In April 2015, Amanda Taylor, a 24-year-old woman from Virginia, committed a shocking and highly publicized murder that would earn her the nickname “The Selfie Killer.” Still grieving the suicide of her husband, Rex Taylor, Amanda blamed his father, Charles Taylor, for his death. On April 4, she and her friend Sean Ball went to Charles’s home in Montgomery County under the pretense of a visit. Once inside, Amanda brutally stabbed Charles more than 30 times with a knife, while Ball helped restrain him, killing him in cold blood.

After the murder, Amanda displayed a chilling lack of remorse. She posted photos on Instagram holding the bloody knife and wrote captions bragging about the killing, describing it as “revenge.” The pair then stole Charles’s car and fled Virginia, sparking a multi-state manhunt. During their flight, Ball attempted suicide, and the two were eventually captured in North Carolina. Authorities later revealed that Amanda had discussed her plans for revenge before the killing, suggesting the act was premeditated and fueled by obsession and grief.

Amanda Taylor was charged with first-degree murder and grand larceny, and in 2016 she pleaded guilty. The judge sentenced her to life in prison without parole, calling the crime “cold and calculated.” Sean Ball, who cooperated with investigators, received 41 years in prison. The case gained national media attention due to Amanda’s disturbing social media posts and emotionless demeanor, symbolizing the dark intersection of grief, revenge, and the performative nature of online notoriety.

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In January 2014, Julie Lane Kennedy Griffith (age 55) was found dead in her home in Reidland (near Paducah). Investigators later determined that she had been shot three times in the chest, and her house was then set on fire in what was believed to be a cover-up of the murder. Two dogs inside the residence also died in the blaze.

Her husband, Keith Griffith, was later charged with her murder, arson, tampering with evidence, and animal cruelty, among other charges. In February 2015, the trial ended in a mistrial due to a deadlocked jury. In January 2016, Keith Griffith pleaded guilty to multiple charges, admitting to killing Julie and setting the house ablaze. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

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Steven Nigg is a former federal inmate best known for his 2016 assault on notorious sex offender Larry Nassar’s fellow high-profile prisoner, former Subway spokesman Jared Fogle. While serving time for a firearms conviction at a low-security prison in Colorado, Nigg became enraged that Fogle was housed with other inmates in relative comfort despite his crimes against children. In January 2016, Nigg attacked Fogle in the prison yard, punching him repeatedly and leaving him with injuries to his face and neck. Prison officials quickly intervened, and Nigg was placed in disciplinary segregation after the assault.

The incident drew national attention because Nigg expressed open contempt for sex offenders and frustration at what he described as lenient treatment of such inmates. Although the attack did not lead to new criminal charges, it added to Nigg’s disciplinary record and affected his prison standing. He later served out his original sentence before being released. The case highlighted both inmate resentment toward sex offenders and the broader challenges prison officials face in managing high-profile prisoners.








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Luis Bracamontes, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, was convicted of murdering two sheriff’s deputies in Sacramento, California, in 2014. Bracamontes, who had previously been deported multiple times, carried out a violent shooting spree that left Deputy Danny Oliver and Detective Michael Davis Jr. dead. During his 2018 trial, he showed no remorse, even boasting about the killings and threatening to kill more officers in the future. His violent past and repeated illegal reentries into the United States drew widespread national attention.

In 2018, a jury found Bracamontes guilty of murder, attempted murder, and other charges. He was sentenced to death in March 2018 after a highly publicized trial in which his outbursts—including laughter and taunts—shocked the courtroom. His wife, Janelle Monroy, who was accused of aiding him during the crime spree, was sentenced to nearly 50 years in prison. Prosecutors highlighted Bracamontes’s repeated illegal entries as well as his history of criminal activity to show the severity of the case.

