want any ties to whatever’s going on, and tells the police that he also disposed of a gun for Dolly in his backyard, and the officers dug it up. 

Dolly was now in jail and waiting for her trial, when her main man Hermann came to visit her. She was in a panic considering Otto was still in the attic and he doesn’t know what’s going on, and isn’t able to eat anything. She told Hermann that her step-brother was actually living in her attic and asked him if he could go over there and give him some food. She informed him that all he had to do was knock on the ceiling in her bedroom closet and he’d know to come out. Hermann didn’t question anything in her story and agreed to go give this man some food. When Otto comes down, he for some reason feels compelled to tell Hermann everything he’s been doing with Dolly and that he was having wild sex with her, and doing it very often. Hermann was weirded out and kicked Otto out of the home and told him to never return. Hermann then went to bail Dolly out of jail, and considering the fact that the guns were so eroded from being buried for so long, they couldn’t find any evidence on the guns linking them to Dolly or that those were the guns used in the murder at all, so the charges against her were dropped. She had now gotten away with this for the second time. 

When Dolly is released from jail, Hermann decides to move in with her, even though he just found out that she was not only cheating on him, but cheating on him with her apparent step brother who was strangely living inside her attic. Hermann lived with her for the next 7 years, and once again Dolly was back to her old cheating ways, but not with Otto. She hasn’t heard or seen Otto since the day he was thrown out of her home. One day Hermann came home and found her in bed with another man, flew into a fit of rage, broke things off and went to the police station and gave them every single piece of evidence he had been collecting over the years that proves Dolly and that man Otto murdered Fred. He told police that he believed Otto was the one who locked her in the closet, stole the items, including the watch she gave him as a gift, and then hid in the attic to make it look like a staged robbery. Dolly was once again apprehended. 

Escaping Justice

It took them a year to locate Otto. He had moved to Canada, changed his name, and actually got married. He then moved back to Los Angeles where he was apprehended. Otto immediately came clean and confessed to everything. He told them all about his time in her attic, the love affairs, how the murder of Fred took place, what happened after, everything. His defense lawyer told the court that Dolly had kept him locked up and enslaved him since he was 17, therefore he hadn’t had a normal life and had the mind of an 8 year old. His lawyer tried to get him found not guilty due to the reason of insanity. However, he was still found guilty of manslaughter. But, he still could not be punished considering the fact that just one year before he was convicted, the statute of limitations on manslaughter had expired. Otto walked out as a free man. 

In Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada, the community wasn’t aware that there was a self proclaimed 300 year old werewolf walking amongst them. But during the afternoon on April 23rd, 2006, a grizzly discovery would be found. The triple homicide of the Richardson family, committed by their own 12 year old daughter and her 300 year old werewolf boyfriend. 

The Richardson family consisted of the father, 42 year old Marc Richardson, and the mother, 48 year old Debra Richard. They had two children, Jasmine who was 12, and an 8 year old son, Tyler. They were a typical normal loving family and didn’t have any major issues going on within their household. Jasmine went to an all girls catholic school and was said to be a great kid, friendly, caring, and did very well in school. Jacob was said to be a very happy and energetic kid, and was labeled as the class clown and loved making people laugh. 

Jasmine’s parents along with her friends all noticed a change in not only her attitude, but her appearance as well. Everyone knows that kids tend to change a little once they approach their teenage years and they’re finding themselves. But this was a very drastic change. Jasmine was a very good kid in school and made sure to never break any rules, never got in trouble at school or at home, was very social and always liked spending time with her friends, and she was a very girly girl, and loved wearing pink and other bright colors. However, she slowly started to change. She started wearing darker makeup and darker clothes, and soon began to wear all black clothes entirely. She started wearing fishnets, chains, chokers, and other kinds of jewelry that weren't allowed to be worn at school. She started distancing herself from her friends, changed her interests, and was becoming more and more like a rebel. Even her music interests changed as she started listening to things like punk-rock or metal music. She also began to take pens and sharpie markers to draw tattoos on herself, but things like pentagons and other satanist related things, and considering she went to a catholic school, that stuff wasn’t taken lightly. The girl who was once sweet, never talked back and followed all the rules, had now started arguing, snapping back at teachers, breaking dress codes, and just being snarky, thus getting into trouble very often. 

