They are three of the most infamous names in true crime history: Ed Gein, Jeffrey Dahmer, and the Menendez Brothers. From Gein’s grave robberies and macabre trophies to Dahmer’s horrific apartment crimes and the Menendez brothers’ shocking family murder, these cases shattered any sense of normalcy and redefined what horror means in real life.

Ed Gein’s crimes inspired Hollywood’s darkest creations, from Psycho to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and now he is the subject of a new Netflix series. Jeffrey Dahmer’s story blurred the line between human and monster, while the Menendez brothers’ trial exposed the disturbing mix of privilege, trauma, and violence that lurked behind a mansion’s walls.

This is night two of True Crime Recaps’ Halloween Week, and the darkness is only getting deeper. We began with Richard Ramirez, but it all leads to our Halloween Day finale.

Which case do you think Netflix should tackle next?

Before he became the “Night Stalker,” Richard Ramirez was already showing signs of the evil that would define his name.

While working at a Holiday Inn, he used a master key to sneak into guests’ rooms and was caught attempting to assault a woman before her husband intervened. That early crime was ignored, but it revealed what was coming.

In 1984, Ramirez began his first known murder, killing 79-year-old Jennie Vincow in her own home. Over the next year, he unleashed a reign of terror across Los Angeles and San Francisco, breaking into homes at night, attacking strangers, and leaving communities frozen in fear.

By 1985, his recklessness left behind evidence that helped police close in. When his face hit the news, it was the public that finally caught him. Convicted of 13 murders and dozens of other crimes, Richard Ramirez became one of America’s most feared serial killers.

Follow True Crime Recaps all Halloween week for dark and haunting stories that still keep investigators up at night.

On December 6, 1991, four teenage girls—Jennifer and Sarah Harbison, Eliza Thomas, and Amy Ayers—were closing up a North Austin yogurt shop when a horrific crime unfolded.

Just before midnight, firefighters arrived to find smoke pouring from the store. Inside, they discovered a nightmare: three of the girls were bound, gagged, stripped, and shot execution-style.

The case quickly became one of Texas’s most infamous investigations. Police chased dozens of suspects, from local teens to a serial killer on death row. In 1999, two men, Robert Springsteen and Michael Scott, confessed after grueling interrogations. But years later, DNA evidence proved they were innocent, and both were released.

Now, more than thirty years later, the Austin Yogurt Shop Murders remain unsolved. With new HBO coverage reigniting interest and advances in DNA technology offering fresh hope, investigators still wonder: is the killer still walking free?

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In 2014, Russell and Shirley Dermond seemed to have the perfect retirement life in a quiet Georgia lake community. But when neighbors stopped by one morning, they found Russell decapitated in his garage. Shirley was gone.

Ten days later, her body surfaced in Lake Oconee, weighed down with concrete blocks. There was no forced entry, no robbery, and no clear motive. Russell’s wallet and Shirley’s jewelry were still in the house. But investigators found gunshot residue on Russell’s collar and signs of a violent struggle before Shirley was drowned.

In 2024, a new DNA profile was discovered on Russell’s clothes — the first major lead in a decade. But the killer remains unidentified. Was it a professional hit, a personal vendetta, or someone hiding in plain sight?

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It was supposed to be his masterpiece. A sanctuary where art and love could thrive. But on a summer afternoon in 1914, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Wisconsin estate, Taliesin, became the scene of one of the most shocking massacres in American history.

The cook, Julian Carlton, turned on everyone in the house. Armed with an axe and a can of gasoline, he killed seven people, including Wright’s lover, Mamah Borthwick, and her two children. What followed was fire, panic, and questions that have haunted historians for more than a century.

Why did a quiet, polite employee snap so violently? Was it rage, revenge, or madness? Taliesin was rebuilt, but its walls still carry the scars of that terrible day.

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Sherri Dally was a wife, a mother, and a devoted friend. On a Monday morning, she stopped at a Target in Ventura, California, to run errands. But in the parking lot, someone was waiting with handcuffs and a plan.

She thought she was being arrested. In reality, it was an abduction. Behind the plot was her husband’s mistress, Diana Haun, and together with Sherri’s husband, Michael Dally, they conspired to make Sherri disappear.

The most haunting part? The woman who murdered Sherri went on to raise her children.

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Rebecca Schaeffer was just 21 years old and on the brink of Hollywood stardom when a deadly obsession found its way to her doorstep.

Her killer, 19-year-old Robert John Bardo, had stalked her for years. He wrote letters, showed up at studios, and finally hired a private investigator to track her down. That investigator obtained Rebecca’s unlisted address from the California DMV for just $250.

On July 18, 1989, Bardo rang her doorbell and shot her point-blank in the chest. Her final word was “Why?” The murder shocked Hollywood and led to major changes in U.S. privacy laws.

Are today’s protections enough to keep public figures safe from stalkers like him?

Follow True Crime Recaps for the cases that changed laws, lives, and the way we think about fame and privacy.

In Argentina, 19-year-old model Johana Casas was shot dead just days before her 20th birthday. Witnesses said her ex-boyfriend, Victor Cingolani, was the shooter. He was convicted and sentenced to 13 years in prison.

But behind bars, Victor planned a wedding. His bride? Johana’s identical twin sister, Edith. Their mother begged her to stop, even took her to court, but Edith passed a psych evaluation and married Victor on Valentine’s Day 2013 as protesters threw eggs outside the prison.

Then came another twist. A second man, Johana’s controlling boyfriend Marcos Díaz, was also convicted of the same crime. With two men imprisoned for one murder, Victor’s conviction was overturned, and he was set free. Edith welcomed him home, but the marriage later fell apart.

So who really killed Johana Casas?

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In July 1995, 15-year-old Elyse Pahler left home in Arroyo Grande, California, thinking she was meeting friends for a late-night hangout. Instead, she walked into a planned murder.

Three teenage boys obsessed with heavy metal and satanic sacrifice believed that killing a virgin would make their band famous. Joseph Fiorella, Jacob Delashmutt, and Royce Casey lured Elyse to a secluded clearing, where they held her down and stabbed her repeatedly as she begged for her life.

For eight months, her body lay undiscovered while police assumed she had run away. When one of the killers confessed to a clergyman, the truth finally came out. The story later inspired the horror film Jennifer’s Body, but the real crime is far darker than fiction.

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Molly Watson thought she was marrying the love of her life. Days before her wedding, she was found shot in the head on a rural Missouri road.

Her fiancé, James Addie, had been living a double life. Molly thought he was a widower. In reality, his fourth wife was still alive, and he had been hiding the truth from everyone.

What began as a love story turned into a web of lies, betrayal, and murder. Addie was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. But how did no one see the truth until it was too late?

Follow True Crime Recaps for more stories of love, lies, and deadly secrets.