A Canadian tourist was killed and six others injured after a crazed gunman who opened fire atop a pyramid at the Teotihuacan ruins in Mexico Monday afternoon.
(more…)Tag: true crime
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The brutal killing of Athena Strand
Even the most ardent opponents of the death penalty are having trouble grappling with the murder trial of Tanner Horner.
Horner, a FedEx delivery driver, drove past the home of Athena Strand, a 7-year-old girl, and is accused of abducting her and killing her in a slow, brutal manner.
He ultimately pleaded guilty to killing Athena after making a delivery at her home.His initial story, however, was far different. Horner claimed he accidentally struck the girl with his vehicle, then panicked. According to him, he placed her in his van to avoid telling her father what had happened. He said he tried to break her neck, and when that failed, he strangled her.
Prosecutors made it clear to the jury that this version of events didn’t hold up. The evidence told a much darker story.
During the trial, jurors were forced to listen to a series of deeply disturbing audio recordings. These recordings reportedly captured Horner repeatedly abusing Athena before ultimately killing her. It was, by all accounts, a mentally exhausting and emotionally devastating presentation—one that underscored just how brutal this crime truly was.On Thursday, April 16, 2026, jurors were shown surveillance footage and audio from inside Horner’s delivery truck, including portions capturing Athena’s final moments before her death..
Jurors watched video showing Horner pulling up to the girl’s home and walking back toward his truck with Athena following behind him, before lifting her inside and shutting the door.
They then heard audio from inside the truck in which Athena repeatedly asked, “Are you a kidnapper?” and “Where are you taking me?” as Horner warned her not to scream or he would hurt her. At one point, he told her, “You’re really pretty, you know that?” before ordering her to remove her shirt. She refused and asked for her mother.
The audio included crying, screaming and banging, prompting jurors to sob and appear visibly shaken. Some of Athena’s family members left the courtroom during the playback.
The breadth of depravity in this case is undeniable.
What makes it even more haunting is the detail that the package Horner delivered that day was meant for Athena herself—a set of “You Can Be Anything” Barbie dolls. That small, innocent detail only amplifies the cruelty of what followed.
Many true crime watchers have questioned why Horner was not charged with additional sex crimes, especially given indications that something more may have occurred. One possible explanation is strategic: prosecutors already secured a capital murder case, which carries a sentence of life without parole or the death penalty. Adding more charges may not have changed the ultimate outcome.
There are also growing questions surrounding FedEx and its hiring practices. Athena’s father has publicly criticized the company, suggesting that background check failures may have allowed Horner to be hired despite prior disqualifying information. Civil litigation could follow, potentially bringing additional details to light in another courtroom.
This is one of those cases that cuts through everything—legal arguments, moral debates, even long-held beliefs about punishment. The sheer brutality, the inhumanity of it, has shaken a lot of people.
Sentencing is next.
And in a case like this, there won’t be tears shed for Tanner Horner if the death penalty is the final outcome.. -
Morgan Geyser escapes from Wisconsin group home, manhunt underway
This is developing..
The Madison Police Department announced Geyser’s escape in a social media post on Sunday.
“Morgan Geyser was last seen in the area of Kroncke Dr. around 8 p.m. with an adult acquaintance. Her whereabouts are unknown as of Sunday morning,” the department wrote. “The Madison Police Department was notified of her disappearance Sunday morning.
“A recent image of Geyser, captured on security video from this past month, is attached below. If you see her, please call 911,” police added.
In March, state health officials argued that Geyser was in no condition to walk free from the institution after evidence emerged of an unsettling correspondence she was having with an ‘older man’ called Jeffrey, who sold murder memorabilia…
Geyser had sent him her own sketch of a decapitated body and a postcard saying she wanted to be intimate with him.. -
October 2002: Ducks in a noose
There was something different about that fall. It wasn’t just the cool wind or the early darkness. It was the quiet sense that danger could be anywhere — at a gas station, a parking lot, a grocery store. After the collective fear of 9/11 and the anthrax scares that followed, America was still trying to breathe again. Then, as if on cue, came a new shadow: the D.C. sniper.
