Samantha Koenig was kidnapped at gunpoint from the Anchorage, Alaska, coffee stand where she worked as a barista in February 2013 by a man who may be one of the most prolific serial killer in U.S. history. Israel Keyes developed an elaborate plan to demand a ransom for the 18-year-old's return.
After his arrest, Keyes admits to killing 11 people across the country, but are there more?
The LAPD launches a criminal investigation into the death of Matthew Perry after the Medical Examiner's report is released and is nearing its conclusion.
A source close to the investigation tells People the police believe multiple people should be charged. The LAPD is working with the Drug Enforcement Administration, DEA, and the U.S. Postal Inspectors attempting to find out where the ketamine that killed Matthew Perry came from.
Will someone be charged?
The two suspects in the murder of Jocelyn Nungaray have made their first court appearance.
The 12-year-old girl's family heard in harsh detail what happened to Jocelyn. Prosecutors say she fought like a superhero, fighting with her dying breath, leaving visible marks. Johan Jose Rangel Martinez and Franklin Jose Pena Ramos, tie her hands behind her back, bind her feet, take off her shirt, and abuse her for hours under a bridge in north Houston.
Even though the police and the prosecutor believe Jocelyn was raped before she was strangled, the suspects are not charged with sexual assault as the rape kit results are still pending. The Harris County District Attorney, Kim Ogg, says they believe the evidence is clear that a sexual assault likely took place, but the defendants are not admitting yet.
However, if the lab tests confirm that 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray was raped, the capital murder charge can be upgraded to one where they are death penalty eligible.
In a dramatic court scene, a family member of Jocelyn Nungaray shouts "murderer" at Rangel-Martinez, while another shouts in Spanish, "I hope they kill your children."
It has been reported the suspected murderer has two children.
Currently, both Martinez-Rangel and Peña are charged with capital murder, and a judge has set their bond at $10 million.
Billie Jean Jackson is driving past the creek near 400 West Rankin Road and sees what she thinks might be a mannequin.
The image was lifelike enough to make her turn around and check it out for sure. Getting a good look, Jackson realizes, it is not a mannequin and calls 911.
On Sunday night, Jocelyn Nungaray's mother, Alexis reminds her not to stay up too late as Jocelyn is going to work with her mother in the morning. Alexis tells Jocelyn goodnight at 10 pm and turns in for the night herself. A little later when she is certain her mother is asleep, Jocelyn sneaks out of the house and goes to a local convenience store.
It is around midnight when she calls her 13-year-old boyfriend, who says he hears Jocelyn talking to some adults before he hangs up the phone. After talking to her boyfriend, Jocelyn is seen on camera at a local 7-Eleven convenience store.
In the pictures, Jocelyn Nungaray is seen with two other people, both adults. It's possibly the same people with whom her boyfriend overheard Jocelyn talking.
Around the same time Billie Jean Jackson is calling 911, Alexis Nungaray is preparing to wake up her 5-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter, Jocelyn Nungaray. Finding Jocelyn gone, Alexis reportedly pings her daughter’s cell phone location, which traces the phone to a creek near 400 West Rankin Road
Alexis Nungaray arrives at the spot where her daughter Jocelyn's phone pings and sees police tape is up and police are canvassing the area.
Alexis Nungaray tells police her daughter is missing, and she is there because this is where her phone last pinged. Officers take down information from Alexis, but it still takes an hour before she receives the call that a body has been found, and it is possibly Jocelyn.
Emotions are running high for the loved ones of Rachel Morin after police locate and arrest Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez.
The suspect in Rachel Morin's brutal murder is found casually sitting in a Tulsa, Oklahoma bar. During the arrest, Hernandez initially lies to authorities about his true identity and denies any knowledge of the attack on a 9-year-old little girl in Los Angeles and the murder of Morin.
The Morin family and investigators strongly believe that the two known crimes are not the only ones Victor Hernandez committed while in the U.S. The attack on a little girl and her mother in L.A. came just two months after Hernandez allegedly murdered a woman in his native El Salvador.
Rachel Morin’s body was found nearly five months later, and another 10 months passed before Hernandez’s arrest. More than a year of Hernandez’s time in the U.S. is still unaccounted for.
While there is a sense of closure, Morin’s sister, Rebekah, says it also feels like "day one all over again."
Matt McMahon, the father of Morin’s eldest daughter, says the Ma and Pa trail feels like it ‘belongs to Rachel again,’ and is even more grateful for the arrest as their daughter, Faye, is now expecting her own little girl later this year.
