Episode list

Matthew and Mary Winkler were well known in the small town of Selmer, Tennessee. Matthew was the popular young pastor of the Fourth Street Church of Christ, and Mary was his cheerful wife, a stay-at-home mom who kept busy caring for the couple's three young daughters. But, the Winkler's 10-year marriage would come to a quick and violent end in March, 2006. When Matthew didn't show up for a Wednesday night service, several congregants went to the Winkler home to check on him. They found Matthew dead in the bedroom, shot in the back. Mary and the girls were nowhere to be found. An Amber alert for the girls led police to Alabama, where they found Mary and her daughters safe. Then, authorities promptly arrested Mary for Matthew's murder. She confessed, telling police that she and Matthew had argued the evening of March 20th, and the next morning, she retrieved a shotgun from the closet and shot Matthew in the back while he lay in bed. Mary said that between Matthew's constant criticism and arguments over money, she had finally "snapped." Police later learned that, unknown to Matthew, Mary had deposited more than $17,000 worth of bad checks into the family's account. At trial, her attorneys claimed she was an innocent victim of a notorious check scam operation. Prosecutors contended that she knew exactly what she was doing, since she had withdrawn most of the money before the checks cleared and deposited the cash into a private account. In April 2007, Mary was acquitted of murder but convicted on the charge of manslaughter. She served 60 days in a mental health facility, and was released on August 14, 2007.

Jessica McCord and her ex-husband Alan Bates had a bitter divorce, and an even more bitter custody battle over their two young daughters. Both Jessica and Alan had remarried: Jessica to a police officer she met while working as a secretary for the Birmingham Police Department, Alan to a co-worker in a Maryland theater company. In the seven years following their divorce, Jessica had repeatedly tried to deny Alan visitation and contact with his daughters, moving frequently and having her phone number changed so he couldn't call. When Alan flew to Birmingham from Maryland in February of 2002, he and Jessica would have their final showdown over their daughters. They met in a lawyer's office to hammer out a new custody agreement. Later that afternoon, Alan and his wife went to the McCord's home to pick up the girls, but Jessica had a different plan. She lured them into the back of the house, where her police officer husband shot them both multiple times. The McCords then set out to create an alibi, buying theater tickets and visiting Home Depot. Afterwards, they drove the Bates' rental car several hours into Georgia, with the bodies in the trunk, and torched it. When police discovered the bodies, it didn't take long to trace the Bates' movements back to the McCord home. Crime scene techs found traces of blood, a bullet that matched a bullet found in one of the bodies, and evidence of a cleanup. At her trial, prosecutors claimed that Jessica was a vindictive woman with a history of violence against her ex. The defense could only find one character witness to speak in Jessica's favor: her mother. The jury found her guilty and sentenced her to life.

Pretty, ambitious, 24-year-old law student Adrienne Hickson was looking forward to a career in criminal law, and to spending her life with her college sweetheart, Shawn Washington. After college, she got into a prestigious law school in Washington, D.C. while Shawn got a full-time job in Atlanta. They stayed together despite the 600 miles separating them. But, after a year apart, the long-distance relationship was showing signs of strain. When Adrienne went to Atlanta to visit Shawn in December, 2005, they fought constantly. She began to time him when he went out and called constantly to keep tabs on him. On December 21, after a loud argument in the parking lot of Shawn's apartment, the two decided to take the fight inside. Ten minutes later, Shawn stumbled back out, covered in blood and clutching his shoulder. While friends rushed him to the hospital, Adrienne got in her car and went home to her family in South Carolina. She came back on Christmas night to visit Shawn in the hospital but discovered he was dead -- and there was a warrant out for her arrest. In June, 2007, the former law student found herself in a courtroom, not as an attorney, but as a defendant. Her defense claimed she was a battered woman; the prosecutor said that Adrienne was the one with a history of violence. When the jury deadlocked, Adrienne took an Alford plea, which meant she accepted punishment, without admitting guilt. She was sentenced to five years in prison.

Pregnant Sarah Brady was deceived by another woman who had plans to steal her baby - but when Sarah killed her, was it self defence?