It started on October 2, 2002. People were going about their everyday lives when the unthinkable happened. A man was shot in a parking lot in Maryland — random, senseless. Then it happened again. And again. By the end of the spree, ten innocent people were dead and three were injured. They were fathers, mothers, students — ordinary people who simply happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. And that was the most chilling part: there was no pattern, no clear motive, no reason. The randomness itself was the terror.We actively reported it at the time for the HORROR REPORT (yes we are getting old)..
At that time, we focused on the crime, the mystery, the psychics saying they knew whodunit.. and even Geraldo saying it was linked to terrorism..
It wasn’t.
The Snipers: A Twisted Bond
When the names were finally revealed, John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo, the story only grew darker. Muhammad, the older man, was seen as a manipulative father figure. Malvo, only 17, was the student, the son, and eventually, the one pulling the trigger. It was a relationship that blurred the line between control and indoctrination. The mystery grew deeper.
Investigators later learned that Muhammad’s motive wasn’t random at all. Beneath the chaos was a horrifyingly personal plan.. he wanted to kill his ex-wife, Mildred Muhammad, and hide her murder within the randomness of the spree. Each shooting was designed to make her eventual death look like just another part of the pattern. It’s almost too cruel to comprehend: an entire region terrorized so one man could cover up his own obsession.
Malvo, during his trial, revealed how Muhammad had filled his head with delusions … convincing him they were soldiers on a mission.Over time, Malvo became the primary shooter, operating from the trunk of a modified Chevrolet Caprice with a small hole drilled near the license plate. He was a minor, controlled by a man with a criminally methodical mind.
The Capture CodeHere is where things get a little creepier.. A little known aspect of the crime remains mostly a mystery even today.
After three weeks of terror, authorities finally caught the pair at a rest stop near Myersville, Maryland, on October 24, 2002. But even the capture carried a strange aura. Montgomery County Police Chief Charles Moose stepped up to the podium and spoke the now-infamous words: “We have caught the sniper like a duck in a noose.” Even more.. Police Chief Charles Moose read that sentence aloud late as part of his message to the sniper, adding: “We understand that hearing us say this is important to you.”
It sounded cryptic and people immediately wondered what it meant. Some reports later said an old Cherokee fable about a rabbit who tries to catch a duck in a noose but fails, leading to his own downfall. Others thought it was simply a coded message the authorities had agreed to use, a way to communicate to the suspects that the hunt was over. But like so much else about this case, the phrase took on a life of its own, sparking whispers of conspiracy, hidden meanings, and deeper psychological games.This is how CBS news reported it in October 2002:
What does the phrase “caught like a duck in a noose” mean to the sniper?
Authorities are not revealing the context in which the sniper – if he is indeed the author of notes left for police – asked them to publicly say: “We have caught the sniper like a duck in a noose.”
Police Chief Charles Moose read that sentence aloud late Wednesday night, as part of his latest message to the sniper, adding: “We understand that hearing us say this is important to you.”
There were rumors immediately afterwards *and even today* that this was all MK ULTRA related and this statement had to be read in order to ‘turn off’ the brain that was wired and programmed to kill. Seriously, with the lack of explanation over the years, this continued to be a point of contention. And remains one of those strange, lingering details ..
The Trials: Justice and Consequence
In the years that followed, both Muhammad and Malvo faced trial. Muhammad was found guilty and sentenced to death in 2004. Malvo, being a juvenile, was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
The defense for Malvo painted him as a victim of manipulation — a teenager molded and brainwashed by a master manipulator. They argued he wasn’t fully responsible for his actions, but rather under the control of someone he saw as a father. Muhammad’s defense, on the other hand, had little to stand on. The evidence was overwhelming, the motive chillingly clear. On November 10, 2009, John Allen Muhammad was executed by lethal injection in Virginia. He refused to utter last words prior to his the execution.
His ex-wife, Mildred Muhammad, later became an advocate for domestic violence survivors. She founded a nonprofit called After the Trauma to help victims rebuild their lives. Her story — surviving abuse, losing her sense of safety, and then rebuilding her purpose — became a powerful counterpoint to the darkness he caused.
