People Who Met Or Interacted With Someone Connected To A Well-Known True Crime Case Are Sharing Their Stories, And They’re Terrifying

We recently asked^[1] members of the BuzzFeed Community^[2] to tell us about the time they met or interacted with someone connected to a well-known crime case. Here are their bone-chilling tales.

Warning: Disturbing content ahead, including mentions of sexual assault and murder.

1.The Zodiac Killer (serial killer): “My father had his medical practice in the city of Richmond, California, during the ’60s and until he died in 1982. He truly believed that he had the Zodiac Killer for a patient. This patient always made sure he was the last one to be seen, always talked about the case to my dad, bragged about all his weapons, and even resembled the famous sketch. Now, my dad was a first lieutenant, infantry, in World War II and did not scare easily, but this man gave him the creeps. My dad eventually sent a copy of this patient’s handwriting to the cops, and the guy stopped being treated by my dad. Shortly after that, petty acts of vandalism began to occur around our house. I was around 4 years old when this went down, and after that, my parents would not let me out of the house to play by myself.”

—majorh^[3]

The “Zodiac Killer,”^[4] a self-given pseudonym of an unidentified serial killer, operated in Northern California in the late 1960s. His crimes are widely considered the most famous^[5] unsolved murder case in American history. Known for using cryptic messages^[6] that he sent to the media, as well as for taunting police and reporters with ciphers, the Zodiac claims to have had 37 victims. However, authorities have only ever identified five confirmed victims.

Bettmann / Bettmann Archive

2.Dennis Rader (serial killer): “Growing up, I lived next door to a kid a few years younger than me, who lived with his dad. He told me when he was a baby, his mom was found murdered while he was in the house. His dad has always been the top suspect, but they never convicted anyone of the murder. I spent years side-eyeing that man. One January, the most famous serial killer from my state suddenly resurfaced. And how did he do it? He mailed my neighbor’s mom’s driver’s license to our local newspaper. That’s how we found out my neighbor was innocent and his wife was murdered by Dennis Rader, aka BTK.”

—Anonymous

Getty Images / Handout

“My dad is one of the detectives who caught BTK. He has been on numerous TV shows talking about the case and continues to travel the country discussing it with other law enforcement agencies!”

Story continues

—Anonymous

“BTK” — an acronym for “bind, torture, kill” — was the method in which Dennis Rader^[7] killed his victims. Rader was responsible for a series of murders that took place over a long period of time from 1974 to 1991. However, Rader was not caught until three decades later, in 2005. In total, he killed 10 people and was known for dressing up as his victims and taking photographs of himself that way. Rader is currently serving 10 consecutive life sentences in a maximum security prison in Kansas.

Pool / Getty Images

3.Rose West (serial killer): “Not me, but back in the day, my friend’s mother was offered a lift from Rose West when she was on her bicycle. IF she had accepted…my friend probably wouldn’t even exist. I was speechless.”

—Skeh^[8]

Rosemary West^[9] was a serial killer in England who, along with her husband, Fred, murdered, sexually assaulted, and tortured at least nine young women (possibly more) from 1973 to 1987. The Wests’ victims were found buried in either the cellar or the garden of their home. Fred died by suicide in prison in 1995, while Rosemary remains in a prison in Yorkshire serving a life sentence.

Universal History Archive / Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

4.Camille Cléroux (serial killer): “I lived a few floors below Camille Cléroux. He murdered a woman who lived in our building for her apartment and buried her in the train yards not far from us. She was such a nice woman. I watched him throw her things in the dumpster, trying to get rid of evidence before it was discovered that she was missing. Two days later, our entire building was taped off and surrounded. His ex-wife and ex-girlfriend were his other victims. The story is awful and hard to believe. He died in prison a couple of years ago. You know what they say about karma.”

—jodil4b30ba9f3^[10]

Camille Cléroux^[11] was a serial killer in Ottawa, Ontario, who, in 2012, admitted to murdering two ex-wives and a neighbor between 1990 and 2010.

Cléroux killed his first wife, Lise Roy, after an argument by hitting her with a rock and then burying her in the backyard. His second wife, Jean Rock, went missing in 2003. Cléroux had faked letters from her to send to her concerned family and buried Rock’s body in a remote wooded area; her body was discovered in 2006 but not identified until 2012. The neighbor, Paula Leclair, was stabbed, bludgeoned, and buried in yet another remote wooded area in 2010.

Cléroux died in prison in January 2021.

Ottawa Citizen / Via youtube.com^[12]

5.The Branch Davidians (cult): “My cousin in San Antonio had a house that was basically a party house. One of his friends was an EMT, and this friend and his partner would hang out with us while on duty. They would get calls to go to car wrecks, etc., and then come back and tell us all the gruesome details. His partner later joined the Branch Davidians (and believe it or not, his last name was Branch). He left the compound before the fire but was arrested for being one of the shooters on the day of the raid. He has since been released from prison.”

