From wrongful convictions that turned deadly to vigilante killers, mafia enforcers, and cold cases finally cracked decades later, these stories show just how strange and terrifying real-life murder can be. This fifth installment in our series dives into 50 more cases from around the world where justice failed, luck ran out, or the truth came to light far too late. If you think you have seen it all, these murders, coincidences, and near-mythical crimes will prove that reality is still far scarier than fiction.
Read the rest of the series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
1 Steven Avery Exonerated, Then Killer
In 1985, a Wisconsin man named Steven Avery was convicted of sexually assaulting and attempting to murder jogger Penny Beerntsen on a Lake Michigan beach, and he spent 18 years in prison before new DNA testing in 2002 proved another man, Gregory Allen, committed the crime. Avery walked free in 2003 and became a symbol of wrongful convictions after his exoneration.
In October 2005, two years after his release, photographer Teresa Halbach vanished after visiting Avery’s family auto salvage yard, and investigators later found her car and burned bone fragments on the property. Avery was arrested, and in 2007, a Wisconsin jury convicted him of first-degree intentional homicide and illegal possession of a firearm in Halbach’s death, sending him back to prison for life.
2 Banda Islands Nutmeg Massacre
In 1621, the Dutch East India Company under Governor General Jan Pieterszoon Coen moved against the Bandanese people in Bandaneira Island, a crucial source of nutmeg. Coen accused local leaders of violating Dutch trade agreements and brought in Japanese mercenaries, who helped round up and execute around forty chiefs and inhabitants in a brutal show of force.
Dutch forces then killed, starved, or deported most of the island’s 12,000 to 15,000 residents, leaving only about 1,000 people alive on the islands. The Dutch resettled the land with European planters and enslaved laborers, turning the Banda Islands into a tightly controlled nutmeg monopoly.
3 Chicago One-Legged Killer Clown
In 1912, itinerant circus performer Charles Cramer, who used the stage name Conway and walked on a wooden leg, moved into a Chicago rooming house with his wife and a vacationing couple that included a wealthy heiress. The heiress soon turned up strangled in one of the rooms, and Cramer and his wife vanished, triggering a nationwide manhunt that focused on the easily recognized one-legged clown.
Authorities eventually captured Cramer and convicted him of first-degree murder, and a court sentenced him to life in Joliet prison instead of sending him to the gallows. In 1925 he escaped from prison and disappeared, and despite the publicity around the case, no one ever proved where the one-legged killer clown went or how his life ended.
4 Spets Mafia Boss TV
In the early 2000s in Ussuriysk, in Russia’s Far East, local mafia boss Vitali Dyomochka decided to dramatize his own criminal life in a seven-part television series called “Spets.” He wrote, produced, directed, and starred in the show, and he cast real members of his gang to play themselves, staging scenes based on actual rackets and violent episodes.
During production, police investigations closed in on his crew, resulting in the arrest of around ten gang members, while rival criminals murdered one of his associates. When the series finished in 2003, it aired on local TV, reportedly drew near 100 percent ratings, and turned a working crime boss into a notorious cult TV figure.
5 Playboy Model Identified By Implants
In August 2009, 28-year-old Playboy and swimsuit model Jasmine Fiore vanished from Southern California, and garbage collectors later found her nude, mutilated body stuffed in a suitcase in a dumpster. Her killer had removed her teeth and fingers to stop investigators from using dental records or fingerprints, so coroners traced the serial numbers on her silicone breast implants to formally identify her.
Police quickly focused on her husband, Canadian real estate developer and VH1 reality show contestant Ryan Alexander Jenkins, and charged him with her murder. Before he could stand trial, Jenkins fled to Canada and died by suicide in a British Columbia motel.
6 Donnie Brasco’s Ordered Mafia Hits
Between 1976 and 1981, FBI agent Joseph Pistone lived undercover in New York as jewel thief “Donnie Brasco” while infiltrating the Bonanno crime family. Mobsters treated him like a rising associate and eventually asked him to carry out four murders to prove his loyalty.
At least once, the situation became so dangerous that the FBI had to stage a fake killing rather than risk blowing his cover by refusing the hit. Pistone’s years undercover ultimately led to hundreds of indictments and more than 100 convictions, but his assignment came close to forcing him into real murder.
