History NightmareFuel / InvestigationDiscovery

** "Kids Will Be Kids": Makia Coney is a 17 year old highly devoted to her community. She goes to University Christian School. One day when her parents come to pick up her and her sister but Makia is nowhere to be found. Although they search high and low she appears to have vanished. A bicyclist would find Makia's body in a drainage ditch, horribly disfigured. At the crime scene are tire tracks and a cigar lighter. At the schools parking lot they find a possible match to the tires on a vehicle belonging to student Charles Southern. Charles saw his mother die as young boy, but never seemed to cry over it. Though he is interviewed, he is dismissed and police eventually interview his friend Connor Pridgeon, who has a problem with authority. Both of them are in the football team and have aspirations to be in the military and one of them stole .44 magnum guns from the house of a friend. They want to commit a crime spree but first they want to know what it's like to use them to kill. They settle on little, feeble Makia. They invite her to go into the woods to smoke some cigars. When they arrive at the ditch they pull out the guns and shoot her. They thought they could get away with it but security cameras caught them leaving with Makia. When they are interviewed Connor fumbles in keeping his lies straight, Charles meanwhile tries to paint Connor as the sole perpetrator. Eventually police interview them in the same room and both crumble. They are both sentenced to life without parole.

** Shirley Allen's family is dealt a tragic double blow when both Shirley's husband, Lloyd, and the family dog die from mysterious illnesses. Shirley's daughter Norma exposes her mother as a murderer who poisoned both Lloyd and her dog with antifreeze for Lloyd's life insurance money; Shirley is also suspected of murdering her previous husband in 1978 under similar circumstances. This case was also documented in an episode of Evil Lives Here entitled "Poisoned By Love", in which Norma describes how growing up with her was still a terrifying experience. Shirley wouldn't allow her kids to socialize with others, and would even lock them in the house and take the phones with her if she went out. Norma even describes a time when Shirley was bathing her, both her arms were broken, and nearly drowned her.

%% "While She Was Sleeping":

**

** Kimberly Cargill has 3 kids by 3 different men, and when she meets a new man it becomes 4. Though she claims to be abused by her exes it soon becomes obvious to her latest husband that Kimberley is in fact the abuser, beating children and berating in laws alike. 2 of her sons find solace in a babysitter named [[KindheartedSimpleton Cherry Walker.]] With a custody trial for her last remaining child coming up, she tries to prevent Cherry from testifying against her and loose her last victim, so Kimberley takes her out to dinner, then drives her out to a secluded spot, strangles her and then lights her on fire, when questioned she tried to claim the woman had suffered a seizure, but no one buys it. Kimberly was found guilty of capital murder, and spends the remainder of her days on death row in Texas. This was also documented in an episode of ''Evil Lives Here'' entitled "Master Manipulator" featuring testimony from both one of her sons Jamie and her ex-husband Brian, Jamie also told of how following trial he became violent and addicted to meth before getting back on the straight path.

*** Brenda Spencer's parents divorced when she was young and she went to live with her father. As she grew it seemed like the only thing that could make her happy was learning how to fire a rifle. In January of 1979 Brenda, only 16, tells her father she doesn't feel well enough to go to school so he lets her stay at home. From her window she watches the kids across the street at Grover Cleveland Elementary playing and sets up her Ruger 10/22 rifle. She opens fire, hitting 8 kids and 2 adults before [[ForWantOfANail her view is blocked by a garbage truck.]] She barricades herself in her roof for several hours. During this time a journalist somehow found her home phone number and called. When asked why she did the shooting, she responded: "I don't like Mondays. This livens up the day." She later also spoke with police negotiators, telling them those she had shot made easy targets, and that she was going to "come out shooting." but ultimately, she surrendered. The only two victims were Principal Burton Wragg and custodian Mike Suchar. A police officer was also wounded. Out of the 30 rounds she fired, she hit eleven people with eleven hits, meaning she hit them all once. In April 1980, Spencer pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon and was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Spencer remains in prison despite several parole hearings. One thing to keep in mind, unlike most other school shootings Spencer had only moved to the area several months prior to the shooting meaning this isn't some sort of twisted revenge scheme against an individual or the institution itself.

** "I Should've Turned Back": Kat Harris and Marla Kreuger, the sister and the ex-wife of Larry Harris, respectively, tell their terrible recollections of him. Kat said he was a destructive child for whom punishment meant nothing. As he got older, his interests changed from destructive to witchcraft. It was assumed he mellowed out when he got into culinary school and married Marla, but his temper would flare up for the most superfluous reasons. One January day, Marla is informed that a fire erupted at her house and her daughters did not survive, but not due to smoke or burns. Larry stripped them, raped them, and then strangled them. [[ForWantOfANail Kat admitted she was at the house just hours before their deaths and could've gone back for the debit card she forgot, and possibly saved them.]] Larry is serving 2 life terms but the question on many minds still is "why?" Marla suspects this was punishment for what he perceived as unfaithfulness from her, Kat believes it was a Satanic ritual brought on by his stepdaughter getting her first period, but it's clear that any explanation Larry gives only makes sense in his mind.

** "Desperate Times, Deadly Measures"; Erwin Lynn Jarvis and his wife are initially friends with the Mathesons, but things go sour when they have a miscarriage. They leave and return 10 years later, [[TookALevelInJerkass but not for the better.]] They harass the Jarvises constantly, even throwing human feces at them, and manage to charm the police into believing there is no cause for alarm. Officers were called to the neighbors' homes more than two dozen times in three years. One day, things officially go too far and Erwin uses the gun he bought for protection to [[NoKillLikeOverkill shoot them 15 times]]. A neighbor driving home and the victims' 12-year-old son told authorities that they saw Jarvis stand over one of the bodies on the ground and shoot one more time. With no other witnesses present, [[ForWantOfANail one woman admitting she went into her house just seconds before the gunfire erupted]], Jarvis pleads guilty to two counts of second-degree murder and was sentenced to 32-40 years in prison. Even worse, when authorities investigated the house of the victims, they saw a scenario right out of ''Series/{{Hoarders}}''. Clearly, the Mathesons needed help but never accepted it from anyone, overall, nobody won this feud.

** "Web of Spies": Christine Belford at one point loved David Matusiewicz and even had 3 daughters with him, but eventually things become horribly hostile [[ObnoxiousInLaws his parents Thomas and Lenore move in with them, totally unannounced.]] Christine files for divorce but unfortunately it doesn't go as amiable as she wants, even with joint custody. During one of these weeks David promises to take them on a vacation but in fact he and his mother abducted the girls and took them all the way to Nicaragua, making them live there for 19 months before Interpol found them. Following this both are sent to prison, David for 48 months & Lenore for 18 months, but the threat did not end there. Christine becomes the victim an online smear campaign claiming her to be physically and sexually abusive to her daughters, complete with a (totally innocuous) candid video of her being uploaded to Creator/YouTube. After Lenore is released from prison the smear campaign is mailed to everyone in the community, from teachers to lawyers to members of Christine's church. Christine wants to move away and even tries to purchase a gun for protection. On the day of the hearing for David's child support Christine and her friend go to the local courthouse but it's there that both are shot dead by Thomas, who then takes his own life. Authorities know that David and his family have planned this out but now need to find them.

