5 Recent True Crime Stories Explained
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VOICE OVER: Richard Bush
WRITTEN BY: Richard Bush
Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're taking a closer look at 5 true crime stories from the last few years that have captured the attention of news outlets and true crime enthusiasts everywhere. In this lsit, we take a look at the Delphi murders, the Long Island serial killer and the University of Idaho murders, amongst others.
Welcome to WatchMojo and today we’re taking a closer look at 5 true crime stories from the last few years that have captured the attention of news outlets and true crime enthusiasts everywhere.
The murders of teenagers Abby Williams and Libby German happened back in 2017 in the small town of Delphi. Their bodies were found stabbed on a trail not far from the now infamous Monon High Bridge. For a time, there wasn’t much evidence to go off, except for a grainy video found on Libby’s phone. “Bridge Guy,” as the man in the video came to be known, can be seen walking towards the girls and saying “guys, down the hill”. In October 2022, a man named Richard Allen was arrested and charged. He was found to be in the vicinity of the Monon High Bridge Trail the day of their murders, while an unspent bullet belonging to one of his guns was found near the girls’ bodies. Despite the fatal stab wounds, it’s believed the perpetrator may have used a gun to threaten them. The 51 year old Richard Allen currently faces four counts of murder and two felony counts of kidnapping. Allen’s trial was set to take place early 2024, but due to some drama involving his lawyers quitting the case - and then being reinstated - the trial date has been moved to late 2024.
This case may not be as well known in the US as it is in the UK, but it’s certainly one of the most shocking and polarizing true crime stories of the past decade. In August of 2023, a former neonatal nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital in the UK, Lucy Letby, was sentenced to a whole life-order after being found guilty of murdering seven little ones and attempting to murder six others between 2015 and 2016. Letby is said to have purposely injected the young victims with insulin and air and overfed them in order to harm them. Her insistence on working on the intensive care unit - and the unexplained decline of patients’ health while she was on shift - made staff suspicious of Letby. Letby’s motives are widely speculated, with some saying the 34 year old was trying to involve herself more deeply with a married doctor at the time. Letby was also determined to have been motivated by Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another - also known as Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. In other words, she would make the minors sick, and swoop in to save them satisfying her hero complex. After Letby’s arrest, hand-written post-it notes in her possession seemed to act as a confession, with them stating "I killed them on purpose because I'm not good enough to care for them.” Letby denied this confession, and while she pleaded not guilty to the murder accusations, she was ultimately found guilty.
In November 2022, four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death in an off-campus residence. Just over a month later, PhD criminology student Bryan Kohberger was arrested and charged with four counts of murder and one account of felony burglary. Detectives managed to match the DNA found on a knife sheath left at the scene to Kohberger’s father via genetic genealogy. And a swab taken from Bryan Kohberger was found to be an exact match. A roommate at the location also said they spotted Kohberger on the night of the murders as he allegedly walked right past them clad in black and wearing a mask. Cell phone reports were also said to place Kohberger at the scene. Kohberger’s defense claims that there is no connection between him and the victims, and therefore no motive. But there have been various speculations from true crime enthusiasts as to what his motives might have been: some said he wanted to get back at popular students, due to being a victim of harassment, while others claimed he wanted to prove his intelligence as a criminology student by committing the perfect crime. The trial of Bryan Kohberger was initially planned for October 2023, but since he denied the right to a speedy trial, it looks likely to happen in Summer 2024.
This story has more threads, lies and dizzying deception than perhaps all of the other stories on this list combined - and it all centers around Alex Murdaugh and the affluent Murdaugh family. We could talk about the boat crash and subsequent death of Mallory Beach, of which Alex’s son Paul was charged. Or the countless insurance fraud accusations, the murder investigation into the Murdaugh’s housekeeper and substance use disorder of Alex himself. But the real headline grabber is that Alex Murdaugh has been sentenced to two life sentences for the murder of his wife Margaret and his son Paul. Both Margaret and Paul were shot on the Murdaugh hunting estate in June 2021, and it’s thought that Alex Murdaugh committed the murders as a way to distract from the various embezzlement accusations being made towards him. He killed so people would take pity on him - that’s what the media headlines read, anyway. Labeled as South Carolina's "trial of the century”, the trial saw various shocking twists and turns, including the fact that Alex Murdaugh hired a hitman to kill him, so his other son Buster could collect on a life insurance policy. Very recently, Alex Murdaugh’s team made accusations of jury tampering, and they requested a retrial - although it was denied. Alex Murdaugh is still in prison, but we think this case might still carry some surprises.
Although this case dates back to a period between 1996 and 2011, which saw a series of murders along the coastline of Gilgo Beach in Nassau County, New York, it's very much current, and at the forefront of true crime fans’ minds right now. And that’s because after almost 30 years, it looks like they’ve finally caught the infamous Long Island Serial Killer. These murders came to light after various remains of 11 different victims were found along Gilgo Beach, of which included multiple female sex workers, a man and a minor. It’s still contested whether one of the victims died of accidental drowning, but it’s thought that at least 10 of them were victims of one serial killer. As of 2024, the perpetrator is believed to be 59-year-old architect Rex Heuermann. Heuermann was arrested and charged in July 2023 and since then he’s been hit with multiple first degree murder charges. Various pieces of evidence point towards Heuermann being guilty. This includes his use of burner phones and their corresponding phone records that link him to some of the victims, and his Chevrolet Avalanche, which had been identified by various people of interest. His DNA was also matched to a hair found in one of the burlap sacks containing one of the victim’s remains. Heuermann is currently accused of the murder of four women - who have come to be known as the Gilgo Four. As of early 2024, the trial is yet to take place.