7 New Mexico’s Murdered First Graduate
In 1893, the newly founded New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, which would later become New Mexico State University, prepared to graduate its very first class. That class had only one student, a young man named Sam Steel, who represented the entire graduating cohort. Before he could receive his diploma, someone murdered Steel.
Latest FactRepublic Video:
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
8 Tia Skinner’s Parent Knife Plot
In 2010, 17-year-old Tia Skinner from St. Clair County, Michigan, secretly recruited her 18-year-old boyfriend and his friend to attack her parents in their home. The teens entered the house at night and repeatedly stabbed Tim and Mary Skinner as they slept, killing her father and leaving her mother with critical injuries.
Investigators quickly tied the plot to Tia, arrested all three, and a jury convicted her of first-degree murder and conspiracy. She later tried to overturn her conviction by arguing that police interviewed her without parental consent, but the courts rejected her appeal and kept her life sentence in place.
9 John Wayne Gacy’s First Thrill
In the early hours of January 3, 1972, Chicago contractor John Wayne Gacy met 16-year-old Timothy Jack McCoy at the Greyhound bus station and invited the Nebraska teenager home to his house in Norwood Park Township during a layover. Gacy later claimed he woke to find McCoy standing in his bedroom doorway holding a kitchen knife, fought with him in panic, and repeatedly stabbed him in the chest.
Afterward he noticed that McCoy had set out eggs, bacon, and a table for two, and realized the boy had been preparing breakfast and had only come to wake him while still holding the knife. Gacy buried McCoy in his crawl space and later told investigators that as he listened to the boy’s dying “gurgulations,” he experienced an involuntary orgasm and decided that killing was, for him, the ultimate thrill.
10 Lamar Smith Courthouse Daylight Lynching
On August 13, 1955, 63-year-old farmer, World War I veteran, and civil rights activist Lamar Smith stood outside the Lincoln County courthouse in Brookhaven, Mississippi, helping Black voters with absentee ballots. A white man shot Smith in the head in broad daylight, and blood reportedly spattered on the courthouse steps as more than 30 people, including the local sheriff, witnessed the attack.
Despite the crowd of onlookers and the identification of suspects, no witness agreed to testify in court. A grand jury refused to indict anyone, and Smith’s murder went unpunished.
RE: Fact #4 (Spets Mafia Boss TV) – it got a 100 percent rating or what, thats kinda hard to believe
if 5 out of 5 people watched it then yeah i guess thats a 100 percent rating or whatever
RE: Fact #47 (Andrés Escobar Own-Goal Retaliation Killing) – There’s a pretty cool doc on Netflix about this—it’s called “The Two Escobars.”
RE: Fact #12 (San Francisco’s Zebra Death Angels) – Wait, so Harris, the informant, was actually part of this crew but didn’t commit any murders himself? That’s really weird. Personally, I don’t think I’d keep hanging around someone after they just told me about kidnapping and killing a couple.
RE: Fact #10 (Lamar Smith Courthouse Daylight Lynching) – Smith really worked hard to help Black voters use absentee ballots, trying to keep them safe from violence at the polls. The day he was murdered, August 13, 1955, he was at the Lincoln County Courthouse in Brookhaven, helping other African Americans with their absentee ballots. He died standing up for what he believed in, such a courageous man. The fact that not a single person from the neighborhood spoke up, even though the crime happened publicly, says a lot about that terrifying climate of intimidation. It just makes me admire his bravery even more.
All thirty witnesses were white, and the sheriff was even among them. So I wouldn’t really say their silence was because they were scared.
There was definitely a climate of fear for Black people back then. That makes the victim’s actions seem even more admirable.
RE: Fact #18 (Shiori Ino Stalking Law Murder) – Doesn’t it seem like we should deal with officers who won’t investigate what’s upsetting a scared young person, rather than just making stalking illegal and still having cops who’d rather mock someone reporting it than actually do their job?
RE: Fact #40 (American Me Mexican Mafia Retaliation) – It’s been ages since I saw that film, and I don’t recall any explicit portrayal of homosexuality. The only thing I remember was some rape scenes in prison. I know it was homosexual rape, but I figured that seemed more “acceptable” with the hardcore gang members than two men being affectionate about each other. When the main character gets out, he’s about to have sex with his girlfriend and flips her over like he’d been doing in prison, but she stops him. I took that as a sign that he really only knows forceful, anal stuff where you hold your partner down. I’m going to rewatch this movie. It was such a good one back then.