McMahon describes the news as bittersweet, knowing how excited Rachel Morin would be to learn she was going to be a grandmother.
Boston PD Officer John O’Keefe, 46, finds love with financial analyst Karen Read, 44, who lectures at Bently University while also working for Fidelity Investments.
Read moves into O’Keefe’s home during their two-year relationship, but it’s not always smooth sailing for the couple. O’Keefe’s niece and nephew hear loud arguments between Read and their uncle with increasing frequency. Friends who join the couple on a trip to Aruba report a blow-out fight between Read and O’Keefe during the vacation.
On a snowy January evening, John O’Keefe and girlfriend, Karen Read have dinner in downtown Canton. Around 10:45 the couple walks down the street to Waterfall Bar and Grille to meet up with friends. The group has several rounds at the bar until its midnight closing.
As the group shuffles outside, Brian and Nicole Albert invite the group back to their home, where their son is celebrating his 23rd birthday with friends. John O’Keefe and Karen Read plan to join them. With a cocktail glass still in his hand, O’Keefe gets into Read’s car with her.
On the way to Brian Albert’s after party, Karen Read and John O’Keefe are locked in an intense argument. The couple sits in Read’s car outside the Albert’s home fighting, and they decide to part ways for the evening. Karen Read lets John O’Keefe out of the car, and heads back to their house, expecting her boyfriend to find his own way home. Just before 5 AM, Karen Read wakes up and quickly realizes boyfriend, John O’Keefe isn’t in their home or answering his phone.
Read paces down a hallway while she speaks with Jennifer McCabe and O’Keefe’s friend Kerry Roberts. O’Keefe’s niece overhears Read ask, ‘What if I did something? What if a snowplow hit him?’ Read tells Roberts, ‘I don't remember anything from last night, we drank so much I don't remember anything.’
How did John O'Keefe die?
Missy Bevers arrives at Creekside Church at 4:16 am and begins setting up for her 5 am fitness class.
She doesn't realize that someone else is in the building. Video surveillance shows a person dressed in full police SWAT tactical gear walking through the halls of the church with an unusual gait while clutching a hammer.
Shortly before 5 am, one of Bevers' students arrives, finding Bevers's body inside the church. Bevers has puncture wounds to her head and chest. The student calls 911. In minutes, police and rescue arrive, and Missy Bevers is pronounced dead on the scene.
Creekside church has surveillance cameras inside and out of their property. Still, in a tough break for cops, the outside cameras don't work. Police rule out Missy Bevers's husband, Brandon, as he was on an annual fishing trip at the time of the murder.
However, Missy Bevers's death investigation now includes a vehicle of interest that police say was captured on surveillance cameras at a nearby business just before the murder. It is a 2010-2012 Nissan Altima, silver or light color, with an oval sticker on its bumper.
Karmity Hoeb becomes lethargic. The normally busy 4-year-old is not active at all. After four days, her symptoms getting worse each day, Karmity turns blue and stops breathing. Her mother finally calls 911 for help. First responders are able to revive the little girl and she is taken to Children's Hospital. Karmity Hoeb seems malnourished, and her teeth appear to be rotted out
Doctors order a brain scan and determine that the little girl with a big personality is brain dead. An autopsy is done and reveals Karmity died from a diabetes-related brain injury. Investigators determine that Karmity has never been formally diagnosed with Diabetes.
Investigators discover her mother, Tamara Banks, has been feeding the 4-year-old a mixture of Mountain Dew and baby formula through a bottle, long after she should have been weaned off the bottle, causing her teeth to rot. Her teeth are almost all rotted, but no record can be found of her parents taking her to a dentist
On Saturday evening, a large group of family members are wrapping up their day at Looking Glass Valley Park in Watertown Township, a suburb of Lansing, Michigan. The group of 16 packs up and starts the short walk back to their grandparents’ home down South Waucousta Rd. Just before 6:30 p.m., an oncoming car plows through the family. Instead of offering aid, the driver takes off.
Within minutes of the crash, at least 8 ambulances arrive. Two people die of their injuries,13 people are transported to the hospital via ambulance, more than half of them children. Three minutes after the crash, Clinton County Sheriffs notice a car with significant damage to the front passenger side swerving off the road and over the center line. The driver identifies herself as Ashley Monroe.