Gregory Smith / Corbis via Getty Images

6.Alex Murdaugh (killer): “When the whole Alex Murdaugh murders occurred here in South Carolina, everyone was shocked. Turns out my stepsister was friends with Paul, the son who was killed. He was at her birthday party just a few months before. Apparently, the FBI even called their circle of friends asking questions about Alex.”

“As a psych major, I find true crime fascinating, but this case opened my eyes to the fact that the public’s fascination with true crime affects everyone around it. Netflix made a docuseries about the murders, and it made Paul out to be a monster. I never met the guy, so I have no idea what he was actually like. My stepsister is adamant that Paul was a good guy and felt bad about what happened to Mallory Beach^[13] that night on the boat. The entire situation still bothers her, rightly so. I can’t imagine opening my Netflix page and having my dead friend’s face pop up.”

—singingbird^[14]

Alex Murdaugh^[15] is a former lawyer who was recently found guilty of murdering his wife, Maggie, and their 22-year-old son, Paul, on June 7, 2021, in South Carolina’s Lowcountry.

The story became highly publicized because, in a shocking twist, the prosecution presented a video from Paul’s phone where you can hear Alex, Paul, and Maggie in the background shortly before the murders occurred, placing Alex at the scene of the crime. This evidence completely undermined his alibi.

Murdaugh was found guilty on charges of two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon in the commitment of a violent crime. He was sentenced to life in prison.

The State / TNS

7.Burke Ramsey (victim JonBenét Ramsey’s brother): “I work at a Pilates studio, and a lot of older people come in to stay in shape because it’s a low-impact form of exercise. Recently, an older man (I’ll call him Eric) came in and was talking about his son. Eric ended up telling me that when his son was in college, he was best friends with the brother of JonBenét Ramsey, Burke Ramsey. The son and Burke were so close that Burke moved to the same city as the son after graduating, and Eric even helped Burke find a job.”

—bowbash^[16]

JonBenét Ramsey was a 6-year-old girl who was killed in her family’s home in Boulder, Colorado, on Dec. 25 or 26, 1996. Her death^[17] was attributed to a skull fracture from a blow to the head and strangulation by a garrote that was found around her neck. The case became a media circus, largely in part because Ramsey was a child beauty pageant contestant, and it received constant coverage around the world. It is still considered a cold case^[18].

Axel Koester / Sygma via Getty Images

8.Ted Bundy (serial killer): “In the late ’70s, when Ted Bundy was on his killing spree, I was a little kid playing in the same house that he had played in 20 years earlier. We found out recently that my grandparents bought their house in Tacoma, Washington, from Ted’s great-uncle Jack. Ted and Jack were very close — he was kind of a mentor and father figure — and Ted spent a lot of time at his house when he was young. I’m still creeped out by it.”

—jnell^[19]

Ted Bundy^[20] was a serial killer who kidnapped, raped, and murdered at least 30 (those killings he confessed to) young women and girls in the ’70s. However, many believe there may have been over 100 victims.

Bundy’s trial received widespread media coverage, not just because of his horrific crimes but also because many young women, self-proclaimed admirers^[21], would show up to the courtroom. Bundy eventually married one of these admirers, Carole Ann Boone^[22], and they even had a child, Rosa Johnson^[23], while he was incarcerated. After many years in prison, Bundy was executed^[24] by electric chair in January 1989.

Bettmann / Bettmann Archive

9.John Taylor (convicted killer): “The mom of a girl I went to school with dated John Taylor, who turned out to be a killer and sex offender. Around the time Leanne Tiernan went missing, he attended a parents evening with my friend’s mother. I don’t remember much, but my mom thought he was a creep.”

—jessw4e5ed5bfa^[25]

John Taylor^[26], who was initially convicted as the abductor and killer of a 16-year-old girl named Leanne Tiernan in 2000, was eventually linked to at least 15 more victims — women and children — between 1977 and 1996. Taylor was sentenced to life in prison in 2002 and is currently serving time at HM Prison Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England.

John Giles — PA Images / PA Images via Getty Images

10.Luka Magnotta (convicted killer): “My dance teacher went to school with Luka Magnotta, whom you may know from the Netflix series Don’t F**k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer. He used to think he was meant to be famous, but I don’t think this is how he thought it would go down.”

—1723^[27]

Luka Magnotta^[28] is a convicted killer whose violent murder of student Jun Lin, whose body he dismembered, in Montreal, Quebec, made international headlines. Magnotta, who also had a history of posting videos of himself torturing and killing cats, as well as other awful things, was eventually arrested in Berlin in 2012 after a global manhunt.

AFP / AFP via Getty Images

11.Richard Ramirez (serial killer): “Luckily, we didn’t meet him, but I was about 6 months old when the ‘Night Stalker’ (Richard Ramirez) attacked someone near our home in Orange County, California. My parents and I slept in the living room with a baseball bat until he was caught. My dad’s best client lived a few doors down from another one of the victims, too. So scary!”