After nine years of marriage to a Navy man, Elizabeth Reynolds had returned to small-town southern Texas, while her husband finished his tour of duty. She worked on the couple's home and on finishing her bachelor's degree in psychology at Texas A&M. Elizabeth soon became infatuated with a former acquaintance, Albert Benitez, a former police officer who was teaching law enforcement at a nearly community college. She signed up for his class but it wasn't long before she became obsessed with him. They began dating. She initiated divorce proceedings and underwent a tummy tuck and dental work, and dyed her hair blonde. But, after all the time and money spent to please him, she discovered Albert was still seeing other women. On August 8, 2003, she brought pizza and a movie to his Kingsville home and spent the night. The next morning, at 7:30 a.m. as they were getting ready to leave, a strange man knocked on the door, and when Albert (caught without his sidearm) answered, the man opened fire. When the shooter fled and drove away with Elizabeth, Albert managed to call 911 to report that he had been shot and his girlfriend kidnapped by the shooter. Although he was pronounced dead five times during his multiple surgeries, Albert survived. When Elizabeth, presumed a hostage, turned up unharmed without a consistent explanation and a dubious escape story, local police became suspicious. Eventually they found Albert's would-be assassin, Francisco Perez, and a money trail that led back to Elizabeth. In 2005, Perez was convicted of attempted capital murder and sentenced to 60 years and Reynolds was convicted of criminal solicitation of capital murder and sentenced to life. Neither will be eligible for parole until 2035.

Lynn Womack was a 911 operator when she met and married Atlanta police officer Glenn Turner in 1993. But it wasn't long before the two began to have serious problems: Lynn spent Glenn's money as fast as he could make it, and she also spent frequent weekends away from home. In March of 1995, Glenn went to the emergency room, complaining of vomiting, diarrhea and nosebleeds. By the next day, he was dead. The official cause of death was an irregular heartbeat. Four days after his funeral, Lynn moved in with another man, firefighter Randy Thompson. She spent Glenn's insurance money on a cruise and expensive presents for Randy. Over the next few years, they had two children together, but their relationship, too, was turbulent. In January of 2001, Randy visited the emergency room. Like Glenn, he was suffering from vomiting and diarrhea. Like Glenn, he was dead within 24 hours. Again, the cause of death was listed as heart disease. Glenn and Randy's mothers convinced police that it was not mere coincidence that their sons died similar deaths while involved with Lynn. Both men were exhumed, and new autopsies revealed crystallized ethylene glycol - a toxin found in antifreeze -- in their kidneys. Lynn was arrested for Glenn's murder, and a jury found her guilty in 2004. Shortly after she was sentenced to spend life in prison for Glenn's death, she was charged with Randy's murder. In 2007, she was tried and convicted for his murder, as well.

Kathleen Denson was a self-made woman living the good life in one of the wealthiest resort towns in America. A successful furrier with stores in both Vail and Aspen, she had a home in Vail and a ranch in the mountains to retreat to when she wanted a little more privacy. And that came in handy when Denson began dating local playboy Gerald "Cody" Boyd - a hard-livin' and lovin' Texan who'd had a string of rich Aspen lovers. Boyd and Denson spent the next several months at the ranch house doing cocaine and videotaping themselves having sex. But the relationship took an even kinkier turn when Cody also started dating Monica Seebacher, an employee at Denson's Aspen store. In May, the threesome went to Cancun together - on Denson's tab. But, it soon became clear that three was a crowd. One fall evening in 2002, Aspen police responded to a 911 call placed from Denson's ranch. There they found Cody Boyd, shot to death with an antique black-powder pistol that was part of his extensive collection. Kathleen Denson told police she had shot him in self-defense. Police weren't so sure. They charged her with 2nd degree murder. Each day of her trial Denson showed up in a different Armani pants suit. She may have looked good, but her case didn't. Cody was unarmed when he was shot and there was no sign of a prior struggle. Denson's lawyers painted Cody as an out-of-control drug addict, using, as proof, an earlier restraining order taken out by his ex-wife, and an autopsy report that showed Boyd was high on coke when he was shot. The jury believed it. In August of 2003, Denson was acquitted.

In 2005, Misty Witherspoon accidentally shot her police officer husband, Quinn, with his service weapon. But, when police learned the grieving widow had also embezzled money from her church to cover the family's debt, it wasn't long before they saw Quinn's life insurance as a motive to kill.