RE: Fact #12 (San Francisco’s Zebra Death Angels) – Man, that’s just insane. They picked random white people as targets. It was multiple murders almost every day. The killings started again on January 28, 1974, with five more shootings; four were fatal. Tana Smith, 32, was shot on the sidewalk, just a few blocks from her place. Ten minutes later, a little further away, Vincent Wollin, 69, got shot twice in the back while he was going through trash for things to fix and sell to help his Social Security. He died right near his house, where his buddies were actually waiting to celebrate his birthday. John Bambic, 87, a guy known for his goofy hats, was hit two times in the back just an hour later and died instantly. Jane Holly, 45, was doing laundry when a shooter burst in and fired two shots into her back. She died right before her 25th wedding anniversary. Minutes later, Roxanne McMillan, 23, somehow survived getting shot twice by the same man who had just said hello to her, as she was getting clothes from her car. The informant, Harris, who got immunity, described the machete killing of Quita Hague. He said ‘Larry grabbed the woman’s hair, then took a machete and pulled her about 20 feet from the van. He lifted it above his head and brought it down on her neck. He kept cutting and cutting.’ Harris also said, ‘He came over to where I was standing and told me, “You should’ve seen the blood pour out of that devil’s neck.”‘ Then Harris went on to describe Cooks’s assault on Quita’s husband.
What’s also really strange is how huge this story is, but I only found out about it by accident. I was listening to an old radio show from the seventies, and it came up, so I decided to research it. It was probably kept quiet on purpose so the idea wouldn’t spread or encourage others.
This really feels more like a spree killing, not what you’d typically expect from a serial killer.
The big difference between a spree and a serial killer usually comes down to whether they take a break to calm down before continuing. In this specific situation, they actually stopped for over three months at one point, and that’s exactly what turned it from a spree into a serial killing.
RE: Fact #4 (Spets Mafia Boss TV) – has anyone seen this? is it any good
first episode has a pretty nsfw scene so heads up
im russian and i watched it, only made it through cuz im into russian crime history, movie is pretty amateurish and the acting is almost non existant, but it does a good job explaining the road rackets business in the 90s, theres this other russian crime show brigada and its actually really good, they have professional actors and all
RE: Fact #15 (Emmett Till’s Confessed Lynch Killers) – They really ought to charge the wife, especially since she’s still alive. It was her false claims that set this entire thing in motion.
I’m guessing attitudes aren’t all that different today among the people in that forgotten town where this terrible situation occurred. So, the prosecuting attorney likely wouldn’t bring charges against her anyway.
I’ve had this thought for a while now. While these are two very distinct scenarios, remember that Nazi war criminals faced prosecution even in their advanced years. Folks could absolutely legally go after that woman if they genuinely wished to. Sadly, they haven’t acted and they won’t either.
RE: Fact #36 (Christina Wang Dating-Group Husband Murder) – That’s not really right. She wasn’t hanging out at his place with the body—her house is on the other side of the street. His coworker went over to her home when Calvin didn’t answer, told him he was at his house and asked him to call the police. Calvin is my friend.
RIP Calvin. He’s forever remembered on our group’s Discord server. We used to game with him all the time. I went to his funeral and hope we can visit him in Arlington together someday. I have a memorial card in my office and another at home. He won’t be forgotten.
RE: Fact #39 (Dr Crippen Caught At Dock) – If you haven’t checked out Eric Larsen’s “Thunderstruck,” you’re missing a lot. It’s amazing—especially the part about the first criminal caught using wireless communication. You really have to see it.
RE: Fact #31 (Jeepers Creepers Coldwater Van Murder) – I took a special‑effects class with the guy who designed that movie’s lair—he was awesome and brought loads of props, even a really gory road‑killed cat. The cat looked brutal: its middle was squished, it had been hit so badly its guts were out, and its face was horrific, but it still resembled a real cat. We couldn’t just leave it on the shelf, so we decided to do something wild with it.
