Suicide Custody Killers

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.

Fotis Dulos became the focus of an internationally publicized criminal investigation after his estranged wife, Jennifer Dulos, disappeared from New Canaan, Connecticut, on May 24, 2019. Prosecutors alleged that Dulos murdered Jennifer during a contentious divorce and child custody dispute before attempting to dispose of evidence. He pleaded not guilty to all charges but died by suicide in January 2020 before his trial began. Jennifer Dulos has never been found and is legally presumed dead.

Frederick Walter Stephen West became one of the United Kingdom's most infamous serial killers after murdering numerous young women and girls between the late 1960s and 1980s. Working both alone and with his wife, Rose West, he targeted vulnerable victims, many of whom disappeared after visiting the couple's home at 25 Cromwell Street in Gloucester. The discovery of multiple bodies buried beneath the property exposed one of Britain's most shocking serial murder cases and permanently cemented Fred West's place among the country's most reviled offenders.

Harold Frederick Shipman became one of the most prolific serial killers in modern history after murdering patients under his care while working as a general practitioner in England. Convicted of 15 murders in 2000, a subsequent public inquiry concluded he had likely killed at least 215 patients, with some estimates suggesting the true total exceeded 250. Shipman's abuse of trust, combined with the enormous scale of his crimes, fundamentally changed patient safety, death certification, and medical oversight throughout the United Kingdom.

Israel Keyes became one of America's most infamous serial killers after carrying out a series of meticulously planned murders across multiple states between 2001 and 2012. Unlike many serial offenders, Keyes travelled extensively, buried "kill kits" years in advance, and deliberately selected victims with no personal connection to him. Although he confessed to eight murders, investigators believe the true number of victims may never be known due to his suicide before revealing the full extent of his crimes.

Jared James Dicus murdered his 21-year-old wife, Anggy Diaz, at their home in Waller County, Texas, on January 11, 2023, less than three months after they were married. After killing Diaz with a kitchen knife, Dicus decapitated and partially dismembered her body before confessing to investigators. He later pleaded guilty to murder, was sentenced to 40 years in prison in July 2024, waived his right to appeal and any insanity defense, and remained incarcerated until his death in prison in January 2026 from a self-inflicted injury.

Leonard Thomas Lake became one of the most infamous serial killers in American history after operating a secluded compound in Wilseyville, California, with accomplice Charles Ng during the early 1980s. Investigators believe the pair murdered at least 11 people, although the true number of victims may be significantly higher. Their crimes came to light in 1985 following Lake's arrest for shoplifting, leading police to uncover buried human remains, extensive video recordings, journals, and evidence documenting one of the most disturbing serial murder investigations in United States history.