Showing results by author "David Pietras" in All Categories

Twenty one years after the brutal murders of three eight year old Cub Scouts in West Memphis, Arkansas, there seem to still be more questions than there are answers. We have gone all the way back to the beginning and looked through years worth of evidence. What we have found may truly shock you. Sifting between truth and lies, rumors and reality, and taking quite an emotional roller coaster ride, we have put together a book that strives to present nothing but the cold hard facts of what truly took place on the night of May 5, 1993 in Robin Hood Hills to Steven Branch, Michael Moore and ...

No one can explain the strength of a mother's love. A woman who carries a child inside her for 9 months and nurtures them as infants….. Only to one day become their killer. Diane Downs, Andrea Yates, Marybeth Tinning and Susan Smith are mothers who crossed that line of love and killed their own children. We will explore their lives and their crimes and journey through the courtrooms, as we try to find out what made these mothers turn into MOMSTERS.

In 1997, a court found Darlie Lynn Routier guilty of probably the worst of human crimes: killing two of her natural children in cold-blood. Motive is still a mystery, but the prosecution painted her as a shrewish, materialistic young woman who, sensing her lavish lifestyle crumbling, slew her two sons Damon and Devon in a mad attempt to resuscitate her and her husband's personal economy. The following story relates the events of the murder and those leading up to her sensational trial, resulting in her conveyance to death row in Dallas, where she awaits death through lethal injection. The ...

Darlie Routier is on death row in Texas, convicted of the murder of one of her two sons, who were killed in the early morning of June 6, 1996. The media coverage of the investigation into the murders of Devon and Damon Routier depicted the crime as another heartless mother whose children were getting in the way of her lifestyle, so she killed them. After a jury trial in Kerrville Texas, Darlie was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. Most found it believable in the aftermath of the Susan Smith case two years earlier. But the prosecutor withheld very crucial evidence. After the ...

In the dark of night, U.S. helicopters approached a high-walled compound in Pakistan on a mission to capture or kill one of the world's most notorious terrorist leaders. Less than 40 minutes later -- early Monday morning in Pakistan -- Osama bin Laden was dead, along with four others inside the complex, and the U.S. forces departed with the slain al Qaeda leader's body to fulfill a vow that originated shortly after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States.

JonBenet was reported missing Dec. 26, 1996, in a frantic 5:52 a.m. 911 call in which Patsy Ramsey told Boulder police she'd found a ransom note demanding the head-scratching figure of $118,000 for her daughter's safe return. Instead of paying a ransom and getting their daughter returned, JonBenét’s lifeless body was discovered early that afternoon in a little-used room of the family's cellar by her father and a family friend. JonBenet was discovered with tape across her mouth, a ligature buried deep in the skin of her neck through use of a garrote fashioned from cord and a broken ...

Russian Serial killer, Andrei Chikatilo, was dubbed the "Russian Hannibal Lecter" by virtue of the incredible number of murders he committed. Fifty-three young women and children of both sexes died at his hands, and cannibalism was part of his signature. Described as mild-mannered and effeminate, Chikatilo was active from the late seventies to the early nineties. He was convicted in 1992 and put to death with a single bullet to the back of the head. Killing was the only way Chikatilo could achieve sexual gratification.

John Gotti was the last great leader of the Gambino crime family, the dominant Sicilian mafia family of New York. Gotti's boys had their fingers in everything from gambling houses, to drug trafficking, prostitution, to weapons dealing. Gotti originally came to lead the organization in 1985, but had been an enforcer for the mob since the early 70's. Originally, Gotti made a name for himself by helping avenge the death of Manny Gambino, nephew of the notorious leader of the family, Carlo Gambino. Gotti and two accomplices gunned down one of Manny's killers in a bar on Staten Island. Gotti did...

New York City is the place of origin for organized crime in the United States. Currently, there are five families in the New York City outfit of La Cosa Nostra. This book will give background information on each of the five families. First of all, the five families are Gambino, Genovese, Colombo, Bonanno, and Lucchese. These names come from Joe Valachi. He was a low ranking soldier who was the first man to break the omerta, or code of silence. The family names come from him, because he testified as to who the bosses were of the five families at the time of his arrest in 1959. The only ...

