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College student Katie Sepich was a loving sister, friend and daughter when she was attacked, raped and murdered Labor Day weekend in 2003.
On August 31, 2003, New Mexico State University College student Katie was walking home after going to a party near campus. She had gotten into a big fight with her long-distance boyfriend. While walking home, the suspect Gabriel Avila [who was on drugs] almost hit Katie with his car, then followed her home where he attacked her and strangled her. The next day Katie's roommate called police to report her missing. Katie's body was found partially burned at the Las Cruces Landfill. Despite DNA evidence in the case, it would be three years before Katie's killer would be arrested and charged for murder. He would have been caught three months after her death had his DNA been run. Since her death, Katie's mother and father have made it their mission to help others and pass 'Katie's Law' in all 50 states to prevent violent criminals from killing innocent people. To learn more about Katie's Law & DNA Saves: http://www.dnasaves.org/ Podcast WEBSITE (Case Photos) http://www.truecrimedeadline.com
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Well known Elvis tribute artist Dana Mackay and his beauty queen girlfriend Mary Huffman were murdered inside their Las Vegas mansion.
Dana headlined at the Dunes casino before moving to the Imperial Palace where he was the first Elvis to star in 'Legends in Concert'. He was a father and looking to leave the spotlight and start a landscaping business, supplying high dollar palm trees to the city of Las Vegas. Mary was a mother and former Mrs. Nevada. On October 30, 1993, Las Vegas Metro Police were asked to do a welfare check on Mackay after family and friends had not heard from the couple in days. When police arrived to the mansion named 'mini Graceland', the door was open, groceries were all over the floor and Dana and Mary were dead in a pool of blood. Police say the two were murdered, shot at close range multiple times. At first, Metro police thought the couple may have walked in on a 'burglary in process', however friends say nothing was taken from the home. Dana's best friend Danny Koker (of Pawn Stars, Counting Cars) says Dana always carried a file with him. The file was stolen the day of the murder. It's unclear what was inside. At the time of the murders, Dana had been in the middle of a legal dispute with his former landscaping business partner. No suspects have been arrested, no persons of interest have ever been named in the case. If you have any information you are urged to call Las Vegas Metro Homicide Cold Case Detail at 702-828-COLD. ZILLOW MURDER MANSION LISTING: https://www.zillow.com/homes/3624-Edmond-St-Las-Vegas,-NV,-89103_rb/7121292_zpid/ Podcast SOCIAL MEDIA: https://twitter.com/CrimeDeadline https://www.instagram.com/truecrimedeadline/ https://www.facebook.com/TrueCrimeDEADLINE/ http://www.youtube.com/c/TrueCrimeDEADLINE
NEW INTERVIEW: Golden State Killer survivor Kris Pedretti opens up about the crime, why she was unable to talk about it for years and what she plans to say in court during sentencing.
From 1973 to 1986 fired police officer Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. terrorized California. DeAngelo committed at least 13 murders, 50 rapes and 120 burglaries. Most commonly referred to as the 'Golden State Killer', DeAngelo was also named the Visalia Ransacker, the East Area Rapist, the East Side Rapist, the Diamond Knot Killer, the Night Stalker and the Original Night Stalker. Meanwhile DeAngelo hid in plane sight as a family man with a wife and three children. He worked as a police officer and mechanic. Also similar as Dennis Rader the BTK Serial Killer, DeAngelo was arrested after detectives discovered a familial DNA match to DNA in evidence. On April 24, 2018 Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. was arrested. He pled guilty to the known murders and rapes in July 2020. In August he will hear victim impact statements from some of the survivors. In this episode, survivor Kris Pedretti talks about being raped in her home just days before Christmas in 1976. Today, Pedretti runs a rape survivors group on Facebook to help other victims of violent crime: Facebook Group: Sexual Assault Survivors, it's time to tell your story. https://www.facebook.com/groups/137556510955918/
NEW Information, New family statement and New response from Carole Baskin in the disappearance of Don Lewis.
This is the same missing persons case at the center of the NETFLIX true crime documentary 'Tiger King'. On August 18, 1997 Millionaire Jack 'Don' Lewis who went missing after leaving his house in Tampa Florida. The documentary has sparked new interest in the cold case and a group of armchair detectives have also started looking into the case. The group is called the 'Don Lewis Cold Case Files' run by the Don Lewis family spokesman Jack Smith AKA 'Ripper'. Don Lewis was married to Carole at the time of his disappearance. Baskin claims he was acting irrational, was hoarding cars and trash on the property, that he would rummage through dumpsters and showed odd behavior that pointed to early signs of Alzheimer's disease. Don's attorney and his family say that is not true. His family and friends believe that Don was scared of Carole and filed a restraining order in the days leading to his disappearance. They say that he was planning on filing for divorce and moving to Costa Rica. Five years after he went missing Jack 'Don' Lewis was declared legally dead and Carole inherited $5 Million in cash and assets including the 'Wildlife on Easy Street', renamed 'Big Cat Rescue' that she still owns and operates with now husband Howard Baskin. This episode explores the disappearance with new interviews and new information in the case. Anyone with information is asked to call the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office at 1-813-247-8200. Jack Smith/ RipperJack Media https://www.youtube.com/c/RipperYouTubeOfficial/featured Don Lewis Cold Case Files FACEBOOK GROUP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/666576167248722/
A bizarre case and a series of deaths surrounding Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell. The so-called 'Doomsday Couple' are currently in jail facing several felony charges.