Officers immediately suspect alcohol may be a factor in the crash. A breathalyzer test performed at the Clinton County Jail revealed Monroe had a blood alcohol content of .183, over twice the legal limit.
The two victims who died at the scene of the crash have been identified as Jonathan Esch, 30, and Daniel Harris, 42. The surviving victims include six women, one still in critical condition, and eight children, including two six-year-olds and three toddlers.
The alleged drunk driver, Ashley Monroe, is now facing eleven charges related to the crash. Monroe is charged with 8 counts of DUI causing serious injury or death, and 3 counts of leaving the scene of a damaging or deadly crash.
At Monroe’s arraignment, her defense attorney reveals she is pregnant with her 5th child. Through a public defender, Monroe pleads not guilty to all counts. Monroe remains behind bars at the Clinton County Jail, held on a $1,000,000 bond.
Marlen Ochoa-Lopez was murdered before her baby was cut out of her body, according to police. The teen mom went missing as she tried to pick up baby clothes from someone she met online in a motherhood forum. Now the mother/daughter duo who killed Ochoa-Lopez will spend decades behind bars.
Clarisa Figueroa, 51, told a judge she understood that she would be in jail for the rest of her life, as the judge sentenced her to 50 years behind bars. Both Figueroa and her daughter, Desiree Figueroa, were charged with first-degree murder for the brutal slaying of Ochoa-Lopez.
Prosecutors said they lured Ochoa-Lopez to their home on April 23, 2019, with the promise of baby supplies. The duo then strangled Ochoa-Lopez when she arrived and cut the baby from her womb, in an attempt to keep the infant as their own.
Two months later, the infant, Yovanny Lopez, passed away from brain damage, along with complications from a prolapsed umbilical cord and placenta.
In January, Desiree Figueroa pleaded guilty to murder and took a plea deal, which allowed her to receive 30 years in prison in exchange for testimony against her mother.
Chris Gregor carried his son, Corey, into the hospital the day he died. According to a Nurse Practitioner at Southern Ocean, Corey's arms and legs dangling with little visible movement. His head rested on his father's shoulder.
The nurse practitioner said he could tell something was wrong, but there was no urgency coming from the parent. Corey died later that day.
We have also learned that text messages between Breanna Micciolo and Christopher Gregor about their son Corey Micciolo have been made public on the Facebook group Justice for Corey. Breanne Micciolo posts a text exchange that took place two weeks before Corey died.
Micciolo writes 'Corey came upstairs upset and almost crying because he was trying to ask you about playing football in high school and you smacked the ball out of his hand and walked out,' Gregor replies, "I smacked the ball out of his hands and he didn't say a word to me."
Gregor then texts that if hitting the ball out of the six-year-old's hand 'makes him cry, that maybe he needs to be a little tougher because that's soft tissue.' After Gregor makes another comment about Corey being “over-emotional."
Breanne Micciolo responds, "He's not over-emotional, you hurt his feelings, he got upset, he's six years old."
Christopher Gregor, now on trial, is charged in the death of his 6-year-old son Corey Micciolo.
Gregor took his son to the hospital saying he put his son down for a nap because he was sleepy and nauseous. When Corey woke up he was stumbling, slurring his words, and having trouble breathing. Corey died at the hospital.
Surveillance video inside the gym facility at the complex where Gregor lived shows Corey running on a treadmill while Gregor turns up the speed and incline of the machine until the 6-year-old can’t keep up and falls off. Gregor lifts the boy off the ground by his shirt, holding Corey over the running treadmill.
Corey’s feet slide out from under him several times as he tries to get his footing, and Gregor appears to bite Corey on the back of the head. Corey eventually starts running again and falls from the treadmill five more times before Gregor shuts it off and they leave together.
Corey’s mother, Breanna Micciolo testified that she feared for Corey’s life. Documentation shows she made more than 100 calls and emails to the Department of Child Protection reporting abuse. Pediatrician Dr. Nancy Deacon who treated Corey days before his death, testified to what she observed.
Deacon listed a blue-grey bruise on his left cheek, a large yellow-green bruise on his left shoulder, another large yellow-green bruise on his left inner arm, and a blue bruise present on his elbow. Beyond over 12 bruises that covered Corey Micciolo's body, the doctor noted two areas on the right side of his chest, she called it two areas of hyper-pigmented skin, meaning the wound was healing but pigment had not yet returned.