In the front lobby of the school there’s a desk where a young, attractive secretary always sits to help people find rooms. One evening that desk was occupied by a twenty‑something brunette who could have been a swimwear model. A guy in our class was a former football player and known for being a chick magnet, so we sent him first to distract her while the rest of us walked past in a crowd. Some of us stopped next to her and looked at maps on her desk.
While she was distracted, someone dropped the dead cat under her desk. After the distraction was over, the dude said his goodbyes and we all waited casually just around the corner, out of sight. What we heard was a shriek and a thump. We rushed back and found her lying on the floor. She’d taken off her shoes before returning to her desk and stepped on the cat barefoot. When she looked down at what she had stepped on, it scared her so much that the shock plus bending over made her black out.
She was fine; paramedics checked her and declared her okay. The school administration called us, but no one got into serious trouble. We were thrilled that we’d pulled off such a crazy stunt for the movie.
RE: Fact #9 (John Wayne Gacy’s First Thrill) – Apparently, Gacy told investigators and reporters this wild story, even showing them a scar on his arm he said he got from it, which they bought as proof. He claimed he picked up some guy from a bus stop, drove him around Chicago to see some famous spots, then offered him a place to crash for the night, promising a ride back to the station in the morning. Gacy said he woke up to see the guy, who was maybe 15 to 21, standing there by his bedroom door with a knife. He jumped up, grabbed at the guy, who put his hands up to defend himself, and that’s how Gacy supposedly got cut. Then, Gacy said he bashed the kid’s head into the wall until he fell, and the kid kicked him. Gacy then stabbed him in the chest, killing him. After that, he supposedly walked into the kitchen and saw a table set for two, with an open egg carton and some bacon. He then realized he’d orgasmed during the killing, figuring out that murder was the ‘ultimate thrill.’ Honestly, that whole account sounds totally ridiculous to me. Think about it, Gacy specifically found other victims at bus terminals, then raped and killed them. He’d already been charged for sexual violence against a young man by that point. So, the idea that he’d just innocently invite some young guy from a bus station to stay at his place out of kindness? Nah, that’s really doubtful. I’d bet he just cooked up this tale as a fallback if he ever got caught for his first murder. Since he didn’t get caught, he just kept going. It’s too convenient that this scar on his arm just *happens* to be from his first, supposedly accidental, kill. It sounds like a bad movie script. And what a coincidence that this ‘accidental’ first murder had the exact same pattern as all his later, very intentional killings of boys from that same bus terminal. It just feels too easy and perfectly crafted. Something else I’ve noticed: over the last twenty years, the US has seen a jump in spree killers, like at the Batman theater or Sandy Hook, but a big drop in serial killers. A really big drop. Back in the seventies, it felt like an American set a new record for the most prolific serial killer every few years. And a bunch of those guys – Gacy, Dean Corll, Jeffrey Dahmer – were gay, and sometimes pedophiles. They were targeting men, often raping and torturing them, while many were married to women or lived closeted lives publicly. I suspect some of this decline ties into the greater acceptance of being gay nowadays. These men, who in the 70s wouldn’t have had any sexual outlet and faced shame or rejection for being gay, might have turned to murder to fulfill their sexual urges while keeping their identity secret. Dahmer, for example, famously tried to make ‘zombie sex slaves’ by damaging victims’ brains, so he wouldn’t need to find new people or kill every time he wanted sex. He was clearly a sexual sadist, but the killing itself seemed secondary. He really wanted obedient, mindless male sex partners, and couldn’t find a way to get that without violence, though he did try. So it really seems that repressing homosexuality played a part in these instances. Today, gay men can be open and pursue relationships without fear of being harassed or outcast. But even into the 90s, the idea of being openly gay might have been so unappealing to some that they turned to murder instead, to hide what they preferred. Sure, other things are probably involved, but there’s been a notable drop in serial killings since the 70s, and for whatever reason, that group included many gay serial killers. Maybe the gay rights movement, happening at the same time, had nothing to do with it, but I have a hunch there’s a link. I mean, since the seventies, the US went from finding new serial killers almost every year, if not more often, to barely any known serial killers in the last two decades.
What about a simpler explanation though? Like, it’s just way tougher to get away with crimes these days. Thanks to better forensics, police work, and the internet leaving a clear digital trail, it’s probably a mix of things. But yeah, totally, because it’s fine to be gay now, too.