Former beauty queen and Akron socialite Cynthia George's life seemed charmed. She met and married wealthy restaurateur Ed George in 1984, raised seven healthy children, and lived in a sprawling 8000-foot mansion. Locally, the wealthy couple wielded power and exuded glamor. In 2000, Cynthia came in fourth in the Mrs. Ohio beauty pageant. But behind her glamorous exterior, Cynthia hid a secret second life. Her secrets would be opened for the world to see when 44-year-old Jeff Zack was shot and killed by a man on a motorcycle in June, 2001. The police investigating Jeff's murder discovered that he had been Cynthia George's lover, and was the father of one of her children - which could be a motive for Cynthia's husband to want Jeff dead. Still, there was no physical evidence to tie either of the Georges to the crime. Police got their break when a woman called police and said she believed her ex-husband, John Zaffino, had killed Jeff. Police were stunned - it seemed their investigation had been completely off base. They turned their attention to Zaffino and discovered he had bought a gun and a motorcycle just weeks before Jeff's murder. But the investigation soon led detectives right back where they started: Cynthia George. Cynthia had also been having an affair with Zaffino, and had told Zaffino that Jeff was abusing her. She had given Zaffino the money used to buy the gun and motorcycle. Police arrested both Cynthia and Zaffino and charged them with Jeff's murder. During Zaffino's trial - and as she awaited her own trial -- Cynthia continued to write him letters. Cynthia's attorneys convinced Cynthia to have her case tried before a judge instead of a jury. Ed George stood loyally by his wife and testified on her behalf. But the judge found her guilty of complicity in the murder and sentenced her to life in prison. A year later, the District Court of Appeals overturned the decision, claiming the state failed to provide the evidence to support the judge's decision. Cynthia was released from prison in March, 2007.

A man awakens alone to find a knife-wielding man in his bedroom -- but is his absent wife a victim or an accomplice?

Erika Elaine Grace was an ideal child with an idyllic childhood. A well-liked honor student and a gifted basketball player, she was the center of her parents' world. After high school, she went to a prestigious private college on a partial basketball scholarship, and graduated with a Bachelor degree in history. She surprised her parents by coming home with more than a degree - she brought a new husband, a 23-year-old ex-Navy SEAL named Benjamin Sifrit, known to his family and friends by the nickname B.J. Her wealthy parents were not happy with her new husband, but tried to support their daughter. They helped the young couple open a business, assembling scrapbooks for customers. In May, 2002, Erika and B.J. took a break from the business to go on vacation in Ocean City, Maryland. But, on May 31, the couple found themselves in trouble. They were arrested for trying to steal over $5000 worth of merchandise from a Hooter's store. When police interrogated Erika, they got a lot more than they bargained for. Erika admitted that she and B.J. were behind the disappearance of another couple, Martha Crutchley and Joshua Ford. The couple had been reported missing earlier in the week, but police had no leads until the Sifrits' arrest. Erika said she and B.J. had met the couple in a bar and asked them back to their condominium, where B.J. had shot them and dismembered the bodies. The Sifrits had then taken the bodies to a dumpster in Delaware. Police charged Erika and B.J. with murder. Searching the Sifrits' vehicle and condo, police found that Erika didn't just help her scrapbooking customers preserve memories -- she also compulsively preserved her own. She had kept photographs of the murdered couple, the couple's ID cards, and spent bullets casings. She also wore Joshua Ford's blood-flecked ring around her neck on a chain. B.J. Sifrit went to trial before his wife, and blamed the murders on her. He claimed he had been asleep in their Jeep, and Erika woke him up to say she had killed Crutchley and Ford and needed his help disposing of the bodies. The jury believed him, only finding him guilty of the second-degree murder of Crutchley, and not guilty of Ford's murder. Erika was not so lucky. The jury found the woman prosecutors called "Little Miss Scrapbook" guilty of first-degree murder on both counts and sentenced her to life in prison.

A woman eludes police for six years after a confrontation with her neighbor turns deadly.

In 2005, Sharon Daniels called police to tell them she had shot her husband David in self-defence. But was it?