Riley Strain and his fraternity brothers at Delta Chi take a break from studies at the University of Missouri to attend the fraternity's annual spring formal in Nashville.
Strain and the group arrive in Nashville on Friday, March 8, check into the Tempo Hotel, then head out for a night on the town. Riley Strain does a Facetime call with his mom at 7:30 p.m., then heads out.
Just over two hours later at 9:35 p.m., Riley Strain is escorted out of Luke Bryan's bar on Broadway. Telling his fraternity brothers he will meet them at the hotel, he heads out into the night, alone.
Riley Strain never makes it to the hotel.
The parents of a 12-year-old boy think Trails Carolina might be just the place to help their son.
Trails Carolina claims to be a Leader in Wilderness Therapy offering an Adventure Wilderness Program for children who have behavioral and or emotional difficulties. The parents say their boy is transported by two men from New York to Trails Carolina Camp at Lake Toxaway, North Carolina.
Their son arrives at the camp in an agitated state. The 12-year-old is loud and disruptive, but he is assigned to a cabin with other children as well as four adults. In less than 24 hours, the 12-year-old boy from New York is dead. Sheriff Chuck Owenby says an autopsy is being conducted because the death "appeared suspicious" since the boy died at the camp less than 24 hours after he arrived.
A counselor explained to investigators that the boy was required to sleep on the floor inside a sleeping bag. The sleeping bag is inside a small tent called a "BIVY." According to search warrant documents, around midnight the boy started to experience a panic attack.
After the panic attack, a counselor told investigators that the boy was checked on throughout the night starting at 12 a.m., with additional checks on his well-being at 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. At 7:45 a.m., the boy was found dead.
According to the search warrant, when investigators arrived at the scene, CJH was stiff and "cold to the touch." He was lying on his back, his arms were on his chest, and his "knees bent upwards toward the sky."
Also in the search warrant, investigators noted spots of bleeding under the skin, "possible petechiae" in the boy's lips and eyes. This is considered a sign of asphyxiation. The warrant also notes a CPR mask was covering the boy's face and he was not wearing any pants or underwear. His pants and underwear were lying next to his shoulder
Early in the investigation, detectives with the Transylvania County Sheriff's Office attempted to interview other juveniles at Trails Carolina when the boy died. However, camp staff members refused to allow investigators to interview or even see any of the other juveniles.
Trails Carolina says the search warrant contains "misleading statements" saying they won't discuss some details "out of respect for the family and the investigation."
In a statement, Trails Carolina says they did not prevent children from speaking to investigators claiming they asked parents for permission for any children involved to speak with law enforcement and state agencies, and "complied with each parent's preference. as we are required to do." Children were moved to the area to protect them from seeing what was happening, not to avoid investigators.
In response to the recent suspicious death of a 12-year-old at Trails Carolina, North Carolina health officials ordered the removal of all children from the nature therapy program.
In 2018, Elizabethton High School student teacher Alex Campbell challenged his students to see if they could figure out if the Redhead murders are sometimes called the Bible Belt Murders.
There were 14 unsolved murders with a similar M.O. Campbell gets help from a former FBI agent teaching the young people about profiling a case. The students of Elizabethton High School start to see a potential pattern emerge in six of the potential murders.
In looking at the background of the murders, they started New Year's Day 1985, the body of a young female with reddish hair was found strangled, wrapped in a blanket, and tossed down an embankment off the southbound side of I-75 near Jellico, Tennessee. Due to decomposition, authorities believe she was killed about 72 hours before her body was found, 10-12 weeks pregnant when she was murdered.
The identification of Tina McKenney Farmer of Indiana helped the investigation move forward quickly. The evidence from the crime scene was tested and a match was found. The DNA matched Jerry Johns, convicted in the 1987 attempted murder of a woman he kidnapped, strangled, and then dumped along I-40.
Linda Schacke met Jerry Johns in a club in West Knoxville, Tennesee. The 36-year-old trucker seems like a nice guy until he pulls a gun, and forces her at gunpoint to drive to a wooded area off the interstate where he rips her shirt and uses part of it to strangle her. Johns then tosses the strangled and bound woman on the inside of a storm drain under I-40.