** "Web of Spies": Christine Belford at one point loved David Matusiewicz and even had 3 daughters with him, but eventually things become horribly hostile [[ObnoxiousInLaws his parents Thomas and Lenore move in with them, totally unannounced.]] Christine files for divorce but unfortunately it doesn't go as amiable as she wants, even with joint custody. During one of these weeks David promises to take them on a vacation but in fact he and his mother abducted the girls and took them all the way to Nicaragua, making them live there for 19 months. Following this both are sent to prison, David for 48 months & Lenore for 18 months, but the threat did not end there. Christine becomes the victim an online smear campaign claiming her to be verbally and sexually abusive to her daughters, complete with candid video of her being uploaded to YouTube. After Lenore is released from prison the smear campaign is mailed to everyone in the community, from teachers to members of Christine's church congregation. On the day of the hearing for David's child support Christine and her sister go to the local courthouse but it's there that both are shot by Thomas, who then takes his own life.

** "Love You To Death": Jessica Schobert was adopted by a couple named Peg and Jeff, as was her sister Chelsea. While they are truly loving parents Chelsea always feels like somewhat of an outcast due to being a black girl raised by white parents. Chelsea wants to bond with peers more like herself and finds one in a boy named Shawn Forde Jr. Shawn is Chelsea's total opposite economically but they attempt to make things work. Peg and Jeff welcome Shawn wholeheartedly and Shawn shows Chelsea around his neighborhood. Shawn however is quick to be protective of Chelsea and she becomes more involved in Shawn's lifestyle, spending almost all her time with him. Jeff and Peg are worried that sooner or later she'll become involved in gang activity and tell her that she can only drive the car if it has a GPS tracker. Chelsea meets more of Shawn's friends and family and not all are welcoming of her. On Chelsea's 18th birthday Shawn takes her to a party in his neighborhood but the following morning she is in critical condition at a local hospital, having been stabbed 10 times. Peg and Jeff tell Shawn he is no longer allowed to see Chelsea. Incredibly Chelsea is able to come off the ventilator 5 days later and wants to know about Shawn. Police begin to investigate her attack and eventually her parents head back home. However, the following day, Jessica can't contact her parents no matter what she tries and then when a family friend heads over to do some maintenance a horrible discovery is made. Jeff and Peg have been killed in their home, courtesy of a sledgehammer. The first piece of evidence was another police man's card, coincidentally the same one that is leading the investigation into the attack on Chelsea, believing the 2 are connected the departments work together. It doesn't take them long to find the Schobert's stolen SUV followed by gloves, a knife and a hat. Police also find a series of messages sent by Jeff and Peg that came hours after they died. Shawn is brought in for questioning but it was his friend Jamal that confessed to aiding him in homicide. Shawn admitted to texting Peg to come home after killing Jeff and then sent Chelsea messages from her dead mother's phone. When Chelsea is informed of what happens she confesses that Shawn was the one who stabbed her at the party for refusal to have sex with him, had she told the truth he probably would've been arrested and her parents would still be alive. Jamal gets life while Shawn is sentenced to death, so many lives irrevocably marred.
%%** "Web of Spies"

** "My Twisted Sister" details the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turpin_case Turpin Child Hoarding Case]] from the perspective of their aunt Elizabeth Flores. From an early age she and her sister Louise were molested by their grandfather and as they got older Louise would take turns meant for Elizabeth [[KarmaHoudini (their grandfather was never charged with child abuse and lived until the age of 95).]] When Louise is 16 she marries David Allen Turpin, who comes from a respected family in the area and not long after begins having the first of her many children. When Elizabeth is in college she stays with them for a while, at the time they only have 4 children, and begins to notice some things that aren't right. Louise and David would spend all night at casinos, leaving her and the kids in a car, Louise also didn't seem interested in keeping the house tidy and was rather uninterested in bonding with her youngest child, and at dinner time the children would be called one by one down to the table and wouldn't even take a bite without Louise telling them to. Elizabeth was never allowed to have anyone over or even talk to anyone outside the family. One night while she's showering David and Louise peeked in on her and and started to heckle her. When she breaks the no contact rule, Louise takes her keys and literally leaves her on the sidewalk (she's invited to stay with the man she would eventually marry). For the next few years Louise's family grows and she and Elizabeth barely meet. When they do Elizabeth notices how spaced out and thin her nieces and nephews look and then Louise informs her they are moving to California (because state authorities don't check up on you if you decide to homeschool your children). Years later while conversing with a niece, who looks much younger than she appears due to malnutrition, she notices how Louise seems to be watching her like a hawk and preemptively ends the conversation. When all the horrific details come to light, Elizabeth does not initially believe it until she goes to California and sees the awful truth with her own eyes. When they meet in prison Louise gives no satisfactory answers for why she did all that she did. In regards to David and Louise's sentencing, both get life with parole after 25 years, Elizabeth says it is entirely deserved and now wants to help her nieces and nephews as they try regain some semblance of a normal life. Quite tragic to think how someone you once saw as a hero can become a villain that you are initially blind to until it is too late for someone else.

''Fear Thy Neighbor'' focuses on neighbourhood disputes that grow out of control and escalate into violence.

