Straight Killers

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.

Christopher McGowan murdered his girlfriend, Claire Inglis, in Stirling, Scotland, in November 2021 after being released on bail to live at her home despite an extensive history of violent offending. Claire had begun a relationship with McGowan unaware of his violent past, and after he moved into her home she became trapped in an escalating pattern of coercive control, abuse and violence. McGowan subjected her to a prolonged and sadistic assault before strangling her to death. In 2023, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 23 years.

Courtney Taylor Clenney, known online as Courtney Tailor, was convicted of manslaughter after fatally stabbing her boyfriend, 27-year-old Christian “Toby” Obumseli, inside their Miami condominium on April 3, 2022. Clenney initially claimed she had acted in self-defense during a violent confrontation, but she was arrested and charged with second-degree murder. After spending four years in custody awaiting trial, Clenney accepted a plea agreement in August 2026, pleading guilty to manslaughter with a deadly weapon. She was sentenced to six years in prison, with credit for time served, followed by five years of probation.

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.

Dale Bradley Jr. was convicted of killing 22-year-old Kennecott security guard Bryan Ruff in Utah in December 1991. Ruff, who was having an affair with Bradley's first wife, Kristi, disappeared from his guard post during a night shift and was found nearly 19 months later in a shallow grave near Five Mile Pass. Investigators eventually linked Bradley to the killing through physical evidence and witness testimony. Bradley originally faced a first-degree murder charge but entered an Alford plea to manslaughter and kidnapping in 2007 and received two consecutive prison terms of two to 20 years. In 2025, while seeking parole, Bradley finally admitted that he shot Ruff, saying anger and jealousy had overtaken him.

Damian Rzeszowski was convicted of six counts of manslaughter after killing his wife Izabela, their children Kinga and Kacper, his father-in-law Marek Garstka, and family friend Marta de la Haye and her daughter Julia in St Helier, Jersey, on August 14, 2011. Rzeszowski attacked the victims with kitchen knives during a violent episode following the breakdown of his marriage. His defence successfully argued diminished responsibility caused by severe depression and psychotic symptoms, and he was cleared of murder. He was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for each victim, to run concurrently. Rzeszowski died by suicide in prison in 2018.

Daniel Charles "Dan" Howard, a former Idaho State Police trooper, murdered his wife Kendy Howard at their home in Athol, Idaho, on February 2, 2021, before staging the scene to make her death appear to be a suicide. Howard initially told police that Kendy had shot herself in the bathtub, but investigators found inconsistencies at the scene and later concluded that he had strangled her before placing her body in the bathtub and firing a gunshot into her mouth. After a two-year investigation, Howard was charged with murder and convicted of second-degree murder and domestic battery in March 2024. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole in May 2024.