Life Killers

Brett Peter Cowan became one of Australia’s most notorious child killers after abducting and murdering Daniel Morcombe on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast in 2003. The case devastated Australia because Daniel disappeared while waiting for a bus in broad daylight, triggering one of the country’s largest and longest-running child disappearance investigations. For years, Daniel Morcombe’s disappearance remained unsolved as his family led tireless public campaigns to keep the case in the national spotlight. Cowan was eventually exposed through an elaborate undercover police operation in which officers secretly befriended him and recorded incriminating admissions about the murder. The investigation and conviction later became one of Australia’s most significant child homicide cases.

Brian Easterling became known in true crime coverage after being convicted of murdering his longtime friend Michael Evers in Kentucky in a case prosecutors described as calculated, deceptive, and financially motivated. Easterling, a respected local fire chief and mechanic, shocked the community after investigators alleged he killed Evers before attempting to hide evidence and maintain the appearance that nothing had happened. The case generated significant media attention because Easterling had publicly presented himself as a trusted community figure while secretly becoming the focus of a homicide investigation. Prosecutors argued the killing stemmed from financial disputes and personal conflict connected to vehicle projects and money owed between the two men. The contrast between Easterling’s public reputation and the brutality of the crime turned the case into one of the region’s most disturbing modern homicide prosecutions.

Bruce McGregor Davis was a prominent member of Charles Manson's Family who was convicted for his involvement in the 1969 murders of musician Gary Hinman and Spahn Ranch worker Donald "Shorty" Shea. Davis joined Manson's group during the late 1960s and participated in crimes committed around the period of the notorious Tate-LaBianca murders, although he did not participate in those killings. After spending more than a year as a fugitive, Davis surrendered in 1970 and was convicted in 1972 of two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder and robbery. Originally sentenced under California's indeterminate life-sentence system, he has spent decades in prison, where he became a born-again Christian, pursued higher education and repeatedly sought parole.

Bryan Kohberger is an American man charged in connection with the 2022 murders of four university students in Moscow, Idaho. At the time of the incident, he was a criminology PhD student at Washington State University, located a short distance from the crime scene. The case gained widespread national and international attention due to the number of victims, the nature of the attack, and Kohberger’s academic focus on criminal behaviour. He was arrested in December 2022, and legal proceedings are ongoing.

Chandler Michael Halderson murdered his parents, Bart and Krista Halderson, at their home in Windsor, Wisconsin, in July 2021 as his father began uncovering years of deception about his education, employment and future plans. Halderson killed and dismembered his parents, attempted to destroy and conceal their remains, and then reported them missing while claiming they had travelled to the family's cabin. Investigators dismantled his story through forensic evidence, digital records and location data that connected him to sites where remains were recovered. A jury convicted Halderson of both murders in January 2022, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Charles "Tex" Watson was one of Charles Manson's most prominent followers and the principal attacker during the Tate-LaBianca murders that left seven people dead over two nights in August 1969. Acting under Manson's direction, Watson led Patricia Krenwinkel, Susan Atkins and Linda Kasabian to the Tate residence, where five people were murdered, before participating with Krenwinkel and Leslie Van Houten in the killings of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca the following night. Watson fled to Texas but was extradited to California and tried separately from Manson and the other defendants. He was convicted of seven counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in 1971 and sentenced to death, later reduced to life imprisonment after California invalidated its death penalty. He has repeatedly been denied parole and remains incarcerated.

Christopher Gregory Davis murdered his boyfriend, 56-year-old Barry Schmalbach, in Cape Coral, Florida, after Schmalbach planned to end their relationship in July 2023. Although Schmalbach's body has never been recovered, investigators built an extensive circumstantial case showing Davis using his boyfriend's financial accounts, purchasing items associated with concealing and disposing of a body, renting an isolated property under a false identity and attempting to dispose of tools. In June 2025, a Lee County jury convicted Davis of second-degree murder, tampering with evidence and eight identity-related offences. He was sentenced to life imprisonment plus 45 consecutive years.

Courtney Kelly became publicly known after being convicted in the 2012 murder of Gale Spencer during a home invasion robbery in Macon, Georgia. Prosecutors alleged Kelly participated alongside three co-defendants during the violent crime. The case generated local attention because of the multiple offenders involved in the fatal robbery. Authorities later secured convictions against all four defendants connected to Spencer’s death. Courtney Kelly ultimately received a life sentence.