President Donald Trump seized on Bracamontes’s crimes during his push for stricter immigration policies. Trump repeatedly cited Bracamontes as an example of the dangers of “open borders” and featured him in a controversial 2018 campaign ad ahead of the midterm elections. The ad, which portrayed Bracamontes as representative of undocumented immigrants broadly, was widely criticized as misleading and racist, but it underscored how his case became a flashpoint in the national debate over immigration enforcement and border security.



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In April 2006, 23-year-old Christopher Lampkin was murdered in a Salem apartment, shot execution-style, and dismembered by Leonardo Garcia Gonzalez and Victor Gonzalez. His remains were stuffed into a duffel bag and fed to pigs at a Yamhill County farm, where police later recovered partial remains in a feed barrel. The killers were ordered to pay Lampkin’s family $1 million, while charges against the farm owner and apartment complex were ultimately dismissed.

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Theresa Knorr is convicted of murdering 2 of her 6 children. Theresa has been married a total of 4 times. Her first husband, Clifford Sanders died of a gunshot wound to the back of the head, inflicted by Theresa. Theresa was acquitted of his murder. Theresa was known to be physically, psychologically and verbally abusive to her children. She would abuse and torture her kids in different ways, including: throwing knives at them, burning them with cigarettes, beating them and force feeding them. Theresa would go on to murder her two daughters, Suesan (17) and Sheila (20). Theresa is currently serving two life sentences. She is eligible for parole in 2027, she will be 80 years old.

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Please note the prisoners were on speaker phone, on a prison tablet, so that's why it is so loud/why the quality is the way it is. This was a live interview I conducted on tik tok, which i occasionally do on Tuesday's. @unforbiddentruthpodcast is my username.

Donald Ray Middlebrooks

In 1987, Donald Ray Middlebrooks, along with his then-teenage wife Tammy Middlebrooks and accomplice Robert Brewington, kidnapped and brutally tortured 14-year-old Kerrick Majors in East Nashville. The attack followed Majors accidentally breaking a vase at a makeshift flea market, and descended into a racially charged and horrific hate crime involving torture, mutilation, and ultimately stabbing — with racial slurs and extreme violence central to the ordeal. Middlebrooks was convicted of first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping, receiving a death sentence in 1989, later affirmed through retrial and appeal

After years of appeals, his execution was scheduled for December 2022 but was stayed amid concerns over the state’s lethal injection protocol; as of early 2025, a new execution date has been set, though it remains on hold pending federal litigation.

Steven J. Wiggins

Steven Wiggins, of Dickson, Tennessee, was convicted in August 2021 for the brutal killing of Sergeant Daniel Baker—shooting him multiple times during a traffic investigation, then dragging his body into the patrol car, impersonating him, and setting the vehicle ablaze with the body inside.

The scope of his convictions included premeditated first-degree murder, felony murder, theft, impersonation, arson, tampering with evidence, and abuse of a corpse. In April 2022, he accepted a federal plea agreement on carjacking and firearms charges which resulted in a life sentence — prompting withdrawal of the federal death penalty notice, though the state-level death sentence remains active.

He is currently on death row, and his legal team filed a motion for a new trial citing multiple errors in the original state proceedings.

Jonathan Wesley Stephenson

Jonathan Wesley Stephenson was convicted in 1990 in Cocke County for the premeditated, contract killing of his wife — alongside a related conspiracy conviction for hiring an accomplice. Initially sentenced to death plus 25 years, his case went through a complex appellate process. Due to sentencing irregularities, a new sentencing hearing followed, resulting in a life-without-parole term plus 60 years for conspiracy. However, that sentence was later vacated and resentenced to death again, which was affirmed by Tennessee’s Supreme Court in 2006.

He continued seeking relief — most recently filing a habeas corpus petition, which was dismissed in 2024 by the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals, affirming the legality of his death-plus-60‑year sentence.