RE: Fact #24 (Setagaya Family House Intruder Murders) – From what I know, a bunch of cold cases in Japan stay unsolved because the suspects are all Yakuza and the regular cops just won’t touch them. Think about that torture case where a low‑level Yakuza gang spent almost a month abusing a teenage girl they’d kidnapped. About thirty people knew it was happening but stayed silent out of fear. If I remember right, they walked away unscathed or got only a slap on the wrist.
Just found out that Japan isn’t just sushi and anime.
RE: Fact #36 (Christina Wang Dating-Group Husband Murder) – What a piece of work. She cheated on her husband, then two years into their divorce she discovers he’s on dating apps and ends up shooting him for it.
RE: Fact #6 (Donnie Brasco’s Ordered Mafia Hits) – It’s absolutely nuts that Ruggiero guy killed twenty-six people. Seriously, even spread out over three decades, that’s just wild.
RE: Fact #16 (Hammersmith Ghost Mistaken-Identity Murder) – Yeah, definitely one of those ‘just a prank, dude’ situations.
RE: Fact #32 (Albert Anastasia Escapes, Becomes Executioner) – 1200 people? 1200, and I’ve never heard of this guy at all? Something’s off—I always suspect that with the Mafia there’s some dramatic license from both sides.
RE: Fact #19 (Brazil’s Vigilante Killer Petey) – Even though some of his targets were criminals, he also killed others for petty stuff, admitting he just wanted to. He’s not any kind of vigilante hero.
Dude killed a guy in prison purely ’cause he didn’t like how his face looked. He was definitely no man on a mission.
RE: Fact #48 (George Lincoln Rockwell Assassin Paroled) – How is this any different from “good ol’ boy” judges letting killers of black folks off easy? It feels like the Writer is presenting it as a good thing, which comes across a bit hypocritical.
RE: Fact #38 (Ambulance Driver Serial Route Killer) – I just don’t get how that makes any sense. Wouldn’t the body be a crime scene for the police? He couldn’t drop it off, call them in, and then come pick it up.
RE: Fact #42 (Jean Lanfray Absinthe Panic Murders) – Fun fact: absinthe itself was never actually banned in the U.S., just had to stay below a certain thujone level that people thought made it psychoactive. Most pre‑Prohibition bottles still fall under that limit, and most folks think thujone has almost no effect. I figure everyone blamed absinthe because bohemians were smoking loads of opium and vets were hooked on morphine.
RE: Fact #21 (El Duce, Kurt Cobain Allegations) – Sure thing, a polygraph isn’t actually any better than flipping a coin.
Not exactly. El Duce was at a music store when Courtney Love walked up to him about that offer, and the shop manager backed it up. It’s mentioned in the second link. Here’s what the High Times article says: In late December 1993, Love parked outside The Rock Shop—a Hollywood record shop on 1644 Wilcox Ave—and talked to El Duce. She said, “El, I need a favor. My old man’s been a real asshole lately; I want you to blow his head off.” He asked, “Are you serious?” She replied, “Yeah, I’ll give you $50,000.” He said, “I’m serious if you are,” and she gave him her number. They went inside, and he handed her a business card.
The shop’s manager, Karush Sepedjian, remembers the visit. He says, “El was hanging out on the bench in front of the store when she came up. I heard her asking, ‘Can you do this? What do you want for it?’ They were talking about getting rid of Kurt Cobain.” Then El brought her inside and whispered to me, “She offered me $50,000.” Love took a card and left.
Sepedjian went on to say that in March 1994 Love called the shop looking for El Duce, who was touring at the time. Courtney yelled, “That son of a bitch, we made an agreement! What am I going to do?” He replied, “I don’t know; I’ve got a business to run. Goodbye.” Ten days later Kurt’s body was found.
So that suggests she talked to Sepedjian around March 30th 1994—maybe the “business” she told Carroll and Grant about instead of heading back to Seattle. Sepedjian added, “I wondered if she actually paid someone to kill him.” El Duce supposedly said, “Maybe she got somebody else. I think Kurt was planning to divorce her over adultery charges, so he had to be killed quickly for the money.”
