True Murder: The Most Shocking Killers

On Aug. 17, 1992, 11 year-old Holly Staker was baby-sitting a 5-year-old boy and his 2 1/2-year-old sister. After eating pizza, the boy went out to play. At 8 p.m., when a neighbor noticed he was still outside, the boy said he was locked out. The neighbor took the boy to his mother at her job at a nearby tavern. The mother, Dawn Engelbrecht contacted Holly's mother, and the two of them went to the apartment, where they found the 2 1/2-year-old girl unharmed but Holly was dead in a bedroom. She had been stabbed 27 times and brutally raped.In the days after the crime, Juan Rivera was jailed on an unrelated burglary charge. Another inmate told authorities that Rivera told him he knew who had killed Holly. Police focused on Rivera, then just a few days short of his 20th birthday. Ultimately, Rivera signed two confessions to the crimes. He later testified at a pretrial hearing that he was coerced into confessing and had nothing to do with the rape and murder. Engelbrecht, whose children Holly was baby-sitting, had initially told police after Rivera was arrested that he had approached her outside her apartment on the night of the crime and asked, "What's happening?" She later recanted that identification, however, and said she believed Rivera was not Holly's killer. In 1993 Rivera was sentenced to life in prison.That sentence and the conviction were set aside in 1996 by the Illinois Appellate Court, which ruled the judge in the case had made errors.In 2005 new DNA testing excluded Juan Rivera as the killer rapist prompting a third trial with Juan, his family, defense attorneys and supporters believing in his innocence, confident that Juan would finally be released.On May 8, 2009 Juan was convicted of Holly Staker's rape and murder yet again, even though DNA excluded him. Prosecutors cited Juan's confession as proof of his guilt. FREE JUAN RIVERA- Rob Warden of the Center on Wrongful Convictions. Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com

In Creekstone, Texas, a small, quiet suburb of Houston, football was king...and David Temple was a prince. A former high school and college gridiron star-turned-coach, he had a fairy-tale marriage to bright, vivacious Belinda Lucas, a teacher at the local high school who was so warm and popular her colleagues called her "The Sunshine Girl."The fairy tale ended savagely on January 11, 1999, when Belinda's lifeless body was discovered in a closet. Her skull had been shattered by a shotgun blast at close range. She was eight months pregnant.There was no damning evidence directly linking the brutal murder to husband David, who stood by emotionless and dry-eyed as police searched the crime scene. But a dogged eight-year investigation would expose a shocking history of domination, infidelity and rage, ultimately resulting in an epic courtroom battle for the ages, as the scandalous truth was revealed about love betrayed and innocent lives...SHATTERED: The True Story of a Mother's Love, a Husband's Betrayal, and a Cold-Blooded Texas Murder-KATHRYN CASEY Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com

Cho Oyu Mountain lies 19 miles east of Mount Everest on the border between Tibet and Nepal. To the elite mountaineering community, it's known as the sixth highest mountain in the world. To Tibetans, Cho Oyu represents a gateway to freedom through a secret glacial path: the Nangpa La. On September 30, 2006, gunfire echoed through the thin air near Advance Base Camp on Cho Oyu and climbers preparing to summit watched in horror as Chinese border guards fired at a group of Tibetans fleeing to India, via Nepal.Murder in the High Himalaya is the unforgettable account of the brutal killing of Kelsang Namtso, a seventeen-year-old Tibetan nun fleeing with the group to Dharamsala to escape religious persecution. Kelsang's death is a painful example of Tibet's oppression by China, but this time a human rights atrocity was witnessed and documented by dozens of Western climbers. Their moral dilemma was plain-would they tell the world what they had seen? The center of the story is an American climber, struck with a crisis of conscience, who gambled with his career to speak out and a young, Tibetan girl who sacrificed her rights to ever return to Tibet by telling the Western media about the murder of her best friend. Both risked their futures to expose the abuses of China in Tibet and paid a terrible price. MURDER IN THE HIGH HIMALAYA-Jonathan Green Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com

For Darlene Roberts, a quiet drive home from work turned out to be the end of the road when a stranded motorist flagged her down. As soon as she stopped, Darlene was forcibly dragged from her car and viciously thrown to the ground, bound with cords and tightly gagged. A second attacker stepped into the scene, a woman in a hood and a mask.In the ensiung struggle, the woman's mask slipped off, revealing the face of Darlene's husband's ex-wife, Barbara Ann Roberts. Darlene broke away, running for her life. The couple pursued her across a field until they found her hiding in the grass. A shotgun was aimed and fired point blank. Later, Darlene was found floating in a pond.Who fired the fatal shot? The bitter ex-wwife? Or her lover and accomplice, millionaire neurosurgeon Dr. Robert Schiess the third? Only one of them would be convicted in this disturbingly twisted tale of lovers, cheaters, and killers in a small Alabama town. BLOOD AMBUSH-SHEILA JOHNSON Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com