In 1999, the hot gossip in small Morgantown, West Virginia was 27-year-old pediatric nurse Shelley Angus. Shelley was recently separated from her husband of five years and had taken up with a married man, local businessman Jimmy Michael. After a year of dating on the sly, Jimmy divorced his wife and married Shelley in May of 2000. She and Jimmy bought a big house in an upscale suburb, and were active in the community. But, five years into their marriage, Shelley would once again be the talk of the town, and, once again, the rumor was she was having an affair with a married man. There were also rumors that she had an abortion, even though it was common knowledge that Jimmy had had a vasectomy. She was also one violation away from getting fired from her nursing job. Still, the town rallied around Shelley when tragedy struck. On the morning of November 29, 2005, a neighbor called Shelley at work with news that her house was burning; when she got to the house, she discovered Jimmy had died in the fire. In the months that followed, Shelley collected almost $600,000 in insurance money. But, while she was collecting insurance, the police were collecting evidence. On an anonymous tip, the coroner tested Jimmy for rocuronium -- a drug used to induce paralysis during surgery - and determined Jimmy had the drug in his system when the fire started. Fire investigators also determined the house fire had been deliberately set. When authorities discovered Shelley had been seen pulling out of her driveway right before the fire, and that, as a nurse, she had free access to rocuronium, they charged her with first-degree murder. At her trial, the prosecution claimed Shelley was motivated by infidelity, boredom with her job, and the idea of a big insurance payout. Shelley took the stand and denied it all. After three days of deliberation, the jury found her guilty and she received a mandatory life sentence. But the jury also recommended mercy: Shelley will be eligible for parole in 15 years.

Linda Henning was a mild mannered fashion designer sewing a comfortable life for herself in the Southwest fashion circuit. The 48-year-old was romantically involved with a married man, the charismatic Daizien Hossencofft. In September of 1999, Hossencofft's estranged wife Girly Chew disappeared. Co-workers of the Malaysian woman feared for her life, citing her recent break-up with Daizien. Police found evidence of a struggle in Girly's apartment, but her body was never found. Blood at the scene led them to Linda Henning. She was arrested and charged with murder. Daizien was arrested for masterminding the plot to kill his wife. As investigators delved into the case, they discovered Linda's strange beliefs about UFO's and that the government is run by reptilian aliens. Daizien made a plea agreement to avoid the death penalty in the killing. He admitted to ordering the killing and swore Linda was not involved, claiming Linda's blood was at the scene because he spilled a vial of it in an attempt to confuse the police. Linda's attorney's say she was Daizien's victim, that the conman had brainwashed her into being his alibi. But prosecutors say Henning killed Girly Chew in an attempt to prove her love for Daizien. Despite the strange tales of brainwashing and aliens, the jury convicted Henning of murder. She was sentenced to 73 years in prison.

Pretty, petite Darlene Doskocil and handsome, outgoing Keith Gentry met at their small Texas college. They started dating when they discovered a mutual love of beer, dancing, and deer hunting. When she finished up her nursing degree, she moved to Dallas for work, but Keith charmed her back into the small town life in Robinson, Texas. They got married and had three boys, but their marriage soon began to show signs of strain. With Keith working long hours, Darlene frequently left the kids with Keith's parents while she went out with friends. Concerned, Keith quit his high-paying job so he could be home for the kids when Darlene was away. Then, just after 6 a.m. on November 9, 2005, Darlene called 911 to say her house had been broken into and her husband had been shot. Paramedics found Keith lying in bed unconscious; he died a few hours later. Friends and family rushed to console Darlene over the death of her husband. She and the kids moved in with Keith's parents. But as police investigated Keith's murder, the evidence began to mount against Darlene. First, there was the murder scene. Investigators claimed it looked staged. Then, police found rubber gloves at the bottom of the kitchen trashcan, which contained shell casings, gunshot residue, and only two DNA profiles: Keith's and Darlene's. Police also found it suspicious that although Darlene was a nurse, she had made no apparent effort to save her husband. But, the most damning evidence was a secret video made by Texas Rangers. The video captured Darlene as she systematically searched the bottom of a pond-in the exact spot where the murder weapon had been found two days earlier. It took a jury only 5 hours to convict Darlene of first-degree murder. She was sentenced to 60 years.

Monique Berkley, her young lover, and her stepdaughter's boyfriend are behind the December 2005 shooting death of her husband, a Navy reservist.

A popular professor's death looks like an accident, but turns into a murder mystery with his widow at the center.