** "Head In The Oven". [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin One guess as to what the outcome is.]]

** ”The Green Monster”: Jack and Linda Myer marry and blend their families together. Though it all seems like rural country bliss, problems lie underneath the surface. Jack’s eldest son [[BlackSheep Travis]] left the farm after Jack decided to remarry and rarely meets up with them, he didn’t even go to the wedding. Granddaughter Amber gets pregnant in her teens but is unable to keep a relationship with the boys father. Little Dameon is raised predominantly by Jack and Linda while she gets her life back on track. Meanwhile things go wrong for Jack’s other son Greg, losing his job and divorcing his wife, and eventually Jack and Linda decide to cut him off. Late one March 4 year old Dameon runs out from the house to his preschool, over a mile away, shouting to a teacher “my grandparents are melting!” When investigators arrive they find Jack and Linda in their bed, dead from gunshot wounds. Above Jack’s head is their first pieces of evidence, a homemade silencer made out of masking tape, red plastic shavings, shoe impressions found near a basement window, and worst of all blood in the Dameons room. With no other witnesses the police must prod the little boy for answers. [[HarmfulToMinors Dameon recalls finding the bodies and through playing with dolls he winds up describing a point in the night where he sees, in his words, a “green monster” who pointed a gun at him but incredibly doesn’t shoot it.]] Linda’s daughter Kim thinks her brother in law Travis is a likely candidate. When police try to contact Greg for help they are surprised to find Travis living with him, and has been doing so for several weeks. While they’re being interviewed, a family friend comes forward saying he had a conversation with [[CainAndAbel Greg and that he wanted to purchase a gun with the intention of shooting Jack and Linda.]] Greg is put into custody and as they comb through all the evidence they find a receipt from Greg regarding ammunition and footage from Walmart of him purchasing both it and a gun. Later the gun is fished out of a river, it has the same tape around it that was found at the crime scene, not only that but there’s a trash bag filled with latex gloves, green clothing and shoes that match the foot prints. They concluded that Greg wanted to kill Jack and Linda as he was the only beneficiary in their will. Greg will now spend the rest of his life behind prison and the family can only hold onto the memories of Jack and Linda in their hearts.
** It Was All of Them: The Futo family was founded by patriarch Emory Sr who fled Hungary to escape communism. He eventually marries a woman named Euna and has 3 sons. They seem like the quintessential family, and when Emory Jr grows up he joins the navy while youngest brother John joins the army upon his graduation. Middle child Nick meanwhile struggles to find a purpose. Emory Jr eventually has his own son but when Emory Sr appears to be growing discontent with his family, worry sets in. When Euna doesn’t show up for work one summer day the police make a shocking discovery at her house, Euna was strangled with an electrical cord while Emory Sr suffered multiple stab wounds. At 6 that evening cemetery workers make another gruesome discovery, the body of Nick which has a piece of paper with the words “American West 1408”. Joe Futo’s car is discovered 2 miles away, with Joe Futo’s body inside as well. At the crime scene there’s a bloody shoe print and broken pictures frames. Emory Jr is contacted and his first words are [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial “They don’t think I did it, did they?”]], even though the word murder was never mentioned. Emory Jr claimed to be camping but a friend confirmed he took him to the airport to catch a flight to St Louis, which corroborates with the paper found on Nick’s body. After being detained and flown to St. Louis, Emory Jr is interrogated. He confesses to helping Nick with a big drug deal when he heard gunshots and vacated the scene but when asked about the footprint he claims to have visited his parents house and found them deceased before heading out. When asked why he didn’t alert someone right then and there he then confesses that Nick killed their parents and when Joseph came he had to shoot him as well. Then he claims that Nick wanted them to perform a suicide pack but he could only shoot Nick. Not buying the cock and bull story Emory finally confesses that for years his father had been abusing the entire family, something a cousin can attest to. Emory is charged with 4 counts of homicide and gets 4 life sentences. Even if Emory Sr was abusive, that didn’t mean Euna, Nick and Joseph had to die along with him.

** [[AndThereWasMuchRejoicing “We’re Glad Mom Is Dead”]]: From an early age the Lizowski sisters, Victoria and Christine, know their mother Sungham is a tough, domineering and inflexible woman. [[EducationMama She would wake them up early for piano practice and would personally, and forcibly, right any wrongs as she saw fit, not caring if it was something her daughters actually wanted to do.]] When they got into fights, as sisters occasionally do, she would break it up by beating one of them and making the other watch. Their father John is also not exempt from her wrath, [[WhenYouComingHomeDad but finds a way around it by traveling a lot for work.]] As they got older her punishments got more severe. At one point they recall a time when she locked them in a hot shed and made them keep their hands above their heads for who knows how long until they realized she wasn’t even at the house anymore. Another time they missed the bus, for the second time that week, and she [[DrivesLikeCrazy drove them to school in such an erratic manor they thought she was purposely going to crash the car.]] [[MsRedInk Her biggest vice however was her ability to spend money faster than John could make, leading the house to nearly be foreclosed upon.]] After one too many physical altercations John makes plans to leave her. Sungham finds evidence that John apparently had found someone else and will take the girls with him. Unwilling to let that happen she plans a fun family holiday evening. One of the girls can see something peculiar about her dads drink but can’t make out what. The following morning they wake up to the sounds of a gun going off and eventually Sungham approaches them both with a gun in her hand. Christine was shot first while Victoria ran to call 911 before being shot herself, then Sungham turned the gun on herself. When they wake up in the hospital the girls learn that although their mother is still alive, their father died. Victoria was shot through her elbow and still bears some scars while Christine literally has pins and screws holding her hand together. Sungham was charged with 1st degree murder and attempted 1st degree murder and sentenced to 45 years in prison without parole. The girls are raised by relatives in New England. Their mother attempted to keep contact early on in her incarceration but they refused to talk her ever again. 20 years into her sentence Sungham hung herself with her bedsheets, much to the relief of her daughters. They can now focus on having families of their own and while they want to keep the memory of their father alive, they know that sooner or later they’ll have to mention their mother and all that she did, but for now it’s about enjoying the small things in life, [[BabiesEverAfter Victoria had her 1st daughter not even 3 weeks after the interview.]]
** “The Body in the Backyard”: At only 16, Karina Her has her first daughter Mailene. More children soon follow, including youngest daughter Dahlia. From an early age Mailene knows of the animosity building up in her mother. [[AMistakeIsBorn Karina outright told her she regretted having her so young and at one point burned her with a spoon.]] One night their father came home and saw Karina dousing the house with gasoline in an attempt to burn it. Not long after he files for divorce. Karina soon finds another man named Kou whom she marries, [[HistoryRepeats but it’s unfortunately not long before her old habits resurface.]] Mailene recalls one instance in which she claimed to have poisoned his dinner. She also puts up multiple cameras to spy both on him and her kids. When she nearly burns down the house again, and stabs Kou, the kids lived with their father for a while but eventually half of them go back to live with Karina and Kou, and she forbids the girls from talking to each other. Eventually Kou decides to finally begin divorce proceedings but agreed to stay with her until they could sell the house. One day Dahlia is instructed by her mother to stay at a friend’s house for 2 days, [[OutOfCharacterAlert something that is highly out of character for her,]] and when she returns Kou has apparently vacated. Days pass and they still hear no word from him. Dahlia notices there’s a hole in the backyard that wasn’t there before Kou left, which Karina eventually puts a shed on top. One day she enters her mothers bedroom and notices there’s a hole in the mattress where Kou slept, she alerts Mailene and they conclude that she must have killed him and is hiding the body. Dahlia discreetly contacts police officers and they tell her to keep a close eye on her mother while they investigate. It takes a few days but Karina is finally arrested and charged, police later get a warrant to search the backyard and sure enough Kou’s body is under the shed. She is sentenced to 45 years in prison but could be out on parole after serving only 14. The sisters are prepared to stand up against her should the situation arise that she gets out early but for now they know that moment is years away and are enjoying the time they have together now.
** “I Made It Out”: Gabi Blair is the oldest of 4 children born to Mitchelle Blair. Her relationships never last and she can’t hold down a steady job, not only are they growing up at the poverty level but Mitchelle is also very unsympathetic to the children’s struggles and needs. On top of all this her fuse is very short, it was common for her to make them stand against a wall for hours at end. Because Mitchelle can paint the illusion of normalcy to other people and the kids don’t understand how very abnormal their lives are, she can continue to elevate the punishments. One day, she finally goes over the edge, after noticing her youngest son positioning his action figures in a suggestive manor and interprets this as proof of him being assaulted by his brother. Mitchelle beats him periodically over the course of several days, this included asphyxiating him with trash bags and denying him food. Though Gabi saw this unfold, she felt as though if she intervened she would join him. By the time Mitchelle stops there is no chance of him recovering and Gabi and can only watch him pass on. Then comes the unthinkable, Gabi must assist her mother as she places her brother’s body into the freezer. The family is sworn to secrecy but unfortunately this isn’t the end of Mitchelle’s torment. Months after her brothers death Gabi witnesses an all too familiar scene, her mother antagonizes her youngest son into admitting one of his siblings is assaulting him. Once again he says yes begrudgingly, most likely to avoid becoming her next target. She piles on the same torture she delivered to Gabi’s brother to her sister and she can only watch. After Mitchelle strikes her over the head and then strangles her Gabi is forced to place another body in the freezer, only this time the victim isn’t dead but dying. Mitchelle threatens Gabi into silence once gain by threatening the lives of everyone in the house. For 2 years Gabi lives fearing everyday could be her last until her mother is presented with an eviction notice, Gabi fears this means she will try and terminate them all but she merely sends her over to a neighbors house and tells her the truth. On the evening news Mitchelle’s crime is finally exposed. When investigators try to understand her motive she doesn’t even try to hide her dislike of her kids, outright saying “I don’t regret what I did. And if I had to do it all over again I wouldn’t change a thing.” She is sentenced to 2 life long terms. While Gabi was originally pining for her mother to get the death sentence she now sees the imprisonment as a chance for her to spend every day of her life thinking about all that she did and how she can never atone for it. Gabi had to overcome the guilt of outliving her siblings but now looks forward to a life without her mothers dictatorship looming over her, especially as the guilt of the crime is now apparently starting to tear her apart.

