Family Murders
Crimes committed inside families: parents, spouses and children, and the secrets behind closed doors.
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The Laci Peterson Case: Christmas Eve 2002, a Fishing Alibi, and the Appeal Still Alive in 2026
Laci Peterson, eight months pregnant, disappeared from her Modesto home on Christmas Eve 2002 while her husband said he was fishing in San Francisco Bay. The case that followed produced a death sentence, a reversal, two documentaries, and an innocence… Continue reading
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The Christmas Portrait: The Lawson Family Murders of 1929
On Christmas Day, 1929, tobacco farmer Charlie Lawson murdered his wife and six of their seven children on their farm in Stokes County, North Carolina, then took his own life. He had bought the family new clothes and taken a… Continue reading
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The Pike County Massacre: How a Custody Dispute Ended Eight Lives
In the predawn hours of April 22, 2016, eight members of the Rhoden family were found shot to death across four rural properties in Pike County, Ohio — the largest mass murder in the state’s modern history. For more than… Continue reading
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The Perfect Family: Chris Watts and the Murders in Frederick, Colorado
In August 2018, Chris Watts stood on his front lawn in Frederick, Colorado, and told reporters he just wanted his family home. Within forty-eight hours, police knew he had killed them all. The case became a defining true-crime story of… Continue reading
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In Cold Blood: The Clutter Family Murders That Changed American Crime Writing Forever
On a November night in 1959, a prosperous Kansas farming family was murdered in their rural home by two strangers looking for a safe that didn’t exist. The crime shocked a nation — and inspired Truman Capote to write what… Continue reading
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The Amityville Murders: The Real Crime Behind the Haunted House Legend
Before it was the most famous “haunted house” in America, 112 Ocean Avenue was a real crime scene. In 1974, Ronald DeFeo Jr. shot six members of his family in their beds — and none of them seemed to wake.… Continue reading
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The Menendez Brothers: The Beverly Hills Murders That Split America in Two
In 1989, someone shotgunned José and Kitty Menendez to death in their Beverly Hills mansion. The killers were their own sons. Thirty years later — with a 2025 resentencing — America still can’t agree whether they killed for money or… Continue reading
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The McStay Family: A Whole Family Vanishes, and a Desert Grave Years Later
In 2010, the McStay family vanished from their California home, leaving food on the counter and their dog behind. For years it looked like they had walked away. Then a motorcyclist found their shallow graves in the Mojave — and… Continue reading
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Lizzie Borden: The Forty-Whacks Murder That America Never Settled
On a hot August morning in 1892, the wealthiest banker in Fall River, Massachusetts, was hacked to death in his own parlor. His wife had been killed upstairs an hour earlier. The only adults known to be in the house… Continue reading
