Brett Ryan had been known as an upstanding young man for the majority of his life. That is until he found himself in a mountain of debt that he couldn't pay off.  Brett refused to tell anyone about his financial problems until it was far too late. Eventually his web of lies got to the point where he determined that he would just have to choose between revealing the truth, or killing the ones he loved.

Cameron Hooker had an extremely unusual relationship with his wife Janice. They had made an agreement that Cameron would be allowed to keep a sex slave captive inside of thier home to help fullfill all of his torture fantasies. Janice had agreed to this arrangement not only to make Cameron happy, but so she could take a break from being the one who was tortured. Unfortunately for Colleen Stan, she became the ideal target for Cameron while hitchhiking her way across California.

Leonarda Cianciulli lived a tough life filled with tragedies including a mother who disowned her and her house getting destroyed. However, what really sent Leonarda over the edge was the news that her favorite son was to join the army during World War 2. Leonarda came to the conclusion that the only way she could protect her son was by performing human sacrifices. What she decided to do with the human remains was just as disturbing. 

Sylvia Likens was the daughter of two carnival workers who made a living selling food on the road. Due to frequent traveling, Sylvia's parents arranged for Sylvia and her sister to stay with a family friend named Gertrude Baniszewski. What occurred at the Baniszewski residence is considered to be one of the most horrific cases of child abuse ever recorded. 

Despite being born into an upper class Japanese family Tsutomu Miyazaki felt nothing but depression and loneliness throughout his entire life. Eventually Miyazaki determined that the only way he could find purpose was to take the lives of children. Miyazaki soon learned that simply commiting murder was not enough to satisfy him. He would take further pleasure in abusing the victim's corpse and tormenting thier living family members.