** Kill Him, Save Yourself: David Magnano and Jessica Rosenbeck are the son and stepdaughter of Scott Magnano, his marriage with their mother Jennifer initially seemed amiable but early on they saw the cracks in his visage. Rules dominated their lives to a complete degree, and would often change on a whim. Even from a young age Jessica can see their mother is being hurt and is fearful for everyone in the house. On one instance Scott told them to remain quiet while he beat Jennifer and David proclaimed he could see a demon in his eyes, not long afterwards he got the first ideas of killing him. Scott also tried to coerce Jessica to enter a relationship with him when she turned 18. Eventually Jennifer gets fed up and decides that they will all leave when Scott takes his shower later at night. They grab everything they can before getting in the car and driving all the way to California. [[CrazyPrepared Scott however had a plan for this, he drained her account, put out an amber alert and even filed for custody which he won by default as they never even knew about the trial.]] They responded by filing a report and got a restraining order, Jessica was sent to find a job so they could get some financial security. When they attempted to get a few things from their house before leaving, a baby monitor and a note saying the telephone wasn’t working went unnoticed by police. Turns out Scott was in the home, living in a part of the house occupied by his mother that she didn’t let the police search. A few days later David comes home to a horrific sight, his father holding his mother hostage with a gun. David pulls out a knife he had carried with him for safety but can’t muster up the gall to kill him. Scott drags Jennifer out of the room before shooting her 5 times, letting her body fall down the stairs to David’s abject horror. Scott then gets in his car and drives away before police show up. David and his other sister are taken to a hospital where they learn that Scott had shot himself in the head but David wouldn’t believe it until he saw his corpse himself. The one thing that will forever disgust him is that his mother’s body was so horrific but his father was so pristine. The siblings strayed apart for years afterwards but managed to reconnect in time for the [[UsefulNotes/Covid19 lockdown]]. They are trying to move on with life and keep the memory of Jennifer alive but Scott has still left indelible scars on them, David is only 30 and has a pace maker on his heart as a result of the all the stress.
** [[DaddysGirl I Hate Being Daddy’s Girl]]: As a girl Robin Lindsey greatly preferred her father Bill to her alcoholic mess of a mother, with whom he frequently fought with. He would often take them camping and fishing while mom at one point abducted Robin and her siblings and took them to a cabin in the forest. When Bill finally regained custody of them Robin saw things she didn’t anticipate. Once when they were all in a car she and her siblings started fighting and the next thing she remembers is being surrounded by paramedics as the result of a car crash, one brother had to learn how to walk and talk again and another wound up in body cast. [[CassandraTruth Her mother believes Bill tried to kill them on purpose.]] [[LikeFatherLikeSon Turns out when Bill was 3 months old his own father attempted a similar stunt with his family.]] Bill remarried and while her new stepmother was initially nice, she found herself frequently clashing with her when she got older, and Bill’s temper was always flaring up in response. When she was a teen they relocated constantly throughout the county and with each move he bought a new used car. Robin’s first boyfriend also told her Bill threatened him constantly, but she took no concern. Robin moved out when she was 17 but not long after her stepmother contracted cancer. After her death Bill acted strangely, giving Robin a wig as a gift, burning a mattress he claimed he was sick of, and was constantly on surveillance. One day Robin’s husband, a member of the swat team, got an alert that Bill was arrested for the murder of a prostitute, something she absolutely cannot comprehend. Things only got worse when a detective caught wind of Bill’s arrest and began to connect him to a series of unsolved murders in Florida. Bill confesses and Robin realizes he was symbolically killing her mother over and over again, and often used places he took her to as crime scenes. Bill was sentenced to 30 years in prison but would die of cancer just 2 years after his conviction. Ever since then Robin has tried to make sense of her life beforehand and where she will go now, often wondering if he ever really loved her.
** [[ParentalIncest One Of His Women]]: [[VillainWithGoodPublicity Aswad Ayinde]] is a highly desired director of music videos, most notably Music/TheFugees, but at his home both his wife and his children, especially eldest daughter Aziza, are subjected to a life full of torment. Aswad would use various religions to justify not sticking to a monogamous relationship and would punish Aziza if any of her siblings faltered. While his actions didn’t go unnoticed [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections Aswad never faced charges as he could use his connections and charm to quell the police.]] One day Aswad asks her to do something he said would make her a woman and molested her, something she hated but figured it was for her best interest. When her mother found out Aswad responded by beating her with his belt. Aziza wanted to escape but couldn’t bring herself to do it without leaving her siblings behind to face her father’s wrath. Aziza is startled one day when she misses her period and finds out she is pregnant at only 15, and her father proposes to her by proclaiming its in Gods will. Aswad didn’t believe in western medicine so Aziza had to give birth at home, and is aware that now she has someone else she must protect from Aswad. After learning that Aswad is still trying to have his way with her sisters Aziza and her siblings plotted to kill him and then run away but ultimately can’t go forward with the act due to the intervention of another sibling. When Aziza is 22 her 3rd child is born and becomes ill, forcing her to take the boy to the hospital. It’s there Aswad’s atrocities finally come to light and Aziza’s children are removed from the house. Through the help of social services Aziza not only gets her children back but learns the full magnitude of what her father has done to her family, giving her the confidence to stop him before he can molest another sibling. Not long after Aswad is forced to go on the run and nearly leaves the country before being arrested, and then is charged for sexual assault on his daughters where he is given a 90 year sentence. It took Aziza years to tell her children the awful truth but it’s through this process she can take pride and joy in them. (She calls them her lotus flowers, beauty that came out of ugliness) She now also works to save other women from going through the same ordeal she did.