Jasmine’s Biggest Downfall

Jasmine attended a punk-rock show one evening, where she ended up meeting a man named Jeremy Steinke. They were both very into each other from the get go, and she just instantly became obsessed with that man. The disturbing part to this is the fact that was only 12 years old, and Jeremy was 23. Jeremy was a high school dropout, lived in a bad neighborhood, and was unemployed. But the main reason Jasmine was so into this man was due to the fact that he was a completely goth person. He was basically just like her. He wore all black, the black makeup, jewelry, everything. They exchanged numbers and soon began secretly hanging out and forming an intimate relationship. She would tell her parents that she was going out with friends, but would really be going over to his house. Whenever she couldn’t hangout, they would keep in touch online through social media. 

Jeremy also wore a little vial of blood around his neck as a necklace, and told Jasmine that there was real blood inside of it, and that he loves the taste of blood and needs it in order to survive. Jasmine was super intrigued and asked him if he was a vampire, and he told her no, he’s not a vampire… He’s a 300 year old werewolf. Just a few months after meeting him, she changed completely and her original friends claimed that they became afraid of her. Jasmine stated that she took a lot of pleasure in scaring people because it made her feel like she was in control, powerful, and in charge. She started spending time on a website called vampirefreaks.com, which was pretty much just like MySpace, but strictly for the vampire community. On her Myspace profile, she used to have her parents and her friends as her heroes, but she then changed it to Jeffrey Dahmer, Criss Angel, Marylin Manson, Dani Filth, and Batman. On her vampirefreaks.com profile, she described herself as Wiccan, bisexual, insane, etc. She even had blood, kinky shit, and dark poetry listed under her interests column. Jeremy was also very into this website, and it’s where the two communicated the most.

He Huffed, and He Puffed, and He Blew Her House Down

Jasmine’s parents eventually find her social media websites and learn all about this Jeremy dude she’s been seeing secretly. They know how old she is, they know she’s been sneaking out, and not coming home when she’s supposed to, and they had to intervene for the safety of their daughter. As any normal parent would, they forbade her to stop seeing this man, and that he was way too old for her. She was grounded and not allowed to leave the house unless it was for school, and she was to come home directly after school. This infuriated Jasmine and caused her to act out even more, and a war soon happened inside the home. One day, she wrote a message to Jeremy telling him that she had an amazing idea. “It starts with me killing them, and ends with me living with you.” Yes. She was the one who came up with the plan to murder her entire family, so she could be free and live the life she wants, instead of running away like a normal teenager would do. He responded in return, stating that he wants to slit their throats and that they’d forget ever trying to keep them apart. 

On the evening of April 22nd, 2006, the family was getting ready for bed. Debra heard some noises coming from downstairs and decided to go check it out, when she was met face to face with a mysterious man wearing a black man, holding a knife. She panicked and she screamed, but sadly she was stabbed to death 12 times. Due to the screaming she woke up her husband Marc, and their son Tyler. Marc runs downstairs and finds this man standing over his wife as she’s covered in blood, and quickly grabs a screwdriver and attempts to fight off the attacker. Marc puts up a really good fight, punching him and trying to stab him with the screwdriver, but sadly he couldn’t overpower him. Marc was stabbed and killed 24 times. Jasmine had been inside of her room this entire time, pretending to be asleep when he came inside and started the attacks. However, her little brother's room was right next to hers, and Jasmine went inside and saw him hiding on his bed because he was so afraid. She held him and covered his ears to refrain from hearing all the screaming downstairs. Shortly after that, Jeremy came upstairs after making sure both of her parents were dead, and that’s when Jasmine decided that her little brother, who she was just protecting, needed to die as well. She claimed that she had no choice but to kill him, because both of their parents were dead, and claimed that there wasn’t any point to keeping him alive if there was no one to take care of him, as she was going to leave and start a new life with Jeremy. She stabbed her own brother 5 times and slit his throat. 