Covering the case of one of the most prolific serial killers for 8 years gave Stevie Cameron unmatched access to the entire shocking story as it unfolded. In ON THE FARM, you will read of Pickton's early years and wonder if anything he experienced could ever explain what he later committed. You will learn of the suspicions from some of Pickton's long time friends. You will hear from two women who narrowly escaped being Pickton's victims. Pickton was originally charged with 26 murders in the biggest, longest and most expensive investigation ever conducted in Canada. ON THE FARM delivers a fascinating and horrific account of the life of a serial killer, the women he murdered, the many people that worked to solve the case and the families of victims looking for justice. ON THE FARM-ROBERT WILLIAM PICKTON AND THE TRAGIC STORY OF VANCOUVER'S MISSING WOMEN-Stevie Cameron Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com

Susan Berman was reared in the lap of Las Vegas luxury as the daughter of Davie Berman, a notorious casino mogul and mafia leader. It wasn't until college, well after her father's death that she learned what he really was and really did. She ultimately dedicated her life to learning about Vegas and it's underworld bosses, publishing 2 books on the subject Easy Street and Lady Las Vegas. Her story takes a turn for the bizarre in 1982 when Kathie Durst, the wife of college friend and heir to a New York real estate fortune, Robert Durst-mysteriously disappeared. Robert Durst was the primary suspect but no charges were laid. Shortly after the Kathie Durst case was reopened Susan Berman was found shot in the back of the head, mob execution style. No forced entry, no robbery, nothing missing. Again Robert is a suspect. Did Susan know her killer? Did she she have knowledge about Kathie Durst's death? MURDER OF A MAFIA DAUGHTER-THE LIFE AND TRAGIC DEATH OF SUSAN BERMAN-Cathy Scott Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com

Grab a seat on the wild side of an obsessive relationship, from its erotic beginning to its violent end and the trials required to clean up the mess. Gary Taylor, a former Houston Post reporter recounts his personal, true-life fatal attraction involvement in the trail of violence that dogged texas attorney Catherine McHaffey Shelton for nearly three decades, prompting coverage by newspapers, magazines, 48 Hours, American Justice and even Oprah. The result is a tooth-grinding, genre-bending tale that blends memoir with murder mystery and legal procedural with psycho-killer in an adventure odyssey of self-discovery that nearly cost him his life. LUGGAGE BY KROGER-Gary Taylor Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com

The Caylee Anthony Case: When news broke of 3-year-old Caylee Anthony's disappearance from her home in Florida in July 2008, there was a huge outpouring of sympathy across America. The search for Caylee made front-page headlines. There were disturbing questions raised about Caylee's mother Casey and she became the prime suspect. In October, based on new evidence, her erractic behavior and lies and the signs of human decomposition found in the trunk of her car-a grand jury indicted the young single mother. Two months later police found Caylee's remains just a 1/4 mile away from the Anthony home. Casey pled not guily and professes her innocence to this day. MOMMY'S LITTLE GIRL is the definitive account of one of the most shocking, confusing and horrific murders in American history. MOMMY'S LITTLE GIRL-DIANE FANNING Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com

True crime author Ron Chepesiuk uncovers one of the biggest hoaxes in the history of the international drug trade in Sergeant Smack: The Legendary Lives and Times of Ike Atkinson, Kingpin, and his Band of Brothers. Sergeant Smack details the true legend of Ike Atkinson, one of the biggest Black drug traffickers in U.S. history. Atkinson pioneered some of the most innovative methods used in international drug smuggling. They ranged from duffle and AWOL bags, to the U.S. Army Postal System to the use of unsuspecting crew chiefs who operated military aircraft transporting teakwood furniture. But, contrary to popular belief, Atkinson's methods did not include the bogus cadaver-heroin smuggling connection conspiracy exploited by Frank Lucas in Hollywood 's blockbuster film, "American Gangster." The film not only distorted Atkinson's historical role in the international drug trade, but falsely depicted Lucas as the pioneer of the Asian heroin connection. As the book conclusively shows, the conspiracy is a hoax, as is Frank Lucas' claims of participation with Ike in the conspiracy. SERGEANT SMACK-Ron Chepesiuk Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com

On a moonlit night in November 1997, 14-year-old Reena Virk went to a party with some of her friends near the idyllic waters of Victoria, British Columbia. She never returned home. A week later, her body was found by police divers, and eight teenagers, seven of them girls, were arrested. Two teens, Warren Glowatski and Kelly Ellard, were charged and eventually convicted for their role in a vicious and unexpected crime. In Under the Bridge, author Rebecca Godfrey unravels the haunting, compelling tale behind this terrible murder, and the long, often bizarre trials of the now notorious Kelly Ellard. Drawing on exclusive interviews and six years of research, Godfrey reveals the complex story behind the headlines, offering readers a vivid portrait of suburban teenagers, persistent detectives, and stunned parents caught up and transformed by a Canadian tragedy. UNDER THE BRIDGE: The True Story of the Murder of Reena Virk-Rebecca Godfrey Follow and comment on Facebook-TRUE MURDER: The Most Shocking Killers in True Crime History   https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064697978510Check out TRUE MURDER PODCAST @ truemurderpodcast.com