—MiBirdie^[29]

Richard Ramirez^[30], aka the Night Stalker, was a serial killer and sex offender active in California from 1984 to 1985. His crime spree affected residents throughout Greater Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area during this time. He would often use weapons as a means of beating or torturing his victims before killing them.

After being caught, Ramirez was convicted of 13 counts of murder, five attempted murders, 11 sexual assaults, and 14 burglaries. He died^[31] of complications from cancer while on death row at San Quentin State Prison in 2013.

Bettmann / Bettmann Archive

12.Casey Anthony (mother of victim Caylee Anthony): “I live in Orlando and crossed paths with Casey Anthony several times in various circles. Thankfully, I drifted away from that group of friends before the death of her daughter, but it still creeps me out when I think about it.”

—katies4866f3362^[32]

After a strange and gruesome investigation, Casey Anthony was charged with murdering her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee, in 2008. Despite public outcry and a very long and highly publicized trial, Anthony was famously acquitted of charges of murder, manslaughter, and child abuse on July 5, 2011^[33]. However, she was convicted on four misdemeanor counts of providing false information to law enforcement officers. She would go on to spend only two weeks^[34] in prison after receiving a four-year sentence.

Orlando Sentinel / Tribune News Service via Getty Images

13.Drew Peterson (killer): “I lived 10 minutes away from Drew Peterson. I was in seventh grade when his wife, Stacy, went missing and he was being investigated for her disappearance and then for his third wife’s death. We’d come to school each Monday and talk about where we’d seen him out and about, since he was super cocky and thought he’d get away with it because he was a cop. We’d see him at McDonald’s, Best Buy, etc., in Bolingbrook, Illinois. Luckily, he was convicted of his third wife’s murder, but to this day, Stacy has yet to be found.”

—Anonymous

Drew Peterson^[35], an ex–police sergeant, was convicted in 2012 of murdering his third wife, Kathleen Savio, sometime in 2003. He is also the prime suspect (though has never been charged) in the disappearance of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson^[36], who has been missing for 16 years. Drew Peterson is currently serving a 38-year sentence.

Scott Olson / Getty Images

14.John Wayne Gacy (serial killer): “One of my best friends was dating a guy in high school. They really liked each other. He suddenly disappeared from her life. She found out years later he was a victim of John Wayne Gacy.”

—Anonymous

John Wayne Gacy^[37], known as the Killer Clown — a moniker given because of his public appearances as a clown before the discovery of his crimes — was a serial killer active in the Chicago area in the 1970s, with at least 33 victims^[38]. He would rape and torture his victims — young men and boys — before killing them either by asphyxiation or strangulation. Gacy was executed^[39] by lethal injection in May 1994.

Donaldson Collection / Getty Images

15.Joseph James DeAngelo (serial killer): “We lived three streets away from Joseph James DeAngelo, known as the Golden State Killer, for many years, and we didn’t even know it! My daughter babysat for a neighbor who lived three houses down from him. My two sons and my daughter used to ride their bikes by his house every day. He was also known as the ‘grumpy old man’ yelling at neighborhood kids to get off the sidewalk or get off his property. Before he was caught, he was very able, not confused, and walking, not in a wheelchair.”

—Anonymous

Sacramento Bee / Tribune News Service via Getty Images

“My little sister worked at a horse supply store near Sacramento, and the ‘Golden State Killer’ would regularly come in with his daughter and granddaughter. Apparently, all the workers thought something was off with the family, and he seemed to be a bit overbearing, but when it came out who he really was, it was a shock to the community how he was living such a ‘normal’ life after everything he did.”

—Anonymous

Joseph James DeAngelo, aka the Golden State Killer, committed (at least) 13 murders, 51 rapes, and 120 burglaries throughout California from 1974 to 1986. DeAngelo is currently serving multiple life terms at Corcoran State Prison^[40].

Interestingly, Michelle McNamara, the late wife of actor Patton Oswalt, had a hand in capturing DeAngelo. According to USA Today^[41], “McNamara, who died unexpectedly in 2016, had investigated the assailant and chronicled her search for the killer in a book, ‘I’ll Be Gone in the Dark,’ which was published posthumously in 2018. Her book prompted renewed interest in the case, and DeAngelo was arrested shortly after it was published.”

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

16.Jennifer Cave (murder victim): “I knew Jennifer. When I lived in Austin, we had sociology together at Austin Community College. We would talk before and after class, and I remember I once had to give a presentation, and she was sitting at her desk listening and smiling and silently encouraging me. Everyone always says of those who died tragically, ‘He/she was such a good person.’ With Jennifer, it was true. We weren’t best buds or anything, and I didn’t know her that long, but from what I knew, she was a truly sweet person.”

