Unknown Killers

Brandon Christopher Risner was convicted of murdering his longtime friend, 21-year-old Aaron William Davis, in Rome, Georgia, on November 11, 2022. Davis had travelled to Risner's home while on his way to visit his girlfriend in Alabama. Risner stabbed Davis repeatedly before dismembering his body and attempting to conceal the killing. He pleaded guilty to 12 charges, including malice murder, and was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole in July 2024.

Brenton Harrison Tarrant became internationally known after carrying out the Christchurch mosque attacks on March 15, 2019. He attacked worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, killing 51 people and injuring 40 others before being arrested by police. Tarrant later pleaded guilty to 51 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder, and one terrorism charge. In 2020, he became the first person in New Zealand to receive a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of 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.

Derek Joseph Daigneault murdered his 26-year-old cousin, Mandy Rose Reynolds, in Texas in April 2023 after staying at her San Marcos apartment while on felony probation with an active warrant. Daigneault shot Reynolds in the head, placed her body inside a large plastic storage container, transported it to Robinson and set it on fire. Her body was initially burned beyond recognition, but her dog Titan remained at the scene, and his microchip helped investigators identify Reynolds. Daigneault was arrested in Kansas after fleeing from police in Reynolds' stolen car and was convicted of murder in November 2024. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, and his conviction and sentence were affirmed by the Texas Tenth Court of Appeals in April 2026.

Dillon Alexander Waller is an American man convicted of the 2022 murder of his mother in New Mexico. The crime occurred within a domestic setting and involved attempts to conceal the offence. He was later convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Edward Theodore Gein became one of the most infamous killers in American history after murdering two women and exhuming numerous bodies from local cemeteries near Plainfield, Wisconsin, during the 1950s. Although convicted of only two murders, the disturbing discoveries inside his farmhouse—including items fashioned from human remains—made Gein a cultural phenomenon whose crimes inspired characters such as Norman Bates, Leatherface, and Buffalo Bill. His case remains one of the most extensively studied in criminal psychology.

Ian Rich became known in Ohio criminal history after carrying out a targeted drive-by shooting on Interstate 77 that killed David Perez and seriously wounded Jacqueline Perez on April 28, 2024. Prosecutors alleged Rich deliberately followed the couple from Newburgh Heights before pulling alongside their vehicle and firing multiple gunshots. He later pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, attempted murder, and firearms offences, receiving a prison sentence of 40 to 46½ years. The case attracted significant attention because of the seemingly unprovoked nature of the attack and subsequent claims regarding Rich's mental health and drug use.

James Desborough is an English serial killer convicted of murdering Claudio Aquilino, Daniel Coleman and his prison cellmate, Steven Kempster, during 2025. Desborough met Aquilino and Coleman while they were living at a homeless shelter in Newquay before murdering, dismembering and attempting to conceal their remains in woodland near his cabin in Cornwall. While on remand awaiting trial, he strangled his prison cellmate at HMP Exeter. In July 2026, he was sentenced to a rare whole life order, ensuring he will never be released from prison. Police are also reviewing four unexplained deaths connected to the same homeless shelter, although Desborough has not been charged in relation to those deaths.