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Prentiss Williams, of Toledo, Ohio, ultimately pleaded guilty to four murders committed in the mid‑1990s—specifically those of Shelley Johnson, Robert Hendricks, Carmita Dickey, and Jonathan Booker—and was also implicated in a jail incident in which he obtained a weapon and fired shots (with no one injured) after a counselor smuggled contraband to him.

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Christopher “Life” Willars is a renowned motivational speaker, prison‑rights and mental‑health advocate, and successful social‑media content creator who, after spending 17 years incarcerated, emerged to co‑found and lead a cosmetology vocational school outside Atlanta called Lasting Layers of Beauty with his wife. He also founded The Life Unit, providing re‑entry support and coaching to those affected by the criminal justice system, helping countless individuals find resilience, purpose, and transformation.

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Peter Vronsky is a Canadian historian, true crime author, and filmmaker specializing in serial killers and criminal history. He has extensively interviewed serial killer Richard Cottingham, also known as the "Torso Killer," and has worked on uncovering Cottingham’s previously unknown crimes, contributing to cold-case investigations and appearing in related documentaries like Netflix’s Crime Scene: The Times Square Killer.

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https://www.petervronsky.org/

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On June 30, 2008, in the Circuit Court of the City of Portsmouth, Demetrius L. Neely was convicted on multiple drug‑ and firearm‑related counts. Those convictions included: possession of cocaine with intent to distribute (second offense), possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of a Schedule I/II controlled substance while in possession of a firearm, and possession of marijuana. For these crimes, he received a total sentence of 50 years and six months, with nine years suspended.

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Joe Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado-Passage, is an American former zoo operator and convicted felon who gained international fame as the eccentric, flamboyant star of the Netflix docuseries Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness (2020). He owned and operated the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma, where he bred and exhibited big cats and other exotic animals. Known for his wild personality, outlandish style, and outspoken behavior, Joe Exotic became infamous not only for his controversial animal practices but also for his feud with animal rights activist Carole Baskin. In 2020, he was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison for a murder-for-hire plot against Baskin and multiple wildlife violations.

Operation Smile: https://operationsmile.donorsupport.co/page/FUNLDXRJXJM?s_src=cpc&s_subsrc=bing&utm_campaign=paid&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=bing&utm_term=Operation%20Smile&msclkid=8ad7ad90faf314713122c5100f6dae84

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In 2006 in Cleveland, Ohio, 16-year-old Victor Mercado allegedly shot and killed a man named Anderson. Mercado was identified as a suspect based on eyewitness descriptions. Mercado was convicted and was facing life in prison but was sentenced to 18 years.

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Martha Ann Freeman is a Tennessee resident who, along with Rafael DeJesus Rocha‑Perez, was convicted by a Davidson County jury of first-degree, premeditated murder in the April 2005 slaying of her husband, Jeffrey Freeman. Neighbors reported that she behaved strangely, both were found guilty and sentenced to life in prison, with the possibility of parole.

Rafael DeJesus Rocha‑Perez, also convicted in the same case, was revealed to have been her boyfriend at the time, secretly living in the Freeman residence. Forensics connected both to the crime through evidence like DNA and witness accounts placing Rocha‑Perez near the scene just after the murder. The Court of Criminal Appeals upheld their convictions in 2008, rejecting appeals related to evidence and trial conduct.

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Michael Curtis Reynolds is an American convicted of domestic terrorism after attempting to orchestrate a plot in 2005 to bomb U.S. energy infrastructure, including oil pipelines and refineries. Posing as a terrorist sympathizer online, Reynolds sought assistance from what he believed were al-Qaeda operatives—who were actually part of an FBI sting operation. He was arrested in Idaho while trying to collect $40,000 to fund the attacks and was later convicted on multiple charges, including attempting to provide material support to terrorists and possessing explosive devices. Reynolds, who has a history of mental health issues, was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison.