Lingering Shadows and Theories
Even after justice was served, the story never truly ended. The D.C. sniper case feels like a mirror reflecting both the fragility of normal life and the deep, unsettling capacity for manipulation and control. For those who lived through it, the fear was real. People zigzagged while pumping gas, ducked behind car doors, and watched the tree lines. It was psychological warfare in broad daylight.
And then there’s that phrase — “the duck in a noose.” Some say it was just a bit of theater; others think it was something more — a cryptic sign from higher up, maybe even tied to deeper conspiracies or hidden messages. Like many dark chapters in American history, this one leaves room for speculation. Maybe that’s part of what keeps it alive in the public mind: the unanswered questions, the lingering unease, the feeling that not every part of the story has been told.
Conclusion: A Story That Still Echoes
The D.C. sniper case is now history.. but it’s also a reminder of how fear spreads, how control corrupts, and how quickly ordinary days can turn extraordinary in the worst way. In a way it’s about the fall of 2002, when America once again found itself staring into the unknown after a long period of tension..
Even as the facts are settled and the case is closed, there’s still that phrase hanging in the air .. a duck in a noose.A cryptic whisper fear ruled enough for people to wonder if they may randomly meet a terrible fate.
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Checking the chocolates: The real Candyman of Halloween
Every year, when you sort through your children’s Halloween candy, you’re doing it for two reasons.
First, probably to steal the best ones before they notice. But second, because you’ve heard the stories: knives in apples, poisoned chocolate bars, and cyanide-laced sweets handed out by strangers.
Guess what? Here is the tough news to consider…
It’s not really true and there may be no real logical requirement to keep doing this.. (though we all still will )There is some history on the origin for this candy fear..
The first report of Halloween treats being tampered with in North America was in 1959. That year, a California dentist named William Shyne distributed 450 laxative-laced candies to children — 30 of whom fell ill. He was later charged with “outrage of public decency” and “unlawful dispensing of drugs.”
Another high profile case made headlines in 1964, when a 47-year-old mother from Greenlawn, N.Y., named Helen Pfeil handed out bags of treats containing arsenic-laced ant traps, metal mesh scrubbing pads and dog biscuits.
And just a few years ago in Pennsylvania, cops warned parents to check their kids stash for THC-laced Nerd ropes..
But the real fear began with one man, in Texas, nearly fifty years ago.
The night he came home
On Halloween night 1974, a father named Ronald Clark O’Bryan, later called “The Candyman” by major media that loves naming killers for pop culture and sales purposes, laced powdered candy with cyanide. He was also called the The Pixy Stix Killer but that name didn’t seem to stick …O’Bryan didn’t lace candy to poison his neighborhood in Pasadena, Texas. He did it to kill his own 8-year-old son, Timothy, for life-insurance money.
That is the horrid truth behind this urban legend.. It was real in a sense, but it was disgustingly personal for O’Bryan.
O’Bryan, a 30-year-old optician from nearby Deer Park, joined his children and neighbors for trick-or-treating. One house was dark; no one answered the door, so the kids moved on. O’Bryan lagged behind for show, then caught up holding five giant Pixy Stix, about 21 inches long, sealed with staples. They were tampered with– by him.
He explained to the children they were lucky: The “rich neighbors” were handing out expensive treats. Each child got one. Later, he gave one to his five-year-old daughter and another to a ten-year-old boy from his church.
That night, Timothy ate a few spoonfuls of the powdered candy, complained it tasted bitter, and collapsed. Within minutes he was dead.. he was poisoned by his own father.The Investigation
O’Bryan claimed a mysterious neighbor had handed him the candy. But the man he blamed, Courtney Melvin, was at work as an air-traffic controller on duty that night and he had more than 200 coworkers confirming his alibi to law enforcement.
Detectives soon learned O’Bryan’s life was a complete train wreck. He was more than $100,000 in debt, behind on his mortgage and car payments, suspected of theft at work, and had held 21 jobs in 10 years. In the months before Halloween, he quietly took out life-insurance policies totaling up to $60,000 to $100,000 on his children!