Wallace and Halperin cover a similar story in their book *Who Killed Kurt Cobain?*. Sepedjian describes Courtney as frantic when she called The Rock Shop to speak to El Duce. Source: [link]
RE: Fact #30 (Lizzie Borden Evidence In Attic) – I got totally obsessed with this case, and it just makes sense that Lizzie did it. The way the murders were ordered shows that Lizzie and her sister Emma killed their stepmom Abby first so they could inherit Andrew’s estate. The idea that the killer waited almost two hours before killing Andrew is just ridiculous. The only people known to be on the property then were Lizzie and the Borden maid, Bridget Sullivan. The Bordens lived on a busy street, it was a Thursday morning, so there were plenty of witnesses who saw Bridget cleaning windows at the time Abby was killed – she’d already finished that room’s windows when Abby died and was cleaning the other side of the house.
There’s no DNA or anything from 1892, so we’ll probably never know the full truth about Andrew and Abby Borden’s murders. But there is one piece of evidence I see as the smoking gun: something Bridget said in her first police interview. She defended Lizzie’s innocence all along, but she also said that morning someone had locked the front door and she’d had to let Andrew in when he came back from his walk. While Andrew was pounding on the door as Bridget unlocked it, she heard Lizzie laughing at the top of the stairs. That puts Lizzie at the scene after Abby was already dead. When Abby’s body was found, it was clearly visible before you even reached the top of the stairs – Lizzie was there and laughing.
Bridget claimed that after letting Andrew in, Lizzie let her go take a nap in her room, which was far from where Andrew would soon be murdered – an alibi Lizzie confirmed. She’d first tried to send Bridget out of the house for a shop trip. So Bridget had an alibi for Abby’s murder and also an alibi for Andrew’s murder supplied by the suspected killer herself. Meanwhile, Lizzie stayed in the part of the house where the murders were happening. In my opinion, she pretty much had to have done it. Her police statements make very little sense and are incredibly suspicious – the cops found her sketchy, and both Bridget and Emma seemed to question parts of her story. I think Lizzie Borden really did take that axe.
RE: Fact #12 (San Francisco’s Zebra Death Angels) – I wonder, did the Zodiac Killer end up getting credit for any of these unrelated deaths? It kinda feels like there might be some common ground in their criminal patterns.
Dude, seriously, how did anyone even make it out alive in the Bay Area back in the 70s? It sounds like pretty much everyone there was a mass murderer.
I actually lived and grew up in the Bay Area from 1975 through 1994, and I honestly never caught wind of these specific murders. My guess is that the news wasn’t nearly as hyped up back then, and maybe they tried to keep public fear under control. Most people, myself included, watched the local evening news regularly. The only killings I clearly recall from that era involved a mother and daughter who were murdered in the woods by some crazy guy named Ng. Turns out it was Charles Ng and Leonard Lake, who killed 11 people, including kids, in 1984 and 1985. That story was everywhere on the news, but since it took place in the woods, maybe that’s why everyone heard about it so much.
RE: Fact #31 (Jeepers Creepers Coldwater Van Murder) – And on top of that, the film’s director is a convicted pedophile.
RE: Fact #15 (Emmett Till’s Confessed Lynch Killers) – Emmett Till’s mother really pushed for an open-casket funeral. She wanted everyone who came to see just how awful his beating had been. Just a quick warning, though: any pictures of his body are seriously not for the weak hearted.
RE: Fact #6 (Donnie Brasco’s Ordered Mafia Hits) – I caught that film yesterday, it was excellent.
Oh yeah, I actually rewatched it last month. That one scene with the dismemberment made me so curious, I went down a rabbit hole looking things up.
RE: Fact #8 (Tia Skinner’s Parent Knife Plot) – she’s saying it’s tough that her family’s not visiting her in jail, but come on, she killed her dad and tried to kill her mom over a phone, that’s not exactly something you can just get over
she’s actually pretty selfish and dumb to think she’s the victim here
or maybe she’s just a sociopath, sounds about right
i got a niece who’s super messed up, she once faked a pregnancy to scam money from my family, then threw a huge tantrum when no one helped her out when she actually got pregnant, she even got banned from facebook for posting some pretty vile stuff, ended up in jail after trashing my sister’s house, still my family pays for her apartment, it’s wild
RE: Fact #14 (Arthur Shawcross Paroled, Kills Again) – That’s seriously one of the most fu*ked up Wikipedia pages I’ve ever seen.