“The last time I saw her, we agreed that we’d meet up on campus to discuss something, I can’t remember what. We shook hands on that agreement. I almost asked for her number, but I didn’t want her to think I was being a creep, and besides, I was going to see her again before the next class. I never saw her again. About a year later, I moved to San Antonio and went to UT San Antonio. One day, I grabbed the student newspaper before class and read a small blurb describing her murder.”

—degobrah^[42]

Jennifer Cave^[43] was a 21-year-old college student and legal assistant in Austin who was shot, stabbed, and partially dismembered in the condo of a friend, Colton Pitonyak, in August 2005. Before he could be questioned, Pitonyak fled to Mexico with another friend, Laura Hall, but was soon brought back. Pitonyak admitted to Cave’s murder, though he claimed it was accidental, and was sentenced to 55 years in prison. Hall was found guilty of tampering with evidence, sentenced to 10 years in prison, and released in 2018 after serving time.

KVUE / Via youtube.com^[44]

17.William Andrews (convicted killer) and Arthur Gary Bishop (serial killer): “My stepmom was an executive officer at the Utah State Prison and sat on death watch for the execution of William Andrews (the Hi-Fi murders) and Arthur Gary Bishop, who was a serial killer of small boys. She hated having to look through the love letters they received.”

—MilfMoney^[45]

The Hi-Fi murders^[46] were the robbery, torture, rape, and murder of five people at a home audio store (the Hi-Fi Shop) in Ogden, Utah, in 1974. William Andrews, one of the perpetrators, was 19 years old at the time and was charged with first-degree murder. He was executed^[47] by lethal injection in July 1992.

Arthur Gary Bishop^[48] was a convicted sex offender and serial killer in Utah who confessed to the extremely violent murder and molestation of five young boys in the late ’70s and early ’80s, whom he would lure away to commit his crimes. Bishop was sentenced to death and executed^[49] by lethal injection in June 1988.

The Washington Post / The Washington Post via Getty Images

18.Paul Bernardo (serial killer/rapist): “I was a legal assistant for Paul Bernardo’s current lawyer. He was not his lawyer at the time I worked for him. But when I read an article that mentioned my old boss as his parole defense, my jaw dropped. He was always an advocate for people and their rights, which made sense. Some of his clients were guilty of minor or accidental crimes. Some were convicted felons who he felt deserved more access to treatment and their families, etc. I understood his stance. But Paul Bernardo? I’m glad not to have taken part in that defense.”

—loveslemmy^[50]

Paul Bernardo^[51], along with his wife, Karla Homolka, who acted as his accomplice, was convicted of the rapes and murders of at least three teenagers, including Homolka’s own sister, from 1990 to 1992 in Ontario.

Peter Power / Toronto Star via Getty Images

19.The Symbionese Liberation Army (militant organization): “We lived next door to the SLA in North Oakland. This was before the kidnapping of Patty Hearst, when it was in the planning stages. It was also before Russell Little and Joseph Remiro killed the Oakland school district superintendent, Marcus Foster. My mother dated Russell for a while, and another member, Willie Wolfe, was our babysitter. He was always very kind to us, and he was good at entertaining the kids. He even grew vegetables in our yard. The one thing that stands out in my memory is when I went to their house to ask if one of the kids could come play outside.”

“Leader Donald DeFreeze answered the door. I tried to persuade him to let me come in the house, but he blocked me from coming in. He was very stern with me, almost to the point where he was visibly annoyed. That’s when I noticed the big Che Guevara poster over the fireplace. It was quite a moment for my little child brain to comprehend, but after that, I knew something was up with our neighbors next door, that’s for sure.”

—kristat2^[52]

The Symbionese Liberation Army^[53] was a small, far-left militant organization in California that was active from 1973 to 1975. During its existence, the group killed at least two people, committed several robberies and other various crimes, and became famous for the kidnapping of Patty Hearst, granddaughter of publishing tycoon William Randolph Hearst. Hearst eventually joined the SLA, but in later years she testified^[54] that she had been coerced into joining them.

Bettmann / Bettmann Archive

20.Gabe Watson (husband of victim Tina Watson): “Not exactly directly related, but my seventh-grade biology teacher married Gabe Watson, the man who was charged with murdering his wife during a scuba expedition in Australia. They were dating/engaged while he was on trial and while I was taking her class. When I came back for eighth grade, her name was Mrs. Watson. My ex-teacher looks a lot like his former wife, and I’m pretty sure they are still married to this day.”

—hdakin526^[55]

In the so-called honeymoon killer case, Gabe Watson was accused of murdering his wife, Tina, while they were on their honeymoon in Australia in October 2003. The couple had been on a dive to a shipwreck when Tina lost consciousness and sank. The prosecution claimed that Watson had shut off Tina’s air supply, then turned it back on after she died. They also claimed the motive was life insurance and her possessions. Watson claimed^[56] that Tina panicked and, according to ABC News, “when he went to help her, she accidentally knocked his mask and regulator off. By the time he recovered, she had drifted out of his reach.”

