Crime Type - Violent Crime

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.

James "Jimmy" Rodgers became one of Florida's most notorious contract killers after participating in the 2015 murder of Dr. Teresa Sievers in Bonita Springs. Hired through a murder-for-hire plot orchestrated by Teresa's husband, Mark Sievers, Rodgers travelled from Missouri to Florida with Curtis Wayne Wright and fatally attacked the victim inside her home. His conviction, along with those of his co-conspirators, brought an end to one of the state's most widely publicized murder-for-hire investigations.

Lance Kirkpatrick became one of Australia's most widely reported convicted killers after being found guilty of the 2022 murder of Melbourne mother Samantha Murphy. Murphy's disappearance prompted an extensive search across regional Victoria before investigators built a circumstantial case that ultimately led to Kirkpatrick's conviction. The case attracted national attention because of the lengthy investigation, widespread community involvement, and the absence of the victim's recovered remains.

Robert Pape was convicted for his role in the 1998 Pinyon Pines murders, a triple homicide that remained unsolved for nearly two decades before advances in DNA technology revived the investigation. Prosecutors established that Pape and Cristin Smith entered the Friedli home in September 1998, murdered Vicki Friedli, her daughter Becky Friedli and family friend Jon Hayward, then set the residence on fire in an attempt to destroy evidence. Following renewed forensic testing and a lengthy cold-case investigation, Pape was convicted in 2018 of three counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment 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.

Bryan Kohberger is an American man charged in connection with the 2022 murders of four university students in Moscow, Idaho. At the time of the incident, he was a criminology PhD student at Washington State University, located a short distance from the crime scene. The case gained widespread national and international attention due to the number of victims, the nature of the attack, and Kohberger’s academic focus on criminal behaviour. He was arrested in December 2022, and legal proceedings are ongoing.

Rex Heuermann became one of America’s most infamous alleged serial killers after being charged in connection with the Gilgo Beach murders on Long Island. The architect from Massapequa Park shocked the United States because prosecutors alleged he secretly murdered multiple women for years while outwardly living as a married family man and successful New York professional. The Gilgo Beach investigation became one of the most heavily publicized serial killer cases in modern American history after human remains were discovered along Ocean Parkway near Long Island’s South Shore. Authorities later accused Heuermann of targeting vulnerable women, particularly sex workers, before allegedly carrying out murders over an extended period while avoiding detection for more than a decade.

Ryan Alexander Duke became widely known after being charged in the 2005 death of Georgia high school teacher and former beauty queen Tara Grinstead. The case remained one of Georgia's most infamous unsolved mysteries for nearly 12 years before Duke confessed to being involved in Grinstead's death. In 2022, he pleaded guilty to concealing her death rather than murder, bringing a partial resolution to a case that had captivated investigators and the public for years.