When grandmother Ann Trexler relocated to Florida, it wasn't just to spend her retirement years in the sun. Ann wanted to spend more time with her oldest daughter, Tina, and her six-year-old granddaughter. Tina shared custody of the child with her ex-husband Ron, an arrangement that worked well until "Moms" Ann moved to town. Ann threw herself into her role as grandmother, and resented the child's closeness with Ron and, especially, Ron's new wife. In August of 1998, Ron petitioned the court to give him primary custody, telling the court that his ex-wife and her mother were disrupting his daughter's school and social life, cursing his new wife in front of the child, and their hostility was affecting the girl's physical and mental health. But the court never had a chance to rule on Ron's petition. On the morning of October 6, when Ron opened the door to leave for work, a shot rang out. As Ron ran back into the house the shooter followed, shooting him eight times, while his panicked wife called 911 from the bedroom. Before he fled, Ron's wife heard the shooter say, "This is for her." Ron bled to dead on the kitchen floor, curled up in the fetal position. Investigators believed Ron had been targeted for execution, but when the alibis of the usual suspects - his current wife and his ex - checked out, the investigation stalled. The break in the case came when police found the murder weapon, and traced it back to local hairdresser, Kim MIller - Ann Trexler's hairdresser. Faced with a murder charge, the Kim confessed that Ann had frequently wished aloud that Ron was out of the picture, so Kim hooked her up with someone who could make that wish come true. Using Kim as a go-between, Ann paid a man $10,000 to take Ron out. At her trial, prosecutors used Kim's confession, bank records showing the money trail, and cell phone records to prove Ann was behind Ron's murder. The defense claimed Ann was an innocent, church-going grandmother who was being framed by a drug addict working the system to get out of a murder charge. But the jury didn't buy the innocent grandmother act - they took just two hours to find Ann guilty and sentence her to life in prison.

In April, 2001, 38-year-old Kerri Faye Brown had just given birth to a baby girl, fathered by her on-again, off-again boyfriend. He was a tribal police officer working in Arizona, and, after their latest breakup, Kerri had moved to Orem, Utah to live with her sister. She found a job as an activities director at an upscale retirement center owned by Mina Pajela. Mina was so impressed with Kerri that she promoted her to administrator. With her own daughter living in California, Mina came to view Kerri as a surrogate daughter, and Keri frequently stayed at Mina's home. When Kerri discovered she was pregnant, Mina was supportive. Then, on April 25, 2001, Mina was found shot to death in her car. Witnesses reported seeing a woman trying to set the car on fire. Police began investigating, and while at first they didn't come up with any suspects, they did discover that someone had embezzled close to $40,000 from the retirement center. Further investigation revealed the identity of the embezzler - Kerri Faye Brown. Kerri, in the meantime, had moved back to Arizona with her boyfriend and their baby. In November, 2001 Kerri was charged with multiple financial crimes. When forensic tests proved that the murder weapon belonged to Kerri's boyfriend, she was also charged with Mina's murder. But, in 2002, the charges were dropped; prosecutors felt they needed more time to built their case. Two years later, they refiled charges against Kerri. In August, 2005, before she was scheduled to go to trial, Kerri pleaded no contest to manslaughter and theft by deception. She told the judge that she took the plea, not because she was guilty, but because she was tired of fighting. She was sent to serve up to 30 years for manslaughter and theft.

After three years of marriage, college sweethearts Ann and Eric Miller had a young daughter, a beautiful home, and two successful careers. She was a research scientist at a major pharmaceutical company. He was a pediatric AIDS researcher at the University of North Carolina. But on the night of November 15, 2000, Eric Miller developed a mysterious illness. That evening, Eric had gone bowling with Derril Willard, one of his wife's coworkers. An hour into the outing, Miller was admitted into the hospital with flu-like symptoms. The symptoms soon passed and the doctors sent Eric home. But two weeks later, on November 30, 2000, he was in the ER again with the same flu-like symptoms. This time tests revealed arsenic in Eric's system. On December 2, 2000, just as he appeared on the road to recovery, Eric Miller died of cardiac arrest. The autopsy said it was due to arsenic. Police quickly focused their attention on Ann. A search of the lab shared with Derril Willard turned up traces of arsenic and evidence of an affair between the two scientists. On January 21, 2001, police searched Willard's home and asked him to come in for questioning. Instead, he took his own life; but not before confessing to his lawyer that it was Ann that gave Eric Miller the fatal dose of arsenic. Willard told his attorney Ann had persuaded him to spike Miller's beer with arsenic at the bowling alley on November 15, but when Eric didn't die, she decided to lace his food. Days later, according to what Willard told his attorney, she'd injected arsenic directly into her husband's IV as he lay in his hospital room, causing the heart attack that killed him. Willard's suicide, however, complicated pressing charges against Ann until September 27, 2004, when a grand jury indicted her for first-degree murder charges. Ann, who had remarried, pled guilty a year later to second degree and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. She is serving 25-31 ½ years in a woman's correctional facility.

