"Trust your hunches. They're usually based on facts filed away just below the conscious level." -Dr Joyce Brothers It was the 24th of August 2011. A Wednesday. Michelle Despain was at work that day but told colleagues she had to head home that afternoon to pick up some bills that needed to be paid.  Michelle lived with her thirty four year old husband Marc Despain in Jonesboro, Arkansas, United States. They were married for fifteen years and had two young sons together. Michelle also had a teenage daughter from a previous relationship and Marc loved her and helped to raise her.&nbs ..read more

"Obsession is a dangerous possession." - Tina Bridget It was the 27th of July 1999. A Tuesday. Sixty year old Guy Thomas Tom Whitney had arranged to give a piano lesson to one of his students at his condominium in Irvine, California, United States. He taught voice and piano. The student and her father arrived at the condominium but immediately left. Her father believed he saw a body. He called 911. When police arrived at the condominium, they encountered a violent scene. There was blood everywhere. It was all over the condominium, on the floors, smeared across the walls ..read more

"I hate him very much. I don't know how to say it in English but in our Cebuana dialect we call this particular person a pisting yawa*." - Antonio Gotingco It was the 24th of May 2014. A Saturday. Fifty six year old Blessie Gotingco had just finished work and was on her way home. She lived with her husband of thirty years, Antonio Gotingco, in North Shore, Auckland, New Zealand. They met when they were just children as they attended the same school in Ceba City in the Philippines. They dated for a few years, got married and had three children, Bea, Vincent and John, together. The f ..read more

“She's not with me, and she's not with my parents, and at that moment I know that my sister's dead.” - Alayne Katz, Gail's sister It was the 7th of July 1985. A Sunday. At around 6.30pm, Robert Bierenbaum, a plastic surgeon, arrived at his sister's house in Montclair, New Jersey, United States alone. It was his nephew's birthday and his sister was having a party for him. She invited her brother Robert and his wife, Gail Katz, to the party. Robert told his sister and his father that Gail wasn't with him as he and Gail had an argument earlier that day. According to Robert, Gail left their ..read more

"The criminal justice system will take a hard look at what happened to Matthew Eappen. It is up to the rest of us to take an even harder look at who is minding our children." - Eileen McNamara, the Boston Globe It was the 4th of February 1997. A Tuesday. Eighteen year old Louise Woodward called 911: “Help – there’s ...a baby… he’s barely breathing. Help . . . he's making gurgling noises . . . Help, what should I do? . . . I think he puked. His face is going violet . . . Oh my God." Louise made the 911 call from the home of her employers, Deborah and Sunil Eappen, in Newton,  ..read more

"Madness, as you know, is a lot like gravity. All it takes is a little push." -The Joker It was the 26th of May 1990. A Saturday. Forty year old Marlene Warren was at home with her son, Joseph Ahrens, in Takeoff Place, Wellington, Florida, United States. They lived in an exclusive area and their home was part of the Aero Club community, a community where every house had access to a private runway. Marlene worked hard to enable them to live there and her life had not been easy. She was a successful businesswoman and owned multiple rental properties in West Palm Beach, a us ..read more

"The effects of abuse are devastating and far reaching. Domestic violence speaks many languages, has many colors and lives in many different communities." - Sandra Pupatello It was the 29th of August 1995. A Tuesday. Mark Winger called 911 at 4.27pm to report that a man "was killing" his wife. Mark told the Dispatcher that he shot the man. Mark lived in Springfield, Illinois, United States with his thirty one year old wife Donnah Winger. When police arrived at the scene, they found Donnah in a critical state. She had been hit seven times in the head with a hammer. A man, who police iden ..read more

 "My family and myself are good, decent and very honest people." James Worley It was the 19th of July 2016. A Tuesday. Twenty year old Sierah Joughin spent the afternoon with her boyfriend of seven years, Josh Kolasinski, cycling in rural Fulton County, west of Toledo. Sierah was a student at the University of Toledo and lived with her grandparents in Metamora, Ohio, United States. Later that night, when Sierah's mother Sheila Vaculik arrived at her parents' house, she noticed that Sierah's bedroom light was off which was unusual. Sierah was very ..read more

"Why should I lose my daughter to some reckless monster? Why should a girl feel unsafe returning from an outing? Where is justice?" -Kittam Maasarwe, Aiia's mother It was the 16th of January 2019. A Wednesday. Twenty one year old Aiia Maasarwe met up with friends to go to a "Let's Talk in English" social event and then on to a comedy show in North Melbourne, Australia. Aiia had lived in Australia since August 2018. Aiia, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, was a student of Chinese and English at a University in Shanghai and was in Australia as part of a one-year exchang ..read more

"He is the single most blatant, arrogant, yet curiously effective liar and manipulator of the truth.” - Deputy District Attorney Christopher Evans It was the 24th of January 1988. A Sunday. Forty six year old Janet Overton had breakfast at her home in Dana Point, California, United States before packing up the car on the driveway with help from her eighteen year old son Eric. They had plans that day. They had arranged to spend time with friends on a boat to go whale watching. But before Janet could even get into the car, she collapsed on the driveway. Eric asked his ..read more