** [[WouldHurtAChild Gertrude Baniszewski]] took out her frustration with her disintegrating home life on an innocent teenage girl whom she had been hired to babysit, resulting in said girl's death. This included [[CigaretteBurns burning her with cigarettes]] and matches, locking her in the basement, scalding her with boiling water, hardly ever feeding her, inserting a large glass coke bottle into her vagina, and literally branding her as a prostitute with a needle. That by itself would be bad enough, but what made this case especially horrifying and infamous is that she managed to convince both her own children and the neighbors' [[KidsAreCruel to assist her in the abuse]]. Gertrude and her daughter Paula were formally sentenced to life imprisonment while Richard Hobbs, Coy Hubbard, and John Baniszewski Jr. each received sentences of 2-to-21 years. Gertrude got out in 1985 [[LaserGuidedKarma but died of lung cancer in 1990. Her male accomplices also die relatively young from various causes like cancers and heart failures.]]

** [[AndThereWasMuchRejoicing “We’re Glad Mom Is Dead”]]: From an early age the Lizowski sisters, Victoria and Christine, know their mother Sungham is a tough, domineering and inflexible woman. [[EducationMama She would wake them up early for piano practice and would personally, and forcibly, right any wrongs as she saw fit, not caring if it was something her daughters actually wanted to do.]] When they got into fights, as sisters occasionally do, she would break it up by beating one of them and making the other watch. Their father John is also not exempt from her wrath, [[WhenYouComingHomeDad but finds a way around it by traveling a lot for work.]] As they got older her punishments got more severe. At one point they recall a time when she locked them in a hot shed and made them keep their hands above their heads for who knows how long until they realized she wasn’t even at the house anymore. Another time, they missed the bus and she [[DrivesLikeCrazy drove them to school in such an erratic manor they thought she was purposely going to crash the car.]] [[MsRedInk Her biggest vice however was her ability to spend money faster than John could make, leading the house to nearly be foreclosed upon.]] After one too many physical altercations John makes plans to leave her. Sungham finds evidence that John apparently had found someone else and will take the girls with him. Unwilling to let that happen she plans a fun family holiday evening. One of the girls can see something peculiar about her dads drink but can’t make out what. The following morning they wake up to the sounds of a gun going off and eventually Sungham approaches them both with a gun in her hand. Victoria was shot first while Christine ran to call 911 before being shot herself, then Sungham turned the gun on herself. When they wake up in the hospital the girls learn that although their mother is still alive, their father died. Victoria was shot through her elbow and still bears some scars while Christine literally has pins and needles holding her hand together. Sungham was charged with 1st degree murder and attempted 1st degree murder and sentenced to 45 years in prison without parole. The girls are raised by relatives in New England. Their mother attempted to keep contact early on in her incarceration but they refused to talk her ever again. 20 years into her sentence Sungham hung herself with her bedsheets, much to the relief of her daughters. They now can focus on having families of their own and while they want to keep the memory of their father alive, they know that sooner or later they’ll have to mention their mother and all that she did, but for now it’s about enjoying the small things in life, [[BabiesEverAfter Victoria had her 1st daughter not even 3 weeks after the interview.]]
** “The Body in the Backyard”: At only 16, Karina Her has her first daughter Mailene. More children soon follow, including youngest daughter Dahlia. From an early age Mailene knows of the animosity building up in her mother. [[AMistakeIsBorn She outright told her she regretted having her so young and at one point she burned her with a spoon.]] One night their father came home and saw Karina dousing the house with gasoline in an attempt to burn it. Not long after he files for divorce. Karina soon finds another man named Kou whom she marries, [[HistoryRepeats but it’s unfortunately not long before her old habits resurface.]] Mailene recalls one instance in which she claimed to have poisoned his dinner. She also puts up multiple cameras to spy both on him and her kids. When she nearly burns down the house again, and stabs Kou, the kids lived with their father for a while but eventually half of them go back to live with Karina and Kou. She forbids the girls from talking to each other. Eventually Kou decides to finally begin divorce proceedings but agreed to stay with her until they could sell the house. One day Dahlia is instructed by her mother to stay at a friend’s house for 2 days, [[OutOfCharacterAlert something that is highly out of character for her,]] and when she returns Kou has apparently vacated. Days pass and they still hear no word from him. Dahlia notices there’s a hole in the backyard that wasn’t there before Kou left, which Karina eventually puts a shed on top. One day she enters her mothers bedroom and notices there’s a hole in the mattress where Kou slept, she alerts Mailene and they conclude that she must have killed him and is hiding the body. Delilah discreetly contacts police officers and they tell her to keep a close eye on her mother while they investigate. It takes a few days but Karina is finally arrested and charged, police later get a warrant to search the backyard and sure enough Kou’s body is under the shed. She is sentenced to 45 years in prison but could be out on parole after serving only 14. The sisters are prepared to stand up against her should the situation arise that she gets out early but for now they know that moment is years away and are enjoying the time they have together now.