Watson eventually pleaded guilty to negligent manslaughter in Australia and served 18 months in prison. He was subsequently acquitted of Tina’s murder in Alabama (their home state).

ABC News / Via youtube.com^[57]

21.Patricia Stallings (wrongfully convicted mother): “My older sister was best friends with Patricia Stallings. She used to be around all the time. When news broke that she was being charged with killing her baby, I knew it was false. Watching that whole thing unfold was so unbelievable because I literally grew up with her around me my entire childhood and into my early teens.”

—Anonymous

Patricia Stallings^[58] was wrongfully convicted of murdering her son Ryan in September 1989. Authorities had suspected she used antifreeze to poison him after high levels of ethylene glycol were found in Ryan’s blood. However, the case took a turn after Stallings gave birth to a second child while incarcerated. That child was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder that, as it turned out, can mimic antifreeze poisoning. This finding led to retesting of Ryan’s blood samples and eventually proved that he had the same rare condition as his brother. Stallings was released from prison in July 1991 and settled a lawsuit against the labs and hospital that had been involved in Ryan’s care in 1993.

Sean Gallup / Getty Images

22.Peter Sutcliffe (serial killer): “My late mom swears she met the ‘Yorkshire Ripper,’ Peter Sutcliffe, at a gas station in Cheshire. He asked her something along the lines of, ‘Where do people go for a good time around here?’ She was scared for me, a baby, left in the car. She went home and told my dad about him. Months later, he was arrested and she recognized him. Reading up now that there is evidence he visited Cheshire and that the unsolved murder of Jacqueline Ansell-Lamb could be attributed to him.”

—Hazel Woodward^[59]

Peter Sutcliffe^[60], aka the Yorkshire Ripper, was a serial killer in the United Kingdom who was convicted of murdering 13 women and attempting to murder seven others in northern England between 1975 and 1980. After being sentenced to 20 life terms, Sutcliffe died in a hospital, age 74, in 2020 after contracting COVID-19.

Universal History Archive / Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

23.Andrea Yates (drowned her five children): “My parents were at a NASA picnic and were next to this family of five kids. My mom and the woman were talking and hit it off. Turned out it was Andrea Yates, and a month later she drowned her five kids. Still gives me chills.”

—Anonymous

Andrea Yates^[61], who at the time suffered from severe postpartum depression, postpartum psychosis, and schizophrenia, drowned her five young children in a bathtub at home in June 2001. During the highly publicized trial, Yates was initially charged with five counts of capital murder. The conviction was later overturned by an appeals court in 2005, and in 2006 Yates was found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Yates has been at Kerrville State Hospital since 2007.

Pool / Getty Images

24.Kelley Henderson Howard (missing person): “My cousin was working for a dental office. They were closed during lunch. She was there and was on the phone with her mother. Someone had knocked on the door. She put the phone down and never returned; her purse and car were still there. Her boss was later indicted for fraud and embezzlement charges. She has never been found. Her boss was released and opened a church in the same building as the dental office. About two years ago, he and his wife tried to set it on fire and went to jail for arson. He died in jail. Still do not know where my cousin is, if she is dead or alive. Her name is Kelley Henderson Howard from Anniston, Alabama. She went missing in Pell City, Alabama.”

—Anonymous

Kelley Henderson Howard^[62] was a 41-year-old dental hygienist working at Family Dental Care in Riverside, Alabama, when she was last seen leaving the office in June 2009. Although there have been multiple searches, she has never been found, dead or alive. In 2014, she was declared legally dead.

Zhenjin Li / Getty Images

25.The “PS4 murder” (stabbing death case): “This kid, Ian, whom I’ve known since I was young, moved to Florida. One time, I went down for an EDM festival, and even though it had been some years since we had hung out, my buddy Mac and I stayed with Ian and his roommates — Jake Bilotta and another person whose name I’ll leave out — to save money. While we were there, they kept getting angry about this kid, Josh, who they were convinced stole their PS4. We left, and it turned out that less than a month later, they murdered Josh and cut him up into pieces when the other roommate came home. We didn’t think it would get a lot of attention, but you can look up ‘PS4 revenge murder.'”

—Anonymous

Jake Bilotta^[63] was found guilty of fatally stabbing a former roommate, Joshua Barnes, as “revenge” for stealing his PlayStation. Another roommate, Ian McClurg, pleaded guilty to being an accessory and tampering with evidence and testified against him. Bilotta was given a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

WESH 2 News / Via youtube.com^[64]

26.Ángel Maturino Reséndiz (serial killer): “So back in 1999, we lived in an industrial area in St. Louis, 100 yards from the railroad tracks. My mom and sister lived right next door to each other. One day, my mom called out to me from the front porch and I went outside. There was this guy out there, and she asked me if I could get him some water. So I went into the house, grabbed this guy one of those big, plastic takeaway cups you would get from fast-food places, full of ice water.”

