Alive Killers

Scott Edward Nelson is an American convicted murderer who was sentenced to life without parole for the 2017 kidnapping and murder of Jennifer Lynn Fulford in Winter Park, Florida. Fulford, 56, worked as a personal assistant, caregiver and house manager for a family in Winter Park. On September 27, 2017, she was working at her employer's home when Nelson forced his way inside. He bound Fulford and abducted her in her own vehicle. Fulford was reported missing after she failed to pick up the child she cared for from school. Her body was discovered three days later in a wooded area in Orange County. The medical examiner determined that she had suffered multiple stab wounds and died from a combination of stab wounds and asphyxiation. Nelson was arrested in Jacksonville on October 1, 2017. Investigators linked him to Fulford's disappearance through evidence including the victim's vehicle and surveillance footage showing him using her bank card at an ATM. At trial, Nelson admitted that he killed Fulford but argued that another man, his probation officer Julio Dominguez, was ultimately responsible for her death. The jury rejected his defense and convicted him of first-degree murder, kidnapping, carjacking and robbery in June 2019. During the penalty phase, Nelson told jurors that he wanted to be executed and described himself as a "homicidal maniac." The jury nevertheless recommended life imprisonment rather than death. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

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.

Sean Grayson is a former Illinois sheriff’s deputy convicted of second-degree murder following an on-duty fatal shooting in 2024. Born around 1993–1994, he was approximately 30 years old at the time of the incident. His case became a high-profile example of police accountability in the United States, resulting in a 20-year prison sentence in 2026.

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.

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.