** "I Wanted My Father to Die": Teresa Holman's father Freddie Bowen is an abusive monster, but [[BitchInSheepsClothing On the surface]], Freddie was a Jehovah's Witness and a well-respected member of the community. One day, while Teresa and her siblings, who were little kids mind you, were playing in the house, Freddie exploded and literally duck taped his own children's mouth shut so he could have peace and quiet. Even when they were crying, he ripped the tape painfully off of their mouths. The punishments became more severe, he began using his own homemade paddles to gleefully spank Teresa and her siblings to bring them under his control. When Teresa's brother innocently took one of Freddie's records for show and tell at school, Freddie was extremely angry and brutally beat the boy with a paddle, scaring Teresa so much, she hid in the closet. Freddie wouldn't stop until their mother finally begged him to stop. Even then, Freddie showed no remorse. Another day, when Teresa let a ball roll down stairs, Freddie hogtied the girl, then beat her with a belt. Their mother was so afraid of him, she told Teresa and her siblings that they should tell adults at school, about what was happening, as she was too afraid herself to stand up to him. Not long after that, when money is missing, Freddie falsely accuses one of his children who has a history of pilfering candy from stores and threatens to burn the boy's hand on a stove! Even as Teresa and the rest scream and cry for him to stop, Freddie dangles his son's hand over a fire, clearly enjoying the fear from his eyes. Teresa personally believed this incident was because he wanted to blow off some steam. His violence wasn't contained to the family either, while on a road trip, Freddie nearly gets into a wreck with another driver, Freddie gets out of his car and [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown savagely beats the other driver.]] He then talks happily about what he did with his family, like he just won a competition. Teresa also recounted a time when she was a little girl that her father asked her to get one of his brief cases, she saw one that had church pamphlets, the other had sexually graphic pictures of naked women who appeared to be drugged. This causes Teresa to believe that her father is a sexual predator, a belief that's proven right years later as her father makes her and her sisters wear long-sleeved clothing no matter the weather, to hold back his sexual urges. One night, when Teresa is older, Freddie makes her go down to their basement, strip naked, and then he beats her with a belt while he's not wearing a shirt for 10 minutes, enjoying every second of it. He then orders her to keep it secret, Teresa agrees, and feels so horrible she wishes to die. Freddie's insane and aggressive behavior towards his family escalated to the point where Teresa actually contemplated asking her boyfriend who was a gang member to murder him, before ultimately deciding against such a drastic act. Eventually, Freddie is kicked out of the church when they discover his deviant behavior. Abandoning his family to move to another state with his mistress, Freddie is killed in a shootout with police years later after he murders her for not wanting to marry him. Teresa regrets not being able to warn the woman about the kind of man her father was, but she ultimately decides to forgive her father in spite of his evil and move on with her life.

** "I Wanted My Father to Die": Teresa Holman's father Freddie Bowen is an abusive monster, but [[BitchInSheepsClothing On the surface]], Freddie was a Jehovah's Witness and a well-respected member of the community. One day, while Teresa and her siblings, who were little kids mind you, were playing in the house, Freddie exploded and literally duck taped his own children's mouth shut so he could have peace and quiet. Even when they were crying, he ripped the tape painfully off of their mouths. The punishments became more severe, he began using his own homemade paddles to gleefully spank Teresa and her siblings to bring them under his control. When Teresa's brother innocently took one of Freddie's records for show and tell at school, Freddie was extremely angry and brutally beat the boy with a paddle, scaring Teresa so much, she hid in the closet. Freddie wouldn't stop until their mother finally begged him to stop. Even then, Freddie showed no remorse. Another day, when Teresa let a ball roll down stairs, Freddie hogtied the girl, then beat her with a belt. Their mother was so afraid of him, she told Teresa and her siblings that they should tell adults at school, about what was happening, as she was too afraid herself to stand up to him. Not long after that, when money is missing, Freddie falsely accuses one of his children who has a history of pilfering candy from stores and threatens to burn the boy's hand on a stove! Even as Teresa and the rest scream and cry for him to stop, Freddie dangles his son's hand over a fire, clearly enjoying the fear from his eyes. Teresa personally believed this incident was because he wanted to blow off some steam. His violence wasn't contained to the family either, while on a road trip, Freddie nearly gets into a wreck with another driver, Freddie gets out of his car and [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown savagely beats the other driver.]] He then talks happily about what he did with his family, like he just won a competition. Teresa also recounted a time when she was a little girl that her father asked her to get one of his brief cases, one had church pamphlets, the other had sexually graphic pictures of naked women who appeared to be drugged. This causes Teresa to believe that her father is a sexual predator, a belief. that's proven right years later as her father makes her and her sisters wear long-sleeved clothing no matter the weather, to hold back his sexual urges. One night, when Teresa is older, Freddie makes her go down to their basement, strip naked, and then he beats her with a belt while he's not wearing a shirt for 10 minutes, enjoying every second of it. He then orders her to keep it secret, Teresa agrees, and feels so horrible she wished to die. Freddie's insane and aggressive behavior towards her family escalated to the point where Teresa actually contemplated asking her boyfriend who was a gang member to murder him, before ultimately deciding against such a drastic act. Eventually, Freddie is kicked out of the church when they discover his deviant behavior. Abandoning his family to move to another state with his mistress, Freddie is killed in a shootout with police years later after he murders her for not wanting to marry him. Teresa regrets not being able to warn the woman about the kind of man her father was. She ultimately decides to forgive her father in spite of his evil and move on with her life.

** "I Wanted My Father to Die": Teresa Holman's father Freddie Bowen is an abusive monster, but [[BitchInSheepsClothing On the surface]], Freddie was a Jehovah's Witness and a well-respected member of the community. One day, while Teresa and her siblings, who were little kids mind you, were playing in the house, Freddie exploded and literally duck taped his own children's mouth shut so he could have peace and quiet. Even when they were crying, he ripped the tape painfully off of their mouths. The punishments became more severe, he began using his own homemade paddles to gleefully spank Teresa and her siblings to bring them under his control. When Teresa's brother innocently took one of Freddie's records for show and tell at school, Freddie was extremely angry and brutally beat the boy with a paddle, scaring Teresa so much, she hid in the closet. Freddie wouldn't stop until their mother finally begged him to stop. Even then, Freddie showed no remorse. Another day, when Teresa let a ball roll down stairs, Freddie hogtied the girl, then beat her with a belt. Their mother was so afraid of him, she told Teresa and her siblings that they should tell adults at school, about what was happening, as she was too afraid herself to stand up to him. Not long after that, when money is missing, Freddie falsely accuses one of his children who has a history of pilfering candy from stores and threatens to burn the boy's hand on a STOVE! Even as Teresa and the rest scream and cry for him to stop, Freddie dangles his son's hand over a fire, clearly enjoying the fear from his eyes. Teresa personally believed this incident was because he wanted to blow off some steam.

** Another episode named "Backyard Blood." has us watch as a family moves back into their old home right next to a [[JerkAss bitter old man named James Dellavecchia.]] [[ItsPersonal James has a grudge against Scott because of what happened in the past like minor pranks.]] The nightmare starts when James tries to kill Scott with his car because of a shed Scott is building. It all boils over when after Scott finishes building his shed, James shoots Scott and his stepdaughter Kristen. What makes it worse is that it's mentioned that James could've just let his grudge pass and yet [[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse James tries to justify himself via the fact that Scott and his brothers were cruel to him and his family.]] Quite scary to think of how someone can just refuse to not let go of a long grudge.

** "Neighborhood Madhouse". The Villar family moves next door to Holli Bodner. Initially, she's put off by the commotion generated by a family with a young daughter but tensions increase when an innocent prank made her look up the patriarch's name on a criminal database. She mistakes Jean Pierre Villar for John Villar, a criminal with a history of abuse and molestation. She perceives any action as a threat to her safety and eventually abuses her psych license to have him committed. When the police arrive to take JP, they exacerbate back injuries he was recuperating from and because it wasn't an injury from work, he gets no financial compensation from it, forcing the family to move away. Less than a year later he dies from complications of the injuries. All Holly faces from this is being on probation for 5 years and 10 weekends'' in jail. But years later, she is charged with four counts of supplying drugs to prisoners.

