Modus Operandi - Strangulation

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.

Shelby John Nealy killed his wife, Jamie Ivancic, in Florida in 2018 and concealed her death while impersonating her through messages to her family. As Jamie's relatives became increasingly suspicious, Nealy travelled to their Tarpon Springs home and murdered her parents, Richard and Laura Ivancic, and her brother, Nicholas Ivancic, in December 2018. He was arrested in Ohio in January 2019 with his two young children and later pleaded guilty to charges arising from all four deaths. Nealy received a 30-year prison sentence for Jamie's death and, following separate penalty proceedings for the three Ivancic family murders, was sentenced to death in April 2026.

Donald McMillan Jr. murdered 62-year-old Helen Fiona Torbet in the Scottish Highlands in July 1993 after developing an obsession with her during her regular stays at his parents' guesthouse near Inverinate. After killing Torbet, McMillan concealed her body in the grounds of the property and maintained for months that she had left with another man. A lengthy missing-person investigation eventually focused on McMillan, who directed police to the burial site. He was convicted of murder in 1994 and sentenced to life imprisonment, later receiving a 15-year punishment part. McMillan remained imprisoned until his death in 2007.

James Desborough is an English serial killer convicted of murdering Claudio Aquilino, Daniel Coleman and his prison cellmate, Steven Kempster, during 2025. Desborough met Aquilino and Coleman while they were living at a homeless shelter in Newquay before murdering, dismembering and attempting to conceal their remains in woodland near his cabin in Cornwall. While on remand awaiting trial, he strangled his prison cellmate at HMP Exeter. In July 2026, he was sentenced to a rare whole life order, ensuring he will never be released from prison. Police are also reviewing four unexplained deaths connected to the same homeless shelter, although Desborough has not been charged in relation to those deaths.

Kevin West is an American convicted murderer and former battalion chief with the Camas-Washougal Fire Department in Washington. In January 2026, he was convicted of first-degree murder for strangling his wife, Marcelle "Marcy" West, inside their Washougal home in January 2024. Prosecutors proved West staged the killing as a medical emergency by falsely reporting that his wife had suffered a seizure. He was sentenced to 25 years' imprisonment in February 2026.

Albert Henry DeSalvo is best known for confessing to the infamous Boston Strangler murders, in which 13 women were killed in the Boston, Massachusetts, area between 1962 and 1964. Although he was never tried for those murders, modern DNA testing later linked him to the final victim, strengthening the case against him. DeSalvo was imprisoned for unrelated crimes and was murdered in prison in 1973.

Richard Benjamin Speck became one of America's most infamous mass murderers after murdering eight student nurses during a single night in Chicago, Illinois, on July 13–14, 1966. The attack at a South Side townhouse generated worldwide attention and became one of the most notorious crimes in American history. Speck was convicted of eight counts of murder and sentenced to death, although his sentence was later commuted to imprisonment following changes to U.S. capital punishment laws. He died in prison in 1991.

Tommy Lynn Sells became one of America's most infamous serial killers after murdering victims across numerous states over nearly two decades. Nicknamed the "Coast-to-Coast Killer," Sells confessed to dozens of murders, although investigators have verified only a portion of his claims. He was convicted of the 1999 murder of 13-year-old Kaylene Harris in Texas and sentenced to death. Sells was executed in 2014.