Soft-spoken 3rd grade teacher Elicia Hughes and her handsome, computer whiz husband Brian married in 1999, and, five years later, they had two young daughters and a comfortable suburban life. That changed the night of June 3, 2004. The Hinds County 911 center received a call from Elicia, claiming her husband had been shot. When EMT's arrived, Brian was already dead. Elicia told police that she had been asleep, but woke up when she heard popping noises, followed by the home alarm system going off. When she got up to investigate, she discovered the front door open, and Brian lying dead on the living room floor. Investigators found no signs of forced entry, but they did find spent shell casings inside and outside the house. They also discovered Brian's .45-caliber handgun was missing. The investigation dragged on for nine months; in the meantime, Elicia collected $250,000 in life insurance, and made plans to sell her home and move with her children to Florida. But, in March of 2005, her plans were derailed when police arrested her for Brian's murder. At her trial, prosecutors claimed Elicia was tired of Brian's philandering, and decided he was worth more dead than alive. They told the jury Elicia had made a telling statement to detectives when she told them she heard gunshots, followed by the alarm; if there had been an intruder, she would have heard the alarm first. Her defense countered that Elicia was confused and distressed when she made that statement, and that is was more likely Brian was shot by the jealous husband or boyfriend of one of his many lovers. Prosecutors then put one of Brian's lovers on the stand, and she told the jury that, on the night of the murder, she had been talking to Brian on his cell phone, but he had hung up when Elicia walked into the room. Cell phone records showed that the call had ended around 11:15pm - within five minutes of the time Elicia claimed to have been awakened by the popping noises. It only took jurors two hours to find her guilty of first-degree murder. She was sentenced to life in prison, but got a reprieve in February 2007. The trial judge granted Elicia a new trial, citing racial discrimination in the jury selection at her first trial. At her second trial, she had better luck with the jury; they acquitted her of Brian's murder in November 2007.

Linda Fields was a no-nonsense, hard worker running a Nevada cattle ranch with her husband Vern. The ranch was in financial trouble, and so was their marriage, but the couple continued to stick it out in spite of the difficulties. They received a windfall when police found the body of Jeromir Palensky in the Jordan River in Utah. Palensky had been working as a ranch hand for the Fields. A Czech immigrant who had no family in the U.S., Palensky had left behind a will and a $300,000 life insurance policy, with the Fields as his beneficiaries. Shortly after Palensky's death, Linda cashed in on the will and applied for the insurance payout. But Palensky's relatives from the Czech Republic filed suit to claim the insurance. Meanwhile, investigators continued searching for Palensky's killer, and Linda Fields went from wealthy heir to prime suspect. Investigators discovered that Linda had obtained a power of attorney from him, and had taken out the $300,000 life insurance policy on Palensky herself. The will, which left land and other belongings to the Fields, had been forged by Vern. An autopsy determined Palensky hadn't drowned-he'd been killed by blunt force trauma to the head a month before his body was found. His watch had stopped on the date of the 19th. -- the last day he was on the Fields' ranch. But investigators didn't have enough evidence to get an indictment. As time went by, Linda became over-confident that she'd gotten away with murder. She began telling friends about taking the body to Utah. When one of those friends went to the police, Linda was finally indicted for Palensky's murder, three years after his body had been found. At her trial, prosecutors argued that Linda had masterminded the murder and had driven Palensky's body over 200 miles to divert attention from the ranch. When Linda took the stand, she proclaimed her innocence, saying she had only tried to help Palensky. The jury found her story unconvincing, returning with a guilty verdict, and convicting her of life in prison. A few months later, Vern Fields was also convicted of the murder.

A mother is hailed as a hero when she kills a home intruder -- but a secret journal leads police to suspect she may have planned a cold-blooded murder.

