Death Sentence Killers

Charles Chi-Tat Ng became one of the most infamous serial killers in American history after participating in a series of kidnappings and murders with Leonard Lake at a secluded compound in Wilseyville, California, during the early 1980s. Investigators linked the pair to at least 11 murders, although the true number of victims may never be known. Following one of the longest extradition battles and murder trials in California history, Ng was convicted of 11 murders and sentenced to death.

Charles Howard Schmid Jr., nicknamed the "Pied Piper of Tucson," was an American serial killer who murdered three teenage girls in Tucson, Arizona, between 1964 and 1965. Charismatic and manipulative, Schmid gained the trust of local teenagers before committing the murders. He was convicted of the killings and sentenced to death, although his sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment. Schmid was murdered by fellow inmates in prison in 1975.

Christa Gail Pike was convicted of the first-degree murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in Knoxville, Tennessee, in January 1996. Pike, then 18, and her boyfriend Tadaryl Shipp lured Slemmer into a wooded area near the University of Tennessee Agricultural campus, where Pike attacked and killed her. The murder involved prolonged physical violence and the carving of a pentagram into Slemmer's body. Pike was sentenced to death and has remained on Tennessee's death row since 1996. She was scheduled for execution on September 30, 2026, which would have made her the first woman executed by Tennessee in more than 200 years.

Christian Longo became one of America’s most notorious family killers after murdering his wife and three young children before fleeing the country and assuming a new identity in Mexico. The horrifying case shocked the United States in 2001 due to the brutality of the crimes and Longo’s efforts to escape responsibility by reinventing himself as a carefree tourist while his family’s bodies were being recovered from the Oregon coast. Longo was portrayed as a manipulative conman who spent years hiding financial fraud, lies and personal failures behind the image of a devoted husband and father. His case later gained worldwide attention through books, documentaries and the film adaptation of True Story, which explored Longo’s deception, narcissism and relationship with journalist Michael Finkel.

David Alan Gore was an American serial killer who, along with his cousin Fred Waterfield, committed at least six murders of women in and around Vero Beach, Florida, from 1981 to 1983. Known collectively as the "Killing Cousins," the pair exploited Gore's position as an auxiliary sheriff's deputy and his knowledge of local citrus groves to lure victims, often using a badge or vehicle to gain trust before subjecting them to sexual assault, torture, and murder.

George Emil Banks became one of the most infamous mass killers in Pennsylvania history after murdering 13 people during a shooting spree in Wilkes-Barre on September 25, 1982. Among his victims were five of his own children, their mothers, and several relatives. The murders shocked the United States because of the extraordinary number of family members killed in a single attack. After decades of legal proceedings centred on his mental competency, Banks died in prison in 2024 without ever being executed.

Herman Webster Mudgett, better known as H.H. Holmes, became one of America's earliest infamous serial killers after carrying out a series of murders during the late nineteenth century. Operating from a specially designed building in Chicago that later became known as the "Murder Castle," Holmes used deception, fraud, and false identities to lure victims. Although he confessed to 27 murders before his execution, historians believe the true number of victims remains uncertain. His case remains one of the most famous in American criminal history.

Justin Jason Keeding, widely known as the “Little Merchant Killer,” became one of the more notorious robbery-murder offenders of the early twentieth century after being linked to violent attacks against rural merchants and storekeepers. Operating during the 1920s, Keeding allegedly targeted isolated business owners in smaller communities, earning his nickname through repeated attacks connected to robbery and financial gain. The case generated significant regional media attention during the era because of the fear surrounding traveling offenders targeting small-town businesses. Authorities portrayed Keeding as a violent drifter willing to kill during robberies, while newspapers sensationalized the crimes through dramatic reporting common during the period. His eventual death in 1926 closed a violent criminal chapter that remained part of regional crime history for years afterward.