The kidnapping of a child is every parent's worst nightmare. Statistically, the vast majority of kidnapped children are never returned to their parents. In the past few years, especially recently, there have been some well publicized cases of children being returned to their parents. Some of these abducted children are returned after many years of being held captive. Obviously, this is very unusual, since most children are never returned and many times not even any remains are found. Most parents who lose a child through kidnapping, never even get an answer to the question of, "Is my child ...

Whether you think they are evil, disturbed, or just crazy you are part of a society that exhibits both a repulsion and fascination with the lives and minds of serial killers. When we look back at these crimes we see pure evil. It is amazing what one human being could do to another. For some of the people in this book the victims were their very own loved ones, and others they were total strangers.. We may never know what makes people like Ted Bundy or The Son of Sam do the things that they did. And we can only hope that we don't ever come face to face with the next monster who as taking ...

From Gotti to Gigante, the names atop today’s Mafia organizational charts are old ones. But the times have certainly changed for New York’s biggest families—and not for the better. In this book we will look at New York City’s Five Families. All have bookmaking, loan-sharking, and extortion rackets. The Genovese family and, to a lesser degree, the Lucchese family (like the Gambinos) also have viable labor-racketeering endeavors that let them invest and launder their ill-gotten gains in “legitimate” industries. Every Family has declined as of late, some more than others.

On July 4, 1954, Marilyn Sheppard, the wife of a handsome thirty-year-old doctor, Sam Sheppard, was brutally murdered in the bedroom of their home in Bay Village, Ohio, on the shore of Lake Erie. Sam Sheppard denied any involvement in the murder and described his own battle with the killer he described as "bushy-haired." Did Sam do it? It's rare for a murder mystery to endure for over half a century. Almost always, if the the mystery is not fully resolved at the trial, subsequent admissions, previously uncovered clues, or more sophisticated forensic tests reveal what the trial did not. Not ...

When you hear the name Charles Manson, depending on your age will determine on what you remember of him. For those who were alive during the famous murder spree you will remember the face that was plastered all over the local news. You will remember the followers, also known as “The Manson Family” that did his bidding for him. You may have sat back and wondered how one man could have so much control over so many people. If you were born after 1970 then Charles Manson is just a figment of the past. A fading news story about a maniac who led a group of people to kill. There are so many ...

Serial killers are people who, on multiple occasions spread over time, murder victims who are generally unknown to them beforehand. Their crimes are committed as a result of a compulsion that, in many but not all cases, has roots in the killer's (often dysfunctional) youth, as opposed to those who are motivated by financial gain or ideological/political motivations Many times this compulsion is linked to the individual's sexual drive. We will focus on the five most infamous serial killers that hunted down victims in the sunshine State of Florida. We will look at their crimes, the ...

Welcome! Here you find the history of haunted locations in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, along with the stories of the ghosts and spooks which haunt these fortifications and palaces. Whether you are looking for information on castles, or if you more interested in the paranormal activities and manifestations from the other side, you have come to the right place. Learn about the apparitions and specters which walk abroad including the reasons for their hauntings, along with confirmed sightings, cases of witchcraft and much more in the towers, mansions, and dungeons in the north of the...

1692 Salem, Demon hunter Thomas Stoughton and his men are hunting the King of all Demons, “Jarius.” They find him possessing the body of 87 year old Mary Bigalow. She is hunted down and killed and the demon is captured. But not before a curse is put on Stoughton that his male descendants and those of his men would be cursed and hunted for eternity. Jarius was placed in a box that was sealed with a crucifix and hid inside Stoughton’s very own fireplace. With the intentions of the demon never being released again. But in 2007, the house is sold to the Millers. After learning that their ...

The question often posed when we are confronted with such senseless acts of violence as these, is what causes medical professionals to kill individuals for which they have a fiduciary duty to protect? Are there contributing factors shared among them which predispose them to murder? When the implicit trust relationship between doctors and nurses and the patients they care for is exploited for their own perverse deviant gain, what can we do? Betrayal by those we believe in chips away at the fundamental core of our society, weakening social mores and values in such a way that may prove beyond ...

Cultist groups have permeated society ever since people could chat and share ideas en masse, although modern cult experts today often clash about what, exactly, makes a group of people a cult. What's a loony or eccentric organization to one expert is often seen by others as a religion or sect, which are terms loaded with less cultural stigma. Whatever the best working definition might be, here we present four of popular culture's craziest cults of our time. One thing that baffles society is the fact that so many people choose to follow a single man and look to him as a messiah. Cult members...