“He sat there looking at us for a bit, and then my Rottweiler came strolling out of the house, and he moved on and back up toward the railroad tracks. Fast-forward like a month later, and my sister comes flying into the house, grabs the remote, and turns on the news. They had just arrested the suspected serial killer Ángel Reséndiz, aka the Railway Killer. They showed him on TV again…and it was the same guy I’d given water to just a few weeks earlier. Come to find out, after he hopped the train again in St. Louis, he most likely headed to Gorham, Illinois, and then killed George Morber and Carolyn Frederick. We spoke with the FBI at the time to help establish a timeline.”

—Anonymous

Ángel^[65] Maturino Reséndiz^[66], aka the Railroad Killer, was a serial killer who is believed to have murdered as many as 23 people throughout the United States and Mexico in the ’90s. He was given the moniker because most of his crimes were committed near the railroad, which he used to travel around the country.

Houston Chronicle

27.Dan Markel (murder victim): “I worked with Dan Markel and Wendi Adelson, his ex-wife, at the time Dan was murdered. At first it seemed like a random hit, but turns out it was a murder for hire due to a nasty divorce and custody battle. Ten years later, this case is ongoing. Wendi’s brother was recently convicted, and her mother is awaiting trial. Hoping that they finally get Wendi soon and that Dan and his family get justice. Through Wendi, I also met Jeff Lacasse, Wendi’s boyfriend at the time of the murder. Based on all the facts, it looks as if Wendi and her family were trying to set Jeff up as the killer.”

—Anonymous

Dan Markel^[67] was an attorney and Florida State University law professor who was murdered in Tallahassee, Florida, in 2014. Although his ex-wife, Wendi Adelson, has not been formally charged with the crime, she has been named along with her brother and mother as “conspirators” in the killing. Four people, including Adelson’s brother, have since been convicted in the case.

ABC News / Via youtube.com^[68]

28.Diane Downs (convicted killer): “I was incarcerated at Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla from 2013 to 2016. I met and knew quite a few infamous female murderers. One day, I was walking alone in the back of the prison to go to a medical appointment when Diane Downs started walking toward me. It was just the two of us. She said something to me about the weather; it had just started sprinkling. I didn’t hear her, so I looked at her face and saw the most evil eyes I have ever seen. She is scary evil.”

—Anonymous

Diane Downs^[69] murdered her daughter and attempted to kill her two other children in May 1983 in Springfield, Oregon. At the time, she told police that a man had tried to carjack her and shot the children. However, she was convicted in 1984 and sentenced to life in prison.

Inside Edition / Via youtube.com^[70]

29.Ariel Castro (kidnapper and rapist): “I had a friend in high school whose mom and stepdad were both FBI agents. They were some of the agents who responded to Ariel Castro’s house. For those who don’t know, he kidnapped three women and held them for around 10 years before one of them, Amanda Berry, escaped and got help. On a sidenote, knowing my friend’s mom got my brother out of jury duty once, since she was a witness in the case he was called in for.”

—Anonymous

Between 2002 and 2004^[71], Michelle Knight, 21; Amanda Berry, 16; and Gina DeJesus, 14, were kidnapped by a man named Ariel Castro, who went on to restrain, abuse, and sexually assault the three women and girls “over and over.”

After roughly 10 years, in May 2013, Castro left his house one day and also left the door unlocked. Neighbors Charles Ramsey and Angel Cordero heard Amanda scream for help and kicked the door in, freeing her and her then–6-year-old daughter. Amanda called 911, and responding officers freed Michelle and Gina.

Castro died by suicide in December 2013^[72].

Handout / Getty Images

30.Stephen Epperly (convicted killer): “In high school, I had Steve Epperly as a substitute teacher. He was charged and convicted of killing a girl the following summer in Virginia. It was the first case in Virginia to get a murder conviction without the body being found. He seemed very erratic and asked at least one junior girl out that year in our class.”

—Anonymous

In 1980, Stephen Epperly^[73] became the first person in Virginia to be convicted of murder without a body as evidence. His victim was Radford University student Gina Renee Hall. In 2020^[74], working with forensic anthropologists, Gina’s sister was able to discover DNA and some of her remains in several locations.

WSLS 10 / Via youtube.com^[75]

31.The DC sniper attacks (coordinated shootings): “I had a month off between jobs and decided to work out at the local YMCA every weekday before starting working full time at a desk. One day I walked in, and a horrible odor of old sweat in the air greeted me. After scanning my ID card, I walked toward the back where the locker rooms were. Sitting on a bench near the women’s locker rooms were two males, one middle-aged and one a teenager or in his early 20s, both looking at me. The older man nodded, then the younger one said hello and I said hello back as if he was just another person I had known all my life. They left the gym shortly after, and the bad odor slowly dissipated.”