The next day a little boy came to their home and knocked on the door to ask if Tyler could come out and play. When no one answered, he peeked through the window, and saw something that no child should ever have to see. He ran home and told his parents, and the police were called. When the police entered the home, they found the bodies and saw a tremendous amount of blood. When they saw the little boy’s throat was slashed, they determined that whoever killed the family had to have known them, because these attacks were personal. While investigating the house they noticed a family portrait that had both parents, the son, and a daughter, which led the police to assume that the daughter had been kidnapped by the killer. They sent out an amber alert and went down to the school to search her locker for any clues or information that might possibly help lead them to the killer. Inside the locker they find an alarming drawing consisting of a house that’s on fire, stick figures inside the house that’s burning, and two stick figures running away from the house. Jasmine now went from a missing person to a murder suspect. 

Arrest, Trial, and Sentencing

Police ended up finding both Jasmine and Jeremy within 24 hours of discovering the bodies. They showed no negative emotions while being apprehended. They weren’t remorseful, didn’t show any signs of grief, sadness, or concern. Jeremy actually laughed and bragged about how he got a black eye from Marc punching him in the face. Jasmines trial began in June of 2007, and when she was asked why she had murdered her family, she said: 

“I loved Jeremy so much. I thought it was going to bring us closer together.”

When the evidence was brought in, they had a LOT of jailhouse letters that were exchanged between her and Jeremy. Once again, neither of them showed any signs of guilt or remorse for what they have done, and basically just talked about their future together when they got out of prison. She even joked in what of her letters that they were “immortal legends.” This is what it said in one of her letters:

“Never has a person affected me so much. Always, will there be missing something without you with me. My lawyer tells me we’re legends, hah. Closer to immortality, it would seem.”

After that letter they bring in another one that was written by Jeremy.

“I love you more than life itself. I’ve added you to my visitors list so once you’re released, please visit often. Never forget how much I care, or that I love you. Without you, this life isn’t worth living. You said you want to get engaged? Then here’s the question. Will you marry me? If so, then it's a verbal agreement.” 

She accepted his proposal. She also took the stand in her own defense on July 3rd, 2007. She told the court that she had a hypothetical conversation about killing her family, and possibly making the deaths look like a murder suicide, or an accidented, but didn’t actually intend to go through with that plan. Then when she was questioned about her letters to Jeremy, she claimed that she was only talking about her five minutes of fame, and that people are going to remember them forever. She told them that she was home when the murders happened, and that she was in her brother's room trying to cover his ears and protect him from hearing the screams from their parents. She then goes on to say that Jeremy came upstairs and started yelling at her to kill her brother, since he just killed her parents for them, so now she needed to participate as well. She claims to have stabbed him, but “not very hard.” She pleaded not guilty to all three counts of first degree murder, but after just three hours, the jury found Jasmine guilty on all three counts. Considering Canada is more lenient with their justice system, she was only sentenced to 10 years in prison, which was the max penalty under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. This act states that convicts who are under the age of 14 during the time they committed the crimes cannot be charged as an adult and can only receive the maximum sentence of 10 years. She also got a credit of 18 months for the time she served while waiting for her trial. Additionally, 4 out of those 10 years will be spent in a psychiatric facility. She would then spend 4 and a half years under conditional supervision within the community. 

I wanted to do something a little different for my 100th post, and decided to make a simple list of serial killers for every letter of the alphabet. Q and X have been left out due to the fact that nothing exists for those letters so, my apologies!

Atlanta Ripper: Is an unidentified serial killer who’s suspected of killing 15 women in Atlanta between 1909 and 1914. 6 different suspects were found, but no convictions have ever been found. It’s possible that the Atlanta Ripper could be responsible for as many as 21 murders, but there’s no hard evidence that can declare that these murders were committed by the same person. 

Bouncing Ball Killer: Is an unidentified serial killer who’s suspected of killing at least 6 women in Los Angeles between May 1959, and June 1960. 3 initial suspects have been cleared, and 5 others have been suspected, but no convictions have been made. 

Charlie Chop-off: Is an unidentified serial killer known to have killed 4 children in Manhattan between 1972 and 1973. Police heavily believe that a man named Erno Soto is the killer, as the murders stopped after his arrest, but were let go due to lack of evidence. 

Doodler: Is an unidentified serial killer suspected to have killed between 6 and 16 men, and an additional 3 assaults on other men in San Francisco, California. He was given his nickname the “Doodler” due to his signature of sketching his victims before stabbing them to death. 