** "Gone To The Dogs"; it first begins when the retired Ronald and Sandra [=DelSerro's=] dog mauls one neighbor and ends with Ron invading their home and shooting both the father and a little girl, the latter of whom was literally about to walk out the door to safety. And then he turns the gun on himself.

** ”The Green Monster”: Jack and Linda Myer marry and blend their families together. Though it all seems like rural country bliss, problems lie underneath the surface. Jack’s eldest son [[BlackSheep Travis]] left the farm after Jack decided to remarry and rarely meets up with them, he didn’t even go to the wedding. Granddaughter Amber gets pregnant in her teens but is unable to keep a relationship with the boys father. Little Dameon is raised predominantly by Jack and Linda while she gets her life back on track. Meanwhile things go wrong for Jack’s other son Greg, losing his job and divorcing his wife, and eventually Jack and Linda decide to cut him off. Late one March 4 year old Dameon runs out from the house to his preschool, over a mile away, shouting to a teacher “my grandparents are melting!” When investigators arrive they find Jack and Linda in their bed, dead from gunshot wounds. Above Jack’s head is their first pieces of evidence, a homemade silencer made out of masking tape, red plastic shavings, shoe impressions found near a basement window, and worst of all blood in the Dameons room. With no other witnesses the police must prod the little boy for answers. [[HarmfulToMinors Dameon recalls finding the bodies and through playing with dolls he winds up describing a point in the night where he sees, in his words, a “green monster” who pointed a gun at him but incredibly doesn’t shoot it.]] Linda’s daughter Kim thinks her brother in law Travis is a likely candidate. When police try to contact Greg for help they are surprised to find Travis living with him, and has been doing so for several weeks. While they’re being interviewed, a family friend comes forward saying he had a conversation with [[CainAndAbel '''Greg''' and that he wanted to purchase a gun with the intention of shooting Jack and Linda.]] Greg is put into custody and as they comb through all the evidence they find a receipt from Greg regarding ammunition and footage from Walmart of him purchasing both it and a gun. Later the gun is fished out of a river, it has the same tape around it that was found at the crime scene, not only that but there’s a trash bag filled with latex gloves, green clothing and shoes that match the foot prints. They concluded that Greg wanted to kill Jack and Linda as he was the only beneficiary in their will. Greg will now spend the rest of his life behind prison and the family can only hold onto the memories of Jack and Linda in their hearts.

** ”The Green Monster”: Jack and Linda Myer marry and blend their families together. Though it all seems like rural country bliss, problems lie underneath the surface. Jack’s eldest son [[BlackSheep Travis]] left the farm after Jack decided to remarry and rarely meets up with them, he didn’t even go to the wedding. Granddaughter Amber gets pregnant in her teens but is unable to keep a relationship with the boys father. Little Dameon is raised predominantly by Jack and Linda while she gets her life back on track. Meanwhile things go wrong for Jack’s other son Greg, losing his job and divorcing his wife, and eventually Jack and Linda decide to cut him off. Late one March 4 year old Dameon runs out from the house to his preschool, over a mile away, shouting to a teacher “my grandparents are melting!” When investigators arrive they find Jack and Linda in their bed, dead from gunshot wounds. Above Jack’s head is their first pieces of evidence, a homemade silencer made out of masking tape, red plastic shavings, shoe impressions found near a basement window, and worst of all blood in the Dameons room. With no other witnesses the police must prod the little boy for answers. [[HarmfullToMinors Dameon recalls finding the bodies and through playing with dolls he winds up describing a point in the night where he sees, in his words, a “green monster” who pointed a gun at him but incredibly doesn’t shoot it.]] Linda’s daughter Kim thinks her brother in law Travis is a likely candidate. When police try to contact Greg for help they are surprised to find Travis living with him, and has been doing so for several weeks. While they’re being interviewed, a family friend comes forward saying he had a conversation with [[CainAndAble '''Greg''' and that he wanted to purchase a gun with the intention of shooting Jack and Linda.]] Greg is put into custody and as they comb through all the evidence they find a receipt from Greg regarding ammunition and footage from Walmart of him purchasing both it and a gun. Later the gun is fished out of a river, it has the same tape around it that was found at the crime scene, not only that but there’s a trash bag filled with latex gloves, green clothing and shoes that match the foot prints. They concluded that Greg wanted to kill Jack and Linda as he was the only beneficiary in their will. Greg will now spend the rest of his life behind prison and the family can only hold onto the memories of Jack and Linda in their hearts.

** [[AndThereWasMuchRejoicing “We’re Glad Mom Is Dead”]]: From an early age the Lizowski sisters, Victoria and Christine, know their mother Sungham is a tough, domineering and inflexible woman. [[EducationMama She would wake them up early for piano practice and would personally, and forcibly, right any wrongs as she saw fit, not caring if it was something her daughters actually wanted to do.]] When they got into fights, as sisters occasionally do, she would break it up by beating one of them and making the other watch. Their father John is also not exempt from her wrath, [[WhenYouComingHomeDad but finds a way around it by traveling a lot for work.]] As they got older her punishments got more severe. At one point they recall a time when she locked them in a hot shed and made them keep their hands above their heads for who knows how long until they realized she wasn’t even at the house anymore. Another time, they missed the bus and she [[DrivesLikeCrazy drove them to school in such an erratic manor they thought she was purposely going to crash the car.]] [[MissRedInk Her biggest vice however was her ability to spend money faster than John could make, leading the house to nearly be foreclosed upon.]] After one too many physical altercations John makes plans to leave her. Sungham finds evidence that John apparently had found someone else and will take the girls with him. Unwilling to let that happen she plans a fun family holiday evening. One of the girls can see something peculiar about her dads drink but can’t make out what. The following morning they wake up to the sounds of a gun going off and eventually Sungham approaches them both with a gun in her hand. Victoria was shot first while Christine ran to call 911 before being shot herself, then Sungham turned the gun on herself. When they wake up in the hospital the girls learn that although their mother is still alive, their father died. Victoria was shot through her elbow and still bears some scars while Christine literally has pins and needles holding her hand together. Sungham was charged with 1st degree murder and attempted 1st degree murder and sentenced to 45 years in prison without parole. The girls are raised by relatives in New England. Their mother attempted to keep contact early on in her incarceration but they refused to talk her ever again. 20 years into her sentence Sungham hung herself with her bedsheets, much to the relief of her daughters. They now can focus on having families of their own and while they want to keep the memory of their father alive, they know that sooner or later they’ll have to mention their mother and all that she did, but for now it’s about enjoying the small things in life, [[BabiesEverAfter Victoria had her 1st daughter not even 3 weeks after the interview.]]