“A month or two later, the DC Beltway snipers were captured, and the news said they had been visiting YMCAs up and down I-95, including the YMCA I had been using. When I saw their pictures, I recognized them as the smelly pair sitting on the bench the day the younger one greeted me, and it sent chills up my spine to think I could have been one of their victims that day.”

—Anonymous

The DC sniper attacks^[76], also called the Beltway sniper attacks, were a series of coordinated shootings in the Washington, DC, metro area that started in February 2002 and lasted until October 2002. In total, 17 people were killed and 10 others wounded. The perpetrators were John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo. Muhammad was executed^[77] via lethal injection in 2009, while Malvo, now 38, is currently serving four life sentences^[78].

AFP / AFP via Getty Images

32.Vincent Gigante (mobster): “In the late 1970s, I lived in Greenwich Village off Bleecker Street in New York City. Next to my building was the ‘Triangle Social Club.’ It was the headquarters for Vinny ‘the Chin’ Gigante, head of the Genovese crime family. In the summer, you could indeed find ‘the Chin’ walking the block in his pajamas and robe. But contrary to reports, he didn’t seem ‘crazy’ but carried on conversations outside the club with a variety of characters. You could look inside and see a poster up on the wall that said, ‘Don’t talk in here, the place is bugged.’ I would also see his consigliere, Bobby Manna, an impeccably dressed man, who went to jail for plotting to kill John Gotti. Needless to say, it was an incredibly safe place to live.”

—Anonymous

Vincent Gigante^[79], aka the Chin, was a mobster active in New York City from the 1980s until his death in 2005 at the age of 77. He died while serving a 12-year prison sentence after being convicted of racketeering and conspiring to kill other mobsters.

Donaldson Collection / Getty Images

33.Larry Eyler (serial killer): “My father was acquainted with Larry Eyler in the ’80s. Eyler was roommates with my dad’s good friend Robert Little, whom Eyler implicated in one of the murders. Little was acquitted, though his reputation never recovered. He remained a longtime family friend who sent us birthday cards and attended our graduations until he passed away.”

—Anonymous

Larry Eyler^[80] was a serial killer active in the Midwest during the early ’80s. It is believed that he murdered at least 21 teenage boys and young men during this time. Eyler eventually confessed to at least 20 killings before he died in 1994 while on death row for the 1984 murder of a 15-year-old named Danny Bridges.

Chicago Tribune / Tribune News Service via Getty Images

34.Finally, Christopher Watts (murdered his family): “My friend’s husband was best friends with Chris Watts. They grew up together — they had sleepovers, played baseball on the same Little League team, etc. After high school, they shared an apartment in college. Her husband was also a groomsman in the wedding of Chris and Shanann. On the Netflix special, you can even catch a glimpse of my friends dancing at their wedding. They drifted apart when the Watts family moved from North Carolina to Colorado. After two decades of friendship, I asked her, ‘Did your husband EVER have any inkling Chris was capable of doing something so horrific?’ She said no. He never knew him to be anything but genuinely nice. Something inside him just snapped. They have had zero contact since the killings.”

—Anonymous

In August 2018, Christopher Watts^[81] murdered his pregnant wife, Shanann, and their two young daughters, 4-year-old Bella and 3-year-old Celeste. Although Chris initially claimed he was innocent of these crimes, he eventually confessed^[82] to detectives that he killed Shanann via strangulation and drove with her dead body and his two daughters (who were still alive at that point) to a nearby oil storage site, where he used a blanket to smother the two girls and then dropped their bodies into an oil tank.

In November 2018, Chris was charged^[83] with nine counts — including five counts of first-degree murder — and pleaded guilty to all charges. He was ultimately given five life sentences without the possibility of parole.

Rj Sangosti / Denver Post via Getty Images

Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity

If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline^[84] at 1-800-656-4673 (HOPE), which routes the caller to their nearest sexual assault service provider. You can also search for your local center here^[85]. 

Have you ever met or interacted with someone connected to a well-known crime case? Tell us in the comments below or via this totally anonymous form^[86], and who knows, maybe there will be a Part 2.