Edward Edwards: Before becoming a serial killer, he was a former fugitive. He escaped from jail in Ohio and held up multiple gas stations before making a run for it to Georgia. He landed himself on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List by 1961. He was captured in Atlanta, Georgia, and convicted of 5 confirmed murders, but is suspected to have killed 9-15 additional people.

Freeway Phantom: Is an unidentified serial killer who is suspected of killing 5 young girls and one woman in Washington, D.C, between April 1971, and September 1972. There have been multiple suspects, but no convictions have happened. 

Grim Sleeper: Lonnie David Franklin Jr. was a serial killer who was responsible for at least 10 murders and one attempted murder in Los Angeles, California, between 1984 and 2007. He gained his nickname as the Grim Sleeper due to appearing to have taken a 14 year break between his murders. He was also convicted of sexual violence and rape. 

Hillside Stranglers: Two serial killers named Kenneth Alessio Bianchi, and Angelo Buono Jr. They were convicted for kidnapping, raping, torturing, and killing 10 women together in Los Angeles, California, between October 1977, and February 1978. The victims were between 12 and 28 years old. Bianchi killed two additional women by himself, and were both sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. 

I-70 Strangler: Is an unidentified serial killer who’s suspected of killing at least twelve boys and men in Ohio and Indiana between June 1980, and October 1991. This case is officially unsolved, but it’s heavily suspected that the serial killer, Herb Baumeister, was the killer. Herb is now deceased, and was convicted for murdering over a dozen men in the early 1990s, some of them last being seen around gay bars. He killed himself after a warrant was out for his arrest. 

Willie Ben Jones: Is a serial killer who killed at least sex workers in Richmond, Virginia, between 1980 and 1991. When asked why he killed these women, he replied by stating that they “had to be punished for being sex workers.” He was given 3 consecutive 20 year sentences. 

Todd Kohlhepp: Is a serial killer and sex offender who was convicted of killing seven people in South Carolina between 2003 and 2016. He also kidnapped at least one woman, sexually assaulted another, and claims that he’s killed many more. 

Leonard Lake: Was a serial killer during the mid 1980s, and was convicted of raping, torturing, and killing 11 women, and is suspected to have killed as many as 25. He also had an accomplice, Charles Ng. They killed their victims at a remote cabin in Wilseyville, California.

Cory Morris: Is a serial killer, rapist, and necrophile who murdered at least 5 sex workers in his trailer in Phoenix, Arizona, between September 2002, and April 2003. He was sentenced to death, but is currently still alive at age 45. 

Francis Nemechek: Is a serial killer who killed 4 women and a young boy in Kansas between December 1974, and August 1976. He admitted to the murders and also claimed to have sexually assaulted some of them, but plead not guilty for the reason of insanity, but was found guilty anyway and sentenced to life in prison. He has been denied parole 4 times. 

Juan David Ortiz: Is a serial killer and spree killer who killed 4 sex workers in September 2018. He was arrested after a potential victim escaped and contacted the police. 

Pleasant Pruitt: Is a serial killer who killed three subsequent wives. He was never charged with killing his first two wives, but ended up taking his own life after he killed his last wife to refrain from going to prison. 

Robert Ben Rhoads: Is a serial killer and rapist who was convicted in 1994 for murdering 3 women that he found at truck stops. He’s also suspected of killing as many as 50 women. 

Skid Row Stabber: Is an unidentified serial killer who murdered 11 women between 1978 and 1979 in a neighborhood that people liked to call “Skid Row” located in Los Angeles. This neighborhood is known to house a lot of homeless people, who are often subjected to victimization. Bobby Joe Maxwell was arrested, charged, and convicted of the murders, but his conviction was overturned in 2010. 

Brandon Tholmer: Is a serial killer and rapist responsible for at least 12 murders of elderly women between January 1981 and October 19823, in Los Angeles' West Side. He gained the nickname “The West Side Rapist.” It’s speculated that he possibly had an accomplice, and could’ve killed up to 34 women.

Andrew Uridales: He was a serial killer who was convicted of murder twice. He was convicted in 2002 for killing 3 women in Illinois, and then convicted in California in 2018 for killing 5 women. He was sentenced to death in California, but killed himself in prison a few months later. He also attacked another woman in 1992, but she thankfully escaped. 

