Suspected Killer Turned Victim: The Tragic Death of Ryan Waller

Nikki Young
13 min readMay 3, 2023
The Tragic Death of Ryan Waller | Photo by Phoenix Police Department

The story of what happened to Ryan Waller will both disturb and enrage you. On December 23, 2006, 18-year-old Ryan Waller was at home with his girlfriend Heather enjoying the Christmas holidays when there was a violent break-in. Two men entered their home and shot both Ryan and Heather. Sadly, Heather would die from her injuries however Ryan would be found miraculously still alive — though clearly very badly bruised.

Instead of being taken to the hospital to be treated for what would turn out to be very serious injuries, the police brought him to the police station to interrogate him for Heather’s murder. Ryan didn’t remember much about what had happened during the break-in, which lead investigators to believe that this story about the intruders was a lie — and he had actually murdered his girlfriend.

What the police didn’t know, was that Ryan had been shot in the head and was internally bleeding to death. He tried to answer their questioning, while clearly in pain. However, they continued to press him for information — before finally deciding to send him to the hospital to be treated.

Ryan would spend 35 days in the hospital before being released with severe trauma and lifelong injuries that would ultimately claim his life.

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Nikki Young

Host of true crime podcast, Serial Napper. Let me guide you through some of the craziest true crime stories you‘ve never heard of.