References

1. ^{^} asked (www.buzzfeed.com)
2. ^{^} BuzzFeed Community (www.buzzfeed.com)
3. ^{^} majorh (www.buzzfeed.com)
4. ^{^} “Zodiac Killer,” (go.redirectingat.com)
5. ^{^} most famous (go.redirectingat.com)
6. ^{^} cryptic messages (go.redirectingat.com)
7. ^{^} Dennis Rader (go.redirectingat.com)
8. ^{^} Skeh (www.buzzfeed.com)
9. ^{^} Rosemary West (go.redirectingat.com)
10. ^{^} jodil4b30ba9f3 (www.buzzfeed.com)
11. ^{^} Camille Cléroux (go.redirectingat.com)
12. ^{^} youtube.com (www.youtube.com)
13. ^{^} Mallory Beach (go.redirectingat.com)
14. ^{^} singingbird (www.buzzfeed.com)
15. ^{^} Alex Murdaugh (go.redirectingat.com)
16. ^{^} bowbash (www.buzzfeed.com)
17. ^{^} death (go.redirectingat.com)
18. ^{^} cold case (go.redirectingat.com)
19. ^{^} jnell (www.buzzfeed.com)
20. ^{^} Ted Bundy (go.redirectingat.com)
21. ^{^} admirers (go.redirectingat.com)
22. ^{^} Carole Ann Boone (go.redirectingat.com)
23. ^{^} Rosa Johnson (go.redirectingat.com)
24. ^{^} executed (go.redirectingat.com)
25. ^{^} jessw4e5ed5bfa (www.buzzfeed.com)
26. ^{^} John Taylor (go.redirectingat.com)
27. ^{^} 1723 (www.buzzfeed.com)
28. ^{^} Luka Magnotta (go.redirectingat.com)
29. ^{^} MiBirdie (www.buzzfeed.com)
30. ^{^} Richard Ramirez (go.redirectingat.com)
31. ^{^} died (go.redirectingat.com)
32. ^{^} katies4866f3362 (www.buzzfeed.com)
33. ^{^} July 5, 2011 (go.redirectingat.com)
34. ^{^} two weeks (go.redirectingat.com)
35. ^{^} Drew Peterson (go.redirectingat.com)
36. ^{^} Stacy Peterson (go.redirectingat.com)
37. ^{^} John Wayne Gacy (go.redirectingat.com)
38. ^{^} victims (go.redirectingat.com)
39. ^{^} executed (go.redirectingat.com)
40. ^{^} Corcoran State Prison (go.redirectingat.com)
41. ^{^} USA Today (go.redirectingat.com)
42. ^{^} degobrah (www.buzzfeed.com)
43. ^{^} Jennifer Cave (go.redirectingat.com)
44. ^{^} youtube.com (www.youtube.com)
45. ^{^} MilfMoney (www.buzzfeed.com)
46. ^{^} Hi-Fi murders (go.redirectingat.com)
47. ^{^} executed (go.redirectingat.com)
48. ^{^} Arthur Gary Bishop (go.redirectingat.com)
49. ^{^} executed (go.redirectingat.com)
50. ^{^} loveslemmy (www.buzzfeed.com)
51. ^{^} Paul Bernardo (go.redirectingat.com)
52. ^{^} kristat2 (www.buzzfeed.com)
53. ^{^} Symbionese Liberation Army (go.redirectingat.com)
54. ^{^} testified (go.redirectingat.com)
55. ^{^} hdakin526 (www.buzzfeed.com)
56. ^{^} claimed (go.redirectingat.com)
57. ^{^} youtube.com (www.youtube.com)
58. ^{^} Patricia Stallings (go.redirectingat.com)
59. ^{^} Hazel Woodward (www.buzzfeed.com)
60. ^{^} Peter Sutcliffe (go.redirectingat.com)
61. ^{^} Andrea Yates (go.redirectingat.com)
62. ^{^} Kelley Henderson Howard (go.redirectingat.com)
63. ^{^} Jake Bilotta (go.redirectingat.com)
64. ^{^} youtube.com (www.youtube.com)
65. ^{^} Ángel (go.redirectingat.com)
66. ^{^} Maturino Reséndiz (go.redirectingat.com)
67. ^{^} Dan Markel (go.redirectingat.com)
68. ^{^} youtube.com (www.youtube.com)
69. ^{^} Diane Downs (go.redirectingat.com)
70. ^{^} youtube.com (www.youtube.com)
71. ^{^} 2002 and 2004 (go.redirectingat.com)
72. ^{^} December 2013 (go.redirectingat.com)
73. ^{^} Stephen Epperly (go.redirectingat.com)
74. ^{^} 2020 (go.redirectingat.com)
75. ^{^} youtube.com (www.youtube.com)
76. ^{^} DC sniper attacks (go.redirectingat.com)
77. ^{^} executed (go.redirectingat.com)
78. ^{^} life sentences (go.redirectingat.com)
79. ^{^} Vincent Gigante (go.redirectingat.com)
80. ^{^} Larry Eyler (go.redirectingat.com)
81. ^{^} Christopher Watts (go.redirectingat.com)
82. ^{^} confessed (go.redirectingat.com)
83. ^{^} charged (go.redirectingat.com)
84. ^{^} National Sexual Assault Hotline (go.redirectingat.com)
85. ^{^} here (go.redirectingat.com)
86. ^{^} totally anonymous form (go.redirectingat.com)