At trial, witnesses testified that O’Bryan had asked about buying cyanide and even discussed lethal doses. His sister-in-law told the court that at Timothy’s funeral, he spoke excitedly about collecting insurance money and taking a vacation.
Prosecutor Mike Hinton told jurors: that the only inescapable conclusion you can draw is that this man killed his own child for money.The case seemed as air tight as people can desire.
It took the jury 46 minutes to find O’Bryan guilty.
The Candyman’s Final Trick
O’Bryan maintained his innocence for nearly a decade. On March 31, 1984, he was executed by lethal injection. His final meal: steak, French fries, peas, corn, salad, rolls, iced tea, and for desert a Boston cream pie.
Outside the prison, protesters wearing Halloween masks chanted “Trick or Treat!”
It was both macabre theater and a grim bookend to the legend he had created.The root of fear
O’Bryan’s crime transformed Halloween. Parents no longer saw candy as harmless; they saw potential danger. In the years that followed, rumors spread nationwide .. tainted treats, razor blades in apples, needles in chocolate bars.
By the 1980s, police and hospitals offered X-ray screenings for candy. Families examined every wrapper under bright kitchen lights.
To this day, continued stories occur each Halloween season in which people report tampering of candy to cops.. such as this from 2015 in Kennett Square PA, when parents complained to police about needles in treats.. which turned out to be a hoax.
The Legacy
The Candyman’s story became the template for America’s Halloween anxiety. It was a true crime that birthed a thousand false ones..
Every October, parents still dump candy onto the dining-room table, sifting through it like forensic scientists. It’s ritual now, a strange inheritance from 1970s.
Because even though the candy isn’t poisoned, the fear still is there..According to Professor Joel Best, there have been approximately 80 reports of sharp objects inserted into Halloween treats since 1959. The great majority of those reports turned out to be hoaxes
Don’t feel guilty about checking the candy.. you know, just in case.
And while you’re looking through, maybe just throw away those candy corns that ruin teeth and don’t taste good anyway.
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Erik Menendez denied parole
Erik Menendez was denied parole during his first-ever parole hearing on Thursday, 36 years and one day after he and his brother killed their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez.
Erik Menendez, 54, attended the nearly 10-hour hearing via video from the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego. The board said he can next be eligible for parole in three years.
The board based its decision on multiple factors, including: his behavior in prison; burglaries he participated in before the murders; and the killing of his mother
You can read the full story here
A part of the reason was, because despite what people have said, the judge stated that Menendez was not the model prisoner. And the murder of his mother showed an extra amount of time, lack of compassion and empathy..
.Facebook support groups are helping Menendez brothers fans other through this dark time… <insert sarcastic voice>
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Human adventures: The Murder-for-Hire Plot Against Aaron Goodwin
Sometimes, people are far scarier than anything you’ll find on a ghost hunt…
Victoria Goodwin, the ex-wife of Ghost Adventures star Aaron Goodwin, has been sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to a chilling murder-for-hire plot aimed at taking his life. The plan, which reads like something out of a true crime documentary, unfolded while Aaron was filming Ghost Adventures in California in October 2024.
According to prosecutors, Victoria conspired with an accomplice, Nicholas Amato, to have Aaron killed while he slept in his hotel room. Text messages obtained by investigators showed just how far they were willing to go. One message from Amato to a hitman read:
“He’s asleep right now in the hotel room… I need to know what’s going on. Can I get an update? Was it done?”
Victoria’s own message to Amato was even more chilling:
“Am I a bad person? Because I chose to end his existence. Not divorce.”
This wasn’t just a crime of passion — it was calculated and deliberate.
On June 5, Victoria was sentenced to 36 to 90 months in prison. Her guilty plea came in April, marking the end of a disturbing chapter in what was once a marriage — and almost became a murder case.
For fans of Ghost Adventures, this story serves as a disturbing reminder that the scariest things sometimes aren’t lurking in abandoned buildings — but right beside us, hiding behind a smile and a hug.
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When a Song’s Meaning Changes: The Case of Take My Hand and the Gabby Petito Documentary
It’s always strange when pop culture does an unexpected shift—when something you once appreciated suddenly takes on a new, unsettling context. You can still love it, but there’s a discomfort now, a queasiness that lingers when you engage with it.
