Straight Killers

Scott Lee Peterson murdered his pregnant wife, Laci Peterson, on Christmas Eve 2002 before disposing of her body in San Francisco Bay. Laci's disappearance sparked a nationwide search and intense media coverage, particularly after investigators revealed Peterson had been conducting an extramarital affair while publicly appealing for her safe return. In April 2003, the bodies of Laci and her unborn son, Conner, were recovered along the bay shoreline. Peterson was convicted in 2004 of first-degree murder for Laci's death and second-degree murder for the death of Conner. Although originally sentenced to death, his sentence was later reduced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, where he remains incarcerated.

Shanda Vander Ark became widely known after being convicted in the 2022 torture and murder of her 15-year-old son, Timothy Ferguson, in Norton Shores, Michigan. Prosecutors alleged Vander Ark subjected the teenager to prolonged starvation, extreme abuse, sleep deprivation, and psychological torment inside the family home before his death. The case generated national outrage because of the severity of the abuse and disturbing evidence presented during trial proceedings. The investigation gained massive public attention after police recovered text messages, videos, and digital evidence documenting the abuse inside the home. Prosecutors argued Vander Ark controlled nearly every aspect of Timothy’s life while systematically depriving him of food, comfort, and medical care. The horrific details revealed during trial turned the case into one of the most heavily discussed child abuse murder prosecutions in modern true crime media.

Shawn “Mickey” Stines is a former Letcher County, Kentucky, sheriff charged with the murder of District Judge Kevin Mullins, his former boss and friend. On September 19, 2024, Stines entered Mullins’ chambers at the Letcher County Courthouse in Whitesburg and shot him multiple times. Surveillance footage captured the shooting, and Stines surrendered to police immediately afterward. He has pleaded not guilty and is pursuing a mental-health defence, with his attorneys arguing that he lacked the capacity to intend to kill Mullins. As of August 2026, Stines remains in custody without bail awaiting trial.

Shelby John Nealy killed his wife, Jamie Ivancic, in Florida in 2018 and concealed her death while impersonating her through messages to her family. As Jamie's relatives became increasingly suspicious, Nealy travelled to their Tarpon Springs home and murdered her parents, Richard and Laura Ivancic, and her brother, Nicholas Ivancic, in December 2018. He was arrested in Ohio in January 2019 with his two young children and later pleaded guilty to charges arising from all four deaths. Nealy received a 30-year prison sentence for Jamie's death and, following separate penalty proceedings for the three Ivancic family murders, was sentenced to death in April 2026.

Stanley "Tookie" Williams was an influential Los Angeles gang figure who co-founded the Crips with Raymond Washington before being convicted of four murders committed during two robberies in 1979. Sentenced to death in 1981, Williams spent more than two decades on California's death row while consistently maintaining his innocence of the murders. During his imprisonment, he renounced gang life, wrote books warning young people about gangs and became an anti-gang activist whose work attracted international attention and Nobel Peace Prize nominations. His supporters sought clemency based on his claimed rehabilitation, but California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger rejected the request, and Williams was executed by lethal injection at San Quentin State Prison on December 13, 2005.

Stephanie Hudnall became the focus of a high-profile Oklahoma homicide investigation following the death of her husband, William "Bill" Hudnall, in June 2011. Although she initially claimed he had died from natural causes, investigators uncovered evidence that Bill had been intentionally poisoned. Following a lengthy investigation and trial, Stephanie Hudnall was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Stephen William Beal killed his former girlfriend and business partner Ildiko Krajnyak with a package bomb planted inside their day spa in Aliso Viejo, California, on May 15, 2018. The explosion killed Krajnyak and seriously injured two clients, triggering a lengthy federal investigation that focused on Beal's explosives knowledge and evidence recovered from his Long Beach home. After an initial arrest, release and later rearrest, Beal faced federal prosecution and a 2022 mistrial before being convicted at retrial in 2023. He was sentenced in January 2024 to life imprisonment plus an additional 30 years.

Stephen-Alan Paul Nicholson was convicted of murdering 13-year-old Lucy McHugh in Southampton, England, in July 2018. Nicholson, who had been living as a lodger in Lucy's family home, had sexually abused her for more than a year before luring her to woodland near Southampton Sports Centre, where he stabbed her 27 times. Prosecutors said Lucy had threatened to expose the abuse, giving Nicholson a motive to silence her. He was also convicted of three counts of rape involving Lucy and sexual offences against another teenage girl. In July 2019, Nicholson was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 33 years.