RE: Fact #24 (Setagaya Family House Intruder Murders) – I’ve also heard that murders are so uncommon in Japan that their homicide detectives barely get any real practice solving them.
RE: Fact #14 (Arthur Shawcross Paroled, Kills Again) – If someone rapes and murders a child, they absolutely shouldn’t ever be released. Seriously, how can anyone think letting them out is okay?
RE: Fact #16 (Hammersmith Ghost Mistaken-Identity Murder) – So, some folks actually got together, armed up, and started looking for this ghost. What I’m really wondering is, if they did catch it, then what? What was the plan for after that?
Oh, easy. They’d just pass it on to the Chief Inspectre, naturally.
RE: Fact #45 (Grant Amato Webcam Obsession Murders) – It looks terrible, honestly. He lived a luxury life at home with his parents but had no job and drained all their money. Still they kept giving him chances—seriously? I would have disowned him right then anyway because he murdered them all. What a jerk. Let this guy rot in prison for the rest of his life.
RE: Fact #19 (Brazil’s Vigilante Killer Petey) – Man, what a story. This could totally be a wild TV series. For an American audience to really get into it, they’d probably need to set it here, maybe somewhere sunny to maintain the South American atmosphere. Instead of him just offing other killers in jail, which sounds kinda dull, it’d be way more exciting if he was hunting victims out in the regular world. They’d need to show how he finds out who these killers are, so maybe he’s a cop, or even just assisting the police somehow. That would feel a lot more real. His dad should definitely be involved too, maybe as another guy who also kills. Yeah, it sounds pretty far-fetched when you put it like that, but why not? But the main guy needs a better name. Pedro’s just too common. Needs to be a little bit unusual, you know, to hint that he’s a bit different, but not so weird it’s distracting. Like Chester, or Wexler, or Webster, something along those lines.
Yeah, sounds cool, but they’d totally screw up the fu*king ending.
Nah, I bet they’d make four great seasons and then just cancel it.
RE: Fact #8 (Tia Skinner’s Parent Knife Plot) – your family’s supposed to stick by you no matter what, unless you take away their phone, then they’re fair game i guess
RE: Fact #40 (American Me Mexican Mafia Retaliation) – Shades of Juzo Itami, huh? He was one of Japan’s most talented and internationally famous directors. he “jumped off” a roof after making “Minbō no Onna,” a film that satirized the Yakuza.
RE: Fact #41 (Wild Bill Hickok-Davis Tutt Duel) – I think duels have always been shown this way: if you’re the first one to pull your gun and you kill the other person, you’re a murderer; but if you draw second it’s considered self‑defense. The whole long stare‑down before the shootout exists because each gunslinger is waiting for the other to make a move so they can claim they were defending themselves.
RE: Fact #17 (Krystian Bala’s Novel Confession Murder) – See, that’s really the main reason why cops and lawyers usually keep a few details to themselves. They’ll release enough stuff so people can lend a hand, but they pretty much always hold onto one or two key pieces. If you happen to know one of those unreleased facts, it won’t be enough to convict you right off the bat. But it’s definitely enough to get them looking your way, and usually enough to give them good reason for a real deep dive into what you’ve been up to.
It’s pretty uncommon for a killer to also be a professional writer detailing their own crimes. Actually, the main reason police don’t release all the details is so they can confirm if someone’s confession is legitimate. Just having someone claim they did a murder isn’t worth much on its own. They’re basically their own sole witness, and that person could be the killer, or a total liar, or just out of touch with reality. But if they can bring up specific bits of information that only the real murderer would know, then that makes their confession much more believable.
RE: Fact #22 (Mississippi Burning Sheriff Drops Lawsuit) – “The studio’s lawyers said they could prove in court he was an accessory to the murders the movie alleged,” is a far cry from what Wikipedia actually says: “Orion’s team of lawyers threatened to prove that the film was based on fact, and that Rainey was indeed suspected in the 1964 murders.”
Honestly, Wikipedia isn’t always spot on. From what I’ve seen, they were ready to show he was involved in the killings, but that doesn’t mean they claimed he actually carried them out himself.