Darren Deon Vann: Is a serial killer who was arrested in October 2018 for the murder of Afrikka Hardy (19), in Hammond, Indiana. He also confessed to killing 6 other women, and led the police to all of their bodies, which were found in 5 abandoned structures in Gary, Indiana. He is suspected of killing as many as 18 women.

West Mesa Murders: Is an unidentified serial killer who’s responsible for the murders of 11 women, whose remains were found buried in the desert of West Mesa of Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 2009. There have been multiple suspects, but no one has been charged. The killings were believed to be the work of a serial killer, but they suspect that it’s possible that a sex trafficking ring could’ve been involved. 

Robert Lee Yates: Is a serial killer also known as the Grocery Bag Killer, who’s known to have killed at least 11 women Spokane, from 1975 to 1998. He also confessed to killing two additional women in Walla Walla in 1975, and another murder in Skagit County in 1988. In 2002, he was convicted of killing two women in Pierce County and was sentenced to death, but his sentence was later changed to life without parole, as the Washington Supreme Court ruled capital punishment as unconstitutional in 2018. 

The legend of The Ghosts of Slaughterhouse Canyon takes place in 1882 in the town of Kingman, Arizona. Throughout history this town was used both as a reservation for Native Americans, and a military base. The town became larger once a section of railroad was routed through the area. This urban legend is full of what many truly scary legends are made of: Sickness. Disease. Tragedies. Heartbreak. Hopelessness. Pain. Desire. Madness. Disaster. Regret. Death.

The Gold Rush in Arizona started in 1858, and many people who were seeking to be rich in order to provide for their families were stricken with tragedy, sickness, and sometimes even death. This was an extremely hard time for the gold miners, and once they realized how rare it would be to actually find their fortune, they began feeling deep disappointment, and often regretted their efforts as it wasn’t worth all the risks they’ve taken. Eventually, the fortune seekers began minding for silver and copper, and at one point the value of silver and copper were much higher than gold, considering how rare it was to actually find it. It was a devastating experience for the families who left their homes and traveled to the west in search of gold, as those are the families who often ended up starving to death due to the debilitating experience and lack of money. 

LUNA’S CANYON

The legend of Luna’s Canyon, or Slaughterhouse Canyon is a popular area for exploring ghost hunters. 

In the 1800’s a miner who had big dreams lived in a small wooden shack in the canyon with his family. He wanted so badly to become wealthy and provide a better life for his wife Luna and their children. This man would often venture out into the mountains in search of gold and food to bring back to his family. They didn’t have the funds to keep food in the home regularly, so the only food that they had to eat was whatever he’d bring back home from his mining adventures. It’s unclear whether the man traveled for two weeks at a time, or if he only left to travel every two weeks. But that didn’t matter at all. What mattered was whatever he brought back home for their family when he did leave. Without him, they would surely starve to death. Sadly, that’s what was in the cards for this poor family. 

One day the miner got up, got ready for his mining adventures, kissed Luna goodbye, told his family how much he loved them and that he’d be back as soon as he could, and set foot out the door… never to return. As the days turned into weeks, the food and supplies in the household began to dwindle and dwindle, until there was nothing else left. Luna and her children started to starve. On top of this, she worried about her husband. Many things ran through her mind. Did he get sick and die? Did a wild animal attack him? Was he robbed and killed? Did he have an accident? But sadly, none of that mattered in the end. It didn’t change the outcome of her family slowly dying. Her heart shattered just as much as her stomach growled. Between the loss of her husband and the loss of their food, Luna began to spiral into madness. 

Luna’s children had become pale and weak from starvation. Every passing day the children would cry and beg their mother for food, but she had nothing to give. She had no way to help her children, and one day she just couldn’t take the crying and begging anymore. Luna snapped, no longer being able to watch her children starve to death. Her sanity no longer existed.

During a storm on one fateful evening, Luna put on her beautiful white wedding dress, grabbed a knife, and murdered her children. She dismembered each of their little bodies and cut their flesh into small pieces. By the time she was done, her wedding dress which was once beautiful and white, was now horrifying and drenched in blood. The massacre was so brutal, the walls inside her little shack were covered from top to bottom in blood. Everything… was red. Luna picked up the remains of her children and threw all of it into the river, and then collapsed to the ground and cried hysterically over what she had just done to her poor babies, although she knew that they would’ve endured death either way. She cried outside in the rain all night long, until she herself died from starvation the very next morning.