Mental Profile - Jealousy

Richard “Rick” Church was 19 when he attacked the Ritter family home in Woodstock, Illinois, on August 21, 1988. Church had previously dated 17-year-old Colleen Ritter, but their relationship had deteriorated after he left for college. During the attack, Church stabbed Colleen and her younger brother Matthew and fatally stabbed Colleen's parents, Raymond and Ruth Ann Ritter. Church fled Illinois and became one of the country's most wanted fugitives, living under aliases and moving between several states for more than three years. His case was featured on America's Most Wanted as authorities attempted to locate him. In November 1991, a Utah police detective recognized Church while he was working at a restaurant. Church was arrested, returned to Illinois, pleaded guilty to the murders and attempted murders, and was sentenced to life in prison.

Sarah Buzzard was convicted of the aggravated murder of 21-year-old Ryan Zimmerman, whose dismembered remains were discovered in Mercer County, Ohio, in January 2016. Zimmerman had moved from Kentucky to Columbus in 2015 and was living with Buzzard, her then-husband and Buzzard's friend Naira Jen Whitaker. Investigators determined that Zimmerman was killed inside the Columbus apartment in September 2015. Buzzard later confessed to strangling him and dismembering his body, telling investigators that she was angry with Zimmerman and believed he had contributed to the breakdown of her marriage. Whitaker was identified as an accomplice but died by suicide when police attempted to arrest her in 2021. Buzzard pleaded guilty to aggravated murder in December 2021 and was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years.

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.