#5: The Delphi Murders
The murders of teenagers Abby Williams and Libby German happened back in 2017 in the small town of Delphi. Their bodies were found stabbed on a trail not far from the now infamous Monon High Bridge. For a time, there wasn’t much evidence to go off, except for a grainy video found on Libby’s phone. “Bridge Guy,” as the man in the video came to be known, can be seen walking towards the girls and saying “guys, down the hill”. In October 2022, a man named Richard Allen was arrested and charged. He was found to be in the vicinity of the Monon High Bridge Trail the day of their murders, while an unspent bullet belonging to one of his guns was found near the girls’ bodies. Despite the fatal stab wounds, it’s believed the perpetrator may have used a gun to threaten them. The 51 year old Richard Allen currently faces four counts of murder and two felony counts of kidnapping. Allen’s trial was set to take place early 2024, but due to some drama involving his lawyers quitting the case - and then being reinstated - the trial date has been moved to late 2024.
#4: Nurse Lucy Letby
This case may not be as well known in the US as it is in the UK, but it’s certainly one of the most shocking and polarizing true crime stories of the past decade. In August of 2023, a former neonatal nurse at the Countess of Chester Hospital in the UK, Lucy Letby, was sentenced to a whole life-order after being found guilty of murdering seven little ones and attempting to murder six others between 2015 and 2016. Letby is said to have purposely injected the young victims with insulin and air and overfed them in order to harm them. Her insistence on working on the intensive care unit - and the unexplained decline of patients’ health while she was on shift - made staff suspicious of Letby. Letby’s motives are widely speculated, with some saying the 34 year old was trying to involve herself more deeply with a married doctor at the time. Letby was also determined to have been motivated by Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another - also known as Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. In other words, she would make the minors sick, and swoop in to save them satisfying her hero complex. After Letby’s arrest, hand-written post-it notes in her possession seemed to act as a confession, with them stating "I killed them on purpose because I'm not good enough to care for them.” Letby denied this confession, and while she pleaded not guilty to the murder accusations, she was ultimately found guilty.
#3: The University of Idaho Murders
In November 2022, four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death in an off-campus residence. Just over a month later, PhD criminology student Bryan Kohberger was arrested and charged with four counts of murder and one account of felony burglary. Detectives managed to match the DNA found on a knife sheath left at the scene to Kohberger’s father via genetic genealogy. And a swab taken from Bryan Kohberger was found to be an exact match. A roommate at the location also said they spotted Kohberger on the night of the murders as he allegedly walked right past them clad in black and wearing a mask. Cell phone reports were also said to place Kohberger at the scene. Kohberger’s defense claims that there is no connection between him and the victims, and therefore no motive. But there have been various speculations from true crime enthusiasts as to what his motives might have been: some said he wanted to get back at popular students, due to being a victim of harassment, while others claimed he wanted to prove his intelligence as a criminology student by committing the perfect crime. The trial of Bryan Kohberger was initially planned for October 2023, but since he denied the right to a speedy trial, it looks likely to happen in Summer 2024.
#2: The Murdaugh Family Murders
This story has more threads, lies and dizzying deception than perhaps all of the other stories on this list combined - and it all centers around Alex Murdaugh and the affluent Murdaugh family. We could talk about the boat crash and subsequent death of Mallory Beach, of which Alex’s son Paul was charged. Or the countless insurance fraud accusations, the murder investigation into the Murdaugh’s housekeeper and substance use disorder of Alex himself. But the real headline grabber is that Alex Murdaugh has been sentenced to two life sentences for the murder of his wife Margaret and his son Paul. Both Margaret and Paul were shot on the Murdaugh hunting estate in June 2021, and it’s thought that Alex Murdaugh committed the murders as a way to distract from the various embezzlement accusations being made towards him. He killed so people would take pity on him - that’s what the media headlines read, anyway. Labeled as South Carolina's "trial of the century”, the trial saw various shocking twists and turns, including the fact that Alex Murdaugh hired a hitman to kill him, so his other son Buster could collect on a life insurance policy. Very recently, Alex Murdaugh’s team made accusations of jury tampering, and they requested a retrial - although it was denied. Alex Murdaugh is still in prison, but we think this case might still carry some surprises.
#1: The Gilgo Beach Serial Killings
Although this case dates back to a period between 1996 and 2011, which saw a series of murders along the coastline of Gilgo Beach in Nassau County, New York, it's very much current, and at the forefront of true crime fans’ minds right now. And that’s because after almost 30 years, it looks like they’ve finally caught the infamous Long Island Serial Killer. These murders came to light after various remains of 11 different victims were found along Gilgo Beach, of which included multiple female sex workers, a man and a minor. It’s still contested whether one of the victims died of accidental drowning, but it’s thought that at least 10 of them were victims of one serial killer. As of 2024, the perpetrator is believed to be 59-year-old architect Rex Heuermann. Heuermann was arrested and charged in July 2023 and since then he’s been hit with multiple first degree murder charges. Various pieces of evidence point towards Heuermann being guilty. This includes his use of burner phones and their corresponding phone records that link him to some of the victims, and his Chevrolet Avalanche, which had been identified by various people of interest. His DNA was also matched to a hair found in one of the burlap sacks containing one of the victim’s remains. Heuermann is currently accused of the murder of four women - who have come to be known as the Gilgo Four. As of early 2024, the trial is yet to take place.
