Victim Targets - Acquaintances

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.

Shawn “Mickey” Stines is a former Letcher County, Kentucky, sheriff charged with the murder of District Judge Kevin Mullins, his former boss and friend. On September 19, 2024, Stines entered Mullins’ chambers at the Letcher County Courthouse in Whitesburg and shot him multiple times. Surveillance footage captured the shooting, and Stines surrendered to police immediately afterward. He has pleaded not guilty and is pursuing a mental-health defence, with his attorneys arguing that he lacked the capacity to intend to kill Mullins. As of August 2026, Stines remains in custody without bail awaiting trial.

James “Jimmy” Rackover was convicted of murdering 26-year-old Joseph “Joey” Comunale following an after-party at Rackover’s Manhattan apartment on November 13, 2016. Prosecutors said Rackover, Lawrence “Larry” Dilione and Max Gemma were involved in the events surrounding Comunale’s death and the subsequent attempt to conceal his body. Comunale was beaten and stabbed inside Apartment 4C before his body was transported to New Jersey, burned and buried in a shallow grave. Rackover was convicted of second-degree murder, concealment of a human corpse and tampering with physical evidence and was sentenced to 28⅔ years to life in prison.

Lawrence “Larry” Dilione was involved in the killing of 26-year-old Joseph “Joey” Comunale after an after-party at James Rackover’s Apartment 4C on East 59th Street in Manhattan on November 13, 2016. Comunale was repeatedly stabbed during a violent confrontation involving Dilione and Rackover. Afterward, the men attempted to conceal the killing by moving, burning and burying Comunale’s body in a shallow grave in Oceanport, New Jersey. Dilione was originally charged with murder but pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in January 2019 and was sentenced to 23 years in prison.

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.

Ryan Gene Erickson was a Catholic priest in Wisconsin who was identified after his death as the likely perpetrator of the 2002 double murder of funeral director Daniel O'Connell and mortuary science intern James Ellison. The two men were shot inside O'Connell's funeral home in Hudson, Wisconsin, on February 5, 2002. Investigators eventually developed evidence linking Erickson to the killings, including his knowledge of previously unreleased crime-scene details and an alleged admission to a church deacon. Police questioned him in late 2004 and searched his rectory, but Erickson died by suicide on December 19, 2004, before he could be arrested. In October 2005, a judge ruled there was probable cause to conclude that Erickson had committed the murders.

Brandon Andrew Clark became one of the most notorious killers in recent American criminal history after murdering 17-year-old internet personality Bianca Devins in Utica, New York, on July 14, 2019. The case received worldwide attention after Clark posted graphic photographs of the crime scene on social media, prompting renewed debate about online communities, the rapid spread of violent content, and the responsibilities of social media platforms. Clark later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

Richard Glossip is an American man whose murder conviction became one of the most controversial criminal cases in modern U.S. legal history. Convicted in connection with the 1997 killing of motel owner Barry Van Treese in Oklahoma City, Glossip maintained his innocence for decades while facing multiple execution dates. The case drew international attention due to allegations of unreliable testimony, prosecutorial concerns, and questions surrounding the integrity of the conviction. His legal battle became a major focal point in debates over the death penalty, wrongful convictions, and the reliability of incentivized witness testimony.