Like Tina Famer and many others, Linda Schacke has red hair, Unlike the others, Linda Schacke survives the attack. When Jerry Johns was convicted of the attack on Schacke, he was considered a suspect in some homicides, but there was never enough evidence. However, even though Tina Marie McKenney Farmer was positively identified by fingerprint identification, there was DNA left behind in the blanket she was wrapped up in after she was killed. 2019,
DNA evidence identified convicted kidnapper Jerry Leon Johns as the man who killed Tina Marie McKenney Farmer in December 1984. Johns died in prison in 2015. On December 18, 2019, a grand jury in Campbell County, Tennessee, ruled that Johns would have been indicted for murder in Farmer's death if he were still alive.
The students of Elizabethton High School continue to investigate and believe they have developed some strong evidence that shows whoever killed McKenney-Farmer, probably killed Lisa Nichols, Michelle Inman, Elizabeth Lamotte, Tracy Walker, and even a still unidentified Jane Doe in Desoto County.
The man accused of killing Audrii Cunningham, 11, has his first court appearance in the nude. Don Steven McDougal is naked when an officer goes to his cell to take him before the Justice of the Peace. When told to put on clothes McDougal tells the police he doesn't have any. He's told to cover up with a blanket. As he stands before the judge, McDougal drops the blanket.
Cassie Matthews, Audrii's mom, joins Nancy Grace today to detail how she learned her daughter was missing, and how she felt learning that the man accused of killing Audrii was charged with sex crimes.
Thursday afternoon, February 15, Audrii Cunningham doesn't arrive home at her usual time. Family members look for her, assuming she became distracted during the walk home from the bus stop.
Panic sets in, then police are notified at 5:30 p.m. and an AMBER Alert is issued.
Investigators start putting together a timeline of events. Police say Audrii was dropped off at her bus stop by her dad's friend, the man who lives behind their house, Don Steven McDougal. As investigators retrace Audrii's footsteps, they find that Audrii never made it to school. In fact, she didn't get on the bus.
Investigators ask for security video, from various security cameras in the area and develop of Vehicle of Interest, a dark blue, 2003, Chevrolet Suburban. They also have a person of interest, the last person known to be with Audrii Cunningham, Don Steven McDougal.
McDougal is arrested and placed in the Polk County Jail. Not for the disappearance of Audrii Cunningham, but on an unrelated aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge. The public now finds out that McDougal has a criminal record dating back to 2001.
Authorities say he was convicted on a charge of enticing a child and was sentenced to 2 years. So far, investigators continue to search areas around Lake Livingston where a backpack believed to be Audrii's was found.
Late afternoon, police announced the discovery of a body.
Lori Paige, a student at Griffin Middle School in Tallahassee, Florida is one of Margaret Summers' favorite students. The paraprofessional says the 12-year-old is attentive and smart, but Lori is missing.
The middle schooler hasn't been seen since June 3, and police are asking the public for help. Lori Paige is 5 feet tall and weighs about 120 pounds with black dreadlocks.
Lori Paige and her father have a routine. He works nights and Lori stays in their home with trusted adults nearby if she needs help. The day Lori went missing, her father went to work, but when he came home, Lori was gone.
Anyone with any information about where Lori Paige might be can call the Tallahassee Police Department at 850-891-4200.
Jennifer Crumbley becomes the first parent in the United States to be found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for a mass school shooting committed by her son, Ethan. She was convicted of four counts of involuntary manslaughter and faces a maximum sentence of 60 years in prison.
Prosecutors said Jennifer Crumbley knew her son was struggling with mental health issues. They alleged instead of getting him the help he needed, Jennifer and her husband, James Crumbley, bought Ethan the gun he later used in the attack.
The prosecution also showed the Crumbleys were attempting to flee when they realized they were going to be charged with the crime. James Crumbley faces the same charges as his wife, on March 5.
There will be no new double murder trial for Alex Murdaugh, despite the fact that one juror says her vote was influenced by comments made by Colleton County Clerk Becky Hill. According to the Juror Z, “She made it seem like he was already guilty.” Hill allegedly made comments such as "watch him closely" and "watch his body language." During Juror Z's testimony, she was asked by Judge Jean Toal if her verdict based entirely on the testimony, evidence, and law presented in this case. The juror answered yes. She was also asked if she heard Becky Hill make any comment about this case before your verdict. Again Juror Z answered yes, and that the comments influenced her decision.
Prosecutor Creighton Waters that in her affidavit the juror had responded that, "I voted guilty because I felt pressure by the other jurors." After hearing all the testimony, Judge Toal ruled that the defense did not show that Hill's improper comment or question actually influenced the juror's verdict.
© Copyright Dr. Bethany Marshall 2024