RE: Fact #26 (Kenneth McDuff Paroled, Kills Again) – I can’t think of anything that has a higher recidivism rate than the death penalty.
RE: Fact #24 (Setagaya Family House Intruder Murders) – DNA won’t do much if they don’t already have your sample on file. And like everyone else mentioned—Yakuza.
RE: Fact #36 (Christina Wang Dating-Group Husband Murder) – About this shooting, court papers say a camera inside Calvin’s house captured everything. Christina admitted slapping him and knocking his glasses off before he told her to leave. Then the detective said she claimed she shot him in the stomach. When Calvin fell to the ground wincing in pain, Christina allegedly shot him in the head. Prosecutors added that the couple split up in 2022 after Christina had an affair. They have a six‑year‑old son together.
Viewers sent 13News Now screenshots of Facebook posts written by Christina Wang. She posted them on a local private group called “Are We Dating the Same Guy?” Documents say Calvin’s coworker came to his home looking for him because he didn’t show up for work, but found Christina there instead. The coworker said she admitted shooting her husband and wanted to turn herself in.
According to this article, every detail was caught on camera, so there’s no room for victim‑blaming. Navy veteran Calvin Wang died after heroically serving the country and being a father. Meanwhile the murderer’s post on AWDTSG is still visible in that city‑based group and the initial replies all encouraged this woman.
They still encourage women to stalk their former partners, put trackers in their cars, harass new girlfriends, and make women afraid to report or call out abusive behavior because members of those groups turn around and harass them. It’s not much different from a cult. AWDTSG opened Pandora’s Box and inspired abusive women to create copycat offshoots that teach other abusive women how to keep surveillance on their former partners, harassing them through digital means and even swatting.
RE: Fact #3 (Chicago One-Legged Killer Clown) – Apparently, some folks still imagine him tucked away in a tiny 1967 VW Beetle, squeezed in with like thirty-one other clowns.
What’s crazy is that he actually jumped bail and just blew off his court date. Apparently, he just couldn’t handle getting up on the stand. My bad.
RE: Fact #10 (Lamar Smith Courthouse Daylight Lynching) – The Black Lives Matter movement is still around for a reason; this issue is definitely ongoing. Cases like Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd were almost swept under the rug, with no real accountability for the people who murdered them. If it hadn’t been for body cam recordings and cell phone videos bringing attention to those incidents, those killers probably would’ve never been prosecuted.
RE: Fact #9 (John Wayne Gacy’s First Thrill) – It’s almost like someone traveled back in time to stop Gacy before he ever hurt anyone, but that action actually ended up being the whole reason Gacy started killing to begin with… what a twist!
‘So, did you get him?’ ‘Nope, turns out he just got me again.’ ‘Hold on, how are you even here then?’ ‘Right, well, it’s all about time displacement, multiple earths, speedster abilities, time paradox clones, all that usual jazz.’ ‘Uh, what now?’ ‘Forget it, let’s just mumble some jargon and pretend it makes sense.’
RE: Fact #20 (Jack Unterweger’s Fake Redemption Tour) – This guy was born in 1950, way over in Steiermark, Austria. His mother was a prostitute from Vienna, and his father, well, just some American soldier no one knew. He had a really harsh upbringing, dirt poor in a tiny one-room cabin, living with an abusive grandfather who was an alcoholic. Yeah, that sure explains a good bit.
Seriously Austria, what’s with you and all the killers?
RE: Fact #21 (El Duce, Kurt Cobain Allegations) – With all due respect, El Duce was a total lunatic. And honestly, the mentors suck—really bad.
RE: Fact #32 (Albert Anastasia Escapes, Becomes Executioner) – Here’s a bit more on him: the FBI says Anastasia is responsible for over 1,200 killings on his own, putting him among the most deadly figures ever. During his reign he ordered roughly 7,000 to 8,000 murders, but the agency suspects he may have sanctioned as many as 10,000 to 12,000 deaths—making him arguably the most ruthless, dangerous, and murderous crime boss in history.
RE: Fact #23 (Theo van Gogh Submission Murder) – The religion of peace shows mercy again.
RE: Fact #3 (Chicago One-Legged Killer Clown) – Well, hey, anyone freaked out by clowns can probably breathe a little easier now. Chances are, he’s long gone. Just saying.