Straight Killers

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.

Charles Boney became infamous for his role in the murders of Kimberly "Kim" Camm and her two children, Brad and Jill Camm, in Georgetown, Indiana, on September 28, 2000. A convicted violent offender with a history of crimes against women, Boney was eventually identified as being connected to the crime scene through forensic evidence, including a sweatshirt recovered near the victims' bodies. The case gained national attention because David Camm, Kim's husband and a former Indiana State Trooper, was initially blamed for the murders and spent years in prison before being acquitted. Prosecutors ultimately argued that Boney participated in the killings, while Boney attempted to shift responsibility onto Camm. The case became one of the most notorious murder investigations in Indiana history and remains closely associated with wrongful conviction debates and forensic controversy.

Charles Manson was an American cult leader and criminal who orchestrated a series of murders in California in 1969 through members of his group, known as the Manson Family. Although he did not personally carry out the killings, he directed and influenced his followers to commit them. Manson became one of the most infamous figures in criminal history due to his ability to manipulate others into violence. His case remains a defining example of psychological control, group influence, and orchestrated multiple homicide.

Charles "Chase" Merritt murdered his business associate Joseph McStay, Joseph's wife Summer, and their young sons Gianni and Joseph Jr. after financial problems developed around the water-feature business Merritt worked on with Joseph. The McStay family disappeared from their Fallbrook, California, home in February 2010, beginning a mystery that lasted more than three years until their remains were discovered in shallow graves in the Mojave Desert near Victorville. Financial records, cellphone evidence and other circumstantial evidence eventually focused the investigation on Merritt, who was arrested in 2014. A jury convicted him of four counts of first-degree murder in June 2019, and he was formally sentenced to death in January 2020.

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.