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Donald Ray Middlebrooks is a convicted murderer from Tennessee who was sentenced to death for the 1987 racially motivated killing of 14-year-old Kerrick Majors, a Black teenager. Along with two other white men, Middlebrooks participated in the brutal torture and murder of Majors, who was beaten, stabbed multiple times, and burned with cigarettes in a wooded area in Nashville. The crime was widely recognized as a hate crime, marked by extreme violence and racial hatred. Middlebrooks was identified as the ringleader and was convicted in 1988; his death sentence was upheld despite decades of legal appeals and debates over the fairness of his trial and sentencing. His case drew national attention as a symbol of racially motivated violence and the ongoing struggle for justice in such cases.

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Hart D. Fisher is an American horror crime author, comic-book writer, and publisher best known for founding Boneyard Press and creating the controversial “Jeffrey Dahmer: An Unauthorized Biography of a Serial Killer” comic in 1992 

He’s also dubbed “the most dangerous man in comics” in the ’90s for pushing adult-themed horror/crime titles and later expanded into film, poetry, and a horror streaming channel called American Horrors 

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Christopher Bennett is a native of Craigsville, Virginia, who made national headlines in 2003 when, at 18, he fatally shot his stepfather, Vincent McDorman. Bennett was subsequently convicted of capital murder as well as robbery and breaking and entering, accepting a plea deal that resulted in a sentence totaling 1,800 years—equivalent to three life terms under Virginia law.

According to Bennett, he stumbled into the home after hearing his sister’s cries and confronted his stepfather as he was allegedly molesting her. The case has sparked ongoing debate, with supporters portraying Bennett as a juvenile who acted to protect his siblings from abuse.

Victoria McDorman, Bennett’s younger sister, is central to both the case and the ongoing campaign for his clemency. She has publicly recounted enduring repeated abuse at the hands of their stepfather and described her brother’s actions as brave and necessary. Victoria and other family members have participated in rallies—including one in 2020 in Craigsville—calling for Bennett’s release, highlighting the trauma they endured and advocating for a reexamination of his sentence. In recent years, their story has attracted further attention through podcasts like True Crime Broads, which features Victoria’s voice as she elaborates on those events and continues to champion her brother as a hero rather than a criminal.

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Kerrick Majors was a 14-year-old African American boy from Nashville, Tennessee, whose brutal, racially motivated murder in April 1987 became a symbol of both racial violence and justice in the American South. Described as a kind, respectful middle school student, Kerrick was abducted after a minor dispute over a broken vase with three white drifters—Donald and Tammy Middlebrooks and Robert Brewington—who falsely accused him of theft. They forced him into a wooded area where he was tortured over several hours—burned, beaten with brass knuckles, urinated on, slashed with knives, and stabbed to death while racial slurs were used against him.

His body, left naked under a discarded mattress in a creek bed, bore signs of extreme cruelty, including a carved "X" on his chest. Police initially dismissed him as a runaway and delayed the investigation, which led to public outrage, disciplinary action against officers, and a $2 million lawsuit by Kerrick’s family. The case resulted in historic convictions: Brewington received life plus 75 years, Tammy Middlebrooks received life with parole eligibility, and Donald Middlebrooks was sentenced to death—the first time in modern Tennessee history that a white person was condemned to death for murdering a Black child. The case remains significant for highlighting systemic racism, law enforcement negligence, and the rare pursuit of justice in a racially charged crime.

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James Sparks is a criminologist; he holds a Bachelor of Arts from Murray State University and a Master of Science in Criminal Justice from UAB. His academic focus and teaching responsibilities at UAB encompass specialized topics such as serial killers, serial killers in international contexts, and the juvenile justice system.

Although primarily serving as an instructor, Sparks applies a criminological lens to the study of violent crime and the intersection of psychology and criminal justice. His courses typically explore offender behavior patterns, developmental and systemic aspects of criminality (particularly in youth), and international comparisons of serial homicide. Through engaging students in these challenging subjects, Sparks contributes to the broader mission of preparing future criminal justice professionals and researchers.

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