Shawna Nelson was a stay-at-home mom to her three children, aged eight, six and 10-months. The former police dispatcher had quit her job after the new baby arrived, and she was active in the older children's activities: Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts and sports. But her life was far from picture perfect. Her 11-year marriage to a sheriff's detective had recently been tested, when, in 2005, her husband discovered Shawna was having an affair with a married police officer named Ignacio Garrus. Shawna's husband also learned Shawna was pregnant with Garrus' baby. After filing for divorce, the Nelsons decided to reconcile and keep the baby's real paternity a secret. The reconciliation didn't last long. Secretly, Shawna continued to see her lover, until, before Christmas of 2006, Garrus made a final break. He told Shawna he couldn't leave his wife, Heather, and their young daughter. Shawna continued to try to see him, and was convinced that his wife was to blame when Garrus took out a restraining order against her. On January 23, 2007, Shawna snapped. Wearing a mask, she waited for her rival outside of the credit union where Heather was a manager. When Heather emerged, Shawna told her she had ruined her life, and made her get on her knees. She then shot Heather, execution-style, and drove away. Shawna was pulled over within minutes, and put under arrest for Heather's murder. A search of her home turned up several guns and photographs of costume masks similar to the one the shooter was wearing. Interviews with Heather's friends revealed that Shawna had been harassing her for weeks, sending threatening text messages and challenging her to fight. A friend of Shawna's also told police that Shawna would vent by going to target practice and picturing Heather's face as the target. A few months after her arrest, Shawna's husband quit his job amid rumors that he had been having an affair of his own with a local prosecutor. In March of 2008, a jury found Shawna guilty of Heather's murder and sentenced her to life in prison.

Gorgeous, sexy Jeanette Sliwinski was a real attention grabber. The daughter of hard-working Polish immigrants, by the time she'd finished high school, her family had become solidly middle class, and she had blossomed into a striking beauty. She began working as a stripper in a local club and taking on modeling jobs to help finance her bachelor's degree in marketing. On the surface, Jeanette seemed confident, happy, and headed for success. But that facade was shattered on July 14, 2004. Jeanette blasted through the streets of Skokie at 70 mph in her cherry red Mustang convertible. The wild ride came to an end when her car slammed into a Honda Civic at a stoplight. Inside, three musician friends were heading to lunch. All three were killed instantly, while Jeanette came away with only a broken ankle. Prosecutors charged Jeannette with first-degree murder, and sought a life sentence. But when the case was tried before a judge in December, 2007, Jeanette's attorneys argued that she was mentally ill and needed to be in a hospital, not a prison. They told the judge that, in the months leading up to the crash, Jeanette had moved to Los Angeles with her boyfriend, but soon returned home to Illinois. There, she'd told friends and family that something was wrong with her, but she didn't know what. She'd sought help from several psychiatrists. Her mental illness had become destructive. She had a psychiatric appointment scheduled for the afternoon of July 14, but that appointment didn't come soon enough. She told police at the scene of the crash that she had been trying to kill herself when she caused the accident. She insisted that she'd never intended to kill anyone else. Prosecutors said it didn't matter who she'd wanted to kill; what mattered was that she had gotten behind the wheel of the Mustang with the intent to kill - and had succeeded. The judge agreed that Jeanette was mentally ill, but still found her guilty of the lesser charge of reckless homicide. He sentenced her to eight years in prison. With credit for time served, she will be out in four years.

Leslie Ballard lived a privileged life. Her parents ran a successful printing business in Little Rock and paid for her master's degree, her condo, her cars, and her vacations. Then she met and married Mike MacKool. Mike was 23 years Leslie's senior, had several ex-wives and, as far as Leslie's parents were concerned, was overly interested in their money. With Mike in the picture, they were less willing to foot the bill for Leslie's lifestyle. When her father died, he left his only daughter just $25,000 of his million-dollar estate. When, less than a month after Leslie's father died, her mother was found murdered, a family friend told police to look no further than her own daughter. Mrs. Ballard had confided in friends that she feared Leslie and her husband would try to kill her. When police called Leslie in for questioning, she quickly confessed. She told them that Mike was upset that she'd gotten such a small inheritance from her father, but, after reading the will, thought he had found a loophole: if her mother died within thirty days, Leslie would get the entire estate. On the day of the murder, he dressed her in dark clothes and a dark wig and provided her with a backpack stocked with wire cutters, a butcher knife, and a rag for cleaning up. He then drove her to her mother's home and told her what to do. Leslie stabbed her mother more than 70 times with the butcher knife, then stole some jewelry and the family Cadillac. At her trial, Leslie pleaded not guilty by reason of mental defect. She claimed that Mike was abusive, constantly criticizing and beating her. He had no job, and he'd made her quit hers. She claimed that she and her mother were best friends until she met Mike, and Mike had brainwashed her to resent her mother. He had told her to kill her mother, and said that if she didn't do it, he would kill them both. After the murder, he'd told her she'd done a poor job and hid the murder outfit to use as evidence against her if they got caught. The jurors were not sympathetic. They found her guilty and sentenced her to life without parole.