Straight Killers

Charles Merritt is an American man convicted of the 2010 murders of a family in California. A business associate of one of the victims, he was linked to the crime through financial evidence and investigative findings. He was later convicted on multiple counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to death.

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.

Charles Whitman was an American mass murderer responsible for the 1966 University of Texas tower shooting in Austin. Prior to the attack, he killed members of his family before carrying out a public shooting that resulted in multiple deaths and injuries. The incident became one of the earliest widely documented mass shootings in modern U.S. history. Whitman was killed by police during the attack, ending the event.

Chris Watts is an American family annihilator who murdered his immediate family in Colorado in 2018. His case gained widespread attention due to the contrast between his outward image as a quiet family man and the calculated nature of his actions. Watts initially attempted to mislead investigators and the public before confessing. He later pleaded guilty to multiple counts of murder and received multiple life sentences without the possibility of parole.

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.

Curtis Wayne Wright became known in American criminal history after participating in the 2015 murder-for-hire of Dr. Teresa Sievers in Bonita Springs, Florida. A longtime friend of Teresa's husband, Mark Sievers, Wright helped plan the killing before recruiting Jimmy Rodgers to assist in carrying out the attack. Wright later pleaded guilty, cooperated with prosecutors, and testified against both Rodgers and Mark Sievers, making him the key witness in one of Florida's most high-profile murder-for-hire cases.

Damian Rzeszowski is a Polish man convicted in connection with a multiple homicide in Jersey, Channel Islands, in 2011. The incident involved the deaths of several members of his family and others in a single event. The case gained widespread attention due to the scale of the violence and the domestic context. Rzeszowski was later convicted of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and sentenced to life imprisonment.