That’s exactly what’s happening with Take My Hand by Matt Berry, a song that has recently gained newfound attention for its inclusion in the Netflix documentary about Gabby Petito. The case of Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie is unsettling, and the details surrounding her murder and Laundrie’s subsequent suicide continue to fascinate and disturb people. But one particular aspect of the documentary has caught many off guard—the song that plays in its final scene.
Take My Hand isn’t a new song. It has existed for years since 2009.. it was simply a well-loved track with a loyal following. If you look at the comments on YouTube videos featuring the song, you’ll see people praising it as far back as a decade ago. Many have even called it a “national treasure.” It was a song that people simply enjoyed—one that evoked feelings of peace, nostalgia, or even joy.
But its use in the Gabby Petito documentary has altered its meaning for many listeners. The song was reportedly on Gabby’s playlist around late August 2021, shortly before her disappearance and murder. There is debate over whether she added it herself or if Brian Laundrie did, which adds an eerie layer to its inclusion in the documentary. And now, rather than just being a song associated with road trips, nature, and life’s simple pleasures, it’s forever linked to one of the most widely discussed true crime cases of recent years.
What makes Take My Hand even more unsettling in this context is that, in many ways, it encapsulates what Gabby Petito’s life appeared to be. She was building a brand as a travel vlogger, someone who wanted to appreciate nature, embrace adventure, and find happiness in the moment. Whether that was her reality or simply an image projected online is another conversation, but the song now feels like a haunting reflection of what she was striving for.
Hearing it in the documentary, knowing what happened to her, makes the experience even more painful. The song is beautiful, almost uplifting in its melody—but when paired with the tragic circumstances, it takes on a new, sorrowful weight.
xxx
For longtime fans of the song, this change is unsettling. A song that once felt comforting or nostalgic now carries the weight of a murder-suicide and the lingering mysteries of the case. It has resurfaced on YouTube and playlists because of its association with the documentary, but now, listening to it feels different.
A few years ago, if you had it on your playlist, no one would have thought twice about it. Now, someone might hear it and immediately associate it with Gabby Petito’s tragic story. You may even find yourself having to explain why it’s still on your playlist. Some might view that as ghoulish, while others may understand that music often transcends the context it’s placed in.
There’s no right or wrong here. Personally, I still love the song and plan to keep it on my playlist. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t more uneasy when it comes on. When I heard it in the documentary, it hurt more than I expected. And now, when it pops up in my music rotation, I sometimes have to skip it—not because I don’t love it, but because I might not be ready for the emotions that come with it.
This is the strange, sometimes unsettling power of pop culture. A song, a movie, a piece of art—something that once held one meaning can suddenly take on another. And whether we embrace that shift or struggle with it, we can’t deny that it changes the way we experience it forever. -
New evidence?! A return to the Scott Peterson case!
This was one of the most famous true crime stories, and for those who live through it 20 years ago it dominated headlines I want to talk of the entire planet ..
A man who was convicted in 2004 of killing his wife and unborn child has had his case picked up by the Los Angeles Innocence Project, according to ABC News.
Scott Peterson was convicted in the deaths of his pregnant wife, Laci Peterson, and their unborn child in one of the state’s most infamous murder trials. The LA Innocence Project, a group that works to exonerate wrongfully convicted people, is taking up the case, ABC News reported.
The case is 18 years old. You don’t automatically get new trials. There needs to be demonstration that Peterson may be innocent.
A new trial? It seems almost impossible
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5 more homeless people shot in Vegas as cops hunt LA ‘serial killer’
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Five homeless people were shot, leaving two dead, in Las Vegas – just hours after cops revealed they are hunting for a serial killer who murdered another three in Los Angeles.
A lone gunman opened fire on the group of homeless people at 5.30pm near a highway overpass in the northern part of Vegas. One victim, a male in 50s, was pronounced dead at the scene due.
Two other males in their 30’s are listed in stable condition while another male of similar age is listed as critical. One male male who is in his late teens is said to be in stable condition.
— Read on www.themirror.com/news/us-news/breaking-las-vegas-shootings-5-218721