In August 2020, they are due to appear in court for separate preliminary hearings where we expect to hear more details about the deaths of Vallow's children "JJ" and Tylee. In September 2019, 7-year-old Joshua "JJ" Vallow and his 17-year-old sister Tylee Ryan disappeared. On June 10, authorities said they uncovered human remains at Chad Daybell's home in rural Idaho. Friends and family say Lori became obsessed with Chad Daybell's teachings about the end of the world after meeting him at a church conference in 2018. Daybell claims he can communicate with God after a near death experience and believes humans can be measured by the light they have in their body. A poor reading and the person is a demon or a zombie. Lori believed she was a reincarnated God sent to the planet to help prepare for the second coming. In July 2019 Lori's brother, Alex Cox, shot and killed her estranged husband Charles Vallow . Cox claimed self defense after Vallow allegedly came at him with a baseball bat. Cox died of a blood clot in his lung in December of 2019. At the time, Chad was married to Tammy Daybell, a 49-year-old school librarian who helped him run his small publishing company. Tammy Daybell died in October, two weeks later Lori and Chad married and moved to Hawaii.
Kerri Rawson, the daughter of the BTK Serial Killer opens up about her father Dennis Rader. What family life was like before he was arrested, how she learned that we was the BTK and her relationship with him now.
Rawson is the author of the "tell all" book titled: "A Serial Killers Daughter, my story of faith, love and overcoming". Rawson describes herself as a crime victim and says she lives with P-T-S-D and depression. It was her DNA that led to his arrest using the same method of forensic genealogy that detectives used in the Golden State Killer case. Like the Golden State Killer, Rader terrorized the community for decades. He killed at least ten people including innocent children between January 15, 1974 - January 19, 1991. Rader tortured his victims and taunted police going by the moniker B-T-K, an acronym he gave himself which stood for BIND, TORTURE, KILL. His modus operandi (M.O.) was stalking, bandage and suffocation, he would dress in women's clothing and a female face mask and pleasure himself pretending to be his victims. His cover was the persona of a family man, city employee and church president. He is currently serving life in prison at El Dorado Correctional Facility in Kansas.
My friend and colleague John Huck from FOX 5 Las Vegas open up about witnessing the execution of a death row inmate.
Lawrence Colwell Jr. was convicted of robbing and killing 76-year-old Frank Rosenstock, a New York resident visiting Las Vegas. Rosenstock was lured to his hotel room at the Tropicana Hotel by Colwell's girlfriend Merillee Paul who was posing as a prostitute. Once in his room he was robbed and strangled to death with a belt. Colwell told the court that he had planned to kill someone for weeks. He wanted to know what it felt like and said it was as easy as driving a car. On March 26, 2004 Lawrence Colwell Jr. was executed by way of lethal injection at Nevada State Prison in Carson City Nevada. He was the first inmate to be executed after a moratorium on executions. Colwell was dead within 20 minutes of the injection. John Huck and I both covered the days leading up to the execution and the night it happened. SOCIAL MEDIA: https://twitter.com/CrimeDeadline https://www.instagram.com/truecrimedeadline/ https://www.facebook.com/TrueCrimeDEADLINE/  Thank you Investigators for an amazing Season One. Very grateful for every listen, download and subscription. I am working on Season Two, details soon. Follow the podcast on social media for details. Happy New Year!
On Friday December 13, 1985 newlyweds Gary and Stephanie Gillette were celebrating Christmas as a new family. Gary had three daughters from a previous marriage and Stephanie loved them like her own.
The new, blended family had gotten a Christmas tree and were decorating the house on the 4800 block of Corpus Christi Texas. That weekend, Gary who was a successful business owner in the oil industry attend some holiday parties with his young wife, while his ex-wife watched the children at her home. On December 14, 1985 Gary and Stephanie were brutally murdered with a hatchet in their home. The same hatchet used to trim the Christmas tree. The bodies were discovered by police the next day. An autopsy showed the killer(s) returned to the home and stabbed the bodies to make sure they were dead. Police say there were no signs of forced entry and have collected several items into evidence including fingerprints, possible DNA, the knife and the hatchet. In June, 1986 a Deputy Constable who knew the couple was arrested on two counts murder. (court documents below) But, the following year the case was dismissed for lack of evidence. The victim's daughter met with him as an adult. She talks about the case, missing her father and her message to her father and step-mother's killer. If you have any information in the case, please call the Corpus Christi Police at (361) 886-2600. |