** [[AndThereWasMuchRejoicing “We’re Glad Mom Is Dead”]]: From an early age the Lizowski sisters, Victoria and Christine, know their mother Sungham is a tough, domineering and inflexible woman. [[EducationMama She would wake them up early for piano practice and would personally, and forcibly, right any wrongs as she saw fit, not caring if it was something her daughters actually wanted to do.]] When they got into fights, as sisters occasionally do, she would break it up by beating one of them and making the other watch. Their father John is also not exempt from her wrath, [[WhenAreYouComingHomeDad but finds a way around it by traveling a lot for work.]] As they got older her punishments got more severe. At one point they recall a time when she locked them in a hot shed and made them keep their hands above their heads for who knows how long until they realized she wasn’t even at the house anymore. Another time, they missed the bus and she [[DrivesLikeCrazy drove them to school in such an erratic manor they thought she was purposely going to crash the car.]] [[MissRedLetter Her biggest vice however was her ability to spend money faster than John could make, leading the house to nearly be foreclosed upon.]] After one too many physical altercations John makes plans to leave her. Sungham finds evidence that John apparently had found someone else and will take the girls with him. Unwilling to let that happen she plans a fun family holiday evening. One of the girls can see something peculiar about her dads drink but can’t make out what. The following morning they wake up to the sounds of a gun going off and eventually Sungham approaches them both with a gun in her hand. Victoria was shot first while Christine ran to call 911 before being shot herself, then Sungham turned the gun on herself. When they wake up in the hospital the girls learn that although their mother is still alive, their father died. Victoria was shot through her elbow and still bears some scars while Christine literally has pins and needles holding her hand together. Sungham was charged with 1st degree murder and attempted 1st degree murder and sentenced to 45 years in prison without parole. The girls are raised by relatives in New England. Their mother attempted to keep contact early on in her incarceration but they refused to talk her ever again. 20 years into her sentence Sungham hung herself with her bedsheets, much to the relief of her daughters. They now can focus on having families of their own and while they want to keep the memory of their father alive, they know that sooner or later they’ll have to mention their mother and all that she did, but for now it’s about enjoying the small things in life, [[BabiesEverAfter Victoria had her 1st daughter not even 3 weeks after the interview.]]
** “The Body in the Backyard”: At only 16, Karina Her has her first daughter Mailene. More children soon follow, including youngest daughter Dahlia. From an early age Mailene knows of the animosity building up in her mother. [[YouWereAMistake She outright told her she regretted having her so young and at one point she burned her with a spoon.]] One night their father came home and saw Karina dousing the house with gasoline in an attempt to burn it. Not long after he files for divorce. Karina soon finds another man named Kou whom she marries, [[HistoryRepeats but it’s unfortunately not long before her old habits resurface.]] Mailene recalls one instance in which she claimed to have poisoned his dinner. She also puts up multiple cameras to spy both on him and her kids. When she nearly burns down the house again, and stabs Kou, the kids lived with their father for a while but eventually half of them go back to live with Karina and Kou. She forbids the girls from talking to each other. Eventually Kou decides to finally begin divorce proceedings but agreed to stay with her until they could sell the house. One day Dahlia is instructed by her mother to stay at a friend’s house for 2 days, [[OutOfCharacterAlert something that is highly out of character for her,]] and when she returns Kou has apparently vacated. Days pass and they still hear no word from him. Dahlia notices there’s a hole in the backyard that wasn’t there before Kou left, which Karina eventually puts a shed on top. One day she enters her mothers bedroom and notices there’s a hole in the mattress where Kou slept, she alerts Mailene and they conclude that she must have killed him and is hiding the body. Delilah discreetly contacts police officers and they tell her to keep a close eye on her mother while they investigate. It takes a few days but Karina is finally arrested and charged, police later get a warrant to search the backyard and sure enough Kou’s body is under the shed. She is sentenced to 45 years in prison but could be out on parole after serving only 14. The sisters are prepared to stand up against her should the situation arise that she gets out early but for now they know that moment is years away and are enjoying the time they have together now.
** “I Made It Out”: Gabi Blair is the oldest of 4 children born to Mitchelle Blair. Her relationships never last and she can’t hold down a steady job, not only are they growing up at the poverty level but Mitchelle is also very unsympathetic to the children’s struggles and needs. On top of all this her fuse is very short, it was common for her to make them stand against a wall for hours at end. Because Mitchelle can paint the illusion of normalcy to other people and the kids don’t understand how very abnormal their lives are, she can continue to elevate the punishments. One day, she finally goes over the edge, after noticing her youngest son positioning his action figures in a suggestive manor and interprets this as proof of him being assaulted by his brother. Mitchelle beats him periodically over the course of several days, this also included asphyxiating him with trash bags and denying him food. Though Gabi saw this unfold, she felt as though if she intervened she would join him. By the time Mitchelle stops there is no chance of him recovering and Gabi and can only watch him pass on. Then comes the unthinkable, Gabi must assist her mother as she places her brother’s body into the freezer. The family is sworn to secrecy but unfortunately this isn’t the end of Mitchelle’s torment. Months after her brothers death Gabi witnesses an all too familiar scene, her mother antagonizes her youngest son into admitting one of his siblings is assaulting him. Once again he says yes begrudgingly, most likely to avoid becoming her next target. She piles on the same torture she delivered to Gabi’s brother to her sister and she can only watch. After Mitchelle strikes her over the head and then strangles her Gabi is forced to place another body in the freezer, only this time the victim isn’t dead but dying. Mitchelle threatens Gabi into silence once gain by threatening the lives of everyone in the house. For 2 years Gabi lives fearing everyday could be her last until her mother is presented with an eviction notice, Gabi fears this means she will try and terminate them all but she merely sends her over to a neighbors house and tells her the truth. On the evening news Mitchelle’s crime is finally exposed. When investigators try to understand her motive she doesn’t even try to hide her dislike of her kids, outright saying “I don’t regret what I did. And if I had to do it all over again I wouldn’t change a thing.” She is sentenced to 2 life long terms. While Gabi was originally pining for her mother to get the death sentence she now sees the imprisonment as a chance for her to spend every day of her life thinking about all that she did and how she can never atone for it. Gabi had to overcome the guilt of outliving her siblings but now looks forward to a life without her mothers dictatorship looming over her, especially as the guilt of the crime is now apparently starting to tear her apart.

''American Monster'' differentiates itself from other shows by not relying heavily on re-enactments but instead [[HappierHomeMovie plays old home movies of the victims and/or victimizers,]] many of which are being displayed publicly for the first time. Quite disheartening to think you could either be looking at the only remnants of someone you had taken away from you too soon or watch how you were in close proximity to a murderer and never realized it.

* There’s also ''The Killer Beside Me'', which focuses on cases involving deadly coworkers and their often totally blindsided victims.